Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not own Heroes of Olympus. I do however own up to my absence. Whoops.
Author's Notes: Written for Novel with Prompts Challenge found on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt for this chapter is "cell".
Reminder: I post all review replies on my personal forum topic found right here on this site. Replies to the previous chapter are often posted about an hour after the newest chapter goes up. To find the topic, navigate to the little drop down menu at the top of the screen for Forum to Anime to Digimon. Find the forum called Digital Connections. The topic you are looking for is called "Blurring Boundaries: And so it begins..." Or you can go to my profile and use the direct link there!
This chapter was written last year, but I didn't post it because I wasn't sure if I liked it. I've sat on it for a while, and I've finally decided that it's good enough. I'm not going to say I'm "back" per se, but I am writing a little again. It's nice. I've also been considering posting The Lost Tamer and this story on Ao3, but I have no idea if Ao3 has a Digimon fanbase presence at all. It doesn't seem to, so it's probably not worth it. There are pros and cons to Ao3, though. Pro: I really like their review system. I like openly and publicly replying to reviews (as you all know). That's so much more my style. Con: The tag system is lame lame lame. Another con: Again, the Digimon fandom is tiny as it is, and I'm pretty sure it's even tinier on Ao3. But maybe my perception is off. Hmmm... Anyway!
Enjoy!
Chapter Six
As he walked through the halls of Hypnos with Rika by his side, Henry replayed the day's events in his mind. Most of it seemed to have come from some weird dream.
That morning while wandering downtown with Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta as they waited for a Wild One to appear – before TK showed up – Henry had almost told the others the truth. The four of them had been walking around for a few hours already in the early morning fog, ignoring the way passersby kept sending Guardromon strange looks. They had been talking about Takato, trying to keep each other cheered up over the fate of their friend, saying that he probably was fine, keeping the peace in the Digital World somewhere.
"He and Guilmon are probably fighting together as Gallantmon right now," Kazu said, with his arms thrown up behind his head.
"Yeah, and kicking some major butt while they're at it!" Kenta said.
Jeri smiled sadly. "Knowing Takato, you're probably right." Even without a digimon partner, she was still part of the team. Takato made sure of that years ago when they first started to work side-by-side with Hypnos. Jeri was like their own personal encyclopedia and cheerleader, all wrapped up into one. To make sure she had a place in their little ragtag team, she'd made sure to go out of her way to learn everything she could about Digimon. She kicked Kazu and Kenta's butts on a weekly basis at the very least. Then again, she was being taught and trained by the former Digimon Queen herself, so that wasn't too much of a surprise. Henry found the way that Rika took Jeri under her wing to be especially kind, but he'd never say that aloud. She'd probably hit him, and he knew better than to anger the vibrant redhead – no matter how pretty she looked when she was angry.
Yeah, they're probably right, he thought. Takato's probably in the middle of some major battle as Gallantmon right now… Of course, he'd probably be dead afterward, but at least he'd win the fight…
It was downright depressing to even think of it. Henry, Rika, and probably Takato – all sharing the same affliction. Of course, it was only him and Rika now, them against the world with the ticking clocks hanging over their heads that only they could see. Six months ago, the two of them had decided not to disclose the truth to the others with everything else going on, but it seemed irrational now. Just habit forcing him to keep his mouth shut. And yet, as long as Rika wanted to keep it a secret, he would too. What he wouldn't give to be able to take this problem away from her… which was stupid, as Rika was probably more capable of dealing with, well, everything than he was.
He tried to imagine what Rika would say to the idea of him wanting to protect her: What do I look like? Princess Pretty Pants? I can handle myself.
Yes. Yes, she could.
Hard to believe it had only been eight months since he'd left the Matsuki's bakery in shock – Takato and Guilmon, poof, vanished into thin air.
So much had happened since then: Impmon going missing, the discovery of their affliction, the appointment of Hanaharu as unofficial director Hypnos. Through it all, he'd kept Terriermon as close to his side as he was allowed, knowing that at any moment they could both disappear in an explosion of data.
Don't fight, Henry, his father had said with a shaking voice. Whatever you do, stay out of the fight. For both of your sakes.
