Case File 2017.07.26
Rhea had long since watched Monty leave after their little talk, ill at ease by the new office appointment of his sister's keeper. Not wanting to run into more unexpected encounters, she went back inside to get a local road map from the hotel and ask about food in the area that would be worth trying while in town. The clerk at the desk was uninterested in being very friendly but did provide a map and noted unless she wanted fast food from the Sonic Drive-In that there was a good local diner that made a decent fried chicken. She had stopped to it outside and pour over the map for a time before a shadow loomed overhead and blocked out the natural light.
Alex was standing over her, inquiring about a Warden's pay for information. He was trying to be light-hearted but there was some tension behind the playful tone. She wasn't much better herself, but wasn't in the mood for games and responded a bit more seriously at it being too much before noting that he himself wasn't doing too well right then. He didn't want to be serious at the moment or have anyone pry into his mood. He followed up that he needed some help, gathering a few supplies...seeing as he'd already left a bad impression from the prior night when offering to make a Circle and admitting he didn't have any chalk or other items on hand for the task he'd volunteered for in the RV.
Granted they'd been on the run for the most part but there had been some downtime to consider picking up 'other' supplies. This didn't sit particularly well with her given she'd just been tasked with keeping Delilah safe by the newest King of the White Court. She might have been a bit short as she stated they check out some kind of Dollar Store to pick up a few basic things. Alex had already scouted out the area for places and had it plotted out in mind. He apparently was thinking of doing something to replace that lost shield bracelet...making it sound like it would be simple to craft such an enchantment on an item. She pointed out that it would require energy and time to replicate something like that, plus he didn't have the training to do something like that yet. A major factor not in his favor was time-- trying to keep up with Gwen wasn't going to allow the proper time to even contemplate that and this was not a leisurely road trip.
She wasn't pleased to find out that in Alex's prior venture into the areas of town that he'd been chatting up some of the locals with tall tales surrounding their group was a band of traveling prostitutes. Liam was, or rather Daddy, was head pimp of the group...and Madame Rhea was the top earner. Rhea could feel her blood rising, and not due to the heat outside. She was considering on using the duct tape she'd picked up along with the box-cutters, chalk and salt to turn Alex into a roof decoration on the RV. She muttered he was not allowed to go out into towns without adult supervision as she paid for the goods and they left the store to check out the pawn shop for the knife. He might have been trying to calm her down by stating that he told the old man at the pawn shop something worse but it was dismissed as kids on a cross country trip. That didn't change the fact that she was still upset with her former apprentice.
He'd zero in at the counter with the old man at the pawn shop as soon as they'd entered to pick out the knife and bracelet he'd eyed earlier during his prior visit. She was still trying to count to ten by the time he'd turned around to ask her in an almost child-like tone to buy the items. The trip had been pushing all of them on one level or another...she was trying to be understanding of the humor, but didn't appreciate the exact nature it was manifesting right now. Her anger deflated a little and she played the part of stating a couple of souvenirs would be nice before paying the man to wrap up their shopping trip.
As they were leaving and making their way back they'd run across a woman crying out from behind as a man, more built than Alex back handed her across the face and sent her to the ground. Like a light-switch, the humor from the young man turned off and something else emerged as he cleared the distance of some fifty feet or so fast and jumped up to assault the man with a blow, breaking the jaw as his fist connected. Alex wasted no time in following up to pull that man up by the throat and slam him into the side of a nearby building, slowly suffocating him. Even as she was hurrying to follow up behind, Rhea could feel a pull in the air as energy was being gathered...that could only mean one thing. She yelled at Alex to stop, and in a tone surprising even herself to not test her. She knew if he continued as he was right now, he'd break the First Law and kill the man with his magic...and then she'd have no choice but to do her job as Warden and claim his head.
Something registered in Alex as her voice reached him, he stopped and let the man fall to the ground as he turned back to face Rhea...confused. He took in the surroundings quickly and then fled, gathering even in the confusion that he was the cause for the beaten pulp of a man whimpering man on the ground prone as the woman was pleading for him to leave. She saw him run back towards the direction of the hotel but couldn't immediately follow him. She drew in close to the terrified woman and did her best to calm her and get her inside to make her calls for help. In the confusion that spread as others drifted close to the scene, Rhea slipped away from view before she could be asked any real questions and drew a veil around her to hide her departure as she searched for Alex.
He wasn't difficult to find, in fact...he was at the very same bench she'd been at pouring over the road map a short time earlier. She took care to drop her veil in the shadows of the alleyway, basically out of view in the same are Monty had occupied earlier. It wouldn't be a good idea to suddenly pop out of thin air in front of people, and they needed to not get run out of town before nightfall-- Liam needed the protection of a threshold from Wanderland's Lost and they didn't have enough time on their side to hit the road. She asked Alex what happened back there as she drew closer to him, concerned and noticing he was still confused. He states he couldn't contain the rage and went to punish the guy but he hadn't realized what'd happened until he came back to himself. Realizing that he'd almost used his magic on the man.
Rhea didn't exactly know how to answer what it was that had happened, but it wasn't like she hadn't seen Alex was different-- that one time in the Castle during a verbal argument they'd come close to an outright fight in the kitchen. She knew he had an unusual speed and strength, but what she'd just witnessed was more than she'd seen before now. She admitted she didn't know what he'd drawn on exactly and while she'd seen him move fast and exhibit strength beyond his current frame...he'd pulled at something she'd not seen. That something almost brought him to willfully break the First Law...letting those words sink in with Alex. He pulled away while she tried to rest a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
He turned away, stating he didn't mean to do it...and his more light-hearted day had just turned sour. Whatever had happened, it reminded her how Delilah had described blacking out from knowing what she was doing and then the next not realizing what had been going on until it was almost too late. Similar enough to know and understand that Alex hadn't meant to cause any harm. Rhea stated she understood that, pointing out if he had meant to act that way...he wouldn't be upset about it now. She might not be his teacher formally anymore, but he was looking to her for some guidance in how to help at keeping that from happening again...he could only imagine it was going to get worse.
She didn't pull any punches, but stated things would only get worse if he lets it and reminds him like in the beginning she was trying to teach him control. So that Alex's abilities wouldn't use him. Admitting he wouldn't like her first idea, meditating. She'd known he had neglected it and given the current situation, none of them were keeping up with a usual routine as she gestured around the area. He tried to cheer up, asking her not to tell Liam about this. Rhea remains quiet for a moment, knowing she couldn't fully agree to his request. Amending it to unless the word of the incident spreads and puts her in the position of having to tell him first...she'd let Alex be the one to break the news, but it would have to be before they got back on the road. It was too dangerous to be traveling without others aware of what might happen should he have another black out moment like the one in town.
Alex didn't fully like the idea, but still agreed to it in the end. She didn't think it was the reasoning that Liam might know some way to help him, but perhaps more the danger it would put them in...especially Delilah...by not knowing what could happen. There's little space in an RV when you have an enraged super-strong and super-fast individual tearing about the interior. She could feel a headache coming on as the complications of being appointed as her new ward, Delilah, courtesy of Monty. She knew Alex needed a moment to walk and get some distance to sort out his thoughts, she didn't argue handing over some money for a pack of cigarettes and included enough for him to get something to eat. Food would help ground him and focus on the present. He'd be gone a couple hours before finally returning to the hotel.
