damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 1

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Day 35: Bus 1

Sanji woke up groggily to find his nurse already in his room. He gave a sleepy and half-hearted "Buh?" before realizing that nurse meant dayshift, and he'd fallen asleep after dinner.

"Shit!" He sat up abruptly, which gave his nurse a start. "Nami-swan!" How had he allowed himself to sleep through an entire night? What if she'd tried to return to the basement? What if she'd been waiting for him to appear and protect her? He'd let her down!

"There, there. Calm down." His nurse set a familiar flannel shirt down on the bed and Sanji eyed it with confusion. The last time he'd worn that had been... "Sorry I didn't knock or anything, but I was so excited~!" A pair of jeans followed the shirt. "Today is the field trip into town! Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The chef had to admit, the town had been an interesting enough place the last time he'd been. If he could find Nami early on he might even be able to lead her around... So he didn't complain too much as he changed into the other outfit (which he really wished they'd let him keep - anything was better than the regular gray) and was led out to the first of the buses.

He took a seat near the front, hopefully easily visible to any of his crew - especially to a certain member of his crew.

[for Usopp!]

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To say the least, it was downright jarring to wake up and not have any idea of how much time had passed since he'd last seen the light of day. Once he realized today was the "exciting" trip to Doyleton, that feeling of being out of balance only increased, and Obi-Wan changed into his clothes with furrowed eyebrows. They were strange clothes by his standards, but they looked like they'd keep him warm for the day, at least.

Still, as he was led to one of the buses and given a sack of food, several questions were running through the Jedi's mind. How long had he been asleep? Had he fallen ill? Or had the doctors done something to him?

Granted, he knew his situation wasn't necessarily unusual, but that didn't make it any less off-putting.

Once he'd found a seat, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to regain his focus before he ventured out into the town. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the should have's and could have's of what had happened.

((Free.))

Blackness. Silence. Nothing. A stirring of the beast. A reluctance to acknowledge it. A will. Fighting. Losing. Losing against the beast. As it always did. The beast always won, sooner or later. All these years, all the training, all the meditation, medication, and outright screaming against the beast. All futile. He was not a man, no matter how hard he wished he could be. Could have been. Logan's eyes snapped open.

Where? Wha'? He should have felt tired, drained, but instead he was more awake than he'd ever been. Broken memories of the night before flashed through his brain, a brain that was on fire. He couldn't recall it all immediately, but a sickening voice in the back of his mind reassured him that he would. It took all of the mutant's will not to just scream out his rage with all of his heart. What had they done? What had he done?!?

Without thinking, he turned and punched the wall with all the strength he could muster. The plaster cracked, the brick crumbled slightly, and blood trickled from his hand. Logan began to hyperventilate as he spun his head in the direction of the other bed. Parker was there. Still asleep, as if nothing had happened. The mutant's breathing slowed slowly as he realised his friend at least looked unharmed. More memories were starting to come back. The kid he'd gutted...the guy with the gun...Rogers...he stared despondently at his hands, not even noticing the blood slowly, slowly clotting. Too slowly.

The door swung open, and his regular nurse entered. "Mr. Howlett!" She exclaimed cheerily. "I do hope your counselling last night was as beneficial as intended?" He scowled at her in response, suddenly wanting nothing more than to snap her pretty little neck. He softened quickly however, as he realised just how little good that would do him. She was just a lackey, after all. He wanted the Big Guns. So bad that it hurt.

If she noticed the crack in the wall, or the fresh wound on his hand, she gave no indication. "Please come along now, James, we have a field trip scheduled for today." Moving into the room, she laid a set of clothes on the desk at the end of his bed. "Get dressed, and I'll meet you in the hall to escort you to the bus." She left, but he could smell that she hadn't gone far. Not even caring what he'd been given to wear, he dressed thoughtlessly before striding over to the door, casting another glance at his roommate on the way. He knocked once, to signify that he was ready. The mutant's mind was suddenly very blank.

The door opened again, and he followed the nurse sullenly out towards the bus loading area. His movement was uncharacteristically slow as he shuffled up the steps of the first bus, taking a seat near the front. Logan dropped his head into his hands. Wha' tha hell'm I gonna tell Parker? Or Steve?!? Oh Jesus. Steve. Steve was here, and the first thing he did was attack him. It wasn't easy for a man of such resolve to feel sick, but he felt several seconds away from emptying his stomach entirely.

