Kate Freelander

After beating the crap out of Druitt and getting some of hers beat out too, Kate's more confused than anything. He didn't kill her. Didn't even try to kill her. To be fair, she hadn't tried to kill him either. Magnus wouldn't have forgiven her. Declan would be pissed even if he'd stand by her. Steve would've been 'disappointed' even if he got why she did it. Explaining it the Girl Scouts wouldn't have been worth it. And more than anything, she just...didn't like killing. She'd do it if she had to, but doing it when she didn't, didn't that make her just like him? Worse?

But now she's got a bitch of a black eye. Split lip. A bump on her head. Three seriously bruised ribs. Her right fist looks like she punched a stone wall. Because she did when she missed him. And her legs...she doesn't even want to think about the scrapes bruises.

She grabs fresh clothes from the box, a shower, and covers up the worst of it, then spends the day looking for Joan. It doesn't do fuck-all for the damage to her body. But she's awake, not concussed, she drinks enough water, keeps down her food, and doesn't find Joan in the caves or, bypassing civilization where Auggie and Annie are looking, farther out.

No Joan, no Druitt, no Declan. Not that she looks very hard for Declan before nightfall. He's going to be pissed. And...it's a waste of time. Every hour they don't find her decreases her chances of being alive. By nightfall, she's all but given up. She'll look again tomorrow but she doesn't expect to find her.

When she goes home to her hut, she does find Declan. He's inside waiting for her. "Hey," she says, and then, quietly, "Before you scream, can you get me some of the aspirin on my shelf and a glass of water?"


*

Title lyrics from Thea Gilmore's Heads Will Roll

The Big Cheese tells her to get lost. Not in so many words. Oh, he'll help look for Joan. Get people out looking for her, but it's only been a day, Miss Freelander. She's probably just lost on the island somewhere. People go missing all the time, Miss Freelander. There's just not enough evidence, Miss Freelander.

So Druitt's got scratches on his arm, Joan's handkerchief and earring in his pocket. She's missing. He's a known serial killer with a taste for blondes but that's not enough to keep him locked up and interrogate him. Fuck.

Kate stalks out of the IPD Office after Druitt. She knows she should let this go and go look for Joan. Find Declan and Buffy and other-Kate and some of the other girls, Steve, and get Nikola to keep an eye on Druitt. That's what she should do. But Kate Freelander's still never met a bad idea she didn't like.

And when she sees Druitt strolling the hallways, putting a little clip in his step (to look for Joan, who is his friend, he says), Kate has to follow him. She just has to.

She corners him again headed to the second floor. The caves. "What'd you do? Stash her in the caves wrapped up in some laundry?"


*
Title lyrics from Thea Gilmore's Heads Will Roll

When Kate wakes to a quiet hut instead of a creaky Victorian house, sun on her face instead of frozen toes, she's not sure whether to freak the fuck out, or just enjoy it. Roll and stretch proves she's back to boyshorts and t-shirts and enjoying it wins out. Too bad Declan's not here to enjoy warm naked skin without piles of blankets.

Later.

She rolls out of bed and throws on cutoffs and a tank, straps a blade on her thigh in case the change set the dinosaurs free, pulls on her boots and five minutes later she's on her way to the Compound for breakfast and to get any news she needs. Plus see if Declan left her anything interesting in her mailbox last night. Sometimes he does.

Half an hour and a shower later, there's nothing there and she drops in to grab breakfast. She's not due at the Children's Office today, so there's coffee, lots of coffee, in mugs, oh god, in her future. Then maybe she'll find Steve about starting up training and surfing lessons again.

She's just got her first cup when she spots Auggie looking kind of out of sorts. Maybe he's having trouble with readjusting or something? "Hey, gorgeous," she calls across to him. "Want some coffee?"