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[action]

[warriorscribe]

We'll find one.

[Nope, he's going to fuss.]

You'd want to stay with Rhys and Beckett, wouldn't you? I'd do everything in my power to ensure it.

[He excludes himself without really thinking about it. He's still getting used to this potentially permanent family thing.]

[action]

[phaseshifter]

Will you stop?

[ She's still not looking up from her tablet. Because she's busy with Winter. Obviously. No other reason. ]

It's a contingency plan, which means it only goes into effect if necessary, and if it comes to that you can't stop me. I don't need to be protected all the time.

[action]

[warriorscribe]

I won't stop you, Angel, I never said I would. I would do the same thing if I could. But I will try to save you. ...If it comes to that, of course.

[Protecting is what he does, even if it really means rescuing after the fact.]

[phaseshifter]

Right. Always the effing damsel.

[ And she hunches further over her tablet with a sulky huff. Don't mind her, Enoch. Angel's dealing with demons. ]

[warriorscribe]

Would you not want to escape if it came to it?

[He approaches to put a hand on her shoulder. He knows she has very little left to return to if they can't go anywhere but...honestly one of the few things keeping him going is the idea that they can go elsewhere.]

[phaseshifter]

Iunno. Depends on the circumstances. Here and wherever we go after. There isn't much point in thinking about any of it until we know what will happen.

[ And like she's just told Winter - she'd rather stay here than go back to her own world to die. Or worse, to be stuck in the bunker again. Eff that. ]

[warriorscribe]

If time might be limited once you help, it will be useful to have some sort of an idea.

I-...

[He already has the start of one, but it's not something he feels he should bring up in this context, under pressure to choose it, or behind the necessary party's back (The glance in Beckett's direction, if she's watching, might provide a useful hint, though in all fairness to him, random glances in Beckett's direction are somewhat common recently.)]

...It isn't about you being helpless or needing protection, it's not losing anyone we don't have to.

[bookofnope]

[It's so nice how you're both having this conversation in a civil and down to earth manner. Would be a shame if a fucking livid vampire came charging over to your little calm corner, still trailing the tapestry he'd been burrito'ed in, practically swinging the tablet in outrage. His glasses are off and his eyes are a furious red. It's a good thing shooting steam out of your ears isn't a vampire superpower.]

What in bloody hell are you thinking?!

[All that's missing is young lady. Truly peak dadpire has been reached.]

[phaseshifter]

[ Holy shit. It takes a lot to startle Angel out of a pokerface marathon, but that about does it. Her eyes are the size of dinner plates. Really big ones. WOW, BECKETT. WOW? WOW. ]

I'm thin-- I'm thinking about how I'm uniquely equipped to buy the entire town some more time if it comes to that, and about how that would absolutely be worth doing should the need arise!

[ She's looking up from the tablet now, at least, and she points at Enoch with a mildly guilty look. ]

Enoch agrees! Kinda.

[ ANGEL!!!!! ]

[warriorscribe]

[Um. Okay that's a thing. Enoch has turned with hands up in a placating gesture. It's okay, Beckett, really - well okay it isn't but...]

Only so far as that I can't disagree without being a hypocrite!

[Fine time to find some self-awareness.]

I would do the same if I was capable. But I'm not advocating she stay here, or-...whatever other unpleasantness it might entail. She wants to protect us as much as we want to protect her.

[bookofnope]

Right. Of course. Everyone wants to protect everyone, everyone is happy to give their own life for everyone else, it doesn't matter what happens to me as long as you're safe, says everyone, and I'm the only one who seems to grasp that this beautiful altruism is only going to end with everyone being sacrificed!

[Something's not quite right with his logic there... or is it?]

I used to think I had an issue with morality. Now I realize I'm the only one who doesn't have issues with self-preservation!

[phaseshifter]

That's not what's happening! I offered myself as a contingency plan, in extremely specific circumstances that only I can help with! It's just sensible. I'm offering myself in circumstances where everyone would definitely die if I didn't!

