a little moral support

who: kayos and doc
where: her building
when: late

He knew it wouldn't last, the way he felt okay with things right now. It never did, and that brought memories to the surface of Doc's mind. 'Impermanence is the way of all things, and in this, so is permanence' he'd been told once, decades earlier, by an old comrade who had fought with him and Kayos. In those days of warfare the words had held little meaning, they were the musings of a man whose ideologies only lined up with Doc's on one point; that they needed to fight. And in those days, that had been enough.

Leave it to the passage of decades for the words to finally sink in, and for Doc to really value them. How much time did he spend telling himself he was trying, or dreading the fact that things would change? Why not accept the change? Why not actively make it better? So he was bolstered by those feelings, by the talk with Jocelyn even if it hadn't gone amazingly, and he wanted to see his partner again. No flux in his life had shook him like her absence, and if she was here again? He refused to take it for granted. He'd gotten the address of the new space from Teddy, and after taking his time walking down, Doc pulled his phone as he moved up on the main door, dialing Kayos' number.

She happend to be inside, in the one sort of half okay portion of the place. It was still in need of a lot of work, but the crews she'd had in there had gone home for the day and so that left her to her own devices. She was still, all in all, having an absolutely terrible day. She was depressed, really, there was little other word to truly describe the emotions that were heaviest on her heart. When her phone rang, she leaned over to dig through her backpack and pull it out, glancing at the ID before she rolled her eyes at herself. And who the fuck do you actually expect will be calling that isn't Eric? she asked herself.

"Yo." she answered, meaning to sound more upbeat than she managed. She didn't do deplorably badly or anything, but it wasn't nearly so pleased as she would have liked.

"Gonna let me in?" Doc asked, as if she should be aware that he was right outside, "I brought you a housewarming present and all, but I may have to burn it for warmth here. It gets, I'm sure you're noticing, a little on the cold side up here." In her old life and this one, she'd definitely been more positive than the one-word greeting sounded, and that bothered Doc. He knew firsthand how difficult it could be to adjust to something like what Kayos had done to come here, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do something about it.

She pushed herself to her feet. "You know, I was wondering what was different. Now I understand, it's the frostbite creeping into all of my limbs. Silly me." she said. "Come around to the back, there's a door there." she added, walking towards where it was, so she could unlatch the heavy thing and start shoving it open. It squealed in protest, not especially liking being forced to move at all. "Come towards the screeching sound of doom."

"That sounds like one of my old plans," he joked as he walked, striking up a fresh smoke and moving around the building's edge. "They usually went like 'there's something horrifying, get it', didn't they?" He had a hunch that his methods of fighting wouldn't change much from world to world. His powers, the presence behind them, had been a thing shaped to fight. "In fact," Doc went on as he walked and caught sight of the door, "This might be the first time I hear horrible noises and don't see a walking nightmare attached to them."

"That or, 'That's a terrible plan, Bridget, let's do it!'" she said, then shut the phone as she looked out at him. She was already shivering, standing in the wind the open door was letting in. "Don't be too sure about that, I'm not looking my best today." she warned, which was true. She was a bit on the dirty side. She'd been working since she'd returned, and cleaning up the mess made her less than clean. Her hair was messily pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, and her clothes needed a good wash. So did her skin, a grey smudge decorating her cheek that matched a ton of others on her person. "Unless you're into the 'post apocalyptic dumpster diver' look."

He had to laugh at the sight of her, shaking his head and remembering times when she'd looked similar after working on projects with him. Even if it wasn't her? It was. "You're talking to a man who confuses exhaust and cologne, you realize," Doc pointed out, waving her back into the building and moving after her. "And if you get sick, I'm going to feel bad. you know my healing arts have always been terrible." He craned his neck to look around the interior of the building, lips pursed in thought as Doc tried to visualize what the end result might look like. "So this is home?"

She walked in further, happy when she was out of the wind and the door was shut again. "I won't get sick." she promised. "And yep. This is home." she said, looking around as well, though her eyes came to rest on him, to judge his reaction. "It needs a lot of work but eventually it'll be cool." she promised. "Figured there could be a little one room med lab down here. There's a spot I have picked out for it." Because yes, she planned to need it eventually.

Doc had long had a talent for seeing the potential of unfinished things. It was how he'd ended up with his car, the motorcycle he'd sold years ago to first finance his life with the twins, and much more. And with all the unused space and the easily fortified location? He approved, and it showed in his smile. "I like it," Doc told her, "Let me know if you need a hand wiring the place or anything. Somehow I do end up with little bits of free time here and there." Free time he had to spend carefully, he knew, but the offer was still there.

