2019-07-29 - Welcome Home, It's Still Fucked!

Penny didn't want to go home. It had been that evident given she'd been released from the hospital, but she never got here. She pulls up in front of the house and stares straigh ahead for the moment, "You can do this. Just a quick trip in." she tells herself. Then she reaches for the care door to get out. She rounds the side of the car and is heading for the steps up to the house with a look of grim determination.

As it happens, Alexander was just making his way to the Faust residence, perhaps hoping to catch whoever might be at home. He's dressed like an Alexander, all ratty t-shirt and ancient jeans, but one of his legs is bandage, and he's limping slightly as he makes his way through the summer heat, which has also raised a thin sheen of sweat on his skin. Seeing Penny, he raises a hand and calls out, "Dr. Faust." He moves more quickly to catch up to her.

Penny stops still as a statue when she hears her name called, but she sees that it's Alexander and she gives a tired and sad smile, "Alexander." she whispers. Those stitches were doing great for her look. "I'm just grabbing some things. Lucian took Brutus to stay with him for the time being." she waves him on up. The blood and things have been cleaned up, but she's still hesitant at the door. Like she's afraid to go in.

Alexander studies Penny thoughtfully. It's the first time he's seen her since the incident, and let's face it, tact isn't his strong point, so the study is frank, even rude, and focuses for far too long on the stitches as he approaches within an arm's length. "My condolences could never be enough, Penelope, but you have them." He looks at the door, then back at her. "Could I help? I could walk with you. In there. And carry anything you need."

Penny leans her head on the door and there's a breath taken, her eyes filling with tears. "My brother and I were not the closest of siblings, but I feel like it's my fault. I don't know what did it...but I'm going to find them and tear them apart." she promises. Penny had tore someone else apart once upon a time. She looks to him and there's a nod, "Yes, I'd like to have someone here...and thank you, Alexander. I appreciate all that you've done." she smiles to him. "Have you been doing alright? What have I missed?" she asks him as she opens the door.

Alexander stares at Penny for a long moment, before he ducks his head and stares at his shoes instead. "It's not your fault, Penelope. If it's anyone's, then it's mine, for ever calling you about the damned autopsy. I'm sorry. And please don't thank me. Ever." He follows behind her, and for a brief moment, reaches out to try and touch her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I'll be here as long as you need." He opens his mouth at her question, then closes it. "God. I don't even know where to begin. Thorne and Miss Winslow and Miss Reede were all infected by a cursed ring that wanted them to commit murder to claim it? We've found out that the asylum 'upstate' is probably over there, and that people can open holes to go over there? So many things."

Penny runs a hand over her face and tries to wipe the tears away, "You at least checked in on me and things. So did Luc. I'm not even sure where to begin with...this." she waves her hand around. Then she looks to him, "It's not your fault. I could have said no. I'm alive. Lets focus on the positive for just a tiny moment." she sighs. Then he mentions the curse, "Or we'll just go straight to the bad news." she frowns. "Holy shit." she whispers. She reaches up to pat Alexanders hand and then give it a gentle squeeze. "I'd hug you but I don't want you to squeak." she chuckles.

"Positive. Right. Sorry. Not my natural inclination," Alexander admits with a bit of a self-mocking edge. He chuckles, sheepishly, at her reaction. "Sorry, again. It's been on my mind." He doesn't pull his hand away when she squeezes his hand, but does say, "A hug might be pushing it, at least right now. And I'm all sweaty, anyway. Not pleasant." A pause. "Lucian is your mysterious resurrecting fiance, yes?"

Penny gives a chuckle, "I'm just trying not to dwell on the bad right now. I think I'm going to lose a few things over this mess already, so I'm a bit angry." she takes a breath. "No hug, I got it." she nods. "Lucian...is my former fiance, yes. Apparently he doesn't remember any of that. He just remembers us going on a few dates." she shrugs helplessly.

