Fic: After singularity_rpg
Because Steebe and Peggy and Bucky. Also George and Buffy. ILU.
Shaun took in a sharp breath and his eyes snapped open. For a moment, he was disoriented, then then narrow cot and the white walls and the green-lit blood test still on the table beside the - he knew, empty - coke can reminded him where he was. Dr. Abbey's new facilities. Not dying. He could have walked out yesterday, but they'd decided that he was going to stay inside for another night, just to see that the results weren't a fluke. His body felt beat, although that was no news.
It was the part where his mind was foggy and uncertain which worried him. It felt like it had been way longer than a few hours of sleep since he'd seen this place. Shaun snorted. Stupid dreams.
He'd have thought at least it wasn't George this time, except as soon as he tried, he knew that George had been there, and her physical absence hit him like a car on the highway. He sat up, then hunched, shaking for a little while.
"Hey George," he rasped. "Check this out."
She didn't answer.
She had stopped answering after the lights had shown green.
Until the end, she'd said. Maybe this was the end. Had been. "George..." he whined. It didn't help.
The hiss of the door opening made him look up, instead. He wasn't ready to deal with anyone. Not without her. But, as usual, that didn't really matter. Shaun forced his back to straighten.
And almost hunched again as the first person to cross the threshold was Becks, her eyes still puffy.
"Hi."
"Uh. Hey." He swallowed. "You all right?" It didn't help his throat much, but it didn't matter.
"Now I am."
His lips twitched at the defiance in her words.
"Good. I was worried."
"No, you weren't. You were set on dying."
"That, too, but it doesn't mean I wasn't worried, too. It was just a lesser worry than getting somebody infected."
That got a ghost of smile fleeting over her lips. "Right. Get your lazy ass out here. They've got work for you."
He perked up. "Oh yeah?"
"Yup. You're looking forward to a day of needles and all the bloodwork you never wanted to have."
That was what the rest of the next few days was.
George didn't speak to him again, although everybody else did.
He wondered if that's what it had been for her, when they ran all those tests and test therapies because of the retinal KA. The question didn't help. He was missing her. He was missing Buffy again, all of a sudden.
Since they weren't letting him outside - not that he disagreed with the logic, there were dangers out there in this area which went beyond getting bitten - he ended up talking with his friends, trying to fill in the emptiness of George's absence. And when they were busy - because Dr. Abbey knew better than to leave journalists idle - he had time behind a keyboard.
Naturally they weren't allowed to post anything. It stood to reason; they didn't even log in with their official accounts from here. Which was irksome on account of not knowing what was happening to his people, but they were keeping the site going.
That didn't mean that they weren't making blog posts. One of these days he was going to make them let him drive out in the van and upload - and download - a bunch of stuff from a location which wasn't going to endanger anyone. But not yet.
In-between, he ended up downloading a lot of footage of pre-Rising movies and series. Because Buffy had liked them so much. Some of them were so incredibly cheesy that he didn't get why he bothered. A few were decent.
And then there was one that shouldn't have caught his attention, but it did. It started out as the story of a gerbil-like kid who wanted to go to war (ha. ha) and had a friend who stood up for him but did go to war. And then a sort of serum turned the kid into a supersoldier. Who still was awkward around the ladies, not that it stopped one from falling in love with him.
Except it didn't work out, because he ended up frozen for seventy years or whatever.
It shouldn't have been that interesting to him, but Shaun couldn't shake the feeling that he related to those people somehow. That George would have totally been exasperated at the captain, but he would have won her over, being as earnest and real as he was. That the love interest was also the kind of woman that would have fit very well with the After the End Time staff without batting an eyelash, and kicked ass right up with the best.
And the friend. And... everything. It struck him as sad way too strong. Way too personal for just a flick.
Not that he showed his tears to anyone. Unlike the ones for George, these he couldn't explain, and he was crying for her again, when he wasn't paying attention.
He wanted something to be different, so much.
"If wishes were fishes..." he muttered. Washed his face.
Maybe something here would help. A vaccine against KA wouldn't be a bad thing, for example. Shaun snorted faintly. A serum. Like the Captain, except instead of being given it, it would be created from him.
What would the Captain think about that, he wondered, then almost laughed at the thought. Fictional character. Not real.
Except where he was crying again.
"George..."
Yeah. He was going to take that drive out with the van sooner rather than later. Today sounded pretty good, actually.
Shaun trotted off to get everybody's files. The transmission was going to be quick and dirty, but Buffy had left enough shit to make it possible.
