Of better times and understanding, Carys!

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

Gabriel couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt worse.

It all started with a slight soreness in his throat. A slight, almost unnoticeable discomfort that, far from eventually disappearing, only increased and became worse. Within weeks, it wasn’t just his throat, but also a throbbing sensation of burning lungs. It was unbearable.

The rogue wasn’t exactly sure of what could’ve cause such a distress in his internal mechanisms, but one thing he knew: that he was pretty sold on the option that had something to do with his last mission. Maybe he got bit by a poisonous insect? Possibly. There was always the likelihood, of course, that he had drunk something he shouldn’t have. But who knew? It could’ve been anything.

Problem was, though, that he had to know it –at least if he wanted to end the year both alive and in one piece. Which was precisely the case, mind you.

It wasn’t hard for Gabriel to head off to the USA from Cardiff, where he currently worked as a Lawyer. Heh. A 27 year old lawyer by the name of Edward Wilson -that was just how Carys had known him at first. Before his secret had been unveiled.

The wind caressed his cheeks as Gabriel’s wandering feel were taking him closer to his meeting point with Barton. Looking sideways as he walked with a surprisingly nonchalant expression, he unconsciously let his hand slide upwards to hug his neck, where his aching larynx screamed for a cure –a cure and more attention. Curiously enough, though, the only thing that escaped his mouth was a rather quavering sigh. Odd for such a vivid Agent.

Gabriel wasn’t precisely expecting Carys to be pleased to see him once again. After all, UNIT personnel and rogue Time Agents didn’t quite blend as nicely as wished –if at all. Torchwood wasn’t all that far away from this mentality, but at least they were a tad more flexible, conversely. Hell. Even Captain Harkness had been a Time Agent back then. But Gabe was not Jack Harkness. He was Gabe –Gabriel Laorden. In short –and if his name was yet not poor enough for those who were more ignorant in these waters- he was a much, much different person.

But he needed help so badly.

What worried the young rogue most was the fact that he didn’t know what was going to happen to him in the immediate future. Would he die in years? Months? Weeks, possibly? Who knew. And the real big problem out there was just reduced to the simple, substantial fact that explained just how really scared Gabriel was. And he was very scared. But still, this was just the heads up of what was going on inside his mind. His outer, physical façade was nowhere near wanting to let anyone even imagine this. Things were better off this way. They always were, he knew.

[Carys Barton]

She was early to the meeting point, seemed like a good idea when she had set out, but now she was just bored. Patience was not one of her strong suits. Carys sighed as she leaned against her bike, twirling her keys around her finger. She was supposed to meet Gabriel here. It sounded like he needed a favor and she was very curious to know what it was that she could do for him. After all, it wasn't every day a rogue time agent came calling.

Carys stood up when she spotted him. Right on time. Gabriel looked a little rough though, like something could actually be wrong. It made her a little concerned. He'd better not be sick or anything, at least not with anything contagious. If he got her sick she'd make sure he regretted it.

Despite him lying the first time they met and him being one of the "bad guys" and all, she didn't wish him severe bodily harm or anything like that. At least not yet, she hadn't known him for all that long though. Things could change.

Carys shoved her hands into the pockets of her flight suit, and smiled at the man. "Hello, Gabriel. You're looking a bit less chipper than last time. Something gotcha down?"" Her tone was light and faintly mocking as she cocked her head to the right. "Since I'm assuming this isn't a social call, why don't you tell me what you need and I'll think about helping you?"

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

...And she was there already. How lovely.

Gabriel's lips twisted slightly to form a smile once he recognized the female silhouette. Maybe Carys wasn't on such . Not that it stopped the fact from being atypical; Gabriel was hardly liked by many people. And a very well-earned hatred that it was, given his remarkable talent to screw up everyone's lives and doings. Then again, it wasn't even his fault that they'd all decide to stand, unwanted, in his way and in his job. Maybe one day, with luck and hope -more luck than hope, mind you- these people would learn one valuable lesson.

