trans_9 | [Closed to Loren and Eva before a Wild Merlin Appears]

Eva comes up and pats Tom's back gently, then gives his shoulder a firm but friendly squeeze. She figures if it's Tom he won't mind, might even be grateful for the touch, and if it's Iniss she has the added bonus of irritating him.

"So," she says, setting down her tray and sitting across from them. "Is it the worthless parasite or the sweet kid today, boys?"

"Funny," Loren said, taking a seat next to Eva but never taking her eyes off of Tom/Iniss. "That's exactly what I was wondering."

Iniss froze, scowl clear on his face when Eva touched him. "Eva. What do you want?"

Tom was suddenly very still and silent within the confines of his mind, watching and waiting to see what happened.

"Oh for the love of- did I take over the table that the meeting for kill-crazy human females was supposed to occur at without knowing it?" But he was paying more attention to Loren now, assessing her condition. It had been awhile since he'd seen her or heard from her. That was concerning. He'd rather know what Loren was up to rather than be forced to avoid back corridors out of fear that she might be lurking with her Andalite boyfriend. "What do the two of you want, some sort of intervention? I hear there's a shrink on board, I'm sure he could at least provide medication."

"I want a lunch date, obviously. Hello, Loren." She recognizes Loren - vaguely - from the time spent in the valley. "Oh, because you should absolutely be the one talking about problems with people's heads, oh corporally challenged one. Hold on, I might need to go fetch a napkin before you reduce me to tears."

Loren had been in and out of GLaDOS's clutches, so Iniss need not worry. Of course, if she knew he was worrying she'd probably just say she was stalking him.

Loren actually took her eyes off Iniss to turn to Eva. "Sorry, have we met?" She'd probably just heard of her. Maybe Iniss was talking about that crazy girl with the bat'leth.

"Sorry, you're too old for me. And I could never accept Marco as a step-child, I also believe that Bigamy is illegal. Besides, I've seen human insanity up close and personal, I have no desire to deal with it more than I have to. Please don't snot all over the place,Eva, some of us are eating."

He glanced at Loren, then back at Eva. Ah. Time periods.

Well, this could be entertaining. "Loren, this is Eva." He gestured with his fork. "She's insane. I'm sure the two of you will get along fantastically. She's also Marco's mother, obviously the insanity runs in the family. Do the world a favor and just avoid reproduction. Between yourself and Elfangor, the child be born with a battle axe in hand and murder the doctor for hitting it."

"Ah, Iniss. Clearly your knowledge of human decorum knows no bounds. You could teach a class in misinterpretation!" she says cheerfully, pointing her fork at him. "You're so charming, sluggo. You must have been the life of the pool back in the day. Now I guess you only get to use that silver tongue on Miss Phantom."

She turns to Loren and extend a hand. "Like he said, I'm Eva. I met you later in your timeline. We were allies. And it looks like, once again, we have a common nuisance."

Loren shook her hand. "Very nice to meet you, Eva." She glanced back at Iniss. "And a little late for me to avoid having a kid with Elfangor." Well, strictly speaking, it wasn't too late from her time. But considering her son was on board.

"Too bad. Hopefully the blood shed was minimized." And no, he wasn't going think of the particulars of an Andalite and a human mating. Bad idea for all around.

He glared at Eva instead. "And you could teach a class on racism, or speicism, Eva. I'm sure we'd both be very good in our fields. I'm also not your problem, and do kindly leave Dani out of your unreasonable hatreds. She's done nothing to you."

< Wait, they have a kid already? Who's her kid? She's only my age. >

< I'm not asking. >

< But if Elfangor has a kid, you're going to want to avoid him, you can't avoid him unless you know who he is. >

< You're assuming male, I assume female. I'm sure her uterus is far too inhospitable for a male offspring to survive for very long. >

"Are you really going to lecture me on racism, Iniss? The imperial species running a slave trade?" She laughs so hard she smacks the table. "Now I know why I came over here for lunch. Tell me, Iniss, are you going to cure me of my backwards human logic by being a fine specimen of entitled tapeworm? Better get on that, then, because all I see is a scared, tired boy and the mucus-covered wad lodged up his ear."

