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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 21:58:19 GMT -5
The mutant sat down morosely. As he did so, Major Vance leaned around the edge of the doorway, looking gaunt and weary.
"Seen Regina?" he asked Nate quietly.
The younger Vance shook his head. "Not yet."
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Post by skybright on Jul 4, 2008 22:03:55 GMT -5
Hubert glanced up from the sink, reaching for a paper towel. "She should be in the kitchen, I think. That was where I left her after I helped her downstairs -- I believe you were outside at the time, Major."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 22:17:08 GMT -5
"Thanks, Hubert." Vance pushed himself away from the doorway and all but limped toward the kitchen, moving slowly and feeling very old.
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Post by skybright on Jul 4, 2008 22:24:46 GMT -5
Daws was seated at the kitchen table, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands (courtesy of Hubert, who counted brewing a fresh pot of coffee among his very few methods of comforting people).
She cocked her head slightly in Vance's direction as he entered the kitchen, then pushed back from the table and stood. "Jerod?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 22:30:45 GMT -5
Vance waved his hand slightly, in a feeble, futile gesture of greeting. Then he sank down in a chair across the table from Daws.
"I need a drink," he said bluntly. "...But I'd settle for some of that coffee."
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Post by skybright on Jul 4, 2008 22:39:45 GMT -5
Daws nodded and moved somewhat haltingly to the counter, reaching for the extra empty cups Hubert had left there for the purpose. She poured a cup carefully and carried it back to the table, placing it in front of Vance as she sat back down.
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 22:47:44 GMT -5
Vance took a deep drink of the coffee, then stared into it for a long moment, cradling it in both hands.
"We cut Highsmith loose," he said at last. "Figured you'd wanna know that. But it's also fair to tell you, if it wasn't for Proteus and Nate..." He sighed and made a vague pushing-away gesture.
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Post by skybright on Jul 4, 2008 22:58:00 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "I figured." She murmured, staring down at the indistinct blur of her own coffee cup.
She fell silent for a long moment, then sighed. "Jerod . . . I'm so sorry."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 23:06:37 GMT -5
"That's the way life is," Vance said fatalistically, in a terse voice. He took another swallow of coffee, and spoke a moment later in a somewhat softer voice.
"What'd Caddy say about your eyes?"
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Post by skybright on Jul 4, 2008 23:15:35 GMT -5
Daws shrugged one shoulder. "He doesn't think it's anything permanent -- I should be okay in a day or two." She sipped at her coffee. "I feel like it's a little better than it was -- but I might just be fooling myself into thinking that."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 23:23:53 GMT -5
"You've got to be alright." Vance clenched his fists. "What do you think is gonna happen if Tiernan calls you in suddenly, and he figures out something's not right with you one day after a bunch of his people have been killed?"
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Post by skybright on Jul 4, 2008 23:31:53 GMT -5
Daws' grip on her coffee cup tightened. "You think that hasn't occurred to me?" She asked quietly. "That scares me more than the thought of it not getting better at all."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 4, 2008 23:45:06 GMT -5
"You should never have gone." Vance stared back into his cup. "I should never let you again. Not you, or Sid, or Van Linden, or any of you who still have lives of your own."
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Post by skybright on Jul 5, 2008 0:01:35 GMT -5
"This is my life, Jerod." Daws shot back. "I chose to get involved in this fight -- and I choose to stay in it, even with all the risks."
Her jaw tightened as she stared down at her coffee. "Maybe you're right, and I shouldn't have been there last night -- but only because Miriam got hurt like she did. she should never have been in combat like that -- and If I hadn't insisted on going with you, you'd have had a better reason for leaving her out, too."
She glanced back up at him. "But that doesn't change what I said. Don't try to shut me out of this fight . . . or out of your life." Her voice softened. "Please."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 5, 2008 0:14:25 GMT -5
Vance closed his eyes, shaking his head with a humorless chuckle. "I told you about love and war a long time ago, Regina. I knew you wouldn't listen then, and I know it now... and I'm just too tired to argue."
He opened his eyes. "I'm tired of everything. Those guards and even the scientists we fought last night... they're supposed to be on the same side as us. The poor, helpless norms Tiernan wants to exterminate. The ones we've gallantly made it our business to try to protect--only who's going to protect us from them? Tiernan?"
He let out a faint, ragged laugh. "A lot of things I believed in went down in flames last night... and right now, I don't think I'd care if the whole world went down with them."
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Post by skybright on Jul 5, 2008 0:29:55 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "I know."
She sighed and flexed her claws. "Every question we've asked about what we do -- if we're on the right side, if there is a right side . . . they've all come tumbling down at once, a hundred times worse than they ever were before. And I don't know the answers -- I'm not even sure there are any."
She shrugged one shoulder rather hopelessly. "All I can come up with is that we've got to make it through today -- and then through tomorrow, if we manage that. One day at a time. If . . . if only because the alternative is giving everything up." She frowned at her rapidly-cooling coffee. "And somehow I just can't bring myself to give up. Even if I don't know why not."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 5, 2008 0:36:37 GMT -5
Vance leaned forward, resting his head on his hand.
"You know I can't... if only because of Deanna. Because that's one score that will never be settled as long as Tiernan is still breathing. As for everything else..." He grunted faintly. "There is nothing else."
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Post by skybright on Jul 5, 2008 0:47:09 GMT -5
Daws glanced up at him. "There's Nate." She said quietly. "You lost him once, Jerod, and I saw how it ate at you. Don't lose him again . . . for his sake, if not for yours."
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Post by Jordanna on Jul 5, 2008 19:58:09 GMT -5
Vance set his jaw. "The only sure way not to lose him would be to send him away, to get him out of all this... same as with you. But he won't go any more than you would."
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Post by skybright on Jul 5, 2008 21:29:40 GMT -5
"No." Daws smiled thinly. "You can't get rid of us, Jerod. We're with you -- for better or for worse."
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