1/5 Instance: Welcome Home

[NachtcGleiskette]

timeline directly after game


Talia: TJ played with her fingers as Angel seemed to study the Connect Four during her turn. She moved her hands down to the pieces collecting them, then letting them fall through her fingers with a sigh. She looked back up to Angel. "Come on, you gonna go?"

Angelina: "I'm thinkin,'" Angel replied, considering the plastic game board and realizing she wasn't. "But not about this, really, y'know?" She looked at the clock again.

Angelina: "I should have gone."

Talia: TJ nodded. "I'm trying really hard to just think about the game," she said, looking down again. "I know how you feel though...I shoulda gone too..this is taking way too long.."

Angelina: "Si, but it ain't working so well for distraction." Angel finally clinked her pieces down. "You did the right thing - stayin' with Johnny. I couldda gone though... or helped Japh, or somethin.'"

Talia: Talia took a breath, before clinking a piece in without thought. "It's too late now though...they should be back now.." her brow creased. "They should have been back now..."

Angelina: "Too late," she repeated, getting up and smoothing out her slacks. She went to the window, parting the curtain with a finger. "They really should have been."

Talia: She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. "I've looked out that window like, a million times...it so doesn't speed this up.."

Talia: "I just want everyone back. Like...if people are hurt and need help, then we can do that. But like, I need them to get back now."

Angelina: "I know." Angel absently touched the ring, then squinted up into the sky. "I think I see something..."

Talia: TJ jumped up from her spot on the bed, rushing to the window. "What? What do you see??"

Angelina: "I...." The lights were definitely coming this way now, and the engine whine was growing. "I think that's them!" She looked at TJ, grinning hopefully.

Talia: She watched for a moment as the Blackbird came closer and closer, beginning to land. "It is!"

Talia: She turned and ran out of the room, hurrying down the stairs to wait for him in the foyer.

Angelina: Angel followed close behind, pausing when her phone chirped in her pocket.

Elizabeth: Lizzie shut the jet down and sagged a little in her seat. "You're clear to get out now..." she lowered the rear ramp and sat in her chair for a while.

Rogue: Rogue undid her seatbelt and stood up, not wanting to face the others. They'd failed. They'd worse than failed, they lost even more than they started with. She walked down the ramp and stared up at the mansion for a moment before starting to head to the door.

Elizabeth: Rankin would probably be annoyed that she had just dumped the jet in the driveway as usual, but it was quicker than having to fly a little over the school, turn, then bring her down into the hangar. Wasn't in the mood.

Sabretooth: Vic followed Rogue down the ramp, concentrating on the scents of home. The plane was so....empty....

Cessily: Cessily sighed, still slumped back in her chair. She looked up for a moment as Rogue stood up and left. From the look on her face, the other girl was thinking the same she thought at the moment. Wordlessly, she undid her seatbelt, stood up and trotted down the ramp.

Rogue: Rogue opened the front door and walked in, looking around and spying TJ, "Hey."

Talia: Talia stood behind the door, part of her wanting to open it and rush out, part of her wanting to be patient. They were back....he'd be coming in soon. They probably had to help the others...

Talia: Rogue was the first in. "Rogue...hey...hey, is everyone following you? Is anyone hurt??"

Angelina: "Oh.... I understand. Yes. They're here now. Si, I will talk to you later." Angel clicked off her phone and descended the stairs, feeling much heavier than she had moments before.

Elizabeth: Eventually, she got up, making sure there was no one left on board and came off, shutting the ramp behind her.

Talia: She tried to look around her a bit, trying to spy the others.

Cessily: She looked around, seeing the others leave the jet with similar expressions on their faces. No one said anything. They had failed. There was no other eay to describe it. She had failed. Rachel... Remy...

Rogue: Rogue shook her head slowly, "We lost some..."

Sabretooth: Vic was right behind Rogue, looking up to TJ. "....Hey." Oh god, they were going to have to tell her.

Talia: TJ swallowed. "Lost..some?"

Sabretooth: Vic nodded, putting a still-clawed hand on Rogue's shoulder. "Yeah."

Rogue: "Bobby, Lorna, Rae..." She looked up to meet her in the eyes, trying not to cry, "Remy."

