Chapter 27: Weeks of Silence.
5 Days After Gibraltar Evacuation
Lena and Emily both yawned as they woke up, both rubbing their eyes as Lena entered the bathroom and Emily opened the curtains, looking out at the countryside. She sighed and walked downstairs, only wearing a thin white tank top and red sleeping shorts, and headed to the basement.
She turned the lights on and found Abel's tube in the far corner of the room, Abel suspended in it. His bruises were mostly gone, cuts were about a day away from being perfectly sealed, say for the one in his chest. The bandages were removed two days ago due to having to change them, and the scar the wound left was massive, from his upper abdomen to his collar bone.
This made Emily sigh as she recorded herself "This is day five of Abel's recovery treatment... Bruises are all gone, cuts are slowly getting there... But the wound on his chest is leaving behind large amounts of scar tissue... His shoulder thankfully seems to be recovering at a good pace... Minimum scar tissue, good skin tone... Will continue observations."
She then cut the recording, and continued examining Abel, while Lena zipped down to her and asked "Anything new?" while handing Emily her toothbrush with toothpaste, and a cup of water. Emily quickly brushed her teeth as she continued examining, and pointed at Abel's stump while gargling up the water and spiting it back in the cup.
Lena looked and saw a black thorn sticking out his stump, making her ask "Bloody hell is that thing?" Emily cleaned her mouth with an old rag and replied "My guess is that it's substance..."
Lena nodded and walked with Emily upstairs, and got around to preparing their breakfast.
Vietnam, 2 Years & 7 Months Ago
Abel sighed as he poured heated water onto his head, the cold night's rain having left him and the team shivering in the early hours of the day.
He was currently alone, behind a wall he made out of substance to bathe himself and remove any leeches that might have gotten onto him during the night. He had his bayonet's blade heating up on a fire as he grabbed it by the handle and pressed the hot metal against a leech on his calf, making the damn worm shrivel and let go.
He sighed, then heard water pouring behind him and looked, finding 29 in her birthday suit and washing off the grime. He quickly turned away from her and tried to quickly remove the rest of the leeches. 29 Watched him and smiled, then asked him "So, what do you expect from the camp up ahead?"
Abel poured water onto his head and replied "I... Uh... I think we can expect heavy resistance, 29..."
29 Nodded, but stopped Abel from Continuing by hugging him from behind, pressing her rather ample chest against his scar riddled back and whispering into his ear "Abel... You know I allow you to call me by my name..."
Abel blushed brightly, and whispered "But 29, the others are-" but she cut him off by turning him to face her, and insisting "Please..." Abel was bright red from ear to ear, making 29 giggle and give him a quick peck on the lips, followed by another, then another, and another.
Abel stopped her and finally sighed out "Alex..." making her smile and tell him "That's better. You know I prefer it when you call me by my name... M'kay?" Abel nodded and burned off the last leech of his legs, then stood up and told her "I'll change and wait for you."
But before he could leave, 29 gave him one last kiss, this one longer and deeper than the first pecks, making Abel roll his eyes and return it in full. Afterwards Abel made himself a pair of boxers, and stepped out with a towel around his head as he dried his hair as much as he could.
He got dressed in his Olive drab battle dress, put on his boots and gaiters, then strapped on his webbing, pouches, holsters, and backpack. The men of the team all looked and watched as Abel picked up his M16 and tossed him a machete, then told him "You're on point today."
Abel caught the blade, nodded, then told them "Be vigilant... They will be well entrenched, and will do anything to impede our progress..." 29 Then came out drying her hair too, and added "And they will also have some vehicular support, armored personnel carriers at most." The guys all looked at the naked beauty standing before them, causing all guys to modestly look away as she got dressed, while Abel looked at their destination through the brush.
Hill 937.
Busan Bay, South Korea, 1 Week After Gibraltar Evacuation
Hana groaned as she finished adjusting her Mech, then looked up to see Dae configuring some of the Mech's systems. She quickly pulled out her phone and texted Emily and Lena to see if she could get any news on Abel, unlike the last few times, the answer came in a minute, and it was a photo of Abel, suspended in the tube while he slept blissfully unaware of anything.
Hana sighed, and replied with a simple "Thank you." then told Dae "I'm gonna call it a day... Gonna shower then go to bed." Dae looked up at Hana, then asked her "Actually... Do you have a minute?" Hana raised a brow as she watched Dae shut down the mech then approach her.
He looked down at Hana, her face face had oil streaks and some soot, but it didn't deter him from asking "Can you tell me about... You know, your sleeping issues?" Hana gave him a pout, and muttered "... Who told you?"
Dae rolled his eyes, and told Hana "You really think I don't notice when you-?" but Hana cut in and asked "Captain Myung?" making Dae reply "Captain Myung."
She groaned and told Dae "Look... I've been having nightmares recently, that's it. We all have these streaks every once in a while, it's no big deal." Dae would usually agree and leave it at that, but this time he pushed harder, asking "And why haven't you been streaming? Or better yet, why haven't you played a single video game since you returned?"
