This is supposed to be nherizu 's and sheilaluv 's birthday gift. But I write slower than a turtle. Am posting the--rough, unfinished, crappy--beginning here and counting on you guys to beat my ass to finish it.

ETA: this is a semi-AU which deviates from canon starting at the chapter Cross goes missing and forth.

( He stayed awake, mostly; recalling in his mind Mark Twain’s description of the children of Western America lying in bed and counting the whistle of transcontinental train going by the night. He counted the crash of waves, one by one as they hit the shores, until he could not count anymore and sleep washed over him, too tired to dream, feeling like a child all over again. )