An Unlikely Alliance [Tina]

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Ever since Oliver's first visit to the library in September, he'd taken to avoiding the place. Unfortunately, this was not a boycott that could take place forever, and over two months after that fateful day that Isabella Avadore caught him pouring over books and jotting down various mechanical corrections, he was in the library once more.

Not correcting books this time, thankfully. He only needed to be scared straight by Joan of Arc once.

In all honesty, Oliver did not see much need to go to the library on a regular basis anyway. He found most of his classes rather easy, owing to the fact that he'd been a freshman in high school once before. The classes were a bit different, but the same basic concepts were there. Unfortunately, being a freshman also meant that one was stuck with mostly core classes. Electives didn't come until later on, and electives were where the fun was at. There were some new ones that had not been around back in Oliver's day. Computer and auto classes, for rather obvious reasons. Oliver also recalled taking a botany class in his previous life, a course that was not offered at most modern day high schools.

This time, the fourteen year old had opted not to touch the books at all, but rather was seated in a rather deserted corner of the library, typing up a report for his history class. All the while he was temporarily distracted by IMs from one of his classmates, but he did not particularly care - The distraction was a bit welcome, if he had to be honest, as one could only write for so long about tobacco and it's effect on the southern colonies of America before needing to rest their mind for a few moments.

The worst part of it all was that, despite two distractions at once, Oliver's mind would retreat back every once in a while to what had occurred in the RSOR room the night before. Joan was screaming in her sleep, and while everyone was concerned, both Oliver and Talia Kruske (also known as Bonnie Parker) knew that there was more to this than just the ordinary nightmare. He'd been there with Joan for her temporary break from reality before, as she lived through one of the most terrifying moments of her past life. However, he could not help but feel that Joan was hiding something, and this was bothering him. Oliver hated being left in the dark.

Not to mention he'd heard screams like that before. He could recall hearing Cindy screaming and crying in her sleep as a child, what he could now only assume was reliving the plane crash that caused her death. Likewise, though he was not aware of any screams in his sleep, he could recall a very specific incident where he was having a nightmare about his plane crash at Fort Myers in 1908. He'd been six at the time, hardly old enough to understand what was happening. He'd woken up from his slumber in a cold sweat to his mother standing next to his bed. She pulled him into a comforting hug, as he begged her, shakily, to tell Kate and Will that he was okay.

His mother could only pat at her son's back, explaining in a soothing tone that he'd just had a bad dream, that everything would be alright. "But he's dead!"[/color] Oliver had exclaimed. Judy Winchester had pulled away from her son at once, with a bewildered expression at the force that her young son spoke with.

"Who's dead?"

"The man I was flying with. I..."[/color]

Judy hardly missed a beat as she pulled her son into another embrace, with a small, wistful smile and a few pats on the back. "It's alright honey. It was just a bad dream." It wasn't, but how could a six year old boy argue with his mother's soothing words? At that age, a mother's words are law. So Oliver gave up the fight and settled back onto his pillow, confused thoughts swirling in his head, though he declined to voice them. If his mother had looked hard enough, however, she would have certainly see that her son was not at all assuaged by these words, and that something inside him made him realize that this was not an ordinary bad dream.

He had the same feeling with Isabella. The way she reacted when he and Bonnie asked for more details...it was cause for suspicion, and though Oliver wanted to respect her privacy and avoid problems, the nagging feeling kept returning to the back of his mind. If what they'd already been told was all there was to the story, why was Isa acting so strange? Oliver started in on his report again, biting his lip as he tried to concentrate on the report in front of him rather than other things. Between these two things, he was hardly aware of what was happening around him, and thus if anyone was approaching it was highly unlikely that he would notice until they spoke up.

Word count: 832
To: Tina/Talia
Notes: As usual, I start off slow and then start rambling. Story of my life. XD

[Natalia Anne Kruske]

She was here by choice. Believe it or not, Natalia really did like to read. She just hid it very well. Talia had read all sorts of books on all genres. She'd read poetry; she'd read fantasy. She'd read science fiction and she's read biographies. She'd read Shakespeare and she had read many American classics. When she really wanted to get away from everyone — including Clyde — and have a little "me" time, the library was her go-to.