Now that made Hana go quiet, and in return made Dae reassure "You can trust me Hana, if something's wrong, I will do my best to help." Hana looked down, and sighed, then told Dae "Follow me..."
He nodded and followed Hana to her room, finding the room to be rather spotless, say for the hundreds of pages and paper balls on the floor and desk. Hana closed the door, pressed her forehead against it, and asked "... Where do you stand on war...?"
Dae, obviously shocked by the question, replied modestly "Well... War sucks, I think everyone can agree on that, but I also can see why people fight in it... Why do you ask?" Hana sat on her bed, held a journal, and asked "Remember how bad my drawings were?"
Dae did recall an ugly looking sonic drawing Hana made a few years ago, but when she showed him her most recent drawing, he couldn't believe she drew it. The drawing was good, a group of men walking through dense foliage, and this made him ask "So... What's the problem?"
Hana groaned and replied "Dae... I drew this in an hour... I cleaned my room... Hell, I'm wearing boxers, and I'm considering cutting my hair! Don't you see the problem?!" Dae winced at her voice's pitch, then nodded, and replied "I noticed everything except for the hair and boxers part... But why does it worry you?"
Hana gave him a flat look, then pulled out her pistol and disassembled it down to the screws in about two minutes, making Dae go slack jawed. Hana then added "And that's the first time I disarm my pistol..." Now Dae had to ask "Okay... How did you learn all these things?"
Hana reassembled her gun and asked Dae "You heard that I fused with Abel, right?" He nodded and muttered "Even when I don't know who he is..." Hana smacked him, and added "Well... He's been a soldier for a long time... And... I saw alot of his life... And I can't... Unsee it..."
Dae rubbed his cheek, but before he could say anything Hana groaned, and told him "Just get out of my room... You can't help..." Dae furrowed his brows, and told Hana "I would if you just spoke straight." Hana grabbed her pistol and had it pressed against his neck, shocking Dae in the process.
She looked furious as she spoke "I have his memories in my head... And don't you ever speak to me like I'm some child..." Dae raised his hands, allowing Hana to lower her pistol, then realize what she did and quickly apologize with "I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me... I just feel so... Gah! You know?"
Dae nodded, and told Hana "Look, I don't think I will be much help with this... But Captain Myung might be... So promise you will tell her about this... Okay?"
Hana sighed and nodded as Dae left the room, then as soon as the door closed did she quickly grab her pillow and hug it. She then let herself fall backwards onto her bed and looked at the ceiling as the seconds ticked away, on and on, cruelly impatient with everything.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting the heaviness of her own drowsiness blanket her as she slowly slipped into blissful sleep. But right as she was about to sleep, right as her mind was ready to slowly slip into her dreams, did someone knock on the door.
Her eyes shot wide open and she stomped to the door, slammed it open and yell "WHAT IS IT NOW?!" Captain Myung stared down at Hana, but it wasn't her rude tone that surprised her, instead it was something else that she asked "Hana... Your eyes..." Hana gave Myung a disgusted and confused look, then held her phone up to see that the sclera of her eyes was black, and her irises were a deep, but soft pink magenta color.
Hana dropped her phone as Myung dragged the pilot to her office, locked the doors and quickly started a video call with Angela.
Ecopoint, Antarctica, 2 Weeks after Gibraltar Evacuation
Angela looked through the various DNA samples that Captain Myung sent after seeing Hana's new eyes. She examined the blood while the machine to her right compared it to one of Abel's many blood samples she obtained after his fights.
She found some strange bacteria floating around her blood cells, some fuzzy black spots floating and latching onto the red blood cells. She hummed as the machine beside her beeped, and printed out the results, she took the page and looked at the results, expecting some sort of blood contamination.
But she was shocked when she saw that 11% of Hana's blood matched Abel's, making her run more diagnostics on the samples.
The afternoon passed, and while she worked on the blood samples, Jamison shivered and asked Roadhog "B... Bloody hell... C... Couldn't they have chosen a... W... Warmer place?"
Roadhog shrugged, handing Jamison the last of the bolts needed to finally seal off one of the collapsed halls. Jamison didn't hesitate, and bolted the last panel down, and told Winston "Alright you bloody ape! Get the bloody heaters going!"
Winston, who had a good portion of his fur covered in frost, nodded and activated the base's thermal generators, and waited. While Jamison walked away, groaning and muttering under his breath, Mei watched him and sighed as she asked Roadhog "Will he be okay?"
Roadhog gave her a thumbs up, then proceeded after Jamison before the Australian did something stupid.
Talon Airbase, Northern Netherlands, 3 Weeks after Gibraltar Evacuation
Drake sighed as he got off his Spitfire, disappointed with the last search, along with nearly every pilot under his command. Unlike the other pilots however, Drake still had to deal with having to report to Sigma, a task that made him dread Talon to it's core.
He walked down the halls, guns holstered as he opened the doors and found Sigma standing next to Reaper and Kain. Drake felt tense now, but he continued up to them and told the trio "The last base was also empty... We can confirm that Overwatch isn't in continental Europe..."
Sigma kept a flat stare, Kain growled, and Reaper simply asked "And did you find anything useful?" Drake shook his head and explained "Nothing, just the regular defense systems in place..."
