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asscreedkinkmeme) wrote2012-10-29 11:35 pm
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Kink Meme - Assassin's Creed pt. 5
Assassin's Creed Kink Meme pt.5
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Finding Connor 22
(Anonymous) 2013-08-05 04:32 am (UTC)(link)Chapter 21
The other Charles was troublesome.
Charles gritted his teeth as he watched Doctor White try to convince the man to let Connor's old friends and comrades visit him.
"He needs friendly faces about him, ones that do not see him as an empty vessel for lust and ones that do not resent him for detesting you."
It was a very reasonable argument. Even Charles, as generally apathetic as he was about medicine, knew of the beneficial effects that friends, trusted comrades and family could bring. Why, whenever he was ill, he sought out the company of Spado and his other dogs. Just having their softly panting bodies next to him as he stroked their soft fur always made him feel better and livelier, and he always seemed to recover faster too.
"Out of the question."
His counterpart, it seemed, did not agree.
"Mr. Lee..."
"Commander."
"Commander Lee, as his professional physician, I must recommend that you allow your wife near the things and people with which he has good association."
The other Charles shrugged.
"I allowed him to be taken outside, did I not?"
Charles could clearly see Doctor White struggling not to punch the man.
"Yes," the good doctor said through gritted teeth. "But it is hardly enough to spur any change. He needs familiar faces, people who truly care for him and wish him well."
"And are you not a friendly face?"
"I," Doctor White stressed, "am only one friend. The more you surround him with, the better. Doctor Davies is correct that there is little physically wrong with him. He was a bit malnourished, no doubt due to his extended lapse, but it should slowly be corrected with his new diet."
"I fail to see the problem then."
"He does not wake. There is a problem. We know it rests not in the body, so it must rest elsewhere."
"But do you know what it is?"
Charles could see Doctor White slowly counting to ten.
"No, but I believe it is an affliction of the mind."
"You believe." It was only slightly mocking.
Doctor White did not rise to the bait.
"Yes, I believe. And since this suggestion is relatively harmless, I do not understand your refusal to consider it."
Charles thought he understood his counterpart's refusal. This Connor had been an Assassin, and from what he understood, his counterpart had kept a number of his wife's recruits alive as collateral. If he let them near him...
"Surely your wife must have many friends to choose from?" He suggested. He did not know for sure about this Connor, save the association with Doctor White, but his own Connor had been friends with a man named Dave, Ellen, a number of the people in Boston, Noah, Clipper...
Though he supposed Noah would never have survived in this world. He had blossomed only under the guidance of the Templars and without that...
Without that, he would have starved in the streets when the orphanage kicked him out as he came of age. Or forced to prostitute himself. What terrible thoughts these were to be having about their best spymaster and Binns' adopted son, but it was very probable that that had been Noah's fate in this world.
A thought came to him.
"You mentioned that your wife was friends with a Clipper C-Wilkinson?"
His counterpart growled.
"Collins now. The Omega's name is Collins."
Ah yes. The Omega had also wed James in this world, though it was likely not by choice.
How twisted they had all become. All strange this world was, and all because the other Charles had had the audacity to strangle Connor.
"What about Mr. Collins then? Surely, as you are well acquainted with his husband, it should be no difficulty?"
His counterpart scowled and threw a furtive glance at Doctor White.
"I do not know him well. I do not trust him in my house."
Charles lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Really. And he had still given him away to James?
"Do you not trust his husband then?"
"Of course. James, as you know, is of an impeccable character. A bit soft at times, but stalwart."
"Then," Charles continued, "can you not consult with him for his opinion? If he vouches for his wife's good behavior..."
The other Charles looked displeased at that.
"It can do no harm to consult him, at the least."
His counterpart scowled again.
"I do not see the point. James is a busy man, and I would not call upon him for no reason."
Charles stared incredulously at him.
No reason? The chance to help his wife while mitigating the risks of letting ex-Assassins near him was 'no reason?' Did the man wish his wife to recover at all?
"Well," Charles thought about it. "What about his other friends?"
He turned to Doctor White.
"Does Mr. Lee have any other friends? Acquaintances?"
Doctor White nodded.
"There is Ellen, a seamstress," and Charles started at that, "Big Dave, a blacksmith, old man Faulkner who was Connor's first mate though he has not yet returned from a months long trip down south, Norris and Mi--"
"No," Charles's counterpart interrupted, "I will not allow them into my house."
Charles stared at him. This was ridiculous. This was beyond ridiculous. The man was deliberately hindering his wife's progress at this point for no reason!
Ellen and Dave were certainly not Assassins or they would have been long jailed for it, and Charles could not comprehend why his counterpart would deny this.
"And why is that?" Doctor White asked.
"I need not answer," he replied. "Suffice to say, my wife will not see any of those...people. That is my final word."
Yes, Charles's counterpart was a problem indeed.
Charles shared a glance with Doctor White. The Omega looked as troubled as he felt.
If the man kept turning down their suggestions like this, if things continued on the way they had been...
Charles remembered how pale and wan this world's Connor looked. He remembered the purple bruises that Doctor White had uncovered, peeking slyly up at them from the opened nightgown as Doctor White worked to massage Connor's belly. They were mostly hidden, but one strayed too close to the edge of the nightgown, and Doctor White had pushed the cloth aside to uncover more.
It had infuriated them both, seeing those purple bruises on the Omega's hips, to know that not only was Charles's counterpart still slaking his lusts on his wife, he was doing so almost viciously.
As if he was taking his anger and frustration out on his helpless wife in a forced and rough coupling.
It made Charles feel ill, seeing those bruises. This Connor would never get better. He had daily proof of the atrocities that would greet him when he regained himself. And Charles would never be able to return home to his son.
This other Charles was beginning to be an obstacle. And obstacles needed to be removed.
Re: Finding Connor 22
(Anonymous) 2013-08-05 04:57 am (UTC)(link)My update might be a little later tonight or tomorrow, but at least I'm off and will have more time to write.
Re: Finding Connor 22
(Anonymous) 2013-08-06 05:09 am (UTC)(link)Super busy tonight. Update tomorrow. :)
Re: Finding Connor 22
(Anonymous) 2013-08-07 08:15 am (UTC)(link)Tomorrow night. ):
Re: Finding Connor 22
(Anonymous) 2013-08-08 07:19 am (UTC)(link)I'm soooo sorry. Life has been eaten up and just no time to update. This weekend for sure. I will write multiple chapters to make up for it all. D:
Re: Finding Connor 22
(Anonymous) 2013-08-08 08:37 am (UTC)(link)Anyway, I look forward to the big update :)
Finding Connor 23
(Anonymous) 2013-08-11 08:12 am (UTC)(link)Finding Connor
Chapter 22
Scheming was strange. It was not so much that Charles was not used to the activity (he was one of the Inner Circle and had unfortunately found it a most necessary part of delivering on his responsibilities), but it felt strange to be scheming against himself.
