we're scared and we're coming for--

Return to Normalcy (Pt.2)

BAU x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Summary: Returning to normal has never been so hard. Just as Aundreya is starting to make amends and fit back in with the group, something gets in the way. Story twenty-two.

Category: Angsty-fluff

Warnings: Cussing. CM talk. Mentions of death and suicide as a COD. Break-ins.

Word Count: 3.9k

I stormed into my apartment and slammed the door shut. I ripped off my jacket and tossed it aside along with my bag. Then I just screamed. I screamed as loud as I could for as long as I could and then I just stood there.

There came a knock on my door and I assumed it was my neighbor Billy, some poor old lady that had the misfortune of living next to me. And not to call her a grump, but for real, she could be a pain in my ass. Especially after I’d just fought off three people during the night, and then had to deal with her glaring at me in the morning asking me to please (and I quote) ‘pull myself together or throw my childish temper tantrums somewhere else.’

I whipped open the door and yelled, “Billy, I’m sorry, but I’m really not in the mood right now for your-” I stopped mid sentence, mouth hanging open when I saw who it really was. “Aaron, I’m sorry, I just-”

His eyes went wide and he offered a small smirk, “Who’s Billy?”

“Someone you’re probably glad you aren’t,” I replied. “Come in.”

Once he did, I wanted to just up and shoot myself. Way to lie to your boss about what was going on, and then just invite him inside to the only place that could prove you were lying.

He turned to face me and I sighed, shaking my head. “Can I get you anything? Water maybe?”

He gave me a pointed look, “I’m okay, thank you.”

I tried to make light of the situation, “Well, make yourself at home, if you can find a place to do that.”

My apartment really was a disaster. The couch was the only semi-clean spot considering Spencer and I had slept on it the night before, but other than that, you had to step over and around broken wood and glass to get to where you wanted to go. I’d already learned to ignore it.

“Was that true?” Hotch asked, out of the blue.

“Was what true?”

“What you said back at the office, about the snipers?”

“Yep,” I said, popping the p. “Who did you think shot Penelope?”

“We weren’t sure,” he admitted, “We suspected one of your people, but Deen assured us that was not the case. We were then so busy getting her to the hospital and finding you that we didn’t revisit it. Dave and I talked about it, but neither could really remember everything that led up to that moment.”

“That’s understandable. I’m sure it was a lot. I mean, it was a lot for me to watch,” I confessed.

“So you were also watching us,” he stated more than asked.

“I was,” I confirmed, “I had three different angles showing different people and groups at different times.”

“How come you’ve never told us this?” he asked. His face somehow always seemed neutral, yet inviting.

It was a valid question. They couldn’t exactly do a write up of the case considering they weren’t even supposed to be on it, and on top of that worked with a group of known criminals without going through all that government red-tape bullshit, so I never talked about it. Not like anyone asked. “Wasn’t important at the time. You got me out, I got you out, end of story.”

“Clearly that’s not true,” Aaron stated, glancing around the room. I shrugged. “What is really going on?”

“If I tell you I think I fixed the problem once and for all, would you let it go?” I asked. He tensed his jaw and narrowed his eyes at me, so I relented. “People were breaking in.”

“Were?”

“That’s my hope, anyway. I think I solved the problem,” I said.

He skeptically looked at me. “The problem?”

“Yeah. The problem,” I repeated, trying not to open myself up too much for profiling. I didn’t want him finding out about Archer just so that I could lose any bit of credibility I had left with him.

“Did the problem have a name?” Aaron asked, “Maybe Howard Archer?”

Fuck. “Coincidence. Plus, I was with the girls all night at a concert.”

“And every minute can be accounted for?” he asked.

“Yes,” I confidently answered, “There was a short 20 minute period where I ran home to grab my jacket, but I’m sure you can see me on the security cameras.”

I kept waiting for him to respond, but he just kept looking at me. Scanning my facial features, body language that was changing, and things that weren’t changing. We just stood there in absolute silence, staring at each other. Is he gonna say something? Does he know? I’m sure he knows, but is he gonna turn me in? Should I say something?

