IC Contact

[cargojet]

You've reached Senator Nathan Petrelli. If I'm not answering your call please leave me a message, and I'll get back to you just as soon as I can.

Comments

[cargojet]

Maybe. They had to face their own demons out there same as us. It could be said all we did was expose more people to it.

[ That's not a healthy response, nope. Maybe Snape needs the drink too. ]

[darkart]

I found Colbert and Tsang. They were in something like fugue states, completely unresponsive, and they did not 'awaken' until they were physically touched. Most of the people still missing were also recon members.

[ AKA the ones they didn't find and who may still be down there, trapped forever as mindless, breathing statues within the ship, until they're devoured by monsters or killed in the jump. Guilt: it's happening. ]

Maybe the others would have found their own way back. But not them.

[cargojet]

[ It takes him some time to reply. ]

I'm guessing that makes you feel as sick as it does me.

[darkart]

Probably.

[ He doesn't know what to say. 'I'm angry', maybe, because that's the truth; angry at himself that he didn't do more, that he didn't just go down with a team to begin with, that he can't walk right back down there still, that it's happening at all. That someone at some point is going to say Shepard deserved it and he can do fuckall to defend her because Severus Snape's word about who is and who isn't a good person means nothing.

(Severus is bad at feelings, news at 11.) ]

If I can help you with anything, let me know.

[cargojet]

I have Ianto here working on breaking into the subnetwork. Can't help but feel like it's too late. It's not gonna help anyone now.

I need to take my mind off all of it at some point. That's an offer, in case you missed it, for company.

[darkart]

There will be other times.

[ Besides, giving up on running down every lead, no matter how slight, would be an insult to those people who haven't returned. This is what the recon missions were about: learning. ]

I'll be in the labs or medical most of the time until the jump. Find me whenever you like.

[cargojet]

Not what I had in mind. You ever been to the Himalayas?

[darkart]

[ He has werewolves to herd and recon members to loom over and medical is understaffed. He's not sleeping until he has to do so in blue goo. But Severus feels better when he doesn't have time to dwell on things. ]

No.

[cargojet]

[ And isn't that the problem? ]

Neither have I. So come spend a couple of hours hiking with me, we can see it together.

[darkart]

All right.

[cargojet]

At a time of your choosing, then. Don't leave it too long, Severus.