Andy glanced at the time, realizing she overslept. She climbed out of bed and grabbed her clothes, heading to the shower. When she got in and turned the water on she was covered in sticky purple Kool-aid. She cursed, waiting for it to clear out of the sprayer before washing it off. She had to scrub at a few spots that were starting to stain purple.
When she was done, she headed to the kitchen like every morning, her mind working on prank ideas to pull on the team.
When Ryusei came in, Andy raised an eyebrow, "Kool-aid? Really?"
He paled, swallowed hard and spent the next ten minutes groveling in apology, explaining it was meant for Kiba after he switched the coffee to decaf.
Andy chuckled, "Don't worry about it."
She handed him a plate when she was done with the food.
After breakfast, she started a list of things she needed, then set to work on setting up her pranks.
She knew Kiba would shower after working out, so she set Ryusei's prank back up to get him.
She decided she'd set the rest up for the next day.
"RYUSEI! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN WALKING!"
Kiba emerged a sticky purple mess from the shower, mayhem in his eyes.
Andy giggled when she saw him, "I'm not sure purple is your color."
"Very funny. I'm going to mummify and bury him in the range." Kiba growled before heading for the shower again.
Andy laughed and started preparing her pranks for the next day.
Ryon came in, wiping baby powder from his face and hair. "Will it upset you much if I turn Stitch into a pretzel?"
Andy laughed again, "How did he manage that?"
"Baby powder in the hair dryer." Ryon chuckled. "It's not a bad one but damn.."
Andy chuckled, "He's getting more creative with his pranks, isn't he?"
"That's what's scary."
"He tried to get Kiba with Kool-aid in the shower," Andy smiled.
"Thank god it wasn't me.. Wait, tried? Who did he get?"
Andy rolled her eyes, "Me. But I set it back up and got Kiba for him."
Ryon started laughing hysterically. "Sorry I missed it. His reaction, not yours. I don't want to die."
"Want to help me get him back?" she smirked. "And get more of the team while we're at it?"
His eyes lit up with a mischievous twinkle. "Command me, O Queen."
Andy quickly let him in on her ideas.
He was wiping his eyes when she finished. "Stitch is going to have to relinquish his crown. And remind me to never truly piss you off."
Andy chuckled, "I'll get everything in the kitchen ready in the morning. You set up the things in the bathrooms?"
"Your wish, my command." He gave her a conspiratorial grin as he left.
In the morning, Andy set up everything before making breakfast. When Ryusei came in, she handed him a glass that looked like it had juice in it.
He took a long drink, then spit it out and started coughing. He gave her a look.
Andy giggled, "Payback for the Kool-aid." She handed him another glass, actually full of juice.
He turned red in embarrassment. "I said I was sorry.." He cautiously took a drink.
"Sonofabitch!" Tet came out, drenched with water. His eyes landed on Ryusei and he growled.
"Aw, what happened?" Andy handed him some paper towels.
"Someone tampered with the sinks in the bathrooms. All the bathrooms."
Andy gave a small chuckle, "At least water is harmless."
Kenji came out trying to scrub bright yellow from his hands. "The hand soap is rigged too."
"Wow, someone's been busy." Andy raised an eyebrow.
"It wasn't me, I swear." Ryusei raised his hands in surrender.
"Must be Kiba then.." Tet mused thoughtfully.
Andy smiled and handed them plates.
Daiki came in, grabbing several blood bags and departing again. Two minutes later, he was back with a scowl. "I'm going to bite someone…"
"What's wrong?" Andy looked up.
"Someone switched the blood for cherry kool aid…" He grimaced, then laughed. "Nice trick though. Want to know something funny?"
"What?" Andy chuckled.
"Zal is drinking it. Says it reminds him of kindergarten."
Andy laughed, "Check the infirmary fridge for blood, I'm sure there's some in there."
"Thanks." He headed down the hall.
Ryon came in whistling. He grinned as he caught her eye.
She smiled and handed him a plate, "I got Ryusei with the juice."
He laughed. "I got Tet with the sink, Kenji with the soap and Jade with the shower.."
Andy chuckled.
"Green suits him, don't you think?"
Andy nodded, "Seems like a perfect choice."
He sat down as Tsukasa entered and homed in on the coffee machine. He filled his cup, added a lot of sugar and took a sip. He spit it out and smoke began rising into the air.
"What's wrong?" Andy asked.
"Where's the sugar?" He growled.
