DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zoids or anything associated with them. The
Cunning Wolf, Gloria and Dr. Goman are my characters. If you want to use
them in a story I'll probably say yes, but just ask anyway. Everything else
that has to do with Zoids belongs to Viz and Pioneer. I just use them for
my own weird little ideas. I am not making any money off of this. No
infringement is intended.
A/N: This is getting a lot longer than I thought it would. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH ME AND REVIEWING! I really appreciate it!
Yuuki-Chan: Really? *grin and blush* Thank you. I'm flattered. That is just so cool that people think that about me. I never had any confidence in myself as a writer. I hoped you enjoyed the rest of story just as much.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Tears and Confessions, Part II: It all finally comes together
Bit sat for the longest time on the blue couch in the den, scowling fiercely at the opposite wall. Few entered the room while he was there; those who did said nothing and were quick to leave. They knew better than to try to talk to him right now.
He didn't speak. He didn't move. He barely even blinked.
Zi, he hated himself for what they'd done. He felt like the lowest form of life in the galaxy. It was only a grim satisfaction to know that at the very least the Doc. and the others were finally beginning to come to their senses and understand the seriousness of it all.
With every ounce of hatred building in him towards the remaining members of the Blitz team, Bit felt an equal weight of grievous regret build upon his heart. He'd been a part of this as much as the rest of them had. To deny that would be to let the whole scenario repeat itself.
Jamie might not be so lucky that time.
Zi, what he'd have done to himself if Jamie died. It would have been far too much for him to bear. Jamie never deserved any of that. That poor kid deserved far more than anyone, Bit included, ever bothered to give him. For all he'd done for the team, the chores, the cooking, the paperwork, the strategies… he'd given everything he had for them, and what had anyone ever given him in return? Nothing. Oh, wait. There was the Raynos. After, of course, the Doc. up and traded in Jamie's prized Pteras without warning. No second thoughts on the matter. Why couldn't he just get over his blind obsession for these Zoids and see the more important matters in front of his face?
Why hadn't any of them?
That past week had been so hard, and not just on Jamie. Bit had found it hard to push the young strategist from his mind after that first incident with alcohol. He had seen it in Leena's eyes a little bit, too; however it was always impossible to tell what Brad was thinking and feeling, and the Doc. had just passed it off as a phase. Something about it hadn't seemed right to Bit. Ever since he'd run across Jamie in the hallway that evening one week ago, he'd known deep down that there was something going on with the young Wild Eagle that he wasn't telling them. He closed his eyes and allowed the frightening memories to wash him over.
** "Jamie! Where on Zi have you been? We've been looking all over for you! Do you know how worried we've been? Zi, I thought something had happened to you! What made you just leave like that? Sheesh, you never even said anything! I was so worried about you! I was about ready to take the Liger out and come find you!" **
His memory of that evening was a choppy one, quick flashes of the more intense moments taking him back and reminding him of how scared he'd truly been.
** "Jamie? Jamie, are you okay?" Bit's voice rose and shook in alarm. There was something very wrong about the look on his young comrade's face as he emptied his dinner into the basin. Something much more serious than a stomach bug.
"Jamie, what's wrong? Jamie? *Jamie!*" His cry became a terrified shout as a flicker of something like pain crossed Jamie's pale olive features and his eyes rolled back into his head. In a flash, Bit was at the boy's side, grabbing him by his shoulder and keeping his head from smacking against the toilet bowl by merely an inch.
"JAMIE! DOC, BRAD, LEENA, SOMEBODY HELP!" **
Bit shuddered. Since that moment, there hadn't been a time when he could truly rest assured that Jamie was okay. He'd physically recovered, sure, but since that night there had been something different, something missing from him. He was angry at everything and everyone, all for no apparent reason. And he kept disappearing…
One of those nights, Bit had followed the Raynos in his Liger Zero to see just what it was that Jamie was up to in town these days. He'd seen Jamie disappear into a restaurant, and although he hadn't actually gone inside, he'd taken a good look at the strange man the boy was sitting with. Nobody he'd ever seen before. Something about the man that he couldn't explain creeped him out, but he didn't want to interfere with Jamie's personal affairs as long as the kid was okay, especially if anything these days would set him off the edge.
He'd only followed Jamie once more after that.
Bit's eyes shut again. He flinched in invisible pain.
