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 Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 9:17 am
Jerry fell silent. He didn't know how far or close he was to promotion. He felt like he had been a trainee forever... well, the past year felt like forever. Had he not known about... any of this, he would have blissfully not thought about it.
The list dropped in his lap changed matters, though.
His hands balled into fists, his jaw set, but he carefully remained quiet.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 10:45 am
Bix turned a bit redder again but he didn't say anything else. He couldn't argue, again, with the facts. He was just a trainee and he had no real say. Was he close to being promoted? The sun hunter doubted it. His performance recently had been less than stellar and he'd only been promoted right before Christmas time.
The young man looked pretty disgruntled but mentally, he was planning how he could acquire the information he wanted on his own.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 11:56 am
Sasha was drowning in a spectrum of emotion, feelings so deep and complicated that she didn't completely understand them. Shamed over the theft of the picture. Mortified she'd gone through the doctor's things. Confused about this entire situation. Furious that she didn't get any of the answers she'd hoped for.
The urge to run was overwhelming.
Sasha rose to her feet without a word. There didn't seem to be anything else to ask. The doctor had stated - quite bluntly, at that - that certain information was not going to be available to them.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to hit something.
Sasha had the feeling that if she remained in the room a second longer, one - if not all - of those things would end up happening.
She felt emotionally mangled. Flayed wide open. Sasha wished she'd never pursued this. It would have been easier, simpler. She turned to face the doctor, eyes still damp but a determined set to her jaw. There was something that the doctor had said that made her feel raw, almost furious. At him, at her papa, at herself, at the entire frickin' situation.
"How. How did my papa not know about my family, and.. and.. why wouldn't my papa have told me?" She lifted her chin; despite the tremble, there was a stubborn air about the gesture.
"What.. what frickin' harm could there have been? In anyone telling me? I never would have.. and.." Sasha made an annoyed, frustrated, furious sound. Her voice was low, chilly, uncharacteristic, "who would I have even talked to?! It's not.. it's not like I knew anyone! There on that frickin' farm!"
Her voice cracked.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 12:11 pm
Again, Jerry bit his lip, shifting in his seat before subtly reaching for her hand in a quiet attempt at comfort. He could understand being upset about the.... the Huntress thing but the secrecy made sense to him. That didn't mean he liked it, but they'd get the information eventually, right?
Just not yet.
The moment he had managed to catch her fingers, he gently rubbed his thumb along the back of her palm, giving her a weak smile, "It'll be okay, just... just calm down, okay?" He shifted, partially standing to whisper to her before urging her to sit again until H had had enough and sent them on their way.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 1:08 pm
Sasha's outburst brought a smile to his face, and as Jerry attempted to comfort her, the doctor replied, "Because the man who raised you wasn't a hunter, and thus had even less clearance than yourself." He picked up the photo her old house again and tapped it on the desk, "Do you know, my dear, that among our enemies there are psychics? Creatures capable opening your mind, and digging through it, plucking out the information you hold with the same ease that I pick up this photograph?"
He slid a small drawer open and dropped the photo and letter in, shutting it with a loud, swift snap. "When I choose not to tell your something, there is generally a reason, a very good reason, as to why."
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:11 pm
That photograph.
Sasha gazed at it with a sense of dazed longing, snapping out of her reverie abruptly in thanks to the sharp sound of the closing drawer. His smile made her feel an irrational surge of anger that was culled by the flickering memory of the way he'd looked yesterday, in the cave. That quick reminder of the fear she'd experienced was enough to keep her from exploding, from lashing out at the doctor. Her division lead. These secrets had been kept for good reason; Sasha would never be able to live with herself if she'd unwittingly caused harm to a family member, even if she didn't know them.
It was too much to take in. She had family. Somewhere. Sasha could feel herself cracking around the edges, and the last thing she wanted was to cry.
Again.
Sasha gave Jerry's hand a squeeze. His little gesture made her feel somewhat better, but ...
"If he had known, he would have told me." She narrowed her eyes slightly, childishly. "My papa was an honest man. He.. he might not have been a hunter, but he was nothing if not honest."
A petulant retort, but she felt it was justified. Kind of. It made her feel better, at least.
