second floor common room ; saturday afternoon

[necroslacker]

Sam didn't know what kind of safe house this was but if it prevented him from getting shot again, he'd take it. He'd been through so much since agreeing to testify against that gang from back home who'd smuggled emeralds, blown up the docks (but they'd quickly been rebuilt, don't worry), kidnapped small children with teddy bears and killed people while laughing.

Evily.

Witnessing those atrocities had gotten him a bullet in the hip and a one way trip into witness relocation. Now, he was here, limping around the common room to try and find something to eat. Every little noise made him jump and every little voice sounded like Little Big Bubba, the leader of the Ducklings.

The names were ironic since the gang was so violent. You know how it was. Sam wasn't even Sam anymore. No one could find out his true identity. Everyone was a weakness. He couldn't be found out. Or he would...DIE!

[Open, of course!]

Comments

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

Sam wasn't the only one who wasn't who he truly was. In fact, all Toby knew about himself was the fact that Toby wasn't his real name. Actually, there were two other things he knew for certain: that he'd been cursed with a mysterious 'gift' as a child (but he never talked about that. Ever. Except when he did, but whoever he told usually ended up in a coma or falling off a cliff or victim of a giant panda mauling while dressed as a wedge of cheese.) and that recently, he'd been plagued by terrible blackouts.

He must've had one just now, he realised. The last thing he remembered, he'd just been getting up, ready to go to the library and begin another day of research. And now here he was, lying crumpled in a doorway somewhere.

"Hello?" he called out groggily, hoping someone was nearby.

[necroslacker]

Sam froze for a second. That voice, it wasn't familiar (or was it?) but he knew Little Big Bubba had many henchman and many arms in his organization. He only had to make a wrong step and find himself with a knife sticking out of his throat.

So, he didn't answer but he did creep closer to the source of the voice. He knew he couldn't completely ignore the rest of the world but he was nervous. He was scared. He couldn't let anyone close.

"Hello?" He hadn't used his voice in so long it almost sounded foreign to his own ears. He hadn't meant to say that but it was out there now.

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"Can you help me?" Toby wondered. "Do you- do you know where we are?"

[necroslacker]

Sam didn't take a step closer. He was sizing Toby up, wondering if that was another ploy to take him out before he gave his testimony in a few short days. Would this seemingly harmless man throw him in the ocean and laugh about it?

"Who are you?" he asked, holding up a hand like a weapon. "Where did you come from?"

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

The curse was a burden, a terrible burden, but it could be surprisingly useful sometimes. Like now, when it let him know that this guy was worried Toby might harm him somehow.

"Toby Logan," he said, holding his own hands up in a gesture of surrender, trying to make himself seem as harmless as possible. "And- I wish I knew," he added, with a bitter little laugh tacked on the end there. "I wish I knew..." he repeated wistfully, gazing off into the distance.

[necroslacker]

"You...don't know where you came from?" Sam asked, still keeping his distance and his guard up. The Ducklings were a tricky gang full of thugs, toughs, and Nickelback fans.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked, sounding a little more heated about that. "People are cruel! So cruel! I've been a witness to that!"

Where that little monologue had come from, Sam didn't know.

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"As have I," Toby said sympathetically. "My earliest memory is of being thrown in the river as a child. Everything before that is a blank. And because of that I've always carried around this emptiness inside my heart, where my family should be," Toby clutched his hands at his heart. "All I want is to find something to fill that emptiness."

[necroslacker]

It was hard to trust people after he'd been shot in the hip and laughed at and left for dead. He'd had to cut everyone out of his life. The only people he'd spoken to in months had been the district attorney back home and the US marshals that had brought him here.

Life had been so lonely and sad.

Either this Toby person was a good actor or he was being honest. Sam wasn't sure which one to believe yet. His resolve wobbled and he frowned before wiping that emotion away.

"A river?" he asked, brows furrowing at that. "Why? That's...so cruel."

