Modern Gunderkeen AU

Her Past is Reviled

Halfborn's POV:
We had searched nearly every bar and club in town. It was almost morning and Mallory had not contacted me again.
TJ and I had split up a bit ago in order to search faster.
I was exhausted and overwhelmed with worry and I assumed TJ was in a similar state.
Another bar appeared on the street and I walked in. Scanning the room carefully, there were still quite a few drunk dancers considering it was nearly sunrise.
A few tears of frustration slipped out of my eyes. I was about to go when a figure in a dark corner caught my attention.
As I focused and walked closer I saw it was Mallory.
"Mallory Keen!" I cry, pushing the crowd out of my way.
I crouched down in front of her, her head in her knees.
"Mack?" I ask, pressing a hand to her forehead, she didn't seem to be running a fever.
"I told you! I don't want any more fizzy!" She screamed at me, lifting her head up as she did so.
"Ha! Fizzy, fuzzy. Bubbly!" She laughed as more tears leaked through her beautiful green eyes, speckled with orange.
"Keen? What happened?" I asked, placing my hands on her shoulders. She began shaking at my words.
"I don't deserve your concern!" She sobbed.
"What are you talking about Keen. You've got to be sick, let's go home." I try to sit her up.
"No! I did it! I did it! I did it!" She buried her head again, sobbing that she did it, what ever it was.
"What did you do?" I ask, as I text TJ that I found her and would meet him back at the Valhalla.
       Returning my attention back to Mallory Keen, she was still sobbing. I had never seen Mallory like this. Now I am beginning to think the bags under her eyes went deeper then not enough sleep.
        "Let's get you out of here, Keen." I say, helping her to her feet.
       She didn't walk straight and had to lean into my side. Not that I was complaining about her closeness, she did smell like alcohol however, that was unpleasant. She sniffled and tried to wiped her nose, only to miss and wiped her chin.
        We walked into Valhalla where TJ was waiting at the front doors for us.
"Mallory!" TJ called, rushing up to her and giving her a hug. Mal quickly pushed away, tears leaking from her eyes again.
"Let's get inside." I say, Mallory stumbling against me.
Mallory hands me her key but, not before trying to give me a stick of gum; her knife; and her phone.
I sat with her on the couch as TJ gets her a cup of water.
"Mallory, do you want to tell us what this is about?" TJ asks
We watch as she takes her time sipping her water.
      "B-back in Ireland I got i-involved with a bad group." Mack let out a dry laugh. "Bad is not the word, they did drugs, dropped out of school at like, 13. They had access to dangerous weapons and people." Tears came from her eyes again.
       "I was a dumb kid, at about 17, I started hanging out with them. I finished high school. But any time not spent in school was spent doing drugs and hurting people."
"I was angry, at everything, my dad for ignoring me, my mom for not existing. I was mad at the world and everyone in it."
        "The leader, some Swedish guy, Loki, was his name. He had a sliver tongue and wrapped me around his finger."
     My fists tighten when I heard this.
       "His girlfriend, was very quiet, would do anything for him. He slept around though, I never got in bed with him." She shuddered.
      "A few days before I-I did it. Two of our guys were shot and killed by police. They deserved it, they killed and tutored and raped people our gang."
        "Loki was angry, no." She shook her head violently at her own words. "He was completely pissed off. I wanted to prove myself, I came up with the plan. I-I set the b-bo-."
       "The bomb! I set it on a bus that was supposed to carry soldiers. Loki told me! It was supposed to carry soldiers!"
        "But no, it had children! School children! Going on a field trip! When I found out. I wanted to tear Loki and myself to shreds!"
        "I went to go defuse the b-bomb. It was too late, every child and person on that block died! I killed them! I killed 115 people! 56 children! 6 teachers! One bus driver! And 52 pedestrians!"
        TJ and I stared at her, Mallory, our feisty friend,  Mallory Keen, had murdered over a hundred people.
          "I was about to kill myself. I wanted to take my punishment. Then some hag in white came up I me. She handed me this knife," Mallory tugged out her knife. "And a plane ticket to Boston. She told me my life wasn't over yet. That I had other things to do in this life. She told me to start fresh."
         I looked at the knife, it had Celtic symbols on the blade and a worn leather handle, it was worth thousands.
"My dad got drunk, stopped caring for me when I was in like, middle school? I think. There wasn't much left for me in Ireland, so I gathered my stuff and came here." She sunk down again. As if her words had physically drained her, which they probably had.
We were all silent for a good ten minutes as we processed this. This didn't change much, I decide. I don't care, I really lo-like Mallory Keen. She was still smart, beau- I mean, fiery, stubborn, and other positive things.
       TJ gave her a hug and Mallory actually allowed it. I placed a hand on her back and sat there uncomfortably as she cried into TJ's shoulder.
         Suddenly she snapped up and stumbled to the bathroom. I knew were this was going, I quickly followed her.
She threw up her night's worth of drinks into the toilet. I held her fiery locks back. TJ stroked her back soothingly as she continued to throw up.
"I'm never over drinking again." She muttered. "No more fizzy, bubbly."
She threw up for a few more minutes, until she was finally empty. Mallory slumped down, I laid her down in her bed with a glass of water.
"Go get some sleep Jefferson, I'll check on her throughout the night." I say, TJ didn't need to be asked twice.
When he was gone I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep in Mallory Keen's room.