[ She is being shouted at and she Does Not Like It. We're going full chin-in-the-air, arms folded rebellious siren stance here, kiddos. STRAP IN. ]

[warriorscribe]

And she won't be killed by it so if it happens, we still have a chance to save her and all escape.

[He takes a deep breath.]

If it happens. Only if. That doesn't mean it's not worth planning for or thinking ahead about, but it does mean that she isn't jumping as blindly into this sacrifice as I suspect we're both wont to.

[And a look at Angel that asks Right? He loves you both and this isn't clear-cut and everyone being calm about it would be really great.]

[bookofnope]

[Really, Enoch? Really? All it gets him is a bark of laughter, dry and cracking. Cracking, that's a good descriptor there.]

Right. Always a good reason. Always a perfectly thought out plan. Well - [The laughter turns into a snarl.] What if I did join your little party? What if I say I won't leave until I'm the last man out? Are we all just going to sit together in our sacrifice circle and try to talk each other out of it, no, I love you best and deserve it least so I'm saving your life? Let's hear your damned ifs!

[phaseshifter]

Okay! If you did that, I'd respect your decision even though you staying behind wouldn't actually save anyone. Even though you'd be doing it to prove a stupid point. Even though it'd be as dumb and as meaninglessly futile as when - as - like what I did back home.

[ Because that was meaningless and it changed nothing and Jack opened the vault anyway, and this time if she can't get out or has to die she needs it to mean something ]

It isn't about loving anyone best, it's about practicality. If we run out of power again, would you rather I sit here and twiddle my thumbs so we can all die together?

[warriorscribe]

Actually, that's exactly what I was thinking might save you, Angel. If you had to buy us time, we could stay after everyone else escapes and find the means to restore our powers. So...

[A glance between Beckett and Angel. He's aware he's proposing a drastic measure, something that would change Angel indefinitely. But...if it came to that, he would rather have the option proposed than left silent and overlooked.]

I know that power can be stored. So perhaps you could leave some for after you were...removed. If Beckett were to turn you into a vampire, you would be immune to the radiation and- my blessings protect me from ingested poisons, so perhaps it will be the same for poison in the air. No power would have to be spent on the machines keeping us alive.

If...if that's something neither of you mind. I'm aware the measures are drastic. A contingency plan for a contingency plan.

[He offers a shaky, hopeful smile, particularly at Beckett. He knows it's a painful situation to think about. He hopes he's just made it a little less so, rather than worse.]

[bookofnope]

That isn't the bloody point!

[He's conceded before. He isn't going to again. Exhaustion had got him then, but now his energy is sharp and frantic. He whirls on Angel; Enoch's attempts at conciliation via reason only make him angrier.]

Futile?! You stood up to him! You defied his plans, you got out the only way possible! And now this - how do you see this going, Angel? Will you let the admin suck you dry until we're all out, and consider yourself dying happily? Or do you plan to keep going until you can save Winter, Andromeda, who knows who else?

[Lines are about to be crossed. He feels it. But he's full into the swing of the anger and he can't stop.]

[phaseshifter]

If I need to die to get everyone else out, yes! And if I could save Winter and Andromeda by holding on a little longer, I'd do that too!

[ She looks at Enoch apologetically - she's trying not to raise her own voice, but it's. Getting kind of hard. ]

Is that such a problem? That I'm putting the lives of an entire town before my own? Or is - is it that you think I'm putting them before you?

[warriorscribe]

[The smile slips away. This is, for whatever reason, striking him as the same sort of situation as impending loss he cannot control. Desperate to try and stop the fighting, he reaches out to put a hand on each party's shoulder, firm but not forceful. As if to say he's ready to push them apart if he needs to.]

Please, stop! I know all of this hurts, for both of you, but please - please. Let's focus on escaping together, whatever form it takes. Nobody wants anyone else to die. And...life outside this place would be- it wouldn't be the same without all of us. Perhaps not even worth the sacrifice.

