Speaking with Aigis had been enlightening in a number of ways, but when they had run out of things to discuss, Castiel had managed to dismiss himself. He didn't know if it had been "smooth," as Dean would have called it, but they had exchanged the words that they needed to and that had seemed reason enough to end the conversation.

More than that, he was starting to develop that tugging feeling in his stomach.

He had walked the whole length of the main street here and still didn't have much of an idea of which shops to go into. He could enter each one as a way to be thorough, but he didn't know if he would have the time to inspect each store as carefully as he would want to. Who knew what secrets were hidden in this place? And if there were none, then he would feel as if he'd wasted his time.

Getting himself some food before he continued his search seemed like the best plan at the moment, mainly because Castiel knew exactly where to go for that. Maybe after he ate, the sheriff's would be open. As Castiel made his way back through the snow toward the fast food place, he grabbed for the appropriate coupon, seeing that it would grant him "1 Free Tasty Meal and Ice Cream."

Ice cream. It was a shame that Gabriel was now nowhere to be found, as Castiel would have gladly given his brother that portion of it if he'd gotten a second burger in return. Still, there was no point in dwelling on it, and so the angel entered the restaurant and waited patiently in line. At least his hunger was no longer so great that he had to order five or more at a time. That had earned him some odd looks.

[For Dean.]

After disembarking from the bus, the Doctor decided to stretch his legs and took off on a walk across town.

The fact that they were given money this week was new and novel, and the Doctor found himself contemplating that as he began to wander. It hadn't been long since he and Brainiac 5 had smuggled small parts out of town, and that venture seemed slightly unfortunate now... Not that the Doctor would change it even if he'd had the TARDIS with him; that would have been crossing into established events. But more importantly, the card in his pocket was good for twenty dollars (according to the morning announcement that morning and the rank on his dog tags), and the Doctor intended to put every penny of it to good use.

His walk had taken him to the north side of town, and it was there he spotted his first destination for the day: a little shop labeled Mountain Antiques. He hadn't gone in on his previous trips to town, but it seemed a promising place to start. Who knew what interesting things he might find amongst the so-called antiques?

The Doctor headed down the path and up the porch, announcing himself with a cheery "Good morning!" when he entered the shop. He busied himself right away with beginning to look through the nearest bits of stock.

[Deeeeaaaan]

Rita awakened in a cold sweat that morning. What the hell was that all about!? It had to be a trick, like the moving shadows from the other night... It just couldn't be real.

In the end, no progress had been made. How much longer was Rita going to be trapped in this dump?

Speaking of dump, that was about the moment when a male nurse entered the room, carrying a pile of worn clothes that looked like they came right out of the trash. He dumped them unceremoniously on her bed, and with an unfriendly glance, ordered her, "Put these on."

"Would it kill you to ask nicely?" Rita sneered, pulling herself out from under the covers and crawling over to where she could look through the pile. There was a dark blue knee-length skirt, a pair of purple stockings that came up to about the knees, a pink blouse, blue jacket, and a pink scarf. This was for that 'field trip', then? Well, whatever. They didn't look as stuffy as the military uniform, so Rita put them on.

Once she was finished, she found herself being led outside to some large machines - no, vehicles? - which several other patients were being made to board. Rita had heard very little about the Doyleton trip, other than the fact that they were apparently going to visit some Earth town. There was something intriguing about that - being able to see something that perhaps no one else from her world would ever see - but it was also a distraction that was going to further delay her escape, and that was irritating.

The vehicle that Rita was brought to was empty at the moment, so she sat herself down by a window and started looking through the various items she had been handed upon boarding. The money card was especially curious, and she wondered how much the allowance would allow her to buy. She assumed very little, but she hoped ten dollars were at least worth more than ten gald.

[Free!]

Having to be around food that he couldn't eat hadn't been nearly as bad as it could have been considering what that food was, and so Zack felt fairly decent as he left the cafeteria and headed through the Sun Room into the showers. Actually, it was his feet that were bothering him more than his stomach. He hadn't been allowed to sit down all day (he might have been able to in the courtyard if he'd thought about it, but he hadn't felt the need then). Even someone like him was starting to feel a soreness in the bottom of his feet after all this, but the showers weren't going to give him a reprieve from that.

