Sorry for the stupidly long wait, everyone! I was away skiing so I didn't have a chance to add a new chapter. But here it is, and I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to leave a comment! :D
The weak rays of the rising sun filtered in through the cracked windows of the Medical Bay and Billy-Ray Sanguine groaned, turning to bury his face in his uncomfortable pillow. He felt like death. Mornings sucked by nature, but an early rise after the night he'd had really wasn't what he needed.
With a disgruntled sigh, he blindly reached for his sunglasses which were lying by his side and hastily shoved them on, sweeping a hand through his blonde hair as he clambered to his feet. He could hear mutterings from various people all around the Bay as he gradually began to wake up; words such as 'bitch' and 'returned' were a few that managed to register in his mind and his curiosity was piqued.
He walked over to Scapegrace, who was sitting on his bed and looked like he hadn't slept a bit all night - dark shadows were under his blue eyes and he was as pale as death, the ghostly pallor only highlighting the red, stitched cut on his right temple - and gestured around. "What's goin' on round here, then?"
"Huh?" Scapegrace glanced at him, as if only noticing he was there. "Oh. I…I don't know."
"Liar." Sanguine smirked, "C'mon, you're an army guy, right?"
"Not at the moment. Right now I'm a patient." He clasped his hands and stared at them. "Sorry, I don't know what everyone's talking about. I'm half asleep."
"You do look like a zombie."
"Oh, ha." Scapegrace muttered, glaring up at him. "That was hilarious."
"I know, I know." Sanguine's grin broadened, "Aw, man, your face. I'm only jokin' with you."
"Yeah, well, excuse me if I find it hard to laugh at stuff like that right now."
"Christ, who rattled your cage this mornin' ?" Sanguine snorted and Scapegrace sighed, running hand through his hair.
"I know. Sorry. I just - I haven't slept at all, and my head hurts…And…Do you ever think, you know, that it would be better if we were dead?"
"Excuse me?"
"No, no, hear me out. Like, have you ever just wanted to give up? Haven't you ever thought that we're fighting a battle which there's no way we'll win?"
Sanguine scratched the back of his head. "I just figured one day the skeleton would get Cain and -"
"But he won't." Scapegrace stood up, his eyes flashing; for a moment, he looked quite mad. "That's the thing, he won't. Because that's not Cain, that's Darquesse. And we can never kill Darquesse. Don't you understand?"
"Have you and your l'il boyfriend had an argument or something? 'Cos you ain't soundin' or lookin' too good."
"Oh my God. And that's it, that's the problem." Scapegrace pointed at him accusingly, but his mouth was trembling. "Small-mindedness. Two gay people can't talk without people assuming they're together. It's the same everywhere, even with half the world blown up. Thrasher and I are barely talking anymore and still, just because I'm gay, you think we're a couple."
"You have completely lost me, Scapegrace. What's that gotta do with anything you were talkin' about before?"
The man blinked, and seemed to return from somewhere very far away as he stared into the distance, breathing heavily. Eventually, his gaze returned to Sanguine's. "Sorry, what…what were we talking about?"
Dr. Nye - from where it had been doing its finishing touches on Erskine Ravel's injury - walked over. "Oh, dear." It said mildly. "I do believe our ex -zombie still has forms of mild concussion."
"Well," Sanguine muttered, "that'll explain it. Go to bed, Scapegrace."
"Where's he gone?" Scapegrace suddenly gripped onto Nye's arms in desperation, his eyes filling up, "Doctor, they've taken him from me again. I don't have any more money.
"Is he high?" Sanguine looked at the doctor with a raised eyebrow. "What in tarnation is he doin'?"
"I have no idea." Nye replied simply, steering the man back to his bed and bringing out a small bottle. "But he should probably drink this."
Scapegrace saw Thrasher and visibly relaxed. "Oh, look. Look, doctor, it's ok. They brought him back. They listened to me."
"Yes, yes." Nye said impatiently, opening the vial of liquid and trying to pour it down the man's throat. "Very good."
"Doctor Nye," Scapegrace seemed to almost return to normal as he tried to pull away from its grip, looking at it imploringly. "Heal his ankle before you do anything else." And with that, he snatched the bottle himself and drank it all, before practically collapsing back onto the bed with a small smile on his face.
Sanguine shook his head witheringly and glanced at Fletcher Renn's girlfriend, who was sitting up on her own bed, embracing her knees as she gazed at Scapegrace's sleeping form with a look of understanding. "Don't judge him, sir." She spoke up in a delightful Australian accent, and cracked a smile at the Texan. "I know what it's like to be crazy too."
"I wasn't -" He cut himself off roughly, shaking his head. "Whatever, kid."
"At any rate," she continued in a hushed voice, "it'll catch up with you, too. You were in a relationship with a psycho Remnant, after all…Weren't you?" She frowned at him, her brown hair framing her pale face as his jaw clenched.
"Don't call my girl that. She - well, she was more than a Remnant, got it? Shut your damn mouth."
"She killed my parents. If she was here now, in this room, sir, I could not be held responsible for my actions. But I'll probably get the chance soon enough, anyway…" She hugged her knees closer to her chest, a grin flitting across her face and Sanguine frowned.
"What are you talkin' about, kid?"
"Oh, nothing." Myra murmured, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear, still smiling. "Nothing at all, sir. Have a nice day."
