trans_9 | Wake Me Up Before You Go [Open]

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Wake Me Up Before You Go [Open]

Kelly opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the ceiling. Her head was pounding, but at least she was back. She barely remembered running those mazes or puzzles, or whatever the hell it was GLaDoS had had her do. And all for what? Cake? She didn't even particularly like cake. Vaguely, she recalled being released from the pod and stumbling back to the room she shared with John. She must have taken a shower seeing as she was clean. But other than that, she'd simply dropped into bed and fallen asleep. Sitting up, she ran a hand across her face glancing slowly around. Not much had changed, but she had no idea how long she'd been out for. Though there really was only one way to find that out.

Sliding into her clothes, she threw her jacket over her shoulders, strapped her sidearm on under it, and stepped out of the room. The first thing she noticed was that she was hungry. Incredibly hungry. Frowning, the Spartan set off toward the mess hall to fix that. From what she could gather through overheard snippets of conversation and the small changes in those crew members she recognised, she'd been out for a month, or close to it. A whole month? If GLaDoS were a person, she'd have had it by the throat right about now, headache or no. Pulling her out of action for a month! She wanted to smash the goddamned thing.

Eating the slop that Stacy provided quickly, (and she ate a lot of it) she rose to her feet again. It was difficult to get a Spartan on edge, that was a fact; but anyone watching the tall, pale woman would be able to tell that she was almost fidgety. Simply the thought of that entire time out of action, and what cold have happened to her team and her friends in her absence was enough to make her want to run the whole ship looking for each of them. Instead, she simply set off down the hallways, keeping her speed low. She needed to run. To move. To do something to get rid of the growing tension she felt.

She hated the thought that she'd been taken out of play for so long. How had the Nightmare King problem worked out? Most of the crew didn't look dead tired like they had the last she remembered. But some members weren't in their usual places. Had they lost anyone? She needed to know these things. Needed to find out. But for now what she needed to do was run. Clear her head. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the city and upped her pace, blurring along the streets and past the buildings. She needed to soothe her nerves.

Spartans didn't get jumpy.

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There was at least one familiar little girl standing before a building that was luckily spared of most of the devastation during that mess in the city. Sherry pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips as though sizing it up. All the other places she usually had hidden herself away to read where damaged, and the fact that she knew she was missing something and couldn't put her finger on what exactly bothered her to no end.

But for now, she needed a place to read, a place where it was quiet and calm. Maybe Kelly ---

...Wait. Why had she just suddenly thought of Kelly?

Possibly because the blur of person shooting down the street towards her was Kelly. Sherry threw up her hands and squeaked, pushing the door of the building open so she could dive through it and not be run over.

Thankfully, the street was wide and Kelly knew what she was doing. She'd seen Sherry once she rounded the corner of course. And while she didn't have much time to do it, she quickly switched directions, running diagonally to avoid the girl as she slowed. Finally, when she was slow enough she planted one foot and came to a stop entirely, turning and heading back the short distance to the ill-fated girl.

The Spartan had noticed the destruction around her of course. So it would seem it some great battle had taken place within the city. A lot of the buildings that she remembered were either damaged or totaled. However, that wasn't the important thing at the moment.

Shaking her head slightly at Sherry poor luck (she always seemed to somehow wind up in the Spartan's path as she ran) she walked over to the door and leaned around it calling inside.

"Sherry? That you?"

Sherry was picking herself up off the floor, and dusting her knees off when Kelly peeked her head in. "It's me," she answered and winced. "Where've you been? I haven't seen you in so long." Which, as far as the child was concerned, was a cardinal sin.

At least Kelly, like Claire and Leon, had come back.

There was a moment where the Spartan's expression almost looked guilty. She always seemed to be running down the poor girl. But it brightened at least a little at the sight of her. She was glad Sherry was alright. Or at least, mostly alright. At the girl's question however, she sighed. "GLaDoS. I'm sorry about that. I'd smash that damn machine if I could find its processor."

She wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not if she could help it.

"You assume that Stacy would let you," Sherry pointed out, and finished dusting her knees off. "But, I'm glad you're back," she added and looked almost like she'd missed Kelly.

Which she had. "It was kind of scary without you around," now that she had a moment to think about it in hindsight. Her lips, unconsciously, continued to run, "All of my hiding places have been damaged, so I was looking for a new one. Were you running around the city for exercise? You should be careful. I mean, I know that you can, but, you should be, just in case a building decides to keel over." This runnyosis of the lips was in addition to the small steps Sherry took as she sidled over to Kelly and hugged her.