Then Hotch saved me from my thoughts by moving to sit on the couch. He tilted his head which was my cue to go and sit next to him.

“You actually seemed to be doing pretty well,” he started. “You were readjusting.”

“‘Were’ being the key word,” I pointed out.

“They’ll come around.”

I scoffed in his face, “If I had a dollar for everytime someone has said that to me, I would be able to buy the BAU.”

“I’m sure, but every time it’s true,” he stated.

“How can it be?” I asked, getting slightly irritated, “If every time something goes wrong they turn on me, then I have to justify it, and then they have to ‘come around’ at what point is that not working anymore? At what point do they stop ‘coming around’ and start walking on eggshells, waiting for me to mess up?”

He expertly dodged my question, “Who says we’re waiting for you to mess us?”

“Your behavior!” I exclaimed. “If you aren’t waiting for me to screw up, then how come whenever anything goes wrong, I’m immediately the target?”

“But shouldn’t you be the target?” he calmly asked.

“Probably!” I was now shouting, “That’s the most irritating part! Is that most of the time, they’re right. I am causing problems and we have to trust each other with our lives which we clearly can’t do so I get their hesitation, but it’s not me all of the time. Like those videos, I had no choice, and while I get it, they don’t have any reason to hear me out, it still hurts knowing they actually believe I’d say those things and mean them.”

“So all of the stuff you said, every word, was a lie?”

“Correct.”

I saw the corners of his lips tilt up just slightly, “Even when you called me an emotionless robot who couldn’t care less about his team?”

“Oh no,” I teased, “that was definitely true. I’ve been looking for your charging port since I met you.”

He offered a small laugh and raised his eyebrows, “You will never find it.” It lightened the mood for a moment, but once it passed, I was back deep into my thoughts. Aaron could tell, though, always so perceptive. “If it makes you feel any better, Reid is apparently doing one hell of a job standing up for you.”

“Huh?” I gave him a confused look. “How do you know that?”

“Dave is with them right now,” Hotch held up his phone quickly, “You know, Reid has been a big proponent of yours throughout all of this, even when you were on the run after the hospital.”

“Has he?” I incredulously questioned, “He seems okay with me now, but back then? I thought he hated me, you know, shoving me up against a wall and all, asking me why I was helping.” Hotch opened his mouth but I stepped in, mocking, “Oh wait, let me guess. ‘He came around.’”

“You know what, he actually did,” Hotch answered me, more seriously than I had been. “Even when he acted like he was mad, and I’m sure he was, he seemed more hurt than anything. I know the two of you had something going on, but I didn’t realize how serious it was until you were gone.” I leaned forward, inviting him to continue. “I don’t know if you know this, I’m not actually sure Reid fully knows this, but he cares about you, a lot. More than either of you care to admit. I know you feel the same.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure Maeve does as well,” I reminded him.

“That’s an excuse.”

“Excuse me?” I wasn’t prepared for how harshly he was calling me out.

“You know it is. I’ve never seen you back down from any challenge, yet, the moment there’s even the possibility of someone else being in Reid’s life, you just, give up?” I stared at him, jaw on the floor. “Why is that?”

I knew why. I’m sure he knew why. I’m not good enough. I’ll corrupt him. I’ll poison him. He already went to prison because of me, I don’t want to be the one to completely hurt and destroy him. But I didn’t want to confess that, so I went for, “I just don’t think he’s as interested in me as you think he is. Plus, Maeve is good for him.”

“So that’s the reason?” Hotch asked, addressing my added reason. “You don’t think you are good for him?”

“And you do?” I fired back, astonished. “Look at me! Look at what I’ve gotten him into! Prison, drugs, watching me murder people in front of him, nearly getting him shot by a sniper, the nightmares he’s having from all of the trauma I’ve put him through, not to mention everything I’m sure I’m continuing to put him through!”

