Intervention /Invite Only/

[Loki Andvari]

I just can't take anymore of this life of solitude
I guess that I'm out the door and that I'm done with you.

It had been around 4 weeks or so, although if Loki chose to think of it he would likely give you an accurate amount of how long it had been down to the last second. That however was the point; he was choosing not to think on anything. Thinking hurt. He found it better to slink into the anger and rage that a lot of Fuocians lived by. The ones who didn't really mingle with society because their rage was commonly out of control. People had been telling him he didn't belong there but Loki didn't care. He'd walked out after having a lovely chat with him that had left him feeling like this. Heck he couldn't even say the name and that was bad enough. Cold and hollow and whatever people babbled on about in poems of love lost that he had spent most of his life mocking. He'd never understood why people bothered, heck he hadn’t even realised that he was growing attached until he had chose to break them apart.

Part of him blamed Roxi. All that she had overcome and she was now happily in love with Ethan had given him cause to hope that maybe it wasn't as lost for him as he expected. He hadn't been looking for this to happen. It just. Did.

I love you, I hate you, I can't get around you.
I breathe you, I taste you, I can't live without you.

He'd acted indifferent when he'd left, the brief flash of hurt the only thing he'd showed, then his trademark grin was back and he was laughing as he left the building, it was the only thing he could work out how to do. Only when the door shut did the grin leave his face, completely expressionless he had walked the busy streets home, no one daring to get in his path, as when Loki didn't have a child like grin on his face he was down right scary. His smile lightened his features but right now they where just hard and blank. His shoulders and back tense and harsh against anyone who thought it a good idea to knock into him. He was uncaring about every one around him.

His house had seemed weird, everything did. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before just grabbing a bag from his closet. Throwing a bare amount of clothes in before leaving again. He left a post it note on the fridge for Roxi saying he was going to spend some time with the protection force with the Elementals. Something he never did unless specifically asked. He couldn't see her because she would know straight away, she always did. Loki couldn't take that right now because that meant admitting it was really. He needed a break from everything, from feeling. Fighting was the only way the Fuocian knew how to do that and he knew he could do as much of that as possible if he was being sent out of missions.

I wrap my head around your heart.
Why would you tear my world apart.

He'd been home a few times since to get extra pairs of clothes but he had spoken to no one. He'd only come back when he knew Roxi would be at work or at ridiculous times in the morning when he knew she'd be asleep. If he saw Roxi he would have to feel something... anything. That was something he wasn't ready to do yet. When he put his key in the door their was an instant cease of noise on the other side, noise he hadn't realised until it had stopped, meaning people where in and had noticed he'd put his key in the door. He could turn around but that would just look weak, something in this state of mind he couldn't do. He would just get in and out and be done with it. He vaguely registered that there was more than one person in the house but he didn't look towards them. Heading straight for the sink in the kitchen to wash his hands and face, even though he wasn't staying long he didn't want Roxi to see him with blood on his hands.

Some people might not have even recognised him, when he had started training he had pretty much made a split between his personalities. The one he used around every one and the one he used when he was training or working for the court. The latter was the only one he could handle right now so he was staying within it. Not risking reverting back and having to feel something. His face was generally hard and he sported more than a few bruises a long with a split lip. His usually immaculate skin was overly tanned from the amount of time he had been spending outside and far from clean. He also seemed bigger due to the amount of sheering working out and fighting he had been doing non-stop. His hair was longer than any one would of seen it before because he couldn't be bothered to get it cut, same was the state of his clothes. He was desperate to change his shirt but if Roxi was one of the people in the room she would pitch a fit at the state of him so he left it on until he could get past to his room.

Guess I'll pack all my things
I guess I'll see you around.
It's all been bottled up until now.
And as I walk out your door
All I can hear is the sound of…

He thrust his hands under the stream of water and had to put serious effort into controlling his ability as steam instantly rose from his hands. His abilities had been used so much over the last few weeks his skin was running hotter than usual. He'd been fighting what ever he was pointed at and he wouldn't of been surprised that his father would know a bit of what he had been doing but he didn't know how much he would tell Roxi. He craned his fingers under the stream easing the stiffness out of them as the water turned red and mud brown, he splashed a load of water across his face having the same effect on the clear water. When he was done he grabbed a bandage and began binding his hands as he turned to see the people in the room who for all he could tell had been silent, they could have been shouting and Loki just hadn't heard them, his mind was just processing things slowly if he wasn't in a fight. He put all of his focus onto the bandage and waited for some one else to speak, wanting to get his hands covered before Roxi spotted that his injuries where blatantly from up close brawling, something he said he avoided as it made her nervous and something he had been doing more than once a day...

I see the blood all over your hands
Does it make you feel more like a man?
Was it all just part of your plan?

[Roxanne O'Hara]

It was four weeks and three days since Roxi had last seen her brother. That was enough time to go through panic and anger three times over and for her to fall somewhere in between the two; pure annoyance at the whole situation.

She could remember the last time she'd seen him clearly as she'd replayed it in her mind every day for the first two weeks of his disappearance, looking for anything that might suggest where he had gone.

It had been the day after the beach party. They'd all crashed at Ethan's house as Loki had wanted to drool over Ethan's gadgets or something equally as stupid. They'd bought JD along, much to Ethan's initial annoyance, but as soon as he realised just how much of a laugh he was, Ethan hadn't minded having Loki's boyfriend around. They'd all drank and veged out on the sofa watching numerous stand up DVD's and generally having a good time.

The next day Loki and JD had disappeared into the lounge whist she and Ethan were making breakfast. She felt a sudden rush of devastation, causing her to drop the gadget that she was trying to work, then everything had gone blank. It had felt like a piece of her had gone missing, been cut completely out.

She hated herself for what she'd done next; she'd fainted. How pathetic was that?

By the time she'd come round, Ethan was frantic with worry over her. He could tell something was wrong; he was used to having some form of emotional feedback from Loki, but he thought something was wrong with her, after all, it had been her that had fainted. He refused to listen to her pleas to find her brother and had insisted on her staying in bed for a few hours to keep her blood sugar levels up or something.