And it was about time that Carys would learn her own, he thought to himself, bitterly. It was only a matter of time before he'd have to betray her in one way or another -she was UNIT, after all, and John Heart's word would always have to have the last say, even if against his will. And Gabriel was too dangerously tied up to him and his commands, fed off of his own selfishness, his own eager to be Time Agent.

His own troubles were laid, forgotten, when he saw Carys stand up to welcome him with the warmth of an old friend.

Ah, friendship... so nice, so strange. Yet so wonderful to believe, though. It was good to have someone like her in his life, he gathered. Strange, yes... but good, altogether.

Gabriel's soft smile widened in the penumbra, even more at her greeting. And it wasn't long before his trademark smirk came up to adorn his grin. "I suppose it has, indeed." Gabriel answered the female, hand running through his hair. "Well, at least I don't suppose you imagined me to turn up just to let you send me to signore Mace." at that the man winked. "But of course, you know me better than that, Carys."

He watched her tilt her head to one side, asking him the reason for his visit. The rogue one took some time to reply, breathing profoundly as he did so. Her last words echoed in his head, making him laugh slightly as he pulled a small vial from the inside of his pocket. "I was wondering if you could take this to someone who could examine the blood? It's probably affected by something alien..." he explained. "Either that or I just ran into people that were stupid enough to not find anything abnormal in it." Gabriel added, failing to mention -very intentionally- how that particular sample of blood belonged to him. Who needed to know that, anyway?

Another pang of pain washed through Gabriel's throat. In outward response, however, the man just cleared his throat. "You know, I really, really need to know what's wrong in there." And he couldn't have been more serious with his needs.

[Carys Barton]

His wink prompted an eye roll from her. "Yes, I do know you a little better than that." Was it just her imagination, or did his breathing seem a bit labored? Carys took the vial from him, nodding a little as she examined it. Not that she could tell anything from looking at it. "Yeah, sure. I know someone who can take a look at it. Run the more specialized tests." It would require cashing in a favor to keep it quiet. Oh well.

Gabriel's insistence that results were important piqued her curiosity even more. "This blood from an approximately six foot rogue time agent?" Carys fixed him with a rather pointed stare, wondering if she'd get the truth or not. She was fairly certain the blood was his, hence the urgency, but it was hard to tell with him.

"You do realize that more information would be helpful if this situation is urgent. Like what sort of alien contact? Any idea about what type of alien? How long ago was the contact? Being cryptic will hurt you more than a little honesty." Carys tucked the vial safely away in an inside pocket of her jumpsuit, deciding to herself that she would do all she could to help him. Which was probably too nice of her and something she'd regret later....but she'd deal with that later.

"In any case, I'll have whatever results I can get in a week. Meet here again? Same time? Or would that be too predictable for you?" Carys smirked a little, unable to resist throwing a bit of a jab in. So what if the guy was sick? Didn't mean he couldn't still take a joke, right?

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

Above all things that Carys was, she was a pretty damn useful thing. "Good, good" he answered back, pleased to see he could get somewhere with the whole situation.

He could pretend, he could joke -Gabriel could even act as if he couldn't care any less. Outwardly so, évidemment. Nothing that could possibly be more further away from the truth.

That he was scared as hell.

He brushed the discomforting thought off for a moment; he really wasn't one to feel that particular emotion too often, and that was probably one of the reasons why it was scaring him all the more. And frankly, it wasn't all that hard to place away these fleeting -though reoccurring- thoughts that patrolled his mind, carelessly. Cary's question in regards to the blood sample was enough to drive him back to solid present.

He tried to force his visage to show nothing but mere confusion, but Gabriel was offhandedly betrayed by the wave or surprise that was just then rushing through him. Was he really that predictable?

"Oh, dear..." he blurted out, as confusion soon turned into preoccupation in a rather progressive way. "I'm loosing my touch, right?" Gabriel sighed away, and shook his head in a weary way, defeated. "Please tell me this isn't happening to me." the rogue agent whispered.

Gabriel supposed he could always have lied to her, tried to come up with some sort of excuse... maybe he would have been lucky. Maybe he wouldn't have been successful. Who knew. The point rarity of it all, anyway, was that Gabriel did not even have strength enough to waver around with lies.