** "Jamie? Jamie! Oh Zi, no, JAMIE! Oh Zi. Oh God. No! Don't let me be too late, please, Jamie, don't be dead. Wake up, come on, wake up, Jamie! Please! I can't lose you! Oh, Zi, Jamie. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. What happened to you?
"Can we get some help over here? Somebody call an ambulance! Please, hurry! This kid will die if we don't help him!
"Jamie, listen to me. I know you can't hear me, but hang in there. Just hold on. Zi, I'm so sorry, Jamie. You're going to be okay. I'll make sure you are. You're going to the hospital. You'll be okay. Please. Be okay." **
* * *
The Pteras didn't land on his chest nearly as hard this time when Oscar slipped the mask off of Jamie's face. Jamie rubbed his eye with the back of his hand and gave his father a weak smile.
"You know… know him?" he whispered weakly.
Oscar nodded grimly.
Jamie gasped all of a sudden. He stared at the arm in front of his face in horror and ran his fingers along the angry red bumps that screamed at him from his olive complexion.
"M-my," he gasped, "My arms…"
"Shh," Oscar hushed his son gently. "It's just a rash. It'll fade. You probably shouldn't talk too much. You look exhausted." Oscar sighed, "Sadly yes, I do know him. The Cunning Wolf," he said venomously, "I'd have thought he'd be dead by now."
The door swished open to admit a tall, dark haired man with a white doctor's coat and a different nurse, a young woman with short, dark hair. He smiled when he saw the boy in bed.
"Hello, Jamie," he said. His voice was quiet, but friendly. "It's good to see you finally awake." He took a moment to copy some numbers off the green screen by the bed onto a clipboard. "Your vital signs have picked up since I last saw you. You seem to be headed toward a complete recovery, though that may take a couple of days. Are you nauseous at all?" Jamie shook his head. "Hungry?" Jamie shook his head quickly and the Doctor chuckled. "Just asking. Are you dizzy at all? Lightheaded?"
"A little," Jamie croaked.
"Well, that's to be expected. You don't feel like you're going to faint anytime soon, do you?" Jamie shook his head. "Good. Any other complaints you wish to tell me about?"
"My arms itch," Jamie replied hoarsely.
Doctor Goman gave him a friendly smile. "He's still slightly disoriented," he said to the new nurse by his side in an undertone. "That's perfectly normal. Anything else?" Jamie shook his head.
"Then it looks like we're just going to have to kick you out. You'll be moved to the pediatric ward in the morning, where your father will be able to sleep on a cot in the same room with you. You'll also be allowed any visitors you and your father would like to have come see you."
Jamie gave a very weak smile that the Doctor returned. "You are one very lucky young man, Mr. Hemeros," he said, "You do realize that." Jamie nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Dr. Goman waved his hand dismissively, "Please, don't be. Nothing that happened is your fault. I don't want you to feel responsible for any of this, because you're not."
Jamie nodded slowly.
"Just a few minutes ago," said the Doctor to Oscar and his son, "I noticed a man leaving this room. Fairly quickly, in fact. I was wondering if there was anything you or your father would like to tell me about him?"
"I will," replied Oscar. Jamie nodded his consent, grateful to let someone else speak.
"I met the Cunning Wolf, as he called himself, a very long time ago, years before Jamie was born. It was just after a fight had brewed between two of my closest friends, a fight I had accidentally caused that still separates them today. I felt absolutely terrible at the time for starting the mess – still do, actually – and I was at a bar by myself when I met him. We talked for a very long time, and there was something about him that I just – connected to. I can't explain it. He understood me and my problems and what I was going through, better than anyone else could. I liked speaking with him.
"Nearly every night after that, we met and talked together in that same bar. We'd have a few drinks, and we'd talk about… things in general, and… I can't really explain it. It was like he understood everything I ever told him better than anyone else. After a while I started feeling like there was no one else I really *could* connect to, just because Wolf understood me so well. A rift started growing between me and all my friends. I felt like I didn't really matter to them anymore. Like they were all mad at me for what I'd done and they couldn't get over it. But none of it was really true.
"He was manipulating me, and doing it well. I felt so depressed, so worthless from talking to him, but after a while he was the only person I could talk to, so I had to keep going back to him. He was good at it. Good at manipulating people to think what he wanted them to think. I never suspected him of anything at all." Oscar paused for a moment, scowling at the painful memories. Jamie was crying silently into the pillow; Oscar took his son's hand and squeezed it comfortingly.