She wasn't exactly here today for "me" time, though. She was here for Isa. Lots of the things she did lately were for Isa. She cared very deeply for her friend (though she might not always reveal the heart she really had) and recently, Jehanne didn't seem to be doing too well. Night terrors were nothing new for Joan of Arc and Bonnie was used to hearing Isa mutter in her sleep. But when Isa started screaming in her sleep...that was something that Talia couldn't ignore. At first, she couldn't ignore it because it was really fucking loud and cutting in on Talia's sleep...much to her displeasure. But now, that it hadn't stopped, she was getting concerned. Legit. Bonnie didn't like the way Joan was screaming and how it was almost...rhythmic. Like a set pattern. Bonnie knew of only one thing that could make crying out so rhythmic. She knew that one thing very well...she liked that one thing...and she was good at it.

But all that aside, Joan was supposed to be a virgin. She was always so proud of it. She always frowned upon anything that was sexual...especially if Talia brought it up. She only thing that related to sex that she didn't frown upon was Jennah's pregnancy. Though...pregnancy kinda relates to new life and life is sacred or...something to that effect. Sex was just something that went with it. Whatever. Not the point. Joan was a virgin. So, those screams couldn't mean what Bonnie thought they did...could they? Then a thought occurred to Talia...one she almost pushed out of her mind and did not consider.

...What if Isa was lying about her virginity in her past life?

And that's what lead Natalia Anne Kruske here to the library. In her arms were big, heavy volumes about Joan of Arc, witchcraft and anything that may pertain to what was bothering her best friend and room mate. She would find out. And then she'd put a stop to it for Isa's sake. ...And for her own sake as well. Talia was sleeping in all of her classes and shadows were forming under her eyes from lack of sleep. They were so dark now, that makeup only lightened them, not hide them.

She yawned as she yanked another thick book from it's shelf and added it to her already heavy pile in her arms. She tucked some bleached blonde hair behind her ear with a sigh. And then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A familiar face. Someone who was concerned for Isa as much as she was. She looked through the empty space on the bookshelf at the freshman boy. "Orville!" She whispered to get his attention. "Shit." She swore when she caught her mistake. "I mean...Oliver!"

Did I mention Talia whispered quite loudly? Because she does. Whispering was, actually, quite the foreign concept to Natalia. Being quite in general seemed hard for her, when you think about it. She was always loud with something bitterly sarcastic or rude to say.

She beckoned to him wildly. "C'mere!" She "whispered", "Now."

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WORD COUNT: 609
LISTENING TO: Sing! - My Chemical Romance
COMMENTS: FINALLY CAUGHT UP[/size]

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver continued along with his essay, making good progress considering his distraction. Eventually he sealed off the conversation with his (female) classmate, who had invited him to go on a hang gliding trip, and was able to focus more on his work.

Supposedly. He still had his lingering concerns for Isa, but he plowed on, realizing that he needed to get this done before he found himself distracted by something he knew that he could not pull away from. Anything mechanical, really.

The freshman muttered under his breath. "Tobacco exports were a major source of income for the southern colonies..."[/color] Orville!

Oliver's eyes shot up at once at the sound of his name. Well, to be precise, Orville was not his name in this life. It was his name before, though the name that he still considered to be his truest name. Therefore, he certainly did not mind being addressed by that name...until he remembered that he was in the library, and that if he could hear that whisper, someone else might have overheard it.

Quickly, Oliver spotted the source of the voice, and it happened to be one of the last people that Oliver would expect to see in the library. He shot Natalia Kruske a bewildered look, then hastened to save his essay and shut off his laptop, throwing it into his bag. What on Earth was Bonnie Parker doing in a library, and why was she addressing him by his name in front of normals? It would be different if she'd kept it at a low whisper, but that was evidently something that the blonde was not capable of.

Moreso than that, however, Oliver noted the urgency in Natalia's voice, and it struck him as odd. What did Bonnie Parker have to be urgent about, other than a date with dear old Clyde? As Oliver approached Natalia with his bag slung over his shoulder, his eyes drifted to the many books in the senior's hand. He could not help but notice that the books were all surround the same subject - A subject that he, in fact, was quite preoccupied with as well. "Reading up on Joan of Arc? That's not the typical reading for a high school senior. Project or something?"[/color] Oliver spoke not in a normal voice, but not in an entirely hushed tone as he said this. He wanted to give the pretense of having a normal conversation with Talia. However, he followed this statement with a much more subdued one, that he made certain to state in such a whisper that hopefully only Talia would be able to overhear. "Is she still having nightmares?"[/color]

Oliver knew that this meeting would look odd to anyone watching, normal or reincarnate. Any normal would be confused by the fact a freshman and senior from totally different crowds were talking to each other as equals. A reincarnate, on the other hand, would wonder what in the world Orville Wright and Bonnie Parker had to discuss between the dusty shelves of a school library. And though they were indeed from different crowds, they did share one friend, and this was a friend that they were both concerned about. Others might be concerned too, of course, especially after Isa screamed in the RSOR room, but none of them witnessed what Oliver and Talia had several weeks before. They were alone on that front, and despite their differences, they might have to work together for this one.

