I am writing this at almost midnight with a raging case of pre-period cramps and I have school tomorrow. I hope you all love me for this. I also hope that you enjoy that chappy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Chapter 9: Finding the Near Dead
"Holy wow," Yasu muttered, staring in through the cracked door of the attic, "That kid was seriously not kidding. I don't know if I should be amazed, horrified, both or something else entirely." He was blocking the way into the room with his body, effectively cutting off Gene's view into the room seeing as he was at least half a head shorter than Yasu in Mai's body.
Grumbling, Gene pushed on Yasu's side. "Hey, genius, you know your mom didn't have sex with a window to make you, right? Move over," he said, muscling his way passed the other boy with a hard roll of his eyes. "What are you even talking about?" His words trailed off into oblivion as he understood.
The attic was easily the largest room in the entire house. With high, sloping ceilings and floors that spanned the entire layout of the house without a single wall made it even larger. Rows upon rows of beds had been set up, running from the wall where they stood all the way to the end of the room by the window that had been nailed shut for reasons unknown to the pair. The rows were three beds deep, pressed so close that only a thin person would be able to squeeze between them. At the side of each bed, a simply IV drip was attached to the left arm of each sleeping body. Every bed was filled with an eerily comatose patient.
"I can see why the kids thought the room was filled with the dead," Gene muttered, tentatively taking the first step into the wide, seemingly crowded space. Nausea slowly crept up his throat, but he ignored it, focusing on the issue at hand. "How did he… find so many of us?" he murmured.
"This is some set up he's got here," Yasu said, whistling under his breath as he wandered over to the window, glancing out of it down into the closely surrounding forest. "Is there any reason we should be worried about our isolation?"
"There wasn't until you mentioned it!" Gene snapped, skirting passed the sleeping children to the window. Standing to the side of the glass, he peered out into the forest. "Unless one of these children has the power to manipulate plants or something, which they shouldn't because that is totally not a psychic or even real ability, then there shouldn't be a problem with the forest. The isolation on the other hand, we do have a problem with. I didn't realize how close the trees were though."
A shadow flashed between the trunks of the trees. It was only a millisecond, but he saw it, that slight shift in the shadows from lighter to darker and back to the lighter grey when a body passes through them. "Shit," he gasped, jerking away from the window. He jerked Yasu to his knees in front of him, below the windowsill. "Shit. Shit. Shit. I think someone saw us."
Turning to consider what the next best thing would be to do, his eyes drifted down to where Yasu was. On his knees, the top of Yasu's head came up to his waist, and he couldn't help the comment that snaked up his throat. "You look good on your knees."
Yasu smirked up at him, lenses flashing with the light of the stars. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"
Pushing Yasu away in mock disgust, he shot back, "Don't push your gender roles onto me. I don't get on my knees for anyone." His threw his nose high and haughtily into the air, crossing his arms over his chest. Had his, or Mai's, or whoever's, breasts gotten fuller? No. Definitely not. He was just imagining the wider spread of his arms.
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he tried to focus on the problem at hand and keeping his nausea tamped down enough for them to investigate and get back downstairs.
His laugh cutting off halfway through, Yasu gulped audibly. "I think… gender roles are the least of our problems right now," his whispered.
"What are you talking about?" Gene asked, lowering his eyes. Before they could reach Yasu, they snagged on what had caused his friend's distress.
Where the beds had been filled wtih motionless bodies, they were empty. Beside them stood their occupants, heads dipped, eyes closed, hands clasped around their IV stands. They stood as motionless as they had lain, turned towards the pair.
"Yasu, get up," Gene whispered, grabbing for Yasu's sleeve. "Now. Get up. Get behind me. Stay behind me. When I move, move. When I stop, stop. No matter what, don't get in front of me." Cautiously, he slid his foot forward, watching the occupants' reactions carefully.
They stayed as they were, silently watching their movements.
'Please, don't let me get Yasu killed and ruin Mai's chance to be with Naru again,' Gene prayed silently, shuffling forward at a snail's pace. Forcibly shoving aside his growing nausea, he drew on Naru's power, trying to channel it as Naru was able to. When they were younger, they'd found that if they concentrated hard enough, they could use the other's abilities. Not to the other's capabilities or standards, but enough that if they really needed it, they could use it for defense. 'Please work,' he mind whispered unbidden. He tried not to think of all of the repercussions he'd be putting his temporary host through.
As if responding to his plea, the air around his palms began sparking with that barely contained energy. It wasn't as widespread as Naru's, but it was enough to give him hope. He didn't want to kill any of the unsuspecting victim's, but merely incapacitate them. A short, Taser-like shock would do perfectly fine, which would be all he'd be able to produce most likely.