Hotch grabbed me by the shoulders, and until that moment, I hadn’t realized I was shaking. “Aundreya!” I partially snapped out of it, and looked him in the eyes. “You did all of that for him.”

“Sure, but if I was normal-”

“You think Reid’s normal?” Hotch kept his voice raised, “Neither of you have been normal for your entire lives.”

“Exactly! So maybe he needs normal for one, maybe he needs something low stress, low pressure, and low risk like Maeve.”

“No,” he insisted, voice strong, “He needs someone who is willing to fight for him as hard as he's willing to fight for you. I’ve seen the way he fights for you, Aundreya, and while he was working hard to find Maeve, it wasn’t anywhere near the amount of effort he put into finding you. He was broken up when he thought something happened to Maeve, but he didn’t even allow himself the time to think about that when it came to you. He was so laser focused on putting the pieces together, that he wasn’t sleeping. He was barely eating. Maeve had to come to us because it got to the point where she was genuinely concerned for his health, and I made him take a forced vacation and ordered him not to think about you. In that moment, you know who he reminded me of? You.”

My mouth was dry, and my brain was still processing everything he was telling me. All I could manage was a small, “What?”

“When he got incarcerated, you had your own evidence board in your apartment, you spent every free moment thinking about him and trying to figure out who was really behind this. You didn’t sleep, and you didn’t eat. Finally, you just went into the prison to get him out yourself, and then you actually solved his case, putting yourself in the line of fire just so that he wouldn’t be. Sure, you didn’t come to us about what you’d figured out, but you were still trying to protect him, and all of us. You took matters into your own hands, and Reid was damn near close to doing the same thing.”

I struggled to find any words that could possibly respond to learning something like that. “I-I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t. You were busy doing whatever it was you were doing, but you never asked. You never even looked into it. Because you run from your problems,” he stated, his voice back to one of calm neutrality. “Stop torturing yourself. Stop running.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

After Hotch left, I had a lot going through my mind. I just sat on my couch, staring out at nothing, thinking about everything he had told me.

Spencer was working that hard to find me? After everything I’ve put him through, he still cares about me? He’s been standing up for me? Okay, and what the fuck did he mean that Spencer was about to take things into his own hands? How could he have-

My thoughts were cut short by the vibrating of my phone on the small coffee table. I reached for it and saw Spencer’s name at the top. Speak of the devil. “Hello?”

“Hey, Aundreya, how are you doing?” his voice sounded a little horse and definitely groggy.

“About average. Just waiting to see if anyone decides that the night is ripe for apartment raiding. How about you?”

“You shouldn’t joke about that. You could get seriously hurt,” Spencer sounded concerned, and a bit frustrated.

“If I don’t joke about it, I’ll never survive it,” I replied. “But don’t worry about me, I know how to fend them off in my non existent sleep by now, and you never answered my question. How are you?”

“I am worried about you.” I could practically hear his small pout through the phone, “That’s why I was going to invite you over.”

“Spencer, you don’t have to do that,” I assured.

“I kind of feel like I do. I don’t want you constantly having to fight those people alone,” his voice was like velvet, spreading from the phone all the way through my body.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be alone.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, once they break in, I won’t be alone anymore,” I smirked.

“You’re terrible,” he feigned annoyance, but I could tell he was cracking a smile.

“But you already knew that,” I shot back.

“I did,” he sighed, “I’m serious, though. Please, come over. If not, I will drive to your apartment and wait with you.”

“No, definitely not,” I quickly responded.

“Great, so I’ll see you in about 15 minutes?” Genius bastard. Way to play off my fear of you being around when shit goes down.

I rolled my eyes, “Sure.”

When I got to his place, I didn’t even have to knock before the door swung open. He was standing in a pair of blue and black checkered pajama pants, but with his white dress shirt still on. It was unbuttoned slightly at the top, sleeves rolled up, and his tie was nowhere to be found. His hair was a bit of a mess and his feet were completely bare. I swallowed.

“Hi, come it,” he ushered me through the door.

“Hi,” I said, with a small smile on my face.

“What?” he asked, following my eyes as I scanned him up and down.

I shook my head, a cheeky smile on my face, “Just wondering what I’m interrupting.”

He gave me a sarcastic look. “Yeah, I was in the middle of changing.”

“Then by all means,” I gestured in the direction of his bedroom. He nodded, scurrying away from me while I scanned the room. It looked just like it had on that tv screen months ago, probably not a single book out of place. The curtains were open but it was dark outside, only the moonlight shining through. I quickly went over to shut them.

When I turned around, Spencer was now fully changed with an old MIT t-shirt on, watching me curiously. He looked confused and like he was about to ask me something, when I saw the lightbulb go off. “Oh, I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think-” he started.

“Don’t be,” I cut him off, “You can’t remember everything.”

“I should,” he sounded irritated with himself, “I can’t imagine walking in here and having that be the exact same angle as the one you saw when-”

“Spencer,” I sternly got his attention, “It’s okay. The problem is solved. It’s not that big a deal.”

He sighed and looked down. “It is, though.”

I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, and it felt like the most natural thing I’d done all day. He raised his eyes to meet mine, and it was like I could see all the images flashing over his pretty eyes. “Don’t think about it. Please, when you look at me, don’t think about the things you saw, the things your mind can’t forget.”

“I’m trying,” he whispered, “I really am.”

“That’s all I ask,” I replied, forcing a smile.

“You know, if you ever want to talk about it-”

“I don’t,” I rejected, way too quickly. I could see the small amount of pain in his eyes, “But if I do, I’ll know I can come to you.”

That eased the tension a little, and he turned to walk to the kitchen. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’m okay, thank you,” I said. He returned with two bottles of water anyways and sat down in one of the small kitchen chairs, pushing one toward the opposite end. I sat across from him and took the bottle.

“You know that I was hooked on dilaudid for a while, but I never told you how I got started,” he murmured, fidgeting with the bottle cap.

“Spencer-”

“No, it’s okay. Within my first couple years at the BAU, there was a man named Tobias Hankle. He had multiple personalities, three to be exact, which is very rare. I got split up from JJ when we were searching for him, and he kidnapped me. He tied me to a chair and tortured me for what felt like months. Whenever Tobias’s personality was in control, he would give me dilaudid to help me deal with the pain. After the team came to rescue me, I stayed behind to grab the extra bottles.” At this point, he was tearing up, and his voice was quivering. I couldn’t imagine him having to go through that as a brand new agent barely into his 20s, and there was a pit in my stomach imagining him in almost the same situation I had just been in. “I became my own worst enemy. The drugs were making me angry to the point where I couldn’t even do my job properly, but I felt like I could no longer function without them. Once I ODed for the first time, I decided that it was time for me to get help. I’ve been sober for over six years now.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go through that. I’m impressed with your willpower,” I said, moving my hand to cover his.

“Impressed?”

“Yeah. When most people get hooked on drugs, to the point of ODing, they can’t stop. I’m amazing with your strength to stop and to stay clean all this time. I mean, you have a very stressful job,” I pointed out.

“That’s true, and thank you. I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone, and you can always come to me because I’m the last person who could ever judge you. I’m sure you’re tougher than I was and won’t make the same mistakes, but if you do, please talk to me. I’ll always help you,” he said, looking at me with big, watery eyes.

Without answering him, I stood up and gently pulled on the hand I was already holding toward me. He stood up and I wrapped my arms around him. We comfortably melted into the other’s embrace, entering our own safe bubble filled with warmth and compassion. When I pulled away, I assured, “I’ll always be here to help you, too.”

I tried so hard to keep my emotions at bay, but the way he looked at me pushed me over the edge. Right as the first tear slipped down my cheek, he brought his hand to my face and used his thumb to brush it away. With our arms still around each other, emotions flowing between us, he kissed me. Gently pressing his lips to mine, noses softly rubbing against each other’s, in our own infinite moment. He was so warm and so cozy that I didn’t want him to pull away when he did. I would have rather suffocated.