It was an odd thought.


Word count: 608
To: Tina/Talia
Notes: As usual, I start off slow and then start rambling. Story of my life. XD

[Natalia Anne Kruske]

Who gave a shit about tobacco? Honestly. If it wasn't in the form of a cigarette, Natalia didn't care about it. Tobacco trade was boring to her. Tobacco growing was lame. Everything tobacco-related without it being thin and white sort of just went over Natalia's head.

Besides, why the hell would someone even be researching to-fucking-bacco at a time like this!? Talia sure as hell wasn't doing her school work...though that was nothing new. But, for once, she had a reason not to do her homework. Her friends came before any paper on the economy anyway. Joan came before a lot of things for Bonnie. She just didn't ever show it. She didn't like being weak and fuzzy and being all...feelings-y. It was pretty gross. But, just this once, she'd make an exception. Or...as much of an exception as she could. No, she wasn't running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off, being hysterical over Isa's current questionable mental state. Her own mental state might be the one in question if she did that. But she was here, in the library, checking out every book related to dreams and Joan of Arc that she could. She cared. She truly cared.

...Don't get used to it.

When Oliver shot her a bewildered look she rolled her eyes and hissed back "Sorry! Sorry...God. Oliver." She narrowed her dark eyes at him and growled, "Now, get your ass over here or I'll kick it so hard, you won't sit for a year."

Serious Talia was serious.
Vicious Talia was vicious, too.
She really did need to work on her whispering, too. She wouldn't be the first to admit it, though. She was being very quiet in her book right now. She thought she was doing a good job at being sneaky.

Eventually, he did walk over to her. Talia was just about to open her mouth and explain why she was in here in, no doubt, a hurried voice due to her concern. But...then he spoke.

"Reading up on Joan of Arc? That's not the typical reading for a high school senior. Project or something?"

She narrowed her heavily eye lined eyes at him and her lips were pressed into a thin, annoyed line. She understood what he was doing. She wasn't retarded. But was now really the time for all of that? Really? No one was listening to their conversation anyway. Who would really care what the bad girl would have to say to the freshman? People could probably assume she was bullying him or something. "Cut the crap, Oliver." She snapped at him. Any other time he wanted to pay "normal person"...fine. But not now. Not while Isa was obviously suffering from...God knows what.

Then he whispered, "Is she still having nightmares?"

Talia nodded, a nervous look on her face. "I think it's getting worse, " She said in return. It clearly was getting worse by the look of utter sleep deprivation on Talia's face. There was once a man in China who worked non-stop for two weeks. And by non-stop, I mean non-stop. He didn't even stop to sleep. Then, one day, he just...died. His body shut itself down and he croaked. Just dropped dead and became another name in a grave yard. Natalia couldn't help but wonder if she would drop dead soon from all this sleep she was missing out on.

At least she died for a good cause?

"She's screaming louder and it's sort of rhythmic. She's speaking French faster and, god damn it, she still won't tell me a thing," Natalia said, giving Oliver a worried look. "So...we have to figure it out on our own. Hence the books." She paused and finally said, "Maybe we'll need a French-English dictionary. That might help."

Considering Isa dreamed in French and neither Natalia nor Oliver spoke French, a dictionary would help a great deal. Otherwise...a French teacher might do the trick, too. But Natalia didn't know any French teachers...so....a dictionary is what they'd have to stick with...because Google translator sucks. Yahoo's translator is a little bit better, but not by much. They also didn't know how to type in French, which was another set back. Why couldn't Isa dream in English? It'd be much nicer.

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WORD COUNT: 725
LISTENING TO: hip hop/rap
COMMENTS: YAY [/size]

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver, at this point, did not understand the full impact of this situation. He was not there at night when Isabella shouted out in her sleep. He was worried, yes, but he was not confronted with this worry every night when he went to his dorm. He headed over to Bonnie at once, a bit taken aback with the way that she snapped at him, but choosing to ignore it. Snapping back at her wasn't going to do any good, after all, especially when she was already threatening him.

As he approached the blonde, he was stunned by just how unhealthy she looked. Worst part was, he knew exactly why, and it wasn't the reason that most would assume Bonnie Parker would have bags under her eyes for. Most, who didn't know what was happening, would be under the impression that Bonnie was out partying at night, or doing something with Clyde. Oliver was finally beginning to realize just how much of an impact this was having on the senior before him -And just why she felt the need to snap at him.

