Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay just smirked at Elliott taking it all in his stride. He was taking it remarkably well she thought, considering all the protesting earlier. She noticed John roll his eyes at the whole thing, and she wondered if he hoped for protesting to make the photos funnier of something similar. She didn't pay too much thought to it, just enjoying the show that was going on in front of them all, whilst being in a comfortable position.

Fia put the wigs down, and let Cliff just tie his hair up into a bun, sweeping it all off his face. He definitely had a different vibe about him happening now his face was fully on show. She also thought his bone structure was something to be envied but kept that thought to herself. "Well someone won't need contour!" Fia laughed, and that was all she said on the matter. "Cliff what about softening the front with just a couple of wispy strands to frame his face? Instead of going with a wig?" Fia suggested, going through the motions on her own hair to demonstrate, that she means just along the sides of his hairline, letting just a couple of strands fall out of the style which would frame his face. Again Kay's thought of this being taken seriously by Fia came into her mind, but at the same time she knew Fia was doing this to make him unrecognisable and her heart was in the right place. "But if we go with a wig, I'd say the blonde one because it's the furthest of his current hair colour and will make him look the most different" Fia commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

All the times they'd seen Cal she'd had her hair down, but when it was back, she had the exact same facial structure as Elliott. Cliff couldn't help but compare the two mentally. "Yep, they've both got that insane bone structure, same thing happens when Cal ties her back." Cal nodded at that, pulling hers back to demonstrate the same dramatic effect. She always wore her that way in the forge, one of the many reasons Cliff had spent her afternoons just watching her work. "Our father may be an arsehole, but it can't be denied that he has excellent bone structure. None of you would really know, but the every facial piece except hair and eye shape cane from our father, he has brown hair and his eyes are less sharp at the outermost corner."

Jay meanwhile had taken a photo and held it out to Elliott, finally settling a debate that had been going on for a long time between them. When Elliott tied it up, it wasn't as skilled, and therefore less effective. "Okay, I gotta admit, you win that one." "Finally, it only took a few years." She rolled her eyes fondly as she spoke,before turning to Fia. "The straight blond won't work unless you do the eyebrows too, and even then, it doesn't work the greatest with natural Devra eye colour. Blond is actual a rare enough hair colour on Attil for that reason. You'd have to go for a more tawny brown-blond colour to get it to work." Jay knew what she was talking about, her years of training, cultural assimilation and observational skills coming through.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia (along with others) listened to what Cliff said about the whole bone structure thing and how Cal was exactly the same. She looked over at Cal when she demonstrated and she couldn't deny they were indeed correct about the whole thing. "At least he was good for something then" Fia remarked. She then looked across at Jay when she explained the whole blonde situation and the Devra. She took it on board and looked amongst the wigs. "What about this one? Brown ash blonde but with more brown?" She suggested, holding up the wig in question.

When the topic of colours came up, Kay paid attention, she couldn't help it as it set off her artistic brain. "That'd be easy to darken with various eyeshadows if it came to it to lengthen the darker roots down..just saying. And creating depth to his eyebrows wouldn't be difficult either to make it work with the hair and his eye colour" Kay commented. Fia listened and it was obvious to her that she had picked up techniques from Sam as it was Sam who was the more girlier one of the two of them, even in her time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Nobody said anything to opose Fia's comment, they were all thinking the same thing. Elliot, Cal and Cliff were the only ones who had actually seen him, but everybody else had heard enough about him to agree. At that point Rinaa re-entered the room, her face having regained the colour it had lost during the glitch. Her hairstyle hadn't changed much, but she'd rid herself if the long bangs and parted it asymmetrically, a blank canvas for proper work later. She did a double take at the hair transformation, having never had the opportunity to see such a thing in her timeline. Rinaa may have had Jay's narrow face, but she had the same cheekbones as Elliott and Cal. "Well Hells, that is something." She muttered, before leaning over the chair, listening to the discussion, but not inputting.

