st_ackeddeck

"In here!" Jag called out from his room, dropping the towel he'd been running through his hair onto his bed. He grabbed a tank top instead, and pulled it on as he walked into the lounge to meet Emma. At least it served to flatten his messy, tangled hair some as he slid it on, but his mind wasn't on that so much as on the urgency in Emma's voice. "Are you all right?"

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"Yeah." She nodded, maybe a little too quickly, but she wasn't going to think right now about what she'd Seen. This was more important.

"I... um..." She bit at the corner of her mouth, and told herself they didn't have time for her being stupid. "I got a way to send people home." She glanced down at the sweetpea, counting the flowers again. "Up to six people. Maybe. If there's time."

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Jag frowned, followed her gaze down to the flowers, and looked back up at her. "What?"

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"Each one of these flowers is a ticket home." Nope, it sounded just as crazy as she thought. No wonder Jag had been all what? at her first attempt.

"I made a deal. You can go home."

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Jag crossed the distance that separated them, feeling his blood boil, fire stirring. "What? No." Gently, he raised a hand to cup her face, look into her eyes. Her red-rimmed eyes. "What did you give them?"

This was his fault. He'd told her, and she'd gone and... He would fucking roast this fae. He didn't care if it didn't kill them. He would make it hurt.

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"Nothing bad. It's okay." It was worth it, to get them home. It really would be okay. "I'm a fortune teller. I just read the cards. Really. That's all. I read the cards, so I can go home, so we can." She could see the flare of protective anger, the desire to burn. It wasn't all that different in Jag than it was in Pyro.

"But we only have until moonrise, and I don't know when that is. Just... take one of the flowers, and keep it with you. That's how the magic will know who to send home."

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Jag hated this place, this entire deal, and... himself. He could see that she'd cried. He should ask about that. Push her. She hadn't just read the cards. It had left a mark in her, and he should rile and rage and make the bastard pay.

But she'd made the deal, and he couldn't reverse it. Would he want to?

He hated himself, because after a beat, he simply took a flower. The stem broke neatly, and he looked down at it, this tiny mauve thing, so easily crushed. "Are you sure it's taking us home?"

He looked up into her eyes, his filled with a million questions. What was home, when they didn't come from the same place anyway? Was this goodbye? Up to six people, and he was the first she offered a flower to - of course it was all his fault. It was because he'd told her, because she knew how miserable he was here, because she was too fucking good and nice and here he was taking advant...

Em, his Em, wouldn't like him going on like that, so he took a deep, quiet breath, and forced himself to break the train of thought.

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Emma didn't want him to rile or rage or make anyone pay. She wanted him to take the flower, go home, and get to be happy. For a moment it looked like he might not take it, and she was already trying to think of what she could do or say to convince him.

"It's okay," she told him again, cupping the side of his face, thumb brushing over his cheek. "I saw you with Ollie. It will get us back where we're supposed to be."

Home. Where they were supposed to be. But what did that mean when home was people from different realities? It meant saying goodbye, and she'd known that too, but it was a price worth paying. This place was killing them; they couldn't stay here. Emma pulled him into a tight hug, careful not to crush the sweetpea. "It's okay. We're going home, Jag," whispered around the lump growing in her throat.

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Jag hugged her hard, eyes shut tight against the tears that threatened. This was goodbye. "I love you," he told her, before he could think it through, before he could stop himself. If he didn't say it now, he never would. He whispered the words now, but there was no hesitation to them. "It's not fair to you, and it's probably not fair to her, but I love you." The lump in his throat sharpened, but he forced out more words. "I hope he brings you all the happiness you deserve."

She'd be returning to him, at least. Pyro. He wasn't quite a person to Jag. He was a name, a past, regrets, something to measure up to, at times. But he was real to her, and she deserved to find happiness with him.

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It was no or never, and Emma had to say it just the once before she lost the chance, "I love you too." But. "You belong with her, where you can be happy." Her arms tightened around him one more time before she made herself draw back, blinking away the sting of unshed tears.

