Winters and the Beast

Ethan lay awake, stroking Karl's back as the larger man lay unceremoniously sprawled on top of him. His thoughts drifted aimlessly as he listened to Heisenberg's breathing. After pleasant memories of the last hour, his memory turned toward their time together before. What had Miranda said? She had been aware of her own memory loops, the visions that Eva showed Ethan. But she had welcomed them.

Ethan knew that by erasing Mia from his mind, Miranda had also erased the tragedy of Dulvey from his mind. Erased the miserable time he'd spent here in Romania away as well. Had she not done that, he probably would have been stuck in a memory loop, not fond memories from his adult life. No, his 'memory loop' prison was definitely Louisana. Just like Eveline was, he realized with a pause, his pale fingers ceasing their movement over the dark, scarred skin of Karl's back.

"What, Buttercup," Karl growled with his face shoved into the blankets.

Ethan blinked in surprise that the man hadn't been asleep, and went back to the light touch. It soothed whatever animal instinct Heisenberg had, was a sure way to calm him after a heated moment. So far, anyway. Ethan wanted to bring up to the other that he seemed to get more animalistic as time went by, but it seemed like a strange thing to say.

Instead he thought about the memory loops. "You sure seemed to know a lot about the mold and crystals earlier," he began simply.

Karl didn't move his face. His voice was muffled. "Yeah."

It seemed guarded, almost as if Karl would be offended at the insinuation he knew more than others. But of course he did, why wouldn't he?

Ethan ignored the feeling. "Do you know anything about why people would get stuck in a memory loop?"

Karl exhaled, his breath warm on Ethan's chest and shoulder. Still muffled. "Mold's like a circuit. Pushes memories around like current. You don't take care of a circuit...the wiring, gets bad. Damaged."

"Like a short circuit?" Ethan said, interested, and Karl made a half-nod half-shrug.

"Feedback loop," the engineer mumbled, his voice heavy with sleep. "System tryin' to fix. What's wrong. Goin' over the points that caused the problem. Just goin'....in circles."

He was dozing off, but Ethan had one more question, which he asked quietly. "Why didn't you have any of that when you were crystallized? The cadou?"

Karl shrugged again, and his breathing now steadied. He was asleep. Ethan smiled to himself and closed his own eyes.

He could hear sobbing. When he awoke, he was outside in damp, humid air. It was pouring rain, lightning filling the sky all around him.

Yuck. Louisiana. He could hear Eveline's taunting laughter, echoing.

Ethan's scowl was part of his features every time he came here unwillingly. He rose from the grass, blinking to see the light of Zoe's trailer nearby. Instead of going there, he headed into the kitchen. Ethan had been in the house so many times--Eveline brought him here. And he always left. It was easy.

For the first time he made the conscious choice to go in.

It was surprisingly clean and cozy inside; he could hear the screaming scuffle from upstairs though, and now he ventured into the dining area, sensing Eveline. She was curled into a ball sitting on the ground with her old, twisted grandma form sitting at the table. Ethan gazed at her, listening to what sounded like Jack restraining, and then choking, Marguerite. Something glass shattered.

Eveline's own voice echoed in the room. "THEY'RE MINE NOW."

"Eveline," Ethan sighed, moving tentatively forward. Out of curiosity he stared at his own hand. In this consciousness it was stapled together. The blond stared at it, wondering if he could manipulate his body here. As he stared, willing the tissue to heal, the staples popped out, and new skin moved to cover the horrific scars.