Still no ball of light [Re-arrival; OTA; fwd dated to Wednesday]

[soldier_reese]

Kyle was out there somewhere. An unmarked grave with a burial not at all fit for a soldier like him -- a hero. It was just like dying in the future. No burials, no ceremonies. No time to remember. There were more important things to do than grieve. You let go. You keep movingJohn and Sarah had walked on ahead, Derek following but he took one last

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[end_them_all]

From the bench where he'd been sitting, Aidan saw the man appear. He was one of the ones who'd pointed a gun at him. Unfolding himself from the bench, he walked over, looking down at him without saying a word.

[soldier_reese]

Derek blinked several times and then narrowed his eyes as he tried to focus on who was looking down at him. Recognition suddenly jolts him quick as he staggered to his feet, still staring at the young man in front of him, head cocked, looking the boy over.

"You're not John." Derek had seen him before and as soon as he realizes where they were, all those memories came rushing in his head, jumbling his thoughts. "Haurvatat," Derek said softly, rubbing at his temple with a heel of a hand.

[end_them_all]

"I'm not John. Hauvratat." Aidan looked back at him steadily. Should he tell the man that John was here? It wasn't Aidan's place. So he simply looked.

[soldier_reese]

"You're not John but you sure as hell look a lot like him." Derek looked around and it seemed nothing much had changed. "Why the fuck am I back here?" The sudden rush of memories were making his head spin. Fuck, he needed to sit down and think.

[end_them_all]

Aidan wouldn't know that, either. But he pointed to the bench he'd just come from. "Are you dead?"

[soldier_reese]

As he walked toward the bench after a polite nod of thanks, Derek patted himself down and all over. He was intact. Nothing missing, nothing hurt.

"I'm not dead." Derek said, no doubt in his voice.

[end_them_all]

Aidan stood next to the bench, hands in his pockets. "But you were gone."

[soldier_reese]

Derek rubbed his a hand on his head; it was pounding with too much information. "Yeah. I was gone and now... the village brought me back here."

[end_them_all]

There was no reason he couldn't be dead. Look at Aidan. Or not.

"What was it like?" He found himself asking.

[soldier_reese]

Seeing this kid made something twist violently in Derek's chest and then he suddenly remembered. John was gone. He disappeared from the village and although Derek's back. He wouldn't know if John were.

He sighed deeply and fuck, his head was pounding. "What was what like? War? Leaving? Coming back?" Losing John?

[end_them_all]

"Yes." All of it. Aidan watched him. Maybe it was Harry's influence, but he wanted to comfort the man. He had no idea how to.

[soldier_reese]

Derek leaned back and let the sun warm him. The John look-alike wanted to know stuff and maybe talking about it will unclutter his head. He pointed to the seat beside him. "Take a load off. This might take a while."

[end_them_all]

So, Aidan sat, looking down at his hands before he looked over at the man. "My name is Aidan," he said, quietly.

[soldier_reese]

Derek looked quietly at him for a moment before he offered a hand. "Derek Reese." He suddenly remembered pointing a gun and the boy but he didn't apologize. You do what you gotta do when there's a crisis. "Aidan." He nodded.

"What do you want to know first." This might help him actually. One: to unclutter his mind and two: delay going back to their room. Them. Him and John. John who was gone.

[end_them_all]

His hand was big, and rough. Aidan held it a moment before letting go.

"Where did you go?"

[soldier_reese]

"Back where I came from." Derek started, although thinking about the other time he came from, not where he really was from. It could prove confusing to the young man so he stuck with that which was obvious. "Fighting for the future. Protecting John." John. God his chest ached.