She pinched the flower stem so it broke about midway down, and handed one piece to Jag. They had other friends who should have a chance to go home. And maybe it would make this goodbye easier if it didn't linger too long. "For Coby, and..." she shook her head, "whoever else you want to share with. I'm going to try to find Sunny?" Maybe Lillith too, if there was time.

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Jag hesitated. His heart felt heavy and light all at once. He didn't think she meant the words as he had, but they were bittersweet every way he spun them, anyway. And here she was, giving him more flowers. She was a giver, every time they met, and here he was, taking again.

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising his free hand to curve his fingers around hers, gently, loosely, as if about to slide up and take the flowers from her, but not quite there yet.

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"You love him." It didn't take an empath to see how Jag and Coby were.

"I couldn't send you home and not give him a chance to go too. I wouldn't do that." She might have been able to send herself home and Jag to his with just one reading, maybe, but she couldn't have done that to their friends, if she was able to get more of them home too. And Coby was one of the people she'd been thinking of when she made the deal.

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It was a fairy deal, and there was no telling where Coby would end up. Same place, hopefully - probably - but maybe not the same time. Would they even remember everything that had happened here? Would they all go back where they'd been taken from?

Did it matter? Jag did love Coby, and he wanted to offer him a way out of here. Him, and Curnen. Emma would handle Sunny.

Slowly, he took the cut off stem with the two flowers, then transferred it to his other hand, with his own flower. "Thank you," he said quietly. They were still standing so close, and her eyes... He lost himself in them so easily, even now. Heart hammering, he cupped her cheek, slowly, and leaned in, giving her ample time to move away. "Thank you," he repeated, the words so full of love he might as well have said I love you again, before kissing her.

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Emma kissed back, even before her brain got around to pointing out he wasn't drunk this time, and there weren't feelings being empathically reflected back on each other, around and around. This was I love you and goodbye, and maybe more bittersweet than anything before.

"I don't want to say goodbye," she admitted when the kiss ended and she didn't want to pull away. "But I don't know how long we have," she made herself say out loud, so the reminder would be all the stronger. They had friends who deserved a chance to go home too.

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Jag wasn't sure why she was kissing him back. Did she truly want to, or was she being kind? But he didn't want to think about that; he wanted to be selfish, for this one moment. He focused on the kiss, every shift of her lips against his, the slide of her tongue, the way she felt in his arms. So familiar, and yet this wasn't Em, but the Emma he'd met here, so close to the one he'd met years ago. This moment was precious, and he savored it while it lasted.

She spoke when it ended, and his heart clenched again, with love, and hope of love returned. "I know," he acknowledged, reluctant to move away. Perhaps he shouldn't have kissed her. Suddenly, walking away felt near insurmountable. So he thought of Coby, and Curnen, and his love for them. He could not leave them to rot here. Coby ought to get back to his angel, and Curnen to her people. Both of them, to freedom. And Sunny, too, if Emma could find her.

Jag brushed his lips against Emma's again, briefly this time, the actual goodbye. "We ought to go. Find them." He forced himself to step back, all of his feelings shining in his eyes, free hand lingering on her arm, finding her own hand to squeeze it. "Thank you."

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It wasn't long enough. Would any amount of time been enough for goodbyes? She wanted to tell him to come find her if they still had time after the rest of the flowers were given away. But then they'd have to do this all over again, and Emma wasn't sure she was strong enough for that.

"Thank you." She squeezed his hand back. "I wouldn't have survived this place if it hadn't been for you."

Then she took a breath, straightened her spine, and forced herself to take a step away. And another. Time to go find Sunny.

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It was possible Sunny would be in her room, but they were slim compared to her being anywhere else. So Emma headed for the main building and the most likely locations. Library first, because it was Sunny, and if she didn't luck out there, Emma could check the kitchens, bar, etc. Save the Safari room for last.

Her eyes were little puffy and red-rimmed from the tears that had fallen on the walk, but she was steadier by the time she walked into the library and found Sunny at the check-out desk. Funny, she realized as she got there, it wasn't any easier trying to explain this a second time.

"Hey," she started. "Do you have a minute?"

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Sunny looked up from her book, pulling off her glasses as she did so in one fluid, practiced motion. "Always," she said. Because everyone had a minute here, all the time.

