Categories > Original > Drama > Separation
May 2, 1979
“C’mon, Hon, something’s been eating you. Don’t just sit there, talk to me.” Dr. Mina’s polite pleading went unnoticed. Ray sat across from her impassive; his only reply a stiff, silent suggestion of a shrug by a tilt of his head.
“Are you still worried the NSA is going to bring you up short because of the incident with your estranged brother-in-law?”
Ray gingerly shook his head. “Not really. What more can they do to me?” Let me live?
The unuttered words hung ominously in the air. Dr. Mina twirled the pen in her fingers, thinking. “Can I suggest something?”
“Shoot.”
“I don’t think you’re feeling guilty over what happened with Derrick- at least that isn’t the primary reason you’re so upset. I’m sure some part of you feels vaguely chagrined at your own bad behavior, but that’s all secondary. I think you’re mourning.”
“Mourning?” Ray echoed, incredulous.
“Yes, mourning. You’re acting exactly the way you did when you first heard you’d Burned-Out. It might not have been yours, and it might not have been honestly gained, but it was still power. For ten glorious minutes you were yourself again...and now you’re not. And it’s killing you.”
Ray contemplated his lap, turning the words over in his head while Dr. Mina continued.
“What I still can’t figure is how you managed to steal his power at all.”
“I’ve been training my niece,” he reminded her.
“Neither of which, according to previous Burn-Out cases, you should have been able to do.”
He didn’t raise his head, but instead looked up at her from beneath the shadow of dark hair and scowling brows.
“Aren’t all the other cases too dead to do any studying on?”
“There are a handful of cases who survived several years after losing their abilities.”
“Didn’t they all die of broken hearts?”
“Touché,” conceded Dr. Mina. “None of them ever really got over the loss. To some, it’s more than just a calling; it’s an integral part of their psyche and without it… It’s too important a piece to try to function without.”
“It’s like…I dunno, riding a bike. When my spine first got reconnected I could barely get my lungs in synch, but that didn’t mean I didn’t remember how.”
Dr. Mina nodded quietly. “You press the button but nothing happens.”
“Pretty much.”
“That’s gotta be frustrating.”
“It is. I…yeah, okay, I miss my powers. I mean I had only just gotten good at them!”
Dr. Mina offered a sympathetic half-smile. “Isn’t that always the way?”
“Just like I’d just ditched the crutches and now I’ve got to start all over again.”
There was nothing Mina had to say to that and so Ray filled the silence with a heavy sigh.
“Is one guy really worth so much bother?”
“I think so.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“C’mon, Hon, something’s been eating you. Don’t just sit there, talk to me.” Dr. Mina’s polite pleading went unnoticed. Ray sat across from her impassive; his only reply a stiff, silent suggestion of a shrug by a tilt of his head.
“Are you still worried the NSA is going to bring you up short because of the incident with your estranged brother-in-law?”
Ray gingerly shook his head. “Not really. What more can they do to me?” Let me live?
The unuttered words hung ominously in the air. Dr. Mina twirled the pen in her fingers, thinking. “Can I suggest something?”
“Shoot.”
“I don’t think you’re feeling guilty over what happened with Derrick- at least that isn’t the primary reason you’re so upset. I’m sure some part of you feels vaguely chagrined at your own bad behavior, but that’s all secondary. I think you’re mourning.”
“Mourning?” Ray echoed, incredulous.
“Yes, mourning. You’re acting exactly the way you did when you first heard you’d Burned-Out. It might not have been yours, and it might not have been honestly gained, but it was still power. For ten glorious minutes you were yourself again...and now you’re not. And it’s killing you.”
Ray contemplated his lap, turning the words over in his head while Dr. Mina continued.
“What I still can’t figure is how you managed to steal his power at all.”
“I’ve been training my niece,” he reminded her.
“Neither of which, according to previous Burn-Out cases, you should have been able to do.”
He didn’t raise his head, but instead looked up at her from beneath the shadow of dark hair and scowling brows.
“Aren’t all the other cases too dead to do any studying on?”
“There are a handful of cases who survived several years after losing their abilities.”
“Didn’t they all die of broken hearts?”
“Touché,” conceded Dr. Mina. “None of them ever really got over the loss. To some, it’s more than just a calling; it’s an integral part of their psyche and without it… It’s too important a piece to try to function without.”
“It’s like…I dunno, riding a bike. When my spine first got reconnected I could barely get my lungs in synch, but that didn’t mean I didn’t remember how.”
Dr. Mina nodded quietly. “You press the button but nothing happens.”
“Pretty much.”
“That’s gotta be frustrating.”
“It is. I…yeah, okay, I miss my powers. I mean I had only just gotten good at them!”
Dr. Mina offered a sympathetic half-smile. “Isn’t that always the way?”
“Just like I’d just ditched the crutches and now I’ve got to start all over again.”
There was nothing Mina had to say to that and so Ray filled the silence with a heavy sigh.
“Is one guy really worth so much bother?”
“I think so.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
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