Meet The Ex...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"So when do I get to meet him?"
"When I see him."
He rolled his eyes. "Which will be...?"
Madeleine sighed as she pushed the door for the corridor leading up to the common room open. "When I see him," she repeated. "Relax, I can't not introduce you two."
"You don't look relaxed," he commented.
She just rolled her eyes.
Relaxed? Why should she be relaxed. What was she going to say?!
Oh, hey Lee. Yes, this is my ex-boyfriend, but he's my cousin too. He's here because he wasn't allowed to train as a bare-knuckle fighter... you know how it is...
She winced involutarily. Not good.
She looked up at Russ, meeting his coal black stare. Devil's angel's eyes. Just like Shaun's. When she'd been with him before, she had never noticed them - it was only when it was pointed out to her that she realised, yes, their eyes were similar, and then the expression began to be the same at times...
Shaun was never as dark and broody as Russ, though. In that way, they were complete opposites.
"Try to be nice, won't you?"
He laughed. "You know me, always appropriate."
She winced again, as she stepped through the door to the common room.
And Lee was there.
Just... perfect.
Russ followed her gaze. "That him there?"
"Yes," she replied, moving forward without waiting to hear his response.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"I think y'all are outta your mind."
"I'm telling you, that's a word."
"Jack, no, Jude's right, you're nuts."
"No, honestly, it's a word."
"It's a noise."
"Y'all ain't that great at English, are you?"
"Too much rugby," Lee looked up with a grin, tapping his own skull with his fist. "It's addled his poor old brains."
Kira raised an eyebrow. "I doubt there was a brain there in the first place."
"Right," Jack's sledge-hammer fist fell down on the Scrabble board, scattering the letters. "Why the hell are we playing this stupid game again?!"
"Because I was bored," Kira said softly, leaning over the board, and dragging the letters back across it, rearranging them just as they'd been before. "Look, Jude, we missed that point. What's that bring your score up to?"
"Looks like you and me have a draw," Jude said, scribbling down the numbers on the little page. "Shall we all just leave it at that?"
"No!" Jack cried, looking up. "Come on, gimme a break- I just haven't played Scrabble before. I'll get it."
"No, y'all won't..."
Jack threw Jude the dirtiest look he could. Kira giggled lightly, then, lifting three letters from her little bench, she set them down on the board, one after the other.
"Bow?" Jack frowned.
"Rainbow," Kira corrected; pointing to Lee's original word.
"This is so stupid; I would've gotten that if we'd gone diagonally."
"That's not how you play Scrabble."
"It's like when I tried, 'Bob'. That's a word!"
"It's a name."
"Oh, hell, come on, it's a word!"
"Hey, Lee," Jude said suddenly, glancing up. "It's Maddie."
Lee felt a thrill of pleasent surprise, and turned around to see her, but not before Jack got in the way.
"Oh, Madeleine, thank god, please tell me you're good at this crap."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Scrabble.
Madeleine didn't even need to look at Russ to know that he was wearing a slight smirk on his face, one she was well accustomed to.
Please, be nice...
Jude had spotted her, and turned to Lee, saying something, who in turn, looked up at her, smiling.
She smiled, but before she could say anything, Jack cut in desperately.
"Oh, Madeleine, thank God, please tell me you're good at this crap."
Madeleine laughed, tilting her head to look at the scores in Jude's hand. "I'm not too bad at it - maybe a bit better than you, from the looks of things... they're kicking your ass."
As she said this, she was aware that eyes were travelling to Russ behind her - as they would. Like Olivia would say, she'd just walked into the room with a handsome stranger -
And as that thought occured to her, Madeleine found herself fervently thanking God that Olivia was dating Jack.
"Guys, this is an old friend of mine," she said, gesturing Russ forward. "Russ, this is Jack, Jude, Kira and Lee - guys, this is Russ."
"If old friend is how you want to put it," Russ laughed, unable to resist it. "Hi."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"If old friend is how you want to put it," Russ laughed, sending a strange tremor down Lee's spine. "Hi."
Russ was... he was unexpected, at any rate.
As he'd walked in, there'd been a unanimous intake of breath as every girl looked up. Even Kira's large blue eyes had widened ever so slightly as she sat up, drinking him in. Jack's attention suddenly turned to Russ, and for a second, as Lee watched Jack take him in, Lee got the impression that Jack was sizing him up.
And who could blame him?
Jack was staring at his equal in almost every way.
Russ was well-built, muscular, tall, and kind of imposing. Along with the unanimous intake of breath from the girls, there'd been a unanimous groan from the boys. Just what they needed. Another Jack.
But it was more than that.