"Any time you want to come help me kick this bitch back into shape, go for it." she said. She'd be grateful for the help, but she was careful not to specify a time or place. She was leaving it in his court. That way, if problems arose later, it wasn't on her head. It wasn't going to come down to 'well, Kayos asked me'. And good god-fucking-damn did she hate the idea of having to step around shit like that with her own partner. She'd never had to before, even when he had had some kinda crazy women, and he'd had his share. Possibly more than his share. But that had been her Doc, her Eric. And this was but wasn't, and she wasn't going to step wrong again. Even if the first time had been just by existing in the same room as the guy without permission.

"Count on it," he told her without a moment's hesitation. It just had to be a juggling act, he could figure it out. There'd be time for the twins, for Kayos, for Jocelyn. He'd just have to hope that maybe Jocelyn and Kayos could have a better second meeting too. "So," Doc mused, moving to lean against a wall, "Renovating got you all worn out? Or is something up?" He was doing a small favor there; indirectly saying that he knew she was off-kilter but leaving leeway for her to push past it.

Sighing a little, Kayos leaned back against the nearest wall, and looked at him for a long moment. "Bad day, Eric." she said, giving him a weak sort of smile. "Really bad day, to be honest." she continued. "I don't wanna...bring you down or anything, sorry if I'm kinda..." she made a vague gesture, not at all surprised that he caught the fact that she wasn't exactly on the level here.

How familiar was this moment? The two of them leaning, talking from across the room. Doc guessed it was for different reasons where she was from, but the situation felt intimately familiar. "Kiddo, whatever differences there are between me and the man you knew? I know both of us have been down lower than talking is going to pull us. Besides which, remember what you told me? Doc's the man who doesn't get personal, and you just called me Eric. So... I'm Eric right now. Spill," he insisted with just a hint of an encouraging grin.

She laughed just a little, more an exhale with a faint trace of a smile, really. "True, on all counts. And you were always personal with me. Just...y'know, not in front of the crew most of the time." Sometimes, though. Just not often. "I ran into people today." she told him. "People I know I probably should have expected I'd see, or thought about seeing, or even fucking considered the possibility of, but I just...didn't. It wasn't in the list of shit I thought about when I agreed to do this, y'know? Make the jump?" She glanced away, then back to Doc. "And two people. I just...I saw them, and...in my time, they're flatlines. They died, and I just...saw them, and they don't know me." With that last bit, her expression flickered, showing true pain there, just for a second before she cleared it. "And I know that it shouldn't hurt this bad. And I know that they're different people here, and I just need to suck it the fuck up and move forward and everything, it's just...hard."

His little smile faded quickly as he listened to Kayos, feeling a stab of sympathy in his chest. Doc knew that pain pretty well, he could guess, though he had to wonder about the divergences in where they'd come from for a moment. His world died of order, hers of chaos. Now we're both here... Not only were they here, but so were her friends, the children who weren't hers, the people who Doc had known but in oh-so-subtly different ways here. It was hard. To a man who'd endured gruesome things, who'd buried almost everyone he cared about? It was one of the hardest things that had ever been.

Star? If you're going to stop me... well, stop me, Doc mused as he stepped from the wall and took a few slow steps towards Kayos. "Why shouldn't it hurt?" he asked quietly as he drew closer, "Bridget... you lived through the end. And not some bullshit movie apocalypse with cities falling, though I'm sure there was some of that. You... you had to watch the reasons to keep fighting keep getting smaller and smaller. Maybe you had to find new ones, maybe you couldn't, and that's why you came here." His voice was soft as Doc put his back to the same wall as Kayos, gradually sliding down to sit on the floor and patting the ground next to him.

She looked down, then did the same as he had, sliding down the wall. After a moment, she leaned over, and rested her head agianst his shoulder, feeling a little better for that. Letting herself feel better for it. "Everything was lost. It was just me and T left by the time Spider showed." she said. "Maybe I had to lose it all. Maybe I had to keep watching those lines die on me, one by one, to wind up here. Be worthy of it or something. Sometimes I can't help but wonder why he picked me." she added. "Why I was the choice, and not anyone else. I mean, we all know Spider's logic was suspect sometimes." she said with a weak attempt at humor, though it fell flat. "D was a medic. Ran a clinic that kept moving whenever it needed to, when wherever he was holed up got too run down. I used to do recon for him sometimes, scouting out new places, getting him supplies. He used to have this kind of...mothering tone with me. Like he'd give me that 'Kayos, you haven't slept in the past three days, have you? You go lie down now' look. Nice guy. Heart was in the right place, all that."

