𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 - the wolfsbane

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐃 left almost immediately, leaving the poor teenage Lexi rather dumbstruck, but hey, at least she could play a few notes on her father's piano, and she knew the three... odd strangers would get to the bottom of why her father was killed.

The group of three had quickly hopped onto the subway discussing what the plans could have meant. Olivia tried to chip in, but to be honest, she couldn't come up with anything. What on earth could have been at the bottom of the hole? Perhaps whatever they needed Danny for? Who knew?

All she knew was that the second the subway doors opened she jumped out, it had been packed and she was ready to leave behind the scent of sweat in favor of fresh air swirling beneath the night sky.

The three of them walked in a line, getting a few annoyed looks here or there for taking up almost the entire path, though their gazes dropped the second Liv or Jess scowled back.

Jess shook her head in annoyance as another man in a business suit stormed past them and bumped into her arm. With a huff, she looked towards Olivia and Matt. "So, the architect discovers a structure underneath his building and whatever it is, it's bad enough that he dies trying to blow it up."

Olivia nodded her head in silence as Matt hummed with furrowed brows. "Right, he wanted to destroy it. But he didn't have to blow it up. I think he wanted to collapse it down. Are you sure the structure in the hole was man-made? Could it be some sort of bedrock?"

Olivia huffed a breath as she shook her head, Jessica copying her actions. "It's thirty stories deep, in the perfect shape of a dome, I doubt it."

"All right. Fair enough..." He paused for a second before tilting his head. "Jessica? How'd you know? About my dad."

"A crime-fighting blind lawyer, I figured there had gotta be a good story there."

"Or a shitty one."

The Hale smiled sadly to herself, it certainly was a shitty story. Waiting for your father to come home only to find him dead with a bullet in his gut and a body full of bruises, knowing he died alone. She couldn't imagine what the guy felt, well to a certain extent she could, but she still had her brother and uncle, he had no family, at all.

She wasn't one to pity, especially for people like Matt, someone who used his weaknesses as strengths, most of the time it did more harm than good. So rather than giving a pat on the shoulder and telling someone it would be okay, she showed it through her actions. Treated them like normal people, sometimes people really did need normalcy.

"You took my case, we took yours."

"We?"

Olivia hummed, her tone light and teasing. "I'm afraid we come as a package deal, Matthew."

He chuckled as he continued to tap his cane along the ground. Jessica let out her own small chuckled in agreement. "Exactly. I think we'll all work better together if we trust each other. Don't you?"

The wolf had to bite her lip in order to keep herself from laughing at the shocked expression lacing Matts features, clearly Jessica hadn't been playing nice beforehand. Not a surprise, really.

"That is the nicest thing you've ever said to me." The lawyer chuckled, his head turning to the wolf as she laughed.

"I wouldn't get used to it; she still insults me all the time."

Jessica smirked as she looked between the two and shrugged. "She's right, don't get used to it."

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The trio had continued their small chat as the sky grew ever darker, Matt was very entertained, to say the least. He finally got a taste of how the girls acted around each other; insults being thrown, showing each other. He had gotten a small glimpse of how the newest member of their ragtag group acted with how she and Luke had interacted.

In all honesty, Matthew thought the woman was a bit of an enigma. A woman who could grow claws, fangs, and hair? A woman with senses on par with his own along with the strength of Jessica or Luke. Though... it was her personality that confused him most, she had seemed cold and sarcastic, but now, the way she had been joking with him, the way she was acting with Jess was almost the complete opposite.

He could tell that the woman was a large, unopened book, the biggest hint being that the Hand knew who she was. Another hint, being the small amount of information he did know about her past; her sister, not only had Sowande mentioned her, but Jessica had too. The wolf's entire demeanor had changed when Jess had spoken, her shoulders had slumped and her breathing had picked up.

An unopened book. The question he himself had yet to answer, did he want to open it?

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The three were walking at what Olivia would consider a leisurely pace, Danny was either still out or Luke and Stick would've had him handled... Right?

Wrong.

As they approached the building both the wolf and the Devil paused in their steps, their sensitive ears picking up the sound of Luke falling to the ground with a groan. Olivia Nodded to Jessica before taking off, the lawyer and the P.I hot on her heels.

She shook her head as Matt climbed the outside of the building, and took it upon herself to use the front door, Jess following close behind. The girls weaved through the corridors as the sound of the fighting grew louder and more intense, yells, grunts, and the sound of metal colliding echoing inside of the Hale's ears as she approached.

Though the closer she listened she could hear the sounds of a women's voice. Finally, her first meeting with who she presumed to be 'Elektra.'

For once, Matt's need for a dramatic pursuit seemed to have actually benefitted him; he had managed to reach the room a just a few moments before the wolf and the P.I, screaming his ex's name as he approached.

"Listen to me." The wolf could hear him try to reason as she pushed her legs to go faster. "You don't have to do this. All right? You don't belong to them. This is not who you are."

Finally, the Hale reached the room, turning on her heels and almost stumbling as she entered through the doorway, the sight before her was troubling, to say the least; Luke was unconscious and on the ground as sweat pooled on his forehead, Danny had regained consciousness as he looked on like a deer in the headlights, Matt was panting, his chest rising and falling heavily as waves of fear and anxiety rolled off him.

