The tone of those words, spoken so hollowly and with all the bitterness of deadly purpose, torques every one of Daniel's thoughts into sheer, plunging horror.
"Don't -" He stretches out his good hand and reaches to grab at Seth as the man stands but the hand passes harmlessly through him, he's - he's making a horrible choice, oh god, Daniel might have been able to save him before but now he's shown them what he can do and they will never trust him again, they will never allow him out of whatever facility they decide he should be confined to, and Daniel rises pointlessly from his seat to plead for Seth to listen to him but -
A collective of broken chords shred their way up his spine at the inadvisably sudden movement and Daniel barely gets his hand out in time to sag against the wall, raggedly, head pounding and each breath heavy, painful, constricting, and teeth gritted as he tries to counter the splintered, agonized melody his ribs and back are twisting themselves into. He slides down several inches, can feel himself sinking to the floor but Daniel's head jerks up when he hears the gunshot.
Oh god.
Oh god. Oh fuck.
He snaps himself upright, spine shuddering with the effort, to slam his hand against the door. The buzz-click of the mechanism heralds its swing outward, and Daniel nearly collapses onto the SF who must have been alerted to the current situation, who supports him unasked as he stumbles into the hall, stomach curdling with dread, waiting to see the blood and fragments of brain blasted against the wall.
Apparently, half to Daniel's relief and half to his horror, Seth's attempt to end things prematurely did not succeed. The man's shouts are unbearable to listen to. Accusatory, sharp, the frayed release of someone who has lost the last scrap of control he had over himself.
"Get back," Daniel orders desperately to the SF, to the various base security personnel who have started to come funneling their way. He waves at them furiously, limping with shoulders hunched directly at the target they've no doubt just received orders to fire nonfatally upon, trying to signal them away. "Get the hell back."
One of them either hears too late or doesn't care. She raises her weapon and fires twice.
tw: injury, guns
"Don't -" He stretches out his good hand and reaches to grab at Seth as the man stands but the hand passes harmlessly through him, he's - he's making a horrible choice, oh god, Daniel might have been able to save him before but now he's shown them what he can do and they will never trust him again, they will never allow him out of whatever facility they decide he should be confined to, and Daniel rises pointlessly from his seat to plead for Seth to listen to him but -
A collective of broken chords shred their way up his spine at the inadvisably sudden movement and Daniel barely gets his hand out in time to sag against the wall, raggedly, head pounding and each breath heavy, painful, constricting, and teeth gritted as he tries to counter the splintered, agonized melody his ribs and back are twisting themselves into. He slides down several inches, can feel himself sinking to the floor but Daniel's head jerks up when he hears the gunshot.
Oh god.
Oh god. Oh fuck.
He snaps himself upright, spine shuddering with the effort, to slam his hand against the door. The buzz-click of the mechanism heralds its swing outward, and Daniel nearly collapses onto the SF who must have been alerted to the current situation, who supports him unasked as he stumbles into the hall, stomach curdling with dread, waiting to see the blood and fragments of brain blasted against the wall.
Apparently, half to Daniel's relief and half to his horror, Seth's attempt to end things prematurely did not succeed. The man's shouts are unbearable to listen to. Accusatory, sharp, the frayed release of someone who has lost the last scrap of control he had over himself.
"Get back," Daniel orders desperately to the SF, to the various base security personnel who have started to come funneling their way. He waves at them furiously, limping with shoulders hunched directly at the target they've no doubt just received orders to fire nonfatally upon, trying to signal them away. "Get the hell back."
One of them either hears too late or doesn't care. She raises her weapon and fires twice.