video;

[paterelohim]

[Chuck looks, in a word, busted. His face is tense and stressed, gelled hair messy from the wind. When he backs away from the NV it's obvious that he's posting from the top of a cliff, and seemingly hasn't noticed that it's almost time for evening sirens. He looks down solemnly, unsure how to make his announcement.]

As of Wednesday, Anna Milton is dead. [He killed her. His hands twist his shirt nervously.] If you were in Sector Four that day and saw a weird flash of bright white light- that was her.

[The smallest tense sigh.]

She's gone, and if there's any mercy left here, she won't come back the way she was. Fred hasn't come back, either, and they're far from the only ones.

[He takes a deep breath and then, a little unusually for him, looks up and right into the camera, silhouetted by the last rays of sunset.]

And there's something I think I need to say. A lot of people wonder what the point is to being here- between this much loss, so many comings and goings, and the constant knowledge that going home means forgetting the Port, you wonder if there's even a point to being here- to trying. Why does it matter, you think, if nothing here changes what happens at home.

[Chuck is making a speech here, but it has an almost pleading note. It's as genuine as it is personal.]

But if you've been here for more than a week, if you've met a single other person here and told them your name, then you've done something. If you've made a friend here or an enemy or looked someone in the eye and told them a truth you didn't think you knew, then you've done something. Maybe the epiphany you had or the feelings you expressed don't last when you go home, but the person you connected with- they'll remember. Even if you vanish tomorrow, you left a mark behind.

I lost people this week who are really important to me- one person from home who needed a second chance, and an amazing woman from a world I'll never get to see. If she comes back she might not know me- I'll never see that version of her again. That doesn't invalidate the year she spent here. It happened, and it matters, partly because she made a difference to everyone she met. She wasn't afraid to really live here.

[He falls silent for a moment, looking out over the cliff-side at the setting sun. It's getting hard to see him now in the twilight.]

Everyone you meet here is in the same boat you are. If you keep losing people here or you learn things about your future you wish you didn't know... Whether you're getting a second chance or if you're someone else's second chance- whatever the case may be, you owe it to the people around you and to yourself to try and do something with it.

Because even if you get sent home and you forget, the one thing you will never be... is forgotten.

Comments

voice;

[motioned]

...Thank you. You're right about all of that. People still matter, even after they've left.

I hope other people listen to this, too.

voice;

[paterelohim]

So do I.

People don't even realize how important they are. Nobody does, not really.

[Video]

[vw_coyote]

So. She is dead.

[Says the room mate that got the shit beat out of her.]

[Video]

[paterelohim]

Yep. She's gone. Her wing imprints are still all over that alley.

[He checked.]

[Video]

[whosdaughter]

[Jenny smiles softly at her camera]

That's a really lovely way of looking at life.

[Video]

[paterelohim]

[He smiles gently, a little without humor.]

Lovely. There's a word I don't think I've ever heard in connection to me.

video; private;

[upstairsbrain]

[ Sam's not too keen on Anna right now... not after he tried to trust her again, and she nearly killed him. There are scratches and such still visible when he pops up, looking grim. ]

... That means a lot, Chuck. I'm sure it will to a lot of people.

video; private;

[paterelohim]

[Ah, Sam- have a look of quiet relief from the brave little prophet.]

I hope so.

You're okay- I, uh. I saw something last week, but I didn't know how far ahead it was.

[video]

[learnyourplace]

[She knew. It would have been difficult for her to miss. Her expression is carefully neutral.]

You should get inside.

[video]

[paterelohim]

[He glances at the sky distractedly.]

I know.

video

[guerrilla_morph]

[ Ugh.

Marco has more or less left the network alone. After Mom's and Edriss' death, he was in a stupor. He couldn't bring himself much to care.

But there's something about this man's words that just nudges Marco the wrong way. ]

Someone call Oprah, we got ourselves a winner here.

[ His voice was cracking from disuse, but his cold thoughts bleed into his tone. ]

Some people don't deserve to be here. I'm not talking about them being perfect angels and too good for this world or whatever, but they really don't deserve to be here. Or even exist at all.

[paterelohim]

[He saw the kid's post, and his heart goes out to him. But that doesn't stop him from giving Marco a weary look.]

Last summer, I was put in a wheelchair by the Devil. Last week we hung out and talked over a couple beers.

Everyone has... at least the potential for redeeming qualities.

