Chapter 2

Where was he?

It was dark. Why couldn't he see anything?

Gradually, he discovered that his eyes were closed. His mind was so groggy and fuzzy that even that realization seemed to take hours. It took even longer to decide to open them.

But when he tried to get his eyelids to move, they did not respond. What was going on?

Mentally gritting his teeth, he gathered his strength and slowly released the pressure into his eyelids.

With a surprising snap, they popped open. Curiously, he tried to close them again, and found that he could not.

The light in the room was very bright, and reflexively he found himself mentally wincing from their effect on his eyes, but then he realized that their intensity caused him no pain.

He was looking at a white ceiling. As he got used to the light, he began to recognize his surroundings. He was in the Medical Center below Galaxy Security. On Earth.

He thought he could see someone in the right corner of his vision, but when he tried to turn to look, he found that he was unable to do so. Even his eyes would not move. They continued to stare at the ceiling despite repeated attempts to look elsewhere.

He tried to calm down. Getting frustrated wasn't going to help right now. He tried to assess the rest of his physical condition.

He was hearing the hum of various machines and fans. He heard small movements off to his right. So it appeared that his ears were working.

But nothing else appeared to be functioning. He couldn't feel any part of his body. He couldn't move any part of his body. He tried to speak, but no sound came out.

Desperately, he accessed his implant. Maybe he could trigger a command to get his cerebonics to heal his body. That's what they were there for, wasn't it?

But his implant said that nothing was wrong. It seemed to think that his body was perfectly healthy. There was some kind of communication misfire between his implant and his brain.

Inside, he raged in anger, but outside, there was no change.

What the hell had happened to him?

He tried to piece his memories together. Gradually, he recalled seeing Zoltar, and The Luminous One. That beam of light and then…

This.

He needed answers. But in his current state he didn't think he was about to get them.

A voice intruded on his thoughts. He recognized it… Princess?

"Well now that you both have fresh sheets, I thought I might play my guitar for you. Any requests?"

She moved into his vision, and he saw her turn toward him with a smile. Suddenly her face took on a shocked expression, and the guitar she had been holding fell from her hand.

He heard the dull thud it made as it hit the floor.

"Jason!" Princess cried, "Your eyes!"

His mind flooded with relief. She knew! She knew he was there!

"Jason, you opened your eyes!" An ecstatic smile lit up her features.

It was the most beautiful sight Jason had ever seen.

Almost immediately he heard a door bang open, and suddenly two unfamiliar faces were peering at him.

"What's the big emergency, Princess?" one of them asked.

"His eyes! They're open, Dr. Myers!" Princess' voice exclaimed, "He's awake! He opened his eyes!"

The man who was apparently Dr. Myers merely grunted. He performed an examination, asking Jason to shut his eyes, shining light into them, lightly slapping Jason's cheek. He closed Jason's eyes, then opened them again.

The nurse at his side took detailed notes.

At last Dr. Myers stood up.

"I don't see any change in the patient." he said to Princess.

"What?" Princess cried, "But his eyes… how do you explain that?'

The doctor's voice took on a condescending tone, as if he were speaking to a small child.

"Sometimes muscles react involuntarily to certain stimuli. It happens occasionally with coma patients. The Condor is still scoring a 3 on the Glasgow Coma scale."

"No… he's awake!" Princess shook her head vehemently. "I don't care about your damn scale! He's awake!"

"Not by my tests." said the doctor. "And his implant still isn't showing any signs of activity. Neither is his brain."

What? That couldn't be right. He was thinking right now, wasn't he? And wasn't he hearing and understanding this conversation? He could see Princess and Dr. Myers arguing next to him (albeit only barely through his peripheral vision).

His implant… it wasn't giving him the right information either. It was still telling him that his body was fine, even though he couldn't move or feel anything.

He turned his attention back to the doctor just in time to hear him exiting the room, leaving a steaming Princess to mutter curse words at his back.

Wow. He had had no idea that Princess had ever heard some of those phrases, much less understood what they meant.