Eventually, she'd managed to escape and go to the flat her and her brother shared. After not finding him there, she'd gone to all his favour haunts in town and some that he'd sworn he'd never go back to, just in case. When she couldn't find him there, she'd rang Ethan in a panic, asking him to go back to the flat to see if he'd gone there, whilst she did the circuit again.

She'd just gotten to Absolut when she'd got the picture message from Ethan. He knew she'd want to see the note for herself.

At first, she wanted to kick him for leaving her with nothing more than a post-it note saying he needed some space and to be around different people. What the hell was that supposed to mean anyway? She wasn't good enough for him now that she'd found her Life Mate and had finally settled into her new life? If anyone was abandoning someone, it should be the other way around, but the thought had never even entered her mind. Yes, she was going to marry the heir to the throne of the Moonlit Court and she should, really, be distancing herself from the “enemy” but there was no way she could bring herself to do that.

And that was another thing. She resented the fact he hadn't been there when Ethan had proposed to her. It was a huge event in her life and he'd missed it because he didn't want to be around them. And, without Loki there to fight her corner, Ethan had managed to get her into clothes that he thought were more appropriate. More pastels and dresses. The sort of clothes that Loki used to say screamed Virgin in American Teen films.

She hated that he'd left her and had fully intended on using the link between them as a way to track him down and kick his sorry ass into next week. But that was where the thing that was truly worrying her; she hadn't felt anything from that link since he's gone.

She'd tried to talk to JD about it all, but he had been too busy with work. What with juggling three jobs, he's been working every hour the gods sent and had been unable to see her for weeks now.

She'd spoken to her parents as well, but they didn't seem to know what was happening either. If they had, they'd hidden it well.

No one knew where he'd gone.

Ethan, fed up of her frantically searching for him, had insisted on them staying in tonight and veging. She'd agreed, as long as they were able to stay at hers. They'd both known that it was just so she could still keep an eye out for him, but Ethan had let it slide, knowing that this would be the best he'd get out of her until Loki was found.

It wasn't particularly late by the time they'd put a DVD, having long given up trying to make conversation. As a result of Loki going missing, their relationship was suffering. Roxi was unable to ignore the black hole where Loki should be and it made her ratty, causing her to snap at Ethan if he ever asked her to think of something else. They both knew that as soon as he was back, they'd get back on track. Hell, he didn't even have to be back, Roxi just needed to know where he was and for the whole in her soul to fill.

She turned and looked at her Life Mate, noticing just how tired he looked. She wasn't the only one that was missing him, it was taking it's toll on him too.

“Ethan, I -”

“Don't worry about it sweetie.”

She smiled and cuddled up to him, taking him slightly by surprise; this was the closest they'd been since he'd proposed to her a fortnight ago. “I was thinking. Maybe … Maybe we should have a spring wedding? I know it's not all that long away, but I'm sure we can arrange something quickly. It doesn't have to be huge if you don't want it to be, I'll be fine with whatever you -” Ethan leant down and quietened her with a kiss. She could see the pure shock in his eyes at her speaking of something totally unrelated to Loki and she knew that it made some part of him very happy, especially at the topic she'd brought up. But she could also see that he knew she was just trying to fill the silence between them.

“That sounds great. It really does. And maybe when Loki comes back, he can help us to organise it. It's the sort of thing he'd want to help you with.” He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him, letting her mind wander to her brother again.

Where the hell is he? This was so unlike him. Yes, he'd stayed out before, but never more than a weekend, and he always text or rang her at least twice. Always. Even when he was pissed out of his skull and she couldn't understand a word he was saying, he'd call her to slur down the phone at her.

“Where do you think he is?”

“I don't know sweetie. If I did, I wouldn't be here now. I'd be out there getting him. I hate seeing you like-” He trailed off suddenly and turned towards the door. Roxi frowned at him and opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when she heard it. A key clicked in the door. She immediately sat up in the circle of Ethan's arms and swung her head to watch as a stranger walked through her door.

She watched as Loki walked straight past them and walked into the kitchen, not even glancing at them. She exchanged a look with Ethan, wondering if he'd caught the scent of blood as well. When he nodded, she frowned and waited for Loki to talk to them. Or at least acknowledge that they were there.

The longer the silence drew out between them, the angrier Roxi got. He'd disappeared without a trace for over a month, then blanked them when he came back. Did he not realise just how worried they'd both been?

No, of course he didn't. He'd been too wrapped up in himself to even think about his family that he'd left behind. She looked down at the floor, trying to reign in the anger that coursed through her. Ethan was trying to soothe her, running a hand up and down her back. She willed herself to calm down knowing she'd do something she'd regret if she didn't.

Loki turned round and faced them, looking blankly at the pair of them. She waited a few seconds for him to speak to her, then snapped as he didn't.

Grabbing the nearest thing to her, she hurled a plate at him, followed quickly by the TV remote and Ethan's shoe. Ethan tried to stop her, holding her arms behind her back, but she pulled away from him and went to stand behind the sofa, putting a barrier between her and her brother, not quite trusting herself not to fly at him. “Where the hell have you been?!”

[Ethan Kavanagh]

It had been a long 4 weeks. On first meeting the elemental he would have been happy to be rid of him. He was a Fucoco for one, they where dangerous in his books. Yes he had been trained to fight since he could walk as where most cats but that branch of the Elementals weren't just trained to fight they where trained to be lethal weapons. There were none of them that he knew had anything but aggressive offensive powers and even Loki was no different. They were violent, angry, and so temperamental that even Ethan had only narrowly missed being killed by them now and then. These where some of the things he had never shared with Roxi however because Loki was different and Ethan was starting to see it and had actually developed a friendship with the other man.

Heck he missed him. He couldn't even bring himself to finish the kit car they had gotten for Roxi that they where working on together. When he saw him next Ethan was seriously considering kicking him, or and least slamming him into a wall a few times for what he was doing to his sister. She was receding entirely into herself and it was driving him mad. Heck he had even bought her a pastel pink dress and matching shoes in the hopes she would throw a shoe at him or something... Or flee the room and get changed into something he would barely let her leave the house in... he never thought he would here himself saying things like that but he really was.

