Life After Death

Henry didn't knock when he entered Oliver's flat, simply unlocking it with a spell and charging in. Merlin, he hoped the man and his - wait, were they engaged yet? Whatever - weren't up to things he wouldn't want to see. Lucky for him, the man was sitting at the bar in his kitchen, pages spread out in front of him alongside several books opened to bookmarked pages. Two dogs' heads popped over the top of the couch to look at him. Well, one did. The other hopped and fell down, her legs apparently not giving enough of a boost to keep her there. The corgi bounded to the floor instead, rushing over to wriggle around at his feet. Henry looked over to the other, bemused as to why only one was bothered, but shrugged it off, turning to Connolly instead.

"I'm sure you get break-ins all the time, but surely at least one as good-looking as this would be acknowledged?" Henry asked, crossing his arms over his chest. A smirk wasn't where it should have been, as he was too worked up and - frankly - furious.

"Close the door, would you?" Oliver returned, not bothering to so much as glance up, his pen scribbling something.

Henry glowered at him, but swung the door to. "Oliver," he attempted. When he was again ignored, he finally just huffed and decided to do it the cruel way. Perhaps it would get the man's attention. "Keiran's dead."

A crash sounded as Oliver's left hand slipped, scribbling dangerously across his page and knocking into the glass at his right side. It fell over, and the man didn't even bother stopping it as it rolled over the edge of the counter and shattered. He did glance down when he realized his pages might get wet, whipping out his wand to clear it away and fix the glass before either of the dogs could mess with it. Once he regained his focus, Oliver turned his eyes on Henry, finally, confusion and anguish clear in his expression.

"He's -.. He's what?"

"He's been declared dead. As far as the law is concerned, Keiran Hayes is dead."

It had been one week at work now. One week of going back to ‘normal’. One week of pretending nothing had changed, even though life back at home was completely wrong and not at all what it was supposed to be. But she pushed through. Because if she wasn’t working herself down to the bone, avoiding all the dangerous, looming feelings… well, she wouldn’t know who she was if she were any other way.

But Friday came and she arrived home to see that Gabby had taken out to pizza. She knew they would be out late. He did it to spite her mostly. He knew she got solace from the kids, and if she was going to rely on him to help her through this time, he certainly was going to punish her, because really, she was the devil in the situation, the way he saw it. But she also had a nicer suspicion. Gabby knew how close Sunny and Max had been, and Jack suspected that it was one small, one very sweet way for the werewolf to feel close to his friend. So she would suffer through it. He would have to forgive her eventually.

She hoped.

There was leftover meatloaf in the fridge but after reheating it and picking it at it, Jack gave up and threw it all out. She had no appetite. She had no… desire… It was a horrible feeling. She was so close to having the freedom to do as she pleased again… but she could not think of a single thing to give her pleasure. Instead, she wandered her home aimlessly, heart tightening over the little reminders she would never be able to escape.

Finally, she threw herself into an armchair and let out a sigh, mopping her hair out of her face. She closed her eyes and thought about the house that used to be home, that dinky little house before the cottage of Layabout. The quirky little house she shared with Nemo. The last time she had been there, she had found inspiration. She had told Albus everything. They had shook hands on taking the Ministry down together.

A sad smile for Albus. A tender smile for a friend she was certain she had lost forever.

And then a light bulb.

Her eyes flew open.

Nothing had ever roused her back to herself like some good old revolution.

She stood and changed out of her blazer, pulling on her favorite plaid shirt, changing into sneakers. She was pocketing her wand, grabbing her adventure-knapsack when she finally gave pause to her half-baked plan. Where was she even going? Who was she going to rely on?

And that’s when it hit her. If she wanted to find a disatisifed spirit, seek out a former leader of the Order of the Phoenix.

She knocked on the door, pretty sure she had the right address. It had been awhile, quite some time. She was certain an unsolicited visit probably wasn’t exactly something Oliver was looking forward to. But how did one preface anarchy in a letter? Made more sense to just show up unannounced.

It was more her style anyway.

Oliver could already see Alice's face. Millie's face. Shit. No, Keiran Hayes was not Oliver's best friend. No, he did not actively go out of his way to spend time with the man unless it was his turn to host a poker night. But it would have been an obvious and very stupid lie to claim that the Hayes man had not influenced the lives of those around him. Oliver in particular.

Never would he have tried to lead the Order if not for Keiran. It hadn't fully registered, but it hit him instantly, knocking the breath right out of him. After Keiran had quite his job, started a secret school, risked his life so many times? How could Oliver just sit there? That need to do something of influence had not been lost after he left the Order. But he had to protect Alice. Had to keep the Rookwoods - well, the bad ones - from sending Elijah her way. It was just a miracle the man had not shown up yet. Oliver wasn't sure what he would do if Alice and Paul were right about him.

Punch his lights out, probably.

"That's- No. That's mental. There's no way," Oliver declared, shaking his head. His expression was so blank that he could barely move his lips to get the words out.

