.Forgotten Love.
Torn lay in his not-so-warm bed. He slept reluctantly – Samos and Ashelin had forced him to get some rest despite the war raging around them. It had been several weeks since the palace fell and they had lost their greatest alley – Jak. They were loosing.
He rolled over. He was tired – deathly tired – but his eyes would not stay closed and his body refused to settle down. He let out a long sigh. He should just –
The door to the room slid open slightly. Light from the outside poured into the blacked room. Torn froze, thinking it was Ashelin – making sure he was actually asleep. The door opened more and a figure slipped into the room. The door slid shut.
Torn remained motionless. He shut his eyes, pretending to sleep. In the darkness, he couldn't tell who this figure was, but he didn't want to take any chances.
The figure seemed to stand over him for hours. Finally, in the darkness, he heard a faint, "Torn?" whispered.
Torn faked a startled awakening. He rolled over with a jump. He squinted in the dark; "Keira?" that surprised was genuine.
The green-haired girl looked nervous. Her hands were knotted together and her normally calm brow was distorted with concern.
Torn sat up, "What's wrong? What happened?" He placed a hand on her shoulder while the other wrapped around her own hands.
Keira looked to the side, "I..." she stammered. Small tears began to roll down her cheeks, "I'm worried about Jak."
Torn blinked, slightly relieved. He thought for certain that something major had happened. As soon as that statement, he kicked himself mentally – Jak's exile was something major to the girl who loved him.
Torn's expression softened. He brought her close. She responded by wrapping her arms around him and breaking out into full-blown sobs. "He's a strong guy," he had never been good at comforting people, "He'll be okay,"
"But the Wasteland..." the girl got out between body-rattling sobs.
"People can survive in the Wasteland. It's not like a death sentence."
"But Ashelin..."
"Ashe was being dramatic," Torn's brow wrinkled, recalling the council meeting to decide Jak's fate, "She was trying to make a point."
This seemed to comfort the girl slightly. Her crying lessened. It was several minutes before Torn realized that she had fallen asleep – standing up and in his arms no less. He awkwardly moved himself and the girl until she was lying down. She evidently had a death grip on him and would not let him go.
Torn sighed. Looks like he'd be getting some rest after all. He lay down next to Keira and went to sleep.
It must have been several hours later that Torn stirred. It was to the roar of "What the hell is going on here?"
Both Torn and Keira shot up, hearts racing. Standing in the doorway was a very angry red head.
Torn blinked, confused at first. He then remembered the girl lying next to him.
"Ashelin," he struggled to get the covers off, "This is not what is looks like!"
Ashelin's eyes shot daggers. She turned on a pin and walked out. Torn followed.
"Ashe, wait!" he called, running to catch up.
"What the hell did I just see?" Ashelin turned once they were out of earshot of the girl.
"She was upset about Jak –"
"So you slept with her?"
"Not in the way that you're thinking," Torn was cautious with his words, "I was comforting her and she happened to doze off."
Ashelin stood with her arms crossed, a 'likely-story' expression on her face. "You expect me to believe that? I know what I saw, Torn –"
"And I know what really happened." Torn yelled back, "Go ask her yourself."
"You know what," Ashelin shook her head, throwing her hands in the air, "I don't need to deal with this. I don't need to deal with you." She turned her back to him and began to walk.
Torn clenched his fist, "You've just been looking for a reason to walk away from me – from us." Ashelin stopped. Torn smiled wickedly, knowing he had struck a nerve. "You're only ever in it for the sex and when you get bored, you just throw your little toy away. You did it with Errol, you've done it to me, and you're going to do it with the next poor sap that gets tangled in your web.
"But!" it was Torn's turn to walk away, "If it makes you feel better to say you broke up with me because I was cheating with some girl ten years my junior, then go right ahead. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
.Shattered Love.
"I heard about what happened last night," the old green Sage Samos said as he walked into the Freedom League headquarters.
Torn cringed, "I swear to God, Samos, we didn't—"
Samos waved a hand "I know, I know, don't worry about it my boy."
A slightly awkward slightly silence fell over the two friends. It had been hard for Torn to adjust to the fact that the Samos that stood next to him was a time traveler, much less the fact that he had a daughter. It felt almost as if Torn had stood still while the world around him passed by.