Well, that and she was Bonnie Parker. Can't expect her to be a little sweetheart, especially given the situation.

He chose to ignore her demand to 'cut the crap'. After all, he'd pretty much done that with his next statement. Talia's mood seemed to change at this next statement too. Her features had softened, and she went from looking highly annoyed to worried. He did not even need to hear her answer, given her nonverbal response, but it came nonetheless.

"Worse? More frequent?"[/color] Oliver responded, concern etched across his face as well. He was not as close to Isa as Talia. However, it was natural to worry about her after what he and Talia had seen. The rest of the RSOR just witnessed her screaming in her sleep. Oliver and Talia witnessed her fighting off attackers.

Or so she said.

"Rhythmic?" Came Oliver's next word, along with a disgusted look. That only seemed to support the theory that Oliver had, and, he was fairly certain, that Talia was holding as well.

He agreed that they needed to figure out what Isa was saying. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't she scream out in English, thus enabling Oliver and Talia to help her out with more ease? Perhaps this was better for her privacy, but certainly not for her mental health.

And, judging by the bags under Talia's eyes, not for her mental health either.

"French to English dictionary? Not a bad idea, although it might be hard to look up words without knowing how they're spelled or recognizing them..."[/color] Oliver sighed in frustration. It was a start, but Oliver doubted that this method alone would lead them to all of the answers.

Oliver looked Talia in the eye, no longer concerned about whether they were overheard or not. He didn't care what the normals thought. He didn't care the questions that the reincarnates would have when they saw Orville and Bonnie talking in exasperated whispers in the library. Not when something this serious was happening. Explanations could come later. "Is she saying any words that you recognize? That sound like English words? If so, we could start there."[/color]


Word count: 608
To: Tina/Talia
Notes: Whoooooooo

[Natalia Anne Kruske]

Those screams were haunting. At night, Talia was afraid that if she closed her eyes for even a moment, Isa would begin to scream. But really, her biggest fear was that Isa would start sleep walking and she would hurt herself or worse. Maybe that sounded a tad deranged or paranoid, but hearing her friend scream night after night and there being nothing Natalia could do to prevent it and not getting any sleep night after night due to said screaming...it kind of did take a toll on Bonnie Parker's sanity. No, she wasn't hearing voices or seeing dead people or anything like that. She was just having extreme thoughts and her was more irritable than usual — which is saying something, don't you think?

She was sleeping in all of her classes. There were bags under her eyes and when she missed out on her early morning coffee and cigarettes (she tried her best not to, much to Isa's displeasure), her actions were lethargic. Natalia knew the rumors circulating. There were lots of them. She had heard that she had been up all night hooking. She had heard she and Carter would go out at night, robbing gas stations and snorting coke. She had even heard she was pregnant. Natalia rolled her eyes at each rumor. If she was hooking, she would be filthy rich right now. If she and Carter were doing coke and robbing gas stations, she wouldn't bother coming to school, she'd be rich and probably dead somewhere from ODing in Carter's arms. And if she was pregnant...okay honestly!? Did she look like Jennah Advani? No. Did Carter look anything remotely close to Iskander Azizizizizizizizizizizizizizi? No. So the bitches who started that pregnancy rumor at the popular table could just shove it!!!

"Worse? More frequent?"

Talia nodded, blonde hair falling in her face. "Oliver, why the hell would I be here if they weren't worse?" She asked, slightly irritated as she brushed her hair away from her face. She was trying to keep her patience with him because she knew they were united by their concern for Isa. They were on the same team and she shouldn't be snapping at him or picturing herself ripping out his throat. She was trying really hard. Give her credit for that, at least.

"Rhythmic?" She saw his disgusted look and her frown increased.

"Yeah," She said, "Rhythmic..." She knew which way he was taking it. She didn't want him to take it that way. She had to defend her best friend's honor. "I know which way you're taking it...and I can see how you're getting that idea...but that's not it."

To be honest, though, that's exactly how Natalia was taking it, too. I mean, think about it. What makes a woman's scream rhythmic like the way Isa was screaming? There's one answer to that: sex. That's the sound a woman makes at a man's movement into her. Though, judging by how Isa screamed...she didn't sound very pleasured.

However, it couldn't be that. It just couldn't...not only did Natalia hate the mental image of her friend being raped, but also...that was contradicted everything Isa said and did. No. Just...no. Isa was not a liar. If Isa said she was a virgin all her life, Natalia believed her. And...chains or no...she could fight off her rapists.

...Right?

