I thought I lost you [Skitter]

The last couple months had been a confusing whirlwind of changes and upheavals, some of which she only half understood, or didn't understand at all. First had been coming to the states, which had been overwhelming, but at the same time exciting...then the time here, in a world where things were green, where technology worked, where people didn't kill each other and steal each other's things just to survive. People told her she couldn't just take things anymore, she didn't mean any harm by it, but here that was apparently a bad thing to do, and it was just one of a million things she had to relearn.

And the base, that place was cold and overwhelming, full of people that seemed constantly stressed out and upset. She was used to that though, but unlike back at home, here she had no place to really retreat from it, it was everywhere. Especially when Sam stopped coming back...he'd taken some time, gone to do some things, and she was okay with that because he always came back. But he started getting sicker and sicker, no matter how much he tried to deny it, and after one trip...he just didn't come back anymore. That had been over a month ago, and it made her feel all cold and sick inside thinking about it. She tried not to.

She'd worked with the nice man named Harley on base for a while, but then the other older lady, Ana, who seemed in charge of most things, had decided it wasn't safe for her to be there anymore, so she'd been moved again, this time to this studio apartment. The woman made sure she was checked in on, that she had food and things she needed, and had helped her get a job, something simple and easy and didn't require her to talk too much to people...it was nice to have money, it was nice to have the means to take care of herself...but her job was terribly boring and so many times she wished she could leave and go do something she liked better. She missed exploring and finding neat things at home. She wished people didn't talk to her like she was stupid, like she didn't understand things and they had to be explained to her very slowly. She missed Sam. She missed her friends. She hated living all alone. She missed her old life. She missed being Skitter. Here they told her Skitter wasn't a name, and she had to have a 'real' name...that she had to go by Sarah now. She hadn't been called Sarah in a long time and it always brought up squirmy and uncomfortable feelings she could only kind of remember.

She was glad she did not work today, she didn't want to go back anymore...but she would need to. It made her sigh from where she sat on the couch, at least her collection of shiny things here was growing, that was where much of her money went, after she made sure she had things like food and important things like that...no matter what anyone thought she wasn't dumb, and understood things like how to clean up after herself and feed herself.

The knock on the door made her look over cautiously, hardly anyone came here and she wondered who'd be coming around. She got up slowly, unlocking the door and cracking it open to look out. Catching a glimpse of who it was her eyes widened and she opened the door all the way.

"You? You are here? How did you...?" She asked, whole expression lighting up at seeing him.

Hudson had always felt lucky, because where his body had failed him his mind had remained fairly clear, Skitter had always been a bit scattered, but she was incredibly intelligent, in ways that some people failed to recognize. But Hudson had always been acutely aware of her intelligence and her sharp eyes. Even still, when she left, he'd worried, because she was unadapted to the world outside, they all were, but where someone like him could adapt fairly well, she couldn't, and his need to protect her outweighed any worry for his own well being. Doubly so when Jamie informed him that Sam had disappeared.

His own face brightened up when she opened the door and he limped closer, "Skitter..." He felt his eyes tearing up as he gingerly reached an arm out to put it around her shoulders, leaning his weight against her a little to make up for the one arm that wasn't holding himself up anymore, "Jamie told me where you were, I had to find you, Skitter. I had to." He pulled away a little, "how are you?" He gestured a little, "can I come in?" He felt like it had been years since he'd seen her, really it had only been a few months, but the distance made it all the worse.

Hearing her name, her real name as far as she was concerned, and seeing her old friend who she'd been worried hadn't made it out after they had, she teared up too as she pulled closer, hugging him close but carefully to not unbalance him when she did.

"I missed you...a whole lot." She said quietly. "I thought that...maybe you hadn't..." She didn't finish the thought, shaking her head instead. "I'm glad you came."

She stepped aside to let him into the apartment, gesturing for him to come and sit and get comfortable on the couch with her. "You saw Jamie?" She asked, almost eagerly. "I haven't...in a while. Or Sam. They're just...I dunno..." She shrugged, looking away. "How did you get here? Find me?" She asked, looking over at him, her emotions were all over the place, happy, sad, excited, she wanted to cry, but from all of the different emotions all together at once.

Hudson felt his eyes well up further when she hugged him back, smiling fondly and hugging her closer, "I missed you too, Skitter." Hudson had never actually learned her birth name, she'd always been Skitter to him, and she seemed to always like being Skitter. He pulled back a little, setting his other crutch back on the ground and smiling, "I only just made it out..." His face fell a little, "dad didn't. After you and Sam left it all went to hell...Supplies ran out...Dad tried to regain order but..." His voice cracked and trailed off.

He nodded and limped past her into the apartment, "yeah, Jamie is the one who told me where you were." He looked back at her, "He told me to tell you that he's sorry for not visiting." He breathed as he settled down on the couch, setting his crutches aside and patting the spot next to him, "After my father was killed, I managed to catch a convoy heading to the city." He leaned back, "I got here, managed to catch a job as a florist..." His face softened, "'member I was always kind of talking about wanting to do that...Not I get to work with like...Real living flowers." He chuckled, "I have an apartment, it's a safe, stable place." He glanced over at her, "I have a spare room too...I-it's made up for you...If you ever want to leave this place...Come stay with me."