Lying used to be his kind of thing, his daily routine, his act of survival in this Natural Selection Darwin theory of world. It seemed the most viable thing to do, no matter with whom one was to deal with. To keep vulnerabilities very safely out of view. Yes, that was Gabriel Laorden's kind of thing.

Not today, though it seemed. Gabriel's hight hand went up to flatten slightly his unruffled hair. A very unsuccessful move, but a move, whatsoever. "I'm... not exactly sure." he thought hard for a moment. "It was during a Time Agency mission, that I can tell. And I've only been to two over the last past months -other than that, I've remained in Cardiff. So..."

This wasn't going to be easy at all.

"There was one time, when I had an uncared wound, just over here, from behind my ear to the edge of my collarbone" Gabriel tilted his head to one side so that she could see the scar that he was describing. "This wound, it opened up while I was trying to fight off a Vellakea. But other than that... I've no idea."

...

...Huh?

So that was it?

"Wait" he called out, trying to imitate her laid-back mood, and failing slightly yet again. "No sweet goodbyes, no nice short walks... No nothing?" he asked her rather bluntly, thought doing his best to appear fairly casual. And humorous. "I'm disappointed."

---

OOC: Okokok. Let me get a view of things. We should black out in a couple of posts? And then resume the second meeting in this thread? Or... did you have anything else in mind? Let me know <3

[Carys Barton]

"Chill, everyone loses a bit of their touch when they're sick." Carys swung her leg over the bike and stuck her keys into the ignition. "Besides, you were so urgent about it I figured you had some serious personal investment in it." Did he really think this situation is all that mysterious? "I will get this sample analyzed, and if there is anything that UNIT has that can fix this I'll get it." It was a bit of a challenge in her mind. Solve the mystery and get the cure without getting caught and in a world of trouble.

If she did happen to get caught, she was not going down for Gabriel. Not a chance.

She eyed the scar he indicated in astonishment. "You left a wound that large untreated?" Carys tried and completely failed to cover up the fact that she thought he was an idiot. Didn't the Time Agency have their own doctors? She'd get dragged to the infirmary for much less. "Well, that seems like it could be a reasonable cause." She assumed a Vellakea was somewhat nasty if it left wounds like that. She'd have to see what she could dig up on it. Maybe it had some sort of natural toxin that there was an anti-venom for.

Carys paused again and smirked at Gabriel. His attempt to seem casual was not working as well as he'd planned. He really was feeling like crap. Humoring him for half a minute couldn't hurt things much. "Sorry, sugar." She slipped into a syrupy southern accent, like something straight from the heart of Tennessee. "I'm just in such a rush to get this sample analyzed and get you all healed to you can get back to your lying, time-jumping self." She made sure the accompanying expressions were almost over the top with concern and innocence.

Carys dropped the accent and raised an eyebrow, her smirk quickly returning. "Was that sweet enough for you, Gabey?" She put extra emphasis on the name, unsure if the nickname would produce the desired annoyance. "Because I really do have to be going, and I don't do long walks. Sorry to disappoint."

"Now, do you have any more serious requests?" She needed to get back to base soon if she was going to get this sample slipped in to be analyzed before her friend left for his weekend leave.

((Yes, the fade out sounds perfect to me!))

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

Gabriel was used to many things in his life. He'd seen enough about the world, and other worlds for that matter. He'd accomplished tough missions, retrieved valuable objects without detection, fooled a vast number of people, even been on the 'receiving end of a drink in the face' situation on given occasions.

And yet, he still wasn't that much used to having people around him who would care about his well-being.

Which was why he was momentarily set of by Carys' comment. "You left a wound that large untreated?" she had said, and Gabriel had to buy himself two seconds, during which he eyed the female rather blankly due to his having been taken off-guard. He blinked once. Then he quickly came back to his usual self.

