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[ this will come probably early morning, five or so days in. ]

Were you alone?

[ which seems a bit out of nowhere, and with no context. but shiro had told her that she could contact him whenever, with questions or anything else. it's been a bad couple of days for her, and while she's holding together, the sudden inspiration to reach out was too much to try and sedate.

so she asks him about his time in captivity. not about how he lost his arm, or what happened, but about something she's been struggling with most. ]

[It takes him a second to realize what she's asking about. He sits down on the floor and leans back against the wall. It's been such a habit for a year that one more instance of it is steadying.]

Not at first. Our mission was a science venture. My commander and his son were to collect ice samples and analyze the moon of Kerberos.

They shipped off my commander to a labor camp with the other older prisoners. Matt and I...

[He pauses because he needs that one little pause.]

We were sent to the Gladiator arena. They were going to send him out to fight the champion. I injured Matt on purpose and took his place. He got sent off with his father. Then, I was alone.

[ it's almost funny how much they've inadvertently mirrored each other. shiro, wherever it is she's managed to catch him, and riza, right off the edge of the bed, with a sleeping ruby and jade, her own head pressed back against the stone wall.

shiro's voice is different - not like roy's, who she is inherently familiar with and finds comfort in simply hearing, or any of the cell-members, most of whom she only has a voice to attach to. shiro she has met, and known, and is now hearing with the knowledge that she doesn't have to talk about what's going on.

that he gets it. and that, in itself, is freeing in a way. ]

I'm sorry. [ because it feels like that is important to say, first. then- ] They kept you in a single cell, then?

I'm sorry too, [For how long its taking. He had been reading up on helicopters to study them like any pilot would. He marks his page and shuts his eyes. The details of his cell come back to him all too easily. As if he never left it.

Riza's voice keeps him locked in the present. Her and the knowledge that he escaped that hell.]

Yeah. I don't remember everything. I only have bits and pieces. They come back if I'm in the right places with the right sounds. But the cell was in the lower section of a fleet ship. It had a slot at the top for light or I guess for watching us. My cell was always dark. I could hear it when they dragged off other prisoners.

Or when they were coming for me. They had plans for me. I didn't find that out until I faced them as their enemy.

[Free. He'd been free when he saw Haggar the witch and saw red.]

[ she feels the need to say something, and yet in the same moment knows there's nothing really to say. so instead, she sits with him in the thought of it. the weight they both carry and camaraderie born out of that shared experience. he is here, despite what happened.

she will be too. ]

I've lost time here. Some hours feel like days, sometimes I lose track of hours. Knowing how- [ knowing how this works, knowing how trauma comes back to you at the worst moments, knowing. she also knows she'll be dealing with this for months, if not the rest of her life. ]

What plans did they have for you?

According to them, they wanted a great weapon. I don’t remember where they got that impression but other escaped prisoners called me ‘Champion’. I remembered how to use my arm as an energy weapon when we assaulted the same ship I had been a prisoner on.

[Little pieces. He’s worried about what they mean. What kind of monster he might have been. He forces his thoughts away from that fear and walls it off from himself.]

But, I know what you mean about losing track of time. All the days blended into one another. I didn’t know a year went by until I someone helped me escape.

Did they plan on brain washing you? Why would you have fought for them otherwise?

[ and maybe she's being a bit more...talkative, than she normally would be about this, but the resistance she's had in each of the sessions she's been brought into over the last few days have her walls down a bit more than normal. ]

Not that I know what year it is here, anyway. [ is that an attempt at humor? possibly. ] How long has it been, anyway?

Two weeks.

[He pauses to think over how to word what he’d come to wonder and understand since he became a Paladin. Haggar had had plans for him. He knows that for certain. She’d said it. But he doesn’t know what those plans are. That makes him more than nervous. Another reason to prepare Keith to take over should something happen.

Keith would keep everyone safe if he learned to stop locking onto targets and seeing nothing else.] I don’t know what they planned. I think I escaped before they executed it.

But. My memories are in pieces. I don’t know.

[It trips anxiety until he squashes it.]

I have no idea what year it is here either. They are ridiculous about small details. As if they have to erase the future and the past.

[ the weight of those two words is heavier than she thought they would be. she knew they'd be in here for some time, could keep a relative idea of how long it's been from roy's updates, but the words themselves - two weeks, make her go quiet.

even through the explanation he gives her, the answer to her question. she does listen, realizing just how far his own experience goes, realizing where her own feelings get wrapped up and suddenly understanding that he has been carrying them since they first met. ]

Shiro. [ she doesn't even know what she wants to say here, but she feels like she needs to say something. ] You're doing a lot of good, whether that is because of or in spite of what happened to you doesn't really matter. Thank you.

[ and then she huffs. ]

You mean Qri?

The Shehui. I still have no idea where the Qri is. She might be somewhere inside the same facility you're in. If that's true you probably won't hear about it.

[Silence falls again. But this time its brief. He can't focus on just what might or might not become a problem from within his head. He fixates on that and he'll be done. Sendak's words sometimes ring and his mind tries to shut down. But it must never rule him. For everyone else's sake he has to keep moving forward.

Right now, getting Riza and everyone else out is his primary focus.]

I know I'm making a difference back home and here. And you are too. From the moment you arrived at the coven you sought to help and ensure others were safe. That means a lot. It's our turn to help and protect you.

Qri hasn't responded to any of our telepathic messages. But I guess it could be possible she's in here.

[ she has to keep her mind on something while she's here. it's one of the few things she can focus on that will keep her going.

it sneaks up on her, though. how much she needs to hear what he says. and as soon as the words are out there, she feels herself exhale, relaxing a little into it. ]

I should have seen this coming.

What? That they’d finally get fed up with our non-answers and decide to snatch up you and eleven others? We can be prepared for problems, but that’s not something we could really predict. Not without any clues. I’ll give it to the Shehui. They know how to hide their nastier side.

[But if she focuses on that she will think over what could have been done. He continues.]

If she is in there I can bet she’s under their highest security. Hard to think otherwise after that odd telepathy problem we had happen.

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