Though for Emma, it was definitely true. For other people she may very pointedly not bother.

It was only then that she noticed Emma had been crying, and her face folded into an expression of concern. "Oh my God, what happened?"

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Emma shook her head. She still had no idea how much time they had left, and really, what had happened was more good than bad, no matter how much it hurt to say goodbye.

"Do you – no, that's a stupid question. If you want to go home, take a flower," she tried instead, holding out the stem of sweetpea blossoms. "I can try to explain, but I don't know how much longer until the magic takes effect."

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There was only one thing for that. Sunny reached out and took one of the flowers before answering, "All right. Unless you have other people you need to get that to."

She could believe or not. But the chance to go back was too precious to pass up, even with no information.

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"Keep it with you," Emma explained, when Sunny took the flower without any hesitation. "Whoever has one of the blooms at moonrise will be sent back to their homes. I gave the rest to Jag. And I read the cards; I saw him back in London, with one of his roommates, so... it'll work."

Jag would go home. And she'd never get to see him again, but she couldn't let herself think about that right now.

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Sunny closed her eyes, the weight of everything she'd missed washing over her. Mama, Chukwu, Ugonna, Chichi, Sasha, Aunt Chinwe... Orlu. She missed her languages, she missed black people, all of the things that she missed were not worth being in a place where she could be open about her magic.

Because this place was a dead place, and it was going to crush all of them.

She opened her eyes again, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

And then the very clear reality hit her. She'd see Coby and Jag again if she went back to London, but... "Oh, Em."

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Emma watched as what going home could mean hit Sunny in stages, and she nodded, blinking against the sting of tears wanting to rise again.

"But you'll get to see the other me again. It'll be okay. We'll be okay."

Why were goodbyes so hard? They got to go home. Thank Fortuna Redux, that was supposed to be a good thing.

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"Yeah, but it's..." She was actually going to have to do this again, wasn't she? Seeing a face she knew and associating it with memories that other person didn't have.

Sunny was up out of her chair, around the desk, and reaching to hug Emma before she could even consciously discard the idea that she didn't know how to finish that thought. "Damn."

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"... Not the same," Emma finished for her, her arms coming around to hug Sunny back.

"I'm going to miss you. So much."

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"I'm gonna miss you, too." Shit, Sunny was crying. Shit. "Do... do you need to find anybody else?"

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"I was thinking maybe Lil..." she trailed off as the sweetpea blossoms they held dissipated in a shimmer, and the magic took hold,in a slip and twist of realities.

Emma found herself in London, deck of cards fanned out in front of her, and the London Eye looming ahead.

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Sunny found herself in an unfamiliar apartment. That was bad.

But it felt like her own magic. That was good.

But she still wasn't sure what this meant. That was bad.

And Em was gone. That was worse.

Then she heard a familiar chirp from the window and the flapping of tiny wings as a fat little budgie came to perch on her shoulder.

"Hello, Phillip," she said, hearing herself choke as she did. Her heart was bruised, but wherever this was, it was definitely home.

Now to figure out the rest.

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It took all of Jag's willpower, and keeping Coby and Curnen in his thoughts, to actually walk away from Emma. All he wanted was to hold her, kiss her again, bury his head in the crook of her neck, her hair falling over him as he breathed in her scent. But who knew when moonrise would be in Faerie; he had to find Coby and Curnen. Their rooms yielded nothing, so next he checked the main building, and was relieved to find Coby sipping a drink in the bar.

"Thank fuck you're here," Jag stated in a relieved breath as he joined Coby, the precious flowers protectively cupped in his hand. "I'd been afraid you might be in Faerie." And who knew how he could have found him then. "Any idea where Curnen is?"

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st_rummer

Head tilting, Coby thought a moment. "She was singing up on the roof when I came in."

That didn't mean she was still there. Besides, there was something going on with Jag, and that seemed more important. Unless he was just looking for Curnen and found Coby on the way.

"Dude, what's up? You seem..." He wasn't quite sure how to finish that. Relieved, yeah, but maybe wired too? And hurt, although Coby couldn't say why he thought that. "Did something happen in Faerie?"