"Within five weeks he had me convinced that I had no friends, that everything that happened was my fault and everyone hated me for it. Within five weeks he had me convinced that I was better off dead, that the whole world was better off without me.
"One afternoon, I took my Raynos out and tried to fly it straight into the side of a nearby cliff. I would have succeeded, if some strange old man in a Gunsniper hadn't shot me out of the sky before I reached the cliff face.
"I was knocked out by the crash, and when I came to I was in a bed in what I later learned was the Gunsniper pilot's house. He told me that the Cunning Wolf – he also told me the guy's real name, but I don't remember it – had been a member of his team many years earlier. Apparently, Wolf was a horrible person to be around; he was always trying to manipulate people to get what he wanted. The man told me that that's how Wolf ended up on their team in the first place. His personality was sly and cowardly, he knew exactly what to say to get people to think and feel what he wanted them to.
"According to this man, the Cunning Wolf was the name that at first he only used when he fought in Zoid battles. He said that during the rare battles in which Wolf fought, his shrewd and manipulative personality would do a complete turn-around and he was actually not too bad of a warrior. But outside of Zoid battle, he was a twisted, all-around terrible person and no one liked him because of it.
"Wolf must have had a very lonely, painful kind of life. The man told me that these days, Wolf goes around meeting people and turning their lives into the exact kind of life he lived, the kind of life into which he changed mine. Maybe he gets some sort of twisted satisfaction from seeing people suffering emotionally; maybe he wants to see them commit suicide because he never had the strength to do it himself. Whatever his reason, it's sick, it's evil and if I'd had *any* idea he'd somehow gotten a hold of my son, I would have come down here in a second. No one, *no one* deserves that."
A long, shocked silence followed Oscar's speech. Dr. Goman and the new nurse stood completely still, their mouths open and absolutely speechless. Poor Jamie was close to sobbing again. Oscar lifted him up and hugged him, rubbing one hand up and down his back consolingly.
"That's sick," whispered the nurse hoarsely, shaking her head. "That's just… sick. That man needs to be put in jail or… or something… that's just not normal."
"Or a hospital," said Dr. Goman. "A psychiatric ward. That man has some serious issues. He's killing people. That's the bottom line. He's putting them through some of the worst kinds of pain imaginable, then killing them. It's wrong. Is this the same man you've been associating with, Jamie?"
Jamie nodded. "He… he told me he w-was an alter-ego pilot, l-like me," the boy rasped through sobs.
"He's nothing like you," Oscar replied sharply. "You're worth so much more than he says you are. You've always been the shy one, the giver, the sweet boy who thinks of everyone else before himself. You're nothing like he is. Remember that. You are my son, and you mean everything to me. You always will. No matter what."
"I'm sorry," Jamie whispered.
"Don't be. This isn't your fault. You did nothing wrong. How long have you been meeting him for?"
"A week," Jamie mumbled feebly.
"A week?" Oscar drew back in alarm. "Just one week? Are you sure?"
"Is that… bad?"
"No, no, that's not what I mean. Jamie, did something else happen to you?"
Jamie closed his eyes and sank his head further back into the pillow. He was so tired all of a sudden…
"Jamie, stay with me for a second. I need to know. Was there something else besides Wolf that made you do this?"
Jamie opened a weary eye. Oscar was watching him with the utmost concern.
"They forgot my birthday," he said weakly.
"They- they *what*?" Oscar gasped. "The Blitz team?"
Jamie nodded. "I went out alone that night," he continued breathlessly, "And I met him."
Oscar said nothing. He sat back hard in his seat, thunderstruck. He couldn't speak. They… they forgot? Just forgot? But how? Torros knew Jamie's birthday, didn't he? He had certainly better. But that would mean… How could they? Poor Jamie. How could they do this to him? Why? What happened? Torros. Was this partially his fault? Oscar clenched his teeth in a sudden spurt of anger. Torros would be hearing about this, all right. Had the older Wild Eagle not been so intent on sticking by Jamie's side he would have marched right up to that base here and now and demanded an explanation. It's what he should have done in the very first place. Nobody did this to his son and got away with it. Nobody.
"I don't want to see them," Jamie gasped. "Please. I don't want them to see me."
"Your teammates?" asked Dr. Goman gently.
Jamie nodded. Tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. "I don't want to see them. I can't."
