Who are you again?

[ragingbeauty]

[Raven doesn't know why she's suddenly in a plain white room, when just a minute ago she swore she was facing up against Snake. Or rather, she had been in white room anyway and posing for him as he snapped off pictures. But it had been more like an endless space. They were two different things, last time Raven checked.]

Huh...

[She clenches her fists

Comments

Permanent/Reboot

[dontshakeplz]

[Rose didn't know where she was. She was certain that she wasn't inside of Roy's house, yet she had no memory of ever leaving his house. Or any memory of walking into this room even. It was just a haze. Almost like the times you enter a room and completely forgot why you were in there in the first place, except on a much greater scale.]

Roy? John?

[Rose made her way to the door of the room, looking out into the unfamiliar hallway.]

[throughrunning]

[Oh hey hotness.]

[Approaching from behind, Jack wraps his arms around his clueless wife's waist and leans into her.]

Hi Rose.

[dontshakeplz]

[She jumped a little when the arms wrapped around her from behind, not hearing anyone approaching. When she hears that voice though, her thoughts all screech to a stop.]

[Twisting suddenly in his arms, she turns to see who she knew the voice belonged to. It was like she saw a ghost, and in many ways, she had. It was a face she hadn't seen for nearly five years now, but she still remembered every detail.]

[It had to be a dream, Jack had gone through all of those... experiments, but here he was, flesh and blood. Wordlessly, she brought her hands up, touching his face, as if she was trying to make herself believe he was real.]

[throughrunning]

[Though he expects some initial surprise, he doesn't understand why she stares at him speechlessly, touching his face as if she hadn't seen him in years.]

Uhm... Rose? Are you all right?

[He covers one of her hands with his own, moving it away from his face.]

[dontshakeplz]

[That warmth, the touch, it was like he was actually there but...]

Jack...

[She shook her head, tears already springing to her eyes.]

I don't understand. How are you... here?

[According to her memory, Snake had just run into Jack in South America.]

[throughrunning]

[Uhh... oh... a new Rose? But she's wearing the same outfit he'd last seen his Rose in and he'd never met any other Roses from the same time...]

Did you walk into a room?

[No not the tears! Jack brings his other hand up to wipe one away before it can drip down her cheek.]

[dontshakeplz]

I was just in that room...

[She explains lamely, nodding slightly in the direction she came from. She hoped at least Jack knew what was going on.]

I'm confused Jack... Where are we?

[This time she brought up her hand to cover his, still not quite believing that any of this was real.]

[throughrunning]

[Well, it certainly sounds like she forgot this place. He doesn't really like that, thinking all this time he's spent with her would be erased from her mind, and yet... Mantis would be cleared from her memories. That one thought alone is enough to make him smile.]

It's a long story.

[The hand that cleared away the tear runs through her hair instead.]

Let me take you somewhere safe to explain things.

[dontshakeplz]

[She just nodded, still numb and in shock from the entire experience, but his last words seemed to jolt something in her mind. Explain things, didn't she have things she needed to explain to him.]

Wait- Jack.

[Her hand gripped his arm tightly. She thought she would have more time to prepare for this, but she wanted him to know the truth, in case she never got the chance again.]

I need to tell you something. About our baby... the marriage.

[throughrunning]

[He just shakes his head as he begins to talk, grabbing her hand and squeezing just as tightly.]

I already know. You did it to protect everyone... and our son is still alive.

[Even if he had disappeared from this place, at least Jack could assume he's safe back in their world.]

You told me everything already.

[dontshakeplz]

[She was just... dumbfounded yet again. Was it that easy? Jack already knew?]

And... you don't hate me? You still want to be with me?

[She could feel her eyes welling up again. Even with all of the other questions in her head about where she was, those were the questions she desperately needed to hear the answers to, above all else.]

Ack sorry internet died!

[throughrunning]

I could never hate you...

[Even when he'd thought she had married Campbell, he knew he still loved her, right up until their meeting in the hospital. He may have denied it, as he is quite good at, but in the end, upon knowing the truth, he was more than happy to give things another try.]

I promised you I would stop running. I love you, Rose.

It's alright XD

[dontshakeplz]

[At his words, the hot tears that had been welling up finally spilled over, running down her cheeks. For so long she had worried about this moment, terrified that even after learning the truth, Jack wouldn't want anything to do with her. His promise to stay with her lifted the weight of all those years of guilt off of her shoulders.

I love you too, Jack.

[She touched the wedding band on her finger. Even while she was "married" to Roy, she never took it off. Her hand sought his hand, curious to see if he was wearing his band.]

I think I'm ready to hear everything. What happened to my memory, Jack? I keep worrying I'll wake up any second.

[throughrunning]

[He tangles his hand with hers, unaware of what she's seeking. Unfortunately, he'd lost that along with his body, and hadn't gotten a new one here.]

I know.

[They arrive at their apartment and Jack unlocks the door, leading Rose inside. He brings her over to the couch and sits her down.]

You've actually been here for months... but there are strange rooms here that make odd things happen, and it looks like this time you lost your memory. We've already lived together for awhile... despite this not really being the "real" world.

[dontshakeplz]

[Rose looks around at the unfamiliar apartment as she enters, trying to find some hint that would stir her memory. It certainly looked like someone lived her, but she had no memories attached to it.]

[The concept that she's been here for months but had no memory of it was making her head spin. How could such a big chunk of her life be missing? Especially the memory of reuniting with Jack.]

And... where is here? How did we get here?

[throughrunning]

This is what we called the "Nexus". No one knows how we got here, or where it is. It doesn't seem to be in any specific country that anyone can figure out...

[He walks over to the kitchen area to put up some coffee.]

When I arrived here, we had spent a day together after I went through the operations to give me this new body.