"Is that not sugar?" She pulled out a sugar bag from the cabinet.
"That is fucking salt.." He poured out the contents of the cup, then remade his coffee. "First, he switched it with decaf. Now, this. Kiba is going to be manning a post in the Arctic if he keeps this up."
Andy gave a small chuckle as she switched out the salt for sugar.
Tsukasa gave her a wry smile as he left the kitchen.
Jade entered, spots of green staining his face.
"Aren't you a little tall for a leprechaun?" Ryon tried to keep a straight face, but failed.
Andy laughed, "Morning, Jade." She handed him a plate, "It's not really good for your face, but you could try nail polish remover to help get the spots off?"
He gave her a chuckle. "At least I'm not completely green anymore."
Andy smiled, "That's true."
Zal glided in, heading for the fridge. "I want more kool aid. By the way, Ryusei and Kiba are hiding in the bunker because almost everyone is after them."
Andy chuckled, "Check and see if there's any more bags with kool-aid in them, and if not, I'll make you some."
He gave her a grin and began checking. After a few minutes, he pouted.
"None left?"
He shook his head. "Whoever did that should have done more. You should have seen Jack's face. He hates cherry kool aid."
Andy laughed as she got some kool-aid mix out and started making him a pitcher full.
He sat down next to Ryon and they began talking quietly.
Akasa came in with a scowl. "Whoever thought it was funny to make the infirmary beds look like that is going to get their ass kicked."
Andy raised an eyebrow, "Look like what?"
"Wrapped bodies."
Andy laughed, "That's great. I'll have to see it."
Shouma stuck his head in, saw Akasa's face and lost his composure. "What's with the beds?"
"Apparently someone pulled a prank on him," Andy chuckled.
Shouma tried to look innocent and failed.
Akasa glared at him.
"Come on, let's go fix up the beds," Andy nudged Akasa.
"Alright." He shook his finger at the hawk, making him laugh harder.
After helping Akasa fix up the infirmary, Andy headed back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up from breakfast.
Kiba and Ryusei crept in, eyes wary. They relaxed as they saw the kitchen was empty aside from her. They sat down with matching sighs.
"You guys okay?"
"Avoiding everyone is hard." Ryusei complained.
"Aw, they all think you guys did the pranks? Did you actually do any of them?"
"You know about the shower and I did get Ryon yesterday.."
"But the ones today weren't us, I swear." Kiba put his head on the table dejectedly.
"I think Shouma was the one that pranked Akasa," Andy chuckled. "It's alright, I'm sure it'll all blow over soon."
Both men laughed, then Ryusei muttered "Ryon's gonna get me for the hair dryer I bet."
"That was a good one," Andy smiled.
"I do my best." He grinned unapologetically.
Andy finished cleaning and sat down by them, "Well, whoever is pulling all the pranks today is doing pretty good. I thought Tsukasa was about to murder someone."
"Someone do decaf on him again?" Kiba grinned.
"Salt in the sugar shaker."
Ryusei snickered. "Wish I had thought of that. Then again, I don't want to be extra crispy."
"Yeah. He was thinking it was Kiba, so you might want to watch out," Andy warned.
"Aw hell. I'm going to get transferred somewhere cold aren't I?"
"He did mention the Arctic.."
The wolf groaned. "Kill me."
Andy chuckled, "I'm sure you can survive with your fur."
"With my luck, he'll skin me first." Kiba chuckled wryly.
Andy smiled before glancing at the time, "I gotta go meet Arie. I'll see you guys later."
Andy met up with Arie and they headed to the used book store. They looked around for hours until Andy finally spotted something interesting. There was a book in a box with a deck of cards. Upon further inspection, she realized they were tarot cards. She purchased them then headed out to her car. When Arie joined her she spoke, "I wonder where this book store owner finds this stuff? This deck looks ancient. And one time I found Kei's book of shadows here. I wonder if the owner is a witch?"
Arie shrugged and climbed into the car. Andy put the cards in the trunk before heading around to get in. She was about to back the car up when a group of men stood behind it. She turned to look at them and froze, "Arie, get out of here."
"I'm not just leaving you," Arie answered as she looked back warily.
The front door was soon ripped open and Andy was dragged out. She attempted to bite the man but he punched her, knocking her to the ground. Arie started on a kill spell but was soon pulled out as well and was then injected with a sedative.
When Arie woke, she was tied to a table surrounded by scientists. One looked down at her, "We have your sister. She'll stay safe if you do as you're told."
