The Wayfarer

Regrouping

Evan slowly became aware of a rhythm similar to the one inside him, but different. It seemed less vibrant, more serene. There was a sort of metal tone to it as well. He thought, at first, that he was a little boy again and someone was rocking him in their arms. But the closer he got to consciousness, the more chaotic memories of pain and destruction came seeping into his mind. Then, he was flung into full waking by a metallic clang. He shot up with a strangled sound. Jack's arms were immediately around him.

"Shh. You're safe, sweetheart. I've got you. "

"Jack... where?"

"We're on a ship, two days out from Cardiff. You've been out for five days."

"Five?" Well, that would explain a little of why he felt both slimy and like he'd been beaten half to death. He struggled to make his eyes focus. "Am I... ?" He made a disgusted face. He was in an adult diaper. "Okay... gross.... I want a shower right now. I feel like the floor of a theater."

"Um, yeah. there's something...." 

Just then, Evan reached up to touch his head because he realized it felt weird. A look of horror crept over his face. "Jack... am I... bald?"

He winced at the expression on his face and pulled him into his arms. "I'm afraid so." 

He didn't want to cry over something so stupid. It was just hair and it would grow back, but he was hurting and tired and out of sorts. He clung to Jack and just cried as Jack rubbed his back gently.

"It'll grow back," Jack soothed. "In the meantime we'll get you a wig or maybe a nice hat, hmmm? I think you'd look sexy in a jaunty fedora." 

He couldn't help it. That made him laugh, but he wasn't quite though crying yet, so it sounded a little hiccupy. "Only you would think that."

Jack shifted him to the side of the bunk. "There's that smile I love." Jack gently wiped away the tears with his thumb. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and into some nice soft clothes." 

"The others...?"

"Everyone's alive and relatively unscathed, surprisingly. Cross' people didn't fare as well, but his wife and daughter were safely recovered. Worst for wear is Dani. But we'll talk about that once you're clean and fed."

It was a tight fit for them both in the little shower, but Evan didn't mind. He wanted Jack close. He was unnerved by the tangled mess of memories he had swirling about in his brain. Things seemed to be surreal, warped and twisted and, in some cases, just nonsensical. It was like someone had taken a gory war movie and liberally slathered it with Technicolor images from all the  cartoons he had stored in his mind from childhood. If he couldn't get his mind settled, he might just go crazy. And Rigel was unusually quiet.  Where was he? Was he gone? He couldn't tell.

Jack was helping him dress and kissed him gently. He could see the rippling emanations of worry and taste the hint of fear and confusion on his skin. "Relax. Stephen says your energy readings are a little off, so you're going to feel odd. I even called The Doctor and he was kind enough to stop by and scan you himself. He said you've expended a lot of energy and Rigel appears to be sleeping in order to give your body time to recover from the force of it all. It's not designed to channel that much energy." 

Hearing that Rigel was, indeed, still there did serve to relax him quite a bit. He'd grown rather fond of that alter-ego inside of himself. He was never lonely now that they could communicate. Jack had found him a knit cap, knowing he would refuse to be seen with the bald head showing.  His stomach announced loudly that it had become the equivalent of a black hole in a skin bag and Jack ushered him out into the narrow corridor.