11calls | (no subject)

Several things happen at once.

Stars rise and fall, other universes shift and break, things press against walls of reality and pull away in fear. Eyes open and close and Richard Strand's Blood gushes out of his neck.

The others in the room, the humans, they all vanish save for Alex and the prone figure on the altar, the prone figure on the stone. Everything is swirling and churning between the two of them.

And it is...a hospital room.

It's a fairly non-descript room with a window - though the whole scene has an air of grimness. Richard Strand is there, bandaged and hooked up to tubes and beeping, slowly beeping. Suspended between this world and the next.

There's a knock on the door then and a man. Broad and darkskinned in a lab coat with glasses and coal black eyes.

"Ms. Reagan? You're here for Doctor Strand right?"

Alex doesn't know what's going on. She doesn't have the slightest idea of what's happening right now. She just takes a deep breath as she realizes that the two of them, the three of them aren't in the underground temple. It's a hospital, but how can it be in a hospital? Alex doesn't know and it doesn't make sense and when she looks down at her hands, they're still covered in a blood that feels wet and sticky and fresh.

Blackness mingles with the red blood, and Alex knows that it's not just Richard who'd bled on her, because it's not just Richard who had died. Honestly, she just feels like she's covered in dust and blood and ashes, and she feels like she doesn't know if this is real or not. It takes a moment for Alex to realize that someone is calling her name, almost like she doesn't know if it belongs to her or not here.

But one name that always belongs to her is Strand, and Alex just perks up and looks at the man in the labcoat. "I'm Alex." She says softly, and her throat feels hoarse and dry as if she'd been screaming for hours, and she needs to clear her throat before she asks the next questions, in order of importance. "Is he okay?" followed immediately by: "Where are we?"

"He's touch and go."

The older man made a note, "And we're in a hospital. Obviously. The man has given a lot to get here. He's got some struggling to do. You do too."

The older made another mark and the doctor tsked, "He's got scars across his face and head where horns and scales were. Rising, the doctor examined them, "We'll do the best we can with these. It won't be the same but it's...fixable.

That's what you want right?"

The doctor's eyes are stars, "...That was a lesson in humility that the good Doctor isn't soon to forget."

Alex just frowns for a moment, because she doesn't know how they got to the hospital, but the Doctor's eyes let her know that they're not in the mortal world right now. They're some place else and Alex doesn't remember how or where, but if he's touch and go, then he's not dead and Alex just moves towards Richard. When she gets there, her hands are clean, and Alex thinks that she's the one who has done it, but she's not sure.

"Can you fix his eyes? Give him back his glasses?" Alex just asks softly, tracing her fingers carefully along the edges of his hairline. It's the softest touch, but it helps remind her that he's there, even if she avoids the places where the horns were turning into scar tissue. Looking back to the Doctor and his starry eyes once more, she just asks: "Does that mean that she's gone? That she's scattered? Like she's supposed to be. That's what I was trying to do. The universe needs it's beautiful chaos, but it can't be all that."

Right now, Alex is fairly certain that she will never not feel guilt for doing that, but she also would have done anything that Richard had asked her of. It's an odd position to be in.

"Can you tell me if Nic's okay? If Simon is? Charlie?"

"...I think we can do that."

His smile is kind, "...The poor man's been through enough. You both have."

The Doctor's hands slow, "...There are things in this world that are repairing themselves. As for the rest, the simplest answer is that to heal from chaos you come together to find peace."

His gaze drifts down toward Richard and his name tag catches the light. Doctor Anu - the name of the hospital scrambled out.

"There will be scars on the inside too. For both of you."

He inhales, "And to fix that, we need to talk about your insurance policy. How will you be paying for these services?"

It's funny how something so small can make such a big difference. But it had made one to Richard when Tiamat had stolen his eyes from him, and she hopes that it's going to make a difference enough when the two of them are back home that he has them when he's dealing with everything else that the Goddess had done to him. That Alex had done to him in starting this whole damned thing.

As soon as Alex sees the name tag, she knows. She can't not know, but she forces herself not to start thinking about all of this too hard because she doesn't want to do anything that might destabilize all of this. It's too important, and Richard is too important to risk anything for. The question makes her laugh though, she can't help it.

"Well, I know we're not in Canada." It's a joke, and not a particularly good one when it comes to that, but that's what Alex Reagan does when things feel too heavy. It's something that helps ground her in who she is, and Alex just drags that around her when she looks to Anu more seriously. "I never wanted power like this. It's not who I am. And it was never really Marduk's either. He cheated and he stole it. He cheated her. I would make a really terrible god, Anu. So, that's what I'm willing to pay for it. All of the power of Marduk."

