Ch. 26 (Pills? What pills?)

[dakota]

Jason didn't get hung up in the doorway this time, but Alice could still hear him coming long before he got to her, but it didn't stop him from coming up behind her and slipping his hands around her waist. " You handled that pretty well." He kissed her neck. " I'm gonna go see the baby. Still want to come?"


Everyone else had slipped away to do their own things, leaving Isamu and Kristian to be the last in the meeting. " Is, she'll come around. I get the impression that she's not used to having to worry about consequences and that'll take time. In fact I bet you're the first conscience she's ever had to worry about."


" That's the last thing I expected from you." Ashley forced a smile when Sierra found her. She slipped her hands from the pockets of her new coat. something about her seemed different, not to look at, but the way Sierra felt her presence. It seemed dulled compared to normal. " Thanks Si, you must have Kris holding Is back. I expected him to be the one to come check on me.." she chuckled.

[tag]

[Mierin]

Alice leans back into Jason and smiles quietly at the kiss. "Sure," she replies "it'd be nice to see Felicia and the baby." She turns around and hugs Jason "Did you really think I did ok? I wasn't sure how to tell."
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[shiivster]

*Sierra had stopped in the doorway leading to the kitchen and looked back and admits truthfully. 'nah .. i just cound't stand the 'holier than thou will never achieve' feelings i was getting off them. besides .. i was crying and didn't want to get caught at it. wanna help make chili? .. could use help with the onion part .. then i will be crying .. '

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[dakota]

" Yeah, sure I'll give you a hand. " Ashley replied, and followed to the kitchen. Something about her was off though, as her usual emotion charged responses weren't there and the way Sierra could feel Ash seemed dulled. but outwardly, she seemed fine as she got a couple onions and a knife out and began to peel them. She didn't look up as she asked, " Were you really crying, or you just trying to make me feel better?"

" Nobody ended up in the infermary, so things went okay. It'll all come in time." Jason replied, starting towards the door. Once to it, he set the walker aside on the deck and took the crutch he'd leaned against the chair instead. " This'll be less conspicuous. " He balance was improving, but not perfect, but it was obvious he'd been practicing. His his new jacket on, he held Alice's out to her and looked at Ash and Si in the kitchen. " We'll be back later. Gonna go over to Ty's."

Ashley nodded, " Say hi for us."

Jason nodded. " Sierra, you do all the cooking, we need anything at the store while we're out?"

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[shiivster]

*Sierra looks up and then 'list's on the fridge .. thanks .. ' *she continues with a few of the other things and then once they are alone again she admits* 'yeah. it's hard to realize everything you knew was a lie. i thought life was ... like an old TV show. i'm bitter it isn't.

'i'm also scared as heck about this urge to wanna kill at times. that's something new for me. you know, i'm not the smartest or the one that knows how to do stuff, but i really feel stupid at times. like how i was. i look like an ostrich? .. cause i sure felt like one now that i look back at how i was'

*she gets the meat browned as the beans start to boil. 'i just feel bad a lot of the time. but i gotta put on the pretty face, even when i wanna go cry. i save that for when i sleep. bet i'll be doing that tonight too, again.

'Ashley? .. you're getting weird vibey things right now ... your ..your radio wave thing .. the Metatector is pickin you up getting funny. kinda like dying. i guess its alright to cry. ... you can't stay bottled up forever you know. you'll get ulcers or something worse .. like cring yourself to sleep at night, like me. guess its a girly-baby thing to admit huh?'

*she continues to make the sauce part of the chili. 'guess i'll make a batch of 4 alarm chili for the ones that like the hot stuff .. ' *she dumps a can of canned super hot peppers into another pot and divides the large pot into two smaller batches* ' i really did try to be helpful today in catching Mako .. guess it was kinda stupid of me after all .. but hey .. guess you all can count on me to mess things up .. ' *she wipes the tears away and refocuses on cooking*

[tag- ashly/ any]

[Mierin]

Upon hearing Sierra tell Ashley that she was getting weird vibes from her, Alice looks at Ashley in a curious manner, wondering what could have caused that to happen. She uses her telepathy to scan Ashley's mind to make sure she's not sick or something bad like that.

She takes the jacket from Jason with a smile and puts it on. She then waits for Jason before heading out to the car.
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[dakota]

Ashley never noticed that Alice was scanning her, but Alice could definitely feel something different. Ashley was much calmer than she'd ever felt. Jason grabbed the list from the fridge as they passed and headed to the car. He looked tempted, but let Alice drive, " Now before you say anything, Ashley is okay. I stopped trying to figure her and her bug collection out a long time ago. She'll be fine." As they got in, they noticed a white van backed up to the garage. " Looks like Avi got pickup for fish boy already. Good, one less thing for you to worry about, boss." He smirked.

***

Ashley waved as the others left before shrugging," Wanting to kill isn't a good thing, but knowing that if it came down between you and someone else, you could isn't such a bad trait. You just have to know how to tune it out." At the mention about dying, she strangely chuckled, " I'm fine. My symbiotes are sleeping or something, because they seem to have just shut down." She pulled down her collar to reveal two of them on her collarbone, just sitting there instead of their constant moving around." she pulled her collar back in place. " You don't need to cry yourself to sleep. just talk things out with Kristian. He seems like a good guy, almost as good as Isamu." She smirked, " Now c'mon, lets get lunch finished and stop worrying about who did what. Remember, it's what the team does, not each one of us."