After the beech party things had been perfect and shiny, right up to the moment when Roxi fainted. Something was wrong there was a blank hole there some where and she fainted! Cat's don't usually faint... Ethan was completely mad with worry. He'd gotten her to the bed as soon as 'Puter had confirmed that it was safe to move her from where she had landed and he had instantly starting googling what could of cause her to faint so he wouldn't go entirely mad with worry. When Ethan was panicked... he googled.

When she had vanished he had accidentally shattered several of his insanely large windows on the back of his house from the shock-wave of his telekinesis. It shattered from inside his mind when he worked out she wasn't safe. He fled straight to their apartment after realising that Loki wasn't here. It was odd that he hadn't realised it sooner. If Roxi got even a hot Flash Loki would be there in 2 seconds flat even if he had been elsewhere occupied...

The panicked call from Roxi ha brought him out of his musings for where Loki was. Even though that was the very subject of the call but his worry for her overrode all other thoughts. He did exactly what she said however and started looking around the apartment for some sign of where he might be. Roxi had been looking for Loki... Ethan had that feeling. The one which made him look for signs of where Loki had gone instead of where he was. Not that he would ever mention that to Roxi she would likely go mental if she knew that he was already looking on such a pessimistic angle but that was just the way he was. He was very used to family drama and people leaving and abandoning each other so he looked for notes. Which was when he had found the post it note.

If he had just called her or text her about what was on the note Roxi likely would not of believed him, so he took a photo of it and sent it to her. Hoping that her usual technological aversion would hold itself at bay for just a few minutes so she would actually see it.

Things had been off since, yes they where now engaged but everything was slightly out of whack and it was that damned elemental's fault. Ethan had been racking his brain over and over trying to find a reason for when he had left. The day after the beech had been find and shiny. Loki had looked at gadgets and he'd seemed really good, actually better than Ethan had seen the man since he had met him. He seemed more relaxed and generally happy – not that he hadn't been happy before hand... It was just a feeling Ethan got and he just thought he was over evaluating things due to his disappearance.

He had been asking a lot of questions about his and Roxi's relationship though, at the time he had just put it down to the fact he was being the protective older (Although he was technically younger) brother routine. Ethan was starting to wonder if there was more too it. However he hadn't really had much time to think or act on any of this due to Roxi's obsessive nature on the subject... and she called him OCD? He'd practically had to badger her to hell and back just to get this night with vegging.

“Ethan, I -”

Ethan barely let her get into a sentence, knowing she would get herself worked up over Loki again and the effect it was having on the both of them. “Don't worry about it sweetie.” Ethan was surprised but very pleasantly surprised as she snuggled closer too him. He had seriously missed this, since finding her he had become very tactile but he hadn't wanted to push her so he had tried to give her her space whilst trying not kill him.

“I was thinking. Maybe … Maybe we should have a spring wedding? I know it's not all that long away, but I'm sure we can arrange something quickly. It doesn't have to be huge if you don't want it to be, I'll be fine with whatever you -”

“That sounds great. It really does. And maybe when Loki comes back, he can help us to organise it. It's the sort of thing he'd want to help you with.”

He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him happy with the contact for awhile and relaxing again. “Where do you think he is?”

“I don't know sweetie. If I did, I wouldn't be here now. I'd be out there getting him. I hate seeing you like-”

Ethan trailed of when a very familiar scent of blood filtered in from outside, a long with footsteps. The blood was a mi of fresh to very old and the scent of b=dirt was there too. Under it all was the scent of Ash which meant it was an elemental. All of this clouded his mind as it just wasn't what he saw Loki as. Loki liked aftershave and wore new or freshly cleaned clothes meticulously, dirt blood and ash just weren't Loki. Hence why his defences immediately shot up when the door clicked open and the stranger walked in. It took a few minutes for him to adjust and realise that is was Loki but it wasn't the Loki he knew. He was a fighter, Elemental. Which read as threat to him... this was how he saw most fuoco's except for Loki so he was trying to force he instincts back down as such he missed the first few objects Roxi threw at him and only caught her just after she threw his shoe... why his shoe dammit!?

He managed to pull Roxi back but she got out of his grip as he reached for his phone, tapping out a fast text to JD. He hadn't been around much lately but he must of known Loki had vanished and would probably want to see him. He also might help get through to him as there was definitely something wrong with Loki right now. Something was seriously wrong. The text was short as he didn't have time to tap out a full little story but it would get the point across

Get to Roxi's ASAP.

“Where the hell have you been?!”

Ethan tilted his head and watched for Loki to repsond.

[Jack Daniel]

He hadn't meant for it to go on for so long, he really hadn't. He'd meant to finish it during the beach party, but for some reason he hadn't wanted to. He'd gotten to the party and had the best time he'd had in a long time. It was always like that when he was with Loki and he didn't want to end it. Which was why he had to.

He'd let it go on too long as it was, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do it on the beach. Kitty had invited him and Loki back to Ethan's house once it had gotten to the point everyone was going home so they could carry on the party at his. She had suggested her's, but Ethan had insisted on his, stating that it was closer. He had to admit, he was curious to see the Brat Prince's house and it wasn't likely that he'd ever have that opportunity again.

They'd ended up having a great time. Ethan and Loki had disappeared to play with gadgets and he had followed them for a time, but soon gave up trying to understand them. Yes, he was considered a geek amongst his other friends, but here he was just plain confused. He wandered off to find Kitty sat in front of the huge TV in the front room, begging it to put some form of stand up on. He was about to ask why she didn't just do it herself when the TV answered back, saying that it would have to check with Ethan first.

The guy had his own talking computer that controlled the house? Yeah, he was definitely not a geek here.

After a while of sitting in silence, trying not to laugh whilst Kitty glared at the TV, he shouted through to where Ethan was, asking what they wanted to watch. When the answer came back that they could watch anything they wanted, he didn't mind, Kitty grinned triumphantly at the screen as Ed Byrne filled the screen.