"Well, --duh, Carys, I'm a Time Agent" he said, as though that last statement should have clearly explained it all. "If I just had to spend the whole healing process sitting down in my chair, knitting, every time I get injured..." and then his voice trailed away, trying to imagine the picture. Then he let out a soft laugh. "Can you imagine that?"

Ah, laughter. Such a pleasant, pleasant distraction.

And Gabriel had the happy chance of laughing twice, as Carys humoured in a southern accent, telling him that she was in " such a rush to get this sample analyzed and get you all healed to you can get back to your lying, time-jumping self." "Now that's the spirit!" he humoured back. "See, I knew you would do me good, Carys --we both know how you could not possibly resist the offer"

"Yes, that was sweet enough" he wasn't joking. Were it not for the fact that he felt like he had pushed too hard, he would have almost believed that Carys were truly concerned about his health. Which was rather nonsensical, for who would truly care for someone as callous and selfish as him?

Maybe this was the time to change a bit.

...And time to focus more on Carys -she had asked a question, after all.

"No- no." Gabriel decided. He waved a hand dismissively. "Just run and get that done, before I get too sentimental with you" And it was true, he was getting a bit too sentimental with Carys. And to think he'd never-

"No- hang on, Carys -wait!" the Time Agent cried, before it was too late. "I never said thank you -so" he cleared his throat. "Thank you. You know this means a lot to me -I really appreciate it." he finished, truthfully.

[Carys Barton]

IdiotGabriel seemed to have a bit of trouble focusing too. She tried to imagine him knitting for a moment then shook her heat, replying in a flat tone. "You'd make a terrible scarf." It was much easier to picture him stabbing someone with a knitting needle than actually using it to knit. Hell, she'd rather use knitting needles to stab someone. Her grandmother had tried to teach her to knit once, but the only thing she had produced was a square-ish tangle. It was supposed to be a potholder, but the first and only time it was used for anything was when her brother broke her nose in a scuffle in the kitchen. Kept her from bleeding all over her mother's new rug, so at least it was useful.

"Well I'm glad that was sweet enough, because that's about my limit. Gotta watch my blood sugar, ya know?" She had to get out of here quickly, she was really starting to feel sympathy for the man. Before she knew it she'd start offering to be even more helpful. "Right, right. We couldn't have you getting sentimental." Sentimental? Right, maybe when hell froze over.

Carys reached to start the ignition again but paused when Gabriel asked her to wait.

"Thank you. You know this means a lot to me -I really appreciate it"

She started at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment. His thank you was a surprise, a nice surprise. Thank you's were always a bit nicer when you didn't expect them, and she felt that this one was honest. Maybe he was getting sentimental "You're welcome. Give me a week and I'll have something." She started the bike. "Don't go dying on me before then, I intend to cash in this favor someday." Carys was mostly serious, at least about the dying part. She balanced her weight and gave the bike some gas, quickly leaving Gabriel behind her. Her friend in the lab would leave for home in just a few hours and she was feeling that it was in everyone's best interests to get this over with as quickly as possible.

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

And so a week later, just on that very same spot, and at that very same hour, Gabriel reappeared once again. The sore pain in his larynx and and in his lungs had not vanished, having increased with each passing day, becoming now more distinct.

He hadn't died in a week, all right -but sure gotten pretty close.

...

...Okay, so it really wasn't that much close, but give the man a break, he was having quite the hard time.

The thoughts that were running through the man's mind were not that pleasing either. A whole week had given Gabriel enough time to do some research of his own in regards to the creature that he had had to fight off -the Vellakea. While its venom was strong enough to poison someone, its principal effects did not involve a burning sensation in nasal cavities, larynx or lungs, which placed that option out of the question.

Which brings us to the following, more obvious, question. Where the hell did this disease come from?

It wasn't hard to find the intuition needed in order to answer this single question mark; Gabriel had many enemies. He wasn't a nice person, and he sure as hell had some people who wanted the worst to happen to him. As he saw it, it was the price he had to pay for the numerous crimes that he had committed. Although at that time, he wouldn't have called them 'crimes', nor had he imagined the price to hover on those fearful, life-threatening degrees.

