paradisalost | (no subject)

[ lana, of course, immediately stills when she first hears their voices, trying to make out what they're saying. some of it is really disturbing, but lana doesn't want to make any rash moves--

oh, damnit morgana! she has no choice, racing after her, for now keeping her weapons hidden and hoping she won't need to use them. taking in the very morbid scene, she swallows dryly and looks from damon to wesley ]

He went home, did he?

[ Morgana and Lana aren't just a welcome distraction, they're a huge relief to Damon's life.

With the lack of blood intake for the past week, combined with the torture he'd been going through, he was in bad shape. His face had thinned out and he appeared sallow, sickly even. And then, of course, there were the wounds themselves. The edges of his mouth in particular were bleeding and chapped -- left over from vervain burns. And blood and bullet holes peppered his clothing.

He looks up at them, tugging on the chains and trying to get to them but too weak to free himself. Hell, with shackles this strong, he knew he wouldn't be able to, even if he'd been on a steady diet of blood and free of vervain. He'd trapped enough vampires in them to know. ]

You -- [ He looked up at the shackles around his wrists. ] Help me. I can't -- [ Okay. Maybe to a degree, he was playing up the pathetic inability to speak now that they were there. But, he needed sympathy before Wes started running his stupid mouth again. His head lolled a little to the side, exhausted as he continues to murmur. ] Was a ... trap.

[Wes hears the footsteps and a female voice urgently calling out Damon's name. His first instinct is to spin around and pull out his gun, but he clamps down hard on it, finishing tugging the bullet free first before he sets the instruments aside and turns to face who he presumes to be Damon's rescuers. He's disappointed that he was so easily found, that his quest to make Damon sign the confession has been thwarted. By a woman he doesn't recognise and...Lana. Well, that isn't as much of a surprise as he might have anticipated.

Before he can reply to Lana's accusation, Damon hams it up, obviously playing on their sympathies.]

A trap which involved him trying to bite me to death. Stay back, he's more dangerous than he's letting on.

[Wes' warning was calm and hopefully sounded reasonable, but there was an edge to it as well.]

Whatever reason you have to save this man, it's misguided. He's preyed on us all. Manipulated the situation.

Step away from him. Now.

I do not care, you will step away from him. Do not and I swear I will burn the skin right off your bones.

Morgana! Stop it. Wesley's a good man, and he's speaking the truth.

[ she's pulling her gun out now, definitely ready to shoot morgana in the leg or something if she actually tries to set wesley on fire. she of course doesn't want to, but if she had to choose between them...

still, she looks from morgana over to wesley, her own gaze hard and unyielding. she is pointedly not looking at damon right now, ignoring his plea ]

And it's insulting that you think I didn't already know all of that. But this isn't how you should have handled it. You lied to me, and you lied to everyone.

If it's true that he's responsible, then we'll take him to the Peace Patrol and we can have a fair trial like Rose did. But you need to back away from him.

[ He's too injured, starved and drugged out to really appreciate it at the moment, but the way Morgana's power grows visibly in her threat reaffirms that he made the right call in befriending her. His saving grace. He stirs in his position, trying to take advantage of the distraction to get free from his shackles.

He stops when Lana speaks, though, and watches her through heavily lidded eyes. It stings a little, knowing she wants to just turn him over, but at least she's on the side that's anti-Wesley continuing to torture him. ]

[So the other woman is a sorceress. And determined to defend Damon at all costs. Wes can't help but bristle, sensing the precariousness of his own situation now, especially since he's reluctant to harm anyone. It would only work in Damon's favour. Still, he conjures up a small ball of eery green flame in one hand. It's actually a light source, harmless as a weapon, but they needn't know that.]

I wouldn't recommend that you try that. I will protect myself if I need to.

[Then he lets out a bitter hollow laugh.]

It's ironic that a man who forces his will on others. Who rapes and murders, attacks viciously and with malicious intent deserves a fair trial. Where's the fairness in what he did to Lilah? To Illyria. To Angela. To the poor girl he killed in town. And who knows how many others.

What do you think I was trying to do?

[He points to the document lying on the floor nearby.]

Trying to get a signed confession. Because he will deny what he did. He will lie. He will cheat. And justice will not be served. It simply won't. It never is.

[For the first time, emotion starts to break through his rhetoric. The strain he himself is under, the awareness of the moral line he's crossed is evident in his tone.]

The wicked never get what they deserve and the good never get rewarded for their sacrifices. For all I know, you've both been compelled as well. His kind has the power of mind control. It's how he preyed on Lilah. For months. For months.

What kind of justice will be done, Lana? For the likes of him?

You are no better.

