I would break the laws of gravity

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and OPEN (log is for all, some closed starters in comments)
Where: Checkerboard Hills
When: August 9th, just past midnight
Rating: PG+
Summary: Man returns to Wonderland after two months at home under heavy stress. Man throws toddler-level tantrum in public space. As adults are wont to do.
The Story:

[Apparently, the stories are true. When one leaves Wonderland, one is thrust back home without memory. There's nothing to prevent the mistakes he should know to avoid, no way to apply the emotional developments he's earned. It's just the harsh progression of time, doing what time wishes. And there's no way to stop it from bringing them back before they're ready to come back.

When Fitz arrives, it's facedown into a patch of eternally-manicured grass. The memories hit all at once, but they're not memories he wants. He doesn't need to know about a ridiculous fantasy dimension holding people hostage. He was kind of in the middle of something a little life-or-death...!

It's too much to hold, and far more than he can process. Instead of wandering back to the mansion and settling back into his personal space, he stays where he is, pulling himself up to his hands and knees and tearing at the grass in open distress, shouting out at nothing and everything all at once.]

Not now! There's no time for this!

[Some people hit pillows. Right now, he's technically landscaping. And he's definitely not tearing up. That's probably all the dirt he's dislodging.]

Comments

totally fine

[poppycock]

[ there would be no more left to say, in another world. in this one, there is that same grave and dark accord; that is a man who deserves a cruel end and would have it. more than that, jemma requires the safety it would ensure.

but — ]

You realize if he is here, killing him will do no good. I could present him to you, innards at al., and he will live to see another day. And another, and another.

Doesn't everyone fantasize about the blood of their enemies?

[hypoxic]

[It's more thought than he'd like to give any of this. The more he considers consequences, the more his nerve evaporates from beneath him.]

Can we compel him then? Wipe him clean, force him to start over?

We have a similar process at home. It would have created a new life for him. He was to be submitted to it but escaped before anything could be done.

here yes

[poppycock]

[ that is the solution that klaus is considering, though leopold's version is a bit merciful for his tastes. he reads the missive, knows if he does find grant ward, he won't be so forgiving. in less than a minute he is deep in the woods at his prey's abandoned abode, and has decided somewhat grudgingly leo would deserve a say in the matter.

if only because it's his matter and he would know, in the end. ]

Personally, it's a bit merciful for my taste, though I believe you're on the right track.

[ he pockets his phone and doesn't answer for some time, spending it instead combing the area. ]

it's cathartic

[hypoxic]

We can't be better than them if we do what they would have done.

Even if it sounds appealing at first.

[Even if it might be the only way to make this nightmare end.]

[poppycock]

[ there's nothing but a fading scent now gone, but that doesn't deter klaus from a continuation of his thoroughness. he searches high and low and works his way back to the tree line, intent of giving the rest of the grounds and then, eventually the mansion a go.

it's there he pulls out his phone again and pauses at the rationale, so good and well-intentioned and true it quiets him. it doesn't always matter, to him. on the contrary, even when it does, he often would rather be the villain and take what is his.

but he won't begrudge his friend his soul.

(perhaps he'd like to live up to leopold's. to his daughter's.)

he types back, ] Whatever you require.

[ and then adds, because he has not forgotten the original message: ] I'll expect an explanation of what you've done, by the way.

[hypoxic]

[Klaus is indeed thorough, and it's given Fitz time to lose some of his initial adrenaline rush. He's been in contact with Daisy and left messages with a few of his scientist friends. He's started to process what's actually been happening instead of just reacting to events. It's for that reason that his reply might be a bit uncharacteristically poetic.]

I made a deal with the devil to save someone important.

I might have condemned my entire world in the process.

[Is this usual Fitzian hyperbole? He's not entirely sure.]

[poppycock]

[ rare, yes. uncharacteristic? klaus wouldn't say so. he knows what it means when his scientist veers from certain facts and figures into morose, idling hyperbole.

though for the record, he's not counting it being literal out. ] I wouldn't give the devil half so bad a name.

[ considering lucifer, that is.

he knows what leo is capable of. he knows who he is capable of it for. ]

I take it you've found a way to bring Jemma home.

[hypoxic]

Weeks ago. [Wormholes aren't even a Thing anymore. nbd.]

