milliways_bar | (no subject)

And suddenly, there's a Man in Black.

With a bourbon, as usual.

Sitting by the fire. Not so usual.

"How's Danny?"

"Still screwed," says Ray wearily. "Although I've got all the other elements in place. Including Morpheus's permission and the necessary equipment to get into the Dreaming. Now we need to get his friends and sister here. Worst comes to worst, Eddie Kincade says he can open the door to just about anywhere if he really tries- I'll ask him next time I see him."

He looks up and smiles a little. "Haven't used any of your stuff yet. Although I'll tell you, it's getting mighty tempting."

K nods, "You'll be fine if you do. I know you can handle them, Chief. Just need good judgment, and you have that."

K's face darkens a bit. "Still no word from the field, though. The MiBs looking into the black oil."

"I'm starting to--."

Whatever K was going to say, he's changed his mind. But the meaning is probably clear enough.

Ray's expression flattens a bit.

"There was a saying, you know. When I was at college, in the sci-fi fanclub. "It's always the dog."" He pauses. "I'm just glad you guys don't use dogs..."

"Actually, we--." K looks at Ray. "No, never mind."

Tonight is definitely not a night to mention Frank.

K shakes his head at the news about Danny. "Poor kid."

"Ray--. I hate to ask, but is Danny going to be able to deal with this? After you gents get it under control?"

Yeah, probably not. And it's just as well that at the moment Francis is upstairs, outside the door to 2342, too.

Ray exhales. "I think so," he says. "The whole point of what we're doing is to go into his mind via the universal backdoor and help him- the real him- overcome all of the stuff in his psyche that would otherwise build up to a town-wide Columbine. If he can't deal with it... well, I don't think he's going to come back at all."

K leans his head back against the chair and starts musing out loud:

"I haven't seen the kid's profile, but ... what if we were to try neuralyzing the demon side? I wonder if that would give Danny enough of an edge?"

Ray thinks for a bit.

"I don't know if we can do that, exactly. It's part of Danny, not a possessing entity- we're talking fused down to the DNA level. Unless you can neuralyze only very, very specific-"

He stops, and then winces.

"No. That's not gonna work. I mean, yeah, it'd get him free of it, that's true, but if we eradicated that side and the associated memories we'd also be taking out a lot of what actually drives him. There'd be practically nothing left of courage and heroing if we artificially wiped the dark side out."

K shakes his head. "No, you're right. The neuralyzer's hardly a blunt force instrument, but the technology emphasizes specificity in relation to the time-range affected. That's ideal for most MiB needs, but the trade-off is a wide-band effect on the typical human brain. If Danny was deeply suppressed, it might have worked, but you're right--fused like that, not actually a possession, I wouldn't be able to control what impact it would have on his better angels."

K sighs. "But you have to work the alternative scenarios, just in case."

"It's okay," Ray says. "The original info I got on the situation involved four or five alternate possible plans. The one with Dream involved is just the only one that had any real chance of working and getting us back a functional Danny. Believe me, if it had been a possession we'd be in much better straits. I could've handled that long ago."

"You sure you can trust this Dream?"

Ray nods.

"I'd trust his sister first, but his sister is Death, and that's only because I deal with Her work way more often. He's good for it. He's given me the tools I need to open the backdoor; that's as far as he's getting involved."

K looks at Ray for a moment. Then he remembers where, after all, they are sitting. Dream, Death, all just part of the day.

"Probably best not to bring up the sleep compensators. Don't suppose someone named 'Dream' would appreciate hearing about those."

"Probably not, no," Ray agrees. "Although he has as much to do with waking dreams as sleeping ones. Imagination's as big for him as the subconscious gig."

He rubs at his face. "Egon's been trying to teach me lucid dreaming, just in case, but I'm not doing very well with it."

"Heard about that technique but never tried it. We've thought about exploring alien dreamscapes, but it hasn't been a high priority, so we haven't gotten around to it. Always something more immediate to worry about."

"Let me know how you get on with it. If it works, it might be something I'll want to take back to Zedd."

K drains the last of his bourbon. "Back to work. Take care of yourself, Chief. I'll check in again soon."

"Good evening, Dr. Stantz."

That would be a very cheerful greeting from one Liz Imbrie.

Ray looks up and smiles. "Hi, Liz. I'm guessing someone got a ticket to England, by the look on your face?"

Her smile dims a little. "It's a process."

"Hey, better than nothing." He pats the couch beside him. "Sit, sit. How's it going otherwise?"

"I'm nearly ready to hang my boss out the window by his ears," she says, as she sits, "but, otherwise, dandy. You?"

"Still here, for Danny's sake," Ray says. "But engaged to be married, so that's a step up from last time."

"Congratulations! To whom?"

Why is everyone getting married except her? Although that's pretty much a good thing.

"Her name's Romana. I traveled with her for about six months some time ago, seeing historical sites and doing all kinds of field research together." He grins. "Although that's kind of an inadequate way to describe it, it's probably the simplest."

"Does she come here?"

Language is always inadequate to describe love. Mike based one of the stories in Caliban in the Coal Mine on them, and it just never was enough.

Ray grins. "This is where I met her. She's not in as often as some people, but yeah, she's in and out pretty regularly."

"Perhaps you'll introduce us. If you have the wedding here, do let me know -- if I'm not in England, I'll try to take some wedding photographs for you."

The offer is genuine. Take it. It's rare.

((OOC: And my meds are kicking in -- slowtime or fade okay? So sorry!))

Ray smiles. "Sure thing. I'll tell her you made the offer next time she's here."

(( OOC: Fade's okay. Feel better! ))