Wesley wasn't quite sure how long had passed since he sat in one of the seats, staring into the chandelier that was still shining like everything was bright in the world.
He had walked out into the theater thinking he was going to go about this calmly. He was going to defend Lola and save the day.
Then he had seen Tannoy's face, still standing in the center of the audience as if he was waiting for him, and he had been blinded by rage. This man wanted his title, his city, and his wife all at the same time.
Wesley had already lost most of those things when his family was killed. He was not going to let Tannoy take every scrap of happiness that he had worked hard to achieve. He was also not going to let him cause Lola pain, under any circumstances.
The rage had taken over any available ounce of logical brain space. It had taken him from smart, from calculating, to the pirate he had almost lost himself to. To the space he turned to when all hope seemed lost; when he thought he had nothing else to live for.
He hadn't ever told Lola about the dark period; because it wasn't who he was, not really. He hadn't told Lola how much pain their separation had caused.
However, in the moment, moving towards Tannoy, he didn't care about any of it. He just wanted him dead.
Now, sitting in the seat, his cousin, his last remaining family member, was more than dead. Wesley's hands were covered in blood, and he could feel himself shivering.
On the stage, Lola's colleagues lay limp and lifeless. Half her cast was gone, at the very least, the ones that had supported her and loved her when he hadn't been able to. Rebuilding the company again would be near impossible, given how close they were.
Lola's life would never be the same. He couldn't help but feel responsible for all of it. Now he understood why she had wanted to run from him; to leave the life behind. They had each changed each other's lives drastically.
How would they come back from this?
The gunpowder Aaron. Harold. He had forgotten about them, in his pity party.
Shakily, he rose.
He wasn't sure he could make any of this better. He wasn't sure he could ever pull himself out of this mindset; this darkness.
However, he knew he had to see Lola again, one way or another. Lola would never forgive him if he didn't try and save the few friends she had left, because he was sitting here.
It occurred to him as he walked out of the theater that this was more than just saving her friends. This was family now; the only family he had left.
People must have been staring at him as he walked into military headquarters; people must have been crossing the street or cowering in fear from his blood covered state; but he didn't really notice. His head was throbbing, his chest hurt.
He didn't even notice that he walked through the doors. He didn't even notice that everyone was moving around him, swirling, running.
At least, he didn't notice until Admiral Peckard grabbed him by the arm.
“Wesley?” he said, half in disbelief. “Good God, man, what happened to you?”
“I---uh---" Wesley looked up. “Sir?”
“Are you hurt?” Peckard demanded.
“No, sir,” Wesley said, blinking. “I've come---Lord Bamber. Both of them.”
“Oh,” Peckard tried to take in his bloodied state and assess his mind set. “Yes, I was enlightened by that news. They also told me about...”
“The gunpowder plot,” he said, blatantly.
“Yes,” Peckard said. “They are both---” he pointed to his office, although he didn't need to. Wesley used to walk these halls with his head held high and his nose in the air. Everyone knew his superior mind; his intelligence like nothing that had ever been seen. He used to be able to walk into any room, open any file. The loss of Earl Rippon to the British Navy had been a loss they felt in every department.
Peckard had heard rumors of what the shy, once timid boy had become, but seeing it in front of him was a shock he could barely contain.
“Can I go see them?”
“Of course,” Peckard said, looking at him doubtfully. “You're alright, though?”
Wesley shook his head.
“Do you need me?” he asked, and Peckard put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“No, you've done your part. Go and see them,” he said. “We'll take care of it.”
Wesley nodded, walking forward as if he was in a dream. He turned the door knob and realized it was locked.
“Sir?” he asked, knocking on the door. There was no answer. “Sir?” he asked again, in confusion. Hadn't Peckard just said they were in there? “Sir?”
He heard a noise behind the door, and put his ear against it.
Wesley knew the distinct click of a gun when he heard it, even through a wooden door.
He didn't hesitate in throwing himself against the door, once and than twice was all it took. The wood splinted, and then cracked. Wesley almost fell through the door frame, and didn't even notice how the wood scraped against his skin.
He could have guessed what he found inside. Aaron was sitting in a chair, Harold beside him, and Gilles had a gun cocked at both of them.
All of them turned to Wesley in shock, clearly not expecting him to break the door down.
Wesley did a quick mental analysis of the gun and saw that it Gilles could pull the trigger at any moment, the face off.
“Tannoy is dead,” Wesley said. “Your plot has been uncovered. There's no point in this. Put the gun down.”
Gilles sneered.
“Here is the scandalous Earl Rippon,” Gilles said. “You didn't bring your actress wife to witness the grand finale?”
“Lola is undoing all your hard work,” Wesley said. “Which she will do, I have no doubt. I killed Tannoy without a weapon by the way, and I have no issue doing it with you.”
