Week 60, Directly After The Mission: Distracted

Checks done,vitals rechecked, everyone back to themselves, Hugo was ready to leave. He seemed... mostly like himself, if annoyed and kind of sullen, glaring at the sleeping man on the bed. Despite it all, he kind of liked the dude, even if things... Went weird.

As Hugo left, he looked around. He mumbled a few things to the nearby figure of Silvia as he did so. "And there's a bathroom there with an Out of Order sign on it. The light around the corner was out." Despite being unconscious and taken a different way into the hospital, the massive agent definitely knew the building. Every time he was proven right, though, he just seemed more... cross.

Silvia glanced around towards the nuke, her concern written clearly on her face. Throughout Hugo's brush with psychic oddness, she had been close by, watching and trying to help, although his inability to recognise her had been something of a hindrance. And not exactly pleasant either. Once they had found a solution, she had relaxed, thinking that it would be over. In the aftermath, she was gradually coming to realise that Hugo's experience wasn't over yet.

"Hugo?" she asked, speaking quietly and drawing close. "What...what's the matter? Are things still...off?"

Hugo sighed, and looked over at Silvia. His expression softened somewhat as he made eye contact. "..No. Everything is back to normal. I just.. I really was out of my body." He sighed again, annoyance returning back to his features. "I would out of my body and I was just.. yanked back. I.. almost forgot what pain felt like. It's been a few years." he gave Silvia a sort of weak smile, but he still seemed unhappy... And he returned to his thoughts, looking slightly gloomy.

There was silence for a few more minutes as Silvia walked beside Hugo and then she spoke again, nervousness colouring her voice.

"That's...that's not all, though, is it?" She wasn't making eye contact with Hugo, keeping her gaze on the walls and rooms around them. "It's not just about the pain. There's...there's more, isn't there? I mean, I'm not surprised," she continued, hurriedly. "I mean, that was some nasty stuff happening with your...with your mind. Everyone could tell that. Only...only natural that it...that there's some...stuff to think through."

Hugo's brows furrowed, snapped out of his reverie by Silvia's voice. A memory of Silvia, in the car, looking so worried over his body.. He swore under his breath and stopped walking, putting his hand on Silvia's shoulder. He made eye contact for a second before pulling her close in a tight hug. When he spoke, he ended up swearing again. "..Shit, fuck. I'm sorry I worried you. Are you okay?"

Silvia returned the hug just as tightly, as though trying to hold onto him. "I'm fine. Just...I was worried. About you. That's all. You're the one that...had things happening to their brain. And...you seem like you're...upset. I think that has me beat. I mean, it's not as though there's any danger of you...of you dying now." She hesitated, as though realising what she'd just said, and pulled back. "There...isn't, is there? It didn't look like it, from any of the scans."

"Uh, to be honest I am not sure how I could know that." He kept his arms around her, and smiled a little. The street outside the hospital was not a good place to stop, but Hugo seemed confident no one would bother them. His smile broadened a little. "But I feel fine. Completely back to normal. You don't need to worry, beautiful."

He gave a look around and loosened his grip slightly. "And it was... Kind of upsetting, but it didn't really mean anything. Like a nightmare. A.. really real nightmare, but.. Just a dream. Like, Tansai was twisting and spinning like she was in a distorted mirror, and she's not like that. And Han was dressed like the cover of a brutal fantasy concept album and Shap looked like a cartoon pirate. He had an eyepatch! It's not like it was real."

"It...looked pretty real to me." Silvia's voice was quiet, and Hugo's levity had no apparent effect on her. "All we could see was...you suddenly...not being able to recognise us. For all we knew, whatever was in there had...broken your mind. I didn't...didn't know if I was going to get you back. So it...felt real. Like I'd lost you." Her grip had loosened a little, but at her final words it tightened again, without any conscious effort on her part.

"Well, I still knew you were you, but.. You just.. didn't look like anyone I knew." The amusement in his voice leeched away somewhat, and he pulled Silvia a little closer, with practiced gentleness.

"And it was only for a few minutes. Well.. for a few minutes while awake. Are you that much of a pessimist, picara?" Hugo was still joking, but his voice dropped slightly, and he moved his head down to touch hers. "Besides, did you think I would leave you without a fight? C'mon." He was still smiling, and rubbed her back gently with his massive hand.

Silvia's shoulders shifted in what might have been a shrug and she rested her head on his shoulder. "I didn't want to think it. But...I've lost too many people too quickly." There was a note of weariness in her voice now - one that made her suddenly seem older again. "I was...hoping there was something we could do, but I was...so scared that we couldn't do anything. That I'd lost you because of something I couldn't even see..." She trailed off, momentarily speechless. "I'd have done whatever it took to get you back, but I didn't even know where to start."

Hugo tightened a little in Silvia's arms, and he pulled her closer, less afraid to hold her closer with his inhuman strength. He wasn't sure of what to say, and after a long moment, he gently kissed her cheek. "..You are smart, picara. You would have figured it out, and hey!" He brightened slightly, relaxing a little. "..I was there. I could helped you! ..Not sure how I would have talked to you, but I would have gotten a message through. You know. Er. Provided I didn't forget what you looked like." He shook that through free with a shake of his head, and smiled. "Though I'd like it if you didn't change your face again soon. For my, for my brain's sake."

"Smart, yeah," Silvia's voice was still worried and she pulled slightly away. "But...I know nothing about this kind of stuff. Psychic...things. I really...I had no idea what we were dealing with. Nothing. Completely helpless." She exhaled, slowly, as if consciously trying to let out some of the stress.

