AN: no warnings just brief mentions of the ol' atheism and off-screen consumption of weed.

FINN WAS PEACEFULLY LOUNGING ON THE KITCHEN ISLAND, fully showered and eating cereal to tame the hunger suffocating his stomach when the door burst open.

His mouth hung slightly, and the hand holding the spoon paused in midair when both Robin and Kaden stormed inside the house, heading for the latter's bedroom. His eyes skipped to their shoes right before the door shut behind them.

"Hey, that was my corner," he sulked, refusing to mop it again. His face shot back to the door when he heard several others shuffle inside. "For Christ's sake, the shoes." He ushered in frustration, eyes snapping up and face abruptly morphing into surprise when he noticed Spencer.

She mirrored his expression. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you?"

"Where is everyone?" Joe piped up from the doorway.

"Showering." He gestured at the closed bedroom doors.

"Okay," Christina huffed, shutting the door after her, eyes resolute as they landed on Spencer. "You're explaining to me."

Spencer stifled a groan, hand reaching to rub her forehead. Finn felt his shoulder tense in the wake of her words, but it all vanished when he noticed they were all empty-handed.

"You didn't get groceries?" He wanted to full-on weep, and he slouched, shoving cereal inside of his mouth. "I knew I should've packed noodles. This might be my last meal..."

Christina ignored him, her eyes fixed on the woman before her.

"Explain," she demanded.

"This isn't my shit to deal with." Spencer dropped on the couch and leaned forward, her leg jutting restlessly.

Christina moved to sit on the coffee table right before her.

"Explain, anyway."

"First," Kaden began, meeting Robin's gaze from across the room where she stood beside the door. He had agreed to speak - but in private, since he had a feeling the situation could easily skyrocket and he didn't want distractions. "Breathe."

Her fists clenched by her side. "Just get to it."

"It's not what you think."

"You don't know what I think." Her gaze hardened, and she took a brisk step closer. "Stop stalling. Get to it."

"Spencer has nothing to do with it," he spoke, removing her from the equation. He refused to drag anyone with him into the hole he dug himself because he couldn't let go. "She agreed to look after you so she could repay a favor she owes me. I'm the one who asked that of her."

"You asked her to stalk me," she reiterated in her words.

They knew of her existence and whereabouts all along while she was kept in the dark, they watched her. The more she thought about how long she'd known Spencer, how much time the latter spent around her, poked about her personal life - the angrier she got. She felt observed

He shook his head, jaw tight. "I didn't tell her to move in next to you, I don't have control over what she does. I didn't care how she got the information, I didn't ask for anything specific - all I needed to know was that you were doing fine."

There was a pause in the wake of his words, Robin's head shaking slowly, her eyes darting around the room.

"You really did hide from me. Or maybe hid me from you." Her voice was quiet, distant, but he could catch the slight venom lacing her words. "For how long did you plan on keeping it up if I didn't find you?"

Kaden's lips sealed, uncertain of his answer. Truth was, he didn't know. A deep hum escaped Robin's throat, her stance still rigid.

"I feared losing you like we did the others, but I couldn't pull you back to that shithole with how things used to be." His eyes met her guarded ones again. "I'm sorry I took the decision for you."

"You shouldn't have," her sharp voice grated against her throat. Despite feeling that his words were genuine, they couldn't get past the barrier of sudden bitterness that overcame her. She needed to calm down and think, but all of it was unraveling before her, the surface holding her together finally crackling under the pressure. She was robbed of years. Years. Years of clear conscience and impenitence, years away from constant regret, years of growing with them.

The tendons of her jaw muscles pulled tight. "Don't talk to me like I couldn't handle it."

"I don't want you to, Robin."

"Why?" She cocked her head, brows inching up. "So that only you can take the hit?" She took one step closer. "Hm? So you can pull everyone up, protect them by the skin of your teeth and face all the consequences by yourself?" She reached him, the toe tip of her shoes aligning with his within an inch of distance. "You didn't have to do it alone, Kaden."Her voice dropped low, intensely holding his gaze. "And I didn't either."

