Exodus

by TheLadyMuse

Part 2 of Iridescent Hope. The Crypt in Nagano wasn't the only one. Now the basketball players conscripted in the Winter Soldier program have to make it. And they will, with help from their comrades.

Previously, on Iridescent Hope:

Our heroes woke to a world centuries after their people died- only to discover that they had been held in a place called the Crypt, eternally frozen at the ages they disappeared.

If the volleyball athletes abductions- and those of the people precious to them- had gone smoothly, it was because they had learned from abducting basketball athletes. It had been assumed that taking the Kiseki no Sedai, Kagami Taiga, Himuro Tatsuya and Alexandra Garcia would be sufficient.

It really wasn't.

Momoi was the one who rang the alarm. Former captains (including Shuuzou Nijimura) came from as far as America to search. Kiyoshi Teppei returned early, worried for his kouhai. Shouichi Imayoshi and Taisuke Ootsubo were the next to disappear. As more fuss was made, more people disappeared, until nearly an entire generation had been absorbed into the tank unit and it's reserves, several coaches, managers and even family members stowed in the Hokkaido Crypt.

(They were the first, but not the last. There were swimmers, volleyball players, skaters, Striders, shrine attendants- if you were the best, you were packed away for the day you were 'needed' those important to you turned to ice to make you comply)

Were they any other kind of people, it would be hard to be resilient. But an athlete falls, gets back up despite the pain and keeps going. So that's what they do even as their hearts scream.

The Crypt, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

Sugawara Koushi fumed as he hurried through his duties as chief medic. Aside from several reserve members, there were none of the other soldiers here. Sure, all the kidnapped civilians and reserve soldiers were accounted for, but he wasn't chancing thawing them out after Yamaka Mika freaked because Suguru wasn't there.

In order to do that, he had to find out what had happened to the members of Winter Soldier units Beta and Gamma. Oh, and he had single operatives from different branches unaccounted for, where he needed to get them or risk the civilian attached to them flipping out.

Not, he acknowledged, that he could blame them. Only his military training and Koutarou and Tetsurou taking control had stopped their more volatile people from exploding.

In any case, he poured over the pads on his desk, Futakuchi's decryption program unravelling centuries of encoded records. And from the looks of it, the first complete data set was from the WS-Bb-Ops team, Beta division of the Winter Soldier Conscripts. Those soldiers had been locked in a Crypt below a new shrine in Hokkaido. Shaking his head, Sugawara pulled up the map that was updating with locations.

Apparently, there were a few diver-infiltrators in Yokohama, locked in a Crypt with access by both land and sea. That would be useful, since one of the assets they had acquired when Iwaizumi used their funds for investing was a submarine.

For now though, he had a mission to bring his captains. They needed to recover the tank unit from Hokkaido.

Izanami no Mikoto Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan, three months later

Peering curiously at the map in front of him, Kuroo Tetsurou directed his crew where to dig. As it had been deemed a mostly non-violent mission, Kenma stood at his side, clicking through a game on a pad. Ennoshita Chikara reviewed what he knew of the thawing process he was supposed to use to revive the people in this Crypt, as well as the types he could expect to find.

Name: Midorima Shintarou

Rank/type: Lieutenant, sniper

Hostage information: Takao Kazunari, reserve sniper (Yokohama), Midorima Shiori (Nagano)

Name: Kagami Taiga

Rank/type: Lieutenant, assault tank

Hostage information: Himuro Tatsuya, Captain, sniper (Yokohama), Alexandra Garcia (Nagano)

Name: Teppei Kiyoshi

Rank/type: Captain, assault tank

Hostage information: Kagami Thalia-Indira (Nagano)

Name: Akashi Seijuurou

Rank/type: Major, strategist

Hostage information: Mayuzumi Chihiro, Captain, infiltrator (Yokohama), Kiseki no Sedai (see append.), Nijimura Shuuzou, General, strategist (Yokohama)

Name: Ootsubo Taisuke

Rank/type: General, assault tank

Hostage information: Nakatani Masaaki (Nagano), Shuutoku (see append.)

The words blur together and Chikara grits his teeth. He has to know who to sedate when they wake, so he can explain and confirm that a team is already on their way to whatever location their people are at.

It takes well over a day to get everyone debriefed (and when he figures out there's a few unknowns he digs his heels in and keeps going because he's been there and this is not a place for briskness. This needs him to be kind and gentle and careful with these people drowning in hurts.

