Agent Sneezy
"…and they want us to believe it's just like exhaust fumes from cars, but chem trails really are a plot by the Government to give us all respiratory diseases…"
Blane tuned out Stewart's ramblings instead focusing on the headache he'd been sporting all day. It was ten am and he'd already been awake for six hours because of it. He almost missed it when his communicator started bleeping, and when he did notice he considered ignoring it, but an agent's work is never done so he made up a lame excuse and headed for HQ. He had to pause for almost an entire minute in the corridor just to breathe through a sudden bout of vertigo, but once he'd gathered his bearings he continued on his way, albeit with far less haste than usual.
By the time he, Rose and Daisy had reached headquarters Blaine felt sick to his stomach and he barely managed to gather the strength to stumble out of the lift.
"…ne…laine…Blaine? Are you even listening?" Mr. Bicknall frowned disapprovingly at the boy.
"Yeah, 'course I am." Blaine replied in a much quieter and hoarser tone than usual, with seemingly no energy whatsoever.
"Are you okay, Blaine? You don't look so good." Rose commented.
"'m fine. What's the mission?"
"As I've already said, children all over the world are suddenly growing additional limbs. We don't know how or why this is happening right now so we need you three to investigate. For this mission you all get these discreet gas mask nose plugs. They'll protect you from any gasses other than oxygen, just in case. Daisy, you get an automatic lock picker, Blaine, you get a remote controlled bug and earpiece and Rose you get an air analyser. Good luck to you all."
After a small conversation about roles, Daisy and Blane headed towards the lift as Rose walked in the opposite direction to the computers.
Once above ground, Blane and Daisy went their separate ways.
As soon as Daisy was out of sight, Blane sagged against the lockers, breathing through the pain in his head and dizziness. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around, immediately in a defensive position.
"Woah, mate." Stewart stepped back in a 'hands off' position. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"I'm fine, Stewart. Let's get to class." With that, Blane began heading for science.
/brbr\
"And so, that is how the blob fish reproduces." Ms Templeman continued her ramblings. To think they had another hour of this.
"Hey, Blane, do you want to come to mine tonight? I got this awesome new game called 'Battle Quest'; have you heard of it? Blane?"
Blane fell forwards into Stewart's chest, unconscious.
"Blane? Blane?!" Stewart shook his friend, feeling heat radiating from his body, and the brunette looked up at him with fever bright eyes.
"Stewart? What about the limbs?"
"Limbs, Blane?" Stewart looked at his friend, worried. He was slurring his words and seemed very far from okay.
"The extra limbs. I have to help fix the limbs or SKUL will beat us and the Grand Master will win."
He definitely wasn't okay.
"Miss!" Stewart called, anxiously.
"Yes, Stewart?" She asked, her back still turned.
"Could Blane and I please be excused, he really doesn't seem well."
She turned around at that and looked over, her face showing concern. When she saw Blane she gasped slightly and replied, "Yes, of course. Make sure you take him to the school nurse quickly."
"Of course. Thanks miss."
By this time, Blane had passed out again and Stewart wasn't sure whether to be glad or worried at this point.
Of course everyone stared as Stewart struggled to support Blane and finally just carried him bridal style from the room. He really did look terrible. Everyone had been so focussed on Blane, they hadn't even noticed that Rose and Daisy were missing from class.
When they reached the nurse's office they found out that the nurse wasn't there. She was having a family crisis and had stayed home that day so the two boys were alone together as Stewart tried to treat his friend as best he could.
/brbr\
"I'm so going to kill Blane." Daisy exclaimed as she walked out of the lift.
"What's he done this time?" Rose asked without turning away from the computer.
"He wouldn't pick up his communicator so I couldn't get any work done."
"Really? He wouldn't pick up? Let me try." Rose pulled the device from her pocket and put it to her ear. "Blane? Come in, Blane? Do you read me? Blane?"
She put it down with a sigh.
"Told you!" Daisy harrumphed and crossed her arms.
"Well then, let's try his phone." Rose suggested, pulling her mobile from her pocket and dialling the number. After three rings it picked up.
"Blane! Where are you? Why didn't you answer before? Daisy tried to contact you but you didn't answer. She couldn't get anything done thanks to you, if you're this irresponsible you'll b-"
"Umm, hi? Is that Rose?"
"Stewart? Why do you have Blane's phone? Where's Blane?"
"Stewart?" Daisy mouthed to Rose, who merely nodded in reply and put the phone on speaker.
"So? Where is he?" Daisy asked.