He scanned my eyes, and started, “I, um, I-I’m so-”

I brought my finger to his lips to stop him. “Shh. We don’t have to talk about it right now.”

He was silent for a moment before he nodded, “Okay. Do you want to maybe stay and watch something on the tv with me or…”

“I would, but I think I should get back home,” I said. Hotch’s voice came ringing back into my head. You run from your problems. Stop torturing yourself. Stop running.

But tonight was not that night. “O-oh. Are you sure it’s safe? I wouldn’t want you going home where you still have people breaking in.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I gave him a tight lipped smile. “Besides, I think I solved that problem.” I reluctantly moved myself out of Spencer’s arms and headed toward the door.

“Hey, Aundreya?” he asked, stopping me before I could leave.

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have to answer, but I wanted to ask. Why was I the only one without a video?”

I knew that question would come up at one point or another, either from him or another teammate. “Because you’re my weakness.”

His face scrunched up in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Which it didn’t, thinking from his perspective. If he was my weakness, wouldn’t DeLeon start there? I explained, “He was saving the best for last. He knew I wouldn’t be able to say those things when it came to you, and if I did, he was going to leave the live feed on to make sure that I ruined our relationship. If I couldn’t say those things, he was going to shoot you and make me watch. I luckily thought of a way out of that situation before it happened.”

“So all that about ‘I’m not capable of loving’..?”

“Probably true,” I confessed with a sad, bitter laugh. “But I don’t want it to be. I’m hoping it’s not.”

“It’s not,” Spencer said, with all the confidence in the world. “You’ve been to hell and back for most everyone you’ve ever worked with and cared about. That says something, and I believe that shows you are capable of love.”

“When I’m around you, I start to believe that’s true.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

I returned home, feeling more relaxed than I’d ever had, even confident in my ability to get a good night's sleep without intruders. But when I opened my apartment door, on the scratched up wall opposite me, there were big red letters spelling out three words:

This isn’t over.

I grabbed my phone and quickly dialed Mateo. Before he could even greet me, I rushed, “I was wrong, it wasn’t Archer. It’s been DeLeon this whole time.”

“And you killed Archer!” he screeched, “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“I was solving a problem,” I bit back, frustrated.

“The wrong one apparently. DeLeon is going to come for you now that you’ve broken your deal.” The panic in his voice sounded like it almost matched mine.

“I know. But this time, I’ll be ready.”

