beat_death | (no subject)

Entry tags:

time doors,
tosh

(no subject)

It's late and Owen can't sleep.

That's not exactly unusual for him— he hasn't been able to manage more than a few hours a night since Copley and since the darkness— but somehow he suspects it's for a different reason tonight. They're all feeling frayed at the edges here, and every day that goes by without any progress toward getting back home or getting back to Darrow at the very least leaves them more and more frustrated.

Well, he can't really speak for Jack, but he knows he's fucking angry at this whole thing, and after today and the public shelter, he's sure Tosh has got to be as well. It's why he's found himself at the door to her room after they've all supposedly turned in for the night, though he's not sure if she's still awake.

"Tosh?" he says, a bit quiet, and he knocks on the door.

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Sleep hasn't come easily for Tosh either, and when it does she finds herself having dreams that quickly turn dark. The events of the day have left their mark on her subconscious, and when Owen taps at her door she's awake and staring into the darkness.

"I'm awake," she says softly, sitting up in her bed with the woolen blanket pulled tight around her. "You can come in."

Owen walks in and closes the door behind him, quiet. He felt a little stupid about turning up at her door at first, but finding her awake means he probably had the right idea.

"Just wanted to check if you're alright," he says, "after what happened."

She shifts to give him room to sit should he want to. "As best as can be expected. There's been worse. I didn't end up in prison, or under a pile of rock or worse. How are you?"

"I'm ready to get the hell out of here, that's for sure," Owen says, and sits down on the edge of the bed when Tosh shifts a bit. Even if he wasn't already anxious to at least get back to a modern time, today would've done it.

"Do you think there's some trick to it? A puzzle, a task...." Tosh doesn't think so, but it would feel better knowing there was something for them to do or solve. "Or it could be that we're just not getting out of here. Like we weren't getting out of Darrow."

"It's a possibility, unfortunately," Owen says, as much as he hates to admit it. He might not want to go back to Cardiff, back to being dead, but fuck knows he doesn't want to be stuck in the 1940's. But it's not a lateral move in time they've made, because however Darrow works is much different than the way the Rift operates.

"There's always waiting for technology to catch up," he quietly jokes, though he's sure it falls flat, "'til you can piece something together that might pick up on dimensional abnormalities."

Tosh groans softly, wincing and leaning her head on Owen's shoulder. "I wish that was a joke, but I've been considering it. What it might take to build something here."

Owen looks over at her head rested against his shoulder, and he pauses, but doesn't move.

"And what's the verdict?" he asks, knowing that if it was a good one, Tosh would have mentioned it by now.

"I'd need to break into an R&D facility. Probably an army one. I'm not even sure British Telecom would be up for it at this point." It's been more on her mind tonight and she realises he likely knows that too, or knows her well enough to think that when she says it.

"If you think it's worth it, we could give it a go," Owen says, knowing that they could probably manage it between the three of them. There's no computer for Tosh to hack, but he's somewhat confident that Jack could talk his way in if it came down to it.

"You know Jack would love it. A chance to break into Army HQ?" There's a soft laugh that comes with her words, but it's also a defeated sound. How could it be anything else? "I don't know. Give it another day or two."

"He'll probably jump at the chance," Owen replies with a soft laugh of his own, a bit relieved for the small bit of levity despite knowing it's not actually a solution. It's an idea, and a long shot, at best. Because even if they manage to pull something like that off, there's no guarantee they'll find what Tosh needs.

It is a long shot, and she'd rather try and wait it out and hope that they find some way back to Darrow. It's strange to think of that as home, but things have changed for her over the past year and now she feels her place is there. "He would. Another time I might have too."

He's not sure if Tosh means another time as in another time in her life or another time to mean not the 1940s. Either way, he frowns again.

"Sure you're alright?"

"No. Not really." Tosh shifts away from him, pulling her legs up to her chest. "It's been a bad week and today... Today was very bad."

"Do you want to stay?"

"Yeah," he says, still quiet, "I'll stay."

It'd been on his mind when he first turned up at her door, but he'd been undecided as to whether not he'd leave once he was sure everything was alright. And now that that hasn't happened... well, he hasn't got much choice.

"Thanks." She needs the company now, his presence reminding her that someone will have her back if she needs it. Tosh offers a wan smile, sliding so there's more room in the narrow bed.

He slides over when she makes room, stretching out a bit though he's sure he won't be able to get comfortable, nor will he sleep much, if at all. Still, it's better than leaving Tosh on her own, and he's beginning to think that he's better of not being alone tonight either.

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