11/15 Instance: Grr Argh

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
Nightscrawlearth Character: :icey :phoenix

11/15 Instance: Grr Argh

Post by Slarti »

Timelined a few days after The Only News is Good News

<Hope> It had taken some effort to convince Bobby that what they needed was a vacation... in the middle of Alaska... in the middle of winter. It was indeed what they needed. She wasn't sure how long they had stayed out there, living off what they could hunt, but she felt refreshed.

<Hope> Brave enough to return, Hope had dismissed Bobby and went to see Chris. She tossed her pack onto the ground and crossed her arms, staring at him through the glass. Well wasn't this super?

<Hope> His skin was some kind of eerie bluish gray color. The claws scraped the glass between them as he made noises. He wasn't even Chris anymore.

<Shaw> Sebastian had spotted Drake first, muttering about civilization and tacos in the staff kitchen, and had interrogated him enough to learn Hope was in McCoy's new medlab. With Nord. Or, with what was left of Nord.

<Shaw> After a trip back to his office for the bottle of scotch, he went to find her.

<Hope> Hope took a step closer to the glass, trying to get a better view of what they had done to Chris. Was it reversible? Or was this permanent? She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Damnit, Christopher."

<Shaw> He watched her watching her lover for a moment, and restrained himself from an insensitive comment. "Has there been any change in his condition?"

<Hope> "That's a big no." Hope responded without so much as looking back at him. "But Drake could use a shower. Why don't you go make sure he gets one?"

<Shaw> "I'm certain Miss Guthrie is assisting him with that, once he locates his tacos at any rate." Sebastian ignored the reception and moved closer. "He isn't the only one," he said, nose wrinkling when he got close enough to smell her. "Christ, did you burn down the entire north woods?"

<Hope> Hope grinned. "Might have tried. Hard to burn things in ice form."

<Shaw> He made a noncommittal noise and closed the distance to look inside at Nord. That... was disturbing, which was saying something as he'd seen Essex's handiwork up close. He blinked, then did it again and looked at Hope.

<Hope> "Just say it," he told him, still not looking from Chris.

<Shaw> "There's nothing to say." He watched her profile. "I'm sorry."

<Hope> She nodded slightly. "Not like I expect anything different by now. Don't give me some BS about how that's not true, because you know it is."

<Shaw> Sebastian sighed. "Has there been any progress on locating who did this?" Inside, Nord was staring at him.

<Hope> "No." She shook her head as she answered. "It's doubtful he'll remember anything... assuming they can get him to speak again."

<Shaw> "Have they even ventured a prognosis on that?" He frowned and shifted and Nord seemed to growl and lunged at the glass, hands - claws - scrabbling on the slick surface.

<Hope> Hope didn't flinch as Nord lunged at them. "Not that anyone is telling me. Perhaps my father knows, but it's doubtful. If they did tell him, it's more likely the booze drowned out the memory."

<Shaw> "I suppose it depends how the changes were made to him, and to what extent his own mind has been either damaged or suppressed." He didn't flinch, but he did shift his weight uncomfortably again. "Perhaps his own healing abilities could repair the damage, if he were sufficiently charged, so to speak."

<Hope> "Yeah... I'm not going in there to supercharge him." She glanced over at Sebastian. "I don't plan on becoming sushi."

<Shaw> "No, it would need to be done in a controlled environment," he added. Nord was looking back and forth between them, claws clacking on the glass.

<Hope> "You got an idea of how to do that then?"

<Hope> Hope glanced from Shaw back over to Chris. Yep. Sushi was on the menu.

<Shaw> "Well, certainly not here and..." He caught her glances between him and the Nord beast. "I'm not doing it, no. He's clearly no fonder of me now than ever, and despite the similarities of our abilities, I'm unwilling to test them."

<Hope> She smirked at him a little. "Chicken."

<Shaw> Sebastian returned the smirk, then grinned. "Egotist," he corrected.

<Hope> "Narcisist." Hope sighed and looked back at Chris. "I don't know if I should be trying to do something... or window shopping on E-Harmony."

<Shaw> "As I should be." He tilted his head, but the self-satisfied smirk fell away at her tone. "Has a telepath attempted to see if he's still... in there?"

<Hope> "Doubtful. I could... but..." She didn't want to. If he wasn't in there, there was no point in trying to fix him.

<Shaw> Sebastian sighed. "Would you like me to try?"

<Hope> "You can if you want." She shrugged.

<Shaw> He nodded, once, and closed his eyes to concentrate.

<Hope> Hope sighed a bit and flipped her hair back over her shoulder to cover her nerves.

