B-Squad Common Room, SPD HQ [Evening, 11/23/2026]

[needsaparrot]

The last time Xander missed a really important call, he'd had no other excuse than not hearing the ringtone over his hometown falling into a sinkhole around his ears

Comments

[mparkerceo]

Parker was checking in with people, as she moved money around and tried to convince her friends that they needed to get out of town now, and Portalocity that yes, she really did need six tickets, damnit.

*ring*

[needsaparrot]

Like Xander was not going to catch every call on the first ring for say, the next five years?

"Parker." A moment of relief in his voice, before it went back, like the rest of him, to 'struck dumbfucked.'

[mparkerceo]

"Xander. How are you?" Please say you're okay, please say something silly....

[needsaparrot]

"Mel's gone." There was ... possibly a universe somewhere where that was silly, or where Xander was in any way okay?

[time_flyer_5]

Jen did not look happy when she walked into the common room, a circumstance that had nothing to do with any ridiculous layovers since she'd remained firmly in this particular pocket of the future since returning from the Ice Age.

She'd been paging back through her Ranger history records and noticed a glaring lack of . . . several people, really, including the entire Aquitian Ranger team, but mostly Wes Collins and Eric Myers's complete nonexistence.

At the moment she was chalking it up to someone hacking her files, and was trying to figure out who to have look into the situation, when she caught sight of Xander.

"What's going on?"

[needsaparrot]

Xander stared blankly at her for a moment, then just said, "Mel called," and let the voicemail play.

[time_flyer_5]

Jen listened to the voicemail with a cop's impartial attention to det--

Okay, she started to, but by the time the message was over she wasn't even pretending to do that any more.

"Oh, god, Xander." She could've started asking questions, or trying to draw correlations, but she wasn't that much of a hardass cop that she couldn't give him some time.

[needsaparrot]

Xander let out a short huff of air through his nose. Listening to that again hadn't been any easier than the first time, even though he knew what was coming. "I've thought she was dead before; you think you'd get used to that kind of thing after a while, but no."