Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

After a the hectic pace of the last few weeks, Isabel was grateful for some downtime, even if it meant she had too much time to think about fun with the kids and saying goodbye.

But things were slowly returning to normal. She'd covered library, had breakfast with Cedric, spent time with friends, and fulfilled StuCo responsibilities. Looking at the two packages sitting on her desk, Isabel realized that some things had slipped through the cracks. She made two phone calls then settled down to do some studying.

Comments

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker stopped by after talking to Anders, and greeted Isabel with "Well, Daisy's insane again. Also, hi."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Ya think?" Isabel snickered.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Quit laughing," Parker protested, flopping back on Isabel's bed. "He and Bel and Phoebe are now officially an item. Like that has a chance in Hell of ending well."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I figured as much when one of their kids turned up in my room on Sunday talking about one of the moms being Anders," Isabel explained. "It won't end well. Because they're leaving. But I'd rather see it end because they left then for any other reason. Does that make sense?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"As a choice between him winding up a demon sacrifice or turned into a lamp, yes." Parker sighed, staring at the ceiling. "And he's wanted Bel too long to listen to sense. And he and Phoebe are a package deal, and Anders likes her a lot too... So, yeah." She made a face at the ceiling. "If they manage to do anything as stupid as getting him *more* messed up before Graduation, all bets are off, though."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"There's not all that much time left," she pointed out. "So my fingers are crossed."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Mmmm." Parker sounded unconvinced, but sat up, looking around for Annie to play with. "Anyway. Something else I came by to talk about, aside from the weirdness of our children. Because that topic is practically inexhaustible."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Annie chose that moment to come wandering out from under the bed. "I loved the weirdness of our children. I miss them."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker gave Isabel a sardonic look as she scooped up her cat. "You only had two. You can afford to." She settled into pet Annie's head, and scratch behind her ears, the kitten purring away. "Although some of mine were very adorable. Michael was Satanic, though. I swear he was." Parker shook her head, and then said, "Anyway, it was about the tattoo I saw on your shoulder, on Prom night. When did you get that?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel went very still. "You saw that?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Towards the end of the night," Parker said slowly, not having expected this reaction. "While you were dancing. The make-up came off. I didn't think much of it, I just wondered... Isabel?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's an unwanted souvenier from Antar. From Kivar," she said quietly. "I told you, I gave up."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Every once in a while since she came back, Isabel would get like this, like you'd just tripped over a wire in the dark; and there was nothing for it to go forward in spite of it. "You did say that." Parker studied her, then held out the mewing kitten. "How does the tattoo come into it?" Although, she could begin to guess, and her stomach was already churning.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel looked down, trying hard to keep the emotions locked up. "Kivar wanted his queen and he was too impatient to wait for the formal ceremony. I suppose technically, I'm married."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker set her jaw for a moment, then carefully said, "Marriage requires non-coerced consent. Not six weeks in a mental funhouse prior to asking." She stroked a finger down Annie's nose. "So you're not married on any planet that understands the concept."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Or even if I am you'll get me the best divorce lawyer ever?" she asked with a very weak laugh.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Got that right," Parker said with a grim smile. "Or an intergalactic tribunal to hang the sonuvabitch." She took a breath, managed to keep her voice level. "It's faded, though. Is it not permanent ink, or something?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It was permanent. He laced it with traces of the one material we can't manipulate," Isabel explained as her hand unconsciously rubbed at her shoulder. "The Captain saw it when I was in Cardiff. He gave me a piece of alien tech that could get rid of it over time. Jack's been helping me. It should be completely gone soon."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker ground her teeth a little, then said, "And an extra settlement for cosmetic enhancements, and hell, let's see if we can't get 'asshole' tattoo'd to his forehead while we're at it." She smirked. "Not that it wouldn't be obvious looking at him." She sighed. "I'm glad Captain Jack could help you out. God, you got lucky coming through rift."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She sighed, "The scary thing is? If you saw him in a club? You'd probably think he was good looking. He's been playing with the DNA so he looks mostly human."

Isabel tipped her head back and closed her eyes. "I did. Sometimes I think about what could have happened, if I hadn't come back. I'd still be there. Miserable."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker reached out, and patted Isabel's leg, not unlike Annie, trying to comfort her. "But you're not." She didn't mention Isabel not going back again. That was something to address in August, hopefully. To Max. With extreme prejudice. "And as for Kivar, well. I've known a lot of good-looking bastards in my time. We'll just put him on the list to be terminated at first sight."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"No, I'm not," she admitted. "There at least. The miserable comes and goes. But lately it's mostly been gone. So that's good. It makes things easier. And I'd rather be happy right now. Enjoy the time we've got left you know?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Parker said quietly. "For all of the time we've got left."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure I'm going to handle good-byes well," Isabel said sadly. "Especially after meeting Alexandria."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"It does make it harder. Thinking about what won't happen, now." Parker made a face. "But! You are going to visit me in England. And I'm probably going to be here for 4th of July. An in between there's going to be a lot of phoning and e-mailng, and--" Jack would be too far away for either. God, what a depressing thought. "We'll figure it out."