056 - Her bravery is mistaken for thrashing in the lake

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She staggers onto the plane at the edge of Ammy's forest, unwounded and wearing jeans and a t-shirt that don't quite fit. Misaki seems fine, physically--just a little cut on one cheek, no cause for concern. Two steps, and then she's down on her knees.]

[She heaves once, twice, and nothing comes up, and then just satisfies herself with shuddering. She drags herself upright and walks to the grass, leaning her back against a tree, and then sliding down its length to the ground. Her shirt catches, threads come loose, she doesn't notice. She's crying a bit, though not out of pain or any close loss. It's the scope of the thing. Tears shed over the kind of disaster that gouges a canyon through the familiar and the safe.]

[A whisper, almost an apology:]

They were dead. We thought... we thought they were dead.

Comments

[damnfinecoffee.livejournal.com]

...Misaki?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She jerks, apparently not noticing him until then.] Oh. Oh, Ianto.

[A brief effort to sit up straighter and swipe at her eyes.] Sorry. Just.

[How can she even explain?] Things. Bad. I can't...

[damnfinecoffee.livejournal.com]

[He nods once, straight faced and not quite meeting her eyes.] You don't have to. Just...

[He pauses momentarily, pulling a clean handkerchief from his suit jacket and holding it out.] Here. Clean up a bit. You'll feel better.

[mercwamouth]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Too distracted to notice the lurking, at the moment, which shows just how distracted she is.]

[mercwamouth]

[Deadpool is at a loss. He wants to comfort her but he doesn't know how. He knows that look, that horror on the edge of madness, but if he knew how to cope with that, he wouldn't be the way he is. He begins to walk away without uttering a word...]

[contract_star]

[SO THERE, crouching down near her and draping his coat over her shoulders.]

[Softly,] It's alright. You're okay.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Person. Hei person. She takes his hands, gives them a squeeze, then leans forward and hugs him.]

[contract_star]

[He hugs her tightly, silently, trying his best to convey that it's alright--that he'll protect her.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

The ring. [She mumbles it against his shoulder.] The Saturn Ring. They turned it around. Changed it somehow. Projected out, through Pandora.

[contract_star]

[He tenses, quite noticeably.] But I destroyed it. How...?

What did it do to them? The people? [He has no idea what kind of effect anti-Gate particles would have on normal humans...]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

Rebuilt, I guess. Not sure.

[She rests her face against his neck.] They reversed it. Blasted three miles around the wall with Gate radiation. We thought-- We thought...

[contract_star]

But Contractors...why would Contractors...

[Oh lord. This cannot be good.] What happened to them? Misaki...?

[Something else occurs to him. How would she know any of this? Was she in PANDORA? And if so, why? ...But he sets that aside for later. She's upset enough as it is.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

They wanted to keep us out. Everyone out. It's their... their base. Someone there, manipulates the radiation, he can increase the concentration in some areas, pull it back in others.

[She shudders again.] Things. They were human. Now they're... things. Some... there's pieces everywhere. Plants, the plants are changing, the buildings keep moving around. Trying to get to the edge, but I can't tell--

[She takes a deep, steadying breath. Then another. That's enough. That's enough of that.] I'm not... I'm okay. I'm all right.

[contract_star]

PANDORA is...

[This can't be real.]

The Gate...they...they extended its perimeter, beyond the wall. [Oh god oh god oh god and she's in there, she's in there. He hugs her even tighter, to the point that it probably hurts a little.]

You're not okay. You're not okay if you're in there. Misaki--you have to get out, we have to get you out of there--

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She winces, but doesn't try to get away.] We didn't know. The specters... it hurt them to go in. Data we had, we thought... I wish... ['I wish they were dead.' She shivers. And then she does pull back, but only a little.]

No. I'm getting out. I'm not stuck. I'm just disoriented. You're not coming back to Tokyo. You're not going in there.