She turns to Loren. "He's got no manners. Really, the only reason he's so sweet on Dani is because she could rip him out of Tom's head if she wanted to."

"You're telling me. I think the starvation has done something to his brain." Loren said. "How often have you had to deal with this slug, anyway?

Meanwhile, off over in the crew quarters, something was happening that Iniss was about to find very relevant to his interests.

The thought that there was some kind of...slug inside Tom's brain, controlling him, had horrified Merlin. He'd had someone try to possess him once, and even though they'd failed that had been terrifying enough. Merlin couldn't imagine living like that.

So as soon he'd gotten his own room, he'd started going through his book, trying to find something that could remove Iniss from Tom. It had taken him some while - and the spell was difficult, very difficult. Difficult enough that Merlin had taken a few days to try and get his head around it, and practice as much as he could without having an actual slug-in-a-head to test on. And when he was absolutely confident that he could do it - without hurting Tom - Merlin concentrated, held out one hand, and whispered the incantation.

With a flash of gold and a rush of air, the slug appeared, resting on Merlin's palm. Merlin wrinkled his nose. "You really are disgusting," he said, before placing Iniss in a glass bowl that he'd managed to find. He'd have to feed him, of course. Hopefully the gloop that Stacy fed them all would be fine for him too. And water to drink...

But for now his task was done, so Merlin hid his magic book under the bed.

"I didn't make either of you come over here, you realize. I was sitting there, peacefully eating my lunch, not bothering anyone. Not plotting to kill anyone or even make nasty faces at their dogs. Lecture someone else about manners, the two of you can ju-"

It took Tom a moment to move, shock keeping him still and his mouth half opened to finish the word.

He blinked several times, wordlessly lifting his fingers to his ear and feeling for the Yeerk. Nothing. No sense of Iniss disengaging, no pressure in his ear, no Yeerk against his hand. Iniss was just...gone.

"Uh...what just happened?"

A few decks away, Merlin had in his hand an equally confused slug, writhing in panic to find himself suddenly in the palm of someone's hand. There had been no warning, he had seen no one who had the power to remove him, and Dani would have had the decency to say something before she did it.

Yeerks couldn't sweat, couldn't express their terror physically, but Iniss felt like he might be forcing the next step in evolution.

What in the name of the first Kandrona had happened?

"Oh please, sanguijuelo, a little lip from me isn't a smidgeon of the karmic ton of bricks you deser-what?" The change on Tom's face is visible, and Iniss has, as far as Eva knows, never been the kind to lose track of his sentence midway through. "Tom? Are you in charge? Seriously, Iniss, was my sarcasm that intimidating?"

Loren saw the sudden switch. "...Did Iniss just randomly pass out or die?" Heart attack for Yeerks?

"N-no. He's just...he's gone." Tom looked more confused than anything else, unconsciously giving his earlobe a tug as he blinked. "Like he decided to leave, only he missed all the parts in the middle where he detached and left. He's just gone... I don't know what happened. Nothing touched us, right?"

"He's what?" Eva swings her head, looking left and right for a Phantom, or some disturbance in the air, or anything more unusual than usual. Not that she isn't happy Tom's in control, but she definitely doesn't like feeling out of the loop. "He's gone? How can he just be gone? Stacy? Is Stacy behind this?"

"Stacy can't be behind this." Loren said, standing up. "She would have done it earlier, before we tried to starve him out."

"I don't know. He didn't...leave, it's all wrong and backwards, he's just gone." His fingers went automatically for the comm, messaging Sam.

Later, Iniss might pick over the thought process that led him to reach for Sam first, but for the moment it just felt normal and logical to reach for one of the few friends he had on the ship.

"I don't think she is. She'd say something, or at least I hope she would say something? He's just...poof. Like teleporting. Or something, I guess"

Eva shakes her head. "Stacy could easily be behind this. Who knows why she does anything? But she can't be the only suspect."

Already Eva's on edge - anything that disappears can potentially reappear, and the idea of Yeerks just popping up is a truly terrifying one. "Tom, can you think of anyone who would have the power to do this?"

