Running Bear

It wasn't long until they found a train they could rest up on.

"Sing pretty," Phil murmured, leaning against Dan's side. Troye took the opportunity to sing, making sure nobody would check their car for stowaways.

"Oh, Ms. Believer, my pretty sleeper, your twisted mind, is like snow, on the road. Your shaking shoulders, prove that it's colder, inside your head, than a winter of dead. I will tell you, that I- I love you, but the muffs on your ears, cater your fears. My nose and feet are, running as we start, to travel through snow, together we go. We get colder, as we get older. We will walk, slower. Oh, Ms. Believer, my pretty weeper, your twisted thoughts, are like snow, on the rooftops. Please, take my hand, we're in foreign lands. We travel through snow, together we go!" Troye finished as Tyler nodded off to sleep, along with basically everyone else. The atmosphere in the train car was exhausted and relaxed. Tyler laid his head on Troye's shoulder, and Troye rested his head on Tyler's. Phil had laid his head down in Dan's lap, and Dan was carding his fingers through his hair and peering down at Phil's sleeping form. Joey and Shane were relaxing on each other, and Ingrid was using Hannah as a pillow. Louise and Ben were sitting close, although Louise looked almost mothering of him (after all, she missed her daughter a lot). Ian and Anthony were sitting on the hay bales in the back of the car and playing Slap with a deck of cards they found.

.o0o.

The car's doors were open, and everyone who was awake could see the endless desert- which eventually ended. It was replaced by rolling farmland and trees. The stars were still out.

"Look- it's the sunrise." Troye said excitedly. His face was illuminated by the golden light and even though it was only a few people, they all knew this moment was important- the first time in a long time that they'd seen the sunlight.

"We're free," The realization seemed to hit everyone who was awake at the same time; but Dan was the one to mention it out loud.

"We're as free as we tell ourselves we are." Ben agreed, letting the sunlight warm his face.

"Where's this train heading, anyway?" Tyler asked sleepily, startling Troye a bit.

"Mountain View, Arkansas. Should arrive in a few days." Anthony said from the hay bales.

"Great. More days without food." Dan huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Hush up." Mark shot back, "We'll be there soon enough."

"I think I've got a right to complain." Dan replied, "We did just spend almost a year in a prison. We didn't do anything wrong, either."

"He's got a point," Jon began to stir. He and Mark had sat in one corner, leaning on one another for comfort. The conversation lulled and everyone just listened to the rattle of the train tracks.

"Don't you dare start singing again, my head hurts," Jon said drowsily when Troye opened his mouth. Everyone had seemingly forgotten about Jon, Tyler, and Phil, who were all doing just about as well as they had on the walk in the desert.

"Lou, how's your power doing?" Dan asked, glancing down at Phil in concern.

"I'll be able to heal one of them at the most." Louise replied, "So, I guess the question here is; who's first?"

"Jon." Mark said, "He's the easiest to heal, anyway. Afterwards, you'll have to recover less before you can heal Tyler and Phil."

"Right. That makes a lot of sense, actually." Dan said. Phil had begun to shiver, so Dan drew him in closer.

"Okay." Louise moved over to Jon and pressed her hands to his shoulders. He began to stir and jolted up, suddenly looking very energized.

"And I'm back!" He said, eyes wide. He blinked a few times and stretched out, yawning.

"And I'm out!" He said after a few seconds, closing his eyes and attempting to sleep again.

"That took a lot out of me." Louise commented, also going back to sleep. The air was thick with... whatever tension was there. It was like they expected something to happen.

Nothing did.

"I'm hungry," Mark noted after a long silence. Ah, there it was. The one hole in their little plan.

"We can't exactly stop the train." Dan said dryly.

"The next stop should be in about fifteen minutes," Anthony said, "From there, Joey could run and get us food."

"That's all well and good, but who's going to stop people when they check out cars?" Mark pointed out.

"I'll handle it," Ian rolled his eyes. He seemed to be better- perhaps he'd healed. Perhaps that's what they all needed to heal- time. Time to think in a space where there was only the metal of the train car, the open doors, the hay bales in the back, a deck of cards, and each other.

"Dan, how many existential crises have you had since we've gotten on this train?" Troye asked, smirking.

