Back in the Game?

[st_clare]

Julianna had sent her letter to Edmund special post so he could respond as soon as possible, and he'd actually called her right away when he'd gotten the information she'd asked for. She'd added the relevant details to her personal notes out of habit. Even if no one else could read her writing, she knew what she'd written.

The fact that she had Valerie's daily schedule meant she'd had the option of meeting her after one of her classes. She could have even arranged for the girl to speak to her in her office. But she hadn't wanted to make it seem like an order or a command. To arrange an accident might have made the Slayer suspect her motives. When she didn't even know what her motives might be, it was best to leave things to chance.

The Watcher was currently seated at a table by herself in the student union, half of her attention on the daily paper. Emotionally, she felt as shaky and coltish as she had the day she first went away to university. Hope intermingled with terror as she finished one page of the newspaper and started on another. She didn't know if she was prepared for this. What if the girl wasn't interested in what she had to say?

Then again, this was a chance to correct what she still saw as her error. To fix her mistakes. If Valerie didn't respond positively, she would have at least made the effort. That was all she could truly do.

Comments

[st_clare]

"No. No! Please, don't fret, it's nothing dreadful. I..."

Julianna managed a small chuckle to keep the mood light, ate some of the chips she'd plucked from the bag. She was not going to bollocks this up. She wanted to correct her perceived error. The past could never be fixed, per se, but if there could finally be a coming to terms, then it could only be positive, possibly for both herself and Valerie.

"As you know," she said, lowering her voice a notch, "the training period in London is not handled individually. Teams are assigned so as to avoid...complications. Emotional ones, I mean to say."

She had a sudden mental flash of Allison's hopeful young face, and her smile turned wistful with nostalgia. She'd framed the copy of the girl's final examination, the one Cyrus Claymore had given her. It hung in a place of honor in her new apartment. It was the last thing she'd packed when she left her London flat. As a reminder.

"Seven years ago, there was a Slayer named Allison Pritchard. I was part of the team assigned to train her, and the one whose methods she responded to. I...she...an inadvertent bond formed."

[valerie_vause]

Valerie offered a bewildered smile in return and finished off the first half of her sandwich. When the topic turned out to be about training the blonde internally relaxed. A nod was given to say she understood since her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. Yes, she’d experienced the cool detachment during her stay in England. At first it had bothered her, being young she didn’t properly understand the distance. Then as she grew she began to realise why it existed, even if she didn’t quite believe it did anyone any good. To not get emotionally involved on some level almost made it seem like she was never really a real person, just a tool to be used against forces far stronger than they could handle.

Palms smoothed together to shed any crumbs before she picked up the can and took a liberal sip. What kind of inadvertent bond? Surely not a romantic one, no that was absurd, perhaps more in tune to a motherly figure than a friend? It was common among teachers and pupils to connect in such ways, role models formed naturally. Though Julianna sounded perplexed, Valerie watched it play over the woman as much as the sunlight.

“Is she in trouble, do you need me to find her? I can leave today.” It didn’t occur to her that the past tense hadn’t just been about when Julianna had met her. No, it hit her seconds later when she remembered what the woman had said moments before. Don’t fret. Which meant either Allison was in town for a visit and Julianna didn’t know how to approach her or… Allison was dead.

Valerie sat back in the chair, pale hands splayed against the table and she shut her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She said quietly, then looked across to Julianna. “Did she…” Lips pressed together and she took in a slow breath, shook her head. “Was it recently?” That poor girl, another one gone. It seemed so needless though she knew it wasn’t. Did she think that because it’s what she felt, or what she was told? “Is there anything I can do?”

[st_clare]

"There's nothing anyone can do for her except remember her. I went to the funeral, another breach of protocol. I'd already broken the rules once by befriending her. It seemed rather pointless not to try and say goodbye."

Julianna took a drink of water. The knot in her stomach had tightened again. That was better than a lump in her throat, though. She pushed out a breath.

"I'd been in the field for a long time, but I'd never assisted in training an active Slayer. I'd never felt more honored. To be chosen in that way, it meant everything to me."

She paused, looked at Valerie's youthful face. "The aftermath was terrible. Every Watcher knows that casualties happen, that girls die in combat, but I took it exceptionally hard. It's why I still grieve." Another pause.

"When Allison died, another girl was immediately called. That's the way the powers are bestowed. I was taken off the roster for training because of my emotional state, which means I never found out who she was. But I've been doing some reflecting on that time, and it made me inquire."

Julianna lifted her hand as if to call a halt to any protest. "It's nothing to be concerned about. I asked a trusted friend, someone I've known for a long time. It seems, Ms. Vause, as if you're the one who took Allison's place."