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]

[ Miles flinches at that. Of course he's heard variations on both versions of her, depending on the context and the teller. Only his parents seemed to have a different story entirely to tell... ]

More the tragic figure. Held by Vordarian, rescued too late by my mother.

[watch_me_burn]

I'm surprised. I would have believed more people to consider me weak for not ending my life sooner than it was dragged out. [A small part of her kind of wished she had too, but Kareen wasn't the type to dwell on regrets. At least, not most of the time.]

[dendarii]

... Well. That factors into it too, depending on who's telling the story.

[watch_me_burn]

[Kareen nods, accepting that.]

I don't blame them.

[dendarii]

I do. A little bit, anyway.

[watch_me_burn]

Why would you? You weren't even properly born then, Vorkosigan.

[dendarii]

Neither were they. For the most part.

[watch_me_burn]

Oh.

[For the most part, Kareen imagined people who talked down about her to be primarily of the older generation. She hadn't even considered what the younger ones would think after they got older and formed opinions about their country's political history.]

I imagine your parents have rather biased you in my favor. They seem to have a high opinion of me despite bringing so much destruction upon my own head.

[dendarii]

[ It's a mix, really, in MIles' experience, and more skewed towards the older population than he cares to let on. Even so. ]

My parents have a much better view of the truth, period.

[watch_me_burn]

Your parents are over-indulgent. But... I appreciate everything Lord and Lady Vorkosigan have done for me, and especially everything they've done for Gregor.

[dendarii]

[ Now that comment prompts the slightest twitch of a frown. ]

Indulgent? My parents?

[watch_me_burn]

Oh, you don't think so? Interesting.

[dendarii]

No, I don't think so at all. Da was Regent for most of my childhood.

[watch_me_burn]

Ah, yes. Of course. He couldn't very well show favoritism to his child during such a time. [Or he could have, but that wasn't Aral's style, which was why he was chosen for Regent in the first place.]

I'm afraid I never got to see that, but I did think them to be rather self-indulgent at times. Believing what they want, doing what they want despite... societal objections.

[dendarii]

Just so. He was very careful not to.

[ With all the benefits and drawbacks that entails. ]

... That's not self-indulgence, though. It's strength.

[watch_me_burn]

... An interesting perspective. But from that vantage point, I must seem particularly weak.

[dendarii]

[ Miles winces a bit at that. ]

That's not - there's different kinds of strength.

[watch_me_burn]

Oh, come now, Vorkosigan, I'm not scolding you. No, I know exactly where I stand, or rather, where I stood.

[She settles back in her chair and gazes at a wall, thinking back on Barrayar in that "sheltered" life of green.]

A woman in my place had no ability to do or say or think anything different than what was expected of her. For most of my life I was content to do just that. It was tolerable.

[dendarii]

[ Miles' jaw sets in a stubborn line, but he swallows the comment that comes to mind first. ]

And then Serg?

[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.