Bit of a breather chapter here, for a little fun and still setting up some plot. Lemme know if you're confused about anything or if anything isn't clear! Thanks for all the feedback, and I hope y'all enjoy!
Archie had always known he had a dark past. He was one of thousands of kids who'd been kidnapped years and years ago and never found his way back to his birth family. He never learned his real name. He was lucky enough to be one of the few that came back at all. He'd been traumatized so badly by whatever had happened to him that he'd lost all of his childhood memory. And he'd accepted this.
Part of him always hoped he'd learn the truth—that one day he could google his real name and find something other than comics. One day there would be an older couple who would have baby photos, know his real birthday and why his ankle was so bad or why he was so afraid of water.
On the other hand it didn't matter to him because even if he met his birth parents they would be strangers to him. He wouldn't know them and they'd be expecting the child—or baby—they lost. It would just be nice to know, he figured, but he'd accepted and was okay with the mystery.
At a time like this, though, when he had some serious questions and no hope for answers, Archie wished he had his memories.
They were all gathered back in Chiron's study, and this time it was Jay on the operating table. Jay had been worryingly stoic the entire time, mumbling one-syllable answers and methodically rolling back his sleeve so that Chiron could open his wrist. He didn't even flinch when Chiron gave him the needle to numb his arm, or even when Chiron started cutting him open.
"I think you're getting better at this," Theresa told Chiron. She was standing by Jay's feet and had a hand on his knee.
"Well I've gotten a lot of practice today," Chiron agreed. He was rooting around in Jay's arm with a pair of tweezers. Jay was watching the entire thing without breaking a sweat.
"Got you," Chiron mumbled, and pulled out a thread of silver, identical to the one in Archie. Using a pair of scissors Chiron snipped a section of it off and set it to the side.
"Now we can see if they're identical," Dionysus informed everyone. He picked up the sample and hurried from the room.
Chiron had only made a small cut in Jay's arm, and he removed the pins without any hassle.
"I'm sorry Jay, but it does appear that you and Archie are in this together," he said softly. Jay sat up, still holding out his arm. The wound wasn't healed yet.
"Okay Archie not knowing what happened to him makes sense because he has amnesia, but Jay? How could this have happened to you? And why only you two?" Odie sad.
Archie and Jay caught each other's gaze as they both froze. There was only one way their pasts intercepted.
"I do have a blank spot," Jay admitted, "when I was kidnapped, remember?"
"And Jay and I are the only ones who were taken," Archie finished, "this has to be connected."
Theresa leaned in to glance at Jay's wrist, "Shouldn't it be healed by now?"
Chiron frowned, "Maybe give it a little bit longer."
"Okay but if this is connected to the kidnappings, then does that mean that you were taken for a reason?" Atlanta asked, "like, to put this stuff into you?"
"But why would you kidnap a bunch of kids and turn them into terminators?" Neil continued.
"Hold on, guys," Jay ordered, "let's not jump to conclusions. There was no pattern to the kidnappings that anyone could find. Yes, Archie and I do have that in common, but it doesn't mean it's the only way this happened. I think we need to wait to find out more from Dionysus and what Odie can find. I mean, what are other ways that both Archie and I could have this… thing?"
"Contagious?" Odie offered, nodding at Jay's points, "like, one of you got infected and you gave it to the other. It is somewhat biological, so it's a possibility. I don't know where it starts though."
"Archie was obviously manufactured in a warehouse to destroy mankind," Neil replied, "he's going to give us all robot herpes."
Archie leaned over to punch Neil in the arm.
"Okay I think that's been long enough, why won't it heal?" Theresa asked, gesturing to Jay's wrist.
"Dionysus said mine was inactive," Jay thought aloud, "maybe mine doesn't heal me?"
"My apologies then," Chiron said to Jay, and went to healing his arm. They used magic to heal the worst of wounds, because it always took a toll on both user and recipient. Most injuries had to heal the old-fashioned way. Chiron healed Jay's inner tissues until the wound was mostly superficial, and then finished with six neat stitches, and taped a square of gauze for any excess bleeding.
"I'll have to come up with a good story to explain this," Jay joked, though no one laughed.
"Oh! My laptop!" Odie realized, "it might be done!"
He sprinted across the room to where he'd left his laptop to run, and tapped the sense pad at the bottom to turn off the screensaver. The screen remained black.
"Oh no," Odie moaned softly, and hit the power button. There was no response.
"Where's your charger?" Herry asked, glancing around.
Odie thought for a moment and then groaned in frustration, "I left it at home!"
"Let's call it a night then," Theresa offered, "we can go watch a movie and get an early sleep. A lot has happened today."
"Do you think this has anything to do with Cronus?" Atlanta spoke up, "I mean, pretty much everything in our lives revolves around Cronus now. Should we be worried?"
"Cronus may be dumb but I doubt he'd give us a way to heal ourselves. If it was him then Jay and I would probably be in big trouble," Archie shrugged. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and rocked on his heels.
