Parallel

A/N:This chapter is a bit short, but the next one will be another two-shot. Coming soon, Shit Gets Real: Reloaded

Chapter 10: Mage

The chair in the office was uncomfortable. I didn't want to be there, confronting a man who knew nothing about me and answering his questions so he could attempt to make me better. I was tired of thrashing out in my sleep, tired of drinking myself to death every night, but most of all I was tired of the memories. The memories wouldn't stop, no matter how hard I tried to get rid of them, no matter how much I ran away from them.

The memories were always there in the back of my mind, legs hunched like predators waiting to strike at any moment.

My shrink sat across from me, his glasses barely staying on the bridge of his nose, "Hello Jenkins. I believe this is your first session right?" I nodded and he continued, "Good, good. My name is Doctor Henry Mitchell, and I'll be helping you recover."

I bit back an ill conceived comment, after some thought I finally said, "How?"

"One conversation at a time."

My eyes snapped open and I drew in a deep breath. After a moment my mind caught up with my actions, and I realized I was laying in a soft bed, and the ceiling above me was white.

I sat up with a groan and looked around.

It seemed like a regular hospital room, and I wasn't hooked up to an EKG or any weird machines.

'Nurse Hart must have put me here after I passed out.'

I sighed and got out of bed just as the door opened.

Felicia stood in the doorway, a tray in her hands with a plate of food on it and a smile on her face, "Oh, good morning William."

The smell of coffee, eggs, and bacon was enough to clear the remaining grogginess in my head, and then I remembered what happened the night before. "Is Tammy okay?"

Felicia's smile widened, "Nurse Hart told me what happened. I don't know what you gave her, but she's awake, and she'll be out of the hospital in a few days." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and sat back down on the bed as Felicia approached. She handed me the tray and leaned down to hug me, "Thank you William, you've been a Godsend."

My heart quickened and I felt blood rush to my face, "Uh..."

Felicia pulled away, her own blush being pretty obvious, "Um... I'm sorry. I just..."

"No, no it's okay, thanks for the breakfast." There was a moment of silence as I started to eat the bacon. Felicia sat next to me and started to fiddle with her thumbs. "So," I finally said, "Feel like a celebration?"

"A celebration?"

"Yeah, my coworker invited me to a party tomorrow, and I was thinking we could celebrate Tammy's recovery."

"I'd be happy to."

I smiled, "How about Rachel?"

"What about me?" I looked up and Rachel was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed with a big grin on her face, "I LOVE to party!"

"Oh please..." Rachel stepped aside to make way for Tammy's wheelchair. Tammy made her way to the edge of my bed and gave me a smile, "If I pester the doctors enough they'll let me go too. They're all curious how I recovered so quickly considering the condition I was in, but Hart isn't letting them anywhere near me. How are you doing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I'm doing okay I guess," I said with a shrug. "My name is..."

"William Jenkins, I know. You saved my life. I'm... really grateful for that." She laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "When that car was coming for me I didn't have much time to think about it, but I was pretty sure I was gonna die." Tammy turned her gaze towards Felicia, "Could you girls give us a minute?"

Felicia and Rachel looked confused, but heeded their friend and exited the room together, closing the door behind them.

Tammy turned back to me, "Do you think it's possible to dream in a coma?"

For some reason her question made me nervous. "I... wouldn't know."

"I don't remember much, but I heard your voice, and there were others. A few of them I recognized and a few of them I didn't. What little I can remember is blurry and I can't really tell if it was all fake or not."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You did something, didn't you?"

I set the half finished plate and untouched orange juice to the side. My pulse quickened and the room started to get colder, "Wha..."

"I'm not stupid William. I was in CRITICAL CONDITION. It's a miracle I'm the way I am now, and I have you to thank for it, don't I?"

"I don't..."

She held up a hand, "I'll tell you right now. Please don't lie to me to cover up something I won't believe, because I can assure you that I've seen much stranger things than what you're about to tell me."

"How can you be sure about that?"

She laughed and bit her bottom lip, "Ms. Celestine would have a field day with you. You're just a bag of mysteries." Tammy eyed the small table next to my bed, and the lamp on top of it. She calmly placed her hands in her lap, then something I didn't expect happened. The lamp unplugged itself and levitated from the table, and in a short moment was in Tammy's grasp. She grinned, "Betcha won't catch a trick like that at a Chris Angel show."

"I... wha... how did..."

Tammy blushed and set the lamp on the floor, "You don't have to sound so shocked."

