Fragments | Open

[beforeblue]

Who: Agent Washington and You!
Where: The gym, the bar, the grounds
When: Post-event
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Wash is not coping well after encountering Epsilon
The Story:


The Gym/Training Rooms
[If Wash was dedicated about training before, he's bordering on obsessive now. He heads into the training rooms and fiddles with the equipment until he's got a setting that presents a suitable challenge. He has to keep going. It keeps him occupied. Keeps him from thinking too much so he can almost drown out the parts of his mind he doesn't want to acknowledge.

By later in the day though, it's obvious that he's struggling. Slowing down, missing hits that he should have been capable of, taking hits that he should have been able to dodge. Weeks of barely sleeping, of pushing himself to the limit, finally catching up.]


The Bar
[There is a sullen determination to his visits to the bar. He is a man with a purpose when he heads in, and the only reason he's drinking there instead of in his room is because it feels slightly less wrong. Plausible deniability, right?]


The grounds
[His morning runs are the most relaxing time, a routine he sticks to unflaggingly. Helps him to blow off the last remnants of whatever nightmare he'd had. He feels almost normal. He stretches outside the mansion, standing on the steps and watching the morning sun spread across the land. He stands there for a few minutes, letting the sun warm him before he heads out for his run.]

Comments

[howkickassiam]

Protein.

[ He says the word firmly, and gives Wash another little nudge to lead him to the cafe. ]

You need protein and you need some water. Bacon and eggs, how's that sound? Come on, champ, don't be stubborn, all right? Something's wrong with you.

[beforeblue]

[He tries to resist the nudge, but his stomach growls and that's gonna be indication enough to York that he needs to eat so he sighs and starts to go along with him.]

I'm fine. I'm just tired. Haven't been sleeping well.

[howkickassiam]

Well then, no coffee to go with that meal then. As good as it would taste.

[beforeblue]

I don't think the coffee would make any difference.

[howkickassiam]

You still don't get any.

[ On that he is firm. When they arrive at the cafe, York leads Wash to the counter and orders a large breakfast meal for him—it's the wrong time of day, but the cafe is perfectly willing to prepare and serve it. That accomplished, York turns slightly toward Wash and fixes him with a concerned look. ]

All right, so what's going on?

[beforeblue]

You're not my mom.

[It's childish and pathetic but he's not up for sparkling retorts right now. He watches dully as York orders for him, and then grabs a seat. Once he's not moving, the exhaustion seeps right into him, his shoulders slumping.

It isn't an easy question to answer. He reaches back to scratch at his ports, a compulsive gesture.]

Did you know that Epsilon was here?

[howkickassiam]

Yeah, I, uh...I worked it out at some point. He introduced himself to me by name when I first got here, instead of by his designation, so I thought he was Alpha at first.

[beforeblue]

[He frowns at that and leans back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. He flinches at the mention of Alpha. It's a sore point in his memory.]

I bumped into him.

[howkickassiam]

[ He shakes his head slightly, confused. ]

What do you mean?

[beforeblue]

In the bar. I met him. And then it felt like my head was being ripped apart and I think I'm going crazy.

[howkickassiam]

[ York still doesn't quite understand—wouldn't Carolina have been with him, then?—but the details aren't important. Only the way it's affecting Wash. He frowns. ]

Flashbacks?

[beforeblue]

[He snorts and shakes his head.]

I wish they were flashbacks. At least then I'd know they were mine.

[howkickassiam]

Delta was always worried about the damage Epsilon had caused. I mean, I was too, but Delta was the one who was able to tell me more about what it all meant. He's the one that worked out Epsilon had the memories.

...That's what it was, right?

[ He's never actually had that confirmed, so he does realize he's talking out assumptions. ]

[beforeblue]

[Of course Delta would have figured it out. Delta was logic. All of the pieces must have fitted together once they had enough of them.]

Yeah. All of Alpha's memories. And then Epsilon, he- it was too much.

[howkickassiam]

Yeah, I mean. We picked up some stuff from transmissions over the years. Seemed like you recovered okay, though, in the end?

[ He doesn't know if Wash is from far enough along in the timeline to be able to confirm that. They haven't really...talked about this. Any of it. They just fell back into their old pattern where York would tease him and he would take it as it came. ]

[beforeblue]

...I don't know. Last thing I remember, I was on the MoI, alarms were blaring and North told me you'd gone AWOL.

[howkickassiam]

Oh.

[ That was definitely before whatever York is talking about. York also realizes in that moment that Wash can't remember that York never came back for him after that situation. Well, that's a small blessing. ]

We left before we knew much about what happened to you, but we knew you weren't doing so well. They tried to put you in among everyone else at first, but that didn't last very long. When they took you away again, that's when Tex showed me the evidence she had for what was going on behind the scenes, and we left.

[beforeblue]

I don't remember a whole lot. North said I'd been unconscious for days. And Epsilon was gone.

[howkickassiam]

So I guess seeing Epsilon is kind of dredging up the issues you were having with him back then?

[notyourrookie]

Yeah. That's a nice way of putting it.

[It doesn't account for the moments when he was pretty sure he hadn't been himself. When he forgets what his own name is.]

[howkickassiam]

[ York doesn't know that much about psychology, especially when it comes to what influence an AI would have on it, but he is going to do what he can to help Wash ground himself in reality. And as far as York is concerned, engaging in some creature comforts can only help in that. So when they return with Wash's bacon and eggs and orange juice, York nods. ]

Okay. You can tell me anything you want about that—as much or as little as you want. I'm here for you, okay, bud? Having Delta was a lot different from having Epsilon must have been, but I will do my best to relate to you if you need me to, too.

[beforeblue]

[Part of him wants to talk. He could spill his guts about how he can't sleep, about the nightmares and waking up thinking he's someone else.

But the thought of doing that, revealing his weaknesses, makes him cringe in discomfort. Habit. The Project hadn't been very tolerant of weakness.]

I'm fine. I just need to work it off. Distract myself.

[howkickassiam]

[ York doesn't think that will actually work, but he did just say he'd support Wash in any circumstance. ]

Yeah, well, I guess I'm here to make sure you don't kill yourself in the process, then. You need to eat and sleep somewhere in there too, okay.

[beforeblue]

[He stares down at the food in front of him and pokes at it with his fork before taking a bite.]

I do those things. See, I'm eating.

[howkickassiam]

Yeah, because I physically dragged you here.