[AU] Nikola/Kate

Declan's gone.

Will's with Magnus. Druitt's Druitt. Bonny's whining like someone stabbed her and Kate can't stand it for another second. She's pretty sure she's either going to kill the puppy or herself if she has to spend another minute hushing her and petting her. People keep saying hugging pets is therapeutic but Kate's not buying it.

She doesn't want to hug anyone or be hugged. She doesn't want to drink anymore. She just doesn't want to hurt anymore and she wants to go home. Home. Kate laughs bitterly that that's the thought that leads her to Nikola. That he's home. Whatever.

Her eyes are lined with black kohl and smudged, lips stained with berry dye, and she's got on some kind of slip dress under a black leather duster and paired with knee-high lace-up leather boots. She doesn't knock. Kate Freelander doesn't need to. She can still pick a lock in less than five seconds, so she does and lets herself in.

When Nikola comes home, she's already draped over the couch, drinking his wine and staring at the walls. Nikola's new place has a lot "stuff" in it. It kind of reminds her of the Sanctuary. A little. And it's the only time since Declan disappeared she hasn't felt like she fell in a hole and hasn't stopped falling.

[For Jim] you've always been so cunning with those great escapes

Twenty-one days later, Kate's bored of grief. She's bored of gritty eyes and headache tonics. She's bored of alcohol that doesn't make anything better. Sex is a little less boring, but she's pretty damned sick of feeling guilty for feeling good for a little while. Today, she decides when she gets up, is going to be different.

Maybe she'll go find Magnus and talk to her. Probably not. She's been weird. Maybe she'll go find Will. That seems like a good idea. She's been avoiding him since Declan disappeared and she misses him. Especially after the conversation with Bella the other day. Maybe she'll find Daphne and see how she's doing or go talk to Steve, who she's also been avoiding since Declan left. Maybe she'll go see Tesla in his new place and thank him and Alcuin for - shudder - looking out for her or apologize to Dr. J for using him as a petsitter.

The day seems full of possibilities when she pulls on her cowboy boots, but by the time she's done killing the scorpion that stung her calf (with extreme prejudice), treating the sting with a cool compress, and burying more dog shit than one puppy should be able to crap overnight, Kate's thinking shooting rattlesnakes or javelinas is all the different she can take. Breakfast happens and she's even less impressed with food than she's been for most of the month. Turns out, scorpion stings aren't that big of a deal. She's not allergic but the low-level pain and weird numbness makes her nauseated.

She finds a tonic for that and treatment for the scorpion sting, and by the time that's done, she's real clear on the fact she's not going to be marching around the desert shooting anything today. Sitting inside the Compound with the kids at the Children's Office or in Dr. J's shady library-hut playing with William's probably about all she's good for. Either way, she's got to go pick William up, and that's where she's headed when she sees Blondie striding the streets like she owns them.

Blondie is actually kind of a cool chick, one on one. But her face hurts one of Kate's people and that's reason enough not to get buddy-buddy with her. At least not until Jim can see her without feeling like the kid in that picture of his she's been keeping for him. So she ducks aside until Blondie passes (not like she figures she's high on her list of people to stop and chat with, but Kate's awkward at small talk when she's trying), heads down another street and runs smack into Jim, heading exactly where he shouldn't be.

"Hey, babe." She grins at him and puts a little extra flash in her eyes to keep his attention. Nothing's changed since they knocked boots in some ways. Except she's stopped trying not to notice how hot he is and she figures he's doing the same.