Of course, a part of him also knew that there was really no proof, no factual evidence that could confirm the fact that he had been poisoned by someone else who thought ill of him. It was the same part of him that thought that he was starting to get a bit too paranoid with this whole matter. But in these worlds, one couldn't be sure of anything, which was why it was best to keep a guarded attitude than risk everything due to a benefit of doubt.

And it was then, when with a pale face and weak features, Gabriel started to truly value the gift of life.

Oh, he only hoped it wasn't lethal. Whatever it was, it... just... couldn't, be... lethal.

[Carys Barton]

Carys should have never agreed to meet Gabriel, to help him. Because now she felt responsible for him, which means she cared. Only a little bit, but it still meant she cared. Also, she was running late, which only made her flustered. Damn surprise inspections. She'd passed, of course, but she was twenty minutes behind schedule for meeting Gabriel.

Finally she made it to the meeting place and killed the engine on her bike, sliding off and flipping the kickstand into place in one smooth and practiced motion. "Sorry, got held up back on base." Gabriel looked worse, but she'd expected that. So she got right to business. "It wasn't from that Vella-whatever you mentioned earlier, but it is alien. No idea how you got it, and I'm not sure I want to know. Lord only knows what you get up to." Carys smirked at Gabriel.

"Anyway, there is an antidote." She removed her backpack and handed it to him. Everything he should need was in there. Antidote, syringes, and alcohol wipes to sterilize the injection site. "One injection every six days. I figured things out with our supplies and I can only get away with stealing about three doses at a time. I'm not sure how long you'll have to take the injections." 

There was another thing her lab friend had warned her about. Just a mild concern to keep on mind. "Also, it hasn't been extensively tested. So I don't know if there are long term effects. I'm still looking into that. But you have my number. Just call if there's a problem." Carys sighed and looked at Gabriel. Now that she'd unloaded all the information she really looked at him. He looked miserable and Cary's was wiling to bet that he was lonely. He wasn't intending to tell her that he was sick even when he'd asked for her help. It was safe to assume he hadn't told anyone else what was wrong. 

"I'm sorry that this happened to you." Dear lord she was going to try to be all comforting and sympathetic. Why did she even care? Because he was supposed to be a reasonably attractive, lying, scheming, nothing-but-trouble rogue. He didn't look like that right now, and it was wrong. Also, she was probably and idiot."But nothing to worry about now, right? At least there's an antidote." Otherwise he probably would have been dead By the ends of the month, but she wasn't going to mention that minor detail.

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

She was late --about twenty minutes late. But, in all honesty, it did not matter. The date and time fell within Gabriel's 'free' period -although the word was a little wrongly used. Of course, the term free period had to be understood as a non-mission, non working portion of time. Gabriel was never a free man, and as long as he kept working for the rogues, he never really could be -that, he was starting to rapidly understand.

But there was never any other choice, now, was it? He had entered on hiw own free will, he had escalated in the ranks… meaning he now knew things. A lot of things. Too many things. And he wasn't an idiot -even if no one had told him so, he could easily read between the lines. His superior, John Hart was no merciful man; the minute he , he wouldn't feel the least bit of remorse in sending someone to finish him off, because the best way to keep someone from spilling the beans was to… well, silence him forever.

And as for now, he had enough with this damn disease that he was suffering.

Disease, punishment… or whatever other term that applied, anyway.

"Doesn't matter" he waved dissmissively, the corners of his lips twisting slightly to form a small smile. As long as nothing had happen to her, all was fine, and there was no reason to worry. And he, of course, knew that nothing bad could have happened to her --she was after all, in UNIT. Probably almost like her second home.

Gabriell listened to her following words, and nodded ,taking the information in. Then he laughed slighly, "Seriously?" was his simple reply. Then he sighed a soft sigh, and turned his gaze to look briefly at the stars. "Not the Vellakea, huh? Well, that… narrows it down a bit. Up to… say, a thousand, billion living creatures around the entire universe?" he muttered, trying to sound humorous, but failing to hide his very bitter sarcasm.