"I know," Henry agreed. "That's why Avery-"

Avery's face. Shit.

"-sent me to find him. But as much as I would like to believe I can do this on my own-"

Henry frowned at being cut off, his words stopping immediately although their tempo had increased rapidly. As he turned towards the door, not even waiting for Oliver's request, the younger man dropped his head into his hands. Henry flung the door open, glaring darkly at whoever was on the other side. Of course, once he actually saw the woman, his eyebrows lifted in surprise.

Who wouldn't recognize Jack Dyllan? Or had her name changed? Again, Henry just didn't bother keeping track of those things. Perhaps he would ask about Alice later. Probably not, though. He only cared about one relationship, and that was Declan's.

"Jack?"

Oliver's head snapped up, staring at the door. What in the world? He jumped off of his stool, pushing the dogs back again as their curiosity was piqued once more. He moved to stand next to Henry, frankly unable to believe the events of the day.

"Jack," he breathed. Henry shot him a frustrated look, as if to inform him that he had already stated her name. "You genuinely will not believe what's happened."

Jack realized she had very little to say as way of introduction to why she had ended up on his doorstep, why she suddenly thought to call him to action. That wasn’t something you just randomly brought up, something you didn’t spend time working up to. But she would go insane if she stayed at home just letting the world happen around her, staying quiet and staying complacent. Without something at home, she had no choice but to turn her eyes outward.

Besides, insanity loved company.

It didn’t matter if she had prepared something to say anyway, because it wasn’t Oliver who answered the door. She was pretty good on her feet but trying to enlist someone’s help to save the world was already a little awkward; even more so considering they had company Jack didn’t know too well.

Henry? Harry? Ugh… what was it…

“Hi,” she went with instead, managing to look fairly unsurprised. Oliver was at the man’s side in a second and she turned to look at him, opening her mouth to say his name when he beat her to the punch. She looked between the two men, sensing that something strange was going on, creating an ominous thumping deep within her.

“Okay,” she said, her voice steady and controlled. She stepped in, managing to take the door from Henry and close it behind her, helping take charge of the situation. “My thing can wait. What’s going on?”

Henry stared at the door as Jack closed it, frowning a bit. But Oliver gave him a nudge, gesturing towards the couch, and Henry led the way over. As soon as Oliver sat down, the dogs hopped into their own chair, off to the side, watching the adults curiously. They probably would've interfered if not for the anxiety rolling off of Oliver and his friend.

Once Jack got settled - or as settled as she could, given the circumstances - Henry glanced at Oliver before explaining.

"Just before I left work today, Avery Ivanov came to my office. Apparently, she was visited by Millie Hayes, who proper tore into her," Henry said, a slight lilt to his voice implying that he was rather impressed with the younger blonde. "Turns out, that Prophet bloke came round to her house and told her that they have very strong reasons to believe that Keiran... is dead."

Oliver's jaw clenched, his gaze falling to the carpet. "What reasons?" He demanded, curling his left hand around his right, which had clenched into a fist.

"His wand, for one. Which had been snapped in half, though not very cleanly. Not a great reasoning, necessarily," Henry continued, choosing - perhaps oddly - to go for the most interesting, theatrical telling. "But they also found his father's jacket, bloodied, as well as a photo of him and his family. Apparently, they were able to discern where the attacker had been, and what direction he had gone, but there was no trace of Keiran at all."

Oliver lifted his chin, looking at Henry with an extremely confused frown. "That's hardly definitive."

Henry shrugged, but appeared to agree. "Avery could've left things out. Or Millie could have. But either way, the Prophet was supposed to report on it but Prichard refused and went to Millie instead."

Immediately, she could feel the tension of whatever situation she had just walked in on. She was struggling to take the context and turn it into some sort of guess as to what was going on. What could be this serious, and still be something she could simply be invited into? She was wondering if she somehow had spidey-senses and something had happened with the Order or the Ministry, so they assumed she would have something to add to the solution.

She cast an eye around the apartment. It seemed so different without all of her... chums?... all of her chums drinking and cutting cards. It seemed that every place they went ended up being crowded, and never for lack of space, but because the people involved in the game had a tendency to take up space. Now, it seemed empty and normal.

She followed them in, looking rather temperate, the smallest arch in her eyebrow indicating her uncertainty about the situation. Jack wasn't much of a sitter, preferring to stand in case of quick action, but she settled on the arm of the couch at Oliver's gesture and leaned in, ready for whatever they had for her.

Jack felt her eyebrow lift even further, curious as to what a fight between Millie and Avery could possibly have to do with her, or interest her. And then... he delivered the bombshell.

Jack straightened up, eyes darting to Oliver to confirm, though he seemed to have already heard this news, judging by the taut nature of his jaw. His question was a good one, one she wanted answered because somehow... somehow it wasn't true that Hayes was dead. That just didn't feel right.