[It might sound a bit like he's waffling between sides at first glance but wasn't his proposed plan a way to stay together even if Angel's plan came to pass?]

[bookofnope]

[Beckett doesn't know if she means to get this reaction out of him, but at Angel's accusation he visibly flinches.] You know that is the opposite of - you know. [That he doesn't, wouldn't, could never demand that she live for him. Of course she knows. This is just her stabbing where he's vulnerable.

His shoulder is stone-stiff and shaking slightly with tense energy under Enoch's hand. Poor Enoch just wants peace, and he deserves it. But maybe this is something he can't understand. He's too, well, too whole.]

I'd like us to focus on that, yes. Escaping together. [His voice is similarly tight.] But I think some of us aren't all ready to leave yet.

[He may not just be talking about Angel, but it's hard to tell.]

[phaseshifter]

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.

[ It comes out smaller and weaker than she'd like, but isn't that just the story of her entire freaking life? She means it, anyway, which is the important thing. Probably.

Her shoulder sags a little under Enoch's hand, loose and malleable and in direct contrast to Beckett's. It'd be very easy to assume that it's indicative of her resistance draining, but.

Nah. ]

I'm not going to take back my offer, though. It's a last resort, and will be called upon accordingly if at all. It has nothing to do with whether I'm ready to leave or not, and since I'm the only one of us who doesn't know if they'll be able to I kinda think saying that is - it's a jerk move.

[warriorscribe]

[The only one? He gives a heavy, worried glance towards Beckett. Isn't his world gone?

He then squeezes Angel's shoulder as if to say he understands the slip. And then Beckett's, gentler as if contrasting the tension.]

Listen to me, please, both of you. Beckett - I don't see sacrifice for its own sake here. This place alters our minds, our memories, even our values. What it cannot change it bends to its advantage. It wages war against who we are. [His voice breaks, and keeps breaking, as he continues in a tear-controlling grimace of pain.] We are robbed of the most intrinsic of control, and chances to save one another are rare and almost always too late.

Can you fault her for wanting the control to undo "too late"?

[A shaky breath. It doesn't do much to correct the waver in his voice.]

Angel, I respect your resolve. Please respect mine in kind, to ensure you escape even then. Please don't prove me wrong about sacrifice. I love both of you. I won't leave without you if I can help it.

[bookofnope]

[Yeah, about that. Beckett feels the stab of remorse, but also a kind of sudden, choking sympathy. When she brings that up, she brings up a whole different perspective on what she's trying to do, and it's one that hits home.]

You're not the only one, [he says, gently now. Not a reproach, the opposite. You're not alone with this.]

I can't fault her, no. I understand - I know I don't have any right to. [Remembering what he had done, the last time he'd tipped over one of Norfinbury's periodic edges of desperation. Walked away. Ran away.] But I can't bear... this, either. I can't think of you back in a bunker, Angel. And that's what this would be. And you know it.

[phaseshifter]

It's not the same.

[ She's talking about potential re-bunkerification, though either of them could be forgiven for thinking she means the differences between why she and Beckett may not be able to leave. She's looking off to one side, unwilling to watch Enoch as his voice cracks or Beckett as he talks about can'ts. ]

I'll be willing. And it'll mean something. If it does happen, this time I won't be a slave to a madman, or fitted with a shock collar, or in constant pain, or kept alive against my will. It's different. I probably wouldn't even need to be rescued, I'm sure the administrator would let me go when everyone is safe! If not, you have my permission to kick ass.

[warriorscribe]

And you know I will. I'm sure we both will. Rhys, too. You know how determined he can be. We can- we can make it through even this.

[It wouldn't be the first time he and Beckett teamed up against someone to free hostages after all...

Words don't really do any of this any more good so he takes a step forward to wrap his arms around their shoulders.]