Sigma rubbed his temples then muttered "First we think we lose AB-31... Then we lose 02, 04 and now we can't even find Overwatch... Honestly, if I knew that 31 was gonna be this big a disaster... I would have had Moira abort the foul creature before it was born..."
Drake kept his expression neutral as Sigma stated that, then asked the members "So, what should I do now?" Sigma looked at Drake, and ordered him "Leave... We have much to discuss in private..."
Drake nodded and stepped out, leaving the trio to argue as he walked to his room in the facility. Once the doors locked behind him did he grab the desk and throw it against the wall and screamed out in frustration.
He was boiling hot with rage as he had to listen to Sigma talk that way about his family, his closest family to be more accurate.
He sat on the edge of his bed and ran his hand through his hair, then noticed that some of his hair was starting to grow undyed. He sighed and walked to the bathroom with some silver hair dye and got to work on keeping his identity hidden.
No one was around to see him, and everyone was possibly sleeping or getting wasted, so he took his time, making sure the dye was applied properly. While he did this he recalled the day spent flying on his plane, using that thought to keep him busy while his hands ran through his hair with the dye.
Emily's Home, England, 8 Weeks after Gibraltar Evacuation
Emily and Lena both sat in the living room and watched the news, Talon was practically having the time of their life while Overwatch was nowhere to be seen. Lena sighed then looked at Emily, who went over more of Abel's files and reports she had been getting from Angela about both Abel and Hana's condition.
Suddenly her phone's alarm sounded off, and she looked, seeing a flux in Abel's movement that caused both of them to rush down to the basement. When they arrived they found Abel pressed against the glass, the place where the thorn used to be now had a massive amount of black root looking structures growing out of him.
Lena quickly opened the tank and Emily helped her pull Abel about, black roots shriveling up into a compact, rudimentary arm. The black limb however looked more like a vacuum sealed skeleton arm with the under developed muscles looking like they could pop with a needle.
Emily quickly helped remove the breathing tube, removing the harness, then pulling a foot long tube out of his mouth that caused him to gag at the last seconds. Both Lena and Emily watched him cough up some of the medical juice he was in and some substance, followed by him looking around while shivering.
Emily quickly grabbed one of the many towels they had ready for this situation and wrapped it around Abel and told him "Easy there, easy... Calm down..." Abel shivered and laid against Emily as he trembled, then muttered "W...w.. where...?"
Lena helped Emily get Abel up on his feet as they both helped the stumbling mess up the stairwell. Abel's vision was still blurry, he could barely make out things a foot away, everything else was a big smudge as Lena told him "Easy there love... Just take it easy..."
Abel nodded and arrived at the living room, where both Brits sat him on the couch and rushed to get him some proper clothes, seeing how all he had on were a pair of grey Boxer briefs. Lena brought him a baggy pair of pants, while Emily brought him a black turtleneck shirt.
But when they both came back to the living room they found the front door open, and Abel standing on the porch as he stared out at the open fields of the British countryside. Emily took his hand and told him "C'mon love, don't want you getting sick..." Abel followed like a puppet being pulled by his strings, and obediently took his seat as Lena explained "Here love, put these on."
Abel looked at the clothes and nodded as he put them on, while Emily grabbed her phone and called Angela, hoping that she would pick up.
Lena watched I've the dazed and confused Abel as he gorggily looked around and felt his entire body pulse with soreness. He groaned and laid back, panting as if he just came out of a fight, making Lena sit beside him and ask "Love, are you alright?" Abel looked at her, and asked "Do I look alright?"
Lena could tell she might have struck a nerve, then she watched as he rubbed his forehead and asked "Where's everyone? Winston? Jamison? Hana?"
Now came the hardest part of him waking up after two months of being in a tube, but Lena inhaled, then explained "A good portion of the team is at our hidden base over in Antarctica... And Hana is back in Korea..."
Abel stared at her, and was about to get up and walk out the front door when Emily came back and told Abel "They're all safe... I promise."
Guadalajara, Mexico, 9 Week after Gibraltar Evacuation
22 Groaned as she finally made it to the place, the sound of the crowd drowning her complains as she knocked on the door.
it opened, revealing Sombra on her computer as she asked "What the hell happened to you Pendeja?" 22 growled and muttered "Don't fucking ask..."
Chapter 27: Completed.
And yet another chapter in the time span of three days, and god damn has the weekend been strange for me, just one weird thing after another. Been working a little around the neighborhood to make some money, but nothing steady, so i won't really talk about that much. Let's go to the reviews:
JamesFames: Glad to see you enjoying it man.
BlueN0va: And here's another chapter for you, and the answer will come, soon.
He23t: Annoyed would be an understatement, glad you liked it, and i would like you to look over on the new fic i posted, think you might like it.
Noble6117: Ask and you shall receive, Noble-6.
And we are done with this one now, let's keep the train moving. Would appreciate if you guys went over and gave my other fic a quick read, if you guys want to, but besides that, i only have one thing to say...
I'm still in the Trenches, and I hope You Enjoyed.