And finally, Stick and Elektra. Stick had fallen to the ground, his breathing calm as his former protégé stood above him with her large blade pointed towards the old man's chest.

Elektra exuded confidence, her stance solid and yet somehow graceful. Olivia looked to the women's eyes as they glinted almost more dangerously than the blade in her grasp and couldn't help but be reminded of an old friend back home, a girl who wielded a sword just like Elektra's, a girl who had lost herself in darkness but was brought back by her friends.

That's exactly what Matthew had been hoping to do, who was she to get in the way when she was one of the ones to bring her old friend back into the light, it would be hypocritical of her. She hadn't given up on her own friend, so what right did she have to tell Matt any different?

Elektra's anger-filled eyes flickered to the newcomer and a spark of recognition glossed her face making Olivia furrow her brows, they had never met before, how on earth could she know her? Then again, the Hand seemed to know an uncomfortable amount about her and her family.

Olivia's attention snapped to Jess as she entered the room with a heavy breath, the floor creaking underneath the added weight. It seemed that Jessica had been the one to break Elektra's stare as within moments she shoved the blade into Stick's chest and removed it without hesitation; not even blinking at Matt's pained yell.

Olivia let out a heavy breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Matt's face scrunched up, grief coated his features as he started forward, towards Elektra but he was immediately kicked backward; his head collided with the wall and lolled to the side, completely unconscious.

The wolf nodded as Jess shot her a look, the pair of them running forward. Jessica grabbed Elektra's hands, the pair of them battling for a moment before Olivia rounded the pair, her claws and fangs were elongated and without hesitation, she swiped a hand across Elektra's arm; her claws sliced through the fabric coating the girl's arm and made contact with her skin.

Four long and bloodied lines quickly appeared and Elektra yelled out in agony, quickly shoving her head into Jess's, sending the P.I stumbling backward as she gripped her head. Elektra took her advantage and raced forward, grabbing the woman and slamming her head into the wall, not bothering to look as she slid to the ground, unconscious.

Instead, she turned her attention towards the wolf who had let out a threatening growl at the sight of her friend. Olivia quickly jumped back and out of the way of the deadly blade as it swung in her direction, a hair or two falling to the ground after making contact with the dangerously sharp object.

Olivia continued to duck and dodge the blade each time it came her way, hissing when a particularly fast swipe caught the side of her face. "Oh, you bitch." The wolf growled as blood tumbled down her cheek, the wound closing only a few moments later. She watched with annoyance as Elektra cocked her head, a hint of a smirk evident on her full lips.

The Hale took her chance and once again managed to puncture Elektra's skin with her claws, three claws ripped the fabric of her clothes and made small puncture within her skin, not quite as large as the ones on her arms and certainly not large enough to send the woman to the ground.

Elektra huffed in pain before quickly sending her leg towards the wolf's who groaned as she was sent rather violently to the ground. Olivia grit her teeth as she used the wall to pull herself up and just before she could turn to face Elektra an excruciating pain erupted in her stomach.

The wolf threw her head back, an almighty roar escaping her lungs as the blade was forcibly removed, her claws dug into the wall, bricks crumbling to the ground. The pain was unimaginable, it felt like fire was flowing through her veins and encasing her blood, the wound bled profusely, a pool of blood already at the Hale's feet. She could feel her consciousness waver, with every blink the room dimmed and with every breath her knees shook, threatening to buckle.

In a final attempt to save Danny, the boy who had watched the entire thing, the boy who was yelling for her, not that she could focus on the sound, the wolf gritted her teeth and clamped her eyes shut as she mustered as much strength as she could.

The Hale managed to use her arms to push herself off the wall, as her sweaty and pounding forehead finally left its resting place on the wall Elektra grabbed the back of her head and leaned close, her lips almost brushing the wolf's ear. "They told me about you. The wolf."

The woman let out a breathy chuckle as her hand reached into her pocket, pulling out something that Olivia couldn't see, but could certainly smell. Wolfsbane. Her breathing became heavier and her heart pumped faster in fear. The wolf let out another shrill roar as the deadly flower was pushed into her open wound, tears escaped her eyes and mixed with the blood that had stained her cheek before it traveled to her open mouth, a salty and metallic taste coating her tongue.

Olivia crumbled. Her strength vanished and she sunk to the ground, her now clawless hands falling into a pool of her own blood.

Elektra crouched down and gripped the wolf's shoulder, forcing her to sit on her knees. Liv's face was sickly pale, her veins turning dark and protruding from her skin as the wolfsbane poisoned her body.

Olivia winced as Elektra's loud voice abused her ears. "Wolfsbane. A mere flower bringing the mighty wolf to her knees."

The Hale's head lolled to the side as her eyes began to shut. Small moans of pain escaped her bloodied lips as the wolfsbane continued to contaminate her blood. Her breathing faded to something lighter than a feather and blood dribbled from her lips as the wolfsbane claimed its victory.

"I'm sorry..." She managed to breathe out before Elektra dropped the grip she had on her, satisfied that her job had been completed.

The Hale's eyes flickered open for a moment, watching as Elektra took Danny into her arms and disappeared out of the window without a single glance at any of them before the darkness finally consumed her.

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03-05-2020