⚖️ Inbox - Steven Grant's Communicator

[de_nile]

This communicator belongs to Steven Grant! :)

If you need to contact someone that isn't Steven Grant, maybe you're looking for Marc Spector's dead drop...

Put date and format in the header, please!
Marc tags from reflectedlight
Steven tags from de_nile

Comments

[empathicfault]

[ Will nods, takes a deep breath in, and lets it out as he thinks. ]

Can I ask how you died? What happened?

[reflectedlight]

Shot. Then fell.

I was in Austria, trying to keep a cult from doing ...something bad. Steven was asleep, like he is now. I never take work when he's around to see it.

[Explaining the bullshit with being Khonshu's avatar is going to sound too... too out there. It's not a secret, but it's something he can push off for later.]

I got sloppy, I took a bullet to center mass, I ended up out a window. I must have hit the ground, I had to have, but the last thing I remember is just knowing it was about to happen.

And if it was just me? I'd have turned the Admiral down. I screwed up, it was on me. It's not that bad to go out trying to keep something worse from happening. But Steven and I don't work like that. The body dies, he dies too.

Your last... your last case. What happened to them?

[Marc has a suspicion.]

cw: murder-suicide

[empathicfault]

[ Will nods through that. He wants to ask more about the cult, but of course he'll answer Marc's question. That's just quid pro quo. ]

Francis Dolarhyde was known to the tabloids as the Tooth Fairy, but when he identified himself, he used the name The Great Red Dragon. Influenced by a painting of William Blake. By the time I was pulled onto the case, he had killed three families, each during the full moon. He'd kill them and put mirrors in their eyes and bite them, using a uniquely deformed set of dentures.

We found out later that Dolarhyde had pursued a relationship with a woman just after his murders started, and I strongly suspect she helped him hold onto that aspect of himself, the part that was content to just be a man who worked at a video processing facility.

[ Will pulls in a breath. Lets it out. ]

My psychiatrist 'friend' who'd framed me had been in prison for awhile, at that point- apparently the Dragon admired him. Upon contact, Hannibal managed to send him after my family. My wife and stepson. They were hospitalized but made it out. Still, I knew it wasn't going to stop.

So I...put a plan into action. I arranged a prison break for Hannibal, and we met the Dragon on a full moon. Hannibal and I killed the Dragon- and then I pulled Hannibal over a cliff edge with me. That's how I died.

There wasn't anything left of Francis when he met us for the fight. My guess is that the Dragon was the 'strong' alter who took over when things were hard, and...eventually, he decided he was the only personality that fit in a world that was only harsh to him. Things slid from protection of his alter to a compulsion to seek invulnerability.

[reflectedlight]

[Okay, well, this is fully bonkers and it knocks Marc out of his despair spiral.]

What the hell.

He just bit people? Wh- Like a raccoon?

Alright. Never mind. I was gonna make a point about me being a bad guy but I was way off. I'm not that kind of bad guy.

I also never broke anybody out of jail that tried to kill my wife and kid, but I assume when you were an inmate they already rang your bell pretty good for that one.

[empathicfault]

He put his mark on people. [ Will lightly corrects, when Marc brings up raccoons. ]

Rang my bell? No. Once Shaw saw my file, she put more focus on building trust and discussing 'appropriate reactions' with me when things came up on the Barge. She gave me weapons that could be used in self-defense, she took me on patrols to give me routine. That was...honestly, it was a hell of a lot harder to take than punishment. Being cared for, by someone who knew all of my dark spots.

And I hadn't released Lecter in order to free him. I knew exactly where he wanted to be and made sure that was under my control at all times. He knew I planned to kill him. I think he was just hoping to change my mind.

[ He lets out a huff, shaking his head before he got too lost in the Hannibal of it all. Anyway- ]

You mentioned you were stopping a cult. Was it a delusional cult, or one for a god that existed? We've had mostly the latter brought up around here.

[reflectedlight]

Yeah, I'm not giving him that. Raccoons can leave a mark too.

