She's Gone

[joanna_mccoy]

Joanna grunted at being thrown against the wall again. They'd been on the run for eight hours, trying to get to somewhere safe but Joanna was starting to think they wouldn't. That was the fourth time that hour

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[john_grimm]

"Good for you, Miss." He leans over her, using his thumb to pull apart her eyelids, peering at her pupils.

"Nasty concussion you got there. Best not to let you play any contact sports for a while." John chuckles.

[joanna_mccoy]

She looked up at him, trying to focus. "Daddy?"

[john_grimm]

John winces. "That concussion must be worse than I thought. That tin can looked like it had cushioning but... you weren't wearing the safety gear, where you? You know, that's what it's there for. To keep you safe."

[joanna_mccoy]

Joanna shakes her head. Daddy died...but this man looks so like her. "Must be." She blinked and wavered woozily. She knows she shouldn't fall asleep, but she's so tired.

[john_grimm]

John leans back, studying this girl. Her eyes are unfocused, and she seems confused. He sees her eyelids flutter shut.

"Woah, woah there, Miss. You can't go to sleep now. If you close your eyes and give in, you're likely to never open them again."

He presses a hand against her cheek, hoping that the contact will keep her there.

[joanna_mccoy]

Joanna unconciously leans into the touch. "Do know better, Daddy...taught me yourself." Don't fall asleep especially out here. "Tricorder should be in the kit."

[john_grimm]

John frowns, about to ask... but he stops himself. This is not the time to argue about.... semantics What's a name, or a mistaken identity, anyways? He's been through enough wormholes universes to know that the truth will come out eventually, and pushing will only get you hurt. So he focuses on what's important right now.

"Tricorder? Miss, you'll have to describe it. Is it one of the cylinder things?"

[joanna_mccoy]

Joanna rolls her eyes. Daddy being subtle...really wasn't that subtle. She fished it out and held it out for him. "I'm not that concussed Daddy. I still remember my name, your name, Papa's name, the whole thing."

[john_grimm]

Apparently, ignoring the issue isn't going to make it go away. Time for some good, old subterfuge.

John forces a sweet smile, saccharine, suitable for a father to give to a daughter. It feels cloying on his lips.

"Of course, darlin'. Can't get anything past you. You're just the smartest!" He winces as that last comes out a little more patronizingly then he'd hoped.

Well, dammit. He's a soldier, not an actor.

[joanna_mccoy]

"Dear god, Daddy..." Joanna scowls, horrified and skitters away a bit, pulling out her science tricorder, and trying to concentrate one it. "Aliens take over your brain again?" The readings looked normal...

[john_grimm]

John can sense a hopeless battle when he's fighting one, but he soldiers on, regardless.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sweet pea. I'm just being a good Daddy, loving his little baby daughter." He leans closer and wraps an arm around her shoulders.

"Now, why don't you tell me where you last saw.... Papa."

[joanna_mccoy]

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Joanna asks, frightened.

[john_grimm]

John jerks back, staring at the girl's frightened face.

"I... I don't think so? You don't have any fatal pre-existing conditions, do you? But if you mean from that little bump on your head, then no."

[joanna_mccoy]

Joanna shook her head, and immediately regretted it. "Then stop actin' weird."

[john_grimm]

John shrugs, realizing that, while it was a good try, the battle is lost. There's no fighting it now.

"Well, Miss. Might as well break it to you the hard way. I'm really not who you think I am. I'm not your dad. I'm just a wandering fool who fell through a wormhole."

He subtly draws his hand back from her shoulder, not that the game is up.

[joanna_mccoy]

Joanna just frowns...this was damned confusing and her head still hurts and she was sleepy, her eyes drifting closed.