Breathing out an energy laden breath, he blew the energy into a shield that would surround the two of them, deflecting any psychic attacks. Physical attacks were a different story though. Just then, he was happy that they'd sent Rex to go back to Base before coming up.
They were just reaching the door when the first patient moved, turning to stare at them, eyes flashing open. It was a girl with long, silky black and features more familiar than he cared to admit. Every other patient followed suit. All of their eyes were the same color, emerald green with brown. Slowly, patiently, they pulled their IVs from their arms, and lunged.
…..
Naru felt the energy drain long before he knew what was happening several stories above his head. It was a curious sort of drain, not the kind you get from working out or going to school or interacting with idiots. It was a different kind of feeling than even exhaustion. It was at least ten times worse. It sucked at the marrow of his bones, stealing energy from every cell in his body. It pulled at the air held in his lungs, making it hard to breathe, especially with a six-year-old boy sleeping restlessly on his chest. If he'd attempted to stand at that moment, he would have surely dropped to the floor, legs crumpling beneath him. Leaning his head back against the edge of his chair, he groaned quietly.
"What's the matter?" Lin asked, frowning in his direction. His fingers slowed to only a few taps a second.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Naru shook his head. He was sure he knew the feeling, but he couldn't name it, couldn't pinpoint where he'd felt it before. If he could name it, he could tell Lin, they could fix it. That was the problem with almost remember something, it danced just out of reach, tantalizing but uncatchable.
Grumbling, Tamaki shifted against Naru's chest again, tightening his fists on the shoulders of Naru's black button-up, wrinkling the ironed fabric. "Mommy," he whispered, rubbing his eyes against Naru's shoulder.
Sighing, Naru wrapped his jelly arms around the boy, rubbing circles into his back comfortingly. Even that was taxing, pulling at the dregs of what was left of his body. All he could do from that point was melt into a puddle of goo on the floor or pass out with his son. Neither seemed very appealing.
"Noll, are you sure you are alright?" Lin asked with concern, turning away from his computer altogether to look over the pair.
Naru couldn't even find enough energy to give his trademark single-syllable response. In the next moment, he didn't have to because it was obvious that he wasn't okay.
In his lap, Tamaki jerked awake, slamming his knee into Naru's groin with the force of a horse kicking back. As Naru bucked forward with a higher-than-natural groan, Tamaki toppled sideways. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy, I have something to tell you!" he cried as he shot to his feet, navy eyes wide. Stopping in his haste, he cocked his head to the side, staring at Naru. "Daddy, what's the matter? Are you hurt?"
Trying not to laugh, and choosing instead to flinch, Monk waved Tamaki over while Naru made a valiant attempt not to cry. "You could say that your dad is hurt. You should probably let him alone while the pain wears off," Monk said, ruffling the boy's hair, "Now, what is it that you need to tell your dad?"
"I talked to Mommy!" Tamaki said excitedly.
As if they'd all suddenly downed a number of energy drinks, the entire group was wide-eyed and awake, except for the incapacitated Naru, staring at the child expectantly. Kamin watched him jealously, muttering, "I want to see Mommy."
Tamaki shook his head quickly. "Mommy doesn't want us where she is. She said that we will get hurt if we go there. She told me I had to tell Daddy and Daddy Gene what happened in my dream."
"Well, you can tell Ayako, Lin, Masako, John and me, and then we can all tell your dads. So, can you tell us what happened?" Monk asked coaxingly, smiling reassuringly.
Nodding, Tamaki relayed the entire story to them, including the part where he'd felt something, or someone bad, while running to wake up. When he was done, he stared down at his feet. "We're going to be able to get Mommy out of that cage, right? She won't have to be there for much longer, right?" he asked, taking Kamin's hand when she offered it to him.
Glancing between the bewildered expressions of the others, Monk sighed and nodded. "Of course. We're going to get your mom back really soon, and then everything will be fine again," Monk told him.
"Okay," Tamaki murmured. Kamin stood as he went quiet, pulling him away from the group to a blanket she'd left in a corner. They crawled beneath it, whispering between each other.
Sighing, the group turned to Naru who had finally straightened from the pain only to rest his elbows on his knees. "So, Naru, what are we going to do? We know you were listening," Monk asked, sitting back against the wall.
"Of course I was listening," Naru mumbled tiredly, his voice fading quickly, "I need to talk to Gene before…"
Several things happened all at once after that. Naru slumped forward into a heap on the floor. Rex began scratching and barking viciously at the outside of the door. And a high, piercing, familiar scream rang through the air.
So, it's been a week since I posted last, and I feel bad about that, but school is such a bitch. I might only have 2 academic classes and then 2 musical classes, but it's still a bear. Once I get back into the flow of things, and pull my head out of the sand, things should run more smoothly. See you next time!
