3:55PM, May 16, 2014 – San Francisco Airport
The doors to the back of the military transport plane opened causing the pupils in his hazel green eyes to dilate as Ford Brody, now in his early 20's, finished putting away the memories of the day of the Janjira accident.
Hopping out the back of the craft, he saw a flatbed with military bags on the back and was able to spot his own as he walked up and hoisted it over his shoulder.
"Hey Ford!"
He looked up to see a buddy of his walking up, giving him a handshake and a shoulder hug.
"What's up Mason?"
"Not much. Hey, how long you been away?"
"About fourteen months."
"Damn! That's a chunk of change."
"Yeah. You're tellin' me."
"Your boy's what. Four?"
"Yeah. Gonna be five soon."
"Ha! I remember the little tyke. Your wife brought him to see you off last time, right?"
"Yep. That was him."
"No offense, but he looks more like his mom than you."
Ford laughed.
"Yeah. I know. She let me know that all the time on our calls."
"Heh. Well, just take it slow when you get back. Little guy's gonna need some time to get to know you again."
"Thanks Mason. Take care."
"You too buddy."
The two parted ways with Ford going through customs and hailing a cab before making his way home. By the time he arrived on the front lawn the sun was already setting behind the house. And as he walked up to the door and reached out to knock, it flew open and a cascade of blonde hair flew out and smacked into his face while a body slammed into him knocking him backwards several steps.
"Whoa. Elle!"
"Welcome home babe!" She cried, arms wrapped around his neck and legs wrapped around his waist.
Ford managed to steady himself and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Hey. Easy now. You wanna break me in half right as I get back?"
Elle laughed and leaned back, kissing his nose.
"I'm pretty sure my husband's tough enough to handle a nice big hug."
"I don't know. All that time away might have softened him up a bit."
"Nah."
The two leaned in to share a kiss on the lips as Ford walked them inside. On the way inside he spied a little head poking out from behind the doorway to the kitchen.
"Hey there, bud!"
The face ducked into hiding.
"Hahawww. Sam. Baby. Come on! Say "hi" to daddy!"
Sam poked his head out again, meeting his father's gaze as he walked over and squatted down.
"Hey bud. Long time no see. Do I get a hug?"
Sam rushed out and jumped into Ford's arms who promptly picked him up and spun him around, much to the youngster's delight.
"Sam. Weren't you gonna say something?" Elle asked.
"Welcome home, daddy!" Sam chirped.
Elle pulled a line of decorations which spelled out "Welcome Home Daddy!"
Seeing this, Ford stared at the decorations for a long moment.
… Happy Birthday Dad!
"Ford?"
"Huh? What?"
"You zoned out, babe. You okay?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry Elle. I guess I'm still tired from the flight."
"Aww, babe." She cooed as she came over to give him a hug. "That's okay. We baked a cake for you. But we can eat it after you get some rest."
"Sounds good. Thanks hun."
Walking into the bedroom, Ford barely recognized it. The bed had moved. The drawers and bookshelf had moved. Basically everything had moved except the window. But it didn't take him long to acclimate to the arrangement of furniture. And as he lay down on the bed, he couldn't help but think back to the day of the accident.
"Ford!"
"Dad?! You okay?!"
"I'm-… I'm fine, son. Come on."
"Where's mom? She's not with you?"
"… She's indisposed right now."
"What's indisposed mean?"
"It means she can't be here right now. Now let's go home."
"Well, okay. As long as she's okay too."
"…"
That was one of the final conversations he'd had with Joe. Everything after was something of a blur. A lot of mindless screaming, anger, and a sense of abandonment as his dad threw himself into work and barely ever spoke to him again. By the time he was old enough to enlist in the Navy, he didn't even say "goodbye."
Knock, knock.
"Babe?"
"Hey."
"You've been kind of zoned out since you got back. Are you really okay?" Elle asked as she sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his hand.
"Just memories."
"From Janjira?"
"Yeah. They won't leave me alone lately."
"Sorry babe."
"It's okay. They're just memories."
"Mm."
Elle half laid on top of him and gave him a long kiss.
"Would you be upset with me if I told you I got a call about Joe just before you got home?"
"No. Why would I be upset?"
