hexaflexagons | [PSL] Joined Forces AU

York had barely caught the lighter as it floated in front of him, snatching it out of midair just as it started to bounce away. He clutched at it, holding it to his chest, floating helplessly after his back hit the top of the elevator shaft. Now he was drifting back downward, but too slowly for it to be much of a help in getting anywhere. He knew making swimming motions wouldn't help much, since air was thinner than water (though Delta's slight amusement at that mental picture was unmistakable).

It wasn't long, though, before York started to feel other forces working on his body. It was gravity, yes, but it wasn't consistent with what he would have expected had the ship's gravity simply been turned back on. He didn't understand why he was being drawn to the side of the elevator shaft, or why the angle shifted as he started to crawl along its side.

"It appears that the ship is experiencing the gravitational pull of a planetary body," Delta volunteers as he struggles. "In other words, the ship is crashing."

"Oh, well, that's just what we needed," York says. He means to continue talking, but the yaw of the ship shifts again, leading to him hanging on for dear life. The sensation of felling is quite clear now. York can barely manage to tuck the lighter in one of the storage compartments in his armor before he clings to the crazily-tilting wall of the elevator shaft.

Eventually, the ship comes to rest, and York lets go. He had originally planned to join forces with Carolina and rescue Wash, but now he wonders if he should carry through with the plan to get him. He doesn't know whether it's a good plan to go it alone. It's a split-second decision, but he decides to find Tex. Find Tex, because she will know what would be best to do next.

And so he exits the ship, as quickly as he can, just in time to leave the confines of its hull and see Tex running. Running away, like her life depends on it. York pauses in confusion for just a moment, looking at her and back in the direction where she came from. He sees Maine, and just like that he takes off after her, vying to catch up.

They can't use their radios, he knows this. His only chance is to keep her in his sights and hope she eventually slows.

How fast could she run? The snow was deep, getting close to a foot in some places, making it hard for her to run. Even with her super-human like speed and abilities she still felt slowed down by the soft, fluffy snow that was falling around her.

There was a sense of frustration that filled Tex's mind, frustration with the snow, with herself, with Maine and even Carolina. Everything had gone to shit, all of her carefully-made plans had failed and now she was stuck on a planet running through the snow in the hopes that neither the Director nor Maine would find her.

As she kept running, doing her best not to focus on the mess she had left behind and instead figure out some place to hide, Omega pinged in the back of her mind. Throughout most of the attack he had stayed quiet, not even bothering to suggest anything since she had begun ignoring him after he had tried to convince her to kill Carolina.

Suddenly realizing there was someone following her, Tex dared a glance back to see a glint of gold at the edge of her vision.

York.

Knowing she could trust him, Tex slowed herself down a bit, allowing him time to catch up with her.

Seeing her slow down, he started to feel a bit more at ease—he'd sort of been assuming Tex had assessed the level of danger of them being followed and was running this fast accordingly. He allowed himself to slow a bit when she did, but he was still running fast enough to catch up within thirty or so paces. Once he had, he loped alongside her.

"Well, I guess that didn't go quite as planned."

The understatement was meant for irony, but he couldn't make himself sound as sarcastic as he meant to. Obviously, Carolina wasn't with him. He wasn't so sure about whether Tex got Alpha, but the crash certainly wasn't an expected outcome.

Judging by his tone of voice, York had no idea what had happened after the crash. Perhaps he hadn't been quick enough to get out in time to see...

"The Alpha was too far gone to rescue. He.. He didn't want our help." Her voice was emotionless. It needed to be. If she let herself feel anything, then she would break. And neither of them needed that. They needed to get somewhere safe, somewhere where York wouldn't freeze to death in the snow. "And Carolina..."

A sudden rush of emotions and memories came over her, and she nearly lost her footing in the snow. But she kept going, regardless. Tex had to be the strong one. "Maine killed Carolina. He took her AI and threw her off the cliff. She's gone, York. There was nothing I could do to stop him and.."

Allison's daughter was dead. After years of the Director using her for his own experiments and ambitions, she had finally been killed by his project. Everything Allison fought for and had sacrificed felt wasted.

"I'm sorry, York."

He slowed when she said Maine killed Carolina, but he didn't stop. Not yet. Because Tex's words make no sense. How could she say that? How could that possibly be true? Surely she'll clear things up when she continues. But what she says next just confirms it, and York stops. York stops and Tex apologizes and he stands still, in shock, his head shaking slightly.

It takes him less than a moment to snap out of it though. "Then what are we doing?" he cries out. "Shouldn't we be trying to save her? We should go back, Tex, let's go back—" He could leave without her, but he didn't see where this had taken place. Her help would be invaluable in this effort. He gestures for her to turn back with him, to run the direction they came, and he's coiled like a spring, ready to rush back in the other direction as soon as she agrees.

"We're going to find shelter." She snapped, irrationally angry at the fact that he had stopped. Part of her understood his desire to go back and save her, but a much larger part of her knew that they needed to get someplace safe for the time being. "There's nothing we can do York. She was already pretty injured, there's no way she could have survived."

Turning away from him, she did her best to keep strong. "And if we go back, we might get captured. By Maine, or by the Director. I can't have that happen. If you want to go back, by all means do so. But I'm going to keep going."

Now Delta was telling him privately how trustworthy Tex was, how she wouldn't be saying this if she wasn't sure. York was devastated. He relaxed from his ready-to-spring posture and some part of him wanted to reach out to her, to tug on her and somehow convince her to assure him what she'd said wasn't true. But that wasn't what was going to happen.

It took him a moment to come up with some answer. "Shelter," he said, and he was evidently saying it around a lump in his throat, because his voice cracked when he said it. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, let's do that. I think I'm going to be sick."

Feeling uncomfortable in the open, Tex nodded. Omega's voice picked up, soft, sweet and seductive, trying to convince her to abandon York. Reminding her how he would slow her down, how arrogant and annoying he could be.

Ignoring him, she looked around, trying to find somewhere where there might be shelter. "There." She said suddenly, pointing to a large mountain, perhaps three miles away. "There might be caves we can hide in, c'mon." Turning back to York now, she reached out and placed a hand his shoulder. There was a sudden compassionate, gentle edge to her voice. It was so sudden and new that it even surprised her.

"We can mourn and grieve when we get there."

The sudden tenderness surprised him, but it was exactly what he needed. He takes a slow breath, realizing he was starting to panic, or at least to overreact. "Okay," he said. "Let's get there."

The way there was a slower trudge than the running that had brought them to this point. York wasn't entirely sure they were safe now, but no one seemed to be in pursuit, and he was starting to freak out a bit in his head. It was best to be measured and not hurry overmuch. He was almost certain something would go wrong along the way, but they reached the base of the mountain soon enough, the first rolling foothills. He gazed upward, looking for a cave entrance.

The slow trudge bothered Texas. She didn't like it, it felt unsafe. When every fiber of your being is screaming that you're in danger, taking it slow meant each step was agony. But she couldn't bring herself to make York go faster, or to pull him along. Each time she was about to, something within her made her feel bad for him, and she couldn't do it.

When they reached the hills of the mountainside, she stopped and looked up. There was a narrow path leading up, and although there weren't any footprints it looked as though it had been used once or twice. "Stay behind me." She said, moving past York to start up the path. "And be careful."

[PSL] Joined Forces AU

Post-crash

Re: Post-crash

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