Hourly Challenge: Cross/Avatar

spoilers spoilers spoilers to everything

Three version of a heart to heart with Doug, after Ch. 11, for three very different Crosses.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, and I have a few Crosses.

"Hey, Neesae. Hold up a sec." Doug caught up to the Interceptor as she strode down Division Drive. He nodded over to the side of the walkway. She followed, her polished fashion boots clicking on the metallic sidewalk.

"I wanted to thank you for, you know. What you did. Stepping in to save Lao," Doug said gruffly.

"That," she acknowledged. She looked away, lifting her fingers through her braids. Their coppery beads clicked one by one as the strands slipped free. After a moment, she gave Doug a cool smile. "It was easy. I recognize that feeling. Wanting to kill the world because someone I loved died."

/the hospital bracelet still slipping on his wrist; the sick weakness along his arms; the cold aluminum of the baseball bat; the chime on the liquor store door/

"Hey," Doug said with concern, "what happened? You team with Irina and Gwin and they're okay. Who'd you lose?"

/Jamal; his name was Jamal/

"I'm not talking about Mira. This was before."

Doug's face flared with interest. "Hey, that could be a memory from Earth!"

/he could have slammed the bat into the counter, the shelves, the cash register; he aimed for the clerk's face, over and over/

Neesae flicked her head so she could look disdainfully down her nose at Doug. She didn't have to twist her head very far, since they were close in height. "That's still nothing I remember from then. But it feels right."

/sitting in the cell, good as dead; his life was over but it had been over since he heard the news/

"So you understand what the guy's been through..."

"Doesn't make me anything like him. I don't remember Earth at all," Neesae's voice emphasized this point, "but I remember bits of the Whale. I know I worked my butt off to become a better person. What did he do? Nothing. He's a lazy punk who let himself become a tool of evil.

/when Jamal's dad paid bail and invited him to come to Las Vegas, he went without asking; she woke up different/

"But..."

"I have a little sympathy, but only a this much," she said holding her fingertips pinched together. Her manicured nails sparkled a deep blue. "I hope your friend gets better, but I stood up to protect Elma from making the wrong decision."

xcxcxcxcxcxcxcxc

"Hey, Roo. Hold up a sec." Doug caught up to the Pathfinder loping down Melville Street in the commercial quarter. He nodded over to the side of the walkway. Roo followed, his flip flop sandals slapping the concrete.

"I wanted to thank you for ... you know. What you did. Stepping in to save Lao," Doug said gruffly.

Roo's face split in a huge grin, shifting his scars into a tight X. "It was nothing! I'm just glad it worked out."

"I know you don't understand what the guy's been through..."

"Don't worry, don't worry," Roo said. He flapped a dismissive hand. "I got nothing in my brain, so I mostly follow along. Lin says jump and I do. Besides, Pathfinders have a little division loyalty, I guess."

"You're a good friend, Roo."

"Hey, nice to be called that. Look, there's a double shot coldberry iced mochachino screaming my name somewhere. See ya!"

Roo walked away jauntily, lips pursed and sucking one agonizingly slow breath in after another. He'd prayed that when Elma shot him, Lao would believe she'd shoot Lin too, and that maybe, MAYBE, it wouldn't hurt as much as having an arm blown off.

xcxcxcxcxcxc

"Hey, Case. Hold up a sec," Doug called out to the drifter when their paths crossed in the lobby of the Mim Maintenance Center. She waited patiently at the side of the door, although she clearly wanted to leave. Her boots had moved silently on the polished linoleum.

"I wanted to thank you for, you know, what you did. Stepping in to save Lao," Doug said gruffly. He dipped his head to keep from being overheard.

"It's my job to protect people." Her voice was as flat as her green glass eyes. She gave a small shrug. "I would have done it for anyone."

"Yeah, but you did it for him. I don't think you understand what he's been through..."

"His wife and daughter were killed, along with 9 billion other people, so he decided to kill the remaining few thousand."

"Hey, it's not like that..."

"I met his team a couple times. They were nice."

"They're going to be okay, once we secure the Lifehold," Doug explained patiently.

"He didn't intend that to happen."

Doug cleared his throat. "Still, it was really solid for you to step up like that. Took some guts."

"I knew I was going to be okay."

"Yeah, because Elma was never going to shoot you, right?"

"Sure. That reason." She stared at him blankly.

"Well, thanks again. I owe you."

Case didn't answer as she slipped out the door.

[note to self: don't go in for check ups during visiting hours]

a/n: This took more than an hour, but I was having fun. For the Hourly XCX Art challenge, mostly visual but stories welcome. Thank you for letting me participate.

The Quell for Case the J-body (Drunkard, Hobo, Liar, and The Great Skell Robbery), and Incident at the Morgue for Neesae, who stole someone's slot on the Whale (Inktober 2019/12-13 and more brutally Inktober 2017/31). Roo, my boy, is so easy I didn't need anything (Inktober 2018/29 & Keep on Smiling).