Shaun took in a sharp breath and his eyes snapped open. For a moment, he was disoriented, then then narrow cot and the white walls and the green-lit blood test still on the table beside the - he knew, empty - coke can reminded him where he was. Dr. Abbey's new facilities. Not dying. He could have walked out yesterday, but they'd decided that he was going to stay inside for another night, just to see that the results weren't a fluke. His body felt beat, although that was no news.
It was the part where his mind was foggy and uncertain which worried him. It felt like it had been way longer than a few hours of sleep since he'd seen this place. Shaun snorted. Stupid dreams.
He'd have thought at least it wasn't George this time, except as soon as he tried, he knew that George had been there, and her physical absence hit him like a car on the highway. He sat up, then hunched, shaking for a little while.
"Hey George," he rasped. "Check this out."
She didn't answer.
She had stopped answering after the lights had shown green.
Until the end, she'd said. Maybe this was the end. Had been. "George..." he whined. It didn't help.
The hiss of the door opening made him look up, instead. He wasn't ready to deal with anyone. Not without her. But, as usual, that didn't really matter. Shaun forced his back to straighten.
And almost hunched again as the first person to cross the threshold was Becks, her eyes still puffy.
"Hi."
"Uh. Hey." He swallowed. "You all right?" It didn't help his throat much, but it didn't matter.
"Now I am."
His lips twitched at the defiance in her words.
"Good. I was worried."
"No, you weren't. You were set on dying."
"That, too, but it doesn't mean I wasn't worried, too. It was just a lesser worry than getting somebody infected."
That got a ghost of smile fleeting over her lips. "Right. Get your lazy ass out here. They've got work for you."
He perked up. "Oh yeah?"
"Yup. You're looking forward to a day of needles and all the bloodwork you never wanted to have."
That was what the rest of the next few days was.
George didn't speak to him again, although everybody else did.
He wondered if that's what it had been for her, when they ran all those tests and test therapies because of the retinal KA. The question didn't help. He was missing her. He was missing Buffy again, all of a sudden.
Since they weren't letting him outside - not that he disagreed with the logic, there were dangers out there in this area which went beyond getting bitten - he ended up talking with his friends, trying to fill in the emptiness of George's absence. And when they were busy - because Dr. Abbey knew better than to leave journalists idle - he had time behind a keyboard.
Naturally they weren't allowed to post anything. It stood to reason; they didn't even log in with their official accounts from here. Which was irksome on account of not knowing what was happening to his people, but they were keeping the site going.
That didn't mean that they weren't making blog posts. One of these days he was going to make them let him drive out in the van and upload - and download - a bunch of stuff from a location which wasn't going to endanger anyone. But not yet.
In-between, he ended up downloading a lot of footage of pre-Rising movies and series. Because Buffy had liked them so much. Some of them were so incredibly cheesy that he didn't get why he bothered. A few were decent.
And then there was one that shouldn't have caught his attention, but it did. It started out as the story of a gerbil-like kid who wanted to go to war (ha. ha) and had a friend who stood up for him but did go to war. And then a sort of serum turned the kid into a supersoldier. Who still was awkward around the ladies, not that it stopped one from falling in love with him.
Except it didn't work out, because he ended up frozen for seventy years or whatever.
It shouldn't have been that interesting to him, but Shaun couldn't shake the feeling that he related to those people somehow. That George would have totally been exasperated at the captain, but he would have won her over, being as earnest and real as he was. That the love interest was also the kind of woman that would have fit very well with the After the End Time staff without batting an eyelash, and kicked ass right up with the best.
And the friend. And... everything. It struck him as sad way too strong. Way too personal for just a flick.
Not that he showed his tears to anyone. Unlike the ones for George, these he couldn't explain, and he was crying for her again, when he wasn't paying attention.
He wanted something to be different, so much.
"If wishes were fishes..." he muttered. Washed his face.
Maybe something here would help. A vaccine against KA wouldn't be a bad thing, for example. Shaun snorted faintly. A serum. Like the Captain, except instead of being given it, it would be created from him.
What would the Captain think about that, he wondered, then almost laughed at the thought. Fictional character. Not real.
Except where he was crying again.
"George..."
Yeah. He was going to take that drive out with the van sooner rather than later. Today sounded pretty good, actually.
Shaun trotted off to get everybody's files. The transmission was going to be quick and dirty, but Buffy had left enough shit to make it possible.