The Woods - Late Thursday Night

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

Depending on where you were at home, being out at night was either a sure fire way to get killed or the only time you could travel. In Fandom, Kyle Reese didn't like being out when it was dark enough that you couldn't see if something was coming at you before you had a chance to react. But he was out tonight.

He left Alice and Matilda with the room and retrieved one of his guns to add to the stuff in his pockets. Then, with only a brief moment of uncertainty that had kept him alive so far, he left the relative safety of the well lit buildings and made his way to the woods.

Kyle hadn't been sure how he would find the right place once he got there, but there were enough footprints to get the right general area.

There was no one here. He didn't feel a strong urge to go anywhere and didn't remember dreaming, if he had dreamed at all. But from Alice's little sister and the radio report, lost loved ones had come to visit in a way only Fandom could provide.

But there was no one here. No one had come for Kyle and he didn't understand why.

Maybe they were late. Maybe they would come now that he was here.

He could wait. He got comfortable leaning against a tree trunk, folded his arms across his chest and watched the woods.

He would wait.


[Open!]

Comments

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Marcus didn't sleep much anymore. Rafe, for all that he'd come back from the dead, however temporarily, did. And after the third time he'd chucked something at Marcus for waking him up, Marcus decided to take himself out for a walk. With no particular destination in mind, he found himself drawn back to the woods where he'd touched the stone.

He was, for the first time in a very long time, almost longer than he could remember, content. Happy, even, if slightly bruised from being whacked with a boot.

As he approached, he could see someone leaning against a tree, and he slowed, relaxing slightly when he realised it was Kyle. "Hey."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

Kyle sharply turned his head at the noise. He looked slightly disappointed when he saw it was Marcus, then went back to looking in the direction of the woods. "Hey. You're out late."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

"You too," he replied, picking his way forward to find a tree of his own to lean on. He studied Kyle for a minute before adding, "Out here for a reason?"

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

He shook his head, lying without saying anything.

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

And Marcus picked up on it, but he didn't say anything. Word had got around, even to Marcus, that Rafe wasn't the only one to show up; he suspected he knew what Kyle was doing here. "Got a visitor today."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Kyle asked. He glanced over again, hesitant. He could guess who, the only person Marcus had ever talked about, even if it was on that day they were never going to talk about again. "Who?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

"My brother." And Kyle was the only person he'd ever mentioned him to, on that day that had never, ever happened. "Rafe."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

The woods were there, in the corner of his eye, but now his attention was on Marcus. "Then why are you here?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "He sleeps, I don't. Tried to be quiet, but I woke him up. He threw a boot at me," actually, both boots and a pillow, but that was just detail, "so I left him to sleep, came for a walk." He nodded, indicating the woods. "Ended up here." For Marcus, that was practially babbling, but he was feeling mellow.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Did you dream about him?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Marcus glanced up at the sky, then looked over at Kyle. "Yeah."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Alice's sister said something about dreams. She died over a hundred years ago. She looks five and wanted to know why Alice didn't go to meet her."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

"Rafe, he found me. I know you can't trust the island, but it's him." He was quiet for a bit then said, quietly, not quite a question, "You didn't dream."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

He turned back to look at the woods. "I don't remember."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

There wasn't much he could say to that. Either someone would come for Kyle or they wouldn't. Marcus found himself hoping they would. "Going to stay out here all night?" It was just a question, completely neutral.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

The moment after Marcus asked that question, Kyle knew that no one was coming for him. The obvious flaws in his plan were laid out for him to see as clearly as he could see Marcus. Kyle could stay out here all night and there wouldn't be anyone walking out to meet him. Coming down here had been a futile attempt at changing the fact that his mom and dad hadn't come. He hadn't dreamed about them. He hadn't felt a strange pull to come to the woods. He was here of his own volition, for once in his life not a soldier who had to stay strong and fight to the death, only a kid who desperately wanted his parents.

He swallowed hard and nodded. When he spoke, his voice was rough. "Yeah."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Marcus heard the roughness, and he thought he understood it, at least part of it. "Want company?" Rafe had always been a heavy sleeper; he wouldn't be moving until well past sunrise.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

He considered the darkness. Being out here alone was stupid, even more stupid than his reasons for being here. "Only until the sun comes up."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

He nodded, then resettled himself, making himself more comfortable against the tree. It'd be a long night, but chances were, even if Kyle had said no, he'd have lurked, because being out here in the dark without someone to watch your back wasn't too smart. "Tomorrow," he said, surprising himself. "Come and meet him."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

Kyle didn't say anything for a while. He knew that was a pretty big deal, for Marcus to ask him to come and meet his brother. He ducked his head and nodded. "Sure." Neither of them being big talkers, it was going to be a long night.