[the den] too late to turn back | this is the payback. [jane]

It had been some time since Jane and Darren had broken up and yet it seemed some things would never change. Despite the fact that she utterly frustrated him nine times out of ten she was still one of his favorite drinking buddies. He always knew she could handle herself, there was no cleaning up or taking care of, and Darren appreciated that. He didn't really have the disposition for being paternal, at least not in the traditional sense, and caring for others was always a strain on him. He cared for his brothers in the same way a bomb cared for the land it descended upon, destroying it and paving way for new growth and strength.

A few weeks had passed since the two former lovers had run into one another on a job and things had gotten a bit... weird since. While neither one of them seemed interested in getting back together there was the feeling of a familiar friendship budding in their conversations. Of course the alcohol helped but if Darren was being honest he was happy they had come this far. He still stood his ground, knowing not being with Jane was the best idea, but it didn't make the loss of her friendship any less real. The two trouble makers had been in arms for as long as he could remember and he acutely felt the hole she had left behind. Maybe romance wasn't in the cards for them but he hoped a different kind of partnership might be. She was good at a lot of things and he was good at all sorts of other things and the dark wizard knew there was money to be made in that.

"So you see we could easily get in through here, and back out through here." He told her, his wand marking spots on a magical map laid out on the grimy table before them as he took another shot almost as soon as the waiter dropped it off to him. As much as he wanted this to be easy it just wasn't, there was too much history between them for it to be easy and alcohol helped. "What do you think?" He asked as he waited for her to down another tiny glass of what he was sure was the most potent of wizarding drinks. The den didn't serve anything watered down and neither did Darren.

In a way, Jane was grateful to Darren for breaking her heart. She likened the experience to the death and rebirth of a phoenix. As dramatic as it sounded, she had actually felt as if she'd wanted to die when he'd left. She had thought that she had been in love with him since they were fourteen, after all. But, here she was and she was better than ever. She was in a new relationship, and she was actually happier with him than she'd ever been with anyone else. She loved travelling and exploring with Piers, and she also loved that they actually got along. There were things that they disagreed about, from time to time, but they never really fought the way that she had always seemed to with Darren.

Though, of course, Piers also didn't do things that made her think that he was being unfaithful. The blonde couldn't prove it, but she was of the belief that her ex-boyfriend and now-drinking buddy had cheated on her. It wasn't hard to imagine. She'd known him since first year. She knew how he was with women, and she had been stupid for thinking that she was anything special or different from the rest of them. It didn't bother her as much, now, as it had a year ago. At least enough time had passed that she didn't feel the compulsion to carve his heart out of his chest with a rusty knife, and so that was progress.

Instead, the two were planning their next business move. She nodded along as he spoke. There was just one little thing. Aeric had taught her to always play it safe when it came to things like this. She couldn't afford to be reckless.

"Anticipate any surprises? We should see if there are alternate routes. Just in case." Jane managed a small smile. "I am bad luck, you know." With that, she downed her shot. Her face never moved, but she did reach for her chaser.

"That's right you are," He said to her with a typical Darren smirk before knocking back the last of her beer and chasing it with a shot. "Jane Lennon, my bad luck charm." He had reached the weightless, hopeful part of tonight's buzz and joking with her like they were old friends some how seemed appropriate. He raised a few fingers in the air toward the waitress to order more drinks for the table but was barely paying attention to the service staff. Instead he was looking back at the map before them. Typically he'd be cautious talking about these sorts of things in a public place but the Den wasn't really a public place. Honestly it was probably where half of the criminal activity in England was planned out. No one spoke about what they heard but everyone was listening. It was like fighting fire with fire, the only way to keep another thief from stealing your target was to announce the plan, even just a little.

"Should be a back door here connecting to a potions shop that's been abandoned for a few months, thank you protests." Darren said with little care about what the protests were actually about. He stayed current enough to keep the aurors off his back, he didn't care if someone was trying to save the lives of dragons or keep pgymy puffs off the street. They were all a means to an end. If their scales provided some leverage, some strength, to a potion then he agreed with using them. He wasn't insensitive to the creatures and beasts of the magical world, he'd feel the same way if it was ingredients from a human. Whatever had to be done to win, that was what mattered.

