2010-05-25 - Reunited

Although still not completely acclimated to being, well... herself, Marie has been called to make another attempt at speaking to the Celestial Being prisoner. As per recommendation from Leo Stenbuck, she hasn't told too many people yet just what happened to her. She's a little nervous as she's escorted down the prison hallways to the holding cells. What should she say? Should she keep up the charade? Will she be found out? And another part of her is nervous for a different reason altogether. She'll get to see -him- again. With her own eyes this time.

As she stands outside the cell, Marie can feel the buzzing in the back of her head. She can feel his presence inside. "The situation last time won't repeat itself. Please let me speak with him alone." Marie nods her head toward the guards, who hesitate, but eventually nod. When the door opens, she steps inside, but doesn't say a word. Even when the door slides shut behind her, she just looks at Allelujah for a few seconds.

Allelujah Haptism had been sick with worry ever since the masked man who'd visited him earlier had informed of Marie's supposed fate. Shot down during a battle with Katharon, the allies of Celestial Being, and believed capture. What would happen to her in their hands? He didn't believe she would be treated badly, but none of them knew what he knew about her. And if she...tried anything that way she was now...

The Super Soldier suppressed a shudder. He couldn't think about that now. Instead he should be grateful that she's in the hands of allies, and hope that they can find some way to bring her back to herself. Hope was all he could do from this cell, anyways. Maybe things had worked out after all; Marie could get the help she needed, saved from becoming a tool of the government, and Al could finally accept the punishment he believed he deserved. Maybe the world wasn't so cruel..

But then the door opens and she steps inside as if from the page of his own mind. Can /anyone/ ever visit the Gundam Meister without getting him a massive shock? It's the same as it was before: Eyes widened, he chompes at the virtual bit on the muzzle that restrains his speech, struggling bonds. There was a different urgency in that futile struggle this time, for he could see the difference in her eyes, see that she was no longer confused. That fact outweighed all the myriad questions that attempted to press upon his mind, drowned out amidst the frantic, muffled cries of her name.

A twinge of pain shoots through Marie as she sees Alleluja bound and gagged like that, and not just from the Quantum brainwaves shooting around in her head. She can see his struggle, and she takes a tentative step forward... then pauses again. "Alle..." She breaks off and shakes her head, closing her eyes. Were those tears?

If they were, they're gone when she opens her eyes again. Now with a more determined look on her face, she strides toward the prisoner. "Be still. Don't struggle." The look she fastens on him -tries- to be firm, but it's in the same way that a rabbit may try to be firm. She's making the attempt, at least. Reaching up, she carefully unclips the facemask. "Keep your voice down. I don't want to draw anyone's attention."

She wants to untie him. She really, really does. But she knows she can't. The best she can do is to take off the muzzle right now. Long distance to Leo Stenbuck: Allelujah Haptism returns, "Oh, good!" GUNDAM FIGHT ALL SET! Deathsaurer says, "A-LAWS now has a shiny new fatty-fat 300 Mastery MP!"

The Super Soldier has been dulled to the sort of pain that occurs in Marie's presence through the implant placed in him, though he cannot complete ignore it. Quantum brainwaves were slowly decaying it, and he couldn't deny an awkward headache on the periphery of his skull...but right now he couldn't allow himself to even think of succumbing to it because Marie was /here/ and /whole/ and although he didn't understand *why* he didn't much care about that either.

The girl's soothing words manage to calm Al's panicky actions down somewhat; he remembers himself and nods calmly, lip quivering with untold emotion when that restraint at last comes off. "Marie..." He name finally spoken out loud and truly, the whisper nonetheless carried years of forgotten anxiety and tenderness honed by separation, "I..i'm so glad you're alive." His eyes watered, threatened tears but didn't, his head dipped instead.

"What are you doing back here, though? It would've been safer with Katharon.." Looking up, he couldn't keep that inquisitive shade from his eyes, plagued by a lingering worry that perhaps everything was still not alright, "If you stay here, they'll make you fight again.."

Marie tries to hold that firm expression. She really does. But as soon as she hears his voice, she can't help but smile. "Allelujah." Even though he saw Soma a few weeks ago, this voice is the familiar one: soft and gentle and caring, three things that Soma definitely was not. Marie reaches her hand up and... hesitates. "It's good to see you with my very own eyes."

