openmisc | Corvo/Jamie

Corvo had warned Jamie that they would end up in a fight. He was going back to the exact moment of his death and waking there. "Be prepared for a guard on the right," he had told Jamie, because he needed him to take care of the one with the crossbow so he could get Emily.

So when they arrive back in Dunwall, the storm pounding overhead and the lightning flashing, it's at the top of the lighthouse. Out on the balcony is Havelock, his arms around Emily, and Corvo doesn't think about anything else. He runs, his heart pounding in his chest, the rain beating on his face like a thousand stinging bees. He Blinks forward, nothing but ferocity in his face, and grabs Emily from the pretender, the so-called Loyalist. In doing so, he falls and Emily pulls close to him, her small weight trembling against his chest. Corvo doesn't watch Havelock's demise and he shields Emily from it, as well. He just holds her there in the rain until her small voice gently floats up to him.

"Corvo? Are all the bad men dead?" she wonders and, when she feels him nod, she sighs. "Good," she adds. "Because I would have had them all killed anyway."

And Corvo begins to weep silently, the tears mixing with the filthy rain from the storm above. He had failed her, and now he sees how. He has to make this right. He kneels down, his hands on her shoulders, and just looks at her. It had been seven months since he saw her last, each day stretching longer than the other. But she doesn't look at him now.

She looks over his shoulder and points. "Corvo, who's that?"

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She immediately kneels down in front of him. "I am not the Empress any longer. Emily is. The people need a fresh start. They need someone to believe in, not someone who they can't trust to be alive or dead. They have mourned me, so now I am just Jessamine Kaldwin, formerly dead Empress turned advisor to Empress Emily. And in this room, in this place, you are not a servant to me. You are family." She laughs musically, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what that will look like or what our places might be, but fate has brought the three of us together for a reason. Shall we find out together, Jamie?"

Corvo folds his arms across his chest.

"She also wants to name you Lord Protector. Take my place," he adds, feeling his heart pounding loudly in his chest, his throat, his face.

He looks to Corvo, and then to Jessamine as he considers what he wants to say.

He knew of the plan to proceed with Emily as Empress. He'd heard as well as Corvo. And while he knows in his heart and in his head that Emily is a vastly different child, there's pieces of this, of a child ruler, of working for one, that grate up against ancient wounds. His hand rubs his opposite wrist for a moment as he picks his words and not just because of his own skin.

"I'd like to find out, aye."

A glance at Corvo.

"What would you be, then?"

"Spymaster," is his answer as he watches him pick at his wrist. He can guess those thoughts, but he knows this isn't the same. Emily is still malleable, though her core is good and light. He wouldn't have anyone else influence her except the bravest and truest man he knows.

"To prevent this from happening again."

And to be directly responsible for cleaning up his own mess.

Jessamine nods. "It was Corvo who nominated you for the role," she tells him.

"You must tell me more about you now, Jamie. He saved you? You were right that he said nothing of the sort."

It's not just fear. It's also the desire for Emily to grow up without such pressures. To not have to worry about her life, to grow without the weight around her neck and on her back. If this is how it will be, he's going to do everything in his power to take every pound he can from her. Protecting isn't just about knives and poison.

He'll nod to her question, though.

"I'd been captive to a wicked creature for longer than either of you have lived. The rage of that nearly ate me alive before" he looks to Jessamine and lets a bit of a smile crease his lip, "before our flickerbird gave me a place to let it breathe and stood by my side as no one had managed in all that time. He'll pretend he did nothing, but I'll say again that neither of us would be here if Corvo hadn't done his fair share for me as well."

Corvo watches the line of her mouth trace 'our flickerbird' with reverence and amusement both, and heat swells in his cheeks as he stares out the window and pretends not to listen.

"That sounds like Corvo," she says, guiding Jamie to a fine table. "Is this something you want, Jamie? To be here, in this world? We have our problems, but I cannot guarantee a life of adventure. Not like what Corvo has told me."

That earns her a very tired laugh.

"I have had my share of adventure and then some, Jessamine," since she is not Empress, he will use her name, "and any group of people have problems, the more of them the more to be had. What I want is a family and to grow old beside those I love. Can you offer me that, lass?"

Jessamine puts a hand on his and laughs, the musical sound seeming to break the tension in the air.

"Oh, I like him, Corvo. He's more charming than you."

She turns to look over her shoulder and catches Corvo staring. He quickly clears his throat and looks away, back to the window. Jessamine gives Jamie a knowing look.

"Emily's coronation will be tomorrow. The world will not know I have returned. It will be a solemn day, but - this home, this place, is where our Emily can be herself. That is all I ask. That she be allowed to be a child. You two will be her closest advisors aside from me. She will need you with her. You have a family here, Jamie."

She almost doesn't notice when Corvo joins them ubtil his hand rests on each of their shoulders.

Corvo will feel it when Jamie relaxes: the mention of Emily getting to be herself. Of her being allowed to be a child. Jamie will nod to the last.

"I would have fought for her if you hadn't insisted," he says honestly.

Then he looks between Corvo and Jessamine.

"I'll protect her, life and heart. I'll teach her what I know about keeping boys and men in line. And if I have a family, then there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"Good," she says, her hand on Jamie's and then Corvo's before she stands and plants a gentle kiss on Corvo's cheek.

"I'm going to join Emily for the meal. We have to plan. Join us when you're ready," she tells them both.

"Aye, Jessa," he says cheerfully. "Have a good meal."

There's a glance at Corvo. He's assuming they have work?

The easy nickname gets a bright smile, then she shuts the door and leaves them alone.

Corvo meets Jamie's eyes and shakes his head, leaning down to kiss him deeply for the first time since they arrived.

Corvo/Jamie

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