101 - A Perfect Sky; A Storm

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Leaning on Lily's shoulder as they embark for the church, Jay's limp is more pronounced now than before - courtesy of her boot. But at least his nose has stopped bleeding.

Too proud to lean on her fully, he tries to match her brisk pace, breathing through the jolts of pain ratcheting up his left leg and the throbbing in his ankle. It takes effort to keep each step from twisting his face, relying on the shadows to conceal it. Jay doesn't doubt that Lily calculated exactly how much power to put into that blow

He pretends not to notice her sidelong glance, smoothing any trace of pain from his features. But Lily shifts, easily shouldering his weight and taking the pressure off his ankle as if somehow seeing through his curtain of hair and the stony face behind it—just like she read the truths they'd tried to hide from her earlier tonight.

He wonders if that was a skill taught in the Organization—if all Slayers had the same ability to read looks as easily and accurately as Lily. Or perhaps there is a reason Faith sends her to confront, to be the first wave.

I can get you out of this, Lily had said, with so much slayer-confidence and ease that he didn't doubt she hadn't done something similar before. He now knows, from glimpses of her psyche, that more darkness and secrets follow this Slayer than any others he's felt in the dreamscape.

She tries so hard to bury them in the backyard of her subconscious that she isn't aware she's left the front door wide open.

And he knew, from the cold fire blazing in her eyes when she'd realized he was distracting her yet again, that Lily could've killed him at any point back there—she abandoned her axe, probably because she would've buried it in his face too quickly if she'd held onto it, and pulled her punches right up to the very end. Like she was doing everything she could not to kill him.

She was keeping herself on a leash—or had tried to.

He watches her through slices of his hair, noting how she's been mindful not to drag him. Even with him towering over Lily, her moves remain strong and fluid, with more feline grace than her Slayer companion, who is scouting a block ahead with a slight—but noticeable—difference in posture.

It seems a bit odd to him that Lily appears to have more skill than her superior. That is Faith Lehane beside her, the last of the One True Line of Slayers.

And the way Faith had looked so furious when Lily promised to get him out of his bind with the Doctor... This whole "Claiming" business... Jay can only imagine what that was about. Perhaps in joining the Organization, he can find out—because he is certainly not going to stay under his mother's roof a moment longer.

He'd have to convince his sister to give up the chest first.

When Jay realized what he'd been sent to retrieve, he was so angry that he could've walked out on his mother right then if it hadn't been for Kai. And because of Lily, he learned Kai kept things from him, too.

That was when he knew it was time to find an out. Working for the Doctor was changing them—not just making their lives harder. And for what? A few bags of medical supplies and cash that barely last half the month? And will the next job be another ancient artifact that should definitely not be floating around the black market?

Clearing nests, taking out the occasional demon, patrolling—that is what they were told the contract was. Retrieving sketchy packages in sketchy buildings had never been discussed. At least not with him.

Kai, however, doesn't seem to have a problem with how closely they walk this line.

Gods, if the First Slayer doesn't haunt me for this...