(no subject)
I gotta circle back
touch something near
find out which way to go
to get on out of here
I lost my thread
and I've lost some time
but it takes a lot of ground
for me to change my mind
-john hiatt
No one needed to be told. If they were, he'd hear no end of it, and likely be prevented in some way from doing it. He didn't believe in leaving things at loose ends, and this was one of the biggest he'd ever left.
Moving day was very soon; the packing was going on, things in boxes and suitcases, stuff he didn't think he had and had found again, as things always go when moving. Time spent with Savannah going through old photos. That's what had rekindled the need. Sheila and Savannah, an old picture, taken when she was only three. They'd been in Australia, and Savannah had her arm wrapped around a stuffed koala bear, grinning widely. They both looked happy, his beautiful women. Better times.
The night he'd been retaken by the Shop, he'd been with her. I'm sorry, she'd said. I'm sorry, and he'd believed her. He still believed her, even though he knew it was a foolish thing to do. He remembered that moment, the long, warm moment they'd held each other, he'd breathed in her scent and her life and it was all the same, before everything had exploded.
I'm sorry.
I am, too. I didn't look for you. They wouldn't have understood. I didn't want to tell Savannah. I left you behind. I left everyone behind. His mother. His brothers and sisters, the rest of his family. At least the majority believed he was still dead.
Why did you do it? Did you hate mutants that much? Did you hate me that much?
It didn't matter. He still loved her. Through everything, he still gave a damn. He felt himself an idiot for it, but he couldn't force himself out of it. When he saw Savannah, he saw her mother in her eyes, in her smile, the way she laughed. Maybe he should be happy with that much, but his heart wouldn't quiet. He needed to try.
So easy. He appeared in a familiar room, opened his eyes to bare walls and tile flooring. The room was dark though, light shining in through two slits in the door. He never knew they'd been able to let in light--it had always been bright inside.
Willing himself to transparency, more difficult than his alternates made it look, he stepped out into the hall and walked along it, checking other doors and finding a few lonely souls, but none of them were who he was looking for. He wanted to open the doors and rescue them all, take them from the hell he knew they were experiencing. Could he? Maybe, maybe not. But alerting them to his presence could bring a whole new world of shit down upon him, and them as well. He hoped they had nice doctors, and cursed himself for the thought.
He came to a break in the hallway. Somewhat of a cross between a nurse's station and a security desk. A white uniformed technician leaned over a computer and played solitare. A large monitor flashed different security cameras at five second intervals. Somewhere, a radio quietly played Crowded House.
Very carefully, as he knew he only had one chance, Gabriel drew back his fist and thumped the guard on the back of his head. He eased the now-unconcious guard onto the floor, then sat down at the terminal.
Everything was password protected, but luckily the guard still had his access up. He clicked away from the game (which the guard had been losing) and opened up programs on the desktop until he found what he was looking for. Subject codes. Names. Room numbers. It looked as if any further information was more classified than the guard had access to. He scrolled through the names (so many, gods), until he came to G. Nothing.
Frustrated, he started to close the program out when he thought of something. Returning to the list, he continued through the names until he came to L. There it was, Larke, Sheila Melanie. She'd retaken her last name in the divorce; he'd all but forgotten. Floor 9, D1273.
He got up from the computer and headed off to the elevator, running. He had to get there before the guard woke up and sang out. Damn, he should have tied him up. Maybe he'll think he passed out...
Gabriel came to the elevator, stepped through the closed doors, and let himself drop down the shaft.
( continued)