A/N: Short chapter but hopefully touching. We left off in the Vandal fortress.
"Guard duty, hmph! If I were Vandal Warlord I'd send Kalus into the slavepits with his claws cut off!" Krocomodo muttered angrily to himself, the perfect racket to disguise Agura's footsteps as she snuck up behind him.
"Man, guard duty sure is a drag, huh Kroc?" The female subcreature seemed to appear out of nowhere to Krocomodo, suddenly leaning against the wall of the cave and making him jump.
"What in the—"
Sherman's fist connected with his jaw before the words came out. In just seconds the bewildered Vandal had been knocked unconscious and securely roped up. Sherman and Agura exchanged only a high-five before continuing, trying to ignore the racket that was happening outside in hopes that Zoom was okay.
Hatch was much easier to take down, and Agura was so preoccupied with tying down his pincers that she didn't notice Vert until Sherman gasped aloud. She whipped her head around but Sherman was there, blocking her view of the figure handcuffed to the wall.
"Agura, he has a pulse, but I can't let you see him." Sherman said seriously. The ropes went slack in her hands.
"Sherman, what does that mean?" Agura's voice shook and she tried to force strength into it.
"He's alive, I promise you, but I don't want you to—"
"Vert!" She pushed Sherman out of her way and cried, finally seeing the body for the first time.
Agura could only stand the sight of what they had done to him for a second before her stomach turned and she vomited, bent over and clutching her stomach in revulsion. Sherman silently approached her from behind and she felt his presence, neither of them knowing what to say. When her stomach was empty he pulled her into his arms and turned her head away from the gruesome scene, and she openly sobbed.
"What did they do to him, Sherm?" Agura shook in his massive embrace. Sherman did not want to dwell on picturing the act.
"I don't know."
Zoom was able to lead the majority of the Vandals on a wild goose chase through their own jungle. Spinner and Stanford picked off the remaining ones with their vehicles, and Stanford came into the lair only to find Agura sitting within a few feet of the cave entrance. She was staring blankly into space, eyes hollow and lifeless, her knees pulled to her chest and her body shaking. Sherman had commed to him privately about this, and Stanford bent down and helped her up, supporting his comatose teammate as she robotically entered the Tangler and sat, hands gripping the controls for dear life.
It was then that Sherman brought out the body. Even Spinner, the accomplished champion of the consuming-disgusting-foods contest, felt his stomach turn at the sight. To Stanford's distress, Vert was placed in the Reverb, his teammates in their own vehicles.
"Zoom, meet us at the Earth portal." Sherman spoke quietly into his com-link.
"You got it, Sherm!" Zoom replied, and Sherman sighed. The poor kid had no idea.
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"You have returned!" Sage exclaimed in relief when the cars drove into the Hub. They had found the Saber lying smashed in the compound, and the Buster trailed it behind them. "Is Vert—?"
"Zoom, get out, now." Sherman commanded suddenly, and the teen turned to him in distress.
"What? Why me—!"
"Follow Sherman's orders, Zoom!" Sage snapped tensely, and Zoom, in shock at her uncharacteristic brusqueness, dismounted the Chopper and rode the elevator up.
"We have to get him out of the Reverb and into the med-bay, Sage, it's bad." Sherman said urgently. He opened the hood of the royal vehicle and Sage floated over a stretcher, which Sherman quickly lifted Vert onto. Sage gasped and covered her mouth with her palm at the sight of him, but was able to bring the cot into the infirmary. AJ came running up just seconds after the doors slid closed, Tezz not far behind him.
"Where is he? Is he okay?!" The Canadian demanded anxiously, but before Sherman could respond Agura descended from the Tangler. She had spent the entire drive back to the Hub looking absolutely automated, no sign of any emotion in her expression. Sherman would have sent her out along with Zoom but something had told him she didn't have the heart to look.
"No." It was the only word she spoke as she stepped onto the green-lined section of the floating elevator, and AJ looked to Sherman despairingly.
"He's alive." Sherman told him, and the blonde breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Sage has him in the med-bay."
AJ frowned. "Well can we see him—"
"No!"
Sherman's sharp reply sent his teammate recoiling, and he sighed wearily. "I'm sorry. Sage just needs quiet to…to heal him."
"Oh." AJ shrugged. "Okay. Guess that makes more sense." With nothing less to say, he wandered off, maybe to sleep, maybe to wait. Nobody knew what to do without Vert or Agura. Once AJ was gone, Tezz approached Sherman, who inwardly groaned. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the Russian genius or his ego.
"What did they do to him?" Tezz's words surprised the young Cortez.
"Tezz, it's been a long night, I don't really wanna—"
"Agura is unresponsive to any external stimuli. You refused to allow Zoom or AJ to view the body. Stanford is currently disposing of the contents of his stomach in a very unconventional manner in the bathroom and from what activity I can discern, Sage is working furiously." Tezz stared Sherman down. "You and I are both men of science. What did they do to him?"
Sherman swallowed. He could hardly bear the sight of Vert's body, much less describe. "It…it looked like they…tried to burn him alive," his voice dropped down to a hoarse whisper, and Tezz's eyebrows raised.
"His body…it was ash-black, flesh seared off, his Shocksuit completely gone. Hair just in little leftover patches, skin practically turned inside-out. His face…it was unrecognizable." Sherman swallowed. "It…I know they're barbaric creatures, Tezz, but…I mean I never expected…"
"I see." Tezz nodded gravely. "And Agura?"
Sherman's shoulders sank. "She took it really hard. I tried to block her view, but…you know how she is."
"Yes," Tezz said strangely. "Or at least, I thought I did." With that, the Russian inexplicably walked off, and Sherman was left alone.
