We are so fragile...

[darkgathersin]

He doesn't know what time it is, can't remember how long he's been here or how long he's been awake. The sun rose, he knows that and it's still early in the morning. The birds are singing and there's lot of traffic. It's not been very long since they found him though, since they started teasing and taunting him. He knows that much

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[faraday_effect]

It's amazing how quickly people go scattering when a shotgun goes off.

Dani keeps her gaze trailed on the biggest of the group as he takes off in a direction different from the others, gun still balanced carefully on her shoulder. Once she's certain they're all gone and not coming back, she slowly lowers her weapon, then drops onto her knees beside the injured man.

"Hey." Her voice is quiet, gentle. "They're gone. It's okay."

[darkgathersin]

The beating would ahve been better.

The gunshot makes him curl up and cry out, clamping his hands over his ears and shaking hard. He hates it, hates the sound, hates the smell fo gunpowder in the air, hates all fo it.

Even though there's someone talking to him, even though he knows he should say something he can't think, can't imagine anything else but the blood and the bang and the shootshootshoot heard round the world, round the universe, round and round and round again.

"Gonego9neggone gone with a gun, gone with a bang. Bangbagbag. Shoot, shoot them, shoot them down,. Don't shoot, please don't shoot? " he's shaking hard and babbling and not really mak9ing much sense but there's little he can do about it.

[faraday_effect]

Sometimes, Dani is not as useful as she thinks she is.

"I'm not going to shoot you," she says, making sure to place the gun out of sight for the moment. "And I didn't shoot any of them. Just a... uh, warning shot. To make them leave."

And leave they did.

She didn't stop to think that a gunshot might do more harm than good, though. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

[darkgathersin]

"Isitdone?" It comes out as one word, a rush of noise against his mouth and he looks up hopefully. "If it's done then that's good. That's all right. It's gone."

He swallows hard, opening and closing his eyes and opening them again. He can't get rid of the noise in his head and they're starting to go along with the stars he's seeing.

"I see gunshots in my head," he mutters. "Bangbangbvamg. Stars going off Exploding. Supernovas in my brain."

He looks up at her, tilting his head. "It's not supposed to do that."

[faraday_effect]

"It's done, gone," she affirms, carefully studying him. He doesn't seem... quite right, does he?

She would know.

Dani drops to the ground completely, crossing her legs like a pretzel and sitting down next him with her hands fully visible, resting on her knees. "No, I don't think it is. Are you hurt? Does your head hurt?"

[darkgathersin]

No, no he doesn't and he isn't. All you'd have to do is ask him and he'd tell you he's wrong, he's broken and jagged and wrong. He won't mean to, not really but it's instinct, it's habit,. He doesn't see himself as anything really functional.

He watches her carefully, curiously and tilts his head a little when she settles down. Automatically he moves closer, leaning against her because he can, because she's there and contact is good and she's there an remember her by.

"It hurts," he says quietly. "Everything hurts. I keep seeing stars. Stars shouldn't go out. So many people die when the starts go out. The world goes wrong. Everything goes wrong." He moves to look at her. I think I'm bleeding."

He licks the blood from his mouth. There are several places he's bleeding, honestly, scrapes and scratches from the scuffle. There are bruises too, forming bright and angry on his skin but it looks like there are old ones too, sickly and yellow. Who knows where those are from.

[faraday_effect]

Dani understands that, not feeling functional. The abrupt and unwanted move to Chicago made that exponentially worse. She frowns at him, pinged with sympathy, but doesn't move.

"Stars die when they use up energy," she counters, voice low. "Everything uses up energy."

When she gets a good look at the blood on his mouth she leans over just enough to pull a tissue from her back pocket, which she offers to him. "Here."

[darkgathersin]

He's good at being lost, being displaced. He's always a little olost, even when he has a place to call home. There's always a part of him that forgets the way he came, the place he belongs or how he got there. It's just a part of him, a part of how he works. He'll remember eventually, after losing everything and coming back again, but that takes time and he's not at that point yet.

This little incident will help him get there though.

"Everythingeverythingeverything," he says in reply. "Going out, goingoinggone. Stars go out because they use up energy. We use up energy. Everything does. We go out. We die. I go out but I don't die. I come back. Even just a little bit. Go out, come back, go out come back go out, don';t come back. Maybe. I do9n't know."

