Tom Petty sang it best...

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

...the waiting is the hardest part.

A million thoughts are going through Sand's mind.  Are they OK?  Is SHE OK?  Will they find her?

He checks his watch.  Yep, they've been gone 10 seconds.

"Anyone know any good parlor games?  I don't think everyone here's into Civ4."

Comments

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Caleb has another sip of his tea. Outwardly he’s calm and collected, as inwardly he tries not to let his hopes get up. However good those searching are, the search itself is over a truly intimidating expanse.

Though he is entertaining the what-ifs now. What if they succeed? Corrine will be back.
Part of him had hoped that he would have been able to secure Amelia’s release first, but its not as if he’s about to sabotage her rescue so that he can hide his little sister.

And what about him? Corrine has attacked him in every single encounter since being … would deified be the proper term? Well, at any rate, since merging with the entity. Will he be any safer? And what if he had managed to secure Amelia’s release? Would they have been able to hide? Wouldn’t she find them?

He has another sip. It’s not like any of that matters. She needs me, and I’m here. As for the rest … I really shouldn’t pay interest on money I haven’t even borrowed.

That doesn’t mean he won’t, though. He’ll just stand there, sip his tea, and inwardly ponder possibilities.

[gemma-masters.livejournal.com]

Wow, they're a lively bunch aren't they?

"Anyone suggests charades an I'll scream." this is followed by a large grin.

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

Sand chuckles. "Sorry, Gemma. This last month has been somewhat trying on all of us, to say the least."

[gemma-masters.livejournal.com]

"Understatement...big time." She can feel the anchor secure and fine attached to her.

"They're fine, don't worry I'll know if somethin' happens."

[green-shield.livejournal.com]

Tara just paces, checking and rechecking the emergency supplies in the room.

"I liked Diner Dash myself. Got it for Doc Boss's computer."

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

Sand smiles. "Tara. Sit. Please. You're acting like Aunt Dian before going to the Kennedy Center Honors."

[green-shield.livejournal.com]

"Fine." She runs her fingers through her hair. "It'll be good. Having her back. I miss her 'kid in a candy store,' look."

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

“Corrine, uh … Corrine loved building houses of cards. She always slipped and knocked them over before she was finished, though. Every single time I saw her try. She never gave up trying, though.”

He turns to Sand. “I don’t suppose she ever got it right?”

[hotshot1280.livejournal.com]

Trevor's standing against one wall, his right foot cocked against the wall and his arms crossed. The thought of distracting himself has already occurred to him, but it took less than a minute of Midnight Pool on his cell phone before he missed six shots and stuffed it back into its holder. His concerns as he stares absently at the air and contemplates the temperature variations range from what will happen if Corrine returns to what will happen if she doesn't, as well as concern for Tefe and Fate. If she does come back, there are things he'll need to talk to her about that he usually prefers not to talk about, but all of him is still keyed toward the thought of Fate and Tefe coming home with Corrine.

[kingofbrain.livejournal.com]

Hank slides over to Trevor. "Suggestion to take both our minds off of things? I had some ideas as to how to start to build your natural resistance to mind control - it takes a LOT of practice, but there are techniques some folks do to make it harder for psi's to abuse you. Wanna take some time and work on it? Sandy will let us know if anything's up."

[hotshot1280.livejournal.com]

Trevor blinks, startled. Finding a way to not be mind-bait in every fight was actually right behind finding and talking to Corrine on his things-to-do list, and he wonders for a single moment whether Hank peeked. this is Hank, though, so the thought only lasts for a second before he dismisses it.

"Sure," he says, probably a bit more enthusiastically than intended. "I- that would be great!"

As an afterthought he looks around, a bit self-conscious. "This isn't the type of thing that's liable to make me look stupid the first few times, is it?"

[kingofbrain.livejournal.com]

"If you're not serious about it, maybe." Hank replies. He didn't peek - but when someone's been that major a target for mind control in so short a time, that's a leak that needs to be plugged somehow.

"This won't guarantee that you're not going to be controlled again. But worst case scenario, this may buy you enough seconds for someone else to get involved."

He looks to Sand. "Trevor and I are going to go work out some issues. Flag us when Ms. Bertrand and Tefe' come back from their girls' week out." He turns to Trevor. "Training room. Quietest place in the joint when we're not beating on things."

[onthecase.livejournal.com]

Chimp knucklewalks into the room. This is his arrival home from the clinic. Not exactly what he expected... but emergencies trump parties.

"Well, quite the welcome home," he mutters, looking around. "I hear we've located Corrine?"

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

"Locating." Sand corrects gently. "Dr. Fate and Tefe are scouring the leylines. Have you met Gemma previously?" Sand smiles. "She's the anchor for them.

[onthecase.livejournal.com]

He nods to her. "Gemma. Constantine's niece, I assume?" He winks. "Don't worry... I won't hold that against you."

[gemma-masters.livejournal.com]

"We met brieflt at the Black Dragon Pub, they threw Zauriel at us." It's always fun stories how people in the business met each other. It's never just oh we had tea together.

"An good, because it's a rough rep to follow."

[onthecase.livejournal.com]

"Ain't that the truth," he chuckles, throwing an arm over her shoulder. "Some day, you should have me tell you the story of how I met him. I promise to edit it to keep it... well... as clean as I can. There's some things I'm sure you'd rather not know about your uncle. Hell, I wish I didn't know 'em."

[ibn-al-xuff.livejournal.com]

Ibn waits quietly, outside of the circle of the Outsiders.

He's lost in thought about Amelia's illness. He wonders how much of her despair has to do with the sickness. Something happened between her and these people.

He listens to Tara talk effortlessly. He's never found it easy to be lost in the moment.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Several minute pass as the Outsiders mingle amongst themselves before Caleb notes that Ibn hasn’t spoken with anyone.

“From the look of you, I’d say you were somewhere else entirely,” Caleb notes impassively.

[ibn-al-xuff.livejournal.com]

Ibn coughs slightly. He glances around the room. He doesn't know the details, but he knows Amelia's name is spoken without cause near the Outsiders. "I apologize, I was thinking of your sister."

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Oh. It's about Bird.

“This, uh … “He leans in closer, and speaks a touch more softly. “This might not be the proper ambiance for such a discussion.”

[onthecase.livejournal.com]

The Chimp approaches Sand discreetly.

"I'm done researching Ibn."

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

They walk down the hallway, out of earshot. "What did you find?"

[onthecase.livejournal.com]

He pauses, glancing back at the room, as if worried about betraying a confidence.

"How much do you know about Nightstar? The half-Tamaranean Titan?"

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much that she's a Titan and she's at least partially Tamaranean." Sand replies