"… He was arrested in Japan."
"What?!"
Ford immediately sat upright, forcing Elle to sit up with him.
"Easy, babe."
"S-sorry, Elle. What's this about him getting arrested, though?"
"Just what it sounds like. He was caught trying to break into the quarantine zone in Janjira."
"You've gotta be-… Jeez, Joe."
"Babe, he's your dad."
"I know, Elle. That doesn't excuse what he did. And I can't pretend that I feel sorry for him right now."
Elle looked down and saw Ford's clenched fists, and gently placed her hands on top of them.
"Babe. Please. Family's the most important thing we have in this world. And I know you're resentful of what happened back then, but he's still your father. And he needs you, Ford. Probably now more than ever."
Ford sighed.
"You want me to go get him out, huh?"
She smiled.
"I don't know Elle. I just got off duty and I won't have much time to spend with you and Sam if I go out there."
"You don't know that, babe. Just go over there, get him out, and talk to him. Maybe you can convince him to come home with you and get away from that place? I think it'd be good for him to see his grandson and spend time with all of us. Don't you?"
Ford inhaled deeply and sighed through his nose.
"Yeah… You're right. He's been over there too long."
Elle leaned in and kissed his nose.
"Go bring your dad home, Ford. We waited fourteen whole months for you to come back. So I think we can wait another couple days for you to grab him and come back."
Ford smirked and nodded, giving his wife another long kiss with Sam watching and listening from the doorway.
"So does this mean I can see grandpa again soon?" He asked.
Elle's smile widened, and Ford chuckled under his breath.
The following evening, he found himself in a Japanese police station. A knock from behind the glass wall caught his attention, and he saw a door open up with Joe being led out by an officer. Joe caught sight of Ford, and smiled. But Ford was quick to notice the smile was in his mouth muscles only, and didn't reach his eyes.
Joe came out from the back once the paperwork was finalized, and approached Ford.
Silence.
He tried to smile again, but Ford's blank stare quickly disintegrated it. He tried to walk forward into a hug, but Ford took a half step back and put a hand up. Joe simply nodded, and glanced to the door. Ford nodded, and they exited the building and hopped in a cab.
What followed was the longest and most uncomfortable cab ride Ford had ever experienced. He couldn't even look at Joe, even when he felt Joe glancing over at him. Once they got back to Joe's place, things seemed to relax a little as Ford walked inside and took in the full view of the interior.
Books, posters, data sheets, graphs, and computer print outs covered every wall and shelf. Conspiracy theory magazines and newspapers occasionally made an appearance as well. And all things considered, he managed to keep the chaos under some kind of control as there was floor space to walk around in unlike the last time he was here before his deployment.
"You're over here." Joe said quietly.
"Yeah." Ford replied.
"So uh… How's Elle?"
"She's fine."
"And Sam?"
"Fine."
"He's, what? Three?"
"He's almost five."
"Ah… Sorry."
"I'm used to it."
Joe's lips trembled as he nodded and looked a little teary eyed as he turned around and started brewing some tea.
"You want any?"
"No, thanks."
Ford began skimming over the data, images, books, and more which covered the accent wall and noticed the word "echolocation" come up several times. One of which was the title of a book that he picked up.
"Oh. No, no, no, no, no, no. Ford. Please. I just-I have everything the way I like it." Joe pleaded as he took the book and put it back in its spot.
"What's this about?"
"What?"
"Echolocation."
Joe seemed hesitant to answer, glancing away and back a few times before finally finding his voice.
"I'm studying bio acoustics."
"Why?"
"Because those tremors and the frequency patterns which I found before the Plant accident are back, Ford. They're back."
"Meaning what?"
"Whatever caused the accident is here again. It's waking up."
"Waking up. You serious?"
"I know how it sounds, Ford. Okay? I'm not crazy. No matter what you've come to think of me, I'm not crazy. Something is in that Plant, Ford. And whatever it is has been dormant since the incident. But now it's waking up because-… Just look."
Joe fetched two print outs of the frequency pattern and showed them to Ford.
"You see? This is from the incident, and this is yesterday. They're the same. Exactly the same."
Ford shook his head.
"This doesn't mean anything to me."