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer is trying. Maybe he's only doing it for Michael, maybe he's only doing it for the same reasons he's done everything else. But it's led him to make choices that he never would have at home.

It's still uncomfortable to agree with Chuck about anything meaningful, though, and so he doesn't offer any input. (Which is probably for the best, considering their track record.)]

The limit is a week?

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[paterelohim]

[Lucifer is half the reason he made the post. He'll be poking harder, later.]

A week is one of the big milestones.

[Video]

[ofthursday]

[He'd felt Anna die, and he'd hoped he had been wrong. He had hoped that maybe she would come back, too; and maybe she still will, in this strange place.

He'd lost his sister a long time ago, and so it's a dull ache that comes from losing her once again, but he'd never really had to back to begin with. They'd spoken only a few times, even if they'd been good conversations, and so she had been more a phantom here to him than anything else.

It takes a little bit of time before Castiel decides to respond.]

The sentiment is kind.

[Though he doesn't necessarily agree. In many cases, yes, people would be remembered by those who knew them, but what about the others? What about people who just aren't that important to anyone else?]

[Video]

[paterelohim]

You don't believe it, do you?

[Audio | Private]

[magnetic_magpie]

[Most people don't understand - what Charles did to him, wiping his mind, bothered him for so much more than what it did to him. There were millions of people which Magneto remembered. Who still existed because he remembered them. Being forgotten...that is truly being lost. So what Chuck says hits a deep cord.]

Chuck.

[Audio | Private]

[paterelohim]

Hey.

[The reply comes surprisingly promptly, but very subdued.]

private;

[mulletrock]

Wait-- I knew she was on her way t'funny town but what happened?

private;

[paterelohim]

Well, after she went to town on Sam, [Which he assumes Dean knows about, because Dean] she killed someone, beat a few other someones up, then tried to kill me.

video;

[pullsheavendown]

[He might sound a little choked up.]

You said that...really well.

[Video]

[paterelohim]

[He replies after sirens, from inside a house.]

Thanks. Glad you liked it.

[uberboned]

[Gabriel sounds exhausted. Feeling a sibling go up like that... It's never easy.]

Anna... Y'know, when I first met Jinx, I told her all about her. It struck a chord in her somehow. And now here we are...

private 8(

[paterelohim]

[He nods.] Yeah.

[Chuck hesitates, then pulls something out of his belt. It's a sword.]

Can you- take this? I don't want it.

[doctor_mccoy]

That's actually kind of touching, Chuck.

[paterelohim]

I hope so. I'm sick of everyone feeling alone.

voice ;

[spiderlilies]

I'm truly sorry to hear of your loss. [ Smile. ]That was, however, most beautifully said. Thank you.

You should get yourself to safety now before the Port suffers another loss, darling.

voice ;

[paterelohim]

[He responds after sirens.]

Don't worry, I'm already there.




Thanks.

action;

[servingfather]

[Michael doesn't listen passed the first line. It rings in his ears. He should have been the one to do it. He should have looked into her eyes and saw her light die in more ways than one for what he did to her. And Michael had tried.

Tuesday he'd gone to see her. Tried to calm the insanity but he didn't. So they'd fought, several buildings had been damaged in sector eight - empty buildings but still.

So when he appears near Chuck several hours later, it's in silence with his head bowed.]

action;

[paterelohim]

[Chuck is in the HoA, of all places, flopped on a futon in some random corner of the place, in a now-empty apartment. He doesn't react in surprise, having sensed his coming, but rolls over slowly so he can see him.]

Michael-

[He feels sick to his stomach, the way he did last time he saw the angel. He changed clothes and showered five times, but the blood is still heavy on his hands.

He's about to apologize, again. Again. It isn't and will never be enough, but Michael doesn't know why.]

video;

[athermercy]

[She really doesn't know what to say. She can't even offer the comfort that Didi will talk to people because she is gone -- She knew it before that happened and it was painful just like Dream and Destiny left. Like the sensation of missing a limb.]

People can forget that very easily -- It's a good reminder.

video;

[paterelohim]

[He's felt the loss of Didi too. It hurts, like she was scooped out from inside him and left him hollow. Chuck looks at her intently, wondering how she's doing, if his message struck a chord with even a fellow God.

Can a God be preached to? Is it possible?]

I hope so. I kind of feel like I owe it to her to try to be the kind of man she thought I was.

[not here]

[unluckyinlove]

[She can't reply to this.

She just can't.]