AN: This one is set in between episodes one and two, and much longer than the last.
Sorry for the double post, I actually ended up splitting the points of the story so it'll be two separate pieces now.
Apocalypse Shock
Sian dragged the towel over the back of her neck, wiping away the sheen of sweat that had accumulated during her workout. The burn in her muscles felt good and comfortable, a reassuring familiarity after the unusual day they had had yesterday. Months of searching, and they'd finally found another member for the team, and while he was young, he was clearly good at what he did. His frenetic, spastic enthusiasm was going to take some getting used to though.
She pushed open the door to the lounge and immediately spotted Steven sitting on the sofa, a row of books spread out on the low table in front of him. He appeared to be reading all of them simultaneously, but he spared a glance for her when he heard the door. "I've been reading up on the science of direct energy," he offered, turning a page in two different books. "It shouldn't be any trouble to work up something to help you build a tolerance, especially if the kid is as good with electronics as he says."
"Good," she agreed, walking over and leaning against the arm of the sofa. Her eyes panned across the open pages in front of him and then around the room. "Where is Kai, by the way? He's not still asleep, is he?" He had been asleep when she'd gone by his room earlier, but it was already past noon. She knew teenagers liked to sleep a lot, but still...
"Last I saw, he was hiding under his desk, talking to himself," Steven replied distractedly. Something must have caught his attention, because he was focused on one book, following the lines of text with a fingertip.
"Under his desk?" Sian echoed in concern. "Did you talk to him?"
"I tried," Steven huffed and looked up at her, giving her that patronising glare he always wore when someone interrupted his work. "He was just muttering something about 'We come in peace,' and then waved me off. I figured I'd let him work it out on his own like I did."
Sian sighed and ran a hand back through her hair. She clearly remembered the days after Steven had come to the Agency, and he had several days of anxiety followed by a bit of a nervous breakdown. She supposed Kai was slated for one as well. Especially since he was so young and green, with even less involvement with the coarser side of the world than Steven had before joining.
"Right, well, I'm going to go clean off," she said and stood up. She touched Steven's shoulder and he responded with a quick pat on the hand before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and diving back into the books.
As much as she agreed with Steven's assumption, Sian still couldn't help but worry about the newest recruit as she wandered down the halls back toward the living areas. Instead of heading straight for her room, she looped around to the room the teen had claimed and peered curiously around the doorframe.
Kairan Fischer was sitting on the floor of the room, leaning his back against the side of the desk. He had his legs folded in front of him and as he stared a hole in the wall opposite him, he talked to himself at lightning speed. " - Because I mean who wouldn't think so? Why not? I'll just challenge 'em to a game of Pong, and when I win they'll just stop planning to destroy the world, yeah? Of course, it's not like-"
"Kai?" she said, tapping lightly on the door to get his attention. His mouth snapped shut and he swiveled his large eyes to her. "Are you all right?"
He dragged a hand through his hectic hair and grimaced. "Yesterday morning my biggest concern was a boring art class and a literature paper I've been putting off," he responded, hysteria making his voice higher than normal. "Now I'm some kind of mutant working for a secret government agency, there's a bunch of maniacs out there who tried to kill me, and somehow I'm supposed to help you guys stop the bleedin' apocalypse. It's - it's a lot and just-"
"I know," she said as he trailed off, looking up at her hopelessly. She slipped into the room and sat down on the floor facing him. "It's a lot to take in all at once. And it's okay to be scared."
"Good, because I'm terrified," he cut in.
"But," she continued, "you wouldn't have been Called if you couldn't handle it."
Kai glanced across at her. "Yeah?"
"You'll be fine," she said simply, because she could tell that most of all, what he needed was someone to believe in him. "Look how well you handled things yesterday. You saved us all."
"I panicked and hid in a ventilation shaft," he pointed out in embarrassment.
"It's not always about the fight, remember," she said. "And when we really needed you, you came through." She smiled and nudged his foot with hers. "Everything else comes with practice."
He gave her a tight-lipped smile in return, but then sighed and let his head fall back against the desk. "Right, okay, that's something," he rambled. "I guess that's one less thing to worry about. Now just for the other hundred things."
"Kai, stop," Sian said, leaning forward and pointedly drawing his attention. "You have really got to work on that nervous talking thing. C'mon." She tapped his knee and then stood up.
"Where're we going?" he asked, his brow knitting.
"First thing's first, you need some self-defence training," she said. "That way next time the Dogs catch up to us, you can be useful."
"I'm gonna learn to fight?" he asked, and his voice seemed torn between eagerness and fear.
"To protect yourself," she clarified, and gestured for him to follow her.
He scrambled up and tailed her out of the door, already talking a mile a minute. "Can you show me how to do that thing where you flip the person over your shoulder? I saw you do that, it's brilliant. Just like BAM and they're down. Oh and what about a sword, like Steven's? I could be all," and he mimed a series of fencing thrusts as he stumbled along beside her in the hallway, "like a pirate or a-"
"Kai," she interrupted and glared pointedly.
"Oh, right, shut it," he said and snapped his mouth shut again. Still, there was a spark in his eyes again that had been missing, and she knew she'd successfully distracted him. He would be all right in the end.