[ she looks nervously between morgana and wesley. both of them handling fire does not ease her nerves at all, and hearing wesley lay damon's sins on the table like that only makes her tenser. she hadn't known he'd taken it that far.

she can't let this go badly. and she can't waste time arguing with wesley. she honestly can't blame him, but she owes damon her life. it's something more than that, though, something she can't explain.

lowering her gun, she takes a deep breath ]

How can you say that, Morgana? Didn't you hear what he just said? I know you're upset about Arthur, but you need to think. Wesley is right. Damon has done all of those things, I'm sure of it. He's told me himself how bloodthirsty he is.

And justice has never been served in the past. I'm not sure there's any way to get it here. Even if you get a signed confession, what then? Do you think the Peace Patrol will hold him in prison forever? There is no death penalty.

Damon Salvatore is a liar, and a murderer. He feels no remorse for people he's killed. What would Arthur think, if he knew you were trying to defend someone like that?

[ she slowly walks towards wesley, before moving past him and over to damon. crouching down in front of him, she reaches out to touch his cheek. he looks like hell, and despite how strong her tone is, her expression takes on a softer feel as she gazes at him. she mouths something to him silently.

'you're dead. so act like it.' ]

There is no redeeming this man. A signed confession won't get you anywhere. He needs to be killed, and that's not something you can do, Wesley. You have Fred to think about.

If a trial at the castle won't get us anywhere, then we'll have one here right now. You can be the judge.

[ straightening, she steps back, looking damon in the eye as she points her gun right at his chest, inches away from his heart ]

I'll be the executioner.

[ and fires ]

No!

[ It's without a doubt the most agonizing thing he's ever experienced. Forget all of the torture Wes had dragged him through over the past few days. It was nothing compared to Lana Lang shooting him in the chest, no matter how skilled at that torture he'd been. Remind him not to piss off another Watcher.

The veiled confusion that had been in his eyes as he deciphered the meaning of her mouthed words is quickly replaced by agony as his eyes widen as much as they possibly can and he writhes against the wall he's shackled too, groaning loud in agony that makes his entire body tense and contort. It's like dying, but it won't just stop. The bullet nestles itself beside his heart, brushing it as he shifts and making his groans interspersed with gurgles of pain.

He needs to stop. Needs to push it down. He grits his teeth for one last moments before he forces himself to quiet down, body slowly going limp, arms held up by the shackles as he sinks to the floor, mouth hanging open and eyes relaxing, but also staying open, deadened.

It's not a hard act to pull, all things considered. The deadness has been in his eyes for days now. The lack of blood means his body prefers not to move anyway, and he's been room temperature for a while. His heart stopped its last pathetic attempts at beating three days ago. He's a living corpse at this point, and all he has to do is stop trying to survive. Stop mustering up the last of his energy trying to move.

So, he did. Unmoving and limp, he lay there. Morgana's screams, the flames, they seemed distant to him now. He had a reason to want to survive this and let Lana's plan work. She'd seen something in him worth saving. ]

[As soon as Morgana stands down by clenching her fist and banishing the magical energy she'd been summoning, he does the same, although he still eyes her warily. Is she really the Morgana of Arthurian legend? If so, then he's no match for her. But thankfully it would appear he doesn't have to test that theory.

She's probably right, he's no better. The things he's done have destroyed lives, no matter his good intentions.

At least Lana seems to understand, although perhaps she doesn't quite get that while Wes thinks Damon is a monster, it doesn't mean he believes he's irredeemable. Angel and Spike have both proven that it's possible to turn one's vampiric life around. But Damon isn't ready for that. Not until he holds himself accountable, faces what he has done and seeks to atone for it. That has to start with an admission of guilt and expression of genuine remorse for his actions.

Instead Damon sought to blame someone else, to hide his crimes and remove anyone who might expose them. Perhaps the most disappointing thing of all is how unapologetic he's been, throwing what he did in Wes' face rather than acknowledging the harm he's done. He'd trusted him. He'd liked him, and now he feels like such a fool.

Wes is so deep into his own thoughts for and regrets for a moment that when he realises what Lana is about to do it's far too late to stop her. He lunges forward to force her gun down, his own urgent cry of 'No!' mingling with Morgana's.

But the shot has already been fired. Damon slumps down. Is he dead? This isn't what he'd wanted!

Searing flames erupt close to them both and Wes realises what's happening. He turns his attention to Morgana, grabbing at her arms and trying to pull her off balance. To jolt her out of her hysteria.]

Stop!

