Don't you know that misery loves company?

The car rolled slowly to a stop on a darker street behind Satin’s. The driver stepped out of the car and came around to the other side to open the door for Vito and Jack. “Come on, out of the car,” Vito told her, pulling her up out of the backseat with him and out of the door. He stumbled at first, finding it difficult to balance both her weight and his when climbing out of the car, but managed to steady himself before he fell. “Prepare a room,” Vito ordered snappily, watching as the employee nodded and walked inside, doing as he was told.

The poltergeist looked down at Jack, wondering what a task it would be to get her up the stairs- and what a task it had been for her to get him up the stairs. “There is a song that is always stuck in my head whenever I get myself drunk. It’s a drinking song actually, but the fact that it is always the same song is rather amusing,” Vito told her, adjusting his hold around her waist before pushing the back door of the club open and stepping inside. Why was he telling her something so… random? Simple. He wanted to do all that he could to keep her awake; it would be that much harder dragging her up a flight of steps if she passed out, and he didn’t need that.

The music was turned up to the highest possible volume, and for that Vito was relieved; the noise distracted him from his thoughts, which had been marching noisily through his mind during the silent car ride, and it was a relief to have them momentarily silenced. Few people noticed the two of them because of the way they had entered, and that bothered Vito slightly. He had always enjoyed any attention he could get, and when every head didn’t turn his way when he entered his own club, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated. The point in entering through the back of the place had been to avoid dealing with the line of people outside the front waiting to enter, but he would have dealt with that in a heartbeat to get his daily dose of stares.

“Now that’s not polite…” Vito greeted the drunken people in his usual, low tone. How it was heard over the music, well, it was a mystery, but he got that attention that he had wanted; quite a few people looked his way and begun whispering, spreading rumors about him that he probably would never hear. He smirked, listening as his voice was repeated several times by the people around him- yes, he enjoyed that, he enjoyed it a lot. “Next time, I want a greeting,” He spoke with a nod of his head, as if daring them to disagree with him, “or I’ll have you thrown out,” Vito added threateningly, before turning his attention back to Jack.

He groaned, there was a decision to be made. “Please tell me you can walk up those stairs…” he asked her in an almost pleading voice; he really didn’t want to carry her, she was already pushing her luck with the amount of help she was receiving from the poltergeist.

Jack squinted up at Vito and stumbled out of the car, aided by him. She followed alongside him, a little dizzy. She had not exactly fallen asleep in the car ride, but she had drifted in and out of semi-consciousness. She was still feeling light headed but she at least could find her balance somewhat now.

They stumbled into the bar and Jack blinked at the lights inside, the colors burning brightly into her eyes, scarring the insides of her eyelids. She grumbled and put a hand up to block out the light as much as she could. It really was not helping the settling head ache...

Vito barked orders at someone and she mumbled to herself, "Yessir, Mr. Bossman," sarcastically answering as the employee. She glanced up to look at Vito to make her joke even funnier and found him looking down at her. He told her about his favorite drinking song and she smiled somewhat goofily. "You'll have to sing it for me," she said softly. She was becoming more aware of what was happening around her, but right now, everything seemed funny.

Jack heard a buzzing noise and she squinted, waving her hand to try and shoo away whatever bug was trying pester her. She realized it was not an insect, but it was the whispering customers, pointing and glancing at them, She gave a lovely sneer, her face portraying the classic 'take a picture it will last longer' look. Though she would not appreciate any pictures now...Total blackmail potential.

Vito looked back at Jack and she squinted up at him, a light blinding her. He asked if she could climb up the stairs and she glanced over at them. With a smile she took up a super hero stance, stumbling and swaying slightly. "Of course." She chuckled and stumbled again, reaching out to steady herself on him. She glanced up at him somewhat bashfully. "But you might want to make sure I don't fall...That's a possibility." She smiled weakly.

