lucetilogs | (no subject)

Who: Andrew Wells, Jonathan Levinson, Warren Mears
What: The Trio reunited.
When: Afternoon of the 8th
Where: Andrew's apartment.
Summary: Former Friends Face off in Fiendish Frenzy.
Rating: PG
2001, three friends meet and decide to take over their home town over a game of dungeons and dragons. They have fun, finally getting a chance at the things they'd been denied all their lives.

2002, it all goes wrong. Murder. Betrayal. 33.3 percent of that group is flayed alive. The remaining 66.6 flee to Mexico in hopes of surviving.

Haunted by nightmares, they come back.

Fall 2003, one kills the other.

The last surviving member of the Trio joins their mortal enemies and changes all his way.

2005, he has established himself as a confidante and loyal friend of the Good Guys. He's become confident and honest, placed in a position of authority. He's respected. He no longer bends to the will of others and does what it takes to get his job done.

He's a better person.

He's good now.

2011, the three are reunited and nothing is how it should be.

Andrew isn't sure what to do. How to handle it. He's lying to Buffy - no, not lying, he argues even in the middle of panic and thoughtless rushing - he's concealing information from her. It's like the Ragna. He's doing good, he knows he is, but he has to keep it concealed or everything will go to hell.

After talking with Buffy he'd explained the situation to Jonathan on their way back to his apartment. They'd stopped and grabbed clothes, grabbed food, grabbed items - and Andrew had told him the 'sitch'. It had been a rushed explanation, consisting of only the bare minimum of info. He'd kept his tone clipped, business-like, and as British as Mr. Giles would have and felt proud.

And that was it.

"Well, um... this is it."

And into the apartment they went.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was that selective misappropriation of the truth that kept Jonathan quiet, eyes shifting between Warren and Andrew. They really should have spent more time discussing how much they weren't planning on telling Warren, since he's not entirely sure about any of this still.

Couldn't they just stuff Warren in a closet and try not to forget to feed him?

Warren was quiet for a few moments, taking it in. There wasn't much to go on there and that irked him. So much for any semblance of trust he might have had for either one of them. Not that he much cared for Jonathan at all. Warren didn't.

"Is that it?"

Was that all Andrew was going to say? The answer would more or less determine everything for Warren right there.

"... No.".

Andrew looks at them both for a long moment. Hesitating. Then, shoves his hands in his pockets and heaves a tired sigh. No wonder Mr. Giles was always so grumpy.

"I'll tell you more later. After. 'cause, here? The past doesn't matter a whole lot as long as you don't go around being evil." If it came to it, he was willing to grab Warren again and lock him in a room. "It's not important."

But it was. It was and he was lying through his damn teeth.

"Dying's not enough for you?" Jonathan stared incredulously at Warren now. Just how messed up was he, even coming from when he did? How many warning signs had he and Andrew ignored? "What else do you need?"

Wait... Dying? No one said anything about that. Warren looked to Jonathan, with a look of uncertainty and disbelief.

"Thank you for that bit of news..."

He'd thought that part was clear... but he looks at Jonathan, afraid of the same things. Had they really missed every warning sign? Had Warren's insanity really been this bad?

"Yeah," he muttered softly. "You... um. You were dead before Jonathan and I could do anything." Because you had abandoned them and done something so fundamentally stupid he can't wrap his head around it. He doesn't want to talk about it. But talking about it might make it stick... God, he hopes so.

"This is why this has to stop right here."

There wasn't much left to add to Warren's summary, especially considering that anything Jonathan might have to add would probably be considered inflammatory. He gave a short nod to confirm what was said.

Actually it was pretty open ended for Warren to interpret. With the way Jonathan was being uneasy? Oh yeah... There was a lot of tension there. Yet it didn't look like these two were going to divulge any more information and Warren didn't particularly feel like being tag teamed this time around. He didn't, wouldn't, but any faith or trust in either one of them. Part of him expected and accepted this sort of behavior from Jonathan. From Andrew?

No way in hell. He worked hard on that.

But what was done was done for them. That was not the case for him. Whatever the future held for him, Warren Mears, didn't affect him here. Simply put, he didn't care. Him dead? He wasn't likely to believe it. Since these two guys were going to sit there and tell half truths, Warren wasn't sure which parts of this tale were true and which were fabrications made to hold him here. With them. He wondered if he should play along with the whole thing. Act surprised. Be remorseful. Andrew would probably go with it, but Jonathan wouldn't. Jonathan was always the problem, but this time it wasn't entirely the case.

Warren felt like he was backed up into a corner. If not for the fact that he was able to maintain a steady expression, he would have stormed off by now and just left them be. Warren knew he wasn't able to do that yet without raising some sort of alarm. Andrew being all buddy buddy with the Slayer's younger sister meant something. Andrew was more than likely in with them. Any rash moves on his behalf would get back to the Slayer and then there would be repercussions. Warren was not ready to take those sorts of steps without some sort of back up. Without any technology at his disposal and means of obtaining some sort of power to rival the Slayer's... He was stuck and he acknowledged that. This was a very tricky game he was suddenly playing and everyone had a head start on him.

He hated it.

"Yeah... Okay then. No more bad. Got it. Good talk, you guys. Let's do it again sometime..."

It meant he was done. With that said, he was already heading back to that spare bedroom. Let them think that he was just adjusting or dealing or pouting. Whatever. There was no appropriate response to this so Warren would just have to play by ear and wing it for the time being. He was able do this...

He just had to bide his time until he could be rid of them both. Let them get comfortable around him again and then just...

Leave.

"Warren-!" There was a testament to all that hard work. Andrew didn't want this meeting to end on that note - he wanted to focus on working and repairing the shattered friendship. He could look past Warren abandoning him, he could look past Warren lobotomizing Willow, he could even look past that fact that Warren had gone completely mad by his time - but he couldn't handle being walked away from.

Not again.

He'd been careful. No matter what he had said to anyone, the real reason he'd worked so hard to keep Warren quiet was because he wanted the chance to make him change. He thought he knew Warren, he thought he remembered the good in him - but quite honestly, that may have just been wishful thinking. Regardless, Andrew still remembered the leader who had shown him infinite patience and picked him to be his second in command when no one had ever looked at him twice before. He remembered Warren calling him by name and praising him, and, god help him, he remembered feeling so priviledged that Warren was throwing Jonathan - the magic user, the one who really required only a few words to make all the difference - to the wolves and keeping him at his side.

It was easier than remembering the truck ride that night. It was easier to remember Warren as Warren and not the body that Willow had bloodied up the forest with.

But there was Jonathan.

He glanced to his former best friend, caught. Any false move could lose the both of them - not that Jonathan would forgive him. Why would he?

"We... Um... We need to talk about moving out." He's not sure which he's talking to. His gaze had moved to the ceiling by now. "I mean, uh... The last time we lived in a space like this... We, uh, fought, a lot... And the houses here are free, so... We should pick a day for house hunting."

"We'll fight a lot no matter where we're staying," Jonathan grumbled, surly. Warren was finally willing to give them space and evacuate the immediate area, and Andrew was calling him back?

Unity wasn't worth this.

Unity was going to get them all killed. Again.