xp_logs | Operation: A Hammer To Fall

Topaz wakes up, and Amanda fills her in on what happened - and gives her a choice. London Time: 10:30 a.m.

…Ow.

That was the first real thought to enter Topaz's mind as consciousness slowly restored itself. Her head was pounding, a strange echo of the headaches she'd gotten before she'd learned to shield, and there were random aches and pains running through her body that made her wonder if a truck had run her down while she had been unconscious.

The return to consciousness brought a certain amount of panic and suspicion as well, though Topaz did her best to push down both. What was going on? Where was she? The bed she was lying in was warm and comfortable and utterly unfamiliar, the ceiling she opened her eyes to not one she'd ever seen before. What had happened with the fight? Had they won? Was Luca okay? Where was he?

"Easy there, kiddo. You've been out for a while." The voice was as unfamiliar as the setting, young, female and English. "You thirsty? Rom said you'd need some water when you woke up."

Topaz's head snapped around to the source of the voice, and she sat up quickly, ignoring the fact that this sent the room spinning a bit. There was nothing immediately untrustworthy about the woman at her bedside. Young, hair braided, dressed casually, apparently English, appeared to have recently been in a fight, her concern genuine. But being in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar person instantly set off all alarms, and Topaz physically jerked back, unable to quell this one, outward expression of mistrust.

"Who are you?" Ignoring the woman's question, but her body betrayed her anyways as her voice cracked halfway through the question. Ow. How long had she been unconscious for? Speaking wasn't smart, but she pushed on anyways. "Where am I?"

"Safe. And away from the Destines." Amanda wasn't surprised by the girl's suspicion - hell, she would have reacted the same way in her place. She indicated a glass of water on the bedside table within the girl's reach. "There's water, if you want it." It even had a straw to make things easier. "I'm Amanda, by the way. My mates and I pulled you out of that fight with the Destines after the house came down."

After the house came down? "Where's Luc - Taboo?" Topaz cut herself off midway through saying Luca's name, switching tracks quickly. "And safe isn't a location." If Heaven existed, Alice was up there now, bemoaning her daughter's lack of manners. And damn it, her bloody body would only be ignored for so long. She picked up the water, reluctantly taking a sip.

"Taboo was the bloke with you?" Amanda wondered what their relationship was - black magic users tended to be hard on their apprentices, as well she knew. "You're in London, in a house belonging to a... to my family. We're magic users, like you."

"Yeah," Topaz said shortly. Some of her mistrust eased when Amanda said she was a magic user. Some. Not enough for her to relax. "Is he here too?" Maybe he was in a different room, unconscious still. He would never just abandon her...

Of course, her brain chose that moment to throw at her the image of Taboo charging into the Destine house, leaving her on her own to fend off Adam. She ignored it. He wouldn't leave her.

"We... couldn't find him. In the rubble. We looked, but there was no sign of him." Amanda watched the girl's face, although she was very good at hiding her reactions for someone so young. "I don't know what happened to him, I'm sorry."

They couldn't find him? That was impossible. He had to have been in the house, he'd been there she'd seen him, he...Topaz's thoughts drifted into a jumbled mess of reactions and denials. Did he run? No, he never would have run, he would have stayed, fought. Kill or be killed, that was what he had said. But then that meant...

All of that passed through her head in the span of about five seconds, the only outward reaction being her breath escaping in a shaky huff as her mind kicked into overdrive. No. He had to still be there. And if this Amanda and her mates couldn't find him, then she would. She threw the blankets back and stumbled out of bed with a surprising burst of speed. Of course, that was as far as she got as her body reminded her that a house had fallen on her.

Amanda was there to support the girl as she stumbled. "Hey, woah there, kid, you'll do more damage to yourself racing off."

Ow, ow, ow. Topaz backed away from Amanda's touch, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. She pressed her lips together, thinking hard. "Ow," she finally muttered, rubbing the back of her head. To Amanda, "He has to be there. He...he wouldn't just leave me." Not something she would normally say, but she had to make Amanda understand.

"He might turn up later. Things were pretty crazy." Amanda didn't push the contact, seeing how skittish the girl was, and instead leaned against the dresser with her hands in her front pockets. "We'll help you look, kid but--" She paused and gave the girl a wry grin. "Look, I can't keep calling you "kid" - what d'you call yourself?"

He might turn up. That wasn't anywhere near good enough, but she wasn't really in any shape to do anything about it now. Pushing the anxiety down, she ducked her head to look at the carpet. "Topaz," she murmured after a moment. "My name is Topaz."

"Topaz." Amanda nodded. "Like I was saying, we'll help you look for him, but in the meantime, do you have anywhere to go? Family to stay with? Someone to take care of you?"

