Sam's Reality: Cape Canaveral, Florida - Kennedy Space Center

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Leeroy wasn't too sure how the night guard at the Kennedy Space Center had acquired Sam's name. He assumed it was the Internet - everything's the Internet's fault these days - but he couldn't be too sure, as the guy looked to be about sixty and the type who wouldn't touch a computer to save his life.

"They're freakin' out the dogs," he said in a Southern accent. "And we ain't been able to photograph 'em, either." He pointed to the large behemoth of metal that could be seen a few miles in the distance. "They're always there."

It was, Leeroy recognized, launch pad 39-B. Jeimu had launched from there not even a year ago.

Why freaks were hanging out around launchpads, Leeroy wasn't certain. He turned to Sam and asked quietly, "What d'you make of all this, eh?"

Comments

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He was lost for a moment when he had her in his arms, but then came crashing back to reality when she spoke.

"Is there even..." He paused. "Never mind. I'll help you do what you have to."

[i_salted_dean]

"I screwed up so bad." Her voice was a broken whisper as she hid her face against his shoulder.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"No." He said it fiercely. "No, you didn't."

[i_salted_dean]

"I got our son killed!" she shouted. "He's dead! I froze up and got a helpless baby killed!"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Leeroy didn't know what to say that wouldn't make her angrier, so he just sat there, in shock.

[i_salted_dean]

And Sam... just seemed to collapse in on herself as she started to cry. The strong, sure warrior was gone, replaced by a confused and grieving woman.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

But Leeroy's grip on his wife never faltered. What he couldn't say, he tried to show with his actions: that he didn't blame her for this, he didn't think she was a murderer, and most of all that he still loved her.