The doctor sets his pen against his clipboard and studies Richard.

"He did not ask for this either but he has done terrible things under her influence. And Prior to that. His punishment is that he shall keep these scars."

The doctor gestures to the scars marking where he was scaled, where he was inhuman.

"But he shall have his eyes. And he is still human even though he retains residual power. Those born with fire are very rare Alex Reagan."

Staring at her, The god's features fade. His face is stars, "Your punishment is the loss of your power...save for what the Christian God has given you. And I think in loving him...you find work that you can do. You know what the world is now. And there is more than what you and even he has seen."

The God gestures, setting a hand on Alex's shoulder, "You will find this awareness is not what you think. Tiamat is not the only being in the universe that lusts for this power."

The hospital fades as the God's hand shakes - revealing Nic, bruised, bloody, but awake and focused on her.
---

"Alex wake up. Alex! C'mon. We've got to go. The Deva Corp guys are losing it and Richard..."

If there was a person who would argue with a god, especially about someone she loves it would be Alex Reagan, and she had been about to. Because Richard and the guilt she knows he already experiences should be enough for him. He doesn't need the scars. If there was a person who would question a god, it also would have been Alex Reagan, and there was no way that she wasn't about to ask the God about the power that she's supposed to have, because honestly this whole thing just stopped making sense two years ago, but that's the icing on the cake.

But Alex doesn't get the chance too, as the world swirls around her again. Her mouth is open and Alex is staring when Nic swims into view, and for a moment, things feel disconnected before everything slams back into her body. Alex is covered in blood and her heart is beating too fast and she feels like she hasn't slept in three years and the energy that had come with Marduk's power was gone making her feel everything so much worse. It was like... Well, like nothing that Alex had felt before.

"Help me with him," Alex says quickly, and she moves to start to undo anything that's binding him to the table. She doesn't want to touch the remains of what could have been Tiamat, but she will if she has too. "He's going to be okay. It's not just wishful thinking or some sort of delusion. there's... Let's just say I've got it on the best authority that there is here. We've done what we're supposed to do. He'll live. We've just got to get out of here."

The logistics of things will come later, Alex believes in that as she touches her hand to his cheek. "It's time to wake up, Richard." And then without thinking about it, she just kisses him gently--a good morning kiss that she'd not gotten the chance to give him yet.

When he stirs, opening his eyes - they're human. Still his unnaturally bright blue but human. Everything hurts. Tiamat is gone and there's something about the light in the room giving Alex a halo. an angel an angel came to save him.

He's still uncomfortably aware. That's not going away. It's not Tiamat but he was always powerful. It's just his. He hurts but Alex is ridiculously blurry and he's never been happier. Whatever happened...

The hole in his heart left by his other half is there but he fills it with thoughts of the woman holding him.

...I don't know what you did, but thank you.

He looks up at the two of them.

Both of you. It's just me in here. Don't worry.

He swallows, Alex I'm blind as a bat. I'm going to need you to help me see my love until we get...back.

And then.

You once asked me if we could just go away. Let's do that.

The laugh of relief that comes when he stirs is joyous in and of itself, and Alex can't believe that it worked and that he's here. She had no reason to doubt that it would (but also every reason to doubt that it would) and Alex just kisses him quickly, because she can't help it. She doesn't care that they're covered in blood or for the scars on his cheeks or anything else, because he's here and he's alive and he's breathing, and he's blind as a bat.

Yes.

Alex doesn't know how she did that, but she did and so there was that, then she just takes a deep breath and looks around the cave because she wants to make sure that their joyous trumpith is wrecked by one of them getting killed. Again. Two deaths in one day is enough.

Come on, my love. Let's get you out of here. And then we can figure the rest out--

Alex's thought is cut off by her phone going off, and she just frowns at it before she pulls it out the pockets on Simon's pants. Speaking aloud she just says, "I wouldn't have thought I'd have..." But she doesn't have service. She shouldn't have a message but she does, and it just says for her to open her email. It's another thing that shouldn't work but here it's doing it anyway.

"Oh my god. It's an email from Coralee. She says that if I'm getting this than she'd..." Oh, I'm so sorry my love. Alex just thinks. I'm so so sorry. Because Alex knows that Coralee had died, but she doesn't know if Tiamat had told Richard, or let him know or not. But that wasn't the point.