Elizabeth: Watching as the others went straight into the school, she bit her lip as she stayed with those already around TJ. This was going to be hard...

Angelina: Angel bit down on her lower lip hard, crossing her arms over her chest and standing a little apart from the group, but close enough to listen.

Cessily: Making her way over the hallway, she spotted TJ and immediately bit her lip. All the way back she had tried to think of how to tell the others about what had happened.

Talia: She blinked, her breath stopping. "Remy? What do you mean you lost him?"

Elizabeth: "We're going to get them back though. We'll train harder. We know what they'll throw at us. We can prepare..." Lizzie murmered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Sabretooth: "Combat....we got.....there were too fuckin' many...." Vic trailed off. "I dunno abou' infiltration...."

Cessily: "Hey," She flatly stated as she stood next to Rogue. Well, at least Rogue had already took care of the first bit.

Rogue: "Ah dunno. Ah wasn't with him... Ah doubt he's dead or anythin'... But they lost his com, so they lost his GPS location..."

Talia: "D-ead?" she nearly swallowed her tongue on that, before narrowing her eyes at them. "What the fuck are you even doing back?! How could you just LEAVE them there?!"

Angelina: As horrible as she felt for TJ, she had a crowd around her... so she went to Lizzie.

Cessily: "Remy, he is..." Cessily took a sharp breath, trying to focus. She needed to keep her cool now. It was not the time to break down. Not now. "We don't know what happened."

Sabretooth: Vic grit his teeth, pulling away from Rogue and getting away from the group, standing by himself. Remy was gone. Seeing TJ made it real. "Fuck."

Elizabeth: Flicking her eyes up to Angel as she walked over, Lizzie attempted a smile. "Hey..."

Cessily: "TJ, listen to me." Cessily reached out to touch her arm. "We separated, he went to get the files. He... wanted to do this on his own. And then... communication broke down. And we were forced to leave."

Angelina: "Hey....." she whispered. "What happened?"

Rogue: Rogue looked over her shoulder at Vic, then turned back to TJ, "Combat didn't even know 'bout Remy an' Rae 'till we were already on tha jet. Ah'm so sorry." She clenched her hands in fists again, the anger trying to overwhelm her.

Talia: She flinched back from Cessily. "Who forced you?! You just fucking leave?!" She began to push past them, heading toward the jet. "We have to go get them. We have to go now."

Elizabeth: Pushing her hair out of her eyes, as it had fallen out of its braid on the flight home, she shrugged a bit. "We were...Overwhelmed. Didn't expect what they had and...It just got insane. If those of us who are here didn't leave when we did, we'd be trapped there as well."

Cessily: "We had to leave them behind... Rachel, and Remy." Cessily sighed again, closing her eyes for a moment. "They were... we were not prepared for them. We had to escape, or none of us would be here now. None of us would be here to go there again and safe them."

Rogue: Rogue stepped in front of TJ, "We can't. It's too dangerous. An' now more than ever ya gotta think 'bout Johnny."

Sabretooth: Vic watched TJ blankly, before turning away. His tail hung limp as he fisted and relaxed his hands, ignoring the wounds. This was....too much. Way too much. He just wanted to hit something until it broke, maybe until someone bled.

Elizabeth: Looking at TJ with a pained expression, Lizzie breathed out deeply. "None of us wanted to go, to leave them but we did what we had to do..."

Angelina: Angel swallowed hard. "Dio, I should have gone. Should have done something." She watched TJ and felt tears rise. "We, uh, we can regroup? Get help? Go right back?"

Talia: "No you fucking didn't. You just fucking left!" she shoved Rogue out of her way. "Some fucking friends you people are, and you don't even give enough of a shit to even TRY to get them back!"

Elizabeth: "We're too beat to go back now. We need to rest and to plan. We can't just...Throw ourselves back there or we're all lost. If we hadn't ran, you wouldn't have the jet here, you wouldn't have one of us."

Rogue: Rogue took a deep breath, "TJ, we're all angry. We're all upset. You're not the only one who lost someone. Lizzie had ta leave Warren, Alex had ta leave Meggan. This is hard on all of us."

