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November 18th

Trip lay in bed watching pictures flick by on the monitor, the room around him dark. He hadn't been able to sleep, so he'd been flipping through channels, not caring what was showing so long as it wasn't the news feeds.

He sat there numbly, staring at the glowing box as images played across it, unseen. After that first day, there had been no further bombings, but this nation, this city, still seemed to be waiting anxiously for the next attack from within. He'd been searching for Malcolm for two days, not including the day of the bombings. Two days, walking from checkpoint to checkpoint, hospital to morgue, hoping for news, but there had been nothing. He'd left information about his friend with the authorities, left messages to be sent to Enterprise, but there were hundreds...no, thousands of people missing. And with no contact from Enterprise, and no ability to reach them, he was lost as for what he could do.

The intercom buzzer sounded and he started, surprised. It was the middle of the night; he barely knew anyone here. The buzzer sounded again, then a third time, so he went to the view screen and turned it on with a cautious, "Yeah?"

He could see the empty street, then a man moved into view, wild-eyed, unkempt, staring fiercely into the monitoring device. Trip stared. "Malcolm?" he asked, barely recognising his friend. Not waiting for an answer, he hit the trigger for the entrance lock, then flung open the door and raced down the stairs to the entryway. When he reached the foyer, he saw Malcolm there, uniform torn, holes burned across the sleeves and shoulders, hair on end. His face was soot-stained, expressionless but for his eyes.

Trip drew him into a fierce hug, saying nothing. Malcolm stood stiff in his arms at first, then he laid his head against Trip's chest.

After a long moment, Trip stepped back. Wordlessly, he grabbed Malcolm's hand and led him upstairs to their room.

Trip closed the door behind them, and Malcolm pulled away, moving to their window, staring out at the dark night sky.

Trip stepped to his side and said, quietly, "Where have you been?"

"Walking," Malcolm replied, still looking away.

"Walking?" Trip asked, confused, but keeping his tone gentle.

Malcolm nodded, then turned away from the window. He sat on his bed and stared off at nothing.

Trip sat beside him. "You've been missing for days." When his friend made no response, Trip, worried, said, "I tried to find you. My communicator isn't working." He placed a hand on Malcolm's arm. "We can't get out. I mean, Enterprise is in orbit, I'm sure, but I haven't heard from them, and we have to wait, air traffic isn't allowed. Enterprise is probably helping with refugees, anyway." He paused, realising that he was babbling. "I've been trying to find you."

Malcolm didn't react.

Trip moved from his place on the bed and squatted in front of his friend, directly in his line of sight. Malcolm's eyes slowly moved to meet his.

"Are you okay?" Trip asked.

Malcolm shrugged. "Do you mind if I have a shower?" he asked, his voice inflectionless.

"Sure," Trip replied cautiously as Malcolm stood and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him.