Alex just sounds kind of astonished. "There should be someone coming in a jeep to get us to take us to the airport. A private plane is there waiting for us, along with copies of our passports and orders to take us anywhere we want to go." As her eyes travel down her email, she just gasps. "...And she sent me money. Like a hell of a lot of money."

Nic knows this is goodbye.

Not just goodbye, but a finalized goodbye. The kind of goodbye that means he'll never see her again.

That she's going to leave but does she have any other choice? Her career is basically over and Strand...

Strand doesn't look too bad. For the host to a God he's still standing, blinking blearily. Someone gouged the sprays of scales off his cheeks and chin however. They left deep grooves in his cheeks and across his hands. He had kept his humanity at the expense of his vanity and Alex...

Alex.

"...Before you crazy kids get out of here can one of you drop me someplace? Doesn't have to be far."

"I can."

The voice is dry and hoarse and belongs to Simon, staggering out of the darkness to wipe a hand through his hair and look at the three of them before focusing on Strand. He could apologize. He wants to but he...

Well.

"Wheels within wheels."

Simon and Nic move to embrace Alex at the same time with Richard looking on. Eyes full of exhaustion and pain.

"Next time you're in Seattle look me up okay?" Nic pulls back, "Or give me an address to send your uh-your checks to..."

Yeah.

He's exhausted.

As for Simon, he studies Alex thoughtfully, before bowing, "...This isn't the last we'll see each other."

Alex just frowns at Nic for a moment, because he's acting like this is goodbye. Alex refuses to believe that it is actually goodbye: what this is instead is 'I'll see you soon. Eventually. When things settle down.' But she knows Nic, and she knows that he thinks that it is and she doesn't want to face down the possibility that the last time she's going to see the person who has been her best friend for over a decade is over being covered in blood and having saved the world isn't right. It's not fair. They saved the world, they shouldn't need to say goodbye.

But she's relieved beyond measure to see that Simon is here and okay. Mostly. Probably. Alex knows that he wouldn't tell her even if he wasn't okay. "I--" she pauses for a moment, and then she just hugs both of them and Alex just shakes her head quickly. "Of course it's not going to be the last time we see one another. Either of you. Guys, we just saved the world. I'll see you eventually when things cool down and it's safe to do so." Even if what she'd been told about other power hungry things being true, that doesn't mean that it's their responsibility for them.

Stopping the world and losing being gods is enough for the universe to ask them.

Even if Alex doesn't think that the universe will think so.

"Are you sure you're okay? That you have enough power to do this, Simon? I mean, I thought..." Alex thought that with Tiamat gone, the cult wouldn't have any, and if it does that means that they need to be way more careful about Thomas Warren than they thought.

Again.

With a little sigh, Alex just reaches out for Richard's hand, because she knows that she needs it, and she knows that he probably needs it too.

It's Simon that smiles at Alex, "Listen. Whatever was in my head? Is gone. And it left it's baggage so to speak. Like when a roommate moves out and leaves a bunch of stuff? Speaking of which."

Simon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pair of glasses - handing them to Richard.

Richard Strand is coming back into his body and everything aches. When Simon - and he knows it's Simon. He can sense it's Simon. Simon hands him something slim and familiar and Richard puts on a pair of glasses with a little grateful sob.

It's so stupid. It's so ridiculously stupid but he wipes away a tear and then gets the first good look at his hands. Carved grooves in his flesh where the scales she forced on him were.

HE can't focus on that though because Alex's hand is in his other hand and he squeezes it before trying to struggle to his feet.

"Simon."

His voice is raw and hoarse, "I...I don't know what to say."

Simon grins, Just ring me. How does it feel to have your mind finally open?

Richard doesn't acknowledge that beyond gripping Alex's hand harder and pulling himself to his feet. Then he laughs.

"Thanks for these."

Alex would have asked Simon how he knew to bring them, but she also knows that because he's Simon, he's not going to say. But she's just relieved that he has them now and Alex peers into his eyes. They're his and they're normal and it's one small thing that she could have done for him. She just wishes that she could have done the rest in order to make sure that he didn't need to hide from the world so badly. But he had missed his eyes and his glasses and thanks to both herself and Simon he had them both.

Alex just thinks to Simon, still working this new muscle of her brain that she guesses must be hers because it didn't go away with everything else.

Thank you, Simon. He missed them.