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"I think it was done to protect me," Toby said solemnly. At least, that was what he was telling himself these days. Last week, he'd believed he'd been thrown into the river because of the curse. "There were people who'd have liked nothing more than to see me dead."

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"Is there anything to eat up here?" Juliet demanded, as she swooped into the common room. "I'm famished. Someone make me a sandwich."

According to the whims of Fandom, she was still herself. A slightly more intense version of herself -- even more oblivious, even more spoiled -- but herself all the same.

[necroslacker]

Sam jumped at the decidedly female voice and whirled around, holding up the bottle of water like it was a baseball bat.

"Who are you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Did the marshals let you through? They're not supposed to do that!"

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean you don't know me?" Juliet asked, reaching up to try to snag the bottle of water. No sandwich, but at least he'd give her a drink. "I'm Juliet Xanthe Ariella Darling, one of the Darlings. Everyone knows me."

Then, sulkily: "And there weren't any marshals."

[necroslacker]

"I don't know you," he said and...chucked the water bottle at her before backing up further. "Who sent you? What are you here for? Your name isn't familiar to me."

He'd been in witness relocation for a long while though. His exposure to everything had been very, very limited. But anyone who had a family name that they thought people should know was someone to be careful around.

"What's your street name?"

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"... Park Avenue?" Juliet tried. She picked up the water bottle and wiped its cap with her hand. "My father sent me here for school, like everybody's. What's wrong with you?"

She was the one who had hysterics, not anyone else.

[necroslacker]

"This isn't a school," Sam shot back, staring at her. "This isn't a place you should be. Why are you really here? Did someone send you to take me out? You couldn't be happy with shooting me once, you had to come back and do it again?"

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"What the hell, people are getting shot around here?" Juliet looked scandalized. "That's horrible. Wait, do I really look like I could be an assassin?"

She found that flattering, in a weird way.

[necroslacker]

"Anyone could be an assassin," Sam retorted even if he found it weird for her to ask that. "The people you least expect are the ones that make the best assassins. Are you armed? You carrying a weapon? Maybe an icepick?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had come back to the dorms to check for any signs of her sister, but when there were none, she drifted into the common room. Might as well see about getting something to drink before going back into town to do business things.

She eyed the guy in the room, but he didn't seem to be anyone of importance, so she made her way to the fridge, heels click-click-clicking against the floor in a precise beat as she moved.

[necroslacker]

The amount of people that seemed to be finding his safe house was a cause to be nervous. The newest arrival had Sam's attention immediately and his eyes didn't leave her form even if she wasn't looking at him.

He expected a flash of a weapon or a bomb or something any minute. The marshals that had been protecting him were fired. He was never going to get to testify.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie ignored him while she was getting herself a glass of non-alcoholic wine (you had to keep up appearances somehow), but when he still hadn't stopped looking at her by the time she was done filling up her glass, she turned to give him a piercing look.

"What?" she asked, with the impatient voice of someone who was starting to get used to being able to just snap her fingers and have people do her bidding. She had no time for random staring guys.

[necroslacker]

"Who are you?" Sam asked stonily, managing to keep his voice from wavering. "Why are you here? Who let you through? You're not supposed to be here so drop the act."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie rolled her eyes. "You can call me Miss Adams," she drawled. "And I walked here. Because I live here. Are you on drugs?"

The paranoia seemed to fit.

[necroslacker]

"Miss Adams?" Sam replied, actually looking amused at that response. "Do you think you're a teacher or something because I don't believe it. You're not who you say you are. I know who you are."

[whenshewasnice]

"Right, and who am I, then?" Natalie asked, sounding bored. She was planning to humor him only for as long as it took to drink her (pointless) wine: he had nothing of value for her.

[necroslacker]

"Assassin," he whispered smoothly, waiting to see her reaction to the word before he did anything else. Most good assassins probably wouldn't react because they'd been trained but maybe he'd catch her off guard.

"And I'm going to take you all down," he continued, trying to sound strong. "I know about everything, about all your operations."