Athena wasn't sure how she expected going home to feel. Would it hurt? Would it be dizzying, scary? Or would she just take a step and find herself waking up somewhere familiar? She really hoped it would be somewhere familiar and not some random East Coast beach or something.
She and Jeff were in the middle of the pack when it came to the timing of exits. It had only seemed right that the people who came first got to leave first. Saying goodbye was a wrench, in a few cases in particular, but it wasn't the first time she'd had to walk away from people she loved for the sake of someplace different. Someplace better. And home really, really would be better than Mathias.
Athena took a deep breath, hoisting her backpack a little more firmly onto her back and flashing Jeff a smile--
Then they were in it. Or rather, there was a moment of nothing, and then she stumbled forward onto her knees against a marble floor. The building fairly roared with noise after the quiet of Mathias, and Athena clapped her hands over her ears, swearing under her breath as she tried to orient herself. A suited man reached down to help her up and she scrambled back and to her feet, backing away fast enough that she rammed a woman in business clothes.
"I'm fi-- shit, sorry, um--" She turned in a quick circle, struggling to get a grip on where she was. Definitely not somewhere familiar.
"You all right, miss?" The suited man peered at her in concern, speaking with a distinctly familiar twang.
"Oh fuck no," Athena whispered, pushing past him and running for the nearest directory.
Courthouse. She was in a Lexington courthouse. One with a Marshals office. Too damn big of a coincidence. Athena tried to keep her shit together, forcing herself not to panic. Not yet. She pushed her way onto the elevator, practically dancing from foot to foot as it crawled up to the right floor. She shoved her way out with equal disregard for manners, stopping short at the clear doors bearing the Marshals' logo.
It's Raylan. She could see him from where she was standing, his hat set to one side, focusing on paperwork at his desk. For a second Athena considered just turning around and walking away. He didn't deserve to have this shitstorm dropped into his lap. He didn't owe her anything. If anything, she owed him. Owed him enough to let him have a life without stepping into the middle of it and fucking things up for him even worse than she did for her aunt.
Except she couldn't do it. She couldn't just leave. The thought terrified her, for more reasons than she could get her head around. God, had she always been so fucking selfish?
She knew the answer was yes.
Athena shoved her way through the front doors of the Lexington Courthouse Marshals Office, stopping short half-way to Raylan's desk. What exactly was she supposed to say?
She was clean, at least. Showered. But her clothes were ill-fitting nineties hand-me-downs from some disappeared boy's closet, and her backpack showed all the abuse of its time in the middle of nowhere. And she was just standing there.
Give it another minute, and the eyes of everyone in the office would be on her anyway.
through the (wrong) looking glass
She and Jeff were in the middle of the pack when it came to the timing of exits. It had only seemed right that the people who came first got to leave first. Saying goodbye was a wrench, in a few cases in particular, but it wasn't the first time she'd had to walk away from people she loved for the sake of someplace different. Someplace better. And home really, really would be better than Mathias.
Athena took a deep breath, hoisting her backpack a little more firmly onto her back and flashing Jeff a smile--
Then they were in it. Or rather, there was a moment of nothing, and then she stumbled forward onto her knees against a marble floor. The building fairly roared with noise after the quiet of Mathias, and Athena clapped her hands over her ears, swearing under her breath as she tried to orient herself. A suited man reached down to help her up and she scrambled back and to her feet, backing away fast enough that she rammed a woman in business clothes.
"I'm fi-- shit, sorry, um--" She turned in a quick circle, struggling to get a grip on where she was. Definitely not somewhere familiar.
"You all right, miss?" The suited man peered at her in concern, speaking with a distinctly familiar twang.
"Oh fuck no," Athena whispered, pushing past him and running for the nearest directory.
Courthouse. She was in a Lexington courthouse. One with a Marshals office. Too damn big of a coincidence. Athena tried to keep her shit together, forcing herself not to panic. Not yet. She pushed her way onto the elevator, practically dancing from foot to foot as it crawled up to the right floor. She shoved her way out with equal disregard for manners, stopping short at the clear doors bearing the Marshals' logo.
It's Raylan. She could see him from where she was standing, his hat set to one side, focusing on paperwork at his desk. For a second Athena considered just turning around and walking away. He didn't deserve to have this shitstorm dropped into his lap. He didn't owe her anything. If anything, she owed him. Owed him enough to let him have a life without stepping into the middle of it and fucking things up for him even worse than she did for her aunt.
Except she couldn't do it. She couldn't just leave. The thought terrified her, for more reasons than she could get her head around. God, had she always been so fucking selfish?
She knew the answer was yes.
Athena shoved her way through the front doors of the Lexington Courthouse Marshals Office, stopping short half-way to Raylan's desk. What exactly was she supposed to say?
She was clean, at least. Showered. But her clothes were ill-fitting nineties hand-me-downs from some disappeared boy's closet, and her backpack showed all the abuse of its time in the middle of nowhere. And she was just standing there.
Give it another minute, and the eyes of everyone in the office would be on her anyway.