[He refuses to think of this cringe-ass painting nerd with the vocabulary he chose for himself that makes what he's doing sound cool. Fuck you, Dragon guy, hurting people is easy. Protecting your alter is hard. You can't do your one job?

Well neither can Marc! They're both selfish pieces of shit! But somehow you lowered the bar!

But, okay, let's not dwell on that, fucking hell. Focus.

Hnhngn. Marc huffs at the assertion it's not just going to be punishment, turns his head away, sets his jaw. He's good for punishment. He's tough. Will's got it right that therapy shit or whatever sounds a lot harder.]

Most people who hurt a bunch of strangers aren't that complicated or smart.

At least you got him.

[This is all too romanticized for Marc's black and white ethics. They're both bad. Kill 'em.]

I avoided mentioning because it sounds delusional. But at this point the bar's been lowered down to mirrors in people's eyeballs, so, yeah, what the hell. The cult was following some kind of heart-devouring crocodile goddess, and their goal was to resurrect her. I was working for a god, too, from the same group of gods she was on the outs with, that didn't want her to be resurrected again.

...

I'm not going to tell you what the stupid superhero name was, because it's not as dumb as Great Red Dragon, but it's close. Kahl saw Khonshu's mark on Steven, I'm pretty sure I didn't make Khonshu up.

[In the comics he might have made Khonshu up, but we don't have time to unpack actual face-slice-offer comics Marc.]

[empathicfault]

Ammit and Khonshu...so it is Egyptian gods.

[ He'd wondered, since Steven was so excited by Egyptian mythology. Even if it 'wasn't real' for him, and thus safe. ]

As long as you're not called Sailor Moon, I doubt it's too bad. How is working for Khonshu?

[reflectedlight]

He's an asshole.

[Marc has a reasonable, healthy fear of Khonshu, but its not a paralyzing horrible fear. It's definitely not enough fear that Marc has not at this point tuned out the fact that Khonshu is a god and is able to focus on other reasons he sucks.

He is also not psyched about this magic system being real. He didn't even remember Ammit's name until Will said it. He probably could have told you it starts with A? It's a crocodile. She's bad.]

He's like the Admiral but with a lot more running commentary. A lot more. Too much.

[empathicfault]

[ Will thinks about that, eyebrows raising. ]

I've had micromanaging bosses before, but at least they weren't gods.

Was that a similar deal? He saved your life for doing his bidding? I mean, it doesn't sound like salary work.

[reflectedlight]

[Lonnnggg breath, in and out.]

Yeah. Another dumb mistake, mercenary work in Libya that went bad.

[Steven would honestly shit himself if he knew his body was doing mercenary work that went well, let alone any of the other 5,000 things going on with Marc.]

It's easier to just give these guys what they want.

[empathicfault]

[ Will nods and sighs. ]

At least with the Admiral, it's a one-and-done situation. And if you are done with being a superhero for a god, if you think you've paid your debt...just about anything can be arranged here. Might not even take a Deal.

[reflectedlight]

Yeah, maybe. One god problem at a time. I can't even fix that cult until I get out of this mess. Without any more people finding out.

[A rare, laser-intense moment of eye contact.]

If I'm on my own, I'm on my own. But if I'm not, we should lay down some ground rules for Steven.

[empathicfault]

[ Will stares back at him, holding the gaze. And he nods. ]

Okay. Go ahead.

[reflectedlight]

No more communicator messages that are meant for me. If you need to talk to me, we'll set up a system. Old school stuff, a dead drop. Something with no evidence he knows how to look for.

I used to be able to knock him out if he was about to see something that would have hurt him. A couple of months ago, it started to be that I couldn't do it any more, he got -

[It's hard to explain. Neither of them are static things, they both grow and change like anybody do as they age into who they are in any given decade. Marc used to have a job, a marriage, a reputation, hobbies, and a position as the Avatar of Khonshu. Steven used to have none of those. Interests, hobbies, that was it. He didn't have time for anything else.

It's switched. Steven has the job, the apartment, the people who expect to see him every day. He decides what they eat, what they wear. Marc gets a few hours every night, and that's all.

Steven's gotten brighter as Marc's gotten dimmer. Waxing and waning.