Dr. Goman acknowledged this with a nod. "That's fine. Now you go back to sleep. You're exhausted and you need your rest. We'll take care of it."
The poor kid was out within a minute. Oscar remained speechless.
"I can't let him leave the hospital," said the Doctor somberly. "Even after he has made a complete physical recovery, I don't think I'm going to be able to let him go. He may end up staying here for a while. By law and by personal convictions, I simply cannot let him return to the base. This boy needs our help. You understand why I can't."
Oscar nodded.
"You may stay here with him as long as needed." Dr. Goman started for the door. "I'll see to having him moved in the morning."
"You can help him, can't you?"
The Doctor was silent for a moment. "We'll do what we can. As far as I can see, yes. Most of it will depend on you. He needs you right now. He needs to be loved."
"I'll do whatever you or he needs me to do," said Oscar sharply. "Whatever it takes."
There was a short pause.
"Then yes, Mr. Hemeros, we can. And we will."
* * *
"Room 107," said Dr. Torros to his daughter and the two young men behind her. They paused at a closed silver door near the end of the hallway, and the Doc. pressed a red button beside the frame.
The door slid open and Oscar Hemeros's hard glare greeted all four of them.
"Oscar!" said the Doc brightly.
"Torros," the former Raynos pilot responded coldly. The Doc faltered.
"Jamie isn't seeing people," said Oscar tonelessly.
"That's what they told us at the front desk," said Brad. "That's why we pushed the call button."
"So, what can I do for you?"
"We came to visit Jamie," said Leena. "He'll let us in, won't he?"
"You're the people he specifically asked *not* to see," Oscar replied glacially.
"What?" Leena gasped.
"You heard me. I think you know perfectly well why."
Bit covered his eyes with his hand and bowed his head. His heart ached terribly for the poor man. They had nearly killed his son, people unto whom he had entrusted Jamie's care and guardianship. Sure, he knew that Jamie had been 'earning his keep' around the base, but he'd probably had no idea of the details. Not even the Doc was childish enough to try to excuse the way they'd treated Jamie in front of the boy's father. Bit desperately wanted to tell the man he was sorry; he wanted more than anything to find Jamie and apologize in person and to do everything within his power to more than make up for what had happened.
Though it might already be too late.
Liger Zero's pilot didn't know what he'd do to himself if he never got the chance to get the message to Jamie of how sorry he was.
"But if you're his father," Dr. Torros persisted, "Aren't you allowed to let us in even if Jamie says no?"
Bit clenched his teeth and fought back the urge to give the Doc a good kick in a place he'd never forget. He was pretty sure that Oscar felt the same way. If that's what it took to get him to finally understand…
The look of utter hatred and pure disgust that Oscar was giving the Doc. only had its true effect on those who knew how close of friends the two were before Jamie's breakdown. He'd been able to overlook Torros's blinding obsession for Zoids and everything that went with them for years; one just had to learn to take the man's negligence and ignorance for anything else into stride. But this was going much too far. When manners like this hurt his son, it was time for the supposed Doctor to wake up and see the real world for what it was. This time he'd gone too far.
"Why?" he whispered, for the first time allowing hints of emotion into his voice. "What did… what were you thinking? Did you not know? Did you forget? Did you just… ignore it all?"
"I never meant to hurt him, Oscar," the Doc replied sharply. There was a moment of dramatic silence as Torros's face fell and an air of grief and sorrow and regret took over his features. "I just… forgot. I completely forgot. I can't explain what happened; one minute he was fourteen and the next I'd missed his birthday by a week. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I won't do it again."
"You're damn right you won't," Oscar snapped. "I hope you're finally getting the idea, Torros. This isn't just about birthdays. For you to completely forget the birthday of someone over whom you hold legal guardianship has implications in itself, but that kind of stuff doesn't take one week to push someone to this level. You hurt him. In a lot of ways. Weather or not you meant to, all of you seriously hurt my son. I won't stand for that." Oscar stopped speaking for a moment. He took the chance to give each person in turn his or her own individual glare. They all, even Brad, faltered under his gaze. All except for the blond-haired guy. He wouldn't look up from the floor, and Oscar was unable to make eye contact.
"You still don't fully get it," he said slowly, quietly, methodically. "My son just tried to *kill himself*. I'm here to do everything I can to make sure that that *doesn't happen again.*" He took a deep breath. "It's all about Jamie now," he said in a final tone. "It's all for him."