He'd just have to hold out until dinner and then make sure to rest his feet before night came. He wasn't going to let something that simple stop him from heading out, after all. Zack realized that he needed to make better plans, but at this point all he wanted to do was find Cloud and have a proper talk with him.

It bugged him that he hadn't seen his friend all day, and he wondered if there would be any point in leaving a message on the bulletin for him. Seeing how Cloud was so new, he probably hadn't heard about the board yet.

Searching the rooms would probably be useless, but if he waited around in that same hallway where he'd run into him before, that would likely be his best bet. And maybe they could go hunting for weapons, too.

Even though his feet were bothering him, once Zack got undressed and was positioned under one of the shower heads with warm water pouring down on him he started to feel a little better. There was nothing more soothing than getting clean like this.

[For Snow.]

Though five days without bathing was hardly unusual for Rita, she was actually looking forward to showering today. To her, the last shift had been somewhat enjoyable, if only because it allowed her an opportunity to be alone with her thoughts for a bit. Of course, she couldn't be completely alone in the communal showers, but no one was rude enough to disturb her in there, which was good enough for her.

Once the shift was over, she re-applied the bandages on her leg and knee, dressed herself, and made her way to the cafeteria. The pain in her knee seemed to lessen as the day progressed, and her slight limp became less noticeable to herself. Hopefully it wouldn't impede her much come nightfall.

Upon entering the cafeteria, however, Rita found that she had more immediate problems to deal with. What was that slop they were serving?

Deaf to her complaints, a soldier quickly ushered her into the line for the pink gruel. While waiting, Rita became aware of a section in the room where edible food was being served... but apparently only to selected patients. Whose butt did they have to kiss to get that treatment?

After receiving her "meal" (using the word very loosely), Rita found an empty area to sit in. There, she made no move for her utensils, but instead glared at the plate of mush as if the food itself had somehow wronged her.

[For Woody]

After what seemed like an eternity of being amused, irritable, bored, in pain, in excruciating pain, and any combination of those, Guybrush was met by the same soldier who had led him to the cafeteria. He wasn't offered a trip to the Sun Room to check the bulletin board, but didn't push for it anyway. That would have been more walking, and moving was one of those many, many physical activities he didn't feel like doing in any capacity. Not today... or until next week, or whenever he'd stop feeling like he'd been on a date with a rough manatee named Large Marge. There was a slow minute of him feebly getting to his feet, then he followed the soldier without comment.

The comment came when Guybrush was handed a leather jacket on his way out the door. "A fine leather jacket... hah." He hissed as he pushed his right arm through the sleeve, settling to just leave the left draped over his shoulder. It was then he noticed the embroidery. At least Aguilar had a decent budget for clothing. If the pants worked, he'd be set.

There was something to be said about the General's methods, though. Why make the people who hadn't been in the food fight do the cleaning, while letting the guilty ones stand around? Sure, he wanted everyone to know who was responsible for the punishment, but wouldn't that just-

Oh. Wow, now that was a new level of crafty manipulation. Even LeChuck could be proud of it, if he wasn't behind it in some way. His disappearance made it possible- even probable- that his showing-up-and-playing-innocent-human-kidnapee routine had been an elaborate rouse, one even more diabolical than creating a carnival with which to recruit unsuspecting tourists into his undead army, more time-consuming than using a Mighty Pirate™ to look for a voodoo-sucking sea sponge so he could... get his mojo back? Oh yeah- Guybrush had died before that one reached Chapter 5. But if Landel's Institute was something LeChuck had cooked up so he could woo Elaine From The Past and change the future, then it was way, way more complex than his previous schemes.

And if it wasn't some incredible plot LeChuck had hatched because he finally grew tired of having his plans foiled? That made things even more complicated.

Guybrush made his way toward one of the benches, sprawling across it as he leaned his head against the backrest. Was the wall higher today? Maybe that was the aching in his chest talking. Either way, he didn't think he'd be going over it in an attempt to Escape from Aguilar's Institute™ that night unless they added a wheelchair ramp.

[Morgan]

Having to endure an empty room for yet another night had Sora worried. Were they not planning to give him a new roommate? He didn't know how these soldier people worked -- would they rather that patients were left in their rooms alone? That didn't make much sense, but he really didn't know what to expect anymore.

