Rylander raised his brow as Caesar rushed through the door slightly out of breath and a wide grin on his face.
"It's been a while Caesar, you've been keeping yourself locked in that lab of yours again I assume." He chuckled as the young man made his way towards him.
"For a good reason I assure you Dr. Rylander." Caesar responded elated. Rylander's eyes followed Caesar curiously as the young scientist began to detach the locks that held his pod in pace.
"Mind filling me in where you plan to take me Caesar?" He finally asked as said scientist motioned a couple of Providence grunts to assist in moving the pod.
"You shall see in a moment Rylander, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." With that they began to walk, or rather rolled in his case, away from his current room. After a few silent minutes they arrived in Dr. Holiday's laboratory. There along with Holiday were Six, Rex and his old friend, Peter. As soon at the pod was put in place Caesar stepped in his eyeline.
"I, along with Holiday and Meechum have been working to develop this for you." He gestured his hand to the left. What he saw left him in complete shock. It was him, or at least a body that resembled him right down to the light freckles on his cheeks. Rylander was left completely speechless.
"We've created this synthetic body for you." Caesar explained walking up to the body. "With this body you will be able to feel, not in the same way as before but you will be able to notice pressure and tell the difference between hot and cold. It will not age the way your mind or an ordinary body will but you will be able to become independent again." Caesar turned back to the man, smiling brightly. "You'll be able to live again."
All Rylander could do was stare, jaw dropped, at the young scientist before him. With this he could finally get in touch with his wife again, to be able to hold his son. He could finally have the life he sacrificed back. Peter stepped up beside Caesar, smiling kindly at his old friend.
"We still have several test to run before we integrate your consciousness with the body and several test to run after but by this time tomorrow." He paused, walking up to be face to face. "You'll be your own man again."
"Well" Rylander began, voice sounding like he was holding back tears that would never come. "What are we all still standing around for. Lets get to work." With that the three scientist began the finishing touches.
With words of encouragement, Rex parted with Six promising to visit as soon as all the testing was completed. Holiday was quick to make her way to the body. Caesar glued himself to the large screens to the right and Peter worked on hooking up the pod. Rylander wanted to say something to him but how could he possibly express the gratitude he felt. Peter noticed his conflict and shook his head.
"No need to thank me Gabriel, let's just get you back." He chuckled. "It was Caesar who planned it all anyways. Not that I had to tell you, only that scatterbrained genius would come up with something like practically bring you back from the dead and rebuild you a body." Rylander laughed at this. Peter glanced over his shoulder towards Caesar as the young scientist was fully enveloped by his work. "The kid did good work." He spoke, almost affectionately.
Peter and Caesar may not work well as freshly oiled gears, anyone would see that but Rylander knew how much he really cared for Caesar. He was their late best friend's first child after all. Despite all their moving, the two men watched the boy grow up.
Several hours of testing later Holiday excused herself bidding them a good night. A Couple hours after that and Meechum followed suit. Hours later Caesar finally pushed himself away from the screens to rub his tired eyes. Rylander shook his head as Caesar quickly snapped back to work.
"Caesar, it's already past midnight. Why don't you get some rest." Rylander sighed, eyes locked on the back of the young scientist's head.
"I'll sleep as soon as" Caesar paused looking around the room almost confused. A small smile graced Rylander's face and he laughed lightly.
"They had enough sense to go to bed hours ago. You can finish up tomorrow." He watched as Caesar picked up and almost glare down into his empty mug, no doubt wishing there was more steaming coffee within it. Finally he sighed and nodded his head. With a mumbled good night, Caesar left the laboratory.
The following morning things quickly went to the way they were that night. No one saying anything about Caesar being there as early as Peter or Holiday. Holiday has expressed her concerns before, about Caesar's poor sleep habit but he merely shrugged it off explaining that it was a normal sleep routine for him. All three worked diligently together, working as hard as they could and by Peter's word, that evening Rylander opened his eye for what felt like the first time.
"Just hang tight there for a bit while we run some test." Peter spoke as he and Caesar worked determined at the monitors while Holiday was checking vitals.
"It will take a couple of days, if not weeks for you to get use to your body." Holiday said drawing out a stethoscope. "But hopefully we will have you up and moving, at least with assistance by the end of the day."
Everything felt different in the most wonderful way. There was a heaviness, a fatigue that he was relishing in. "Learning how to walk again? I couldn't ask for anything better." He joked, voice coming out rough and strained. He guessed he'll have to take that slowly as well. It didn't matter though, it didn't matter how hard he'll have to work. Gabriel Rylander was himself again.
Hard was a tad of an understatement. He couldn't hold anything above five pounds without it slipping through his loose grip and took nearly a week to be able to just walk across the width of the laboratory but it was all worth it. By the end of two weeks Rylander was able to walk around the room several times by himself and was able to grip things much harder. There were still several things to relearn and still several things he had to work on but he was finally on his way to being the man he use to be. Or at least as close as he can get.