Russ had something... something else. Something darker. Perhaps it was just because he was a stranger. But Lee wasn't so sure. The darkness was definite; it glinted in his ochre black eyes as he surveyed them.
And suddenly, Lee wasn't so sure he liked just how close Maddie was standing next to him.
Jude, relaxed against the couch, seemed the only one unaffected by Russ' presence. Lazily, he waved a hand in greeting.
"Howdy. The name's Jude."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Well, she couldn't say that she wouldn't have been able to predict those reactions.
The four people in front of her were not the only ones with their eyes on the newcomer. About the room, several girls were watching Russ out of the corners of their eyes - and even more openly gazing at him, sighing gently as they watched him.
Was she really surprised? Madeleine had known perfectly well that Russ would make an impact...
Her eyes found Jack, and even in her awkwardness, she had to hide the smile. He hadn't been expecting that. It was obvious to see what was going on - when dogs meet, they sniff the other's behind. When girls meet, they look to see who is the prettier. And when guys meet, they size each other up to determine which one would win in a fight.
Madeleine was hard pressed to pick a winner between Jack and Russ. She could only pray that it would never come down to that.
Jude was being normal, thank goodness, and Madeleine felt a rush of gratitude for him as he reclined lazily on the couch. At that point, she couldn't tell Lee's reaction, though she'd find out soon enough. Certainly, he didn't look exactly... thrilled, but then again, she wasn't surprised. It would be worse whenever he found out exactly what their history was - if he hadn't worked part of it out from Russ's comment.
And Kira... well, Kira was a girl. That was enough said.
"Howdy," Jude said, waving lazily. "The name's Jude."
Russ smiled, lifting a hand in return. Even the smile didn't entirely remove the darkness from his eyes, leaving Madeleine to suppress her shiver.
It was odd - she hadn't felt this keyed up in a while. Usually no one could make her this anxious. Once Russ settled in, she knew she'd calm down, but after their talk...
"Alright," Russ said, his eyes shooting between Lee and Jack. "So which one of you is it that's marrying her?"
Perhaps she should have been a bit clearer when pointing them out. As it was, she could feel that Russ was expecting it to be Jack.
Oh, well.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira coughed loudly behind them, and Lee's neck cricked as he glared at her. She pressed her lips together in a smile at him, and Lee knew with a sinking heart she was thinking exactly what he was thinking.
Russ was expecting Jack to be the fiancé.
And let's be honest, if Lee understood that emphasis on 'old friends', it was quite obvious that Madeleine and Russ had been anything but friends. If Russ was... if Russ was her type, then what the hell was Lee?
Jack would've made sense.
This was painful.
"Lee's the one marrying Maddox," Jude answered for him, nodding at Lee, and sparing Lee that particular displeasure.
Lee forced himself to smile. "Hi... Russ."
Russ.
Russ.

[Jude Dorrian]

Russ.
Russ.
It sounded like some sorta teddy bear.
Of course, Jude grinned silently, Russ didn't look much like a teddy bear. More like one of those action figures; you know, the ones that looked like they were on steroids. Russ the anti-teddy bear was a definite, darker, more dangerous version of Jack, and his sudden appearance had had a bit of an impact. Funny how girls go for steroids. Jude guessed it must be the whole teddy bear thing- maybe they all just wanted to hug him.
Lee certainly didn't want to hug him.
Sensing Lee's almost immediate lapse in confidence, Jude felt it only fair to intervene. Russ' proximity to Maddox, not to mention his rather obvious innuendo about her couldn't have helped the situation either.
Still, at least he'd managed to speak.
Jude had been wondering whether or not he would have to voice the whole conversation for him.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Russ laughed, looking at Jude. "Maddox? I like that one..."
Madeleine rolled her eyes as she sat down beside Lee, crossing her legs and leaning back. "Thanks, Jude. Really."
Russ's dark gaze travelled to Lee, subtly taking him in.
Be nice, Russ.
She was sure that he wasn't ... well, going to make the nicest impression. At the best of times, Russ could be a total ass. At the worst of times, well...
But she'd put up with him. At first, it was the dark danger that attracted her, just like the power of magnetism that he held. That was Russ all over - magnetic. So that had been why, at first. And it had been fun, and Russ's broodiness kind of suited her, at that point. While he could be an obnoxious prat, he was great craic and it was easy to have a good time with him.
And then they'd found out that they had had another tie, in that they were family.
