"you were always invincible in my eyes. the only thing against us now is time..."

[dr_macrae]

(ooc: takes place a few hours after THIS thread.)

When Declan came to, he was still in the same place, but the warehouse had been cleared and cleaned. He tried to push himself up, but was shortly stopped by the stabbing pain of his likely-broken and bruised ribs in his chest. He took a moment to test his breathing and then moved slowly, bringing his

Comments

[morgana_l_f]

Morgana was still at a loss, moving through the Sanctuary in numb shock.

Her sister had gone.

Her sister was Cabal.

Her sister...

She still couldn't believe it and she had to keep moving or drown in how overwhelming it all was.

It was a minor miracle that she even noticed Ashley's door slightly ajar or Declan looking...

Oh god.

"Declan?" she asked softly, coming to the door.

[dr_macrae]

He looked up at the sound of his name and blinked away his tears. He wiped them away angrily and sniffed, wincing as he realized he wasn't sitting upright on the bedspread.

"Morgana," he greeted, almost incoherently. He didn't even know what to say. Oh, God, what was he going to say to Magnus if he didn't even know how to start this conversation with Morgana?

[morgana_l_f]

"What happened?" she asked softly although she feared she knew the answer.

[dr_macrae]

He let out a heavy breath, the guilt weighing heavily upon him.

"I...I couldn't..." he trailed off, looking back down to the photograph. He smoothed his thumb over the glass of the frame, wishing that he could be touching her instead of some bloody frame.

[morgana_l_f]

She lay a trembling hand on his shoulder.

"Declan?" she pressed softly.

[dr_macrae]

"They took her," he whispered, his words shaking at first, then filling with seething hatred. "The bloody Cabal...they took her from me, and I couldn't do a goddamn thing..."

[morgana_l_f]

"Ashley," she whispered, wrapping her arm more firmly around him, supporting him.

[dr_macrae]

He let out a pained grunt as she wrapped her arm around him and winced, his hand going over his chest and tac vest protectively, but didn't speak a word.

[morgana_l_f]

"Are you hurt?" she asked instantly, worried.

[dr_macrae]

"They may have done me the favour of cracking a rib or two while they had me chained up," he replied, his eyes still on the photograph.

[morgana_l_f]

"You need to get it seen to," Morgana said softly. "Maybe I can help..."

There was nothing she could do to help Morgause or Ashley after all.

[dr_macrae]

He looked up to her, a pain in his eyes that had nothing to do with his ribs and nodded slowly.

"There's probably something in the bathroom, Ashley always keeps..." he trailed off altogether. "How do I possibly tell everyone?"

He took a ragged breath and clutched tighter to the frame. Then he realized that their rings were still in the glovebox of the car. He frowned. How stupid of him to leave them there.

[morgana_l_f]

Morgana didn't know the answer to that so she simply headed towards the bathroom.

"Let's get you patched up first, all right?"

[dr_macrae]

"Yeah. All right," he nodded slowly. He laid the photo frame next to him on the bed and reached around to try and unfasten the velcro on the tac vest, but stopped as he felt a rush of pain and hissed.

[morgana_l_f]

"Stop it," she fussed sharply, hands full of first aid kit. She was glad now that Will had made her undergo that training.

"What happened?" she asked quietly as she knelt in front of him and began to undo the vest, having to hunt out the unfamiliar fastenings.

[dr_macrae]

"It was a trap," he replied quietly, looking over to her with concern in his eyes. He had no idea if she knew. Add one more thing to his list of things he didn't know how to say.