open;

[aintyourdad]

Who| Joel, Ellie, anyone else!
What| Joel shows up and gets tossed into the ring. Let's see how he does!
Where| I can put him just about anywhere in the museum you need - he'll be scoping the place out.
When| Mid-Week 1
Warnings/Notes| Joel is a highly suspicious dude and may assume anyone he meets is hostile until proven otherwise. This means he might punch first and ask questions later! I'll update this if anything else comes up.

Finally, please specify if you would like to meet Joel before he finds Ellie or after - if before, he'll be on his own, really worried about his baby girl, and slightly more prone to violence. If AFTER, you will probably get Joel and Ellie (two for the price of one!), and a lower chance of Joel trying to throttle you immediately.



"Put your hands in the air!" "She's not breathin'."

He woke with a start, phantom pain in his head and surrounded by - military? They were clearly military, but not any military he was familiar with. When they grabbed him, all sense went out of his head - normally, Joel would go quietly, because struggling tended to get people shot, but all he could think, all he could remember, was Ellie, her body so still. She's not breathin'.

"Where is she?" he demanded, over and over, landing a few punches but never able to break free. The pajamas they made him wear, the explanation given, all barely registered as he had only one thought in his head - find Ellie now. "What the hell did you bastards do to her?" he demanded yet again, attempting to yank his arm free when they came at him with a needle. Still, nothing. His shouts and struggles were in vain, and the next thing he knew, he was... in a parking garage?

With no one around to confront, and the knowledge that he was here to kill, or be killed, Joel quickly shoved his feelings to one side, dropping low and seeking a stairwell to climb to higher ground - it would take him a bit to realize the only way up was via elevators that actually still worked. They were far too slow and noisy for Joel's taste, but it became obvious that they were his only option, and he needed to get to higher ground, if he was going to find anything. Especially Ellie.

Joel moved quickly, quietly, and with one singular purpose: find the girl, and get the hell out of here.

Comments

Before Ellie's arrival

[futilecycle]

Having just escaped an elevator himself, Sigma arrived mere seconds ahead of Joel on the opposite side of the first floor's entrance. He had been reaching for his pack to withdraw his plant guide in case there were any to find when Sigma heard another elevator ascend and come to life. Terrified, the Doctor crouched low to the ground and dashed for cover a moment too late; his weight against the floor's dilapidated tile echoed loudly across the mezzanine and into the exhibit below. There was the loud ding of the elevator's arrival and the groaning of the door before Sigma was able to dive behind the ticket desk, too far from the stairs to flee to safety.

There he froze like a hunted animal, pinning himself against the dark oak and holding his breath. Before he could summon the courage to pray, the Doctor knew it was too late. He had certainly been noticed.

[aintyourdad]

When the elevator doors opened, Joel knew he probably wouldn't have much time at all to find some kind of cover or hiding spot - it would be easy as hell to camp out near the elevator banks and pick off anyone just coming out.

So that's what he did - a quick scan of the area, keeping to a low crouch as he dashed off around the nearest corner. He definitely heard something on his way out, some kind of crash or movement, and being a nosy bastard, he kept quiet, listening in to catch the location of whoever was there.

It was definitely that ticket desk - Joel's hearing is nearly impeccable, after so many years of surviving in his world against infected and hunters. Carefully, so carefully, he moved around to get the angle on them. He needed information, after all.

He slammed his weight at the figure behind the desk, hoping to pin whoever it was down with his body. He wasn't aiming to kill - not just yet - simply knock the person off their feet and overpower them.

[futilecycle]

Not even a cyborg could contend against the momentum of an angry survivor. Before he could see who had done it, Sigma was thrown against the floor, feeling his old bones bruise against the tile.

The Doctor yelped and forced his organic eye open, trying tiredly to meet the eyes of his assailant in hopes he could use his age to garner mercy. Unfortunately, that tack would prove likely unsuccessful: from what Sigma could tell, this man was not too much younger than he was.

Sigma was not beneath begging for a chance, not when he still had Eponine to find. "Wait..!" He wondered if the Initiate was around, if he was wearing the mask, could feel his fear...

[aintyourdad]

It was probably to Sigma's benefit that Joel wasn't looking for a quick kill right now - because age, infirmity, very little was able to get pity from him. The only thing saving his life was his need for information.

"A girl," he said roughly, keeping the man pinned down. "She's fourteen. Red hair, green eyes. Where is she?"