Vito groaned when she stumbled; he really didn’t have much patients for the drunk girl beside him, but at the same time he knew that having already gotten as far as he had, it would probably have been even more of a waist of time than the situation already was if he were to give up on her. Besides, he didn’t want the girl wandering around in his club when she was as smashed as she was.

Vito pulled her forward slightly to let her know that it was indeed time for her to start walking again, “Backpack, Backpack”- Vito sung the first part as if he were on that children’s television show that muggles watched before speaking in his regular voice again –“ better have some aspirin and water inside of him because your already pushing your luck with how much help your receiving from me,” he told her when they reached the first step of the spiral staircase on the other side of the room.

“Up up up, come on,” he muttered, allowing her to lean against him so that she could get up onto the first step. He winced when he almost lost his own balance and smacked his harm painfully against the railing, but didn’t say anything more for the time being; he needed to focus on getting Jack upstairs without either one of them falling.

Vito frowned; at the rate they were going it would take them at least an hour just to make it up the fifth stair, and so he ran a hand through his hair, an expression of irritation to be seen on his face, and adjusted his hold around Jack’s waist, “Don’t squirm,” he ordered and pulled her up into his arms. He stumbled forward, but stepped up the next stair in order to keep his balance.

Now, Vito could honestly admit that he had never expected to be in such a situation.

(sorry for the momentary godmodding)

(No problem)

Jack smirked at his little joke about the song and said "Yay!" just the way the cartoons on the show always had once the creepy little backpack had come to life... She lolled her head in a way of nodding and said, "I always have my supplies. Never know when I'll get drunk...or have a drunk poltergeist on my hands..." She smirked to herself; at least her humor was still intact it seemed, even if it was pretty lame. Hell, at least she was smiling.

She was having trouble figuring out where to put her foot because the stair kept moving before her. She kicked at it slightly, grumbling "Stand still!" Her toe throbbed, but it gave her head a little more clarity and she was able to gingerly step down and then pick up her other foot. She heard Vito smack his hand against the wall or something and she snorted to herself.

"What's it take to get up a stair... Ten seconds, a stubbed toe, and a sore hand." She smirked to herself, their slight patheticness obviously the most hilarious thing at the moment. It was funny really... She did not remember it being so hard the last time... Then again, Vito had practice getting around drunk and she had basically just dragged him, which made it much easier really.

But there was truth in her words. If this continued on much longer, they would reach the top by morning and her entire foot would probably be broken, as well as Vito's hands. She glanced up at him and he seemed to be thinking the same thing as he paused and surveyed the situation.

She felt him tightened his grip around her waist and she felt herself get lifted into the ground. "Woah," she said, cringing as her eyes adjusted to the sudden quick motion. Her head lolled back for a second before she raised it up and looked at Vito. At his words she said, "Okey dokey." Se felt herself slip slightly and a hand went up to grip his shoulder. Knowing he must be aggravated by now she said, "Sorry I went crazy."

“Sorr”- No. No he would not apologize for anything, it just wasn’t like him, and he was momentarily disgusted with himself for almost letting such words spill from his mouth. He bit down on his tongue sharply and turned his eyes so that they were staring straight ahead. It was much easier getting Jack up the steps when she wasn’t tripping over her own feet, but the fact that she was so close to him was making him feel rather uncomfortable; he had always teased her by snaking an arm around her waist, or getting close to her face, but when he was actually carrying her in his arms to help her, it made him feel as if he had forgotten who exactly Vito Dee Symons was.

Vito stepped over the last stair and onto the second floor, “We’re even- or at least that’s the way I see it,” he finally replied to her apology, as if it had taken him some extra thought just to get the idea of apologizing for his own actions, out of his head. He shifted her in his arms when his shoulders grew rather sore, but continued inside one of the bedrooms on the second floor anyway, shutting the door behind him.

Vito sat on the bed and managed to get his shoes off. Jack turned and walked over, closing the door so as to prevent any looky-loos from peeking in, trying to see the owner at one of his worst times. She then veered into the bathroom and found a washcloth and ran it under the sink, not exactly sure how to help a drunken poltergeist. Therefore, she decided she would treat him just like how she treated her mother when she was drunk.