"What do you want from me?" Arie fought against the ties.
"Heal the people we bring to you, that's all you have to do."
Arie nodded slowly and hoped that Andy's team would come rescue them soon.
Andy woke in a similar position, a scientist staring down at her and taking notes. Within minutes, she was given another drug and knocked back out.
Arie started healing the men that were brought to her, using the power like Andy taught her to. She lost track of the time, not knowing how long she'd been there. It felt like at least a few days though. They fed her and they promised they were feeding Andy too, so she continued to work.
After healing a rather difficult case, she collapsed to the floor, her energy low.
"Get up, we have more for you to heal."
"I'm trying.."
"Don't forget, we have your sister."
"I know," Arie said quietly.
"I think you'll also be interested to know we have someone else important to you," the man smirked.
She looked up in confusion, seeing a battered Kenji tied up.
Her heart sank, "I'll keep healing, just keep him safe."
"He won't receive any more harm," the man promised, "just keep doing your job."
Arie continued to heal the people brought in until she finally passed out.
Andy felt foggy as she woke again, her mind unable to focus on anything. She stood, armed for battle, but she had no idea why. She soon blacked out again, her body now fully in Branch's control.
Kiba froze as he saw Andy's glazed eyes. "I'm going to destroy these bastards somehow! I swear I'll bring you home." He tensed as several Branch controlled people began to grab him. He fought but failed to get free and was forced onto his knees in front of her.
"Please wake up.."
Andy stared at him blankly for a minute. She woke slightly, feeling the foggy feeling again and she realized who was in front of her. She felt her body pull out a pistol and her hand shook as she tried to fight for control.
"That's it! Fight, Andy!" Kiba encouraged her until he was punched in the chest. He gasped and coughed.
Andy managed to move her head to look at the person who punched him, still fighting for control of the pistol. She finally managed to shoot the person, before pain raced through her head.
Kiba began to struggle again as a voice spoke from the darkness. "Kill him."
Andy pointed the gun at him, her aim shaky.
Kiba took a deep breath, his gaze locked on hers.
Andy fought the pain in her head, pulling the gun back and muttering, "I.. won't."
"Kill him or your sister will be the one to die. Slowly and painfully."
"No..Arie.." she grabbed at her head as pain continued to spike.
"Andy. It's okay. Protect her." Kiba gave her a tiny smile.
Andy shook, fighting for control. She wished she could just shoot the person giving her orders. She prayed Arie would be okay before deciding she didn't want to be used anymore. She pulled the gun back and pointed it at herself, quickly shooting before she lost control. She was once again swallowed up by the darkness.
Kiba screamed, fighting to get to her before a vampire sank his fangs into him. He was dropped as soon as he was drained.
Arie woke, finding herself back on the table.
"You couldn't complete your duties."
"I tried," Arie let out a small cry.
"You get one more chance, so don't mess up again." She was released, looking at Kenji who was in a cell across from her. She waited silently until more men were brought in to be healed. After a while, she was given a small break and she looked over to check on Kenji again, noticing he seemed to be waking up.
"Kenji?"
"Arie?" He gave a weak smile to her. He didn't attempt to move, even though the position had to be uncomfortable.
"I wish I knew how to get you out of here.. I could try to teleport you out of here, but Andy is still around here somewhere.."
"Don't worry about me." He coughed and stretched painfully.
Arie looked at him sadly. "I really wish I knew where she was. She always has good ideas.."
He chuckled quietly, then closed his eyes. "You probably can come up with something."
Arie took a deep breath before focusing on Kenji and teleporting into his cell. She then teleported him into the base's infirmary. She looked around to see if anyone else was there.
Akasa was resting nearby, opening his eyes. "Arie? Kenji!"
"What's been going on? I need to find Andy.. Can you help him?" She sounded panicked.
"Branch has been attacking almost non stop. Several members are dead, more wounded. Tet and Kiba haven't reported in yet." He looked Kenji over, starting to mutter spells to heal him.
"Has Jun been reviving them?"
"Doing his best. He still is learning and after two or three, he passes out." Akasa sighed, watching Kenji's vitals intently.
Arie nodded. "Andy will kill me if I don't check on Kiba and Tet first.. I'll try to find them." She focused and teleported to Kiba.
He was lying in an alley. The fang marks stood out on his pale skin.
Arie looked at him sadly before taking him back to the infirmary. She then focused on Tet and teleported to his location.