Sort of.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:06 pm
Placing his chin in his hand, the doctor raised his eyebrows at her, "Hm? Well then, I'm very happy for you, Sasha. I believe we're done here, but I would like you to stay behind. We have a little something to discuss, now don't we?"
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:43 pm
All of the white-hot anger she'd felt just an instant before, the frustration, the annoyance... it all drained from her as soon as the doctor spoke. An odd mixture of fear, shame and even embarrassment coalesced to form some strange sort of mortification that Sasha had never experienced before.
She immediately paled, bit her lip, dropped her gaze. The only color was the surge of pink that tinted high on her cheeks. Whereas before she'd been ready to move to the door, now she nervously cleared her throat, making a pointed move back to the chair she'd vacated.
Her face was immediately buried in her palms, elbows braced on her knees.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:51 pm
Regardless of expecting little more from the Life Lead, Jerry's hackles had raised on the back of his neck. Brows furrowed, his hand tightened on Sasha's until she pulled away to hide behind them. "N-now, see here! We didn't find that list on purpose! So we know this much, you're... you're saying we wait until we're no longer trainees to know more? We don't... don't need to know about WHERE they might be but if.. if my parents are alive somewhere, I'd like to know! What would some psychic do with THAT if I don't know where they are?" And... if they weren't, what would knowing about already dead hunters do for security? "We're just... just looking for some clarification of where we came from," At least he was, "We don't... don't need to know all the top-secret details!"
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:11 pm
The doctor was beginning to look bored, "They're very much dead, Jerry. Unless of course, a reaper decides to find their bodies and reanimate them for a fun family reunion." His smile was deceptively pleasant as he asked, "Do you feel better now?"
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:49 pm
Jerry shut up immediately, his face going red as he wobbled uncertainly on his feet. That hadn't even occurred to him.
His stomach clenched, but even so he didn't take his eyes off of the doctor. "No, sir." He replied shortly, "Do you?"
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:19 pm
Bix suddenly felt bad. Just bad.
He was lucky. Whatever dead hunter he was related to (most likely on his father's side.. if not his actual father) had made sure he was in good hands. He'd grown up with parents and a brother and family. He'd grown up isolated enough not to suffer too many haunting shadows in his life. He'd grown up without questions and had the choice to ask them himself instead of being thrust unwillingly into the mystery.
Sasha and Jerry didn't seem to have as easy a time as him and now their answers were at the mercy of this awful person. Bix wouldn't qualify him as a man in his mind. A man didn't make teenagers beat each other to death in a gymnasium. Only a monster did that. Apparently you needed monsters when fighting them, but that didn't make Bix any more comfortable.
His eyes narrowed as the words were slung. He didn't want to leave Sasha but H was her division lead and had every right to keep her. It just made his stomach flop unpleasantly to think of walking out the door without her.
"Jerry.. " Bix rested a pale hand, on the other man's shoulder and his voice was surprisingly steady. "C'mon. We'll get our own answers." It may take long, it may wait until promotion, but they would get them.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:06 pm
The doctor just gave Jerry a smile that implied he did indeed feel much better now, and gave the two younger men a small shooing gesture.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:41 pm
Jerry's jaw clenched as he kept his eyes on the Doctor for several more moments before he finally acquiesced to Bix's hand. He paused before turning to leave, finally breaking eye contact with the doctor to put a hand on Sasha's shoulder, leaning beside her in the chair. His fingertips slid to her hand, leaning in to whisper, "I'll wait for you outside. It'll be okay. Don't put up with his shenanigans." For a second, he hesitated before resolve clenched in his stomach. ******** H. He gave her a quick kiss to the temple before stiffly not-limping towards the door.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:52 pm
"We'll be outside Sasha." Bix still felt bad about leaving her with the doctor. He was sort of like that creepy uncle who you didn't like your little cousins to hang out around.
The albino hunter moved to the door and stepped outside. The Life Labs, since being cleared, were abuzz most of the time with people looking for things to do. Bix felt fine just stepping to the side and leaning against the wall in silence.
He looked to Jerry, for anything to talk about, but he felt at a loss. Suddenly out of nowhere, "We can.. we can ask other people to help us. I don't think I'm being promoted any time soon but.. maybe some others?"
He kept his voice low so he would be unheard on the other side of the closed door. His head then sagged again and he shrugged, hopelessly.
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