[Mr. Parker, I presume?]

Since he'd only been in Morrison's room, the morning wasn't as jarring. Armand sat up, noting that his shoulder had been freshly bandaged and there didn't seem to be any need for a sling today. He hoped. He didn't want to hurt himself further.

He was rubbing sleep from his eyes with one hand when the nurse entered, carrying a pile of clothing. He thought back to the announcements that he so seldom consciously noticed. Field trip. Right. He tucked his loose hair behind his ears and gave the woman a smile.

She laid out some clothes for him. Not anything he cared about. He fingered the heavy denim of the pants as he slipped into them. They were just a shade too loose. The shirt was the same thin flimsy material as the uniform shirts and an improbable shade of purple. The collar did little to hide his bandages.

The nurse led him out to the buses where he received a sack of food. Armand took a seat as close to the door as he could. He remembered the last trip to town.

[for Takaya]

Takaya's eyes snapped open and he was treated to the sight of an unknown woman leaning over him, far too close for comfort.

Of course, jerking away was a stupid move, but that didn't stop him. "Alan," she chided. "You need to take it easy. You're alright." Panting, Takaya took a moment to look around. Oh. Right. Morning. Wrist in a bright white cast. Reaching up he could feel a compress where he'd been hit by that other guy.

And there was the fact that it was trip day. A pair of ratty jeans, black and white tennis shoes, and a t-shirt with the words 'Time to Shop' printed on them was forced onto him along with a paper bag.

Wonderful, he grumbled to himself. And to top the whole fucked up mess off, he could feel him rolling in anger way to close to the surface of their mind. He was caught up in his own irritation that he missed seeing the man that had beaten him last night, and paid no attention to where he sat, opting for sitting in the first open seat he came across.

Armand extracted his muffin from the bag and was sniffing it to find out what kind it was when a young man with an arm in a cast sat beside him. He scooted closer to the window to give him room, just in case. He didn't like the sour expression on his face.

"Good morning," he ventured politely. He winced slightly as the wrong hand tucked his hair back again. "I'm Armand. Do you want help with anything?"

Takaya turned and looked over the guy that had decided to actually talk to him and considered his options. He could be a dick, but that plan wasn't working out so well. He could ignore him, but that might backfire too. Fuck it.

"I know who you are," Takaya sighed. He was too tired to snap.... at the moment.. "We met a little while back, and no. I'm fine."

Armand blinked and flushed with embarrassment. He mentally reviewed the faces of the people he'd only met once and found a match but not a name. He'd not brought his notebook with him either. Well, that was stupid of him.

"Oh yes, I recall now, but I am afraid I don't recall your name."

He picked at the wrapping around the muffin with his nails, keeping his eyes on that instead of his seat companion.

"Sorry. It's Takaya." Most of the time. "Don't freak over it. Nobody remembers me." He smirked. "I've got one of those forgettable faces."

It was his personality that people didn't forget... and kept them away.

Usopp woke up in a nervous sweat and jumped out of bed before he was fully sure he was awake. He'd gone to sleep in the middle of the very manly, very nerve-wracking conversation with Captain Zelnick and Tanaka, and...

The nurse came in to find Usopp sliding the drawer with the knife in it shut, already sweaty from packing away what he'd planned to take an hour or so on in minutes in his closet. He gave her his absolute best confident grin in the situation, which made her smile back a bit hesitantly, and then Usopp ruined it all by nervous giggling.

At least he'd had the chemicals put away first, so he'd just had to organize the rest of the hardware that had been out. 'Organize' was a polite word for it, 'frantically stuff' was more accurate. Oh, god, if anything isn't balanced right and gets knocked over and falls on the chemicals...

Well... the absolute worst case scenario was some kind of massive chemical explosion that'd destroy the hospital, or maybe poison gas filling it, or something, but he didn't think he had enough stuff for that. So it would probably just eat a giant hole in his floor, maybe blow up his and Sousuke's room.

What Sousuke thought of waking to the great Captain Usopp shoving things frantically in his closet, Usopp couldn't imagine, but the nurse's expression as Usopp tried to look innocent made it clear she thought he was nuts. But miracle of miracles, instead of demanding he open the drawer and show her what he was hiding, she handed over a pile of clothes instead.

Oh, right, today is another trip to Doyleton. Maybe I'll get eaten by giant birds before I come back to find my room destroyed. That was a relief.

