Akagi was the first to catch him before he hit the ground. She snaked her arm under his leg and carried him so that his head rested against her. She could feel how light he was, how weak he was and yet…
She did not look back as the Siren ships were in full retreat. The Hybrids that came with them however were completely wiped out. Kaga ran up and walked to her right as the sisters headed straight for the base.
When they reached, they saw Alec come out of the Communication's room and quickly notice them. His eyes fell to James and his body shook a little. But, he did his best to not show any fear.
Akagi looked at Alec and the two had a silent conversation. While she did what she had to do, he did what he had to do.
Alec paused for a moment, turned and saw Vestal emerging from the hospital with a stretcher. Akagi gently put James on the thing and Vestal sped off, back into the building. He now turned ahead and looked at the sky.
"Day's not over yet," he said and headed to the girls.
When he got there, he saw many were wounded and others were only slightly wounded. He saw that even the heaviest hitters Friedrich, Warspite and San Diego were injured, no doubt thanks to their difficult assignment.
But the ones that stood out most were the PR class. Alec saw the six girls were half covered in bruises, their clothes were torn and spotted at least five injuries on each of them. He noticed how Roon wiped the blood off her face and cracked the knuckles in her neck.
Despite looking like they went through a meat grinder, these six would go back to fighting if required.
Saint Louis was the first to spot him and come forward. Despite the blood trickling down her face and hands, she marched with the same purpose and force she always had.
"Where is he?" she asked, unable to contain the worry in his voice "where is James?"
The first time that she had ever called him by name instead of using honorifics. Alec noted that as it served to remind them of how serious things were right now.
"Akagi took him to the hospital," he replied "He's with Vestal but right now you need to be worried about yourself."
Saint Louis looked at her injuries and only now noticed them.
Alec saw Akashi coming from the hospital and understood. He turned to the girls and spoke loudly. His voice may not be clear enough for everyone to hear, but he knew they'd pass on the message.
"Everyone severely injured is to report to Akashi for treatment," he said "the rest of you will report to Marblehead, Bearn, and Langley." The trio here were researchers and knew little about giving first-aid. However, they needed all the help they can get.
Saint Louis turned to the other members of her group. Now, she noticed the injuries they sported and also noticed how none of them seemed deterred by it.
"While they're busy with the wounded," she said, coming to them "we'll start patrolling the edge of the base. That way, we can react in the event Omega tries something."
The girls nodded and started to move when they saw Curtis hold up a hand to stop them. Saint Louis raised an eyebrow and wordlessly asked him what he thought he was doing.
At first, Curtis did not respond. He instead turned to some of the soldiers that weren't too badly injured and spoke to them.
"I want you to create two patrol teams to sweep the base from left to right and vice versa," he began "report to me or our CO (Saint Louis) every hour on the hour without fail. If you see anything that looks out of the ordinary, do not hesitate to report it to either one of us."
The soldiers nodded and headed to the edge of the base. Now Curtis turned around and looked apologetically to Saint Louis.
"Beg your pardon ma'am," he said, "but I believe you'd rather be here than out there."
The leader of the PR class remained silent, understanding his intent. Right now, despite how everyone looked, none of the Azur Sky seemed all that concerned with their injuries. They were more concerned about James and his recovery. Those that saw him fight Omega knew of the injuries he sustained and how they compounded his previous wounds.
"Thank you," she said, giving him a weary but genuine smile. She turned around and looked at the others.
"Change of plans," she said, "we'll be staying here."
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Time went by in a blur. From organizing patrols to getting everyone sorted based on the severity of their injuries, Alec had his work cut out for him. He was helped by Alexis and the faction leaders, but even then it was not enough.
The Azur Sky pushed themselves to the limit and this time they didn't get off with a few scratches and scrapes. Many girls were running on adrenaline till now and only after that wore off did they realize the extent of their injuries. Alec was also both surprised and touched to see the kids come and help too. In typical protocol, they didn't participate in the base's defense and so wanted to do their part and help the others.
And while the girls in the fleet were all definitely going to recover from the encounter, the same could not be said for the humans that fought with them. Alec was reminded of the staggering physical difference between humans and the ship-girls as he went through the hastily assembled field hospital and saw the dozens and dozens of injured soldiers. Some cried for help, others cried to be shot, and some were too shocked to respond to anything.
