Gravity Rises (S3)

CW: Part Nineteen

Grace was captivated by Andrew. Who wasn't? Even Grace, who had grown up knowing about supernatural creatures and had seen a few too, had never seen a minotaur before. It was almost absurd to see a person with the head of a bull talking in perfect English.

Cameras flashed with pictures; other cameras blinked red with video feeds. Reporters tried asking questions, but they all talked over each other, and Andrew had to yell at them to quiet down. "I'll answer your questions," he promised. "Let me start by answering the ones I already know you have."

Surprisingly, that actually worked. It seemed even reporters could be bullied into silence if they were shocked enough.

Andrew talked, telling everyone about the supernatural creatures and their small, hidden societies. Then Governor Warner arrived, and Andrew basically had to start all over once the governor had made his way to the barrier. The minotaur focused on the supernatural creatures' desire to avoid violence, and to live quietly in this forest that they couldn't leave. Grace and everyone else listened to him with rapt attention.

Then a reminder went off in Grace's brain. She looked up at her brother. "Charlie, there's something else."

"What?" he asked quietly.

Grace opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. Wait. Looked up? "Charlie," she said, temporarily distracted, "how tall are you?"

Gideon looked strangely embarrassed. "Um, six feet."

Her eyes widened. "What? That's not allowed!"

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry?"

"I'm only five foot six," she said with a shake of her head. "How dare you."

Gideon gave her a hug. "It's okay," he said solemnly. "I still love you."

She pushed him away in mock anger, then laughed.

He smiled. "So what's the 'something else'?"

Her laughter stopped. "Right. You told the reporter that Father is at the Manor, right? Do you know his plans? Is he going to come out here?"

She could tell that Gideon immediately suspected what she was really asking. He shifted on his feet, stood a little taller. "Andrew convinced him to stay back until after all this," he said, waving vaguely in Andrew's direction. "He'll probably want to come out later. He, um, doesn't know you're here."

"Good," Grace said. All the better. If Gaston knew she was there, he might suspect arrest.

"Mother knows, though," Gideon said. "She'll be happy to see you."

Mother? Happy to see her? Grace doubted that. And there was a chance Mother might guess that Grace had reported her parents to the police — she might warn Father. Grace pursed her lips. "Come with me," she said to Gideon. "There's someone we need to see."

From the look on Gideon's face, he knew whom she meant. But he didn't say anything. He just followed her as she told Sam she was going to see Officer Sanders and then pushed her way through the crowd.

"Evi, I don't know," Gideon said quietly as they walked.

"It'll be okay," she said.

He didn't respond.

They found Officer Sanders on one side of the crowd, watching people's faces carefully, probably trying to anticipate any chaos that might break out. But people were thankfully too spellbound by Andrew to cause any problems.

"Officer Sanders," Grace said, approaching him, "this is my brother, Gideon."

The officer turned to them. "Oh, hello, Gideon. It's nice to meet you."