[contract_star]

Why are you even in there? I thought--

My team. Azure, Kuro, someone must know a teleporter, dammit if only Mu were back to normal...

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

Took me. They-- [A pause, as she rubs one eye in confusion.] How did you know I was teleported? Did I tell you?

[contract_star]

What? No. That wasn't even what I was talking...

They took you? [He's gripping her arms now.] Misaki, what did they--are you--?

[They took her. The Contractors who all but annihilated Tokyo took Misaki.]

That was what Crowley meant, the teleportation...that's why you had the doctor's coat...

[How long did they keep her? They would have had access to all the PANDORA technology, all the drugs, chemicals, machines, the Ring and the Doll Network and the ME.]

[Hei is shaking now, a combination of fear and unutterable fury.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She winces.] Hei, that hurts.

[contract_star]

[He automatically lets her go and takes a step backward.]

I'm sorry.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She grabs his hands.] Please don't. It's fine.

[contract_star]

Are you really...are you sure you're...?

[He shakes his head. Why didn't she tell him? Then again, when does she ever tell him the whole story? And he knows that's unfair, he knows he hasn't done much better, but it hurts all the same.]

The Gate...don't try to go toward any landmarks. Just follow your instincts. Keep moving. Don't stop, whatever you do.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

I won't. I'll come here whenever I start getting... nervous. It's not as bad as the Gate.

[That's only half a lie.] Please, Hei, don't-- I don't want you getting hurt.

[contract_star]

[He's silent for a long while, and no longer looking at her. There's a maelstrom of emotions swirling through him, but it feels impossible to identify a single one.]

How can you expect me to just...?

[He cuts himself off abruptly.] I won't do anything you don't want me to.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She lifts his hands and puts them against her face.] Please, just... be the one person from home that I know who isn't involved in this.

[contract_star]

[He closes his eyes and settles himself into the familiar state of calm rationality.]

Alright.

[usagipino]

Are you sad?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Buh, sudden child. She wipes her eyes and attempts a smile but it doesn't get very far.] Yes, I am.

[usagipino]

How come?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

Because people are in pain, and I can't help them.

[usagipino]

Could someone else help them? Or if you had lots of people?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

No, I'm afraid not. [She ruffles Pino's bunny ears.] There's... sometimes, things are too big for anyone to fix, even with help. You can recover, but... it won't be all better. It can't be.

[usagipino]

Not even Vince can fix it? [This seems absolutely unfathomable to her.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

I don't know Vince. Maybe he could. [She closes her eyes and leans back against the tree.] What's your name?

[usagipino]

Pino is Pino! Vince is my friend. He helps me and protects me.

[shinypaws.livejournal.com]

[Ammy is here, and some birds follow. A sparrow comes to perch on Ammy's head and a few more settle around or on Misaki, cheeping softly.]

[Quietly,] They're coming to worry for the people here, it seems.

[Ammy approaches very slowly and sits down a few feet from Misaki, sniffing at her carefully.] Oh my dear, what has happened?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She holds two fingers out to one of the birds, apparently fascinated by the bouncing little things. When Ammy speaks, however, Misaki's attention shifts, and she puts her arms around Amaterasu's neck and rests her face in the wolf's fur.]

[shinypaws.livejournal.com]

[Amaterasu lets her lean on her, content to hold both of them up for now. The birds flutter around them, though they avoid getting in Misaki's face or hair.]

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

Misaki?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Wince. She presses her face into her hands and swipes at her eyes, trying to school her expression before she looks up at him.] Dino. Hello.

[lamb_of_gold]

Misaki?

[Mu approaches slowly. He's entirely unused to seeing people like this, so he does the only thing he knows, and that is to fire up his Cosmo on a low-ebb - a warming and comforting feeling emanating from him.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Augh, child!Mu. She straightens up and tries to smile at him.] Hello. How are you doing?

[lamb_of_gold]

Better than you. Are you hurt?