Lucifer vs. Vor master post

[vorbarra]

WHO: Lucifer + the whole damn cast + a bunch of unfortunate victims of circumstance.
WHERE: Various.
WHEN: Starting 5/27 and onward.
WHAT: Lucifer has Mark kidnap Gregor. Shit hits the fan.
WARNINGS: There is definitely going to be torture and violence. Will update with specifics.


Table of Contents (roughly chronological)
Initial kidnapping -- Gregor, Mark, Lucifer
So honey, I haven't told you... -- Aral, Cordelia
Secondary kidnapping -- Lucy, Mark, Kel
Hawke vs. Vorhouse -- Hawke, Miles, Aral, Tex, Jim, Spock, Kel
Miles at the hospital -- Miles, Kitty, Tex, Ed, Jim, Bucky, Ken, Kareen, Mark, Newt, Kel
Location: rubble -- Winry, Miles, Ed, Tex
Ruined date and getting voluntold -- Duv, Kasumi, Aral
Torture log -- Lucifer, Dean, Gregor
Assignment -- Lucifer, Mark
Telepathy -- Aral, Tex, Gregor
Wagon circling -- Miles, Winry, Roy, Ed, Yuri
Requests -- Aral, Jim
Rescue -- Lucifer, Miles, Kitty, Hermann, Mark
Hellhounds -- Lucifer, Roy, Ed, Hawke, Mark, Aral
Main fight -- Lucifer, Aral, Hawke
Swamp mingle -- Tex, Hawke, Ed, Winry, Roy, Jim
Post-rescue at hospital -- Gregor, Miles, Kitty, Duv, Cordelia
Following the trail of burger wrappers and tears -- Duv, Nicolas
Hospital threads part three -- Miles, Cordelia
End of the line -- Duv, Mark
Family reunion & oath swearing -- Mark, Gregor, Aral, Tej, Duv, Miles, Tex, Winry, Ed, Simon
Recovery OTA -- Aral, Miles, Duv, Cordelia, Ed, Winry

Comments

[dendarii]

[ Definitely not. Lucifer, at least, would surely have made certain of that.

A cloud passes over his expression. ]

... Patched up. The healers will take care of the rest. I think - I think the worst damage is mental now.

[keep_nothing]

That would make sense.

[ The link is still open from his flash so he'll get snatches of her own thoughts as they wander: some topics that have already come up between them, most of them regarding items in his Regency. ]

[komarran]

[ He's not surprised to hear this and he gives the Admiral a nod. It's a conversation he can't avoid, he may as well get it over with. ]

Yes, sir?

[dendarii]

[ Well. He's certainly not going anywhere with Koromaru here to guard him. He lets out a soft sigh. ]

By all means, then. I would be intensely grateful.

[dendarii]

[ A hint of familiarity and surprise at the same time. Yes, he's heard those arguments before. But mostly ... ]

They focused on me quite a bit, I think. Inevitably when Gran'da offered to have me visit his home for a few weeks there was something ...

[use_everything]

[The trouble with telepathic communication is that less filters exist. There isn't that leisure of the brain sorting through what one feels and what one normally says, it is there or it isn't. The answer to that quiet, pained vulnerability comes before he really even knows the implication of it. All ferocity and determination.]

We'll have you out soon.

[vorbarra]

[ The exhaustion and pain isn't imagined, but Gregor acting as Emperor is more than a slapdash propped-up construct: he is the embodiment of what he needs to be right now, all of his own interests pushed aside and secondary. His personal feelings about 'Mark Pierre Vorkosigan' have yet to surface, and he can't allow them to. He must act as his subjects need of him-- and Mark himself may yet be one. His interests are held in balance as well.

His voice remains calm and even, no trace of anger or any of the strain still pinching the edges of his mouth. He doesn't contest the title, though he notes that it isn't sire. Not willing to be presumptive, he assumes. ]

We are putting aside what the Vorkosigans wish in this conversation. This is between Us and you, whoever you decide to be. Previously there has been no known incident of a Vor clone, and so there is no precedent We are beholden to. We may decide how We are proceeding in Our own best judgement.

There are two separate matters before us: the implicit betrayal you have committed, and whether you are a Barrayaran subject. In consideration, I believe it is impossible to untwine the two.

Do you have any wishes of your own you'd like to present before a determination is come to?

[ Gregor wishes sorely that he could reassure him of his tendency toward clemency, when he suspects Mark will expect none. But trust is not something that can be told, only earned. ]

[jacksonian]

[ He swallows hard and closes his eyes. No. No, they wouldn't be untwined, would they? Because there are different punishments for attacking the commander of an enemy's forces and attacking your own. An assassin's death is wretched, but governed by the rules of war, right? But a traitor's death, a regicide's death, the man who strikes out at his own king, his death is lingering. And terrible.

And I can't even die here. For a moment, he almost wants to laugh. I'll just keep coming back. I thought that being brought to this world was a golden gift, but no. It was the worst trap of all... ]

Yes, Your Majesty.