I should really check on Agura, he thought, sinking into the chair in front of the Buster's dock. Just need to…rest for a minute. His eyelids drooped in an attempt to erase the image of his friend and leader, half-scorched to death.
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Spinner, Stanford, Zoom and AJ were gathered grimly in the game room last time Tezz had checked. Nobody could sleep, not with Vert's condition. They had all preferred grim-faced company to solitude, he supposed, but now all four had fallen victim to slumber. Stanford and AJ knocked out on the couch, Zoom curled up in an armchair and Spinner flat-out sprawled on the floor while the credits for 'Slugbots' played.
Only one of his team members still remained awake, and that was Agura. Unlike her teammates she was sitting on the floor in the bedroom hallway, leaning against the wall opposite her lover's door with her knees pulled tightly to her chest. Not sleeping, not crying, just staring. Her eyes were dry and blank, and as Tezz approached she did not even make the effort to look up.
In a motion entirely uncharacteristic of the Russian genius, he appraised the situation and sat down right next to her. Long legs outstretched, hands unsure of what to do resting in his lap, self-conscious eyes staring at them and beginning to wonder why he had ever thought this was a good idea when—.
"He seemed so confident about it, you know?" Agura began speaking, and Tezz was not sure whether it was for his ears or just her own, but he listened. "Just a jump over to Vandal, wouldn't even let me get out of bed. God, how selfish I am." She buried her head in her hands and shook it in regret, but then resurfaced.
"Maybe that's the worst part, you know? Knowing he went for you."
Tezz didn't know how to respond to this, so he didn't. A few minutes later Agura continued the conversation herself.
"No, no, that's not it," she shook her head furiously. "The worst part is knowing it's all your fault."
The silence only lasted for a moment before Tezz softly asked, "Why didn't you go?"
For the first time since returning, Agura turned her head and looked another person in the eyes. Tezz was caught off guard by how much pain could be contained in those brown pools.
"You don't think I wanted to go?" She asked quietly. "You don't think I knew it was a bad idea from the very moment he said he could do it alone?"
Tezz had no response for that either. Agura eventually turned her head, stared back at his door and sighed.
"Now I can't even get into his room," she murmured quietly. "Not that I deserve it."
This puzzled Tezz. "Are your own quarters not adequate?"
"No, they're fine," Agura sighed again. "It's just…once you get to know someone like that…you get used to them, you know? Falling asleep with someone who cares about you right at your back, near enough where you can hear their breathing and know when they've fallen asleep and then, if you listen real close, you can hear their heartbeat?" A tear slipped from her eye and made its way down her cheek, but she did not brush it away. "You…You just get used to it, and when you try to sleep in your room, all on your own…you can't." Agura's voice cracked, and in that moment, Tezz saw her for all that she really was: a scared girl praying for her best friend's life.
He didn't know what to say. Around her, here and now, it felt like he would never know what to say.
"It's just so damn beautiful sometimes, you know? Being there, being with them." Her voice was trembling with the restraint of holding in a thousand tears.
"And…you just take it all for granted. And one day…it's all gone."
It was at that moment that Agura Ibaden, always so cool and composed, cracked. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed freely and Tezz was for once at a loss for words. Never before had he seen such vulnerable behavior from Agura. Her shoulders were shaking and her cheeks were wet, and all he could think to do was pull a handkerchief from his pocket (his mother had instilled in him to always have one handy and he now understood why) and offer it to her. Agura gingerly wiped her eyes and tried to take a deep breath before bursting into tears once more. Tezz looked at her in worry and opened his mouth but she spoke before he could say anything.
"I love him more than anything and I don't know what I'm going to do if he dies!" She hiccupped in a startling outburst and resumed the tears, and Tezz slowly and carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"I know that the captain will be alright. He is strong." Tezz spoke solemnly. "But you must be as well. He would not want to see this sorrow befall you on his behalf." Agura slowly quieted, managing to take a few deep breaths. She daubed the tears from her cheeks and blinked repeatedly, trying to erase all memory of them. She opened her mouth as if to speak but then just as abruptly closed it, instead taking the handkerchief and folding it back into his hand. Tezz sat there in shock as his female teammate shrunk down and rested her head along his shoulder and whispered only three words.
"Please don't leave."
Her statement took him by surprise, but he was able to respond in only two.
"I won't."
He waited there peacefully for some time, waiting for her breathing to deepen and slow, indicating sleep. After some time Agura finally succumbed to slumber, and he stood up, lifting her tired body in his arms. Tezz knew he wouldn't be able to access her own room, the sensors were advanced enough to tell whether they handprints were pressed there consciously or not, in case of infiltration by an enemy, so he instead opened his own door. His room was impersonal, considering the duration of time he had spent with the Battle Force 5 (AJ's walls were already covered with personal touches) but he felt much more at home in the lab, which was why the copper-toned quarters contained not much more than a desk, bed and lamp. He wasn't much of a sleeper anyway, not to mention spending late nights in the lab and accidentally crashing there, which was why the bed was neatly made and out of use. Before Tezz could deposit Agura onto the covers, she stirred, but then settled back into his arms, her head resting against his breastplate. Tezz froze for a moment, staring down at her and her innocent beauty, and caught himself contemplating a thought.
I wonder if she can hear my heartbeat.
His breath caught in his throat as he realized all that that encompassed, and shook his head in denial.
No. That is something only for the Captain.
He gently set her down on his bed and pulled a blanket over her sleeping form, planning to take refuge himself in his laboratory (Sherman had eventually given up on him and placed a cot in there). The Russian cast a look back to the exhausted huntress before leaving his room, but shook his head once more and continued on.