Oh, well -at least there was an antidote. Gabriel took the backpack that was handed to him, and listened with attention to what Carys was telling him. His eyes widened with surpise, and his jaw fell slightly, the words reverberating incesantly in his mind "Once every six days?" he mouthed "Until God knows when?" Oh, this was bad.

Gabriel stared at her. "Okay, I'll call. Just note that, if I end up giving food to pidgeons on my free time, or singing Christmas Carols in July... Guess who's gonna be responsible for that." he joked.

Gabriel nodded silently, when she told him that at least there was an antidote. An uncomfortable silence proceeded, during which Gabriel just stared at her. He broke the silence himself. "Well, I… guess I'd better go… get myself fixed up" he said, as lightly as possible in spite of his hoarse voice.


(ooc: We need another thread for these two when this one ends! Any ideas?)

[Carys Barton]

He was bitter, and Carys really couldn't blame him. She probably would be too if their roles were reversed. This would probably go down in his books as one of his least favorite weeks ever.

Unfortunately Carys was terrible at the whole being a 'comfort' routine. Growing up, the proper response had always been "rub some dirt in it". You only cried if it was an emergency room injury and comfort came in the form of your siblings retelling your scar story with pride. It wasn't a bad way to be raised, don't get her wrong. It just left one without a knowledge of what would actually make someone feel better in a situation like this."Like I said, the lab tech doesn't know much about it. It's all new information and you're lucky he was able to come up with what he did." She shrugged. It was the truth after all.

"Ugh. If you start singing Christmas carols I promise to shoot you and put you out of your misery as soon as possible." Carys grinned. Not a very big fan of carols even when they were in season. Probably because you heard the same five songs in every single store for months on end.

Carys just stood there, fingers hooked in her back pockets while he stared. Was he expecting her to say something more? Because she'd given him all the information that he needed. And unless he was going to say thank-you there wasn't much left to cover in this little meeting. "Yeah. The sooner you start the better. I'll let you know if I find out any more information on the antidote or how long you have to take it." It was probably just one of those take it until the symptoms go away sort of thing. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long.

"Stop gettin' so frisky with those aliens, alright? Or you'll pick up something really bad." Too serious of a moment for too long. Carys had to go back to a bit of teasing.

((Yes! We do! Maybe something goes wrong and he has to call? I'll brainstorm and pm you with ideas))

[Gabriel Saint Laorden]

It was a big relief to have Carys acting in the way she did. In these types of circumstances, it was normal -and terribly unsurprising- to find people crowding up to hug you, give you a (rather agreeable but otherwise ridiculously unhelpful) box of pastries or chocolates, or any other dumb idea that people think might actually help someone feel better, albeit their ordeal.

Well, here's the news.

It doesn't help.

Gabriel discarded as a rule these supposedly friendly gestures, because he felt that, to a certain extent, it was a human's way of saying that they felt sorry for him, that it was really a pity. He knew it was something that people would find it hard to understand, so he never really bothered telling them so, generally going for a simple smile and 'thank you' the times when he had enough disposition to care about other people's feelings ---and note that that wasn't always the case. But if he disliked that form of support, it was because he had his reasons.

Two types of emotions there: empathy and pity. Empathy was probably something that Gabriel actually needed but no one who hadn’t lived through this same story could truly empathize with him. Pity was also there of course, but it really was a poor replacement. So it was good that Carys wasn't showing any signs of neither of these --because Gabriel could most certainly do without them.

"Yeah ---be sure to do that" Gabriel agreed, with a small twist in his lips, indicative of a small crooked grin. Like hell he was going to live with any memory that brought back some nasty sense of self humiliation.

He listened silently to her following words, and nodded simply, her façade serious again, but not for long as she threw in another fair warning. "Can't make promises I won't make" he replied, some sort of amusement showing in the midst of all the anguish. There it was again, that old playful smile of his. "You know I have a reputation to maintain"

[ooc: soooo... this thread is finished? We need another thread? I gave your idea a bit of a thought, and actually came up with something --I'll pm you asap, to see if you like it! (:]