She shakes her head. "It's a long story. I can't tell you everything. But..." Amber eyes shift to the side and she bites her lower lip. "I may have to fight, but I know I -can- fight. That's not the point. They..." She shifts her gaze back to the Gundam Meister. "They love me here, Allelujah. They care for my well-being. They won't let anything happen to me. When I was captured, I-- we were so scared. I--" She winces a bit, lifting a hand to the side of her forehead. Being so close was already becoming painful, but she intended to just put up with it.

"I was.. I was sent here to ask you to tell us about Celestial Being. I won't force you... I -can't- force you. So all I can do is ask." She smiles faintly. "I don't think they have high expectations, so don't worry if you can't tell me anything."

The Gundam Meister felt a sudden chill in his bones, and was glad he was already sitting else his legs might've lacked the strength to hold him up. He hadn't even considered this...that Marie would be unconvinced even when she was back to herself. "But you always hated the idea of fighting, Marie.." But so does he, and yet here the Super Soldier was, oblivious to the hypocrisy.

But his concern about that could come later, it was the other thing she had said that bothered him. "I'm...glad you have people like that." Was that honest? He didn't know, but not everyone in A-LAWS was a bad person, obviously. It wasn't the individuals they were fighting against...but she couldn't possibly know the whole truth or what was going on. She couldn't, or there would be no way they could use her like this, "But what this organization does, what it forces people to become....Marie, nothing good can come of it." He says her name again, looks into her eyes. He almost wanted to tell her everything, if that would make the young girl happy.

But he knew he couldn't with the certainty of a knife lodged in his gut, "I'm sorry...I can't betray them." His smile was sad, helpless, "But..." A new determination shone in those heterochromatic eyes, his voice filled with quiet urgency, "Instead i'll ask you to wait for a chance to free me. We can escape together, and i'll..." What? Run away from everything with each other? How long would that last?

The pause lasted only a moment, "I'll show you what the A-LAWS truly stand for." If that's what it took to save her..

"I still hate it!" Marie blinks, glancing back to the door for a moment, then repeats herself more quietly, "I still hate it. But I was created to fight... and if I can save someone by doing so..." There's a look of determination on her face, though there's also some fear in her eyes. She doesn't -want- to fight. She's already decided that she will if she has to, but that doesn't mean it's ever going to be something she enjoys. Like it or not, she's still a Super Soldier.

"I know what A-LAWS stands for. It's for keeping peace..." She frowns slightly, shaking her head. "Not everyone in it feels the same way. Not everyone in it has pure motives. But the ideal is still right. I think..." Marie shifts her weight uncomfortably. "To.. to free you? Allelujah, I..."

Another look of deep sadness washes over her. "Nothing would make me happier than to be able to leave this place with you and never have to fight again. Nothing. But I can't..." She looks down slightly. "I can't, it would hurt them too much. The ones who care for me... They were so worried when i was captured, and they only just got me back. They love me, Allelujah. If they lost me again..." She shakes her head again. "I -want- to...."

That sudden spike in tone took Allelujah aback, forcing him to realize the difficult position she was in, the way she was suffering. He wanted to bite his lip until it bled, clench his hands into fists if he could move them. Anything to make him hurt in a way other than this. It was too....too ridiculous to accept. She had to be confused, or tricked, or /something. The Super Soldier couldn't possibly believe in a world that would place him and Marie on opposite ends of the battlefield.

"A-LAWS stands for peace at call costs. What they do in pursuit of peace only contributes to more conflict.." Conflict the Celestial Being had sworn to end, to correct the organization that had risen from their mistakes. But the meister had no intention of convincing her with that kind of logic.

"I..." He had to look away (as best he could, anyways) when she starts talking about the people who love her. Could that be true? Was she really loved in a place like this? How was it any different from the place where they'd met? "Do you want more people like us to be created, Marie...?" People whose existence was only to fight, who couldn't help themselves in anything but creation violence, "A-LAWS will do it. They'll make more Super Soldiers, all in the name of having peace." But that wasn't what he was really trying to say, he was only stalling for time. "I was worried too, when I heard you got captured.." He can admit that much, eyes pleading with her to understand, "And i'm worried for you now? Don't you see? I...." He felt the words in his chest, why couldn't he say them? "I...."