"Daisy? Blane's kind of unavailable right now."
"Don't tell me you don't know where he is either." Rose groaned.
"No, he's right here with me, but-"
"Then put him on the phone!" Daisy interrupted.
"If you really want to listen to him breathing slightly heavily then you're quite welcome to but he's not capable of much else right now."
"Eww! I can't believe you two are… Ugh, no. I don't need these mental images, yuck!" Daisy screeched.
"No! Oh, no! No, it's nothing like that! No, we do not think of each other in that way at all! No, I mean he's asleep, gosh!" Stewart was obviously flustered, the two girls could almost hear his blush through the phone.
"Well, then wake him up." Daisy was furious that Blane would abandon the mission to take a nap, and Rose was no less appalled.
"I'd rather not."
"Why?" Rose asked. Ordinarily she wasn't a particularly angry person but this behaviour was intolerable.
"Well, you see, he seems to have come down with something. He's got a fever and earlier he started rambling some nonsense about extra limbs and skulls and the Great Lord or something like that."
There was a little noise in the background of the call and the two girls looked at each other guiltily.
"Stew! Stewart. Who're you callin'? Stew? Stewy? What're you doin' wiv my fffone? Stewart! The limbs, Stewart. Need the limbs gone! Help me to HQ. Stewart. 'M s'rry for hidin' 't but ya weren't…ready…" He fell back asleep, thankfully.
The whole time Blaine had been talking, Stewart had been shushing him and trying to convince him to go back to sleep. When he finally succeeded, he continued to comb Blaine's hair with his fingers.
He put the phone back to his ear when he heard the girls calling to him.
"Stewart? Hey! Stewart! Answer!"
"I'm back, sorry Blaine woke up again. He's asleep now but even if he was awake I doubt you'd get much out of him. You'll have to wait a while if you want him for anything, I'm afraid. Sorry."
"It's alright, Stewart. Tell him that Daisy and I are handling the limb situation, maybe it'll calm him down. We have something important to do now, so just make sure he calls us when he can."
The girls hung up.
/brbr\
The bell for the end of the day rang and Stewart wondered what he would do about Blane. He couldn't just leave him in school all night, and it would be way too awkward to ask a teacher for a ride. His mum was at work, too, so he decided that he would just have to carry him home.
He was heading out of the school gates with Blane on his back and already regretting his decision to carry the boy home when Fifty Pence walked over to him.
"Need a hand?" And with that, Julian took Blane from Stewart.
"Thanks, but why are you helping me?"
"Because he's sick and you're a girl."
"Well you're a thug."
"Then maybe I'll drop him, innit."
"No you won't."
"Why not?"
"Because he's sick and I'm the one who insulted you."
"Fair enough."
They walked the rest of the way to the bus stop in silence. Fifty Pence gave Blane back to Stewart before continuing along the road.
Stewart watched for a few seconds then got on the bus, showing both his and Blane's bus passes to the driver as he headed to the seats nearest the door. He decided to take Blane to his house because despite the fact it was two stops after Blane usually got off, it was a shorter walk from the bus stop.
/brbr\
About half an hour after they got to Stewart's house, Blane woke up slightly more lucid than before.
"Where… Stewart? What are you doing here? What happened?"
"What do you remember, Blane?"
"I… was on the bus home and we were… we were talking about the maths homework and that's about it."
"Blane… That was yesterday."
"Oh."
"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"
"No reason."
Stewart gave him puppy dog eyes.
"Fine, I didn't want ….." He mumbled the last part.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
"I said I didn't want …" Again, he mumbled the last part.
"One more time?"
"I didn't want to worry you, okay?" Blane blushed a little and pulled the duvet of Stewart's bed up to his eyes which were watering a little thanks to the illness.
Stewart laughed and grinned widely at his sick friend. "Aww, Blane. You little girl, how cute."
Blane threw a pillow at his face and Stewart just caught it and laughed some more. "You throw like a girl as well."
Blane rolled to face away from Stewart and pulled the duvet over his head. Stewart couldn't resist climbing in with him and hugging him from behind. Blane tensed up for a second, as if preparing to fight Stewart off, but within a few seconds he relaxed into the embrace, and all that needed to be said was said in that one little action. All of the tension in Blane's body drained away at his friend's touch.
"You know I love you, Blane."
"'Love you too, Stewart." Blane snuggled closer to his friend, earning himself a kiss on the cheek.
Just then the front door opened and Stewart's mother called from down the stairs, "I'm home!"