I sighed, “Well… does anything in our life go according to what should be?” Drunk me snorted, “No.” Eric said, “I’m sorry, what? Your wolf is white? Partly white?” I shook my head, “Nope… I’m the white wolf.” I shifted into Freya.
Several people jumped backwards while Eric sat down. So did my family while I shifted back. The other me said, “It’s cool, right? In my own head I’m a legend. I mean… I kind of am… I run the Resistance… it’s not really a legend… I don’t know where I was going with that. Hey… where’s my backpack? I need another drink.”
I told her, “I’m not in your head.” Drunk me waved saying, “Ok… sure… whatever. Did you find Xander on our birthday too?” I cringed, “No.” She frowned, “How old are you?” I answered, “I’m twenty.”
Xander asked, “When did we find each other?” I answered, “A few weeks ago….” He growled angrily. Cayden said, “Ashley, I mean Melanie, your friends are in the Hackura realm. We are GOING to attack Black Path.”
I told them, “My Warriors won’t fight you. So… it won’t be much of a fight.” My dad said, “Your warriors?” I shrugged, “Hers… Same difference… sort of.” Jason asked, “Can we go back to you somehow being the leader of the Resistance?” I shrugged, “What about it?”
Jason scoffed, “Umm, off the top of my head HOW did you start it?” I thought about it then answered, “That’s complicated.” EJ pressed, “Can you uncomplicate it?” I started to say, “I mean…” A glass dropped and I turned around.
Someone I’d saved was trying to bring snacks to the Alpha’s. She whispered, “You’re Red One. You saved me.” I nodded, “Yeah… that’s me too. Hi… it’s actually her in this reality.” I pointed at the other me. The woman gaped between both of us.
Eric groaned, “Are you fucking kidding me?” I shrugged, “Nope.” Micah asked, “How do you get your information, Ash. I mean Melanie, good lord.” I told him, “Lots of coding…and knowing people’s cell phone numbers. I hacked into the network of the Ring. I have a virus that is slowly going through their networks and taking down their information. I can’t go too fast, or they’d notice.”
Micah gaped at me. EJ asked, “How are you getting away from us as our sniper when you watch out for us?” Tristan yelled, “THE SNIPER?! AS IN OUR SNIPER?!” EJ nodded. The other me skipped back over to Xander.
I thought she wasn’t going to answer but then she said, “I don’t always get away… but Demons, holoports…. then my personal favorite… sometimes I just climb a tree and wait for you to leave… Seriously you guys spend forever at a site sometimes. It’s annoying.”
EJ raised an eyebrow, “We would’ve smelled you.” The other me took out her concealing spray and used it on him. I rubbed my temples while my mate’s brother raised an eyebrow. Elise said, “EJ, you don’t smell like anything.” The other me winked.
I shook my head. Micah asked, “Can you show me your network?” The other me laughed, “Of course I can! This is a fun weird state drunk land I’m in… I don’t want to leave though.” I sighed, “It’s not drunk land… it’s real.”
She snorted, “Sure… oh dang. I’m supposed to fight in an hour. I have to leave drunk land. Of course.” I bit my lip. Xander growled, “What fight? You’re not going anywhere!” The other me kissed his cheek before admitting, “I wish I didn’t… but I have to go fight.”
Drunk me pushed back and said, “Onward to the Undergrounds where I get the crap beat out of me then win the fight!” I tried to just slowly slink back towards the opposite door she was heading for. Arms gripped me from behind.
I spun around and my eyes widened. I wasn’t getting away because it was Bjourn holding me back. He asked, “Where do you think you’re going?” I answered, “Back to my reality?” Bjourn chuckled, “I think you’ll need to explain a few more things for the other you who is now passed out in my nephews’ arms.”
I turned around again to see the other me had passed out and everyone was still pretty pissed off. Xander’s eyes hadn’t stopped blazing. Cayden asked me, “What fight is she talking about?” Dad growled, “What does she mean getting the crap beat out of her before winning?”
I pursed my lips, “I’m not… really… sure… how… to explain… exactly… this… it’s… well….” EJ interrupted, “How did you explain it in your reality?” Haley snorted, “I seriously doubt she has.” I pointed at her, “She’s right, I haven’t. Truthfully, I hope not to… it was a whole thing. There were the wedding rings perpetuating my feelings of self-hatred and doubt.”
“I thought my family, except Jason, had died and everyone blamed me. Hell, I blamed me. It was a way to earn money… well… eventually. At first it wasn’t a choice… there was the whole sold to the Undergrounds thing, but I flipped it on them and started making money.”
“Actually, to fund the Resistance… or pay back the loan… I used to start it… then funded it… I did stop fighting that way when Xander asked me to… if that counts… I think it does…a little bit… it just hasn’t happened here yet… so… yeah.” They all gave me that look that said keep talking because this was bad.
I hummed, “Ok… well… this has been fun… but I’m going to figure out how to get back home… to my reality…. where people don’t know all these things…. or look at me like I disappointed them… by letting people beat me up… yeah. I’m just going to avoid that look on all your faces from the whole Underground fighting explanation thing.”
Xander growled, “What do you mean when I asked you to stop?” I sighed, “Well, technically you asked the sniper… who is me. You left me messages… I listened to them…. all.” Jason pointed out, “You are a lot more snarky than the Ladybug I remember. The rambling is the same though.”
I sighed, “Look, I’m not normally this snarky… to good people… bad people… it’s pretty on par. They hate me… and I don’t… well I hate them too… and the people with Fairy blood can just back me up on that being fair.”
“It’s been a HELL of a time for me lately, ok. Now I’m the freaking white wolf and I’m having to explain things… I don’twant to explain to my versions of you… let alone other versions of you. I’d like to skip the whole story about being the Swiffer… all together in my reality. Are we good now?”
“I just wanted to rest my eyes for a second. I shifted, was marked, had a meeting, had a girls night go VERY seriously awry, threw up a lot, by the way she can’t go to Red Run until Paige makes this witchy brew because I get very ill. Trevor was captured.” Xander growled.
I sighed, “Francis was also captured… it’s been a HELL of a day. If you wanted a nicer version of me… talk to whatever goddess decided tonight was a good night for this… it wasn’t! I’m just so tired of constantly having to do all this stuff…. and it is NEVER going to end.”
“I’m the freaking white wolf. I’m with my Xander… we are together… and now I’m the white wolf. I had to protect all the forgotten packs… I had to protect everyone from the crappy ways they were raised. Protecting the wolf less from the hunts.”
“Protecting the she wolves from being told they were only useful in the kitchen and on their backs. I had to shove my own personal feelings and pain down to help protect you guys… or well them… I mean my version of you….and I’m running out of mental space to shove my feelings, ok?!”
My Mom gently said, “Ladybug, you don’t have to do that.” I snorted, “Yes, I actually do. Because ALL the crap I believed was said and done for the last seven years OF MY LIFE… didn’t. You guys aren’t dead… Jason didn’t ever say he didn’t want me.”
“The Kyle’s didn’t banish me and ship me off to Black Path. Grandpa Ben didn’t disown me… My Aunts and Uncles didn’t wish me DEAD ALONG WITH MY OWN BROTHER! Jason didn’t say horrible things to me. Neither did Everly…no one said I couldn’t get to know Kai…or be in his life. Xander didn’t promise to reject me. NONE OF IT WAS REAL!”
I pointed at them, “You are all still the same people I knew for fourteen years, but I’m the one who is different. I’m the one that was shattered and glued the pieces of myself back together. How can you be mad at someone who didn’t do what you thought they did? I don’t know… but I kind of am. It’s all a GIANT mess over the most ludicrous thing ever!”