The problem was that it was pretty much impossible. With Ryo in and out of the Digital World looking for Takato, that left only Kenta and Kazu to deal with things if he and Rika suddenly decided to retire. And it wasn't that Kenta and Kazu were useless, per se. They just… needed help. A lot of help. Rika was so stubborn that no amount of medical advice was going to keep her out of the fight, and Henry couldn't let her face this alone. And if it weren't them, then who? Suzie? Henry would die before he let that happen, which was pretty much what he was doing. Every bio-emergence, he just prayed that the enemy wouldn't be too tough – that a biomerge wouldn't be necessary. Because if he was fully honest with himself, he wasn't ready to die just yet.
Maybe he just needed to take his partner's advice: Momentai, Henry! At least we'll go together!
How comforting.
Wandering Japan with Jeri, Kenta, and Kazu, he tried to keep his mind off of it. He loved spending time with his friends, but it wasn't the same without Takato and Rika. Takato was, well, gone, and Rika was unfortunately stuck at some modeling shoot with her mother. She said she'd skip out the second her digivice picked up a Wild One signal, but he wished she were here now. They'd been spending a lot of time together ever since Takato's disappearance; they didn't really have anyone else to turn to. He'd grown to look forward to their time together. He tried not to think too hard on it, but he'd found himself looking around for her to show up before she got to their meeting spot, perking up the second he saw her face, and feeling sad when she had to go. Logically, he knew the signs. Emotionally, he chose to ignore them the best he could. But when Kazu unexpectedly asked what in the world he was thinking so hard about as he daydreamed about her showing up at any second, he realized he was in some serious trouble.
Then Takeru Takaishi had arrived.
Sure, Henry had seen fictional characters become real before. He'd been in the middle of playing the Digimon video game when Terriermon had appeared in his arms four years ago, after all. But never a person. And never a celestial digimon. And Angemon – the Angemon – at that! Henry had found himself star struck for possibly the first time ever.
He could still feel the fear gripping his heart as the Vilemon threatened to rip Gargomon in two right before his very eyes. If not for Angemon and TK, those disgusting digimon would have had their way. Gargomon would've been nothing but a pile of data.
After the very public kidnapping of a very real fictional character, Hypnos had dragged the tamers into their headquarters for a debriefing. They met with Riley, Yamaki, and TK, all the while being forced to lie straight to TK's face. It made Henry feel like the worst person in the world, but did they have a choice?
The door closed behind TK and Riley as they left the room. Kenta raised a hand. "Okay, question. Is there a reason we can't just come clean to TK? This feels wrong."
"Don't be dumb," Rika grumbled as she retook her seat next to Henry. "You think we like doing this? We have to."
"Why?" Kazu asked, leaning forward on the table. "I mean, if it were me, I'd totally want to know that I'm some super cool butt-kicking famous digidestined that saved the world once or twice."
"And that everyone you know and love doesn't exist?" Henry added quietly.
The room froze.
Kazu scratched the back of his neck. "Guess I didn't think of that part…"
"You wouldn't," Rika said.
"That would be awful," Jeri said. "No friends… no family… no place to call home…"
"But at least Patamon's real," Kenta said. "I mean, that has to count for something, right? He's not totally alone."
Rika scoffed. "He's not alone at all. That's why you brought him here, isn't it?" She looked over at Yamaki.
Yamaki didn't say anything for a moment. His expression was tight, his suit pressed but with the barest hints that he may have dressed a little hastily with the uneven way his shirt was tucked in, and his eyes looked hardened and uncertain without his sunglasses to hide behind. Henry didn't dare point any of this out.
"Assuming all of this is true, yes," he said finally.
"You don't really believe that this could all be a hoax, do you?" Henry said slowly. "Shibumi's involved somehow; something's going on."
Yamaki pinched the bridge of his nose as if a headache were coming on. "So he is." He sighed. "Look, we don't fully understand what's going on here, so all I need is for you kids not to make things any more difficult for us."
"By doing your job for you, you mean," Rika said.
"By making it obvious that you're doing our job for us," Yamaki corrected her. "There are too many eyes on us that aren't on our side this time around. I need you guys to lay low."
Henry would've liked nothing more than to be able to agree, but he knew it wasn't that simple. They didn't exactly go running around announcing to the entire city that they were fighting dangerous digimon, but when battles erupted, people usually tended to notice. Especially when Takato and Guilmon were still on the job. They were the ones that usually got all the attention that made Yamaki proud and yet annoyed him to no end. And without Takato here, they were just picking up his slack.