Then now that Richard is on his feet and standing, Alex just wraps her arms tightly around him, holding onto him for dear life. It feels good to do it when it doesn't feel like the bottom is going to drop out of her world. Maybe it already has, but Alex has just popped a new one into it. They saved the world, she saved the world and maybe, just maybe now she'll finally be able to get some sleep.

Even though Alex has this new ability, she doesn't use it. Her voice, and his own are important to her, and Alex just needs to say it even if there isn't a recorder or something around to catch it. "I love you Richard Strand."

Richard doesn't say it. He doesn't need to in his mind. Instead he pulls her forward and kisses her. It's a soft and gentle kiss, a warm and loving one. None of it matters.

None of it matters as long as he has her. Not his job or the institute. Not his looks, she and Charlie are alive and he survived and whatever destiny he had...it was over.

"...I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She kisses him back holding onto him tightly, and when she pulls away with her cheeks red, she realizes that there's nothing to be concerned about: Nic and Simon are both gone, and it's just the two of them. Gone without another word. Well, that's very Simon isn't it. But right now, Alex is just going to hold tight onto the idea she'll see them again.

And the more important part of her life, the most important part: the part where Alex can say: "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Richard. Wherever and however you'd like. And thanks to Coralee, it seems like we won't need to worry about money or the show or anything ever again." Alex is going to assume that this is money that Coralee had siphoned off of Thomas Warren, and it seems like a fair trade for what that fucker put them through.

"We should stay out of Seattle for a while though, Nic's right about that." As she talks, Alex keeps her arms wrapped around his side and she walking him out through the labyrinthine corridors of the tunnels. It's weird how she knows the way and they don't get lost before the two of them are standing in front of some sort of fancy jeep with a man waiting for them. "Dr. Strand? Ms. Reagan? We're here to take you to the airport."

Something that he realizes - his ability to bilocate is damaged. Not damaged, just - there but he doesn't want to. He's been to the edge of reality and back. Still, looking at Alex he holds her tight against him. The sun burns against him.

"...Book two tickets to ireland." He studies Alex, "Green rolling hills? Fog and rain? That's...so much better than sun and sand and all this."

Is that...all right? I've spent so much time lately having people...do my...every whim.

Ireland sounds nice. And we don't need to book tickets. There's a plane waiting to take us to wherever we want to go. Our passports and stuff are there too. I don't know about you but I definitely didn't think to bring mine when I bilocated us here from Geneva.

When the two of them are in the car, Alex just lays her head against Richard's shoulder, cuddling against him in such a way that her feet are on the seat next to her. It feels good to hold him, just hold him with everything that's going on. She knows that there are going to be things that they need to talk about and unpack later, but for right now, all Alex wants is to hold him and be held herself.

"A nice cottage somewhere, I think. Quiet. Maybe they'll be sheep or something. Loads of tea for you. We'll get you some Irish knit sweaters and hmmm. Maybe a dog? Just stay in Ireland for a while until we get sick of the green rolling hills and the fog."

"We can name the dog apophenia."

He holds her, finding himself again. Taking stock. It will take time. He can sense that. His hands look raw and he doesn't relish seeing his face but looking at her is peaceful and sweet and he dozes, waking up when they park, leading Alex onto the plane.

He hopes she can sleep now. He hopes she can rest and sleep for hours at a time. She hasn't slept much since she met him and that tears him up inside. That's why he's punished the way he is. No matter another's actions his dogged pursuit of skepticism, manipulating others to it, is marked across his body but he is still human. Beaten, bruised and alive.

He hums the same tuneless song Coralee would hum with him against Alex's hair, peaceful and sore.

"...You know what I can't wait to do? Take a shower."

"I think some private planes have showers. I'm pretty sure give the bedroom back there it probably does have one if you want to take the first one, love. I don't think that it'll fit two." Especially one that fits Richard's height.

The crew member spoke softly. "There is a rather large shower you can use once we take off, Dr. Strand. And if you like, we can make sure that the stateroom is ready for you to sleep." Sleep sounds amazing to Alex, she feels like she's been awake forever at this point. "If you are hungry, there is fresh fruit and pastries, and we'll arrive in Dublin in about seven hours. A meal can be served whenever you require it."

Alex just blinks for a moment, she's not used to it, and then she looks down at the clothing that she's wearing that's not hers and mismatched and covered in blood. Following her look, the crew member adds: "you have luggage in the hold that we will retrieve for you, Ms. Reagan. And you Dr. Strand. Our orders were very thorough. You two will have whatever you need when you land at your destination. You have identification and credit cards associated with the account you've been given as well. It was..."

