Losing Them In Pieces [Open]

[bonnypiperlad]

Who: Jamie and open!
Where: The Brig, unless someone drags him out from it.
Summary: A reaction to Billy's repodding and Zetta's subsequent announcement.
Warnings: General unhappiness warnings. Possibly a bit of sulking and a reluctance to do things.


Zetta's announcement had infuriated Jamie, and for a few moments he had forgotten it was supposed to be an act. All he wanted to do was get out of his cell, hunt down that overgrown piece of parchment and find out how hard it would be to punch a book in what served for its face. But the anger soon faded as the reality set in. Another teammate, gone. Only this time it was someone he had grown to care for like the members of his clan - like a brother. It wasn't a mistake or a joke. Maybe it wasn't as permanent as Punchy's death, but in some ways it hurt even worse.

And...maybe Zetta had been right, act or no act. What was to stop the Daligig from repodding the rest of the rebels or even the crew entirely? Yes, they'd lose the investment they had in the crew, and have to start all over again, but they'd have the time to adjust the systems, undo the changes that had already been done and start over with a group that had no idea what was going on. Or what if they decided a more effective tack would be to pod the rest of those who the rebels cared for? What if they repodded the Doctor? Or Victoria? He couldn't bear the thought of losing her, too, not now. Not again.

A wave of listlessness rolled over him, and he slid down the wall to sit heavily on the floor. His eyes found a random spot, and he stared at it despondently, too caught up in the downward spiral of his thoughts to actually see it. Why should they even bother trying to fight? Was it even worth it anymore?

"Och, what's the use?"

Comments

[boobhat]

"But it sure will piss off everyone else left outside. We can't give up hope. Not yet," said Hiccup. "And at least the ones who are repodded are relatively safe."

People in the pods had died but many of the sleepers had been safe through past crises thanks to their podsleep.

"We knew this wasn't going to be easy. It's never been easy."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye, safe." As safe as anyone ever was, until something went wrong and more of them were lost to zombies or bombs or Daleks. Still, Hiccup had a point.

"I never said it was going to be easy, just that..." He sighed, and was quiet for a moment, picking at a piece of lint on his kilt. "Why'd it have to be him that they put back?"

[boobhat]

"Because it had to be that him or her for someone. That's just how it is. If it wasn't your him or her, it would have been another one of mine, or someone else's, or we'd be the him or two to someone else, the ones being put back."

Hiccup's mouth was in a grim little line.

"I'm fairly sure my girlfriend got repodded. I keep...not asking if it's the pods or the mazes. I'm not sure I'm ready yet to know which. But in the end, as much as we want the people we love, we're all strong enough on our own to do this without them."

He added quickly, "Don't get me wrong--they def'nitely make it easier. What I mean is...we're all who we are. We're also all in this together. So even when best friends and girlfriends and every other important person under the artificial sun gets taken away from us, we're still not alone, either." He smiled, though Jamie couldn't see it.

"We'll get through this together and someday when we get them out, we can say 'Hey, how was your nap? We saved the universe while you were sleeping, just so you know.'"

And it would just be a nap. Nothing worse than that.

[bonnypiperlad]

Just a nap? Jamie mulled that over, leaving the silence hanging in the air between the cells for a short time. Maybe it would be a rough go of it, and maybe they would have more people go back to the pods, but Hiccup was right. Eventually they'd get through it and figure out a way to get everyone out of the pods. And that made right now...not so bad.

Finally, he said, "Ye know, for someone who claims to be terrible at inspiration speeches, you're not so bad at them." His tone was rather dry, but he meant it. And he felt better than he had since he had seen Billy's encrypted message on the Omnicoms. Still sad, but it was more manageable now.

"I'll hope ye don't mind my wishing that it's only GLaDOS that has your girlfriend, though. She was the wee blonde that looked like she knew her way around a sword, aye?"

[boobhat]

"Around an axe, actually, but yep. That's Astrid." He paused. "And I appreciate it. I mean, you wishing only the AI has her."

What else could the crew do for each other but fight for each other and hope for the best for each other?

[bonnypiperlad]

"I don't know what I'd do if it were my girlfriend," he admitted. "It's not something I like thinking about much."

And he didn't really want to think about it much now, so he decided to change the subject - at least, a little bit.

"Say, if ye don't mind my asking, has your girlfriend been like that long? With the fighting, I mean. I can't imagine Victoria attacking anyone with even a wee dirk, let alone something like an axe."

[boobhat]

"She's been that way as long as I can remember, but that's how all the girls in Berk are," Hiccup explained. "Everyone in the entire village has an axe practically put in their hands by age three."

A slight exaggeration but not much of one.

[bonnypiperlad]

"All of them?" Jamie boggled for a moment, quite forgetting his melancholy for a moment in the face of that particular fact.

"Ye live in a village full of lassies that like to fight that much?" Unnatural, that's what it was. "How do ye keep them from running off and doing so?"

[boobhat]

"...Why would we stop them from running off to fight?"

Color him confused. Women being as tough as the men in the village (and often tougher) was very nearly facts of life stuff for Hiccup.

"I'm not sure they could be stopped. If anyone ever tried to stop the women in our village from fighting, they'd probably just get headbutted."