"If she did, she didn't warn me..." He breathed out, bowing his head and pressing his palms to his face, feeling confused and uncertain.

It didn't feel very different from the first day he spent in the cages. The same sense of uncertainty and confusion, bubbling from beneath the rage and the despair. Though right now, he didn't feel angry, just confused and frightfully empty.

Did he know? Dani could, Danny could. There must be others... They couldn't be universal singularities, could they? If it existed somewhere, it could exist somewhere else.

But who would want to? "No. I guess, Dani could, her cousin too...but."

He froze; face still cradled in his hands.

Oh.

He was glad his face was hidden; there was no way he'd be able to keep the knowledge from his face.

"But she doesn't want to. And it can't be Stacy..." Loren's brow furrowed. "There are some pretty powerful people on the ship. And to do it without anyone knowing or you even feeling it... Maybe it's magic?" Which was to say she had no idea of any limits to magic so it was the only possibility to come to her.

"Great. Magic. Sure, why not? My Spidey Sense is tingling already," she says irritably. "We would have seen and probably heard a Phantom, right? So it's not them or their ilk. How it is that the answer 'magic' is even less comforting than the answer 'Dani Phantom' is completely beyond me, but it is."

She stab her fork into the slop before softening. "Not that I'm not glad to be talking to you, sweetheart. It's just...unsettling. I'm sure for you more than anyone."

Luckily, Sam was fairly nearby when Tom messaged him. He sent a message of his own to Dean while he was walking, trying to work things out for himself as to what might have happened to Iniss. It didn't make any sense. Schmuz agreed on that. He had no idea what could have caused it.

Priorities. Tom first. Then they could turn their attention to Iniss. He just had to trust that whoever had taken the Yeerk wasn't more interested in seeing him dead.

Of course, if they were, the chances were good that Iniss was already dead and the priorities didn't change a damned bit.

Sam made it to the mess hall, heading inside and looking around, seeing Tom sitting with two women. He vaguely recognized the blonde girl from around the ship. Wasn't sure he'd met the older woman, though there was something a little familiar about her, too. "Tom?" he called, walking over with a nod to the women.

Dean got the message, and quickly replied back before jogging over to meet up with his brother and Tom. He wanted to get some more intel on this before he paged the rest of Security.

He raised his eyebrows, and there was a small knowing smirk at seeing Tom with a couple of women in the mess hall. Well, well. Interesting.

It helped that Iniss getting yanked away put him in a good mood, and he wanted to thank the Yeerk exorcist responsible.

He came closer with a nod to Sam, before focusing on Tom, "Hey man, how it's going?"

"Yeah..." He sighed, unable to argue or even offer a reason why she should be talking to him. Mind still whirling as the pieces fell neatly into place. It couldn't be that simple, could it? It couldn't be a simple matter of cause and effect and Iniss getting payback for being a jerk.

His life didn't work like that.

He heard Sam before he saw him, face still buried in his hands. "Here." He scrubbed at his face roughly, smoothing his expression out with his fingertips and sighing softly. "I'm ok, just...yeah. It's really confusing. It's a bit like having the rug jerked from under your feet without even realizing you were standing on it."

He glanced at his two table mates, then quietly back at the brothers. "This is Loren, a friend, and Eva, she's Marco's mom..." He smiled hesitantly, unsurprised to see Dean as well.

"And I don't get nearly enough accolades for doing such a spectacular job at parenting, you know," Eva says, sizing up Sam and Dean. They look very alike to her. She can see that being a problem. But she can see that Tom seems more comfortable with them around, so her glances aren't wary so much as appraising. "And you two would be?"

Marco's mom. Oh, that could be difficult. Especially since Sam knew damned well that Marco wasn't a fan of Sam having Schmuz in his head. Therefore, he probably warned his mother.

Didn't matter. He was here for Tom, not to be liked.

"Sam Winchester, ma'am." He nodded, not offering a hand until she offered hers. "Tom messaged me a few minutes ago about Iniss being missing."

