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

[failureisntachoice]

I'd say so. I prefer it to the bullshit I'd been putting up with before.

[rathercommon]

Well, I told him about that toilet incident - I told you about that one, right? Where Billy and I tried to make self-cleaning latrines and it went all wrong? - and he got a bit nasty towards me. I don't know whether it was that he dislikes the thought of magic, or if he thought it was a stupid idea...Anyway, I tried to explain where I'm coming from and - Anyway.

[watch_me_burn]

[Kareen's brow twitches at the name, but otherwise her expression doesn't change.]

The first three years of marriage were dark for me, but after I became pregnant with Gregor things became... easier. Emperor Ezar began to make efforts to see that I was rarely in the same place as Serg, and never alone whether he was in attendance or not.

[dendarii]

That makes him seem rather like he was protecting Gregor than you.

[watch_me_burn]

[Kareen's gaze returns to Miles.]

It would be naive to think otherwise, Vorkosigan.

[dendarii]

... One can hope.

[ But he doesn't argue. Not in the slightest. ]

[watch_me_burn]

Hope isn't logical, Vorkosigan. It was always based on logic. And what kind of prisoner can afford to hope when they've been delivered a life sentence?

If you want to know further details, I can tell you that it wasn't until after the baby was confirmed to be a boy that I gained any sort of additional protection. If I had only been pregnant with a girl I doubt it would have worked out the same.

[No woman could carry down the bloodline. A girl would have been a wasted effort.]

Of course, I could be wrong but... [She let the statement hang.]

[dendarii]

[ Miles recoils a bit from that. Would it really have been that bad? Barrayar is backwards in so many ways, but for a female sibling of Gregor's to receive no protection from Serg at all ... that does seem wrong. ]

You would know better than I.

[vorbarra]

I... overheard someone. That's how I found out about my father. I was very drunk. [ In a darker mutter, ] Very drunk.

[ The words come out tense, low. Masking shame. So different from when he'd told Miles this. ]

When I got back to my room, I realized there was a gap in my security. [ Bleakly: ] I'm sure whoever it was got fired later. I saw the balcony, and... I was thinking about-- having to go back to Vorbarra Sultana, and pretend I knew nothing. That I was fit to rule and not a ticking time bomb. And it seemed so much easier to... not.

[ A pause. He licks his lips, then finishes softly. ]

I became tangled in some vines instead, and walked off. You and Miles are the only ones who realize what actually happened.

[vorbarra]

[ Gregor ponders this. ]

I have no idea. It's clear now that he keeps most of his counsel to himself. It's probably not any of the above-- obviously before this what he was thinking was something I couldn't even guess at.

[keep_nothing]

[ Cordelia listens intently, quiet until he finishes, but her eyes widen when he mentions the balcony, immediately seeing where he was going with that ...

There's a pause after he finishes, and her voice is quieter when she speaks again. ]

... Was this on Komarr? Miles briefly mentioned that something happened, but said that I needed to talk to you about it.

[vorbarra]

Yes.

[ He lets out a breathless, sour, self-castigating laugh. ]

The Emperor disappeared on Komarr. Unbearably selfish of me. I got read the riot act when I returned. [ Since they thought he'd just run away, nothing deeper. ] Imagine if I had died-- they'd be forced to scrutinize everyone in a ten kilometer radius, all unfairly.

[watch_me_burn]

[Kareen didn't like to imagine what might have happened to her if she had been pregnant with a girl. After all, Serg had some very perverse tendencies and Kareen wouldn't put anything past him.]

Your Barrayar sounds much kinder than mine, Vorkosigan. I regret never getting to see it.

[dendarii]

[ Miles flinches even more at that thought. ]

I assure you it was not kind to me either.

[sidecars]

[ What a pair these two are. With a snort, he starts pushing Miles out of the room. ]

Okay, here's how this is gonna go. I'm gonna be your empathetic caretaker, who is so kind and willing to help your broke ass 'cause I'm a great guy like that. Your job is to look pathetic and talk about how much I help you out in your trying times. Think you can do that for me, wingman?

[watch_me_burn]

[Kareen's attention is diverted from her own dark thoughts and she gazes steadily over Miles.]

... No. I don't suppose it was, Regent's son or not.

[rathercommon]

[ A huff. ]

I suppose. I just don't particularly like it when respectable people don't like me. I don't give a damn if they're not worth anything, but if they're actually clever, it's annoying.

[dendarii]

I think I can manage that. I am well versed in being small and pathetic.

[dendarii]

Just so. Made worse for my position, I'm sure. As you well know from experience.

[vorbarra]

You were the one just persuading me not to hang too much on his friendliness toward me.

[watch_me_burn]

Ah, yes, the gilded cage of societal and political pressures, and the cultural stigmas that further barricade us inside them. We both shoulder more than our fair share, I'd say.

[dendarii]

... On that, I think we can agree completely. Poor Gregor suffers as well.

[unwiseheart]

Thanks.

[ Sorry, Duv, but with that go ahead, he's lighting up like a goddamn chimney. He'll at least try to blow the smoke away from them. ]

And you lost me. Clusters? Nexuses?

[watch_me_burn]

Gregor...

[Her poor son. He was in a dire situation now and there was little she could do about it. Even if he were safe back home, there was nothing she could do to help him. She was useless.]

It's... funny, isn't it? How sought-after the Imperium is to those lusting for power, and yet they don't realize just how stifling it can be.

[dendarii]

The most stifling of all. He manages it, somehow, but I desperately do not envy him. Even the thought of -

[ He stops very abruptly, just barely keeping the words marrying him from tumbling out. ]

-- of some godawful succession nonsense putting me on the throne is terrifying.