A connection

Posted on Tue Nov 25th, 2025 @ 11:27 by Rebecca McMillen & Jillian McMillen

Chapter: Besieged
Location: Rebecca's room, Avalon Institute
766 words - 1.5 OF Standard Post Measure

After Claire had gotten Effigy to Rebecca's room it took some effort to find a suitable alternative to Mr. Pebbles that was held under lock and key by the G.O.U., and she definitely swore she'd get it back. For now though, the patchwork mouse made from scraps of cloth she pushed in her dufflebag was plenty. Once she had transferred her connection over her body started to heal again, the patchwork came undone. Nothing a little needle and thread couldn't fix.

"I'm sorry I have to leave so soon." She looked up from the contents of the bag and at her sister. It was still difficult to think through the cloud of false memories and brainwashing and see the face of someone she had held so close but treated so badly. Perhaps it was exactly that which had made it possible to punch through the conditioning. "I'm glad you found a home."

"I'm used to people coming and going." Rebecca said softly, sitting on a chair across from her sister. The patchwork mouse was a gift from her first class, and was something she cherished. Perhaps giving it to Eff.... to Jillian was the first step to healing the hurt. "The road wasn't kind, but I made some friends along the way. I'm glad I found this place. You.... you understand why I didn't write." she tried to approach the subject without directly approaching it. Home. Where she left, she didn't consider home anymore. She was almost content to never see anyone from that life again, and yet here she was. Her sister. Now in the same venue as she was. Treated the same way she was. Karma? She didn't want to think of it like that. Jillian had done hurt to this facility, wounds that would never heal. To everyone else in this facility she was a monster. To Rebecca, she was a different monster, but now the monster knew.

"I always wondered what happened to you and everyone. I just couldn't go back there."

Jillian nodded, she knew that the situation that Rebecca had been in was very different from hers. For one nobody even noticed her powers until she got hit by a car, carelessly crossing a street. She'd been a lot older at that point, but it hadn't stopped her parents from still taking 'control of the situation'. "What you went through was horrible, and for what it's worth I'm sorry for my part in it." She looked down at her scarred hands. "I didn't expect any writing or calling. I definitely never expect you to ever return." Then the look in her eyes turned cold. "I might need to, though."

Rebecca gave a nod, accepting Jillian's apology. She reached out to take her sister's hand. Rebecca's hands probably still had some residual paint on them, a bit of color to contrast the scars Jillian had. "Apology accepted." she wasn't sure she could forgive her sister for everything, but when it comes to forgiveness, it starts with sorry. It just couldn't end there.

At Jillian's last comment, Rebecca gave her sister's hand a soft squeeze. There was a difference between WANT and NEED... "What on earth for?"

Jillian didn't dare look at her sister, "I have some... choice words for them." She wasn't sure just how much of what she planned to do she should divulge to Rebecca. She picked at her nails for a moment before getting up and taking in a deep breath. "Then I guess I'll try and find my friends and coworkers in the G.O.U., reconnect." She cracked her knuckles.

Rebecca stood up with Jillian, her thin tail thwipping as she stood and processed. "Be careful, please." she encouraged someone who had survived everything to be safe. "And whatever you have to say to them, don't mention me. I'm..... I'm done looking back."

"And, I have to be honest, your friends at the GOU aren't exactly high on our Christmas list." she didn't want to ALSO mention that the rest of Avalon might want her dead, or at least detained for questioning... "But, my door is open."

Jillian smiled at that, it was good to hear her sister offering her safe haven for her as a harbour. She wasn't quite sure if that sentiment would hold up after what she had planned to do to their parents as a thank you for handing her over to the G.O.U. as eagerly as they did. "They won't hear a peep out of me. I'm glad to hear you've found a way to look forward."