Most people would have been glad to have a room to themselves, but Sora wasn't most people. He wanted someone there who he could talk things over with while he ate his dinner. Instead, he had eaten his meal in silence, still reeling from the announcement that Landel was being replaced. It was something he would have preferred to discuss with someone else rather than dwell on alone, but he could always do that when he met up with Kairi and Riku.

That was the one good thing he had going for the moment; Sora was glad that the three of them were going to be side-by-side once more. He was particularly interested in hearing what Kairi had to say, since she'd also been here for a long time.

His dinner was interrupted by IRIS coming on, and Sora frowned when the automated voice became distorted once more. A program was being initiated? What did that mean?

He'd expected for IRIS to continue through the whole night, but soon after that a more human voice was heard. But even as Sora tried to place it, he realized that it was new, totally different from Landel's usual loud tone. But there was still a threat in those words, still a hint that something was going to happen tonight. Sora had already counted on that. With everything that had happened, how couldn't there be?

He just hoped that he and his friends could manage to get somewhere even with the odds stacked against them. Sora quickly changed from his Landel's uniform into his more familiar clothes from home and then grabbed for his flashlight (while also remembering to take Venom's copied note at the last moment; he wanted Kairi to see it too).

Once he was ready, he quietly moved out of his room and headed down the hall.

[To here.]

He saw her at the end, when everyone was rising from their seats.

For all that Stefan had spent the day consumed with his own thoughts and cravings, the conversation over the intercom distracted him too. He hadn't been paying attention enough to follow what they — Landel's irate voice, the head nurse, someone else (the one in charge of the soldiers?) — were talking about, but he noticed the way some people looked up at the sound of the last voice. Stefan didn't recognize it, but it was clear that many people did.

He puzzled over it only long enough to notice two people who didn't automatically get up as the new shift was announced: his brother first, still a shock in anything less than tailored black, and there, right beside him...

Elena.

By the time Stefan registered what he was doing, he was already on his feet, a little shaky but walking steadily enough across the cafeteria. She was whole. She was safe. And if she'd already seen Damon, even better. As much his brother pretended to care otherwise, there was no way he'd let Elena go to the Rec Field alone if she was seriously hurt — although it was just as possible that Elena had insisted he not hover. Either way, it didn't matter. Stefan would know soon enough once he was able to hold her in his arms, and feel her warm and alive against his chest.

"Christian!" A nurse stepped in front of him. Stefan pulled himself up short, and helplessly watched as Elena moved out of sight. The nurse seemed to guess what he was thinking anyway. "Samantha needs to go for roll call. You've already had your session on the Recreational Field, remember?"

Which meant he was supposed to be in the Greenhouse with the other men, guaranteeing he wouldn't be able to see Elena. "I'll go to the Sun Room. Could you tell her I'll be waiting for her there?" He remembered how sharply the staff had looked at them the last time they'd been together. How strict were the rules here, for patients? "I haven't seen her all day. Please."

In the end, she agreed, leaving alone at the entrance of the Sun Room. Stefan sank into an empty couch, and tried his best not to get into any more trouble.

For once, HK was working very hard to hide a giddy facial expression as he met his nurse at the door. He'd already hidden his scalpels in his clothing. The wonderful, sharp implements of doom would be needed today. “Statement: Despite my reticence towards all processed meat and plant products, I am experiencing intolerable levels of hunger,” he informed his nurse. “I require an especially large meal.”

It was the easiest and best excuse to load his food tray with several of these 'inglish muffin sandwiches', and two glasses of white milk. He then found a table strategically located in the center of the refueling area, and waited. He needed the room as full as possible before the Evil Plan could begin.

[Free, but planning doom upon all.]

[From here.]

The room was just as empty as it had been the previous night, though Castiel made a note that this time his shadow was staying firmly in place. Then again, he had already determined that that incident had affected all patients, so it wasn't as if it had anything to do with this place specifically.

Nevertheless, it was best to double-check such things.

It seemed that for the moment all of them were most interested in the statue, and so Castiel started toward it without any further delay. He realized that it had to have some sort of power tethered to it, but it wasn't something he could sense at the moment.

