Chapter Five: Recovery
"What the hell is that?"
The Sorrow couldn't answer. Their line of communication had been restored after The Fear had opened his eyes a few seconds later, tryign uselessly to gain a bit more focus. He just didn't know what it was.
A dark black smoke had started to form, following the truck as it picked up speed. The Fury glanced into the rear-view mirror, looking back and forth between that and the road. "It's followin' us!"
The Fear blinked a few times, trying to clear his head. He was seeing some pretty interesting colours. "It's jus' smoke. How can it be followin' us...?"
"I don't know how, but he's right," The Sorrow put a hand on wither side of the black-haired man's head, turning him to look behind the vehicle. "There's something following us. What it is, I don't know."
"Now that's some messed up stuff right there..."
"I don't think he's gonna be much help for awhile," Fury growled around his cigarette. His back hurt like hell, it was all he could do to focus on driving on one side of the road. Now there was some kind fo black fog chasing them. Not just forming around them, but a set amount swirling around them, matching the truck's speed.
Matching, and exceeding.
The Sorrow and The Fear were seeing something more. As the cloud caught up with them, a form became visible cutting through it. Fear yelled something unintelligible as the form, now showing itself to be a hooded figure, flew to the passenger side. It matched the truck's speed perfectly then, face turned toward Sorrow, though they couldn't see the figure's eyes.
The ghost panicked, pushing back against Fear in attempts to put more space between himself and this thing. This in turn shoved the mercenary into Fury, who swerved the truck. "Dammit Fear, what the hell?!"
"Move away from the cloud!" he yelled, pulling Sorrow toward the middle of the truck cab as much as he could.
Fury was angry and confused, but knew better than to argue. He was at a disadvantage, not being able to see what the other was seeing, so he had to trust that whatever this thing was, it was bad. Gripping the wheel, he spun a quick U-turn, sending his passengers, visible or otherwise, fumbling about.
It was suddenly very hard to breathe in the truck. Sorrow started coughing, and Fear squirmed up against the seat. "It's comin' through the freakin' vent!"
Sure enough, the black smoke was seeping through the truck's ventilation system, breaking into the vehicle. There was nothing any of them could do at that point. The fog seemed to center around the space in the truck where Fury assumed Sorrow was. Fear was yelling randomly at this point, swatting at the fog ineffectively.
Sorrow, meanwhile, was choking on the smoke. It was if it was out specifically for him. The others didn't seem to be effected by it. He was starting to get dizzy. He heard Fear bark something out to Fury, and the truck stopped suddenly. The orange-eyed Cobra reached over him and opened the passenger door, shoving him outside. He stayed where he fell, on hands and knees in the road. He breathed in, taking clean air in huge gulps and still coughing a bit.
The Fear fumbled out beside him, waving away tendrils of smoke that lingered. As soon as the truck had stopped, the figure had disappeared without warning. While he wasn't complaining, he was at a loss as to what was going on. He fell down beside the ghost, exhausted and confused.
Fury jumped out of the driver's seat, running around to check on the others. "What the hell is going on?!"
Fear shook his head. "I have no clue anymore...there was some hooded thing in that smoke. And it was after Sorrow," he looked to the silver-haired ghost, "You okay?"
Sorrow nodded, trying to catch his breath. "I don't...EVER...want to see that thing again."
"So what do we do now?"
Fury crossed his arms, scanning the road. "I'm thinking we should go back and check the house. At this point, we don't have much else we can do, unless you've got another place stashed somewhere. If that other thing's gone, we should try to patch ourselves up."
Fear nodded slowly. "I guess that sounds like a plan. But what if the invisible guy's there still?"
"I'll go in first," Sorrow spoke up, putting a hand to his head. "If I see him, we'll have to find somewhere else to go."
"Okay...hey, I got a question..."
"What?" the others asked in unison.
He rubbed at his eyes. "Is anyone else seeing colour swirls right now? Cuz I'm kinda worried here..."
"We're supposed to be doing something..."
"Yeah, just gimme a minute...my head feels too damn heavy to stand, let alone perform medical procedures."
All three of them sprawled out in the living room, too tired from thier escape to do anything but lie there. Sorrow's chest hurt from electric shock and smoke damage. Fear had managed to pull the glass shard out of his side and clamp a dish towel over it, and his head was throbbing mercilessly. Fury's entire back was one big pain, arms included.
"God, we look pathetic..." he closed his eyes, laying on his stomach on the couch.
"If I've got a concussion, I shouldn't go to sleep, right?" Fear curled into a ball on the chair. "How the hell do I know if I've got a concussion?"