Of a sort.
Charles still vehemently denied any degree of resemblance between his own impeccable person and that utterly ridiculous individual who called himself Charles Lee in this world.
The form of the scheme was also vexing. Charles's usual affairs were limited to keeping rivals and enemies silent, mostly through removing them altogether or, if necessary, through blackmail and other means of leverage. There occassionally needed to be someone in the continental army who stood in the Order's way or a British Templar who possessed too much loyalty to the Crown and not enough to the Order. And a long, long time ago, Charles was one of the leaders of the operation to wipe the colonies of the Assassin Brotherhood.
He smiled bitterly.
What difficulty that was. The Brotherhood was a tricky lot, quite formidable foes, and it took both his own resolve and Master Kenway's genius to stamp out their rot before they could fully take hold. They'd been utterly exhausted afterwards, both from the mental and physical exertion required and from the loss of life that the execution of their plan resulted in. But they had done it and, to date, it had been the most difficult operation that Charles had participated in.
This planning, while small in comparison, was so vastly dissimilar that Charles was not sure where to begin.
He wanted this world's Connor to improve. To do that, he must remove the man from his wife. And with the way his counterpart insisted on watching over his wife at every available opportunity and vehemently opposed their suggestions to leave the Omega alone...
And that was the problem, wasn't it? This world's Charles had an unhealthy fixation on his wife. A fixation that knew no reason.
It occurred to Charles that it was somewhat amusing that he of all people should note another man's obsession, but he supposed that his death experience and removal from his own world altogether gave him new perspective. He saw now how he was utterly single-minded in his objectives, and how he had let his devastation over Connor's death allow him to destroy everything else he held dear.
It was a most unworthy thing to have done, to abandon his son like that, to ignore Master Kenway's orders and to shirk his duties. And it stained Connor's honor, that he did so in his wife's name. Connor would not have wanted him to take this route, and now he cannot return to his son.
And while his counterpart stood in his way, he did not quite want to kill his counterpart. The man was irritating, insulting and demeaning. He was mostly definitely a nuisance, but not quite a threat, and Charles had honor enough to look first to nonlethal means before resorting to the lethal ones.
It gave him a headache.
How did one scheme against what was technically oneself? And how did one do so successfully when the target had more power, standing, support and connections? His counterpart had the support of this world's Order, was the respected commander of the continental army and was master of his house. Charles was, at best, his estranged cousin and a guest welcomed only until his counterpart's patience ran out. It was a fine line that Charles was seeking to walk, and he did not know how to begin his first step.
What could he do to remove the other Charles's toxic influence on this world's Connor, so that the Omega could heal and Charles could return home?
That was the crux of the situation, wasn't it? From his and Doctor White's observations, his counterpart was toxic to his wife, and while this world's Connor would likely last to the childbirth, there was very little chance he would survive it.
And Charles knew that his stay in this world was connected to the Omega. That brief image in the green room, the certainty in that disembodied voice he heard back then... It all made sense.
So what would happen if this world's Connor died? Would Charles ever be able to return home? Or would he be stuck here, in this world where he could never hold his son? Where he could not even take ownership of his own identity?
It was not a comforting thought, and so Charles struggled to think of a way to remove his counterpart's influence.
There had to be something. Something that would work.
But what?
His counterpart would never allow his wife to be away from him, and the only people who could stand against him, the Assassins, were defeated. The survivors were under house arrest, crippled to prevent their ever being a threat again. Clipper was under the watchful eyes of this world's James. And Connor himself could be of no help, his mind wandering away somewhere while his body lay in his enemy's possession.
What of this world's Templars? If Charles contacted the Haytham Kenway and explained the situation, would the man help? Connor was his son, and Charles's mentor had always had a close relationship with his Omega son.
It was one of the many reasons Charles had been so hesitant to pursue his suit at first. Master Kenway was protective of Connor, as was his right as the Omega's Alpha father. And after Charles had impregnated Connor, he had been worried that Master Kenway would take his balls as a lesson to him. Thankfully, Charles's mentor had done no such thing, but Charles secretly suspected that that was due more to consideration for Connor and the thought of future grandchildren rather than any restraint on Charles's behalf.
Ah...but this world's Haytham Kenway had only known his son for a very short time. Too short to form any substantial bond, and they were enemies besides.
It was unthinkable in his own world to think of Master Kenway as less than supportive and adoring of his son. But this was not his own world, and Charles could not bank on any potential affections that Haytham Kenway might hold for his child.
Who else was there? Charles's own resources were limited here. He had no home, no fortune, no connections. His sole support was his counterpart, and his counterpart would not listen to reason.
Charles paced the length of his room, frustrated and disappointed. To have striven so much and accomplished so little...
It rankled. Charles was not used to failure, especially not with such consequences at the end of it.
What more could he do?
A knock sounded on his door, and he walked over to answer it.
Doctor White.
“May I speak with you?”
Charles blinked.
It was...late. He had expected the Omega to be asleep.
“Please come in,” he murmured, opening the door. The Omega doctor quickly slipped in, looking about furtively as he did so.
Huh. That was...odd.
“Can I help you?” Charles asked.
The doctor spun around to face him.
“You must do something.”
Charles blinked.
“I—“
Doctor White grasped him by the arms. There was an air of fatigue about him, and his face was strained in a look of pain.
“I fear for my friend. He is not getting much better, and at his current strength, he will not survive the birthing process. It is impossible.”
The hands on Charles's arms trembled, and Charles moved to hold the man's shoulders, to support that shaking form.
“Doctor,” he whispered. “You are not well. You must rest.”
He moved to help Doctor White over to a chair. The man shook his head and refused to move.
“No,” Doctor White sighed. “It is not rest I need. It is justice and hope. And I fear that I am low on both.”
“You must not give up, Doctor. Your friend will never recover if—“
“He cannot recover anyways.”
Charles's breath caught in his throat. He wanted to deny those words. He wanted to forget that they had ever been spoken, but he could not. The words were horrible, but they had the air of truth to them. His hands tightened convulsively.
“Surely, surely there is still hope?” He whispered.
The good doctor shook his head.
“Birthing can be a tricky and difficult process as it is, even in the best of situations for female Omegas. Our science is not advanced enough to ensure safe delivery all the time. For a male Omega who, for all intents and purposes, already looks and acts a corpse—”
Charles swallowed thickly at those words.
“—I do not have any delusions that Connor would survive it.”