Gilles turned the gun on him.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Go ahead and try. If it is true, what you say, then dying is fine with me. The end of the Bamber line, here and now, rather than living in scandal.”
“I'm head of the Bamber line,” Aaron finally spoke up, shakily standing up. “And I will determine whether we live or not, in scandal or not. And frankly, I like scandal.”
Before Gilles could react, Aaron shot him in the middle of the chest. He fell to the ground, sputtering. Harold looked at him in shock.
“Where did you even get that?”
“Peckard left it on his desk,” Aaron said, as if the matter was trivial. “All the chaos must have made him forget it. Is he dead?”
Harold looked to Wesley, who crouched down to check Gilles' pulse.
“Not yet,” Wesley said. “But he will be shortly, if you leave him like that.”
“Is that what you want?” Harold asked Aaron, carefully. Aaron looked to Wesley, unsure for the first time in their friendship.
“I want...” Aaron paused.
“You're not in the same situation I am,” Wesley said. “This is not the last of your kin, the last of your line. He has caused you nothing but pain and torment, and you owe him nothing. He tried to blow up the entire city.”
“And he still may,” Harold put in.
Aaron held his tongue, looking between them and then down at the ground. He closed his blue eyes, taking a heavy sigh.
“No,” he said. “I can't let him die. He may have information we need. But more than that....everyone deserves a second chance.”
“Aaron...” Harold said, but Aaron shook his head.
“I can't. I can't take a second chance away from someone, after what we've fought for. What can you do?”
“Put pressure on his wound,” Harold instructed Wesley, who did so without a word. “Don't move. Either of you. I know there's a surgeon somewhere in this building. I'll be right back.”
Aaron sank back into the chair, watching as Wesley pushed against the wound.
“Are you alright?” he asked at last, and Wesley glanced at him.
“I'm fine, why?”
“You killed Tannoy,” Aaron said. “And I don't know where Lola is, but I'm guessing it's somewhere dangerous.”
“Isn't it always,” Wesley said, softly. “She's with Morgan.”
“Does that worry you?” Aaron asked.
“I don't know,” Wesley said. “I don't know what to think anymore. Maybe she's happier that way. Maybe she's safer that way.”
“I doubt it,” Aaron said. “Lola has always found a way to put herself in the most exciting situations, regardless of who is around her. I've seen her fall in love, Wesley, and I've seen her fall out of love. But what she has with you...that I've never seen before. Don't be so quick to doubt your marriage; it's not easy for anyone.”
“I don't regret it,” Wesley said. “I just...I want the best for her.”
“That's what I want for my family,” Aaron said. “And I want all their hearts desire to be fulfilled. And part of doing that means having me by them, which isn't the safest choice, or the easiest...but it's what they need.”
“We're quite the disgrace to our titles, aren't we?” Wesley asked.
“I like to think we keep it interesting,” Aaron said. “Give the future historians something to learn about.”
They fell into silence for a few moments, and then Wesley managed a smile.
“Scandal always keeps people interested.”
“That it does,” Aaron agreed. “Gives you something to talk about at night, at the very least. And by tonight, I hope we are in the farm house, far away and quiet.”
“Even if everything is safe?” Wesley asked.
“Yes. I think we are all in need to get out of the city for awhile,” Aaron said. “There's going to be a lot of changes in life moving forward, and I don't want to have a discussion about them while we are surrounded by chaos.”
“I always thought you loved chaos, Captain Halloway,” Wesley teased him. Aaron shrugged.
“Perhaps,” he said. “I used to make fun of Harold for wanting to live in a country manor away from life. But now I understand.”
“Don't make fun of me,” Harold said, as he returned to the room with the surgeon. The surgeon looked confused, seeing Aaron's pale face, Wesley's blood spattered body, and Gilles' limp figure. “That one,” Harold pointed out, and Wesley stepped back, to let the surgeon do his work.
“Any word?”
“Nothing,” Harold said. “But they do appear to be looking in the right places. We've done our part, Aaron. And we know at least, the women are safe.”
“Most of them,” Wesley said, standing up shakily. “Now that I know you are safe, I need to go to Lola.”
“Wesley...” Harold said, but Aaron stopped him.
“Go,” he said. “Go to her.”
“Aaron, he's not in a state,” Harold said, but Aaron urged Wesley on.
“He needs to go,” Aaron said. “He needs to be with her, even if it...ends there.”
“Your mind is needed here,” Harold said, to Wesley, trying not to intimidate him.
“My heart is needed elsewhere,” Wesley said. “I’ll see you both soon.”
“Yes, you will,” Aaron promised. Wesley turned, stepping over Gilles' leg and headed out of the room. The hallway had once held so much hope for him, so much promise. Now, he couldn't wait to get as far away from it as possible.
All he wanted in life was Lola. Nothing else mattered.