And - good. That's the endgame of all this, after all. That's where all of this is going.]

- just, stronger. He can fight it off. But I did it constantly when he was a kid, and if your husband keeps bringing up what happened to him to mess with his own memory, Steven's sharp enough that he's going to start putting pieces together that something's not right.

[empathicfault]

[ Will immediately nods about not messaging Marc. It's not how Will really wanted to do it, either, but he felt it important to talk to him as soon as possible.

The rest? He's looking thoughtful. ]

He might, anyway. But we won't encourage it. Is he spending more time out in front than he used to?

cw suicidal ideation

[reflectedlight]

Yeah.

[Yes. More time out front. He will not elaborate because that will lead to the "Marc, do not try to disappear into oblivion forever" talk which he's not interested in.]

If I need you to lie to him to cover for the fact that I'm going to try to front so he's out when we get breaches, can you do that or should I figure something else out? I can fix up everything except him asking you if you took him on your ship.

[empathicfault]

Hmm. Depends on the lie. We can't take him with us, and I can't pretend we can, not after he gets hit with his first Breach.

If he stays at our place in anticipation of a Breach coming, and you happen to get ahead of it and front during that time? [ Will sighs. ] I'm not sure how much of his memory is real and how much is filling in the blanks, but maybe we can help with that. At the very least we could say he feel into a Barge coma and luckily missed the Breach.

[ Marc can decide if that's sufficient for him or not. ]

In order to reach you, I'd like you to come by Counseling twice a week. Check in, let us know if you need anything, if there's anything we should know, that sort of thing. It sounds like a lot, but things can develop on the ship very quickly.

[reflectedlight]

Not much is real. Or I'd never get away with any of this. You can tell him whatever you want happened while I was fronting and he'll think he remembers it. Usually.

[He's admittedly getting a lot more lucid lately, which is a pain in the ass but probably can't be helped.]

Is that what you want in exchange for helping me with that?

[empathicfault]

It's what I want in general, but if you'd rather think of it as an exchange, that's fine. We're the only ones who know about this, I'm assuming, and can give you informed help on something that might not make sense to other wardens. It's what we need

...admittedly, we can meet somewhere else private, if you have a preference. Counseling tends to be our default late at night, if we can't sleep.

[reflectedlight]

[Yeah, he's not buying that this is benevolent, he never does. It's a savior complex thing, probably. But, Marc can use it, so that's fine. Marc does want to graduate, and it's probably going to be difficult to avoid therapy bullshit.]

Our. You and your husband? Is there even anyone else working in that department or is it just a little-

[He makes a circular motion with his fingertip. Is it just: you two being enthusiastic about what's wrong with other people, to each other, back and forth, forever?]

Closed loop?

[empathicfault]

Laura Moon and Katie Slape also work there, intermittently. And up until recently, we had a guy named Sam Wells working the night shift. Right now, though, we are the only wardens.

[ So, yes. ]

But we don't generally share clients and we take privacy seriously. I don't hear about the people Malcolm's working with unless they come and tell me themselves.

1/3

[reflectedlight]

Right. The... vampire cowboy.

[SIGH. This place has such a high concentration of things that are bullshit. Like, how are there so many vampires where he's from that you can get a therapist specializing in them? Is he CERTIFIED as a vampire therapist? Are there vampire therapist SCHOOLS? Are they -

2/3

[de_nile]

[-accredited? Are vampires socially accepted enough so that they're incorporated into the educational system? Because that's...

Wait. No. What? Wait-]

3/3

[reflectedlight]

[Marc shakes his head to get himself to focus, makes a noise of denial in the back of his throat. Bad time. Go back to sleep, buddy, you're having a weird dream about all your new friends.]

And I'm working with you specifically.

[Is that right?]

[empathicfault]

Oh. I'm not asking for you to show up for formal therapy. I don't like to twist arms over that. That being said, if you do want more of that kind of support? I can keep it to myself.

No, what I was asking more about is...more logistical. I can't know how to help stabilize a situation with Steven until I know both you and Steven better.

Speaking of...did Steven just try to interject there?