Mid-April 2013: Joshua's Warehouse Lab

[damncompass]

He'd settled into what was almost a routine. Get up, do paperwork, do bills if they were needed, and then have an afternoon for Science. All of his current linear experiments were turning up nothing, so he decided to get a random Artifact from a shelf. Putting random letters and numbers into the computer elicited a small hand mirror in Raleigh Sector. He dutifully went and got it, returning to start his research.

At first, nothing was out of the ordinary, but before Joshua could even think, as he turned the mirror, a huge bright flash pushed him to the ground, knocking him out.

The shiny gold nonsense, not that gold nonsense, something else entirely, swirls around him as he lies on the floor, and scenes start appearing in the mist.

I'm pregnant, Joshua. ... How the fuck did that happen? ... Your father and I had sex, you dipshit.

Joshua? What are you. ... Oh, fuck. Claudia, don't be scared of me! Please! ... Your curtains are on fire. ... DAD WHERE IS THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER?

Why do you have to go so far away? I'll be lonely. ... I'm not that far, and you have Mom and Dad. ... But I want you! You're my brother.

They're not coming back, are they? ... No, Claudia. ... But Mom and Dad! They can't be gone! ... I know the feeling, baby sister.

Why are we going to court? ... They're finally agreeing to let me have you. ... But I was always going to be with you! It's always the two of us! ... It is now.

Artie! Make him stop! ... Claudia, remember that I will always... No!

You abandoned him once, why shouldn't you do it again ... It isn't like that. ... Oh, no. It's exactly like that. Me and Joshua on our own again. Good thing I'm used to it.

And then everything changed and the scenes changed, more chaotic, more blurry, not linear. Two small children, a second gravestone, incoherent flashes of people, Claudia huddled on a park bench, Claudia in a hospital, Helena with a trident, Helena huddled somewhere alone, then walking through a chair, explosions, Claudia screaming bloody murder, Artie with some sort of navagational object, Myka in a doctor's office, and finally, a man in some strange clothing facing Claudia down an aisle of the warehouse and a name. Claire.

And as quickly as it came, in a flash, it went away, and everything settled as he slowly started to wake up.

When he finally came to his senses, lying on the floor of his lab, he shouted at the walls around him. "Who the fuck is Claire Donovan?" The only response he recieves is a faint skittering of faiance wings.

Comments

[claudiometer]

Claudia makes a face. "I think I prefer everything not sucking. And knowing where all of my family members are."

[damncompass]

"Yeah, I mean, they might not be here, but we at least know where Mom and Dad are."

He sighs, and clings to one of his tables. "It was just strange. I think I was depressed and bored."

[claudiometer]

He won't be clinging to that table for long, as Claudia's going in for the hug.
"A bored Donovan is never a good thing. Can't see a depressed Donovan being much better. I mean, what, were you not even here?"

[damncompass]

"I don't think so. I mean, it was all fuzzy and hazy and shit." He hugs her back tightly. "I got the feeling that somehow we weren't that close."

[claudiometer]

"Great job, us. But then, we did kinda have to have an epic fight to get here."
They'd probably still be floundering some if they hadn't.

[damncompass]

"Yeah. I don't know. It was just so strange. Helena was all.... wrong. It was like... instead of healing, she just got worse." He shudders a bit. It wasn't a good feeling.

[claudiometer]

Claudia winces. "Maybe over in the weird AU she knew where the rest of the trident was and didn't get derailed by the shawl?"
She can see that happening. And after Helena tried to end the world, who knows what the Regents would have done to her, but it probably wouldn't be conducive to healing.

[damncompass]

"Possibly." He takes a shaky breath. "I don't want to think about it. I just... it all felt wrong."

[claudiometer]

"Weird."
She gives him another hug. "Well, hey, you're here. With your only sister. It'll be all right."

[damncompass]

"Yeah. And whatever that was isn't going to happen." He hugs her tight, then walks over to the table, and drops the mirror into a bag.

It flashes brightly with perhaps just a bit more fierceness than usual.

"Alright, then. I think I'm done with science for the day."