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Candace had brought Gale to her room and tucked him into bed. He could sleep there as long as he wanted, he was more than welcome to, and Candace would rather the boy stay somewhere close in the dorms than go out to the town and be all alone in his house. But now there was one problem...she wanted to cry and the only place she could do so was no longer private with her new guest.

And so Candace had banished herself to the hallway outside, not wanting Gale to wake up and come out to see her crying. She just sat there against the wall beside the door with her eyes on the smoking stone tablet on her lap, her knees belt and propping it up so it was standing. There was no readable emotion on her face as she looked upon it though her eyes burned with tears she refused to let go of. She couldn't hear Atropos, and at this point she wasn't even sure if she could feel her. She felt numb. Emotionally drained, exhausted..

A voice pulled her from her thoughts, she lifted her head to rest it against the wall behind her. Molly...

"Hey." She managed in a small, weak voice. Candace sniffed and wiped away a few tears that had managed to escape when she'd heard Molly's voice. She quickly tucked the tablet away to hide it in her coat, though it still smoked as much as before. "I was going to call you soon telling you I was back..I guess...you already know though. A-and I...um.." Candace's voice cracked. She looked away. "Gale's sleeping in there and I didn't want to disturb him.." She was pulling desperately at straws right now.

She should have expected the hug. It was Molly, it was just what she did. But even despite knowing what Molly was like Candace still broke down when Molly hugged her and spoke to her. She wanted to be strong, she needed to be, but at the same time she just didn't want to be. She wanted to cry, she wanted to yell and scream. She threw her arms around the young woman, her tablet falling from her coat onto the floor as she did, and sobbed into her chest. She couldn't stop it, she just couldn't do it. Candace couldn't hold back, barely able to breathe between each shudder and cry. She managed a few words of explanation, most of them resembling 'Atropos' and 'gone' and 'alone'. She felt so alone. It had been over a year since she had truly been alone, over a year since she had bonded with Atropos. She loved her so much, she couldn't stand to see her as a tablet.

It was all that b***h's fault. She would get her one day. She would see that thing dead once and for all.

Eventually names could be heard. Bix...Ceres..even Caelius, though that name was said with anger and hatred unlike the other two names.

Atropos. She wanted Atropos.

"I-I-I'll ki-kill her! I'll ******** kill her!" Candace sobbed, clinging tighter to Molly and practically climbing onto her lap. It was her fault. Hers. All her fault. She would pay for this. "Ihatethem. I ha-hate them an-and I a-a-almo-most forgot why!" She'd almost let herself like the denizens of Halloween. It had been dangerously close to going that route. It was back to square one now.

"Th-theyhave Ci-ir-irce.." Candace whispered, eyes suddenly wide. That b***h had Circe. How dare she take another Hunter's weapon again! She sniffed and buried her face against Molly, nodding in agreement with her words. All of them would get what they deserved. Candace held grudges, damn could she hold a grudge, and this was definitely not one she would be letting go of anytime soon.

Atropos. Atropos. Please say something. Anything. She lifted her head again, noticing the tablet on the floor and suddenly gasping and diving for it. No! How could she let her hit the floor like that?! No! Not her beloved Atropos! She clutched the tablet to her chest, coughing a bit from the smoke, and settled against Molly again. She sniffed, looking down at the tablet and petting it. She rubbed over its face with her thumb, her lips pressed together in a tight line. "She did this...to all of us.." She turned a distraught look up to Molly. She didn't know what to do. It was distressing even to her how lost she was without Atropos. She'd gone twenty-two years without Atropos, one day with her like this felt like agonizing pain. "I-I don't know what to do...I..I've never...f-felt so alone."

That was true, wasn't it? Candace was still alive when Atropos became a tablet, so perhaps she would just..come back. She looked down at the tablet again. Others had lost their weapons before, right? Didn't Clerise? Something like that...maybe..maybe she knew. Resting worked. It wasn't the first time Atropos had gone dormant, just seeing her turned into a tablet was a shock to her system, she supposed. She rubbed her lips together, her shoulders shaking as she tried to calm down. Deep, slow breaths.

Molly was here for her, huh? She wasn't alone? Candace forced a smile, turning to Molly again. "You're so good to me." She murmured, putting her head on Molly's shoulder. She was so glad Molly hadn't gone on the mission. She had been safer here. "...Remind me later I need to see Aria." Her tone was completely devoid of any cheer Molly had managed to bring back to her, though when she looked to Molly again instead of sadness and confusion she looked...curious.

"May I do something, Molly?"

Silly girl, you're better to her than you should be. Candace shook her head. "You're perfect, Molly. Don't ever think of yourself as anything less." Her perfect girl.

Candace curled up beside Molly, hugging her tablet with one arm and Molly with the other. She probably would have felt less pathetic doing this in her room behind a closed door than out here in the hallway but she didn't want to disturb Gale and Eva. Gale needed time away from just..everything. Later they could go see if...Bix and Ceres were added to the graves..she'd even take him, remembering the last time she'd seen him there with Ben's grave.

Molly gave her consent and Candace blinked, just looking up into those pretty green eyes. Wait..oh no! "You were..oh god no Molly don't cry, nonono don't cry I'm so sorry." Candace moved quickly, sitting on her knees and placing Atropos gently on her lap so she could use both hands to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. "Please don't cry, not my sweet girl." She rest her forehead against Molly's and closed her eyes, her hands still cupping the girl's cheeks. When had she been crying? Candace had been so wrapped up in her own sorrows she hadn't even noticed. That was terrible of her! How could she have let that happen?

She moved again, leaning in closer until her lips were pressed lightly against Molly's. Molly had said she could do anything she wanted, and right now she wanted affection. She wanted someone to hold her and make her feel important and to forget about their failures during this mission, and she was not going to H for that this time. He would probably not make things better for her for once. No, she wanted Molly this time. The kiss was soft and sweet, not pushy at all and could be very easily cut off should Molly reject her. It didn't last too long, though even when she ended the kiss Candace still stayed close. "Don't cry, not my Molly. Please."

Oh s**t. Damnit. Damnit! Horror bubbled up within Candace as she watched Molly react to her kiss, or rather not react. She shouldn't have done that. She'd crossed the line. Even when Molly gave her another kiss Candace sat back and reaches for her tablet again, blinking and looking down at it as something seemed to stir. Her imagination, surely. Her attention turned up to Molly again this time with an apologetic look. "I..I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...I just...I needed.." Candace pursed her lips. She mus have made Molly so uncomfortable. That had to have been it. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I shouldn't have forced that on you to begin with." What was she thinking? Molly wasn't like that. Stupid! Ugh!

Oh, that made sense. But was that really all it was? Candace couldn't help that nagging worry, the little voice in her head telling her Molly was just being polite. Atropos usually chased away those ********, was she really so lost without her? She'd gone twenty-two years without Atropos, why could she not go one day now? Candace loved Atropos, she wanted her back. She needed her. Her gaze fell to the tablet again with a small frown on her lips, rubbing the face of the smoking stone with her thumb again. Come back to me soon, please. She sighed. Maybe she just needed sleep, a long nap to refresh herself and essentially reset the day. She could start again tomorrow. Fresh, new, ready to be that strong b***h that didn't give a damn. Candace really had softened lately. It was starting to get pretty pathetic.

The new kiss surprised her, making her tense briefly until she relaxed and leaned into it. After a few moments she finally ended the kiss, pressing her forehead against Molly's and giving a little sniff. "I don't want to be alone right now..but I don't want to be out here in the hall anymore."