Forty-Sixth Theory [Voice/Action]

[i_speak_softly]

((Action part backdated to the wee hours of this morning.))

[The horror ends at midnight.]

[Sort of.]

[Don doesn't know how long it takes him to realize that he's lying on cobblestone instead of mud, and that the water pooling around him is only the rain running off his own skin.]

[It's still raining now, but so lightly he can't even feel it through the numbness.]

[He gets up. People are running in every direction. Someone had organized a clinic and healers, and everywhere he looks the injured are being tended to.]

[There are no provisions for the dead. There are never any bodies.]

[Don turns away from the confusion, points his steps towards home. The walk seems to take a long time. When he gets there, the house is quiet. Don finds Mike asleep at the kitchen table, gives him what may be a startlingly cold hug, inhales the plate of spaghetti at his elbow, and moves on.]

[He closes the door of his room, drops his gear to the ground. Climbs into Leo's bed and finds his brother not yet asleep.]

We lost.

[That's all the words he has energy for.]

[He sleeps for the next thirty-six hours. He wakes intermittently to whisper half-intelligible accounts of the battle into Leo's ear. He runs a low fever.]

[On Wednesday afternoon he manages to get out of bed - or at least sit up, if his family won't allow any more than that - speak to his brothers and father, listen to his messages on the journal. In the evening he'll put out some short, poorly-filtered messages to obvious people.]

*

Ms. Daisy... I lost the samples.

*

Frederic, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over?

*

Mr. Mulder. Did you make it back safely?

*

Kay, ah... What are you doing Saturday?

*

((Feel free to leave Voice messages, but assume Don's replies are forward-dated to tomorrow. You may also get a more-timely response from one of his journal-stealing housemates.))

Comments

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

Having you over for dinner, if you're up for it.

[i_speak_softly]

[With a smile in his voice:] I'll recover as fast as I can.

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

All right. [Same with her.] You still bringing the pizza?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

(OOC: Figuring that, by now, Robert would have known what happened with Helios... Of course, when he leaves this message, he didn't, but he does by the time Don answers it.)

[Robert spent the last week being terrified that his friends - and his lover - weren't going to come back alive. And so the very first thing he does is leave a single, distressed little message for Don.

Of course, the other Hamatos are free to pick it up as well, if they want.]

D-Don...

...

Are you... [Healthy? Sane? Safe?] alright?

...

I-I... I missed you...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

He's exhausted, but he's fine. Just minor injuries.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[It's not Don, but Leo, who responds this time. Still, the rational turtle's voice is a comfort, and Robert murmurs gratefully.]

Oh thank gods...

I, I h-had been worried... wh-when he did not return transmissions...

[It was unlike Don, but if Don was really exhausted then that might be why.]

... Thank you, Leonardo. I... a-appreciate it...

... Is there a-anything I can do...?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

[The transmission picks up again on Wednesday afternoon - just Voice, no Video. Don sounds hoarse and exhausted.]

Robert... ?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[By then, of course, Robert knows one of the most painful things he's ever heard.

But hearing Don's voice - sick and exhausted as it sounds - gives him a little bit of hope.]

...

D-Don...

[Softly:] A-Are you... f-feeling a little b-better...?

[Voice]

[daisy023]

[Her samples weren't the only ones to have dissappeared. Damn.]

Understood.

[Too many exhausted soldiers. Very few of these people were prepared for extended warfare. It had nearly exhausted her, too. They would all need to rest, and heal.]

... Take the time.

[It feels odd to put a xenotype as a friendly in her mind, but Robert did. That was one person accounted for.]

[Voice]

[i_speak_softly]

Thanks, Daisy.

Was there, ah... anything in particular you were looking for? I still have my observations.

[Voice]

[daisy023]

That depends. How are you?

[In terms of health, that is. That, and she doesn't trust the journals much.]

[Voice]

[crytearsofjoy.livejournal.com]

Don, how... how are you holding up.

[Voice]

[i_speak_softly]

Been worse. You don’t sound so great yourself.

[Voice]

[crytearsofjoy.livejournal.com]

Just a little feverish. I think most people have it.

[Voice]

[ufo-fanboy.livejournal.com]

[That 'sick for real' thing is catching up to him now too, especially thanks to sleeping poorly. But he ended up a hell of a lot better than he could have been.]

I'm in one piece. I hope you're doing ok?

[Voice]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don has mixed feelings towards you now, Mulder. He's glad you're safe, but he can't help wondering what would have happened if he had been with Helios that night instead of with you.]

Still alive. Did you have any effects from the return trip?

[Voice]

[ufo-fanboy.livejournal.com]

[If Mulder knew that, he would be feeling all irrationally guilty, himself. :( He doesn't know the connection yet though.]

A little under the weather, but I'll live. [Trying to downplay the feeling like hell and insomnia thing.] I keep wondering if we ever had much of a chance at all... or if there was something more we could have done.

[Action for Don and Leo's room]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[The reports from the field had been few, but the ones that Leo did manage to get over the journals, he didn't like the sound of. He itched to be out there helping, especially with one of his brothers out there fighting.

Their shared room is dark, except for the flickering light of a couple of candles, providing enough light to navigate by, without lighting up the whole room. He'll be on his back, right arm under his head and eyes closed as he listens to the rain outside. Trying to relax his mind, even if he's in no mood to sleep. The room door opening will see him sitting up, eyes opened. Don looks exhausted, and he doesn't protest him crawling into his bed dirty. He scoots over to make room. He visually checks for wounds, but they all look minor.]

It sounded like it. [He says, with a sigh. He'll listen to Don's recounts of the battle. Come morning sometime, he'll leave Don to sleep, to go alert Splinter, Raph and Mikey(if he didn't wake up earlier) and let them know that Don's back.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don is filthy, bruised and battered. A bandage, little more than a rag now, peeks from under the dirt on his calf.]

[The first thing he tells Leo is an overview of the battle. The types of enemies the draftees encountered, their seemingly endless numbers, the way they overran the camp during the fourth-day monsoon. The general organization of the draftees into teams, the ways they relayed information, what they learned about the world outside their enclosure.]

[Later in the morning he tells Leo about the rainforest itself: the beautiful things he saw there, and how much he would have liked it, if only he wasn't in constant danger of his life.]

[He'll have more to say in the afternoon, if Leo is still there.]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[Nothing a good shower won't fix, hopefully. He puts a hand on Don's forehead and notes the slight fever, frowning. It doesn't seem that bad yet, but he'll definitely mention it to Splinter. They wouldn't want it to get worse. For now he'll keep an eye on it.

Once he's done inspecting and assessing injuries, or while he's doing it, he'll listen to what Don says about the battle. Out manned, out gunned. A situation that non-combatants shouldn't of been near, but they were. The rainforest itself sounded beautiful, however.]

A shame you guys didn't get to enjoy it. [Beautiful lands outside the barrier, too bad they have no access to it at all.

He'll be in and out during the day, to get food and what have you. He'll mostly be in the room though, keeping an eye on Donny, makking sure that fever doesn't get worse.]

[Action for Don and Leo's room]

[the-mikester.livejournal.com]

[Mike is still asleep on the table when Leo comes looking for him, a small puddle of drool pooling around his mouth.]

[Action for Don and Leo's room]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[The kitchen's one of the first places he looks. The sight of Mikey asleep at the table stops him for a moment. Despite his mood, it gets a little smile from him. He heads over to his brother, giving him a gently shake on the shoulder.]

Mikey?

[ voice | filtered ]

[refinedmaestro.livejournal.com]

[He isn't certain what Donatello is trying to say at first, but then realizes.]

Thank you Donatello, but everything's all right as am I. Although...I would not mind some company if you are up to coming.

[ooc: Hope you don't mind me reposting this, I thought this sounded a lot nicer. ♥]

[ voice | filtered ]

[i_speak_softly]

[Sounding frustrated and defeated:] Frederic, I would, but they're not letting me out of the house. Can I come tomorrow?

((Sorry for slow; had to wait and see how the week would play out.))

[ voice | filtered ]

[refinedmaestro.livejournal.com]

Of course, I do not mind. And who you mean by they? Is everything truly all right with you?