Wait a minute… his view was changing. He realized that the bed was moving and raising his body to a sitting position. He could see much more of the room now. Princess put her hands on his face, gently, and turned it slightly to the right so that he could see more of his surroundings.

If he could have, Jason would have gasped. On the bed to his right lay Mark. He looked pale and still… lifeless… his eyes were closed and there was no movement. Did he, Jason, look like that too?

Princess sat between his bed and Mark's, and took Jason's hand. He wished that he could feel her touch.

"I'm sorry, Jason…" she said, tears streaming down her face, "I'm sorry I wasn't convincing enough. But I know you're there, and I know that you can hear me. I won't give up on you!"

"I realize that this must be incredibly confusing, so let me explain everything to you, as it was explained to me."

Princess went on to tell him the most incredible story. The war was over. The Luminous One was dead. Zoltar was a prisoner of Galaxy Security. G-Force was on hiatus. He had been unconscious for nearly 3 months. Mark was still unconscious. The light beam that The Luminous One had attacked him with had hit Princess as well, although only for a tiny fraction of a second. She had been at his bedside, and Mark's, for 10 weeks, taking care of them.

And not until he opened his eyes had either of them given any indication that they would ever come out of these comas.

What hurt the most was discovering that Tiny, Keyop and Chief Anderson were not there. Princess didn't mention them, but her silence about their comrades told him volumes. He just thanked whatever divine entity there was for Princess. She appeared to be the only one who recognized that he was there... even if he couldn't respond to any outside influences.

Princess continued talking to him. Her soft voice was soothing, and Jason appreciated being updated on what was happening. He wished he could ask her questions, but of course that was impossible.

Or was it? She was sitting very close to him. Their implants were only a couple of feet away. Maybe his implant could connect with hers!

He tried out his theory. He attempted to activate his implant and reach out to Princess'. But it was like grasping at empty air. There was nothing there for him to make contact with.

He was feeling very frustrated when the door opened and Chief Anderson entered the room.

Anderson's eyes flicked over Jason, noting his position, and his open eyes. Princess turned to look at him.

"Chief!" she exclaimed, in a relieved voice, "I'm so glad you here! That pigheaded Dr. Myers wouldn't believe me. But it's true! Jason opened his eyes. He's awake!"

"I can see that his eyes are open." said Anderson dryly, "But that doesn't mean that he is conscious. Dr. Myers seems to think that it was some random involuntary muscle reaction."

"It wasn't! I know it wasn't!" Princess cried, "Jason is there! He's awake, and he can probably hear us right now. Don't you want to say anything to him?"

Anderson put his hand gently on Princess' shoulder.

"I know this is hard for you, Princess," he began, "but I really think that you are grasping at straws. None of Jason's vital signs or brainwaves have changed. We still believe that his implant has been de-activated. There is no reason at all to believe that he will ever come out of it. As far as we can tell, he's the same as Mark, still."

The same as Mark? Then he had been like that… Jason mentally shuddered. He had to let them know that he was conscious. He hoped that Mark would regain consciousness as well.

But the worst part was that Chief Anderson didn't think he was awake either. He had barely looked at Jason, and was directing all of his words to Princess.

"I think the stress of this situation is getting to you, Princess." said the Chief. "Maybe you need to take some time off. Spend a few days back at Jill's, with Keyop and Tiny."

Princess shook her head.

"No." she answered firmly. "Jason needs me more than ever, now. I appear to be the only one who believes that he could be awake." The Swan looked accusingly at Anderson. "I'm not going to abandon him Chief."

"As you wish, Princess." Anderson sighed. He turned and left the room, head bowed.

But apparently the Chief hadn't given up. A few hours later, Tiny and Keyop entered the room. Princess was playing her guitar when they arrived.

The Swan looked up at the latest visitors and sighed.

"So, are you guys here to help me make contact with Jason, or are you here because the Chief told you to convince me to leave?"