[futilecycle]

There was only one person he knew that fit that description. Sigma wriggled under Joel's grasp, but managed to cough out a confused "...Ellie?" between winded gasps.

More out of concern for someone so young than from care for Ellie herself, Sigma's reply was defensive, oblivious someone would behave so aggressively for a person they cared about. It was exactly what he had done with Kyle, and yet...

"What do you want with her?"

Before or After, Up to You Two!

[the_marshal]

It was the damned elevator that got him in trouble. Just as he'd known it would on the first damn day.

Not because he was fool enough to ride it, oh no. He got caught in the open because it held something for him, another gleaming canister, winking playfully at him from between the doors. A siren call.

Thinking of Max, of the already increasingly wrinkled photo (in and out, in and out, folded and refolded, his hands on it again and again) tucked away in his bag, he went for it. Even though he hadn't secured the area.

Hadn't checked to make sure he was alone.

after!

[aintyourdad]

The elevator banks were a death trap, that much was obvious right from the start. It was sheer dumb luck that anyone would survive a trip on them, so of course Joel and Ellie kept away from them as much as they possibly could, only getting close when it was necessary to scope out the area, or to potentially lay an ambush.

That ding really was like a siren call, though, and Joel kept low, peering around a corner to see if anyone else was about. Sure enough, there was someone fool enough to make a run for them. Joel tugged on Ellie's sleeve to make her aware, and possibly to ask: friend or foe?

[onlyimmune]

Ellie ducked her head around the corner, squinting to make out the figure as she slowly pulled the bow from her shoulder - but instantly relaxed as she made out the silhouette.

Friend. Definitely friend.

She glanced back at Joel, still, even now, not entirely convinced that he was actually here and she wasn't just completely nuts, and flashed him a grin.

"Wyatt Earp," She whispered to him before she slipped out, determined to get to Wyatt before Joel could think better of it. She whistled at him as she replaced the bow back over her shoulder.

[the_marshal]

He'd snatched the silver can from the elevator and was looking for a place to take it, some corner to duck into where he could open it without worrying about a knife in his back, when the whistle came. For a moment, one lurching heartbeat, he wondered if he was already too late and nearly dropped the gift in favor of going for his crowbar -- but then he remembered that if someone really wanted the drop on him, they wouldn't have whistled first.

That's what friends did. That's what he did.

He still rested a hand on the metal bar, but he turned obligingly... and was relieved to see Ellie. Visibly, he relaxed, a smile edging around his mouth.

"Christ, girl, ya damn near--" The words died, and so did the smile, as his eyes landed on the other figure. The stranger hanging back in the shadows.

He looked between them, raising a careful eyebrow.

[swill]

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of it before, you know. It had been pointed out to him time and again in the arena, silently or pained, or outside of it, mockingly or pitiful. Not having anything to defend himself with would kill him. Hawkeye remembered having eaten something a day ago, gnawing on it all the evening throughout like a rat. Before that, he only remembered the confusion, the willful state of anxiety he had subjected himself to, traveling between the lower floors and tracking blood prints. He remembered being exhausted and then slightly less so, and so of course, days into the second Arena, he must have somehow gotten to sleep when he rested in a nook. He hadn't even bothered to rub the sleep from his eyes this time he stood up and headed out. He was hungry and wasn't used to being so, and so his mind occasionally wandered more so than usual- he knew of the cafeteria, but didn't dare go near it yet. He still panicked at the thought of the elevators. He still was alone, despite knowing there were allies milling about, preoccupied with their own lives and survival. And above all, he still really hated himself for having left the bloodbath early.

He really hated the lighting and the old book smell.

But anyway, he really needed a knife. Not even for self-defense, because what could he do with that? He needed a knife because there was fabric all around to tear, and the inner three year old in him couldn't keep still at the possibility of ripping antiquated dresses to shreds-- kidding, but he wasn't entirely sure that he was. Bandages would be needed, splints would have to be made.

Maybe he'd even one day have to sink it into someone's chest or throat, and wouldn't that make a hell of a show?

Hawkeye's painfully aware he's dressed to stand out, but wasn't everyone? Now that he's looking over weapons displays with a purpose, the thought resurfaces that maybe he should have taken the dwarf's advice and gotten into some armor. The red bathrobe's all he's wearing over skivvies, and today it's not even tied closed. If the elevator pinged, he didn't hear it. If Joel creeped close, Hawkeye wouldn't have heard a damn thing. He just finally picked out a knife, small and sharp enough, and sighed in relief.

