[Post-GAPS]

[formerlysiryn]

Perhaps she's hiding away, but Terry thinks she has every bloody right to.

It had been days locked up in that facility, she finds out, days powerless, days spent poked and prodded and having her power tested like she's some sort of bloody lab rat. Whatever they'd done, they'd been good at it; good enough to kidnap her and others, good enough to get around their defenses, good enough to keep them locked up.

They'd been so good that after the rage burns through her, after she'd done her part and took off for the countryside to prevent herself from doing something she'd regret, all she'd felt was raw. Exposed. Careless.

She'd promised herself that would never happen again, but she can't even keep promises to herself anymore.

The school had come to mind first, the only place she could think of that was safe. Even if someone knew she was there, they wouldn't be able to get past the wards.

She's safe.

She's safe.

Once she showers, once she scrubs away a week of sweat and blood, constantly humming or singing to herself, filling the silence with her own voice as she changes into a fresh set of clothes, once she has no reason to move anymore--

It builds up in her chest first, a mounting pressure that rises, burning the back of her throat and clouding her vision with tears as she stumbles downstairs, makes it into the huge basement and trusts, trusts that she can let go of the scream she's been holding in for days and the world won't crumble around her.

[Let's say she left the basement door open a touch to be heard. Takes place the morning after GAPS plot wraps up.]

Comments

[and_proud]

With both Theresa and Luke missing, Raven hasn't known what to do. The halls of the school have felt even more empty than ever and her mind has been filled with all manner of fears. They could be gone permanently, like Charles, or maybe suffering the tortures of the same silent city that she and Sean had before he vanished forever, too.

It's almost been unbearable and she's only been able to busy herself with menial tasks around the property. She's been too weary to let herself be hopeful of any return, so it's with genuine surprise that she hears the noise from the basement she knows can only belong to one.

Raven can't help but run when she realizes it's her. "Theresa?"

[notaretriever]

He's not a pack leader, not here, yet Luke finds himself feeling the same sense of responsibility to those he's close to that he'd once felt for his pack. There are differences, of course, he's not expecting to dictate what Alec does the way he could with young wolves, and he doesn't ever treat Reid as his second in command, even though he and Reid have protected each other in the same sorts of ways he and Alaric had once done. The people he cares about aren't his pack the way he would have defined it in Manhattan, but maybe it's become its own definition now.

This is the reason he can't just stay home, though he thinks he should. He needs to check on people, though, and after making sure Reid is comfortable and not in too much pain, Luke heads first for the school.

The scream, when he hears it, is recognizable. More than that, it brings back memories of the past week, the things he'd heard from other cells, people screaming and begging and for a moment Luke just stands at the head of the stairs before taking them two at a time.

"Terry?" he calls, heading around a corner. "Terry!"