She looked away, looking sad as he talked about the people that didn't make it out, how the situation there ended. She was glad they'd gotten out, but still felt bad that other people had gotten hurt, even though she got out mostly okay.

She settled on the couch with him, resting close. They'd always been good friends, and plenty of times they'd snuggled up together to nap, or just feel comfortable with each other, with another person in a world of people that felt like they had to act tough all the time. "I am glad...that you are okay." She smiled up at him.

She smiled as he talked about flowers, as much as she'd like bright and shiny things, he seemed fascinated with living things, which were few and far between where they were from. "Do you like it? The flowers? Like you thought thy would be?" She asked curiously.

The smile lit up even further at his offer. "You...you mean that? That I could stay with you? Would you want me to?" She asked hopefully, she honestly would rather be with someone else, than all alone.

Hudson didn't hesitate to put an arm around her when she rested close, it took him back to all the times they'd napped curled up together in her bed, or on the couch, there had never been any intent behind it besides just sharing the warmth and company of another person, their world had been filled with fear and hurt, it was nice to just be quiet and hold another person close like he was now, "I'm glad I could find you. That you're alright too." He'd been worried, worried that maybe the worst would have happened to her here.

He grinned wide and nodded, "Yes!" His expression became a little wistful and he closed his eyes, "the flowers are just as beautiful as I always imagined they would be." He remembered a lot of illustrated books he'd had that he'd found that had drawings of flowers, but the pictures did no justice to the way they looked and smelled in reality, "I filled my apartment with flowers, with all kinds of color and light." He grinned, "I have your room all set up, I put together a lot of shelves'n stuff for your collection." He'd known she would amass one, because she'd been so intent on collecting everything she could back before, he didn't know if she wanted to even stay with him, but he'd gotten a space for her anyway.

However, she answered him soon and he grinned wide, "Of course!" He took her hand and squeezed it, "I would love for you to come stay with me, I can't stand living alone..." Having an extra set of hands to help him with the things he couldn't do would be nice, on top of having her somewhere more warm and comforting than this place, "if you want to, we can move you and all of your things, I'm about a state over, so not too far."

It warmed her, hearing he'd already made her a place, that he had looked for her and worried about her. She had worried about him too, and was glad that he was safe.

"I don't want to be alone either." She admitted, looking up at him. "It's too quiet...and...my job...it's terrible...and...I wanna..." She gestured, trying to put her feelings into words, something that was always hard for her. "I want to help. I used to help, at home. Here I don't...but I want to. But...people say I do things wrong. I don't understand." She frowned. "I do understand...but...it's so boring..."

She flopped back on the couch again a bit dramatically. "I'd rather go with you. Don't like it here much..."

His face fell when she explained the troubles she'd been having, and after a moment he set his hand on her cheek gently, pulling her to kiss her forehead, "that's because people don't get you. But I do. We do." He was glad he'd found her, she seemed so unhappy here, doing what she was doing, and they were still both young enough to actually make a change for the better in their lives, it wasn't too late for him and he wanted to help her find her place in this new crazy world.

He smiled a little when she flopped back against the couch, chuckling softly, "then come with me, I can help you pack as best I can." He ran a hand through his hair and smiled, "to be honest...Having someone there would be good for me too." He sighed, "there's a lot of shit I can't do by myself, I get too winded being up and about for too long, y'know?" He gently tugged her back up, kissing her cheek, "but if you come stay with me, you can help me out while we find you something to do. A job that you'll actually WANT to have." His eyes sparkled a little, "sound good?"

She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek back before snuggling against him again, it had been too long, she'd missed human contact, she hadn't realized how badly though until this moment.

"I want to go with you." She said without hesitation. "Most of these things are not mine. They came with the place. So packing is easy. Then I can go, and help you...and it'll be happy and better!"

She smiled at the thought, excited for the change, excited to have her friend back, excited to get and go do something new that she hopefully liked better.

"You would help me find a better place? For a job?" She asked, looking up at him again, he'd found one so he could probably help her, rather than just taking the one she'd been set up with here, that she didn't have much say in.

Hudson chuckled when she leaned up to kiss him, holding her close to his chest and running his hands through her hair comfortingly, he was here now, he could protect her from people who might make her feel like less than a person, "I wont let anyone make you feel stupid. Because you're not, you've never been stupid." He sounded sure of this, grinning wide when she said she wanted to go home with him, "Perfect! Then maybe I stay the night here? It's getting a bit late, and tomorrow we'll pack." He didn't drive which made it a little tricky, but it was never too difficult getting around these days, he'd taken the bus to get here, they could always take the same back, or the train. He'd worry about that when they got ready to leave.

His face brightened at the question and he nodded eagerly, leaning back against the couch and pulling her down with him to rest against him, "Of course!" He chuckled and ran a hand over her hair, "I'll help you find a job that will actually appreciate that sharp mind you got." He closed his eyes a moment, "something where you can use your sharp eyes, help people, make a difference." He knew she could offer way more than festering at some dead end job, she was brilliant, she deserved to actually show people that.