``no ones gonna drag you down

[elizabeth sirena hughes]

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------ And there they were. All of the rebel sirens were together again. After five years, many of them had changed but mostly it was because they all their time to better deal with Isabel's death. Liz had taken Isabel's as the last straw. She had already been tired and while it was hard to admit it, she had been suicidal ever since Kenny's death and she realized it was her oldest brother'f fault. Then there was the guilt from Killing Darren Jr. The there was the guilt over screwing Riley over and almost getting him killed. Then there was Isabel taking the bullet for her. Everything had been so screwed up. She hadn't known what to do. Riley had been the person to stop her. He stopped her long enough for her to remember Kenny's daughter. His young daughter and even younger son, was with her dad, back in Chicago. Feeling a sense of obligation, Liz got the group together. They all went to Chicago, including Jasper and JR (Maggie Giovanni's brother). Why Jasper came was obvious. He may not be a Hughes and he may not have been related to Isabel but he was one of them.. He was a Siren that turned away. Why JR accompanied them was another question all together. What was even more confusing to her was why JR's presence was accepted by Orion but Riley's wasn't. Both were outsiders. Although JR had some experience, maybe that was it. Although if you ask Liz, that would make him less trustworthy. But whatever, she had gotten used to him and he seemed like a decent guy.

------ Another reason for her acceptance of JR was definitely him coming to Chicago with them. He went with Widow to deal with some unfinished business with her but her was still there for it. It was an important moment for them. It was Liz's point of freedom. The clear point of their, for lack of a better word, mission was to get Kenny's kids away from the Sirens. When they got there, the group split up. Widow, JR and Jasper went to the more "home" parts of the Siren's warehouse. Donny, Orion and Liz went straight towards where the kids would be. On the way, Donny ran into the two Sirens that had killed Is. He didn't take it easy on them either and shot them both dead. He barely seemed like he felt it. Unlike Liz who when she killed Darren had a panic attack. That drew attention and they were caught. Donny was just held, with the two kids(kids as in Kenny's seven year old daughter and his thirteen month old son). Liz and Orion though, had an oppointment with their father. They went into his office and while Orion later told her that she looked fearless walking in, she had been terrified. When walking towards his desk, all she had been able to imagine were the visual memories of the many men she had seen her father, or one of his lackies, kill. She hadn't been afraid that he would kill her but was infact scared he would kill the rest of them. Donny, Orion, Wid, Jasper, the Kids and even JR whom she didn't know very well. Throughout the conversation, Liz literally begged him, please he took Kenny, they took Isabel, Liz was his daughter and he had once claimed to love her so she begged him, let them go. Believe it or not, he did just that. He let them go.

------ Something in Liz's speech must have reached him, as he let them go, including Kenny's kids. He only had one but, and that was if he saw her face again, he would hunt them all down and butcher them, saving Liz for last in order for her to watch. And it was a thread Liz definitely believed. Yet, it was one of the happiest moments in her life. To not have the weight of that bounty on her head felt incredible. She honestly believed that this all sort of bonded the rebel sirens in a new way. An Unbreakable way. They all, other than Jasper, lived in the same house. Donny and his... interesting friend Kale had found it for them. It was a bit run down but it worked well for them. And while Donny pays most of the rest and bills via his computer hacking magic, Liz preferred to attempt her legally, both she and Orion pay their portions, especially since bother of them actually had jobs. Liz was actually in the living room right then, going through and double checking the facts of her next planetarium show. She sat in the large armchair with her feet up and hanging over one of the arms as a mixture of the other arm and the back of the chair worked as her back rest. She peered her eyes over her papers as she heard the back door open. She heard footsteps, two sets. One sounding like boots, the other sounding like three paws skipping. Liz grinned and sat up as her dog Silver ran into the room and barked before jumping up on the chair with her. She was damn lucky to her the papers out of the way in time. Silver happened to be a very large old golden retriever with one leg missing after being badly beaten as a pup. He got around just fine with out his left hind leg and if you have ever known a three legged dog, then you understand that they are perfectly capable. Liz had him for about two years now while they were licing in Sante Fe. Got him from the Humane Society and despite being being very sweet, it is very unlikely that anyone would adopt a six year old, three legged golden retriever, so Liz figured damaged, mature and fun? He would fit in with them perfectly. She named him Silver, not because he was a Golden but because he was named after Long John Silver, the pirate, who was missing one leg.

