trans_9 | Dust in the Wind [Open!]

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Dust in the Wind [Open!]

|| Attention, crew, Attention. All personnel who wish to attend the funeral of Howard Bassem and Cedric Diggory, please report to the Observation Deck. ||

Once again, the Observation Deck is prepared for a sending-off of the dead. A hard pod containing Howard's body sits in the center of the room, with a much smaller pod containing Cedric's wand sitting beside it. The observation window is open, showing the attending crew a stunning view of a nearby fiery red star: the final resting place of the two fallen crew members.

Before the launch, though, there are goodbyes to be said.

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Once Barbara had said her goodbye to Cedric, whom she'd only met briefly, and Howard, she left. Barbara wanted to go back to the TARDIS, lock herself away in her storage room come bedroom for a while, and deal with her grief but she found Ian first. He looked positively livid, and with every right. That didn't stop her, however, from quietly approaching.

Just as when Howard and Orc were punished only a few weeks ago, Barbara hugged Ian without a word. Although this time she began to cry into his shoulder, and twice beat her balled up fist against his back feebly, all her strength going into crying.

He opened his mouth to complain when she hugged him, but then when he realised she was crying he closed it and hugged her back. He didn't trust himself to say anything though - he suspected that she didn't want to hear what he was thinking at the moment.

((OOC: I'm all for wrapping up the Ian & Dolly thread, as I have a whole load of threads on too))

Barbara stayed that way for a while, even when she couldn't cry anymore she kept a tight hold of Ian. It hurt, if she was honest. Her connection with Howard was something almost like maternal and to have it severed so suddenly and completely. The pain was immense.

"Sorry," Barbara eventually mumbled into Ian's shoulder, apologising for creating a rather large wet patch.

((OOC: Ok, cool. I'll tag once more to wrap it neatly))

It was hard to stay so angry when he was holding onto Barbara and she was crying like that. Although not all of his ire was going to go away just like that. He shook his head at her apology, but didn't let go of her. "They should never have been podpopped. They're just kids."

She shook her head. "When has Stacey ever been fair?" said Barbara with venom in her tone, completely forgetting when Stacey had not punished Howard and Orc, despite the Daligig's request.

Ian hadn't forgotten, though. "She saved them from the Daligig's punishment," he pointed out. "For all we know it could be the Daligig that decide who gets podpopped and Stacy welcomes them because it's all she can do."

He sighed. It didn't matter who was to blame. There were children mixed up in this war and that wasn't fair. "I hate feeling so helpless," he admitted, letting her go, so he could stick his hands in his pockets and pace about.

"When it's a spaceship the size of a small planet, I'm not sure how we could even begin to be helpful." But should Barbara ever find a way, she'd be on to it in the blink of an eye.

She let Ian pace, choosing the stay on the spot, wringing the handkerchief in her hands.

"I suppose rounding up all the children and locking them away somewhere safe won't work," he said jokingly. He knew the adults and children wouldn't stand for that and he wasn't sure if there was anywhere safe. "Is it possible to put people back in the pods?" he asked, standing still and facing Barbara.

"If GLaDOS or Stacey believes that's what someone needs, yes," Barbara replied without hesitation. "...are you going to try and somehow get all the children back in their pods?"

"If I could. But if any of them are like Howard, they won't go." Even if knocking them out and sticking them in the pods himself wasn't ethical, it still wouldn't work if the children then just hid.

"They'd have to be to have gotten this far," Barbara said quietly.

"And it won't bring Howard or Cedric back," he said quietly.

Barbara folded her arms and stared at the wall. "I know."

"I was going to teach Cedric how to ride a bike," she said eventually, "and Howard-" the words caught in her throat and she covered her eyes with a hand as tears flowed once more.

Ian had a lump in his throat as he strode over and put an arm around her. "I'm sorry." He should have been making her feel better, not himself.

Barbara sniffed and shook her head, wiping the tears as they fell. She probably looked a mess. "It isn't your fault. It's this whole damn business."

"It's this whole war." He wasn't sure what to say to make her feel better - he didn't know what to say to make himself feel better.

"And heaven help us if we want to have a say in our own participation." Barbara wanted to wallow in self pity and cry over the loss of life longer but it wouldn't help. She pulled away from Ian and sat on a near by stool of Stacey's flesh, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Can we do something else?" she asked suddenly, looking up at Ian. "Can we get off the ship or disappear in the Sensoriums or anything where we can't be reminded of any of this?"

"Yes," he said. "I want to hit something." It probably wasn't what she had in mind, but it would make him feel better. "Let's go to the Sensoriums." They could conjure up a punching bag for him and something for her.

She nodded. That wasn't what Barbara had in mind but, remembering how Ian had looked before she came over, she figured he'd prefer to do something like that. She got up from her seat and took Ian's hand to lead him away.

He dropped her hand when they reached the Sensoriums. He just gave himself a punching bag and left Barbara to add in anything she wanted. He stood in front of it for a moment before punching it.

She watched a moment. The intensity Ian showed with his violence was hypnotising. Or she was tired. Maybe she was tired. Tired of aliens and time travel and death. She may has well have stayed on Earth with the Daleks and Jenny for all this mattered.

The walls of the room were plain, but Barbara wasn't interested in being somewhere pretty. Instead she held an image in her head, turned around, and found her bed. It wasn't the egonomical nonsense she'd slept on in the TARDIS, but a spring mattress on a sturdy frame with a simple headboard. The quilt she cherished, made by her grandmother for her when she was nine, draped over the mattress and two pillows were dressed in matching cases. A teddy bear she'd had for as long as she could remember, nestled between the two pillows.

Barbara lay on the bed, curled up on her side and hugged the bear to herself.

Ian kept going until he was sweaty, aching and his hands hurt. Then he kicked the bag for good measure. By the time he finished he felt better for getting rid of his anger and he was too tired to feel anything but physical pain.

He needed a shower really, but he sat on the edge of Barbara's bed.

"Do you feel better?" she asked quietly after a moment.

He sighed. "I don't know." He looked over at her. "Does the bear have a name?"

"Royal Albert," she replied and sat up, handing the bear to him for a closer look.

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