As he reached it and saw the blood that was spilling from it as if from a fountain, Castiel recalled imagery of Hell and frowned briefly before turning to the others. "I suspect this blood would be fresh," he pointed with a motion to it. "But what was it you thought this was?" he directed to the Doctor specifically. A Weeping Angel, he'd said?

[From here.]

Well... here he was. Ludwig's flashlight played along the empty hallway, and for the first time, he truly felt like he was alone in this place. Up on the second floor, he couldn't even hear the constant hum of activity and movement on the lower floor. In a way, it made sense, given how much distance he'd put between them. But on the other... it was rather eerie. Such absolute silence everywhere, such darkness pressing in from all directions... it was more than a little intimidating. His single flashlight didn't cast much illumination in the cavernous hallway, and the sheer variety of choices was also a reason to pause.

He could proceed straight ahead, or a little to his left to investigate that hallway. Or, he could turn to his right, to where the majority of the Institute still remained. He'd seen the open area on the second floor above the sun room, it was entirely possible that the staff had something useful up there on hand in case the patients got unruly. Or, it was also possible that he could continue going and see what was further on still, beyond the reach of his flashlight beam.

Mm... all of them were good options, and while his methodical nature made him want to go left and work his way right, he also knew that was likely not where the best materials would be for weapons or other such things. So, for now, he paused and contemplated the matter, considering his options carefully. All the while, he remained tense and alert- without weapons, if a monster surprised him, that would be it for him. So he had to be careful, and know when to retreat if an attack was too much for him to handle.

[Waiting for Watson]

[From here.]

Granted, he wasn't in the clear yet. It was on the stairs themselves that the Doctor had suddenly called out to him, though for the moment he seemed to be completely alone. It meant that he was getting better at this, if he was moving through these areas faster than the other patients. That was good to know, as he was used to being able to get places ahead of everyone else. His lack of teleportation was the most obvious loss of power from his perspective.

The main obstacle now was the possibility that something was guarding the chapel once more. He didn't see why it was such a sought-after area, though maybe it was due to the fact that people like him got curious.

That statue might be enough to tempt some people as well, even if it had the signs of some sort of curse or black magic written all over it. There were plenty of people who wouldn't realize that.

Keeping his gaze upward, Castiel started up the stairs.

[For Dean and the Doctor to stumble upon.]

As Sora had guessed, Bridget had refused to budge from his sleep through all of dinner, and even through the nighttime announcements. Landel seemed uptight, worried about something and annoyed at them all at the same time. As if he had the right to be annoyed at them! Sora frowned up at the intercom transmitter for a moment.

Still, was there really going to be a visitor tomorrow? The Eagle sounded like some sort of weird nickname, but in this place Sora could only guess. For all he knew, it was a real eagle -- or rather, some huge, rabid eagle monster.

It seemed that he wouldn't have to worry about it until tomorrow, though, and so the boy did his best to focus on the present moment. He'd organized everything for Arts and Crafts, so now all he had to do was gather his things and head out to the meeting spot.

Well, changing into his proper outfit was the first step, though doing it in a quiet room with his roommate sleeping in the bed only made Sora miss Hanatarou even more. Even if they'd awkwardly turned from each other whenever they'd both changed their clothes, at least they'd been used to each other and at least they'd talked.

Sighing as he put the finishing touches on his outfit, Sora then grabbed for both his radio and his flashlight, nodding to himself. He remembered how Scott had offered some batteries, but he'd have to pick those up another night. For the moment all he had to do was get to the stairs, as he did practically every night. And so he stepped out of the room and quietly moved down the empty hall. With Kairi in the mix, there was actually a chance that he might be beaten to the stairs, so he had to hurry!

[To here.]

[from here]

And again, quiet. Silence broken only by far off footsteps and the creak of a building settling. There was more in the darkness, Ayanami knew this, but currently nothing had stepped forward to show itself. This night was too similar to another, and her hand raised to her neck without meaning to. There was nothing like trauma in this, she told herself. It was only that she had become wary of empty halls, had become distrustful of others in the dark.

More than before, it seemed. Still, Rei moved slowly, satisfied with checking the hall thoroughly before passing through.

