2020.08.04: The Paradox Realm

The Paradox Realm
Attempting to find her parents, Katie pushes things too far and is pulled into a Paradox Realm.
IC Date	August 4th, 2020
Players	Rick Katie
Theme Song	Rocky Horror - Time Warp https://youtu.be/e2JYvCp6Jxs

It was a normal morning, the only thing out of the ordinary was Katie being awake early for the first time in weeks. Rolling onto her side, she watched while Rick was still sleeping, a loving smile upon her lips, reaching out to gently brush aside a few stray white hairs from his brow. After placing the softest kiss upon that same brow, she slipped out of bed and went about her morning as normal; a shower, a change of clothing, out to the living area to feed the kitten, prepare her coffee and pour a bowl of cereal to stop the grumbles in her tummy.

A single spoonful is all she ate, before relaxing back in her chair, a thoughtful look upon her pretty features. It was the reason she had woken early, something was playing on her mind, and now had returned again, the thoughts from the dream she was having about parents that she didn't know, had never known, but now had the power to find out.

A glance at the bedroom door; she really should consult with Rick first, but this would only take a moment. Actually, considering she was looking through time, it would take no time at all! Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a few items that didn't seem to be worth much, except perhaps the small gold pocket watch. A cord, a small feather, the pocket watch, all kept aside for this simple exercise.

The cord was fed through the winder, then up around the feather, wrapping around it gently again and again as Katie's mind focused on her abilities, reaching out to follow the threads through time and space from this moment backwards. Her senses extended outwards, following her own timeline back through the city, back to her arrival in Prospect, walking along a dusty highway with Maddy. Back further as they were both escaping the facility, and then further still, watching her life in fast reverse as she was studied and abused at that same location.

Her age reversed as she watched, she became smaller and younger, until there they were; her parents, leading her into the facility which looked so warm and protecting from their perspective. They were never shown the true facility, only the friendly exterior. Her attention switched now, leaving her past behind to follow another path, that of her parents.

Katie was fascinated, but also surprised to realise she recognised them, a memory hidden so deep in her mind that she never even thought to search for it. But there they were, a beautiful brown haired woman in her mid-twenties with her father, a man of a similar age with short cut black hair. How her own hair color had originated from these two is anyones guess.

She followed the threads of time as they left the facility, leaving Katie behind in safer hands, or so they thought. They drove eastwards toward New York, but past it along the coast until they reached Connecticut. Katie stayed with them the whole time, listened to the language that she knew as Polish, though she didn't understand the words. It didn't take much to realise that it was a sad conversation, a regretful one, perhaps a change of heart, wondering if they'd done the right thing. Hints of English came through, easier to speak than the Polish version, expressing that it was only temporary, that Katie would be returned when it was safe to do so.

Katie spent far too long watching, the universe was already starting to darken at her study of the past, paradox taking effect, but she didn't want to stop watching; she couldn't now she'd found them. She wanted to know who they were, what they did each day, what had happened to them, why they never came back. That was until the time of their death, when Katie fought to intervene, added more force to the already major backlash that the universe was ready to inflict; and as she reached out to save their lives, so her own was taken away.

Back in the apartment, Katie's spoon fell from her fingers as she vanished from existence, clanked noisily against the bowl before settling peacefully, waiting for someone to take another mouthful. The kitten looked up from eating at the curious disappearance, turned and walked awkwardly over to where Katie had been sitting. It's tiny black nose sniffed around the legs, large eyes looked up at the empty seat, then a quiet 'meow' before it sat down to start cleaning itself. Across in the kitchen, the kettle bubbled away then clicked off automatically.

The vision of her parents seems to get more and more real to her, until not only does she see and hear, she can feel the warmth of the sun, the smell of the nearby water, the vibrations of the trucks on the nearby highway in the earth. There is then a terrible feeling, a squeezing and pulling of every fiber of her being. Is something wrong? Is something right? Its a horrible feeling that lasts for just a moment but feels like an eternity.

