That's what friends are for (closed to George - And ANNIE! [arrival!])

[chosethem]

Really, Mitchell wasn't that surprised that Hermione had a boyfriend. She was Hermione (and didn't she marry Ron? He couldn't remember). But after exchanging messages, he headed to the Black Sheep, he ordered shots and beer, settling into a booth. Poor George. He had shite luck with women (except Nina of course. Whom Mitchell wouldn't bring up).

Comments

[needmoretea]

NO!

This couldn't be happening. That voice couldn't be coming through the radio, taunting Annie and egging Saul on-- he couldn't be trying to drag her toward the Door as she fought him with everything she could muster-- it wasn't her Door-- she bit Saul and managed to get loose, though she was still trapped.

Then, George was pounding on the room door, he and Annie both trying to get it open with no luck, and Saul managed to peel her away, hauling her toward the Door-- Annie screamed for George--

--and stumbled backward as she found herself on a pavement, in what appeared to be a village. Catching her breath, she looked around uncertainly. This wasn't death; she'd seen that before. There was no corridor, no men with sticks and ropes, nothing like that. Just... a street.

What had just happened?

[chosethem]

Just as Mitchell had been about to tell George that they didn't really make fun of his ears all that much, it felt like he was punched in the gut. Hard. He nearly broke his beer mug.

That could only mean one thing. His eyes blew wide and he started getting up from the booth, already pulling at George.

(ooc: order George/Annie/Mitchell)

[timeothemonth]

George felt it at the same time although not as intensely as Mitchell did.

They looked at each other then they were out the door and running down the street.

"Annie! Mitchell -- it's Annie." Where was she?!

[needmoretea]

A sudden, familiar sensation came over Annie. Tentatively, she turned around and started toward an intersection at the end of the street.

"George?" she called again, no longer panicked but definitely uneasy. Maybe whatever had brought her out of the hospital room had also brought him?

[chosethem]

"Annie!" Mitchell shouted, still tugging George along even if he didn't need to. "Annie!"

There she was. Ah, Christ, he felt entirely whole for the first time in this place.

Since he got there first, he scooped her up in a big, tight hug, nose buried in her hair.

[timeothemonth]

"Annie!" George didn't even give Mitchell a chance to let Annie go because his long arms wrapped around them both, hugging them both.

"You're - you're here. You're really here!"

[needmoretea]

Hearing the shout, Annie called, "Mitchell?!" Then, both of them appeared at the end of the street.

She didn't care where they all were or how they got there, she was just relieved to see them, and took off running, jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck as he got to her, then somehow managing to move one arm so it was around George. So she was holding them both.

"I'm here? You're here! Both of you!" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did a little of both.

"Where's here?"

[chosethem]

"Oh, Christ, that's a long story," Mitchell half-sobbed, half-laughed, cupping her cheek with a hand. "Annie, you're here. We're here. Together."

[timeothemonth]

"Uhm ... well ... you see .. that part will need a bit of explaining," George stammered, sobbing openly. "But you're here and--" he dismissed it with a wave because that didn't matter right at this moment.

George hugged both again. Tighter.

[needmoretea]

Annie was so relieved to be with her friends and not on the other side of Saul's Door, hugs were all she cared about at first. But then, she realized something: even though she'd asked where they were, she didn't actually expect them to know-- but, they did. How?

"Hang on," she said, leaning back just enough to see them better. "Do you know what's happened? How we got here from the hospital?" It had been like rent-a-ghosting, but... different. And to someplace that definitely wasn't Bristol.

[chosethem]

"Hospital?" Mitchell asked, frowning. Where was she from, what time? He looked to George, brows drawn.

[timeothemonth]

Weren't they always at the hospital at some point while together?

Clearly, they all do need to talk.

George pointed back into the pub. "Shall we go back in? Or maybe we should take Annie to the hotel?" Asked of Mitchell even while George looked from him to Annie.

[needmoretea]

"Yeah, the hospital," Annie repeated, starting to frown. Why did that seem confusing? It was pretty much the only thing she wasn't confused about just then.

And George wasn't helping. "What do you mean? What hotel?"

[chosethem]

"It's where we all live here. C'mon, we'll show you." Mitchell kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked. "This place isn't anywhere. Which sounds strange, but we all go back to right where we came from." Which was cause for concern for him, at another time. But not now.

[timeothemonth]

George walked with them, gaze moving back to Annie and his grin uncontainable.

"This is a different world, really. There are lots of people here from different times, different places. Mitchell was here first, then i came and now - now we have -- you." He looked at her warmly.

[needmoretea]

Walking alongside them, Annie tried to process what they were telling her. "A different world that isn't anywhere..." She glanced between them, smiling a little at their obvious happiness to see her, despite her continued concern.

"You do realize how mental that sounds, right?" Not that suddenly finding herself in an unfamiliar village was all that sane and normal.