darker_london | Here's the truth (Merry, Geordie, Daria, Carly) [backdated August 2nd] (Reply)

Merry, Geordie and Ellie were leaving for Aberdeen in the morning. Daria had a few things Merry needed. Money, mostly. Money and a car. Geordie drove Neil's van to Daria's, and waited outside while Merry went in to talk to her sister.

"You are not going to Aberdeen by yourself!" Daria exclaimed (quietly, since the babies were asleep upstairs). "That is - that is - no."

"Oh I'm sorry," hissed Merry. "I forgot that I had to run my life past you before I did anything."

"That is not-" Daria stopped herself, trying not to be drawn into a fight. "Merry, what happens if you find him? You're hunting a ghost. You can't go up against a ghost."

"Don't you tell me about ghosts," Merry narrowed her eyes in disdain at Daria. "Don't you dare."

"Oh I'm sorry," Daria echoed Merry's words, hands on her hips. "Am I wrong? Are you taking a medium with you? Or do you have some other miraculous plan? Are you suddenly an exorcism expert?"

"Daria-"

"Does Dad know?" Daria bulldozed right over Merry's words. "I am telling Dad!"

"Shut up!" Merry snapped, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Daria, just calm the fuck down," she lowered her voice, trying to be the calm one. The one who had a plan. She probably shouldn't have sworn, but Daria shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that Merry was a rash idiot. "Matt is coming with us. I have spoken to him and I have it all sorted. He has his motorbike. We just need a car. I'm too young to hire one. You have a car. You have have your car, and you have Con's car. May I please borrow your car."

Daria took a few deep breaths, laying her hands flat on the cool surface of the kitchen island. "Ak," she said. "I'm still very worried."

"Yeah well, I'm worried too. Joss is my friend, and I don't think he knows how out of his depth he is." Merry was on the other side of the island, leaned against it now, to take a little pressure off her knee. She sunk into the bench a little. "Daria," she said, the aggression drained out of her. "He's called me before when he needed me. When he was too sick, or too sad, or just too tired to look after himself. And I have to... I have to..." she trailed off, unsure of what, exactly, she had to do. Other than be there.

"Oh Mer," Daria said sadly. "I thought you said once that you didn't want to be his saviour." Just send Matt up there, Daria hoped silently. You don't have to go. Don't risk it.

Well someone's got to fix this, Merry thought. "There's Teagan to think about too," she added. "You know you're not going to talk me out of it."

"Argh," Daria said, turning her back on Merry, so she could get the keys for her car. Con was in Australia with Mona, so she had his car as well if she needed to take the girls anywhere. "I'm still telling Dad."

"Oh for gods sake I'm not running of to Scotland without telling Dad," Merry said. "I'm going to talk to him tonight, after I drop off the van."

Daria sighed and pushed her hair off her face (discovering a strange of hair encrusted with baby food). "Can I at least send someone else with you, like Allanah?"

"We've got Matt," Merry said. "If I do find Joss... if I show up with an army behind me... he's only going to get all defensive. I know I would. I just need to talk to him face to face."

Merry wasn't even planning to confront Joss with Matt around. He was backup only, and Merry was looking forward to telling him this. If she found Joss, she was going to have a reasonable conversation with him. She wasn't going to attack him. She wasn't going to force him. She'd get him to see how messed up this thing was, for him and for Teagan.

Logic and reason would win this.

Merry would win this.

Daria looked at her little sister and saw the determination there. "Here's the key," she said, unhooking it from her keyring. "You should probably get it copied so you have a spare. There's a spare tyre in the boot as well, and a first aid kit. You better take the emergency credit card too. And call me if anything happens. Give me a hand to move the car seats into Con's car, and then it's all yours."

Merry left Daria's with a smile on her face. She met Geordie out the front, brandishing her keyring as a token of victory. "One car, one credit card, and I didn't even piss off Daria that much," she said, pleased with herself as Geordie gave her a hug.

"So do you want me to follow you in the van to Carly's?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Merry said. "It might be a long conversation, and you've got to get home and tell Victor you're road tripping with us in the morning."

"I do have to do that," Geordie nodded. "Text me when you're home safe, though, yeah?"

"I will if you will," Merry said. "And I'll be round to get you from yours at nine."

"Oy," said Geordie. "I'll get started on the playlist tonight too." He grabbed Merry's shoulders intently. "Daria's car has an iPod adaptor, right?"

Merry laughed. "It does, don't worry." Geordie dropped her shoulders in relief. "Just make sure it's not ten hours of Spectre, okay?"

"Alright," Geordie grumbled.

Merry climbed into Daria's car and sent a text to Carly, letting her know she was on her way. She'd called Carly earlier to organise the meeting, saying that she had something really important to talk to her about. She waited till Geordie had cleared the driveway, then pulled out onto the street, rehearsing her speech the whole way there.