Katie opens her eyes once the feeling passes. She is standing on a sidewalk, looking across the road towards her house that she vaguely now remembers. A black sedan pulls up, with two men in business suits emerging. The walk up the front walkway and knock on the door.

It really doesn't feel right. Was she somewhere else a moment ago? Something is wrong, she can feel it, but then the black sedan pulls up and Katie's attention refocuses. The men in the suits give her a chill, despite the warmth of the sun, and she slowly starts to approach.

Looking left and right on the other side of the road, she waits for a clear point then jogs across to the other side, slowing down again on the other side to look more casual; she's just someone walking by. Nothing to see here. Though her eyes remain on the pair at the doorway, unless they notice.

One of the men knocks on the door, and after a few moments a woman, Katie's mother opens the door. "Yes?" She asks the two men, a bit warily.

"Mrs. Wiśniewska? I am Special Agent Brown, this is Special Agent White." A quick flip of an ID. "We need to talk with you about your daughter Katarzyna. Can you and your husband please come with us?".

Mrs Wiśniewska hesistates, but after a moment she turns and calls to her husband. The agent not speaking reaches behind him and grabs something from his belt. You can see it is a silenced pistol.

Slowing down her steps, Katie tilts her head to catch the words; hearing her name for the first time has her blink in surprise. "Katarzyna..?", a small, appreciative smile raising easily. Now she has a real identity. But the silenced pistol!

Touching a hand to the necklace she wears, a third eye necklace with a bright red gem, she sends out her thoughts to the agent and tries to demand he leave her parents alone.

Katie stretches out her mind but...she feels...nothing. No touch of magick, no rewriting of the tapestry. There is nothing happening.

A man walks up to the front door and looks out at the agents, as his wife turns and starts rattling off something in Polish to him. The agents have not noticed Katie yet, and the one with the pistol starts to bring it up.

With a confused expression, Katie lowers her gaze to the necklace, perhaps wondering if it's the same one. "Why.. what.. it's not..", she mumbles to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. Not having abilities feels.. strange.

There is one thing she's learnt, however, and that's martial arts. Not caring who notices at this point, she rushes the man with the pistol starting to raise and calls out a warning, "Mom! Run!"

The agents hear the warning as well, and no matter how fast or skilled with martial arts Katie may be, a man with his hand on a gun will always be faster. He spins and shoots Katie twice in the chest. Katie's mom starts to scream, but he turns back to her parents and shoots them once through the door in the center of their heads, painting the room with a red spray. As Katie sinks to the ground she hears the other agent say "Put her in the back seat of the car, these two in the front...."

All starts to fade to black as Katie dies.

There is then a terrible feeling, a squeezing and pulling of every fiber of her being. Is something wrong? Is something right? Its a horrible feeling that lasts for just a moment but feels like an eternity.

Katie opens her eyes once the feeling passes. She is standing on a sidewalk, looking across the road towards her house that she vaguely now remembers. A black sedan pulls up, with two men in business suits emerging. The walk up the front walkway and knock on the door.

.. she's back on the other side of the road, staring at that same sedan pulling up, the men in suits. "What the..?", she mutters, looking around her a few times to see if she's where she thinks she is. A look left and right, a familiar motion, and she jogs across to the other side of the road to approach the house.

Not exactly sure what's happening, these two men seeming vaguely familiar, she calls out to them this time, "Excuse me? Like, I'm so confused.. have we met before?"

The agents stop on their way up the pathway and look at Katie. They then look at each other for a moment, with one saying "Official business ma'am. Please step back."

The other agent knocks on the door, and after a few moments a woman, Katie's mother opens the door. "Yes?" She asks the two men, a bit warily.

"Mrs. Wiśniewska? I am Special Agent Brown, this is Special Agent White." A quick flip of an ID. "We need to talk with you about your daughter Katarzyna. Can you and your husband please come with us?".

This /is/ familiar, Katie's parents, the special agents; something happens next, but what was it? Not listening to the agents, she walks up the pathway toward the door, lifting a hand in the hope of catching the attention of one of her parents. "Is everything okay?", she asks of the agents, "We're supposed to be going shopping today.", making up a story for her reason to be there.

