Inauguration Day [Alice/James]

It'd be extremely egregious to claim that Alice's life was sunshine and rainbows. Ever since she had learned the truth about her world, she had known very well that existence was cruel, but this past month had set a whole new precedent for what a bad day was like for her. Her world, her clarity, her father... In an instant they had all been torn away from her, in an instant what little she had left was gone. The weariness she exuded was palpable and engraved into her face was the listlessness you'd expect from someone who had spent the entire month unable and unwilling to do anything other than wishing and waiting for some sign of hope. Maybe she and Lucian weren't as close as they once were, maybe she had said some awful things before he went into his coma, but she just wanted him back. That was always what she wanted, she had always wanted him to be there; he was her father, he was the only real person she had left who cared about her, so having to sit there not knowing whether he'd live or die, having to sit there knowing that she might lose him forever...


Even now she was exhausted. Everything was surreal, it all felt like a fever dream she was unable to wake up from. A large part of her expected that when she opened that door the spark of hope that had been sold to her would be extinguished like all the others before it. So when she did and it slowly creaked open to reveal him standing there nonchalantly, it naturally took a moment for Alice's brain to register what was happening. She could only stare at him blankly with lifeless eyes until a few seconds later when it finally clicked that he was awake. And when it did, she couldn't keep herself together any longer. Immediately she flung herself forward and hugged him as tight as she could while burying her face into his chest and breaking down into a fit of sobs. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said, I take it all back, so just stay awake! Please just stay awake!" Maybe it was childish to act like this in public, but she didn't care about that, not right now. For now, this was all that mattered; she had him back and she wasn't going to let go. Tears poured out from her already swollen eyes and she allowed the moment to consume her entirely, if only because she knew there was no use in railing against it.

The Veteran had been just as worried as Alice about the state Lucian found himself in for the past month or so. Most of James' days would be spent either on the hospital waiting or drinking his worries away at Heaven's Door, trying to take his mind away from it even if for just a moment. Admittedly, not the healthiest way to deal with the situation but marginally better than just waiting all day. Thankfully he had been clean for two days, so Lucian wouldn't be welcomed by the stench of alcohol.

"Kept us waiting, huh Sleeping Beauty?" The super soldier spoke as he entered the room, moments after Alice had already hugged the President. Hopefully nobody would mind his lighthearted welcome to Lucian. "It's good to see you again."

Though the past few minutes had been nothing short of stressful (and for a fair few seconds, absolutely terrifying), all of Lucian’s emotional tells would melt away from his face the moment he saw who was on the other side of the door. But it was… odd; it had been quite some time since she’d been overly warm towards him, but he expected at least some form of greeting, not just an unemotional, judgmental stare. Was she angry with him? As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he remembered one last thing about the minute he spent before his descent into unconsciousness. He and Alice… well, they hadn’t exactly left off on the best of terms, to say the very least. It’s precisely this that to Lucian made what followed next feel like an early arrival of Christmas Eve.

In his current, just-awoken state, Alice’s hug hurt a little more than he would’ve liked to admit… but there was no way in hell he was letting it end early. “H-Hey, Sweetie, calm down!” He knelt a little bit, so as to make hugging her back at least a slight bit easier. “It’s okay, I’m okay, we’re all okay; please don’t cry.” Honestly, Lucian couldn’t help but feel horrible that she was in this state because of his own medical weakness. He hugged her back as tightly as she did – or at least, as close to just as tight as was possible for him – and gently stroked the back of her head in hopes of comforting her. “I’m not going anywhere, so don’t cry anymore, okay? I’m sorry to have worried you so much.” He would run a thumb through her cheek to wipe away the downpour of tears. God he felt awful about this, but at least they were together again now.

And then, another individual stepped into the room, and Lucian was just as elated to see him as he was the last. Gently breaking away from the hug, the president would turn slightly to face the giant of a man. “And I suppose you’re heartbroken too, Robocop?” He would offer a sly yet succinct grin, a sign between these two men that conveyed a heterodeprecative sort of playfulness “Likewise. You’ve been taking care of her, I trust?”

Once the atmosphere of reunion had settled down and the three found themselves with even heading, Lucian would cut straight to the point. Grabbing the ballpoint pen that was in his pocket from the box of belongings, he would gently fiddle with the button as he spoke, still keeping his other hand on Alice’s hand to reassure her if need be. “Forgive me for being so direct, but… I’m going to need a teeny tiny recapitulation.”

From a purely rational perspective, Lucian's reassurance wasn't necessary, but on an emotional level, the words helped far more than likely anyone could understand. Just to hear him speak to her again after a literal month of silence was something valuable in its own right. Slowly calming down, the girl would remain in the embrace for a little while longer before drawing back and wiping away the remainder of the tears with her sleeve. "A-Alright. And it's fine, it's not your fault..." A twinge of anger spiked that last sentence and she cursed the Horsemen under her breath, but with her emotions now at least a little more in check she was able to swallow it down and try to focus on the joy of the reunion.

