Night 54: M1-M10 Hallway
Having to endure an empty room for yet another night had Sora worried. Were they not planning to give him a new roommate? He didn't know how these soldier people worked -- would they rather that patients were left in their rooms alone? That didn't make much sense, but he really didn't know what to expect anymore
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Dean was still trying to figure out how you could possibly lose a bigass shuriken in the first place as Yuffie got a look around. And then brought up the funky feeling.
"More like stomach but now that you mention it..." Dean trailed off. Actually, he did feel a little weird up there too, right in the back of his head, this kinda light pressure as if someone being a dick and poking him right there. What was with that? That wasn't no food poisoning, and Yuffie getting something similar. Dean moved to lean up against the desk's edge, folding his arms over his chest. "Kinda. Right here," he patted the back of his head. "What about you?"
There wasn't a real subtle, polite way to go about asking if she felt like she was gonna croak. Hell, he had less than a year but despite that, he wasn't gunning to die any time soon if he could help it. Dean focused on Yuffie, taking her in. She looked pretty healthy to him, just from a glance. Confused about something, sure, but today especially had been a big basket case. Still, if there was something in the water (or food, whatever), they should probably figure it out. Dean had to say that aside from the funky feeling, he felt...okay? He didn't much feel like he was dying himself, come to think of it.
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When Dean moved to lean against his desk, Yuffie followed suit-except she made a beeline for the closet. Her instincts suggested that she open it and root around inside, but she squashed them. There'd be time for that later, preferably when he wasn't standing right there in front of her. "Uhm, well… how to put this…" she trailed off, tapping her knuckles against her chin. In the end, when a handful of seconds had ticked happily on by and serious, thoughtful words to say still hadn't come to her, Yuffie decided that her best (and only) option was to blurt: "It's… actually, it feels kind of a lot like I'm missing most of my life, probably because I am, and gawd, that's a lot of stuff to miss. I'm pretty damn sure by now that I don't remember anythin' from before I came here. To Landel's in general, I mean."
Yuffie paused to breathe, and to run the hand formerly at her chin through her hair. Saying it out-loud like that, to another person… somebody who wasn't her, somebody that wasn't something, like her shuriken… it brought a whole new level of reality to the problem. "It's better than, I dunno, spewing up blood and having three hours left to live or whatever, but… Man. It's awkward, you know?"
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"Yeah, no kidding," Dean said, snorting. Looking at her, he didn't think she was making it up. She was too fidgety and not the fake kind, either. "Okay, okay, let's back up. So the very first thing you remember is just being here, all the time? 'Cause juddging from the heat you're packing, that didn't just pop out of nowhere."
Okay, fine. Maybe he wasn't the best at giving these kind of pep talks. This was more Sam's thing, walking people through stuff. Dean was more get the answers, gank the hunt, possibly spread 'em for the hot blonde at the dive ten miles down the road, and move on. Dean shifted his weight against the desk. Wasn't exactly a nice way to put this, but he might as well get it over with:
"It's possible they could've done something to your memory. Picked out stuff. Question is if it's permanent or not," Dean added.
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She knew that she had friends from back home trapped here right alongside her. She knew that there was something… wrong, about that. Things didn't add up between them. But it was fuzzy; remembering memories of memories was like trying to hold water in cupped hands. Or, was it…? Yuffie sighed, knocking her head back against the door of the closet. All this thinking around and around in circles was gonna give her one hell of a headache, especially if she kept taking it so seriously.
"It's more than just possible, sheesh… considerin' some of the other stuff Landel and his cronies got up to, this stuff must be easy-peasy." But the idea of it being permanent-she hadn't even thought about that! Yuffie froze, trying desperately to reassure herself that despite what she'd just said aloud to Dean, no way would she be stuck like this forever; it was impossible, she'd be just fine, just wait and see; she'd have her memory back as it should be in no time at all. "Th… That… woah, that'd… kinda suck, huh… But! But, I have better things to do than stand around and worry about ifs and buts and maybes."
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"So what'd you have in mind?" Dean asked. "'Cause I was about to say that in your state, it's probably safer, but I'm not your babysitter, either."
But he didn't intend to just turn his back on her if she did decide to take off. The right thing to do was dog after her, make sure she didn't get herself killed or ran into someone who wasn't exactly real friendly. Dean could see this as being a long, long night, his eyes going over involuntarily to that big shuriken. What was that movie? Okay, it was no BB gun, but seriously, that thing could totally poke your eye out if you so much as looked at it wrong.
Dean could think of a few things she'd probably want to do. Get answers was the most obvious. Hell, he'd want to do the same thing if he was in her place, and he was sorta-kinda sure he wasn't there yet. Niggling funky feeling or not. He remembered everything here and before Landels, aside from his...supposed first time here. Okay, maybe he wasn't exactly one to talk but at least it wasn't recent like tonight recent. Dean watched Yuffie, frowning slightly.