He takes the napkin and wipes at the blood, staring down at it. "Thank you." He smiles at her.

[faraday_effect]

She squints at him as he speaks; there's something familiar about all of that, but not familiar to her. Familiar to Dan, and she's trying to pull away from him as much as possible.

Away from his memories, we mean. Of course.

"You're welcome," she replies, offering him a little smile of her own. "Do you think you can walk? We can find you some bandages, clean you up a bit. If you want."

That last bit is added hesitantly.

[darkgathersin]

"Clean," he echoes. "Cleancleanclean." It would be nice. He would like to get a shower and a meal and somewhere not so hard to sleep but the shelters are hard to get into and he finds it safer out here in the end.

Well, mostly.

"Maybe, maybe walking. Probably not well." He looks at her. "Everything's all wobbly. The world keeps turning under my feet and I can feel it. I don't know."

He smiles a little. "I'll try though. Always gotta try, even if it doesn't work out. It's better than not."

[faraday_effect]

And this is where a Problem presents itself, because she's not entirely sure where to take him. The Kashtta is, as far as she knows, currently haunting-free, but she also knows that building messes with sensitive people.

"Um. I have a house," she says, then gestures down the alleyway. "And a car. I can take you there, if you want? It's... not too far out of the way from here. And it's safe. Very safe."

That house hasn't seen guests in a while, but it is, as she said, safe. There's an awesome security system, and she has a little arsenal of weapons.

"You could use my shower." A beat. "I'm Danielle, by the way."

[darkgathersin]

"Safe," he says. "I like safe. Safe is good. I had safe and then it went off. I don't know where. It went off or I went off. No wait, I went off. I left it." he blinks. "I don't think I meant to."

But then she's introducing herself and he smiles. "Danielle, Danielledanielledanielle." He reaches out, trances her name against her arm and doesn't even think about touching her until he's done.

"Sorry," he says quietly. "Should've asked. I'm sorrysorrysorry."

[faraday_effect]

Her frown is sympathetic. She assumes he must mean that he's a Wanderer, and she knows that predicament far too well. "No one ever means to, but they do. They can't help it."

When he touches her, she doesn't flinch or move. She simply watches him, brows furrowed just slightly with curiosity as the skin under his finger prickles. There's something familiar about the way he speaks and moves, and it makes Dani wonder if he was ever subjected to the same kinds of tests they used to run in Room 23.

"It's okay. Can you get up? We should get going." Nothing's bothering them at the moment, and Dani does have her shotgun, but there are no guarantees in Chicago.

[darkgathersin]

He looks up at her, surprise and relief on his face. "You...it's not just me? I didn't....I don't..." he's not sure where to go with his words but he looks so pleased, so happy to know that he didn't make a mistake.

"Thank you," he finally says, unsure of where else to go, "Thank you, thank you."

he nods but is unsure. Getting to his feet is easy, it takes a little effort but he manages it. Staying on his feet is harder and, if she allows it, he may wind up leaning on her to get around. His head is spinning a bit too much and the world i8s out of focus, unclear and wobbly when it should be straight.

"Going, going gone," he says quietly with s smile, one hand wrapping around his book tightly. When he gets somewhere safe, he's paging through it, filling in the gaps in his memory at least a little bit but right now? Right now he is going to concentrate on standing.

[faraday_effect]

"Not just you at all," she reaffirms, unable to keep her smile at bay. They're in this together, yeah? Her, and him, and all the others. And that's something she takes comfort in.

Before he can wonder if it's okay to lean on her, she positions herself closely enough to him that should he need her, she's right there. She knows how this works-she's dealt with the injured before. As her mind drifts to Ben, she swallows and retrieves her gun. (She keeps it on the side Theta's not on.)

As promised, the car isn't far. It's a black Jeep Wrangler-the kind with the canvas roof-that's a bit battered and dirty, parked just around the corner of the alley. She leads him to the passenger's side, fishes out her keys, and opens the door for him.

[darkgathersin]

He leans on her when he knows he can, using her as a sort of crutch as he walks. He's weak and his legs don't want to work but he knows he has to walk, has to get to the car and then eh can sit down. Sitting will be good, sitting will mean that he won't have to think about moving for a little while and that will be good.

"Sliding into the car, he studies it almost expectantly and then remembers something. His expression goe3s sad and then he movies to look at Danielle.

"Does it have a name?"