Disclaimer: If you recognize the characters, they aren't mine. Just playing in the sandbox so graciously provided by JMS and the Wachowskis.
Reminder: I'm also on Twitter as "avidbeader" if you're reading here as a guest and would still like a way to get story updates.
Feedback is always welcome!
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"Riley, what happened?" He could feel her presence. He could feel all of them, sending thoughts of relief and welcome that he was back. He squeezed his eyes shut.
"We got away. We're somewhere we can stay for a while. We'll get you healthy again and then decide what to do next." She caressed his hand and he seized hers, clutching it fiercely.
"You need to put me under again. If I'm awake, Whispers will know where I am!"
"Will, do you know where you are?"
"Um…no?"
"Remember? Each time we visited one another we had to ask where we were the first time. As long as there isn't anything obvious to show it, Whispers won't know either."
"You're sure it's safe?"
Riley laughed a little at that, leaned in, and kissed his forehead. He felt an electric tingle where her lips met his skin. "I'm sure."
Will opened his eyes to see Riley hovering over him, like a heavenly vision. "Hello."
"Hello." She moved to the head of the bed he was on and grabbed something, then tugged at his shoulder. "Can you sit up a little? Lean on me?"
Together they managed to get him sitting up and resting against her. When he was settled she held up the thing in her hand, a bottle of water stripped of its label. She opened it.
"Go very slowly. You've had nothing but a little water for days. Kala said you'll be very weak, tired, and your heart might feel like it's beating out of your chest at times. Water first, then we'll get some food into you."
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Wolfgang was putting the final round of food in the chiller, perishables bought at the neighborhood market. He closed the door and looked up to find Riley. "Are you here or downstairs?"
"Downstairs. Will's awake. I'll stay with him and come get some food soon."
"I'll bring it down in a little while and put it on that table next to the door. Remember, nothing but liquids for at least the first twelve hours."
"All right."
"I'll stay tonight, get a full night's sleep, then head back tomorrow."
She nodded. "I'll get things ready here for your friend."
"Thank you." He turned to take his own bag to a bedroom on the top floor.
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Whispers looked around the room eagerly. "So, where have you landed, my young friend?"
Will glared at him from his position in Riley's arms. "We are not friends."
Riley looked up. "He's here?"
"Yeah, but he can't do a damn thing about it."
"Really, Will?" Whispers circled the room.
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"Really." Will leaned against the concrete wall behind him and Whispers jumped a little at the shift in their location. "I have no idea where I am right now. You, however…" He trailed his fingers across the bars of the cell. "I know exactly where you are. And I'm very happy with this situation."
"They can't hide you forever!"
"No, but if we can help keep you here, they won't have to. Just think." Will crossed the cell and towered over Whispers, who instinctively shrank from the younger, more powerful man. "Just think, if you get connected to a cold case involving the disappearance of a child, that's legal orders not to leave the state and maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in bail. You could be pinned down for months, maybe years."
He stood straight again. "And that gives us the time we need to start picking your organization apart. Face it, Doc, right now things are looking up for us."
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Whsipers scowled at Will in impotent anger. He could do nothing here. All he could tell was that Will was in a room somewhere with no view. He guessed from the furniture they were either still in Iceland or possibly back in England, though how that wisp of a girl could have managed to transport a comatose man that far was a mystery.
"You can't stall forever. There are plenty of others who can help me."
"Like who? Jonas? He's been fighting you ever since this mess started."
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"You rang?"
Will looked up to find Jonas standing on the other side of the jail cell. "Hello again."
Jonas held out a hand and Will slapped palms with him in greeting. Then Jonas turned and kicked at Whispers, who tried to move but did not avoid contact. "Ouch!"
"Interesting."
"Why interesting?" Will looked back at Jonas from watching Whispers rub his leg.
"If I'm not mistaken, we're all perceiving each other by visiting one another at the same time. Can you…?" Jonas waved a hand between the two of them.
Will was not about to turn down such an invitation. He strode over and seized Whispers by his lapels, dragging him to his feet and giving him a tooth-rattling shake, then shoving him back down on the bench. The older man's face paled as he realized he was now outnumbered.