[ He draws in a shaky breath. ]

I have...assets here. I've made a lot of money - [ Speaking in court-formal tones is unnatural without affecting a Barrayaran accent. It feels weird, using that stiff language with Jacksonian vowels rolling off his tongue. But he doesn't want to switch to the accent he used to mimic Miles. It would be - an unpleasant reminder of just what he's done. ] And if I'm to die, or - be imprisoned, or - I'd like to write a will. A new will. I'd like it to go to...some people who got caught up in this who shouldn't have.

[ Lucy, and Hawke. They should get something in return for what they suffered. ]

[use_everything]

It always is. [It's barely a murmur. He glances up at Miles, this time looking for other signs. Glassy eyes, new tics, the edges of hysteria...]

How are you holding up, my boy?

[vorbarra]

[ What a selfless wish. It's a relief to hear-- a sign of hope, for all that it doesn't so much as cause a ripple in Gregor's demeanor. He can tell that the message was received regarding what sort of punishment is dispensed to who, but the flip side, the converse, was not. That Gregor can be so much more lenient toward his own, like a father with a recalcitrant child who you want to return to the fold, rather than defending his brood against a threat.

He hopes that through this conversation it's something Mark will learn on his own, that there is a second side to this, but Gregor has determined already that he has no model on which to base it off of, no reason to think it could even really exist. It's not something Gregor can persuade him of except by example. So he remains cool in his response. ]

Very well. We will remember that. [ He's not in the habit of stripping autonomy from anyone, no matter their crime. And it's true that prison is one possible outcome of this conversation, if the one Gregor least likes, that he will do his damnedest to prevent. ] Do you have anything you wish to say in your defense?

[ He always structures his inquisitions like this: giving the accused the opportunity to speak for themselves first, freely, open-ended. It has many times served him very well. ]

[use_everything]

[That edge of Imperial Decree and barely controlled rage were long gone. The face that gazed at him was lined with pain and settling into something of a morbid curiosity.]

I've heard your interim report. I require the full one.

[dendarii]

[ He's hollow and tired more than anything else. With Gregor safe in the other room, the dangerous, manic energy that had infused him the morning of Hawke's attack has dissipated. Stable, if not happy.

The term of endearment does surprise a small smile, though. ]

Hungry for information mostly. [ A glance at Aral; that stability wavers. ] No one told me you were this badly wounded.

[komarran]

[ Of course. He's already given the Emperor a brief, but more full one than he desired. It would stand to reason that Admiral Vorkosigan would require one of him too. ]

Starting from Miles coming into my command or our encounters with Mark?

[vorbarra]

Heropa. He is an experienced tracker and should not slow you down.

Dismissed, Captain.

[vorbarra]

[ An uncertain waver-- Gregor not sure what that's directed at, too spent to try to pick it apart with his usual acumen. ]

I know. [ Faith disrupted by the the immediacy of his situation, despair and trepidation. ] Just don't... let Miles do anything stupid. I'm trying to keep him from this.

[komarran]

[ A city he's familiar with at least. He salutes and turns heel to get to work. ]

[vorbarra]

[ He reflexively tugs Miles closer to him, the action familiar from consistent sleeping in the same bed, before turning to Kitty and blinking again several times before her words register as humorous. ]

I don't think a foghorn would've woken me up. Except Miles this excited is louder than that. [ He punctuates this with a yawn. ]

[keep_nothing]

[ Cordelia's side of the link darkens suddenly at that. ]

Ah. Yes, that would have definitely been an argument.

[dendarii]

[ Just as instinctively, Miles cuddles in closer to him. A sheepish grin spreading across his face. ]

Sorry. It's just extremely relieving to have you back.

[dendarii]

[ He nods a bit at that, quietly tucking the feeling away. More things to add to his growing awareness of how very complex that relationship is ... ]

Me applying to the Service Academy too. That one dragged out several days.

[use_everything]

Allison and Ms Jones are on guard with him. [Both his bodyguards and babysitters. Why... isn't something that he's going to talk about here and now.] I'll tell him... [The quiet thought fails for a moment, blurs with rapid possibilities before seeming to settle on:] ... that we've made contact.

[keep_nothing]

I imagine it would.

[ She lets out a slow breath, trying to release the tension of arguments that have yet to come for her – they're not relevant here. ]

[dendarii]

[ Passed and gone, in fact. And not important to the discussion really. ]

Anyway ... why didn't you tell him? Or me?

[keep_nothing]

Because Mark didn't want you to know. He wanted to be Peter, to be his own person. He deserved a chance to decide who he is.

[jacksonian]

[ A thousand things flash through his mind. Pathetic things - You don't know what it's like, you can't stand up to him -Because Gregor knows exactly what it's like, and he'd stood up to Lucifer. Lasted days, where Mark hadn't even lasted an hour. Miserable things, I'm afraid and alone and no one's ever helped me - I didn't know, I didn't know it would be that, I thought he just wanted to hold you - I helped you, I did help you, in the end I helped you - I have intel, I'll tell you everything about the Komarrans, about Ser Galen's plot - It's not like you Barrayarans haven't done worse than this - I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry -

In the end, he says none of them. Not because he doesn't want to speak up in his own defense. Not because he doesn't think he deserves a defense. But just because he feels like there's a right answer and a wrong answer, and he's terrified to give the wrong answer. Because the Butcher is right there, and he can imagine...what the Butcher will do, if he hears a wrong answer. He just shakes his head. ]