He was in the Branch base, crouched in a hallway near the science labs. He jumped as she appeared. "Which one are you?"
"You can't even tell if I'm your girlfriend or not?" Arie rolled her eyes, "We have to find Andy."
He had the good sense to blush. "Sorry, but when they say identical, they mean it. Ask Rei and Yoshi how many times I mixed them up." He scowled. "She's in there. Have no idea whether she's okay or not. Kiba and I got separated. Have you seen him or Kenji?"
"Kenji is safe in the infirmary..." She took a deep breath, "Kiba's dead.."
Tet bowed his head sadly. "How are you doing?"
"Not sure really. Too worried about Andy."
"Know what you mean. When you two went missing, I almost lost it."
"Let's go get her back," Arie gave a small smile before looking around. "Where would they keep her?"
"In the lab no doubt. She better be alright or I'm tearing them all into bite sized pieces." He checked his pistol and moved toward the door. He looked at Arie, waiting for her nod. Arie nodded and threw the door open.
Tet charged in, firing at the guards and scientists. "Find her! I'll take care of them!" He dropped the empty gun and shifted with a roar. He jumped into the fray and disappeared from sight.
Arie took down a few of the scientists with spells as she continued to look for Andy. She finally found her strapped down to a table, looking pale. Andy had a large blood soaked bandage on her chest. Arie touched her gently and teleported her back to the infirmary before going back to find Tet.
Bodies littered the floor. Tet stumbled toward her, blood covering his shirt. He fell, his eyes dimming as he whispered Andy's name.
Arie rushed to him, getting him to the infirmary before reciting healing spells.
Akasa touched her arm gently. "He's gone, Arie. Help me with Andy?"
Arie nodded sadly, going to her sister and focusing healing energy. Light shone around the necromancer as her wound was healed.
Soon, Andy's eyes opened. She felt foggy as she stared upward at the ceiling.
"Andy?" Arie asked softly.
Andy moved her eyes to look at her but there wasn't much recognition.
"What's wrong with her?" Arie looked to Akasa worriedly.
"Probably drugged with something. There was an incident a while ago similar with Ryusei."
"What do we do to help her?"
"She made an antidote for him. Let's see if it works on her." The witch disappeared for a few minutes, then returned and injected Andy.
Andy felt some of the fog lifting, but still felt odd. She shakily pushed herself into a sitting position, looking around the room slowly.
Akasa gave her a weary smile. "Welcome back."
Andy froze when she noticed Tet and Kiba in beds. She quietly moved off the bed to look them over.
"You should rest more," Arie said gently.
Andy shook her head and focused on the two men, working on healing and reviving them in silence.
Akasa shook his head, gently leading her back to bed. "Sleep, Andy."
Knowing Kiba and Tet were now at least breathing, she nodded slowly and fell back to sleep soon after.
"I wonder what they did to her.." Arie watched her sister sleeping.
"Nothing good." Akasa sat down, running hands through his hair.
Arie looked over at Kenji, quietly watching her loved ones worriedly.
"I worry what her reaction will be when she finds out what's been happening." The nurse sighed depressively.
"How long were we there?"
"Six months."
Arie stared at him in disbelief, "It only felt like a couple weeks, how did six months go by?"
"You were probably awake for only a few weeks. Branch has a habit of keeping their subjects asleep while experimenting."
"She's going to flip.."
"Yeah, again."
"She won't go do anything stupid, will she?" Arie looked worried.
"Honestly? I don't know what she'll do." Akasa noticed Jun stirring in the corner. He went to his side, checking his vitals.
"I need to get back to reviving.." Jun's voice was weak.
Akasa shook his head. "Your energy is too low. We found Andy, by the way."
Jun gave a small smile at the news before trying to climb out of bed.
Akasa glared at him. "Do I have to sedate you?"
Jun glared back. "You know the freezer can't store them indefinitely. Soon it will be too late."
"Don't worry. Andy will be up again soon and I know she'll help them," Arie said softly.
Akasa sighed. "I hope so. Otherwise, she'll be devastated."
Arie sighed and went back to watching them in silence.
Kenji began to stir, his eyes blinking slowly. "What's happening?"
"We're safe in the infirmary," Arie assured.
"Did you find Andy?"
"Yeah, we found her."
His brow furrowed. "Something wrong? She's not dead, is she?" His voice was filled with alarm.
