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Europa took a different route for patrol that night, a long, meandering loop around the city that took her through an industrial district she hardly ever frequented. It had rained recently, or else she imagined smoke would have still hung in the air, even weeks after the incident. The news had called it an arson, and she supposed that was true from a certain point of view. The fire had been set deliberately--

--But nothing else about the end of the battle had gone according to plan.

She picked her way through the sagging police tape and skirted around the edge of the rubble pile. Demolition had already begun - bulldozers lurked around the edges of the lot, silent in their mechanical slumber. Staring across the ash, Europa pondered Wolframite's fate. Gunn had told her not to trust the general, that the whole battle had likely been a trap meant to turn against the senshi, and not against the DMC as it had been proposed - yet Gunn hadn't been there, hadn't seen that Wolframite made certain that every senshi and knight made it out of the fire, that he had stayed behind, that he had faced Zinkenite-

Had she made it out? He he had the strength left to teleport? There had been bodies in the rubble, she thought, and knew at least one of them was the dark mirror senshi whose starseed was Zirconia's latest science project. Was the other Wolframite?

She sighed, rubbing her arms. He wouldn't be her ally, not now that the operation had gone sour - but she wanted to know what had happened to him.

Hearing the door to the bulldozer open, Europa looked towards the noise. She saw Wolframite only moments before he spoke, and nodded to his statement. "Thanks to you," she said, approaching carefully. Even in the dim light, she could see that his face was marred by an ugly burn, that his uniform lacked the gravitas and grandeur she expected of generals.

"Did you," she said, trying to figure out how to word it properly. What she thought had happened was he'd gotten a demotion, because, of course, his uniform looked like the outfit he'd been wearing when they first met, well over four years ago now, but she wasn't even sure that was possible. There were no demotions among Order. No one could take your power once you'd earned it. She didn't want to guess and be wrong, and it was such an alien concept, but-

"Did you get a demotion?" she asked, trying to steer her voice more towards polite inquiry than disbelief. She thought she succeeded. She hoped she succeeded.

"I suppose Zinkenite must have been beyond furious," continued Europa, frowning. Gunn's assertion that the whole operation had been a trap for the white moon seemed less likely by the second - why go through all this trouble? No, the opposition had been earnest in its intents. And their failure had been real, too, not some cleanly-machined performance. "I'm glad to see you alive. I'd assumed the worst."

She hadn't thought to check, but now that she did, Wolframite was unmistakably a lieutenant and she felt bad for having even had to ask. Well, aside from the whole having never realized that demotions were even possible - although she supposed it made sense, paramilitary organization and all. "You're right, it does," she said. "I'm sorry. It was a stupid question." She was supposed to be better than that. More observant.

She took a cookie, reasoning that if he was eating them they probably weren't poisoned, and she had yet to determine whether Wolframite harbored any ill will whatsoever towards her. Perhaps he didn't - but then, how could he not? If she'd just been thorough enough to crush Leto's throat, instead of merely suffocating her, perhaps she would have been beyond revival... the operation's failure rested squarely on Europa's shoulders.

"I got yelled at," she said, taking a seat beside him. "Apparently the ends never justify the means when the means are working with the Negaverse. So, like, I'm not supposed to play with you anymore. I agree with Zirconia, though. The dark mirror's a parasite. We need to wipe them out." Her thoughts drifted briefly to the strange, mirror-coated starseed, and what its strange form might mean for the future of the war. "Beyond that, no, no consequences. But that means there's no punishment waiting for those traitors who sided with the dark mirror." She doubted any of them had awoken before Ares's fall. She doubted any of them knew the Dark Mirror's true origins or intent.

Europa snorted at the thought of Leto, done in by nothing more sinister than a seasonal bug. "I would drink to that," she said, "If I had anything to drink." About the cookie, she added, "These are fantastic. Where did you get them?"

Sitting in the bulldozer cab beside Wolframite and watching the rain pick up again on the glass felt reminiscent of her younger days, when she was a beginner senshi reveling in the freedom that came with magical powers and running around after dark. Europa was too old and too experienced to engage in that sort of delinquency anymore, but one night - she could spare one night. After all, she'd been busy lately, and Wolframite looked worse for the wear and even if they were technically enemies, she couldn't help but pity him.

So, she took the miniature bottle of vodka and unscrewed the cap. "Yes," she agreed, clinking it to his. "To Leto's health: May it deteriorate quickly." Europa downed the bottle quickly, feeling the burn of the alcohol - there was a reason she preferred cocktails over shots. The lieutenant by her side seemed depressed, and she couldn't blame him - she felt pretty dismal herself - but at the very least, she could try to be optimistic about a virus finishing what they'd started.

