Back to the Grind (Dorian)

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Lex was excited to be working again. Though she and Dorian had been pulled from the M case - they were too close to it and their expertise was needed elsewhere - she really loved the job. Their new case involved a supposedly dark wizard luring young witches and wizards into Dark Magic.

Lex considered posing as a transfer student at Hogwarts and embroiling herself in the scene, but she also thought that Christine might have been a good source of information. She was going to bring it up to Dorian when she saw him again.

She looked up as someone entered her office, "Well speak of the devil."

[Dorian Humbert]

Dorian had been reviewing the pathetically thin file on their newest case in his office. There wasn't much to go on except a few reports from frantic witches and wizards claiming their children were exhibiting disturbing behaviors shortly before running away.

Dorian knocked as he opened the door to Lex's office. He gave a half smile at her teasing nature and shut the door behind him. Dorian approached the desk and sat in one of the chairs in front of it, giving Lex a somber look. "All teenagers," he commented as he set the file on her desk. "Sixth and seventh years so far."

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

"Seems about right." Lex said, "That's the usual age for teenage rebellion."

She didn't seem to group Christine in that same group. Indeed Christine was an exception to the rule. Lex didn't see the girl really as any younger than herself though there was a seven year difference between them.

[Dorian Humbert]

They were considering the same person, but from two very different angles. Dorian saw Christine's lies and deception as the epitome of teenage rebellion. What was more cliche than the teenage girl dating the older man? Dorian, far from the leather clad bad boy usually featured in such cliches, was still plenty dangerous. Enough to get a rise out of whomever Christine had been trying to impress, even just herself. His mouth tightened as he thought of Christine.

"Yes. But it's not much to go on."

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Lex would have enjoyed that bit of idiocy had Dorian shared his thoughts. She didn't know about the couple's separation, though she had sensed it was coming. Dorian was simply too deep into his ways to change. His guilt would prevent him from moving past Christine's betrayal and his code of honor would prevent him from trying to trust her again.

"We need inside access." she told him skirting the issue in a very un-Lex like way.

[Dorian Humbert]

He straightened himself in the chair and gave her a stern look. "And by 'inside access' you mean...?" He had spent enough time with Lex to know when she had something on her mind, as she did now. It was unusual for her to keep her thoughts to herself, and this indirect comment she made now was a tell-tale sign that he would not like what she was thinking.

Dorian didn't have many friends, finding them cumbersome with his job. He knew most of his colleagues didn't have the same view on relationships as he had, but then only a few others had dealt with the magnitude of loss he had incurred as a direct result of his profession. He hadn't shared his parents' deaths with Lex, not the story of how they came to pass. But he had been able to share other aspects of himself with her, and Dorian supposed that made them something akin to friends.

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Getting any information from Dorian was like pulling teeth. Additionally broaching a subject that Dorian was uncomfortable with was also like pulling teeth.

"If we had a student that we knew that we could trust to perhaps get some information for us."

[Dorian Humbert]

Dorian was silent for a while, attempting to squash the emotions that were threatening to arise. The muscles in his face tightened as he took a deep, harsh breath.

"Aleksandra, I think it would be best if you reconsider what you are attempting to say." His grip on the arm of the chair tightened.

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

"Look I know she just clawed her way out of whatever hell M put her through, but she's also tough. And we know that we can trust her. I honestly think that she wouldn't mind being undercover, we wouldn't put her in a dangerous situation, but people might open up more to her than to either of us."

She also knew that Christine was torn up with guilt over leaving the other girls.

[Dorian Humbert]

"Can we though? Do we know we can trust her? She hasn't been very trustworthy thus far. You really want to risk our mission on some girl who can't be bothered to tell the man protecting her who she really is?"

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Lex gave her brother a look that said she was clearly not amused by his obvious statement.

"I trust her Dorian. And while I'm not saying what she did was right, I understand that she had her reasons. They might not be the best reasons, but she didn't set out to deceive you."

[Dorian Humbert]

Dorian knew what Lex said was right, but he couldn't reconcile that knowledge with his feelings. He had betrayed the professional code of ethics he had promise to uphold for her and in turn she had caused him to unknowingly break his moral code.

"I can't see her, Lex. Don't ask me to. If you want to put her in, out of harm's way, then you need to be the one."

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Perhaps there was also a personal reason for Lex wanting Dorian to forgive Christine. The fact that she too was lying to him from the beginning. She hoped that if he could forgive the woman he loved, he might also be able to forgive his sister.

"So you've made your decision then." she said solemnly as he asked not to be a part of any scheme involving Christine.

[Dorian Humbert]

Dorian stared at her for a moment until eventually he was looking through her, not focusing on anything at all. "I have. It's the right thing to do."

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Lex sniffed and made a face, though she ten concealed the expression. It was not the right thing in her book. She had never seen two people more in love with one another before. She didn't know that kind of love existed anymore. Lex also didn't see the age difference as that extravagant either, but perhaps that was because it was difficult to reconcile Dorian's perspective of a school girl and the vibrant, funny, mature woman that Christine had been.

"How did she take it?" Lex asked, "When did you tell her?"

[Dorian Humbert]

Dorian continued to stare at nothing. It was as if Lex was a window, he simply looked through her. Her words sounded distant, as if she were talking to him from very far away, but he answered nonetheless. 

"Yesterday. She handled it rather well." Dorian had not given her reaction much thought as he jumped right in to work the moment he left her. But thinking on it now, Christine had responded very maturely. That hurt him further.

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

Lex chewed on her inner lip. She hadn't heard from Christine, but she imagined she wouldn't want to talk to her ex's partner either. Lex had to refrain from making a remark about Christine handling it well. But she couldn't help herself from saying, "Poor girl." she looked up quickly, "Sorry."

She cleared her throat, "And you? How are you handling it?"

[Dorian Humbert]

His eyes focused on Lex then. "I'm fine, Lex. There's no reason to dwell on it, particularly when we've a case to solve."

[Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen]

She was cut off then. With Dorian you could only push so far before he shut off that side of himself. He let her get a little further each time, and each time it left her wanting more. He had become her friend, she desperately wanted him to know who she was and embrace her and Alek as family, but she knew that was in all likelihood not in the cards.

She gave him a knowing look, but respected his wishes, "Then let's solve it." she said allowing their case to be the distraction he needed.