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[devoutish]

Yeah?

[That's it, that's all you get.]

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[nursetemple]

Shit.

[Next: contact Kid. Let him know she's okay.]

I'm okay, I'm okay. I actually should go, get moving.

[The idea of not being in control in front of people she might not know that well doesn't sit well with her. She needs some time to gather herself.

She wants to hang up right away, but she's not childish enough to do so. Her panic is her own, Alfie doesn't have to deal with it. So she'll say goodbye, at least.]

I'll talk to you later, okay? Sorry about - all this.

[Then she does hang up, staring down at her hands with icy fear gripping at her heart.]

[devoutish]

[He calls back immediately, because of course.]

Claire.

[nursetemple]

[Claire sighs, but she replies.]

Alfie.

[devoutish]

Do you know who is in the area?

[nursetemple]

No. I need to get back to Kid anyway. I can do it myself.

[She knows she's not being rational, but she can't help herself.]

[devoutish]

Yeah, I told him you were gonna say that.

You need someone for yourself, as well.

[nursetemple]

Told who? Kid?

[Her head drops, chin to her chest. He is calmer than she is, right now.]

All right. What would you have me do?

[devoutish]

Don't push it down and ignore it.

[nursetemple]

I'm not trying to. [She's sincere, sounding tired.]

I'm trying to parse it.

[A pause.]

And I wouldn't say no to help, I just don't know where to even start.

[devoutish]

Talk.

[nursetemple]

[Claire takes another deep breath, mouth open on words that don't come out, at first.]

It didn't feel... It didn't feel like it should have. There wasn't any of that life before your eyes stuff. When I got kidnapped, I had plenty of times to think about all the shit I regret. But here... it was just like, one second to the next.

[She wants to snap her fingers. Looking down at her hand, intently, she tries, tries. But nothing.]

And then I wake up in pitch black, and I roll around when I realize I'm in a bag, and I fall off and I have to open the zipper with my teeth, because my hands are - I don't even know what they are.

[As she talks, she gets more animated, sounding angrier by the word. And she is - it's humiliating, and terrifying, and she wants everything to make sense, but nothing does. Nothing does.]

[devoutish]

They'll come back, in a few days. It never lasts forever.

[nursetemple]

Yeah. [She drags her forearm under her nose, closing her eyes against the wave of nausea.]

I could deal with that if not for the dying part.

[devoutish]

Have you got any women friends to talk to?

[It's not meant as a dismissal, but he does figure that women are generally better at this sort of thing than he is.]

[nursetemple]

Um.

[She tries to think, going through the women in town that she knows. Steph, Amber, Natasha, and Tifa. She is pretty sure she is not close enough to any of them to contact them and ask for their help.]

None of them are what I would call friends.

[devoutish]

Mm. I was hoping you could do better than me.

[A little self-deprecating joke for her.]

[nursetemple]

[Under other circumstances, she would have teased him. But right now, even though she smiles, she can't bring herself to.]

Maybe I just wanted a friendly voice.

[Closing her eyes, she tries to keep the smile on her face.]

I'll get there. There's just still a lot that I need to process, is all.

[devoutish]

Haven't much processed it myself, so far. Yeah. It's difficult to wrap your head around, innit.

[nursetemple]

Very. [Slowly, she raises her head.] When it happened to you, did you - did you feel the need to pray? More than usual, that is?

[devoutish]

Not then. But other times - yes.

[nursetemple]

[Claire inhales sharply.]

It's like an ache in my chest. Do you know if there are any places around town that have rosaries? Is there a church anywhere?

[devoutish]

There's a chapel, but I wouldn't know about rosaries. It's one of the spots where people come back. There's a morgue, but there's also a little room with pews.

[nursetemple]

Okay, thank you.

[So that's where she needs to go. Once she gets in touch with Kid, and is sure of his well-being, she needs to... She needs to pray - kneel and repent, ask for forgiveness. Taking a deep breath, she bows her head again, feeling slightly less shaky with a plan.]

I'll go there, I think.

[devoutish]

Be careful. You can't spend the night there.

[nursetemple]

[She can't tell if his tone is even gentler. Maybe it is, or maybe it's just wishful thinking. The idea that even a chapel cannot be a safe haven in this town is heartbreaking, but Claire nods to herself, trying her best to keep herself together.]

Okay. [It's a lot weaker than she wants it to be.]

I'll be careful. In and out. Maybe a couple of hours.