------ Never the less, Liz lover that dog. "Hey Silver, how was your trip to the vet?" Liz asked as she scratched behind both of his ears, baby talk in her tone. She refused to baby talk even childred but with dogs, tone was the only way from them to understand you in any sense. A frazzled looking Kale stumbled into the room and leaned against the back of the chair looking down at her and Silver, "You know love, it was possible for you to have warned me how much he hates getting his shots." Liz smirked slightly looking up at the British boy known more commonly as Basher. She looked back at Silver and kept petting him, "Yeah, he might be old but he's still got fight in him." She replied. Kale smiled and shook his head. He reached down and ruffled Liz's hair, turned and began walking towards the front door, "You should get some air Liz, you've been working all day. I have to meet D-Day but I'll see ya later." He said as he walked out the door. Liz watched the door after him and bit the inside of her cheek gently before looking back down at her work which now laid on the coffee table. She then looked down at Silver, "Outside?" She asked and the dog immediate peeked his ears up. He knew 'Outside" meant park or beach and 'Walk" meant neighborhood and "Pee?' meant backyard. He began to wag his tail as he jumped off the chair. Liz nodded, "outside..." She repeated to herself as she pulled herself up. She threw on a baggy black sweater. She got cold pretty easily and while it was nice out. It was still only February and on the chilled side. She slipped on her boots and clicked her tongue for Silver to follow.

------ The pair skipped out the back way. Liz carrying a notebook and a large book that was titled the Astronomical Encyclopedia. Silver never needed a leash with her. With anyone else, it was usually safer but Liz was very clearly his favorite despite loving everyone he met. She walked swiftly as Silver sort skipped/ran next to her, before they turned down onto the beach where Liz reached down and pulled her boots off. She held them in her right hand as her right arm stayed wrapped around her book. She walked further onto the beach and sat down as the sun lowered in the sky, it was around 5pm. It would still be light for an hour, it was just getting dimmer. She flipped open the book and placed two rocks on the pages so it didn't switch. Silver ran around little bit but stayed near her. He came up to her and dropped a shell by her feet. "Thanks boy." She said but as she reached down to grab it, the papers of her speech went flying. "Fuck!" She exclaimed as she hopped to her feet and pinched the remain papers under the book and ran after the papers in the wind, Silver already trying to catch them but jumping with one hind leg in sand was fairly difficult for him.

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STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; salem<3
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'drag you down' by Shirock
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; done! hope it's okay, both are more reserved so I tried to think of an easy way of initiating conversation.

[salem]

- - - - - -

---BEING A FEDERAL FUGITIVE

[/size] wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world. It required skill, precision, intellect, and connections to keep under the radar, to maintain freedom. Salem Shepard had been avoiding the feds for years now, always managing to keep a step ahead of the game, and that current step had brought him to Valkyrie, California. It was a nice enough place, scenic, beautiful women, and best of all – suffering from a disaster. The massive earthquake Valkyrie had gone though only weeks ago, maybe a month, was the main point of the town, it was the only thing people cared about. It was the damn finest place in the whole country for two people who wanted to be unseen and unnoticed to settle down. Nobody was going to pay attention to two newcomers who were trying to lay low. That was why Salem was in Valkyrie, to keep ahead, and to keep hidden. Not to mention some of his few connections had inconspicuously placed themselves amongst the natives of the ravaged town. Syl Rivers was his main man, or well, woman. She kept him posted, and kept him out of the fire. She’d been the unlikely blonde bombshell of a bitch to get him and Dinah new passports and get rid of their identities, erasing them from military record. She was in Valkyrie along with her sister and a semi-business partner, Isabella Rovens. Salem wasn’t entirely sure what Bella and Syl called each other, but they had an alliance of sorts, and they were the only two people who really knew about him and Dinah. In reality, it’d only been Syl, but he figured she’d told Bella and ended up spilling the beans to her himself by accident. Either way, that was the bonding mechanism; the secrets. Salem could trust them, or at least trust them as much as he allowed himself to trust anybody. In reality, Dinah was his only real friend, the only person he really, truly trusted. It’d been so long sing he’d had regular, normal human contact. It was a foreign aspect to him after all this time, to be honest with somebody, to just be himself around a stranger. That was the price to pay to remain invisible, though.

”How are we doing on, well, everything?” he asked Syl one afternoon. He could tell by her disgruntled, immensely irate expression that she thought he was a paranoid ninny, but it was better to be safe than sorry. ”Same. I’d tell you otherwise, ya shit.” She’d always used that sort of language. Salem figured it was endearing, if that’s what you were in to. Joey still seemed to enjoy her, but maybe that had to do with their blood bond thing that he’d never really experienced. The closest thing he had to family was Dinah. ”Good, that’s good,” Salem sighed. Somehow he was always relieved when the news was good, even if he’d been expecting it. Bella suddenly chimed in, laughing, ”Good? It’s fantastic. Now we’re all stuck in Valkyrie together,” She jumped up on the bed of the apartment, jolting Syl upwards. She snarled, almost like a feral cat, ”Calm down, dumb bitch.” Salem glared at her, ”Name calling?” Syl only glared at him back, her eyes burning with rage and annoyance. It was amusing when she got that way, to say the least. ”What are you guys doing today?” he changed the subject, not really caring. ”We’re gonna paint the town red tonight,” Bella grinned. Syl rolled her eyes, ”I’m going to ditch her while she thinks we’re doing that.” Salem groaned, ”Fuck, well what can I do around this place? It’s all… broken.” Bella walked up to him then, putting her hands on either side of his face, ”I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she said much too seriously. The blonde came up from behind, clutching a hold of the brunette’s arm, ”Let’s go, Barbie,” she snapped impatiently. Bella started snickering, waving at Salem as they walked out, obvious mocking plastered across her face. Well, at least she was… decent. Syl always was in a bad mood.

