entrancelogs | Merry Christmas you filthy animal

Entry tags:

Merry Christmas you filthy animal

Who: (Future)Tom Hanniger, (Future)Isaac Lahey & COMPLETELY OPEN
Where: Literally all over Wonderland
When: Dec 15-24
Rating: R for language, violence, adult themes
Summary: The last time they checked, Wonderland had stopped pulling shenanigans. But that's exactly what they find in the middle of a late night patrol.

THIS IS A CATCH ALL LOG FOR TOM AND ISAAC FOR THE EWAYMAS EVENT PERIOD AND CONTAINS INDIVIDUAL STARTS FOR BOTH CHARACTERS. The starts not doing it for you? Message with what you want and we'll work it out.

Both prose and bracket spam is perfectly welcome!

The Story:

w e l c o m e

It was late when the world shifted. They didn't keep much to normal hours these days, not for years actually, but somewhere in the back of Tom's mind he knew it was midnight. Patrol ran in teams of two, sore and tired bodies treading lightly around the perimeter of the mansion they'd managed to lock down. Heavy boots with thick rubber soles carried them with almost no sound. Worn but trusted armor over their chests and backs to keep them alive.

He didn't speak as he and Isaac moved, knowing the other man so well by this point that making noise was redundant - a look or hand gesture was all they needed to communicate. A quick glance over his shoulder and he nodded to the corner up ahead, they would go as far as the third floor stairwell and double back onto the second. It had been surprisingly quiet that night, a tiny reprieve, but they had grown to know that silence wasn't always good. The pair drew up against the corner and counted. 1...so far so good...2...as quiet as death...3...and around they went.

To be greeted by bright and cheery decorations. Bright lights gave the hall a rosy glow and garlands curled across the walls and ceiling. There had been no momentous pull, no vertigo as the floor fell from under them. It was simply changed. Where the carpet had been scorched and torn it was now pristine. Faded colors back to their original hue. The cold which seemed to forever creep into the mansion was gone in a blink of the eye.

Tom stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Isaac with wide eyes. The corner they'd just turned was the same as the hall ahead of them. Pristine. Cheery. Wrong.

"Are you seeing this?"

"Yeah," he managed to mutter out whilst his fingers traced over one of the garlands. If Tom was seeing it, it meant it was happening... Right? Maybe that's what Stiles thought too when he'd come back broken, when he'd come back absolutely mental. He couldn't get feet to move, choosing to instead let stormy blue eyes traverse the disturbingly new scenery.

Isaac couldn't keep from tilting his head to the side, trying to catch all the sounds, to figure out what the hell was actually happening. "And hearing, and smelling." A pale hand reached out to touch Tom's shoulder as if to make sure he were actually there, when it made contact he gave a gentle squeeze before withdrawing it. Wonderland was too worn out and dead to play tricks on them like this, wasn't it? Maybe the Resistance had finally managed to do something right, managed to heal Wonderland somehow.

They'd been doing patrols long enough to be used to just about anything that could come their way, but neither of the two were prepared for this abrupt change. It was no Jabberwock attack or desperate survivor.

"The hell is going on?"

"Million dollar question." Tom answered, lowering his gun and drawing himself back. Somewhere in the distance he swore he could hear a Christmas carol playing.

"Illusion maybe?" But it was unlikely. There hadn't been an event in years.

Uncomfortable was an understatement for what he and what he was assuming his partner in crime was feeling. That was definitely a Christmas carol playing. "Or mass hysteria from a psychotic break." The humour was dry, sarcastic, and the words just loud enough that Tom would be able to catch them. Fingers idly found the metal of the zip to his black parka and he wasted no time zipping it up – a defensive gesture for comfort more than anything.

"What are you gonna do?" He paused as he looked around them again before adding a quieter question, "What do you want me to do?"

Tom snorted lightly at the empty joke and took a moment to think, tongue pushing up to rest against the back of his front teeth. What did they do, indeed.

"C'mon." A nod towards the stairwell. They had to press on. Just because the place had changed was no reason to abandon their job. If anything it was cause to go faster, further, look at everything and anything that might offer an explanation. And so he started off again, the two moving with a silent stealth only years of practice could produce.

Tom nodded to the stairs and they went down to find the second floor was just the same as the third. Cheery, untouched by the destruction they knew so well as the house had slowly fallen to ruin and ceased to repair itself. He peered down the hall from his position on the stairs, a plan clicking together piece by piece.

"We should split up. Sweep the house." It was breaking the buddy system protocol they'd put in place but this wasn't a normal situation. He retrieved his communicator from a pocket on his vest to make sure it worked and, happy that it did, turned back to his companion.

