𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 - the broken and bent

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𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 to be in the presence of her family, joking with her uncle as her brother rolled her eyes at the pair, huffs, and chuckles escaping the brooding wolf every now and then. Peter and Derek had both expressed how they had enjoyed being in the company of Matt which surprised Olivia greatly.

She had mildly suspected that her brother would get along with the vigilante as their personalities were quite similar. Peter getting along with Matthew; however, she did not see coming. Peter was garish, loud, and often times rude and she loved that about him, after all, she was the same. She chalked it down to the fact that she had never quite been in a 'steady relationship' before and there were only so many jokes her uncle could make about men he had never seen leaving her bedroom every weekend.

She was glad though. Very much so. Derek was the harder family member to impress, his demeanor often intimidating to others, but again, she was the same, and Matthew was used to it. She had neglected to tell her family that she would be moving in with Matt once they made it out of the woods and Fisk was neatly tucked away in some dingy prison cell... or, well, dead.

In all honesty, the thought of everything being over made her let out a small sigh of relief because whilst she enjoyed the fights and thrived in the night, she needed a break. Whether it be staying in bed until late afternoon with Matthew, or the pair visiting Beacon Hills.

God. The thought of Matt being introduced to the teens -adults-made her feel sorry for him. Stiles would probably drive him to the edge of insanity, though the boy did slightly remind her of Foggy and he was in the law enforcement... huh, maybe they'd actually make quite the duo.

Olivia, Derek, and Peter had made it to the Mahoney home in record time thanks to Derek's ability to drive as fast as humanly possible whilst still somehow avoiding people, other cars, and a fine. Olivia was the one to clamber out of the car first, she pulled her jacket tighter and hopped her way up the steps before raising a hand to the front door, knocking twice.

Mrs. Mahoney was the one to answer, quickly ushering the wolf inside, her welcoming spirit only growing at the sight of Olivia's family who followed behind. The three werewolves made their way into the living room and settled themselves onto the plush couch as Mrs. Mahoney fetched Nadeem's wife, Seema.

The woman's chemosignals were overwhelmingly strong, a mixture of fear and anxiety, and rightly so. Her Husband was going to court to stand against a crime boss, her home had been invaded with a gunfight and now she was to sit down with a bunch of strangers whilst her son sat piecing together an old puzzle in the room she had stayed in.

Peter had managed to keep most of his comments to himself, knowing for once that they really weren't needed nor appreciated. Olivia did her best to reassure Seema, she and Derek both calmly explained the situation and how Derek and Peter would be taking them in until everything blew over.

The woman kept glancing over to Olivia who would do her best to send calming smiles; Seema didn't know her family, she barely knew Olivia, but at least she was a somewhat familiar face.

Seema had agreed that the plan was for the best. She wanted to keep her son safe, that was all that mattered and if Derek and Peter could do that, she was more than willing to comply. With everything decided, Seema left the trio of wolves to pack up her things.

"I'll come with you until we reach the gas station where you planned to stop, Foggy will pick me up and you four will continue on." Olivia listed off. She didn't want to leave the family of two alone with her own family whilst they were still riddled with anxiety; with her in the car they would feel more comfortable and hopefully, by the time they reached the stopping point, the family would trust Derek and Peter and feel more comfortable.

It was a hard time for the family and Olivia wanted to do whatever she could to keep them safe and comfortable; being in a car with two intimidating men probably wouldn't have been the way to accomplish that.

Olivia had taken a small nap inside the car, the rumbling of the engine lulled her into a peaceful sleep and when she awoke, Nadeem's son was leaning against her, small and light snores escaping him as he slept.

"I tried to move him," Seema whispered, a sheepish smile on her features.

Olivia yawned before offering the woman a lazy smile, "Don't worry about it." The music from Derek's radio filled the car, light and soothing tunes from Kodaline echoed out upon Olivia's earlier request. "It's a stupid question, but how are you doing?"

"I'm-- I'm okay. I have to be okay."

"No, you don't. You can be worried; you can be scared and you can be angry. I would be."