It was said with such finality, and Charles felt despair crawl up his belly. To lose this chance to return home, to perhaps never see his baby boy again...
“There must be something, something we can do,” he urged. “Better food, more medicine, more fresh air—“
“No. We tried all of that. The improvement is minimal, and these days, I fear that I was only imagining it.”
Doctor White sighed.
“We are only treating the minor causes of Connor's illness. The major one remains, and so Connor does not improve.”
The major one. Charles's counterpart himself.
It was now Charles's turn to sigh.
“I do not know what to do about that,” he admitted. “This other Charles is so stubborn, so determined to have his way...”
He paused, suddenly frustrated beyond all measure.
“I do not know what to do to change things,” he finished finally.
The good doctor shiftened underneath his hands.
“When I first agreed to do this, to treat Connor rather than end his pain, you made me a promise.”
That drew a startled look from Charles.
“I—“
The doctor moved to grasp his shoulders.
“You promised me that if this despicable version of you persists in his idiocy, that you would take care of him.”
Charles fidgeted uneasily.
“I—“
“I came here at this time to ask you to keep that promise. Or,” the doctor looked at him archly, “do you sympathize with him? After all, he is you, albeit with a different life. I would not blame you for your loyalty to him.”
It went unsaid that the doctor would consider Charles a man of uncertain morals, who only kept his word for those things that were convenient for him.
“I am not loyal to him,” Charles stressed. “But I have tried to think of a solution, and I do not have one yet. I try to think of what I can do to convince my counterpart of the error of his ways. I try to think what I can do to remove Connor from him. But he is the commander in this land, with friends who back him and resources that I do not have.”
Charles paused and wet his lips.
“Do not forget that I do not actually exist in this world. I am simply a phantom that appeared, that this Charles allowed to be called his cousin. My influence and power here is limited, and I fear there is little I can do if he does not listen. I—“
“Get rid of him.”
Charles blinked. Then he gaped as he understood the meaning of the words.
“You want me to kill him?” He whispered in a frantic whisper.
“I do not see another solution.”
“Killing him is not a solution!”
“Then what would you suggest? You said it yourself, he does not listen to reason and your ability to move against him is limited. He will continue his ways, and things will remain as they were until Connor dies in childbirth. Is this what you want?”
“Of course not, but—“
“So kill him.”
Charles gaped.
This Doctor White was so bloodthirsty and different from his own.
How could this world be so wrong? Doctor White, himself, Mary, so practical and reasonable and normal in his world were all so wrong here. Bloodthirsty, suspicious and paranoid.
Charles wanted to be gone from here.
“It is not so easy to kill such a man as he.”
“But you have experience in that, do you not?” The question was asked archly, and Charles had the sneaking suspicion that the good doctor knew full well his measure.
While he was not quite the monster his counterpart was, he was also no saint.
“It is extreme—“
“This problem needs an extreme solution.”
“It would not be a solution if everyone is out for my head for having killed this world's Charles Lee,” Charles muttered.
Doctor White snorted.
“Is that your concern?”
Charles looked at him angrily.
“I wish to return home to my son, to the remainder of my family. I cannot do that if I am dead.”
The Omega doctor shook his head.
“The solution is so simple, and you truly do not see?”
“See what?”
“Who are you? Who is this person that I am speaking to?”
Charles was confused.
“You know who I am—“
“Humor me.”
Charles shrugged.
“I am Charles Lee of...“
He stopped.
And he understood.
“A way to tie all loose ends, removing my counterpart's influence and power to inflict retaliation should we intercede.”
Doctor White nodded.
“Yes. It solves all our problems. If,” he pointed out sternly, “you can act.”
Charles smirked.
“I need not act. I am Charles Lee, am I not?”
“So you are.”
And so he was.
It was about time he remembered that.
Re: Finding Connor 23
(Anonymous) 2013-08-11 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Finding Connor 23
(Anonymous) 2013-08-12 08:12 am (UTC)(link)It seemed logical to me, and I wanted to highlight how very different Doctor White has become due to the atrocities he was forced to witness. Really, MotH! Charles is to blame for all of this, because Doctor White would never push so hard were he not irrevocably changed by witnessing his friend's forced wedding, the slaughter of a number of respected and notable figures, and the beginning of Connor's rape. Add the jeopardy that Connor's life is in and...
:)
I think I'll have to rework updating schedule to once every 2-3 days. Too much stuff to do and too much crap going on.
Re: Finding Connor 23
(Anonymous) 2013-08-13 03:55 am (UTC)(link)Sorry to hear about your heavy workload, but don't worry about it. You've spoiled all of us anon readers with these wonderful fills of yours. I admit I enjoy reading them over again, especially this fill where I can soak up all the details and see how much I can add to the prequel.
Finding Connor 24
(Anonymous) 2013-08-15 05:14 am (UTC)(link)Chapter 23
The thought of killing his counterpart did make some part of Charles squirm in discomfort. The man had, after all, not done anything worthy of death (to Charles at least), and it felt unusual plotting against him.
But he did stand between Charles and home, and Charles was ruthless enough to set aside his own discomfort. Doctor White certainly did, and although the man was more firm in his insistence on Charles's counterpart's death, it was quite obvious that he, too, was not fully at ease.
It was nice to see that something of the gentle doctor that Charles knew had remained intact. Some measure of concern for a man who had done him and his far more wrong than Charles had ever thought possible.
Charles shivered and wrapped his coat more securely about himself. He should not be surprised, he knew, from what he saw of the Charles Lee of this universe, but even though he knew the man's measure, even though it had been near two weeks since he learned of the Alpha's trangressions towards this world's Connor and his friends...
Charles never thought himself capable of such atrocity. To be given proof and see it daily was...unsettling.
And to see Doctor White struggling so hard for his friend...it was humbling.
Had he struggled so hard for his wife? Had he struggled so hard for his family?
“What about poison? I know of many substances that would cause an averse affect similar to a disease...”
Charles shook his head.
“How will we explain away the fact that no one else got sick? And is not poison too obvious? Mary and Ronald would likely call Doctor Davies back, and I guarantee you, he would know.”
The Templar Doctor had gone away, likely to report on these strange circumstances to the Haytham Kenway of this world.
Charles shuddered again. While he had the utmost respect for Master Kenway, he knew how ruthless his mentor could be. That he was not incarcerated and kept careful watch over meant that they did not yet suspect him of anything nefarious.
And how could he do anything while imprisoned?
“And if I just stab him and hide the body?”
It was Doctor White's turn to shake his head.
“And how will you explain his disappearance? The servants will likely be suspicious of you, especially since you look so similar to him.”
Charles considered that.