There really weren’t that many options, at least none that seemed appealing. Always having been slightly obsessive over his appearance, Salem settled to go for a jog. It would keep him fit, it was something totally normal to do, and there was a great view if he did so along the beach. Not to mention running was one of the few things he could do that would clear his mind. So he made his way back to his own place, finding it empty. Dinah was pretty self-reliant. She did her own thing. He changed into an outfit that suited a quick work out, deciding to save the ladies from having heart hemorrhages by keeping his shirt on. It looked like it was a nice day out, so that was a plus. The ex-military operant left the dingy, abandoned warehouse he and Dinah were currently residing in, deciding to jog all the way down to the first bus stop, and riding it to the beach. Normally he’d jog the whole way, but it just didn’t seem like a realistic thing to do if he also wanted to enjoy it himself. The bus ride wasn’t too crowded, probably because a lot of people were at work and it really wasn’t “rush hour.” He took a seat, staring out the window, his eyes glued to the destruction that still befell upon the city. There was debris, broken buildings, fallen trees, the whole package. They were working at getting Valkyrie back into tip top shape, however, so he had to give these natives some credit. They’d been through a lot, and the town was already looking a whole lot better than it did just after the earthquake hit. They’d been making some damn fine progress, actually, and he realized how hard everybody who lived in this zip code had been working to give Valkyrie back to her picturesque glory. The beach came into view, and he was relieved to see that it was still quite the looker, and if the earthquake had done anything to harm its appearance, well it still prevailed and looked like something off a postcard. This wasn’t the worst place to end up, much better than Needles, California or Nebraska. All those little, hood rat towns weren’t exactly places he’d appreciated living. Valkyrie, however? He could get used to this… though he had to remind himself that was unrealistic because he’d never had the luxury of being able to stay in one place for an extended period of time.

The beach wasn’t as crowded as Salem had expected, which really wasn’t all that much to begin with. He began his jog in silence, enjoying the tranquility of the natural noises; waves tumbling onto the sand, the seagulls crying, chattering, joyous voices, it was all things he missed, things he missed about being free. His mind began to wander, back to his childhood, on through his adolescence, and into his adulthood. Salem began to realize that he’d really never had this movie like lifestyle before; he’d never had these opportunities. Life had started out in a foster home for him, and he jumped around in them up until he was eighteen, facing physical and mental abuse along the way. He’d turned out all right though, no damaged goods, just pure perfection. Yeah, he’d never had the best morals, but everybody went through those sorts of phases. It was human nature, wasn’t it? But after he’d finally gotten out of the foster care program, he’d jumped right into the navy, and from the navy he’d been recruited straight into his alpha team special tasks group as an artillery expert. Oh guns, he sure had a knack for guns. Salem could put one together with his eyes closed. Sure, he never really looked like the most brilliant guy around, but when it came to his artillery, he had his facts down like the back of his hand. It was his area of expertise, the one calling he’d really had in life. Not to mention having that gift only brought him to the best people he’d ever met, the other three members of his team. And that only lead him to think about their missions, all the good times, the one hundred percent success rate they’d maintained. That was where the positive memories ended though, and everything went to shit afterwards. A couple corrupt officials and a bastard general later and Salem and the rest of his team were all being framed for felonies they’d never committed. They’d gone on the run, and not long after, two members of the group were killed, leaving only him and Dinah. Just as he was starting to get angry, thinking about it all, something distracted him.

A god damn paper flew right into his face.

Salem stopped dead in his tracks, his hands reaching up to pull the paper away that had glued itself to his head. He looked down at it for a second. Girl’s handwriting, obviously, and it looked pretty important. It was only when he looked upward a few moments later that he saw the origin of the untimely distraction. Papers were floating about in the ocean breeze, and there was a young woman and a dog chasing after them. Suppressing his amusement, Salem jogged out, picking up all the papers that had flown in his direction to return to the dame. He caught a few in the air, jumping only slightly for a few. He thought he’d grabbed them all, only stopping to scoop up a few closer towards her, laughing quietly as he saw the perky canine attempting to help, ”I believe these are yours,” he said, holding the bundle of papers out to her, holding back a cocky smile, ”You should probably keep a tighter hold on them for future reference.” His tone was totally friendly, his eyes sparkling with delight. It wasn’t often that he got to interact with the common public.
[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

status• finished.
tagged• sizzle!
comments• sorry it’s awkward?
attire•hurr!
credits•format inspired by vsiders. banner goes to lainey.

