Small Comforts

[chitoryu12*]

John wouldn't smile. He didn't feel the need to smile. He didn't think that what he was doing was necessarily right or proper. He didn't feel like he was getting any huge enjoyment out of having power over another.

He just wanted to do something other than sit there and mope. Show his strength. Show everyone watching at home what the descendant of European immigrants could do.

"Remember what I said. Don't do as I say and you get a bullet in the skull. I'll prod you in the right direction."

And so they left.

((John Ferrara continued in A Couple of Cooks in the Kitchen))

[Lord_Shadow]

((Posting to stave off inactivity. Apologies!!!))

No reaction. Was the shock of losing his... friends, distractions, shields, burdens... she didn't know what to call them really but that wasn't important, was that shock too much for him to handle? Had it made him catatonic or something? She wasn't sure. He was crying though. Maybe it might was.

She smiled. "It's okay. It's going to be all right. Even the best heroes can't save everyone... but what you can do is make sure you never lose someone again. There are heroes and there are villains in this place. One of the villains, you've already met. And it's people like him, the kind of people who start killing your friends for no reason, that we have to stick together to take down."

She started shifting her hands down to normal level. She was confident that she wouldn't get shot. Though honestly at this point it still was a big gamble. "You need me. I can help you find the villains, and make them pay."

Make or break time. Her life, or death, was up to the whims of a boy who literally had nothing else now. All she had to do was wait and see.

[Lord_Shadow]

((Once again, posting to stave off inactivity.))

And still Will wasn't moving. What, did he suffer from narcolepsy or something? Unlikely. What was even more unlikely was that Jen was going to get out of this situation unscathed. While she rather liked the fact that he wasn't shooting her, the fact remained that the gun was still in his hand, and she was still in it's path.

A bullet in her body would be less than pleasant. Dying here when there was a chance that she could make it to the end, was an even less pleasant thought. She analyzed the situation in her head, trying to come up with a way to make it out of here with her knife completely unharmed. Grabbing that gun would be nice, but it didn't seem likely unless Will did something stupid like try to club her with it or something.

Her concentration was broken as the announcements came on again. Rather than that idiot Adams' voice again, there was a few seconds of 'Hail to the Chief' played before he finally fumbled his way into doing what meaningless job he had been assigned here. Or was he assigned to the job? He could very well have asked for it, the sick bastard.

She could care less about the listed deaths and killers. The psychos were racking up kills and the losers were dying. One name caught her attention though. Dominic Brown. Idiot got himself killed. "Well, somehow I knew. Nice knowing you I guess." It made her kind of sad, but not enough to take her gaze off the gun in front of her.

What would happen? Only time would tell.

[Mini_Help]

They'd waltzed out unscathed. William had held up the wrong girl, and the real killer and the abductor had just slipped away, leaving him awkwardly looking at this girl. She was trying to talk to him, to make him feel better. It wasn't working, though. The more she said, the more William felt like worthless trash. He couldn't do what she was saying. He couldn't take down the killers.

He blinked at her. Looked at his gun. What was he doing?

"I... I'm sorry. I made a mistake," he said. "I should... probably go."

He couldn't stick with her, not after what he'd done, the mistakes he'd made.

Watching her, to make sure she didn't lunge for him, he backed away, then turned and bolted off.

He had a lot of thinking to do.

((William Chandler continued in Surrender))

[Lord_Shadow]

The good news was Will didn't go batshit and shoot her. The bad news was he was taking that gun, and himself but that was less important, as far away from her as possible.

"Well that certainly didn't play out like I planned. Damn, my chances of making it out of here are slimming by the minute. I've got to get it in gear. No more playing around, it's time to get serious."

She walked back over and picked up the knife. No doubt about it anymore. She'd have to start playing the game. She just hoped that this little experience would help her deal with any emotional trauma she'd inevitably experience upon having to and most likely going through with killing someone.

"Hey Adams, mark my words. Once I'm through here, I'm coming for you. Jennifer Steinman doesn't forgive and forget you bastard."

((Jennifer Steinman continued in Don't Be Just An Observer))