<Shaw> At first there was nothing, which didn't surprise him overmuch. It wasn't a conscious shield, not like his own, but something of a lockbox. There weren't even any surface thoughts beyond simple aggression and frustration. Then, he realized there was more and sucked in a breath.

<Hope> Hope ran her fingers through her ginger hair and looked between Shaw and Chris uneasily. It didn't look good.

<Shaw> Everything was disjointed, but he could see clear flashes of a cell, of a lab, of a town. And there was blood. Sebastian braced himself with a hand on the sill of the window and forced his own mind away.

<Hope> Her hand reached out, but she caught herself in time before she touched him. It must be very bad for him to behave like that.

<Shaw> He opened his eyes and stared at Nord who stared back with those eerie, empty eyes.

<Hope> Hope had to once again stop herself, this time from speaking. She waited impatiently for his update, shifting her weight from side to side.

<Shaw> Sebastian drew himself up and straightened his tie before he looked at her. "His mind is fragmented and... animalistic, which is evident by simply looking at him, but there is a shield of some sort. It was almost as if..." It was so ridiculous that his expression was pained. "He may be in his trailer."

<Hope> "What do you mean in his trailer? The people who did this?"

<Shaw> "No..." He drew the word out, cocked his head. "The only sense of an actual human mind I located was locked inside a mental representation of that deathtrap on the lawn."

<Shaw> Shrugging, he looked between Nord and Hope. "Perhaps he locked himself away in there as a defense mechanism. As you can imagine, the process to turn him into... this." He shook his head, lips pursed.

<Hope> "Maybe so... who knows anymore?" She sighed and looked between them, resting her eyes on Sebastian. "When we catch a break, I guess we'll know we're dead, huh?"

<Shaw> "Speak for yourself. I plan to live forever." He smirked and raised the bottle of scotch and gave it a shake, eyebrow raised in question.

<Hope> Hope grinned. "If I can steal the right powers long enough, I plan to as well. Share that?"

<Shaw> "Of course." He removed the cap and breathed in a deep, appreciative whiff. "The best way to cleanse myself of the stench of your disgustingly wholesome stint in the great outdoors."

<Hope> With a soft punch to the arm, Hope laughed. "Yeah yeah. I came straight here."

<Shaw> "Obviously." He leered at the punch and took a drink from the bottle before passing it over.

<Hope> She gladly took the bottle. After a swig, she passed it back and moved to sit on the floor, her back to the glass. Her memory flashed back to when she was trapped on the other side of glass after being kidnapped, tortured, and experimented on. She brought her knees to her forehead and took a couple of steady breaths. "We're going to need more scotch."

<Shaw> "There's always more scotch." Sebastian lowered himself to the floor beside her, ignoring the faint thump behind them from Nord. He took another drink and gave her the bottle.

<Hope> A shaky hand took it from him, lowering the bottle to her mouth for a swig. "Good," was all she could get out. She glanced at Chris behind her and sighed, leaning back against the glass. "I need to have a bed moved in here."

<Shaw> his eyebrow twitched and while he could argue that Nord would hardly know the difference, he decided he woudn't. "I can take care of that for you."

<Hope> "Thanks," she sighed. "It may not make a lick of difference... but that's all I wanted when it was me inside a cage."

<Shaw> "At least he has the advantage of having you." He smiled faintly and reached over to take her hand and give it a squeeze.

<Hope> Nodding, Hope squeezed his hand. "Yeah. He's got me." She sighed and took another drink.

<Shaw> "And if you need a break, you're welcome to my house, of course. Granted, it's a tad... crowded at the moment. But it would at least offer a distraction and perhaps some entertainment." He leaned toward her to lower his voice. "Jess has adopted a squirrel."

<Hope> Hope couldn't help but laugh. "A squirrel?"

<Shaw> His eyebrows lifted with his own disbelief while he nodded. "The girl with the fluffy tail." Waving a hand to illustrate, he took the bottle back for himself.

<Hope> "You just have your own little orphanage there." Hope laughed at him.

<Shaw> "So it would seem," he said, laughing himself as he took a healthy swig, shaking his head.

<Hope> "Yeah, I think I'll take my chances here," she grinned, taking a swig.

<Shaw> "Perhaps I will as well, come to think of it." He made himself more comfortable.

<Hope> "You're welcome to stay. Always love the company."

<Shaw> "Who wouldn't?" Sebastian gave her his best superior smirk.

<Hope> "Chris." She stuck her tongue out at him, but grinned. "Maybe it'll wake him up sooner."
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