The door slid shut in their faces.
END CHAPTER EIGHT
NEXT CHAPTER: A New Hero Emerges: Bit Cloud vs. the Cunning Wolf
A/N: This is getting a lot longer than I thought it would. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH ME AND REVIEWING! I really appreciate it!
Yuuki-Chan: Really? *grin and blush* Thank you. I'm flattered. That is just so cool that people think that about me. I never had any confidence in myself as a writer. I hoped you enjoyed the rest of story just as much.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Tears and Confessions, Part II: It all finally comes together
Bit sat for the longest time on the blue couch in the den, scowling fiercely at the opposite wall. Few entered the room while he was there; those who did said nothing and were quick to leave. They knew better than to try to talk to him right now.
He didn't speak. He didn't move. He barely even blinked.
Zi, he hated himself for what they'd done. He felt like the lowest form of life in the galaxy. It was only a grim satisfaction to know that at the very least the Doc. and the others were finally beginning to come to their senses and understand the seriousness of it all.
With every ounce of hatred building in him towards the remaining members of the Blitz team, Bit felt an equal weight of grievous regret build upon his heart. He'd been a part of this as much as the rest of them had. To deny that would be to let the whole scenario repeat itself.
Jamie might not be so lucky that time.
Zi, what he'd have done to himself if Jamie died. It would have been far too much for him to bear. Jamie never deserved any of that. That poor kid deserved far more than anyone, Bit included, ever bothered to give him. For all he'd done for the team, the chores, the cooking, the paperwork, the strategies… he'd given everything he had for them, and what had anyone ever given him in return? Nothing. Oh, wait. There was the Raynos. After, of course, the Doc. up and traded in Jamie's prized Pteras without warning. No second thoughts on the matter. Why couldn't he just get over his blind obsession for these Zoids and see the more important matters in front of his face?
Why hadn't any of them?
That past week had been so hard, and not just on Jamie. Bit had found it hard to push the young strategist from his mind after that first incident with alcohol. He had seen it in Leena's eyes a little bit, too; however it was always impossible to tell what Brad was thinking and feeling, and the Doc. had just passed it off as a phase. Something about it hadn't seemed right to Bit. Ever since he'd run across Jamie in the hallway that evening one week ago, he'd known deep down that there was something going on with the young Wild Eagle that he wasn't telling them. He closed his eyes and allowed the frightening memories to wash him over.
** "Jamie! Where on Zi have you been? We've been looking all over for you! Do you know how worried we've been? Zi, I thought something had happened to you! What made you just leave like that? Sheesh, you never even said anything! I was so worried about you! I was about ready to take the Liger out and come find you!" **
His memory of that evening was a choppy one, quick flashes of the more intense moments taking him back and reminding him of how scared he'd truly been.
** "Jamie? Jamie, are you okay?" Bit's voice rose and shook in alarm. There was something very wrong about the look on his young comrade's face as he emptied his dinner into the basin. Something much more serious than a stomach bug.
"Jamie, what's wrong? Jamie? *Jamie!*" His cry became a terrified shout as a flicker of something like pain crossed Jamie's pale olive features and his eyes rolled back into his head. In a flash, Bit was at the boy's side, grabbing him by his shoulder and keeping his head from smacking against the toilet bowl by merely an inch.
"JAMIE! DOC, BRAD, LEENA, SOMEBODY HELP!" **
Bit shuddered. Since that moment, there hadn't been a time when he could truly rest assured that Jamie was okay. He'd physically recovered, sure, but since that night there had been something different, something missing from him. He was angry at everything and everyone, all for no apparent reason. And he kept disappearing…
One of those nights, Bit had followed the Raynos in his Liger Zero to see just what it was that Jamie was up to in town these days. He'd seen Jamie disappear into a restaurant, and although he hadn't actually gone inside, he'd taken a good look at the strange man the boy was sitting with. Nobody he'd ever seen before. Something about the man that he couldn't explain creeped him out, but he didn't want to interfere with Jamie's personal affairs as long as the kid was okay, especially if anything these days would set him off the edge.
He'd only followed Jamie once more after that.
Bit's eyes shut again. He flinched in invisible pain.
** "Jamie? Jamie! Oh Zi, no, JAMIE! Oh Zi. Oh God. No! Don't let me be too late, please, Jamie, don't be dead. Wake up, come on, wake up, Jamie! Please! I can't lose you! Oh, Zi, Jamie. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. What happened to you?