"Are you kidding?! That was... holy crap that's awesome!"

Her blush deepened, "Well I wouldn't say awesome. Anyways, it's your turn! Stop trying to sidetrack me with flattery!"

I thought on what I was about to say. Could I really tell her about all the dreams I was having, that I saved her by going through some weird veil that brought me to an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city? Could I really tell her about the ponies, about the 'dreams' I'd been having? "I... I met you in another world."

Tammy looked surprised for a moment, but that surprise was quickly replaced with excitement, "You what?"

"When I go to sleep I wake up in another world. I met you and a few other people I know there, Rachel and Felicia too."

Tammy leaned forward, grinning and grabbing the edge of her seat, "Tell me, tell me! What was it like?!"

I gritted my teeth. For some reason it was embarrassing to admit, talking about something like that would only end up humiliating me, "... I can't."

Tammy pouted, and that's all it took.

The puppy dog eyes were strong with this one.

"Alright, everyone was a pastel colored pony."

There was a moment of awkward silence that seemed to drag on for an eternity.

Then Tammy burst out laughing.

I sighed and hung my head.

She grabbed my shoulder, "Hahahaha! I'll see you... heh... at the party tomorrow... HAHAHAHAHA!"

God dammit.

The Doc's office was eerily quiet that day. The first thing I noticed was that the fan above my seat was off.

Doc smiled when I sat across from him, "It stopped working in the middle of the night. The repair man is coming in later this afternoon. I hear you've been missing work lately."

"Just a couple of days, it'll be back to normal next week."

"Tom figured as much," he said with a smile, "Has everything else been going okay?"

"Yeah... yeah. I've been making some friends, I invited them to Phoebe's party tomorrow."

"Good. Any primal interests?"

I raised an eyebrow at the weird question, then noticed his sly smirk, "Oh, you mean girls? Well, there are a couple."

"A couple huh? Your neighbor Felicia?"

"You know me too well Doc."

"Who else."

I laughed, "Her friend."

The Doc let out a hiss through his teeth, "That's a tough situation William, you haven't been sleeping with them have you?"

"Ha, no, you know I'm not that stupid."

"What's her friend like?"

"Really smart, good looking, just got in a car accident."

Doc laughed, "She sounds perfect for you."

"Hardy har har."

I made my way home slowly that afternoon, taking in the sights and sounds of the city for the first time in months. The city was peaceful in its own chaotic way. Every night I fell asleep to the sound of my TV and the cars driving by outside, if one of those sounds were to vanish I wouldn't be able to get any sleep at all.

The order of the lights and signs that guided the psychotic drivers through thier daily routines... that was a personal favorite of mine. It's hard to beat morning road rage for sheer entertainment value, but it's easy to lose your job getting caught in traffic.

My apartment complex loomed over me after a long and slow walk, and I took in every minute detail.

Every brick, every window, every movement inside.

I took a deep breath of the contaminated city air, and I felt at peace.

"You look happy." There she was, leaning against the rail leading up to the apartment complex's door. Camille. "Now you look nervous," she said with a frown.

I sighed, "What do you want?"

"Oh come now, can't we just have a little chat. I did save your ass at the bar you know."

"You probably planted those guards there."

She rolled her eyes, "Please, I don't waste time on such petty things. You and I have bigger fish to fry."

"What kind of fish?"

She grinned, "Chaotic fish. The fish that struggles until its last pathetic little breath. The kind of fish that you, me, and a lot of other people would love to get their hook into. He's mean, nasty, and an all around asshole."

"Discord."

Camille clapped and walked down the stairs, making sure her hips had extra bounce to them as she moved, "There we have it Johnny, what has our contestant for the evening won?"

"Answers. What are you?"

Camille frowned, "Well you're just no fun. I'm a changeling dear. Of course I'd rather stay out of trouble and live like everyone else, but Discord is fucking everything up, and I want him gone."

"Why ask me for help?"

She smiled, "A few reasons, you're a crack shot with a gun, and you know four little girls that have a few tricks up their sleeves. Five if you count me, but I'm not exactly what one would call little."

"Tricks?"

"Oh don't give me that. I know Tammy showed you what she could do. She's a mage you ditz. You two should just get it over with and make out already."

I rolled my eyes, "Right. Why do they need to get involved?"

She stepped forward and poked my nose with a grin, "I'm not telling... at least not yet." She walked around me and made her way down the street, waving as she went.

I made my way back to my apartment, fed Mishmash, and crashed.

The grass tickling my face was what woke me up that time.