"I'll take from here down. You go up and call me if you find anything."

Isaac had followed without any hesitation, only coming to a slow stop when Tom had. "Split up?" It sounded a bit incredulous, not on purpose however. Rule #1 for all horror movies: never split up. Then again, unless this was attack of the killer Santa, things were looking pretty not terrible.

He didn't want to split up, that was a bad idea. If someone or something attacked Tom Isaac wouldn't be able to help him unless he called him in time. Teeth grit together as he tensed his jaw and he actually pondered if he should mention that it was not a good idea. The action of checking his communicator was mimicked though and a slow blink later the device was shoved back into one of his many pockets.

"Alright," he answered instead of "Don't you think this is a crappy plan?" What did anything even count as? What exactly were they looking for? Great... "If – If anything happens, anyone attacks you – just..." Isaac's gaze fell to Tom's communicator as he trailed off. "Call me..." They'd already lost so many people, Isaac wouldn't be able to handle losing Tom too.

He didn't wait for an answer, instead he headed to the stairs without a second glance.

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[Despite using most of his brain power to look up any and all relevant information in the Duchess and the Vorpal Sword, Tom has to rest sometimes. There are people he wants to see, old relics of the ghosts he is now so familiar with, whole versions of the shells he marches along side. People who have not yet found themselves, friends he's not yet made.

He thinks Adam is one of those. A brother in his time now. A comrade he'd trust to watch his back. A close friend. Family, even.

But the time shift changes all that. Still, he's curious.

And so he wanders to the Winchester Jr.'s door and taps lightly with the butt end of a beer bottle.]

You in there, snuggles?

_{[In this time, Adam's still rubbed raw from losing family. The hole where his mother had existed is empty. There's nothing to fill it with except grief and booze, and sometimes the heat of scorching hot Hell memories.

Five years to adapt to that loss is a long time, and the owner of the wary voice on the other side of the door is nowhere near learning how to fill up his cracks with steel and ice. Giving his memories away is a form of pain management he hasn't discovered yet.]}

... Dean?

_{[To Adam's scrutinizing the eye, the person he spies through the peep hole looks more like his brother than Tom. Dean has hard edges, where Tom's are softer. This person looks like both, a blend of the two.]}

Not quite.

[He glances at the peep hole and holds up the beer with a raised eyebrow. You know you want it.

Funny what being at war could do to you. The changes to your mind, but also to your body. Constantly training for the last five years, intensively for the last three left him strong. Built. Sharp. Being rebuilt by the Queen of Hearts had left him with a certain shade of different, extreme focus and lower capacity to harbor guilt, his eyes shining just that little bit brighter, shifting from hazel to gold. Curing his mind had left him with an easy confidence and the ability to reconnect. To find love and be normal. To be something other than the sum of his failures. He was...surprisingly...doing pretty alright.]

_{[He might have to invest in a 'No soliciting' sign. Between angels and the real Dean (or "real" Dean), his room gets too much traffic.]}

The other one.

_{[Because he's suspicious, the observation come out flat and unfriendly. Forgetting how or why Tom would ask around for his room number and show up announced, something's not right. To be specific, something hasn't been right about the mansion for a few days now, and it's only when he's busy looking Tom up and down does he recall with perfect clarity that Tom's name had been on the list of people who'd disappeared.

Disappeared and come back.]}

What do you want?

_{[This time, he doesn't hide the suspicion.]}

[The Other One. Adam, don't you sass him. He thought you were friends.]

Obviously not to talk to you.

[He shoots the door a frown, knowing full well Adam can see him.]

Do you want this beer or not?

Edited 2013-12-18 19:47 (UTC)

_{[Not. That's what he wants to say, because whoever this is or isn't, they're obviously wrapped up in whatever's happening in this place. This world. If he'd been smart, if life had been perfect, his mother would have still been alive and he could've told the angels to take their stories of destiny and shove it.

Pleasant daydreams, nothing more. Ignoring the big picture isn't an option when the big picture is liable to suck you in whether you like it or not.

There's a series of metallic scrapes as he undoes each lock on the heavy-set door before pulling it open enough to expose his head and shoulders. Adam's frowning, too, mostly in confusion. If Tom's expecting a fighter and a companion, he's going to be disappointed with the human remains the Cage spat out.]}

If you hadn't noticed, I can get my own. Why are you here?

_{[Can't be to offer him a beer, either.]}

Pretty sure Jo's been looking for you. Both of you.

Well she found us.