She was close. So close he could see the specks of forest green swimming around burnt auburn in her irises, the dark long lashes framing her eyes, the few freckles dusting the apples of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, faded and almost not visible on her skin - the plump shape of her lips. He swallowed. His eyes gravitated back to hers, breath catching in his throat when hers darkened.

She took a step back, turning to head for the door, giving him the space to breathe.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she stated.

He blinked.

"Stay. I'll leave."

She heaved a sigh, angling her body to face him. "Stop."

"What?"

"Stop putting everyone's needs ahead of yours," she said, pushing the handle down.

"This doesn't add up."

"Yeah, take your time," Spencer bit back.

She realized it might take longer than expected for her to untangle herself from Christina's questioning. The redhead before her wore a thoughtful expression, narrowed eyes recalling every subtle detail to point out ambiguities in her claim.

"How did you even secure a residency?" She asked, brows pulling in a frown.

"Residency is easy to secure if you're close to the right people." She grinned, then, at the sight of her opened mouth, she added, "no further comment."

"But..." Christina frowned as she stood before her, hands resting on either side of her waist. "You'd send me your live location. It was never in Darwin."

"What's that about a live location?" Joe blinked from where she leaned on the fireplace behind her.

"Oh pft." Spencer waved. "From a phone I barely use." She quirked her eyebrows, reaching for her pocket to retrieve a different phone than the one Christina would find lying around in cabinets or tucked under cushions.

Finn whistled, hand clasping on his mouth when a few crumbs escaped his lips. "Damn..."

Christina's jaw dropped and she gasped indignantly. "You'd go through all that? We've known you for years!"

"Do you even know how much these hospital bills cost?" Spencer exclaimed in frustration.

"Was he covered?"

She gawked. "You're joking, right?"

Joe shook her head, stifling a yawn. "She isn't."

Christina frowned, turning to scold but stopping mid-twist when Kaden's bedroom door opened. Her eyes widened when Robin stepped out, and she opened her mouth to speak but the sound of shuffling pulled her brows together. Finn angled his head to catch Kaden standing in the doorway, and Robin headed for the guest room at the end of the hall, emerging a minute later tugging her passport and papers inside the pockets of her pants.

"You're going?" He asked, and Christina took quick strides, meeting Robin right as she stepped into the living room.

"I just need to cool off. I'll be back tomorrow," she stated robotically as she headed for the door. Joe straightened, rolling her eyes when Christina followed her like a lost puppy. Robin turned to address her and Finn. "You want to come, go ahead, you want to stay, stay."

"I'll come." Finn hopped off the stool, pulling his phone out to scan the Uber Eats app.

"Hell no," Christina was quick to snap, her eyes wide. "One of you has to stay."

Joe's chin tipped up. "Why?" She taunted.

Christina's eyes narrowed, and she turned to glare. "You're really testing my patience."

"Both of you stay." Robin pulled the door open, and Finn whined. "I won't be long." Her eyes met Kaden's as he hovered by the island, and she forced herself to head out.

Christina watched her for a second before her legs moved to follow, descending the stairs. Joe slid out after her, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Robin, wait." Christina drew herself upright when she turned, her eyes inspecting her carefully and her lips curling down when she was met with nothing but a blank face. "I'll come with you. You don't have to be alone."

Robin's lips twitched up in a small smile, stepping closer to place a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be fine."

She frowned. "Yeah, but-"

"Stop worrying." She squeezed her shoulder once reassuringly. "I'll be fine."

She paused for a moment, and Robin nodded her head once, looking back at her unblinkingly. She swallowed, nodding her head back.

"Text me when you get home, okay?"

She watched her receding figure, a wave of uneasiness curling in her gut. She gave herself a moment to breathe in and out deeply before she turned, jolting slightly at the sight of Joe leaning against the rail of the porch stairs.

"Jesus."

Joe offered a tight smile, straightening to move forward. "That was cute. Doing alright, Ginger?"

Her eyes narrowed, skipping down to follow the trail of the tattoos vining up her arms now that they were bare for a split moment before she pulled herself back to focus. "I'm not in the mood to fight with you."