Katie's mother simply gawks at this woman. A man's voice can be heard calling out something in Polish, and in a few moments he comes up to stand next to his wife. "What is going on here?" He asks.

The two agents glance at each other for a moment, then one says "Mrs Wiśniewska, it is really important that you come with us, your daughter is sick and needs you."

Moving in close enough, Katie waits to listen to the brief conversation, trying to appear as innocent as possible before she repeats the same warning, "Mom! Run!", as she reaches out to grab the nearest agent.

Her mother is simply confused and stands there looking at this scene, as a young woman seems to be attacking federal agents and calling her 'mom'. Her father opens his mouth to speak, but as Katie gets her hands on the arm of the second agent, the first agent pulls out a silenced pistol. He spins and shoots Katie twice in the chest. Katie's mom starts to scream, but he turns back to her parents and shoots them once through the door in the center of their heads, painting the room with a red spray. As Katie sinks to the ground she hears the other agent say "Put her in the back seat of the car, these two in the front...."

All starts to fade to black as Katie dies.

There is then a terrible feeling, a squeezing and pulling of every fiber of her being. Is something wrong? Is something right? Its a horrible feeling that lasts for just a moment but feels like an eternity.

Katie opens her eyes once the feeling passes. She is standing on a sidewalk, looking across the road towards her house that she vaguely now remembers. A black sedan pulls up, with a man in a business suit emerging. He walks up the front walkway and knocks on the door.

Back on the sidewalk, Katie sucks in a deep breath, clasps a hand to her chest where only a moment before had included two bullet holes. This second time it becomes more familiar, the black sedan, the two men in business suits, the.. wait, where's the other one?

Moving to the sidewalk, Katie looks left and right then jogs across the road to the other side. That seems awful familiar, she looks back with a furrowed brow before shaking her head and approaching the house again, but slowing as she passes the sedan. Peeking in through the windows, she searches for the missing agent, then looks back to the one at the door. She approaches, but stays on the sidewalk, watching curiously.

The man knocks on the door, and after a few moments a woman, Katie's mother opens the door. "Yes?" She asks the two men, a bit warily.

"Mrs. Wiśniewska? I am Special Agent Brown, this is Special Agent White." He gestures to empty air. A quick flip of an ID. "We need to talk with you about your daughter Katarzyna. Can you and your husband please come with us?".

Taking a step back, Katie blinks in surprise; the agent thinks the other one is still here! Did her actions make things worse? Is time and reality breaking down? What has she done now?

"What do you need to talk to her about?" she calls out, starting to approach the house.

The agent turns his head to look at her, and he says "Official business ma'am, please remain where you are." He turns his head to look at his partner, then falters as...there is no partner.

Katie's mother also looks very confused "Where is Agent White?" She asks, then points at Katie "Is that your partner?" A man calls out something in Polish and walks to the front door. "What is this about?" He asks.

The agent now is very confused, and he looks around the front yard, trying to find his partner, even looking into the car. "He...uhh.....can you excuse me please for a moment?"

Moving closer, Katie remains looking as innocent as possible, using the agents confusion to bring herself up near him. "We're supposed to go shopping today..", using the same plan as before. There was a plan, right? It seems familiar.

"Mom! Run!", she calls out for the first time, quickly reaching over to the grab Agent Brown with a painful joint lock that may break his arm if she's given the chance.

Her mother gasps, holding her hands to her mouth. Her father picks up the phone sitting near the front door and quickly taps three numbers. "There is a crazy woman attacking an FBI agent! Yes right now! 211 Maple lane! Come quickly!"

The agent is grabbed by Katie and cries out in agony as Katie hears the joints grinding in ways they are not suppose to move.

With a twist, Katie moves the agent off balance, drags him forward and then with a sudden reversal, the agent is flipped backwards, the joint of his arm cracks and he drops to the ground.

"Mom! It's me!", Katie says softly, keeping an eye on the agent and her parents in front of her, a gentle and nervous bite on her lip as she hears what her father is saying. "Mom, you have to run, where you took me wasn't safe, they came to make you disappear and they..", her words slowly fading out as she looks at the reality of the situation.