The outfit wasn't exactly his usual coveralls, but it wasn't so bad. Once the sweatpants and baggy flannel shirt were on, he grabbed his notebook and a spare pen before the nurse placed his bag lunch in his other spare hand and gently pushed him along towards the buses.

Last night had started out great and turned into an absolute, unquestionable disaster. Usopp's paranoias about working with so many strangers, already being forcefully ignored in the name of progress and the hope that everyone's love of gunpowder would make keeping him alive seem like an optimal situation, were back full swing. And when had he last seen any of his crew? Were they all still around? They didn't all report on the boards. Had some of them vanished again? Zoro, or...

Seeing a familiar blond head on the bus, Usopp annoyed his nurse by waving wildly (bag lunch still in hand) and rushing over to take his seat. Now here was someone he trusted, someone he was sure wouldn't turn on him, or betray him, or attack him. Well, wouldn't turn on him or betray him, and sometimes he did kinda have a kick coming, to be really fair. "Sanji-kun!" The over-enthused and fake-shrill greeting aside, he added happily, "You're still not dead too!"

"I was distracted," Armand said by way of apology, though he didn't go as far as to claim he hadn't forgotten him. It would be too obvious a lie. "It doesn't look like you had a good night," he observed, nodding to the cast.

Takaya couldn't help the snort, nor the oddly content half-smile. "Nah. One of my better nights actually."

Nothing like a decent fight with something that was more or less 'human' to get his spirits up. "I went up against one of the brainwashed patients. And I'm gonna kick his fucking ass when I get the chance."

"Revenge isn't exactly the highest motive," Armand observed. How sanctimonious you're getting in your old age, Armand, he thought. It was true though, even if very few people, including himself, heeded the advice. He finally took a bite of the muffin. To his disappointment, it was dry and crumbly.

"After a night like that, it would be nice if the nurses weren't so militant about dragging us out of bed. I was wounded night before last. Not as bad as you though."

Blinking, Takaya turned to look at Armand. "Revenge? Fuck no. It's just a fight. For revenge, it'd have to be personal or some shit."

And Takaya didn't really do revenge. That was more Kagetora's thing...

"Then why do you have to get back at him? He must have been stronger than you to do that? Why invite more grief?"

Armand had no idea why he was pushing the point. The more he remembered of Takaya, the more he recalled the young man's temper. And the language! Not polite at all. He put the muffin back into the bag for the time being to eat later if he got hungrier. Trying not to telegraph how unhappy he was with this situation, he poked through the bag some more.

"All the more reason to go up against him. I'm not getting back at him for something stupid like this that's not even his fault," he said, shifting the broken arm slightly. It still hurt, quite a bit, but he could ignore it for now. "I want to learn. You never wanted to learn to fucking fight? That's like a death wish here."

No sooner had he attempted to look around the quarry did he find himself back in his bed with that blasted nurse shaking him awake. Snapping in irritation at the woman, the Star Dragon Sword snatched the offered clothing from the useless woman and got changed. Ignoring his nurse, he took the offered paper bag without a word before storming out of his room and down through the halls.

This was another one of those blasted town trips. He remembered the last one, and he doubted this one would be productive either.

Making his way outside, he didn't even bother to assess which bus to go on this time. Making his way to the closest one, the Star Dragon Sword stomped his way onto the large contraption. Sitting in the first available seat, the sword dropped his bagged breakfast down in his lap as he folded his arms across his chest.

[Waiting for Frey]

Someone was nudging his shoulder. Teisel grumbled and raised a hand to bat the offending person away. He rolled over to go back to sleep and just how the hell had he ended up in bed again?

Teisel sat up with a yelp, nearly cracking heads with the woman who'd been trying to wake him. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Wolfe. I didn't mean to startle you." The matronly woman in white (must be some kind of...nurse?) gave him a pat on the head and laid a pair of jeans and a dark green shirt on his lap.

"I'd have let you sleep in longer, but then you might miss the bus." She stepped back and smiled, waiting for him to get changed. Teisel stared at her as though she had two heads.

"Bus?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Yes, Todd, we're going on a bus ride into town today," she explained, as though Teisel were an exceptionally slow child. "Won't that be fun? I'll give you some privacy, and then we can find you a seat on the bus, okay? Okay!"

She left, and Teisel could almost feel his brain turn to scrambled eggs. "...Okay?"