And he'd come straight to Tom. Who he turned to now, watching his face. "Yeah, I can totally get that. It's not a comfortable feeling." And one Sam'd been through far too many times himself, what with his dad, Dean's death, the whole 'perfect vessel for Lucifer' thing. "You wanna say in the guest room again?" Since Tom would do better around other people right now, but he might want to go with Jake or something.

Dean glanced between Eva and Sam, and he shifted slightly to be more protective of Sam, and Tom to some extent. Still there was an easy expression of being non assuming, 'reassuring the locals' as he had done on many hunts.

"And my brother sent me a heads up since we both know Tom, and I'm with Security. Dean Winchester, ma'am," He replied in turn.

He glanced over at Tom, and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, whatever you need, dude.

"Yeah. Normally there's...well, it's kinda gross, but it takes them a minute, so it's not all at once. You get a chance to ease back into control. Not just wham drivers seat. It's almost...just, weird like this. Takes a second to adjust." He smiled faintly at Eva, then looked at his hands.

It felt good for them to be here. He felt safer for some reason he couldn't explain when Sam, and to a lesser extent, Dean, were there.

It made him feel a little childish but he couldn't help it, some tension he hadn't even noticed was suddenly gone.

"Can I?" There was safe. Bobby and Sam and Dean and a door he could close and trust that no one was listening and a bed that didn't breathe, it wasn't home, but after hell, it was close enough. "I mean...would your mind?"

After all these years of not having a voice, it was hard to lie when he did.

She gives that wary half-smile back, knowing all too well what he means about easing back, and reaches over to gently touch his hand before turning back to the two men. She keeps looking between them, trying to keep track of which one has the non-absent Yeerk. Finally, she offers her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. A friend of Tom's is a friend of mine."

Loren just nodded at the men. She had to admit she wasn't too comfortable with the knowledge that Sam was a willing host to Schmuz but if Tom vouched for him she could give him at least a little of the benefit of doubt.

"So how are we supposed to search for a missing yeerk?"

"That's part of why Dean's here." Since Dean's part of Security and all. "Right now, I'm going to assume that since Stacy hasn't said anything, that Iniss is safe enough. Stacy would have intervened if it was going to damage or kill him." Well. He was pretty certain about that, at least. Schmuz certainly wasn't in a hurry to make himself known at the moment.

Sam turned his attention back to Tom with a small smile. "Nah, we wouldn't mind. Bobby'd love to have somebody else around to chew on and force into playing fetch." Okay, there wasn't a lot of 'forcing' involved. "I mean, we've both got other duties around the ship, but we'd be happy to have you stay."

And, yeah, Sam was a little protective of the kid. He'd been through a lot. Sometimes the dog and the kitchen were the best ways to let him feel normal again.

"We're offering, kid, that means we don't mind at all," Dean remarked to Tom. And he was already making plans for grabbing some movies from the media library to kick back and distract the teen with.

He added to Loren and Eva, "As soon as I put it out on the comm to them, we'll get hunting for it. Can't have gone far. It'll turn up."

"I'll play fetch with him until he's tired of it." He smiled, a tiny honest gesture. It felt a little like going home. "You're sure you won't mind? Will your room-mate? I wouldn't be a bother?"

Some of the tension eased out of him, mind adapting to being in control and feeling safe enough to relax.

He relaxed even further at Sam's words. Accepting them as fact. Of course Merlin couldn't hurt Iniss, right? If he had taken him, Stacy would have stopped him if he meant to harm him.

But the moment faded, tension returning. It was likely impossible to keep the knowledge from his face, someone would see it. He didn't know, he couldn't be a hundred percent sure without asking the wizard, but he was fairly certain. Fairly certain if Dean went looking, if he told Dean, Iniss would be back inside of an hour. "...yeah, they're pretty slow...It'll be easy to find him." But the words sounded flat and hollow, even to his own ears.

Tell them, and Iniss comes back. Don't tell them and lie to your only friends.

Life wasn't fair.

"Yay, it'll turn up. I can't wait," Eva says dryly, thinking how much easier life would probably be for Tom if Iniss had just vanished for good, even without the closure of knowing where he went. She studies Tom's face carefully as the sneaking suspicion that he's aware of something he hasn't told anyone sinks in.