"If you didn't wonder why it was you," Doc mused, slipping an arm across her shoulders to let her lean more easily, "It wouldn't have been you. The people who decide they're the ones? They rarely are, I've found." He didn't need to watch her expression as they sat, just listening to the quiet anguish Kayos spoke with and feeling her words resonate through her, and even after she was done Doc was still silent for a long moment. "Logic or not, Spider realized something the rest of us never even got close to, I think. Even if we couldn't understand why he did what he did? Looking back, all I see are the right decisions from him, even when he vanished."

He needed a smoke before he could say more, and Doc took his time to dig one out with his free hand, lighting up and craning his neck to keep the smoke from settling on Kayos. "I watched the world die, Bridget. I swore I wouldn't tell the people here what I'd seen, but... hell, neither of us is from here. You're exempt, like always with me." A flicker of a smile around his cigarette before Doc went on, watching his smoke curl lazily towards the ceiling. "What you saw? I saw the opposite. Everything stopped, everything faded. The stars went out, and I wondered... what happened to everyone? Was it better than dying? No pain, sure, but you're thinking about what's for dinner, what you're doing tomorrow, that woman you're making plans with and... nothing. You're the only one who remembers your world, so am I." The slightest move of his head was enough to knock a curl of ash loose, dropping it into Doc's palm neatly. "I've seen people I knew here, I've seen the differences. I... I'm sorry you have to go through this."

She was silent for a few long, long moments, head tilted so she could look up at him. "...I should probably be more surprised than I am, shouldn't I." she said, not really a question. "I...everything stopped? Just...it was over? No pain and suffering, just done?" she asked. "I don't know if I can imagine that, not properly. Not with what I've seen." she said. "...so it's just us then? Us...people who don't belong here but maybe do sort of and..." she laughed, again without humor. "Aren't we just lucky sons of bitches." Not that she sounded like she thought they'd gotten a sweet deal. "Was I dead there too? The other world, the one that's gone?" she asked.

His eyes shut as he nodded slowly, the cigarette dangling from one corner of his mouth. "This world was parallel. Close to mine, eerily close at first. I... I landed here, and at first I felt the same. You were gone, the twins were here. Then? I started to remember a life I never had. Little things, mostly. People we'd worked with who never existed here, friends of mine here I never knew there. The sick fucking irony of it all?" Doc's head shook back and forth as he remembered what had brought him to this point. "We won, Bridget. The good guys won. We stopped the Enemy, we closed a gate to somewhere dark. Hell, I went toe to toe with an elder leech so old he supposedly saw Christ on the cross. We won, we stagnated, we died."

She frowned at that, watching him. That was...fucked up. That was chilling, actually. The idea that winning actually ended things. Internally, her mind railed against that idea. That what they were fighting for the whole time wound up being so awful. Wound up being the endgame all on it's own. It settled a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, an ill sort of itch that she wasn't sure was going to go away anytime soon. "I...don't even know what to say, Eric." she said honestly, because that really did put her at a loss. "I...were we wrong? Were we all wrong?" She heard her voice and hated just how much like a little girl she sounded there.

"We weren't wrong," Doc murmured, as much for his sake as it was an answer for her. "What we did, stopping anything that crossed the line? That was right. Ask the rest of the world if they'd rather be safe or let the monsters and the beings like us have a chance? You know what they'd pick. That wasn't what we were trying for, but it was what they got. I think, in the end, we would've had to die for things to keep going. All of us. We held back the nightmares, but eventually there were more of us than there were nightmares. And the new people? They didn't care about who crossed a line. They defended humanity from everything."

He finally plucked his cigarette away, grinding it out on the bare floor and giving Kayos a slight squeeze. "Before it ended, I changed, became War. I took up this mantle in the name of Balance, but I was too late to stop it there. So... I came here, and I made a promise. Even if it means people have to die, no one wins this time. No one wins, someone survives. That's all I can hope for now." He sighed out his last drag, turning to look more directly at her and give a sad sort of smile. "But I'm rambling, old age is a bitch like that. My point was that I know what you're going through, to some degree. I came here and things were different. The twins? Back there they were like us. Back there, Seph and I were making progress. Here they're something else entirely, and no matter how hard I try he just won't let me in."