The crew member just looks very sad for a moment before they speak again. "It was Coralee's wish that you two have whatever you need to start a new life once the End of the world was avoided."

Alex doesn't know what to say to that, and instead just squeezes Richard's hand.

"You were wrong."

The TA has short blonde hair and her arms are crossed. She looks annoyed and angry.

"I'm sorry?"

"You were wrong. It was the 2nd century. Not the third."

His eyes go wide and he's snappish and by the end of the argument they're both on their feet and by the end of the day they're in bed ripping at each other like animals.

Tenderness. White dresses. Red Wheel Barrels. Red clawmarks.

Tears fill his eyes and he wraps an arm around Alex before he nods mutely and leads her onto the plane before squeezing her hand and nodding at the shower.

"...You-

I need a minute. Before I...I need a minute."

He sits without telling her why, staring at the clouds before his chest rises and falls.

Besides now we can talk like this. How does it feel? He's just - going to be here staring out the window.

Before she goes, Alex just leans over and presses a reassuring kiss to his temple. She knows that this is going to be hard for him--after all she was there the night that Coralee left him that time. Alex had stood in the wreckage and held his hand and they had talked, but not before she gave him a little bit of time to collect himself. She knows that she's doing it again right now and that's okay because he needs it. Besides, it's not like she's going to be anywhere but on the plane right now.

I'll be here when you're ready Alex just promises him silently as she moves onto her feet and to the stateroom with it's bed and luggage on top of it. When Alex opens the bag, there's comfortable pajamas for her on top and she just lets out a relieved sigh. Comfortable pajamas are just the thing, even if they aren't strictly speaking her own. They'll do and she knows without him saying so that Nic will pack up her stuff in Seattle and throw it into storage for eventually.

Alex makes a mental note to send him some money for that, and for upkeep on Howard's house as well.

She's not ready to believe they're not going back to Seattle at some point.

But her shower is quick for Alex, and she takes to heart not leaving the water on while she's soaping up or washing her hair. Wanting to make sure that there's enough water for his shower is second nature, and when she comes out, she's wearing the blue pajamas and she kisses him gently. "Your turn, my love."

Edited 2020-05-28 23:05 (UTC)

Rising slowly he leans against her like a crutch before staggering into the bathroom. One he's in the mirror, he stares.

There are scars. They crease his face along his jaw like he's been burned or had some kind of infection - long red thick lines but it could be worse. A lot worse. Pulling back his hair he stares at the circular burns covered by his hair. They go down his neck and chest dissolving into broader marks, burn marks, down his chest.

Tiamat.

He feels vain. Vain and sad and he shoves it aside because he's alive. The world is alive. Charlie is alive. Alex is alive and they are together and she saved him.

His fingers trail along his jaw before he sets it down. Guess that's it for symposiums and conferences. Maybe I'll write books.

He's thinking to himself but it hits him Alex can pick up on it. You and I can't sit still.

Alex is waiting, because she knows that Richard is a vain man, and she knows that the intense scarring on his face would have been a lot for anyone to handle, as well as the scarring on his chest. She takes a deep breath, and wishes that she could have spared him from that but she knows that she's lucky that she managed to talk Anu into letting Richard have his eyes back.

His eyes, she thinks, are more important than the scars are.

We wouldn't be us if we sat still. Alex just answers him honestly, and just like her normal voice, her mental voice has an audible smile in it as well. She loves him, and Alex knows that it's going to be okay. Eventually. They need time to heal.

But first a very long vacation. We've earned that, Richard.

It's been a very long three years, that was for sure. They need time to rest and reflect and to mourn for what was, and for what could have been and the people that they'd lost along the way.

I'm pretty sure I can just sleep for a week at this point.

Which when you're Alex Reagan, may be the equivalent of people wanting to sleep for a year.

Maybe I'll write too.

A week in bed sounds incredible.

He's adaptable. More adaptable than he was. Alex Reagan has that affect. She's a river that wears people down, a tree with strong roots that can break up soil. She's broken his bedrock and he feels ...renewed.

In a nice little cottage in a small town where no one knows who we are with a little general store and a garden. I've actually always wanted to learn how to garden.

Stepping out of the shower dressed in his pajamas the scarring is a lot more evident but shambling over to her he seems unbothered, sliding beside her to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her close to kiss her neck.

"...Don't tell anyone I'm so ridiculously sentimental Ms. Reagan."