In another life | Open

[azulescarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime had been poring over the notes left to him by his other self and his investigations had led him here.

The Vatican. He stared up at the scarred edifice of the building, bullet holes and scorch marks. Places near the doors and windows where claws had gouged into the stone. He traced a finger along one of these marks as he tried to imagine what it must have been like. A tide of, well, zombies, surging against the makeshift fortifications. Gunfire and explosions. The stench of death. And this had been something his other self had been convinced was his own fault. Jaime couldn't seem to grasp the magnitude of it. Thousands of people, dead. Because of a mistake? The malevolence of others. He opened and closed a fist.

This wasn't his mistake though. It wasn't his burden to carry. It shouldn't be. He wasn't here. And yet he couldn't help feeling slightly culpable. It had been him, a version of him, that had made the decisions that led here. Finally, he spoke aloud.

"No. This wasn't me. I don't have to live burdened by what someone else did." A pause.

"Even if it was me." Khaji snickered mentally, a faint buzz against the back of his mind.

"Oh, yeah, laugh it up, bug."

Comments

[nottheglamour.livejournal.com]

Mary Jane had been meaning to explore the City more. Peter appeared to have his own schedule, one that was quite content with and wished him well with, and so, when he went to go start his day, so did she. She had already visited a couple shops and even some quiet, crumbling buildings.

But the Vatican. That just stood out above them all and the rest.

She pushed open the double doors to the church, peering in.

"Hello?" Did she just hear someone?

[azulescarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime half-turned as heard another voice, surprised that someone else was bothering to visit the place.

"Uh. Hey." He raised a hand to wave at the red-head.

forgot a word.

[nottheglamour.livejournal.com]

Mary Jane now saw the person. So there was someone else in here. "Do you mind if you have company, or are you...praying?" While she was not so much religious, she could respected those who were, and understood that in a church, prayers were usually silent and lone.

Re: forgot a word.

[azulescarabajo.livejournal.com]

"Oh! No. I'm not praying. Just. . .thinking, really. Trying to get some stuff figured out." He smiled at Mary Jane, giving a small shrug.

"Some important stuff happened here, apparently."

[nottheglamour.livejournal.com]

"I guess that's why you're 'just thinking', huh?" She stepped into the church, quietly shutting the doors behind her (it was a church, after all) and then walked down to where Jaime sat. She sat down next to it.

"Nice place to think, though, right?" She looked up at the altar. It felt quite safe in the church. Safe enough to just relax and let thoughts wander and ponder and gather.

[azulescarabajo.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I suppose so." He looks back towards the doors.

"A lot of people died here." His voice is quiet, morose. He doesn't want to think about it, but that's all that's on his mind right now.