(Untitled)

[walk_into_light]

Who: Allen Walker (walk_into_light), Garrus Vakarian (turian_honor), and Romana (the2nd_romana)
When: Mid-afternoon.
Where: The library.
Rating: Maybe PG.
Summary: Allen doesn't want to be alone right now - but the company he ends up with might not be so agreeable either...
Warnings: Scary/depressing mirror-stuff, Garrus-reflection's anger issues XD

Comments

[the2nd_romana]

Romana hadn't really come here looking for company for company's sake. She just hated the idea of going back to her room with her nightmare hovering and staring at her out of the frame. She'd had enough of that the last month or so. This version was just more of a nuisance than what she'd been dealing with before. A change of scenery wouldn't make it go away, but at this point, she was pretty sure nothing would. It would give her something else to think about... and other things to think about were becoming a novelty in this place

[turian_honor]

The boy's reflection was weeping. Pitiable. Pathetic. Disgusting. The talon moved down the boy's cheek a little harder now, gears in the mechanical arm whining. The reflection could almost hear its Real One shouting at it, demanding it stop. It paid those noises no heed.

"You trust him..." it purred. "How quaint. You trust such a traitor... with such a secret... as to what happened to your--"

And a new voice cut the reflection off. It turned, snarling, electric eyes flashing. "Woman," it snapped, voice more feral than Garrus' had ever been. "Leave us."

[walk_into_light]

The new voice startled Allen as well, though it was an interruption he was more than grateful for. "Yes," he said with a slight smile to the woman who had spoken. "That's me. And you are...?" Absently, he raised his gloved left hand to rub at the scar. It was aching more now, stinging from the touch of that talon and the phantom pain of his memories.

[the2nd_romana]

Too bad there wasn't anyone around she wouldn't mind looking into her head...The nice thing about being around the angels and more seasoned fighters like the Haptisms was that they had enough years behind them to not freak out at the sight of what was drifting after her. Herself, in the shredded remains of the old-fashioned robes she'd worn as President, the ridiculously stiff, ridiculously high crescent collar still intact, her traveling clothes (in reality hanging untouched in her wardrobe since she'd come back here) from her renegade days underneath. She was standing, but just barely. This other Romana looked rather terribly knocked about, face bruised and clothes bloody

[turian_honor]

It growled. Its Real One knew this woman, it didn't care for her. Pushy. Self righteous. Had Garrus actually been here, he would have just shaken his head, and either left, or kept his mouth shut.

But... Garrus was not here--he was stuck in the same mirror it had come out of. His reflection was. It prowled forward, between the boy and the woman.

"You are not welcome here," it hissed, mechanized mandibles clicking. "You have no rank... Lying to yourself... none will follow you. Certainly not... him" And its voice dropped, rife with scorn and hate. "Not Vakarian."

It turned back to the boy, flexing long talons. The Real One wanted nothing more than to keep him safe, away from that crying child in the mirror. Pitiful. It thought the boy would look much better covered in all that blood... And something of that desire leaked into the synthetic eyes.

[walk_into_light]

Allen glanced back and forth between the two of them, careful not to let his face betray any kind of emotion - though he knew it was useless, considering that whatever he hid, his reflection certainly wasn't hiding a thing. Though he stood, bravely unmoving, when Garrus' reflection turned back to him with a clear threat in those glowing eyes... his reflection whimpered soundlessly and hid his face in his hands.

Yet even as he looked away, he caught sight of something he hadn't noticed before - the reflection of the turian in front of him. Familiar, though odd to see it trapped behind glass. Garrus. Oh, why do you have to see this? You're blaming yourself, aren't you...

[the2nd_romana]

"How long have you been back?" she asked Allen. They could exchange information at least. Being followed by your worst dream didn't mean you couldn't be productive. Allen probably needed a distraction as much as she did.

If it weren't for the other.

"I'm a politician--I'm not welcome anywhere," Romana quipped. "The ones who matter follow me. The rest follow me when it matters. I don't worry about the middle ground. It's called being a leader." Her reflection, however, looked stricken... at least until it got to the not him bit.

"As for Vakarian," she said, matching his tone, "he only follows himself. Even if it means chasing his tail." Oh yes, this was what she needed. Arguments weren't as good as life-and-death emergencies when it came to blocking out her nightmares, but they were all that could be had around here for the moment. She'd take it.

[turian_honor]

It didn't look back at the human when she spoke. Its attention was focused solely on the boy, and on his reflection. Whatever its Real One had felt for the woman had vanished, replaced by weak, nauseating regret. He wanted to be close to her again, but she seemed determined to push him back. It didn't care.

