In which Cissie leaves the Barge and hopes the Admiral dumped her in the right Chicago...

[cisskabob]

Leaving the Barge was hard. Saying goodbye to everyone still there was draining; Cissie almost wondered if Molly had the right idea, leaving behind notes and no time for goodbyes. Except she knew it was better to have closure, because it meant she wasn't going to be worrying about the people she'd left behind. She knew they would be okay. Trusting that the Admiral would uphold his end of her deals was another story.

Of course, when she closed her eyes in her bedroom and opened them to find herself standing under an overpass in the middle of a snowstorm, the only thing she could do was hope he had sent her to the right Chicago, at the right time. If Molly was six years old, or Murphy had no memories of the Barge, Cissie might have to go back to there just to give the Admiral a piece of her mind. Tibs mewed pitifully in his cat carrier, reminding her that staying out here in the cold, at night, was not an option for long. As she started hauling her things, all she could think was that she wished she hadn't packed her winter coat in the bottom of her suitcase.

Molly had left before they had planned a meeting place or time, and she had no idea where she was or how to find her. This meant it was at least a few hours later that Cissie hauled her things up the front steps to the porch of a house. She was soaking wet from the snow, exhausted and freezing, and she had no idea if it was the right thing to do, coming here. Maybe she should have looked up the Carpenters and tried introducing herself to Molly's parents--but how do you say "hi, your daughter's been living on an interdimensional prison ship for a few years and I'm her best friend, do you know where she is?" without sounding like a lunatic?

Cissie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, giving a little prayer that someone would be home, that it wasn't too late and most of all, that Murphy would know who she was. And then she knocked on Karrin Murphy's door.

Comments

[whatfriendsdo]

When the alarms on the ward signal someone's approach, Murphy's on her feet with a weapon in hand before the knock fills the silence. Mister stretches on the bed and curls back up, which is at least some indicator that the person at the door is a friendly. The cat has seen enough weird to know when something's...

Did she really just think afoot?

Murphy shakes her head and drifts into the hall, quiet as a ghost, checking every room and every corner before she gets to the front door. The weapon slips out of sight, behind her back, and she throws two of the bolts and opens the door a crack. It stops short on the half-dozen reinforced chains, which gives Murphy a lovely broken sliver through which to view Cissie King-Jones standing on her doorstep in the snow.

It takes about three seconds for the dissonance to clear and the reality to register. And then Murphy almost drops her gun.

"...Cissie?"

[cisskabob]

Cissie practically held her breath after she knocked, waiting for the door to open. When she heard footsteps approaching, she had a sudden urge to run off the porch--she wasn't sure she could take it if this wasn't Murphy's house after all, and she knew it would break her heart if Murphy didn't recognize her. And then the door cracked open; she froze in place, biting her lip while she watched Murphy's face closely.

The minute her expression changed and Cissie realized she knew her, she almost burst into tears of relief. Instead she smiled, a little sheepishly, and raised a hand in a pathetic excuse for a greeting. She tried not to sound like her teeth were chattering when she spoke.

"Hi Murphy. ...Surprise?"

[whatfriendsdo]

"Th- Y- Get inside, what are you doing out in the cold dressed like that? The Admiral couldn't give you a damn coat?" She closes the door enough to unfasten the rest of the chains, then yanks it open and practically drags Cissie inside, getting the rest of the luggage herself. The gun stays pressed against her leg while she's outside. She's poised, ready to lift and fire at the slightest indication of a threat.

Once they're both safely cloistered inside, Murphy sets the gun on the side table. There's a moment where she's not sure what to do, where the shock of seeing Cissie on her doorstep catches up and mentally derails Murphy. And then she's hugging the taller girl hard enough to break Cissie in half.

...Figuratively speaking.