[He offers the beer seeing as he brought it all~ the way down the hall and everything. Tom snerks.]

You do realize that me and your half brother are different people, right.

[But, whatever.]

Wanna give you a heads up if you'll hear it. About what's coming.

_{[With Tom all but shoving it in his face, Adam takes the bottle, casting a glance inside. What, is it laced with special future Wonderland go juice or something? But then comes the offhand comment about Dean.

Half-brother.

His fingers clench around the neck reflexively. Adam knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he'd never bring that connection to light himself.]}

Who told you?

_{[Someone had to have. He searches Tom with his eyes, weighing him. Apparently news travels fast in the years to come when the brother who'd abandoned you is on speaking terms with his identical twin and you're living alongside them in Wonderland's future.

... It's enough to drive a person to drink based on sheer disbelief alone.]}

I guess you really are one of them, the guys talking about jumping around in time like Michael. Is this like reading my cards? I was never that into The Time Traveller's Wife stuff.

[No, Adam, It's Amstel and it is delicious and you will enjoy it you little shit.]

That's right. Fives years in the future.

[He lets Adam search him and, really, it's fair enough.

He'd forgotten how guarded the guy had been at first. What a mess. Still, he doesn't exactly answer the question, it doesn't matter in their time.]

You want your fortune or not.

[Given the choice, though, he wouldn't be surprised if Adam just slammed the door in his face, and so he quickly continues.]

It gets better for you.

[Maybe an odd thing to say considering very little about the future wasn't a hot mess, but there it was. Adam had made some decisions regarding his own well being and while Dean sure as shit didn't agree with them, Tom could understand the appeal.]

Don't get me wrong, the world is going to shit, but you work yourself out. You aren't always gonna feel like you do, now.

[Welp. He cracks the top of his beer and takes a sip. That's what he had to say.]

_{[He'll enjoy the amenities when all of this crazy shit gets the fuck out of his face. That means you and your unnaturally yellow eyes, future Tom.

And as far as Adam's knee-jerk feelings are on time travel, Tom can take his thoughts about the future with him, too. Adam's skepticism that there is a future for him is pretty high. Thinking past the next day hasn't been a priority. It hasn't even been on his radar. To be told that a future in this world isn't just a possibility, it's a reality... It raises a bunch of confusing feelings.

His upper lip twitches in the beginnings of a frown at the word "better" before he presses them tight together to quell the urge.]}

Sorry if I find that hard to believe right about now. A couple of days ago, we barely knew each other's names. How do you know what I'm going to feel?

[A light frown and then a shrug. Look, he's even taking a little step back to give you your space.]

I know. Some stranger turns up telling you you're friends in the future. But, I dunno, I think this is an opportunity to soften the blow a little. It's fuckin' nuts, but it's the truth. Where I come from we've known each other for five years. And if you want you can close the door right now and I'll get it.

But I just. Guess I wanted to say hi.

You and me.

_{[There's that skepticism still, turning everything Tom says into a thing Adam needs to turn over and over again like a Rubik's Cube that requires solving.

Not just a guy from the future who looks like his brother, then. A friend. Someone he knows. Someone he's comfortable with to have a drink together with. Someone who sees him as better.

Adam considers the beer in his hand for a while, not opening it, but not stepping behind the door, either. He's never been the loud-mouthed type, pinning his troubles to his sleeve or throwing punches instead of words when something gets under his skin; what bothers him ticks behind his eyes quietly, just as it always has, a slow burn. Tom will know the signs, when the scales are being weighed behind that blank face.]}

Okay... well, here I am. _{[He glances up.]} Michael isn't the puppet master by then?

_{[What he really wants to know is if Michael's done something to him. Hard to believe he could escape unscathed for five whole years, still be himself. Or what's left of himself.]}

No. He's not.

[Tom gets it. He can't blame Adam for being suspicious as Hell. It's weird. All of this is weird, but seeing as Dean isn't telling anyone anything and he doubts he'd approach Adam anyway, he feels responsible. Things get hairy for everyone and this is a chance to relieve some of that pressure. And, hell, if he can give a friend a heads up he will. Even if it's just to suggest that things get a little lighter on some level. Even if it's just to suggest that the pressure eases.]

I'm not saying you're playing nice with him, but enemy of my enemy and all that. There are more important things to worry about, you get me?

[Not to imply they were friends by any means, but there was too much at stake to hassle each other.]

_{[What's more impossible, Michael travelling back in time to possess his dad when John had been barely older than him, or people travelling back in time to tell him what his life's going to be like in a handful of years? If this guy's saying is true and he won't be back in the Cage anytime soon and he'll still be himself... he should be glad, then, right?