[elizabeth sirena hughes]

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------ You know, while there were many, MANY factors that led to Liz finally being able to get her life on some sort of track, there a few that stood out the most. Kenneth Hughes, her best friend and only confidante in her life, he never wanted the Siren world for her. He never wanted her exposed, even though he was a part of it. A willing participant. He would have been angry knowing it almost killed her on several occasions and by her own hand. Yeah, that was something she was ashamed of. She had attempted to take her own life. Twice. The first time, she wanted Darren to kill her but Riley Turner just HAD to come along, and she ended up killing Darren. The second time, she was going to be more proactive. Iz had just been killed, Liz knew it was her fault, she still did. She had gone to the edge of a cliff and then again, Riley had to follow her. He pulled her back, which happens to be why he was another one of those stand out factors in how she got herself more together. She still wondered about Riley. Where he was? How was he? What ever happened with his baby mama? Stuff like that. They had had one of the most confusing and frustrating and oddly caring relationships the world had ever seen. There were only two other factors that changed who she was forever and got her to a better place.

------ Her family. All of it, in a way. Her father had finally let them go. And while that helped, what she really meant by family was Orion, Wid, Donny and even the Richardson, Jasper. They were her family now. Orion might have been in prison but he was still there for her and while she could easily protect herself, it was a nice feeling to have someone who got overprotective of her. It was annoying but felt so normal for a brother and sister. She had never had much of normal, especially not in the family realm. Although, that's pretty clear by the basic histories wasn't it? After all, the only reason she and Orion ever even gained any sort of relationship other than blood, was the fact that he was assigned to kill her five years ago. And Donny?! Oh god, Donny, his sister, his best friend in the world, his sister who was the sweetest girl in the world, she was killed as revenge for something LIZ did, and he still forgave her. He still helped her. He still loved her after that? That was when Liz knew, finally knew and grasped that she was not alone as she had felt since Kenny's death. She knew she had family. It was a strange, broken, unconventional family that knew blood was not the definition of their bond, but it was still a family. Through and through. Widow was also a surprise, especially when Wid finally became cornered enough to admit that she was always so mean to Liz because she was still jealous and Liz finally grasped how hard it must have been for Widow to come to Valkyrie. They still fought and clashed but at least now they knew that they were still family.

------ Despite all these revelations, Liz was still just sad most of the time. She did not feel much like trying for anything. She felt like it was pointless. She kept waiting for her father to send someone after them and say "surprise! he lied, he's never letting you go." Part of her, even then, still believed that but before... depression. It's a killer. You want to know what the last piece of the puzzle was? I'll give you a hint. He was just at that moment skip, hopping to try to catch papers in the air with his mouth and wagging his tail as if it was a blast. That dog. Something about Silver got to Liz. Weird how a pet can just save a person. Maybe it was the unconditional love dogs gave their owners? Perhaps it was how he loved everyone but still favored her? Or maybe it was because she could tell him everything and it would never change her opinion of her and she knew he would try to kill anyone who hurt her. She was his pack. All she knew was that Silver was a dog missing a hind leg with scars from a rough past of being beaten and yet he was still warm and friendly to everyone... That was something to be admired. She saw Silver as someone from a similar world, who came out, in her eyes, perfect just the way he was. She only hoped she could become that strong.

------ But while Silver was having fun in the wind of the beach, Liz was not. She could not lose this work. The brunette went after the papers, noticing a young man, maybe a year or two older than her, grabbing some of the further away ones. When he came over to her and handed her the papers, she instantly placed them in the pile of them tucked under her right arm. ”I believe these are yours,” Liz nodded, "Yeah, thank you." She replied, not coldly but not exactly warmly. More of a simple polite socially required response. ”You should probably keep a tighter hold on them for future reference.” Liz finally took a moment to actually smile and look up at the guy, "Hard to do when this guy keeps bringing me gifts." She added, not even kidding. She tried to straighten the papers out a bit as Silver ran over and straight to the new guy. He did his sort of half hind leg stand. He could never get very high or stay up very long for the obvious reasons. Liz shook her head, "Silver..." She said in a warning tone. The Golded dropped straight to the ground, not attempting to be literally on the man, but sitting right on the ground in front of him, looking up, panting and wagging his tail as Liz finally got the papers to be semi-neat looking.

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STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; salem<3
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'drag you down' by Shirock
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; late! sorry.