The team silently drove into the Hub, faces grim. Vert got out of the Saber and went straight to his room, among worried glances from his teammates and Sage.
"How was the mission?" She cautiously turned to ask Agura. The Huntress sighed.
"We scored the key, but…" She recounted their mission with Vert's father.
"Why has he not come back with you?" Sage questioned.
"He can't." Agura said sadly.
"He has a tracking device embedded into his body, at a cellular level. Krytus could have tracked him back to Earth." Sherman explained.
"I see." The Blue Sentient intoned. "How is Vert?" She decided not to press the matter after seeing the teammates' uneasy glances at one another.
"I think he needs some time to think." Agura spoke for the whole team. "Why don't you guys grab some dinner at Zeke's? I'll catch up." The rest of the team jumped into their vehicles and drove off as Agura walked toward Vert's room. The young woman took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She heard muted scuffling from the other side, as if Vert was hastily throwing something into a drawer, then a faint "Yeah?"
She opened the door about halfway, not wanting to intrude. "We're going out for pizza." She said softly, knowing better than to ask him if he wanted to go out at a time like this. "You want me to grab you something?"
"I'll eat here." He responded bluntly, not looking up from where he sat on the bed.
"Kay." She said, gently closing the door. She walked back to the main center of the Hub, when, as an afterthought, she went into the kitchen and made a turkey and cheese sandwich. She left it on a plate in the fridge, then went back to her car and drove toward Zeke's.
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"Hey guys." Agura said, sliding into the booth.
"Where were you?" Spinner asked. She shrugged in response.
"Hey guys, do you think Vert's gonna be okay?" Zoom asked, concerned for his "brother".
"I don't know, Zoom. Finding your dad and losing him, after all those years…it's pretty harsh." Agura said.
"Yeah, but he'll be okay! Right?" Spinner looked around at his team.
"I don't know, Spin. That's some serious stuff." Sherman reminded his brother.
"I just hope he's alright. Do you guys think we should have left him at the Hub?" Zoom asked. Agura nodded.
"He needs some space. Don't worry, he'll come around." The mother of the team tried to comfort them, but inside, she was frightened for Vert. She couldn't imagine how hard this must be on him. Grace set their pizzas down on the table, and she took a slice; swallowing without tasting anything. Sherman noticed her distraught face, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"He'll be fine, Agura." She smiled at the younger, yet mature beyond his years Cortez.
"I hope so."
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It had been almost a week. Vert had barely emerged from his room. Though several StormShocks had come up, he hadn't said a word, and his teammates accepted Agura as their temporary leader. Even AJ couldn't get more than a few short words out of their once-active leader. Agura did her best, giving him space, leaving meals in the fridge, securing BattleKeys, but everyone felt the absence of the Saber when in the BattleZone. Finally, Agura decided something had to be done. The young woman walked up to his door and knocked softly. When she received no response from the other side, she slowly opened the door. Her eyes took in a scene that made them want to fill with tears for her leader. Vert sat on the bed, head in his hands, surrounded by old picture frames and a few dirty dishes.
"Hey." She said gently, slowly sitting next to him. He lifted his head, meeting her eyes, then looked back down.
"I know it hurts, to have found and lost your dad like that. I just wanted to be sure you know that we're all here for you if you wanna talk about it." She invited him to share the pain.
"I'm fine." He responded shortly. Agura sighed. She hated to push him, at a time like this, but she knew what she had to do.
"No, you're not." He looked up at her blearily, as if asking for peace, but she went on. "It's killing you, Vert. It's killing you, and I just want to help. So please," She took his hands in her smaller ones and looked him in the eyes. "Talk to me." She begged. Vert took a deep breath.
"A long time ago, when I was about eleven, my dad drove out to the Salt Flats. Driving that same car. It was nothing new to me that day; he was always testing and working on that car. Sometimes I would wonder if he loved the car more than us, more than me. But when he came back, he was…different somehow, more distant. He built Spectra and would spend hours there, coming home for dinner and then going back out again. One night, I couldn't sleep. I waited by the door for him to come home. He took one look at me and said "Go to bed, Vert." And I did." Vert paused, and Agura gave him a gentle nudge as if to say "I'm listening."
"Some days I would go with him, watch him work, sometimes for hours. He would forget I was there, looking out the window constantly, but his eyes skimming right over me. My dad always seemed to be looking out the window, waiting for something. One day, several years after he built Spectra, he found it. He ran out, jumped in that car and drove off. That was the last time I saw him." Vert took a shaky breath.
"It tore me apart, losing my dad like that. My mom tried everything, called everyone. Nothing worked. He had just…disappeared."
"Oh, Vert…" Agura soothed, placing an arm around his shoulders. "I didn't know-"
"No!" He whirled upon her, face showing the pain he had kept hidden inside him for too long. "You couldn't have known. NOBODY KNEW, AGURA! Nobody knew where my father was! So I grew up without him. I had no choice. I felt abandoned for so long; abandoned by my father, abandoned by the world." Vert slammed an angry fist into the wall. He knew he was out of control, but he felt he had to take out the pain.
"Seeing him, in that BattleZone, he was abandoned too…I SHOULD HAVE SAVED HIM!" Vert yelled. He stormed over to the bed, looking straight into Agura's frightened eyes. "WE should have saved him! Sage could have taken out the chip! I could have helped him! But no, I left him there, maybe forever! All because YOU asked how he was tracked! He could have been here, Agura! I could have brought him home! But you just HAD to know!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly pulled her to her feet.
"Vert!" She cried out. "Vert, STOP! This isn't you!" Vert froze. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He realized how tightly he had been holding her, felt her trembling in his grasp; saw the terror on her face.
"Agura…" He whispered, releasing his grip, stumbling to sit down on the bed. "Agura, I can't believe that I…I'm so sorry." He turned his face away from her, ashamed. She surprised him by pulling him closer to her, chest-to-chest. She rested her head on his shoulder, comforting stroking his back.
"It's okay, Vert. You're going to be okay." She whispered soothingly. He pulled away so that they were face-to-face and crushed his lips to hers, knowing in his heart that she was right.