PLATO'S STEP-DAUGHTER I FLYNN CARSEN

One For All, And All For One

One For All, And All For One

They stumbled their way down the dark corridor in single file, chains jangling, Flynn leading, Clara bringing up the rear, Ezekiel shuffling inbetween them. Circe was nowhere to be seen, and neither were any guards, but everytime they tried to run, they were pushed back into place by an invisible force. Driven to desperation, Flynn tried to dash forwards, only to be suddenly shoved backwards, nearly crushing what was left of Ezekiel out of existence.

"Show yourself, minions!" he bellowed, trying and failing to shake his fist at the empty air.

"You're showing yourself up," Clara muttered, trying and failing to blow a stray curl out of her eye.

"I'm a showman, that's what I do," Flynn retorted.

"Do you leave people off the payroll as well?" Clara spat back.

"That wasn't me!" Flynn boomed over his shoulder. "That was Jenkins's idea of a joke!"

Clara did another dramatic double-take. "What!?" she squeaked.

"He admitted it to me," Flynn said, "that he'd played a prank on you and Jacob as payback."

"Payback for what!?"

"For breaking his best porcelain plate!"

"That wasn't us though!" Clara cried, casting her mind back. She, Jacob and Ezekiel had been doing some exploring in the Annex, only to stumble across Jenkins's china collection, Ezekiel getting up, close and personal with one particular specimen, only to break it.

"Then who did it!?"

"It was Ezekiel!"

"But he told Jenkins it was you and Jacob!"

"He's a lying little worm!" Clara spat, trying and failing to boot Ezekiel's backside.

"It doesn't matter now, anyways," Flynn said hastily. "You're all on the payroll now. I personally made sure."

"I was barely getting by!" Clara exploded. "And Jacob was kipping on his ex's kitchen floor!"

"Your old job was still open, then?" Flynn queried politely.

"Luckily for me it was," Clara said, deciding not to mention that she'd had to go on all but bended knee to get it back. The only reason they'd kept her job open for her was because nobody else was mad enough to work for such a low wage. She had been working all hours, not just waiting tables, but everything inbetween, cooking, cleaning, whatever was asked of her, even babysitting her boss's baby daughter for a few extra dollars. The little Clara had scraped and scrimped to save up had gone on paying for her hotel room, the price wiping her bank account out.

"Well, it all worked out in the end" -

- "So says you," Clara said, rolling her eyes.

"You have a lovely luxury apartment now," Flynn pointed out.

"You try coming home to an empty bed night after night," Clara pointed out in return.

"I have tried that, actually," Flynn flared up, "and this is not the time to be talking about our tangled love-lives."

"What about our trust issues instead?" Clara snapped.

"Or is it more your trust issues?" Flynn said astutely, stumbling on.

"I don't trust Cassie," Clara said abruptly, "and I can't, not after what she did, anyways."

"What about Stone?"

"Jake's caught somewhere in the middle," Clara said tiredly. "He and Cassie do a lot of fieldwork together, going out and researching stuff and things, but he still doesn't trust her even if he personally likes her. Ezekiel, however, is her biggest fan, but hey, that's no surprise, because he roots for the bad guy doesn't he, being one himself."