[aintyourdad]

Joel was good with his fists, when he needed to be - and he often did need to be. That didn't mean, however, that finding weapons wasn't high on his list of priorities. He assumed that most people he would be encountering in this place would be armed. He always had to assume that. If he didn't, he sure as shit would get himself killed. The only people who didn't carry weapons were infected - and you needed weapons for those, too.

Sometimes, though, sometimes, someone just made it way too easy. This guy, he wasn't infected. He was just a person, holding a knife, just standing there, low-hanging fruit if Joel ever saw it. Either he was too complacent - maybe he had a buddy nearby - or he was just that stupid. Didn't matter.

He kept low, the way he always did when sneaking around, and in an instant he was up, arms locked around the stranger in a choke hold to drag him down to the floor.

[swill]

Hawkeye figured the next instant that he must be a very special man, because here he was, about to die while he was the one holding the knife. He tensed, sucked in a breath a little too late, stepped back, found his knees buckle and. And really, it was worst thrashing he'd done to date in that he hardly put in the effort he should to keep his head. The thought that the man was unarmed struck him before he fell, because he figured he would have felt the stab otherwise. The thought that he might just stab himself with his pointy toy pops up the next instant, and Hawkeye's tossing the knife to the ground before he brings his hands up, red-faced and wincing, to try and pry the other man's arm off.

No luck.

Now, Hawkeye figured-- now he could properly squirm. He opened his mouth once or twice to shout and found himself voiceless. He pressed back against the man he didn't see, didn't know. It wasn't for some moments, when his head was starting to hurt with the pressure, that he got the bright idea to bring his elbow back and- what did he know?- maybe he'd hit something just hard enough to discourage. The bridge of his nose was burning, the alarm made it difficult to hold the breath he could keep, and he was getting nowhere fast with his lame struggling. "Get off--" he ground out, raspy and harsh and unwisely loud. He shoved back again, knowing that even for his height he hardly had much to throw around.

[onlyimmune]

It was luck, really, that had Ellie nearby. She run into a dwarf who'd mentioned that he'd seen Hawkeye an had pointed her in this general direction. She'd been down here already to loot a bow and three measly arrows, but she hadn't been back since. It just seemed like such a likely place to get jumped. But she wasn't too sure that Hawkeye had a real good sense of self preservation so she'd gone looking for him.

She didn't expect to walk into a fight.

She heard Hawkeye's voice before she could make out the figures, and she ran at them without a second thought. She didn't have a knife but it didn't matter, if she could just distract his attacker then Hawkeye could get away. So she leapt up onto the stranger's back with a yell, thin arms wrapping tightly around his neck and squeezing.

It was the smell she recognized first, and her heart slammed to a stop in her chest.

"Shit--"

for Joel and Ellie!

[celebrityskinned]

Venus is prowling the fourth floor again, making sure all exits are secured so no one can come in and attack Kankri, when Joel and Ellie come by. Her foot's feeling better now, which helps, but her ribs seem to have worsened. She finds herself wheezing more often than not, hunching when she isn't paying attention to her posture - and dividing her concentration between standing up straight and looking for enemies is not a winning strategy.

Eventually, she has to take a seat, crawling inside the ribcage of a massive prehistoric beast at an angle that can watch the elevators and the stairwell, although she's certain that door hasn't opened since she's gotten here. She reaches over and picks at some of the paint on her toenails, now peeling off, as she tries decide how best to proceed with the injuries she has.

When two people walk in, Venus stays perfectly still, waiting to see if she should watch them pass and then go protect the cafe Kankri's sleeping in or if she should attack them now. Her hand slips towards her knife and then-

-she recognizes that small silhouette. Not the big one, but the small one.

"Ellie?" she whispers. She still holds her knife, uncertain about the other dark figure.

[onlyimmune]

Ellie hears the voice and whips around in the direction, just barely catching Venus' outline in the shadows.

"Venus--" She whispers back, making a beeline for her, though she gave a double check to make sure they were alone. "What happened? Are you alright?"