The poltergeist stopped at the foot of the large bed on the other side of the room and dropped Jack onto it without any warning at all before pulling her backpack off of her shoulders- also without warning- and tossing it on a chair on the other side of the room. “I’ll be in my room- don’t disturb me,” he told her in his usual, quiet voice before turning his back to her and walking towards the door.

Jack's eyes glanced towards him as he began to apologize, though he seemed to manage to catch himself. She had never heard him apologize for anything. In Vito's eyes, everything he did was alright. "Look out world, Vito Dee Symons is crossing the street and he stops for no one." Everything Vito did was intentional, and even if it it was not, he had never found the need to make amends for his actions.

She vaguely registered that they had entered a room until the door closed behind them with a loud click. She suddenly registered that she was falling down and she bounced softly onto the bed. She felt her head spin and she saw her backpack fall back into a chair. Her hands went up to her head and she tried to steady herself. She sat up carefully and her eyes viewed the room. It was a similar design to Vito's, but it was less nicely furnished and not quite as stylish as his own room.

She saw Vito turn his back and begin to leave, and without prompting them, her legs shifted and stumbled off the bed and hit the floor. She walked over towards him, stumbling and tripping. "Vito." She reached him when he had reached the door, and her hand went out to stop him and to steady herself as she tripped again. The force of her falling arm slightly turned him and she stood up straight again, her eyes meeting his, this no time no hint of bemusement or a joke. She nodded. "Thank you."

She knew he really had not had to do this, that he had never felt any obligation to help out anyone...ever. She nodded at him matter-of-factly as though to say it was a simple thank you. She thought there was a chance that Vito might get incensed by her thanking him, since it was recognizing the fact that he had probably just done the nicest thing he had ever done. She just felt that she needed to at least say those words.

No. She was supposed to stay on the bed and let him leave. The point in him turning around had been to avoid her eyes, but she always had to go and make things more difficult. He looked down at her- he wasn’t the tallest man, but he certainly was taller than she was- and was unable to keep the frown off of his face.

She landed with a thump, skinning her hands and hitting her chin. She bit down on her tongue and immediately spit out some blood. Her head had hit something as she had fallen too, probably the wall and a trickle of blood ran down from her forehead and across her cheek. She turned herself around, sharply taking in a breath. Her wand had clattered toward Chase. She turned and scrambled after it, groping to grab it. Her fingers fumbled and caught it.

She twisted around, still on the ground and looked up at Vito in a way she never had before. Sadness, disappointment, and betrayal emanated from her eyes. She felt the wall as she stood up, leaning against it after her fall. She wiped the blood from her lips but did not touch the blood on her face. She held her wand low but pointed defensively at Vito and her chin trembled so slightly she doubted anyone would catch it. Her eyes prickled painfully but she pulled on a defensive face and said in a strained voice, "Good job Vito." She nodded. "Now you're a man, aren't you?" She sniffed and rubbed her nose and mouth with her arm, staring back at him. "You feel better?" she said fiercely, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Vito had spent two days erasing those memories and thoughts from his brain, but when even when she was drunk, looking at him like that with those broken eyes of hers he couldn’t help but feel everything he had worked to forget re-entering his brain. He bit down on the sides of his cheeks angrily, but didn’t say anything for the moment, figuring that would only make it that much harder for him to avoid the ‘you almost chilled me and my friend’ lecture that she was sure to start up with sooner than later.

“Like I said, we’re even,” were the only words that he could force out of his mouth that didn’t sound completely out of character or entirely too Vito. He pulled his arm away from her hand and looked away from her eyes so that he was staring into the mirror on the farther end of the room- but he didn’t like what he saw; his expression looked so different than the usual sly mask that he always hid his thoughts and emotions behind, and it was somewhat frightening. He squinted his eyes slightly as he focused harder on his image reflecting off of the glass and stepped slowly towards it silently, a million thoughts zipping through his mind at once.