And so the evening had continued. He was eventually introduced to 'puter along with Loki and both of them had spent the night getting progressively more and more drunk, annoying 'puter with various outrageous demands. Wanting Chow Mien delivered to them at three am had him practically blow up with frustration when he realised all the local take outs refused to deliver to Ethan's address.

Eventually, Kitty had dragged Ethan up to bed, claiming fatigue. At first, Ethan had complained, saying that he wanted to watch another DVD with the guys, but he'd eventually got the message that Kitty had anything but sleep on her mind. With an unconvincing apologetic look to both of them, he practically carried her up the stairs.

Jack had looked over to Loki at that point, laughing as he saw him suppress a shudder. He knew what would happen, and sure enough he could virtually pinpoint the exact moment Kitty threw her shields up. Right about the time Loki flew at him from the other side of the room. They barely made it to the bedroom Kitty had set aside for them.

The next morning, Jack woke up entangled with Loki, feeling completely and utterly at peace and happy for once. He'd gotten dressed and woke his … boyfriend up and said they needed to talk. Poor guy didn't even see it coming. He hadn't wanted to do it, he really hadn't, but he'd had no choice in the matter. Jack was bad news. The sooner Loki realised this, the better. It was for his own good. Anyone that had gotten close to Jack had ended up hurt. Yes, this might hurt Loki, but it was better this way. At least he wouldn't wind up dead like Sarah and JJ had. There was no way he was going to go through that again.

He watched as Loki's features slipped into depression and wanted nothing more than to go to him and take everything he'd said back. Then Loki's trademark grin came back into place and he shrugged it off as if it had meant nothing. He'd walked over to him and patted his shoulder, stating that it had been a laugh, then walked out of the house and down the drive.

Jack wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't even convinced that the depression he'd seen was real. Had he really meant that little to him? He tried to convince himself that that was what he wanted, but it wasn't working that well. The whole in his chest was back and he knew of only one way to get it to full.

He shouted 'bye' to Kitty and Ethan, not wanting to see them all loved up, and went to get plastered.

It wasn't until a few hours later that he'd known Loki was missing. Kitty had turned up in one of their regular haunts and cornered him to ask where he'd gone. He didn't need to be empathetic to feel the panic emanating off her. She obviously thought that, in finding him, she'd find Loki. When he'd told her he hadn't seen her since that morning before he'd left, she almost broke down. He hadn't had the heart to tell her they'd … split up. Not that they were going out in the first place, that is. He was adamant on that. They hadn't been dating. No, he hadn't slept with anyone since they'd met, not knowingly anyway, but that was beside the point. They hadn't been dating.

She'd asked that he let her know if he saw him, made him promise that he would, then sped off. Ever since, when ever he walked into a bar he'd look for the other elemental. Not that he would ever admit to it though.

He go a number of texts off Kitty over the next few weeks too, each getting more and more desperate. Then, a few days ago, they just stopped. He was starting to get worried about her. He knew she hadn't found him, she would have let him know. There had to be something wrong. That was why, when he got a text off Ethan telling him to get to Kitty's, he didn't even think to get annoyed at the order, he just jumped in a taxi and went.

[Loki Andvari]

Loki wasn't expecting the violent burst from his sister but that was mostly because he was cutting himself off from all emotions. Hers included. However even though he was expecting the plate to come hurling at him he reacted with lightning speed. Loki had been training insanely and fighting every thing he could for a month so his right hand shot out on instinct and shatter the plate off to the side without even glancing at it. Catching the remote deftly in his right hand as if it had been thrown in slow motion. It was at that point however he caught sight of the rock on her finger. Heck if any one on this planet could miss it! Or on another planet for that matter. It was freaking huge!

With that small fact, and the fact he had missed his sister engagement it was enough to let his walls come crashing down. The first thing he felt was her serious anger over the fact he had left and confusion over why he had done it. Which was odd as he would of expected him to tell her seeing as Loki had meant nothing to the other man it was probably a laugh over drinks or something. The only lasted for around about four seconds when he remembered him and what had happened all over again.

The fact he had woken up happy, he had been trying to get relationship advice out of Ethan... which was tricky and Loki had no idea how to ask about that... he had had a great night with him and they had woken up happy and tangled up with each other. Loki rarely ever shared a bed with some one, heck if he had women over he usually tended to get drunk and crash out on the sofa or poke Roxi until she woke up and they watched stand up until 10am in the morning. Then he would turn the person out and eat breakfast. He'd never seen the good part of actually sleeping with another person as he liked his own space but he liked sharing it with him. Before the morning goodness had worn off he'd ended what ever it was they had. He was back to the horrid devastation at that and the whole in his chest was back. He wanted to go out and kill something or some one. He cracked his remote free hand feeling him bones crack at the idea when a shoe smacked him in the head.

“Where the hell have you been?!”

He put the remote down and rubbed his head mutely from where the shoe hit him. Why did she have to throw Ethan's shoe? Ethan wore big heavy shoe... but then Roxi wore little spikey ones... Ouch...

It was at that point he spotted the step-ford wife outfit Roxi was sporting...

“First, Ow. Second, Step-ford Roxi... nice rock.”

Loki rubbed his hand over his face and the Loki act slipped again, he grabbed one of the stools and pulled it over to to where he was sitting and dropped himself down heavily. Dropped his head into his hands he couldn't actually bring himself to look at either of the two in front of him in the eye. For one he could feel the love between the two of them from where he was sat second he was feeling guilty for leaving. Even though he had no choice, he had to fight and he couldn't do that from here without serious issues, when Loki needed to run away from something he tending to fight, it was his coping device. His fathers influence mainly, he had been keeping vague contact with the man but Loki's father would not tell anyone that. He knew he needed space so he would make sure he had it which stopping his mother from stressing. She was married to a fuoco though so this would basically be normal.

“And I went to spend sometime with the protection force after...”