And that was why he called Jane in on this job. She had a particular skill set and he was hoping to utilize it. They might need another hand, but they could always figured that part out later. "Getting out won't be the problem, shouldn't be. Moving the merchandise might be. I've got a buyer lined up but the way he is drooling for this stuff is too good to be true." Darren didn't trust anyone, except for maybe Ryan. He definitely didn't trust a stranger who sought him out looking to steal something. "Guy said his wife got the house, the elf, and all the stuff in the divorce and he wants this back but I dunno' it smells fishy."

"You think any of your contacts might be interested?"

Jane's smile widened at the words from her, well... she supposed that she could call him her friend again, couldn't she? "I always do manage to save our asses at the last possible second, though, don't I?" Before he could answer, she answered for him, "Yes, I do. Thank-you-very-much."

The blonde woman leaned over the map a little more, studying it as Darren spoke. She and her friend, Tock, had been a part of the protests that he was speaking of. She nodded along as he spoke, and immediately someone did come to mind. She reached for the next shot that the waitress brought over, and quickly downed it before taking another drink from her chaser. "D'you still talk to Piers Lovell? I've been doing some work with him since I left the auror department, and I'm sure this would be right up his alley. You know he's always been the adventurous, troublemaking type." Their old friend was just that. Which was exactly her type, as anyone who knew the former Gryffindor knew. Recently, she and Piers had even been talking about moving in together, and she surprised even herself when she found that she was actually looking forward to the idea. She loved the thought of waking up with him every day and going to bed with him every night. She really thought that he might be "the one."

The only other person that she could think of to ask for assistance with such a venture was Ryan, but she doubted that he'd want to get tangled up in anything like this right now. He was focused on Justin, and, while Jane sometimes felt replaced, she was more than happy for him. He was her best friend, and he deserved all of the happiness in the world. Justin was good to him, and he was mostly good to Justin. She wasn't sure if Darren knew about that either, honestly. They'd kept a lot from him since he'd disappeared.

"I'll probably see Piers tomorrow. He's supposed to come over for a little while to hang out." She informed him, hoping that he wouldn't jump to any (correct) conclusions. "I could ask him then, if you wanted?"

He stared at her from behind his newly filled mug, foam hops crawling up his nose as he did, before setting the glass down and smiling. "Maybe you do, but we wouldn't need saving if you didn't get us into some shit in the first place." He laughed, low and real and in a way he really only did with her. During his new found life he didn't laugh unless it was at another person's pain. There wasn't humor or lightness in the Devil's army, especially not under Grisha the Grim's tutelage. It was nice to laugh again. "Do you remember Hackney?" He asked with a laugh, reveling in the memory of the night they had taken a wrong turn out of Shoreditch, a town where they were known and protected, and into Hackney. "You said pizza -- this way, next thing I know were being chased by fool muggles with knives." They made it out just fine, a story to remember and laugh about but in Darren's selective memory it had been her fault. Reality was usually a different story.

Such was true for so many things having to do with the two of them.

Reality was a bitch.

"Piers" He asked, hoping he'd heard her wrong. Of course Darren remembered him, he was like a brother, a running mate, a trusted friend back in Hogwarts. What was she doing still hanging around him? Were they friendly now... Were they more? Darren's drunk mind started to spiral as another tray of shots was brought to their table and instead of doing the responsibile thing he took another shot. "Yeah, I mean if you want. You think he can move it?" Darren was always on the offensive sober or not and this would be no different. "Can he be trusted?" It was a pointed question. Jane grew up in the same rough neighborhoods as he did, under the same stupid absent parental types, no one could be trusted. Her answer would tell him everything.

"But did you die? No." Jane grinned. "As a matter of fact, why is it that you tell it as if it's always my fault? There were plenty of times when you got us into trouble. I distinctly remember receiving a month's worth of detentions because you and Piers convinced me that we should explore the Forbidden Forest in second year. Remember that? Hmmm?" She laughed with him a little bit. This was sort of nice.

Or at least it had been until she saw that familiar flash of discontent across Darren's already dark features. She tried not to look nervous or guilty but was failing miserably in her buzzed state. She reached for another shot and drank it, deciding on how she should approach this situation.

After sipping on her chaser for a moment, she spoke again. Her face had involuntarily lit up at the mention of her former housemate, and she was afraid that it was too late to dissuade Darren from whatever (again, correct) conclusion that he had come to. "Yeah. We do a lot of treasure-hunting sort of jobs. He's really good; would probably be a big help." The only complication would be trying to pretend as if nothing was going on, if Darren hadn't already caught on to them. "Of course he can be trusted. It's Piers. We've known him since we were firsties."

