Meanwhile, back at the ranch... [CLOSED.]

[bythe_books]

Who: Sam Tyler, Prefect, Libby Widmore, sorta Barney; CLOSED.
Where: Sam's room, then the Infirmary.
When: During the riot.
Warnings: BLOOD AND VOMIT C: (And is this the first use of the Death Toll?)

Comments

[thatlibbychick]

After warning several people about the use of warden-only filters--it looked as if she wasn't as useless as the Master had said after all--Libby had asked Barney to help her walk to Sam's room. She still wanted to cover the bodies of her friend and his inmate. She just couldn't bear to leave them like that.

However, upon arriving, Sam was already crying to himself, alive once more. Libby felt her heart take a great, fluttering leap. Of course wardens came back automatically, but...somehow, that didn't seem real until that very moment.

Shambling unsteadily into the room, she fell to her knees beside Sam, crouching low to the floor right next to him in order to loop one arm over his shoulder. "It's okay," she said. She smoothed his hair out of his face with her other hand. "Everything's going to be okay, now."

She was glad now that she wasn't dead. Otherwise, Sam would have woken up all alone.

[bythe_books]

Sam's confused and disoriented for a moment, as he feels hands on him. He cries out with a "No!" before he realizes it's Libby and relaxes, shaking, against her. He feels feels like hell, his clothes are stiff with blood, and if he looks at the ground he's going to be sick.

"I don't-- What happened?" he asks softly, blinking back tears. He doesn't know why he can't control his emotions right now-- must've been a side effect from... whatever. "Why's Prefect-- oh God, sink, sink," he's stammering out, desperate not to add to the mess, if she could just manoeuvre him to the sink to vomit.

[thatlibbychick]

"I can't--" she started, trying to tell him that there is no possible way she can help him anywhere, before she spotted a nearby waste bin. Reaching out, she snagged it with her fingertips and pulled it close, stationing it below Sam's face. "I can't get you to the sink, you'll have to use this..."

She rubbed his back. "There's a riot happening," she explained shakily. "The inmates--most of them, that is--have taken a lot of the wardens hostage and are holing up in the dining hall. Charlie killed you and Prefect. The Master forced me to overdose on meds, but Barney and Dru took me out of the dining hall, which is why I'm here--they're okay, you don't have to worry about them. Angel should be leading the security team in to rescue to hostages as we speak."

[bythe_books]

Sam stumbles down, grasping the edges of the bin as he begins to unceremoniously lose the contents of his stomach, the spasms continuing even after he's got nothing left but bile. With a few wretched coughs, he finally finishes, wiping his sleeve over his mouth, before he looks at Prefect and feels sick all over again.

Then, he looks up at Libby. "What-- a... riot?" His voice is small right now. He blinks, groans, and runs his hand through his hand. "This can't be happening," he murmurs miserably as Libby explains what he's missed. "Why?"

He struggles to stand up, then, and leans against Libby for assistance. "I have to help..."

[thatlibbychick]

"No," she said firmly, grasping his hands. "There's nothing you can do. You can't help in your condition. Neither of us can. We'd only get killed." She looks him in the eyes. "I know you don't want to accept that...neither do I. But it's true: we can't help them."

She wrapped her arms around him. "When Prefect comes back, you need to be here for him. He's going to feel like hell, and he'll probably be just as afraid as you were. That's how you can help. You can be here for your inmate."

[bythe_books]

He leans into Libby's embrace, barely having the strength to put an arm around her for support. "I tried," he moans, "and I couldn't-- I never save him. I told the Admiral to bring him back..."

[thatlibbychick]

"If you told the Admiral, he'll come back. You just have to wait until he does. I'll be here with you."

She kissed him on the temple. "I can't even save myself," she said. "When the Master came, he was dressed like you, he was talking just like you...I said things to him I wouldn't have said to anyone but you. I couldn't even tell. But we did our best, both of us. And Prefect will come back. He'll be right here when he does."

[bythe_books]

"He was...?" Sam blinked, then slowly looked around, and finally seemed to notice the fact that his jacket and shoes were on the bed, along with some folded clothes and a... card? Oh god. The sickness returned, but he didn't have anything left in his stomach anymore.

"God, Libby, I'm sorry," he whispered, wishing he could offer her more than that, but in this state, he was completely useless.

[thatlibbychick]

Following his eyes, she spotted the card. "It's not your fault. It's Charlie's and the Master's. You're not to blame for anything."

She reached up and over for the card, rising on her knees, and the balancing made her feel dizzy. Nabbing it, she opened it and tried to read, but everything looked fuzzy.

"I need you to read this aloud," she told Sam. "I can't tell what it says right now."

[bythe_books]

"Yeah, but... he used my face to get to you. That's just..." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Sick."

Taking hold of the card, he glanced down on it. It looked like a... cheerful Hallmark sort of card, with a golden "Thank You" emblazoned on the front. He opened it up, and in handwriting he recognised as the Master's, there was a note.

"Thank you for the lovely-- and that was underlined-- time. It's so rare to find a girl who--" He cringed, made an uncomfortable face, and continued reading. "--gets down on her knees on the first date. Let's do this again sometime. Sincerely, your Master."

He tossed the note aside with disgust clearly etched on his face. "Wanker."

[thatlibbychick]

Libby's face grew white. "I didn't do...what he's insinuating," she whispered. "He made me get on my knees and beg for something he'd taken from me. That's all." She nodded towards his boots. "He made me kiss those, too. Twice."

Suddenly, after believing she had nothing let to shed tears over, she began to cry again. She chose to believe it was the depressant effects of the Valium and not a sign of deep trauma.

[bythe_books]

Finally managing to draw up the strength for it, Sam put his arms around Libby and gave her as tight a hug as he could manage. "It's alright, Libby; it's over now. He's not gonna... ever again, I'll never let him get near you." He rested his head against hers, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, I should've-- especially after Rose-- I should've kept closer tabs on him." Like that would've done any good, considering he was dead.

[thatlibbychick]

"It's not your fault, Sam. I should have known. I should have been expecting something. I was the one who sicced his warden on him, I slapped him...I should have been more aware. You're not responsible for protecting me." She sniffed. "We both did our best, remember? There's nothing else we could have done. We can't save everyone."

Or anyone, she thought. The Master's words were still banging around the inside of her skull. He was right. She hadn't been able to help a single person since arriving. Why had she even assumed she could?

[buywithme]

A few feet away, Prefect coughed. Something, somewhere, hurt very, very badly. He could distantly smell some strange infusion of blood and vomit, but somehow he couldn't quite get his eyes to open to see what it was.

Or... maybe everything hurt. It was sort of hard to tell right now.

He could hear voices somewhere, nearby even, was that Sam? Prefect tried to say something, to draw his wardens attention, or ask if he was okay or something. Instead what came out was a faint croak, and god his throat felt raw as hell.

[bythe_books]

Sam just hugged Libby tighter, trying not to cry some more at the thought of how very much he'd just... let everybody down. Rose, Prefect, Libby. He's so used to stopping crimes back home, but it's all different here.

And then, when he heard a faint noise coming from Prefect's direction, he let out a breathless laugh of relief and let go, stumbling and crawing over towards Prefect (since walking wasn't much of an option right now) and clasping his Inmate's hand gently.

"Hang on. I've got you, Prefect," he murmured. "Soon as I could. You're okay now."

[thatlibbychick]

As soon as Sam released her, Libby made her way over to Prefect after him.

"Oh, thank god," she murmured. "Prefect, we'll get you to the infirmary as soon as someone's able to carry you, okay? Neither of us will be able to...so just hang on. You're safe now."