"I can't thank you all enough." Rylander practically shouted, arms clumsily wrapping around Peter in an embrace. Gently as he could he placed his hands on Holiday's shoulder and gently kissed her cheek. Caesar patted him on the back as Rex hugged him as tight as he dared.
"I'm have to say it's gonna be hard to get use to you not glowing, I think I'm gonna miss it." Rex laughed loudly at his own joke. The others, minus Six of course, followed quickly after.
"Hey with this body, I can finally start being a proper godfather to you." Rylander laugh as Rex looked up in awe and surprise.
"You're my godfather?" He asked gently before turning to Caesar. "Why do you never tell me these things?!" He exclaimed, a little excited at the prospect of Rylander as his godfather.
"Soy el hermano bebé lo siento, I guess I just forgot." Caesar responded causing Rex to roll his eyes, groaning loudly in frustration. They collectively laughed as Caesar affectionately ruffled his younger brother's hair. He gently pushed Rex's back towards the door. "It's late and I need to run some follow up test." Caesar explained, ushering his brother out the door. The others followed shortly after leaving todays test up to the young scientist.
Caesar smiled to himself as he watched his young brother, talking excitedly with Six and Holiday as if a child talking to his parents. Caesar's smile faltered at the sudden thought and was quick to brush it aside. He raised a brow questioningly when he turned to see Rylander's face. The mans focus was on the younger scientist and wore a sad look upon him.
"Is there a problem Dr. Rylander?" Caesar asked, concern laced his voice for the elder man. With a deep sigh he shook his head.
"You should take a break Caesar." He stated softly, Caesar's face twisting in confusion.
"We have yet to start, a break isn't necessary." The young scientist laughed though his eyes trained on Rylander, trying to understand.
"I don't mean from the testing, Caesar and I think you know that. I mean from everything. You are running yourself ragged." Rylander explained, watching as Caesar's smile fade, brows lowering. "I understand you pushing yourself when the Consortium was still in charge but they are gone now and yet you are still pushing yourself as hard as you can. Don't think I don't notice that you don't sleep or eat enough, even by your standards." Caesar fully understood what this was about now. Something he has been avoiding since his arrival almost a year ago now.
"I am perfectly fine Rylander, I've merely been focused on my work and nothing more." He smile reassuringly, unable to make it reach his eyes. The elder scientist sighed frustrated as Caesar already began to switch focus to the tests that needed to be done. Rylander stopped him, placing his hand on Caesars shoulder to turn him around. He observed as the young scientist quickly straightened his face as they looked each other in the eyes.
"You can't keep running away Caesar" Rylander began softly. "You can't keep everything bottled up like this, it's not healthy." They were quiet for a moment, Caesar tensing under and swallowed hard. He was about to turn wordlessly back to his work but Rylander stopped him. The younger scientist deflated a little, no longer meeting his eye.
"It was a long time ago Rylander I've had time." Rylander was quick to interject.
"It was long time for me." He paused trying to reel back his stirring emotions. "For me, for Peter, for every one else on this planet but you. We've all had time to come to terms with what happened. We've all had time to adjust and come to peace with what we've done. We've all had time to mourn." He moved his hand from Caesar's shoulder and cupped his cheek.
"I'm not just Rex's godfather. I know you but I can't imagine what you felt. To have fifteen minutes rip away five years from you. Taking your parents, taking anyone who you knew." Seeing Caesar bite his lip, Rylander gently wrapped his arms around the younger scientist. "Taking the little brother you knew away." Shakily Caesar returned the embrace gripping the man's back tightly.
"I can't imagine how alone you felt." Rylander had wanted to have this talk since the world wide cure but now he was having hard time just getting it all out. How could he comfort a young man who lost everything, it all torn away and have no time to deal with it. He wasn't around then but from what he heard Caesar was quick to start working for providence. Quick to start picking up the pieces the scientist directly shattered. Barely into adulthood and the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"You've been so strong. I'm proud of you and I know they would be too." Rylander held Caesar tighter when the younger scientist choked. There we no tears, he knew well enough that Caesar wouldn't allow himself to cry. He stayed holding him for several minutes, neither making any move to let go. Eventually Rylander let go and smile.
"Why don't you try to get some rest, okay? I can get Peter to run these test. Though you both should know that as an equally intelligent man of science myself I can do these without your help." He laughed earning a weak smile from Caesar. "I've been meaning to pester Peter about why we have yet to see his little girl around here yet anyways." Caesar nodded pulling a bit farther from him, ready to leave the room.
"Thank you, perhaps a break would be nice. Abuela would love for Rex and I to come down again." With that Caesar turned. Rylander felt a little lighter, though he knew Caesar was still far from okay he would be someday.
Sorry for the grammar errors and for the Spanish errors. I am as bilingual as a cactus so I am stuck with google translate. Hope you enjoyed, if so I'd be eager to hear what you'd have to say in a review.