Sanguine looked at her, frustrated at her coyness, before turning on his heel and leaving the Medical Bay out into the freezing outdoors. There was a large commotion, a crowd of people, surrounding a couple with hoods pulled low over their face. The two of them were fighting their way through into the nicer part of the Barricade, where the huts were actually made out of decent materials. Of course, only the Elders lived there. So why would anyone try to attack an Elder?
"Get out of here, you bitch!" Someone shrieked, hurling a large stone at the smaller of the two's back, but missing by narrow centimetres. "Get OUT!"
"Stay away from us!" A man from the crowd roared, trying to shove his way forward as the couple did their best to escape the onslaught. "We don't want you here, you disgusting whore!"
Sanguine found himself caught up in the surge and he was suddenly surrounded by a sea of people. He saw a flash of blue hair and outstretched his arm. "Clarabelle! Clarabelle!" He managed to lean forward and grip onto the young woman's elbow. She whipped around and her eyes widened at the sight of him.
"Billy - Billy, you should get out of here!" Her usually dreamy voice was panicked and…something else, something he couldn't quite place. "Please, Billy, you can't stay, it's not safe -"
"What the hell are you doin'? Come on, come on." He dragged her forcefully, and together they proceeded to shove their way out of the swarming crowd. "This place has gone to hell," He shouted over the noise, "What in God's name is happenin', girl?"
They finally managed to escape the throng of people and Clarabelle smoothed down her brown dress and tucked a strand of blue hair behind her ear as she glanced back up at him timidly.
"C'mon," Sanguine panted, wiping his brow as they hurried away from the furious crowd, his free hand still gripping onto her forearm. "What's goin' on? Who's back?"
She looked at him and felt rejection and misery tear at her insides before she whispered softly, "Tanith Low."
At this his mood drastically changed; he let go of her only to roughly pin her by the shoulders as he shook her in his anger. She struggled to get away, terror evident in her eyes as he wouldn't relent. "Billy! Billy, let go -!"
"How long? Where've they taken her? Are you fuckin' kiddin' me, Clarabelle? You know how long I've waited and now you're joinin' in the crowd who want to have her lynched?"
She managed to tear herself away and a defiant look crept onto her features as she wrapped her muddy shawl tighter around her shoulders. "Don't worry yourself, Mr. Sanguine. She'll be safe in her bed, without a single dark thought left in her." Her voice cracked as she persisted, "She's back in Ghastly's arms again and he won't let her go. I only wanted to see her for myself - she was a friend."
"Yeah? She was my girlfriend, you stupid -" He cut himself off as she inhaled sharply, roughly running his hands through his blonde hair as he breathed out. "Shit. Shit, I'm sorry, Clarabelle. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean any of that."
"I'm sorry too." She managed to say as she tried to meet his gaze. "But the Remnant's left her, Billy. It's not the person you knew anymore."
"I don't care." He clutched onto her shoulders once more, but he was smiling hopefully. "Hey - you're a good friend, y'know?"
She found herself grinning in spite of herself and her cheeks flushed. "I am?"
"'Course you are. One of the greatest girls in this whole place. So…so you'd help me out, wouldn't you? You'd take me to her?"
She smiled playfully at him, before coyly asking, "And what would you give me?"
He laughed, surprised more than anything else, as he let go of her. "Oh, anything, doll." He tapped the frame of his sunglasses as he rummaged in his pocket and came out with a few silver coins.
Clarabelle's face lost its smile as she glanced at the coins in his hand, before wrinkling her nose. "I don't want your money, Billy."
"Didn't think you would. You're not the type." He chuckled, returning the coins to his pocket as he casually draped an arm around her shoulder. "So, c'mon. What do you want?"
"I'll sleep on it." She giggled, beaming up at him.
"That's my girl. So you'll help me out, won't you? You'll find out where the scarred guy's keepin' her?"
Clarabelle tried to conjure up another smile as his arm left her body and she nodded. Of course she'd help. Anything to make Billy-Ray Sanguine happy. Anything at all.
XxX
"It's not much, I know." Ghastly held open the door to Tanith's private room with a bashful smile. "But I kept it here especially for your return."
Tanith wrapped her arms around herself as she blankly took her small surroundings in; there was a rickety bed pushed against the wall and a thread-worn rug on the floor, as well as one or two chairs. The biggest advantage was the single window, allowing a small portion of sunlight in and giving a view of the barricade.
She winced as Ghastly's hand brushed across her shoulders. A sizeable stone had found its target when she'd been hustled through the furious crowd and her body was already covered in small, purple bruises. Tanith made herself smile weakly at the tailor, before whispering in a croaky voice, "Thank you."
Those two words made Ghastly's smile broaden as he enveloped her into a hug. "Of course, Tanith. Of course."
Tears pricked in her eyes as he held her and it took all of her self-restraint not to break down completely in front of him. Fragments of her shattered memory flitted through her mind, pieces which Ghastly probably thought she couldn't remember due to the Remnant leaving her. But it wasn't as simple as that - her and the Remnant had been bonded. For Tanith Low, everything had changed.
"Well, I'll have to leave you for a little bit." Ghastly said once he'd let go of her, luckily not noticing the state she was in. "But there's a dressing gown for you on the bed if you want to change…"
"I like my leather."
"I know. And you know I do too. But it's just to make you more comfortable. Whatever you prefer." He kissed her cheek, before leaving the room with a smile and Tanith's torn heart.
