Recuperation and Reiteration
(Hi I’m back from the dead suddenly and with absolutely no warning; Anyways, I’ve got tons more experience now, and this is the piece that revamps and sets the line for how the story is gonna proceed :) have fun! There may be some changes because I might have missed something but that’s ok. Also my name’s Oz now)
Days were passing, one by one, where nothing happened. Two weeks went by. Jesse and Gil spent most of the time asleep; Gil, plagued by nightmares almost every night. He described them as someone else’s memories, from someone else’s point of view. There was imagery of his hands, which were not his own, killing. They were bloodied, so were the white or wooden walls he walked past. These were only occasional, though- Some of his nightmares were merely considered nightmares because they shared the same format of looking through someone else’s eyes. In them, sometimes, the actions themselves would be mundane, in a location he didn’t know, working technology or patrolling silver hallways like a drone soldier. Gil said he thinks this is what was what his future was going to be, if he hadn’t escaped from PAMA when he did.
Lukas worked quietly with Olivia and Axel in another room, going through a few of the deciphered notebook pages with them. They were vague, jotted notes and nothing more, but held significant amounts of information. Lukas hadn't been able to stop thinking about the final one that was decoded- 'Yellowstone.' Compared to the other pages, this was… More decisive, even- more severe, and it put a bit of a wildcard into play. The rest of the notes conveyed a planned pattern of multiple attacks, using bait and coordination. 'Yellowstone' conveyed a distinctive, worldwide annihilation event.
The Witherstorm had missiles, this much was clear. How they would use them, now, was not so clear. The only thing that was, was that the agents had to move first.
While the agents rested, he pondered. Through the calm silence that they were gifted by the Witherstorm Leader's intense injury, his mind just couldn't calm. The Witherstorm's plans, Jesse, Gil, Romeo, the unnerving stillness of the whole Vault, the uncertainty for how long they have, even… Nightmares of his own. Strange ones, like the one Gil complained about, from some other perspective, separated from the body. He blamed those on Gil's troubles for the past few days, worried constantly about him, and the added stress of Jesse, despite him being almost entirely healed, definitely didn't help. Then there was the other Lukas. That was something he couldn't forget even if he wanted to. He tried keeping his mind off of it all by helping Olivia with some of the more technical things, but it was all just so uncanny; like looking into a mirror. A mirror that gave you green goggles and a toothy mask, by default.
… "Stress" was an understatement. Definitely.
There was only one call out of the Vault since the last call to Reginald, and it was to call off the original call for transportation. The Witherstorm Leader was gone, and there was nothing they had to pick up. No one came to the Vault, no one left. It stayed quiet. Mourning, mostly, amongst the Colossuses, kept even the hallways to a heavy stillness. Even the very room Lukas was standing in felt hollow, despite the company of his friends there. Wally in particular had barely spoken to anyone since the news of Romeo’s passing, he only checked in occasionally to each room as he was patrolling, and never spoke in casual conversation. If he did speak casually, it was to Conner, who had all of his attention outside of his work. Lukas suspected he was walling up and focusing on anything else to not focus on pain, which of course was understandable of him. Lukas would be doing the same, if he had the option.
Unfortunately, he didn’t.
“You’ve been staring at that sheet of paper for almost an hour, Lukas. Blink, at least.” Olivia cut through the silence, giving him a nudge on the shoulder.
“Sorry,” he sighed, letting it drape onto the table. His voice was soft, almost under his breath. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
“I would tell you to stop worrying so much, but that would be hypocritical.”
“Yeah, and keep in mind it's impossible, as well.”
“We’ll come up with something. Jesse’s plan will work.”
“Jesse’s plan?”
“I think it was something like Plan C, or maybe Plan D.”
“One of the many, right…” Lukas heaved out a deeper sigh, putting his elbows up on the table and covering his face with his hands. “When does that go into effect, exactly?”
“I’ve been watching it. Technically, it already is in effect.” Olivia slid something across the table, over in front of him. Lukas peeked through his fingers, down to a small radar device. It matched the steel and blue aesthetic of the Vault; Romeo’s technology.
