Day 46: Sun Room

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

Peter woke up suddenly, his body twisting in the bed and then forcing him to catch his breath in pain. Pain, which was coming from his middle because of the thing that had scratched him last night, and after that...

After that, Zach had jumped in front of him like some kind of martyr, like the exact opposite of everything Sylar stood for, to take the next hit for him. It got pretty fuzzy after that, so night must have ended right around then.

The man let out a pained grunt as he straightened himself up in bed. For some reason, he got the feeling that he'd slept in. There was no way for him to really tell without a window in the room, but he just knew. The fact that Sam's bed looked long since vacated was another clue.

Sam, but was he Sam again? Had the brainwashing worn off, as he and Roland had hoped, or was he going to have to go through this nightmare for even longer? He didn't know how long he could handle "Zach" and "Harrison" before he started going batty himself.

Pulling himself out of bed, Peter lifted his shirt and saw that he was tightly bandaged. The scratch most likely wasn't nearly as bad as the bite that "Zach" had received, but it still smarted. He let his shirt fall and then had to deal with a nurse chiding him for sleeping through the morning announcements. Not that Peter really cared at the moment. He was too busy thinking about last night and the fact that in a way, he now owed something to Sylar. Except it hadn't been Sylar. That was something he was sure of now.

Lost in his thoughts, Peter reached the Sun Room right as the rest of the patient populace was trickling in from breakfast. Sighing to himself, he headed over to the bulletin board and then saw a note written in familiar yet unpleasant handwriting. Holding his pen in a vice grip, Peter scribbled out a reply and then stalked over to an armchair and fell into it with a huff.

While Sylar was maddeningly frustrating, there was one good thing about the fact that he was himself again. It meant that Nathan was too.

[For Spock!]

Comments

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

It was a good question: what if it had been Yue and Touya in that arena? Well, the answer was clear enough for Touya, but Yuki and Yue would have been catatonic the day after without anyone to comfort them. He wouldn't have wanted that, but he wouldn't have wanted Sakura to suffer while both of them remained alive. And it wasn't as though he hadn't had to sacrifice something before.

He felt Yuki shudder in his arms and Touya pulled him closer again. "No one wants to see the people they care about getting hurt--and that includes me." It felt like now would have been a good time to reveal that he'd asked Ken to strangle him, just to prove his point, but then decided now was the worst time to bring that up. "But what's even worse is being apart from the person you care about and not knowing if they're alright. It must have been terrible for mom, which was probably why she'd always come visit us to make sure Sakura and dad and I were okay. But I'm not an angel, I can't walk through walls when I'm scared you're in trouble."

[winged_moon]

There was only silence in response for several long moments, as Yukito tried to focus as best as he could on what Touya was saying. He thought he understand, but at the same time understood Yue's point of view as well. The guardian had been here, alone (or as close to it as possible), for long enough to realize both how dangerous it could be here and how lost he felt without someone to protect. The latter had been part of the reason he'd latched onto Fai in the first place, after all, even if the magician hadn't seemed to want a protector.

The two had combined to make Yue determined to make certain that those he cared about (and Yukito included Touya in that, because it was true, and because Yue wasn't paying enough attention to protest at the moment), and almost blind to anything else. Could he explain that in a way that would make Touya understand? And without discussing things that were Yue's business and not his own?

Probably not. Yukito finally gave a sigh that was purely mental this time, his hand lowering to rest on Touya's arm. "We can't change what's already happened," he observed. "What do we do now?"

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

"...I don't know," Touya said, thinking that Yuki really hadn't understood what he said, or didn't want to disagree for whatever reason. "We can't go back, so we have to go forward."

That was really the only thing they could do. Fai wasn't coming back to life, and they couldn't just turn around and never think about that arena again. It would be a disservice to Fai's sacrifice. Though where they were supposed to go from there, Touya didn't know. He didn't think he wanted to know.

"It'll be hard, for all of us, but I think Fai would want us to keep going. Especially if it means getting out."

[winged_moon]

What was it the Sphinx had told them, exactly? Something about how if they survived what was behind that locked door, they would be able to explore farther into the Institute, wasn't it? It had been vague, but was there something past the arena for those who survived it? Yukito's brow furrowed slightly as he tried to concentrate, feeling his thoughts sliding away, difficult to grasp.

He did know that giving up hadn't been an option to begin with, but was even less of one now. It would be like saying Fai's death hadn't meant anything, wasting the opportunity he'd given them. And whatever "prize" it was that Landel had mentioned the night before. The idea of taking something from Landel, especially for the reason he'd supposedly "earned" it made him feel vaguely ill, but...again, he couldn't just throw away any potential advantage, especially when it had been paid for in blood.

"We'll get back home," Yukito agreed, giving another brief glance around the room. No Sakura, still. It was a good thing Yue was distracted, else he'd probably be trying to find her himself. "But...not tonight?" he added, a little hesitant. "I think...maybe we need a night to rest."