It attracted some attention. As it happens, certain people have been trying to retrieve a monster from that planet for centuries.

Hence the services I've been providing.

[poppycock]

[ klaus stops in his tracks. the mellow light from the mansion is close enough to wash over him. he stops under the foreign stars in the sky reading the answer, the one he suspected from the start of considering leo had found a way to bring jemma home.

he reads the rest of the message. he knows it matters, that it should: both the danger his friend is in and the harm that might result from it.

but he knows what is important to him. ]

Would you be able to replicate it here?

[ would leopold want to? has his past experiences and this one now truly crippled his resolve? disrupted his determination and redefined his moralities, even knowing now how close it is in reach?

(and if the answer is no, how can klaus be able to swallow it?) ]

[hypoxic]

Not in the same way. [That's not to say that he can't do it at all, mind...]

We found artifacts designed to facilitate transport between my world and that one. HYDRA's been sending sacrifices to the monster for centuries. The path was considered a one-way street until we learned more about it.

Wonderland hasn't even left us a dirt path. I'm sure it's possible, but it'll take a breakthrough.

[poppycock]

[ he reads the first few sentences, lets the enormity of the expected answer settle: it is no; there is no easy in these calculations, in this war. he needs a moment in the quiet to buffer and brace himself. they are still at the same place they started. (he is just as far from his daughter and his loved ones' safety, even struggling as he is, as he was in the beginning.)

he walks forward, towards the mansion lights, stifling the grief and anger. molding it into something useful even as portions of it frays.

he lifts his phone and finishes reading.

it's not impossible, but not necessarily probable either. he considers offering comfort to the obvious distress his friend is feeling, but he does not have the words. for now, all he has is the wherewithall to commiserate in silence. ]

Remind me the next time your sworn enemies enter Wonderland that we take something of theirs to make this easier.

[ a witch and a spell are so much easier. ]

[hypoxic]

[Klaus has done so much for him. Even as wrapped up as Fitz has become in affairs from home, he isn't blind to the sacrifices that were made in response to his kneejerk requests. He's been a disruptive element in Klaus' life. He takes, but how often does he give? ]

I'm sorry for sending you out in the middle of the night.
Wasn't thinking.

You'll let me know about any surprises from yours as well?

[poppycock]

[ he would give in a heartbeat. this klaus knows. this he's witnessed. he's witnessing it now, not only in fitz's offer but in his continued willingness to help —

to find a way home. to create stratagems against their mirrors.

to be his confidante, his partner, his friend. ]

You were thinking with your heart, and your head. [ there's a reason he got up to do what leo asked, and not only because of friendship. because he understands. he understands the paranoia and the anger, needing action to facilitate a grasp on the situation.

leo would not settle without it, and he — well there's a reason why his paranoia has served him. it's often right. leopold's could easily be as well. grant ward is by all accounts a viper. he is dangerous and deadly and would hide, if given the chance.

he blinks at fitz's offer to help him. klaus thinks if marcel or lucien or any one in the long line of klaus' enemies were to knock on his door, he wouldn't involve leopold unless absolutely necessary. he wouldn't want to invite him into harm's way. better his enemies know nothing about him so he cannot be harmed and used against him.

he will not lie. ]

If necessary, I would.

[hypoxic]

I've been told that thinking with my heart's the source of some trouble. It's routinely counterproductive from logic.

[Klaus' reassurance and understanding is a relief for Fitz, and he'll sink a bit lower in his chair as he texts.]

I'd appreciate it if you would. I understand that things can be tense among yours. I'd like to do what I can to keep everyone safe. There's been too much bloodshed on all sides.

[poppycock]

Perhaps. But it is what drives you, what gives you power, and that can't be ignored. [ klaus out of anyone knows what it is to be told that softer feelings are to be belittled. he has championed such rationale; he knows where it comes from. he knows too that tender or violent, the heart cannot be contained.

and his friend truly is a miraculous mix of good intentions and ruthless impulse. klaus presses his lips together. thankfully: ] There's nothing to report now. All prior complications have been dealt with. [ caroline is no longer an issue, is what he means. ironically, he's avoiding the intimacy of her name, of his feelings, of those very real complications of the heart. ]