Cessily: Cessily closed her eyes, then met TJ's gaze again. "If you want to blame anyone, blame me. I was in charge of the team after Remy... after we lost contact, and it was my decision to get the team out of there." She looked down. "What's left of it."

Sabretooth: Vic roared as what TJ said registered, raising a fist and punching the wall hard enough to crack the stone behind it. He sank to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face in them.

Elizabeth: Lizzie closed her eyes at the meantion of Warren, fresh tears trickling down her face. It was going to be unbearable trying to sleep that night. And this blame game wasn't helping anyone at all.

Cessily: "It was my responsibilities to make sure Kitty and the captives we freed got to safety." Cessily gulped as she tried to convince herself that her decision has been the right one. "I... I couldn't risk four lifes to safe two... I'm... I'm sorry. They were able to take several of us out, so no doubt that they'd have been more than a match for us."

Talia: "No...no I didn't fucking lose someone. You assholes left him there," she glared at them, her eyes brimming with tears that began to fall. "You fucking left him. And you don't even CARE!"

Elizabeth: "We left them all there!" Lizzie yelled. "I know you're hurt and you're in shock but do not tell us that we don't care!"

Talia: "Sorry?! What the fuck does sorry do?! Why don't we go back!"

Cessily: "Don't say that." Cessily closed her eyes again as she was overwhelmed by anger, guilt and frustration. "Don't say that I don't care. That's... that's not fair."

Angelina: Angel dashed the tears from beneath her eyes. She didn't know what to say... she needed to call Sebastian back. Not only was Scott still .... Nebraska? She laughed at the irony. Close to home, but so far.

Elizabeth: "We care alright! We had to make the choice to come back so we could get stronger so wecan actually do something to help! TJ, you were not there, you didn't see what was happening!"

Talia: She stopped, her lip trembling. "I wasn't there....I should have been...." she let out a shuddering breath. "I should have fucking been there..."

Elizabeth: "You remember what happened at the Fringes? The Fringes was a playgroup compared to what we faced! We were too few and we almost all got taken!"

Cessily: "Lizzie is right, we need to regroup, get as many of us as we can. Maybe... maybe ask the teachers for help. We couldn't do anything there on our own."

Sabretooth: Vic snarled at the raised voices, standing up. "Fuck y'! Fuck ya all, okay? I'm outta here." He punched the wall again, glared at everyone and slammed out of the foyer.

Rogue: Rogue watched Vic go and turned to TJ, "No, ya shouldn't have been. What if ya got taken or lost too? Then what would Johnny do? Ya did tha right thing."

Talia: Talia glared at him as he left. Asshole. They all were..they all just fucking...her thoughts cut off a bit as sounds came from the monitor she perpetually wore. Oh jesus....

Elizabeth: Calming a little bit, she gave TJ a sworrow filled look. "I'm so sorry, TJ, I am, but we did what we had to do...You being there - you don't know what could have happened, you could have been left behind too and then what about Johnny? You need to be strong too..."

Angelina: "They're right," she finally spoke up. "We... we need a little time, not long... but we need help. Then we go back."

Cessily: Cessily watched Vic leave, then turned back to TJ and Angel. "We will get them back. There's no doubt about that. We will go again, and get them all back." She nodded. "Then you'll get your chance to help."

Talia: She couldn't help but sob, feeling her knees go weak and she fell back against the stairs, burying her face in her hands.

Cessily: "TJ..." Cessily bit her lip and trailed off as she stepped over and put her hand on the other girl's shoulder.

Talia: She wanted to recoil from Cessily, but couldn't find the strength. She sobbed against her for a bit, before sniffling. "What the fuck am I going to tell him?"

Rogue: Rogue walked over and rubbed TJ's back, "Ya tell him that his Papa's gone on a mission f' a bit longer than we thought. But he'll be back soon. We won't leave him, TJ. We'll get them all back."

Angelina: Seeing TJ like that... it broke her own attempt at staying strong. "You won't have to tell him anything.... we'll get Rem back. I'll get Scott back. Liz will get Warren back. We will. We have to.."

Elizabeth: Taking a seat on a side table, she stared at the floor, her thoughts going back and back to the fact she hasn't been able to feel Warren. And, no one had gotten as far as to see him so no one could tell her if she was being paranoid. She had to be paranoid. She normally was...