Sorrow looked up at him for a moment, before returning his head to rest on his arms against the chair arm. "I'm not completely sure. Do you feel like you have one?"
He laughed softly. "If I knew that, I wouldn't have to ask."
The entire house had been torn apart when they'd returned, aiding to Fury's story that whatever this thing was, it was searching for something. Even Fear's knapsack, abandoned on the kitchen counter, had everything scattered about. There was glass everywhere, mostly where the table had been, but now tracked around by everyone.
"Maaaaan...with this much mess around, we should've had one hell of a party..." the mercenary muttered.
They slept until late afternoon. Considering they didn't go back to sleep until dawn, this was understandable. The Sorrow had managed to clean Fury up, though he couldn't cover all the cuts he'd gotten, he at least bandaged up the deeper ones. The Fear was a considerable amount more difficult. The cut he had was deep enough to warrant stitches, and it was all Sorrow could do to not make himself sick trying to accomplish this.
The Fear woke up first that afternoon, very pleased to find that the unbearable throb in his head had quelled to a dull ache. It was still going to warrant some asprin, but it was a sweet relief after last night.
He sat up slwoly, as not to agitate his head any further, not to mention his other injuries. He froze short, realizing he wasn't alone in the bed. On the other edge, giving as much space as possible between them, The Sorrow was curled up under the blankets. He finished sitting up, careful not to disturb the pale Cobra.
They'd all have a hell of a night. It seemed whenever Cobras grouped, trouble followed. He hadn't seen a fight go that badly since the six of them were still a team. And after it was all over, Sorrow had been the one to doctor them both up. His hand fell on the bandages wrapped snugly around his torso absently. He knew it couldn't have been easy for him; dead or alive he tended to be rather squeamish.
Sorrow had fallen asleep with his glasses on, the frames twisted askew as he'd moved in his sleep. Fear reached over to take them off, shocked momentarily at how cold the other's skin was. Even in his bulky sweater and wrapped in blankets, he felt like ice.
Of course he was cold, he reminded himself, he is a ghost...
"Fear...?"
He blinked, locking eyes with a now-awake Sorrow."Oh, sorry...I just figured you shouldn't sleep with your glasses on."
Sorrow smiled, looking slightly embarassed. "Thank you."
Fear handed him the glasses. "Hey, I thought you said you didn't need to sleep."
"I don't," he replied, "But that doesn't mean that I can't."
"Ahh."
Sorrow sat up. "How do you feel?"
He grinned. "Like I got hit with a ton of bricks."
"I believe books would be the correct term."
Laughing, he tried to restore some kind of order to his hair, and promptly lost the battle. "Yeah, a ton of books."
Sorrow was quiet for a moment before turning serious. "What do you think...what was that smoke thing?"
The mercenary stretched as best he could with his wound. "I have no idea. You and I could see it, so it has to be something supernatural."
He nodded. "And it didn't affect you, did it? Like you couldn't breathe?"
He paused, searching through the room's dresser. He pulled out an orange t-shirt and slipped it over his head. "Besides scarin' the bejesus outta me, no."
"But...Fury's invisible man...none of us can see him, myself included," Sorrow put his glasses back on, thoughts of sleep erased from his mind. "And I pass through him, so I don't think he can see me either. He must be human."
They were interrupted by a low growl. The Fear grinned sheepishly. "I guess it's time for breakfast."
The Sorrow laughed. Once again it struck him as unusual, but good to hear.
"If you cna sleep, I'll bet you cna eat. C'mon, I'll make us all some pancakes or somethin'." He scooted off the bed, grabbing Sorrow's wrist to lead him along.
The ghost allowed this, a bemused look on his face. "You can cook?"
Fear opened the door, rolling his eyes. "Of course I can," he muttered as an afterthought, "...for the most part."
"Does this place have a fire extinguisher?"
By this time, The Fury was awake as well, still laying on the sofa with his arms behind his head. Fear waved to him as he went to the kitchen. Sorrow took a seat at the small bar that served as a dining room and watched as the black-haired man started exploring the cabinets.
Twenty minutes and two skillets later, they each sat down with a plate of pancakes. After dousing his plate in syrup, Fear started in. The other two were a bit more hesitant.
"It looks...vaguely edible..." Fury frowned, poking at one with his fork.
Sorrow took a small tenative bite, chewing it over a bit before nodding. "Very good."
Fear stuck out his tongue. "You say that like you're surprised you didn't explode..."
"Can't say it didn't cross my mind," the brunette smirked, finally gathering enough courage to take a bite of his own plate.
"You're welcome," he replied sweetly.
Fury regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Keep that tongue in your mouth if you wanna keep it."
"Ooh, someone's cranky in the morning..."