Chapter 10

Jack stares at Fiore as they eat their leftover sandwiches from Firehouse for breakfast, trying to judge just how alright she really is after the whole fiasco yesterday. After he swallows the mouthful of food he was chewing, he asks "You feeling better than last night?"

Fiore nods, running a hand through her hair, and says "Some, yes. Thank you." The sleep itself was the best she's slept in literal years, and she woke up feeling completely safe for the first time she can remember since being brought to Dakkar.

That only made everything that hit her when she really woke up all the worse.

Jack raises an eyebrow at her silently, because she certainly doesn't look much better. She looks like she's regretting all her life choices, actually. After a moment, he puts the rest of his sandwich on his leg and says "Hey, Fiore, look at me, please?" When she finally looks at him, he asks "Something happen while I was out cold?"

Fiore nods, then says "I woke up early, had time to think..." And she's come to the conclusion that people who don't think are much happier with their lives. Because 'thinking' apparently leads to 'self-loathing' over what seemed like not-unreasonable actions when they were made.

Jack nods his head, and asks "Alright...and?"

"And...you saved my life, even when you had no reason to." Jack opens his mouth to protest, and she says "One of the first things I said to you after we escaped Mythos was that I'd break your hand if you touched me. And the look on your face when I said my eighteenth birthday wasn't your business said I was using my powers even if I hadn't meant to." She gives him a pointed look, and adds "Not exactly the best way to start a road trip."

Jack runs a hand through his hair, and says "Maybe not, but considering the detail that you saved me from a Vampire and two thuggish Werewolves, along with whatever else was in that club, I'm not about to start complaining when you didn't actually do anything to me!" Heck, if the roles were switched, he'd have done the same. Might've been worse, even!

Fiore blinks at him, surprise written all over her face, and asks "D-Do you even hear yourself?! Jack, you had no idea what you were asking about, me flying off the handle like I probably did-"

Seeing a way to hopefully solve Fiore's guilt, Jack quickly says "So tell me."

Fiore blinks at him, asking "What?!"

"So tell me what I was asking about. Something to do with what Antonino said in Mythos, right? You…he said Fae bond with one person?"

Fiore nods, running a hand through her hair and glaring at the wall for a moment, and says "Yeah, that's what I've always been told, anyway. A Fae chooses someone to Bond with…and guess just how they do it."

There's only one thing that springs to Jack's mind, given everything he knows about Fiore, and Jack's jaw drops open in shock. "You've gotta…it can't be a choice?! There's no…I don't know, ritual or phrase, or…or…"

Fiore shrugs helplessly, saying "I don't know, I was stolen away when I was four. Dakkar doesn't have any Fae, and the Succubi he has wouldn't know anything about the Fae anyway. And, besides," her gaze turns dark for a moment, "even if they did, I doubt they would've been allowed to tell me even if they wanted to." She was always told that a Fae chooses to Bond with someone when they sleep with them...and a 'Bus physically needs to do exactly that to survive.

Starting on their eighteenth birthday when they come of age and into their full powers.

Jack swallows, and says "And…your birthday is in a week…five days, now. What happens then?"

Fiore sighs, then says "When a Succubus or Incubus comes of age on their eighteenth birthday, they come into their full powers, however many those are - complete with all the quirks of being a 'Bus. One of those quirks is an all-consuming need that won't go away until it's been sated. I'll lose myself in it, my Allure will go completely out-of-control, and I'll Bond to whoever's around me at the time."

Jack gets a horrified look on his face, and breathes out "Unless they're not affected by it."

Fiore nods, scrubbing at her eyes to fight off the urge to cry yet again, and says "I'm backed into a corner, far as I know. I don't want to Bond to someone who'll just control my every moment and use me as a piece of arm-candy whenever they want, or who'll lose themselves completely whenever I'm around them. But I'll be forced to Bond with someone the instant I completely lose control and give in to my Succubus heritage." And she couldn't exactly just tell some random stranger any of that, even if she could control her Allure. 'Oh, by the way, I'm going to be a walking bottle of lust and sexual need in a week, please don't take advantage of that and tie me to you irreversibly!' Most people wouldn't hesitate to do exactly that, she doesn't need her time with Antonino to know that much.