Seema stayed silent, her eyes glued to the passing scenery before she sighed and turned to face the wolf, "I am, I'm every one of those. How could Ray put our son in danger like that? I-I don't know if I can ever forgive him for that."

"I uh, I don't want to make it seem like I'm condoning anything... but he really was trying to do some good. It backfired and things went wrong. That's how it goes sometimes, and all that you can do is apologize and try to make things right. That's what he's doing; trying to make things right."

"I know." Seema nodded as she slouched in her seat, anger fading from her once tense shoulders, "I love him. Our son loves him, but we need time to heal from this."

"And you deserve it."

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It hadn't taken more than forty-five minutes to get to their stopping point. The sky was still light and gray, white clouds floating by and a small breeze dancing through the air as Olivia stepped out of the car alongside her brother and Uncle. Seema stayed where she was, her sons sleeping head resting against her side.

Olivia walked to the front of the car and perched herself on the hood as she crossed her arms. "They should call soon, tell us how it's going," Olivia spoke aloud as Derek came to her side, leaning next to her whilst Peter stood in front of them, hands in his coat pockets. Olivia let a smile stretch at her lips as she batted her eyelashes, "Peter? Wanna go get me a Slurpee?"

Peter pursed his lips. He knew his nieces' game; try to look as innocent as possible and give him a 'puppy dog' look. She tried, but she never did look innocent; her arched brows just made her face look all too... bitchy. But being his favorite... and only... niece, he rolled his eyes and gave in, "Cherry?"

"Please."

"I got you."

"Thank you, Peter!" She called out to his retreating figure as he entered the store, a chuckle spilling from both Olivia's and Derek's lips as the older Hale stuck up his middle finger.

Olivia could feel Derek's gaze resting on her, analyzing her. She cocked her head, an arched brow rising, "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

Derek rolled her eyes and his sister's response. She always brushed things off. "Oh, you know, you're only going after a crime boss, Olivia."

"I'm okay Derek. If anything, I'm worried about Matt. I want to believe that this will work, but you know as well as I do that when a Hale is involved, things go wrong." She let out a heavy breath as she focused on Peters figure mulling about the store, "If this doesn't put Fisk away... Matt might resort to killing him. For us, as disturbing as it is, it's not as big of a deal as it should be. But he does what he does to protect people. He hasn't killed someone before. I-I think it would swallow him whole."

Derek nodded understandingly as he wrapped an arm around his little sisters' shoulders. She always worried about other people and it was something he admired about her, her willingness to throw herself in harm's way for others, willingness to take a hit for someone. Clearly Matt had made an impact on his sister, and Derek could see as plain as day that his sister truly did care for the vigilante.

"Well, if it comes to that, you do what you always do Liv."

"What's that?"

"Save him. From himself, from Fisk, from whatever. It's what you do."

"I don't save people, I break them."

"I've never heard a bigger lie."

Before Olivia could reply, the door to the gas station swung open and Peter made his way out. A large Slurpee was in one hand and in the other was a 'share bag' or Doritos, a bag that Peter would undoubtedly finish on his own within ten minutes.

"One cherry Slurpee for my favorite family member." Peter winked, ignoring the less than amused look from Derek.

"Thank you." Olivia chimed as she grabbed the large cup, not hesitating to take the biggest gulp of the sweet cherry drink. "That has honestly made my day."

The three Hales continued their chatter and banter; Olivia and Peter bickering like the four years old's they mentally related to as Derek rolled his eyes with a fond grin, cherishing the small amount of time they could spend together before Olivia had to leave them.

In the midst of their mindless conversations the phone that sat in Olivia's jean pocket began to ring, both Derek and Peter quieted down as Olivia answered Matt's call.

"Olivia, Nadeem's gone." Matthew's voice was tired and irritated as he huffed his words.

Olivia blinked, her brows furrowing as she shared looks with her family as they listened in, "What?"

"He's gone. Fisk got to the jurors and threatened them into not issuing an indictment, his testimony sealed and inadmissible. He left the courthouse. We're uh, we're about to leave, meet us at Fogwell's."

