5th case [dictated/action]

[not_nikkiheat]

[Kate's wounded and cradling her left arm to her chest as best she can. She is ducking down in a alcove off the main tunnel, trying to stay out of sight for a moment to catch her breath. She's faced death before, she's been shot before, but she's never experienced such absolute terror. She's being hunted, and in between the pain and trying to survive, she has to deal with these...visions. Horrible visions of the people she loves, dead and dying. Finally, it becomes too much, and she risks pulling out her journal, desperate for any kind of human contact that isn't trying to murder her. When she speaks, it's a frantic whisper.]

There aren't many of us left. Do not attempt rescue. The evil here will take all of us eventually, you shouldn't sacrifice yourselves. Just stay safe.

[Filtered to Castle]

I need to say goodbye.

Comments

[savethedarkness]

That is not an option.

[not_nikkiheat]

Everyone is dead or crazy! Anyone who sets foot on this ship is committing suicide.

[Actually...]

Suicide might not be such a bad idea.

[savethedarkness]

It's a horrible idea. Don't even think about it. We have the power back, here, it's only a matter of time before we can get to you. You can hold on a little longer.

[schrodingersghost]

[Danny was battered and injured. He kept being distracted by horrible hallucinations of a future that could never happen and his darkest fears.

But he was still determined to survive this.]

Where are you?

[not_nikkiheat]

I'm just off the main tunnel. Stay where you are, Danny.

[not_nikkiheat]

No, you don't understand. You can't come in here. Anyone who comes in here will die!

[savethedarkness]

If anyone there can be saved, they will be.

[her tone brooks no argument. it's okay, Kate. she has enough hope and determination for both of you]

[not_nikkiheat]

[That tone of voice is what gets her, and her own voice breaks.]

You can't save us. Please stay away. Stay safe.

[schrodingersghost]

You don't sound so good. And it isn't like anywhere else around here is any safer.

[not_nikkiheat]

I'm fine. [Except for, you know, a bullet wound] And if they haven't found you yet, maybe they won't find you. Don't tempt fate.

[savethedarkness]

[time to change tactics]

What's your name?

[not_nikkiheat]

[A broken sigh as she tries to pull herself together.]

Kate Beckett.

[savethedarkness]

How long have you been a resident of Paradisa, Kate?

[she needs to help her remember herself, to steady herself. if she can bring her mind out of the darker places, out of panic...]

[schrodingersghost]

Yeah, a little too late for that. Apparently playing dead actually does work as a survival technique.

[not_nikkiheat]

A few months.

Will you give someone a message for me?

[not_nikkiheat]

Good to know. Keep doing that if you hear someone coming.

[savethedarkness]

Same as me, then. So we're both going through this for the first time. Kate, I want you to listen to me.

I have friends who've lived here for years. They told me themselves, today, after seeing this - after hearing this - that they've been through worse. Think about what we know of Paradisa. Focus on the facts, Kate.

Would it really let us go? Lose us to something that it created itself?

[she's not even going to entertain the message idea. you can tell Castle you love him yourself]

[not_nikkiheat]

[She's shaking her head, denying to herself any truth to her words.]

I had friends here too. They tried to kill me. They shot me. I had to shoot them.

[thebestseller]

No. I refuse to say it because you're not going to die.

[savethedarkness]

[fine, fine. ugh. the sooner they find a way through those doors, the better. M scrubs a hand over her face and sets her jaw]

Did you shoot to kill, or incapacitate, Miss Beckett?

[maybe the superior angle gets better results than the sympathetic one]

[not_nikkiheat]

Castle, I'm hurt. And they're hunting us. I need to say it.

[not_nikkiheat]

[Her voice sounds stronger as she defends herself.]

I don't shoot to kill unless I have to. I didn't shoot until they shot first.

[savethedarkness]

Then you've still got your wits about you. [she nods, and there's a note of pride in her voice, just enough to feed that strength, help it grow]

Once this is over, and we've cured whatever's causing this ... they'll thank you. Maybe not outright, but in their way. You've done your duty by them, as backwards as it may seem.

[not_nikkiheat]

[She manages a weak laugh at that, tinged with hysteria.]

Somehow I don't see Bond thanking me for shooting him.

[savethedarkness]

[that's a punch to the gut, for certain, but there's only the briefest of pauses as she swallows it down]

Then you don't know him as well as I do.