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RQG 150

Where in the party finally sleeps; talks to a mook; and Kobolds free themselves

High anxiety day for unrelated reasons, might have to tap out and listen after I get some sleep, but hoping it will help to get out of my head for a bit. Still Lydia's birthday. Cel is working up to a proposal. Oh thank God they're going to sleep. Zolf is being reasonable about this. Oh good point Cel, sleep could help the Kobolds a lot. Hamid casts Endure Elements on himself and Skraak. New spells and feats won't  come until after the dungeon Zolf takes first watch. Oh Skraak and the new kids sleep in a pile. Skraak gets proper sleep. Azu takes second watch with a nat 20 on perception. The new kids took a while to go from "ordered to rest" to actual sleep. Azu can hear movement in the cells and at the end of her watch hears boots approach. Azu's Lay on Hands can now  cure poison. Azu wakes the party Skraak is taller? The new kids are starting to come out of it. Skraak vouches for the party and suggests they take out everything but the party. I love General Skraak. Skraak is speaking properly and the new kids are still at single syllable stage. Surprise round. Initiative. Lad and/or Bloke with a wind up torch. Toss up on this being an actual mook vs cavalry. Its a mook and Zolf charged him with the glaive. Alex is in a generous mood. Mook is down with Zolf's hand over his mouth. Cel reads him for filth. Azu glares at him. Hamid saunters over and casts Detect thoughts (spell doesn't translate :( ). Surface thoughts are mostly pain screaming from Zolf's glaive to his leg. "Skraak is going to murder this man". Huh saying "good for him" out loud was a bit blood thirsty for me wasn't it? Oh well, I stand by it, no sign yet the humans were drugged. Party might want him alive for interrogation etc so I won't pout if they stop Skraak. The new kids are going to help. Hamid shouts at the Kobolds to stop. Pesky morality probably objects to killing a wounded prisoner. The new kids do, Skraak doesn't; ironically I think it's a sign Skraak trusts Hamid not to punish him for disobeying. Azu hesitates but "puts a gentle hand on his chest" and tries to say with her face "slow down". Hamid is waiting to see if Azu is successful before acting. Zolf gets Cel's attention and uses them as translator to begin interrogation. Skraak hearing that Zolf will kill this guy if he doesn't answer should get them on the same page. Skraak is doing good and tells Azu to "move" in English. Hamid explains they will make the mook pay but they need info. Zolf volunteers they will let Skraak kill him after they're done with questioning. "fine" Once again left with the feeling a better person would be making noise about trials and "cold blood" but Skraak is this guys direct victim and the party isn't killing him just not saving him. His victim wanting to kill him is a foreseeable consequence of participating in a genocide of these Kobolds and not something I feel the party has any obligation one way or the other. Especially since I'd be amazed if the local justice system was functioning much less able to handle this. Skraak's color is coming back in bright red. Break Hamid cast Comprehend Languages which combines nicely with the already cast Detect Thoughts. Mook is still focused on his leg. Hamid shares with the group. Zolf heals his leg enough to get him able to answer questions and directs Cel to start asking questions. Maybe a little more guidance on wording would be advisable, I know he trusts Cel but they are new at this and not concise at the best of times. Cel has a potion for this? Zolf casts Calming Touch Cel asks "how many are you?" Alex explains he will answer everything twice, once for Detect Thoughts, once out loud. He claims there are "loads of us", is in fact the only one on shift. Hamid will be relaying the thoughts to the party. Alex explains the Kobolds won't understand what is going on in English, between the language barrier and being pissed off. Cel asks "what this hideous prison for?"; "you know, the Kobolds" was not a calming answer. Good news is he was thinking about where the other humans were. Cel asks where the tunnel to the mainland is, prompted by him thinking about the other guards being "in the tunnel". He gives the directions. Cel asks how to let the Kobolds out. He asks why you would, "they're Kobolds". Right remember that moral conflict I was concerned about not feeling? Moved on to whether Cel and Azu are obligated to let the Kobolds kill this guy on their own or if they can join in. The boys seem less disturbed and may hang back so they have energy to deal with the rest. Mook is thinking about an ambush being set up in the tunnels. Hamid tells the party. Cel asks about it and "what happened to my village?". So mook may catch on to either that they can hear his thoughts or to Cel's identity soon. Cel shakes him as he asks "who are you?" and "what's going on?",  Zolf objects only because his glaive is at the mooks throat and shaking him results in cuts. "they go out to get supplies and stuff". Shoin found people as awful as him, same disregard he has for others: getting supplies as if terrorizing a poor village and stopping at a store are the same. Cel is the absolute best. They go calm and explain they will be freeing the Kobolds then checking on Jasper. Lydia, we need that backstory! How long has Jasper been their