She shrugged. "It's alright, me neither." She heaved a sigh. "I was thinking, now that we're going to see your lovely face more often, we need to set some ground rules to make it more bearable."

Christina arched an eyebrow, arms crossing against her chest. "You've got a different list than the one you flaunted this morning?"

"Right." Her lips twitched up in a sneer. She jutted her chin up. "You go first."

Her eyebrows snapped up, holding her eye for a moment longer in search of a hidden sarcastic remark. Joe's features remained the same, and Christina's shoulders gradually relaxed, putting her arms back by her sides.

"Okay." She nodded. "First rule is to act civil. I don't want you grilling me at every moment of the day, you're really tiring to deal with."

"Right back at you. What else?"

"That Ginger nickname is off the table."

To her irritation, she barked out a laugh. "Knew it."

Her eyes narrowed. "I knew you were doing it on purpose. Go on with yours, I'll add if I think of anything else."

"Okay. First one is respecting boundaries. You ask a lot of questions, try to be more discreet about your questionings at least-"

"I was not questioning," she defended.

"-You're argumentative. Which is fine unless my ears are bleeding out listening to you ramble about noble Fairfordian causes."

Christina scrunched her nose. "What does that even mean?"

"It means if I see you wearing blue, red, and gold colors on your Independence Day, I'll put a body bag outside for you to sleep on."

Her jaw gradually fell open when Joe stared back at her, dead serious. "You're incapable of maintaining a decent conversation."

"I like to think it's painfully clear." She nodded, arms crossed to her chest. "Just like you're incapable of hiding your patriotism."

She scowled at the sound of the bitterness trickling down her tongue. "What is wrong with being patriotic? I am defending my people."

"Here we go," she muttered, fingers rubbing her temple for a moment before facing her. "You're not 'defending' your people, you're just looking down on ours."

Christina's mouth opened to argue, but it closed when she realized she did make a point. "I'm sorry about that."

Joe's blinked, eyebrows pulling up in mild surprise. "As much as I didn't see that coming, your apology is crap."

She felt her blood run cold, fingers curling and nails digging into her palm. "Crap?"

Joe hummed. "Crap."

"You know. I really thought this mature conversation was going somewhere but I guess I might be the only one able to handle it."

"You want a mature conversation? You, the offender? Holding yourself so high the moment you stepped into the bar? Of course, it'll be easy for you to have a mature conversation. You're the problem."

"I'm the problem? What about you, using every word I utter against me even though there's no double meaning. You're so against everyth-"

"This isn't something that can be sorted out with an apology," Joe cut her off before she could ramble on. "You think a sorry will erase your bias?"

"What bias?"

"What bias," she reiterated, eyes narrowed. "Blaming Darwinites for every possible crime that happens in Fairford, deeming an entire population the problem, thinking your money and whiteness can give you every right to label people criminals."

"Hey. I agree that some of it are extreme-"

"All of it. All of it is nonsense."

"But we've seen so much of your bad side," her words surged out of her mouth before she could think. She swallowed, gut twisting at the sight of Joe's eyes darkening. "I've seen and watched Darwinites kill and rape and steal. I'm not saying I agree at all with labeling every Darwinite a criminal, but I can understand the prejudice Fairfordians hold-"

Her words were cut short when Joe took a brisk step to reach her, closing the distance between them and glowering at her with barely restrained infuriation.

"Look at me." Her voice was low and threatening. Christina's eyes cast down to the sudden close distance, pulling back up when Joe tilted her head. "Look at me. Do you see a rapist? A killer? What do you see when you look at me?" She hissed, jaw set tight as she stood so close to her, merely an inch away. "We've seen your people too. Kill and rape and steal and rob us of everything we had. Everything. We've seen your people, step on ours and cast us aside like we aren't even human. Do you even know the length we had to go to, to survive? The consequences - the horrifying, degrading consequences - we had to suffer to make it?" Her teeth clenched and she looked away, eyes squinting as she visibly flinched.

Christina suddenly realized the sudden extent of her words, the underlying derogation behind her actions. It snaked on her like a python coiling around every muscle of her body, constricting and crushing her bones until it felt agonizing to breathe.