"You don't want to know," Dan said, gazing out into the distance as the train slowed to a stop. Phil smirked against Dan's shoulder, although faintly. He was worryingly pale, and his arm was burning up. Dan kissed his hair and hoped for something good to happen. It was torturous to feel helpless.

"I'll be fine," Phil rasped, almost as if he could hear Dan's thoughts. Which- and I don't even know if this was the powers thing or just the fact that the two had lived together for six years and counting- wasn't that far from the truth.

"My grandparents have a cabin in Mountain View." Ben said suddenly.

Dan grinned. He could finally see a resting place. Even though they were all exhausted and sleeping most of the time, they had to keep watch. They had to care for Phil and Tyler. They had to try not to kill one another- which was harder than it sounded. They were still on the run, even in a train car headed for Small Town, Nowhere.

"I wonder what's happened since we've left." Jon said after another silence. The train was slowing down a bit, pulling in.

"Well, maybe it won't be too long until we find out." Mark said, shrugging. He and Jon, once Jon had actually healed, played Egyptian Rat Screw with Ian and Anthony. They played a lot of card games. That's what they did- the four of them played games, Troye sang, Dan fretted over Phil. Everyone else was either keeping watch, sleeping, or going to the bathroom. Which was very uncomfortable, considering the fact that they were on a train.

"Joey. We're here." Shane nudged the sleeping man with his elbow. Joey groaned and stood up to stretch, taking off into the twilight after that.

.o0o.

"You will ignore us and tell nobody of our existence." Ian said to the conductor, who nodded and finished his rounds.

"Bro. That is so cool." Anthony grinned from a hay bale. He and the others had taken a break from cards and were all laying in the hay, which was slightly less uncomfortable than laying on the cold, hard, train car. Joey was almost worryingly overdue to return with food.

Just as the train began to move, a blur of silvery-blue light fled along the length of the train and into the car that held it's friends.

"Who wants McDonalds?" Joey panted, setting down his satchel, which was given to him along with his suit. It was overloaded with burgers and fries. Joey was also carrying three trays with large waters in all four holders. It smelled like heaven.

And really, compared to the treatment they'd been receiving, it was.

Freedom is certainly understated. It's glorious to be responsible for ones own actions.

"Eat up. I ate and drank there." Joey grinned, setting the food down. Everyone silently agreed that Phil and Tyler would be the first ones to be fed and watered, although they didn't eat or drink much.

"Lou, how's your power?" Dan asked. Louise said a quick, "Not quite. Maybe after I eat." and devoured two burgers and half a water before passing the other half to Ben. Louise had been treating the younger man more and more like her son every day.

"Actually, I feel a lot better." Louise said, approaching Phil, who really needed to eat. She healed him, his eyes growing more red and his coughing intensifying before he became better and his arm healed up.

"Dan," Phil sighed once he was completely lucid again, burying his face in Dan's hair. It was adorable- or, rather, as adorable as one can be on a train car surrounded by emaciated and dehydrated people and McDonald's wrappers, wearing dirty clothes that should really have been washed by now.

"So glad you're back," Dan said in return, bringing the two into a hug. They embraced for a long, long time. After all, they weren't hungry anymore, and there really was nobody else's company they needed.

Please excuse the fact that Troye was jealous as hell.

Louise fell asleep soon after that, exhausted from using her powers on so little food (it was really energy consuming, which was worrying. What if her power was limited, like a battery?).

Ian, Anthony, Mark, and Jon were back to playing Egyptian Rat Fuck, joined this time by Ben. So that's how they spent the next three days, Dan and Phil were always touching, the five- and occasionally Louise- playing Egyptian Rat Fuck and various other card games, Hannah and Ingrid not doing much but talking about what they'd do once they got to Mountain View. Tyler slept at Troye's side, and Troye waited not-so-patiently for Louise to regain her energy and just heal him already. Shane and Joey didn't really want to join on in the conversation, and both just talked. It had been a long time since they'd done that, and it felt nice to rekindle an old friendship.

"I'm ready." Louise said, after one night of rest. Tyler soon joined the fray, using his time as a poor kid with years of poker experience under his belt to become the best Golf player ever (Golf the card game). Troye was content just to watch.

And that's when they realized.

Everyone still thought they were dead.