"Ohmygod, what am I doing?", Katie asks of herself. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, subtlety was needed, not an all out brawl in front of her parents home, parents who don't even know who she is.

Indeed, the front door is slammed shut and the bolt of the lock can be heard clicking. Windows are rapidly closed with shouting of instructions in Polish. Neighbors are opening their front door to see what is going on, and seeing the fight some slam their doors as well, others walk out onto the lawn to see what is happening. The agent screams in agony and yells "Help! I am FBI!" Well, that gets a few of the neighbors moving, and one of them, a big ox of a man, comes charging at Katie. "Let him go you crazy bitch!" He screams.

In the distance, a police siren can be heard.

Looking at the now closed door, Katie takes a step back, ponders the future, the past, the present. Time can be changed with the slightest ripple and she's dropped a boulder straight into the middle of the water. Unsure how she's supposed to fix this, she makes a break for it, to give herself time to work this out; as the large man comes charging at her, she turns and runs, searching for an escape route as she goes.

The man chases after her as Katie sprints away, with the sound of the police sirens getting louder and more numerous. Katie runs down the streets and through back yards, practiced in hiding and evasion from her time spent on the streets. Her exercising has paid her well, and she is able to run for a long time without tiring. Eventually she comes to a wooden area she ducks into, police cars flying past her without seeing her.

whathaveyoudonewhathaveyoudone

Finding the safe area, Katie sits herself down on the floor and rests her back against the wall. As has been the case since the facility, she pulls her thighs up against her chest, wraps her arms around her legs, and drops her chin onto her upraised knees. "What have I done..?", she whispers to herself, echoing her own thoughts. "I should have talked to you first.", memories of an apartment, breakfast, something about a sleeping boyfriend.

Death seems to reset things here, wherever 'here' actually is, maybe that's one way of doing it. She doesn't want to die. What if it's for real this time?

After the sirens have finally faded away, Katie rises back to her feet, leaves her hiding spot and searches for a phone booth. Will the number even work? If this is over ten years ago, then maybe not, but death doesn't seem to stop her here so.. anything is worth a try. She taps in the digits for Rick's cellphone, all but the final one, pausing, taking a deep and nervous breath, before tapping in the final number and hoping for the best.

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialed is not in service at this time. Please check the number and dial again. What have you done Katie?"

"I've ruined things!" Katie replies to the question, "I tried to fix things and I've made it all worse! Are you happy now?", she asks, though the question is more to herself than the voice on the other end of the phone. "What have I done?", she asks herself as she hangs up the phone.

Lifting the hood on her hoodie, she walks out into the street and looks around, lazy footsteps taking her in a random direction; she doesn't know this city and no longer wants to.

For hours Katie wanders, hiding occasionally when a police car comes near, but she is not caught or noticed. It is a cool day, mid November, and clouds overtake the sky, soon opening up with a soft rain. It begins to get dark after hours of wandering.

Just as the sun dips under the horizon sounds get odd. Lower, deeper, slower. Everything moves slower, with Katie able to watch the drips of the rain slowly fall from the sky and hit the ground.

Time stops.

Time begins to rewind, faster and faster. Katie finds herself walking backwards, watching raindrops rise off the ground and soar into the sky. The sun rises in the west and moves to the east, faster and faster now. Clouds part as she wanders backwards, everything backwards like a VCR playing in reverse. What took hours now seem like moments.

She is standing on a sidewalk, looking across the road towards her house that she now remembers. A black sedan is a few blocks away that she can see, approaching the house.

Lifting a hand, Katie watches as the raindrops slowly fall and finally make impact with her skin, her large blue eyes taking in the strange time warped environment. And then it's backwards, no control, reversing up to the point where she's once again outside the house but across the road.

As before, she follows the same procedure, looking left and right before jogging across the road, moving closer to the home but this time she falters; it's her parents, it's hard to stop herself, but time is so easy to break, so easy to rewrite with but a simple flutter of a butterflies wings.

