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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes.

[Just to reassure himself that his York is still alive. It's stupid, but he wants it anyway.]

Name the place and I'll be there.

[ It's a tentative thing, the brush of reassurance he pushes over the feed. But it's there. ]

[They're not really close enough for it to be anything more than light, but Delta accepts it gratefully.]

The nearest safehouse, I think.

I'll be there in ten.

[ Eight, actually, but who counts speeding on how it cuts down time? He's waiting on the sofa for some sense of Delta's arrival. A brush, a text, a knock- something. ]

It takes Delta closer to ten to get there, and well before he finds the door York will sense a confused mix of sorrow and anger. Though the alternate York was the strongest example, he wasn't the only one. Hell, he even feels bad about South, and he doesn't like her at all.

When he does make his way in, he looks like he hasn't slept but he looks and feels profoundly relieved to see York there. Alive.

"Baby." It comes out despite himself, stepping in close and offering his arms to Delta who looks like an absolute wreck. This isn't easy on anyone and he'd hoped against all odds to spare him the full of what happened. And it'd happened again anyway. And it was WORSE than before.

Fucking Bifrons.

Fucking Survey.

"I'm here. I'm alive. I promise I'm not leaving you."

And he stumbles into York's arms, shivering and opening up his mind fully, knowing it's not fair to hit York with the hurt and loneliness and horror of the past few days. Jack has been wonderful, beyond good, but Loki had been even more damaged by the arrival of the clones and so Delta had had to be strong for him, when all he'd really wanted was a little while to let out his own grief.

He doesn't even have enough control left to keep his breathing from devolving into choking sobs, and it's humiliating but York won't tell anyone, right?

"I'm here. I got you. It's okay, baby, let it out. It's okay." He catches Delta easily, tugging him in close and shutting the door with his foot, not even bothering with the sofa. He drops to his knees right there on the floor, tucking Delta against his chest, his head against his shoulder, nose buried in his hair as he absorbs all that pain. All that grief. It's horrible to have to live it- to go through it twice?

Hell. Something he couldn't have prevented. Something he couldn't protect Delta from. And someone as emotionally new to anything of being human like him shouldn't be expected to be an emotional rock for anyone. A sounding board, a voice of reason, a partner- but a rock?

He had a hard enough time with his own emotions. That he's done so well for Loki and for himself has comfort and a deep welling of pride rushing over the feed. Delta did everything he could. He did well. And it's time to let go like he needs to. "I got you."

Strange to think, but with everything he'd been through in his two-and-a-half months as a human, this is the first time Delta's cried. He doesn't fuss or tantrum about it, just quietly gets York's shirt wet and shivers against him into his warm embrace, but it's there nonetheless and having someone to take on that pain is...very comforting. It doesn't last terribly long, not by the standards of such things, but it's long enough to clear up that murky mess of emotions.

Let go.

He lets Omega go, the angry yet unsure figure who never had enough time to adjust to being human, much less to find his own place. He lets Sigma go, never having had time to learn if he would be a good painter or terrible. South--South doesn't have the power to hurt him anymore, not here, not anywhere, and if North can let her go so can he. And the other York. Unscarred in face but tormented by the knowledge that he'd never live to get more than a glimpse of life here. Who'd taken some of his own limited time to say he was glad to see Delta making a life for himself here. Who maybe, despite everything, could have ended up making it through the war alive instead of killed, except that he hadn't been taken from his own time at all but made a copy of here only to die anyway.

Finally his breathing steadies out and he sends a thin yet pure strand of gratitude over the link. "Thank you."

York takes it. All of it. Every brush that he's allowed to see, every soft sob, every tear. Takes it and weathers it, bent on comforting Delta. He hasn't been there for him as much as he'd like over the past few weeks and that's on him, what he's done and what he's said. There's no getting back the time he wasted. all he can do is be here for Delta now. Rock him through what had to be hard for anyone, let alone someone so unused to enduring this kind of emotion. The confusion, the pain, the frustration, all of that and Delta still hadn't let any of it rattle him until now.

When his breathing slows, York combs a hand thorugh his hair, offering as much comfort as possible through the feed.

Anytime, baby. I'm here for you.

Even if he hadn't agreed with how they handled Omega and Sigma. Even if they'd argued- He gets the grief that comes with losing them.

