A/N: I still own nothing.
ZEDD
I watch Pina walk quickly away, resisting the urge to chase her down and make her tell me what she knows.
It's only when my attention is distracted by the human at my side that I finally give up on the notion. "So, has Dar already left?"
"Yes, why?" He's not still afraid of him is he? He must realize that Dar would never hurt him, even when Pina is not here will he lay a hand on him - or else.
He takes a deep breath before looking at me in a manner that I can tell is meant to portray seriousness, but yet seems to fall just a bit short of it due to his worry. "We need to talk. Or I need to talk."
"All right." This could be interesting.
"Where do you want to go?"
"I suppose that depends on what you want to discuss, Thomas. Where will you be the most comfortable?"
He debates this for several minutes before settling on the one place he is most familiar with. "Your room, I guess."
"Good choice." Smiling in a reassuring manner I follow him to my room and shut the door behind us out of habit.
Looking back at the slight noise, his next request surprises and if I'm honest hurts me just a bit. "Leave it open, please." Does he not trust me? Does he think I'd harm or trap him if he wanted to leave?
Reining in my small bit of insecurity and displeasure I comply calmly and reopen the door.
"Sorry, I just feel better with it open."
"Clear escape route." I realize just a moment too late that I've spoken out loud, and unfortunately am unable to stop myself from finishing my current train of thought. "You know I won't hurt you, yes?"
"Oh, I know that." Then I had to open the door because? "Pina thinks that my warrior instincts might be coming back so that's probably part of it." Does she now? I'll have to talk to her about that. "I'm sorry, are you upset I wanted it open?"
"No, just curious. I want you to be comfortable. Especially if you have something important to talk about." Seeing that the boy has claimed the bed, I pull my desk chair from behind the desk and sit facing him. "Speaking of which, what did you want to talk about?"
He fidgets for a minute and looks away from me, his behavior alerting me that this will not be pleasant talk for him, whatever it is regarding. "Look, you've been pretty honest with me about stuff and I know it bothers you that I don't tell you stuff. You said so in the woods."
"That's true, Thomas. I do wish you would talk to me more, but I didn't tell you that so you would feel like you had to talk to me. I merely wanted you to understand that I am available to talk to as well."
He shakes his head. "I get that, but it's only fair." Fair? This shouldn't be about fair. Realizing quickly that I've made a mistake along the way, apparently made him feel obligated in some sense to tell me whatever he is about to, I quickly try to remedy the situation as best I can.
"Thomas, if you are not truly ready to take that step, then I can wait. This is not about fairness, it's about you. You should not feel obligated to tell me something that you don't want to."
Finally looking at me, he takes a breath, his voice steady and sure. "I want to." He looks at his hands and I wonder if I'm ready to hear what he has to say. I feel the link between us and realize that he has already gained some degree of control over it. He's blocking me.
"Are you absolutely certain about this? You only recently told Pina, Thomas. And if I recall correctly that seemed to take a good bit out of you."
"I know, but…I need to tell you now. Please."
Hesitating only a moment, I in the end nod deciding it is in fact his decision, whether I'm prepared for it or not. "All right Thomas, I'm listening."
Taking a deep breath, he begins almost too calmly for my liking. "The first day I got there - at rehab, I mean - I realized that it wasn't going to be a good thing when they locked me in. I went to lunch and when I tried to eat, they told me I wasn't doing it right." Ah the way he held his hand, yes I recall all too well his panic over that during his first day on the ship.
"You're doing much better with that Thomas." The bit of praise slipping out and interrupting him before I can stop myself, I'm glad when it earns a small smile before he shakes his head and refocuses on his story.
"Well I wasn't then I guess. When I didn't understand how I wasn't doing it right two guys held me down and the third - Big John - shoved the food down my throat. I choked a lot and told them to stop but Big John said something to the other two about me needing to get used to things in my throat. I didn't understand what that meant until later." Kill, must kill them. "I tried to fight back, but they dragged me back to my room and strapped me down to the bed, which I don't understand because they locked the door so I couldn't get out anyways."
"They did it to be mean, not to make sure you couldn't leave." Understanding that tactic all too well as it is one I myself have unfortunately used in the past, I shake away those memories not wishing to deal with them right now of all times.
