Hard part of the job

Who: Nic and Lina.
When: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Gee, on the front lawn. His room.

Lina had given Nic his space for a while, because she thought at the very least, after being made a side show, he deserved it. She wasn't going to pull an Everett and not talk to him, but she was going to get that statement today. So she let him get some sleep, and as the evening went on, called to see if she could come up. And up she went, wondering how fucked up and awkward this was going to be. Taking a breath to ready herself, she knocked on the door, already trying to imagine how heavily reinforced the door was.

It was a good thing that Lina called, otherwise Nic wouldn't have opened the door. On that thought, he decided maybe he should mention to Dan installing a peep hole or something, because there would be no more opening the door for unknown visitors. When Lina arrived, there was the slide of wood behind removed from the barricade, then one deadbolt, then the normal lock. Even with all three, Nic would have felt safer with a dog there, or having pushed some large piece of furniture in front of the door. When he opened it, it was with his foot pressed against the side to stop it from opening all the way, at least until he saw it was Lina. "Hey," he said, unable to smile. He pulled the door the rest of the way open and let her in. Behind him, the shower ran in the bathroom.

Lina didn't smile either, though the normal edge in her eyes wasn't there now. "Hey," she echoed, stepping in quickly and getting out of the way so he could rebarricade it if he wanted. Now, what the fuck did you say when your friend had been abducted, forced to violate a lamb, strung up for the house to see, sound like a good friend, and remain 'official' at the same time? Lina didn't really think you did. "If we find them, he's going to be passed around like a prison bitch." Hey, that seemed like a good alternative.

Nic had just finished re-barricading the door when Lina spoke and actually found it in himself to crack a smile. A small smile, but that was better than nothing, even if it faded quickly. "Good," he said. "Just don't let me be the first to know, or I'm not sure there'll be much left." Generally, Nic wasn't a violent person, but there were things that would push him to an extreme. The morning's events easily fell into that category. Looking around with a small sigh, Nic walked to the desk and pulled out the chair for Lina to take, then sat himself on the bed, facing her. He wasn't sure quite where to start.

That was the bitch of things. If Lina did manage to find him (or her), she was going to have to decide whether they lived or died. She knew damn well she wouldn't be locking them up for the good of the house - she'd be locking them up so no one else could get to them. But would she? Depending on what else this fuck had done, would she just let someone end it? Would she do it herself? She honestly had no idea. She knew, of course, what should be done, but then again, she shouldn't have done what she did to Freddie. Her judgment wasn't always the best. "I need to get an official statement." she said, quietly. "From Dan too, when he's done, but I'm guessing he doesn't remember anything."

"I don't think he does," Nic said, positive that Dan would have said something if he knew anything. "I know he woke up and I was gone. I know we were both hit on the head. With a wrench? I heard that somewhere, but I don't remember," Nic said, his voice drifting off. That wasn't really an official statement, seeing as how it wasn't really what he knew. Nic took a deep breath and tried to start. "We lock our door every night. And we dead bolt it. Now we barricade it as well. Dan put something similar up in my room before we moved in together, but we didn't think about it here. We felt safe," he said quietly.

Lina nodded lightly, not really surprised. Of course they did. What a kick in the ass. She looked over to the door, which she could tell from here was absolutely fine. She sighed, and looked back to Nic. "Did either of you hear anything? Did you wake up?" Her tone was quiet, softer than her voice almost ever was. Even if they were in his room and no one but the fucking scientists were going to hear it, the conversation still seemed to demand in.

"No," Nic said, shaking his head. "You know... last time, I... I thought it was partially my fault. I was drugged up. I knew something was kind of happening, but it didn't register until they knocked me out. This time, there was nothing. We went to sleep, just like normal, and then I woke up with my head pounding..." There'd been blood in his eyes, dripping down from the bash to the back of his head. He remembered the pain before anything else. "I knew something was wrong, but... I wasn't cold. I didn't think anything could be worse than being hung in the meat locker." But he was wrong, so very wrong.

"Drugged or not, nothing was your fault." Lina said, sighing as she leaned back in the chair. "I'm looking into more security measures, and I called a house meeting for tomorrow, see if anyone has more ideas. If you or Dan don't want to go, you don't have to. But if you do go, and anyone gives you shit... well, they can deal with me."

"Dan installed the barricade, and I'd recommend it to anyone who... well, anyone with half a brain. And we were talking a bit earlier about getting a dog. A lab or a golden retriever. Something that will bark if anyone tries to get in. I don't think everyone needs a guard dog, but..." But he thought that they did. It was likely the only way that both of them would sleep at night. "If we go, we'll probably sit in the back. I don't know how much I can actually contribute, but I know Dan was helping Kales work on those panic button type things. It wouldn't have done shit in this case, but still..."

Lina nodded again. "There's a carpenter in the house, I asked him about creating barricades for every door. Dog's probably a good idea." A damn good one, actually. She wasn't going to say it, but Nic had been targeted a lot. If he couldn't have an honest to God security alarm in his room, a dog was a good second. "If you request one, I'll add in a demand that you get one too."

"Thanks," Nic said. "I'll have Dan go back and copy you on the request to the scientists." If that was possible. He was pretty sure it was, even if he didn't make habit of talking to the fuckers. Nic looked down at the floor for a moment, then up at Lina. "There wasn't much that happened between when I woke up and you arrived. I couldn't really yell without gagging. The guy that found me puked, then yelled. I think I was up there about an hour, but it seemed like... forever. The sun was already up."

Lina nodded again. She felt like an idiot, but... what the fuck could she say, really? "Sorry it took so long to figure out how to lower the damn thing." she offered. "Someone on the journal mentioned going around the house and figuring out all that kind of shit, I think I'll probably organize that tomorrow at the meeting."

"I wouldn't have known where it was," Nic said with a shrug. "I mean, they had to get me up there somewhere, but it wasn't exactly in plain sight. The hard part will be knowing what things even have lowering mechanisms. Until this morning, I wouldn't have thought much of it." In fact, he wondered who had that kind of time on their hands in the first place? Someone had obviously found it and used it, or asked the scientists advice.

Lina wouldn't have been surprised if it was the latter. At all. "At least we found it." she said. "What did Dave have to say? Are you and Dan alright?" This house had seen more damn concussions than any professional sports team ever.

"We'll be okay," Nic said. "He kept us for a while to check for concussions, but then let us go. He told us to be careful, rest, and if we have any vision problems, exhaustion, or headaches, then come back. Dan got some glue in the cut on the back of his head to hold it together, but it should heal alright." Nic felt like there should be more, that the physical wounds should be similar to the mental ones. He was glad that wasn't the case, but it still felt like it should be there.

Lina nodded again, feeling like she was out of things to say as a professional here. As a friend, it felt like there should be a fuck of a lot more to say. "You know I'll do my best, man." she finally said, sighing lightly as she looked down. "Maybe the meeting will help." Unfortunately, she didn't really believe that.

"I know," Nic said, looking up at her. "The fact that you're here says a lot. But I know there's not a lot to go off. And the fact that the scientists are probably helping whomever did it... well, it doesn't look very promising." Nic didn't want to sound depressed, but he was just being realistic. Lina was doing the best she could do, but there was really very little chance she'd ever figure it out unless the attacker tripped up. Eventually, hopefully, they would.