"Yeah, yeah we'll be there, bye." Olivia stammered out. She couldn't believe it... well actually she could, she had a gut feeling that something would go wrong and of course, it did. She couldn't believe they didn't think of the possibility of Fisk getting to the jurors; it was an obvious move; he was powerful and could find any little thing to hold above their heads.

As for Nadeem, where did he go? If he had left the courthouse alone then he was bound to have Fisk's men or even Poindexter on his ass; that wouldn't end well. But none of them knew where he would go.

Olivia brought a hand down her face, groaning at the new information. Her brown eyes met Derek's and slowly drifted to Peter's as she sighed realizing what she now had to do, "I have to tell Seema."

Without waiting for a reply, Olivia hopped off the hood of the car as dread filled her; Seema was a smart woman and upon hearing what Olivia had to relay, she was sure to figure out that the chances of Ray making it out with his life were slim.

Her legs carried her to the back of the car and she slowly opened one of the doors. Seema looked up, her hand that had been stroking her son's head paused as she noticed the conflicted expression on Olivia's face. "Is everything okay?"

Olivia bit her lip as she slid inside the car, closing the door as softly as she could, she let out an exhale as she prepared herself, "Ray's testimony was inadmissible, Fisk got to the jurors... they don't know where Ray is, he left without telling anyone."

Seema stayed silent and Olivia could see the fear on the women's face as she held her sleeping son tighter, "They don't know where he is?"

Olivia shook her head softly, "No, they don't. We're uh, we're gonna head back, drop you back off at the Mahoney's, and do what we can, okay?"

Seema nodded silently, her head dropping to rest on her sons as she thought of the worst-case scenario. Olivia didn't know what she could do for the woman so rather than continue to talk about it, she left the woman with her thoughts and turned to the window, watching as Derek and Peter made their way back to the car.

Olivia shut her eyes, leaning against the cool glass of the window as she listened as the engine of the car rumbled to life as Derek prepared to take them back to Hell's kitchen.

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The journey back to Hell's Kitchen seemed to take longer than it did to leave, and yet they had actually made it back in record time. Seema and her son had been dropped off safely to the Mahoney residence without a single eye thrown their way; they would be safe until they found Ray... if they found Ray. Olivia, as much as she truly wanted to believe that Ray would be unharmed and found, knew that it wouldn't be the case.

Fisk and Poindexter were relentless, they left no witnesses and they certainly wouldn't hesitate to fill Nadeem with lead if they found him, that much was obvious. Ray wouldn't be coming back; Olivia knew it deep down but she kept those thoughts to herself upon their arrival at Fogwell's.

Olivia stepped out of her brother's car, her movements slow as if trying to pass the time, knowing the atmosphere inside the musty gym was probably so tense that it was suffocating. She knew Matt would have heard them arrive and decided it was pointless to stall any longer.

The wolf pushed the door open with ease and stepped her way inside. She had been right; the room was filled with trepidation, even the copious layers of dust were more settled than the three pacing the room.

The squeaking of the door alerted the two without super senses to her entry, Karen sent the wolf a wobbly smile even though her entire demeanor gave away the act that she feared what was to come. Foggy let out a breath as he acknowledged Olivia's appearance and Matthew walked up to the wolf and pulled her into his arms as a peck was planted on her cheek, "Hey, how was Seema?"

Olivia sighed as she and Matthew made their way over to the table. Olivia perched on the edge of the dusty table; her palms planted on the surface, "She's... scared."

Before Matthew could respond both Derek and Peter made their way into the building, the two keeping near the exit. Derek crossed his arms and leaned on the wall whilst Peter had his hands inside his pockets as he, for once, remained silent.

"Brett and some of his team are out looking for him," Foggy commented, splitting the silence as he sat on the edge of the boxing ring. He knew that the fact that Brett was searching for the agent should make the lot of them feel somewhat at ease, but shoulders remained stiff and eyes remained downcast.