With her head down, she continues along the road then slowly turns around from behind a parked van to watch what happens next.

The black sedan approaches the house, but keeps on driving down the block. It slows down as it approaches her, and the tinted windows roll down. The driver turns his head to look at her, but his face is gone. There is nothing there but bare skin. No nose, mouth or eyes. Just a blank face.

Weknowwhatyoudidkatieyouarewithusforevermore

Looking confused as the sedan doesn't stop, Katie watches it pass her by, sees the lifeless, featureless face and lets out a scream in shock. Not caring where she ends up, she blindly runs away from the situation, streets and buildings passing her by until she finds herself.. somewhere.. Her heart beats wildly and she has to take a rest on a bench, gasping for breath and leaning forward.

And as her breath starts to return to normal, they become quiet sobs, large tears falling, making tracks across her cheeks. "What have I done?", she asks whatever will listen, now firmly certain this isn't even real. She's somewhere, but where she doesn't know.

Through blind panic she runs through the city, past houses, apartments and shopping complexes. Eventually she tires, and collapses in an alley next to a grocery store, legs pulled up, tears streaming down her face. Time passes, the rains begin, the sun sets, then time stops, everything rewinds back until she finds herself in front of the house.

Again the day passes. Again time stops as the sun sets. Again the day rewinds.

And again.

And again.

Weeks pass like this. Then months.

There is nothing for her here, nothing she can do, nothing that will help or matter. Let them torture her like this, her mind is stronger than that, it always has been.

Each day the clock resets and Katie doesn't move, she sits herself down on the sidewalk and watches the sedan roll by, glares at the blank face that looks back at her, makes its accusations. "You're going to need to do better than that!", she shouts at it as it continues on down the road.

Hunger doesn't reach her, no thirst, it's simple repetition, watching the same scene over and over again. And then, a thought occurs to her. She sits, watches the sedan roll by, she glares at it again and then waits.. and waits.. hours pass but the sun isn't setting yet; not yet.

Pushing herself to her feet, finally, she runs her hands across her bottom, removing the dust and dirt from sitting on the ground, then crosses the road and approaches her parents home. No men in black this time, no sedan, she walks up to the door and knocks on it.

Piano is heard being played from inside, a familiar song but one she can't quite place her finger on. Upon hearing the knock the piano stops, and the door opens "Good evenings miss, can I help you?", her father asks.

With a tilt of her head at the piano, Katie doesn't even respond to the question for a moment, trying to place where she's heard that song before. Before it gets weird, however, she looks up at her father with a fond smile, taking in his features and writing them to memory, even the scent of his aftershave or deodorant. "Hi..", she says softly after a moment, not sure she was even going to make it this far. No plan. "Uhm.."

Katie thinks for a moment, then decides on a response. "I'm from the facility, the place you left your daughter. I met her and she seemed really happy, I said I was coming this way and she wanted me to say hello and let you know everything was okay with her.", she smiles. "She really misses you a lot though..", the words making her large blue eyes twinkle with moisture; the girl telling the message is the one who misses them so much. "Was that you playing piano?", she asks.

"Oh!" He exclaims, his eyes wide. He turns and calls out something in Polish, and Katie's mother rushes to the door. He says something to her while gesturing to Katie, and she gasps and presses her hands to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears.

"That...that is good news.", she says. "Tell us all about it. She is doing well? She is happy and well fed?"

"Hush Maja, let her in. Poor thing looks very hungry. Do you like Pierogis?" He asks, open the door wide. "Oh, that song? It was something modern. Pink...Floyd. 'Wish You Were Here' perhaps was the name of it?"

From far away, as if a whisper yet a roar in the distance, Rick can be heard saying, as if he were choked up with emotion "That's for you, Katie."

With a welling tear dropping from her eye, Katie rubs quickly at it and speaks through a voice overflowing with emotion. "She's /so/ good, like, you made the best decision. I think she has such an amazing future ahead of her.". The offer to be allowed inside, to spend time with her parents and get to know them, if only for a little while, is heavily overshadowed by a voice from what seems so far away.