She looked a little sad at that. "That's got to hurt." she said. "I'm sorry. I'm sure this doesn't help either. My whole random arrival." she said, watching his eyes. "I feel like I don't belong here." she admitted. "Like I don't fit. Like, I'd thought I would. I'd thought when I left, that it was going to be alright, and I could slide in wherever, and it'd be okay, I'd figure it out. But..." she shook her head slightly. "I don't...I don't know now. I feel like I really just...don't fit here." Which was a big part of why she'd gotten herself her own place, even if it was a wreck at the moment. It was a way of separating herself off from those people who she didn't belong with.

"Honestly? It does help," Doc corrected, "I believe in what I'm doing. I trust my people, even if they're new to this in a lot of ways. And... yeah, there's aspects to having you here I need to face up to, but losing you once cracked me Bridget. Having you here again? It feels right." He leaned in to kiss her temple gently, smiling more when he withdrew. "It's okay to be shook up, to doubt the choice to come here. I had the choice to remember or to just be the man I was here, and at first I wished I hadn't remembered. For a while, I hid from it all, all the differences. Buried myself in work, did a lot of world-hopping, some days I'd just fly up past the cloud line and chain smoke. And eventually? Well, the twins had to chew me out first, but once they did I realized that I'd been given a second chance. Given one, I don't know if I earned it or deserved it. And I walked into it with all of these expectations of how things ought to be. Really, all I should've hoped for was that the people that mattered would be there, and that whatever was missing could fill back in with time, if I wanted it badly enough. Now the people are here," he murmured with another squeeze, "And whatever's missing? I'll find it. You will too, if you stick with it."

She felt a little better with being told she helped. And with the implication that she was one of those important people who was there. She wanted to take the optimistic route--it was her usual way, after all. After the day she'd had, however, she was still a little shaken. "I think the problem I've got is...you, either with your knowledge of another place or not, got to come here with your whole life there. Those important people? They knew you, or at least, some of them did, like the twins." she said. "I don't have that. I've got you, and now apparently, I've got a world full of people that it aches to see and they look at me like I'm a stranger. Or worse, an intruder." Which was still stinging. "I mean...what am I going to say? 'Hey, please don't look at me like that, I remember snuggling with you beneath a burned out church in a town that was decimated, listening and hoping the perimeters hold'? That's not going to work."

Doc couldn't help smiling for just a moment just from the bit about snuggling, though he doubted it was an entirely pleasant memory. After all, she'd said everyone died. "Why not?" he asked thoughtfully, "I mean, my job literally involves showing up out of nowhere with personal details about people, and they listen. So... try the truth? Find the people who mattered to you, tell them that they trusted you once, give them whatever proof you can that you knew them. Or? Start from scratch, tell yourself you got there with them once and that you can do it again. Kiddo, you've got a smile that can chase off storm clouds and a heart big enough to fill the sky so they don't have room to come back. Whatever trip-ups you hit? I know you. I've known you for decades, and in three different worlds. You can find a way."

Kayos shook her head. "No." she said. "Not only is it insane sounding, but way to put pressure on a person." she said. "'Hey, I remember this great relationship we used to have in this dead world, which you have no memory of and you don't know me from anyone so why don't you ignore that so I can feel better'?" sighing, she quirked a half smile. "Not really my speed, and really really unfair to everyone else." She listened to what he had to say, though, about her, and everything. She looked down, liking that he said it, but she was having an unsure about herself and everything ever day so it was hard to think that it was the truth. She needed to find her footing, and it wasn't nearly so easy as she'd thought it would be. "I went back to the safehouse, because I forgot my bag there when I left the other morning." she said, figuring she should fill in the generalities with specifics. "I'd planned on just blipping in and out, and not going back. Only someone was there. And y'know, he growled at me, I pulled a gun on him and then I had to explain to him that I wasn't a demon. That was the first thing he had to say to me, really, just...that he knew my name, and was I a demon." Hey, lookit that, it was still needling at a hollow place in her chest. Awesome. "Jack---" she started then stopped. "Grayson and I were...we were close. Before. Where I was. He let me get away with things, I guess. Like when he was in wolf form, he'd let me pet him sometimes, and I'd go curl up with him when we were all sleeping in safehouses and stuff a lot. We'd joke around, he'd let me beat him at thumb wrestling." She felt tears stinging the backs of her eyes and let out a frustrated with herself little scoff. "Please tell me I'm not going to burst into girly bloody tears right now."