“If I learn his habits? From what I see, they are not so different than mine.”
“No, because you cannot hope to learn all his history, all the changes between your timeline and his. If you arouse the servants' suspicions, they will test you, and you cannot afford that. You need to make him disappear in a way that is natural.”
“Natural,” Charles murmured to himself.
This was all giving him a headache. Normally, when he needed someone to disappear, he ordered one of the lower ranks to remove the problem and, if necessary, he would explain it all away.
It was partly why his brothers in the Templar Order said that he had a silver tongue.
“An accident, perhaps?” Doctor White theorized. “Does he enjoy any activity that may be dangerous?”
Charles scoffed.
“Too convenient. The servants are already suspicious of me, and I am sure that they would find it odd that my counterpart only had a fatal accident while I was around, and not during the other many, many years of his life.”
Barring those ridiculous days chasing after Master Kenway on top of roofs and nearly falling and splitting his head open, Charles had always had uncanny good luck and the same seemed to be true for his counterpart.
Honestly, Charles did not even truly want to kill him. If only he would just leave on vacation or something and never come back...
He straightened from where he slouched in his chair then.
“Or I could just leave.”
Doctor White looked alarmed at that.
“If you even think of leaving me to this travesty, of leaving Connor to this, then I—“
Charles impatiently shook his head.
“No, no, not that. I meant a send-off. Where I will leave and, because my counterpart is a paranoid bastard, he will follow me to make sure I truly go.”
A glimmer of understanding entered Doctor White's eyes.
“Ah,” he murmured. “You plan to lure him away under the pretense of leaving. Kill him when the opportunity comes and—“
“—return here in his place.”
Doctor White looked thoughtful.
“There would be no suspicions then because only one of you is supposed to return.”
He then looked at Charles archly.
“Provided you make no mistakes.”
Charles shook his head.
“As much as it pains me, we are very alike in mannerisms and attitudes. It is only the way he treats his wife and you that truly sets us apart.”
Doctor White sighed.
“We shall have to feign that then. It would be strange if he suddenly started being cordial to me.”
Charles shrugged.
“I will pretend you are one of my enemies. It should help with the mindset.”
Doctor White suddenly seemed to think of something.
“But the servants...will they not expect you to bed Connor?”
Charles stilled at that. His mouthed worked, but no sound came out.
“They see him visit Connor nightly, and they are the ones responsible for dressing Connor. They would notice the lack of bruises.”
Charles reddened, remembering the finger-sized bruises on Connor's hips. Such lovely skin marred by such ghastly purple.
“And it's not as if you could take the monster's place in this. It would make his demise utterly pointless. And I would kill you.”
“There is also the fact that I would not cheat on my wife,” Charles muttered.
Really, he would not. He meant it when he said the Connors were not the same. He would not betray his own with this one, no matter how alike they looked.
“Good. That means I won't have to kill you.”
Charles wasn't sure whether he was relieved at the Omega's protectiveness over his friend or unnerved by the matter-of-fact tone the doctor used.
“Thanks,” he settled on saying.
The good doctor waved it off.
“I see now way around it. You'll just have to deliberately bruise him.”
Charles nodded unhappily. He had no desire to hurt the convalescent Omega, but if it meant keeping them all safe and letting Charles return home without breaking his commitment to his Connor...
“The only thing left then,” Charles whispered, “is the when.”
Doctor White looked slyly at him.
“Why, the end of this week of course.”
Charles blinked.
“Why the end of the week?”
“It is Connor's birthing day. It would be a fitting present.”
Ah...
“The end of the week it is.”
Re: Finding Connor 24
(Anonymous) 2013-08-15 05:43 am (UTC)(link)Once again I <3 Charles' devotion to his own Omega... because it's not technically cheating on your spouse if your spouse is already dead. Can't wait to see how moth!Connor and FW!Charles react to one another.
Re: Finding Connor 24
(Anonymous) 2013-08-16 03:58 am (UTC)(link)I dunno how he makes plotting to kill someone look so...charming.
//pets Charles//
Finding Connor 25
(Anonymous) 2013-08-20 08:14 am (UTC)(link)Chapter 24
Charles had been afraid. A plan like that, even one so much simpler than his usual plans...
Well, there was a reason that he had gained a short patience. His plans rarely worked out the way he wanted them to, and it took many failed attempts for him to learn the hard lesson that complexity was simply inviting disaster.
And so he waited and dreaded his counterpart discovering their plot. Or the servants overhearing them working out the details. Or even this world's Haytham Kenway deciding to eliminate the unknown element in this world and terminate his presence.
He was not afraid to say that these fears kept him up at night, and he often found restless strolls to be somewhat comforting, even as they gave him even more time to ponder what could go wrong.
Damn his ever-thinking mind! Would that he were able to turn off his thoughts as the likes of Hickey could do. It was a very useful trait, and certainly his fretting was not helping any. Even Doctor White had noted it and warned him that the chances of his having a mishap were all the greater for his ceaseless anxiety.
If only he could take such advice. Alas, his mind was not so easily stopped, and with his memory of his failure with his wife so clear in his mind, he found sleep difficult.
One day turned into two, and then two into three. And soon, he declared that he would leave to seek his fortune.
As expected, the servants looked relieved, though no less wary. Doctor Davies did not seem to suspect a thing, but his counterpart...
The man was clearly suspicious, but was cuaght between a desire to see Charles leave and a distrust of Charles's intent. It was exactly as Charles and Doctor White had hoped. Caught between the two sentiments, the other Charles ended up voicing nothing at all and instead made arrangements to see Charels off.
It was as Charles had planned. It was a vital part of the plan, and Charles should be feeling rather triumpahnt that his plan had nearly come to fruition with minimal effort on his part.
And he would be, under any other circumstances.
But...
Charles shifted atop his horse and glanced at his companion. His counterpart had done him no real wrong. Nothing like what the man had done to his own wife. For Charles to be killing him still felt rather disgusting to Charles.
Surely, Charles thought. Surely there must be a way to resolve all this without the unnecessary bloodshed.
Ah, but he had made the promise to Doctor White, that he would do everything in his power to make things right and give this world's Connor the best chance at life at this point. And while Charles was not so foolish as to believe it unthinkable to ever break a promise, he was not sort to break them easily.
Promises were not forever. They could be broken and often were with impunity. But Charles was a man of his word, and he tried, at least, to keep as many as possible. Within reason.
But he did not revel in the sight of mindless killing or blood either, and that he had to erase his own double in this world...
That definitely felt uncanny somehow.
Perhaps if he tried again to get his counterpart to understand the part he played in his wife's ailment, if he tried harder to influence the other Charles...
Yes. He didn't really try hard enough. He needed to do more, so that he could return home without effectively killing himself.