The tears overflow and she has difficulty keeping them from being so obvious. "I would /really/ like to, but..", she glances over her shoulder, as if Rick was standing right there for her to see, ".. I.. I really have to go. Maybe..", her attention switching back to them, ".. maybe another time?". She's well aware that time will never come, but.. "It was real nice meeting you.".

With a quick hop forward, she gives both of them a gentle hug, then turns and starts walking away...

There is a sound in the distance, as if the ocean waves crashing. The sound gets louder and louder, and time slows still in this one moment. Everything freezes, with Katie getting one last look at her parents again.

Then blackness as the roar overcomes everything.

You are driving down the street in the black sedan, sitting next to Mr. Brown. "This the address?" He asks you, and you grunt the affirmative. Getting out of the car, you walk up the steps and knock on the door. "Mrs. Wiśniewska? I am Special Agent Brown, this is Special Agent Red." Your partner gestures to you, and flips his fake ID at them briefly. "We need to talk to you about your daughter Katarzyna. Can you and your husband please come with us?"

Your mother calls out something in Polish, and a moment later your father is standing at the door. You feel the weight of the pistol in your hand, and with a smooth action you raise it and fire one round into each of their heads. They drop like a sack of potatoes. Moving quickly, you gather up the bodies and put them into the car in the garage. "Lets go.", you say to Agent Brown, and you head back to the Sedan.

As you start to get back into the car, the cry of a baby can be heard from the house. You look to Agent Brown and ask "What about their son?"

All goes black. You feel squeezed, stretched and pulled. It is an agony that is for but a moment but lasts an eternity.

Your eyes open and you are back in the apartment. Packing boxes litter the place, all the familiar furniture gone. An old man and woman are dancing happily together.

"It's not me, it's not me, it's not me..". The words reverberate around Katie's mind as she walks up to the door as an Agent, lifts a pistol, fires a single shot into each of her parents. The pain is unbearable but she continues her mantra, "It's not me, it's not me, it's not me..". In the sad belief that she's riding someone else's past, viewing the world through their eyes, she submits to the final moment of hell in this place and drags her parents out to the car.

The cry of a baby has her head spin around fast, or is it /his/ head, "It's not me, it's not me..", a son, she has a brother? Did have a brother? What..?

Blackness.

Reappearing inside the apartment is disorientating at best, another make-believe location at worst. But the old man and woman are familiar, she scanned the past, or was it the future, of the apartment, she remembers these two, they were so cute, /are/ so cute.

Despite not wanting to, there's no other option but to startle them, pull them out of their dance. "Hello? Are you real?". It's probably not the best of questions to ask. "Is this real?", she asks, moving from where she appears and across to the balcony, looking out at the ocean and the beach to see if it still exists.

The woman lets out a scream of horror, the man gasps "Get out! How did you get in here, get out!" But yes, its real, it seems real, it smells real. The apartment is familiar, the scene from the balcony is familiar. The trees are a little different, perhaps maybe a little bigger? But as far as Katie can determine, this is now. The man opens the door and yells "This is our apartment, and I insist you get out!"

Moving back from the balcony, Katie can't help but smile despite their panic, "I'm /so/ sorry, like, I know it's weird but like.. I don't know.. I'm going! It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you or anything.", lifting her hands to show they're empty of weapons, quickly moving from the balcony and heading for the door.

"You two are so cute. I think maybe my future looks like yours..", she smiles. Heading out the door, she's about to head down the hallway when she quickly pokes her head back at the man nearby, "Can you tell me one thing? Like, what's the date?", she glances at the number on the apartment door; that was her apartment. Will be her apartment? It's all very confusing.

The man looks at her like she has two heads, but she's leaving so he'll say anything to keep her going "August 4th 2020!" SLAM. Click of the lock.

With a blink, Katie repeats the reply, "August 4th?! Ohmygod, that's like a month!". Heading along the hallway toward the elevator, she reaches into her pocket and finds her phone is still there. A gentle breath of relief and she pulls it up, hits quick dial number one, and across the city Rick's phone starts to ring. Incoming call from 'Katie'.