"It's a bio acoustic frequency response, Ford."
"What's that in layman's terms?"
"It means an animal call. Something organic. Living… Something talking."
Ford scoffed.
"I know how it sounds. But your mother told me on the radio that she found-"
"Shut up!" Ford yelled, walking forward and pinning Joe to the wall by his lapels much to his father's horror.
"You don't get to talk about her! You hear me!? You! Do! Not! Talk about her!" Ford screamed, pointing a finger right in front of Joe's nose.
Ford let go and turned around to walk a few paces away to breathe and calm down as Joe's mouth hung slack and tears gathered in his eyes. As Ford continued to breathe, Joe slowly slumped down into a seated position on the floor and let the tears flow.
"I loved her too, Ford."
"What did I just say?!" Ford growled.
"I heard you. But I loved her too. And I was there when those doors closed on her."
Ford spun around and stomped his right foot hard enough to crack the unlucky floor board beneath his boot.
"Because you sent her down there! And you pushed the button to close them!"
Joe nodded.
"I know… Believe me. I know." He whispered.
Joe sat up a bit straighter and put his hands in his lap.
"I asked her to see if there was anything out of the ordinary with the equipment. And when the Reactor was breached… There was nothing I could do to save her."
"You could have followed your instincts. You said you didn't believe it was the equipment from the start! So why send her down to check it if you knew?!"
"I didn't know, Ford. I just-"
"Didn't feel like that was the answer. Yeah. I remember the story."
Joe subtly shook his head.
"Ford. Please. I-"
"You sent my mother to her death over a hunch you didn't believe in. And you abandoned me to focus on all this… This…" Ford walked to the wall and raked his hand across the data sheets and news articles, crumpling them in his fist before shoving them into Joe's hands. "For all this shit!" He yelled.
Taking a step back and single sharp, deep breath, Ford growled through his teeth.
"Do you know when you stopped being my dad?"
Joe could only stare, slack jawed.
"… It was the day you forgot mom's birthday and chose instead to focus on all this crap."
Ford's eyes were watery. Lips tight, and breathing becoming erratic as his heart rate spiked.
Joe's mouth was slightly agape. His eyes filled with tears, but not wide or in any state of obvious shock. Rather it was a look of understanding and acceptance as Joe dipped his head.
"… I know." He whispered.
At this, Ford's own mouth opened slightly and he found his heart rate had spiked. Ford took several deep breaths, and tried to compose himself by pacing back and forth and his father silently wept.
"I'm tired of all this, Joe." Ford said quietly. "I'm tired of knowing that you're out here crammed in this little apartment room chasing conspiracy theories because you can't accept the fact that mom's dead."
He turned around and crossed his arms.
"My therapist said I have issues forgiving you. And he's right. But at least he's confirmed that I've accepted mom's death and have successfully moved on. Elle and Sam were a big part of that. And-" He cut himself off as he took a deep breath through his nose and closed his eyes and opened them a few seconds later. "And they can be for you too."
Ford came forward and knelt down in front of Joe.
"Come back to San Francisco with me. You've been out here too long focusing on the past."
Ford brought out his phone and showed Joe a picture of Sam from just before he left for Japan holding a sign saying "hi grandpa!"
"He really wants to see you again."
Joe's lips curled in a smile as he began sobbing. Ford put the phone away and held out a hand for Joe which he took and helped pull him to his feet.
"We can leave tomorrow. How about it?"
Joe nodded and turned around as the tea pot began boiling over with a loud screech. Picking it up and letting it cool, he set it down and looked out the window… Right towards the Plant.
"Joe?"
"I'm sorry, Ford."
"No."
"I can't leave. Not until I figure out what was down there when your mother died."
Ford heaved an exasperated sigh.
"She told me on radio she saw some kind of large animal down in the tunnels beneath the reactor. I have to at least see what it was… I need closure, son."
Ford's lips pressed tightly together as he glared at the back of his father's head.
"Fine. Fine! Let's go down into the Plant so you can see that it was just a meltdown like any other! Then will you come back with me?!"
Joe turned around with a smile, and nodded.
"Just give me this closure, and I'm done. I promise."
"… Don't make me regret this, Joe."