"Torn..." Samos broke the silence, "there's something I need to ask you."
Torn's ear twitched. The old man seemed deathly serious. "What is it?"
Samos took off his glasses. He began to clean them with his ragged shirt, "I'm an old man, you know that, Torn. I won't be round forever."
"Sir?" Torn had come accustomed to addressing the Sage formally.
"Well it's true," Samos said in his gruff manner, replacing his glasses on his nose. "And..." the old man's voice softened, "with Jak gone..." his mind seemed to wander, searching for the words, "I want you to look after Keira."
Torn blinked. He snorted, amused by the request.
"This is no laughing matter!" Samos roared, hitting the tattooed man over the head with his staff, "Keira...She's a strong girl, but...she's not a warrior. And with the war being in the streets now..." Samos looked up at Torn with worried eyes that he had rarely seen on the old man. "She trusts you, Torn..."
"I understand," Torn assured his old friend, rubbing the growing bump on his head, "Don't worry about it."
As Torn finished his sentence, Count Vegor and Ashelin stepped from the elevator into the room. Torn avoided eye contact with the woman.
"Commander," Vegor addressed Torn, "I need you to lead an attack on enemy forces in South Town."
Torn raised an eyebrow, "South Town? But we—"
"Are you questioning the orders of a superior?" Vegor's voice was poison.
Torn clenched his jaw, "No sir."
The explosion seemed to shake the very planet. Everyone in the transport grew silent. Torn glanced through the small window. A huge plume of smoke hung over the Wasteland. It was safe to say that the Terra Former had been destroyed. Hopefully the heroes that created the show were not destroyed as well.
"Drive faster," Torn ordered the pilot.
There was too much sand in the air to see out the windows as the transport landed. Torn pulled his scarf over his mouth as the hatch door opened. He handed a handkerchief to the persistent, green-haired girl next to him. He had tried to convince the girl repeatedly not to come on –
All thoughts in Torn's head ceased to exists. If not for the scarf protecting it, sand would have blown into his open mouth.
A blond-haired hero locked lips with a red-haired seductress.
He looked to Keira next to him. She was expressionless.
It was several hours before Keira spoke next. She and Torn sat at the bar of the Naughty Ottsel. All around them, people celebrated. Torn just sat, sipping on a hard liquor, trying to sort through all the information that had been thrown at his senses – Ottsel, Dark Makers, and what appeared to be Jak and Ashelin's budding relationship. "Poor kid..." he muttered, taking another sip.
"Is that what men want?"
Torn jumped at the voice beside him. He had nearly forgotten Keira was there. Her eyes were glassy and staring at nothing. For a moment, Torn thought his ears were playing tricks – had she really just said something?
She blinked and turned her head to look at Torn, "Is that what men want? For women to have huge breast that are falling out of their shirts and for us to show as much skin as possible without being arrested for indecency and for us to go around showing off our thongs?" her eyes began to water again, "Is that what I'm doing wrong?"
Torn's ear twitched. Her voice was full of so much pain. He couldn't bear to look into her eyes that screamed with aggravation. He put his hand on hers.
"Only shallow men with no sense of what love truly is."
Keira snorted. She began to laugh. Torn's brow wrinkled as that laughing slowly began to slowly turn into sobbing. Keira rested her head on the bar. Torn put a comforting hand on her back.
Torn had been woken form his sleep once more by the green-haired girl. She was upset about Jak leaving, but it was in a different sense this time. Torn invited her to lay down with him, seeing as it had helped before.
She curled up in his arms. She was shaking slightly. Torn wrapped the blanket around her. She seemed so fragile.
"Thank you," her voice was soft.
"Of course," Torn replied, also in a hushed voice.
Keira looked up at him, eyes still teary. She leaned forward and landed a small kiss on the man's lips.
Torn blinked. Was this girl so starved for love that she would look to him? Torn placed a hand on her cheek. He smiled.
"Get some sleep."
Next time he saw Jak, he would have to kick him in the balls. For Keira's sake, of course.
Author's Note - Not nearly as deep as I had hoped it to be. It was intended to be a one-shot, but due to the fact that there's more I want to explore, I may make a follow up. May.