Vengeance Mark Two (Aurelia and James)

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia had already seen one of the Irvine twins, he had the nerve to come to the meeting of the British Rebels after all, and she was wondering where the second one was, over the years her feelings towards him had dwindled and now they were purely those of intense dissappointment.

He had said that he cared about her and then he f*cks off for years? Sighing she slipped into the water of the Sailors End, she was not worried about the creatures there, she had managed to swim here before without being disturbed.

Leaning against the bank, Aurelia began to gently tread water, trying to relax in the water, but boy could she do with some stiff drinks and a jacuzzi instead of this muddy and dangerous little bit of river.

If only, she thought with a smirk.

[James Irvine]

James sighed a little bit as he walked over to the lakeshore. He'd been in the middle of hand-to-hand combat with Luther Freaking Amsel when his brother had sent him a message. Apparently Aurelia was pissed. He couldn't quite blame her, after all he did kind of leave without so much as a note.

He wandered down the edge of the water before stopping a few feet away from Aurelia. James coughed a little bit,

"Hey stranger." he greeted her with a small wave, "Bee' a while righ'?"

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia, as soon as she heard James, amazed she could still recognise his voice merely continued her paddling and rested against the stones of the shore, her back to the man that she had promised herself not two months ago she would kill on sight.

Running her hand through her wet hair, Aurelia simply held up her hand, her finger up at James and she muttered coldly;

"F*ck off back to Germany James."

Then she returned to doing what she had been doing before, her body now almost all submerged in the water, she was going to enjoy this freezing cold dip if it killed her.

[James Irvine]

James had to admit that the silent treatment followed by the finger and an insult was probably the least he could have ever expected. He was honestly surprised she hadn't tried to slap him at least but then again he was out of the water while she was in it. He sighed and sat down on the lakeshore,

"Deserv'd tha." he muttered quietly before looking at her as she swam, "Te mission is ov'r. I was allow'd te come back to ye Aurelia."

He winced a little bit as he shuffled slightly. Some of his wounds were beginning to reopen again but he managed to ignore them.

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia turned around and she fixed James with her steeled glare, while he had been away so much had happened and she had needed him, and Jack to help her but he did not, they had not even told her that they were leaving, just one day...he was gone.

"I told you to f*ck off didn't I?" she said coolly "I don't want to see you, I don't want to speak to you, especially while I'm in a swimsuit. So go on, go find Jack and clear off."

Looking back out over the water Aurelia let her mask slip and her hurt welled up in her eyes and the knot formed in her chest, she wanted to tell him how much she had been hurt but a part of her said he didn't deserve to know.

"I've been managing for years without you, I can continue in that vein now."

[James Irvine]

The steeling glare was something he'd expected from her but it didn't exactly make it any less powerful. It was a glare the level of which he'd only seen her give enemies. He really hoped that it didn't mean she thought of him as her enemy,

"Aye tha ye did, but I don' wan' te go righ' now." he replied simply, "I wan' te talk te ye abou' why I wasn' here. I wan' te tell ye tha I will be here now."

James looked out over the water in silence. He knew that his leaving had hurt her. It had hurt him as well but he'd been called upon to serve his country. And he was a patriot so he had, rather stupidly, answered the call,

"I know ye have... I jus' wan'd te say..." he trailed off and glanced to the side, "I'm sorry Aurelia. I really am."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia sighed and she got up out of the water, if he was not going to leave then she was going to have to go, and that would be the end of that, she was not ready to have this conversation, her mask was not strong enough to weather it and she knew it.

"I don't want to hear why you left, I don't want to hear your f*cking false promises James. I want to go home and I want to drink myself into a stupor then fall asleep."

Tapping herself she dried herself off and her clothes appeared back on her body, her swim suit in her bag.

"Forgive me." she said venomously "If I don't believe you, since you've practically broken every promise that you have made me since we met, I don't believe you care one jot about me."

With that she picked her bag up and started to walk away.

[James Irvine]

James shook his head a little bit and closed his eyes as she got out of the water. Not because he didn't want to see her, God knows he wanted to, but because this was going to be a very hard conversation to have when she was trying her best to leave,

"Well I wan' te tell ye." he told her quietly but without any give in his voice, "I wan' te tell ye why I had te break my promise te ye to stay with ye. An' ye wan' te hear it too. I know ye do."

James watched with a raised eyebrow when she tapped herself with a wand and was suddenly dry. It was new,

"Well whether ye believe me or no' it's te truth." he told her in the face of her venom, "I care abou' ye more tan I care abou' anyone else. Even Jack."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia turned to James with her professional demeanour on, she was going to have to listen to James in order for him to allow her to leave, it was not going to be something that she was having to go through even though she knew it would hurt her to hear.

"Then tell me, and make it quick James." she said harshly "I couldn't give a flying f*ck whether you tell me or not actually James, I really do not care."

Her hand on her hips Aurelia shook her head with a cold chuckle escaping her lips, she could not believe he was trying to worm his way back in with her after all these years.

Holding her hand up she said simply;

"I'll tell you right now James, whatever we had together, it's over." she said harshly "I do not love you any more, and I never will. SO if you still have feelings for me, tough luck."