The best word for all this is that it's unsettling. Having to rip open the wound of being the only one of his cohort awake and aware. It had been several months before he'd seen the records that stated Tanaka, Kinoshita and Yachi had been locked in Fukuoka, Narita in Yokohama and Nishinoya in Nagano. And even now, he doesn't have his cohort back. Sugawara had refused to wake Noya without Asahi, who had been locked in Yokohama as the assault tank, Narita as his control.

It's hard not to resent Kuroo and Bokuto, sometimes. They'd been reunited with their loved ones, did not have the complications of absurdly timed pregnancies to contend with.

But that's why he's here. Hopefully, by the time he is finished this posting and is back in Nagano, the others will be back, and Iwaizumi will have a comprehensive report on their options.

Steeling his resolve, the former Karasuno captain sits down beside the first man he'd thawed (having staggered them in long enough intervals that he'll finish one before the next rises), Ootsubo Taisuke.

"General, are you awake?" He mumbles an affirmative, so Ennoshita continues as he checks his notes

"As we speak, other teams are locating the rest of your unit-" Ootsubo interrupts with a rasp

"Wha- Where's Masa?" Brow furrowing, Ennoshita checked his notes again and said uncertainly

"Nakatani Masaaki-san?" lips quivering, Ootsubo nodded and gritted out

"They wouldn't tell me where he was buried." Alarm bells ringing in the back of his head, Ennoshita checked his PADD for a third time, flicking through them with a finger, before reporting

"Sugawara-sempai has listed his status as uncompromised, which means he hasn't been woken yet." When Ootsubo gives him a hazy, confused look, Ennoshita explains softly

"Nakatani-san was one of several people reported dead after he made a fuss about his former players disappearing. All reports were faked, the plaintiffs abducted and frozen in either Kyoto or Nagano." Ennoshita is very confused when Ootsubo slides back into sleep, mumbling about 'Masa'.

Half an hour later, when he repeats the process with a more alert Midorima Shintarou, who stops biting his head off when told that Takao Kazunari and several other Shuutoku men are alive. Ennoshita asks with a curious kind of exhaustion

"What is with you people and thinking everyone is dead? And for that matter, why does General Ootsubo call Nakatani-san 'Masa'?" Midorima rolled his eyes and answered

"Because we were abducted in stages and they showed us footage on the other Crypts being bombed. We had no reason not to believe Masaaki-sensei and Kazunari were dead." He paused, glasses gaining a glint before he informed Ennoshita

"And Taisuke-taichou calls Masaaki-sensei Masa because they were bedding each other before his abduction." Chikara has to leave after that. There's a reason he cares more about his cohort than sex, jeez!

Ootsubo

He never thought he would be saying this, but thank Christ for Midorima. The bespectacled sniper had made everyone who wasn't Shuutoku (hadn't been there during his embarrassing confession to Masaaki, and his beleaguered acceptance) stayed away and out of his way once he was in the Nagano Crypt, hovering at Masa's side and waiting for the sedation to wear off. He was glad Ennoshita and his captain had elected to wait to wake the people in Nagano. It meant that he and the others from Hokkaido could make sure their people were okay before attending the Nagano sleepers.

However, it had also been Shintarou who had firmly ordered him to

"Attend to Masaaki-sensei before you blow a gasket. Takao won't be here for a while, so I'll fill in for you."

And now, Taisuke found his gratitude growing. Masaaki had aged, before they put him under. Grey hair at his temples and lines around his eyes and mouth, black lashes shadowing aged caramel skin. With gentle hands (more gentle than he's had cause to be since being conscripted) he brushes the curtain of ebony silk out of Masaaki's eyes, breath catching when the older man grunts.

Nakatani Masaaki opens his eyes and groans, believing he is dead or hallucinating. They'd shown him the evidence that Taisuke and the others are dead, photos, blood soaked clothes and Midorima's shattered glasses. And then the angel with Taisuke's face croons

"Come on, Masa-chan, I know you're awake." Masaaki groans again, mutters something, and then callused fingers stroke over his face, even as others enter the room he's laying in. Miyaji Kiyoshi's voice snakes quietly into Masaaki's ears as he asks

"How is he?" And Midorima Shintarou's snappy response is tempered by a soft aside from Takao, ended with 'Shin-chan'. Miyaji Yuuya and Kimura Shinsuke both mumble wishes for Masaaki to awake, and even though he's tired, he does. He opens his eyes and sits up, eyes refocusing as Yuuya slides in behind him to support his back, as the others back away a step so that Masaaki can turn his gaze to Taisuke.