"Can we get some help over here? Somebody call an ambulance! Please, hurry! This kid will die if we don't help him!
"Jamie, listen to me. I know you can't hear me, but hang in there. Just hold on. Zi, I'm so sorry, Jamie. You're going to be okay. I'll make sure you are. You're going to the hospital. You'll be okay. Please. Be okay." **
* * *
The Pteras didn't land on his chest nearly as hard this time when Oscar slipped the mask off of Jamie's face. Jamie rubbed his eye with the back of his hand and gave his father a weak smile.
"You know… know him?" he whispered weakly.
Oscar nodded grimly.
Jamie gasped all of a sudden. He stared at the arm in front of his face in horror and ran his fingers along the angry red bumps that screamed at him from his olive complexion.
"M-my," he gasped, "My arms…"
"Shh," Oscar hushed his son gently. "It's just a rash. It'll fade. You probably shouldn't talk too much. You look exhausted." Oscar sighed, "Sadly yes, I do know him. The Cunning Wolf," he said venomously, "I'd have thought he'd be dead by now."
The door swished open to admit a tall, dark haired man with a white doctor's coat and a different nurse, a young woman with short, dark hair. He smiled when he saw the boy in bed.
"Hello, Jamie," he said. His voice was quiet, but friendly. "It's good to see you finally awake." He took a moment to copy some numbers off the green screen by the bed onto a clipboard. "Your vital signs have picked up since I last saw you. You seem to be headed toward a complete recovery, though that may take a couple of days. Are you nauseous at all?" Jamie shook his head. "Hungry?" Jamie shook his head quickly and the Doctor chuckled. "Just asking. Are you dizzy at all? Lightheaded?"
"A little," Jamie croaked.
"Well, that's to be expected. You don't feel like you're going to faint anytime soon, do you?" Jamie shook his head. "Good. Any other complaints you wish to tell me about?"
"My arms itch," Jamie replied hoarsely.
Doctor Goman gave him a friendly smile. "He's still slightly disoriented," he said to the new nurse by his side in an undertone. "That's perfectly normal. Anything else?" Jamie shook his head.
"Then it looks like we're just going to have to kick you out. You'll be moved to the pediatric ward in the morning, where your father will be able to sleep on a cot in the same room with you. You'll also be allowed any visitors you and your father would like to have come see you."
Jamie gave a very weak smile that the Doctor returned. "You are one very lucky young man, Mr. Hemeros," he said, "You do realize that." Jamie nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Dr. Goman waved his hand dismissively, "Please, don't be. Nothing that happened is your fault. I don't want you to feel responsible for any of this, because you're not."
Jamie nodded slowly.
"Just a few minutes ago," said the Doctor to Oscar and his son, "I noticed a man leaving this room. Fairly quickly, in fact. I was wondering if there was anything you or your father would like to tell me about him?"
"I will," replied Oscar. Jamie nodded his consent, grateful to let someone else speak.
"I met the Cunning Wolf, as he called himself, a very long time ago, years before Jamie was born. It was just after a fight had brewed between two of my closest friends, a fight I had accidentally caused that still separates them today. I felt absolutely terrible at the time for starting the mess – still do, actually – and I was at a bar by myself when I met him. We talked for a very long time, and there was something about him that I just – connected to. I can't explain it. He understood me and my problems and what I was going through, better than anyone else could. I liked speaking with him.
"Nearly every night after that, we met and talked together in that same bar. We'd have a few drinks, and we'd talk about… things in general, and… I can't really explain it. It was like he understood everything I ever told him better than anyone else. After a while I started feeling like there was no one else I really *could* connect to, just because Wolf understood me so well. A rift started growing between me and all my friends. I felt like I didn't really matter to them anymore. Like they were all mad at me for what I'd done and they couldn't get over it. But none of it was really true.
"He was manipulating me, and doing it well. I felt so depressed, so worthless from talking to him, but after a while he was the only person I could talk to, so I had to keep going back to him. He was good at it. Good at manipulating people to think what he wanted them to think. I never suspected him of anything at all." Oscar paused for a moment, scowling at the painful memories. Jamie was crying silently into the pillow; Oscar took his son's hand and squeezed it comfortingly.
"Within five weeks he had me convinced that I had no friends, that everything that happened was my fault and everyone hated me for it. Within five weeks he had me convinced that I was better off dead, that the whole world was better off without me.
