(Untitled)

[teddysaidso]

Who: Nick Stokes, Faith Vanderfleet, Hailey Stokes, Partners (+ Haku and Alex later?)
What: Retrieving Haileybeth~
When: March 14th, 2010 ; shortly after Teddy's post in Hailey's journal.
Where: Dokako Jungle

Comments

[ponchotexas]

Nick hadn't been kidding when he said that the fact that he had a kid show up would probably sink in about an hour later. Right then he was simply in the moment, driving as fast as he could to get to Hailey before something happened to her.

Going through the light post in the Denali, he steered through the jungle, checking the GPS frequently to see how close they were.

[vanderfleet]

Faith's hand reached over and took one of Nick's in her own, squeezing it tightly. She was still pretty affected by the virus, but she was strong enough to keep her attention off of it ... well, for the most part. In lieu of the little girl who needed them there. NOW.

Hailey, meanwhile, was doing what she was taught to do in a situation like this and stayed where she was. Hugging that bear. With her other Teddy there, too.

And Teddy would make sure nothing happened to her.

[ponchotexas]

Nick sighed, trying to relax a little. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he squeezed her hand back.

"We're almost there..."

[vanderfleet]

Faith nodded, offering a smile in his direction.

"How're ya feelin', hun?" She asked gently, keeping her hand entwined in his.

[ponchotexas]

"mfine..." Nick mumbled, swerving and barely missing a tree as the car bounced over the rough terrain. "I'm fine..."

[vanderfleet]

Faith frowned, a little unsure of that, but she didn't wanna object to that right now. Not when he was driving a borrowed denali.

"Her name is Hailey ... ain't that the name of the girl y'told me about a bit ago, too?"

[ponchotexas]

"Yeah... yeah it is..."

It could be just a coincidence, but it seemed too odd a thing to ignore when the child was calling HIM 'daddy'.

[vanderfleet]

"Mm ..."

Faith squeezed his hand again, falling silent for a few moments, before ...

"Nicky, I think I see 'er!" She leaned forward in her seat, squinting to get a better look. Sure enough, there was a little girl with a Phascomon, holding a teddy bear in the distance, and they were approaching her, quickly.

[ponchotexas]

Nick let out a breath of relief and brought the Denali to a halt. Realizing his first aid kit from the D-Reader on the off chance she might be hurt, he got out of the car and started walking over.

Cassie bounced up to his head, waving her stubby little arms frantically.

"HEEEEEYYYYY!"

[teddysaidso]

Faith followed after him, opening the passenger door and climbing out quickly. Kotemon decided to stay behind, rather uninterested with the whole thing.

Hailey heard the sounds, blinking and looking toward the source of it, seeing a familiar figure ...

with a bunny on his head.

What the hey.

Teddy, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief, looking to his tamer with a smile.

"Hailey, your parents are here."

Hailey stayed where she was. She couldn't help but stare ...

Yeah. Those were her parents ... only, her mom was wearing an eyepatch, and both of them seemed a little ... off.

While she wanted to get up and hug the both of them, she wasn't really sure what to make of that. She just kept staring.

Teddy frowned again.

"Hailey ...?"

Hailey didn't speak. She only stared, clinging the bear tighter to her.

[ponchotexas]

This was... weird. She kind of looked like his sister when they were kids, but with obvious differences. Which, of course, indicated some kind of relation.

But as they neared he realized she wasn't jumping up to greet them. Greg had said his two practically tackled them when they showed up, and he was... kind of expecting the same.

Taking a breath and deciding to just go with it, he knelt down next to her and set the kit to his side.

"Hey kiddo... you hurt anywhere...?"

[teddysaidso]

Faith thought she'd wait just a little ways away, just to see what happened. The girl looked scared, and she didn't wanna possibly scare her anymore than she already way.

Hailey, meanwhile, focused on Nick. She stared for several moments, quietly looking at his face ...

Something was off. But she couldn't tell what it was ... maybe it was the kind of aura he kept around her. He certainly looked identical to the daddy she knew.

She lowered the bear a little bit. It was obvious she had been crying a river, as her face was tearstained.

"... Daddy?" She asked quietly.

[ponchotexas]

"Yeah..." Nick said, offering her a warm but equally confused smile. Finding a tissue, he reached out and rubbed some the tears away from her face.

"You okay now?"

[teddysaidso]

Hailey didn't say another word. She let go of the bear, leaning forward and wrapping her arms tightly around her father, all but clinging to him.

Faith stood a bit away, smiling a little at the scene before walking up and kneeling next to them, slowly placing a hand to Hailey's back and rubbing it gently.

"It's all righ', baby girl. We're here fer ya now ..."

[ponchotexas]

Nick returned the hug tightly, pulling her in to his lap.

"We're gonna go home, okay?"

[teddysaidso]

Hailey pulled her bear up with her, one arm holding onto it while the other clung tightly to Nick. She looked up at him, then nodded.

"'kay," she said quietly, then looked to her mother, making a face.

"Mommy, why're you wearing an eyepatch? Did you hurt yourself?"

Faith was taken aback by the question. She'd always worn the eyepatch ... it was sort of her way of saying she was a misfit. But ...

She chuckled soonafter, shaking her head and taking the eyepatch off, tucking it away into her pocket.

"No, baby girl, I'm jus' fine. See?" She smiled.

This made Hailey feel a little better. It still confused her to no end as to why her mom would wear something like that, but she felt better now that it was off. She nodded.

"Ahuh."

"Good! Let's get goin', alrighty? An' yer partner, too."

"Oh! Teddy!"

"Right here, Hailey." Teddy hopped up on Hailey's back, perching on her shoulder.