That was precisely why she'd been so surprised, a year ago, when their friend and her current lover/boyfriend had offered a physical sort of comfort after Darren had seemingly vanished from their lives for months at a time. She had never suspected that he'd have ever had any sort of sexual or romantic interest in her while they had attended Hogwarts together. It wasn't as if he'd never had the opportunity to get close to her.

Whenever she and her mum and whatever sleazy "stepdad" was in the picture would fight during the summer holiday, she'd always had a home with the Lovells. She and Piers would stay up late and roam the streets of London together, often with Darren as well. She and Piers had always been close, particularly due to the fact that he was much more emotionally available than Darren, and she concluded that that was probably why their relationship was working so well. They genuinely cared for one another, and she knew that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. She doubted that he'd even let anything bad happen to Darren or to Ryan if he could help it.

"I trust him."

"No but I did get stabbed two weeks later." He said, lifting his shirt to show her the scar on his abdomen that she had probably seen a hundred times by now. Hidden behind fresh bruises and cuts courtesy of his 'training' it was relatively small. Compared to all of the other scars it had healed nicely, thanks to Jane's quick thinking on that particular night. All of these things reminded him of all the time they had shared. Fighting, bickering, loving, everything. It was like a memory that shouldn't belong to him now. He felt like he'd stolen it from someone. It was easier to swallow that way.

"You trust him?" He asked again, forcing her to repeat herself even though all he would hear is that she was fucking him. Having no right to hold such thoughts didn't deter him from harboring them. Not in this moment at least. The weightlessness he'd been feeling moments ago was lost to him and he felt like he was sinking. He'd lost touch with Piers, like everyone else including his own family, when he'd joined the army and in a way it was a blessing but in some ways it was crippling. Constantly he was reminded about how much they had all moved on without him. It was grounding. It was sickening. Darren used to be the top dog, the most important Hadditch in the room, but now they all had their own things going on.

But that was just another reason he kept fighting, kept rising, forged by terror and remade into a sharper weapon than he had ever been. He was nothing more than a school yard bully before but now he was something more. And so was she. Jane seemed happier than he ever remembered her being and a tiny, thawed out part of his heart knew that was a good thing. Knew he should be happy for her but instead he was jealous. He was always jealous.  "What exactly makes him qualified for this?"

Jane didn't allow her gaze to linger on Darren's defined abdomen like she would have over a year ago, but she did visibly cringe at how the scar still looked. She might not have been in love with him anymore, but she still cared for him and worried about how he was doing and if he was going to get himself hurt-- or worse. That was why she couldn't seem to stay away when he'd shown interest in trying out their friendship one more time, a few weeks ago. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, the Hadditches would always have a special place in her heart. Especially Darren.

Which is why it was a little distressing to see that look on his face and hear that tone. He knew. She knew that he knew. She knew that look. It was the same look he always had whenever she'd talk to him about any of her love interests prior to him. Her face paled slightly, and she took one more shot for courage. "Yes, I trust him. Why wouldn't I? He's never wronged me." She felt her heart start to race a little and she was struggling to keep her composure. "Qualified? Well, he did always help us with whatever shenanigans that we were getting into when we were younger. Why not now? Right? It'll be almost like the good old days... Almost." Should she just tell him? Or would that do more damage than good? Her brain was fuzzy from the alcohol, and she couldn't think of how best to handle this new dynamic.

No. She'd wait for him to accuse her, if he even bothered. She'd heard about his new girlfriend, and so she wasn't even really sure why he was acting so put-off over this. She'd heard that Eva had already moved in with him and everything. Slowly, her guilt was replaced by outrage. Sure, he hadn't explicitly vocalized that he was bothered, but she could see it in his face. Usually, Darren was so good at hiding his emotions. Get a little bit of drink in him, though, and he was an easy read. Jane knew this because she was the same way.

Shit... Here we go.

"I mean qualified to help with this job?" Darren corrected before attempting to take another drink from his cup, it seemed like it was always empty. He stared down the dark dryness of the mug and took a moment before setting it down on the table. That split second gave him a chance to contemplate and really think about what she was saying to him. It wasn't really what she was saying but what she wasn't that had shown him her cards and he shook his head when the realization started to sink in. "Seriously Jane?" He asked, not because he didn't think they deserved each other but because this was business.

