#mamahersh throwing ideas at a wall again

[mamahersh]

Here's like a part one to the TMA AU I was talking about a few days to a week ago.

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While Martin might have assured Tim and Sasha that getting them in to see Jon would be a simple matter of letting the guards know ahead of time, he neglected to confess the additional paperwork that the judge and prison was fond of for any changes in scheduling. Martin knew he was exempt from the usual form and hoops that were generally required every time someone wanted to spend time with Jon, but despite his trustworthiness he knew that getting Sasha and Tim into Jon's prison would be like pulling teeth. So without giving the two of them a specific date, just that he would give them a heads up 2 weeks in advance, Martin set about calling his contacts in the prison.

After 3 gruelling weeks of phone conversations, email correspondence, and filling out forms that were constantly delayed; Martin was finally able to give Tim and Sasha a date for them to take off of work to see Jon with him. In the interim, Martin had made sure to keep visiting Jon as normal, and did his best to hide how taxing the process had been from both him and the dynamic duo. Unfortunately, he knew that Tim and Sasha had their theories about the process, but they were at least polite enough to not ask questions. They just seemed happy to hear that the waiting was almost over, and Martin had to admit it had been a joy beyond words that he had been able to reconnect with them and begin the healing process. He still was on mediocre terms with Tim, but Sasha made for a good buffer and they both were trying their best to forgive and heal.

At last, 2 weeks later, the three of them made their way to the prison. The solid brickwork and menacing bars always reminded Martin of the Hunt domain fashioned after a prison that he and Jon had gone through on their journey to the Panopticon. The oppressive atmosphere and stink of human misery never quite got any easier to ignore, and tended to remind him that Jon probably was suffering on the days he didn't visit. Admittedly it was easy to forget when he wasn't at the prison as even most visits he made Jon was in good spirits and looked about as good as he had right before the Unknowing. But every few visits Jon would be sporting a cast, or would be holding himself gingerly in the chair, or he would look like he hadn't slept in a week and would have that hair trigger panicked response to everything that moved, and Martin would once again be starkly reminded that Jon wasn't just sitting in a prison cell day after day waiting for his time in prison to be up.

Martin shook his head, clearing the depressing thoughts and focusing on the present moment as they were brought through the checkpoints leading to Jon's visitation room. It wouldn't do for him to be sad when he was about to have (hopefully) one of the happiest afternoons on record. They cleared the final checkpoint and Martin glanced at them to try and grab their attention before he began to speak. "So, just a reminder, Jon doesn't know yet that you're both…"

"Alive?" Asked Tim, after Martin had paused for just a moment too long trying to think of something more tactful.

Martin nodded, grateful he wasn't the one to say it. "I also don't know how he's doing today, so as long as you don't say anything I should be able to ease him into the idea without startling him too much."

Tim rolled his eyes, but nodded his assent while Sasha just looked vaguely bemused and nodded as well. Martin, may have also neglected to mention his suspicions about Jon's treatment here, but he hopes that perhaps he could address that after the others had had some time to reconnect with their old coworker. With a deep breath, Martin opened the door they had finally arrived at.

As always, the guards had sat Jon down on a chair facing the door. The first thing Martin noticed was that Jon was looking good that day. There was a still healing bruise peeking out of the edge of the collar of Jon's shirt, which was only noticeable if you were looking for it; and the fringe of white bandages at the edge of his shirt sleeve on his right side were quite subtle. Martin assured himself that despite these, Jon must have been doing well as he seemed to be holding himself very relaxed in his chair. With a fortifying breath, Martin walked into the room and was happy to note that Tim and Sasha stayed by the door.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma au #martin blackwood #tim stoker #sasha james #mamahersh throwing ideas at a wall again #imprisonment #implied offscreen torture #very implied lol #blind character