"I don't see the point of keeping a machine like that around." Stacy was fully capable of gathering information on them by herself. She didn't think the ship would be lazy enough to farm out that job to an obviously psychopathic computer. "Glad to be back." Kelly for her part, was her usual self, to the point. But if one knew her well enough, they make have noticed a slight upward tug at the corners of her lips.

Kelly though she most probably didn't recognise the emotion in herself. Had been worried about the little girl. Far more than was ordinary. "I'm sorry. I would rather have been here with you than in GLaDoS." Kelly was sure she could have helped. Or at the very least kept the girl out of danger. Though Sherry seemed to be completely fine. "I'm sure there'll be plenty until the city is cleaned up. And even after that. I was running just to run, it helps me think, and keeps me calm. It'd take more than a building falling on me to keep me down." She smirked lightly. When Sherry stepped over and hugged her though, there was a moment's pause, before the small girl was easily lifted off her feet and held close.

"I was worried about you." It was odd. She'd never have admitted that to anyone else. She'd never even have thought to before. But with the girl, it was easy to be honest.

"There wasn't really anything to worry about," Sherry tried to assure Kelly, unsure of how well it would go over. "I got a little hurt, but I'll be totally fine in a day or two." It was her doctor's popular theory that she was actually made of rubber (as all children were, of course).

Sherry laid her head against Kelly's shoulder and sighed. Not as good as a Mom Hug, of course, but still pretty good. Definitely something she could become used to.

"No? Well, I suppose I'll take your word for it." The sudden concern that she'd felt, not knowing whether the girl was alright or not still puzzled her. But she didn't dwell on it. "In the fighting?" It was a guess of course, but seeing the damage, there must have been some sort of battle, or some sort of cataclysmic event that would have damaged the city to such an extent.

Kelly was content to hold the girl close, rubbing her back softly for a moment. It was a mite awkward, and she wasn't sure she was doing it correctly, but hey, she tried.

Sherry puffed out her cheeks when Kelly rubbed over the still tender skin of her her bruised back and sighed. "Mmhmm, a big gust of wind picked me up and threw me into a wall. I had a bump, too, but that's gone now." It'd been ridiculously easy to fall asleep on, though, but Sherry had chalked that up to being dead tired.

"I bet Mom will be glad to see you again," Sherry added as an aside.

Kelly.

She's awake again. He'd forgotten she was here, much less gone. Someone shared a room with him, he knew that, but they weren't around. And it didn't really matter, did it? The ship had gently pushed the thought to the back of his mind. There were bigger things to be concerned about.

Ordinarily John would have no hope of catching up with Kelly, she's the fastest of them after all and damn if he doesn't know it. But he's in his armor and she isn't, so that gives him enough of an edge to take off after her.

And catch up.

And match pace.

She heard his footsteps of course. She'd worked with them long enough to know the sound the boots of MJOLNIR armor made on the ground. And she'd known John long enough that she'd have known the sound of his gait anywhere. She also knew that he was doing it on purpose.

Every Spartan knew that she was the fastest. And every Spartan knew that she hated to be shown up. Though that was probably why her CO hadn't overtaken her yet.

Turning to look at him over her shoulder, she shot him a smirk, shaking her head, before nodding and pushing a little harder. She could go a little more. Though he could easily take her if he wanted to. It was just for fun. Or for as much fun as Spartans had anyway.

The Chief pours on a little more steam, pushing Kelly. He hasn't run like this in a while. It's... nice.

It's also nice to be chasing after something, not running from it. Nobody to worry about leaving in the dust.

He's teasing Kelly, juuuust seeing how far he can go before he starts to shake her.

Narrowing her eyes at him for a moment, she pushed harder, running on the balls of her feet, each step propelling her further forward.

Kelly just loved to run. She didn't care if it was from something, or after something. No matter why she was running, what she loved most was the run itself. Wind whistling through her hair, her legs impacting on the solid ground in a steady rhythm.

She knew he was just playing, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him win so easily.

Edited 2010-04-06 16:26 (UTC)

Jamie'd felt odd and unsettled the past few days, like there was something he'd forgotten - bits of memory were gone that he felt should, perhaps, be there. It was a sensation he wasn't altogether unfamiliar with, and it was distressing.

Jamie dealt with this newest occurrence the same way he always had: by refusing to think about it.