Additional help did arrive and it was from an unlikely source. Alec was taken aback when he saw that all this was handled and overseen by Whitney of all people. When she saw him, she immediately came up to him and said
"I know I went out of line and you can punish me later," she said "right now, we have to save as many lives as we can."
For a moment, Alec thought there was something to this move. That Whitney only did this in order to buy some sympathy with Alec and deceive him into thinking she turned a new leaf. He brushed those thoughts aside and told himself not to focus on that for now. As stated before, he needed all the help he could get and didn't care where it came from.
At about two am in the morning, almost twelve hours since the fighting came to a halt, a combination of the fleet and soldiers stood outside the main hospital in silence. Standing at the front of this group were the faction leaders along with Alec and Alexis.
They saw Vestal coming out of the hospital, but did not want to ask, not right away at least. She came out and let out a long sigh before saying "he's recovering."
Those words were enough to lift the weight off everyone's chest as they too now sighed in relief.
Enterprise came to steady Vestal a little as the latter had been working non-stop for nearly twelve hours. Alec, Akagi, Kaga, Z23, Queen Elizabeth, Friedrich, Tirpitz, Rossiya, and Richelieu came to her.
"I don't know how it's possible but James is alive," she said, further enforcing her previous statement.
"That said," she added and her expression shifted from relieved to troubled "he's still in a coma. Right now, there's no telling if or when he's going to wake up."
That was not something they didn't want to hear, but in light of all that's happened, it was an acceptable compromise.
Eugen, scanned the area around her nodded then sat down and crossed her legs. Hipper saw this and did a double take before asking.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, not interested in her sister's shenanigans right now.
"I have made my decision to stay here and not move from this spot till James comes out on his own feet," she said and rested her head on her left hand.
"Huh?" blurted Hipper in a tone that everyone was familiar with "you can't do that."
"Watch me," countered the younger sibling.
Then, to Hipper's surprise and shock, Friedrich also did the same thing.
"Good idea Eugen," she said "I'm joining in."
"Mother," said Tirpitz, trying to get her to see reason "you can't be serious."
"Of course I am," she said in the plainest tone possible "and as Eugen said, I intend to stay here till my son walks out of there. I don't think I'll be able to do anything else till then."
"She does make a point," added Queen Elizabeth, taking a place next to her "I won't be able to do anything properly till I see that pain-in-the-backside walk out of the hospital."
The idea caught fire among the others and now they all began sitting down. Tirpitz seeing this, could only sigh in defeat.
"It's alright Tirpitz," said Alec, putting a hand on her shoulder "we'll take care of things."
Alec called for Whitney who was busy with something else. She quickly came to Alec, heard what was going on and agreed without question.
Alec seemed a little doubtful about her sudden loyalty and asked her "why are you suddenly being so cooperative?"
At this, Whitney turned to him and said "I sold my soul to the enemy in order to save my own skin. Hundreds of others were dying every day to protect what mattered most and here I was being selfish. If Manny was alive, he'd be ashamed of me."
"You may not believe me or forgive me and that's fine," she added "but know that I am going to do everything possible to help. After all, they've done so much for us, its only right that we return that kindness."
And so, for the next few days, the humans that were in the Resistance headquarters were organized into several groups by Whitney. She had a team ready to hunt and cook food, a team to distribute the meals to the girls, and one to provide sheets for the night in case it got cold. Alec of course had final say over everything, but he chose to take a step back and let her handle things for now.
Back in the communication's room, Alec was greeted by the sight of Alexis. Away from prying eyes, the couple embraced, shared a kiss before recalling various moments of the last battle.
"For a hot second, I didn't think we were going to make it," said Alec
"You weren't the only one," said Alexis "when Omega entered the battlefield and joined the fight, it was like those hybrids suddenly got more aggressive."
"They easily overwhelmed many of the lines and I saw so many of our people fall left and right."
She clenched her fist to keep from shaking "to be honest, there were a lot of times I didn't think I was gonna make it."
Alec wanted to tell her that if it came to that, she should run. However, he refrained as it was not only cowardly to say, she would absolutely reject that idea. He looked at her and saw her tremble but also heard the courage in her voice. She had grown significantly in the time after Blake and Marie passed.
As much as he was happy to see this, a part of him, a wicked part of him felt jealous. Now, there was someone else who had gone ahead of him.