Cessily: "Yes, we will. It'll just... take a bit longer than we thought." Cessily sat down next to TJ. "I understand that you want to be angry at me. That's okay, I guess. Please... try to understand us. Why we had to do what we did."

Sabretooth: Once Vic got far enough away from the voices that they were only a low murmur, and the scents weren't so distracting, he let himself slid down a wall, wrapping his arms around his knees and sobbing before he'd hit the floor.

Talia: Talia shook her head. "I can't...can't do this. I can't just sit here while he's there..."

Elizabeth: "And how the hell do you think I feel about leaving Warren there even longer?"

Elizabeth: Slipping to the floor, Lizzie put her chin on her knees. "We know what you're going through..."

Rogue: "Ya not gonna just sit here. Ya gonna pick yaself up an' be strong f' ya baby. He needs you too."

Cessily: "Yes, we do." Cessily nodded. She wanted to cry, as well, but somehow found herself unable to do so. She felt just numb. "I... I left two of my best friends behind. Do you think that this was easy for me?"

Talia: She took a few deep breaths through her sobs, feeling like she was hyperventilating, before the cries on the monitor picked up. She moved away from Cessily, before heading upstairs without a word to the rest of them.

Cessily: Cessily looked after TJ as she left, not saying anything. Then, she looked around at the others, trying to read their expressions.

Rogue: Rogue took a deep breath and walked out of the foyer the way Vic had gone. She found him sitting next to a wall, curled up, "Vic...Sugah..."

Elizabeth: "Anyone have any non addictive sleeping pills?" she asked nonchalontly. "I really don't think I'm going to sleep for the next thirty days. A knock on the head might help though..."

Angelina: "I.... I'll see the mission reports in the morning." Angel cleared her throat. "Um, I guess, in the meantime... everybody needs some rest...." She backed up a couple steps, not stopping the tears.

Sabretooth: He needed out of here. Now. Any way possible. He.... he looked up at Rogue, eyes half-lidded. "What?"

Cessily: "No, sorry." Cessily look up at Lizzie. "I don't use any meds. Maybe ask Dr. McCoy. I'm sure he has something."

Angelina: "My pills are in TJ's room," Angel said shortly, still backing to the door. "I have.... I have to go."

Cessily: "I don't need any rest. I... never do." She chuckled humorlessly. "See you, Angel."

Rogue: She held her hand down to him, "Let's go upstairs an' get sloshed. Wanna?"

Sabretooth: Vic eyed up Rogue's hand before taking it. "Sure."

Elizabeth: Angel hadn't even said goodbye to her...Feeling even more alone, she slowly stood up ad walked down the hallway to the back stairs, which was quicker to get to her room. Less time for people to see the tears in...

Angelina: Once she was outside, she realized along with her pills that her car keys were in TJ's room too. She slowed, already shivering in the early spring air. There was no way she could go up there. So, Angel simply walked around to the rose garden, finally slumping against a statue.

Cessily: Cessily watched as everyone left, still sitting on the stairs. Lowering her head, she let out a sigh. She still wanted to cry, but there was nothing but this feeling of numbness inside her. That, and the nagging feeling of guilt in the back of her mind.

[Feuerstein]

>.< Oh my, I actually teared up a bit. TJ's reaction was so heart-breaking. The whole instance is so emotionally-charged. :'(

[steyn]

Japh is gonna feel so guilty everytime he sees the other students.

[Slarti]

Awwww, it's not Japh's fault. He had to save the rest from getting taken.

And yeah, I was sniffing when we were doing it at TJ's reaction. Great job on the convincing heartbreak!

[Ferguson]

Major kudos for that.

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Awww. It was just sad all around. But its an important difference for the kids - they've never lost like that.

Remy broke his promises real bad.

Paws

[wingyding]

Yup, he did. Bastard.

So heartbreaking. It was some great emoting all round, and major kudos to nacht for being so convincing. This one makes me so sad to read.

[Esynthia]

I tried. I promise I tried to cry. But the inner-Rogue took over and I just got more and more angry at the fact that they were left behind.