The People v. Eleanor Warwick
You Have to Wonder

“Can I ask an obvious question?” Marvin inquires of a seemingly empty room.

He stares at the ceiling, partially covered by a sheet. His bare, sweaty chest might have been the thing of romance novels if not for his unimpressively flabby physique.

For the past few minutes, he’d been trying to catch his breath. It proved a tad difficult for him at the best of times.

“No,” Jessie answers as she returns to the room, stepping out of the bathroom in only her Ghosts t-shirt and underwear, a cigarette on her lips.

“No, as in, I can’t ask, or no, as in, you know what I’m going to ask and are saying no to that.”

“We’re not a couple now,” she confirms, releasing a stream of smoke before reaching for her pants.

“So the second one then.” Jessie doesn’t respond. Marvin props himself up in the bed, taking a moment to enjoy watching her bending down to pull her dark jeans up over her hips. “But we can see each other, right? Maybe go to dinner or catch a concert or something.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Cool.” He pauses a moment. “And we can definitely have more sex, right?”

She smiles. “Sure.”

“Oh, good,” he responds, matching her grin. Marvin relaxes as Jessie sits on the edge of her bed to put her shoes on. Drumming his fingers on the mattress, he opens his mouth, just to quickly close it, reconsider, and then open it again. “If we could go back to that first question,”

“Towles.” Cutting him off, Jessie turns and leans toward him. “I like you, okay?”

“Yeah?” he asks, perking up with the smile of a boy who just found out he was going to go to the dance with the keenest girl in school.

The look brought a chuckle from Jessie. “Yeah. Even if you are a fuckin’ dweeb. But don’t push it or try to label it. Whatever this is and wherever it’s going, just relax and let it happen. Okay?”

“Absolutely.” Marvin brushes a few strands of hair out of her face and kisses her lips. “I do have one more question,” he asks, leaning his forehead against her’s. “Did it occur to you at any point during that we were having sex on a bed with your blood on it?”

“Not even once. Looking at it now, it was kind of freaky.”

“And not in a good way.”

“No.”

An impish smirk edges his mouth. “What are some good freaky things you do in bed?”

Standing, Jessie takes a long drag off her cigarette, never taking her eyes off his. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” she finally says, a plume of smoke escaping. “Now I’ll go see if Warwick has any pants that might fit you. Sorry about ripping them. I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t you dare apologize for that.”

The hellblood smiles as she steps out of the bedroom.

The concourse of Kelsey International Airport is a sea of humanity.

Business professionals of every kind bustle about. The pace is maddening, with coattails flapping and luggage carts wobbling, their wheels barely rolling fast enough to keep up.

Coffees fly off counters and magazines fly off racks. Sighs are sighed and grumbles grumbled as flight updates report some to be on schedule or others delayed.

Evelyn Grey has no cause to bustle. The earliest flight to Columbus she could find is boarding soon. She sits motionless on one of the hundreds of rows of uncomfortable seats. Her single carry-on bag in her lap, she turns her ticket over in her hand.

Her new life is going to take some adjusting. Her relationship with her kids will need some work. She’ll have to find a new job. A local one, this time. She and her lawyer will have to make sure Marcus drops his challenge to her parental rights.

It’s a long list, but every step will be worth it. At no point in her career has she questioned her priorities. Running around the country, hunting down crazed wizards and other supernatural threats has never been a lot of fun. Troy and Bianca have always been on her mind. She’s protecting the nation, but more importantly, she’s protecting them.

They no longer need a protector. They need their mother.

When her cell phone chimes, she glances at the ID and sighs. Checking her watch to see how much time she has before boarding, she answers. “Grey.”

“Agent Grey? I’m really sorry to bother you, ma’am, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

Her former right-hand sounds nearly in a panic. Rising, Grey walks away in search of what little privacy she can find in the masses. “Take a breath. What’s the problem?”

“The Stone, ma’am. It’s...it’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

“I mean gone! Just...just gone!”

Pacing back and forth, she keeps any eye on the departure board. “Why are you telling me this? What’s Henderson doing?”

“That’s...uh...part of the situation, ma’am. He’s gone too.”

“What?” she asks, ceasing her march.

“He checked the Stone out from evidence and then he vanished. And the clerk said that...well...”

“Out with it.”

“He said you were with him.”

Her eyes drifting away from the board, she stares straight ahead. “That’s impossible.”

“I know, ma’am. I saw the signature. It’s clearly not yours.”

The phone goes quiet as Grey ponders. Looking enough like her to fool the clerk wouldn’t be that difficult, but deceiving Henderson is no small feat. Deception would definitely be required. Agent Henderson is no traitor. Of that, she is certain.

Magic. It was the only way.

Warwick.

Grey takes a deep breath as her eyes narrow. The agent on the other end of the call grows impatient. “Ma’am? We’d really like to handle this without calling Washington, but no one here has the kind of experience you and Agent Henderson have.”

“Well, the first- .” An announcement quickly cuts off her counsel.

Flight 773, non-stop to Columbus, now boarding.

Blinking, she stares up at the departure board as if she woke from a trance. Looking down at the ticket, still clutched in her hand, she tries her best to ignore the agent in her ear.

“Ma’am? Agent Grey?”

“I...” she starts, unsure as to where she’s headed. Troy and Bianca, she thinks. They’re what matters. “I’m...resigned. You’ll have to deal with this yourself.”

“But ma’am, the Stone could be long gone before- !”

Hanging up, Grey silences her device. Adjusting the bag on her shoulder, she heads for her gate.

“I’ll be home soon, kids,” she muttered under her breath.

