themusemanor | PSL - Ashley Magnus | Helen Magnus ---> stay in this moment for the rest of my life

She wasn't supposed to be there. Helen knew she needed to stay as far away from Old City as she could, especially now. If any of her staff saw her -- if Ashley saw her -- she couldn't guarantee what would happen. The way her actions here might tug at the timeline... It was a risk she shouldn't be taking.

And yet, there she was, tracking a particularly difficult Abnormal, one that had been captured while she was off in a Sanctuary meeting. She'd never really been told who had captured it, but as long as the creature had been captured alive and well, she hadn't particularly cared back then. She'd just assumed Ashley had done it. Now that she was here again, and on the other side of it, she was beginning to wonder if the future Helen Magnus of her time had been the one to do it.

If so, that meant she had to do it this time. Which was entirely why she was there now, tracking it. She'd already spent time steeling herself against the possibility of seeing Ashley. She'd stolen glimpses of her daughter's life once before, from a long way off, but she hadn't risked anything closer and that had been difficult enough. Now, she was risking running into her daughter head-on and Helen had no idea what that might to do her.

At least she'd had the presence of mind to dye her hair red again before she made her way to start this mission. Hopefully if she did run into Ashley, she could pretend to be Helen Bancroft a little easier.

Taking a deep breath and making sure her gun was fully loaded with tranq rounds, Helen headed into the warehouse, crossing her gun over her flashlight and pointing both in front of her. With luck, she could get this done and over without incident.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When the tip had come in Ashley had thought it would be a simple enough mission, she'd bag the ghoul and then bring it home for her mom. With luck she'd have enough time to go check out some new weapons that had just come on the market, but no - tonight she wasn't lucky. Ashley was beginning to realize that this abnormal was going to be a lot more difficult. She had debated calling to the Sanctuary for back up, but decided against it - for now at least. She'd wait until she knew more about the abnormal before doing that. Besides she was thriving off the thrill of the hunt, adrenaline was pumping through her veins and she was loving it.

She had followed the abnormal to a warehouse, and entered it - her flashlight and gun at the ready. She thought she had seen a shadow near the entrance before she had gone in - but it was probably nothing. Unless the abnormal was planning a surprise for her, but could it really be that smart?

Helen had decided she would drop her British accent and adopt a more Canadian / American one if she did run into Ashley. She was hoping she wouldn't and she'd have the Abnormal caught and waiting for Ashley when her daughter arrived.

But life was never that easy, was it? The Abnormal -- a smaller cousin of the one that had given her team so many issues in the other warehouse that day not long ago -- wasn't taking her answers. It was just as resistant to stunners and electricity, leaving Helen with very few options. Trapping it seemed to be the most ideal way to go about this at the moment. A container on the other side of the building would work.

She was making her quick and quiet way across to it when she saw more light entering from the door she'd just come from. Oh no. That had to be Ashley. Helen's breath caught painfully in her chest and for a moment, she paused, instinct warring with one of her biggest desires. She wanted to see Ashley, to talk to her, just once. Maybe it would be enough. Maybe she could save--

In her momentary distraction, something had snuck up on her, slamming into her with the force of a small whirlwind. Helen cried out, flying into one of the shelving units to the side, and for a moment she had to pause to catch her breath. She shot a few tranq rounds in the direction of the Abnormal, hoping to deter it from following her. Once she was sure it was gone, she picked herself up.

That could have gone better and with her luck, Ashley was right around the corner. She wasn't going to get out of this easily.

PSL - Ashley Magnus | Helen Magnus ---> stay in this moment for the rest of my life

/crawls from the ashes!

/squishes with love ♥