"She's alive. It's just.. She seemed really out of it when she woke up. I'm not sure she's totally okay. And once she finds out how long we were gone.."
"That bad huh?" He pushed himself to sit up. He looked around and winced as he saw Tet and Kiba.
"How are you feeling? Do you want me to try more healing spells?" Arie asked.
He gave her a small smile. "I'll be fine, cherie." He looked at Akasa. "Surprised Boss isn't filling the base with smoke from worrying about us."
Akasa grimaced and looked away.
"Is he one of the ones still dead?" Arie asked quietly.
Akasa nodded. "Jun couldn't revive him. The extent of his injuries.."
Arie sighed sadly, "I hope Andy can fix him."
Ryon shuffled in, eyes downcast. The usually neat porter was disheveled, his hair loose. He wore a loose robe, pajamas underneath. "Can't sleep." His voice was raw, as if he'd been screaming.
Arie looked at him sadly, moving to him, "I can do a sleep spell for you if you want."
He looked up, his eyes puffy. "Glad to see you alive, Arie. Please..help me?"
She nodded, "Get in a bed." Once he did, she covered him with blankets, then softly said a sleeping spell as she ran a hand through his hair.
His eyes closed, tears on his lashes. His body relaxed.
Arie continued to rub his hair for a few more minutes before moving away. She checked Andy over again before sitting back down.
"How's security?" Kenji had been quiet.
"Akira and Taka are on it along with Yoshi." Akasa's voice was dejected as he watched Ryon.
"Did Yamae or Kei die? Or Ryusei?" Arie looked at the sleeping man.
"All three, in front of him. He won't talk about it while conscious, but his nightmares and the bodies give a pretty good idea what happened."
Arie frowned, but didn't ask more. She looked over at Andy and prayed she'd be able to save them.
Hours later, Andy woke again, still feeling in a fog. She sat up and looked around.
"Andy? Hey, it's good to see you awake again," Arie smiled softly.
Andy just gave a nod in return before pushing herself out of bed and leaving the room.
Arie stared at the door in confusion for a moment before rushing out to follow her.
She found Andy standing in the now open freezer, staring at the dead bodies.
Jun was struggling to revive Tsukasa once again, his face pale and his hands shaking.
Andy went to Jun and put her hands on his, moving him away from Tsukasa without saying anything. She then closed her eyes and focused, first silver light surrounding every one of the bodies in the room, then it turning gold as she began to revive them. The process took almost an hour and by the time she was done she collapsed to the floor.
Arie went and lifted her up, carrying her back into the infirmary.
Jun followed slowly, staring at the floor as Akasa swore at him.
The commotion woke Tet and Kiba, who worriedly looked at the twins.
Arie put Andy back into bed, pulling the blanket up around her. She then gave Tet and Kiba a small smile, "She passed out after reviving people."
The men gave simultaneous sighs of relief as Akasa shook his head. "She raised them all? In her condition?"
Arie nodded, "I wasn't going to tell her not to. Though maybe then she'd say something."
"She must have heard us talking." Akasa pushed Jun back into a bed. "Stay there or I'll restrain you." The nurse quickly began moving the gurneys from the freezer to the infirmary. As he pushed Yamae in, he gave a smile to the waking Ryon.
The porter appeared to be in shock as he reached out a hand to touch his twin. He made a noise that was a cross between a sigh of relief and a sob.
Arie smiled as she watched before looking back at her own twin with worry.
"Arie, would you stay in here? I really need a nap." Akasa looked even more tired than he sounded.
She nodded, "Go rest."
He gave her a small wave before disappearing out the door.
Kenji entered, a bouquet in his arms. "Are you alright, cherie?" He stopped, examining the room. "I can see Andy woke up."
"I'm fine," she gave a small smile, "Yeah, she woke up then knocked herself out by reviving everyone at once.."
He chuckled before handing her the flowers. "Same old Andy."
Arie closed her eyes as she smelled the flowers, "Thank you."
"No, thank you. You could have teleported yourself out, yet you stayed." The Frenchman took her hand and kissed it.
Arie smiled, "I didn't want to leave you alone."
"I'm not that important, am I?" He cocked his head, watching her.
She nodded, "You're really important."
He gave her a slow smile, then kissed her cheek.
"You know, we have six whole months of dates to make up for," Arie chuckled.
"Never fear, cherie. You will be properly wined, dined and treated like a queen." He bowed to her gracefully.
She smiled as she blushed.
He chuckled, then kissed her again and left.