Delta stays huddled up with York, even though they're right there in the middle of the room instead of somewhere more comfortable like the couch. For the first time since their break, really, he feels perfectly comfortable and serene in York's arms. It's a feeling he transmits back - York deserves it, he thinks.

And yourself? Is he all right after this round of clones?

I'm okay. He's been through worse. He's got the doc, he's got Delta, he's got, after the fact, Malcolm. He got to explain to south everything that happened. Got to see the remorse that would never be real back home. It was more than he ever thought he'd get.

Wanna move to the sofa?

Very well. Delta pulls himself away reluctantly and stands up, wiping his face on his sleeve to dry it. Around anyone else he'd feel embarrassed to lose it like that, but then, that's why he'd had to talk to York in the first place. York still knows best how new and strange this all is to him.

Once on the couch, though, he curls right back up into York's warmth, not ready to give it up just yet. I am glad you are okay. This seems to have been deliberately designed to hurt or insult us.

York doesn't say anything- Delta's still learning how to handle all of this for himself, having to shoulder all of that for other people too? It's insane. And he's managed it anyway. He knows pride probably isn't something D needs to feel from him right now but it's there none the less.

On the sofa he tucks D close, nosing his way into his hair. Opening the feed all the way so there's nothing between them except for the distance that D needs. It coulda been worse. They coulda brought another you.

I don't think I would have been able to help them if they did.

The other York had been proud of him, too, for making what he had out of his life, for finding new hobbies and friends and giving being human a real shot. It had been a gift, as much of a gift as his York's pride is now, and Delta accepts it.

Another Delta? He shivers at the thought. Not that he wouldn't like to meet himself, far from it, but to put the burden of such a short life on York, on Loki? To have to watch himself dissolve--

They had best not ever do such a thing. Not that he's feeling charitable toward Bifrons on a good day, but something like that might well push him into action before he's made a good plan. Because he does intend to destroy them for what they've done, a thought he doesn't mind sharing with York, but doing so is going to take very careful planning and resources.

I don't hold much hope for them being all that tactful. They did what they wanted when they wanted. When Sigma and Omega popped up he'd been terrified that he'd turn and see another Delta. Have to offer to put him down gentle when the time comes and that? That would be what breaks him. But it hadn't happened and he's still got his Delta, still got this Delta as long as he wants to be had.

Much like, though he hadn't seen it himself, losing another York had brought Delta down to this state in the first place. That he'd lost York once did not make it any easier.

So, of all things, he sends a tentative reassurance to York. I am here. I will do everything in my power to keep outside their influence. More than that he can't promise, but try he certainly will.

They won't take me. Not ever. They could kill him again or lock him outside the dome- but he is never getting caught up by compliance. THey're not rewriting him ever again. There's too much he can't forget. Won't forget. Everything of how he feels for Delta included.

It calms Delta down to hear that, whether or not he logically knows such a thing is easier said than done. His posture begins to relax slowly as he takes a few steadying breaths, allows himself to feel York's warmth and inhale his scent. He's here and he's not going anywhere, and Bifrons isn't going to interfere with them.

Thank you.

Anytime, baby. He dips his head enough to press his lips to delta's temple, pretty sure that much affection is acceptable. D needs the affirmation anyway just as much as he needs to give it.

That level of affection is certainly acceptable. And it's good to just sit here, let his mind clear, and just be for a little while.

Another few minutes and he sits up, wipes his face off again. "Thank you. I also wanted to tell you that I have a real job now."

"Oh?" He continues the easy contact as long as it's allowed, hands resting light on delta's shoulder, thumb brushing against his nape. "That's awesome, bud. What are you doing?"

"Wrath hired me as her accountant and general financial manager." And boy does she need it. Delta grins. "She was unsure if she would have enough money to buy new clothes. Her pension is over seventy-five thousand credits annually, Not to mention the two million she has on a chit. Not even banked. In cash."

"She's been a career soldier for...about two decades?" Holy shit. "Delta. You're the accountant of one of the richest people under the dome."

He grins, glad to be feeling better.

"She thinks I am very smart. I will endeavor not to disappoint her." Remember that time you asked Delta about what he might do with his life and he mentioned controlling the economy?

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