He heard everything in there, but what stuck with Doc was the bit about Grayson thinking she was a demon. Where the fuck would that have come from? Jocelyn? He knew she was close wth Grayson, and the possibility made his temper flare. Thankfully, there was no time to cater to it. Kayos needed support, that much was clear. "If you are? This coat's always been pretty absorbent," Doc said, keeping her close, "I'm sorry though, hon. I really am, I had to handle that sort of thing once and it twisted my head up bad. I wish I could say something useful, but all I've got? Don't give up. You didn't quit there, you went through everything you did to make it here, and even if it was just to find me? Well, you found them too. You have a second chance, and even if it's not the same as what you lost, that doesn't mean it can't be good." He smiled as softly as Doc ever managed to, shaking his head at her. "Like you told me, it's an off day. Hope for tomorrow."

She sniffled a little, and wiped at her eyes, which were tearing but she was determined not to become some stupid sobbing mess. She was leaning heavily on Doc though, and she gave herself that. It took her a minute to get herself to a place where she trusted herself to talk again. "I don't know. I don't know if I can do this. Just talking to the guy hurt, y'know? Especially with how it went. And I don't know where he got the demon thing and I asked but he kind of avoided the question, and...I don't know. I'm imagining if it had been you who'd said something you would have told him what I might be or whatever. So all I can really guess is that Jocelyn had a chat with him and that's getting tossed around. So that's--special." she said, landing on that word instead of going for what she really felt about it. She was still aware of the rather harsh lines that seemed to have been put forth by the woman and she didn't want to go crossing them. "I told him to tell all pertinent parties that I wouldn't be returning to the place. Then I left." she said. "...I was with him when he died, Eric."

He knew she would protest if he said he was going to find out about the demon comments. It was easy to see it as fighting Kayos' battles for her, though in his eyes it was far from that. There was only one way that Grayson would've ended up with that perspective, and Doc didn't like it one bit. Doc was glad that Kayos' lean hid his expression to some degree, a stern expression lining his face for a long moment. "I know it hurts," he murmured slowly, "And there's no short cut past that. But he's a good man here, the same, it seems, as the one you knew. The fact that he doesn't know you yet? Well, he doesn't know you yet. It's never too late to get things right." He smiled slowly, smoothing her hair with the hand that had been draped against Kayos. "That's why you came here, right? For things to be different in this world? Well... here's your chance, there's just more to work at than saving the world. Be here when he lives, Bridget. Help make sure that's all there is this time around."

She listened, and she knew she would. If anything happened to him she'd take it very badly, just like she had the first time. Possibly worse, because that would mean she'd failed twice. She just didn't know if she could handle trying to work a new relationship with the guy when she was working from a place of all these vivid memories, and he was just some guy who worked for Doc and didn't especially seem to like her. He'd kind of maybe let her off the hook at the end, but she didn't for a second really think it was that easy. "If he's the same man, then he was being defensive. And if he was being defensive, then he's probably feeling it for a reason. My guess would be he and Jocelyn are friends. And ya know, I think I've stepped on enough toes there, don't you?" she asked, glancing up. She wasn't trying to be defeatist, or deliberately contrary, she honestly wanted his opinion there.

"I think you got blindsided. And when you get hit with that much? Well, you're not entirely responsible for where your feet land. The Grayson you knew sounds like he learned about the stakes fast, because he had no other choice... the Grayson here? He's still learning, bit by bit." The strain Kayos was showing here worried him, and while he knew things with Joce had her worried? It seemed like it was more about the echo of that, and how it had stretched to remind her that she was a stranger here. "Jocelyn said... she wanted to talk to you. I don't know what she has to say, but I know she's looking to try and make amends. And as much as I want that to happen? I don't think it'll come easy."

"He does need to learn, especially if he just up and asks people if they're demons. That boy's got to be educated on things and fast, Eric." Kayos said, honestly meaning it too. "He's going to get himself hurt if he doesn't, and that's no good for anyone." Since Grayson was on his 'team' as it were. She thought. Or maybe she was jumping to conclusions, and she should stop that. At the news that Jocelyn wanted to talk to her, Kayos made a face and looked away. "....amends? For which part, her utterly unfair, hardcore freakout, her territorial pissing contest or automatically making me into a possible demon in the eyes of a potential co-worker?" she asked rhetorically. "I'm pretty sure serial killers get looked at in more friendly a manner than she had going for me. And at least they're subject to due process."

