TMA!Jacobi and Jon

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Are you sure this is the place?" he asks the driver, who was already speeding off, leaving Jacobi in front of the old building.

"Thanks for your help!" he calls out with false cheer, rolling his eyes before trudging his way up to what he had been told was the Magnus Institute. He doesn't even flinch at the screech of tires that comes from blocks behind him. He doesn't have to see the car erupt into flames as a very confused driver crawls out and phones for help. That's chaos for someone else.

Instead, he takes the steps up, backpack on his shoulder. He had flown all the way out here, so it's not as if he's going to be missing any leads. Besides. He has an appointment.

The closer to the door he gets, the more uncomfortable he feels about this. It's like a whisper of wind against his skin, a suggestion of something dangerous, but Jacobi's never let something like that bother him. He walks through, hands in his pockets.

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[mrballisticsdummy]

"Don't tell him that," he says to Jon, but takes his coffee anyway.

"Well, I may have also been testing that self destructive streak," he mutters into his cup. And then he reaches over with his free hand and wraps it around Jon in a tight embrace.

[epistemological]

Oh. Jon's... a little surprised, but he'll once more lean into the hug and give him one right back. The growling behind him doesn't subside; if anything, it does the opposite. Which has Jon giving him a squeeze before tipping his head to indicate Daisy, who he feels the need to look after.

Once he slips away, Jacobi will get to see the 'told you so' look on Warren's face.

"You break other things, Jacobi. Breaking yourself is firmly off limits."

Which is when he hears his phone beep and he'll pull it up to show him two very important things: the first one is a message that just says Did you find him yet? and the name on top.

Dr. Maxwell

[mrballisticsdummy]

He almost argues with him. He almost raises his voice and insists that he doesn't know. That text knocks all the fight out of him.

Daniel leans back against the wall, closing his eyes as the world seems to tilt off center. Jon leaves to care for Daisy and Jacobi just braces against one side of a bookshelf like a lifeline.

Jon's alright. He has someone, he has Daisy, and Jacobi has the shattered pieces of his life coming back together.

Things don't un-break. Jacobi knows that's not how it works. And yet hes seeing it happen.

"How?"

[questionsonly]

Warren keeps his voice low as he leans in.

"I had a feeling. That she... might be like us? Just... different. So. I made sure to switch the bundle with her body. Kept it from going out into space so she could heal. It took... time. For her body to reconstruct. And she's... not entirely the same?"

That earns him a cocky smile.

"Not that any of us are. But Alana and I have been... fully realized. Much like your friend over there."

He gestures towards himself.

"I had to wait for her to wake up and pluck me out of the vacuum of space. Which. I can't say I enjoyed?"

He chuckles a little. "It was easy enough to overtake the clean up crew. Commandeer the ship. And get back here. Then we were figuring out when to approach you when you did the dumbest thing I have ever seen in my entire life."

He glances around for a moment before focusing on Daniel again.

"What even brought you here, Daniel? You decided to just... trot into the middle of a war zone?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

That makes...so much sense and he hates how easy that Warren makes it sound. As if he didn't make it all the way back here and suffer for months and months. As if he should have known.

Maybe he should have. Maybe that was his problem all along.

"I got intel from some old idiot friends about something that - I wanted. And so I came here to get it."

[questionsonly]

There's a blink as Warren does a mental inventory and really, he should know. How do you think some of these artifacts move around?

"...Daniel. Tell me. you didn't. Tell me you didn't use that knife."

[mrballisticsdummy]

He runs his tongue along his teeth. "Jon wouldn't let me have it," he assures him. "It's still locked away safely."

[questionsonly]

"It wouldn't have gone well for Jon if he had," he says honestly before he turns to Jacobi and meets his eyes.

"Anything else I need to know about what you've been doing on Earth since you got here?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

He puts a hand on his shoulder, finally drinking his coffee. "Don't touch a hair on his fucking head or I will raze this goddamn city to embers snd ruin every plan you've ever made."

Threat delivered, he slides that hand down his chest, unconcerned with propriety at the moment. What does it matter? His head is still spinning from that kiss.

"I demolished the lab down the way," he mutters. "If you couldn't figure that out." He'd be disappointed in him if that had been a detail he missed, but he still likes saying it.

"I - gathered up all my resources and have some stockpiles in the usual places. I was working on taking them down."