Arie put the flowers on the table next to the bed as she continued to watch her twin. She finally looked up at Kiba and Tet, "Do you have any idea what they did to her? She hasn't said anything the couple times she's woken up.."
"Have you checked for throat issues? Other than that, could be selective mutism. Ryusei has had episodes of that over the years." Tet sighed as he looked at the sleeping woman.
"She doesn't seem to have anything physically wrong. I healed the one wound she had.."
"Give her time. She may be in shock.. We had an incident before I ended up as vamp snack food." Kiba grimaced at the memory.
"An incident? That doesn't sound good."
"Understatement of the year. She wasn't quite in control until the end of things. She shot herself…" Kiba closed his eyes as Tet froze in horror.
Arie stared at him, "Shot herself..?"
"They tried to get her to kill me. She was fighting and I gather they threatened you. I told her it was more important to protect you. Then she shot herself.."
"Darlin…" Tet's voice was anguished.
Arie looked at her sister sadly, "From what I know about her past with Branch, I'm guessing she decided she didn't want to be their puppet.."
"Came to the same conclusion. But it broke my heart.." Kiba slowly got out of bed, disappearing out the side door quickly as Tet sighed.
"Will he be alright?" Arie asked quietly.
"Hopefully. He probably is heading for the underground shelter. It's where he goes to hide."
Arie nodded slowly.
After a while, Andy started to stir again.
"You with me, Daka?" Arie asked softly.
Andy blinked one eye open to look at her before giving a nod. She moved to sit up, taking a deep breath.
"Everyone is alive and doing alright," Arie informed. "There's nothing to worry about."
Andy looked around slowly, before looking back down at the blanket in front of her.
"Darlin?" Tet slowly approached her. "I'm so glad you're here.. I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you sooner."
She looked up at him then gave him a small look of confusion.
"We were gone six months, Daka.." Arie sighed.
Andy took another deep breath, trying to fight the tears filling her eyes.
Tet looked at her for a moment, his heart breaking. He clenched his fists, then turned and ran out of the infirmary.
Andy watched him, and when he was gone, her tears turned into full on sobs. Arie wrapped her in a hug, letting her cry until she passed out again.
Tet ran out of the base, into the forest. His eyesight blurred as the tears finally fell. He shifted and roared, slashing at the trees with his claws. When he got tired, he reverted and stumbled toward the cliff. He sat on the edge, his face in his hands as he sobbed.
Arie wanted to go find Tet and Kiba, partially to check on them, and partially to tell them to get their shit together to help Andy. She looked around though, and remembered she had to stay and watch everything while Akasa was gone. She just prayed they'd come to their senses and come back in.
Kiba curled up in his wolf form, trying to stay warm in the shelter. He felt so guilty about Andy's decision, he decided the cold was a fitting punishment. He closed his eyes.
Akasa entered the infirmary, frowning at Arie. "What happened?"
"Andy woke again and Kiba and Tet both ran off when she probably needs them the most."
He rolled his eyes. "Knowing them, they're battling undeserved guilty consciences. Both of them have issues around harm coming to Andy."
"I'm going to go try to find them.. Keep an eye on her?"
"Of course. Good luck. Try the shelter for wolfboy. Tet is probably destroying the forest."
Arie nodded and headed out to the shelter. "Kiba?"
He raised his head, shivering under his fur. He gave a small barking noise as she entered.
"Look, I don't know why you're out here, but I think Andy really needs both of you in there.. She's currently sleeping but she cried herself to sleep a little bit ago. I think Tet running off made it worse though." She sighed, "I don't know you that well, but I know you mean a lot to my sister and she means a lot to you. So why don't you go be there for her?"
He slowly reverted, shaking his head. "It's my fault she shot herself.. She doesn't need me reminding her.." He wrapped his arms around his chest, shivering in the thin t-shirt. "It's better if she doesn't see me for awhile."
"Listen to yourself. Your excuses sound pathetic. She shot herself because of Branch. And I'm not sure how much of her acting like this is because of her shooting herself." Arie shook her head, "When bad things happen, the people you care about are supposed to be there for you. I'll be there for her if she needs me, and you should too." She sighed and left the shelter, heading out to check the forest.
She walked down the path of trees that were torn up, eventually finding Tet at the edge of the cliff. She spoke quietly so not to startle him, "Tet?"