The Super Soldier suddenly groaned, a dull ache intruding into his head, much worse if not for his current protections. In reality, the emotional exchange had just spiked his gamma brainwaves, violently so. Something....someone was banging at the walls of a cage, trying to get loose.

"I know they do." Marie's voice is low now. "I know. I... she... we fought for them." It's hard to choose the right pronoun in this case. "But it's not like there are any better alternatives. All I can do is keep doing the best I can." Once more, she presses a hand to her temple. She can feel the pressure building again, and she's very certain that it's not a good thing.

"There aren't any others like us, Allelujah. They're all dead. All of them." Marie pauses, taking a deep breath. She has to remain calm. "Either killed or reprogrammed. There's only you and me. And Captain Testarossa told me I was the only one like me..." She pauses again, giving the Meister a smile. "Well... maybe there are two of us."

When he struggles for the right words, Marie reaches out and lightly runs her fingers through his hair. "Shhh. I know you were worried, Allelujah." She leans in a bit closer... but the serene look on her face shifts to one of pain when she gets within half a foot. Marie recoils as if stung and lets out a cry, both hands coming to grip the sides of her head. "Aaa...aaa!"

That darker presence rages, froths and curses...but he cannot quite reach Al in present circumstances, not yet. Weakened as it is, the chip is still doing it's job, regulating the effect of quantum brainwaves on himself. Marie, unfortunately, has no such protection and the Meister's expression turns to one of horror is the girls falls under the full assault of that merciless, unintentional mental backlash.

"Marie!!!" He tries to reach out to her, forgetting his restraints for the umpteenth time. Right in front of him and he couldn't do a thing for her...it was enough to drive the supersoldier mad (Fortunately, it didn't), "Talk to me, Marie! I'm still here, i'm right here!" He wasn't sure what was happening her, thought it didn't take long to figure out. The same thing that was always happening, except it wasn't effecting him this time. And he remembers all too clearly what happened the last time...

"Quick, you need to get out of here." Seeing her go is the last thing he wants, but he couldn't stand to have her go through so much pain just for being near him, "It's not safe for you right now, go if you can hear me! I'll...i'll figure out a way to fix this, to fix everything, I promise..!!" Just don't do anything foolish, please, continue to be the Marie he knows...

If it wasn't for that dark presence struggling to get out, Marie wouldn't be affected so badly! Her old helmet, the one that was able to dampen incoming brainwaves, was lost when she was captured. It presumably fell from the Psyco Gundam's open cockpit and is probably in pieces and buried beneath rubble now.

"Alle... lujah..." It hurts. It hurts so much. But Marie can't run away, not when she's finally gotten to meet Allelujah face to face. This is the first time she's seen him directly. The first time she's heard his voice with her own ears. The first time... no, she can't feel his touch, but maybe one day. "I won't... leave you..."

The pain is almost blinding now, but she forces a smile. She ignores the pain. "I know you will. I trust you." Reaching forward, she strokes her fingers through his hair before cupping his cheeks in both hands. Marie leans in closer. "Allelujah." And closer. "I..."

With her face just inches away from his, Marie's eyes roll back and she slumps forward. She collapses against him before flopping helplessly to the floor.

No, no...this wasn't right, it wasn't fair. They'd only just gotten to talk, and now something like this had to happen! "Stop it..." Al murmured in protest, "Stop it, Hallelujah..!" He couldn't hear him, could only barely feel the presence of his darker half, but he knew that twisted part of him was causing this, "Marie isn't our enemy!"

She stumbles forward, falls again him; the Meister curses his own pathetic state for being unable to catch her, to hold her. "I...won't leave either, Marie." He manages the form the words, closing his eyes beneath her touch, comitting that feeling to memory, "I won't abandon you. I'll find a way to take you away from all this...I promise.." And the their faces are so close, so terribly close for that one, fleeting second...

And then she bruashes against him abruptly before hitting the floor with a dull thud.

"M...Marie..." Heterochromatic eyes beheld that image with quavering breath before his voice raised to a desperate shout, "HELP! Somebody! Anybody!" He didn't care what would happen to him as a result of this, "We need a doctor!! PLEASE!!" Let them do what they wanted to him, he didn't care. But he would never forgive himself if she was hurt...