She remained quiet, eyes looking between the two men, brain soaking in the information, forming her own opinion on the matter.

"Leaving behind your things means nothing," she said quietly. "There's no proof of anything except that he probably needs help. We should find him."

Jack's response didn't surprise Henry as much as it did Oliver. The lighter-haired man sat up straight, blinking at her as if it hadn't come to mind for him. "That's not a bad idea," Oliver said, as if he were trying to convince Henry to go along with it.

"Well," the Ministry man began, "That's sort of why I'm here. Avery asked me to go find him. I was hoping you would help, Connolly. But I would wager that the two of you know him much better than I do. Another person couldn't hurt."

Oliver's eyebrows lifted a bit, but he didn't argue with the theory. Henry had always been the sort to keep to himself, or you rely on Declan to fill in when the boredom kicked in. That, or he liked bothering his employees - particularly if they turned bright red like Maude did. But that was an entirely different layer of confusion for Tross.

"I'll have to tell Alice before we leave," Oliver said, interrupting Henry's thoughts - probably for the better. "But I can just pop in at her office. When do we want to leave?"

"The sooner the better," Henry declared. "Jack?"


[ooc: We can skip to them meeting up to leave if you want. Whatever ya feel like.]

In the moment that Oliver reacted to her suggestion, Jack realized she and the sandy-haired man must have led the Order very differently. He was a little more deliberate, a little more strategic. She was all psychological play and brute force. Somehow she didn't think one was better than the other, but perhaps were pretty decent complements to the other. Maybe they could actually manage to save Hayes.

No. There couldn't be a maybe in this circumstance.

Jack looked between the two, realizing that, had Oliver not suggested warning his significant other about a looming absence, she would have just taken off. Two kids in her care and she would have just left them for Gabby. Did she really find herself so unworthy?

She nodded. "Right. Let's meet up. I can be ready in under a half hour."


And she was. She sent an owl to Gabby, and Kip met her at her house to take the keys and to be pointed to the extra sheets. He didn't ask what she was doing. He asked how he could help. And she was ever so grateful for her half brother in that regard.

She waited outside Satan's. It had always felt like a safe place for her, though most people skittered away from it. It was a place for sketchy people, the type that wouldn't claim to see her or her associates for fear of placing them too. And she was untouchable at Satan's. After all, she was the b!tch that had overthrown its king.

Telling Alice that he had to go somewhere without her was about as difficult as he thought it would be. But he had a time limit, and he had people coming with him, so she could rest assured that he would be safe. Of course, if anything happened, he would be fine. But he, unlike Keiran, had access to his wand and could provide some sort of notice. Did patronuses go that far? He didn't stop to ask questions.

He ignored those dreadful girls at the office as they watched the pair, insisting that he wouldn't be away long and that he loved her more than anything, and that he had to do it. For all of the Hayes family. He stopped at the main office of the building, telling his father what was happening, before taking a steadying breath and apparating to their agreed upon spot. Satan's was not at all Oliver's cup of tea, but it was convenient enough since Jack had ties to the place.

His feet landed and he found himself slightly off-kilter, but settled and found that Jack had already arrived. Not a minute later, Henry walked up, seemingly coming from somewhere down the street.

"Missed your landing?" Oliver asked slowly, lifting an eyebrow.

"Something like that," Henry returned lightly, giving nothing away. "Ready?"

Oliver frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "You want to tell us where we're heading?"

Henry looked slightly surprised, as though he thought he had said more during their first meeting. Realizing that he had made a mistake, he nodded. "Right, sorry. The wand and things were found outside of Kiev. So, Ukraine."

"And how are we supposed to get to Kiev?" Oliver asked, frustrated. He didn't understand, of course, as Declan did: Henry would say only what came to mind or what lingered there too long for him to hold it in. Perhaps that's why he was so rude to Dom the first time he met her, but also his incredibly cheeky self at the same time.

"Portkey. Duh," Henry grinned, whipping a huge, ancient-looking key from behind his back.

"Wonderful.."

Jack rocked back on her heels as the door to Satan's opened and the doormen swapped out, Collie setting up shop on the doorstep. She nodded to the large man, who was busy shaking out his muscular arms before his long shift. It took him a moment to notice her and when he did, surprise was evident on his face.

"Dyllan! You haven't been 'round in awhile."

Jack shrugged. "Haven't been 'round anywhere, Coll."

"Well, start, huh?"

"I'm not great for business. I don't let half of what happens happen on my watch. And it's the sketchy stuff that makes you money."

"I'm just sayin'... Pop 'round. There's some things I wouldn't mind comin' to an end."

Jack frowned at that ominous statement but was distracted by the appearance of Oliver. She turned, tugging her jacket further over her body just as Henry strolled over.

"Kiev," Jack repeated. "Oh, so it's more like a holiday."

Merlin, she had to stop.

Jack looked at the two men and cleared her throat. "Right. Let's go then." She reached out and grabbed the key.