[Eva pilots!~]

Well, if it wasn't his favorite time of the week. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Of course in this case, distance makes Klavier feel like an abused, neglected animal who was only now being allowed a taste of actual food. These people were such savages. It was still absolutely absurd that they were allowed access to this room so rarely. But the tactic was also brilliant on their part, sad to say. Klavier was always at his quietest and most obedient on Music Room days. The perfect model patient. He would give them no excuse to deprive him of this precious time.

Today was going to be a little different, however. Not only was he given access to music today, but a bout of entertainment as well. Apparently that band that had been setting up tryouts for the last week was ready to get the show on the road and start their auditions. Normally, this was the sort of project he wouldn't hesitate to take part in. But aside from the injury to his left hand and shoulder, there were three critical factors keeping him from doing so:

1. The band was named "Sex Bob-Omb." Klavier may have missed the band scene, but he had no intention of attaching his name to some Tom Jones cover band.
2. There weren't many actual instruments in the Music Room; certainly not enough variety to form the type of band they want. The one who made the poster said something about improvising instruments through whatever means necessary. A noble goal, but again, Klavier was not so desperate yet as to reduce himself to playing with a box of tissues strung up with rubber bands. That was too pathetic an image to ever place himself into.
3. The person who had posted placed up a sample music sheet of one of their songs. Klavier had no idea how many people here could actually read music enough to know what it was they were looking at there, but he had been able to decipher it perfectly. Their music... it was kind of god-awful.

In short, this was basically a disaster waiting to happen. The hints were enough to tell him this was likely going to be something akin to nails on a chalkboard... amplified by five. So honestly, he should be as far away from this room as humanly possible.

But he was not going to let these people ruin his rare access time to the Music Room. No, instead he took one of their old CD players and a carefully selected CD of choice (for the sake of his sanity) and took a seat at one of the tables, turning the chair so as to get an optimal view of the show. Why not? No harm in indulging in a little "entertainment," yes?

[free to anyone who wants to watch this train wreck with him :D ]

There was little to be said of the daily business that went on. He allowed himself to be shuffled, mind embedded too deeply in things he shouldn't be dwelling on. The night was over, the shadows had vanished, and there was little more than bad memories to be left in their stead. This was logic, pure and simple, and should have been reassuring but for the whispered accusations made by his own. Of all things that his mind moved to unconsciously focus on, it was one of the first things spoken. That he could kill himself and nothing would stop him.

Which was pointless. In the whole of its entirety. Gaara had not truly moved in that way for time past--And now, even, he had goals and aspirations that he would see come to pass before he gave anything of himself away. He was working for what he believed in; he was working to become acknowledged by others as himself, and not as what he was created for. And there was no point to anything that thing had said.

His thoughts shifted, moved over the night, each dark statement echoed by an internal vow of his own, a denial of returning to what he once was. He still had yet to seek out Temari--his sister, too, would have been confronted by her demons, and there was a edge of concern in that thought. Considering all of this, he seated himself in a place near the wall, glancing at the doorway every few moments.

[sister dear.]

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he could have thought of something!

As much as he didn't like to admit it, it was unlikely his former roommate was still within the Institute's walls at this point, though the Scarecrow wouldn't know for sure unless Kaiji returned to visit him as Dorothy had, encouraging his supposed recovery. There was still the concern that Landel, despite his vile methods, was actually right and he was suffering from the delusion of having been a scarecrow in Oz. After all, that movie had been a pretty elaborate trick. Would he have planted it in town on purpose, knowing the Scarecrow would be taken there the night of the enchanted doors? And how could he guarantee that once he did find it, he'd take it and actually watch it? There was so much guesswork involved- it seemed the Wizard Landel either liked coincidences or he had more power on his side than any of the patients could have guessed.

The Scarecrow stopped by the bulletin board before heading for a seat, considering writing a note to his friends to check on them. He'd heard from Depth Charge, Remy, and Kibitoshin within a day's time, so he figured they were probably fine (as fine as Depth Charge could have been after last night, anyway). He'd seen Mele and Scar the day before. He put a finger to his head, thinking- he'd not heard from Abe or Sangamon in a day or so, but being professionals, they were probably very busy. Perhaps a note would be best for them.

[Kibby]