WHO: Tango and Uniform WHAT: Uniform finds Tango all broken and crying. Poor baby.
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Most people were off doing their own thing, but Uniform took pause when she heard crying. People had plenty of reasons to cry these days. She followed the sound, finding poor Tango curled up in a corner. They didn't really talk, but they instinctively knew each other. It was an Active thing.
"Tango...?" Uniform approached carefully.
The tech crew really needed to pay more attention when handlers died violent deaths. Tango had seen August's body, mutilated as it was, and had spent the days after wandering the Dollhouse and keeping away from other people if at all possible. She hadn't eaten anything and definitely hadn't taken care of herself. Her hair was a mess, and she was still wearing her nightgown and no shoes. She alternated between sobbing and screaming, but she kept away from people so they wouldn't hear. Not consciously, because she really wasn't putting that much thought into anything.
She had a pen knife in her hand and there where shallow cuts on her arms, in addition to scratches. The wall beside her had words in blood. August's name over and over. It looked like a new project. "He's dead," she was mumbling to herself. "Dead. Dead, dead, dead." She looked up at Uniform with an expression like a startled animal. "He's dead!" she said again, this time a shriek.
Uniform held out her hands, peaceful. "I know." Had anyone bothered trying to help Tango before now? The poor girl had been left completely alone. Someone had to do something. "I know, Tango. I know," she said softly. Was this what Uniform would be like if Joss died?
Tango nearly scrambled backward, but there was something about it being another Active that made her a little less skittish. "He's dead and he's gone and there's this piece that's missing and I can't find it! I need him and he's gone. Dead. There was blood. So much blood. And he was wrong. His arm was wrong. He was cut up and wrong. They need to fix him. Put him back together! I need him!"
Uniform lowered herself to the floor, so Tango wasn't looking up at her. Forcing contact on her wouldn't do any good, so she just sat with her instead. "We can't put him back together, Tango. I'm so sorry."
"But we have to!" Tango said, getting worked up again. She needed August. Without him she felt empty inside and sick and she just needed him. She couldn't explain why. "We have to! Please! Please please please! I just want him back!" And then she was collapsing against Uniform and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Shhh. I'm sorry." Uniform just wrapped her arms around Tango, rocking her gently. "I know. I know, it hurts. You just cry it out, honey, you deserve it."
Tango took the advice to heart, clinging to Uniform and crying, a mix of soft whimpers and loud, heartbreaking sobs, with nonsensical words murmured in between. She sounded devastated, broken...and she was. It didn't seem like she would ever stop, and she had every reason not to.