"Then we will not." Alexander offers a faint sort of smile. "We'll find the things you need. And then we'll find the person who did this, and somehow we'll put them down." He squeezes her shoulder, though, once more before letting his hand fall away and following her into the house. "That's unusual. Focusing on the good, I suppose this could be a good opportunity to learn about each other all over again? But how did something like that happen?"

"We'll do that then." Penny nods to him. But she just sounded and looked like she wanted to sleep. "It's not a thing we normally do. I know." she nods to him. Then she shrugs, "He was injured when he was in the war. And he has the Glimmer...but he's not from here." she tells him as she grabs a duffel bag from the closet.

Alexander stares at her for a moment, studying her level of exhaustion. "If you like, you can give me the bag and take a seat. I can fill it up," he offers, reaching out for it. "And if he is not from Gray Harbor, and doesn't remember you, how did he end up here?" A pause. "Or is this one of those times when we just say 'oh, it's this fucking town' and move on with our lives?" Another pause, and his voice softens. "At least he's alive? And seems still fond of you?"

"I can get things. I'm not going to wilt." Penny tells him with a soft chuckle. "Oh...the bones. Do I need to move them?" she asks him. Then she gives a chuckle, "Apparently he remembers that we dated at times. So he tracked me down. I almost set my lab on fire when he told me he didn't remember proposing." she blows out a breath. "It's definitely the town...and the dark ones." she frowns. "And yeah, he's still alive and fond of me. Seems to love my dog." she chuckles.

"You seem rather unlikely to," Alexander agrees, quietly. "But there's no strength in facing pain you don't have to, either." It's toneless, but not condemnatory, and he doesn't press the matter. Just steps back, and reaches for a handkerchief in his pocket. He rubs down his face, then fans himself idly. "But that's a place to start. At least there's that. And you are not reconsidering the association, it sounds like." He gives her space, but looks frankly around the home, dark eyes watchful.

"The bones." He starts a little, as if just remembering them. "Do you want me to take them? Just in case?"

Penny gives a soft smile to him, "I am trying to be stubborn and do things on my own. Seems like I'm doing it right." she nods sagely to this. Then she gives a bit of a look around, "I don't know what to do honestly, I told him I wanted to work on things with him. Then someone tried to murder me." she chuckles a bit faintly. "The bones? You think they are targetting people with them?" she asks him.

"Or associated with them," Alexander says, with a helpless sort of shrug. "The creature looking for William Gohl apparently hates Addingtons, which may explain those deaths. But your loss. Miss Reede's mother. Rebecca Carr's sister - each of these had an association with the bones. The Carrs originally had them exhumed from their burial ground. Reede and you had them in your position. If you want to stretch the association a bit, I suspect Thorne cares very much about his apartment complex, and these unsolved murders threaten it deeply. In such a calculation, I'm the only one yet untouched. If we're more strict, then neither I nor Thorne have been attacked, despite possessing the bones."

"I'll keep them where they are then. If they want to come for them then there's not going to be a second time someone gets the jump on me." Penny almost growls. Then she calms herself. "I'm sorry we've lost so many. I really am." she frowns. Then she gives a look over Alexander, "I wonder why it's not tried coming after you or Byron. Wonder what's holding it back." she murmurs softly.

Alexander grimaces. "Penelope. That is not a rational thought. You know as well as I do that things in this town can't always be fought and conquered. Not head on. I wish you would reconsider." But if she doesn't, she doesn't, his posture seems to suggest in its worried resignation. Her question draws frustration to his features, and a shrug. "I don't know. We don't know that anything is - the attacks could be happening by whim of their perpetrator, or certain circumstances could need to be present that haven't aligned with Thorne or I, yet. I don't have enough data, and the police have proved," he breathes out a sigh, "reluctant to share the reports with me."