Still, Russ had become even more of an ass since his stepdad had left, shortly before Shaun's death. And if what had happened next hadn't happened, Madeleine would have severed the ties, cousin or no cousin. But when Shaun died... Madeleine caved. Not outwardly - outwardly, she was fine. But something died inside, and she and Russ had tried a relationship again - both for the most selfish of reasons. They were using each other - trying to drown their sorrows in a less dangerous way. But even then, Russ was the one to comfort her when it did get too much. He was the only one to have known exactly how much it affected her - and what had actually happened as Shaun died. And so, he was the one that had told her it would all be okay, the one to hold her and stroke her hair when all she could do was sit there, unmoving, too much in pain even to cry.
So, even though Russ was an ass, he'd done so much for her, and the bond was there. It wasn't something that Madeleine could, or wanted to break.
Russ was still studying Lee, but then his eyes met Madeleine, and he smiled. "I guess you really weren't kidding when you said you'd steered clear of type?"
Madeleine rolled her eyes, but coloured slightly. "Russ..."
He turned back to Lee, grinning. "So you really are marrying her? Well, more power to you, I guess..."
She had to laugh, shaking her head. "I'm your head, you've to try and be a bit nicer to me from now on."
Russ just rolled his dark orbs at her. "Seriously, good luck with that one.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"He needs more than luck," Jack laughed, and the tension seemed to break.
At the sudden, barking noise, the Common Room buzzed into action again. The girls seemed to remember themselves, and where they were. The boys were able to turn away under the cover of the general ruckuss of the girls, and mutter darkly between themselves about this new enemy.
Kira, however, as was to be expected, remained quite unaffected by the hubub around her.
Her gaze still lingered on Russ.
Lee grinned weakly at Jack, but took Maddie's hand anyway, giving it a comforting squeeze.
Not for her. For himself.
"Thanks, Jack," he smiled, "but you know, you're probably right."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine didn't need to be an empath to know that Lee wasn't holding her hand for her. Whether he was worried, nervous, or just tense, she wasn't sure; but she knew that she should offer him some form of comfort. So her thumb stroked along the contours of Lee's hand, gently tracing the indented lines in his palm as she returned the pressure.
And hey, it didn't feel too bad from where she was, anyway.
Russ was glancing casually around the room, knowing perfectly well what effect he was having. His eyes shifted, and then caught the movement of Madeleine's hand, and he grinned. "I was going to say maybe you haven't changed all that much after all, but then..."
Madeleine smiled, albeit a little tightly. "Well, they do say change is good."
He laughed, subtly studying her and Lee, making her colour slightly, before turning to the others. "So where are you guys all from?"
You son of a b*tch!
Her hand tightened on Lee's without her realising it, but her eyes, hard as flint, were on Russ - the expression now as dark as his, trying to catch his eye.
He really was a piece of work, and Madeleine was now having trouble remembering the nice thoughts she had had about him only a few seconds before. The question was deliberate, although he could easily tell where they came from - for the love of god, their accents weren't exactly hard to place! Russ had asked that question in the knowleldge that they would return the question.
It was as though he had planned this - and maybe he had. The sly look in his eyes said exactly that.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

An accent dunce, then?
Still, Kira smiled slightly as she finally drew her eyes away from Russ' biceps, and down towards the Scrabble board. Almost everyone he was asking had already spoken.
Jack's London accent was more than a little obvious.
Lee's Irish lilt was easily identifiable.
Jude's Texan drawl had been lazily spelt out for him.
Hmm. Now, where on earth could all of these people come from?
Still, she reasoned, the lovely Russ couldn't have everything in one package- the brains and the brawn. That was just unfair. And besides, Russ had quite enough of the brawn to make uo for any lack of brains. When he'd entered the room... well, she'd been shocked, at any rate. Kira, not being the most... focused of teenage girls, rarely experienced that reaction so common amongst most other girls of her age.
Whoa. He's hot.
Russ, however, was quite an exceptional case.
"Dublin," Kira spoke for the first time, making sure just for the lovely but possibly not quite so perceptive Russ' case her accent was clearly definable, "Lee and I are from Dublin in Ireland, Jack is from London, and Jude is from Texas." She raised her eyes to his with a smile. "And yourself?"
His own accent wasn't nearly so obvious.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Russ's eyes hovered on Kira for a second, before straying back to Madeleine, who was staring at him stonily.
"Oh, around the place," he said lightly. "Isn't that what you always say, Madel?"
"Russ."
Her remonstration was small, quiet compared to the others, but the strain behind her voice was perfectly clear.
Russ smirked darkly before turning back to Kira. "Yeah, around the place works. I'm a gypsy, so I'm pretty much from everywhere."
