signed_sabrina | listen to the wind blow (down comes the night)

"I saw him," Marcus answers. "And he didn't."

It's true he doesn't know Nick well, their interactions have been limited, but the Nick he had seen during those awful snow filled weeks was not the same young man he had seen after the performance in the park. At the time, he'd allowed himself to write it off as Nick simply being tired, then he'd decided it was whatever foolish urges that had brought Nick to place where he had hurt Sabrina so completely.

Maybe Marcus was the fool, though. For not having probed deeper.

"I'll call Sam," he assures her. He'll get details before he does, simply so Sam knows what they're dealing with, but Marcus trusts Sabrina when she says they need him. "What's going on?"

Sabrina folds her hands neatly on the table in front of her to control the shaking, and says, as calmly as she can, "Lucifer Morningstar." She forces the words out, and takes another breath. "I'm sure, though you and Sam can double check. I knew-- I knew none of this was like Nick, and I kept thinking-- why, what could change a person's core."

She looks down at her clenched hands now.

"I've been feeling like something isn't right. It was why I was arguing with Nick in the first place. I did a spell, and I saw the moment the Acheron Configuration opened and the Dark Lord went into his body."

Her eyes flicker back up to Marcus. "I could get if you thought maybe I just want for things to be different, because of Nick, but I know it's true. I know it."

Marcus shakes his head easily. "I trust you."

It hasn't been an easy thing to learn, how to trust people, but in the time he's been in Darrow, Marcus has come a long way. And he does trust Sabrina, but more than that, he believes in her. In her talent and in her knowledge and in her abilities. If she says she did a spell and saw what happened, that's more than enough for Marcus to believe what she's telling him.

"You wouldn't ask for something like this just because you're hurt," he says, reaching out to cover her hand with his. "If that's what you saw..." He exhales slowly. It's a lot to take on, the idea of Lucifer being inside this boy. Marcus is an exorcist, the best his world had to offer, but even he has never faced the devil. Teaming up with Sam is their best bet. None of them can face this alone.

He believes her so easily, and Sabrina doesn't think she'd expected anything different. The truth of it, however, is enough that she sags slightly in relief, nodding. It's been a selfish fear, but a true one, that she's made this up rather than accept Nick simply doesn't love her anymore.

But that's what the devil does; he lies.

"It's what I saw, and when I think about it, it fits. Some of the things he would say, or just-- he's got a taste for cruelty that he can't stop indulging in, of course. And it makes sense that he would want me far away from him, since I won't just accept his will." She blanches slightly. "I was mortal, though, the first time. I don't know if he remembers, but with my powers back-- I don't know. If the contract still stands, he might be able to, um, try to compel me."

"We'll just have to make sure he can't," Marcus answers. No matter who or what is inside Nick right now, there is no way in hell he's letting it do anything to hurt Sabrina. He's willing to help, to get Sam involved, to take every possible step he can to save Nick, but when it comes down to it, if there's a choice between saving Nick and saving Sabrina, there's no questions in Marcus's mind what he'll do.

This is why Father Sean tried so hard to keep him from caring for anyone. Now that he does, he can no longer make objective decisions. Marcus's calling, his entire life has been dedicated to saving everyone, regardless of who they are. But he loves Sabrina too much to be objective right now.

"Besides getting in touch with Sam, do you have any idea what we ought to do next?" he asks. He has ideas, but he knows they come from different worlds and what he would do might not be what's best for the situation.

"I wish Lilith were here, as strange as that sounds. She might have some idea," Sabrina says, small and wistful. "You can banish a demon, but I'm not sure what it would take to banish the devil himself. I used to think it was possible, but..."

She gives a miserable little shrug.

"There are little things that I used when I was resisting his summons back in Greendale, but he just upped the ante until I was ready to listen. My aunts and Ambrose and I, we tried an ambush and to just kill him but..."

Sabrina trails off again, more distant, trying to recall what had been one of the worst moments of her life. "We didn't have the-- the lance of something."

There are a number of holy relics Marcus can think of, although he can't imagine any of them would be easily accessible, even if they weren't stuck in this strange pocket dimension. He has his own weapons, his Bible, Mother Bernadette's crucifix, bottles of holy water, but Sabrina is right. Marcus doesn't know if he can banish the devil.

But then, he's never been one to back down from a challenge before.

"Does he react to holy symbolism?" he asks, knowing their worlds are different. "If I doused him with holy water, would he react?" He needs as much information as possible. They all do.

"If it were strong enough, maybe. The-- this lance, I'm pretty sure it's a holy relic of some kind. I would feel more confident if I understood more about what I am," she says, carefully, as if she expects to cut herself on her words at any moment. "A witch cannot go onto hallowed ground, but is that because they're contracted to him? Lilith was a witch before she met him, and magic can exist without his influence."

She rubs her hands nervously. "I was able to enter the church and fight the angels because I was half-mortal and baptized. But I'm not half-witch, I'm half... whatever he really is."

Sabrina lets out a slow breath, fighting to keep her feelings in check, and mostly succeeding. "I can touch a cross, but I don't know about things like holy water."

"In no world would God think you're evil, duck," he says softly, reaching out to touch Sabrina's arm. "You have to remember, whatever else he does, whatever choices he makes, Lucifer is an angel. What makes him evil are the ways in which he decides to behave. How he treats people. Those aren't the choices you're making and I suspect... well, learning about yourself is all well and good and I would encourage it, but I don't believe it will relate directly to him."

They're not their parents, after all. Neither of them are.

"I'll bring what I can to this fight," he promises. "Everything I can. We'll figure it out, you and me and Sam. Kat, too, you know she'll help any way she can." She's become something of an expert after all this time, he knows.

listen to the wind blow (down comes the night)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject