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

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[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...?

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[Leo himself sounds tired, with an undertone of anger at what his brother and the other draftees were put through.]

He's been in and out of it since this morning, mostly sleeping.

[He considers for a moment if he should tell Robert about thee fever.]

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[semper_cogitans]

[Please do. Robert clearly needs more to panic and cry over.]

Are the rest of his vital signs normal, if you can tell...?

[He's opening the inquiry for it, anyway. And Leo may notice the unusual... urgency in Robert's tone.

By this point, he probably knows Helios is dead. And he really doesn't want to see that number increase to two, especially not of his own partner.]

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[Robert, have some faith in Don's family, they won't let him be a statistic without a fight. One death is one too many.]

They're fine. [Oh fine, he'll find out sooner or later anyway.] He's running a low fever though.

[Beat, cause he knows he would be doing it too.]

Don't come over. We've got this covered.

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[semper_cogitans]

[He knows this, which is why he trusts them.]

... A low fever... [Robert's voice isn't... panicky, per se, but it's definitely terse.] D-Do you suppose he could have p-picked up some pathogen in the r-rainforest, or might it just be exhaustion...?

...

A-Alright. I... I j-just... I worry.

B-But I know you w-will... d-do your utmost to assist him...

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

Either is possible. Hoping it's just the exhaustion though.

[Leo knows you want to see him Robert. But considering what you two did before he left, he doesn't want to possibly add more stress on top of this.]

I'll have him contact you when he's up for it.

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[semper_cogitans]

[Robert (probably) still isn't aware that the other Hamatos know about what transpired then, but of course, he doesn't think to ask.]

Th-thank you...

...

Wh-what about yourself, L-Leonardo? You must be e-exhausted... [And Robert probably sounds tired too, though not nearly as much. Staring at the journals and crying intermittently isn't good for most peoples' health.]

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

I'm fine. I'll be fine now that Don's back. [And once he's well again, which hopefully won't be long.]

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[semper_cogitans]

I... I h-hope so.

... P-Please take c-care of yourself too, Leonardo. [This is spoken with genuine... tenderness. Robert does care about Don's brothers - even the ones that don't like him - and he definitely likes Leo.]

... A-And the rest of your family...? A-Are, are they alright too? H-Having Don back must be... r-reassuring.

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

I will. We'll let you know when you can come over.


All a little tired, but fine. Raph's strength has been improving.

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[semper_cogitans]

I appreciate th-this immensely...

... And th-that is... also good to hear.

...

It is... n-nice to hear some good news, e-especially after the... d-draft.

[... And Helios' death. But he doesn't know if he should bring that up.]

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[Leo nods, though Robert can't see it.]

Yes. After that mess, we can use all the good news that we can get.

......

Are you doing alright?

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[semper_cogitans]

...

N-not exactly, if... i-if I am honest.

...

... [He breathes in, slowly, though he ends up sobbing a bit anyway.]

... H-Helios was... k-killed in the d-draft.

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

I'd heard someone named Helios was killed.

He was a friend of yours, wasn't he?

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[semper_cogitans]

[Gods. That barely even begins to describe it, but the true nuance is deep and painful.]

... Y-Yes. Yes, a v-very close friend...

...

A-And h-he is s-such a... w-wonderful person...

H-He... d-died p-protecting his f-friends...

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

....

I'm sorry.

Dying while protecting friends is an honorable way to die.

[Now he feels a little guilty telling you stay away from their house, but he has his reasons.

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[semper_cogitans]

[It's okay, Robert probably wants to hide under a rock right now anyway.]

...

A-At... at least it is... n-not permanent... ... th-though, it is hard to b-believe...

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's at least that.

[Even if they'll come back with something wrong with them.]

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[semper_cogitans]

[There is that, too, and it makes Robert worry, but for now he's clinging to the fact that Helios will be back.]

...

... G-Gods, I wish I c-could have done something...

... b-but I am always so... i-ineffectual.

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

I know the feeling. I hated listening to the reports, and being stuck here. If I had my way, I would've been out there helping.

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[semper_cogitans]

W-Well, I would have been e-even more useless on the battlefield... [Robert's voice audibly shudders.]

B-but...

... I-I... s-simply having the option...

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

For people claiming to be military, they don't act like it. Even the military know that non combatants don't belong on the battlefield. Or wounded soldiers. Like this last draft, I heard something about a blind guy being sent out there.

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[semper_cogitans]

Y-You may be referring to Giles... he was b-blinded by the Malnosso, a-actually, as d-disgusting as that is. S-Sending out someone to fight whom they blinded themselves...

...

H-He is Helios' friend... a-and the one who told me what h-happened to him. I-informed the whole village, actually...

[Robert slowly exhales.]

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[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see.

Yeah, I heard of the death from him.

Is he a friend of yours too?

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[semper_cogitans]

Y-yes, he is... [Robert has a lot of interrelated friends, actually. The intellectuals tend to gravitate towards each other, it seems...]

... And he is... v-very close to Helios.

[There's still a tiny ghost of jealousy in those words.

Robert still worries, sometimes, that he isn't a good friend for Helios - not when Giles is there, doing everything he can't or won't.]