Day 52: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

The intercom jingle was slightly different for this shift, almost as if it had gone up in quality. The Head Doctor gave a sigh of relief, his own voice clear as a bell despite the usual electronic buzz

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M24

[human_sponge]

As stressful as the day had been, considering how he'd run into Isaac Mendez and Sylar one after the other, it had ended on a good note due to his meeting with Javert. Nothing had been worked out for certain yet, but they had both generated some ideas and he had also been made to feel like he was useful. Not everyone had formal training, and he had to remember that. A lot of the full-fledged doctors had been brainwashed onto the institute's side, which meant that he might be one of the only patients who knew more than basic first aid

Re: M24

[allroadslead]

After talking with Yuffie and Dean, Sam had managed to snag a lone corner to himself for the remainder of the day. He hadn't done much, just grabbed a book for the Sun Room to bury his head in, and he felt guilty that he hadn't done any real work. Figured stuff out. Just yesterday, he was complaining about how little time he'd had on his own to sort out all of their gathered information. And he didn't exactly have time to spare to screw around distracting himself. But he'd needed the distraction and he had to admit, he felt...a little better for it.

He'd probably regret it later somehow. Like, if something bit off his head tonight solely because he'd taken an hour out to read some crap bestseller fiction.

It struck him that he didn't even remember what the hell he'd read. God.

So much had gone on that it wasn't until he stepped inside his room and saw Peter that he remembered...oh. Last night. With Ruby. He cringed on the inside. At the time, it just hadn't-well. Best not to go there. And she wasn't even here anymore, because of

[human_sponge]

The miso was a bit salty, but it also had the warmth and comfort that came along with soup. While it wasn't quite as good as chicken noodle in that respect, it was still kind of nice to focus on the feeling of the warmth spreading down his chest as he took another sip. He wasn't about to get attached to the food here, though, since that would mean getting attached to this place -- which seemed impossible, and yet he knew he couldn't let his guard down

[allroadslead]

Intrigued, and thankful for something factual for his brain to latch onto, Sam glanced up. Hallucinations were never good. And come to think of it, Dean had said something about that, hadn't he? Thinking some chick was a werewolf and getting his ass handed to him.

"I've heard of that happening," he said. "Um. My brother. He and another patient, they both saw each other as something else entirely. Ended up attacking each other."

He wondered what it was Peter and Claire (Claire-that was his niece, right?) had seen, but before he could ask, Peter turned a question on him. Sam paused. Shit. What was he even supposed to say?

He should...be feeling something, he thought. Maybe he just hadn't processed last night yet. Either that or he just-it wasn't new, losing people. But he didn't like to think of himself as immune. He wasn't. Was he?

"There was-" He stopped. "In the field last night, something was out there. I was traveling with a girl-" She wasn't even a girl, Jesus. "She didn't make it," he admitted, on a whim, before he could

[human_sponge]

It wasn't so surprising to hear that what had happened to himself and Claire had happened to others too, but Peter also thought that it was a little different. It wasn't like either of them had attacked the other, at least not purposefully. Peter had still injured Claire, even though it had all been in their heads; he still remembered the way her skin had just sloughed off of her body

[allroadslead]

Did he want to talk about it? Good question.

"No," Sam replied honestly. "Not really. Sorry. I-thank you, though." He knew Peter was just trying to be helpful and it wasn't as though Peter wouldn't understand. His roommate had lost friends, too. And he remembered he used to be a little more willing to talk about things, but even then...no, mostly he'd never said much of anything to anyone. Nothing important. Except to Dean.

Sometimes he wondered if he'd grown up normally, he might've been different. Not that it mattered now

[human_sponge]

If Sam didn't want to talk? Then that was fine. Peter knew that sometimes it just wasn't worth getting into, or it was too difficult to put into words. The reasoning didn't even matter. All that did matter was that Sam didn't feel comfortable discussing it, which meant it was time to drop the matter entirely.

The only person he might have actually argued back with was Nathan, because he knew his brother had a penchant for claiming that he was fine when he wasn't; because they were family, he was allowed to fight him on that. It also meant he had license to do the same with Claire, if it came up.

But for the moment, it looked like the ball was back in his court, and if there was one thing he didn't want to talk about in any detail, it was the explosion. After a pause, he nodded quietly