Bewildered, he dressed and followed the nurse to the buses. He climbed into the first bus they came to, the nurse giving him a reassuring pat on the back as he did so.

Sitting in an empty seat, Teisel stared around dumbly. He'd passed confusion several minutes ago. He didn't know where to even begin freaking out. So he didn't, yet.

She'd been so close! There was a truck and they could've escaped, but now she was stuck back in her room, staring at the ceiling. How did they keep doing that? Even when they'd gotten free of the institute, they brought everyone right back again! How? Kagura threw her pillow across the room in a brief, angry fit as she got out of bed.

It wasn't long, however, before her nurse arrived with a smile and a change of clothing. Hope rose within her. Had Hatori finally remembered? Was she going to go home?

But no. These weren't her clothes. And the nurse assured her it was a field trip, she wasn't going home. At least the clothing was kind of cute. There was a pair of stretch denim jeans that were a little loose, but came with a cute pink belt. The top was one of those new baby doll t-shirts she'd seen in fashion magazines. The color was nice and it had a cute little heart on the chest, but it was really small! Was this how they were supposed to be worn? It didn't even cover all of her tummy! At least it came with a jacket, but that was short too. Did they really get the right size?

The nurse didn't seem to think much of it though, and ushered her out the door and out the front of the building. There were three big buses waiting for them and she was handed a paper bag and pushed toward the first bus. Where were they going?

[free]

(FAIL!)

Haku was awake and tense, ready for an attack even before he was fully aware. Sighing softly, he settled back into the bed. This whole now you're consious now you're not bit had to go.

Glancing over at the other bed, he noticed, with no small amount relief that his friend was whole and still in the other bed.

Then he recalled it was 'field trip' day and his spirits took a sharp turn down. That meant clothing that was uncomfortable and a walk around and a town that thought he was insane.

(Artemis? Because we SO don't spend enough time together! ^^;; )

Artemis was also glad that he hadn't been injured at all. The prospect, considering he was crawling around a hole in the ground at night, didn't seem plausible. Yet here he was, unharmed. Thank goodness for small favors.

However, he distinctly remembered a strange dream, in passing from night to day. He and Haku were in an office, and older, and...

Ohgod.

Best not to think about that right now.

He sat up in his bed and looked over immediately at Haku. Unharmed, and awake. Thank goodness. But still embarrassing, as Haku had been the subject of the strange dream. He wouldn't mention it. For now, Artemis got out of bed moved directly over to Haku's bed and hugged his friend.

"It was so dark."

Haku blinked and hugged Artemis back. "It's daylight now," he said with a smile. "And will be for quite some time. You're safe now."

He pulled back enough to look at his friend. "And we get to go back to town today." Slipping out of his own bed, then grasping his roommate's shoulder, he squeezed it reassuringly.

Artemis groaned and flopped back onto the bed. "I don't suppose they'll let me off this time? If I plead insanity, perhaps?" He smirked at his own bad joke.

"No, I should go into town. There's something I want to look into, and I have a business meeting."

"Oh?" Haku looked down at him,interested. "Nothing too dangerous I hope?" He tilted his head, listening for the staff coming down the hall. They were probably on their way. Soon it would be time to assume the role of 'Christopher'.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Artemis said with a shrug. "Same deal as always: transcripts. This one seems to like me as well, so that is a plus."

"Sean!" Artemis' nurse bustled into the room, holding a fistful of clothing. Oh wonderful--things pulled out of a box next to a highway. Just what Artemis wanted to wear. "Let's get you dressed, shall we?"

Rose was confused to say the least when she woke up in the same bed she'd woken up in yesterday. She thought she'd been walking through the halls with the Doctor, but... How'd she gotten from there to here? One more mystery to add to a quickly growing list.

At least one good thing happened: the nurse/evil robot brought a change of clothes. Real, proper clothes. They looked a bit worn, but to Rose that just meant comfy. So it was with great relief that she donned the torn-at-the-hems jeans and old pink sweater. The nurse/robot led her outside, Rose pestering her with questions the whole while. Apparently they were going to a town called Doyleton, just for the day, and they'd return before nightfall.

Rose climbed onto the first bus in line and sat in an empty seat next to a young man who looked vaguely familiar. She decided not to ask if they knew each other, in case she broke the space-time continuum. Instead, she smiled at him and said, "Hi, I'm Rose."

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Day 35: Bus 1

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