No place like home
((Apologies to everyone this is so late. I went out of state, and then came back and got tied up in a professional commission... It's been busy.))
At the end of the long journey through the city, Rat and his companions are thrown through a portal and out. They don't all land in the same place, though. Like a PIN-me machine, the portal seems to have a habit of tossing people right back where they came from. This means Rat lands in an alley, one that's just wide enough to hold a car and maybe get the doors open on one side. On the plus side, his cab is no longer there for him to land on. On the negative side, his cab is no longer there. He lays on the cement with his head whirling and his body aching while bits and pieces of memory float back into place like a jigsaw puzzle doing itself. He remembers his cab being parked here. He was just stepping out for something to eat when sleep came over him like a cold, dark blanket. That memory makes him shudder.
Harley's not here, and neither is Gibbs, and that makes him worry because they're both city people. He worries over that sweet girl, Addy? Victor? She must have come from the Nexus. None of the people he met deserved to be there, and he hopes they've all come through somewhere safe. Then he tries to get up and walk out of the alley, which turns out to be harder than he expected. His ankle won't even hold him, and he feels battered and bruised and chewed on. Some of the deeper bites are starting to bleed again. Within a block, clinging to the walls, a cab comes by and the driver recognizes him.
The phone call comes from the hospital, and it's to Sarah. She's reliable, and the first person who told him the truth, and he's hoping she didn't get caught up in the mess too. He's relieved when she answers, and he's quick to let her know what's happened and who was with him, correctly guessing he might not be the only one in the city abducted. It puts his mind at ease to find out everyone's back, including Harley, and that April was never taken. He's really not interested in having anyone visit him in the hospital, but he trusts her to let anyone who cares know he's back safely. He'll only be in a day or two, and he's just fine spending that time sleeping away on the drugs. It might take him a couple years to pay off the hospital bill, but right now, it seems worth it.
It's a few days later he has a friend drop him off at Shell Beach. The other cabbies are taking pity on him. He's on crutches, both ankles bandaged up, and he's awkwardly carrying some flowers and a balloon. The first place he hobbles for is Harley's. The knock on the door is muffled as he has to juggle everything to do it.
At the end of the long journey through the city, Rat and his companions are thrown through a portal and out. They don't all land in the same place, though. Like a PIN-me machine, the portal seems to have a habit of tossing people right back where they came from. This means Rat lands in an alley, one that's just wide enough to hold a car and maybe get the doors open on one side. On the plus side, his cab is no longer there for him to land on. On the negative side, his cab is no longer there. He lays on the cement with his head whirling and his body aching while bits and pieces of memory float back into place like a jigsaw puzzle doing itself. He remembers his cab being parked here. He was just stepping out for something to eat when sleep came over him like a cold, dark blanket. That memory makes him shudder.
Harley's not here, and neither is Gibbs, and that makes him worry because they're both city people. He worries over that sweet girl, Addy? Victor? She must have come from the Nexus. None of the people he met deserved to be there, and he hopes they've all come through somewhere safe. Then he tries to get up and walk out of the alley, which turns out to be harder than he expected. His ankle won't even hold him, and he feels battered and bruised and chewed on. Some of the deeper bites are starting to bleed again. Within a block, clinging to the walls, a cab comes by and the driver recognizes him.
The phone call comes from the hospital, and it's to Sarah. She's reliable, and the first person who told him the truth, and he's hoping she didn't get caught up in the mess too. He's relieved when she answers, and he's quick to let her know what's happened and who was with him, correctly guessing he might not be the only one in the city abducted. It puts his mind at ease to find out everyone's back, including Harley, and that April was never taken. He's really not interested in having anyone visit him in the hospital, but he trusts her to let anyone who cares know he's back safely. He'll only be in a day or two, and he's just fine spending that time sleeping away on the drugs. It might take him a couple years to pay off the hospital bill, but right now, it seems worth it.
It's a few days later he has a friend drop him off at Shell Beach. The other cabbies are taking pity on him. He's on crutches, both ankles bandaged up, and he's awkwardly carrying some flowers and a balloon. The first place he hobbles for is Harley's. The knock on the door is muffled as he has to juggle everything to do it.