It would be for the best. If the Connor of this world woke, what then? His land was seized in the name of the Charles of this world. His monies and properties were confiscated and added to his husband's property. He had survived before, or so Doctor White had informed Charles, but that was largely due to the generosity of Achilles Davenport. The man had raised Connor, give him food and lodging and taught him skills. That initial help from Achilles was enough to make a successful businessman out of Connor.
Charles's lips curled.
And an Assassin, yet another trade that Connor earned somewhat of a living on. But both these avenues were now closed to the Omega and unlike before, there was no more Achilles Davenport to bequeath properties and a living onto him.
Keeping the other Charles alive would enable the Connor of this world to survive.
And the servants! Surely they would be devastated if their master disappeared as Charles was likely to do once this world's Connor woke. It would be best for Mary and Ronald and all the others if he did not kill his counterpart. They needed their master, needed his employment and needed his use of their services. It was all they had known for a very long time, and while Charles did not doubt that Mary and Ronald could find work with little difficulty, he did worry about the other servants.
Their skills were rather simple, something that most indentured servants fresh off the boats could do. And unlike those indentured servants, they were freemen and freewomen and thus would require a higher salary than those indentured servants. In this day and age, they could not hope to compete against them.
Which meant the master of the house had to stay alive. If Charles Lee disappeared from this world...
The consequences would be disastrous. And Charles planned to disappear, to return to his own world.
He shot another glance at his companion, still watching him warily.
That meant he could not kill his counterpart.
Re: Finding Connor 25
(Anonymous) 2013-08-20 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)I'm sure Haytham, being Connor's father and probably mentioned somewhere in Charles' will, would step in. This world's Connor was an enemy of the Order and now their prisoner, doubt they would let him go so easily. Haytham could just marry him off to another Templar.
Though I do have a feeling that FW!Connor is shooting himself in the foot here by letting Moth!Charles live. Wonder what ultimately drives him into killing his counterpart.
Re: Finding Connor 25
(Anonymous) 2013-08-21 03:26 am (UTC)(link):)
Re: Finding Connor 25
(Anonymous) 2013-08-21 07:44 am (UTC)(link)Finding Connor 26
(Anonymous) 2013-08-25 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)Chapter 25
Charles felt both more relieved and more anxious as he came to his decision. Certainly, he would face much more work to try to persuade his counterpart to cooperate, and it was not a guaranteed success, but there was something to be said about not having to murder without cause that lifted a weight on Charles.
Charles was a practical man, capable of horrific actions to obtain what he desired, but he was not the kind of man to take those horrific actions lightly. He had learned from when he choked the young boy who would become the Assassin. He had learned what could happen if he blindly leapt into something, rather than moving forward because the consequences were a necessary evil.
Killing his counterpart was not a necessary move. Leaving the servants and the other Connor and the other Haytham without a master, a husband, a successor was not a necessary evil. Not when he had not really tried to persuade his counterpart with all of his ability.
That's what it came down to, wasn't it?
Charles had not tried hard enough. He'd been too worried about keeping the peace, about not offending the one man who held the keys to his being able to go home, about not getting himself kicked out of residence with nothing to live on, not even a name, except the clothes on his back. It was valid and understandable, but hardly conducive to teaching his counterpart better ways of interacting with his wife.
Charles winced.
It sounded all kinds of patronizing, but what could he do? His counterpart clearly was not succeeding with his own methods, and Charles would not allow him to fail. The man's failure impacted Charles's own future too much.
Charles shot a look to the other man, who was studiously ignoring him now. Perhaps he would test out his ability to influence the man. There was no one about, except them, and with Charles physically very far from the man's wife, he should pose no threat to his counterpart.
Surely the other Charles would be more open to listening to him?
"Do you look forward to my leaving?"
His counterpart jolts upright from where he was beginning to slouch in his saddle and looks sternly at him.
"Are you trying to get me to fall off my horse and break my neck?"
Charles winced. That had been rather sudden, hadn't it?
"And to answer your question, no I do not."
Oh?
The question must have showed in his face for the other Charles decided to elaborate.
"While I do not particularly enjoy your presence in this world, I would rather have you where I can keep watch over your activities. This entire resolution you have to leave seems highly dubious, especially as we both know you are unable to return to your own home."
Charles blinked.
"Not only are you in charge of the armed forces, you also have the support of the Order's network of spies. I am sure one of them would be keeping tabs on me and reporting my activities back to you. And were you not uncomfortable with my proximity to your wife?"
His counterpart snorted contemptuously.
"You are me but from another place. What spies I have at my disposal I am sure you have knowledge of as well. It would be easy for you to evade them."
Charles was doubtful about it, given the differences in their two experiences that had already made themselves known to him, but he kept silent as his counterpart continued.
"And as for my wife..."
The man stopped for a moment, as if holding back immense anger.
"Your concern for my wife is highly inappropriate, particularly in regards to your relation to your own wife and your wife's relation to my wife. You constantly meddle, insert your advice where it is not wanted..."
He glared at Charles.
"It is not your place! How I conduct my affairs with my wife is my own business, and I will not be gainsayed by one such as you, who could not possibly understand that his own..." he sneered "...experience is neither relevant nor welcomed."
Something ugly in Charles's heart bled bitter at that. But he tried to calm himself when it felt it. He would not give it free rein. He sensed that nothing good can come of it.
"I understand," Charles began, "that the Connor here is your wife. And I do not mean to upset your authority, that was not my intention at all. But I, too, am reliant upon a happy outcome for your wife, so as to return home. Our wishes are aligned, and I am no enemy of yours."
He hoped his argument would allay the suspicions between them. He could not influence without trust, and trust could not be gained until the man stopped being so wary about his motives.
That the other Alpha was jealous of all those who neared his wife, Charles could somewhat understand. But that he let that jealousy cloud his thinking, Charles could not.
Was his motivations so truly unbelievable that even a sincere and heart-felt effort to bring peace between them should always be met with anger and hostility?
"That matters not. That you believe yourself better versed to help my wife than myself is of the most disagreeable nature. Your circumstances are wholly different to that of this world, and you know nothing of my wife. That you still press for your ideas so is unseemly and will not be tolerated."
Apparently so.
Still Charles tried. Still.
"It is not that I seek to force you to do things my way," Charles explained. "It is the fact that what you are doing right now is clearly not successful. Your Connor still lies insensate and every day he gets closer to the child's birth. Both Doctors White and Davies do not think much of either his chances or that of the child's if he remains so during the birth."
He paused for a moment, thinking. How to make this as clear and urgent as possible?
"If you continue doing what you have, you will lose them both. Is that what you really want?"
