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[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Moira heads down to visit Nathan after the link gets a little weird. He's all out of it, asking her to not let anyone touch the button. They talk a little but then Askani decides she wants to come out and have a talk with Moira. See, not all psycho at all.



Moira stifled a yawn and headed towards the room where Nathan was being kept at a brisk walk. She carried his file, which had gotten rather full lately, and carted around a bottle of water Dom had pressed into her hands. With everyone around, it had been easier to take care of herself, everyone else was doing it for her. Quietly, she nudged the door open with her hip and walked in, shutting it behind her.

"'ey, ye awake?" she asked, knowing he was, or at least close to it. There had been something over the link earlier, she hadn't been sure what, but she had wanted to come and check on him. Especially after that mess with Manuel.

Even drifting, Nathan had tensed automatically when he heard the door open, but began to relax just as instinctively when he heard Moira's voice. He couldn't sense her properly on the link, his head was too foggy, but he could feel her. "No more... pushing the button," he murmured, his voice breaking.

"Wha'?" Moira asked, blinking as she came over to stand by his bed.

He managed to open his eyes, but she didn't resolve from the red-haired blur leaning over him. "Tell them... leave it alone," he said, the words slurred. "Leave me... alone... stop arguing with me..." His shields were crumbling like old stone and he hated feeling like he wasn't equal to a fight, hated it...

She frowned down at him, put the files and water on the near by table, and smoothed down his hair. "Tell them ta stop medicatin' ye?" Moira asked, blinking. "'Tis really only supposed t' be a few o' us doin' tha'. An' I'm makin' sure nay one argues wit' ye."

Her presence was so soothing that he found himself relaxing further. "Just... tired," he mumured, breathing more deeply. "Hurts... but nervous about sleeping..."

"'e's nay gettin' down 'ere," Moira said firmly, hooking a leg around a stool to bring it closer. She sat with a sigh and reached for his hand. "So ye can catch *some* sleep, really."

Thinking about Manuel led, gradually, to thinking about Amanda, and... Nathan struggled to open his eyes again. "Amanda," he said slowly. "What did... what did she do? Angelo was... trying to get me to promise..."

"Tryin' ta get ye ta promise wha'?" she responded, suddenly making a mental note to ask Amanda where *exactly* she got that thing from. If Angelo had been trying to weasel a promise out of Nathan, then it couldn't have been something good.

"To... let her keep healing me..." Nathan's frown deepened as Moira smoothed his hair again. "What did she... not unsafe?"

"I'm nay sure, Nathan, really. Want me ta find out, though? Let me worry 'bout tha' while ye 'eal up an' rest?"

Nathan sighed heavily. "Worry about her..." he murmured, upset at the thought that she might have done something risky to help him.

"We all do." Moira sighed and rolled her eyes. "But God knows, she's nearly as stubborn as th' rest o' us. Though I'll get it out o' 'er wha's goin' on, promise." She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Feeling...better?"

She shrugged one shoulder. "Amanda got rid o' th' worst o' it an' nay anyone's been lettin' me run meself inta th' ground." Moira frowned. "Still, wish I 'adnae been so sound asleep last night after readin' th' journals." The truth wash, she wished for a lot of things but simply kept quiet and sat on that particular hot spot of guilt in the back of her mind.

Nathan frowned again, blinking rapidly. "No..." he protested softly, squeezing her hand. "Not your fault. Any of it." She would know he wasn't talking about the journals, he hoped.

In response, she curled her hand tighter in his and sighed again. "'Tis nothin'," Moira murmured. "Probably'll go away in a few days. Jus' tryin' ta forget 'tis there, ye know?" She smiled at him. "Focus on ye, tha' 'elps."

He didn't have the energy to fight with her about it, to tell her that it wasn't going to go away in a few days, especially not if she was trying to repress it. "When're you... going to let me out of here?" he asked softly, trying to smile.

"From th' test results an' 'ow yer 'ealin'...Saturday, by th' looks o' it." She grimaced at the feelings flooding over the link. "Jus' a few days more, I promise."

