Room 406, early morning

[izzyalienqueen]

After exhausting herself cleaning and organizing, and then reading until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, Isabel finally fell asleep

She wasn't in the cell any longer, or at least not the first one. This was a room fit for a queen, but it was still a cage she couldn't get out of. Her shoulder ached but she wouldn't look at it. She didn't have to. Just by closing her eyes she could see it so clearly.

Pacing about she kept searching for a way out.

Comments

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack's good mood continued unabated, and he was humming under his breath as he knocked on Isabel's door.

It was a cheerful, longer than it needed to be knock, rapping out a happy tune, and he'd stopped for coffee and muffins on his way here.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

There was a knock and Isabel stepped back afraid, and then blinked when she looked at the door again and found herself back in her room in Fandom.

"This is real," she whispered to herself as she got up and opened the door.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack smile grew puzzled, then he shrugged. If Izzy wanted to sleep late, she was more than entitled, though she looked...worn. "Morning, sleepy. I brought you coffee and muffins." He held up the box. "Can I tempt you?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Coffee would be good," she nodded, taking a cup. "Or really the caffiene would be good." Isabel walked back to her bed and took a seat, cradling the cup in her hands. "How are you?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"I like your pyjamas," he teased as he sat next to her, placing the box of muffins on the floor and flipping the lid of his coffee. "And I'm good." Jack glanced at her, then broke into a huge smile, which was more than a bit smug, and said, "I'm extremely good, actually."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"They're warm and comfy," And cover things up. Isabel took a sip of coffee and glanced at him. "You're smug and satisfied. Things going well are they?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"They are." He cradled his cup in his hands, and sat back, shoulder brushing Isabel's. "The thing with Cedric is fixed, and River," he glanced at her, remembered the TMI thing, and changed what he was going to say, "came to visit yesterday." His smile probably made it clear what that visit had involved.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I know. He stopped by yesterday. Brought me cookies," she said, smiling at her coffee. Another look at Jack and his smile was so easy to read. "So you and River? Congratulations?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"He did?" Jack nodded, pleased. "Good. He missed you. And yeah," another grin, "congratulations sounds about right." He shifted his coffee to one hand and reached for Isabel's with the other. "It's not just the sex, though," he said. "For want of a better word, she's another thingie."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I missed him," Isabel said simply, squeezing Jack's hand. "And thingie one and thingie two are okay with this?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack laughed, he had to, at the terms thingie one and thingie two. "They are, they both said they'd share," he confirmed, still leaning towards amazement that they'd understood. "But enough about me. What about you?" He turned to face her, head tilted to study her. "You sleeping okay?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Good. Because I'd hate to have to kick your ass," she threatened, mostly joking. "You are so lucky to have them."

Isabel looked down to avoid his gaze. She thought about lying, but was pretty sure Jack would see through the lie. "Not really."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

He nodded again, acknowledging the threat, but his gaze sharpened. "Anything to do with why you didn't want the light off on Friday?" He made it a question, but it wasn't one, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Isabel said quietly. "I don't like the dark that much anymore."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"Okay." Jack looked at the floor and took a drink of his coffee while he thought about that. "That doesn't happen in a week," he finally said, meeting her eyes.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She looked away, staring off at nothing. "No, it doesn't."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

So it was going to be like that. Jack put down his coffee and turned completely to face her. "Isabel?" He gently reached out to touch her chin, to turn her to face him. "Tell me."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel had wanted to forget about it. To just settle back into things and pretend she'd never left. But it was becoming more and more obvious to her that the nightmares and the memories weren't going to let her. After a long moment, she sighed. "As near as I can tell, I was there for about six months."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack's eyes widened in surprise and his hand fell. "Six months?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Remember I said it was a rift in space and time," she said. "I thought you were going to be gone."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"I would have been. You would have come back and I would've been gone." It shook him, how close he'd come to never seeing her again, but he threw it off. This was more important. "But I'm not. I'm here, and you should take advantage of that."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I thought you were gone. That Parker would be at Oxford. When he told me the date...it was the first thing to make me happy in a long time," Isabel admitted quietly.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Six months, she'd been gone for six months, and now she was afraid of the dark, and that was the first time she'd been happy... "What happened?" he asked, keeping his voice even and gentle.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I don't even know where to begin," she said, folding a pillow with a little more force then needed and then leaning back against it. "They remembered what I'd done before. So they didn't trust me for the longest time."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"The rebels? They remembered Vilandra?" he asked, and he could imagine how it must have been, her brothers trusted, and her pushed to the outside. "Why do I think you did something to try and change that."