trans_9 | An Unexploded Shell Inside a Cell [Open]

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An Unexploded Shell Inside a Cell [Open]

She thought her life would be different by now, but she's a prisoner again. Voluntary, she guesses, which makes it a little bit different than the first time. At least she can blink on her own this time. Not that she's using her body to do much good.

Ironically, she almost always looked better when she was a more total prisoner. Without her makeup and hair clips and changes of clothes to arrange herself into some approximation of health, without even a mirror to confirm her suspicions, she looks a wreck. Dark circles line her reddened eyes; her hair is unbrushed and falls in tangled clumps over her face; chapped, bloodied lips and fingernails bitten down to the flesh speak to her uneasy transition back into captivity.

Eva's given up all attempts to look 'okay'. She ripped a man's face open with her bare fingers. She's been a long road away from 'okay' for a while now, but she spent too long mistaking her anger and stubbornness for strength and resilience to recognize it. She's wised up now.

She really wants a drink right now. Instead she has some books - selected poems by Pablo Neruda and an anthology of poetry by women poets in the Andes - and a pillow and blanket. She's curled up on the cot with the former book in her hand, but drifting in and out of sleep. Her breath comes lazy and heavy as she alternately reads, dreams, and watches the door to the brig with heavy-lidded eyes, looking for nothing.

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Eva rolls up and off the bed to her feet with a weary smirk. Her disheveled appearance should speak volumes to Cassie about exactly how Eva's feeling. "No, not really, but it's nice of you to visit. I'm the most popular bird in the jail block, it seems."

She takes a deep breath and moves closer to the bars, so things feel more friendly with Cassie and so Eva feels less like a creature in a zoo. "Marco hasn't come back yet, has he?"

Cassie did notice Eva's current state and it broke her heart. The person who stood before her was a far cry from the confident, poised woman whom she had come to know. She tried to force a light-hearted smile, but her heart wasn't in it. She was far too worried to be able to put on the superficial show of calm that she was trying to maintain. "You've had a lot of visitors then?"

She shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him yet. I'll be sure to talk to him as soon I find him." Cassie bit her lip and closed her eyes as she thought of Marco. He was not going to be happy to hear of this development. She'd have to figure out some way of breaking the news to him, but she wasn't sure what the best method of broaching the topic might be. She didn't want to see him hurt or upset if she could avoid it. "I'm sure that he'll want to see you when he returns though."

"Eva, I don't understand, what happened? Why are you here?" Cassie hadn't seen Eva since they'd been separated during the last mission and she couldn't imagine what might have happened between their separation and now that had landed her friend here. Eva hadn't wanted to talk about it over the omnicom and if she still refused to speak about it, then Cassie would let the topic drop, but she had to ask one last time.

"Everyone's come by. Some of them even bring me presents. Look, books," she says, gesturing to the neatly-arranged pile on the floor. It stands in stark contrast to how messy Eva herself is. How strained her voice is with her attempts at levity, as if if she stops to really acknowledge how she feels about the whole thing she'll burst into tears. "It's like I'm an attraction at the San Diego Wild Animal Park or something."

She sighs a bit, relieved. At least it's one more day before she has to explain this mess to her son. Laying things out for Cassie is difficult enough, although she supposes Cassie counts enough as a friend that a loss of respect would be a body blow.

"I'm here because I reported myself. I'd rather talk to Marco first before I go into any more detail than that." She makes a 'quiet' gesture with one finger over her lips. "Don't want to ruin it for the whole family or anything."

"I'm glad that you've had some company then," Cassie said, finally managing a weak smile, although the worry remained obvious in her eyes. She was glad to hear that Eva's friends had come by to see her and she hoped that the show of support would help Eva through this period. But she could hear the pain in her friend's voice too and that caused her whole body to tense as fear for her friend ran through her. "No, Eva. They came because they care for you. Of that, I'm sure. You seem to have so many friends here and that's wonderful." She hoped that it went without saying that she cared too. A lot. It hurt to see Eva like this.

She nodded, accepting Eva's response. "I see. Well, if you want someone to talk to or just to listen to you, I'm here and I'm always willing." She shrugged. "I've been told that I'm good at that."

"Oh, I know. But you can't help but feel on display in a cage. Even if you signed up for it." And she can't help but find it a cage. She's a prisoner. She'll always be a prisoner.

"You are," she says with a warm smile, then taps her temple. "That's always been a talent of yours. But honestly, I've had a lot of time where I literally couldn't keep my thoughts to myself, so maybe I'll just keep a lid on them for now."

"I'm sure that you'll be out soon," Cassie said firmly. "You don't belong here."

She nodded, understanding reflected in her eyes. "If that's what you want. The offer is always there though, Eva." A small smile played on her lips, but it was a sad one. "I'd like to help if I can." Helpless. She felt helpless. It was an awful feeling to know that someone you cared for was in pain and yet there was so little that you could do.

"Is there anything that I can get for you? Any particular books from the house or something else that might make your time here a bit more comfortable?"

"I do. I earned it. Besides, it gives me a while to cool my head before I do anything else stupid and get someone hurt."