There are a few rings before the phone is answered on the other side, and Rick's familiar voice can be heard, emotional and hesitant ".....Katie?"

"... Rick?" Katie's voice is just as uncertain, she still isn't sure if this is real or not. The elevator pings and the doors slide open, a few steps taking her inside to press the ground floor button. "Is that really you? Like, if you're a faceless thing messing with me then this /really/ isn't funny."

"OhmyGOD KATIE!!" Rick practically shouts through the phone "Where are you? What happened to you?" He starts peppering you with questions or would be if he could speak, all that now comes across the line are sobs that sort of sound like words.

"That's really you?" Katie asks nervously, but hearing the natural emotion, she puffs out a soft breath and flops down inside the elevator, resting her back against the wall while it gently descends. "You called me back! I heard you, you played a song and I heard it!", she puffs out a breath, leaning forward to rest her forehead upon her upraised knees, relief flooding her body so much so that it makes her light headed, fearing for a moment that she might actually faint. Waiting for a moment to get herself under control, the elevator pings its arrival at the ground floor and the doors hiss open, but she doesn't move. "I.. spent some time with my parents..", she explains vaguely. "You moved out! Hey, you remember that old couple I was talking about? They've moved in. I was seeing the future.", her smile heard through her voice. "They're even more cute for real.".

"I.. I'll be right there." *click*. As you were living not all that far from the Surfer's Cove, you can hear what's going on there. A car screeches its tires, and in under a minute, traffic laws be damned, a familiar Toyota Rav-4 comes screeching up outside the apartment. Rick doesn't even bother turning the car off, he just double parks and ignores the angry honks from behind him, and comes charging at you. Its been six weeks for him, but you can see a difference in him. He's a bit bigger and muscular than you remember, and he is able to scoop you up into an almost rib crushing tacklehug. He's a mess, sobbing and laughing at the same time as he spins you around.

Pushing herself to her feet, Katie's legs wobble awkwardly as the reality has finally reached her. It seems like months that she was repeating the same day over and over, and finally she's free, back to normality. She has to press the elevator button again for the doors to open, stumbling out into the foyer and toward the doors into the street.

That's when the car pulls up with a screech and Rick comes jumping out. For a moment strength returns and she breaks into happy giggles, running forward and leaping up into the waiting arms that spin her around, the girl squeezing happily in return. "Ohmygod, I missed you /so/ much..", she says softly, planting little kisses against your cheek and down against the side of your neck.

Leaning back while still in your arms, she looks you over, "Look at you, you got all buff!", she laughs, a hand running back through the white hair. Her gaze locks on yours for the longest moment, then her smile brightens even more before she says, "Soooo.. Pink Floyd?", she grins.

Rick just stands there for a long moment, rocking you back and forth "Oh God Katie...I missed you so much...I looked everywhere for you. I talked to everyone I know I...." He lets out another hitching sob and rests his hand on your shoulder "Lets go home Katie...our home." And without so much as a by-your-leave he scoops you up and carries to you to the Rav-4 and sets you down in the passenger seat. He then jumps into the drivers side and starts to drive, peppering you with questions. Driving west out of the harbor district, he heads towards the downtown area, all the while asking you about where you have been, what happened, what's happened with him. Finally he pulls up into a driveway of an old Victorian house across from Maple Park. "We are home."

dontdoitagainkatie

"We have a home?" Katie asks as she's lifted and carried over to the car. It's not like she's going to protest, her legs are still wobbly, over a months disappearance takes its toll. Curling up on the seat, she lays her head against the headrest and simply watches you drive, smiling happily as normality seems to be returning.

The questions are met with silence, not wanting to reply to them, though she's happy to hear about what you've been doing and how you look so strong. It's unspoken, but she's also blissfully happy that she has a home to return to, that her boyfriend didn't move on with his life too quickly. "I hope you've been taking good care of Lucky.", she smiles, as she climbs out of the car.