One of God&#39;s children

Jack took his time making his way to Serendipity Street. Not because he had so much else to do -- he was a bit past welcome picnics -- but because some small part of him would rather not know any more horrible things he couldn't do anything about.

Still. He said he'd come to listen, so he would. He took a breath to steel himself and knocked on the door, hoping Kate would be by soon.

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The door opened about a minute later, revealing a sedate Mitchell on the other side. "Hey," he said, stepping aside. "Come in."

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"Hi," Jack said, stepping in carefully. "I suppose it's foolish to ask how you are..."

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"I've been better," Mitchell answered. He shut the door behind Jack. "There's drinks in the fridge. I think." Fuck, hospitality had always been Annie's thing.

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"Don't worry about it," Jack answered, waving off the offer. "Should we wait for Kate? She was going to stop by the picnic, and I don't want to make you go through it twice."

Whatever it was, exactly. Jack still didn't see the sense of the little he had heard.

Edited Date: 2011-07-02 01:58 pm (UTC)

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Mitchell stole a glance at the door, then nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. "I was watching some telly."

He tried to herd Jack towards the living room.

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Jack let himself be herded, since it wasn't like he had any great need to stay in the foyer.

"I was worried," he said, almost out of nowhere. "I figured you might be avoiding me after London, and at first I wasn't going out of my way to talk to people myself, but -- it felt like a long month."

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"No, things just... started getting out of hand after that," Mitchell said, sinking down on the sofa. "It's been a long year."

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Kate so agreed.

Or would have, had she not been outside at that point, reaching out from beneath her giant umbrella to knock on the door. It had taken her a while to pry herself from the picnic (despite not having been doing much there except stalling) but she was here now.

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Mitchell looked up. Right. Just the moment he sat down, of course. He sighed, and pushed himself up. "I'll go get that," he said, and walked back towards the door.

He opened it a few moments later.

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"Hey," Kate said, mildly, peering up at him. "I came."

She hadn't be so certain she would, at least she hadn't been before she'd talked to Jack about it.

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"Yeah," Mitchell said. 'Yeah' seemed about the word of the week. He stepped aside again. "Jack's by the television."

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"Hi, Kate," Jack called, standing up and walking just forward enough that he could see her.

He would ask what Mitchell meant by a long year, but that could wait until Kate was at least somewhat settled.

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Kate nodded at Mitchell as she stepped in, then closed her umbrella and left it by the door before heading for the living room where she gave Jack a nod of his own. "Hey."

She'd probably have some more words – perhaps even different ones! – later.

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"Let's grab a seat, shall we," Mitchell said. He stuck his hands in his pockets and wandered back towards the sofa.

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Jack had a fleeting, nervous urge to demand to remain standing, the better to get out of there quickly.

He swallowed it and took a seat. "So," he said, and stopped there because he didn't actually have anything to say.

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Kate sunk down on one end of the sofa just out of habit. She'd been around this living room just enough for those to have formed, apparently.

"So," she agreed, quietly. It was Mitchell's move now.

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Mitchell sighed. He sank down in the seat opposite the sofa, and rubbed at his face. "I'm-- last week," he tried, but realised that was going nowhere. So he'd pick a better point to start. "Things haven't been going all that well in Bristol since Herrick died."

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"You mentioned," Kate replied, a bit dryly. It was about the only thing he'd been willing to share in the last month, disregarding the current week.

He'd also claimed the vampires had calmed down since then. Apparently not.

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"But it's been a long time since you said anything about it," Jack said, faintly annoyed. "What happened?"

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"Look, remember why we sent Carl over there?" Mitchell asked, sinking back into his seat. "That was just the tip of the iceberg. Without Herrick, the whole system came apart. Vampires were still killing left and right, but no one was cleaning it up. In the end, I... had to step in."

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"To clean up."

Kate's stomach twisted uncomfortably, and she gave Jack a glance, one of those 'I don't like where this is going, do you like where this is going?' ones.

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Jack's look back said Not in the least.

"To be in charge," he added grimly.

He left off the you should have said, because he wasn't sure he'd stop if he started down that path. Better to wait.

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"To stabilise everything," Mitchell corrected. "Get things running safely again, then get everyone off the blood. It took some time, but I got it to work."

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