"You should know better..." He scolded, flagging down the waitress with considerably more aggression than he was harboring only moments ago. Maybe her and Piers would be good for each other. They both deserved to find that person and Darren was clearly incapable of being it for anyone. He always fell short when it came to Jane and with Eva it was even worse but the Russian seemed to enjoy the bad as much as she did the good. She was just as broken as he was. Never the less it didn't matter if Jane and Piers were a good match. Darren didn't want to think about it, not even for a second, but that wasn't even what made him the most upset.

"You can't vouch for a wizard and bed him at the same time." He couldn't stop himself from shaking his head at her again, like some how he had the right. "Not when you look like that when your talking about him." Even at his worst, drunk as hell, Darren was more observant than the next ten wizards put together. He saw it all over her face, saw how she spoke about Piers. He wasn't just some old friend she'd been doing odd jobs with. He was more and that was dangerous.

"He and I have been doing quite a few jobs together over the last year." Jane shrugged. She knew where he was going with this. He didn't take long, and she found herself just quietly listening, for once, and letting him get it all out. Looking back, she wasn't really sure what she'd seen in Darren over Piers. Her current boyfriend had always been the better listener. He'd even been her first kiss, though Darren didn't know that. At least, she didn't think that he knew. Piers not turning up to class with a black eye was a good indication that their secret had been kept safe at least in school.

This, on the other hand... This, she had known, had always just been a matter of time. He was going to find out at some point. She supposed that it was better that it came from her. Besides, it wasn't even as if it was anything that she truly had to be ashamed of. She had been completely loyal to Darren, even when she had doubted his own loyalty at times. Him leaving confirmed her fears, at least in her mind. This was really the last lecture that she wanted to hear.

"Actually, I can." She narrowed her eyes at him a little. At first, she had felt bad. Now, he was just being downright petty. "He's a freelance curse breaker. I think he'd be great for this sort of thing, if you can just, please, set your ego aside for even a millisecond. You are the one who left me and started dating someone else. So, I really don't know why you're acting like this. We're all adults here. Right?"

"Ego?" He asked her, his eyes incredulous but naturally she would assume that was what was standing in his way. Darren didn't pretend to be a good man, he was jealous and he was a liar, but he was smart too. Ego had nothing to do with this. This was business. "How about you stop assuming every thought I have is in some way about you." He snapped back at her. "This has nothing to do with us." Of course it had maybe a little bit to do with them but Darren was like a dog with a bone now and he wasn't finished. "I left you because it was the right thing to do." Now he was trying to hurt her. The same way she was trying to hurt him. Eventually all roads lead to this. It was always something between the two of them. Like a moth to the flames Darren could never resist being burned. Especially not when it came to do. "I was trying to do something with my life, something I couldn't do stuck in Shoreditch."

"And Eva, I just met her like a month ago don't pretend like it's some thing. I don't even know her last name." Sure it had been more than a month, but it felt like no time at all. He barely knew the witch and both of them seemed completely content to keep it that way. He knew her in all the ways that mattered. Matter of fact he knew her very well in those ways. Darren knew Jane had always been suspicious of him but he'd stopped caring long ago. He couldn't change her mind regardless of the fact that he actually had never cheated on her. Not that he didn't have opportunity, but he never did. But if she was going to keep thinking it he was all done trying to correct her. She never really listened to him anyway.

"So basically what your saying is your good with risking all of our lives because you want your boyfriend to be invited?" He shook his head again. "Real nice Jane."

"It was the right thing to do. You're right, Darren. It was the best thing that you have ever done for me." Jane's voice took an icy tone as she sat back in her chair. Fury burned in her chest. "Well, I'm not stuck in Shoreditch now either. Maybe I wasn't the problem? I travel all over the world, now. With Piers." I don't need you. That was the message that she was trying to convey, now. She wanted to hurt him just like he'd hurt her.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Spare me. I don't care about who you're shagging. I only brought her up to make a point." Waving her hand dismissively, she sat up in her chair once more. She was beginning to have her doubts about this budding business partnership already.

"It wouldn't exactly be a risk. Piers really knows what he's doing. Besides, I thought you two were mates? Or did that change in the last five minutes?" If he thought that he was going to talk down to her like this then he had another thing coming. Who did he think he was?