"Before you say anything, you don't know the full story of our relationship. I'm the reason Branch started going after her in the first place. So don't tell me my guilt is misplaced or undeserved. I know she's hurting because it devastates me twice as much. She has lost over a year to Branch. She's been turned into a weapon, even twisted to believe we were the enemy once. She's got the memory of killing some of us because I couldn't let her keep her normal life. Fuck.. she killed my father because of memories she saw of mine. Just about everything aside from Seltain's hounds have been my fault."
He turned slightly to look at her. "So don't lecture me on how I should be in there with her right now. Me being with her is the reason for this nightmare in the first place."
"I can guarantee she doesn't blame you for any of that. I also know she cried harder when you left, probably feeling like you didn't want to be there to help her. Your excuses sound pathetic, by the way. Who cares what happened in the past? What's happening right now is my sister needs us, and you aren't there for her. Not every single thing that happens in life is your fault. So what if she killed your dad? She obviously wanted to. So what if she has memories of killing you guys? She probably blames Branch for that. Who really cares about all that stuff? Not her. She just cares about you two and the pain she's going through right now. I'm not going to spend my whole day out here trying to convince you to change your mind when she might be waking up again soon. I'll be there if she needs it, even if the two people she wants most aren't."
She turned and started back toward the base. When she got back to the infirmary, she found Andy just staring at the blanket again. "Hey, I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up."
Andy shook her head, and tried to smile at her. She then pushed herself out of the bed and started out of the infirmary. Arie gave her a confused look but followed along. Andy went to her room and picked up Elsa, holding the cat close to her. Elsa was a lot bigger than Andy remembered, but she still fit fine in her arms.
Arie gave her a small smile, "Alright, why don't you take Elsa back to the infirmary? You should rest more."
Andy shrugged and motioned to the bed. Arie sighed, "Alright, you can stay in here then, but I'm staying with you, alright?"
Andy nodded and climbed into bed, staring down at Elsa and petting her more.
There was a hesitant knock at the door.
Arie got up and opened it.
Kiba stood there looking like he would bolt any second.
"You want to come in?" Arie offered.
He slowly nodded, taking a few steps inside. He gave her a sheepish smile. "Must be a twin thing, but I could have sworn it was her lecturing me.."
Arie chuckled, "I'm glad you came to your senses. She's just been petting her cat since I got back."
He nodded, then slowly approached the bed. "Is it okay to be here?" He held his breath, ready to flee.
Andy looked up and gave him a small smile, reaching out to him.
His eyes started to well up as he took her hand. "I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you forever.."
"Sorry," she said, barely above a whisper.
He held her as close as he could, shaking his head. "No apologies. I'm just glad you're here."
She rested her head against him, continuing to pet Elsa.
He sat there quietly, content to be near her.
Arie smiled, "I'll go take care of making us some food, okay?" She headed out of the room.
Andy nodded and cuddled into Kiba.
"Are you really okay with me being here? If not, I'll leave." Kiba was quiet, trying to warm up without alarming Andy.
"Don't leave. Love you," Andy whispered.
"I love you too." He wrapped them in a blanket, then kissed her.
Andy closed her eyes, just enjoying the moment.
He felt himself drifting off and sighed. He cuddled closer to her as his eyes slid shut.
Andy soon felt herself falling asleep, but was broken out of it when Arie arrived back with trays of food.
Arie handed a tray to her before asking quietly, "Kiba? Do you want to eat or keep sleeping?"
He slowly blinked his eyes open. "Hard choice.. Guess I'm warm enough to eat." He pushed the blanket off him and yawned.
"I'm going to go check on everyone in the infirmary and take them food if they need it. I'll be back soon if you need anything," Arie gave a small wave before heading out the door again.
Kiba began to eat, his eyes on the door. He sighed unhappily.
After a while, Arie began to wonder where Tet was. She decided to go back out to check on him. She came up to the cliff, not seeing him sitting there.
There was a piece of paper held down by a rock.
'Darlin.. I'm sorry for everything Branch has done because of me.. Please forgive me. I love you forever and always.
Tet
Arie cursed and looked down the cliff. She teleported down to him and looked him over before teleporting him to the infirmary. "Akasa.. Can Jun help him? I'm afraid to tell Andy about this.."
Akasa sighed, then shook the sleeping necromancer awake. "You up to reviving someone?"
Jun shrugged. "I'll give it my best shot." He grimaced as he saw Tet, but began to focus. The blue light surrounded the tiger, then faded away. Jun cursed. "I can't find him.." He tried again, then shook his head. "Either he's resisting or he's gone too far away to revive.. I'm sorry."