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Jag chuckled at the question, because... yes. Absolutely, yes. "Emma got us a way home," he answered, opening his hand to show the three small, purple flowers in it. "If the Fae aren't completely full of shite. She made a deal. At moonrise, whoever has one of those is going home."

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st_rummer

It took... a long moment for what Jag was saying to make any sense. And then once he really got the whole 'going home' part, he was speechless a little longer.

"Dude," came out finally. A mix of seriously and whoa and thank fuck.

"That," he pointed at the flowers in Jag's hand. Such a cliché fairy thing, using flowers, that didn't really fit with the reality of fairies he'd known, "is our way home?"

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You'd think that a fairy being let loose in a fairy world that Curnen would practically be living on the other side, but the truth of the matter was that it made her about as itchy as it did most of the humans here. The Tufa had separated from the Seelie court so long ago that even the ones who could remember it weren't sure they'd be able to fit in there anymore. For Curnen, it had been nothing more than a distant story. So she came back for things like meals and sleeping and showers.

She came striding into the bar, twisting water out of her hair and whistling 'Spancil Hill,' stopping when she realized she wasn't by herself. She grinned. "Gentlemen."

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Jag breathed out in relief when Curnen walked up to them. "Thank fuck." Now that she and Coby were both here but they still didn't have flowers, Jag's sense of urgency only grew. He had no idea when moonrise might be. So he just repeated what he knew. "Emma made a deal for people to go home. At moonrise, whenever that is, whoever's got one of these," showing the flowers in his hand, "gets to go home. If we can trust the Fae, which..." He finished that up with a shrug. But honestly, he was ready and willing to try it. He looked at both of them, urgent hope shining in his eyes as he held his hand out to them. "Go on, take one."

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st_rummer

Coby was about to tell Curnen she knew there wasn't anything gentlemanly about him and Jag, and she liked them that way, but the urgency in Jag's voice and his eyes cut through the teasing.

This was serious shit.

Fairies and magic weren't anything he understood, but if there was any chance it would work. Fuck, he had to try. He plucked a bloom off the stem, his other hand coming up to rest of Jag's shoulder. "If Emma thinks it should work, she's probably right." He might not know her well, but she seemed too careful to leave something like that to chance. Especially when it came to Jag.

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Curnen flipped her hair over her shoulder to free her hands, taking a flower before she'd even really thought about what that might mean. "Home...?" It seemed impossible. She stared at the bloom on her palm. "This little thing?"

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"I don't even know..." Jag shook his head. "I don't know if it'll work. Where it might send us." Something had settled inside him, when they'd both taken a flower. Now that he wasn't afraid they might be left behind, though, all that was left to think about was what lay ahead. What did home even mean to the Fae?

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st_rummer

Keeping the flower stemmed pinched between his fingers, Coby reached out, an arm around each of them to pull them into a hug. "We gotta get outta this place," he sang softly, and tried to remember this moment, the feel of the three of them together, before who knew what would happen next.

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Curnen laughed shakily, letting herself be pulled into the embrace. Would home mean going back to Rob? Would it mean she'd be back in Needsville, right there in front of the fucking post office porch where her father's rocking chair should--would--be standing empty? But... "Fuck, I may never see you again."

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Jag's arms tightened around them as Curnen gave voice to his own fears. Even if he did see them again, it likely wouldn't be them. He knew this better than most, with this Emma plucked from before they had met. Curnen hadn't come from London at all, and Coby had come from a different time than Jag. There was a painful lump in his throat now, but he forced words out. They weren't big words, but he meant them in a way that tore at his heart. "I'll miss you both so much."

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st_rummer

Coby was trying not to think about how they didn't know what would happen when they went home. Or what that even meant to some fairy asshole. Because, fuck, this place was killing them.

But they might never see each other again.

He pressed a kiss to Curnen's temple, and then to Jag's, and with his voice going rough with tangled emotions, "We all found our way to London before." Well, some version of them had. "We can... We'll find each other. Somehow."

He wasn't watching, but he felt something as the flower in his hand faded, upwards into shimmering dust and floated away, then the world seemed to tilt and fall out from under him, tugging Jag and Curnen out of his arms.

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