Fragility of the Mind

Gabrielle Goussand was afraid to disappoint.

From the beginning to the end, she was always afraid of going to places she did not know, places that incited a sense of helplessness and loneliness that came from the very core of her heart and ate away at her conscience until not even a bit remained. Her heart was rotten, she knew that much. But Gabrielle absolutely dreaded going back to places she had been to, places that had once been her home and the home of so many of her friends. Maybe she was just masochistic, she didn't know--but the UnHonorables base, a place she had deserted almost eight years ago, seemed so distant and yet so grand in her mind that, somehow, she had to find her way there.

Gabrielle was twenty-four. She had turned fourteen during the struggle, but nobody seemed to bother, so she never brought it up, even years after it was done with. As she went out of the cab smelling like somebody had had a couple of good trips in there, she handed the driver a generous tip and hauled out a single bag of luggage.

She still smelled like strawberries from the perfume she had put on earlier that morning. For some reason, even though she lived in the same state, she never bothered to show up and say hello beforehand. She was afraid, after all. Of their cold, concerned gazes. A midriff-revealing black shirt and low-rise jeans hugging her figure attractively, she still didn't know why she stuck to silly trends. but Gabrielle didn't get out of the bad, middle-schooler habit. She looked good.

Slowly, she tread on the soft grass towards the base. Once she saw the building, she felt a feeling of lightheadedness overcome her, but she kept her cool, and went on. She passed a hand through her newly cut hair (fashionable once again) as she put her other on the cool steel trap door.

Slowly, she gave two clear knocks on it, before pulling the handle open. As she went down the stairs and entered the main section, she pulled another steel door open, feeling her cheeks cool down in an uncanny way. She caught her breath and then called out, in horror to hearing her voice breaking, "Does anybody remember me?"

Emir was in his bed, sleeping in Kansas. He got the invitation already and was always glad to come back. So he decided to take a nap, since he had desk duty in his police station, then on his way to the Base. His room, wall and floor, covered with papers, pictures and books. He generally like to gather information into large abundance and forget most of it in later time. a desk that is completely clean from papers and sorts, was a small chest and his Revolver, almost big as a rifle and glowed black from the lamp.

Emir woke up slowly, tired still and began to go to his desk, then doze off to sleep. He was too tired unless some dire situation came into play.

He finally woke up completely, going to his closet to get his usual clothes: grey suit jacket, grey matching pants, a red shirt and white loafers. After getting dressed, he step out of his room, patting his flat top hair cut and rubbing his beard. He began to walk to see Akihiro on the couch.

"Hey, Aki." Waving at him.

Gabrielle's eyes focused on the floor, suddenly embarassed to having that be the first thing she's uttered in the base for a long while. She glanced at Josh, then at Kate, her eyes welling up with hot tears. She bit her lower lip, but couldn't say anything else. This was silly. She fought the tears back and properly turned back to Josh. "Of course I do," she said softly. "Very much." She turned her head away and edged closer to him, finally opening her arms for a hug.

"Well enough I guess." Emir said, stretching. "Any news? if not, I'll go to the Base and have fun in that reunion stuff."

"Hmmmmm, I'll like to go to Angela first...." Emir pondering, rubbing his beard. "It won't be long anyways, I'll be right back." Emir walking back to his room, getting his revolver and putting it in his suit jacket.

"So you're coming too Ak?" Emir asked, patting his sleeves of his jacket then looking at him.

"Bah I should remember......." Emir said, going on the floor and laying down on it. "Had a lot of work to do in the precinct, mostly desk duty." He said, frowning.

Emir standing up and going to the fridge. "You don't need to sympathize, you'll just need to listen to my bitching." He replied, chuckling. He opened the fridge doors and got the pack of hot dogs and tossed it to Akihiro.

"Eh, I ain't so sure on that." Emir said, walking to his room again. " Tell me when they come back, I'm gonna do something."

Gabrielle stared at the joint for a long time, and pursed her lips. "Got over a drug addiction. Been wasting my life away, day by day, although I'm pretty happy, I suppose. It was better than back in France." Gabrielle paused to frown, and took a seat in front of Kate. "I, ah, screwed up pretty badly, but I don't regret most things." she gazed in a sport a few inches shy of Kate's face with melancholy. It was obvious she was uncomfortable.