apprentice? Does he have other people looking out for him? "oh crap these are the the people we were supposed to be ambushing". Oh nice, by going by boat they avoided the ambush  leaving the guards tied up waiting for them all this time. Hamid assures Cel they will get to Jasper soon. He is such leader; I am so proud of him smoothly going from translating the mook's thoughts for the team, working out the implications, to making sure Cel is calmed and validated in their concerns. And right back on the ball with a question about the green eyes. Cel asks just all the questions re: Kobold drugging and freeing. Fk this guy. "big boss used the juice on them and they obey orders like they should". Confirm timeline for drug wearing off. Zolf points out that they can let the Kobolds free themselves rather than open the doors one at a time. Oh Cel took Draconic at level up. "they're feral, they'll go after everyone". Right why did I spend a second thinking I should feel bad for being happy Skraak is going to kill this guy? Also reminded of AR and the dragons being treated as weapons, Alex has a point about treating people as tools that I can't articulate but is very good. The whole party is on the side of the Kobolds as this guy tries to frighten them with the idea the Kobolds will bring the place down on them all. Cel is seriously the best, they address Skraak and the new kids directly, to tell them the Kobolds will be okay. Skraak directs the new kids to start letting the others out, all three start doing so. Cel asks again about a button to open all the doors at once, mook keeps on his "you can't, they'll kill just everything" bit. Zolf tells Skraak "have at him" and keeps his glaive at the mook’s throat. Azu gets out of Skraak's way. Skraak approaches the mook with their spear as the camera turns away because we don't need details. The green is almost gone from their eyes but still drugged calm so only not fidgeting suddenly sober panicking. 10s of thousands Alex? Oh my. The Kobolds they free are freeing others, so it gets exponentially faster as it goes on. "freedom pyramid scheme" I like that. The boys stayed, Cel & Azu walked away, while Skraak dealt with the guard. Alex is being tasteful with the details but no one was expecting gracious restraint from Skraak. Hope it was cathartic, Little Buddy. Zolf addresses Skraak. Tells them the Kobolds can do what they want with this place, the party will handle the guards on their way out. God I love this party, not presuming to tell the Kobolds whether they should destroy the place or keep it as compensation is exactly the recognition of their autonomy I wanted to see after all that "feral" talk. Cel asks practical questions. Come on, I've been envisioning the Kobolds joining Cel's village since the onion room. Let's heal together! Cel invites Skraak to their village, but you know not in a chatty mood. Cel asks after after the squid. Skraak says they were erratic but lacks details. Cel speculates re:blue veins effecting Shoin's control. Zolf points out they will need to get on board the kraken. Skraak: don't let them live. Zolf: we're not going to. Skraak: if there are any left we'll finish them. Azu: good to know. Hamid "do you want my help?" break my heart kid Skraak picks up a guards pack and heads down the corridor. Waves back at the party and says "look after yourselves, Little Guys". Oh Alex, I don't want to say good bye but that was perfect. Hamid runs up to Skraak and gives him the Stalking Dagger they found in dungeon. Skraak knows how to handle it well. The inevitable Sasha joke is sweet rather than painful. Hamid: Seems like you have things under control. I hope I'll see you again. I owe you and the rest of the Kobolds a debt and I want to repay it some time. Skraak: yeah you do. Holy Hannah, they even managed to handle Hamid's fireball guilt perfectly. Not waving it off but not going to let it chew at him for the rest of the series either. He will come back and work off his debt. Ambush time. Signs, I love Alex's set design. Hamid suggests they check Administration before they hit the barracks etc. Paperwork is way out of date. Went from "tax" to shake down about the time they quit doing paperwork. Barracks are a mess, in the why you expect from the sort of people who think like that ass we interrogated. Cel suggests they check out processing, in case what they do to the Kobolds resembles Blue Veins. CWs Alex is being good but I was not expecting the mere existence of exactly what we were expecting to find to effect me like this. Somehow being less personal than Paris is worse. Not informative. Everyone is looking forward to a nice cathartic fight. Oh it would have been so much worse if Alex tried to pull the blow and lessen how badly they regarded/treated the Kobolds. By instead keeping true to the story and using detail control to keep it tasteful it feels like its actually over. I am sick of stories that have "sub human" slave or animal races but gloss over how inherently evil that is. The Kobolds are free now. They know they have help on offer both from Cel being local & decent and from Hamid's guilt over the ones he & the party killed. We aren't going to be expected to have any sympathy for the humans, this isn't an Other London situation where people take sketchy jobs to get by; the guards knew the Kobolds were drugged slaves. They will be dealt with by the party or by the Kobolds per the agreement with Skraak.