Madeleine's grip tightened again on Lee's hand, now her turn to seek comfort from him. She knew that after Russ had just said this, that she wouldn't be able to keep it secret for much longer. But she wanted to be the one to share it - she didn't want Russ to tell them. Russ wouldn't explain it.
He just kept on talking. "Rather like-"
"Russ."
This time, he glanced towards her, and shut up with nothing more than a raise of an eyebrows.
Not that it mattered. The damage was done.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Oh, wow, Madeleine, I didn't know you were a gypsy," Kira said serenely.
The reaction of the group was not quite was Lee had expected. He'd felt Maddie's hand tense up, and due to this, Lee's own heart had contricted as Russ chattered on casually about his and her heritage. He'd found himself suddenly terrified; suddenly, all those things Madeleine had feared of him became his fears.
How would they react?
With shock- with horror- with disgust?
But, well, apparently not.
Jude's left eyebrow arched for a micro-second, but it was so quick, Lee knew he was the only one who'd even noticed.
"So, Maddox, is that how y'all know each other?" he asked, nodding at them both.
Jack shot Jude a funny look. "You've got to stop calling her that."
"It was always either that or Matty."
"Her name's Madeleine."
"I know," Jude replied, and Jack did not return his grin.
"Gypsy, then? How come you didn't tell us Warriors before?" he said swiftly, turning to look at Madeleine, quite a different expression on his face; surprise... and perhaps even hurt?
Lee shook away the notion. That wouldn't make sense.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

They didn't seem... they weren't disgusted.
If Madeleine was honest, she hadn't expected them to behave like that, as she'd known them for so long, but still, prejudice was always there. She had seen it happen a million times, and she knew that it was better to be safe and sorry...
But now, they didn't seem mad, and Russ was giving her a pointed look, which she ignored.
But Jack...
Jack was hurt, and the expression on his face was cutting her in two.
"It wasn't... it wasn't just you Warriors," she said, meeting his eyes and then dropping her gaze to the floor, her cheeks blushing in shame. "It was everyone... I just... I was scared, I guess. People have... A lot of people, really, really hate gypsies, and the prejudice is everywhere-"
"She's right on that count," Russ interrupted softly.
She glanced at him, before looking back at the others. "I just... really liked you guys and I didn't want anything to push you all away from me - and that goes for everybody. It's not that I don't trust you, I didn't think that you would be like that, but you just... you can never be sure. Jack, you know what some of the Warriors are like - look at Levi and his posse. Do you honestly think that they would have let me be their Head had they known? It was selfish... yeah, it was definitely selfish, but I've had to deal with being ... discriminated against for all my life, and I didn't want that to happen here. And aside from all that, my mum made me swear to keep it quiet, but ... I took that too far. I'm really sorry," she added softly, looking at Jack, before glancing at the others. "All of you. I should have told you... I just couldn't bring myself to. I was ... a little terrified."
That was such a long speech coming from her - usually, her long pieces of monologue were saved for Lee. And apologies from Madeleine were rare, because usually she kept herself out of situations where she'd need to say sorry, and of course, her pride issues.
Jack should know that.
So hopefully, this would count for something.

[Jack Trove]

Jack hadn't ever heard Madeleine- wasn't sure if he'd ever heard anyone- say so many words together at once. Perhaps it was even stranger for him to hear it from Madeleine, because she always kept her instructions during Training short, sharp and to the point. Even in prep talks before battle, Madeleine didn't waste time with words.
She just made sure the point got across.
The word, "Sorry," would have sufficed this time.
Perhaps it was just because she had used all those words; perhaps because for once, she'd sounded so very un-Madeleine, Jack was finding it hard to forgive her. He knew it was stupid; that the others probably weren't even offended by it; but somehow...
Jack was.
It's just... well, she was their Head! She was their Head; Head of the Warriors; his Head. She was one of the few people in this world that Jack could 100% completely trust, maybe the only one. He'd put his life in her hands.
They were a team, were they not? Jack wasn't asking for much. He didn't want her secrets, hopes and dreams on a platter for him to delve in and out of at will. God, no.
He just thought... well... didn't the Warriors have a right to know about their Head, where she'd come from, her roots? It was such a basic thing. She could've told them. She could've told him, especially since she knew about his own... rather surprising heritage.
Didn't he d@mn well deserve to know?
Or maybe Jack was just being stupid. What had Lee said? Too much rugby.
That's right. It'd all addled his brains.
"That's alright," Jack said finally, after a long silence. He had to accept the apology, after all, didn't he?
He didn't want to.
But he had to.
She was his Head. And Jack always wanted to be able to trust his Head more than any other person in the world. Even if she didn't know that.
Well, it wasn't something she had to know.