Rhetoric or not, all of those points were fair complaints. Jocelyn had admitted to Doc that she'd been overly jealous in the first meeting she and Kayos had. She was really the only one who could've seeded the idea of Kayos being demonic. "I don't know what she has to say," he murmured, "And until she says it to you? I won't know, period. Whatever she's got in mind, I can't influence it. I need to make sure that she's doing this on her own, for her own reasons. And in spite of everything else? I'm hopeful. But you..." He trailed off musingly, adjusting on the floor and producing another cigarette, though he left it unlit for the moment. "You need to call her on anything she doesn't bring up, anything you think is there beneath the surface. I think that if you do? Well, it won't take long before you know for certain how things are going to be."

"Hopeful...that makes one of us." Kayos said. She exhaled sharply, and looked at him. "I've been here before." she said. "You've had girlfriends who just don't...get it. And they're jealous, and there's tension, and they never quite get over it. And I make it worse, and most of the time, I can explain til I'm blue in the face that you're my partner, and that's it, that I'm not a threat in that capacity, and I might as well be talking to myself. Lex was like that." she said, then had to wonder if Lex was even around in this 'verse. God, was she? She'd liked Lex well enough, she'd just wished that things could be different, and they never wound up working. She believed she was inherently responsible for more than one of Doc's failed relationships, even if it had never been a direct result of anything she'd done. She just really hated how unfair it was, on everyone involved.

"Know what I think the problem is?" Doc asked, twisting to grin at Kayos for a moment as he toyed and fidgeted with his unlit smoke. "I trust you. I trust you implicitly, Bridget. I mean, I have a handful of secrets that are mine? But you know more of them than anyone else, and that bothers the women who want to be with me. In Jocelyn's case, I know it's been needling her. She's got a lot that she wants to know about me, and we're working towards it? But I think she'd want it to go faster." He sighed, giving Kayos a brief squeeze. "And I know it's not the same, that you and I have something different. We forgive each other, we make it so that the things that need doing can be done and lived with. And with her? I'm trying your advice; less Doc, more Eric. But I think she sees what we share? And she doesn't know the history, that we've stared into Hell together. She just sees a woman I trust more than her and can't understand that we've been through so much." He wondered how much less Jocelyn might trust Kayos if she knew about the transition between worlds.

"I dunno how she even could see what we share though. I mean...she hit Grr Mode within seconds. How much can she even really know? How much could she know when she did it in the first place? And if she's upset about not being told about me or whatever, how much about you does she really know? I get the impression she's kinda new to you and so...did you give her a full rundown of everyone who's ever been important or something? Was that required somehow?" She sighed. "I'm glad you're listening to my advice, though, I really hope it helps." she said honestly. Then she was quiet for a few long moments as she pondered. "I think you're the kind of guy who inspires people. And you kinda...pick up people who see this bright light, when they're living in a dark world, y'know? And they want it. I think you kind of draw in people who have a tendency towards the dependent. And dependent people get ruffled when they think their own security is compromised. I think you get girls who want to be like...the center of your world. The be all of everything." She said all of that while looking at a middle distance, then broke that and looked him in the eyes. "And that's just never going to happen. I think before I was kind of a convenient place to lay blame for it. Like no one wanted to be angry with you, so they slapped it down on me. I was the problem because I'm your partner and we had a relationship they couldn't kinda...outshine." she said, trying to choose her wording carefully there. Because she wasn't more important, or she didn't believe she was. It wasn't the kind of rating system that lended itself to the situation. It was more she wasn't less important. And while in people's lives, people come and go, she remained constant. There was an unshakable solidity to the two of them, and she knew that unsettled a lot of significant others.

"I think most women want to be the center of someone's world," Doc mused first, meeting Kayos' gaze evenly, "But I mean... that's just basic for most people, the urge to love and be loved." And again, he was strengthened by seeing how much they still shared, no matter how different their lives in their respective worlds had been. "But for you? For me? Well," he said, idly tapping his cigarette on his knee, "There's always been something more we have to do. Not necessarily bigger? But worth giving up the comforts for. I still regret having to do what I've done, I think I always will, but it needs to be done. I'd hope I was the same when you knew me, believing that there's things worth devoting yourself to. I've never been scared of the idea that this is it for me, that I wouldn't get a happy ending."

He leaned into Kayos with that, arm drawing her tight as Doc considered that the man she'd known? Definitely didn't get one. "Jocelyn's putting a lot of faith in the idea of us, and the hope that being with me can change darker parts of her life. Like you said, she's drawn to the light. And she needs to put that faith somewhere, because for however badly she handled things with you, she has promise. She can make a difference in this fight, but she needs to believe in herself to do it. And I know that it doesn't say good things about her, but I think when she saw you and I together? Maybe she didn't doubt me so much as she doubted herself. It's something to work towards, though, and I'm hoping she does. Aside from a few key things, I've told her I'll answer whatever she wants to know when I can. Maybe just knowing that open aspect is there will do some good."

