040. - "But it was your home!" "It was a place I once lived. End of story." - Open spam/PM/whateva

[brokenweapon]

[Even though this Paris is different - this Paris has changed - it's still Paris to him, and he hates that the Admiral's forced him to be here. He could do without the memories this place dredged up, the ones since his awakening on the fishing boat off Marseilles. Even the ones before then, the dim ones that were half-present, still hurt.

He half-considers visiting his old apartment, visiting what used to be Treadstone's Parisian base of operations, but dismisses the thought. No. He has no need to.

So he walks, keeping his eyes peeled as he inspects the city, and letting the crisp October air clear his head.

He tries not to dwell on the dog-eared paperbacks in his room, the ones that almost make sense but don't quite. He tries not to dwell on the arbitrary capriciousness of the Admiral and the loss of one of his only friends.

And he tries very hard not to dwell on why in the hell he got stuck with another goddamn kidnapping, body-snatching Animorph for an inmate.]

Comments

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

[Look who doesn't give a fuck! It's marvelous how little he cares.] "No. She's still in a coma." [Is he going to tell David who his inmate is? Is he? Probably not. He's not good at telling people things.]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

"'She'?" [He lifts one eyebrow quizzically.] "Since when is Claire in a coma?" [Because, really, what other girl would talk to Bourne?]

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

"Not Claire. My new inmate." [He has a zombie girlfriend, tyvm, David!]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

"Wow, you got a new inmate and she's already in a coma? That's gotta be some kind of Barge record. [Trolling Bourne might not be the smartest thing to do, but he'll be damned if it isn't satisfying.]

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

"I could tell you she was comatose when we were paired, but why ruin a good story with a few pesky facts?" [He puts his cell phone back in his pocket, unbothered by David's trolling attempts. But why not fight fire with fire?] "Funny - you might know her."

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

"Yeah? I kinda doubt it, unless she's Sarah Connor. And last I heard she was a warden." [The thought of Cassie briefly comes up... but no, Bourne wouldn't know about her. And besides, she was a warden too, wasn't she? Weirdly, the thought that maybe Hayley came back as Bourne's inmate crosses his mind. Hey, stranger stuff has happened, right?]

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

"Sarah Connor?" [Yes. He is behind on his pop culture. Feel free to mock him. He will give approximately zero shits.]

"When I was assigned to her, she was in Zero - obviously she needs supervision." [If he smoked, right here was where he'd pull out a cigarette and light it, but he relies on his lungs too much.] "Anyway. I think I've figured out who attacked you in the CES."

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

"Never mind, you wouldn't know her." [Believe it or not, David hasn't clicked yet to it himself.]

"Is that so..." [All interest in Bourne's inmate, whoever she might be, evaporates. Not for a second does he think to connect the two scenarios - mostly because his attacker was a he, while Bourne clearly stated his inmate was a she.] "You gonna keep me in suspense?"

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

"Should I?" [Weird. Civil conversation - or at least as close to one as he's managed to get. Shame he was about to destroy it.]

"You're not going to like this, but...motive and opportunity both point to my new charge as your attacker," [he said, cool as a cucumber.]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[For a moment, David just... stares. Bourne's seen him get aggressive, he's seen him go mad with power, and now he's seeing him so utterly and completely hit by shock that he just has to... stop and reboot himself. See, it was all right in front of him. He just never let himself stop and put it all together until now.]

"No," [he whispers, the blood draining from his face as the truth begins to dawn on him.] "No, no. Not her. No."

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

[Bourne tries to put himself in the kid's shoes for a minute. If it were a combination of Hirsch, Abbott, and Kirill...he still wouldn't feel too similar, but it was a good place to start. She'd ruined his life, trapped him, and killed him in the end. They'd ruined Bourne's life and killed the one person he could remember loving. He'd be angrier than David seems - but he has a place to start with now.

And he finds that he doesn't want to gloat. For the first time in a while, he's seeing his inmate as a scared kid. An interesting perspective.]

"Rachel Berenson." [He says the name quietly.] "Looks like the Admiral thought I should try my luck with her, since I did such a great job with you." [The sarcasm is clearly evident, but its barbs aren't directed at David.] "When I was assigned to her, I realized the connection. Your attacker was barefoot. You can't morph shoes." [He shakes his head.] "I'm going to keep a close eye on her. I won't let her attack you again. It's not good for...it's not good for either of you."

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[Now it all comes together. Rachel. Of course it was Rachel. The shoes, that was the thing. He'd noted how weird that was himself. And how weirdly personal the attack had been, for someone he didn't recognize. But it made perfect sense. It'd just been Rachel in a morph.]

"... how long?" [David's voice is thick with anger, but surprisingly, there's little of it for Bourne. Bourne at least had the excuse of their history not to tell him. But Will? Tim? if Rachel was here, they knew. They had to know.] "How long has she been here?"

[He flashes back to that last conversation he had with Tim, how evasive he'd been when he asked him about his suspicions. Now he knows why. That fucker was keeping it from him the whole time. Will probably, too. Why? That was easy - they didn't want him going after her. His fists clench at the thought of being deceived, by people he trusted no less. At least with Bourne the threat had always been right in front of him.]

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

"Mid-September," [Bourne says, maintaining his quiet tone.] "Just over a month."

[That's the David he recognizes, there's that anger he knows so well. Privately he admits the kid's resourceful and ruthless - traits he would have encouraged when he was his old self. David's almost like a mirror of how Bourne had been, but younger, and driven by anger.

Perhaps that was why they never got on well.]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

"A month..." [David's fists are clenched so hard his nails are drawing blood, but he doesn't notice.] "A fucking month..."

[Now that he knows, he's thinking in overdrive. Clearly, this is something he's gonna have to handle on his own. Will can't be trusted anymore. And Tim definitely can't be trusted. They were just playing him, the whole time. Well, two can play that game.

He'll go after Rachel. Not now, not with her comatose. There'd be no point. No, he'll wait until she's awake and thinks she's safe again. This time he'll hunt her down. He'll take the fight to her, like he did before.]

"That's... that's good to know." [Slowly David unclenches his fists, his fingernails bloody. He's starting to calm down, but if anything, he's even worse for it. The last time Bourne saw him like this was right before he'd come after him with Hoffman and Slick in the CES.]