And if not, well, she'd get another chance. Hopefully. And when she did, she'd be ready.

"Are your monitors watching you right now?" she asked quietly, trying to see if she could sense them. If they were, then this could well be a trap, she realized belatedly. "Will you get in trouble for talking to me?"

She would probably get in trouble for talking to him. Assuming anyone found out. Which they would not.

Europa would have preferred wine coolers or hard lemonades, and she didn't go for another of the little bottles - where had Wolframite even gotten so many, and why not just buy an actual full-sized bottle of vodka? She wasn't actually sure she wanted to know. This was the Negaverse she was dealing with, after all. The answer was just as likely to be unsavory as it was to be totally mundane.

"I guess he's above killing you or turning you into a youma, then," the senshi suggested lowly, in response to Wolframite's comment about ranks lower than lieutenant. Then again, both those results were rather permanent, and Zinkenite probably still had some use left for Wolframite. Traitor or not, enemy or not, Europa could recognize competence.

His next question gave her pause - why had she come here, exactly? Had sentimentality driven her here? "I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I just kind of wanted to check things out." Really, part of her had been looking for some kind of confirmation about whether Wolframite was still alive, but that seemed like an odd thing to admit. She'd gotten her answer, and now she was done with it. They were not going to be [i[friends.

"I won't get in trouble if she doesn't find out," she said, and had zero plans to tell Gunn about this encounter. "The funny thing about Order is you're pretty much free to mix and mingle with whoever you like. Maybe you should try it sometime." Which was probably a dangerous suggestion to make. "But if we're back to being bitter enemies then we're back to being bitter enemies. For what it's worth, I'm a little bit sorry about hanging you from a flagpole way back when."

But only a little bit.

It had been hilarious. (It was still hilarious.)

"No, I don't think that," Europa replied, mildly frustrated with herself for seeming so flippant when she wasn't. Inappropriate wording was going to be the death of her one day. She thought he was punished for planning an operation that flew in the face of his commanding officers' and organization's priorities and being caught in the act - but she did not say so. Instead, she bit her tongue and reached for another cookie.

At least he understood that she could be more effective in accomplishing their mutual goal from her side than she would be from his. "Chances are, if I came to your side, I'd forget why I want to destroy Leto in the first place," she said. considering her experiences with memory loss lately. Would Europa - corrupt Europa - want Leto dead if she couldn't ever remember ever being Tallulah? If she couldn't remember the pain Leto's corruption had caused to her and her family? It was chilling to consider - who would she be, if she wasn't Tallulah?

Maybe that was why Avalon was so unhinged.

She turned the jumprope over in her hands, considering. "I think that was mostly Libra's expertise," she said, momentarily missing the zodiac. Libra had been smart. She'd had a good viewpoint, one that Europa wished was still around.

"But yes," she agreed. "One of these days you'll get me back for that." But probably not right now, because she had a distinct height and power advantage and he looked like he was in no shape to be fighting.

She twisted the handle of the jumprope in her hand, pondering whether it was made of the same matter as Wolframite's knives and had simply been transmuted, or if it was a different object entirely. "Do you know a general named Avalon?" she asked.

Europa wasn't really sure why she'd brought up Avalon, given that his response was fairly predictable - Wolframite might have been her ally for a time, but it would be foolish and sentimental to consider him a friend. So she did her best to divorce herself from the situation, despite the fact that the general's threats weighed heavily upon her. "She was a knight," she shrugged. "She corrupted and now she's a general. I was just wondering if you'd come across her."

Admitting the details to him would be pointless. It would make her weak, compromise her civilian identity - two of the last things she wanted to do tonight.

"I should get going," she sighed. "I'm sorry that the operation failed the way it did, but I'm going to keep trying to find a way to kill Leto. When I do, you'll know, because she'll be dead. And I'm glad to see you alive, strange as it probably sounds." She would have hated to have his death, in addition to their failure, on her conscience.

She handed the rope back to him.

"Good night, Wolframite," said Europa, climbing down from the cab.

Europa shook her head. "No," she said, "Avalon wasn't my friend. We have mutual acquaintances, that's all." What would Wolframite do, if she told him what was going on? He was a lieutenant now, and marked traitor, and above all, he was not her friend. Chances were that if she told him, all that would happen would he'd be press-ganged into harassing her further.

And that was just something she did not want to deal with.

She considered his last request for a moment, and then nodded seriously. "Got it," said Europa. "I would hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does - I won't hesitate."

She would hate to sacrifice him towards their mutual goal, but - if he was a willing martyr, then she would play that game. "Good night," she repeated. "For real this time. And best of luck to you." For whatever value of luck she wanted to wish upon her enemy. With a sigh, Europa headed off into the night.