Taisuke who has tear tracks running down his face before he buries it in Masaaki's shoulder, strong arms wrapping around him even as Shintarou murmurs an explanation. It sounds fantastical, but it seems real. The tech in this room is way advanced, all the boys who disappeared are here, seeking his eyes or his touch, as if to ground themselves in the fact that he is also here. Thank gods they don't expect him to know what to do anymore. This world is so different, that even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

No, they just want the comfort that what remains of the Shuutoku they remember is together. Taisuke switches with Yuuya, pulls Masaaki into his lap as he leans against the wall, smirking when Takao, the baby of the team, puts his head in Masaaki's lap and hangs onto to Shintarou's hand. The Miyaji brothers huddle together opposite Midorima and Kimura, basking in each other's presence.

It's not perfect (will never be, but this, this they can live with).

Kagami

Taiga had waited for Tatsuya to arrive from Yokohama, but he hadn't been able to fight the lull of sleep. So he left a note for Sugawara to give Tatsuya and trudged to bed, showering and slipping in to fall asleep naked.

He awoke a few hours later to a similarly clean Tatsuya climbing in beside him, dropping a kiss on his cheek before they fell into sleep together. He woke sprawled on top of Tatsuya, to laboured breathing in his ear. Rolling off his lover, Taiga pressed his mouth to Tatsuya's neck and skimmed a palm over his ribs, choking on a gasp when Tatsuya woke with a moan. Levering up on his left elbow, Taiga palmed Tatsuya's cock, pulling once, twice, breathing in as Tatsuya came across his hand, lazily rolling his hips before pulling Taiga into a kiss.

Taiga bit back a curse as he reared up, looking for and hoping to find- he grinned when he saw what Tatsuya had deposited on the bedside table. Lube, condoms and both wet and dry wipes. Ignoring everything except the lube, Taiga shoved back the blankets, licking up Tatsuya's cum greedily, smirking around a mouthful of dick when Tatsuya yelped as he swallowed him.

Once he's licked Tatsuya clean (of cum) he starts preparing him, chuckling and speeding up when Tatsuya jerks his hips and demands he hurry the fuck up. It doesn't take long for Taiga to enter Tatsuya, for them to find a frantic rhythm that only speeds up as they sink deeper into the pleasure found in each other.

Collapsing together, they sleep and fuck and sleep again before they actually talk. And by talk, I mean mutter in the dark to each other before messaging Alex to swing by for a cuddle.

(Which she does. It takes hours to get her to shut up and go so they can get another round or five in before that pesky meeting with Iwaizumi)

Akashi

Chihiro is asleep by the time Seijuurou is released from his debriefing. Before, this would have ticked off the redhead. Chihiro, like everyone else, should be looking at him, was what he'd have thought. Before.

Now, though, he's just grateful for the chance to study his face before sliding into bed himself.

He's penniless, now, his estate long liquidated.

Will Chihiro still love him when dawn breaks?

(little does he know, Nakatani Masaaki, in the same building is asking himself a similar question)

Aomine

Everyone believes that Satsuki was the one who pulled the alarm on him and his guys being gone. They'd be half right. Yeah, Satsuki knew he was gone. Because he'd made the mistake of calling her while being chased. If he'd gone quietly, she'd never have been taken.

Maybe.

When she found out he was gone, Satsuki would have turned over every rock to find him. It was no less than she'd do for anyone else she cared about, but it was Daiki who'd gotten caught, had forced her to listen as he was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the conscription that had turned him into an elite soldier.

It hadn't been long before Sakurai roused their sempais, from what he remembered of the newspaper reports he'd seen at the time. Even Harasawa, Touou's basketball coach had gotten involved, and been found in the Yokohama Crypt, alongside Satsuki and Sakurai. Imayoshi had been stationed at Hokkaido and Wakamatsu had been installed as a human tank trainer at the facility in Togakushi before being stored in Nagano.

Finding out that all those from Touou who had been abducted were okay had been a relief. Figuring out Satsuki had been psychologically 'reconditioned' to complete detachment had been a blow, even if he received a message within hours of waking that it had never held.

And while Daiki was brooding, Satsuki was dragging Ryou and Katsunori through the halls of the Nagano Crypt, having memorized the map given to her by the attending medic. Susa met them, Imayoshi and Wakamatsu in tow, halfway to the room where she'd been told Daiki was training (as if he needed more).

