fandom_clinic | FTEC, Sunday Day Shift, March 2

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FTEC, Sunday Day Shift, March 2

Doogie was making rounds through the clinic today, checking on Cameron, checking on the inventory, and making sure the other exam rooms were clean and tidy. It was a good way to stay occupied, he thought.

[omg hi I overslept.]

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He wasn't sleeping, but sitting on the edge of his bed and tossing a ball from one hand to the other. Ray sat in front of him, carefully following the movement and waiting for the ball to get tossed at him. He looked disappointed when Cameron abruptly stilled and glanced up.

"Hey, Izzy."

"Hey stranger," she said, her smile warm. "Long time no see."

"How are you?" It was a simple question. But Isabel knew first hand that it could be a loaded one for people that left and returned.

"Ready to bust this place," he replied instantly. It was a loaded question, but he was good at dodging.

"That's plotting escape is always a good sign. Hopefully it means you've recovered from whatever put you in here."

Isabel approached the dog slowly, holding out her hand and hoping he wouldn't mind eau de Annie the kitty cat. "Who's your friend? He's handsome."

"That's Ray," Cameron replied softly, hoping she wouldn't notice if he didn't respond to the first part.

Ray happily turned his attention away from the ball and to Izzy, sniffling curiously and trying to figure out where the cat was hiding.

She noticed. She'd done the same to people when she first returned from Antar. Avoiding the question made everything just fine. Please pass the sunscreen.

"Hi Ray. Aren't you a sweetie?" she smiled, reaching out to scratch his ears. "You haven't emailed in a while. Is the Academy keeping you busy?"

His fingers wrapped closely around the ball, holding it like a pitcher and he tossed it to catch it in his other hand. "Sort of. I got cut off," he said easily as if he'd been practising. Maybe he had. "I've been gone for about two and a half years."

"Oh joy, temporal whiplash." Plus whatever he'd been through that landed him in the clinic. "I hated that feeling when I got back. Can I ask what happened? Or would you rather not talk about it?"

He grimaced and shrugged a shoulder. "A lot. Did you go home?"

Isabel shook her head. "No. When I finally made contact, they wouldn't let me. It'd gotten too dangerous. The rift that brought me back was only the beginning. The planet was getting more and more unstable."

She paused, picturing some of the things Max and Michael had told her. "They stayed, getting as many people off planet as they could. They left at the end and wound up doing a little temporal sliding of their own. They turned up at home a few weeks after I had gotten in contact with them. But it had been two years for them."

"Wait," he frowned at her, his grip on the ball tightened. "What are you saying?"

"Antar's gone," she said slowly. "After all those years of war, it was just too much."

He stilled, every muscle in his body going tense and he swallowed hard. "Fuck. I'm sorry."

Isabel forgot about the dog, worried about Cam's reaction. "It's okay. I'm okay. I feel bad. But it was never home to me. Home is here. With my family and friends." Carefully she sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to pat his arm. "Are you okay?"

"No," he said quietly, not really wanting to lie and knowing it wasn't very believable anyway.

"I didn't think so," she replied, just as quietly. "Want to talk about it? Or would you just rather I sit here and we can be be quiet?"

He reached to catch her hand. "Sitting sounds good," he murmured.

Isabel squeezed his hand in return, remembering how the contact had helped her. "I've got no where to be but here, for as long as you want me around."

"Thanks," he said softly. "I'm... I'll probably going back with Sam later today if they let me out of this joint."

For a moment she considered asking about his family and why he wasn't going to them. But given his reaction to the news about Antar, and the fact that he wasn't at the Academy which had been so important to him, Isabel was putting two and two together and coming up with the idea that whatever had happened, had to have been awful. "That's good. She'll look out for you."

"Yeah," he agreed quietly, fingers tightened around hers for a moment. "I missed people here."

"We missed you to," she promised. "It wasn't the same without all the Stickbugs around. And then they went and made me a Playtpus. Can you imagine that?"

He blinked. "No, not really. I think I've been away too long."

"Away too long, too much bad stuff, yeah, I get that," Isabel nodded. "I'm sorry. My attempt at distraction fell flat. I'll be quiet now."

"You don't have to be," he assured her, nudging his shoulder with his. "Tell me what's up."

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

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Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell

Re: Exam One: Cameron Mitchell