"We've got a lot of work to do," she said, suddenly snapping him out of that daze. He paused and thought about everything on their to-do list. The list in his mind seemed endless, but there was something that took priority first above all else.
As if picking up on that thought, Alexis stood up, headed for the door and turned to Alec. She gestured for him to come to her and he did. Together, they headed in the same direction.
The couple soon reached the hospital entrance and saw half the girls inside and the other half outside. Alexis noticed Eugen and Hipper sitting on one of the metal chairs near the entrance. She saw how Eugen was leaning on Hipper, both sound asleep and huddled together. She also noticed how Eugen had more of the blanket than her older sister but did not seem troubled by it.
Elsewhere were Z23, Ayanami, Laffey and Javelin who were all sitting on four separate seats and were slowly waking up.
True to their promise, none of the girls left until they saw their Commander was back up on his own two feet. They may have shifted positions here and there, but none of them left the area.
Every day, Alec and Alexis made it a point to visit him to see how he was doing. Whether it was early morning or in the evening, the couple always visited him and today was no different.
They entered the room and saw the familiar sight of James lying motionless in a bed with a few devices plugged into him. Beside him, with her face on the bed was Akagi sound asleep. On the opposite side of the room was Kaga seated on a chair and was also sound asleep.
The two said nothing as they did not want to wake up the sisters and quietly crept away. On one hand, it was good to see him alive, but on the other hand, Alec wondered when he was getting up.
Outside the hospital, some of the girls were having their morning coffee and breakfast when Eugen glanced at the hospital and looked a little wistful.
"Oy, don't go moping on me all of a sudden," said Hipper, giving her sister a light chop to the head "now isn't the time to be thinking such things."
"Sorry," she said, turning back "I just think that…"
"He'll come back to us," said Friedrich, interrupting the conversation. The others, and a few others who overheard the exchange wondered where the Iron Blood Matriarch had such confidence.
"He came back to us before, he'll come back again," she said, like she was stating facts. "After all, He's an Iron Blood and we always come back to our family."
Though the words were encouraging to hear, someone in the group took offense to a particular statement.
"Hold on a second," blurted Queen Elizabeth, staring at Friedrich while her eyebrow twitched "what makes you think he's an Iron Blood? If anything he's Royal Navy."
"Excuse me what?" asked Friedrich, eyeing Queen Elizabeth with doubt "James is brave, courageous, and the only one outside our faction I consider as family. Hence, he is Iron Blood."
Queen Elizabeth scoffed and said "bravery and courage are traits personified by the Royal Navy i.e., MY FACTION. That makes him Royal Navy."
The chatter soon reached a point where other girls were weighing in on the conversation and now everyone was engaged in a lively debate over which faction the Commander belonged to.
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Meanwhile, in a place far from the base, in a different place of life, there was another conversation about to take place.
James found himself standing in an unfamiliar area. He saw what looked to be a café with hardwood floors. There were four windows on either side of him with like streaking through. The area was filled with several round tables and around each table were small chairs. Before him there was a table with what looked like bat/café stools around them. He looked behind the table and saw expensive liquors on rows of shelves and also saw an elaborate looking coffee machine as well.
He assumed that this was a café in the morning and a bar at night. Strange, he had never been to such a place before during his shore leave.
James now saw the door next to the main table open. Through it came a smartly dressed old man wearing a white shirt, black pants, and a black waistcoat. The man looked to be in his sixties but James wasn't sure. He was terrible at guessing someone's age. However, when he saw the man's face, James simply strode to the table, sat on one of the chairs and said.
"So I am dead… again"
Hearing this, the gentleman on the other side shot him a questioning look then asked "what makes you say that?"
"Well you're here. And if you're here then…"
"I can see how one would come to that conclusion," said the man "and if you were a normal person, you'd be dead three times over now."
"How's that now?" asked James
"That'll be too long of a conversation," was the reply the man gave James "we start talking about that, then we'd be here forever and you don't have time for that."
"For now, all you need to know is that you're at a crossroads of your life. Before you are two doors: one takes you forward and the other takes you back."
The man pointed to the door he came from and said "take that door and you move forward."
Then, the man pointed to the door behind James, the café entrance and said "take that door and you move back."
"What's the catch?" asked James, almost immediately.
