Writers: Rob, Barb
Characters: Eric, Paul, Kate
Date: Day 3, late
Location: The District
Kate came barreling through the crowd, Nick at her heels. She shoved Paul and Eric down the sidewalk and back toward Turnkey Park. She looked pissed. Paul was completely in touch with that emotion.
"Get them out of here, Katie, I'll take care of the crowd," Nick said, turning back to Kitty's and leaving Kate to it.
"Move it, move it!" Kate herded them down the sidewalk toward Turnkey Park. "Grace sake, Eric, why isn't your sword in the armory at the Portal?"
Eric stared straight ahead, partly in refusal to speak, partly in a daze. Paul studied him for a moment before saying, ?What are you doing on the Strip, Kate??
"I wasn't using my flail to hack into a demon, unlike some people," she said. "I was at Nick's Too. The moment that sword came out, his equipment started going crazy. What were you thinking, Eric?"
Eric grinned at Kate. "Actually, it was nice... Didn't even have to think..."
Paul watched his partner closely. Whatever was going on inside the soul wasn? t normal. Distracted, he commented, ?We were going to Eternally Yours to rest of his stuff. Trey kinda got into his way, I guess...?
"Eternally Yours? Who put your stuff in that dump? You know Alice is damn-near a demon, right?"
Eric's eyes cleared, then narrowed. "So what would you have wanted me to do? It's not like I could tell them 'Excuse me for a bit - I need to run an errand!'." He frowned at Kate, then at Paul.
"Ok, point taken," Kate said. Eric had been exiled so quickly there hadn't been time to properly dispose of this things. They crossed the bridge to Turnkey park. "That doesn't excuse what just happened back there. You know what happens when a Hunter weapon activates inside Purgatory. And you know if Nick's equipment registered it, the Watcher's did too. Plus the Portal."
Eric's frown faded, and he gave a one-shouldered shrug. The lack of speech irritated Paul far more than any verbal riposte or denial would have. He remained silent as well, guiding Eric along the walk towards the Turnkeys.
"Damn," Paul said under his breath. "So what now? Do we need to keep an eye out for other Hunters coming to collect him? Or worse yet, Watchers?"
"What's this 'him' stuff?" Kate asked as they crossed the second bridge onto the Street. "You think the Watchers wouldn't take you too?"
"Hey! I had nothing to do with this garbage - Eric was the one to wade into Trey. All I did was give the split-tongue a shove when Eric locked eyes with him." Paul glared at her, then subsided as he looked sideways at his new partner. He leaned closer to Kate and whispered, "Eric seems like he?s messed up. Y?know, on the inside. Since we're close to Molly's, I?m gonna take him home, and see if he?s okay. You wanna come with??
"Not particularly, but I will."
Eric looked at her, eyes narrowing. "I don't need a babysitter, Kate."
"I don't think the Watcher's would agree."
Paul glared at him. "Look, man, I don't know what's going on in your head, but you just took your life for a major turn. Headed straight down."
Eric glowered at him. "Knock it off, Paul."
"You knock it off! What's gotten into you?"
Eric snatched him by the lapels of his coat, hauling Paul's face within inches of his. "What's gotten into me? What's gotten into me? How about a thousand years of HELL! You saw what I went through, Paul. And what was the reason behind it? What purpose did it serve? Only but to torture me! To prove to me that the only right that exists is the right that is made by those in power!" He shoved Paul away, gritting his teeth as he tried to rein in his temper. "Don't you dare lecture me on what I did. I did what was right - I tried to kill the son of a bitch!" He spat the curse at Paul and Kate with venom, then turned angrily to stride away into the tavern.
Paul stood up slowly, brushing aside Kate's offered hand as he stood. She looked at him as he straightened his clothing. "Has he been like this since you picked him up?"
"Like what? Bi-polar? You mean that's not how he's always been?"
"No," Kate said slowly, looking at the door to Molly's where Eric had just went. "He was..." she paused. "He wasn't like that. I can't explain it. Come to Jack's tomorrow night for Happy Hour. We'll all be there, and Kel will too. We'll talk about it. I don't think he'll show up there, do you?"
"I... don't know. I don't understand what's going on inside his head, Kate. I can only imagine it." He turned to look at his fellow Hunter a brief moment before looking back at the closing door. "But whatever it is... if he can't get out of it, we'll lose him. He won't be able to Hunt again."
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