If this weren't so damn complicated, and confusing, and frightening, he'd be glad.]}

Not really.

_{[He gets what Tom's saying about Michael, sure, but the rest... the part about the bleak future everyone's worried about... that he doesn't grasp nearly so easily. He lifts his eyebrows.]}

The future's that crappy?

Mmhm.

[He shifts to lean against the wall.]

It wasn't so bad at first. Jabberwocky was a pain the the ass but we could kill it.

And then we couldn't. Magic is gone, the world is dying, we're trapped and it just won't stop coming. Doesn't mean we've stopped trying, but... it's just. It's bad."

The thing from the books.

_{[Jabberwocky, really? Sure, he's heard bits of pieces of the big bad that's apparently waiting to huff and puff and blow down their house in the future, or whatever the hell is supposed to happen, but it sounds even more ridiculous when spoken out loud. Like a thing from a dream or a cartoon.]}

And not even the angels can do anything?

_{[If Tom knows who Michael is, then he must know what Michael's kind can do. What they're capable of.]}

Yep, the thing from the books. And nope. They used to be able to but not anymore.

[He's aware how dumb it sounds but say anything enough and you get used to it.]

Shit's gettin' dire, man. S'why we're here, I think. Sound the alarm so you're all prepared.

[Alter the timeline. Keep from getting their asses reamed by a giant evil bastard lizard.]

_{[Dire, huh? He has a hard time imagining how things could get more dire in his life than they already are.]}

And why are you telling me?

_{[After the words leave his mouth, Adam sees they can be taken in more than one way, so he amends himself.]}

I mean... if this is like Terminator where you've made a hop and a skip into the past to change how things turn out, shouldn't you be warning more important people? Like Sam, or the angels before they lose their batteries.

_{[He has an even harder time imagining how he could help, or play a part in this drama. He's just a guy. No friends, no enemies, no special talents, not even a squeaky clean bill of mental health.]}

Oh cut the crap, you could do something if you wanted to.

[Tom fixes him with a hard look.]

Like or or not this thing is coming and it's going to be a very real part of your future.

And like it or not you're going to have to get involved.

_{[Because Tom looks like Dean, Adam feels the extra strong urge to snap back at him, to shut the "big brother knows what's best" lecture down before he's forced to sit through it, and the fact that he doesn't really know who he's talking to despite the familiar face leaves him off balance a little.]}

I've done plenty already.

_{[When he does answer, he meets the accusation with obstinacy of his own. If this guy knows him years from now, really knows him, then he know why Adam is the way he is, why he has trouble looking at Tom's face without resentment.

He'd helped stop the fucking Apocalypse by going head-first into a hole in the ground. If this guy's come to conscript him for another one, he's out of luck.]}

And that doesn't answer my question.

[He knows, he just doesn't really care. Maybe a couple years ago but he lost his give a shit along with his fifth life.]

What, why I'm tellin' you? Kind of the mission.

But hey, [He backs up a few steps, hands raised in mock defense.] I can't make you do anything. Just givin' you a heads up.

_{[Join the club, Tom. Adam looks on with a vaguely sardonic twist to his mouth.]}

Look, man, I think you've got me confused with John Connor.

_{[This guy thinks he needs to cut with the crap? Adam could say the same. The grandiose show of claiming they're friends and that he has intimate knowledge about Adam making some upswing sounds ridiculous when there's a holy crusade tacked to the end of it.

He'd used the word dire. He's met Jehovah's Witnesses with a better door-to-door sales pitch.]}

[Yeah well he's never had to do this before excuse you, princess.

Tom pauses for a moment, but realizes this is just brick wall after brick wall.

Alright. Fine. He knows pushing ain't gonna help anything.]

Yeah. Maybe I do. I just figured, you know, second chances and all that. Maybe there were a few things you should hear as soon as possible that didn't come from your blood relatives.

But uh. You'll figure it out.

[And then, turning to leave.]

Take care of yourself, buddy.

_{[Blood relatives. It'll be a while before thoughts of his "family" don't reflexively raise negative feelings. He shifts, holding tight to the bottle.]}

They don't tell me anything.

_{[Anyone remotely connected to the Winchesters who knows who Adam is should understand that. It bears pointing out if Dean's lookalike thinks they'd bother--past, present, or future selves. Not after what Adam had done. Not after what they'd done.

He steps back inside.]}

Yeah, good luck with... whatever Wonderland apocalypse you've got going on.

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Merry Christmas you filthy animal

12/17 - Adam - Evening

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