The three considered Kay and Fia's suggestions, working out the feasibility in their heads. Jay was the first to voice her judgement. "Both of those work" She replied with a nod, leaning forwards to get a better angle,and turning Elliott's head to get a better view of his eyebrows. "I'll do the eyebrows when I'm doing the black eye and... yup, there's still some brushing under the eyebrow that'll need particular attention." When she said that, Elliott instantly went to check, it wasn't that he didn't believe her, its that he hadn't noticed it himself. It was another thing to credit to Jay's observational skills and showed just how much detail she knew about Elliott's face Chas realised. "You're right. There is some bruising." As he spoke, Cliff shook out the wig, and put it on him, adjusting the position until it sat right.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay looked up when Rinaa reappeared looking slightly healthier than before and saw how she had started with her hair but not much for the time being. She watched on as Jay confirmed the ideas would indeed work, noting her observation skills about the remaining bruising of his black eye.

Fia handed Cliff the wig so she could shake it out and put it on him, readjusting it as required and she thought it surprisingly suited Elliott. "So..how we going with this? El natural or full on?" She asked, pulling out some of the make up brushes and eyeshadows and liners and such onto the table. She figured they'd be removing all make up and such before sending him back to the cell in the evening anyway, but she was still curious to what they wanted to do. As for the wig, she did wonder about putting in some braids to pull it back off his face and make he hairline look more natural.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I'd say we do full-on ridiculous first for the blackmail photos and profile pictures for dares. Then wipe it all off, and let Jay get rid of that black eye and do the rest of the proper disguise make-up and show us all up." Cal replied. It had been agreed while out that Jay would do the official disguise for going out, she had the skills to disguise the black eye and add any other realistic differences. "Sounds like a plan to me." Jay agreed sitting back in the chair again. "Not saying you people can't disguise a black eye, but I was specifically taught how to do it flawlessly." Neither Cal nor Cliff had taken offense at that earlier, and didn't this time either. It was a simple fact that the trained assassin would know what she was doing, not to mention that she had her own motivations for keeping Elliott unrecognisable and safe.

Cal put the more realistic products to one side, and pulled out the hideous stuff, John smirking at the sheer array of awful colours and textures available. To him it all looked the same, various gunky things, some even going as far as to have glitter in them. "Rather you than me Ell." "Oh sure, we all know there's photos of you with make applied while you were drunk somewhere." Elliott snarked back, as the three began to work.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia loved that idea and went with it. She knew the other three were taking more of a lead but she still made sure she was a part of it, even if it ended up just handing things over or giving ideas. She was also okay with Jay taking over with covering the black eye, knowing even from her time that Kay was the best person to deal with it. In her time if she couldn't help from anywhere else with covering up bruises, she'd always give Jay a call asking if she could pop over to get some help, knowing it'd be on a no questions asked situation.

When the outlandish pallettes came out, she grinned. Oh she DEFINITELY wanted to use the glitter colours, there was no doubt about that. "We have to use the green glitter colour!" She suggested, which Kay laughed at. Both Fia and Kay smirked at John's little comment and laughed at Elliott's retort back at him. "Afraid he's got you there John, we all know even if we all haven't seen them, that there's pics of you looking just as bad somewhere" Kay smirked. Seeing how much of a prankster Fia clearly was as well, she didn't doubt for a second that a lot would have happened in her time of Fia drawing who knows what on him when he was asleep. Fia smirked knowing she was he main culprit of a lot in her time but she remained silent on that one.

Kay watched on with everyone else being highly amused by what was coming out of this little creative session between them all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas nodded, he didn't have pictures of everything, but with Elliott's ability, a photo wasn't strictly necessary to show John making an arse of himself. "That really goes without saying,even for the fact that I've been alive longer." "More time to do stupid crap he means." Chas smirked as John cheerily flipped him off. "You only live once, so you might as well have some fun along the way." Rinaa remarked from her position over the back of Jay's chair. She (and Leah) were always big on trying something at least once just to see. And with Rinaa being so close to death it made her more willing to take risks, such as disobeying almost everybody and travelling to the past. "Can't argue with that."