Satsuki ignored the chuckles of the others as she dashed towards Daiki, triumphantly landing on him before dragging him back to the others. Who he surprised by pulling first Sakurai and then Harasawa into strong, firm hugs before scooping Satsuki into his arms and hitching her up so she was eye level with everyone.

As they melt into discussion, Aomine ignores that he's in perfect synchronicity with Imayoshi, Susa, and Wakamatsu, each sweeping icy gazes around before reorienting themselves on the civilian members of their group. Susa is in the right position to sweep Harasawa over his shoulder and run, as is Wakamatsu and Ryou, Imayoshi tensed to lead the way.

Katsunori wisely ignores that his former players are in a defensive formation and focuses on reassuring Satsuki that if they don't stay together they'll stay in touch. He also ignores the way Susa shifts closer to him, eying him as if promising to stay with him regardless, the way Imayoshi and Aomine nod to each other as Wakamatsu distracts the other two to let them communicate.

It's just easier on his health.

Muraskibara

Other than watching Masako glare at him from her cushy bed as everyone except Himuro from his long-ago Yousen team crowds around, Atsushi doesn't have much to do. The entire Generation (including Kuroko and Kagami) had been stationed at the other places than Nagano. He'd been part of the tank division, which had been boring, but at least he'd kept his promise to Himuro to keep an eye on Kagami.

Speaking of those two, they'd probably show up at the meeting at the very last minute, skin mapped in bitemarks and bruises. Himuro would have that smug smirk on his face and Kagami would look resigned.

Probably.

Kise

Ryouta should really know better than to interrupt people's sleep. But seeing as he'd been awake before the rest of them (was now waiting in a room filled with beds) he didn't actually see the problem. Considering the time he'd spent without them, it was a relief for Yukio to yell at him.

More than that, he revels in having his people back. He'll always love the Generation, no question, but Kasamatsu, Moriyama, Kobori, and Hayakawa had been the ones who'd pushed him to use his talents properly, it had been them he'd tried to protect by bending to the government.

Then they'd tried to find him and been conscripted themselves.

Fuck, but that they'd cared enough to look had touched him.

Now, he would not fail to protect them.

That in mind, he turned to the door, gaze expectant, not seeing the four pairs of sleep hazed eyes take in his defensive posture in front of the door.

Kuroko

Aside from Kagami, the Seirin team was present, and so was Aida Kagetora. Rolling his eyes, Kuroko wished Kagami hadn't abandoned them for sleep and to screw Himuro. It was really annoying to wake and realize they hadn't thawed nigou yet.

At least he'd gotten to keep his dog.

Rubbing his eyes, Kuroko debated whether he'd heard Riko correctly. Had she just assumed Nakatani-san and Harasawa-san had been retained for her father? Considering his intel from Midorima-kun and Aomine-kun said that Nakatani-san had been screwing (or was it getting screwed by?) Ootsubo Taisuke, and Harasawa had mentored Aomine-kun through a few bad rough patches, he thought not.

Yawning through the greetings, Kuroko studied Kiyoshi-sempai, who was busy making cow eyes at Kagami-kun's cousin. Better than the pathetic puppy stare Hyuuga-sempai was giving Riko-sempai, honestly! Didn't the idiot have any self respect?

Grumbling, Kuroko yawned again before gratefully hurrying to the guy who'd called for him. He was further gratified to be told that they'd thawed Nigou and had just been careful as they hadn't had much practice thawing animals.

His reunion with his pet was much more pleasant than his reunion with his former team mates. For example, Nigou didn't sass him, and he didn't demand anything either.

Another pleasant happening was being invited (along with Murasakibara and the other Miracles) to come to the Kagami-Himuro apartment for a Miracle-King reunion. Which did mean pulling on Kiyoshi-sempai's arm, but he came amiably enough when Kari-chan shot kitten eyes at him as she asked him to escort her to her cousin's lodgings.

The most pleasant surprise was finding Nijimura-sempai trapping Haizaki-san as he tried to escape partway to the meeting place. Kise-kun came along at precisely the right moment, dragging his team mates and chirping

"But you have to come, Shou-go! Nijimura-taichou would be disappointed if you didn't!"