"Well...yes, everyone wants to be loved. But that doesn't mean you have to be the sun in the sky, y'know? You can love someone and still not live and die by their say so. Or...that's what I think, anyways." She was quiet again as he spoke, and she milled over what he had to say. "Give her her time, give her her shot, do whatever it is you feel like you need to." she said. "I just don't quite know where I fit into things. Or if I should at all. I told J...Grayson that I was going to be a non-issue." she told him, so he'd know about that. "I don't want to crash the party, and I feel a whole lot like I have, and no one appreciates it. So..."

Doc's jaw tensed up when she said that, his head shaking the slightest bit to state his displeasure with the idea. "It's selfish of me, I know that? But you fit here," he murmured, "Right where you are with me. However much it bothers anyone else, fine, they can be bothered. You're family, Bridget, you're honestly the only person who gets why I am the way I am, because words can't explain it. I know how tough this is, I do, but... don't give up. You made the right choice when you came here." He leaned in to kiss the top of her head, staying there for a moment before leaning back and going on. "I won't force you to be a part of this, I'd never dream of it. Grayson and Jocelyn? They're my charges. I was sent to find them because they have parts to play that are tied to my own. You? Well, you found me, and I have no claim there. But I think that maybe if you came here for me, and I was sent to find Grayson? Maybe it's all got a point, and we just don't see it yet. All I know is that we get another chance. You and me, you and him, the kids, all of us. However much it hurts at first, it's worth taking."

She smiled a little, and looked up at him. "You know I love ya, old man." she told him. "I just--we both know how this works. You either trust people, or you don't. You're good with working with them or you aren't. And right now, I don't think either of them would be able to do so with me. Maybe I have to earn trust, I don't know. Maybe they need to earn mine. I'd say talk to people first. See what they say. See how they feel. You know if you ever need me I'm there. In a heartbeat, I'm there. You know where I'm at, how to reach me...I'm here, I'll always be there for you. And if these guys are your charges, then if they need to be bailed out by me, then I can do that too. Anything you need, you've got. But if they aren't cool then they aren't cool, and that'll just need to be something we deal with. Maybe it'll mean I set up my own shop here and just do my thing, and come in when you need me, and steer clear otherwise. Maybe it'll work out, like you seem to think it will. But I don't want to put anyone in danger, and you know working with someone you're not on board with'll do that faster than anything. I'm not going to be held responsible for harm coming to either one of them because they feel like they have to watch their backs from me, or even if they're just more on edge because of my presence. Wouldn't be right. I'm here because I wanted to help. Because Spider gave me a choice, and I took it, and so I'm not going to blow that straight out the gate by forcing my way in on things. And I'm not letting you pull rank on it either. Not unless it's an emergency."

"Well, you just be ready to draw the lines as they're needed," Doc told her, smiling both from being called 'old man' and from her comment about pulling rank, "Any time it feels like too much, or like you might be stepping on toes? Say so, I'll respect your call." He was hoping again, but not for the outcome of Kayos' actions. It was more of a hopeful musing about both Grayson and Jocelyn and how he wanted their perspectives to change, to make room for this newest facet of things. "And it's not me forcing anything? But Jocelyn does want to talk to you again. When you feel ready, I'll let her know how to reach you or you can just find her. Teddy set up the phones she and Grayson have, so the option's there any time you want to use it. And until you do, just keep doing what you've been doing. Settle in, get to know the town. It's a decent place when it's not trying to devour itself."

"I've been here before. Or...not here-here, there-here. So things aren't too wacked out. Though I don't remember some weird bar called Babylon. Did meet an interesting guy who can roll with a conversation there, though. So that's a good thing. But....yeah, I don't know. I just kind of..." she made a face. "I don't really feel like sitting through a 'well sorry I was short with you but he IS mine you know' talk. Or whatever else. Maybe it won't be like that. Guess we'll see, but let's just say I'm not confident." she admitted. "But still. You know I'm there. No matter how things go down, I'll be there the second you need me to be."

His lips pursed when she brought up Babylon, and Doc had to take a moment to weigh what was and wasn't worth bringing up in the moment. There was plenty he knew Kayos ought to know about, but not tonight. Not with her mood the way it seemed. "Babylon's an anomaly," he murmured, "The lady who runs it is too. Interesting place, seems like it might be good for intel too." Then he had to frown, catching up with what she said and what it might mean. "You were here before? How long before? When things started to unravel?"