Yamaki continued, "The last thing we need is more attention being shined onto the Hypnos program, especially with the Takaishi kid here. If the media found out about who he really is—"
"So you do believe he's the real deal," Jeri said.
"It wouldn't be good for any of us," he finished, evading her question.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Kenta asked. "You're not asking us to just ignore the digimon attacks?"
"And leave it to the military?" Rika said. "Yeah, that would end well. Not."
"I'm asking you to keep the fighting off the streets the best that you can," Yamaki said. "We both know you're the best to deal with these bio-emergences, but try convincing Hanaharu and his bosses of that. All they see is kids. We need them to see nothing so that they care a lot less about what we do."
"Great," Terriermon said, rolling his eyes. "Because subtlety has always been our specialty."
Yamaki ignored him. "And whatever you do – do not tell Takaishi the truth. We need to protect him, but we can't do that if he doesn't trust us."
"Seems wrong," Jeri whispered, "getting him to trust us by lying to him."
Yamaki didn't seem to have an answer to that. Perhaps her words struck him, because he reached into his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses to put on, hiding his expression from them. "I expect you all to follow these instructions. I have to get back to work, because believe it or not, babysitting children is not my fulltime job."
"Hey, we're not children!" Kazu snapped, jumping to his feet.
Yamaki left the room.
Kazu growled, annoyed, and dropped back into his chair. "Now what?"
"Well, we can't exactly ignore what Yamaki told us," Henry said.
"Why not? It's not like Kazu listens to any other adult in his life," Kenta said.
MarineAngemon chirped in agreement.
"Because Yamaki's on our side," Rika said. Her arms were crossed, and she was glaring at the door, obviously annoyed. But Henry knew her smarts and logic were overriding her desire to respond emotionally like Kazu. "He's just trying to protect us and Renamon and the others."
"He sure has a funny way of showing it," Terriermon sing-songed.
"There's a lot of politics going on behind closed doors that we don't get to see," Jeri said. "I'm sure he's doing what he thinks is best."
"But what does this mean?" Kenta asked. "We're actually going to just lie to TK's face and pretend to be his friends?"
"Nobody says we have to pretend…" Henry said awkwardly, but he knew it was an empty attempt to make them feel better. Starting a friendship out on lies really wasn't a friendship at all. But what choice did they have?
"Alright," Kazu said, getting to his feet. "Let's get this over with."
"Where are you going?" Kenta asked.
"To go see if our resident digidestined is out of his meeting yet," Kazu said. "We're supposed to keep an eye on him and keep him from learning the truth, right? Well, what better way to keep him from asking questions than to distract him with my awesome personality?"
Jeri giggled and stood. "I'll go too."
"C'mon, MarineAngemon," Kenta said, also getting to his feet. "Let's make sure he doesn't torture TK too bad."
The three of them walked out of the room, leaving Henry and Rika alone.
Henry let out a breath. "What do you think about all of this?"
For a long moment, Rika didn't say anything. Henry wondered if she had even heard him. Then she turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder. "Renamon," she called.
Renamon phased in, appearing behind her partner's chair. "Yes, Rika?"
"What… what do you think?" she asked, hesitantly.
A delicate furry eyebrow rose in surprise before she answered, "I think… he is one of us, and we protect our own."
"By lying to him," Henry finished.
"Momentai, Henry!" Terriermon said. "At least you don't have to tell the truth!"
"Why am I not surprised that you're fine with this?"
"Renamon's right," Rika said, moving to stand. "It doesn't really matter what we think. If TK is here, then something is going on with the Digital World. And whenever something happens in the Digital World…"
"Eventually it reaches our world," Henry sighed. "So, that's it? We're lying for the Greater Good?"
"Not just that," Rika said. "Takato and Guilmon disappearing. Impmon going missing. TK showing up… Something's going on, and we need to get to the bottom of it. And if Hope Incarnate doesn't have any answers for us, there's really no reason to freak him out any more than he already is." A little pleasant chime sounded throughout the room, and Rika pulled her cell phone off of her belt. "Ryo's here."
Henry got to his feet. "Any news on Takato?"
Her eyes swept across the message, and she shook her head. "Doesn't sound like it, but he says he needs to talk to us about something else."
"Well," Terriermon said cheerfully, "that's never good!"