"One afternoon, I took my Raynos out and tried to fly it straight into the side of a nearby cliff. I would have succeeded, if some strange old man in a Gunsniper hadn't shot me out of the sky before I reached the cliff face.
"I was knocked out by the crash, and when I came to I was in a bed in what I later learned was the Gunsniper pilot's house. He told me that the Cunning Wolf – he also told me the guy's real name, but I don't remember it – had been a member of his team many years earlier. Apparently, Wolf was a horrible person to be around; he was always trying to manipulate people to get what he wanted. The man told me that that's how Wolf ended up on their team in the first place. His personality was sly and cowardly, he knew exactly what to say to get people to think and feel what he wanted them to.
"According to this man, the Cunning Wolf was the name that at first he only used when he fought in Zoid battles. He said that during the rare battles in which Wolf fought, his shrewd and manipulative personality would do a complete turn-around and he was actually not too bad of a warrior. But outside of Zoid battle, he was a twisted, all-around terrible person and no one liked him because of it.
"Wolf must have had a very lonely, painful kind of life. The man told me that these days, Wolf goes around meeting people and turning their lives into the exact kind of life he lived, the kind of life into which he changed mine. Maybe he gets some sort of twisted satisfaction from seeing people suffering emotionally; maybe he wants to see them commit suicide because he never had the strength to do it himself. Whatever his reason, it's sick, it's evil and if I'd had *any* idea he'd somehow gotten a hold of my son, I would have come down here in a second. No one, *no one* deserves that."
A long, shocked silence followed Oscar's speech. Dr. Goman and the new nurse stood completely still, their mouths open and absolutely speechless. Poor Jamie was close to sobbing again. Oscar lifted him up and hugged him, rubbing one hand up and down his back consolingly.
"That's sick," whispered the nurse hoarsely, shaking her head. "That's just… sick. That man needs to be put in jail or… or something… that's just not normal."
"Or a hospital," said Dr. Goman. "A psychiatric ward. That man has some serious issues. He's killing people. That's the bottom line. He's putting them through some of the worst kinds of pain imaginable, then killing them. It's wrong. Is this the same man you've been associating with, Jamie?"
Jamie nodded. "He… he told me he w-was an alter-ego pilot, l-like me," the boy rasped through sobs.
"He's nothing like you," Oscar replied sharply. "You're worth so much more than he says you are. You've always been the shy one, the giver, the sweet boy who thinks of everyone else before himself. You're nothing like he is. Remember that. You are my son, and you mean everything to me. You always will. No matter what."
"I'm sorry," Jamie whispered.
"Don't be. This isn't your fault. You did nothing wrong. How long have you been meeting him for?"
"A week," Jamie mumbled feebly.
"A week?" Oscar drew back in alarm. "Just one week? Are you sure?"
"Is that… bad?"
"No, no, that's not what I mean. Jamie, did something else happen to you?"
Jamie closed his eyes and sank his head further back into the pillow. He was so tired all of a sudden…
"Jamie, stay with me for a second. I need to know. Was there something else besides Wolf that made you do this?"
Jamie opened a weary eye. Oscar was watching him with the utmost concern.
"They forgot my birthday," he said weakly.
"They- they *what*?" Oscar gasped. "The Blitz team?"
Jamie nodded. "I went out alone that night," he continued breathlessly, "And I met him."
Oscar said nothing. He sat back hard in his seat, thunderstruck. He couldn't speak. They… they forgot? Just forgot? But how? Torros knew Jamie's birthday, didn't he? He had certainly better. But that would mean… How could they? Poor Jamie. How could they do this to him? Why? What happened? Torros. Was this partially his fault? Oscar clenched his teeth in a sudden spurt of anger. Torros would be hearing about this, all right. Had the older Wild Eagle not been so intent on sticking by Jamie's side he would have marched right up to that base here and now and demanded an explanation. It's what he should have done in the very first place. Nobody did this to his son and got away with it. Nobody.
"I don't want to see them," Jamie gasped. "Please. I don't want them to see me."
"Your teammates?" asked Dr. Goman gently.
Jamie nodded. Tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. "I don't want to see them. I can't."
Dr. Goman acknowledged this with a nod. "That's fine. Now you go back to sleep. You're exhausted and you need your rest. We'll take care of it."
The poor kid was out within a minute. Oscar remained speechless.