[aintyourdad]

Ellie can make all the beelines she wants - Joel's got his eyes peeled for anything suspicious all the time - that's just the way it works when you trust someone enough to have each other's backs, anyway. They each knows how the other operates by now, so it's just a matter of keeping track of where she's getting to, and hanging back to double-check their surroundings before approaching them himself.

"Another friend of yours?" he asks Ellie, eyebrows quirked in an almost-amused expression.

[celebrityskinned]

"Fine, fine. Some bitch put me through a car window." She unwinds herself out of the rib cage and holds her arms out for Ellie. "Careful when you hug me, Shepard kicked in my ribs."

She doesn't take her eyes off Joel, though. It's not that she doesn't trust Ellie's judgment, but she hasn't had a chance to see this guy on tape. The camera changes people - Venus would know.

"And this would be?"

After!

[hit_girl_mindy]

The knife was here, and she was quiet. Those were the things that rang in her head. I also helped that she was small and quicker than most. The pajamas were at least good at concealing her footsteps, and she was going to get where she needed to go, fight or not. In the back of her head though, she was hoping to run into Ellie: who knew what kind of thing that girl was going to fall upon at any minute?

A LIZARD GUY had taken her out. She wasn't about to give whatever haunted the museum a chance this time.

[onlyimmune]

"And then they like shoved us onto this train - which, by the way, awesome way to travel - and we went out to the districts, and Howard was in the same district as me, right, and there was a lot of jewelery stores--"

Ellie, of course, was in the middle of filling Joel in on absolutely everything that had happened to her since the last time she'd seen him, not really pausing either for breath or to allow him to complain, because she was getting this all out, dammit, whether he wanted to talk about it or not. She was doing it in as hushed a voice as she could manage, of course, but the halls of the museum had a weird way of carrying sound sometimes.

[aintyourdad]

Joel - well, he'd learned a while ago that once Ellie got going, there was very little that was gonna stop her, save infected, hunters, or sheer exhaustion. Besides, knowing she was safe? Having her breathing, and within reach, and able to talk to him?

That was enough of a relief that Joel wasn't going to complain.

Right up until he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, at least, and reached out to grip Ellie's shoulder to quiet her, alert her to a new presence.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Well, she WAS going on the offensive when she heard Ellie's voice and stopped. Ok. Good. Ellie...with some guy. Didn't look like Wyatt either, and he was gripping her shoulder. She could take this in a few ways, but since Ellie seemed to sound all right...

"New friend?"

[onlyimmune]

Ellie checked the makeshift barricade one last time, and then wandered back deep into the room where Joel was setting up.

"Secure," She said as she flopped down next to him outside the Maori display. She took out her bow and set it down in front of her, along with her three measly arrows. And then dug into her pockets to take out the pastries she'd shoved into them.

She had so many things that she wanted to talk to him about that she didn't even know where to start.

[aintyourdad]

Joel, for his part, was in much the same position. It had been one hell of a day, that was for sure. Or maybe days, it was hard to tell how long he'd been out or anything like that.

And the questions were crowding into his head, but part of him wasn't sure he wanted to know, just yet. Part of him, really just wanted to fall back into their old routines, like they weren't in an arena with their every move being watched, like they were back home, back on the road, just the two of them hunting for the Fireflies. Perimeter checks, taking turns sleeping and keeping watch, the usual stuff they'd been doing for months.

Especially after what happened in Salt Lake City.

She's not breathin'.

"Got any more friends we might be runnin' into soon?" he offered lightly, by way of starting up a conversation as he leaned against a display case wearily. It would give her room to talk about whoever - or whatever - she wanted, without pressuring her for anything she might not be ready for, he thought.

[onlyimmune]

She let out half of a laugh, almost nervous. "Uh, yeah. Maybe. A few. I don't think anyone's dead yet."

Not of the people she cared about, anyway. She carefully held out a pastry, finally getting a good look a Joel, after everything. "Here," She said quietly. "I uh... Look, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here. Even though I know it's pretty fucked up."

[aintyourdad]

Joel was disinclined to trust more than a few people at any given time, but he didn't need to tell her that. They'd cross whatever bridges they came to, whenever they got there. The important thing was that he'd found her, and she was all right.

He took the offered pastry with a nod, eating methodically. He hadn't had a pastry in a long, long time. Not many people bothered to bake, anymore. "I'm sorry you were here so long without me," was his only answer to that. "We're a team, right? We'll figure this out."

He didn't plan to let her out of his sight, that was for sure. Not ever again.