The Leauge Of Fail

[a_time_slip]

Janie had been back for a few days now, but was nervous about Snake Steele showing up again. She had weapons but feared she wouldn't be fast enough.

His attack came as a complete surprise, and one of her fears came true. All of the bad guys were working together, which would make winning a lot harder. Today, she was at a mostly empty diner, drowning her sorrows in a plate of pie and a glass of chocolate milkshake.

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[a_time_slip]

"I've got to have friends" she said "I can't go through all of this time alone."

[lostinthefog]

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah. And I don't want people like Giovan or Snake stop us from having friends. It's just ..."

He shrugged, unsure how to continue. How could he say that when he was just about to let it happen again himself?

[a_time_slip]

"I know." she said, picking at her pie "I let them control too much. I shouldn't be afraid to let people know about my family and friends. It's like they're holding us prisoner."

[lostinthefog]

"They are. And no, you shouldn't. But in my experience that's the only thing that can keep them safe. Always being careful."

Looking away, he added: "And sometimes not even that is enough."

[a_time_slip]

"If it's not enough... why bother? Where are you staying, Julian? I'll bring more things over for you later."

[lostinthefog]

"I'm convinced it would have ended worse if I hadn't been careful. But it still hasn't saved everyone."

He hesitated answering Janie's question, just out of habit. But if he didn't trust his friends, who else could he trust? So he told her the address of the old house he was living in.
"What sort of things?"

[a_time_slip]

"What did he do?" she asked. She hadn't talked about what happened with her team since Phoenix came to see her when in med bay.

"Grenades, another energy weapon... um, do you have a teleport?" She'd lie on the paperwork since Julian wasn't actually authorized to have some of the things.

[lostinthefog]

"He killed five people in the bar I worked at to get some information from me." He tried to state it matter-of-factly, like something in the news, but it was obvious that he was still stirred up.

Thinking about practical stuff was much easier. "Weapons, that's good. Thank you. And yeah. Phoenix gave me a teleport that can get me to Kaldoa."

[a_time_slip]

"That's terrible. I'm so sorry that you..." She trailed off, and started to get lost in her thoughts, imagining what happened to her friend

[lostinthefog]

"Don't. I mean ... I put them in danger", he murmured, studying his hands once more because he couldn't bear looking at Janie.

"Did he come to you as well?"

[a_time_slip]

"You couldn't have known." She said.

"Yes. He... killed my team. There were twelve." She wanted to cry, but bit her lip instead. Losing her team would stick with her for a long time.

[lostinthefog]

He shook his head, convinced that he could have known, if it hadn't been Solus, it had been Snake. He didn't say it, though, disturbed by the fact that something similar had happened to his friend.

"Oh ... oh, no. I'm sorry, Janie." He stopped, lacking the proper words.

[a_time_slip]

She didn't have any words either, and instead, looked down at the table and wiped a tear away. Janie couldn't tell her friend it would be better, and that's what she wanted to do.

[lostinthefog]

Julian was silent for a moment, because these were his thoughts, too.
Instead of saying anything, he leaned forward and briefly touched Janie's arm. A little awkward, because he wasn't good at all with physical contact.

[a_time_slip]

"Thank you." she said, giving him a hint of a smile. The small gesture meant a lot to her. "I don't usually... get so upset"

[lostinthefog]

"You have all reason to", he answered quietly, returning a brief, unhappy smile.

[a_time_slip]

"So do you. The world's gone to crap, hasn't it? After this is over I think I owe you a few drinks."

[lostinthefog]

"Yes. Yes, it has. Do you think it will ever be over? Actually, I think it's safest to drink myself into oblivion now, as long as I still have the chance."

[a_time_slip]

She's nowhere near as good at summoning as the gods and goddesses that she knew, so instead of a bottle of expensive scotch, she summoned a bottle of cheap whiskey and set it in front of Julian.

"Nothing lasts forever"

[lostinthefog]

Julian eyed the bottle, surprised because he didn't know Janie could summon things, too.
"Thank you. And no, nothing does ... but I'm afraid this might not end well."

He was used to cheap whiskey, so he opened the bottle and took a hearty draft, then offered the bottle to Janie.

[a_time_slip]

"That's not what I meant to get you." She'd stick to walking around with things in her pockets. "We have to make it through this, Julian. I'd cheat to make it possible,"

Janie shook her head at the drink, then took a sip from her glass of water.

[lostinthefog]

"We might make it", he confirmed, although he doubted it. "But what about everyone else?"

Julian kept the bottle, assuming Janie wasn't in the mood for drinking or wanted to keep her head clear. Which probably was smarter than his own approach.

[a_time_slip]

"They have to." she said "All of us. There's got to be some miracle where we're all okay in the end."

Janie wanted to drink more than anything, but didn't want to explain to Julian or anyone else why she was abstaining.

[lostinthefog]

"I don't believe in miracles. And we can't just sit around and wait for one to happen. I just ... don't know what to do."

Julian poured more whisky down his throat. It didn't help his frustration, but at least it would calm him down somewhat.

[a_time_slip]

"I don't mean we'd sit around and stuff our faces, I just meant... something has to happen to give us a hand up. The bad guys can't be allowed to win.

Janie looked longingly at the whiskey, and sipped at her water again.