[questionsonly]

It's obvious from the brightening of his eyes that he takes it seriously but-

"Don't threaten me with a good time, hot stuff," he says before letting out a chuckle. "But I've got no beef with the Archivist. He did right. I'd even say I probably owe him a favor. Especially since you're so attached."

He puts his hand over Jacobi's and gives it a squeeze.

"We noticed your work with the lab. And good job with the rest as well. I was coming to see what had you coming here when I noticed the coffin. And smelled you in there."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"That's the dumbest fucking nickname. Pick something else," he grumbles for the sake of grumbling. But there's a smile on his face at the praise.

He looks to his coffee and pulls away, heading to Jon's drawer where he keeps the brandy. Hopefully he won't mind if he just puts a bit in his cup.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," he finally decides. He's not leaving forever, but he does want to give Jon time. He's aching to have his own life right.

[questionsonly]

"I've got a whole dozen of 'em for you, sunshine," he says cheerfully before he gives Jacobi a nod and throws off a wave to Jon.

"We'll be back," he says cheerfully before sliding his arm around Jacobi's shoulders.

Jon looks up from giving Daisy a cup of that coffee and offers a warm, if tight, smile.

"We'll be here."

[mrballisticsdummy]

Jacobi glances once over his shoulder. "I'll bring your cup back!"

He takes a drink as they walk out, leaning heavily against him as a bit of that bravado goes out the window. The weight of the day, the decisions he made, what he went through, finally hits him full on.

"Where are you both staying?"

[questionsonly]

Jon just looks amused but his focus is on Daisy, rubbing at her back and trying to settle her somewhat now that she's out.

For his part, Warren waggles an eyebrow before he huffs a laugh.

"My London bolthole. As per usual. Not the main one, the side one."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"I'm assuming no one knows that you're here."

He takes a drink of his now spiked coffee.

"This is - a fucking lot," he breathes out.

[questionsonly]

"Hence the waiting to break it to you," he points out as he pushes a door open and a woman in a headscarf stares at him before immediately running past. He grins. "But given that you almost trapped yourself in the Buried for the eternity, I decided to move up our timeline."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"I would have gotten out eventually," he huffs, with absolutely no confidence. All bravado.

He glances back.

"I was here two days and I never saw another person. And now there are just people everywhere."

[questionsonly]

"You'd be the first person in recorded history to ever do it," he says cheerfully, "so congratulations on that."

He'll keep walking.

"She works there."

Because of course they got a full rundown on the staff before he stepped into the building.

"Former cop. The partner of the woman you pulled out, if I had to guess."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Yeah, well, I'm not really much of a person."

He looks back again.

"A nice reunion, then. But I assumed she worked there, thanks."

He didn't case the place. He didn't do recon. He was deliberately sloppy because he just didn't give a shit. Now he has to actually start trying again.

Once outside, he blinks in the light of day.

[questionsonly]

"None of us are," he says brightly, "but even of 'non-people', that's true."

He'll walk him over to a car, one that you wouldn't at all think is anything but a common car on the street."

[mrballisticsdummy]

He gets in the car and finishes the rest of his coffee, closing his eyes for a moment. He still can't believe that he's just waltzing around with Kepler again, as if nothing happened, as if he hadn't been mourning him for months. And Maxwell, too.

He has a lot of explaining that he doesn't want to do.

"How long have you been in the city?"

[questionsonly]

"A couple of days," he admits, "as we took a bit longer to get heading towards earth. But? We came directly here. To you."

He'll start up the car.

"And by direct? I mean. Direct."

Jacobi will notice that this is not one of Warren's cars, doesn't look like one. It's just a car.

"Had to borrow this one from an old friend."

[mrballisticsdummy]

Jacobi puts a hand to his head. "You don't have friends," he mutters a little bitterly, but he doesn't mind the car at all. He's going somewhere. He's going to where they are. He's going to where his entire life is situated.

"How far out is it?" It's been a while since he's been to London.

[questionsonly]

"Given London traffic, it'll probably be about twenty minutes. It's in the city center.

"Maxwell insisted."

He rolls his eyes a little as he drives.

"Said the wifi at the other spot wasn't up to snuff for her needs."

And he never argues with her on that.

[mrballisticsdummy]

He huffs at that. "God forbid."

But he knows how this works and he also wouldn't argue with her. Maxwell has certain needs that he can only imagine have intensified since they came back.

He reaches over, delicately placing his hand on Warren's. "Didn't take you both long to get comfortable."