"No." She kept her eyes on her carpet, pressing her lips together. She swallowed hard before trying to speak again. "No family. No one else." No family, no one who cared about her, no home. Just him. Her eyes stung - she tried to blink the pain away.

Slowly, Amanda approached, sitting on the bed as well, an arm's length from Topaz so as not to crowd her. "Look, I know it's hard. I know, 'cause I've been where you are. But if you let me, I can help you. There's options for you."

Topaz squirmed, clasping her hands tightly together in front of her. "Don't need help," she muttered, her voice twisting in a way that made it unrecognizable. No, you don't need help at all, the mean, sarcastic part of her mind spoke up. Mother's dead, father's either dead or run off, there is absolutely no one else in this world who cares if you live or die, you probably still have a sadistic group of magic users out for your head, but no, you're fine.

The stinging was back, and Topaz reluctantly uncurled her fingers to run the back of her hand across her eyes. She was surprised to find that it was wet when she pulled away. "Options. Right," she said through gritted teeth. Who was Amanda kidding? There were no options.

She was trying so hard to be tough, it almost broke Amanda's heart. She'd been the same, not wanting to let anyone close enough to disappoint her again. "You might not need help, but I'm still offering it, Topaz. And right now, there's at least two options that aren't you heading out of the door to wind up on the street somewhere. The first is, Romany has offered to let you stay here. She can teach you about the magic, get you involved in the local magic scene, try and keep you out of arm's reach of the Destines."

Topaz bit down her automatic response - I don't need charity. It wasn't really charity after all, but she was too stubborn. "What's the second option?" She asked reluctantly, swallowing again, trying to get herself under control. She had a feeling this was going to be a choice between the lesser of two evils.

"There's a school, in America. For mutants, like you and me." Amanda let the words hang in the air.

A school. In America. The lesser of two evils indeed. She could stay in England and impose in someone else's house. Or she could go to America, go to this...school. Leave England. Leave the only true home she'd ever known. But really, what was here for her anymore? Besides a homicidal clan, of course.

And this school might be beneficial. As well-versed in the magics as Luca and Alice had been, they'd been at a loss with her mutation. They'd done research, of course, but understanding the science behind it and actually understanding what their daughter was had been two different things. Not that they'd love her any less. They'd just been...well, useless. Maybe at this school she could find someone to help her. Maybe she'd have a chance to explore her mutant side a bit.

Topaz opened her mouth to say...something. But the words were lost as her breath escaped in a shaky sound that was far too close to a sob, and she pressed her lips together hurriedly, her hands clenching into tight fists in her lap. It wouldn't do to break down in front of this woman - a stranger. No matter how much a small (very small) part of her mind was screaming at her to just let go.

"It's not going to be easy for you, Topaz," Amanda said softly, seeing the anguish in the girl's body language, the way she was holding on against breaking down. "You're a mutant and a witch and I'm guessing that until now, you thought you were the only one. But there's others like you out there, and we get it. You don't have to do it alone."

It wasn't until Topaz finally tilted her head to look at Amanda that she realized a stray tear had escaped. She wiped it hurriedly and looked away again. "The school," she finally managed to say, her voice surprisingly steady all things considered. The school would probably be better. She could learn more about her mutation, America was likely safer than England, she could get away from the memories. And...the idea of not being alone was really quite appealing.

Another tear slipped. She didn't bother wiping it away.

"And then there were three," Amanda murmured to herself, thinking of how amusing Strange would find this. Her with a cabal of students, the thought of it! "We'll get the papers and stuff sorted for you, and in the meantime, you can focus on getting back on your feet. It looks like you've been running for a while - it's time to stop for a bit and catch your breath."

Topaz wiped her eyes quickly, looking back at Amanda. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had told her to slow down. For over a year it had been do more, try harder, be better, don't stop. To have a chance to stop and breathe...

"Thank you," she whispered, unable to force herself to speak any louder.

Amanda reached across the space between them, laying her hand gently on Topaz's shoulder. "It's okay."

Surprisingly, she didn't feel the need or the inclination to flinch away from Amanda's touch. She unconsciously leaned into it a bit, relishing in the feeling of a gentle, comforting touch.

Amanda was possibly just as surprised as Topaz was, and she squeezed Topaz's shoulder reassuringly. "C'mon, kiddo. Back into bed and I'll bring you a cuppa and something to eat and we can talk some more. 'Kay?"

Topaz nodded silently. Pain was starting to make itself known again, as well as hunger - when was the last time she'd eaten? The fact that she had to think about it probably wasn't good.

"All right."