The second reason Jay had taken the job was the elephant in the room of Elliott's scar. A regular cover-up wouldn't do as it would still leave a tell tale ridge of skin emphasising something wasn't quite right. It had been a deep cut, any deeper, and Elliott risked going partially or completly blind in that eye. Cal didn't know whether scar would have Ben better or worse if she hadn't rugby tackled her father while he was holding the sword, and didn't want to dwell on it either. Instead she engrossed herself in making an absolute fool of her brother, ending up deciding to do two different versions. One was full on drag, while the other was a skillful application of the most ridiculous things, including giant ears and a hot pink dreadlocked wig.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked at Chas chiming in and naturally getting the middle finger in the process. She was far too used to this type of banter from the two men at this stage that if John didn't react in such a manner, she would have been surprised. Glancing over at Rinaa when she said about only living once she couldn't help but continue smirking. Sure, if she was taken down with iron she'd be proper dead, but on the whole she didn't just live once. She lived numerous times, and for who knows how long technically and as a lot of this group witnessed, she does truly did if she gets attacked, before coming back to life, and no speedster magic potion would work on her like it did with Rinaa.

"Speak for yourself" Fia chimed in not looking at Rinaa and her tone was malicious I any way, just a little sassy and it was obvious that she too was smirking at the 'only live once' comment as she spoke. She never would have said anything due to the timeline situation, but she had witnessed her mother die once and died once herself before coming back, making it one of the scariest things she's ever witnessed. The smell of burning flesh and ash that night was something that she never could forget, no matter how much she wished she could. She remembered vividly freaking out and screaming, whilst trying so hard to get out of John's arms as he tried to explain Kay would indeed come back. It didn't take away any of the hurt that was being experienced though.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas didn't make any comment either, but his immortality worked differently to theirs. For a start there was a limit to the number of lives he had. And when he died he felt it happen, then was suspended in a void of utter blackness while his body slowly reformed. For major injuries like the carrion crow attack where Kay had witnessed him being ripped to shreds, it had taken a good few hours to reform, the longest time being twelve and half hours. Smaller fatal traumas and injuries like bullet wounds usually took less than an hour. Rinaa hadn't inherited her mother's healing factor, which even then, was a very slow process for Jay, and incapable of bringing her back to life. Rinaa had been brought back to life by defibrillation nd more recently the speedster lightning. She'd discharged it fully the night before, flinging it out into space.

If Fia had made that comment a day or two earlier, Rinaa would have straight up knocked her block off with a particularly fury laden left hook, or a kick that would break her nose. Due to never being around the Fia in her own timeline very much, Rinaa had never had a chance to find out if such an insult would be coming her way or not. Instead she bore it well and shrugged "Ya well, it's less fun to go high speed racing without that thrill of mortal danger. Really gets the adrenaline going." "Probably shouldn't be agreeing with that, but I do." There was a hint of Jay's classic 'If you have a problem with that, fight me' attitude which made her pretty formidable as a fighter, a friend and a parent. She was not one to cross, even years ahead in the future.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay should have guessed that Fia would have made such a remark, and it did leave her on tender hooks incase Rinaa took it badly and went to hit Fia for it. She really didn't want to have to pull two teenagers apart, but luckily Rinaa took it in her stride which made Kay sigh with relief. She really hoped that Fia would now drop the topic at hand so not to risk anything.

"True, you have a point but I still get that adrenaline rush too over things. Just because I and mum for example can come back from the dead, don't mean we don't care if we do die. It hurts like a bitch and not to mention stiiiiinks!" Fia explained which made Kay roll her eyes and sink down into the couch. "Fia drop it please" she requested, but there was a hint of motherly tone in her voice. "I'm just saying" Fia said switch a shrug. "Don't, I know you both have points but I remember what it was like to die and come back engulfed in fire and ash. I don't want to be nauseous again" Kay replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa knew it hurt immensely, she'd been through it herself. And as Fia had seen the night before, it was proceeded by violent seizures, bleeding and liqufication of some vital organ or another. It had been a minor miracle that she hadn't damaged the carpet the night before.
"Dying hurts like hell either way, be it through birth ability, John's drunken spell casting or" Chas wasn't even sure how to begin describing what Rinaa was going through, but she filled in the words, without a hint of malice or annoyance "being bitten by a genetically modified, hyperintelligent space wolf that causes your entire genetic sequence to rewrite itself?" Chas nodded, finishing his snetnce and effectively closing down that line of conversation. "So regardless of the mechanism, it still hurts."