It wasn't exactly productive, but it was entertaining, watching Haizaki-san sputter as the former Kaijou team glared at him. Feeling sorry for the former 'Stealer' Kuroko inserted that

"Of course Haizaki-kun is coming, if Kise-kun is bringing the former Kaijou team, I'm bringing Nigou and Kiyoshi-sempai is bringing Kagami Kari-san." Kari-can beamed at him and giggled

"You can call me Kari-chan! Especially yo-ou, Kiyoshi-kun." Teppei smiled at her, and Kuroko chivvied them along with a mutter of

"Women." Kari-chan threw her head back and laughed, easing the tension even as she walked away.

(Even with tensions running high, a Miracles/Haizaki reconciliation happened. But more than a few needed to 'wash their hands' or 'get a drink')

Nijimura

Shuuzou is really fucking tired of people and things he doesn't even fucking know screwing with his life. First, after he'd come back to Japan for Uni and gotten onto the team, gotten together with Haizaki, the Miracles disappeared. Haizaki had been nabbed (he later found out) because he was bickering in the street with Kagami when the redhead was grabbed.

So his boyfriend, his best friend Tatsuya's boyfriend, and all his most notable kouhai had disappeared on the same day. He can deal with that, but he won't like it.

He got kidnapped while looking for Haizaki and the brats. He can deal with that too.

He gets frozen and thawed hundreds of years after his family died.

Yeah, no, he's noping the fuck out of dealing with that just yet.

Especially since he's got Shougo, Tatsu and the brats. He can probably deal in time. He just really fucking does not want to.

Surprisingly, the reunion with the brats and the Kings goes well. Probably because Hanamiya (who they had universally despised, pretty much) was absent, having not been found in the Crypts despite his skill.

Iwaizumi

Hajime scans the faces of the people gathered in the Nagano assembly hall. They're all still wary of surfacing, the women need rest, and most of the men are still wary of the possible threats. Not that they need to be, he knows. The new government had detected their snooping, and Iwaizumi had presented them with a choice- accede to whatever recompense they wanted, or have the story blasted over the media.

Clearing his throat, he almost reaches for the microphone when Tooru sidles up to him. With Shizuha nine months gone, carrying fraternal twins, it's up to Tooru to keep him calm as he does the job Bokuto had okayed him to complete months ago. Tooru leans over and mutters

"You'll do fine. Shizuha and I believe in you." Nodding, Hajime grabs the mic, clears his throat and speaks clearly

"Thank you, everyone, for your attention." He waits for them to quiet, bowing before he continues to talk

"I am Iwaizumi Hajime, Bokuto-kaichou's Tank Lieutenant and liaison to the current Japanese government." He pauses, observing the expectation and apprehension on all their faces. Exhaling, he explains

"They are aware of us, so we have been in negotiations since before the Nagano Crypt was opened. We have been requested to give them a list of terms to keep the sins of their predecessors quiet." He waits, watches to see if there will be an uproar. Instead, they focus on him all the harder. Licking his lips, he picks up again

"We have been offered an extensive compound and monetary compensation, as well as an arms budget as acknowledgement of what we were forced to become, on a Japanese colony in space. Alternatively, we were offered a security contract with Starfleet, who are aware of what has come to pass. My recommendation is to take both, keep our vulnerable where we can protect them, and for our soldiers to do what they know." He steps back, aware that he's got a whole people's history at his fingertips.

They could be anything. Galactic merchants, security contractors, artists, athletes. The choices are goddamn near limitless. But he knows no moves will be made until the medics declare the pregnant (or, given the time frame) recently delivered mothers capable of travel.

That in mind, he heads to the subbasement where the volleyball players have congregated. With so many others awake and aware, the generals had formed a military tribunal, with the promise that an actual Council for domestic decisions would be formed when it was safe to have such spats.

Despite being the soldier, he had gladly handed the responsibility for Seijou over to Tooru, now that they had fractured on familiar faultlines- as it seemed the others had, too. Each sport or discipline had at least one representative on the tribunal, and now that he'd presented what facts he had, Oikawa would discuss with the other former captains before Bokuto and Kuroo took their vote to the tribunal.

Even now, that slips his mind as he and Tooru walk into the tiny medical room where Shizuha rests, a new generation of Oikawa-Iwaizumi in her belly. Despite her carrying both, the Oikawa brat had been conceived with the egg of another woman, the obvious intention that being 'twins' would not affect the validity of having a breeding pair.

Since Tooru is actually asexual, this works out well. He gets a son- a legacy- without bothering with the 'ick' factor and his son still has two parents. Kind of.