[/color]

Loki spoke through his hands and kept his head leant down as well so he was a little muffled. But then he was in a room with two cats, if he whispered they would hear him clear as day. He struggled to block everyone out again but it just wasn't working this time. This was the reason he had avoided home he hadn't wanted to feel his own emotions and he didn't want Roxi to either. He was the strong older brother who was always happy no matter what. The only time his confidence had slipped in recent memory was when his Terra ability had developed out of no where and he had torn up half the park in the middle of a fight to the point he could barely walk.

He was not a huge fan of emotions on a whole and this whole experience was not exactly helping him. It made him unable to answer a bloody question about where he was! Just a simply question about where he had buggered of two whilst his sister was getting engaged and he'd missed it. He knew he would feel guilty for it when he managed to work past the rest of what was going on in his mind but he probably couldn't handle much more at this point.

Loki leaned over and pulled a bottle out of the fridge. Concentrating on not heating it up straight away even though it was tricky as he gulped down half the bottle he tried to put a large smile on his face and go back to proper Loki that Roxi would obviously want but it wasn't really working. He was back to trying to ignore everything he was feeling.

“The vamps have been kicking up a fuss so they asked if any free hands could go and help as a few houses had been ransacked.” [/color] He shrugged and tried to play it off as if it where nothing new or of interest as he really had no idea what he could say to her to explain himself.
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[Roxanne O'Hara]

Roxi growled in frustration as everything she threw at him was caught. His reactions, which were stupidly fast normally, had quickened so much that even using her extra strength to add speed to her throws wasn’t working. Usually, he’d have gotten hit. And when Ethan’s shoe hit him on the forehead, she felt a burst of smugness.

“First, Ow. Second, Step-ford Roxi... nice rock.”

She hissed at him, letting her annoyance come through in the sound. Like he could talk on appearances at the moment; he looked bloody awful. He could seriously do with a wash, he stank of ash and sweat and …

“Have you been fighting?! Loki, for goddess’ sake, what’s been going on? I’ve been out of my fricking mind. Ethan’s been looking for you, JD has, Mum and Dad have, we didn’t know where the hell you’d gone! You’d left a fricking post-it note on the bloody fridge for goddess sake! I’ve been … Been … ” She started to pace behind the sofa, trying to stop herself from crying. Since he’d been gone, it felt like an integral part of her life had gone with him. She needed him to survive, as daft and clichéd as it sounded, Loki was her personal sun. He was always there to keep the darkness at bay; she could always rely on him, always. Perhaps she’d been relying on him too much, as when he’d gone, she’d completely broken down.

Since he’d left, she hadn’t stopped looking for him. Four and a half weeks, solid, spent looking for him. She’d only stopped when she’d been so close to the point of exhaustion or starvation that she’d had no choice but to stop. Ethan had tried him best to get her to snap out of it, but it hadn’t worked. Hell, he’d even bought her these ridiculous clothes in an attempt to bring the old Roxi back, but she’d just nodded and accepted the change of style with the same lack of emotion as she had everything else. The only real spark of emotion she’d had in the last month was when they’d gotten engaged, and even then it was only a small smile.

At the moment, she was damn close to hating him for what he’d done to her. She wasn’t even all that sure she wanted him to be here. She was glad that he was back and he was okay, but she wasn’t sure she could handle things if he up shops and left again.

She stopped pacing and looked over to Ethan, knowing that he’d have felt everything that was going through her mind. This would have been the most he’d have felt from her since Loki had gone and she wanted to apologise for it, but knew that now wasn’t the time. Instead, she walked round the sofa and into his arms, needing the comforting feel of him around her. Now she’d started feeling again, she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to stop the flood of tears that had been held back for so long, but she thought it might be easier for her to hold them in check if he held her.

“And I went to spend sometime with the protection force after...”

She looked over to Loki as she started to feel something from him again. She kept her head against Ethan’s chest and pressed herself against him in response to the emotions that were swirling around in the air. His emotions were so similar to what she was feeling that she wasn’t even all that sure they were truly his. Abandonment, loneliness, confusion, hurt … It didn’t make sense for him to be feeling these things. No one had abandoned him; everyone that cared about him had been out looking for him after he’d gone missing to play Army’s with the big boys.

The emotions were obviously affecting him badly; she’d never seen him feel so lost before. She wanted to go over and to try and fix it, but she didn’t trust herself not to throw something else at him. So instead, she did the only thing she could do.

Whilst Loki had been gone, Ethan had insisted on training Roxi in combat. He knew that Loki had done this already, but it seemed he thought there were some serious flaws in his training. Yes, Loki had done his best, but he’d trained her to elemental standards; she wasn’t an elemental and so there were some holes in her knowledge.

The training hadn’t lasted that long, he’d given up when he realised she was too distracted to be able to take in what he was trying to teach her, but it had made her realise that there were some holes in her knowledge that even the Brat Prince wouldn’t be able to fill for her, not that she’d ever tell him that.

So she’d gone to a group of creatures that could help her with her shields. Again, she wouldn’t admit to Ethan that she’d gone elsewhere for training as he’d have a fit, but she knew that these were the only creatures who would be able to help. If her family were still alive, she’d have gone to them, but as it were, she had to rely on the Acqua’s.

She gently threw up her shields around her, then placed shields around the two men in her life. It had taken a lot of practice to be able to do this and she wasn’t all that sure that she’d be able to hold it, but it should mean that the emotions any of them were feeling were their own.

She watched as he went and pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and decided to be nice and keep his warmth from entering the liquid. The smile that she got in return earned a weak imitation from her, even though she could see the cracks around it.

“The vamps have been kicking up a fuss so they asked if any free hands could go and help as a few houses had been ransacked.”

Roxi nodded as he shrugged, trying to process that information in her mind. He’d been risking his life to protect everyone. Okay, yeah, that was noble of him and everything, but surely it didn’t take that long to get rid of that threat? And he must have been able to text her saying where he was and that he was okay. Had he not got the panicked texts or voicemails she’d been sending him? Maybe he had and he just didn’t care anymore.

She cuddled up closer to Ethan, feeling completely and utterly defeated. She didn’t want to be here anymore, she wanted to go back to his and curl up in bed and cry. She tightened her arms around Ethan, not able to look at her brother lest she burst into tears. She was glad that she was able to shield them all from each other’s emotions; she knew that neither of the men would have known what to do with her otherwise.