"Well they didn't let me up until the next morning. Of course, being strapped to the bed all night, I had trouble walking. They slapped me around for that, saying that I wasn't going to get better if I didn't try. I tried to argue with them, but Big John punched me in the eye and told me not to argue - that I was too stupid to make any sense anyway."
Unconsciously, Thomas touches his left eye as he speaks. I cringe as I'm already sick to my stomach and I know he isn't even to the worst of it. Can I take anymore without actually going back there and punishing these humans for what they've done? Could Thomas handle a trip back to Earth so I can?
"After they forced my breakfast down my throat, they said that it was bath time. They took me to another small room and Big John and one other man was there and they locked me into the room. They stripped me down and all but threw me into the tub. The water was freezing. I tried to get out, but they made me stay in. I tried to fight them, to get out, but they held me under the water until I stopped fighting them. They both grabbed cloths and scrubbed me, but they did it too hard. Anytime I tried to fight back, they held me under the water. I thought they were done finally, but then Big John started…touching me."
Once again moving unconsciously, he folds his hands in his lap, protecting himself. "I fought again. This time the second man held me under the water as Big John started stroking me. Just before I ran out of air, the other guy let me up, but Big John didn't stop. I didn't want what happened next." Knowing all to well what must have happened I find my rage mounting to entirely new levels at the thought of my boy being touched, forced like that by some disgusting, horrid creature who is not even fit to clean his boots. "He kept stroking and I came. I didn't want to. I just, I couldn't help it."
"It's not your fault Thomas, it's just a natural reaction to that type of touch. It has nothing to do with you liking it or not."
"He said I must have liked it, otherwise I wouldn't have cum." Looking back down at his hands in possible shame or embarrassment, which I can't tell, he shakes his head as I begin to protest once more.
"It doesn't matter." But it does. It actually matters a great deal. However Thomas continues before I can. "After that, they dragged me out of the water and beat me. I think that's the first time they broke a rib. They stuffed me into some clothes and dragged me to my room and threw me in."
By now, it's all I can do to keep my rage under control. Well, that and the urge to throw up. This time, though, I know it's all me and not him. He has me blocked so effectively I can barely tell he's in the room. I want to stop him, but what if he never starts again? He needs to get this out. Suddenly, I realize that he's blocked me, not to protect me as I originally thought, but he's blocking his own feelings as well. He's telling this as if it happened to someone else - merely reciting facts. This is not good. Not what he needs according Pina. His emotions are important, they're what he needs to face, to get out, and going about his story in this manner, he's not doing it.
"The next day it happened again. That night was the first time that Big John came into my room after lights out. I knew something was wrong when all the rooms went quiet. It happened almost every night. The rooms would go quiet and a few minutes later the screaming and crying and begging would start. I figured out later that he and some of the others were raping people. He came to my room, touched me and when I fought back he hurt me. Before I could do anything about it, Big John forced himself down my throat. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't fight. I think I felt it tear the first time he did it. He started moving faster and harder. It seemed like forever before he came down my throat. When he pulled out, I could see blood on him and I knew it was mine." Breathe, must breathe.
"The next two nights were the same way - he'd force himself down my throat - fucking my throat until he came. That last night he brought a few of the others and they all did it. I don't even know how many there were. This time Big John had stripped me and stroked me until I was hard and then tied a rag around the base of it."
"Restriction." The word leaves my mouth before I can stop it and I mentally kick myself, hard. At Tommy's curious look I sigh and elaborate unhappily. "He was um, restricting the blood flow. So you couldn't cum."
Nodding slowly, he takes a moment before continuing, clearly wanting to ask how I know what I know, but wisely not asking. "That hurt a lot." Yes, if not done right I would imagine it would. He's lucky there was actually no real damage done. "I heard him tell the others that the rag would keep me hard but that I wouldn't be able to cum, just like you said. As they all took their turns, sometimes someone would stroke me or suck me for a little while. It helped to distract me from what else they were doing, but..." But? "But I didn't like it. I, I didn't want that."
Shaking his head again, he picks the story back up forcing his emotions away once more. "They finally got tired of me and Big John untied the rag. He told me I'd better not move or I wouldn't be happy the next night. When he began sucking me, I couldn't help but move. He made me cum harder that I ever had."