"French to English dictionary? Not a bad idea, although it might be hard to look up words without knowing how they're spelled or recognizing them..."

"Fuck," Was all she hissed. He was right...as usual. A french to english dictionary would be useless. After all, Isa didn't come with a speech bubble that had everything she said written in it. And Natalia didn't know how to spell the French words she said. Back to the drawing board. Talia put a book back on the shelf and sighed, obviously frustrated. "Why the fuck can't she just dream in English?" Talia growled, "There must be a way to get her too...perhaps to get her to be half awake...like Iskander is when he talks to Jennah about stairs..."

Only...how do they put Isa in that state. Bonnie Parker felt in the pit of her stomach that it was time to visit the sultan...who hated her. Perhaps he'd be nice and spare her some advice or knowledge so that she could help Isa. He didn't hate Isa after all. He just hated Bonnie.

"Is she saying any words that you recognize? That sound like English words? If so, we could start there."

She bit her lip as she thought and recalled. At first, Natalia shook her head, but then she paused and thought again. "Uhhhh..." She said slowly, "Uhhmmm...she says 'no' a lot..."

...Helpful...?

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WORD COUNT: 800
LISTENING TO: nothing
COMMENTS: no [/size]

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oh, the rumors. Oliver had heard those as well. He had to admit, they weren't entirely farfetched, considering who the rumors were about. He would never say this in front of Bonnie though, lest he end up dead on the side of the road. Though he supposed they'd probably dispose of his body in a less obvious way...

He knew the truth, though, which meant that he felt tempted to stand up for Talia every time he heard someone talking about how she'd been knocked up by Carter. Oliver and Talia were by no means good friends, but the fact remained that they had something bringing them together. Whether they wanted to be or not, they were allies in this, sharing a similar concern, working together. Not to mention Oliver hated rumors like that in the first place. Why did it matter if Talia was pregnant anyway? Why was that the business of someone who didn't even know her?

The freshman could not help but raise an eyebrow at Talia's assertion that 'it wasn't what he thought'. He could see right through that one. He knew the glances that he'd exchanged with Talia in the past. He knew that Talia wouldn't mention that the screams were rhythmic unless it factored in to their investigation.

If only Joan would be upfront with them in the first place. Unfortunately, they were concerned for a very strong, very stubborn person. Getting her to admit to anything happening to her would be like pulling teeth without painkillers. Maybe there was a small chance that she was telling the truth, but all of the evidence seemed to point otherwise. And he knew that Joan of Arc wouldn't lie unless it was something big.

Oliver shook his head. He wished it was as easy as just grabbing a French to English dictionary. Oliver could recognize little bits and pieces of French, but he doubted that he had enough knowledge of French under his belt to be of much help with this endeavor. He pondered Talia's next comment, frowning slightly as he did so.

A dream in English would solve their problem. They would be able to understand everything that Isa was saying. On the other hand...Oliver was worried about what they would overhear. It would solve the mystery, yes, and give Talia and Oliver the answers that they were looking for. However, Oliver almost felt indecent at the thought of listening in to something like that, especially if he and Talia were to induce such a state. There was one thought that came to mind, though he was hesitant to voice it for the aforementioned reasons. He swallowed that back, however, and decided to speak.

"Hypnosis? She'd have to agree to that, though."[/color] The fact that she had to agree to be hypnotized made him feel a little less guilty about the whole thing. He still wasn't sure if he would want to be there when it happened, though. It felt as though it would be an invasion of privacy to overhear in the first place, but it made him feel even more uncomfortable owing to him being male. It would be bad enough if she blurted out something horrific with Bonnie there, but with him? Was it really something that he, a male, should overhear? He bit his lip, as this was getting to him more than he expected. This wasn't his area of expertise. He was an inventor, not a psychologist.

Talia's words weren't as helpful as he expected (though he really didn't know what he was expecting in the first place - it wasn't as though Talia was a walking French dictionary, she was just as American as he was). Screaming out no repeatedly could mean anything - but it could also mean that their suspicions were true. The words weren't that helpful, but Oliver did recognize that Talia was at least trying, and therefore he would acknowledge this much. "It helps a little."[/color] Well, it was at least one word that they recognized. Better than nothing, though only by a small margin. "Too bad I didn't take French over Spanish."[/color] Isa spoke both languages, of course, but as these dreams took place in her past life, she would go into French for obvious reasons. He was struggling enough in Spanish (he was good with machines and building things, NOT languages), but at least if he'd taken French, he'd be struggling for a good cause right now...

Word count: 765
To: Tina/Talia
Notes: K, now it's done. XD