[Ethan Kavanagh]

Ethan was finding it hard to stay on spot when Loki deftly caught the remote and smashed the plate without even thinking about it. His reflexes used to be very, very fast but now that where beyond that. Roxi wasn't throwing with her normal speed either she was using he full strength behind it and Ethan had been fully expecting to be sat picking bits of plate out of Loki's head for the next hour or so. His shoe however did hit and he had to stifle the laugh that nearly came from his chest at the baffled look on Loki's face as it went from the shoe to Roxi's hand and to her outfit.

“First, Ow. Second, Step-ford Roxi... nice rock.”

Ethan knew that Roxi wasn't really thinking right now so she probably missed it. But at that point it was pretty much the old Loki but it seemed so wrong to be coming from the stranger in front of them. He blocked out the rant from Roxi and just sat in his own thoughts whilst he did. He wasn't exactly required in this conversation so he was sat and watching. T did however give him a little bit of an Advantage. He saw the way Loki pretty much tensed up and shut down when Roxi started reeling off the names of people who had been looking for him. At JD's name he visibly flinched but Roxi missed it through her pacing. He knew Roxi was stressed and he was angry and Loki for doing it but a few things where actually starting to fall into place for him right now. Ethan being a cat was generally empathic any way and he was pretty good at noticing small things like that.

If Roxi had been calm he wouldn't doubt the fact she would of seen it too. The feed back of Roxi's emotions that had been rather subdued for the last month however was even starting to stressed him. He was trying to view the situation as an outsider but the emotions he was getting from Roxi was making him flit back to the idea of punching Loki in his face. Something of which in Loki's current state Ethan really did not want to do. He looked lethal right now.

Ethan was very shocked when everything went blank however, Roxi having shielded all of them in the room. He was surprised but pleased at the same time. Happy she had some how made bounds in training her shields and that he could try and view this situation properly. It wasn't that he wanted to side with Loki its just seeing the other man quite lost made him want to get Roxi to calm down a little. Their was obviously more going on here than had already been voiced and Ethan was worried he had all ready screwed the situation up even more by texting JD. Something neither of the two in front of him knew about. He considered texting JD again saying no big deal but he had a feeling that would also be a bad idea... Dammit... this was just really confusing for Ethan.

“The vamps have been kicking up a fuss so they asked if any free hands could go and help as a few houses had been ransacked.”

Ethan knew Loki was trying to find a way to justify what he was doing and had done and that he didn't even seem to believe himself. Roxi just turned into him and buried herself into his chest. He dropped his head to kiss her gently and whispered to her, knowing Loki wouldn't possibly hear what he was saying when he dropped his voice so low but that Roxi would.

“Don't give up sweety, I think there is more going on here than is blatantly obvious. Was pretty much all he could offer her in way of reassurance. He didn't know what yet but he knew there was more. And his claim about the houses being ransacked where true he knew that much, the moon lit court had gone on alert in some area's as well. The courts where starting to shuffle and that was never... ever a good thing for people outside of its confines. He never really spoke about it with Roxi because she never asked and he didn't want her to know how bad some things where getting. It had been why he had got insistent on her learning to defend herself more.

“There has been quite a few attacks of late, the vamps have been on to us aswel.” Ethan just wanted to agree with him hopefully without shedding too much light on the subject. At the moment the commotion was only really known to the high court families, his father was even speaking to the Luce and they where talking back now. His father had been working that for a very long time but they had no interest in the moon lit court. Lachlain finally had found a mate and their where rumours that the leeches had been solidifying their positions as well. None of it was good as the courts when in stalemate tended to tolerate each other. Now they weren't and it really was not a time for his mates brother to be running of recklessly to the front line. Which guessing by his injuries was exactly what he had been doing.

Ethan had been about to move to position them closer to Loki as he hated seeing the man so devastated when the door burst open. Ethan idly wondering where JD had gotten a key from. If it hadn't been for the scent of earth he likely would of lunged to the door when it was flung open. He glance up to JD before indicated with his head towards Loki who just did not look like the Loki they all knew. He really hoped the man could fix this as he had an idea that this was something between the two men.

[/size]

[Jack Daniel]

Jack practically flew out of the bar where he was working, barely stopping to tell his boss that some emergency had come up and he wouldn’t be able to finish his shift. As he was one of two people on the bar that night, the manager had had a fit as he ran past, shouting that if he went, he could forget coming back. Jack just waved over his shoulder, showing that he understood, and weaved through the crowd holding onto his hat.

He barrelled into a cab, completely ignoring the annoyed cries of the humans that had been waiting, and shouted the address at the driver. When asked why he was in such a hurry, he said the first thing that came to his mind: “My wife’s having a baby.”

[/color]

The panicked, sympathetic look on the drivers face showed that he had been in a similar situation before and knew that he had to get him to the drop off as soon as he could. Jack would have felt guilty for the deceit if it weren’t for the fact his mind was in over drive. For Ethan to have text him telling him to get to Kitty’s, something had to be seriously wrong. The fact Kitty hadn’t been in contact with him for a few days had worried him, but in conjunction with this? It was enough to set his heart racing.

Had they found Loki? He thought that Kitty would have let him know if they had, especially as he hadn’t actually gotten around to telling them about the break up. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t, he just didn’t want them to blame him for his disappearance. He knew that that wasn’t why he’d gone, after all he’d been perfectly okay with it, but he doubted whether the cat’s would actually see it that way.

For Ethan to have text him, something had to be wrong. He just hoped it wasn’t anything to do with Loki. He wasn’t sure if he could cope with him being hurt. He really cared for the guy … he refused to think of it as anything more than that. If anything had happened to him, he didn’t know what he would do.

He growled in frustration at not knowing what was going on, and the driver looked in his mirror apologetically. “I’m going as fast as I can, mate. It’s just around the corner now though, you might be better off walk-”

Jack pulled open the door and threw more than enough money through the open window and took the rest of the journey at a run. He had a bad feeling about this, he really did. Something was going to be wrong with Loki. He was going to be told that they’d found him in with the healers and there was little hope, Or worse, they’d found his body.