With that line of conversation shit down, attention turned back to Elliott and his ridiculous make-up job. He'd posed for photos in various ridiculous ways, figuring he might as well do a John and own his stupidity, or select it as his new profile picture. "Finished making me look so ridiculous I'd get arrested and flung into prison again within two seconds of stepping outside?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was glad that Chas was just shutting the conversation down once and for all, even with Rinaa's added explanation how how she ended dying and coming back to life. She was just done with the topic and for her it was a sore subject. She knew she wasn't the only one who would find death a sore subject for one reason or another, but none of the others in the room had a baby brewing inside of them that made them find anything and everything nauseating. So when the topic got shut down she was very very thankful for it, even if it wasn't for her benefit.

Having the attention turn back to Elliott and his now utterly ridiculous appearance, she found herself smiling and laughing once more. Like the others, she gladly took photos of him and kept the best ones on her phone, whilst deleting the ones that came out blurry or not quite right. "you're certainly a sight to behold Ell that's for sure" she chuckled.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It's an improvement that's for sure" John smirked, not letting such an opportunity go to waste, which led to a hard dig in the side from Elliott. Everybody in the apartment took photos of Elliott, including Elliott himself (who took some selfies with the others who were willing to get in and pull faces to distract slightly from his ridiculous from his 'beautification'. Even Rinaa took a few, laughing with the others for once, and volunteering to take the group photo. In her mind it made sense to not be in any of them. Timeline continuity was fucked enough as it was, and she didn't know if photos would do that Back to The Future thing and erase her from them when the timeline changed.

With that taken care of Elliott removed the majority of the make up, with Cal taking care of the finer details, before passing her brother over to the assassin, an action she never thought she would do willinglh in her life. Yet here she was doing just that, and having complete faith that said assassin would take care of him. "He's in your hands now Jay." "No pressure then." She replied, meaning the exact opposite. It was on her to make sure the disguise was sufficient to fool any people or security tech they could come up against. Elliott stayed seated on the table, while Jay began work, first carefully and methodically covering up all remains of the black eye, before moving onto the scar. Her face was scrunched in concentration as she carefully worked, the scar slowly vanishing under her brush, the make up blending seamlessly with his skin.

 

[MzHyde]

Just like everyone else had done, she too took photos with Elliott for the laughs and joined in on the group photos that Rinaa took for them all. She may have come across as 'the mature one' for a lot of the time, but she did have her moments of being stupid in photos and selfies, even if the photos she had once shown John of her and Sam said differently. It was rare for her to fully let go in photos like this, so when she did, she oozed a completely different personality. Just like she had when she took the selfie on John's phone of the two of them that she sent herself.

She sat back down when Jay then took over to do his disguise properly and make him look different but normal. Even in the beginning stages she could see how different he'd look once the scar was expertly covered. Jay had serious make up talent which Kay would never have pegged for her at all. Fia was minding her own business now after the slight scolding from Kay earlier on. She didn't want to risk saying anything else that would potentially get her into trouble or upset someone, especially as it was seeming to Fia that Kay was getting to the stage of the excelerated pregnancy where the mood swings and emotional moments would come into play. A stage that Kay was not looking forward to or single bit.she hated that only after days she was already showing, so the realisation of reaching the mood swing stage earlier than a normal human was highly hated.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Make-up was one of Jay's lesser known talents. Her assassin training had encompassed many varied areas outside of the regular fighting, fitness and breaking and entering skills. That was why she'd always encouraged Rinaa, Leah, and on rarer occasions Fia to learn any kind of skills they had even the slightest interest in. Part of the Isogrii mandate was that they never knew what exactly they'd be coming up against so her years of training had turned Jay and her fellow trainees in to jacks of all trades. A joke that had been overused on her brother. Elliott just sat still and let Jay work away, covering up the two most obvious features first. He wouldn't have admitted it to any of the others, but he was quite enjoying the experience of Jay working on him.

