(no subject)
Squirrel is angry, frustrated, even a little afraid... but most of all he is exhausted, with the leaden fatigue that strikes him every year at the start of winter. Being awake at all is a struggle, one he knows he is going to lose--he may be able to go days without sleeping in the spring, but this time of year even a nap can turn into hibernation. And he doesn't dare risk that.
If he goes to sleep, Coreen could die. So could Ev, and Squirrel himself. He doesn't want to take that chance.
She'd been bitten, presumably by a vampire. He knows she has a history of some kind with vampires in her world, but it had never occurred to him that it could carry over to here.
Well, who knows if it was the same one? She doesn't remember anything.
--could it have been voluntary?
He honestly doesn't know. She doesn't know either, so there's no sense asking her. He doesn't even want to consider that possibility, but...
No. He's not going to think that way. Would he blame her if she'd been attacked in some other way? Wonder if maybe she was asking for it? No, and he's not going to with this either.
It's a struggle, though.
He'd been hoping that exertion would get his adrenaline levels up enough to keep him awake for a while--if he can just make it through the night, maybe he'll be okay, maybe she'll be okay too--and anyway he needed an outlet for his anger, his worry, and so he had gone out to the practice area and beaten a wooden training dummy into sawdust (stress and superhuman strength will do that). But it's not working. He's going to have to sleep sometime.
So he needs to think. He's supposed to be a criminal genius, right? He's got to think like one. He's got to make a plan.
He takes to the trees, the extra hibernation weight not slowing him down at all, nor making the branches underneath him sag or snap (though he would deny it if accused of using his flying powers to make it look graceful). The familiar climbing and scampering along branches calms him, helps him focus.
He needs to make arrangements to take care of her while he's asleep, or whoever it was had attacked her could do it again. She's got god blood, which (in his opinion) ought to make it more tasty and powerful; he himself has mutant blood, probably pretty strong. Ev has both, and is a bite-sized snack besides. Both he and Ev will be helpless while sleeping. Coreen can be compromised pretty easily, it seems. The squirrels may mean well, but what can they do? They're small, and easily broken--
--he is doubting the ability of his squirrels to do something. Something is clearly wrong.
There's Tony and Edie, but Tony's just getting over being sick, and Edie's getting over being bitten by Tony. He's sure they'd agree if asked, but can he trust them? They're weakened, and easily distracted by each other. Just what he needs, an army of the sicklisted to protect his family.
He wedges himself into the nest he had built up in the treetops, barely remembering the journey there. It's his home-away-from-home away from home these days, the escape from the escape. Coreen doesn't come up here; nobody does but Squirrel himself.
He curls up on the floor inside, hugging his knees to his chest and wrapping his tail around himself for warmth.
There's Thirteen, but he doesn't quite trust her either, not with something this important. Anyway she's got family of her own.
And he can't ask Beetle. They're rivals.
...unless that's just crazy enough to work? He rests his chin on his knees, fighting the temptation to close his eyes.
Who else is there?
He feels a hand on his shoulder, startling him awake again he hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. He'll never make it.
"Son, you've forgotten one very important thing," says a man with a lazy Texas drawl. "We don't all hibernate."
And it feels so warm in the den, so safe...
...and then the cold winter air outside, and the scent of freedom.