He got to the door of the apartment building and keyed in the code, having to stop and calm down when he got it wrong twice. Once he’d managed to get it in right, he took the stairs three at a time, not having the patience to wait for the elevator. Why these bloody creatures had to live on the top floor, he had no idea and in any other circumstances he’d have something to say about it, but as it was he just flew up them and rummaged in his bag for his keys.

Yes, he had keys for his ex’s place. Still. Though, to be fair, there hadn’t really been a chance to give them back. Besides, he’d only had them since the day before Loki had gone missing.

He charged through the door at the top of the stairs, surprising himself with the fact he wasn’t out of breath, and slid the key into the lock. He went to turn it but realised he couldn’t. He didn’t want to face what was on the other side of the door. He couldn’t. If Loki had got killed, he’d fell it was his fault. Maybe he hadn’t cared much about them, but he had gone missing the day after they’d split up. He wouldn’t delude himself that there was some connection to the two facts, but he still felt guilty for it.

He ran his hands over his face and took a deep breath before opening the door with a deafening click.

The first thing he saw was Kitty stood in the circle of Ethan’s arms, obviously struggling not to cry. His heart visibly sank and he took another breath to steady himself. He looked up at Ethan as he put his emotions behind a wall and frowned when he nodded to the side.

Following his gaze, he turned to glance at the man sat on the other side of the room. So this was the man that had come to tell them the guy he cared for was dead. He looked so much like him, but the differences where too much for it to be him. He didn’t have that boyish grin that Jack had fallen for, or the meticulous fashion sense that made him laugh.

He looked down and bit his lip to stop from crying as he realised that, yet again, someone he loved had died because of him. Yes, he loved him, and it was only now that he felt he could say it. He hated himself for that. Why hadn’t he just admitted it before, all this could have been different.

He closed the door behind him and looked at the stranger again. If he was in the army, he should recognise him from the years he’d spent with them, but he couldn’t get past the likeness he had to Loki. It was as if his heart was trying to convince him that he was still alive, whilst his brain told him to accept it. He wanted to believe him heart, but ... it just wasn't something that would happen to him.
[/blockquote][/size]

[Loki Andvari]

When Roxi turned away from him and into Ethan's arms he really wanted to just take everything back and drag her out shopping or something. Heck he would even sit with her in water stones for a few hours if it would get the look of hurt of her face. He had missed her like crazy whilst he had been away but he was no good to anyone like this, he was utterly useless to anyone who didn't want something blow up or kill something about now. Roxi was never huge on fighting, it was why he had started to pull out of the forces in the first place. Things had been better on the outside. With people who he loved and cared about.

Well it had been better on the outside. Now everything hurt. Loki wasn't good with pain, he usually tried to avoid situations where it might happen to him. The only pain he really knew was Roxi's which she kept pinned down after telling him her past. He was used to avoiding getting close to people as they usually left him when they worked out that he was quite broken when it came to it. His abilities where wrong which made him wrong... He had just accepted it however. Didn't even blink and have to pretend to like him. It was one thing that had made it worse, he had been perfect to the point where Loki had considered him as more than just a recurring one night stand. Something he had never done nor had experience with. He should of checked his reaction when he gave the other man the key to his house. It could of given him at least an idea of what was going to happen.

Loki idly realised that Ethan was seemingly defending his pathetic excuse. Which was weird. Yes the two where friends but he would of assumed Ethan to take Roxi's side in anything no matter what. The confused look crossed his face as a key clicked into the lock. Everyone who had a key to this apartment was here unless Roxi has started handing them out to people. Something that he highly doubted. Ethan wouldn't of let her for one.

It didn't occur to Loki who the person on the other side of the door could be until it was pushed open and the man who walked in focused his attention Ethan. Apparently not even seeing him. Not that is surprised him really. Why would he see him. He had dropped him as if he had meant nothing after all. It had been a morning, Oh yeah, by the way I don't want to see you any more, bye... kinda deal that had left him useless...

Yet he kept the key?

Loki dropped his head, not wanting to look at him any more, especially seeing as JD wasn't even looking at him anyway. Guess he didn't care about him enough to even look at him now. Nice way to twist the knife in his back. He ran his hand over his face looking completely and utterly defeated and stared at a wall, trying to avoid the look of everyone in the room. He hated feeling like this and he wished for a second that Roxi would lower her shields. Heck if she did that he could trick himself into thinking that this wasn't him and he wasn't feeling this lost, abandoned and generally pathetic.

Before he knew it Loki was suddenly really annoyed, well as annoyed as he could get at this point. He wanted to just get out of here and get back to the vamps so he could kill something. He couldn't stand the fact that Roxi couldn't look at him because of what he had put her through and JD just didn't care enough to pay attention to him at all. Why the hell was he even here. And why on earth had he bothered to keep the key that Loki had given him. He'd either not gotten around to throwing it in the trash yet or he was still coming around here to see Roxi.

His voice was pretty clipped when he spoke as he was trying to keep his voice and face clear of emotions and generally failing at both for a change. It had been easier to be catatonic when he wasn't in the room. Now he just felt awful looking at him.

“Well I see you didn't throw the key out as easily as you did other things.”

He sighed and stood quickly, wanting to make his way to the door so he could get out of here and somewhere else where things where less painful. His body protested at the movement however, reminding him that he was actually in pretty bad shape. His captain had actually sent him home last night after he had been ambushed by a larger group of blood suckers. He'd been injured pretty bad and they where not exactly over flowing with healers at the moment. It was really much, nothing a few bandages and some rest wouldn't fix but he had done neither. He'd pretty much walked home and his body was currently reminding him that he actually had three cracked ribs.

He dropped himself back onto the stool and wrapped his hand around his stomach and bit back the groan threatening to emit itself from his chest. Stupid bloody ribs. Hiss response to it however was a little bit more like the normal Loki, he was flipping between the two sides of his personality so fast he was practically giving himself whiplash by this point. “Ow again. Shoes and now Ribs.. I'm not having a good night over here. Loki still couldn't bring himself to look at JD, it was too difficult and too pain full for him to even attempt such a thing. He did however risk a glance up at Roxi however hoping to find something in her expression that would give him an idea of what he could do to make things up to her if he could. Of course that was if she wanted the broken half man he practically was now.