She looked up at him and sucked in her lips, nodding at him as she could see the struggle in his eyes and on his face. She saw him glance at something behind her and she glanced too, seeing the mirror and briefly taking in their faces...both ridiculously and drastically different then the last time.

Had the roles been reversed? Here Jack was, drinking to deal with problems that she could not control, and there was Vito, making sure that she at least did not kill herself in the process.

She waited for him to leave and closed the door behind him (sorry for godmode) and sat there staring at the door. She turned and stumbled back to the chair, unzipping her backpack and rifling through the items crammed inside until she found some sweats. She changed into them and found herself some aspirin. She swallowed a few without water and looked towards the bed... That's what was calling to her more than anything.

She stumbled towards the bed and stared at it for a moment. “Mmmm, come here,” Vito spoke quietly, extending his harm and holding it out towards Jack. His eyes were closed, and he appeared as if he were sleeping, but it seemed that his head wanted to continue to frustrate him for a while longer, and so sleep did not take over him. He patted the bed beside him and scooted backwards slowly. “I won’t touch you, I swear,” Vito added, but his lips didn’t curl upward into his usual smirk- instead, his face remained blank, other than his forehead which was wrinkled slightly out of pain.

She shook her head and she collapsed onto the bed, crawling towards the head of it and then wriggling under the sheets. She had slipped her wand into her pocket and now she used it to extinguish the lights before setting it on the table next to the bed. She pulled the sheets tightly around her and buried her heavy, pounding head into the pillow. She was not sure she wanted to forget...but she wanted to sleep.


Her eyes opened and a steady pulse beat against her skull. She winced and noticed the light that drifted in from the window... She slowly pushed herself up and sat up, holding her head in her hands. She knew she was in a room in Satin's and she remembered getting drunk and Vito coming to collect her. But she was struggling to remember everything... When had this happened?

Talking to Andrew. "I can't pretend that I don't hate Vito." She shook her head. "I'm done pretending. You want to help me. Me. An outsider would say 'forget it, there's no point.' But your argument is you have seen the other side of me and that is why it is worth fighting for." She pursed her lips for a second, letting that sink in. "I was trying to convince you of those very words not a moment ago. And now you are trying to convince me." She shook her head. "Fun stuff," she said in a dead voice that indicated it was anything but fun.

Then she had spoken to Chase about the same thing. Why couldn't Chase hate Jack the way Jack hated her...Jack's head went crashing down into her hands and she felt her breath quicken and the world begin to spin... Could Jack be experiencing just a taste of the way Vito felt every day of his life? Could it be that Vito hated himself, or at least his existence, just the way Jack did now, making it unbearable for anyone to care about him...That's why Jack tried. That's why she wanted to help Vito. That was why she was so determined to see the poltergeist get better. It was not because she was like him... She WAS him, minus the murders. She did not like to think that people could care about her because it disgusted her to think that anyone could settle for her. She still could not manage to let herself trust anyone, and it pissed herself off. It made her hate herself, and then she trusted people even less because of it, and she tried to make people not like her.She was Vito Dee Symons.

And she had left, in seek of something to relieve her of her memories... That was riht. Vito had come in. She had demanded what did he want with her. He had taunted her and she had informed him that it was all his fault anyway... But he had been different. Quieter, softer, more reserved.

He has said he had hated her and she exploded... She heard his words come rushing back to her, sounding frustrated for the first time that night. “That is why I hate you. Why cant you just hate me?! I’ve tried so damn hard to get you to, but you. just. wont”

That brought her back to what she had learned... She closed her eyes, but forced her mind to keep attempting to think back to the night before. She could sense there was more. Why else was she here?

“You failed Jack, so what? Why the hell did you think you could change me in the first place, anyway? You made that choice, I did nothing to make you stick around- in fact, I remember trying to get you to go away, several times. "

She closed her eyes. That hurt too, but there was more, she knew it...