Jonas looked thoughtful. "This is definitely a first for me, and from the look on your face I'd say the same for you. We are from three different clusters, but can all visit and affect the other—"
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Will gave a little mental push and was suddenly in the lab where Jonas was imprisoned. Whispers spun around, stunned at the sudden change of location.
"And in any place one of us happens to be? Not bad. Pity you've proven you're not on the side of the angels, Mr. Whispers. Because I'm certainly not going to give you any more chances to explore this." He turned to Jonas. "We will try to help you, Jonas."
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Will brought his awareness back to his own body and relaxed when he saw that Whispers had retreated. Jonas glanced around the room and nodded approvingly. "Not bad. I could make an educated guess as to your location, but it covers several countries' worth of territory. Keep being this clever and I'll start to believe your cluster has a chance of survival. But be careful. Never let your guard down for an instant."
"Thank you, Jonas." The older man left.
Riley set the water bottle on the nightstand. "Jonas again. I don't know that we can trust him."
"I think we can. Given that Angelica killed herself to protect us and Jonas has been trying to inform us about the situation from the start…I'm going to be careful, but I think he's on our side."
Will tried to sit up and immediately fell back. Riley tried to brace them both, but his weight won out and they went down on the bed in a tangled embrace. "Will, what is it?"
"Ugh, dizzy. Heart pounding, like you said."
"Here, more water. And I'll get a couple of protein drinks." She exited the room and Will could hear her footsteps as she paused at the door, then climbed stairs to an upper floor. He tried to puzzle out how he could have felt fine while visiting Whispers in the jail cell but so weak and shaky here.
A cool hand on his forehead startled him.
"Sorry, I felt your symptoms and came to check on you. Is it just the heart rate and dizziness? No vomiting or fever?" Kala put her hand to his forehead again.
"No, water's staying down so far."
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She moved to her dresser and picked up a cup. Will watched from her bed as he sipped more water from his bottle.
Kala fidgeted with the cup. "That's good. I think the plan was to start you on liquid meals, so as not to shock your digestion."
"Who knows where we are?"
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She sipped from her chai and set it on his chest of drawers. "Only a couple of us know exactly where you are now. There was a plan, but something happened to make it better, so you could be allowed to wake up sooner. And this way everyone is a little more protected for now – Riley is the only one you'll see in person for the next several days."
Will nodded. "How are you doing? It was kind of hard to tell with everything that was going on, but you and Wolfgang?"
She picked up her cup. "We haven't had the opportunity to properly discuss things. We will."
Wolfgang turned and glared at both of them, folded clothes from his satchel in his hand. "No, we won't. I told you, you have to marry Rajan."
"And who are you to tell me how to live my life? First you interrupt my wedding, completely naked—" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will's expression change from worried to curious. "—and tell me I can't marry Rajan because I don't love him. Then after I help you save your life and survive your family, you tell me I have to marry him! You don't get to decide these things! If you have decided that you don't want me, that is for you to say. But if I've decided I do want you, you can't stop me from trying!"
"You can't feel that way about me! You know what I am!"
She flung the liquid in her cup and Wolfgang gaped at her, chai dripping from his face.
"I know what you've done! There's a difference!"
Will staggered up to put himself between them. "Hey, hey! This is no time to let ourselves lose focus by arguing!"
Wolfgang unfolded one of the shirts in his hand and began drying his face. Kala took a breath as if she were about to go on, but suddenly stopped, looking at the empty cup and back at Wolfgang. "I…I'm sorry for that."
Before either of the men could respond, she left.
Will glanced at Wolfgang. "You okay?"
Wolfgang nodded.
"Going somewhere?" Will indicated the clothing in his hand.
"I'm going to get Felix out of the hospital where I hid him. I have a better place for him now. And I need to try and explain all this to him, somehow."
Will clapped him on the shoulder. "Be safe."
Wolfgang nodded and left.
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In the upstairs bedroom, Wolfgang tossed the stained shirt aside and put the rest of the stack in his hand in a drawer. As he continued to divide things into what was staying in Prague and what was going with him back to Berlin, Kala's declaration rang in his ears.
I know what you've done. There's a difference.
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Author's Note: Thank you for reading!