vanillajello | Room 324, Thursday Morning

Fire. There's someone on fire. But Kate can't see who it is until the figure turns around and it's her but not her but her and she's standing there and the flames lick up her arms and she's on fire but then it's Mitchell, wild-eyed with a fire inside, and it's Hannibal and the flames go from hot to cold from hot to cold in time with his eyes, and then it's Jack and Emma and Karla and Sebastien and David and Bod and Marshall and Max and Tara --

And then it's Annie, serene calm beautiful Annie like that time in the cellar, and everything stops for a single awful second as she smiles.

And then the flames swallow her up and there's nothing but the fire.

-----

Kate had been very, very glad to not wake up screaming. She had been very glad to wake up, period. Her subconscious was not the place to be right now, her dreams had made that abundantly clear. She'd had no trouble getting out of bed since she'd craved a cold shower to fully wake her up and make sure nothing lingered on.

After the shower, she'd changed her clothes, put on some music, opened the door, made her bed and then flopped down on it with a notebook to make plans for a third floor welcome she wasn't sure she'd even organize.

Saturday wasn't shaping up to be a day to be bubbly and welcoming.

[ooc: Open post, open door. ETA: I would like to call all Mitchell stuff NFB, please and thank you!]

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"Me today," Jack said, saving the then why you didn't call me for another time, when picking a fight might have some appeal. "Did he tell you several very sad things that made very little sense, and then promise details on Saturday?"

If she'd had the energy, Kate would've snorted at that, wryly amused. It was an exactly how it had gone.

Well, except for a minor details.

"Yes, except George did most of the telling," she said. "Mitchell just promised the Saturday."

"Apparently he was up to telling me himself," Jack shrugged, uncertain if that was good or bad. "How did George sound? I didn't ask about him."

"Like George?" Kate offered. She thought they both knew what that meant. "Angry. For a good reason, by the sound of it."

But weren't they all? Apart from Mitchell.

Like George wasn't bad; at least he hadn't gone on some werewolf revenge killing spree. (Not that Jack had ever heard of such a thing -- or that the moon was even full -- but he wouldn't have been at all surprised to find out they existed. It had been that kind of year.)

"No kidding," Jack agreed. "How do you not notice your girlfriend wants to hurt you? It's an insane story, from the little he said."

Kate sighed and rubbed one of her temples. "It's Mitchell, Jack," she replied. "Don't you kinda think he does really shittily with women in general?"

Just look at Lauren.

"Isn't insane kind of expected at this point?"

Oh, great. Ask the paragon of healthy relationships that was Jack Priest.

"Not the kind of insane that leads to Annie being -- gone," Jack said, indignant. "... no, wait, that sounds about right. I'm just tired of all of it. Poor Annie."

"Yeah, I know," Kate sighed. It felt pointless to say, and she had a hard time coming up with anything of worth to add. "Exorcized. Jesus Christ."

That was nice and blasphemous and ironic.

"I know," Jack said, equally short on useful things to say, though one horrible thing had just occurred to him.

"Kate, do you think that means she's in hell?"

Kate was shocked into a brief silence. "What?" she asked sharply once she found her words again. "No! That's impossible."

"Unfair and horrible and --" Jack broke off. "I don't know. I thought that was what exorcism was, though. Sending something there."

"I didn't think it was that fixed," Kate said, then hesitated. "What the fuck am I saying, I don't even believe in hell. Or heaven."

But she was refusing to think Annie might be in the former.

"Neither do I, but if they exorcised her and it worked -- never mind." Jack closed his eyes. "Somewhere peaceful. I'm going to decide that's where she is and stay with it."

"I think that's for the best," Kate agreed. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, hoping she wasn't about to get a headache. "Everything's so fucked up. I take it you're gonna see Mitchell on Saturday?"

"I think I owe it to him to at least listen," Jack said. "No charging off to save the day, though. I'm done with that."

Which may or may not have been true, but felt good to say.

"Are you?"

"Probably," Kate admitted, brushing her bangs aside with another sigh. "I'm supposed to be welcoming new third floor kids at the picnic that day 'cause it's my last one, but I don't know if I'm up to it."

"You could deputize someone else in case you aren't in the mood," Jack suggested. "Bobby's not graduated yet, is he?"

"He's not," she sighed. "Yeah, I might look into that. Or, this new guy Peter. Or... someone. Would suck to not have anyone do it, especially since I'm not sure anyone's gonna pick it up after I leave."

Jack thought for a moment, then said: "I say you do it if you have the energy at all. Mitchell can wait a few hours."

"Maybe," Kate allowed. "Or I'll just talk myself out of talking to him at all. I guess we'll see when the time comes, hmm?"

"We'll see," Jack repeated, not exactly pleased. "I hope you come, though. I don't want this to be real to start with, but if it is, I'd rather not have the conversation alone."

"I'll be there," Kate replied a little more quietly, after a pause. "I don't know how much of it I actually wanna know, but I'll be there. Most likely. It's just wishful thinking that I won't."

"Thank you," Jack said. "I don't know if I want details either, just -- some explanation."

He let out a long slow breath. "I guess we'll see how it goes day after tomorrow, yeah?"

"I guess so," Kate agreed. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to add to that. "And... Sorry I didn't call you. You know, yesterday."

See, he didn't even have to save that for another day.

Jack was surprised she was bringing it up. "I can't say I wouldn't have liked to know what to expect," he said slowly, carefully. "But it would have just given me more time to worry. It's fine."

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