7/18/04
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Voicemail, very staticky and hard to make out.

"It's Thomas. My timing's terrible, obviously. Just wanted to let you know that
      I was still in one piece. Tell Cat I said hello, please?" Pause, more 
      static. "--ake care." *click*
==============================================================================

It is currently 21:30 Pacific Time on Sat Jul 17 2004.

It's night, though not too late yet, and almost a week after the static-filled
      phone message. The phone rings. CallerID shows an unfamiliar number with 
      a non-local area code.
Her voice is cautious, edged with hoarseness. "Hello?"
"Rina?" The connection's not the best, but it's magnitudes better than before,
      and Walker's voice is quite recognizable. "It's, ah, Thomas."
She lets out a sudden breath, and delight floods the words. "Hi! I got your
      message... how are you?"
"Fine, more or less," he answers. "No missing limbs, at any rate." The attempt
      at humor's a little flat, though he sounds pleased to have caught her at 
      home. "You?"
"I'm... I'm all right," she says, almost sounding a bit surprised by the
      admission. "Y'know. There's still plenty of trouble around. But I'm 
      alive."
He snorts. "Is there ever _not_ any trouble? How's Cat?"
The smile is almost audible. "He's good," she murmurs. "Talked to him not too
      long ago."
So's his, though she can probably hear the weary edge in his voice. "Is he
      still drawing?"
"Like anyone could stop him," she murmurs.
He chuckles. "Good." He pauses. "And what about you?"
"Mmmm..." She lets out a breath. "I don't know. Haven't been really productive.
      On and off, y'know. Helping Jenny a lot with the kid."
"Good, good." He's approving. "And the rest of the family?"
"Mmm." This time it's more noncommittal. "Bit of a disagreement with Nat and
      Marcus. Don't know how it'll end up. And, let's see, Marcus hates Josh 
      and has pretty much written him off... it's a wreck. I'm thinking of 
      tryin' to pull strings in Chicago again."
"And Marcus is... someone I haven't met, I take it." He pauses. "Natalie said
      that Ebony, ah, passed on."
"Yeah." She sounds terse, unhappy. "You coulda left us somethin' about that
      one. Marcus is... well. The kinda wiseguy I ran away from Chicago to 
      avoid."
He grunts. "He wanted to stay disappeared." Touch of dour defensiveness there.
      "I let him stay disappeared. Better for everyone that way."
"Yeah, until somebody found him. And they're ridin' pretty hard on Jer for
      keeping it a secret." She sounds...not angry, but sad, as if all the 
      strife upsets her. "Y'know he married a Gaian?"
"Mmn. Yes. Was right before Jack died." His voice has gone flat. "Since it
      seemed he couldn't keep his trousers up for more than a minute anyway, 
      there was no sense making a fuss. Besides, they eloped. Why?"
"I was just surprised." She falls silent for a while.
He sighs. "Well, it's better than him marrying a bum." There's a pause as he
      shifts the phone to the other ear and a brief rise and fall of static, 
      like an ocean wave.
"You okay? Did you... find what you were loooking for?" Her voice is soft,
      careful.
"No," he says quietly. "Not yet. I have a lead, though... but you might not
      hear from me for a while." He pauses. "A longer while. Won't be any 
      phones."
"Damn. Hang in there... look, are you sure y'don't want help? I could--"
He cuts her off with a, "No. You wouldn't be able to follow me anyway. And if
      Natalie looks likes she's going to come after me, shoot out her kneecaps, 
      all right?" Touch of the old dry, sardonic sense of humor.
"Yeah, boss," she says in a gruff overdone bully voice. Then, a little wry, she
      says, "If you talk to her, tell her I want to mend fences."
"Mend fences, check. Anything else, ma'am?"
Long distance to Rina: Walker yawns. Gonna hafta call it quits soon.
"Nah. Just... take care of y'self, aright? You know."
He comes back with a, "I will if you will." She can just about imagine the
      faint little smirk.
"Sure thing, hon." This time, voice and smile are soft. "Thanks for callin'...
      night."
"Sleep well, Rina." *click*