She gives him a bit of a side-eye. "Tom, there's no chance he'll just...pop back in, do you think?"

Sam's mouth twisted up slightly, not at anything Tom said, but remembering something. "Cas is...well, I think he's running mazes with GLaDoS at the moment." Sam was starting to think that the destruction of their universe was worse for the former angel that it was for pretty much anybody else. It was pretty much the only explanation that he had. "And even so, he wouldn't mind at all. He likes you."

He glanced over at Eva, raising an eyebrow. But since it was directed at Tom, he kept his own two cents to himself and listened for the answer.

Dean then added, noting their reactions about finding Iniss again, "Look, just because I find the squirming slug, it don't mean he's hopping back on board. I'm just going to find who I need to send the thank you card to."

"Pop back in...?" He swallowed hard, looking down at his hands and squeezing them into fists. It was a purely unconscious gesture, a reminder, not a threat. He was in control. No one else. "I-I don't know? Maybe? I guess? I mean..."

He stared at his hands, lip caught between his teeth. Dean wouldn't make him. Dean wouldn't force him to take the Yeerk back. Other people might, if they knew where it was.

He'd made a deal.

"Glad he won't mind." He smiled faintly. "I'd be happy to stay with you, for as long as I can."

Eva raises her eyebrows, but can't quite come to a conclusion about Tom's evasiveness. Rather than press it, she sighs and switches the subject. "You know there's always room for you at Cassie's if, for whatever reason, you need a change of scenery."

"Before anyone goes anywhere. If- when we find Iniss, what are we going to do with him?" It's clear from the tone of her voice that she does not want him back in Tom.

Sam was good enough not to jab his brother in the hip with his elbow.

< And you wonder why I never come out when Dean is around if I can avoid it. >

< I don't wonder. I know. He still shouldn't be saying that right now. >

Sam blinked once, having caught everything even while discussing with Schmuz for that moment. He looked at Loren for a moment, then shrugged. "I think that whatever happens when we find Iniss is up to Tom." And he was absolutely serious about that. Whatever Tom wanted, he'd make sure it happened. "Anything after that, we'll work with when we get there."

Dean nodded, though he briefly glanced toward Sam.

He then replied, "Yeah, I'll look for him, but slug can stay in a jar or whatever. He'd still be secured and safe that way."

"Yeah...yeah, I know." He'd be welcome there, so long as the slug stayed out. There was always a catch.

He swallowed, tensing his hands on his lap, not sure what to say while they discussed things. What could he say? Nothing he said would make any difference.

He looked up, just for a moment, trying to catch Sam's eye. "Can we go? I-Can we just...go home?"

He didn't want to talk about this right now. If he ignored the problem, maybe it would go away.

She nods. "You can find me around, if you want to talk about it, Tom. I'll always make time for you."

She looks up at Sam and Dean. "You do realize if you don't take care of him, you will find a severed horse head in your bed."

"Same thing she said." She looked at Eva. "We have to hang out more."

"While that would probably not be the worst thing I've ever woken up next to--" Seriously. Ruby probably beat that out, though he wasn't going to talk about her. "We'll take care of him. Promise. Though I can't promise no bruises because we have a rambunctious teenage dog."

And would be teaching Tom how to defend himself, but that was neither here nor there. Really.

Dean raised an eyebrow at Eva, but he didn't question the protectiveness.

"Noted, Godfather style, nice. And yeah, Tom's fine with us."

He was more surprised and touched by Tom's declaration of calling it home. Shit, it really was becoming a home with them. First real sort of home since he was four.

"Yeah we can go whenever you're ready, kid," He grinned at him.

He reached for his backpack, sliding his arm through it and standing in an unconsciously graceful movement he would never have been able to pull of if he'd been thinking of it. Iniss had never liked moving like a teenager and Tom had never fully finished growing into his nearly six-foot frame. "Ready now." He echoed Dean's smile, feeling relieved to be able to escape. To stop talking about this.

To have a chance to make up his mind. To not worry about all the other voices.

"Thanks, I mean it, both of you. But...you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." He gave them a shaky smile, probably completely undermining his claim.

[Closed to Loren and Eva before a Wild Merlin Appears]

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