"Not overly long. Passed through a few times, stayed a few for a while, but nothing permanent." Kayos told him. "And kind of back and forth before and after." she said. "It's kind of just a weird spot. So, I'm assuming that's why you're based here. Maybe we should have been there. Who knows." she said with a shrug. She wasn't going to start pretending to know how the universe worked. She'd fail miserably on that score.

"It is," Doc agreed with a nod, "Of course, it wasn't when we moved here. Seemed like a quiet spot, you know? A drop in the bucket compared to Chicago or New York, safe, calm... I'd really like to be right on these assumptions some day." He chuckled dryly, leaning away enough to keep Kayos away from the smoke as Doc finally lit up. "There's old power at the root of this place, Bridget. I still don't understand it, but whatever it is? It's... waking up, maybe. Exerting itself, drawing others in. Acherus vampires, werewolves of the cursed variety, other things."

"Does seem like this place draws in the strangeness." Kayos said with a light sigh. "But it's good to know, I guess. I'll keep it in mind. Keep my eyes open, pay attention." She'd have to. But really that was just what she did anyhow so it wasn't a rough order or anything. "You know I'll let you know if anything happens. If I notice anything."

He nodded in confirmation, knowing she was as good as her word there. Few people worked intel quite like Kayos, both due to her own skills and to the ferreting of Teddybear. "Keep as close of a watch on the spiritual side as you can," Doc clarified, "You know I've always been damned useless for that sort of thing." Sitting forward, Doc squinted at the space around them critically. "You feel like doing any more work tonight? I'll treat for pizza and a beer or three..." he offered, grinning like it was supposed to be a tempting offer.

"Will do." she said, then made a show of contemplating his offer. "Hmm. Well, ya know, if you're going to make an offer that good, how can I possibly resist?" she asked. "You're on. Just don't break a hip or something." she teased, grinning at him impishly. "I'm so not carrying you anywhere."

"Kiddo, unless you're an elder leech or a pissed-off ex, I've got no fears," Doc teased back, winking and rising without his usual feigned groan of stiffness. In all honesty, he was still feeling good. Despite knowing that he'd have to talk with Grayson about everything? He was okay, calm, level. "Plus? You'd best have been working out if you think you're going to haul me around," he went on, offering a hand down to Kayos. "Until we hit that point? Hand me some tools and tell me what you like on your pie."

She took his hand and hopped up with the help, smiling. It was back to sunshine, at least for the time being. "Hawaiian!" she told him. "And tools are kinda...everywhereish." she added, laughing a slight bit as she looked around. "So, have at whatever you see that strikes your fancy, there's plenty of work to go around." Which there was. But it'd go faster with help. She might have the place whipped into shape sooner than expected. Then maybe they'd have a proper base of operations. Or, she would, she guessed. Probably not 'them'. But she wasn't dwelling on that just now.

That made two of them. Doc wanted the best of both worlds, sure. He wanted peace between his crew and his partner, a unified front for them all to work from. Maybe it wouldn't happen, they both knew that was possible. But until it became clear that that was the case? Why dwell on it? "Let's start with plumbing," Doc mused, bending over to claim a nearby wrench and flipping his phone open, "If you've gotta stare at an asscrack while someone's working in here? Might as well be someone with a tattoo on it," he teased, winking at her before rattling off a pizza order.

She laughed. "Just what I always wanted in my life. Old man ass tats." she said, with overblown joy. "I'm so lucky!" She feigned a swoon, then pointed towards some bare pipes in a wall that wasn't quite still a wall. "Have at it. I'll take direction and move things and try to remember what wrenches are which." she suggested. "Maybe we can fix the plumbing enough so I can shower later!" which she made sound like an exciting prospect. And it was, kind of.

Adding a six-pack to his delivery order and silently thanking whoever invented beer delivery, Doc hung up and smirked Kayos' way. "Sounds like the bar's set pretty high for me here," he mused, ambling towards the pipes she'd pointed out. One looked like a main junction, it'd definitely be a good spot to start. "Don't know if I ever did before? But here's hoping I don't disappoint."

Kayos walked over and reached out to muss his hair. "You never disappoint." she told him. It was genuine, affectionate, and warm all at once. "You know I'll give you holy hell if you ever do." she added on the end with a wink, before she started to settle into actual work-mode. Which was looking a whole lot better now that she had help, and it would just be nice to do something like this with Eric again. She was going to appreciate it, even if she'd never gotten into the habit of taking him for granted in the first place. Maybe it was simple, but it meant a lot to her.