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… And then the radio came on.
"So head away from the building if you want to chat, okay?" said the faceless voice. The words jumped out at her, practically smacking her in the face. It had been way too long since she'd last made a try for the world outside; a few days, at least.
"Away from the building," Yuffie repeated, cocking her head. "On a scale of one to dumb, that's, like, astronomically 'totally nutso why would you even think about wanting to think about that', but…" Maybe that guy would hold some answers. Maybe he'd also be a trap; a crazy guy just waiting to tear apart the first unlucky sucker who fell for his play. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be worth the risk anyway, if they could even reach him before morning fell.
Yuffie grinned at Dean. "Whaddya say? Between the two of us, we've got a pretty good chance-I may have lost a whole bunch of memories, but I still know how to take care of myself."
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For all he knew, he was. It didn’t exactly feel like anything was missing. But what the dude said on the radio made it seem like if you ate any of the food at all, you were up shit creek, so…yeah, he was just gonna hope he didn’t end up with his head exploding on some delayed timer or ending up like Yuffie. No offense. Dean frowned and then shrugged. If she was taking off outside, he was going after her. If they put something in the food, then if she started losing more memories on the way, she might need someone there who at least knew, sorta, what she was going through. Dean grabbed his duffel bag, relieved at least the nurses weren’t going to be out. He thought he vaguely remembered a nurse during Doyleton but he wasn’t sure. He’d been sorta busy drooling on Sam at the time.
“Can’t hurt,” Dean said, with a look at Yuffie that said don’t even go there. Yeah, it could hurt if they ran into a goblin or - or whatever was out there, but she knew what he meant. “I’ve wanted to get a better look outside. Maybe he’ll know about your memory problem.”
Sucked balls for her to be missing parts of her memory. He hoped she just wasn’t gonna start leaking more on him on the way out. Dean wasn’t sure he was all that prepared for some chick forgetting stuff like what happened two minutes ago or even forgetting how to walk.
"After you." Dean motioned at the door. Hitching up his duffel bag, he checked the catch release of his knife's sheath, ready to go.
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The move was instantaneous, and Castiel felt the change in temperature (from the cold outside air to the more heated patient room) and yet managed to keep his balance and bearing. He was right at Dean's side, as he'd planned to be, with Orihara standing next to him.
He took his hand off of the young man immediately, turning to Dean first. Though he didn't miss the fact that there was one other patient there, a girl in full outfit and heavily armed. Her choice of weaponry was a bit antiquated, though Castiel wasn't one to judge such a thing, seeing how he normally fought with a knife or his fists.
"Dean," he greeted immediately, only realizing at a delay that this version of the older Winchester wasn't exactly used to his sudden appearances.
But this was fortunate. It would prove that he wasn't all talk, that he was in fact capable of more than a human. Whether it would convince the man that he was an angel remained to be seen, but he was allowing himself to be hopeful.
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Izaya might have enjoyed the first instance of teleporting, but this second one was another matter. He'd been prepared for the first time (or as prepared as he could have been), but Castiel had taken hold of his arm without warning this time. A wave of uncertainty washed over him, about-... Well, it must have been about the teleporting. If Castiel could only go places he'd been, was this really usefully? Was this even safe?
The next thing he knew, they were back inside, near a man and a young lady in clothes that might have been trendy somewhere, but who (thanks to the weapons) practically looked like she was dressed in some cosplay. Castiel apparently knew the guy.
Castiel was paying more attention to his acquaintance than Izaya at the moment, but that didn't stop Izaya from commenting (more sharply than he'd meant to), "Warn me the next time you try that."
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Half a second before, wham! Two guys! Out of nowhere!
"The hell?!" Yuffie yelped, startling backwards. The motion took her straight into the closed door of the closet; the handle dug uncomfortably into her back, and she hopped forward again to escape it. "You guys-that's-rude, geez!" It was halfway through her mess of exclamations that Yuffie realized she'd automatically brought her shuriken up, holding it at the ready to… to… decapitate, or something. Maybe. (And there it went, in the back of her mind; a quick-flash replay of solid steel and cracking bones.)
Yuffie kept her eyes fixed on the interlopers, careful and measuring despite her more energetic outward reaction. It was strange… her body had moved on its own, almost, more quickly that she could keep up with. Her hands were dead steady, both of them, and although the shuriken felt heavy, it also felt familiar-too familiar to be discomforting. But she didn't move to attack, or to run away (not that she could've, she knew; ninja or not, they were between her and the door, and it wasn't like there was a whole lot of room left anyway.) If Dean knew the guy-one or both-then how this played out was his call, not hers.
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Dean jumped at the voice and presence suddenly at his side, starting as he whirled away and found himself almost side by side with Yuffie. Okay, so having a wall at your back wasn't the best move but what the hell? How did Castiel and - okay, he didn't know who the other guy was, but seriously, did it even matter - get in here. Dean had his hand on his knife without even thinking about it, even if Yuffie had beat him to the punch with her shuriken. Dean didn't quite relax, his heart still racing as he glanced from Castiel to...well, whoever his pal was.