“That girl, Chase, who is always acting so innocent and helpless kicked me against the pavement and I was knocked unconscious. You know what ran through my head for that- what- minute or two? I saw you dead, covered in blood and bruises and It made me sick, like I’d swallowed a carton of sour milk. I’ve killed so many people, Jack, without giving it a second thought- but that image was something I didn’t enjoy,” he told her in a hushed tone, his eyes narrowed and cold, “You challenged me to kill you, and I tried to because I had to prove to myself that you were no different.”

Her eyes flew open. That was it... it all came back to her.

“You know what Jack? Your so afraid that you'll never trust anyone, but here I am, with everything I’ve ever wanted and I’m gonna loose it any day now. You’ve got it good, your just too ignorant to see so for yourself,” he replied. He wanted to get up and leave her there to drink herself to death, but his legs refused to obey him, and so he was forced to continue sitting there in the booth, staring at a girl that should have been dead after all he had put her through.

“So drink up darling, because pretty soon you’ll get your way; you wont be seeing much of me anymore.”

Her eyes closed and she felt her chin tremble again. Damn this weakness that seemed to have settled in... Andrew and Chase were right... Where was the old Jack?

She felt her stomach shrivel and her heart implode in shame and pain and empathy for the poltergeist. Suddenly, she felt the urge to hug him...but even under the influence, she could hold herself from that. Her eyes met his earnestly and she shook her head. Slowly, she scooted over until she was right next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, placing a hand softly on his arm. In a quiet voice, she said, "I've never wanted that Vito."

She remembered it all now. He helped her out, promised to get her a room. They drove back to Satin's and attempted to get up the stairs but it had been too much trouble... Vito had carried her, taken her to the room, dropped her on the bed. She thanked him and he informed her that they were even.

Her eyes closed tightly and leaned her hair back. So much more to deal with... Part of her wished this mess was over or had never even happened... Because she knew that now she would never forget the fact that somehow she had gotten to him. Now she would desperately cling to that, but she had just decided to sever all obligations to him...

What a tangled web she spun.

Her head pounded heavily and her stomach churned. She would be puking if it weren't for the fact that her stomach was like a garbage disposal in that it seemed to conquer everything. But her head was killing her. She rolled out of bed, groaning, and stumbled over to her knapsack.

A couple aspirin, a quick shower, and a fresh change of clothes later and she was ready to go. She still had a headache but it was getting better. She pulled on her knapsack and fished out some galleons. She remembered Vito saying she still needed to pay. She figured that was more than fair.

She went and sat on the bed and sat there, staring at the wall, jingling the coins in her hands as she stared at the mirror. She needed to talk to Vito. He had to know what she had discovered. But to say those words aloud made them truth. They changed everything...

Everything was different. And she still had no idea what that meant.

(It’s fine)

He stood outside of the door for a moment after closing it shut behind him, leaning his head and his back up against the wood of it as he tried to unscramble his thoughts- or shut them up momentarily, either worked for him. Something about that look he had seen in his eyes when he had looked into that mirror bothered him beyond belief; they weren’t Vito’s eyes, so who did they belong to? Vito inhaled slowly when he felt that it had been a bit too long since he had done so and pushed off of the door with the palm of his hand before walking down the hall silently. He was sure Jack would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow with that much alcohol in her- well, at least one of them would be getting some sleep.

Vito entered his own bedroom and shut the door behind him in order to keep intruders out; once that door was closed, everyone in the place knew not to dare open it- or even knock- unless they wanted to face an angry Vito Dee Symons… and no one wanted that, not even Vito himself.

The poltergeist sat down in the armchair that he had put in the room himself when he had first opened the place, and crossed his ankles, folding his hands over his forehead as he stared at the insides of his eyelids. It was getting rather late, but it was clear by the shouts and the laughs downstairs that the night had only just begun for the party goers. As for the music? There were probably only five hours each day/night when the music wasn’t turned up as loud as possible, and that was when the sun was just rising and everyone had either gone home or passed out on the floor.