"I can't let him leave the hospital," said the Doctor somberly. "Even after he has made a complete physical recovery, I don't think I'm going to be able to let him go. He may end up staying here for a while. By law and by personal convictions, I simply cannot let him return to the base. This boy needs our help. You understand why I can't."
Oscar nodded.
"You may stay here with him as long as needed." Dr. Goman started for the door. "I'll see to having him moved in the morning."
"You can help him, can't you?"
The Doctor was silent for a moment. "We'll do what we can. As far as I can see, yes. Most of it will depend on you. He needs you right now. He needs to be loved."
"I'll do whatever you or he needs me to do," said Oscar sharply. "Whatever it takes."
There was a short pause.
"Then yes, Mr. Hemeros, we can. And we will."
* * *
"Room 107," said Dr. Torros to his daughter and the two young men behind her. They paused at a closed silver door near the end of the hallway, and the Doc. pressed a red button beside the frame.
The door slid open and Oscar Hemeros's hard glare greeted all four of them.
"Oscar!" said the Doc brightly.
"Torros," the former Raynos pilot responded coldly. The Doc faltered.
"Jamie isn't seeing people," said Oscar tonelessly.
"That's what they told us at the front desk," said Brad. "That's why we pushed the call button."
"So, what can I do for you?"
"We came to visit Jamie," said Leena. "He'll let us in, won't he?"
"You're the people he specifically asked *not* to see," Oscar replied glacially.
"What?" Leena gasped.
"You heard me. I think you know perfectly well why."
Bit covered his eyes with his hand and bowed his head. His heart ached terribly for the poor man. They had nearly killed his son, people unto whom he had entrusted Jamie's care and guardianship. Sure, he knew that Jamie had been 'earning his keep' around the base, but he'd probably had no idea of the details. Not even the Doc was childish enough to try to excuse the way they'd treated Jamie in front of the boy's father. Bit desperately wanted to tell the man he was sorry; he wanted more than anything to find Jamie and apologize in person and to do everything within his power to more than make up for what had happened.
Though it might already be too late.
Liger Zero's pilot didn't know what he'd do to himself if he never got the chance to get the message to Jamie of how sorry he was.
"But if you're his father," Dr. Torros persisted, "Aren't you allowed to let us in even if Jamie says no?"
Bit clenched his teeth and fought back the urge to give the Doc a good kick in a place he'd never forget. He was pretty sure that Oscar felt the same way. If that's what it took to get him to finally understand…
The look of utter hatred and pure disgust that Oscar was giving the Doc. only had its true effect on those who knew how close of friends the two were before Jamie's breakdown. He'd been able to overlook Torros's blinding obsession for Zoids and everything that went with them for years; one just had to learn to take the man's negligence and ignorance for anything else into stride. But this was going much too far. When manners like this hurt his son, it was time for the supposed Doctor to wake up and see the real world for what it was. This time he'd gone too far.
"Why?" he whispered, for the first time allowing hints of emotion into his voice. "What did… what were you thinking? Did you not know? Did you forget? Did you just… ignore it all?"
"I never meant to hurt him, Oscar," the Doc replied sharply. There was a moment of dramatic silence as Torros's face fell and an air of grief and sorrow and regret took over his features. "I just… forgot. I completely forgot. I can't explain what happened; one minute he was fourteen and the next I'd missed his birthday by a week. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I won't do it again."
"You're damn right you won't," Oscar snapped. "I hope you're finally getting the idea, Torros. This isn't just about birthdays. For you to completely forget the birthday of someone over whom you hold legal guardianship has implications in itself, but that kind of stuff doesn't take one week to push someone to this level. You hurt him. In a lot of ways. Weather or not you meant to, all of you seriously hurt my son. I won't stand for that." Oscar stopped speaking for a moment. He took the chance to give each person in turn his or her own individual glare. They all, even Brad, faltered under his gaze. All except for the blond-haired guy. He wouldn't look up from the floor, and Oscar was unable to make eye contact.
"You still don't fully get it," he said slowly, quietly, methodically. "My son just tried to *kill himself*. I'm here to do everything I can to make sure that that *doesn't happen again.*" He took a deep breath. "It's all about Jamie now," he said in a final tone. "It's all for him."
The door slid shut in their faces.
END CHAPTER EIGHT
NEXT CHAPTER: A New Hero Emerges: Bit Cloud vs. the Cunning Wolf