[[ oom : wheelsy, south carolina ]]

[itwasjustified]

[ "I really need you to tell me exactly what the hell is goin' on." ]



Raylan wakes in a vacuum.

He lets his eyes adjust to the darkness, and takes silent stock of himself.

He's in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. These sweats aren't his. His head feels like a bag of cotton balls left to dry-rot in Death Valley, and the rest of him is hardly any better.

He has no idea where his boots are, let alone his gun.

He gets up, keeping his movements slow and quiet, but the bed creaks in spite of his efforts.

A few long minutes later, he limps out of the bedroom, and shuffles toward the unmistakable smell of coffee.

Comments

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Alright. I'm gonna go see 'bout gettin' cleaned up some. Got some clothes you can borrow if you want 'em, I reckon they ought to fit. Kate said she was gonna try washin' yours but-- "

Blood stains, and god knows what else Raylan was covered in when he got tossed through the door.

"Let me just catch a shave an' you can have the bathroom an' shower."

[itwasjustified]

"You're an officer and a gentleman, Bill," Raylan says, deadpan.

He's looking forward to a date with soap and hot water.

Bill exits the kitchen, and Raylan finishes his coffee.

After he rinses his mug, he heads back to the bedroom. If his sidearm made the trip through the Front Door, it has to be — 









Well.

Raylan blinks, standing just across the threshold.

He's right back where he started.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill walks in a short time later, dressed in clean jeans and a button down, and drying his face with a hand towel.

"It's all yours, marshal."

Noticing the empty kitchen, Bill turns his head to look around.

"Raylan?"

[justdidntseeit]

Not even a full minute later, Kate returns, flushed and winded.

"Hey, sheriff," she says, placing this week's freshly delivered newspaper on the counter.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He checks living room, the bedroom's and even the closet, but doesn't find Raylan or a door back to the bar.

Returning to the kitchen as Kate arrives, he glances past Kate towards the door she's just closed.

"Raylan outside?"

[justdidntseeit]

She swallows a mouthful of water, and returns the half-empty bottle to the counter.

"Didn't see him," she says, with a small shake of her head. "He's probably sleeping in."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head.

"No, he was up. I left him right here an' he disappeared."

What the hell is going on?

[justdidntseeit]

"Maybe he went back to bed," she says, lowering her voice on the chance that's the case. "He has to be feeling pretty rough, sweetheart."

The rest of the house is silent and still; she's sure Raylan decided to take advantage of some more sleep.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Kate I'm tellin' you he's gone."

But where did he go?

"I was in the back gettin' changed an' cleaned up, an' now he ain't here."

An idea hits, and he looks at her.

"What'd you do with his boots an' stuff?"

Surely Raylan wouldn't have gone anywhere without at least his footwear and gun.

[justdidntseeit]

Concern creases her brow.

"I put everything in the spare bedroom."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill turns and heads back down the hallway to the spare bedroom, spotting the boots immediately.

"Hell."

[justdidntseeit]

Hearing Bill's curse, she frowns.

"Well, it's not like he just — "

She pauses near the threshold, and glances down the hallway.

"You think maybe the bar picked him back up?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"The door might've grabbed him." Bill nods.

Bill worries, though, whether or not the door actually took Raylan back to Milliways, or if it dumped him somewhere else.

Or the state of the bar if Raylan gets there.

"I'll keep tryin', see if I can't get back there."

He looks at Kate in the doorway.

"Just be careful goin' through doorways for awhile. Don't know what all is goin' on right now." And he doesn't want Kate to get picked up into the unknown.

[justdidntseeit]

The line deepens between her brows.

"Did he say anything else about what happened?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Just that it was a mess, an' he doesn't know exactly what happened or the cause."

He won't share everything Raylan said, but Bill can't hold in a frown.

"There was an evacuation. He didn't know who all got out, or what happened to the people who stayed."

[justdidntseeit]

Fear snakes around her intestines, quiet and icy and deep.

"An evacuation."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"There was an earthquake, an' he said magic was going haywire."

Stepping closer, he puts a hand on her arm.

"But there were people helpin' out, an' you an I both know there are plenty of folks there who can handle plenty. Milliways also has a knack for bouncin' back from anything."

[justdidntseeit]

"An earthquake?"

She shakes her head, hardly feeling the warmth of Bill's palm.

"We have to get back there. We need to check on — "

Boo lodges in her throat; so does Doc, and Jack. (Kate Beckett. Paul Avery. Demeter.) So many of their friends and loved ones could be hurt.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

A list of names and faces flash through his mind, but they can't start naming them right now.

"Kate, it's gonna be alright. I'm gonna keep tryin'."

If Raylan found a door Bill has to be able to get one, too.

"But I don't want you goin' back, not until I can check it out."

If there's trouble, or if the door is being unreliable, he doesn't want to risk it with her.

[justdidntseeit]

She frowns.

"If I find a door on my own, you can't expect me to just stay put."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill's features grow sterner, and he shakes his head.

"You can call me. You can't just go in blind, Kate. There's no real tellin' what's goin' on over there."

Any bad thing you can imagine, Raylan had said, and Bill doesn't want her anywhere near that.

"The door isn't even reliable right now. Raylan is from Kentucky in 2010, we got no idea how he ended up here, or where the door might take you if you used it."

[justdidntseeit]

She presses her lips together briefly, more stubborn than upset.

"How are you any better prepared to walk in there than I am?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He hates it when they do this, but he's going to stand his ground.

"Because I'm a cop."

He's firm and blunt about it, because he has to be.

"I've got the trainin' an' the experience here, an' in Milliways that you don't."

[justdidntseeit]

Her jaw sets.

"That's not fair, Bill. You walk in there the same way I do, without any kind of magic or special powers. All bets are off for both of us, badge or no badge."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"I'm not tryin' to be fair. I'm bein' realistic."

And protective.

"All I want to do is assess the situation first, an' all I'm askin' is for you to give me the chance t'do that before you do anything."

If it's too dangerous he'll of course keep her out, but he understands how much she has in Milliways, and how hard it is not knowing what's going on there.