"Move forward and you go to the same place I am now," said the man "you pass on."
"Is it like everything we've heard about and read?"
"Even better?" replied the man, smiling "everything you want and need, an eternity of peace and happiness and I'm surrounded by the people I love."
At this, James nearly got up from the chair. His eyes were wide with surprise when he asked "you mean…?"
"Yep, I spending every moment possible with my wife and daughter," said the man with a mixture of joy and pain in his voice "I'll be honest, it was a bittersweet moment seeing my beloved Angela here."
"Of course, it isn't just them though. There are plenty of others that are waiting for and want to meet you. The crew, the Devil Dogs team…"
"Kaz," said James, in a low and weak voice.
"Also, there are a few others I didn't recognize. There were these two blondes, one that drank tea like a lady and the other could won every drinking competition we had here. You know them?"
"That would be Hood and Bismarck," he said, without hesitation.
"And the third, was this Yamato Nadeshiko, only she had these ears…" he used his fingers to emphasize the point "…and nine tails behind her."
"Amagi, that's my older sister."
The man simply nodded, not at all surprised by the bomb drop James just gave.
"Like I said, you go through this door, you move forward, pass on and spend eternity in peace."
"And what about that other door?"
At this, the man gave him a troubled expression and sighed.
"You go through that door and you go back, back to the war, back to the fighting and back to… Omega."
"Let me tell you kid, I've never felt that much hate in a single person before," he continued "Omega is driven by anger, fury, rage, and will stop at nothing till she wipes out everything in her path."
"You may have driven her into a corner now, but rest assured, she will fight till her last breath before she dies. That isn't the kind of enemy that'll go down easy."
The man noticed how silent James was and went over to brew him a cup of coffee. He slid the cup to him. James took a gulp then started coughing.
"Oh god this is terrible," he said, his face grimacing at the aftertaste.
"Hey now, that's a special combination made by yours truly," said the man, feigning hurt "it's guaranteed to put hair on your ass."
James did not reply or comment on that. Instead, he held the cup and looked at the contents. The man waited for a good long while before James finally spoke.
"Sorry but, you'll have to wait a little longer," he said and the man gave him a smile.
"And just to clarify, I'm not going back there just to end this war and stop Omega," said James "I'm going back to Akagi, Kaga, Enterprise, Belfast, Unicorn, Saint Louis, Friedrich, Eugen, Wales, Roon and everyone else. I'm going back to my family."
The man bit back the tears forming in his eyes. The boy that came to his ship a hot-headed, short-tempered asshole had grown into a fine young man.
"And," said James, getting off the stool "I wouldn't have come this far if not for you. So…"
"Thank you for everything… old man," said James, deeply bowing to the man on the other side.
Once again, Manny had to bite back the tears seeing this. He did not want his last interaction with James to be a tear-filled moment. Instead, he wanted to show James how proud he was of him.
And so, the old man did the only thing he knew. He gave his surrogate son one final order.
"Give 'em hell kid."
James in response, gave a crisp salute, fully intending to do just that.
James now lowered his hand, turned around and walked away. He did not want to look away or else he'd second-guess his decision. He calmly went to the entrance door, opened it and took a step through.
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He opened his eyes and saw the plain looking ceiling. It was a familiar sight. He then heard the faint and rhythmic beeping of several machines. He blinked a couple of times and confirmed things. He was about to raise his hand to his chest when he felt something on it.
James turned in that direction and saw Akagi clutching his hand while her head lay on the bed. He gave it a gently squeeze and in response, Akagi squeezed back. He squeezed her hand again and she squeezed back. This time, it was followed he her eyes shooting wide open and immediately turning to him.
"Hey," he said, smiling at her "sorry for worrying you like that."
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Enterprise was the first to notice it. She saw someone coming down and first expected it to be Akagi or Kaga. Instead, she saw James slowly but steadily make his way down. In response, she immediately ran outside and shouted that he's awake.
At once, the girls dropped what they were doing and started crowding around the base. Those inside also quickly came together, but gave enough space for him to walk.
James made his way to the entrance with Akagi and Kaga flanking him. If anything happened or if he struggled, they would catch him without hesitation. However, that was not the case as he slowly inched his way to the exit.
There, he looked at all the girls who had lined up waiting for him. He smiled and said "I'm back."
