A Coalition Story

Two Solid Knocks

Torin had never been one to avoid conflict. He chose to face his problems head-on, which may have been why he and Excalibur Cole were so well known for their screaming matches in the dining hall. He was not passive-aggressive, nor did he tolerate passive-aggressiveness in others. Yet the past several weeks, it seemed that his entire friend group–his family–had run out of steam for conflict and opted to avoid each other at all costs. Sure, it made sense for him and Excalibur to avoid one another. They had their fight (in-person and rather loudly), and it had ended with promises to stay out of each other's lives. But Ravyn and Atticus? Ravyn and Alice? And now Ravyn and Excalibur? Yes, they may have had their fights (Ravyn and Atticus and Ravyn and Excalibur had, at least), but Torin couldn't tolerate them avoiding each other.

Torin left Ravyn's room rather disappointed in her refusal to fess up what Excalibur had done to her. She seemed adamant to remain passive in this whole ordeal. She had given up fighting for her relationships with anyone. She'd given up on Alice, on Atticus, on Excalibur, and now it seemed on Torin. Torin knew he couldn't fix her relationship with Excalibur, not without trying to talk to the man in question. But Torin couldn't talk to Excalibur, so that was simply out of the question.

He also couldn't fix her relationship with Alice. He already knew that Alice wanted to mend things with the older girl, but Ravyn wasn't going to budge on the subject as long as Alice was with that twit Lev. Unfortunately, short of killing the bastard, Torin didn't think he would be able to separate the new couple.

So that left Atticus. Stupid, obnoxious Atticus. Torin didn't have anything against the spy. In fact, he quite admired Atticus' work and skill set. He appreciated that Atticus always seemed to have a way to make Ravyn smile, usually with an obscure quote. He approved of the protective nature Atticus had over both his little sister and his best friend. All in all, Torin liked Atticus quite a bit. He just thought Atticus was a bit stupid when it came to Ravyn. It was, at least, an endearing kind of stupid. Which was why Torin was going to (try to) fix their relationship.

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Knock. Knock.

Atticus glanced up from the case file he was reading through. Two solid knocks. Short and succinct. Alice always knocked to a melody, usually something classical, until Atticus threw open the door. Ravyn typically knocked three times on an average day, or incessantly at a fast pace when she was excited. Excalibur had only knocked on Atticus' door once, looking for Ravyn, and that was with three, very hard banging like knocks (he actually probably kicked the door with his boot, now that Atticus thought about it). Two solid knocks. Atticus hadn't encountered this before.

Sliding the file into his desk drawer, Atticus cautiously approached the door. The bright side of dorm rooms, unlike his bedroom at home, was that the doors contained peepholes. But looking through the small circle did nothing to calm Atticus' nerves.

"Torin," he greeted skeptically upon opening the door.

"C'mon, Blackbourne," Torin motioned the boy forward, not even bothering with a greeting or an explanation as he started to walk back down the hall. "We're going for a drink. I want to chat with you."

Atticus didn't dare question the assassin as he scrambled to slide on his shoes and run after him.

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Their walk to the pub was silent. Atticus had decidedly labeled the establishment as a 'pub' given the Irish flags, selection of beers and whiskeys, and the gruffness of the other customers.

They stayed silent as Torin nodded at the bartender as a way of greeting and simply held up two fingers. Torin must have been a regular, for the bartender didn't need any clarification before grabbing two glasses and filling them with whiskey. The boys each took a sip of their drink before Torin broke the silence.

"The two of you are idiots."

"I presume you're referring to Ravyn?" Atticus asked unnecessarily. He knew exactly who Torin was talking about. He had the same conversation with Alice just a few nights ago.

"I understand you being protective of her. I understand wanting to keep her away from Lev. I understand choosing your sister over her, even though Alice is with the same guy you tried to keep Ravyn from," Torin started slowly, thinking of the emotions and choices Atticus had made about his sister and his best friend. Torin thought of what he would have been feeling, and what he would have done, had it been one of his own sisters in Alice's shoes.

"I understand all of that," he assured, meeting Atticus' eyes. "But I don't understand you giving up on her."

Atticus broke from Torin's gaze. The intensity of his stare was too much for him to handle. Not with the lack of sleep, lack of pills, and screaming thoughts in his mind. He watched the amber liquid in his glass as he slowly swirled it. He took a swig.

"She's a lost cause," Atticus finally admitted after a long stretch of silence. His voice cracked and wavered, too full of emotion but not enough belief in the words.

"She chose... an asshole over Alice and me," he continued, voice still too gruff. "Forget that I am... was completely and totally in love with her for a moment. She was my best friend. She was family to us. The only... the only piece of a good family that Alice and I had."

Atticus wasn't even sure why he was telling Torin this. It was none of his business really. They weren't that close. Honestly, Torin scared the hell out of Atticus. But he was important to Ravyn and Atticus had always found the assassin intriguing, so he always tried to get along with the older, quiet man. But that didn't explain why Atticus felt compelled to hold such a serious conversation with him.

Maybe it was the look Torin was giving him. The intense gaze that seemed to pull the words out of his mouth. He could feel it on him, impossible to ignore even though he was looking anywhere but at it. Truthfully, if not for the whole assassin thing, Atticus would have thought Torin would make a great spy just because of that look.

"She chose him," Atticus whispered, downing the rest of his drink and immediately motioning to the bartender for another. He finally met Torin's eyes.

"She's a lost cause," he reiterated, this time with more assertiveness as if he was trying to convince both Torin and himself. "And I'm tired of chasing after someone who doesn't want or care about me or my sister."

Torin stayed silent for a moment, weighing Atticus' words in his mind. He could feel Atticus' pain. He knew Ravyn could be difficult. He knew that this whole situation was... distressing. He could sympathize. But he didn't agree.

"She's not a lost cause, Atticus," he countered softly, his voice not matching the rough exterior of a heartless assassin he so often portrayed to those he wasn't close to. The exterior that Atticus had been used to.

"You may have given up on her, and I understand why. But you shouldn't. She's not a lost cause, she's just lost. She's losing everyone she cares about, and yes, that's at least partially because she's pushing us all away. But she's pushing us away because she's given up on herself," Torin stressed, trying to get Atticus to see his point.

"I can't give up on her. Not even now, when she's pushed me away and given up on herself. She needs me. She needs you. She needs her family put back together, and I know it's not going to happen overnight. There are lots of wounds to be healed."

Torin stood. The assassin pulled a few twenties from his pocket, leaving them on the bar. It was enough to pay their current tab plus a few more drinks Atticus guessed. But it appeared that Torin was done for the night as he gripped Atticus' shoulder and met his eyes one more time.

"Don't give up on her yet, mate," he pleaded gently. "Just wait out the storm and... be there for her."

Atticus watched as Torin walked out of the pub, the assassin's words still ringing through his head.

Don't give up on her.