Penny closes her eyes for the moment and counts backwards to ten mentally. She wasn't going to blow up on her friend. Absolutely not. "I know it's not rational. I didn't even see the bastard." she whispers to that. "How do we kill something we can't see?" she asks him. "How do we protect people?" she shakes her head and opens her eyes. "We need to know more. I need to get back to work and look at the bodies." she nods stiffly to this.

Oh. Alexander winces. He wipes his forehead with the handkerchief again, and says, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean--" but he did, so he stops that and grimaces, shuffling from one foot to the other. "I feel helpless too, is all. I don't know. How we find this thing or stop it. I've thought about destroying the bones. Or trying to bury them in the hope of luring them out. What might have been the same thing attacked a doctor, of sorts, in front of Dr. Glass, and even while the man died, she didn't see the killer. The wounds just...appeared. The only thing I can think of is someone who combines mental and healing abilities. They wouldn't necessarily have to be in the same room, or same building, to kill." A long pause. "But I haven't ruled out murderous ghosts or someone who can just...pull people into the lost places and kill them. I don't know what to do about either of those scenarios."

"I feel helpless and I hate it." Penny whispers. Then she's back to shoving things in the bag. "Doesn't some of our powers involve slicing and dicing?" she asks him. She wasn't sure, but, she might have had a similar incident with her father. Then she gives a soft nod, "Might be that." she frowns. "I'm going to go up to my room and grab some things...then getting out of here. I'm hungry and I need sleep. Do you want to see the bodies?" she asks him.

"It is a terrible feeling," Alexander agrees. "And anyone who can heal can also kill." He gestures to his leg with a grimace. "As I recently was reminded. Both powers in concert can be quite terrifying." There's a peculiar lack of emotion in that sentence, even beyond his usual tonelessness. He glances up. "Do you want me to come with you? I will stay here if you prefer your privacy. And yes, any information you can share with me about the dead would be appreciated. If I could read one of the corpses, it would help. Perhaps."

"We'll get back to feeling sort of normal when this is all taken care of." Penny tells him with a bit of a smile. "And no, I'm alright." she states. "I'll be right back down. Then I'm going to go get food." she chuckles. "While I still feel halfway human." she muses as she starts to head upstairs.

"Of course," Alexander says. He watches her go with that reptilian stare. Once she's out of sight, he prowls a bit around the room he's in, not touching anything, but studying what's in sight with a thoughtful frown. Occasionally he stops, tilting his head to one side to listen for the sound of movement up above, trying to track her by sound.

Penny isn't gone that long and she'd stopped by the closed door of the guest bedroom, but she couldn't bring herself to go in. She didn't have that much strength. She makes her way back downstairs about five minutes later after she's loaded the bag. "Alright, lets get out of here. You still have the key if you want to look around though." she chuckles.

"If I do, is there anywhere you definitely would prefer I avoid? Unlike some people, I would respect any locked doors," Alexander adds, with a flare of some dark emotion, "but in general, I would only investigate what was directly connected with the incident. But I can avoid anything you prefer." Even as he talks, he's making his way towards the door, guessing that she wouldn't be at all interested in lingering longer than she has to. He reaches for the door and opens it for her.

"Just don't go into the guest bedroom...the bed is still ruined." Penny tells him. "Lucian cleaned up the blood and things." she smiles softly to that. "I don't mind you going through things really. Nothing to hide in there." she chuckles. "Thank you, Alexander." she tells him quietly.

"As you wish," Alexander says. He grimaces. "I said not to," he mutters, and then follows her out into the yard, locking the door behind them. And reaching for his handkerchief again, because it's still too damned hot. "In the meantime, take care of yourself, Penelope. Rest. Grieve. Recover. All right?"

Penny gives him a small smile, "I think the blood in the bedroom is still there, just the porch and hallway. I kind of...bled all over everything." she sighs. "Go home, I'll be fine. I'll text you when I get to my hotel." she smiles. "I'm glad to see you." she smiles. Then she's heading for the car.