trans_9 | Things We Never Said [Open]

Billy could see it clearly in his mind's eye:

Billy, Cassie, and Jamie would be wielding the new and improved Slop Immobilizer Gun, wearing their brand new non-stick safety uniforms, and presenting the project with triumphant smiles on their faces. They finally built something that wouldn't stick when it wasn't meant to. With that great weapon, they could trap their opponents non-lethally and be considered heroes for finding a use for the almost universally loathed slop.

It was now a scene that would never come to pass. Oh, Billy was still there, and Jamie was, and the gun was, and of course the slop would never ever go away, much to their dismay, but nothing remained of Cassie Lang but their memories.

Their partner, their friend. Dead. Billy thought back on all he knew of her: her family life, developing as a hero, her friends, her spirit, her contributions. All of that culminating in one of the better people he'd known, never to be seen again. Never to be thanked for all she'd done, and even he saw this. Comparatively he hadn't known her extremely well, but she was one of his own. Like B5 had been.

It was that thought that drove Billy into another version of the attack simulation, wielding the gun from his fantasy once more. He'd thought he was going to call Jamie and Cassie for the victory after the crisis, but he would now be running the test alone. Soon enough, the moving targets were in place and the first shots were fired.

Blam. Blam. This time, it worked exactly as intended, but there was no joy left in Billy's heart to celebrate. Instead, he found himself lowering his gun arm and starting to cry.

"Cassie..."

((Open because he'll be mourning here for a little while, even knowing that everyone knows where he is. Renne's last chronologically for now, but I'll work out some semblance of chronology at the end. I don't wanna leave anyone out.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tenaya reached the second wall, but in her haste, she failed to be as careful as before. Her hand slipped as she reached the top, and she dangled there for a moment, frozen in fear. Her last memory of her past played in her head for a moment--the sense that she'd fallen into a bottomless pit, Dillon's hand slipping from hers...

"Don't let go!"

She reached up and grabbed the ledge again, pulling herself up.

Billy hit the second wall hard, slipping a little, but his shoes gripped the wall well enough. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, though, that worried him.

"Tenaya?" he asked from the top of the wall.

Tenaya offered him a somewhat shaky smile once she'd recovered.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Had a bad fall about a year ago--last thing I can remember. Slipping just shook me up a bit."

He nodded in understanding, hopping down with her and ready to continue when she was.

"If that had happened to me, I'd be afraid too. For the longest time I was terrified of fish because I'd been bitten by one as a child."

He had worse fears now, but everyone was allowed their phobias.

She smiled slightly at the mention of Billy's phobia. Fish. Well, there were much worse things to be afraid of. Lighter ones were easier to cope with.

"Everyone's got something," she agreed. "Let's go."

"And some of us have multiples," he agreed, the darkness of grief from before crossing over his face for a moment.

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed, charging off in the hopes that the adrenaline would pull him away from his grief again. Another long stretch, then a large hill.

He slowed, trying for a steady climb.

Tenaya watched the darkness cross Billy's face for a moment, wondering if she should mention that she'd never even told her brother about her fear. But she decided against it, knowing it might be too much for him to take right now. Maybe she'd tell him another time. Or at least, she'd tell him that her brother's idea of a rescue consisted of grabbing her, jumping out of the window of a very high building, and parachuting to the ground while precariously holding her over the city.

The ground was firm and comforting under her feet, and even the hill was nice and solid, as she too kept her pace steady.

This was just one of the last few hills he'd ended the course with. A perfect test of endurance, something he needed to feel right now.

Up and down, up and down. Most of his energy was focused on the climb, but there were some calming thoughts mixed in his head. It felt like a metaphor for life---when knocked down, he could climb back up.

Coolant flushed through Tenaya's systems as she kept her pace, some of it condensating on her skin, along with sweat from her remaining organic skin. She would have to shower later to cool herself down more thoroughly. As long as she dried herself well, she should be fine.

It was easy to start thinking as she ran. It was easy to start wondering about what pods had been destroyed in the explosion, if it had been anyone she'd known. But with endorphins flooding the organic portions of her brain, it was at least hard to brood about it much. Clearing her mind, she sped up her pace a little bit.

Was that a challenge? Here, now, trying not to think about anything else, Billy could try to meet it.

Oh, he was desperately in need of water, but it wasn't too much further. He would navigate these last hills or pass out trying.

...Hopefully not pass out trying.

Tenaya smirked when Billy sped up to meet her speed. At least she knew he was doing well enough to keep up with a challenge.

Over the next hill she went, always trying to keep just a little bit ahead of Billy. She didn't want him to strain himself too much to keep up with her; after all, if she was starting to overheat, then she knew he probably was too. But just enough to keep up the friendly competition.

There she was, crossing the last hill. He'd known he couldn't win, but at least he'd tried.

And at least he was going to make it. He descended the hill just after her, stooping to breathe the moment he'd crossed the finish line. Tiring, but the exercise had been worth it. He couldn't neglect that.

"...you okay, Tenaya?"

Once she'd crossed, Tenaya came to a stop, reading her sensors. Nothing had crossed into the red zone, but she was getting warnings at least from her organic systems that they were hot, tired, and were starting to feel like overdone pasta.

"I'm fine," she said, starting to pull her hair up. "Just going to need to cool down after this. You?"

She meant it physically, but if she'd managed to make him feel any better mentally, that would be good to know too.

"Thirsty and exhausted, otherwise fairly normal." A clear sign that the grief had relegated itself to the backburner and some of his anxiety had been burned away.

The moment he finished speaking, a tentacle reached toward him and injected a very real water-filled needle into his arm.

"...I still miss glasses of water sometimes, but thanks Stacy."

"Hey, it's better than keeling over, at least," Tenaya said.

No hydrating needles came at her, possibly due to the delicate nature of her techno-organic body. She was already going to have to worry about keeping any water from leaking into her body when she showered.

"Note to self," she said. "Get some kind of waterproofing done."

That's right. Her machine parts were delicate, so water would have to be handled carefully around her.

"We've been working on waterproofing technologies recently, and I have something that our engineers can apply. You're free to come see us for it."

"Sounds great," Tenaya agreed. "It'll help if we ever stop at a beach again." Or in the shower. Or a pool. Or anywhere, really.

"Right. It's unfair to deny you that pleasure."

He sank onto the sands, grateful but tired. "I think I'll linger here a little longer, Tenaya. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, glad that she was leaving him a little better than when she'd found him.

Things We Never Said [Open]

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