Again, it reached out a talon, this time aiming to rake lines in the boy's clothing. So... the Real One wanted the boy safe, did he? You were only safe when you were dead. "Don't be afraid," it growled. "You'll be just... fine."

Then, it paused, glancing back over its broad, armored shoulder. "Politician. Synonym for a liar..." it spat. "I will not argue with a lying human... not over someone as weak and traitorous as him."

[walk_into_light]

Allen managed to jump back in time to save everything but his coat from any form of harm; incongruously, his first thought was that he'd need to apologize to Komui for the slash down the front, since they could hardly get replacements for the uniform coats in this place. It almost made him laugh, that he could even think about that sort of thing in the midst of all this; his head was spinning with contradictory thoughts and emotions chasing each other in circles, and he felt weak and dizzy. Keeping his eyes fixed on the Garrus-reflection, still trying to avoid looking at his own, he focused on taking slow, deep breaths and thinking of ways to get Garrus back out here and the reflection back in there.

[the2nd_romana]

Of course, life-and-death emergencies were still appealing...

So this was part of Garrus's nightmare... must be another turian, or else Garrus had suddenly decided to start referring to himself in third person and insulting himself into the bargain. The more important question would seem to be what it was doing out of the glass and whether it was substantial enough to cause Allen any harm.

She laughed shortly at being called a liar. "Pants on fire," she affirmed. Oh thank Rassilon for the Doctor and his terminal immaturity. She knew just about every playground taunt from Earth... and if she was extremely lucky, this creature would be as flummoxed as Garrus tended to be at the metaphorical.

She'd worry about that later. Now there was a boy with an alien eyeing him in a rather nasty way. She moved quickly to stand beside Allen, tensed to push him back if things got ugly.

[turian_honor]

"You have nothing to be afraid of..." it tried again, snarling in frustration when the boy moved away. This was supposed to be quick! Painless! One small move, and there would be nothing to harm the boy. It couldn't take him back with it... it was only a reflection, after all. "He would kill me if I harmed you..."

And then the woman was there. It kept on growling, animal sounds tearing their way out of its mechanized throat--vocal chords long since replaced. "Get... out of my way," it ordered. It was not so thin as its Real One. Muscle both organic and synthetic layered heavily over areas where Garrus was little more than scale and bone. "Or I will make you. This boy is mine. Not yours. Not his."

[walk_into_light]

"Why?" Allen asked, voice calm and clear in spite of everything. "Why yours? What is it you're trying to do?"

The child in the reflection was shaking, trembling almost violently. How dare you turn me into an Akuma...! The beloved voice rang through Allen's mind, and he set his jaw resolutely and tried even harder to concentrate only on the here and now. This is nothing like the same. It's a reflection, not an Akuma. With a sidelong glance at Romana, he took a step forward, staring up at the strange turian as he waited for an answer.

[the2nd_romana]

Romana put an arm out in front of Allen as he stepped forward. It wasn't much of a shield, but there was no sense in shoving him away for his own safety at this point. It would be more likely to be misinterpreted than anything else.

"He's not yours," she told him firmly. "Garrus never could get that through his head either... none of these humans belongs to anyone but themselves. You can be responsible for them, but it doesn't amount to ownership. They choose their own paths whether we like it or not. Sometimes that means we lose them. That's just life." The hard smile reappeared. "Aliens like you give the rest of us a bad name, you know."

[turian_honor]

It shoved at the woman's arm, snarling loud. Somewhere, the Real One was torn between muttering angrily to himself, and continuing pounding on the mirror. It ignored him

[the2nd_romana]

Romana couldn't entirely resist the force of the creature's attempt to shove her aside, but she recovered what ground she lost as soon as she could, shouldering her way a few inches more in front of Allen.

Her reflection watched the exchange with empty eyes, then looked over to Allen's, her expression softening at she regarded the boy huddled in his own mirror. He'd been through a lot, too... but he'd survive, like her...

Romana waited for the turian to speak, move, something other than shove her a bit and stare. She had shifted completely into fight-or-flight mode... probably in that order, too. "Try it!" she shouted up at it at its threat--and was promptly thrown back as the creature's blow connected

[walk_into_light]

Allen stared after Garrus and his reflection for a long moment, utterly stunned, before snapping out of his daze and turning to Romana. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I'm so sorry..." His hands were shaking as he reached up to touch her face, where a bruise was already forming from the blow, a trickle of blood running down from where the skin had broken with the force of it.

You are his... his son. He didn't understand - couldn't let himself, perhaps. Mana... Garrus... I can't... can't think... what's going on?!