"Suppose I shouldn't... complain." Nathan felt something tickle at the back of his mind, and his eyes widened. "Moira... hold on..." He sent back a wordless affirmative, and felt that pull at his telekinesis, sensed Askani take shape on the other side of the bed.

"Hello, Moira," he heard her say. But the pull on his power was exhausting, however slight it was, and he felt his eyelids drooping again.

Considering how, even after some hours of sleep, tired Moira was, it was to her credit that she didn't scream and fall off the chair. Instead, the chair merely wobbled under her as she jerked back in surprise. "Bloody 'ell," she gasped, clutching her heart. "Wasnae expectin' *tha'*." Moira paused and tilted her head. "'ello...Askani," she answered, unsure. The last meeting she had had with this woman from the future hadn't gone well.

Askani smiled at her gently, almost regretfully. "Yes... well. Astonishing how much being dead improves your manners." She glanced down at Nathan for a moment, almost contemplatively, and then looked back up at Moira. "He was in too much pain to be reasoned with yesterday," she said, as if by way of explanation. "He wasn't hearing me."

"Nathan doesnae 'ear anyone well, especially when 'e's in pain." She smiled down at him fondly. "Bloody stubborn bastard, tha' 'e is. Wish 'e wouldnae fit th' medicine so 'ard."

"Old memories," Askani said. "Not simply the boy. Although that did not help." Her delicate features twisted for a moment, in something close to frustration. "Why has he been allowed to continue in such a fashion? He sounded like a young soldier of the Canaanite elite, dismissing what he did not understand."

Moira didn't answer right away, features drawn as she thought of how best to answer. "While 'e's a bloody prick, there's still some potential in 'im somewhere. There's a bloody good chance 'e could keep goin' down a dark pat' an' if'n there's a way ta prevent it, I'm all for it. Wit' powers like 'is...damned dangerous. I'm 'opin' tha' wha' we're tryin' ta teach 'im gets through."

"There are empaths among us," Askani said. "I have told Nathan. We had... very careful training, for those with such gifts." Her eyes were bright as she focused on Moira. "Will he take instruction from those he thinks of as parasites?"

"If'n 'e wants that dampner off, 'e will," she replied, firmly. "I'm 'opin' Amanda can do some good."

"Ah. The girl." Askani tilted her head, giving Nathan an affectionate look. "Seeking out his own clan. We approve of that very much."

Moira really couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at that comment. "'e's wha'?"

"Making his own clan. Seeking out connections." Askani gave Moira an almost impish smile. "We did not start as a clan of blood, after all. This is a very good beginning for him."

"Ahhh, I get it now." She shook her head. "'e certainly does tend ta attract these kids like...well, I'd say candy, but knowin' these, cigarettes." Moira wrinkled her nose. "Still, 'tis good for everyone."

Askani's expression grew serious. "Moira... forgive me?" she asked.

Later, she'd really admit that this was incredibly surreal. "Hmm?"

"For being angry. For directing that anger at him, and at you." Askani's eyes were clear and green, faintly luminous. "I was grasping out for what I saw as our only chance, but I didn't understand."

"'Tis easy t' forgive now," she murmured quietly, "now tha' I know more. I 'ave ta admit, I dinnae really understand. None o' us did. An' tha' dinnae 'elp any. I was jus' t' busy clingin' ta th' fact tha' I grounded 'im ta try an' figure out wha' was goin' on. Guess th' link between us must o' been a bit o' a shock ta ye..."

"It is a good thing," Askani said with calm conviction, never breaking eye contact. "Your link. Never doubt that."

Moira smiled. "Aye, it 'tis. Makes somethin's easier than they should be. Makes other thin's 'arder, t'. But I wouldnae give it up. Ever."

Askani nodded slowly, then looked back down at Nathan. "I should not stay. It is a drain on his energies."

Moira nodded. "Well, at least 'e should sleep after this."

"There is that," Askani said wryly, with a surprising grasp of idiom, and dissolved into sparkles, which faded slowly.

"...wasnae expectin' th' sparkles," Moira stated, blinking back some of her shock at the entire conversation.