To this end, he was working in the city, doing what he could to clear up some of the rubble. The work itself didn't require too much concentration, but he could distract himself by thinking about how to approach each task and where to go after each was completed.

Or by giving himself a mental pep-talk as he struggled to shove a slab of shattered concrete on top of a pile of other debris, as he was doing now. He was starting to think that maybe it was a little too heavy for him to handle by himself, and he contemplated aborting this plan of action and just heaving it off to the side somewhere - but it was moving, little by little, as as long as he was making progress he was reluctant to give up.

Out of the corner of his eye, head lowered as he continued to push the slab into position, he spotted Kelly's rapidly-approaching form; it surprised him a little, since he thought he'd been alone in this particular section of the city, and his grip momentarily faltered, allowing the concrete to slide down a few inches. With a yelp and a muttered curse, Jamie refocused his attentions, concentrating on the task at hand once more.

Kelly hadn't really expected to have to share the city. But then again, the ship was huge. And with the number of crew members it held, it would have been a statistical oddity if the city were deserted except for her. That being said, she recognised her teammate easily, noticing him struggling with the block of concrete. It looked far too big for him to manage.

So, slowing to a jog, she stopped beside him, catching the slab easily as it began to slide down, holding it in place and offering him a curious look.

"Something on your mind?"

Jamie let out a breath that wasn't quite a sigh, flashing Kelly a look of gratitude for lending a hand - and embarrassment that he'd needed her to do so in the first place.

"Thanks," he said a little breathlessly, starting to push the slab back up the pile. He hesitated before responding to her question - part of the reason he was down here was to avoid having anything on his mind, after all. He shrugged as best he could and offered a smile that was only a little forced. "Mm, nothing really. Just...working, y'know." He deflected easily in the next breath, though his concern wasn't entirely feigned. "How've you been?"

The Spartan wasn't one to let her teammates handle loads they obviously couldn't. No, she much preferred getting her hands dirty than allowing anyone under her command to strain themselves. After all, one never knew when they would be called into action.

"No problem." She offered him an easy smile, pushing the slab up easily. It was a sentiment she could identify with, the reason she was down here was much the same after all. She wasn't about to push the matter however. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. "Looks like there's a lot to do." She took the deflection easily enough, shrugging in return at his. "Tired, sore. Pissed the hell off at GLaDoS. Nothing new."

"GLaDoS, huh. Can't blame you for being fed up with that thing." Jamie's lip curled a bit in distaste; he didn't like the AI either.

He eyed her a little worriedly as they maneuvered the chunk of concrete to the top of the pile. "You don't need to help with this if you're hurt or anything," he offered. "Did something happen?"

Sokka had been down in the city, occupying himself with work. And there was quite a bit of work to be down. Moving rubble into piles, sweeping the streets, pondering whether buildings would need to be knocked down. He was sitting on a curb, taking a small break from the back-breaking labor when he noticed the approaching Spartan. It had been a while since he'd seen her, he realized. Since before the Nightmare King incident. He clambered to his feet and waved, calling out to his friend.

"Hey! Kelly!"

At the sound of the familiar voice, the Spartan's head whipped to the side and she stopped running, digging her heels in to stop herself from sliding across the rubble-strewn ground. Dust rose beneath her feet as she skidded to a stop, taking a moment to push her hair back before loping easily toward the boy. Sokka. And he was alright. That was good. Her eyes immediately swept his frame, searching for any sign of injury, any healing wound. She didn't know what had happened while she was away. And she wasn't sure what part he'd played, but she was sure that he'd have been involved in the fighting. It seemed to just be who he was.

"Sokka. What're you doing out here by yourself?"

Sokka coughed at the small cloud of dust and covered his mouth. He shrugged at Kelly, his grin marred slightly by a wince as some of the aches and pains from his action in Escherville came back to him.

"Cleaning up. Someone has to do it."

The wince didn't go unnoticed. If there was one thing Kelly had been around long enough to be able to identify, it was when a person was wounded and pushing themselves despite that fact. Frowning, she tilted her head at him.

"Don't you think you should leave that for the people who are fully recovered?"

"I'm fine, really," Sokka insisted, "I just...had to do something in Escherville. It was worth it though." He remembered that much, at least, though some parts of it were impossibly fuzzy now, almost as if it was a dream.

"Anyway, it's just a bit of soreness, and I'm not gonna let anything let that keep me down."

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Wake Me Up Before You Go [Open]

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