Vito slipped his shoes off of his feet and stood after a few moments of sitting there silently, listening to the commotion on the lower floor of his club. He walked slowly over to his wardrobe on the other side of the well-furnished bedroom and collected his sleepwear, his expression kept blank as he did so. He changed, lying his dirty clothes out for one of the employees to wash in the morning, and fell back onto his bed with a sigh, only just realizing that he had accidentally left his bottle of wine in Jack’s room when he had set it down on the bedside table to set her down. “Damn it…” Vito cursed the air about him, but didn’t move from the spot; he wasn’t about to re-enter the room he had only just escaped, he really didn’t want to find himself facing Jack again for the time being. And so he pulled his blankets up over himself, resting his head on the pile of pillows there, and stared at the clock on his bedside table, watching the minutes slowly pass by.

-

He wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, but he must have, because he had to open his eyes when he realized that the evening had long gone and that raindrops were knocking loudly against his window. Vito inhaled slowly and sat up, running a hand through his dark brown hair. He had almost forgotten completely about ever running in to Jack at that new club, or helping her at all- but then he glanced in the mirror and remembered that the evening hadn’t played out the way he had hoped at all.

She saw Vito turn his back and begin to leave, and without prompting them, her legs shifted and stumbled off the bed and hit the floor. She walked over towards him, stumbling and tripping. "Vito." She reached him when he had reached the door, and her hand went out to stop him and to steady herself as she tripped again. The force of her falling arm slightly turned him and she stood up straight again, her eyes meeting his, this no time no hint of bemusement or a joke. She nodded. "Thank you."

“Like I said, we’re even,” were the only words that he could force out of his mouth that didn’t sound completely out of character or entirely too Vito. He pulled his arm away from her hand and looked away from her eyes so that he was staring into the mirror on the farther end of the room- but he didn’t like what he saw; his expression looked so different than the usual sly mask that he always hid his thoughts and emotions behind, and it was somewhat frightening.

Vito climbed out of his bed and walked over to the window to stare out at the rain for a moment; it was time to face another unpredictable day. “Whoopee…”

Jack could feel the resolve building in her chest as she sat in her room, heart thumping. She did not know exactly what room she was in, but she knew that just down the hall, Vito was in his room...and she would be needing to talk to him. She had hoped he might have woken her up early to make her leave so she did not have to go find him, but alas, he had not. No news is good news... She hated that saying.

Jack felt light from the window fall on her again and she looked out, the light catching her green eyes and for a second...she was back. She could feel the smirk on her face, the laughter in her eyes, the hope in her heart. There was fight in her soul, a spring in her step, she could feel it.

But the light was blocked out by a cloud and more thoughts tumbled into her head. Standing with her wand pointed at Andrew as he held out his gauntlet-ed hands, Chase crying and apologizing and Jack feeling mad at her for doing so. Wandering into that bar, feeling very much like one semi-alcoholic poltergeist, knowing she was not like him, but that she was him...

Except for the hate towards Vito. That was the difference. She did not hate Vito... she hated herself as did he hate her...and she had learned that the man was struggling with some of his own self disappointment. But what caused the problems was that she did not hate him.

Broken, dead-eyes Jack was struggling with clever, never-give-up Jack... Don't get your hopes up again... But you need to be strong if you are going to confront him... He's probably going to try and break you down anyway... All the more reason to fight back isn't it? I dunno- Shut up, you!

Jack had managed to win a small victory over herself and she stood feeling stronger and more in control than she had in a few days. She pulled on her backpack and slipped her galleons in her pockets. She slipped out of the room and closed it, before walking down the hall.

For a moment she stared at Vito's door, a defiant look on her face... She was trying to defy her sense right now. The sense that said leave the galleons and run. No. Vito had told her things he had not had too and it was her time to tell him some things that she would rather not admit. In that sense, she owed him.

She raised her hand and knocked.