As for her father's question, she wouldn't comment on it, at least not for the moment anyway. It was better to let James do the talking there. He was much more levelheaded about this situation, so she figured any explanation he could offer would be far more concise than hers. And to be frank? She didn't understand a thing about this... place. Sure, she had "lived" in Junction for a month, but considering the circumstances it should have been no surprise that she had little understanding of what was happening all around her. All she was certain of was that this place definitely wasn't Scarred Earth, and that she wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

"I suppose i'd miss making jokes about the nerd who became president." He replied with the most shit eating grin he could express, it was refreshing to have some banter with Lucius after one month, good to see that the president being out could for so long didn't affect his sense of humor in the slightest. "She didn't get herself into any trouble, if that's what you are asking. To be frank, she has been awfully quiet until uh, now." He completed with a shrug, it seems things would normalize a bit.

When asked about the situation however, James just scratched his cheek and let out a sigh, in truth he was lost too, he had more info than the president, but it was hard to wrap his head around it.

"Before i go on, take a deep breath, it will be a lot to take in." The cyborg carefully placed his glasses away, while he waited for a sign to go on. "It seems like we are caught in a case of extra dimensional fuckery, now we are in a place known as Junction." He'd go on to explain more about the city and the current situation for the next few minutes, taking any pauses when necessary.

"So yeah, it's kinda of a shitshow... At least they have bars around here."

The War veteran held his hands together before lowering his head, he knew how Lucian felt, he was in the same position not long ago. God, those first few days were the ones where he most abused alcohol, at least the bartenders gave him some aid to help him stay clean for a while. After some thought he shook his head before raising it again and looking at his friend once again, locking eyes while expressing a worried look on his face.

"I don't know how to tell you this but... We are trapped here for the time being." James rubbed the side of his forehead, there was no way to sugar coat it, the trio were in a pretty bad position and they couldn't really do much to get out of it. "I know it's bad, but all we can do for now is make the most out of this situation, get jobs to sustain ourselves while we are here and gather strength." He paused to place his hand over Lucian's shoulder. "We can do it."

The look that appeared on Lucian's face as James gave him the news hurt her. It was an expression that Alice recognized all too well, but... not from him, no, that dread-filled gaze wasn't something she had seen from him; the truth of the familiarity rested plainly within any mirror she took a glance into. Every morning she had awoken to see that appalling visage reflected right back at her, every morning she had been forced to stare into her own hopeless eyes and had to try her best to ignore her fear when it was glaring right at her. Knowing what he was going through, she desperately wanted to say something to try and comfort him, but nothing came to mind no matter how much she forced herself to scour the depths of her psyche. In hindsight though, it wasn't surprising at all that Alice couldn't find the proper words; after all, if she couldn't dissuade her own fears than how could she help her father get through his?

Still, she couldn't just sit there in silence any longer. Alice opened her mouth to speak, but by the time she did Lucian was already throwing himself at the nearby door. The girl spun around to face him and a twinge of discomfort struck her heart yet again as she watched him stumble his way down into the cool, rigid pavement beneath his feet. This wasn't the reunion she had been expecting and she certainly didn't plan on letting him run out of the clinic all alone in such a sorry state. "Dad, he's telling the truth. Panicking won't help anybody. If there actually is a way back home then... then it has to be somewhere within this city. Wishing for it to come right back to us isn't going to do anything. " Truth be told, she couldn't say she felt much of a loss when it came to being locked away from Scarred Earth. It was terrifying sure, and she certainly wasn't used to Junction yet considering she spent the last month hauled up in her room, but with Lucian and James by her side, she couldn't say she felt like she had lost anything considerably noteworthy in the long-run. Then again, maybe that was because she already went through that after finding out about the Liber Gene for the first time.

The cyborg soldier rushed towards his fallen friend, offering a hand to help him stand up. Maybe i should have picked my words better... James thought. Damn it, he understood how the president felt, so much the two had accomplished together and how close they were. James felt his pain, he really did, but it was futile to struggle right now. They needed to stay calm, plan and prepare for their return. He didn't knew how long it would take but they would need to adapt to this new world.

"Damn it Lucian, you must rest to recover. I know the feeling, but we can't afford to be harsh right now." He'd gently help his friend walk back should it be necessary. Perhaps it was not fair to hold Lucian to the same standard, after all James had a few weeks to adapt and sort out his thoughts meanwhile Lucian had just recently awakened.

Alice didn't initially respond to her father's apology. She averted her gaze and fell quiet once again as hesitation crossed her face. The girl had no interest in restarting that argument with her father, but at the same time she wasn't willing to go back on her words now that she had regained her composure, especially when Lucian himself was telling her she didn't have to. Whatever the case though, she decided it was best to say something at least and would turn her gaze back to meet her father's. "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." The quote was delivered in a meek, almost inaudible tone, but even so there was clear resolve which burned within her words. As much as she wanted to, she still hadn't yet fully forgiven her father whether he knew it or not. And even if she could...

"You think you have a right to make me blindly obey whatever you say when I barely even get to see your face anymore? Keeping your own daughter in the dark because it's 'for her own good'... What a load of bullshit. If that's really what you think then you're no different than them!"

...she wasn't sure that Lucian should forgive her either. If they just both brushed off what the other had said then that was no different from running from the truth. Even so, she wasn't willing to confront him about it. Not right now. It might not have felt like it in the heat of the moment, but the world was bigger than her, or him, or James. "We can talk about this later. There's no point in bringing it up again at a time like this. So there's no need to apologize Dad." She could only hope he wouldn't keep pressing the issue further, but with Lucian you never knew.