The room was getting darker as each minute ticked by, the back window displayed the vibrant sun slowly falling as the darkness of the night began to swallow the light. Olivia had moved towards the window, staring out as the oranges turned murky, dark blues replacing them and reminding each occupant of the room that as each auburn shade grew darker, the likeliness of Ray coming back or being found grew slimmer.

The six of them stayed relatively quiet; none of them knew what to say, their plan had failed so... what was next? There was little else they could do except wait for a call from Brett telling them once they had found Nadeem, it was a call each of them was anticipating and yet dreading because the question was, would the call be to announce that he was found dead or alive?

They didn't have to wait long to find out. The beeping of Foggy's phone sounded out and everybody's heads snapped towards the man as he swallowed and pulled the device from his pocket and held it to his ear.

Olivia's footsteps were almost entirely silent as she rejoined the group at the table, she perched on the edge in-between Matthew and Derek, her body involuntarily leaning forward as Brett's voice came through the phone.

Ray had been found dead. A bullet lodged in the center of his forehead as his body laid in the middle of his own backyard.

The room was still as the sound of short breaths left each of them. Olivia dragged a hand down her face; perhaps it had been naive of them to think that they could truly beat Fisk. Perhaps it had been far too negligent of them to put Ray even closer to the firing line.

A metallic scent filled the room, brushing the noses of the wolves and the man with enhanced senses. Peter and Derek's eyes trailed down to Olivia's hand were crimson droplets fell and merged with the dust on the tiled floor.

They could hear her teeth gritting as her elongated nails dug further, anger replacing the grief she had felt. Matt wasn't far from her state; his chest heaved and his face contorted in rage at Fisk, the man who had ruined him, ruined his friends and now, had ruined Ray and his family.

After another beat of silence, Matt had jumped up from the table, grasping his suit jacket in his trembling hands before his flurry of anger-fueled movements pulled him towards the exit of the gym.

"Matt, please..." Foggy tried, his voice breaking as he watched his friend's eyes burn with a fire he knew only violence could quell.

"No." Matthew spat, his fists clenched by his side, "We tried it your way." His hurried steps paused as his hand rested on the doorknob and his head just barely turned over his shoulder. "Olivia. Are you coming?"

The wolf picked her head up, her claws finally unlatching from her own palm and the small puncture wounds faded away and closed within a beat. Olivia's brown eyes darted towards Foggy, a pleading look plastered on his face. "Give me five. I'll find you."

Matthew gave a sharp nod before disappearing through the door.

Olivia pushed her hair back, her hand resting on the back of her neck as she drew her eyes over to Foggy. The blond looked beyond defeated; he knew what thoughts were swimming inside of Matthew's head, he wanted to kill Fisk. "What do we do?"

"I'm gonna follow him... and I'm gonna make sure he doesn't do something he'll regret."

"What-- what does that mean."

Olivia felt eyes on her as she stood and pushed her arms through her jacket, leaving it unzipped. "It means that I'll do whatever I can to make sure that Matt doesn't lose himself." She gathered her long brunette strands into one hand and secured them tightly with the frayed hairband that had left indents on her wrist, "I'll try to talk him out of doing... what we all know he wants to do. Once you cross that line, you can't go back."

Derek and Peter shared a look, each of their faces falling. Derek knew how much his little sister beat herself up about every death that had occurred in Beacon Hills, especially since she had always been a witness to them. Peter, though he was pretty much immune to the after-effects of death, adored his niece and hated to see her hurt. "Why don't we come with you?"

"No." Olivia shook her head, her brown eyes darting to his ocean ones, "This is something Matt has to do and he trusts me. I think I can get through to him. He-he knows what I did, he knows what it's done to me. I'm gonna be there for him, I'm gonna be on the sidelines as he does whatever he chooses to do. But I'll remind him that he is not Fisk, he's not me. He's good and he shouldn't taint that for a man like Fisk." She exhaled softly, their eyes burning into her back as she approached the door. "I won't stop him doing whatever it is he feels the need to do. But, I will be there and I'll remind him that he doesn't have to stoop to Fisk's level."

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22-09-2020