[James Irvine]

James saw the professional demeanour slide into place on Aurelia's face, even after all this time he could still read her like a book. It was enough to make him want to scream in frustration. She was hurt but she was blocking it all inside now so that she didn't have to deal with it around him,

"We had te leave because we din' hava choice Aurelia." he told her quietly, "Tey had ye marked Aurelia. It was either work in Germany undercov'r or ye died. Tey aren' te people ye say no te, an' tha's why. I din' wan' te have ye die cus of me."

He had to admit that he had held some hope that Aurelia would have had something like the old flame for him but he knew it was a pipe dream, always had. The dark chuckle just kind of confirmed it. He nodded with a sad smile,

"Ye I guessed as much." he admitted quietly, "I guess I'll go wit te tough luck part ten."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia looked into James' eyes and she did not believe a word that he said to her, he wanted to make her feel bad for acting the way that she had done? Well it wasn't going to work, she was not going to lower herself to do the same in return.

"I would rather have died." she said firmly "I would rather have died, and it was not your choice to make really if it was involving myself. Regardless, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Dusting down her sleeved Aurelia pursed her lips and she nodded her head with a sarcastic expression on her face;

"You sure will." she said simply "You honestly expected me to still have feelings for you after everything you've done to me?"

Shaking her head Aurelia waited to see if there was anything else that James wanted to say, it was something that she couldn't admit to, but she did have feelings for James still, tucked away inside.

[James Irvine]

James could tell that she either didn't want to believe him or didn't care to believe him. Either way it didn't make a difference, what had happened had happened and he'd left her alone, the biggest mistake of his life. He sighed a little bit,

"Well ye din't. I made a choice, mine te make or no'." he told her simply, "I din't say I was righ', though ye livin was someting I tink is righ'. Anyting else...? Shi' loads of info on Germany."

He couldn't help but feel his heart begin to fall apart. He'd held it together since his leaving with ducktape, the ducktape being the hope that she could still find it in her heart to love him even after all the time he was away,

"Well a man ca' dream righ'?" he replied quietly before shrugging, "It was a hope tha kept me goin'. Guess it wasn' much of a hope."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia looked at James and she would have gladly not had all of the info on Germany and had him here with her for the past few years, the information was nothing to her now that she had her contact in the Ministry to get all the information anyway.

"I'm not really bothered about the information at the moment, you can relay it at the next meeting, that is if you can be bothered to turn up to it." she said with a small sigh.

The hopeless puppy dog look on James' face both made her feel very sad for being so harsh to him, and angry that he could think that she would be swayed by such an action.

"No it wasn't much of a hope to be honest James, you broke my heart James, you broke my trust and you left me alone when I needed you the most." she said quietly.

[James Irvine]

James knew that any information he could have dug up was not worth the same time he could have spent with her. He really wished he could have stayed with Aurelia, he would have been so happy to stay with her and none of this pain would have been caused,

"I din't tink ye wan'd me at ye meetin's." he noted with a small shrug, "So I thought I'd mention it now."

James flinched at the harsh truth in her words. She didn't even have to dress her words up at all, every word was true and every word hurt him deeply, making him feel her pain,

"I know I did..." he whispered quietly, "I broke ye heart and noting I can say can change tha' fac'."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia nodded her head when James spoke to her, she was still hurting inside but she found herself calming down, she did not want to forgive him just yet, she just wanted to be able to tell him what had happened because he had left her...

But she kept it inside, he didn't need to know just yet so she would not tell him until he needed to know.

"You're an invaluable asset to any movement, the British rebels will be glad to have you, personal issues aside James, that part of me is purely business, and that's the part you will see most of now."

Nodding her head Aurelia blinked out a few tears and she scolded herself as she wiped them away.

"I need a drink." she said quietly.

[James Irvine]

James knew that even now Aurelia was holding a lot of emotions inside her but they were unlikely to ever be shown to him again. He wasn't her confidant anymore and that hurt. Although he hadn't expected to be her confidant anymore, it still hurt a little bit to have in confirmed. He sighed a little bit and nodded,

"Tanks. Me value ain' exactly wha' I wan' ye' but I like te tink tha I can help." he told her quietly, taking a deep breath as he did so, "If ye tink it's bes' Aurelia... or shoul' I call ye Shadow now?"

Seeing the tears, James pulled a hankerchief from his pocket and held it out for her to take,

"I wouldn't say no te one either." he muttered quietly, "I'll pick some booze up on me way home I guess."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia rolled her eyes a little bit and she shook her head, she hoped that she wasn't going to have to tell him over and over again to keep calling her Aurelia now that she had taken up the positon that he was going to only relate to her via business.

"No don't call me Shadow you idiot, we've been friends for years before you left, my nickname is to use when we are in enemy territory alone." she said stiffly.

Rejecting the handkerchief Aurelia looked at the various bars that were over in the creature hang outs, she wanted to drown her sorrows away and she sighed lightly.