Without the scar, Elliott looked vastly different, it had been a part of him for so long, only Cal and Cliff having ever seen him without it. With the scar gone it reminded Cal of the times she had Elliott would screw around with one of those photo manipulators that let you see what you'd potentially look like as an adult, a baby or a crotchety old person. Even Jay could see the difference that removing one feature made. When people looking at Elliott, their eyes were generally drawn to his scar, but with it gone, his eyes and cheekbones became the features of his face. She muttered to something to Elliott in her native language, which made him raise an eyebrow and redden slightly. "Really?" "Yes." As a general rule the simpler the alterations made the better, and here was no exception. With the wig styled, the eyebrows modified, the black eye and scar gone, Elliott looked dramatically different.

Spoiler: A random pic I found, which kinda looks like modified Elliott

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was surprised, just the majority of the others at how different Elliott looked without his scar and black eye. She remembered thinking Elliott was an insanely attractive twenty something when she first met him, but now it was like that was amplified. She didn't see him in any other way as a sort of son figure though. Fia was also shocked that there was so much to Elliott with the scar gone. "Jay you seriously know your stuff! Who woulda thought my brother was good looking" She quipped as a joke, smirking. In her time, they made jokes about each other all the time like that, so it seemed like nothing new to her. She distinctly remembered one time when Elliott called her a gaunty squirt once because of how slim she was and back then short in comparison to him.

Kay just chuckled at the comment, it reminding her of her days of roasting her sister. It also resembled how John could snipe at either Elliott or Chas. It did make her wonder from the general playful tone Fia used if this was a regular thing between the two of them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay just shrugged like it was no big deal, but she was emanating a quiet satisfaction like that of a cat who had found a particularly warm and cosy spot in the closer. And everybody could see it. "Some advice, never underestimate this one." There was a pride and a steel in her voice. She and Leah had nothing but respect and love for their mother, this being the first time she had actually shown it, knowing that it would be a rocky journey of acceptance. Leah had no favourites among her parents, both having helped her develop in different aspects and supported her in different ways. Rinaa had grown up with the same amount of affection and support from Jay in her timeline, but there was a still a hole left by the absence of a father. In a way that was why she had been bitter with Fia who always had something she never could--two parents. "There is far more to her than meet the eye." Rinaa was the one least phased by the lack of scar, having known Elliott for the lest amount of time. But she couldn't deny that he looked like an utterly different person.

"She's got a point, take a look, it's crazy different." John had seen Elliott grow up, and had known he had a sort of grungy good looks to him, but to see such a transformation shocked him. "Trish would say 'I told you so', she always complains that you should show yourself off more, never knew what she meant until now." Elliott looked at himself and did a double take. "Bloody hells, it's like looking in one of those weird photo things that were really popular when I was in C5." He was genuinely shocked by the transformation, moving his head around, trying to reconcile the figure in the mirror with the mental image of himself. He'd also slipped partially back into his old Attil accent out of shock. "And to answer that question Fia, both the twins had a thing for him, at the same time." Jay smirked, throwing Elliott under the bus, even if Fia didn't know the twins, John, Kay and Chas did.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia would never underestimate Jay, or any of the group she knew through her family. The tone in Rinaa's voice was noted by Fia, "never have underestimated her before so I'm not gonna start now" she replied to her after she said about there being more than meets the eye with Jay. She hadn't spent the same amount of time with Jay in her timeline as Leah, but she still had spent enough time with her to know Jay is not one to think little of.

Kay smiled over Elliott's reation to his transformation, happy for him that he was happy with it and not hating it. The moment Jay said about the twins having a thing for Elliott, Kay knew exactly who she meant, yet seeing Fia's confused facial expression, she clearly didn't. "I'll let one of those two explain who the twins are" Kay explained.