[/blockquote]

[Roxanne O'Hara]

“Don’t give up sweety. There is more going on here than is blatantly obvious…”

Roxi nodded slightly, keeping it as small a movement as she could so her brother didn’t notice it. She snuggled closer into Ethan’s arms and inhaled his scent, trying her hardest to calm down and stop the flow of tears from creeping down her cheeks. As Ethan started talking about the attacks, she breathed a sigh of relief; this wasn’t a conversation she’d be expected to join in with. Hopefully it’d go on long enough for her to get a grip on herself, which was undoubtedly Ethan’s intent.

She felt his muscles tense slightly as he prepared to move closer to her brother and she loosened her grip on his shirt to make it easier for him. She didn’t want to let go of him fully just yet, but after taking a peek from under her lashes at her brother, she could tell that she wasn’t the only one in need of some form of comfort. He looked devastated.

How exactly Ethan was going to comfort him, she never found out, as the second he went to move, the door burst open.

The talk of attacks on people’s houses having put her on alert, not to mention the stress of what was happening, Roxi immediately went on the defensive. She span around in Ethan’s arms and just managed to stop the hiss from escaping her throat as she realised her mistake.

JD was stood at the door, key in hand, staring at them both. She smiled apologetically at him, hoping that he wouldn’t be too annoyed at her for her having forgotten to text him when Loki had turned up like she had promised to. She was just grateful that Ethan had had the common sense to do it.

When he looked at Loki, however, her smile slipped. He looked straight through him! What was that about? Sure, he looked different, but not that different. He looked like he was seeing a stranger.

“Well I see you didn't throw the key out as easily as you did other things.”

Roxi looked sharply towards Loki, shocked by the bitterness in his voice. Something was definitely going on and it was getting annoying that she was completely in the dark about it, especially when it was obviously affecting the people she cared about. If she didn’t know better, she’d have said that they’d split up, but JD would have told her if they had. And he wouldn’t have been so distressed when he’d gone missing or have rushed here from where ever he was (and it smelled like he’d come from a bar) to see him after getting a text from Ethan saying he was back.

She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, when Loki stood up. She growled at him to stay where he was, there was no way she was letting him out of the house without some form of explanation. When he dropped back to his seat, though, she blinked in surprise. Normally he’d have laughed it off, called her a pussy cat and ruffled her hair.

She watched him wrap his arms around his stomach and wince in pain. “Ow again. Shoes and now Ribs... I'm not having a good night over here.”

Any other time, the Loki flippancy would have earned him a slap, especially when he was so obviously in pain, but now she smiled slightly, glad to see that her brother was slowly making a come back.

She turned to Ethan and ran her hands through her hair, desperately trying to take some control in the situation. “Can you get him some ice and a drink? Ice should help his ribs until we can get Mum here to look at them properly. Drink will help if the ice fails … Oh, and can you get the first aid kit?”

[/color]

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her hands drop from her hair. She picked up her phone and quickly dialled out to her Mum’s phone. It took her a few seconds to remember where to press, but she got there eventually. Why she’d let Ethan give her an iPhone she had no idea; she’d just been amazed by the sparkly apps and games that he had. The next thing she knew, she had her own. She couldn’t even remember when it happened, which she guessed he’d been planning. Kind of like the clothes and computer games. Yes, she was now obsessed with computer games. Loki would have a laughing fit when he found out …

The answer machine clicked on on the other end of the line, signalling that her parents had gone out again. “Hi, it’s Rox. Loki’s home and he’s hurt. I’ve got Ethan to put ice on his ribs and I’m gonna clean up the blood and such, but I thought you’d want to check him over yourself and check over what I do. You know I’m rubbish with this kind of thing. Call me when you get this, much love.”[/color]

She slid the phone into it’s sock (why she had a sock for her phone, she didn’t know … Blame Ethan) and slid that into her pocket. With all the possible distractions over and done with, she turned back to her brother. She threw a look to JD who was still stood by the door, and frowned at the pair of them. “What’s happened? Why did you leave? And tell me the truth this time.”[/color] [/blockquote][/size]

[Ethan Kavanagh]

Ethan was not as surprised at the bitterness coming from Loki as Roxi was. But then he had had the view of an outsider, he could just watch and make his conclusions and it looked as if he had been on the right track. Something had happened between the too men and it must have been the reason why Loki had left. Although the general thing that had put him off this idea had been the fact Jack had said nothing... and had a key.

“Can you get him some ice and a drink? Ice should help his ribs until we can get Mum here to look at them properly. Drink will help if the ice fails … Oh, and can you get the first aid kit?” Ethan nodded and quickly made his way over to the kitchen, grabbing a drink and an ice tray and putting it out of the side net to Loki before disappearing into the bathroom to get his own first aid kit... Even Roxi couldn't beat all of Ethan's OCD tendencies. He was oddly good at fixing people up, having two brothers that thought near constantly would do that to any one.

When he came back Roxi had just gotten off the phone. Ethan made his way over to Loki and gestured for him to look the shirt so he could bind the man's ribs at least. Pulling an Ace bandage out of the kit whilst Roxi was trying to get the phone into the sock. He smiled at that as he found it so cute when she was playing with her new phone. She still didn't quite get everything on it and still seemed baffled when he kept sneaking aps onto it. When Loki looked at him as if he was about to argue all he had to do was tilt his head towards Roxi who seriously looked like a girl on a war path right now. He was going to have to face a Roxi interrogation soon and arguing about being bandaged would make it worse.

He grabbed the bandage and stretched it out a few times as Loki shrugged out of his shirt quite painfully to by the cools of it. He regretted telling Loki to remove the Shirt also a few seconds later when his chest was a myriad of colours. The bruises where enough to even make hi think twice before he quickly moved to Loki. Wanting to get the bandage in place before Roxi killed the elemental...