[ lana immediately ducks at morgana's scream, feeling the flames nearby enough to make her hold her breath in fear. she's sorry she didn't have time to warn morgana, but time is not something she has a lot of. she takes advantage of the hysteria for both watcher and witch, quickly swapping out the gun cartridge so that she can shoot and fire twice more at the chains, morgana's scream and the roar of the flame enough to distract from it at first.

she gives a quick yank so that the chains give the rest of the way. she doesn't know how much that hurt him, and how much of it was acting. but she hopes it hurt. it was the least he deserved, after everything he'd done. and still she was doing this. why?

when wesley goes to try to pull morgana off balance, and the fire dies, lana ducks back down again to damon's pliant form now on the ground, whispering in his ear ]

This won't work if you don't go. Now. Suck it up and pull out some super speed.

Don't make me regret this.

[ if he could pull it off in the few moments that they weren't looking, it could be easy for lana to claim the body had disappeared. that was what they did, wasn't it? they disappeared? and the lana would be forced to deal with both of them.

but she could do this, if only he could pull some of the weight, no matter what pain he was in ]

Don’t touch me.

Get out, both of you. You what you wanted, you have no reason to remain.

[Morgana's wrath is terrible to behold but he's faced down worse. He feels a pang of frustated anger at the situation himself. How dare she think she knew his intentions?]

Don't just assume that I wanted for Damon to die.

[He snapped back at her, his own temper fraying a little. He flicked a hard glance at Lana too, still unsure of her motives.]

I doubt either of you will believe me, but I had planned to release him eventually, once I had the confession and some kind of guarantee that he would stop with his attacks and victimising of others. Perhaps it would have been too much to expect. But I had to try.

Is he dead?

[The fact that Damon hasn't vanished in a cloud of dust doesn't mean that he isn't. Clearly other vampire breeds are different many aspects, perhaps even the final death. Of course, in this case, Damon will likely return in a fortnight and then perhaps no-one Wes counts as friend will be safe.

He moves to check on Damon.]

[ she's unsure at first, not moving when morgana tells her to. damon was either doing a very good job of playing dead, or lana had actually hit his heart. quietly, just under her breath, she tries not to panic ]

Damon?

[ then wesley speaks, and she looks up, more startled than she means to be. damon's chance to run off was blown, but... if morgana wants them gone, maybe it will still work out. she doesn't mind her finding out he's still alive.

if he's still alive. he has to be. she can't have honestly just murdered someone who was chained up. lana can't have crossed that line ]

...Of course he's dead. Who knows when your eventually would have been, Wesley. You wouldn't have ever gotten a guarantee from him. You were wasting your time and drawing out inhumane torture. That's not better.

[ pulling herself off of damon, she stands up and backs away, shooting a regretful glance morgana's way. she doesn't want wesley to spend too long making sure damon's dead ]

Even if he comes back, at least you can use the next two weeks to re-prioritize yourself. Right now we need to go. There's nothing that can be done now.

Just leave. Please.

[Wes honestly can't tell. And even if Damon's only badly hurt, would it make any difference? He's failed to achieve what he set out to, and now he has alienated more people. He lets out a resigned sigh and drops his hands, standing back up again and moving to follow Lana out. Morgana seems determined to tend to the body and he doubts she'll want any kind of assistance from him.

As he walks back along the tunnel with Lana, Wes passes a weary hand over his eyes.]

This doesn't change anything. Killing him will simply give him two weeks time out and then he'll return and we'll be back where we started.

[ she gives morgana a last look before walking out with wesley, re-holstering her gun and slipping it back into her purse. she doesn't say anything at first, because he's right. at least, if she actually killed him.

she is still hoping she didn't. if so, wesley's fears are null. she hopes. she hopes that damon won't make her regret this ]

Then we'll start differently. You can't keep him all to yourself. Everyone else he hurt has a right in saying what happens to him.

Of course, everybody thinks he's gone home now. I have a feeling his brother isn't going to be happy, not to mention anyone else he has wrapped around his finger. How do you plan on handling that?

I had thought that the truth would be sufficient to keep those who know Damon from forming a rabid lynch mob.

[He says it dryly, not at all under the illusion that he would have had an easy time of it.]

But perhaps I was being too optimistic. I am not without friends myself. But I don't want this to become a feud if I can help it. I shall have to think on how I will deal with it. At least I have some protection from their mind-powers.

[He pulls out the silver chain from around his neck and shows her the vervain-infused pendant]

I trust that you do too?

[ she looks away while touching the bracelet around her wrist. to admit damon gave it to her might seem insane ]

I put it in my coffee every morning. I can't believe you actually thought he was compelling me. Do you think I'm an idiot?

BECAUSE IT'S...YOUR POST, SILLY

OBVIOUSLY. it's okay we still love you.

<333

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