That should get through to the Alpha. That must get through to the Alpha.
Charles did not know what else he could do to convince his counterpart.
The man was silent.
Then, "I shall do what I deem best. And I will brook no more argument on this."
And with that, he dug his heels into his horse's flank and the creature jolted forward into a fast trot. And despite all of Charles's later efforts, his counterpart refused to acknowledge him.
The bitterness in Charles swelled.
Re: Finding Connor 26
(Anonymous) 2013-08-26 01:56 am (UTC)(link)Re: Finding Connor 26
(Anonymous) 2013-08-28 03:14 am (UTC)(link)No worries. He's not coming back with moth! Charles. He just doesn't realize it yet.
Finding Connor 27
(Anonymous) 2013-09-01 08:00 am (UTC)(link)Chapter 28
Charles paced back and forth as he and his counterpart finished setting up camp.
He was...torn.
The other Alpha was arrogant and patronizing and completely infuriating. And if he had been anyone else, Charles would have done his best to put him in his place already.
Charles thought back to the man's ultimatum and saw red. To be ordered about and obviously expected to actually follow such orders...
Who did he think he was? Was Charles not also the same? They were the same person, and for his counterpart to treat him so dismissively was...was...
"Will you be useless this entire time or do you plan to find us some food?"
Charles grit his teeth and turned slowly to stare at the lounging man.
"I must be hard of hearing because I cannot have just heard you suggest that I should hunt for the both of us."
"It would not have been necessary if you had packed more."
Charles stared at him. He hadn't packed more because he had not expected to be in company for so long in the trip. He thought woefully to his soft heart. If only he had slain the man earlier...
"I certainly did not expect you to follow me and eat the food I packed," Charles said instead.
His counterpart snorted.
"As if you could ever believe me to be so naive as to let you wander off alone. It would be different if you were someone I had confidence in, but as it is..." He shrugged, seemingly seeing an end to the matter.
Charles did not.
"I confess that I do not understand this irrational hatred you possess for me," Charles pushed on. "Are we not the same person? Do we not share the same goals?"
A glare, though a halfhearted one.
"You know full well that it is because we share the same goals that I cannot fully let down my guard around you."
Charles felt his eyebrows climbing into his hair. Well, with a ludicrous statement like that, he could scarce blame them.
"Please," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am you. I know full well that you would never be able to let your guard down around anyone, not even Master Kenway, despite your feelings for him. It is the unusual strength of your misgivings that I allude you, and it does you a disservice to pretend otherwise."
Oh look. He'd upset the other Charles. Guess his counterpart did not much like reminding of his unrequited feelings for his mentor.
Charles had taken a gamble with that one. His own affections had long been fixed upon Mr. Lee, née Mr. Kenway. He held some mild attraction towards the elder, but as his mentor's son grew and blossomed into an especially talented and lovely and brilliant Omega...
Charles smiled fondly, remembering the first time he'd realized the strength of his admiration for his future wife. To see the young man so happy, playing with Spado and the others...
"My relations with Master Kenway are not for you to judge. And you know full well exactly why I would be a fool to trust you."
"I confess I do not," Charles returned. "I have no interest in your wife, beyond his safe recovery so that I may return to my own home. Why you persist in believing otherwise, I cannot understand."
"Can you not?" his counterpart had one eyebrow raised in sardonic amusement. "You, who have so recently lost a most beloved wife. And now you find a man who is your wife in a different world...can you truly not understand my reticence?"
Oh for the love of--
"No, I cannot," Charles said firmly. "I have said time and time again that your wife is not the same person as my wife. And I am not a cheater. I loved my wife with a passion that I doubt you can even conceive, given the way you treat your own. And I will not betray his trust in me."
The other Charles turned red. "And what is that supposed to mean? You dare to suggest that I am deliberately cruel to my wife? That I seek to harm him?"
Dear God, was the man deliberately being obtuse?
"No! But I do suggest that you are so used to thinking of him as your enemy that you automatically treat him as such, despite the change in his position with respect to you and yours."
"He is an enemy!"
Charles blinked, surprised at the outburst.
"He is an Assassin. I must never let loose his bindings, else he may raise that blade against the Order again. And I cannot allow that to happen. I will not."
His counterpart stalked up to him, suddenly fierce and very, very angry.
"Do you think that I am a weakling and a traitor? Ha! I put the Order above all else. All my relationships, all my bonds, everything dear to me. I know," he laughed bitterly, "I know what you think of me. You and that doctor of yours. And I do not care. I thought up this plan to defang a most dangerous foe and turn my enemy's strength into my own."
He paused at that, briefly looking away into the flames of the campfire.
"I admit I did not realize how magnificent he could be--" and he sounded almost regretful at that "--but it does not change anything. His talents are vital to the Order, and Master Kenway could only trust me to handle his wayward son. Even if he seems to have changed his mind now."
Oh?
The other Charles shook his head. "But that is neither here nor there. My first loyalty is to the Order. Yours seems to be to your son and your own Order, both waiting for you in another world."
Charles nodded. So his counterpart must understand then, why he could not be a danger to him. What had he to gain from stealing this Connor? His greatest desires needed this Connor to be well and whole, and did not the other Charles desire the same thing?
"I do not doubt you when you say you have no ulterior designs on my wife."
Charles blinked, suddenly feeling off-balance. Wasn't that why the man always treated him so disdainfully?
"I am sure you wonder why I have no been more welcoming to you in that case."
Charles could only nod mutely.
"Well, there is a simple answer to that."
A flash of pain, and Charles clutched his stomach in pain.
"It's a pity, because I truly do not detest you as you think I do. But you are trying too hard, and I cannot allow that."
He yanked the dagger out of Charles's stomach, and Charles dropped to the ground, curling around his wound.
Betrayal bled bitter in his mind.
What was the reason for this? Why? The other Charles had already said he understood, so why had he done this?
"I am not without empathy though, and I am sure you wish to understand why it came to this."
He glanced over Charles's shivering form and, apparently satisfied with what he saw, continued.
"It's really quite simple. My loyalties to the Order means that I am willing to sacrifice anything for it. Even," he said sadly, "my relationship with Master Kenway. He has not visited me, you know, since my wife fell ill. And I can only surmise that he has given up on me for my failure to convert his son from his improper thinking."
He seemed wistful, and Charles would have felt sorry for him if he were not bleeding away on the forest floor.
Charles carefully exerted pressure on the wound, doing his best to staunch the bleeding with only his hands and torn shirt. Damn the man. He deserved any kind of misery he received.
"And I truly do want to convert Connor. He has proven himself to be a most resilient wife and, with training, I am sure he could be a most admirable example. But in the case that he does not..."