“What is that?”
“Remember your weird clone?”
“Um… Yeah. How could I not?”
“That’s Plan- Whatever. Jesse stuck a tracker to him while he was unconscious. Look.” Olivia tapped at the screen, overtop of a blue blip. “It hasn’t moved much in days… But I’ve been waiting for Jesse to get back on his feet before we do anything.”
“Where is that? Is there some kind of interference? It looks like it’s just barely holding on..”
“Under water, and in the center of one of the most irradiated places on the planet… It’s not doing too hot, but it’s managed to hang in there without getting worse,” Olivia picks the device back up, looking at the screen with a sort of sad impatience. “That’s all I can ask for.”
“I'll go check on Jesse. I wish he’d mentioned this to me sooner- But I guess.. His plan hinged on both of us putting on a believable act in front of the Leader, otherwise he might’ve thought something was up even by taking- the other me.”
“I thought he did tell you.” Olivia looked just as surprised as Lukas did.
“Maybe he forgot to- You know Jesse.” Lukas shrugged, before pushing himself up from the table. “Either way, I’m just glad it worked. We’re gonna have to do something with this soon, though, before we risk losing it entirely. I’ll be back with Jesse in a little bit.”
“Check on Gil, too, will you?” Axel finally spoke up, from where he was mostly dozing off in his seat. “Petra said he got worse.”
“I’ll make sure he’s alright.”
—
“You’re sure you’re gonna be ready to leave?”
A heavy stack of clothing is flopped down on a black-sheeted cot, followed by Ranger flopping down right beside it with a big sigh.
“No worries, Trev! I’m just waiting until Leader gets better, but I’ve been ready to leave since I heard about the assignment. I know Leader’s got the triangle under control, so I’ve got nothing to worry about,” he assured his brother, who was waiting, visibly nervous, in the door to his room. His arms were crossed, and for extra impact, he didn’t bother having his goggles on. Trevor spoke through his eyes almost as much as Orion did… Ranger, even from the bed, could see the worry in them. And the anger hidden beneath it.
“Look-” He started again, getting right back to his feet. “It’ll be fine. You know it’s just the usual routine, and I’ll be back in a couple weeks.”
“You told me this already,” Trevor gruffed. “And I told you already, the agents have been causing so much turmoil recently, and they have a sub. What’s to stop them from going after you?”
“They won’t know- The U-boat is practically invisible.”
“They have access to all of Romeo’s tech, now.”
“Pssh, that’s not gonna change anything.” Ranger gave his hands a nonchalant wave. “You worry too much. Besides, I have to go, I can’t exactly do anything about that.”
“You could let me go with you-”
“No no, Trevor-” Ranger waved the thought away quickly, “You know you can’t. Leader needs you way more than PAMA does. He’s been acting stupid, recently, and I need you to keep an eye on him and that- that ‘Green’ guy. Make sure he gets better and make sure nothing bad happens to him again, okay? You gotta yell at him for me while I can’t.”
“... You should at least ask Orion to make a plan.”
“Dude-” Ranger almost flinched at Trevor’s use of his brother’s name. Both because it frightened him a bit when Trevor got so serious, but also saying ‘Orion’ after so long of him being their ‘Leader’ just felt wrong. In hindsight, that was probably very telling.
“Do it.” For good measure, Trevor gave him a jab in the chest. “I won’t settle, and I won’t trust that you’ll be fine, until you do. I’ve had enough of ‘Everything’s okay’ and ‘It’ll be fine.’ Orion’s given me plenty, and he’s lying about it all the time. I don’t want you lying to me, too. Just do it.”
Trevor didn’t even give him a chance to reply; he simply turned on his heels and went to sweep out of the room. As he did, he noticed a figure had taken his place in the doorway: Orion, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. Trevor startled for a moment, before the stern impression he just had returned, even slightly stronger. He swept right past him, without saying a word, and made his way down the hallway. If he felt any fear, or any guilt, he did not show it.