"Stop moping like a kicked puppy, get some balls and come for a drink with your boss." she said, rolling her eyes and walking off to one of the bars, looking forward to some stiff liquor.

[James Irvine]

James sighed a little bit. All this was going to take some getting used to. Although on saying that a lot of this stuff was going to take some getting used to, he wasn't used to being back in action yet, he'd spent the last year in a German detention facility after all,

"Wit all te ice in ye tone I coulda sworn I was still in enemy territory." he joked lightly before shrugging, "Fair does Aurelia."

He chuckled a little bit and tossed the hankerchief over his shoulder when Aurelia rejected it. It wasn't even his, it was his brothers so not only was it painstakingly clean but it was not his problem. He laughed a little stiffly,

"Yer righ, I guess I shoul' be drinkin it up to celebrate bein' back in te best country in te world." he smirked slightly, "Secon' only te Ireland o'course."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia was not quite totally forgiving of James just yet and she didn't want him to be thinking that she had moved on in her thoughts just yet, with a small sigh she ran her hands through her hair and she walked through the woods surrounding the Sailors End.

"Did you expect anything less?" she asked, an eyebrow raised "Besides, nobody is sure on what side the creatures are recently, so you might still be in enemy territory."

Raising her eyebrow again, Aurelia smirked gently and she noted the stiff laugh from James, it was odd his laugh was different to before, maybe he did care about her after all? It wasn't just words.

"You should be drinking to get rid of the hurt that the conversation we had brought up." she said with a larger smirk pushing open the door to the closest bar and walking in.

[James Irvine]

James wasn't on the best of terms with creatures since his brother seemed to make sport of fighting what he called 'flitters'. Any creature who could flit, Jack liked to try and beat. Vampires were his favourite,

"Nope." he replied with a small smirk, "I know wha side te vamps are on. Te side tha lets tem at Jackie boy. He's been pissin tem off fer a while now."

James wasn't just going to stop caring just because Aurelia seemed to have given up on the feelings she'd once had for him. He couldn't say he blamed her after what had happened after all. He smirked weakly,

"Yer righ an' I will do. But I'll also drink te get rid o some other pains too." he grimaced slightly, "Te Germans ain' renown fer te prison care after all. Now... let's get sh*tfaced."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia was not surprised that Jack had been causing trouble, and she was not very pleased because she needed to try and get some creatures onto her side of the war, she wanted to be able to get some of the 'loose cannons' to try and help her cause.

"Well that's not going to go well when I try to get them on our side now is it?" she sighed quietly "We'll just keep Jack away from them when we have battles together."

Now in the bar she sat down and smoothed out her tight jeans, she was a little bit cold and she wished that she had brought her big hoodie with her, tapping the bar she concentrated and whispered;

'Accio hoodie ah the Cambridge one."

Then the hoodie flew into her hands and she tugged it on; "Bottle of Southern Comfort please." she ordered from the bar.

[James Irvine]

James winced a little bit, shifting a little bit in his stance from the discomfort. Damn ribs were playing up again. Seemed all this breathing was getting to them. But he didn't have time or patience to waste recovering,

"Ye well I tink yer gunna hav te sen' Jackie te Germany if ye wan' te see em here." he replied with a chuckle, "Tey really hate him someting fierce."

Now at at the bar, James relaxed slightly and signalled the bartender to come on over. He wanted to get shit faced right now, not when the bartender could be assed. He blinked a little bit as the hoodie appeared and Aurelia put it on. Pausing in his potential question to order the same, he turned to Aurelia,

"Tha's someting new."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia looked at James when he said that the fact that she could now summon a hoodie was something new, she could have slapped him for how obvious a statement it was, after all there was a major difference in the fact that she was a muggle when they left and she was a witch now.

Folding her hands on the bar, Aurelia took the bottle of Southern Comfort with a smirk at the bartender and poured a measure into the glass with ice in that he also handed her, not like she would be using it much after this.

Chucking the shot back Aurelia rolled her eyes;

"You think?" she asked sarcastically "I was a muggle when you left and a witch with a wand and everything now, that's just a bit new."

[James Irvine]

James chuckled a little bit, Aurelia looked like she wanted to smack him upside the head. That was a good thing really. Not because she wanted to hit him, she had a good arm. No it was good because she wanted to do it out of annoyance rather than anger, it suggested that maybe she wasn't going to stay angry at him forever.

Taking his own drink, and his own bottle, James downed the first glass without batting an eyelash before doing the same two more times. After he'd done his third one he sighed,

"Tha's wha I needed..." he whispered quietly before shrugging a little bit, "I couldn' tink o a good way te fit it inte conversation. I figure ye'll tell me when yer ready."

[Aurelia 'Shadow' Vance]

Aurelia hummed a little when she heard what James said after drinking all that alcohol, she was not as bothered as she would have been when they were together, in fact, she was not bothered at all, he could drink himself into a stupor if he desired.

When he told her that he assumed she would tell him in her own time, Aurelia nodded her head and smirked into her bottle, before taking another sip and letting the burning sensation cool her nerves and temper.

"And you would be right, but that time is not now so until I know I can trust you again, I'll be keeping that one to myself."

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