"How'd you get in here?" Dean found his voice. "Who're you?"
Castiel, he knew. But seeing as he plain wasn't used to people just beaming into his room, he thought he had a right to know who was gonna be popping in. Was this more of those rings teleporting folks around? Dean couldn't even tell Yuffie, with her memory all shot to hell, if this was normal, 'cause he didn't even know himself.
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A room, with both Dean and a female in it. He'd known Dean for long enough to realize that this signified. Copulation befuddled the angel, but it was not his place to judge. In that case, he would need to quickly explain and move on.
Ignoring the weapons that were raised against him, Castiel glanced around the room for a moment, noticing that it was identical to his own. Then he turned to Dean and gave a minute shrug of his shoulders. "I had reason to believe that you did not trust what I said about what I am." The skepticism had been clear on both Dean and Sam's faces that first day.
"It appears that some of my power has returned to me. I felt that I should show it to you firsthand." Now it would be difficult for Dean to argue with his claim; that was his theory, at the least.
"However, it seems that you are busy," Castiel continued with a pointed glance in the girl's direction, "so I will take my leave." He glanced to Orihara then, giving him a silent warning that they would be moving again soon.
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He might not have liked the lack of warning beforehand, but the situation had proved to be interesting, dropping in unannounced on Castiel's friend and cosplay girlfriend like this. The girl was so flustered, and the man-Dean, Castiel had called him?-looked like he was on edge from their sudden appearance, too. If this 'Dean' knew Castiel, it didn't seem like he'd known what the man was capable of.
Castiel's words confirmed as much-and there was something else in there, too: the mention of other abilites, and... 'What I am', he'd said; not 'who I am'. It was an interesting choice of words, and one that Izaya would keep in mind for later. Now wasn't the time, not yet. Not until he knew better which questions needed asking.
Dean had asked another a question, too-likely directed at Izaya himself if he did know Castiel-but he wasn't going to give an answer now; if Dean was asking him, Izaya would leave the introductions for when they met again, if they met again. He nodded at Castiel instead; if he was done, it was time to get out of there and on to more interesting things-as nice as staying to see what else they might do might be.
"Ready," he said quietly. "Let's go."
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It had been a relief when Dean had reacted just as… badly wasn't the word for it; they could've been so totally screwed right there, her instincts told her. Quick thinking saved lives! Flinching was a reflex for a reason! Maybe she didn't know for sure what kind of life she'd lived back then, but duh, putting a weapon between creepy-weird interlopers with super teleportation powers was just common sense.
… Okay, maybe jumping back into the closet had been on th dumb side, but nine out ten wasn't a bad score? Right? Right. But anyway, that guy had given her a look like… like… like something, and Yuffie didn't like it.
"Damn straight we're busy," she said grumpily, fingers clenching against the crossbar of her shuriken. "We were just about to head out when you jerks showed up." She lifted her chin in defiant irritation, waiting for the two to leave and hoping they didn't try any funny business as a parting shot.
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At least Yuffie was still in the same, non-crazy boat as him.
Dean lowered his knife, figuring by now if Castiel and his boyfriend were gonna attack them, they would've done it already. Besides, that shuriken's of Yuffie was a pretty big deterrent there. Dean wouldn't want to be on the end of that, that was for sure. Dean by now had settled for feeling pissed and - okay, he wouldn't call it violated 'cause another dude was making eyes at him, but c'mon. How were you supposed to feel when two guys just blipped in for a dick measuring contest and then planned to blip out.
"Try knocking, Jesus Christ," Dean sputtered. Yeah, there wasn't exactly a friggen manual for this. At least Yuffie here was normal. Sorta normal. Ignoring the memory thing, she was being reasonable about this.
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First, their presence wasn't wanted. Second, Dean didn't seem to be entirely convinced, even after that display. It definitely smarted, but it wasn't as if he could ask for more details when there was a stranger present. More than that, he hadn't even told Orihara of what he truly was, though he wouldn't be surprised if the human had questions before long.
"I apologize," he said with a shake of his head before turning his attention to Dean. "We must talk later." When that would be depended on a number of things.
But they had to get going, and at this point Castiel wasn't sure where. He now knew that he could go to places he'd been before (in this area, that is) as well as to the locations of people who he knew, and as far as he could tell, that was the extent of his flight.
It wasn't much, but it was certainly convenient for exploration, especially when time was so short. But there was one more question that Castiel needed to answer, and that was whether or not Gabriel's power had returned. Seeing how his older sibling was an archangel and therefore had more power by nature, it was possible that he could fly further. Either way, Castiel needed to see.
He turned to Orihara finally, slowly reaching a hand forward so that the young man could be prepared. "We're going." And then he set his hand on the other's shoulder and in the next second they were gone.
[To here.]
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