To the rescue

Kyle's POV

At the moment, I was feeling a lot of things. Excited, tired, worried… but mostly worried. I'd been woken by the sound of someone screaming, more of a wail actually. I'd dismissed it at first, and went back to feeling annoyed, because the screamer had disturbed my rest. I cradled the cryotank containing Sunny to my chest, and gripped Jodi's hand. If the screamer managed to wake her up, I wouldn't be mad…

"Kyle? Would you please wake up?" I heard someone ask. I groaned and sat up.

"Doc? Waz-appenin'? " I slurred, blinking awake. I was in the infirmary, and I wasn't alone. Doc, Jared, and someone else sprawled on a cot, was with Jodi and I.

"Ian's in trouble," Jared growled over his shoulder as he bolted down the hallway at breakneck speed.

"He'll sort it out himself," I grumbled. Then I had a stroke of intelligence.

"Wanda?" I barked. I looked at the figure on the cot. Yup, it was her.

"Yeah!" was the fading reply. Oh for #%^ #'s sake!

I took off down the tunnel, after settling sunny down. I knew how Ian could get- especially when he was heartbroken. I'd seen it happen when our parents were lost to us.

I caught Jared out on the edge of the tunnel leading to the cavern's exit. Jeb was holding his gun.

"What's that for? You gonna shoot my brother?!" I hissed as we ran into the narrow space.

"If I have to."

"What happened, exactly?"

"No time to explain. Doc, Wanda, Melanie," Jared summarized. He plunged out into the night, looking around. A few seconds later, Brandt and Aaron followed us out.

"There!" I pointed to a figure in the distance. The dope was swaying as he ran, like a drunk man. We progressed forward as fast as we could, all while keeping an eye on our surroundings, Ian and each other.

"I'll take point. Kyle, you'd better go talk to him, try to calm him down. Jeb, watch our backs. Brandt, Aaron, surround him so he doesn't run off again," Jared muttered. I walked forward slowly, the other men surrounding me. 10 feet, 5 feet, nearly there…

I looked at Ian, really looked at him. In the past few months, I'd seen a change in him, bigger than any change I'd seen before. Wanda had made him a gentler, softer version of his old self. But that didn't make him any less practical or useful; he was quite the opposite. He-

"Wanda's gone, Kyle. Last I saw of her she was laying on a cot… but it wasn't her, was it? It was Melanie… Melanie Stryder. Jared's girl, not Wanda, Wanda's mine, she's…" he trailed off in an incoherent mumble. Then suddenly he spun around and launched himself at me. I hadn't been prepared! I'd let him jump me! Hell!

We tumbled down with the impact, and I stared into the eyes of my brother, two sapphires set into his face. I could see a lost expression in them, asking me "Why?"

"Because I'm your brother, you idiot," I flipped him over, so I had him pinned. He spoke blandly, a trace of sadness in his voice.

"She's not Wanda anymore. She's probably ready to be shipped off to another planet. SHE'S GONE!" he screamed the last into my face. He was too loud, this would attract attention. But all the same I couldn't begrudge him; he was a man with a broken-heart.

I sensed movement behind me. Jeb and Brandt were inching closer, uneasy. Jeb shot me a warning look, and I knew there was only one quick solution out of this.

"I'm sorry, bro."

"SHE'S GONE! SHE'S NOT HERE! SHE-"

I brought my fist down on him. His eyes rolled back and he fainted. I winced at the use of violence on him. But I still had to survive, and staying out here, when it was nearly light was dangerous.

I slung him over my shoulder, and we backpedalled to the cave. Now, all we had to do was keep him away from Wanda, Melanie, or whoever it was.

Yeah, that would be so easy.