Lisa nearly pulls the entire rack down as she clumsily removes her Mistress’ coat.

Eleanor is able to reach out and steady the post before it topples. With a sigh, Penny shakes her head and puts her back to her sub. “Sorry, Mistress,” says Lisa meekly as she slips the garment onto Penny’s arms.

“Just get the car.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Penny fluffed her hair as Lisa scurried out the door. “Well, it’s been a lovely evening.”

“I think we can all agree that you brought all the lovely with you, my dear.” When Eleanor and Penny turn to Henry with critical brows raised, he shrugs and raises his tumbler to his mouth. “I’m tired. That’s the best I can do.”

“It was a valiant attempt, Henry,” Penny assures.

Eleanor pulls Penny in for a hug. “Thanks again for coming. You saved her life.”

“A fact I’ll be sure to point out to her, but you’re welcome. It was a unique experience.”

“Not going to start an army now, are you?” Eleanor asks, only slightly joking.

“We’ll see,” she answers with a smile.

Henry leans in for a peck on the cheek. “Always great to see you.”

“Likewise, of course. See you both soon.” Penny’s exit halts and she turns back to her host. “Eleanor, about those voices.”

“What voices?” Henry asks, shooting his protégé a sidelong glare.

Eleanor grimaces but doesn’t look at him. “Yes?”

“I have a feeling you know what’s causing them. Just be careful around it, all right?”

“I will.”

“Good. Until later.” Taking a step toward the door, Penny again stops herself and turns back to them. “You know, you have to wonder.”

“What?”

“The hellblood requires the sacrifice of something precious. What did Alexander Blackwell sacrifice?”

The room goes quiet. Each wizard ponders the question.

Penny shrugs off her own question. “Oh, well. See you both soon.”

“Good day, dear.” Henry closes the door behind her and immediately spins on the girl. “What voices?”

Eleanor taps her chin, glancing up at her mentor. “What? Oh, nothing. Forget it. What about what Penny just said. The Blackwells had to sacrifice something to create Jessie. What do you think it was?”

Convinced that the voice discussion would have to wait, Henry sighs. “I have no idea. What does a man like that consider precious?”

“Warwick.” The wizards turn their attention to the stairs. Jessie descends halfway. “I need pants.”

Furrowing her brow, Eleanor shakes her head. “I’m not buying you pants, Jessie. That’s what the salary is for.”

“Not for me. For Towles.”

“Jessie. Come now.” The hellblood fixes a nasty glare onto Henry. “You’ve slept with the man twice. At least. I think you can call him Marvin.”

After staring for a moment, she suddenly drops the glare and turns back to Eleanor. “So, Warwick. Pants.”

“Why would I have any pants that fit him?”

“You know. You’re both- .”

“Both what?” Eleanor asks indignantly, self-consciously touching her hips before crossing her arms tightly.

“I’m curious,” Henry interjects with a smirk. “What exactly happened to Marvin’s pants?”

When Eleanor’s cell phone rings, she snatches it up with urgency born of an intense desperation to avoid hearing the rest of the conversation. “I have to take this. Hello?”

“Did you take it?” The voice isn’t so much asking as demanding an answer.

“What? Who is...Agent Grey?”

Flight 773 lifts off from the runway right on schedule. Grey can see it on the other side of her reflection in the airport window. She can see her expression is extremely unpleasant as she holds her phone to her ear. “Answer the question.”

“Did I take what?” Warwick’s voice asks.

“The Stone. Did you take the Stone?”

“No. Why would- you lost the Stone?”

“Who had it? Who did you take it from? What were they going to do with it?” Grey turns away from the window and furiously paces toward the nearest exit.

The mention of the Stone brings Jessie the rest of the way down the stairs. “What about the Stone?”

Eleanor waves her off as she listens to Grey. “Forget it! You guys had your chance! We’ll deal with this!”

“Warwick. I am warning you. Right now, it’s just me. The agency, as you are of course aware, doesn’t care about you anymore. But if the Stone isn’t back in their custody soon, they will come down on you again.”

Eleanor tousles her hair as Henry and Jessie look on. “What’s all this they stuff?”

The former agent is quiet for a moment. “I’m not technically with the agency anymore.”

“I see.”

“We both want the Stone back in their hands. We should work together.”

“Yeah. So I can show up to meet you and be swarmed by cops. Pass.”

“Warwick! Don’t be- !”

Ending the call, Eleanor lowers into a lotus position. Pushing up her glasses, she rubs her sinuses. Cassandra recaptured the Stone. After everything that’s happened. Grey. Beck. A giant snake. Nearly getting her arm blown off. Jessie forced to endure the ritual again.

They’re right back where they started. Crane has the Stone and they have to stop her.

“What the fuck is goin’ on, Warwick?” Jessie asks forcefully.

“I’m rather curious myself, girl,” Henry added.

Without a direct answer, Eleanor rises and picks up her satchel. “Get your jacket, Jessie. There’s something we have to do.”

The hellblood looks her over with suspicion. “What?”

When Eleanor finally looks at her, her eyes are hard. “Finish the job.”

After a moment, Jessie’s hazel orbs flare. Her fists tighten. “Are you going to let me this time?”

Eleanor pauses a moment. She feels sorry for Cassandra. She really does. House Warwick destroyed her life. She can’t imagine the pain and betrayal Cassandra experienced. Cassandra has her sympathy and that bred mercy.

Yet, it’s clear now what has to be done. She’s insane. She won’t stop. And what she did to Jessie was unforgivable. Eleanor can still see the torment and fear in her slowly dying eyes. They have to deal with her in a way in which the hellblood specializes.

Eleanor offers a grim nod.

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