Larkspur [COMPLETE]

Escape

Towards what would have been the end of the first semester, Black Sheep came back to Eileen with the perfect plan of escape. Cookie Booker, V.I.L.E's financier, came to the island by boat every year to transfer V.I.L.E's income to the severs. For the longest time Black Sheep had taken entertainment in bombarding the woman and her escort with water balloons, but now her boat was the only way off the island.

"Yeah but, how the hell are we gonna get on it?" Asked Eileen, the two of them were sitting in their secret corner of the V.I.L.E's gardens, going over their plan of escape.

"I'll have to sneak off but your role will be easier to play." "Me? Why is my part easier?" "You know Ms. Booker don't you?" "Kinda, I haven't seen her since I was at least six." (The woman had been an ally of her mother's in their younger days and loved Tom, Eileen's younger brother, more than her any day.)

"Look, just tell her what's going on and I'm sure she'll take you. Doesn't she hate Maelstrom?" "Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?" "She's sure to sneak you off if you tell her he's involved." The girl made a valid point.

"Oh...fine! But somewhere along the line you owe me, big time." Black Sheep simply smiled.

~

So the fateful night came; Ms. Booker arrived on the island, for once not being met by BS's water balloon invasion, and one of the few Eileen reluctantly had cleared her schedule for. Shame, tonight was another one of her tutoring classes. In order to seem inconspicuous, the two had split up; Black Sheep went one way to sneak out in her V.I.L.E stealth suit and Eileen went the other way in her purple uniform to meet an old 'friend'.

"Hey Cookie." The woman turned at the sound of her name, eyebrow arching upon spotting the brunette who was barely managing a small smile, she rolled her eyes. "Oh don't even try Eileen, you never really did like me." A frown immediately took its place.

"You never made it any easier." The woman strode up to her, scanning her with one hand on her hip. "You've changed since the last time I saw you." Her fingers disdainfully pinched the ends of her ringlets. "Except for this ridiculous haircut of yours." Eileen was quick to slap her hand away. "I like this style, let's my neck breathe." Her eyes narrowed but she said nothing.

"As much as I'd love to have this conversation, I have a drive to get to the server room and I'm sure you have much better things to do." Now it was Eileen's turn to narrow her eyes.

"Why is it you hate me so much? What'd I ever do to you?" "Being yourself, every single stupid mistake you make follows in your mother's footsteps. What will you do next, get yourself pregnant as she did?" Now Eileen was really pissed, no one spoke about her mother like she was some common slut.

"Louis was no whore Booker." The both looked behind Eileen to see Maelstrom casually standing several feet away, face carefully impassive as he began walking over.

"She was an intelligent, adventurous young woman, which is more then I can say for you." The woman's face hardened as he stopped beside Eileen, one hand coming to grip her shoulder, she could feel her eyes widen slightly at the possessiveness in his touch.

"And Eileen is no different, so I'd prefer it if you didn't say such things about her or her mother." A smile tugged at one corner of his lips. "We wouldn't want to get Cleo involved now would we?"

Fear briefly flashed across Booker's face, teeth biting her lower lip. She refused to meet Eileen or his eyes before silently sighing. "No, I suppose we don't." His face fell to gentle calm. "Good, now don't you have a drive to deliver?" She scolded him lightly and barely glanced at Eileen before walking past both of them and off down the hall, it wasn't until she rounded a corner when Eileen let out a long low whistle.