"What happened to this world?"
"Humans happened."
Adam diverted his attention from the defeated form of Matt Holt to look at the boy that saved their lives. To look at the boy that couldn't be older than Keith. To look at the boy whose eyes let the truth be seen.
Bluest blue.
Burning with determination.
Dimmed with exhaustion.
Bluest blue.
Wise. Knowing.
Old.
"Humans are one of the most powerful creatures I have ever seen. And, yet, the weakest. Volatile, in their entirety. Unstable, somewhat."
"Before… Before you saved us…"
"They won't remember."
Adam knew he should have expected it. The glassy eyes of his fiancé—ex-fiancé, he guessed—weren't the result of grief. For Takashi Shirogane had nothing to grieve for when he took Matt and Adam to their certain death. If he closed his eyes, he could see Keith—the boy he once considered a little brother—staring at him with nothing more than the cold disdain of a cop, watching a criminal finally get what they deserved.
Adam didn't want to close his eyes.
Nevermore.
"Katie won't ever remember me?" Matt's voice came rough and shaky, the want—the need to cry noticeable to whoever heard it.
"No, I'm afraid not." The dark skinned boy threw him a sympathetic glance before turning to Adam once more. "They made you all look up so you wouldn't ever see what's down here. You looked down. You're dangerous for their delicate system."
"How did you end up here?"
"I fell."
Bluest blue. Filled with pain. Adam took a good look at the boy. The long hair was a mess of tangled curls. His face, sharp, angular, was caked with oil and dirt. A long scar ripped his neck, as if someone tried to separate the head from the body. His shirt maybe had been white once, then more of a dirty brown, open in the chest enough for the small scars painting his skin to be seen. The black vest with white buttons was plain and simple. The black pants were skin-tight, making his long legs stand out, a large belt with various small chains, all leading to either a clock or a tool, held it in place. The boots were a dark brown, though the dirt had splashed it with different shades of gray. They were bigger than the boy's feet; that was for sure. The trench coat, definitely heavy and warm, had many pockets sewed in it, some of them visibly full. Googles atop his head and a backpack on his back. There was a striking difference between him and them.
With their Galaxy Garrison uniforms, clean—well, after all that, not so much—and fitting. They really were from a different world than the boy. Adam wondered how he could've just fallen there. Maybe a failed mission? Maybe a faulty ship?
"My name is Adam. This is Matt."
"I know. We've met before."
"We have?"
"Yes, Matt. You know my sisters."
Flashes of memories came to Adam's mind. A big family. Loud and warm. A mother and a father. A son. Another son. A daughter. Another daughter. And… Nothing. Nothing? Nothing. There was no one else. A daughter-in-law, niece and nephew. Yes, that was the whole family. Veronica was a delight to be with, even if sometimes she would stare longingly at the nothingness. Rachel was very fun to be near, even though she randomly cried at some random moments. Oh, and there was—
There was—
There was someone.
There was someone important.
"Veronica and Rachel? You're their brother?" Matt had reached the same conclusion. "They don't have a brother…"
"That they remember of."
Adam focused once more in the boy—the man—in front of him. He clearly had been down in that dystopian nightmare for a long time. The way he carried himself left no doubt. He was someone who had been surviving on his own for a very long time. He was someone who had seen his fair share of horror. He was someone who was already used with the weight of his burdens.
"Name's Lance, by the way. Make sure to not forget it this time, newborn."
"New… born?"
"Both of you are considered dead up there, buddy. This is your life now!" With his arms open wide, Lance twirled, as if showing them his new garden instead of a wasteland of sand and metal scrap. "Ah, you might want to mark the date down to remember later. It is easy to lose memory while you wander around. Now come, a meal and a bed might do some good for you two."
That said, Lance turned to leave, fully knowing they would follow him eventually. Moreover, they did because what more was there for them to do? They were hunted and almost died by the hands of the people they loved most. Matt would no doubt have nightmares about Katie's blank stare when he called desperately for her. Adam still didn't want to close his eyes and see Shiro and Keith glaring at him.
"Lance?" The boy hummed to let Adam know he was listening. "You said they did that because we looked down. What about you? What did you do to end up here?"
The man stopped, turning to look directly at the "newborns" and answered simply:
"I fell."