fridgetothefire | 058 ☣ fear to tread

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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.

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It's Ben, isn't it?

Do you need someone to go with you?

Depends on what it's for.

Yeah, it is.

He's - his maker was a lot like your father, in some ways. I have to make sure he's not back there.

[She drags in a slow breath. If you die in California, you die in real life. She is tempted, again, to ask Arthas to make her an undead terror full of magic and rage before she does. But if she actually found him, that would be counterproductive.]

I don't know. I. No.

[She wants someone to keep her safe, to be a piece of home, to not be alone. The other Anya had her Alex and Ben, had power as a guarantee. But she is stronger and smarter and wiser. She wants that crutch, and it wouldn't even be using him, not when he's offered - but she doesn't need it.]

Thank you for the offer, Zane. It means a lot. But you have a duty to your inmate, and I'll - I'll be okay.

You think you might know where he is?

Tired.

So what are the other options? If he's not there or here . . . I don't understand what it could mean.

[ He pushes it. He doesn't want her to put herself in danger outside the Barge - sometimes there's no coming back from things like that. ]

Sylvanas is fine, and certainly will be for a few days. I was planning on going to take Allison to my world anyway - but now that won't happen.

[ A little resigned, a little frustrated. If people just listened to him faster, there would be fewer problems. And he doesn't want to get in the middle of what's obviously a very complicated set of emotions between her and her friends. ]

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 just - lost the intervening time, somehow. I think it must be something similar for him.

His kitchen key still hasn't been redistributed, like mine wasn't the week I was missing, and everyone was locked out of maintenance. That has to be a good sign.

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)

You're grasping for reassurances.

[She almost wants to bring up the same point to him - Sylvanas might not need him in the next few days, but he's far and away the best-suited warden she's ever had. Anya is - not expendable. But she does not have greater obligations that prevent her from taking the risk. She can't say it, though, because the possibility of death is absolutely an argument in his favor, with his powers -

She has a awful, awful thought.]

Allomancy is genetic, isn't it?

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.

If I'm grasping, it's for evidence. We know very little about what the hell even happened.

But what we do know actually is reassuring. The key, the room, me.

[What do they know, what do they have. Anya and Ben both disappeared before the convergence, even though he was on the wrong ship and she wasn't. It has to be somehow connected.]

I'm going to talk to Iris and Chromie, I think. Jean didn't find anything when she searched my mind, but maybe they can timesleuth something about what happened.

Edited 2014-11-24 18:26 (UTC)

And I should do what? Just sit here?

[Sour, sour, sour. She needs - something. A task. She doesn't know.]

[Well, she does know. She needs Ben.]

Thank you.

Remember he wants you to be safe. Don't pull the trigger on manticore unless there's a minimal risk option. [Reminding her because he'd be real hard pressed not to do that himself.]

I know you will survive. But I'm going to worry. Okay?

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?

When you can't get what you need for a while, the best thing is to give someone else something they need.

[Unlike trying to fill the hole in a hundred ways that don't work.]

Like, okay. Go get in a bunch of stupid arguments with Iris.

Stupid, mind, not all the way vicious.

[She's hurting too. There's a point to which it'll help, and a point where it won't.]

I'm gonna have to get in pretty deep or pull it all apart to make sure he's not anywhere there.

But this isn't a revenge mission. I won't take any more risks than I have to.

[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.

Practical. [He says it like 'sweet' or 'brave'. It's loving, proud. Sad. He just got her back-- but at least he knows where she'll be this time. She is alive, she will stay alive.]

I'm sorry I can't go with you. I gotta stay.

[She hesitates for a moment, actually considering this. It's not the most terrible idea she's ever heard. Except:]

I'm not . . . sure I know where the line is.

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.

I know. I'm gonna miss you.

But I'll be alright. And I made the admiral promise it would only be a few days on this end.

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058 ☣ fear to tread

private

Iris + Anya + Cambridge

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private, the beforening

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[ Private ]

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Re: Private

private, the afterening

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Private