"As he left the room, he grinned at me in a way I didn't like and said that since I moved I would be punished for it the next day. Oddly, I didn't see him all day, but that night he came to my room with two others. They started beating me, took my pants, and tied the rag on again. Their guards dropped for a minute and I lunged for the door. They hurt me too much for me to get far. They just kept beating me in the hall. I barely remember Big John saying something about him getting to have me first and I'm not sure what that means-" Thank the higher powers for that. "-but the next thing I knew, you were there beating the hell out of them."
There is a crack in his façade as a tear drops onto his hands which are clenched tightly in his lap - so tightly that his knuckles are white. Forcing my own emotions aside, I realize that I need to deal with his first. Slowly and carefully, I move over by the boy and sit on the bed. "Thomas, I-"
He looks up at me for the first time since he began talking and I can see the pain clearly in his soft brown eyes. "They were nothing but bullies. You said so in the woods. I'm pretty sure that I didn't used to give in to bullies. Why couldn't I fight them? Why couldn't I stop it?"
My heart twists in my chest in an unfamiliar way as tears begin coursing down his face. "They made sure you couldn't, Thomas. They drugged you and hurt you so you weren't able to fight back properly. Plus, you weren't fully healed when you went there. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault Thomas." I can't figure out if he's crying from rage or helplessness or what, but Pina said that crying helps humans so… "Get it all out, Thomas. I promise you're safe with me."
Slowly, I reach out and touch his arm unsure of what physical comfort to offer. What did Pina do when I was injured? Did she touch me? Hug me? Offer reassurances? I can't remember and even if I could it's against my normal instincts to give such physical comfort. I haven't done so in…well I can't even remember how long. And what if he doesn't want me to? What if he's still scared of such contact? Perhaps I should - Be stunned as he lunges into my arms.
Looking down in shock as I suddenly have a sobbing Ranger pressed against my chest, I lightly wrap my arms around him - tightly enough that he knows I'm there, but loosely enough so that he won't feel trapped.
After a minute, I find myself rocking him lightly, stroking his hair and saying soothing nonsense in my native language. I feel slightly foolish - I know he can't understand me, but it seems to be working. Several minutes later, he relaxes and his sobbing has subsided to little more than the occasional shudder. I continue for another minute or so before I stop. I look at Thomas and discover that he has fallen asleep.
Gently, I lay him down. I know he'll need lunch when he wakes up, but I'm loathe to leave him alone - even for as long as it would take me to run to the kitchen. Knowing I'll probably regret it, I lay down next to him and pull him close to my side. He curls up against me and I pull the edge of the blanket over him. I lay thinking. My rage hasn't cooled - not by a long shot and I suddenly realize why Pina asked if I'd be here when she returned. She knew he was going to tell me.
In spite of my irritation, I must applaud her ingenuity. She knew he was going to tell me and she knew that I'd never just abandon Thomas. But did she actually have to leave or was this just an elaborate plan to give me plenty of time to calm down? Either way, it's been more effective than she probably realized it would. Suddenly a lot of his behavior since I retrieved him from that place makes a lot of sense. A moment later, I, too am asleep.
-ooooo-
My eyes suddenly snap open some time later. It's nearly dark? We slept through the entire afternoon?! How did I manage that? I can understand how Thomas did, being human and so exhausted from his story and emotional purge of sorts, but myself?
Looking over at said human I notice that Thomas seems restless as he squirms and whimpers in his sleep. Assuming that's what woke me, I turn my attention to him. Gently, I stroke his back and whisper, "Easy, Thomas, it's only a dream."
Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of dream it is - good or bad. And I still cannot breach his mental barriers. Whispering, I repeat my assurances that it's only a dream and let him know that he's safe. I switch over to Eltarian, hoping that it will have the same calming effect that it had before. It seems to work and a couple of minutes later, he settles down.
Now fully awake, I slip away from him for a minute and head into the bathroom. While I don't like leaving him for even a moment right now, a visit to the facilities is definitely needed.
A few minutes later, business is handled and I return to the room. As I sit down on the bed, Thomas stirs and after a moment slowly, he wakes, eyes focusing on me.
"Hello Thomas. Feel better?"
He sits up and rubs his eyes, looking much like a small child as he does - something that I find unreasonably cute. "I think so. But now I'm hungry."
"And no wonder. Apparently, we slept through the entire afternoon. Let's go to the kitchen. Even if Dar hasn't returned, I'm sure I can manage something."