(Warning now, I'm working tomorrow so won't be able to reply until the evening tomorrow)

 

[_gallifrog_]

Neiethr Rinaa nor Jay responded to Fia's remark, but there was a definite atmosphere of an unspoken and curt 'good you do that' emanating from both of them. The remark had been pointed specifically at Fia, but it served as a general warning for everybody. Jay may be amenable and pleasant (by her usual standards) right now, but she was a trained assassin, and it wasn't worth life nor limb to get on her wrong side. But even then, they all knew there would always be something that Jay could do that would surprise them. She gave Elliott's new face and hair a once-over before nodding with satisfaction. "That's that done, and dusting off the old accent will emphasise the disguise." She knew Elliott had only lapsed into his old accent out of shock, as he did the same thing back on Earth. He also regained the accent when talking Attili.

John and Chas both raised eyebrows at Jay's remark. "When was this a thing? You've never mentioned that before." "You never asked." Elliott shrugged, honesty was the best defense in this case. "And it was three and half or so years ago. The team was the twins, Toby, Kane and me. Scott was around, but wasn't an official member as such, he just came and crashed on the couch and helped me expand my network of Downworld and Darkworld contacts. And Jay's ship hadn't crashed yet, so she wasn't around. And through some stroke of twin genius or hormones or whatever, they both ended up with a thing for me. But it died out, A.J discovered Scott and Saoirse came out as asexual. Its not as much of a story as it sounds."

Jay pulled up a photo on her phone and passed it over, it was A. J's gang on one of their chaotic video game nights. The camera had been on a timer. The couch wasn't enough to fit everybody, so Toby was gripping a ceiling bar with her finger-like toes, her dreadlocks dangling downwards. Hanging next to her was Kane, his blond hair accompanied by hysterical laughter. He was just about recognisable as the future founder of one of the best chains of globally cooperative R&D labs in the world. Leaning over the back of the couch were Elliott (with dark green ends) and Jay (with a much shorter, angular haircut), who were engaged in not only a match of highly competitive Mario Kart with the others, but a 'kicking the other person in the shins to distract them' competition. On one armrest was Scott, the vampire managing to look elegant while smirking. His fangs were on view as if to dissuade any doubt he was a vampire. Then came the three red heads- A.J, Saoirse and their older brother Máirtín. "Those two are the twins the other red head is their long suffering older brother."

(okay, thanks for the heads up!)

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't need either of them to say anything, their looks and general aura they were throwing her way said it all, and it honestly made her feel incredibly small. She just wanted to get on with everyone and didn't think she said anything wrong, but like in her timeline, a single responsive look made her feel like she had done wrong. So she just went quiet. When the topic went back to about the twins both having a thing for Elliott, Fia just listened to the story that Elliott told.

She didn't think for a while that Jay wanted her input in the conversation but when the photo got showed and the twins pointed out to her, she looked at it and smiled at the group shot. They were certainly an interesting lot in Fia's eyes and looked like they all got on well. She wished she knew them in her time, but didn't say anything about it. She put it down to future Elliott and Jay having a darn good reason for not letting her meet them, just like with everything in her life. Though yet again the whole having friends topic did make her equally sad, she just decided to hide it from everyone in the room. Kay noticed how quiet Fia had gone all of a sudden compared to earlier but made no comment, she figured she'd talk to Fia if they stayed behind from Elliott's walk down memory lane later on.

 

[_gallifrog_]

In Rinaa's timeline Jay ended up far closer to A.J's crew than she did to those who were technically extended family. More often than not it was because of them that she returned back to Earth. They hadn't move entirley away from their illicit night time vigilanting activities. It was the same in both timelines. The twins (and brother) still owned the restraunt, but the underground base had been converted into one of many bolt holes used by the city's expansive vigilante network. Scott worked with Downworlders and had acquired his own crew of outcast vampires, werewolves and the like. Toby ran a dojo and parkour centre, her outgoing personality and circus skills meant this job suited her right down to the ground. Kane ran his tech business (though empire may be appropriate, he had long since surpassed his father). Kane R&D had a public collaboration with STAR Labs and a secret off the books collaboration with the staff of STAR Labs facility 53 who were one of the nodal points of the vigilante network.