He glanced again at Charles's curled form on the ground.
"Your first prerogative is to return home to your son and your Order. And so you are aligned with my wife's interests, not necessarily with my own. If Connor heals and does not adjust his wrong thinking, then you would be a very dangerous liability. And I cannot have that. I cannot tolerate a world where my wife is allied to my alternate self, an alternate self that is unduly sympathetic to him and not so much to his own counterpart."
And here the man glared.
"If Connor were to know his place, then I would not be concerned. But I cannot chance that he stands to gain such power when there is no proof that he has. It is too dangerous, and I will not allow the Order to face such risk. Better that I remove you from the situation early, to prevent any later misunderstandings."
Charles felt incredulous. Misunderstandings? As he lay bleeding on the forest floor? And, if his counterpart had been better with his aim, he would have been dead otherwise.
His scowled in pain at the man. And his blood chilled as the other Alpha withdrew a pistol.
"I am not without understanding and sympathy. And I am sorry to have to do this. But I will not allow you to endanger my Order. And I cannot take the chance that you've learned from your mistakes given that your very purpose here is to help my wife."
Unbelievably, he actually did look regretful.
Oh bugger that.
"I really am sorry."
And a shot rang out.
Re: Finding Connor 27
(Anonymous) 2013-09-01 12:51 pm (UTC)(link)Finding Connor 27
(Anonymous) 2013-09-01 08:01 am (UTC)(link)Chapter 26
Charles paced back and forth as he and his counterpart finished setting up camp.
He was...torn.
The other Alpha was arrogant and patronizing and completely infuriating. And if he had been anyone else, Charles would have done his best to put him in his place already.
Charles thought back to the man's ultimatum and saw red. To be ordered about and obviously expected to actually follow such orders...
Who did he think he was? Was Charles not also the same? They were the same person, and for his counterpart to treat him so dismissively was...was...
"Will you be useless this entire time or do you plan to find us some food?"
Charles grit his teeth and turned slowly to stare at the lounging man.
"I must be hard of hearing because I cannot have just heard you suggest that I should hunt for the both of us."
"It would not have been necessary if you had packed more."
Charles stared at him. He hadn't packed more because he had not expected to be in company for so long in the trip. He thought woefully to his soft heart. If only he had slain the man earlier...
"I certainly did not expect you to follow me and eat the food I packed," Charles said instead.
His counterpart snorted.
"As if you could ever believe me to be so naive as to let you wander off alone. It would be different if you were someone I had confidence in, but as it is..." He shrugged, seemingly seeing an end to the matter.
Charles did not.
"I confess that I do not understand this irrational hatred you possess for me," Charles pushed on. "Are we not the same person? Do we not share the same goals?"
A glare, though a halfhearted one.
"You know full well that it is because we share the same goals that I cannot fully let down my guard around you."
Charles felt his eyebrows climbing into his hair. Well, with a ludicrous statement like that, he could scarce blame them.
"Please," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am you. I know full well that you would never be able to let your guard down around anyone, not even Master Kenway, despite your feelings for him. It is the unusual strength of your misgivings that I allude you, and it does you a disservice to pretend otherwise."
Oh look. He'd upset the other Charles. Guess his counterpart did not much like reminding of his unrequited feelings for his mentor.
Charles had taken a gamble with that one. His own affections had long been fixed upon Mr. Lee, née Mr. Kenway. He held some mild attraction towards the elder, but as his mentor's son grew and blossomed into an especially talented and lovely and brilliant Omega...
Charles smiled fondly, remembering the first time he'd realized the strength of his admiration for his future wife. To see the young man so happy, playing with Spado and the others...
"My relations with Master Kenway are not for you to judge. And you know full well exactly why I would be a fool to trust you."
"I confess I do not," Charles returned. "I have no interest in your wife, beyond his safe recovery so that I may return to my own home. Why you persist in believing otherwise, I cannot understand."
"Can you not?" his counterpart had one eyebrow raised in sardonic amusement. "You, who have so recently lost a most beloved wife. And now you find a man who is your wife in a different world...can you truly not understand my reticence?"
Oh for the love of--
"No, I cannot," Charles said firmly. "I have said time and time again that your wife is not the same person as my wife. And I am not a cheater. I loved my wife with a passion that I doubt you can even conceive, given the way you treat your own. And I will not betray his trust in me."
The other Charles turned red. "And what is that supposed to mean? You dare to suggest that I am deliberately cruel to my wife? That I seek to harm him?"
Dear God, was the man deliberately being obtuse?
"No! But I do suggest that you are so used to thinking of him as your enemy that you automatically treat him as such, despite the change in his position with respect to you and yours."
"He is an enemy!"
Charles blinked, surprised at the outburst.
"He is an Assassin. I must never let loose his bindings, else he may raise that blade against the Order again. And I cannot allow that to happen. I will not."
His counterpart stalked up to him, suddenly fierce and very, very angry.
"Do you think that I am a weakling and a traitor? Ha! I put the Order above all else. All my relationships, all my bonds, everything dear to me. I know," he laughed bitterly, "I know what you think of me. You and that doctor of yours. And I do not care. I thought up this plan to defang a most dangerous foe and turn my enemy's strength into my own."
He paused at that, briefly looking away into the flames of the campfire.
"I admit I did not realize how magnificent he could be--" and he sounded almost regretful at that "--but it does not change anything. His talents are vital to the Order, and Master Kenway could only trust me to handle his wayward son. Even if he seems to have changed his mind now."
Oh?
The other Charles shook his head. "But that is neither here nor there. My first loyalty is to the Order. Yours seems to be to your son and your own Order, both waiting for you in another world."
Charles nodded. So his counterpart must understand then, why he could not be a danger to him. What had he to gain from stealing this Connor? His greatest desires needed this Connor to be well and whole, and did not the other Charles desire the same thing?
"I do not doubt you when you say you have no ulterior designs on my wife."
Charles blinked, suddenly feeling off-balance. Wasn't that why the man always treated him so disdainfully?
"I am sure you wonder why I have no been more welcoming to you in that case."
Charles could only nod mutely.
"Well, there is a simple answer to that."
A flash of pain, and Charles clutched his stomach in pain.
"It's a pity, because I truly do not detest you as you think I do. But you are trying too hard, and I cannot allow that."
He yanked the dagger out of Charles's stomach, and Charles dropped to the ground, curling around his wound.
Betrayal bled bitter in his mind.
What was the reason for this? Why? The other Charles had already said he understood, so why had he done this?
"I am not without empathy though, and I am sure you wish to understand why it came to this."
He glanced over Charles's shivering form and, apparently satisfied with what he saw, continued.