Eva knows all about helplessness, so she recognizes it in Cassie's face. She reaches a hand through the bars to pat the younger's shoulder. "It's alright, dear. You can't fix everything. You know that by now. But if you can, bring me some wine. I wouldn't mine taking the edge off captivity."

Cassie didn't agree, but she also decided not to argue. She doubted that it would do any good while Eva was this determined. Perhaps she'd be able to talk her friend around later. It would help if she could find out what had happened that had brought this about, but she wasn't sure who to talk to about finding out more. "If... if you insist," she murmured uneasily.

She closed her eyes as Eva reassured her, feeling ashamed that her feelings had been so transparent. She'd come here in hopes of helping Eva and instead she'd just ended dumping her own worries on her friend who already had too many of her own. "I know that I can't fix everything..." But it'd be nice if she could fix at least a few things. Instead, all she saw was failure. What good was she if she couldn't even help the people that she cared about? She shook her head, forcefully pulling herself back together. This was not the time. "I'll get the wine. Is there any particular type that you want?"

Eva doesn't mind at all. In a twisted sort of way, she'd rather worry about Cassie than the reverse. And yet as she acknowledges that, she feels guilty. She shouldn't be happy to see any more troubles on Cassie, young as she is, hurt enough as she is.

"I have a few bottles stashed under my bed, just to make sure none of you underage types get at it. If you could bring me one, that'd help take the edge off."

"Under your bed?" Cassie asked, surprise in her voice. She wasn't totally sure how to handle that information given that everything she'd ever leaned suggested that hiding alcohol wasn't generally considered a healthy sign, but she dismissed it for now. If it proved an issue, then maybe she'd talk to Eva about it later, but for now making sure that her friend was as comfortable as possible was her main concern. "I'll grab a bottle and bring it right away."

She looked at Eva worriedly. "There's really nothing else that I can do for you?"

"With a bunch of teenagers in the house, don't you think I'd take precautions? Lord, if Ax tried to drink it while in human morph, he could end up with the world's fastest case of alcohol poisoning. You know how that boy is around anything remotely potable." It's a reasonable enough excuse, at least to Eva's ears. She doesn't see the problem with it, even if it's not the truth. "You could keep me company a bit longer, if it's not an imposition."

The argument seemed sound, but something about it still struck her as... a bit off. But Cassie wasn't sure exactly what it was that was worrying her. Was it her friend's tone? Was it how quickly she offered the explanation, making sound sort of like an excuse? Was it something in the explanation itself that was bothering her? She didn't know and, for now, she decided not to press into the situation anymore. Perhaps she was overreacting? Worrying too much? Or perhaps not, but this wasn't the right time to try to find out. Eva was in a tough enough situation and Cassie didn't want to risk upsetting her.

Eva's request though was an easy one to respond to and it brought a real, if small, smile to Cassie's face. "Talking to you is never an imposition, Eva. I'll stay for as long as I'm welcome. Is there something in particular that you'd like to discuss?"

"Possibly you doing whatever is in your capabilities to make sure Marco doesn't wind up in here for trying to kill whomever started the rumor about Kang and me," she says with a wink. "Not that you're his mother, obviously. That's my job. But you're the closest thing that house has to an adult with me out of the picture."

"I'll see to it," Cassie agreed, her smile looking more and more strained. "Or I'll do my best." She wished that she felt more like an adult at that moment then she did. It's an odd feeling. Much of the time she felt more like an adult then any sixteen year old should, but right now she felt like a child. A child who couldn't even help the people that she cared about. But she couldn't feel that way, so she blocked the thought and sealed it away as best she could. She'd deal with those thoughts when the time was her own.

She nodded and smiled a sad smile. "Marco will be fine. You know that we'll take care of him." Not that she wasn't worried about him herself. Finding out that his mother was currently sitting in a cell was going to hurt. And, given that she could only guess at the reason for Eva's being here, she worried that the reason behind it would hurt all the more. The rumors that had begun to circulate were only going to make the situation worse then it already was.

(OOC: Okay, I promise to stop editing now. I'm sorry. I just kept changing my mind on what Cassie should say.)

Edited 2011-09-11 02:25 (UTC)

"Good. And don't burn the house down while I'm gone." Or drain her booze, Cassie.

Perhaps it's best if Cassie goes now. Eva's not oblivious to sadness, at least not other people's, and if Cassie goes and takes care of the house she could put Eva out of sight and out of mind. Unfortunately, Eva thinks that's the best place for herself at the moment. "Send my regards to the other denizens of the house, will you?"

"No burning down the house and we'll keep the partying to a minimum," Cassie teased gently, trying to lighten the mood some before she left.

It's not as simple as out of sight, out of mind with Cassie, but she offered no argument at Eva's goodbye. Given how hard it was for her to hide her own emotions at the moment, she feared that she was only adding to a bad situation and she didn't wish to burden Eva with anything more. She offered a smile that she hoped was convincing. "Of course. And you don't need to worry about a thing. Everything is under control. I'll be sure to fetch the wine that you asked me to get." What she does with the rest of it is up for debate though, Eva. Your secret is out.

"Take care of yourself, Eva," she said softly. With that she took her leave sadly, heading towards the house to grab the wine that Eva had asked her to fetch.

Edited 2011-09-11 05:27 (UTC)

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