"Like I said," Jay repeated, "it's too early to jump to conclusions. Theresa's right. We'll give Dionysus the night to come up with what he can, and in the morning we'll get to figuring out what's going on."
Herry dragged Atlanta and Theresa onto the couch with him as soon as popcorn was made.
"Best seat in the house, ladies," he declared, "plus feel free to cling to me if you get scared."
Atlanta and Theresa both laughed. Theresa pulled the blanket Archie had slept under the night before off of the floor and tossed it across their three laps.
"Only if we get to snuggle," Theresa curled her feet up under herself, leaning against Herry's shoulder. Atlanta hummed in agreement and pulled Herry's arm over her shoulders.
"Done and done," Herry grinned.
Neil made his way into the room with his vegan popcorn, no salt. He squeezed into the spot beside Theresa.
"One spot left! Someone call dibs!" he shouted.
Archie stuck his head through the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. He and Jay were making normal, buttery, salty popcorn for everyone else.
"No fair, we're making popcorn! Herry should sit on the floor!" he called.
Herry pulled the girls tighter to his side, "Sorry guys, the ladies have chosen. I can't move."
"We're snuggling," Atlanta informed Archie.
Archie rolled his eyes and moved back into the kitchen, "Hey, Jay, you wanna snuggle with Herry?"
Jay was standing beside their air-popper and idly turning the bowl as popcorn fell out. He cracked a smile, "Hell yeah, Herry's super cuddly."
Archie leaned back to the living room, "Herry! Jay says you're the worst snuggler in the house! And you smell!"
Jay flicked a piece of popcorn that had overshot the bowl at Archie. He tried to catch it in his mouth and missed, then caught it on his foot and ate it.
"Tell Jay he can come in here and cuddle me like a man!" Herry shouted from the living room.
Archie took a bowl of popcorn from Jay and gestured to the living room behind them, "All yours."
"You're such a dick," Jay rolled his eyes, "but enjoy sitting on the floor."
Archie followed him through the doorway, "Absolutely. Odie always lets me be the big spoon."
Odie joined them from downstairs, and Herry shoved Jay into the spot between himself and Theresa. Archie and Odie sat back against everyone else's legs, sharing a bowl of popcorn between them.
"So I've been thinking," Neil said as the movie started.
"Always dangerous," Odie replied.
Neil nudged him with his foot, "I don't think these Yeerks are just magical miracle machines. That's gotta be a by-product."
"Oh?" Jay asked, curious, "why do you think that?"
"Because if they fixed everything, I mean, yours is turned off so it explains your huge chin—"
"My what?" Jay touched his face.
"—but if Archie's is supposedly working then how do you explain his nose?" Neil finished.
"Hey! What's wrong with my nose?" Archie snapped.
"You'd think that if these things fixed issues that Archie would actually be more attractive," Neil shrugged.
Archie slapped Neil's knee, "Shut up! I am totally hot! Jay! Tell him he's not allowed to make fun of me!"
Jay sighed, leaning back into the couch, "You're not allowed to call Archie ugly. Leader's orders."
"Okay, okay," Neil held up his hands in a placating gesture, palms out, "you're not ugly, but you're a soft five."
Archie sat up so fast that he knocked half of the popcorn out of the bowl, "Piss off I'm totally a hard nine!" Odie scrambled to sweep the cleanest pieces of popcorn back into the bowl with just his hand, glaring at Archie the entire time.
"In your dreams," Neil laughed.
"Bite me," Archie snapped, "I'm totally hot."
"I dunno," Theresa jumped in, "I happen to be an expert in hot men, and I gotta say Archie, you're a little lacking."
Archie stuck his tongue out at her, "Name one guy hotter than me!"
Theresa, to her credit, only glanced at Jay twice before answering, "Chris Evans"
"I'm definitely hotter than him," Archie replied instantly, just as Neil whistled and Odie said "Ten outta ten would bang."
"Get real," Atlanta laughed, "you are not hotter than Captain America."
"In fact, I'm so hot," Archie continued, "he totally thinks I'm hot. Everyone thinks I'm hot."
Their PMR's all beeped at the same time. The movie was barely halfway through and they all groaned.
"It's Saturday night," Herry shouted, "you'd think Cronus would understand that we have things to do on Saturday nights!"
"Yeah," Odie agreed, "we're totally rocking the social life right now," and then his face fell into a serious expression, "dude, we never do anything on Saturday nights other than hang out with the people we live with or fight Cronus."
They were all making their way to the doors, putting on their shoes and grabbing the personal weapons they kept around the house.
Theresa pretended to flinch, "Well when you say it like that, I guess we are kinda hermits."
"Making new friends can come later," Jay reminded them, "right now we have a job to do. I want everyone's heads in the game—" Jay's eyes went wide as he realized his mistake and tried to cover up by continuing talking, "and so that means—"
"What team?" Atlanta screamed, opening the door.
"Wildcats!" everyone shouted back.
Jay slapped a palm over his face as he followed them outside, "Why do I even bother?"