"It's really quite simple. My loyalties to the Order means that I am willing to sacrifice anything for it. Even," he said sadly, "my relationship with Master Kenway. He has not visited me, you know, since my wife fell ill. And I can only surmise that he has given up on me for my failure to convert his son from his improper thinking."
He seemed wistful, and Charles would have felt sorry for him if he were not bleeding away on the forest floor.
Charles carefully exerted pressure on the wound, doing his best to staunch the bleeding with only his hands and torn shirt. Damn the man. He deserved any kind of misery he received.
"And I truly do want to convert Connor. He has proven himself to be a most resilient wife and, with training, I am sure he could be a most admirable example. But in the case that he does not..."
He glanced again at Charles's curled form on the ground.
"Your first prerogative is to return home to your son and your Order. And so you are aligned with my wife's interests, not necessarily with my own. If Connor heals and does not adjust his wrong thinking, then you would be a very dangerous liability. And I cannot have that. I cannot tolerate a world where my wife is allied to my alternate self, an alternate self that is unduly sympathetic to him and not so much to his own counterpart."
And here the man glared.
"If Connor were to know his place, then I would not be concerned. But I cannot chance that he stands to gain such power when there is no proof that he has. It is too dangerous, and I will not allow the Order to face such risk. Better that I remove you from the situation early, to prevent any later misunderstandings."
Charles felt incredulous. Misunderstandings? As he lay bleeding on the forest floor? And, if his counterpart had been better with his aim, he would have been dead otherwise.
His scowled in pain at the man. And his blood chilled as the other Alpha withdrew a pistol.
"I am not without understanding and sympathy. And I am sorry to have to do this. But I will not allow you to endanger my Order. And I cannot take the chance that you've learned from your mistakes given that your very purpose here is to help my wife."
Unbelievably, he actually did look regretful.
Oh bugger that.
"I really am sorry."
And a shot rang out.
Finding Connor 27
(Anonymous) 2013-09-19 04:49 am (UTC)(link)Finding Connor
Chapter 27
The other Charles stared at him, blinking owlishly. It was as if the man didn't comprehend that there was a bullet through his heart.
Then again, the man likely didn't know. He'd probably assumed that all was in his favor and forgotten his own caution.
Charles glared up at him through triumphant pain-filled eyes, hands still tightly clutched around the small pistol he had hidden in his coat.
Served him right for what he'd been about to do to Charles...and after Charles had decided not to kill him after all!
Charles gingerly pushed himself up, one hand leaving the pistol to press tightly against the bleeding wound in his belly. He winced as blood seeped through his fingers.
Thank God his counterpart hadn't been paying more attention. Just the fact that he was still conscious and, given that he had been stabbed, relatively well, it looked as if his counterpart hadn't hit anything of import. Just a flesh wound likely, though God knew how lucky Charles was for that to have happened.
Dying once was bad enough. Charles had no intention of dying two times.
Charles hobbled over to his defeated nemesis and stared at the cooling body of his counterpart.
Really, it was most inconsiderate of the man. Forcing Charles to kill him when Charles had gone through all that trouble to find a way to keep from killing him.
He deserved punishment for that alone, the ungrateful sod.
He considered the body for a bit. Then, with a sigh, he slowly stooped down, careful not to aggravate his wound, and knelt by the Alpha.
With care not to jostle his belly too much, he tentatively reached into the folds of the man's jacket and bared his shirt.
Relatively clean. It would have to do.
With a grimace, he took a hold of the shirt and, with a forceful pull and a sharp cry as his belly protested his movement, tore a strip from the white cloth.
He'd never make it back to civilization as he was, bleeding out through his stomach.
Ten minutes later, after he used the dead man's whiskey to clean and bind his wound (and Charles found he had new respect for every soldier that had been injured in the field without a field doctor nearby), he turned a considering gaze to the body before him.
Call him maudlin, but he was hesitating at disposing of it. It seemed disrespectful to himself somehow. The thought of unceremoniously dumping the man and assuming his place.
And yet...what else could be done? He was already dead. Even out there, where few would likely venture, it was possible that someone would stumble upon the body. As unlikely as it seemed, Charles could not take the risk that the body be discovered. It would put their entire plan into jeopardy and remove any and all possibility of Charles returning to his son alive.
And wasn't that worth a little sacrilege?
To see his son again and make amends for his selfishness. To be with the last gift his wife had given him.
Charles closed his eyes.
He could just imagine his Connor rocking their son, that soft smile on his face as he lifted his head for a kiss from Charles...
Tears pricked at his eyes, and he brushed at them angrily.
Damn it. He thought he'd finally gotten over it. Finally let his rage and grief run his course.
But the thought burned in his head, and he glared anew at the dead man in front of him.
How dare his counterpart not appreciate his wife more. How dare he treat his Connor so callously, more than even an enemy merited. Did he not realize how fortunate it was that his wife still lived? Did he not realize how blessed he was?
And to try and kill Charles and nearly ruin the one chance Charles had to returning to the only family he had left...
It was unforgivable.
The other man did not deserve kindness, did not deserve consideration.
And so Charles would not waste his time thinking of him.
----
"Master Lee!"
Charles smiled wanly as Ronald stared at him. He was a sorry sight he knew, clothes ripped and dirty, blood stain on his clothes from where his wound had soaked through.
"Sir!" Mary ran up to him. "What happened? Are you well?"
Charles allowed her to fuss over him.
"Just a few bandits, I'm afraid. After I saw my cousin off, I ran afoul of an attack on a caravan shipping goods. There were only a few so I took care of them speedily."
"Oh sir," Mary's eyes misted as she worried over his healing wound.
"I am afraid one of them managed to stab me, though not well."
"A rather small blade to attack someone with," Ronald murmured, leaning in for a closer look.
"It was all he could muster as I had disarmed him of his intended weapon."
Understanding lit in Ronald's eyes, and he looked to Charles with pride.
"Very good sir."
Charles nodded wearily.
To be greeted so, as if he were in his own home...He began unbuttoning his coat, intent on being treated by a doctor and then taking to bed.
"Sir, I have news of your wife."
And he froze.
"And pray," he whispered, almost afraid to ask. "What news is there?"
"That he begins to wake," came a new voice.
Charles spun around, wide eyes lighting upon none other than Doctor White.
"Oh."
He knew not what else to say.
Re: Finding Connor 27
(Anonymous) 2013-09-19 07:56 am (UTC)(link)Though you got me again in the feels with Charles remembering his Connor and the baby son he will never see again ;_;
But OMG /GASPS/ Connor is awake! Wow... I'm completely stunned. Thought Connor would be out awhile longer, and do hope Doctor White had filled him in on what's been going on.
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