Orion simply let him go. He understood. He was being insufferable, these past few days… But it was necessary to continue. He spent three days in bed, and that was plenty. He’d already gotten an earful from Green, and from Ranger as well- Trevor’s righteous anger was only another consequence of the fight. The faster he finished, the faster he could put all of this behind him.
Ranger, unlike Trevor, looked nearly mortified to see that Orion had heard the conversation, and couldn’t help but panickedly wonder how much he had heard. Orion only stepped into the room and settled himself in front of Ranger. A firm hand placed on Ranger’s shoulder was enough to wipe most of that worry away.
“How much did you hear?” Ranger started.
Orion moved his hand away,
“Enough.”
“So… You heard what Trevor said. Have a plan?”
Orion nodded.
“They will not look at you.”
The emotion in Orion’s eyes was scary. Comforting, that he seemed so determined to assure, but scary nonetheless, for the malice they held alone.
“How?”
“Doing what I should have done before.”
—
“Hey, Jesse?” A light knock on the metal door to Jesse’s room was followed by Lukas stepping inside anyway. Jesse looked up from what he was doing; it looked like scribbling, in a pocket-sized lined notebook. “How are you holding up?”
“Way better than yesterday, and yesterday was better than the day before. Y’know, there’s only so long an injury can keep me down,” Jesse shut the little notebook once he locked eyes with Lukas; not like he was hiding, but more relieved that he now had something else to do. Lukas couldn’t hide a soft smile.
“I’ll cut right to the chase-”
“What, there has to be a chase for you to visit?” Jesse faked a pout.
“No, of course not– I’ve apparently been caught in a trance for a few hours, sorry for not showing up sooner.”
“Tsk, that special Lukas worry trance, eh?”
“It’s that frequent?” Lukas huffed out a short laugh through his nose.
“You do it sometimes when we’re about to board a plane. Normally you use the complimentary magazines. What was it this time?”
“The Witherstorm’s notes.”
“Ohh, man, it’s that bad?”
“Yes,” Lukas sighed, “Olivia told me about your plan C- or D-”
“I think we’re on D now-” There was a quick change in Jesse’s tone as he shook his head and quickly tried to begin his three part apology. “I’m sorry for not telling you, I just-”
“Needed the performance to be real, I know, I understand.” Lukas waved it down with an air of assurance. “It’s a good plan, and it’s working, but we’ve got to act on it, real soon. That’s why I’m here. You feeling well enough to move forward?”
“Absolutely.” A determined smirk brightened up Jesse’s features considerably… Smiles of any kind usually did. They, every time, without fail, made Lukas feel just a bit better about the entire situation.
It didn’t last very long, though- A room over, someone shouts. It’s not hard to guess who. Through the heavy silence it cut, obviously coming from Gil. Lukas doesn’t hesitate to bolt, giving a quick ‘come along’ nod to Jesse. Jesse threw the covers off and leapt out of the bed to follow.
Lukas threw the door open to see Gil not in the bed, but on the floor, head clutched in his hands and legs tangled up in the sheet that he dragged down with him.
“Gil!” Immediately, he was at his side. He steadied his twitching with a hand behind his neck. “It’s never been this bad before- Jesse, help me out!”
Jesse was already knelt alongside him, and gave him a heavily questioning quirk of the brow,
“How?!”
“The nightmares- They’re not going- They’re not- I can see them-” Gil was groaning beneath his breath, and he only dug his fingers in deeper.
“It’s alright, Gil- It’s not real, it’s nightmares-” Lukas tried to assure him, to no avail.
“I can see! I can see it- I know where I am… I know what this is! I know who I see! Urrgh- It hurts.. It’s real, it’s real… I’m not me. I’m it. I can see it. Through it..” Gil’s mumbling and groaning was practically incomprehensible, but it was enough to prove one thing; this went much deeper than it appeared. Lukas didn’t get a chance to ask what Gil was seeing, he was unconscious again before he could even try, once again limp in Lukas’s hold.
“... What was that?” Jesse spoke up first.
“I don’t know… But we have plenty to ask him, once he’s awake.”