Keyop blushed and stared at the floor. Tiny muttered something incoherent. That was all the response Princess needed.

"Alright then, if that's the way you feel, you can both go. I don't need any more people accusing me of harboring false hope. I've been through enough of an emotional wringer today, thank you very much!" she said hotly, returning to her guitar.

"Aw, Prin, please don't be that way." Tiny said. "We love you! We just want to see you happy!"

"What would make me happy is to have everyone trying to help Jason and Mark return to normal!" said Princess angrily, "Instead, you are all assuming that I'm wrong, because I don't agree with you!"

"Brrt… but Princess… the doctors say…"

"I don't care what the doctors say!" cried Princess. "They're wrong! They don't know what's going on inside someone's head! They may have created the implants, but they don't understand us, or who we are as human beings. They don't truly understand how our brains co-exist with the implants. As far as I'm concerned…"

"Yeah, we know." Tiny interrupted her, "But Princess, Keyop and I have implants too. And we don't think that they're going to recover either."

"Well, then, that just goes to show what kind of a friend you are!" sobbed Princess. Her shoulders began to heave.

Keyop gave Tiny a sad look, then put his arms around his big sister.

"Brrt… come home, Princess." he said, "We love you!"

But the Swan shook her head.

"I can't, Keyop." she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't…"

Jason's mind was awash with conflicting emotions. He was furious with Tiny and Keyop for giving up on him so easily, but then… he looked at Mark again… wouldn't he have done the same if their positions had been reversed? Of all of them, Jason had always been the most willing to accept a loss, and then move on with his mission anyway. He knew that if their positions were reversed, he might very well be thinking the same thing as Tiny was.

88888

As the days and weeks passed, Jason came to appreciate Princess more and more. He couldn't believe the amount of time, effort, and love that she gave to both him and Mark. At first, he was surprised to see her brushing his teeth, or rolling him over so she could change his sheets. He was especially shocked to have her bathe him, but he gradually came to understand that someone had to do these things. If he couldn't, he was glad that Princess was the one to do so. Better her than some of those gorilla-like nurses they had around here.

Jason had never spent so much time with Princess before. Usually if he was with her they were training, or on a mission, or all off-duty as a group. He had never realized what a wicked sense of humor she had, or what incredible patience.

Nor had he ever fully appreciated her female attributes. Since they spent most of their time alone together (if you didn't count Mark) he whiled away many hours just staring at her. Since she no longer had to wear those silly striped pants, she had taken to dressing herself in skirts and blouses. He liked the confident, feminine look she had, not to mention the way her clothes clung to her curves. When she smiled at him and her eyes sparkled, he longed to be able to smile back, and let her know how much he enjoyed her company.

But so far, he wasn't able to do that.

One afternoon, a couple of weeks after Jason had regained consciousness, Princess entered the room holding a cupcake and a strange package.

"Happy Birthday, Mark!" she said cheerily.

Mark's birthday? Jason was surprised that she would even remember. But he guessed he shouldn't be. Princess had always been the one who had reminded him about these things. Although, it seemed a little strange to celebrate the birthday of a man who wasn't even conscious.

"Come on, Jason!" Princess smiled. "Would you like to wish Mark a Happy Birthday?"

When there was no response, the Swan winked at him.

"That's all right. I know how you hate this kind of mushy stuff, Jason."

She put down the cupcake and whipped a candle and a match out of her pocket.

"And now we can have a celebration." Princess grinned. "I'm sorry it isn't a proper cake, but… well, let's be honest… you guys are going to make me eat the whole thing and I'm not sure how much of a pig I want to make of myself."

She lit the candle and began to sing.

"Happy Birthday to you…."

Jason's thoughts drifted back to Mark's last birthday, when they had all thrown their Commander a 'surprise' party at Jill's. Mark had obviously figured out the 'surprise' in advance, but had been pleased anyway. They were all so close, like a family, and Mark had been happy just to be among his loved ones.

And now, most of his loved ones had abandoned him, and Jason as well. It was only Princess who remained.

