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[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Moira finally gets back to the Mansion to find out what happened to Nathan. She'd felt some of the backlash herself, at dinner. Nathan wakes up and manages to convey to Moira that it's finally *over*.



From the moment Moira had gotten back to the Mansion and down to where Nathan had been placed in the MedLab, she hadn't let go of his hand. She had talked to Marie once she had arrived and gotten the gist of what had happened. Marie had looked at her, worried, at her own state but Moira didn't pay much attention to that. Samson had hovered for a while before finally being reassured that Moira was, indeed, all right.

To tell the truth, Moira admitted to herself as she smoothed the hair back from Nathan's forehead, she didn't remember much of dinner. The backlash from what had happened with Nathan had ripped through the shields he had managed to erect. All she remembered was leaving the restaurant, grabbing her head and then darkness. She had woken up later, with Leonard carrying her to an ambulance that had arrived. It had taken some time to convince them all, especially Leonard, that she would be fine. It had still taken his help to get her into the car and she remembered his rumbled comment about it being a good thing she didn't eat the Twinkies like Henry did. No wonder Marie had been concerned when they had come in...Leonard half-carrying her and Moira paler than the walls of the MedLab.

With a sigh, Moira tried to ease the shaking out of her hands. The second she had woken up from being knocked out, she had known something had happened to Nathan. She just hadn't expected it to be this. Her head felt like it was going to explode. Though that had lessened slightly since she had gotten back. Moira expected that Charles had had a hand in that. But even with the shielding she suspected Charles put up, it was still incredibly hard to think. And the link...

The link pulsed with light and color even when he was asleep. She had touched it, once, and had nearly been overwhelmed by the sensations again. So she was content to leave it alone until he woke up. Moira frowned down at him, very worried. This was the worst she'd ever seen it and she hoped he was going to be okay. Moira grumbled and wiped the tears away from her eyes and blamed it on the pain in her head.

Dimly, even lost in the sea of color and light and memories that lapped gently at the walls of his mind, Nathan sensed her worry, tugging at the link. It was enough to draw him back partway, and he struggled to open his eyes, to focus on her face.

"Moira," he murmured, his voice sounded slurred, distant. "Ce'halya quaire puliean, ce'vas y'haina..."

"Yer awake...mostly," Moira responded, running a gentle hand through his hair. She smiled down at him, the smile tight and a little wan, but there. "An' I 'ave nay idea wha' ye jus' said."

Askani, Nathan thought. The words had come out in Askani, not English. "Sul'vaca inamana lu'hai?" he tried again, and then frowned, pensively. "Sul'vaca... vacua, ni'haina Moira... ehai dinnai... can't...langya bellaya...instead..."

Worry flared again and she dropped gently onto the side of the bed. "Slowly, Nathan," she murmured reassuringly. "Would it be easier through th' link?" That would be something, she realized, with the link as bright as it was already.

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the link. It seemed... full to bursting, somehow, and he frowned again, realizing that it was causing Moira pain. So he tried, very tentatively, to send images down the link instead of words. A door closing, then vanishing, since she wouldn't recognize the vortex from his mental beach-mindscape. Askani turning away, vanishing into the distance.

Moira whimpered slightly as her head throbbed but she didn't tell him to stop. This was too important for her to know, she realized, and gritted her teeth. So, this is what it was like sticking your head in the sun, she thought dimly. "'tis over?" she whispered, finally.

Nathan opened his eyes again, smiling tiredly at her. "Over," he said carefully. "Sulate, Moira."

Moira didn't bother to blink back the tears as she cupped his face. "'bout damned time," she said, sniffling a little. Oh yes, the pain and the fainting...if this was the cause, then it was worth enduring.

He raised a hand, covering one of hers as she bent over him. "Ni'lassiya," he said softly. "Don't...cry. Love."

"'appy tears this time, love, jus' 'appy ones."