Arie sighed and took the note to Andy's room. She entered slowly, "Andy..?"
Andy winced at the way she said her name, "What's wrong?"
Arie held out the note and Andy read it, her hand starting to shake as sobs took over.
"Goddammit Tet! How could you do that to us?" Kiba snarled through tears. "Is Jun helping?"
"Jun can't revive him. Says he's either resisting or too far away?"
Andy growled, focusing on Tet, trying to bring him back so she could talk to him.
Tet appeared, his form shimmering. His features were sad as he saw her.
Andy stared at him for a moment, tears in her eyes, "It's not fair, you know. It's not fair that you think you can just off yourself but refuse to let me do the same. I read your note. NOTHING Branch has done is your fault. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. No, I'm not going to forgive you for just leaving us. I'm not really in a good place right now, and you told me you'd be there to help when things got bad. But I see how it really is, you're not there, you're just running from everything but refusing to let me do the same. You know, maybe if I do kill myself and we're both dead, maybe you won't be able to run from me. But I see how it is, you don't want to be here with us anyway, so I'll live as long as I can to give you what you want." Tears streaked her face as she tried not to sob.
Tet began to cry. "I do want to be with you. But I'm terrified that one day you will blame me. I know I deserve it, but it would destroy me worse than anything else that could happen to me. You told me once, you didn't want to be what Branch made you. Since Branch only got interested in you because of me.. You shouldn't have to be reminded every day.." His shape flickered as he fell to his knees and sobbed.
"Yeah, I did say I didn't want to be what Branch made me, but then Kiba told me to get my shit together. I can't run from what I am. You need to get your fucking shit together too, and realize that I'm never going to blame you. You don't remind me of Branch just like Jun doesn't remind me of Seltain. I wish all of you guys would get your heads out of your asses. At least when I tried to kill myself it wasn't because of stupid blaming myself for shit."
Arie stared at her, "You tried to kill yourself?"
Andy took a deep breath, "We'll talk about that later.."
"I don't know what else to tell you. I feel like I keep telling all of you guys the same things over and over but no one gets anything through their brains. I do not blame you, and I never will. All I want is for the three of us to have each other to be there when we need them. I love you and all it does is hurt me more when you go and do stupid shit like this."
Tet's spirit kept sobbing, but managed "How can you not blame me? You were safe..but then I came back.."
"Do you know how upset I was that whole time you were gone? How unhappy I was? All I wanted was for you to come back and to be able to be with the group again.. I'd rather have this group, this family, and deal with everything I've been through than to not have you guys at all."
Tet grew quiet, his spirit flickering in and out. He looked up at her sadly. When he spoke, it sounded far away. "I'm sorry.. I'm being pulled away.. I want to stay!"
Andy focused on his spirit, trying to keep it from disappearing. "I'll try to revive you, okay?" She rushed out of the room and into the infirmary, focusing on Tet and pushing all the energy she could into him.
The spirit flickered and vanished from the bedroom and Kiba raced for the infirmary. "Tell me he's back.. He disappeared.."
She continued focusing, trying to bring him back to his body.
After several more minutes, he inhaled sharply. His eyes cracked open. "I'm sorry...please don't hate me..I'm sorry..I'm sorry.."
Andy leaned on the bed, "Shh, it's okay. I don't hate you."
His breath hitched as he sobbed. "I'm sorry.."
"It's alright, just relax and take deep breaths."
"Don't leave me.." He struggled to calm down, his hands gripping her shirt.
"I'm not leaving you, don't worry," she wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm such an idiot.. How could I say I don't want to hurt you and then do this? I wonder if I'm destined for hell?"
"I'm sure you're not."
"After today, not so sure…" He closed his eyes and sighed. "I hate me.."
"Well, I love you."
"Some people would say you need your head examined. Or that codependence is a bad thing."
"Well, I don't care what they think," she kissed him.
He returned the kiss hungrily, shaking under her touch.
"Are we okay now?"
"Isn't that my line?" He gave her a shaky smile.
She smiled, "I think we're okay.. If you do?"
He nodded as he sat up slowly.
Kiba approached. "Tempted to hit you for this.."
Tet nodded. "Go ahead."
Andy rolled her eyes, "Chill out. I don't want to have to heal him again."
Kiba gave a wry chuckle, opting to give Tet a tight hug instead.