Princess had finished singing. She gave the birthday Eagle a kiss on the cheek and set the cupcake down.

"And what's a birthday without presents?" she declared. "Well, one present, anyway."

When had Princess had time to get a present? She was spending twelve hours a day with them in this pathetic excuse for a room.

"Thank goodness for online shopping!" Princess smiled at Jason.

"Here, Mark." she continued, "This is from Jason and me." Princess grinned at Jason again. "You can pay me back as soon as you get out of here, Condor."

Jason inwardly groaned. Princess' forced frivolity was starting to get to him. Normally he enjoyed her little jokes, but today… this whole 'birthday party' was somewhat depressing.

Princess took something out of the package and placed it on Mark's chest.

"It's a new flight bag." she explained. "I know that your old one is falling apart. You can use it as soon as the doctors give you clearance to fly again…"

Princess' voice trailed off as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Jason felt terrible for thinking badly of Princess' 'party'. He realized that she was desperately trying to hold herself together, today of all days. He wished that he could let her know how much her efforts were appreciated, but, as always, when he tried to speak or move his body did not respond.

The door opened to let in Chief Anderson, Tiny and Keyop. Princess quickly sat up straight and brushed at her eyes.

"Hello…. It's good to see you all." she said, her voice betraying her emotions.

"I thought…" Anderson began, "I thought that I should see Mark today."

"Yeah…" Tiny added, "It just didn't seem right to ignore his birthday."

"Brrt… even if he is…" Keyop stopped abruptly upon receiving a dark look from the Owl.

"I can see that you remembered the event as well." said the Chief, glancing at the cupcake.

"Yes… well… Jason and I were having a party for Mark." Princess said quietly.

"A party?" exclaimed Tiny, "Isn't that kind of…"

This time, it was a glare from the Chief that silenced the Owl.

"Most importantly, Princess." Anderson sad, "We wanted to check up on you. We knew that this might be a tough day for you."

Jason had to hand it to the Chief. He knew Princess pretty well. And Jason was grateful that his friends had shown up to keep her company.

His friends… but they weren't even looking at him. In fact, they weren't even looking at Mark, although they were ostensibly visiting to see him. They were looking only at Princess.

Keyop walked over to his big sister and gave her a hug. As he did, he looked up and found himself meeting the Condor's icy stare. Jason couldn't actually move his eyes, but his mind screamed out to Keyop, asking him to understand.

The Swallow turned away guiltily, and focused on Princess.

"Doot… miss you, Princess." he said. "Want you… home… with me… and Tiny."

"You know I can't do that, Keyop." Princess said softly. "Mark and Jason need me, and I'm going to stay here as long as they do."

Keyop nodded slowly.

"Brrt… I know… but… had to… try."

Princess smiled gratefully.

The conversation turned to more everyday matters. Keyop was doing well at school, Tiny was working at Jill's. The Chief finally had time to get eight hours of sleep every night…

And then something caught Jason's attention.

"So… how are things going with Zoltar?" Tiny asked.

Anderson frowned and rubbed at his forehead.

"Lately, he has become very… reluctant… to talk to us. To anyone. At first he seemed to be grateful that he was alive, and gave us a lot of useful information. But now…"

"He's sad?" asked Keyop.

"I think 'lonely' fits the bill a bit more." the Chief replied. "I suspect he's come to realize that the rest of his life won't be much of a life, and he's regretting surrendering to us."

"At least he has his life." said Princess bitterly, "He can walk, and talk, and communicate. Mark and Jason don't have those 'luxuries'."

Everyone stared at her.

"You're right, Princess." said Tiny thoughtfully. "After all that he's done, spending the rest of his life in a Galaxy Security cell doesn't seem like such a big price to pay."

After that, the conversation lagged, and it wasn't long before everyone left.

Zoltar… Jason hadn't thought about him in a long time. The Condor resolved to get better, even if only to prove to that purple goon that he hadn't been defeated.