She buries her face in her hands, and Jack says "I...alright, I don't get it. I'm not even going to pretend I understand what that's like. It would probably just get you more upset anyway." Fiore lets out a despairing chuckle and looks up at him, which Jack takes as a good sign. "What I am going to say is that I'll help anyway I can. Even if it's just a shoulder to cry on or a good hug or something."

Fiore sniffles, then wipes at her face and quietly says "Thank you…nobody's ever offered as much. Ever." And…she doesn't have a clue what else to say to it, which must be painfully obvious to Jack.

After a moment spent looking at her hands, fighting back tears like she's done for the past two months ever since Antonino started bringing up the topic in earnest, she feels herself get cocooned in strong arms and heat like a warm oven. "Jack? What are you…?"

Jack adjusts his hold on her slightly, and says "You looked like you could use a hug." And that's what breaks Fiore, getting hugged for no other reason than looking like she needs one when she's never been hugged before as far as she can remember bar one hazy memory. She clutches at Jack's shoulders, burying her face in his sweatshirt as the tears start running down her face and her body shakes from the crying.

After around ten minutes, she pulls back and wipes at her face, saying "I'm so pathetic…"

Jack shakes his head, saying "That's Antonino and Dakkar talking, Fiore. How long have you been bottling this up?"

Fiore shrugs, and says "Ever since Antonino started bringing the date up, so…two months? Maybe more."

"Most people would've had a breakdown at about two weeks. The fact that you've kept it together for this long, long enough to come up with an escape plan and take it, is mind-blowing, alright?"

Fiore nods, and Jack helps her to her feet while saying "C'mon, lets get going. We're burning daylight, and all."

Fiore nods, and says "I'll drive for a bit, if you want."

"Any particular destination in mind? Because 'Washington State' is a pretty big area." He's not going to say they've only got five days, now, to find Drayce and convince him to help them...but still. They've only got about four days left before Antonino gets desperate enough to track her down himself, if he hasn't gotten too impatient to wait for results and set out already.

Fiore nods, and says "I might not have a pin-point location for your father, but I overheard talk about a city of Elves near Mt. Rainier National Park. They might have more information…assuming they're willing to share it, that is."

Jack asks "Oh? All the stories about stuck-up elves who look down on humans have some truth to them after all?"

Fiore nods, saying "One was brought to Mythos once, when I was fourteen. I've never seen anyone insult Antonino so blatantly before, looking down their nose at him and calling him a spoiled brat of a blood-sucker." They get into the front seats, and drive off onto the highway after using the bathroom and Fiore washes her face.

Jack stares out the windshield, having switched with Fiore about ten minutes ago, and asks "Where do you think a dragon would go, anyway? Somewhere remote, but…accessible if he was trying to keep the attention off of Mom and I."

Fiore hums, saying "Somewhere the humans wouldn't find suspicious if there was a lot of heat and fire, for one."

"A volcano, maybe?"

Fiore frowns, then says "Perhaps. It would make the most sense to go somewhere like that. Somewhere with a big area to hunt in, to."

Jack tries to think of somewhere that fits the description, then asks "Like…the Mount Rainier National Park itself? It's supposed to be massive, from what Taylor was saying." She was talking about maybe going for a hike there, seeing as Oregon Health and Science University is only about three miles from the place.

Fiore hums, then asks "How massive are we talking?"

"Over two-hundred thousand acres. Sounds like there's enough space for even a dragon to find some-place to hide."

After a moment, Fiore whistles and says "No wonder the Elves live near it - Elves are always depicted in forests for a reason. They value nature, second only to the Fae if the few times I've heard Dakkar muttering about 'tree-hugging desserts' was anything to go by."

Jack processes that for a moment, then says "Okay…Elf-city it is. Do we have a name?"

"What's the closest city or town to the park?"

"Erm…some place called Yakima, I think. 'Bout an hour and a half from the park by car."

"That's almost certainly them. Yakima it is."

They enter the name into the GPS, start the radio, and Fiore puts a hand on the outside of the car door and starts sending her electricity to the car battery so they don't have to stop for anything other than a bathroom break or food. And then they don't stop for about six hours, not even Jack's appetite rearing its head in their excitement at having a sure destination in mind.