Why was she even there with him? "Maybe this was a bad idea?" The blonde started to get up from her seat, setting enough money down onto the table to cover her portion of the bill. The last thing that she needed was to give Darren something else to hold over her head. "You seem a little hostile for someone preaching professionalism."

Everything Jane did, said, or implied had a way of getting under his skin. She had always had that innate ability and for most of their lives he'd allowed it. Everything with Jane had been different, on special terms he reserved only for her, but now that was different too. Sure they had their history and they always would and yes she was a part of the Hadditch family but she was no longer his Jane. She was someone else he barely recognized. Idly he wondered if she felt the same way about him but the thought passed almost as quickly as it arrived. Darren was still angry with her about the things she had said, angry that she chose this moment to bring up her new boy toy, and most of all angry that she thought mixing business was a good idea. Darren had learned better, or at least he thought he had.

"I'm hostile because your acting like a crazy bitch again." He said to her, not under his breath, not side ways, directly at her as she got up from the table. He wasn't some punk kid she could talk to like she owned. She didn't control him anymore. "And apparently your above this conversation and not interested in making money so go ahead, walk out." He waved flippantly toward the door, a cracked knuckle among a sea of bruised ones breaking open as he did but Darren didn't even blink. "Go on I won't stop you."

"I'll just find some other chick to play your part." And with that he looked away from her, lit a cigarette from the pack he'd left sitting on the table and leaned back in his chair to enjoy it. One arm draped over the back of the sticky pub chair and the other pulling the stick from his lips he let the smoke linger around his face for a moment. He was over her shit, she wanted to leave he wouldn't beg her to stay. If she wanted to stay, he wouldn't tell her to go. He was done trying to tell Jane what to do. She never listened anyway.

"Ohhh, you haven't even seen crazy, Darren Hadditch." Jane sneered at him, her right hand balling into a fist. This was it. Should she walk out the door and stop speaking to him again, or did she forgive his behavior? After all, he was drunk. She was, too. Too drunk, right now, to angrily stomp out of a bar on Knockturn Alley alone. It wasn't really the sort of place that a someone, especially someone with ties to the Order, should be wandering around whilst alone and intoxicated. It actually bothered her a little, with that thought in mind, that Darren hadn't really tried to stop her. He seemed indifferent, in fact.

She sat back down, observing him lighting his cigarette. "Whatever." After a well-placed eye-roll in his general direction, the blonde woman reached across the table to snatch one of his cigarettes out of his pack. She'd been trying to quit, but he was pissing her off. They always did this, but this time it was different. This time, she couldn't help but wonder if he would actually have cared if she left. It almost made her want to give up. Why bother, right? After taking his lighter as well, Jane lit her stolen cigarette and took a long, satisfying drag.

"It's cute that you act like I couldn't pull this off without you. I think I've more than proven that I thrive without you. I've never needed you. I just wanted you around." She still did. Platonically. But, she wasn't going to tell him that. She didn't want to give him any more power than he already had. She truly had done very well since he had left, however. Her new, tailored robes evidenced that, as well as her general aura and demeanor. She had a glow about her that she'd never had before. Or, at least she did when she wasn't absolutely drunk and furious.

Taking another drag, she scooted her chair in. "Let's finish up so that I can get home."

She said he hadn't seen crazy but all he could do was shake his head and laugh. He'd seen plenty of crazy come out of her over the years he felt like the world's leading expert on Insane-Jane logic. Of course he couldn't say anything to that fact right now, unless he was itching to get smacked. He took a drag from his cigarette even as she stole his pack and something rang true in his gut. This was more like how it used to be between them. Bickering one second, sharing cigarettes and trash talk the next, it was a give and take but it was nice. Far better than not talking to her at all. Even though she pissed him off pretty much all of the time he some how found her opinions mattered. How could they not after all of these years.

"You think you could? be my guest." He told her, pushing again. If she wanted to run off and do the job without him she could but it'd be the last time she ever got a line from him. And he'd do everything in his power to make sure she never got one from anyone else too. Darren wasn't exactly a top dog player in the crime scene but he knew enough people, enough middle management, to put a serious dent in her cash flow. He motioned again toward the door, the ash of his cigarette flicking off and falling to the ground. He took another hit of it, making sure the hot was still in tact before blowing out a large cloud of smoke and speaking.

"If you wanna' do this then bring Piers in, we can plan it out and make some money."