"Do you even know what it means to sell yourself short just to live another day? Not for you, but because you know that if you don't make it, none of them will. For the people who count on you and hold on to you and trust you with their lives." She thought of Kaden when he flinched, when he would disappear for days, when he withdrew completely. She thought of Lizzie, who had barely been eight when she burst to the bar bawling her eyes out over a bird she had to kill so they could eat. She thought of Jeremy, who would get his bones broken and beaten to the verge of death when caught pickpocketing. She thought of Ollie, who would rather bruise his stomach raw than say he was starving.

The house that stood behind them made Christina wonder how it was possible for them to have found stability, how they had the strength to pick up the broken shards of their individual lives and assemble them together with bloodied fingers.

Joe met her eye again, the fire that surged in the green of her irises gradually faded into a dark haze.

"You know what yes. What bias. The way Fairfordians spit on Darwinites is fucking monstrosity at this point, you see us like wild animals that had it coming. Do you remember November Ninety-Four?" Her eyes were wide, her voice lower than a hiss as she struggled to hold back the anger flowing in her blood. Christina swallowed, throat tight in knots and she merely shook her head once. "Of course, you don't. You weren't even born. I was only a few months old. My parents died on that bridge. If it hadn't been for Kaden's mom who found me and raised me for eleven whole years who knows what would've happened to me. I lost my parents because of your so-called victory. We all lost all we had. I don't remember it. But we sure as hell don't call it Independence."

Christina stood frozen for a long while, even after Joe shut the door after her. The swell in her chest grew in leaps and bounds. She felt like there wasn't enough air to breathe, like her vision tunneled and she was spiraling. She felt small and disappointed and horrified, programmed and indoctrinated. She felt like a fool, a spitting image of Hunter's sheep she prided herself on criticizing. She felt tricked and betrayed. And mostly-

she felt utterly alone.

While she believed herself privileged and lucky to have been able to grow with a solid roof and warm meals, she stood before this house, feeling hollow.

"Well." A heavy sigh resounded on her left, and she angled her head to catch sight of Finn rounding the house. "That went well," he commented, hands shoved in his pockets.

"What were you doing?" She frowned.

"Eavesdropping?" He offered lamely.

She sniffed once and rolled her eyes. "I can smell the weed from here."

"And how can you tell?" He challenged with a mock narrowing of eyes.

She huffed, losing all energy to scold. Finn's lips sealed in a thin line, and he cocked his head to catch her attention.

"I'm not really good at reading emotions, but-" he shrugged- "it looks like you need a puff."

"Finley," she warned, dark eyes shooting him a glare.

"I won't tell." He put his arm in the air.

She shook her head, the muscles of her body still pulled tight and strained with tension. Her shoulders dropped defeatedly.

"I feel awful."

"Yeah..." He sighed, moving forward to stand before her.

She shifted her head to look at him. "Sorry, please say no if you're uncomfortable..."

"You need a hug?"

She nodded, and he opened his arms. She slid her hands around him and flopped her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm no different than my mother," she muttered, and Finn's shoulders shook as he chuckled.

"She seems like a lovely woman," he quipped sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, she's a nightmare."

"A nightmare by your standards? She's the devil, then." She rolled her eyes, her chest heaving a deep sigh. Finn awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck to reassure her. "It'll take a while. It's not easy breaking out of the core beliefs you've been taught. You should've seen me when I realized there's no God."

She cocked her head in confusion. "Viviane Dallas is religious?"

"You don't have to say her full name every time." He deadpanned. "And no, Aggie, our housemaid, raised me to believe in one. I used to go to church every Sunday and confess like a good little boy."

She snorted. "I can't imagine that."

He smiled. "You'll be fine."

She pulled back, giving his shoulder a squeeze, grateful for his reassurance.

"Thanks."

_________

Notes:

sooo i know that was a bit intense, and i have to warn you we're heading towards a darker side of the story so there will be politics (history mostly) and heavy topics i can't spoil!

i'm excited but scared too lol

let me know what you think! Also, not sure if you caught a small foreshadow in Joe's words... let me know!