"As for the face...I think I was planning to keep this one for a while anyway. It fits in better around here. And I've been pestered by EI people far less since the change. So you shouldn't need to worry about me changing it any time soon."

Hugo grinned about the face, and pulled away more confidently, leaving his hands on her shoulders. "You are definitely not helpless, mi picarita. Anything but. Have faith in yourself." He seemed much calmer, heartened by their conversation even if Silvia was not. His brow furrowed slightly. "You're rich and capable, and you could solve any problem, really. I know you could."

With a brief look around them, Hugo finally moved away completely, and moving one of his massive hands down to take hers. "It's okay, really."

Silvia lifted her shoulders and spread her free hand, trying to illustrate her helplessness in the face of what had happened. "Capable, yes, but not at everything. Psychic stuff...it's completely new to me. I know pretty much nothing, except to run away when there are four Comoros Agents firing powers at you. Most things I don't have the knowledge for I can just run away from, but when it's hurting someone else...I just couldn't help. Not...not nice." Her hand tightened on Hugo's and she grimaced.

"Still, it...it's over now. No harm done in the end, right?" She glanced questioningly at Hugo, hoping that he would agree.

"Well, there's still that guys dreams to go into. I wouldn't mind, except for the whole scaring you thing and being knocked out, it was pretty fun." He smiled down at Silvia, and realizing she wasn't convinced, let his expression sober. He squeezed her hand back and carried on walking. "But yeah.. I feel fine. Completely normal.. Well.. a little annoyed at Han, but, you know.. Fine." He seemed amused and relaxed as ever, and more concerned about Silvia's reaction that almost dying.

"Okay, that's good." Silvia seemed to relax slightly and walked along with him, slightly reluctantly taking her hand out of his grip. "You...you probably shouldn't blame Han. I mean...we were all there. And...we were kind of desperate. Didn't know what to do. And...he seemed like he knew what he was doing. At least, more than the rest of us."

"Mm. I don't mind being mad at Han. I was doing fine. I mean..." He sighed, looking down at Silvia from the corner of his eye. "I knew you were worried, but.. ..I don't know. Being dragged back to my body wasn't exactly... nice. And the naked guy, well.. who knows what was going on with him..."

Hugo railed off slightly, back in thought.

"I...I know I don't." Silvia's voice was shifting back into the apologetic registers. "And...sorry about that, but we...well we didn't know what to do and...well it seems like it kinda worked. I mean, better than what...what was happening to you, right?" She glanced nervously at Hugo. "It...I mean, it was good that we did that, right?"

"Uh.. Yeah, sure." Hugo cleared his throat. "I mean, I would have been fine regardless, but uh.. You know, if I had been awake I wouldn't have flown or left my body, so that was pretty cool. I can see why people like the psychic stuff." Hugo seemed to think this was a satisfying answer, and smiled a little down at Silvia. "I'm pretty rugged, I can take a friendly KO."

Silvia looked somewhat satisfied with Hugo's answer, smiling slightly and continuing behind him. One hand absent-mindedly moved up to touch the spot where Hugo had kissed her cheek. "Good, that's...good. I'm...glad."

Hugo taking the path back home. It wasn't a short walk, but he was content to have some time to think and it hadn't even occurred to him that Silvia might not want to amble back home at a slower pace. Every couple of minutes he reached his hand back to touch Una, a movement Silvia had seem him repeat frequently when thoughtful or anxious.

After a while, Hugo asked in a quieter soft of voice... "Hey, picara.. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to but.. who did you lose, when the tsunami hit? Your brother and...?" He was obviously a little nervous about asking the question.

Silvia was silent for a moment, her face shifting into sadness. Not pain, or at least not much, but definitely sorrow. "There was Yuki, my brother," she said, eventually, her voice slow. "And...both my parents. Kazuo and Haruka. And...I had two good friends from Basic. Akemi, who was with Datanetica. Doing research, classified. The tsunami took out her whole base. And there was Ken'ichi, who was with the SY. Doing pretty well, too. He didn't...the tsunami didn't get him, he died on a mission, around the same time. But I found out at the same time as the others." Her voice, normally so laden with whatever emotion she was feeling, was quiet and level.

"It wasn't...they were Agents. Those two. So I knew...I always knew they were risking that. But to find out all at once...and all my family too...who I never...I never thought they might...go." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "It was...unpleasant. But I can...I think I've come to terms with it. Just about."

Hugo seemed to get visibly uncomfortable as Silvia talked, watching her out of the corner of his eye, but he managed to hold in his emotions until she was done talking. He nodded, and reached down to give her fingers another squeeze. "I think unpleasant might be an.. unselling of it, mi picarita.." He took a deep breath and looked around for a second, holding her hand for a just a moment. He opened his mouth to speak again, but seemed to think better of it and stop, removing his hand from hers. "I.. Thank you, for telling me."

"It's...okay," Silvia replied, giving Hugo a slightly sad smile. "I've...like I say I think...I think I'm through the worst of it. It's not...not so bad now." She lapsed back into silence for a moment, glancing around, and then her gaze returned, as it so often did, to Hugo.

"Was there...was there any particular reason for asking? Or were you just...did you just want to know?"

Upon being asked those questions, Hugo cleared his throat and immediately became a bit awkward. It took him a few seconds longer than normal to answer. "..Wanted to know, mostly. I just.. know a few ronin now and just.. was.. curious." While he his words even almost sort of sounded like the truth, the massive agent was stumbling a little and seemed guilty. "..And with you going back and all.."