this is a chemistry lesson

[episodic]

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[swillpot]

[He raises an eyebrow when he comes out, eyeing the glasses curiously.]

A gift from our generous hosts?

[illtempered]

From the witch in charge of the lower school. I guess the headmaster's an alcoholic. You drink?

( He holds out the drink as he asks. )

[swillpot]

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a witch who doesn't.

[Poor Ric. Alexander reaches out to take the drink with a nod.]

Thanks.

[illtempered]

I don't know witches.

( He couldn't tell you. And you're welcome. )

What comes next?

[swillpot]

Well, I go back to HQ, wait for the next call. What you do, is entirely up to you.

[He wouldn't mind of Jackson wanted to stick around with the organization, but he's also free to go his own way too.]

[illtempered]

Where is HQ. And -- what is HQ. How did you get into ... this.

[swillpot]

Ahhh, that first one is a need-to-know kind of question.

[He's not saying it to be mean, he's just saying he's not going to disclose more than he has to.]

But as for how I got into it ... my dad did it for a long time. Not the relocating, that came later. But you would be surprised what a lucrative industry fake IDs are for vampires.

[Because when you live forever, occasionally you need to reinvent yourselves.]

But when things started to get bad with Monroe, it turned into more than just vampires. Werewolves and witches and other creatures started needing to disappear too.

[illtempered]

( Yeah, okay about that. )

You're supernatural Witsec.

( That's actually ... really cool. )

[swillpot]

Pretty much.

[He shrugs.]

We can't always guarantee protection, but we will do our best to get you to people who can.

[illtempered]

How did you find McCall's pack?

( How did they intersect? He doesn't mind intersecting. Their paths have crossed. He just wants to try and draw a line. If Scott has these kinds of connections, you'd think Jackson would be in the know.

No, except, Jackson asks to not be included and says at every turn that he is not pack.

Never mind.

He still wants to know. )

[swillpot]

Alan Deaton. He and my dad go way back. He told us about Monroe and what she's been up to and we offered our services.

[Teamwork makes the dream work, and they not only had the network to get out the word to a lot of supernatural folks, they had the resources to get people moving.]

[illtempered]

( The druid. And part of why he was able to adjust well enough in London. )

He still in Beacon Hills?

[swillpot]

Alan or my dad? I'm pretty sure the answer to both is no, but my dad was never in Beacon Hills in the first place.

[Robert Abernathy tended to keep moving as a rule, never settling anywhere too long out of paranoia.]

[illtempered]

Deaton.

( Not your dad. )

I was born in Beacon Hills. I didn't know Deaton. But, he helped ... guide Scott McCall. Beacon Hills High didn't have shapeshifter 101. Just Derek Hale and nobody learns from Derek Hale.

[swillpot]

I've heard about the Hales.

[Not all of them are complimentary things. Peter Hale is an enigma and a dick. Cora is someone who's bad side you want to stay off of. Malia is a pile of question marks to most of the supernatural community,and Derek?

Derek's reputation tends to go up and down, but generally good. Generally.]

But Deaton and my dad go way back. I don't really know more than that.

[illtempered]

( He'll give Derek credit where credit is due, but the guy tried to kill him. And Lydia. And only helped him for a summer. Most of the good Derek did was after he left. Is that on him? )

Where are you from?

[swillpot]

Oh, little bit of everywhere. Me and my dad moved around a lot.

[He downs the rest of his glass, before shifting to lean back against the headboard of one of the beds.]

Supernatural IDs were only one facet of his business and ... not all of them were legal.

[illtempered]

My dad's a lawyer. Not all of his business is legal.

( He has money, too. )

You were brought up in that. He's your real dad?

[swillpot]

Yeah?

[He probably shouldn't sound so incredulous about that, but his dad wasn't the type to take on something that wasn't meant to be his responsibility. This isn't to say that they didn't have a good relationship or his father didn't love him, because he did.

He just wouldn't have dragged him all over creation out of the goodness of his heart.]

Mom died when I was six.

[illtempered]

( That's a bitter sip he takes from his bed, looking down at his glass. )

I'm sorry.

( Something he's better at doing now, after therapy in London and managing a relationship, is talking about himself. And talking about his parents. )

My parents died in a car accident. My father is my adopted father.

[swillpot]

I'm sorry too.

[Dead parents suck.]

Were they good people? Your adoptive parents?

[illtempered]

They --

( Hm. )

They were good to me. We weren't a close family. ( He lets that sit with him as he stretches his legs and crosses his ankles. ) I wasn't an easy teen. They did their best. We're closer now.

[swillpot]

That's good at least.

[That things are better now.]

I've always been a believer in that things don't have to stay terrible if you don't want them to.

[illtempered]

If you make them.

( If you are. )

I was a terrible thing. ( A bad guy. ) I'll never say this to him. But, Scott has a part in why I'm not. Helping these kids. It helps me.

[swillpot]

Then I'm glad you're doing it.

[And he also is not going to judge you for being a bad guy. Sometimes the world needs a few bad guys, who are willing to do shady things. It just depends on if you're doing them for good or evil.]

And I'm sure the kids are too.