"Obviously I can't say much about what they all do in the future, but they all succeed at it. And Kane's company overtakes his father's within five or six years of him setting up." Rinaa explained, only detailing Kane's life as he had been wanting to one up his father for years. "Good on him, always knew he could do it." Elliott was genuinely happy for his friend, Kane was a solid, trustworthy guy who knew his tech and always had his back when out vigilanting. "What is the deal with Kane and his father anyway?" Chas inquired, now seeming like a good moment to ask. "Well you know Toby is Kane's half sister?" Chas nodded. "The parent they share is Kane Sr, he may look like a respectable businessman, but his companies are fronts for drugs, human trafficking, the lot. Nasty man, practically a mafia boss. He had an affair with a circus acrobat while Kane's mother was pregnant with him. He didn't find out about the illegitimate child of Toby until she was sixteen." "He wanted nothing to do with this "circus freak" " Elliott made an air quotes gesture. Only Kane's father saw Toby as a freak, the rest thought she was crazy and amazing. "So he hired somebody to get rid of Toby. And to do it before Kane found out about her."

 

[MzHyde]

Hearing that Kane does particularly well in the future even made Kay happy and proud of him. She remembered that first movie night in when Kane was told to watch over her whilst John and Chas went on their annual demon hunting night. She got on with Kane well and had a good laugh with him, remembering that she got the impression he wanted to talk to her about stuff, but just couldn't bring himself to do it, because of other people finding out. With Chas asking what the deal with was with Kane's dad, she got curious too, as it was his dad that was the reason for some of the reluctance bro talk to her.

Hearing it all, it was no wonder to Kay why Kane just said it was complicated when it came to his father. The guy sounded like the a total asshole of the highest (or lowest depending on which way you looked at it) degree. The idea of that a parent would just brush off a child always angered Kay, but it was felt worse now as she was becoming a parent. "But Kane obviously found out about her. If your group is anything to go by" She remarked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There seemed to be a recurring theme of family problems in A.J's crew Chas was beginning to realise. Jay and her brother, Elliott and his father and now Toby, Kane and their father. And it seemed that the twins family was also out of the picture too. Chas would guess that the eldest brother Martín played some role in raising the twins. "Sounds like a right bastard." "And somebody who could be improved with a punch in the face." "Oh he is both of those things. Kane's never really gotten along with him. He took a leaf out of Cal's book- took a load of money and moved out as soon as he got a place in uni." "Excellent strategy, I commend him on that." Cal found a strange reassurance in knowing she wasn't the only one to have robbed her parents and moved out. "But he pretended to stay close to his father, though in reality he hates his gut. But by staying close he is trying to find a way to take the organisation down from the inside."

"And that's where Toby enters this story. Her mother was a smart woman, with access to a whole network of circus folk connections. She had long suspected that Kane's father would come after her or her daughter or both. So when he did, they were prepared. The plan was for Toby to flee to London and assume a new identity. If she wished, she could return to the troupe when it blew over, but her mother also knew that Toby might want to stay in London and live a normal(ish), hopefully uninterrupted life. She enrolled in a piloting course for small stunt planes, totally Toby." Elliott smirked. "Meanwhile Kane discovered the paper trail proving Toby's existance, and the paper trail stating that the hit had been unsuccessful. He made contact, it was rocky and filled with suspicion, Toby suspecting Kane of being a ploy. He does fulfil the loyal son brief. But they both figured out how badly they'd both been screwed over and thus the dynamic duo was born." Toby had always been Jay's favourite. The dreadlocked girl had spunk and skills, and really dint give two fucks about Jay's past or heritage, unlike the rest of them.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't need to voice her opinion on Kane's father for them all to know where hoped Chas and John's opinions. It showed on her face clear as day so when Elliott said about him doing what Cal did, it did make her smirk proudly of Kane, even if he wasn't there to see it. She continued to listen to what Elliott and Jay both explained on what Kane and Toby's meeting. It was clear to Kay from Jay's tone that Kay liked Toby a lot and seemed to favour her out of their group the most.

"Well they certainly seem close from the brief time we've met them, and like great people. I certainly got on with Kane that one time and if Toby wants to continue being a taste tester for those cakes I bake, she's alright by me" she commented with a smile and alight chuckle, remembering when she took nearly the whole chocolate and strawberry cake she made primarily for Elliott as a cheer up that one time.