fridgetothefire | 058 ☣ fear to tread

[Private to Riddick and Abigail]

The bad news is, I didn't find him. The good news is, he's definitely not where he came from. How are you guys holding up?

[Public]

[Anya looks tired. Not frazzled or grimly frantic the way she did last month, just - tired. Particularly observant folk may notice her hair is an inch or two longer than it was four day ago.]

I'm back. Any dramatic murders in the last few days?

[Private to Iris and Cambridge]

Speaking of which, do either of you have some biohazard-safe cryogenic storage type devices I could use?

All backdated to the 21st:

[Private to Scott, Dillon, and Luna]

I'm going to take a trip. I shouldn't be gone long, just a few days.

I promised Ben, if he were gone, if he were ever incapable, I would be there to help Abigail. But she's been awake for a week, and what she needs is her warden back. I'm going to go look for him.

Please look out for her.

[Private to Abigail]

I'm going to go search for Ben.

Private to Peter]

I have to go away for a few days. Will you take the maintenance key? I don't want to lock you guys out again if you need something.

[Maintenance Filter]

I'll be away for a few days. Peter will be in charge. He's been in maintenance for ages, he knows the whole drill. There's not a ton to do right now, so enjoy that.

And thanks for all your work last month. I - I appreciate it a lot. There's brownies in the office for everyone to share.

[Clean brownies, tragically, but gooey and tasty ones.]

[Private to Riddick]

I'm going to go look for Ben. I don't - really expect to find him, but I have to make sure he's not where he came from.

I should only be a few days, but if he comes back before I do, tell him to sit tight, will you? And I'll leave him a letter from me, too. Just in case.

[Private to Arthas]

So there's a thing I have to do.

[Filtered to any friends she hasn't contacted already. If you think you are, etc.]

I'm going to be away for a few days.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You think you might know where he is?

I hope I don't.

The admiral said if he was in places I could search, and he was willing to come back, he would have.

He's technically a graduate. It's possible he got sent - back.

[And they fucked with his will.]

I don't think he's there. But I have to make sure, and help him if I'm wrong.

If he got sent back -

[She's going to disappoint him. She's going to do something just awful.]

I want to go.

I would take you if I could, Abigail. I really would.

[Ben might need either or both of them; and Anya still believes in revenge, to a certain extent, and more in letting inmates find the limits of their own willingness. She has no idea what Ben would think of it as wardening decision, knows he would want her kept as far from them as possible. Anya promised to help protect Abigail. But she knows the limits of that, too.]

Edited 2014-11-24 18:18 (UTC)

I know you can't. I know. I'm just telling you what I want, no matter what's possible or isn't.

[She sighs, scrubs her hand down her face.]

I'll be fine, if that's what you want to hear.

I know. And I'm sorry.

I hope he wasn't. I don't really believe it. But - the slimmest possibility is unacceptable. So.

[A tiny sigh of her own.]

You're not fine. But you're tough. I asked a few people to look out for you, just in case. I know that's - patronizing, or whatever, but I'd be remiss if I didn't and it'd be worse not to tell you, I figure.

Scott and Dillon because they're you're friends, and they're good people. Luna too. I know you don't know her as well, but I think she could be good for you to talk to.

Edited 2014-11-24 18:34 (UTC)

I like Luna. I think I wanted to hurt her, back when I was somebody else. So she has to be interesting. I mean, not that I couldn't tell anyway.

[It doesn't escape her that all the wardens Anya has deemed safe to look out for her are in her own age bracket. It's such a specifically Anya tactic; she doesn't know whether to like it or hate it.]

Um, I think you get a pass on being patronizing under emergency circumstances.

What if you die? What do I tell him?

[Arkin is around, and that's good, especially with Abigail losing Powers and Harvey at once. But he'll look out for her anyway, and Ben didn't choose him himself when he had the chance. If Abigail were closer with Barbara - man, that's a thought. She should work on that when she gets back.]

I won't die. But I'm leaving a letter with Riddick in case he gets back first. That's not on you.

That's not good enough.

[A thoughtful pause, while she considers what would be.]

I'll tell him about the memorial, I guess.

You have to come back soon.

Do you know Cass Cain? She's...quiet. She was a warden, before. An amazing one. She was - she was one of the first people who was sincerely kind to me. She does nothing insincerely, she's quite like Ben that way. We were family, in a breach. I love her very much. And she vanished a few months before you arrived.

I remember telling someone, afterward. That if I vanished, I would want people to to be glad I was happy here, and to live in hope. That grief had turned enough of the people I loved into monsters - or ghosts, for that matter. I'd want them to live in hope.

And almost a full year later, she came back. She only remembers us vaguely, and she needs our help instead of the other way around. But she's our Cass, and we'll take of her.

So if I'm late, and he's early, you can tell him I'm sorry for breaking my promise, and that I love him, and that I want him to live. In hope.

But I did make the admiral promise to keep my absence short shipside, and he agreed. A few days at most.

I met her. She . . .

[She saw too much. But then, Abigail expects Anya knows this. Something about the way she speaks - it's foolish not to expect Anya to know. That's one way she's a valuable resource. It's one way she's comforting.]

[Abigail never expected to be comforted by this powerful, dangerous girl. She feels suspicious, even now. But secure, too.]

[A short huff of breath, and yes: she understands.]

I promise I'll pass along the message, if it's necessary. With those words exactly.

[It's one promise out of many that she actually intends to keep.]

Thank you.

058 ☣ fear to tread

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