***

Just what I was looking for." Avi said, coming up behind Kristian and Isamu. " You two can give me a hand with the prisoner transfer." He led the pair of them to the basement, where two armed guards stood waiting outside the cell Mako was in.

One of the men spoke," Ticket's all punched, one way ticket to Gramercy Island."

" Good. " Avi said. " Isamu, Kristian, meet Geoff and Todd, two of Control's finest."

" Quit your sucking up, Claymore." Todd answered. " Your message said there was package to go to the lab too?"

" Yeah, it's right... ," Avi looked at Avi and Kristian, " did you guys see what happened to the rest of that Cure drug? It was right here."

" I haven't been down here." Kristian shook his head and looked at Isamu.

[tag]

[Mierin]

Alice is quiet as she gets into the car. Once Jason gets inside, she starts it up and starts driving for Ty's place. After she's been driving for a few minutes, she says softly "There is something wrong with Ashley. I scanned her mind, and there was something unusual about her - she was much calmer than she's ever been." Alice is quiet for a minute before adding "It was almost like her bugs weren't there at all."
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[shiivster]

*Sierra just nods and then continues, so that the chili and the varios flavors will have about 3 hours to blend together. 'lets just make some roast beef sandwiches. we've got the stuff here. do you think we have to feed the ones downstairs?'

*she sets the bread and other things on the counter and 'you wanna start slicing the meat? and about 3 tomatoes in about .. *holds up two fingers* '... that thick'

*she stands up with a jar of something and smacks her head against the upper freezer, and yelps out of habit and then starts laughing and backs up. 'i found some pickled garlic cloves, but i can't open the jar withour shattering it. you're gonna have to. small things like jars are a total pain for me .. '

[tag]

[Dome]

"Isamu says, "nice to meet you both," and gives a short bow to them.

At the mention of the drug Isamu say, "what 'cure drug'? I do not know what your talking about," he says, true confusion showing on his face.

[tag]

{ooc: I guess i missed something, I don't remember any mention of a cure drug.}

[dakota]

" You know, that new drug that's out on the streets that Will made the grenades out of. The stuff that somehow negates our powers." Avi explained.

Kristian nodded, " It's no fun. We got gassed with it when we rescued Ty's baby. It's wierd being powerless, like losing a part of yourself, mon. Dunno why anyone would take it willingly."

" Me either, but there's enough Metas trying it." Brett said.

Todd huffed, " Can we speed this up a little?"

*****

Ashley shrugged. " Probably. If there's any left over, we can stick them in the fridge. Someone will eat them." She took the jar and set it on the counter. " Let me show you a trick my grandma taught me." She took a knife from the drawer, and using the handle end, gently tapped the lid on an angle as she turned it until the seal popped. " Easy as pie, see?" she handed the jar back. " So I gotta ask. Just between you and me, do you have to worry about hurting Kristian when you two... you know." she winked with a grin.

*****

Jason looked at Alice, then shrugged. " Thats kinda odd. I remember her saying how sick she got when she tried to take them out, so I don't think she can get rid of them. maybe they were just blocking you out somehow." He sat back and looked out the window. " And don't complain because she's calm. This could just be the eye of the storm."

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[Mierin]

Alice shakes her head "Whenever I scanned Ashley's mind before I could feel the emotions of the bugs. It was like they weren't there or they were asleep." Sighing, she adds "I'm not complaining. I'm worried that there might be something going on with Ashley that we don't know about and that it might be something bad."
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[shiivster]

*Sierra just looks stunned at the bottle ... and 'wow ... no one ever showed me ... i gave up trying to open glass bottles or jars. ... '

*she looks at Ashley 'do i hurt Kristen when we ... when we what? ... ' *the stupified look on her face yells out the fact they haven't done more than hold hands or talk .. and Sierra is utterly clueless

[tag - any / ashlley ]

[Dome]

"That drug... I have not seen it I am sorry. It was a pleasure meeting you both. If you will excuse me," he says to the Control men as he leaves and walks back into the house. He searches out Ashley and when he finds her he says, "Ashley can I speak to you a moment."

If she says yes he leads her away from the others, "are you feeling ok? I know that you were upset earlier. There is something I want to ask you. Please do not be upset with me. Have you seen the "cure" drug that Avi was going to turn over to control?"

[tag]

[dakota]

" Yeah sure, Is. Sierra, I'll be back in a bit." Ashley said before going with Isamu. As he posed the question, she got an angry look, but it was gone quickly. " I'm fine, Is, just need some crash time. No, I don't have Avi's Cure sample. Why would you accuse me of taking it?" She asked quickly.


Shortly after Is and Ashley left her alone, Kristian wasted his time trying to sneak up on Sierra and he slid his arms around her from behind. " Chili smells good." He snitched a finger full and licked it. He eyes grew wide," Good and hot too." He gasped, caught off guard.

*****

" Okay, we'll check on her when we get back. Maybe there realy is something wrong. She'd try to hide it if there was anyways." Jason said. As they neared Tyler's house, Alice recognized a friend from school in the small park nearby that she hadn't seen in some time.

[tag- if Alice stops, post on the enter Tom chapter, otherwise post her]