"Okay." Thomas slides off the bed and follows me to the kitchen. I know that he's worried about how I'll treat him now that I know what happened. He's mentioned it before, expressing his distaste in being seen or treated as weak or childish by me, however I'm not going to let that happen - or at least I'm going to try my best. I reach out mentally and still feel the barrier there. Why is he still doing that? How do I get past it?
Still trying my best to at least reach him, I'm surprised when I see him flinch and even more surprised when he speaks. "Don't."
Moving around the kitchen, I ask, "Why not?"
"I don't want you in my head right now. I need to deal with this first."
Understanding dawns, even if I'm not happy about it. "Just like I had to deal with what Pina told me before I could tell someone."
Nodding in agreement, he moves to the counter, having a seat and looking far too drained for my liking. "When I'm ready, you'll know."
I'll just have to accept that for now I suppose, though that doesn't mean I have to like it. Deciding to let it be for now though I move to the fridge and after gathering the desired items I begin throwing some food together in a pan and turn the heat on. "There we go."
Thomas cocks his head curiously. "What is it?"
"I promise, when we sit down to eat, you'll be glad I made it. I do this quite often." What I'm not telling him is that this is how I often get Dar to cook when he doesn't want to.
No sooner done than the kitchen door pops open. Ah right on time. Thomas spins around and automatically drops into a defensive stance something that I find curious, but satisfying as well. Perhaps Pina was right, perhaps his instincts are coming back.
Dar stands there, arms loaded. As one, Thomas and I move to help before he can even ask. Once relieved of his packages, he sniffs the air.
"What in all the hells are you making?"
"I have no idea." Watching him with amusement I lean against the counter near Thomas and smile as he crosses to the stove and stares at the pan, even going so far as to pick up the spoon I had been stirring it with and poking at the contents. He grimaces and turns off the burner before setting the offending item in the sink.
Sighing heavily, he shakes his head. "You two go get the supplies and I'll start making something edible."
Beckoning Thomas to follow me, I leave the kitchen and head for the bay where he's sure to have parked his ship. I hear a snicker behind me. "I think you pissed him off."
"Without a doubt. Besides that was the point. He'll get over it." As we reach the bay, I frown. Only two ships here. I would have thought that Pina would have been back by now. From the corner of my eye, I see the Ranger frown as well.
"Didn't you say we slept all afternoon? Shouldn't she be back by now?"
"I would have thought so." Still frowning, I load Thomas with as much as he can reasonably carry - he is only human, after all - before loading up myself. As we head back through the passages to the kitchen, I show him some small marks on the walls at the intersections. "By the way, these marks? They'll help you find your way around until you get used to the layout of the castle. Red marks lead to the infirmary, green to the kitchen, yellow to the hangar bay, and blue to the living quarters."
He studies them for a minute before asking, "What about the brown, orange, purple, and black ones?"
We continue walking as I answer him. "The brown lead outside and the orange lead to different storage areas. The purple and black I want you to stay away from, please." Yeah, because the last thing I need is for him to find the labs and dungeons, respectively. A thought occurs to me. I built this castle as a replica of the old one. Did I replicate his dungeon room as well?
A chill spikes through me as I think about what this could do if he finds it before I can explain things to him. I must remember to check that the next time he spends time with Pina.
"Why? What do they go to?" Curiosity piqued, he looks back at the walls, in a manner that I'm not happy with.
"Places that you do not need to be. As I and Pina told you Thomas this is your home right now and you are free to go where you wish, but certain areas are just not safe for you to be in right now, so please promise that you will listen to me and stay out of those particularly marked rooms."
Nodding in agreement, he at least for the moment looks as if he'll comply. Though I do have to wonder about the long run.
When we finally reach the kitchen and set down our loads I casually turn to ask Dar, "Have you heard from Pina?"
"Not since before I left. Why?"
"She left less than an hour after you did and she's not back yet."
Not surprisingly, he frowns as well. "She never specified where she was going to me - just said that it was in the opposite direction I was going."
"That's all I know too." Suddenly, we both turn our attention to the boy beside me. "Thomas, did she tell you where she had to go?"
He shakes his head firmly. "Uh-uh. She just told me she had to leave the planet."
Dar sighs. "Depending on where she had to go, she might just be conferring with some of her peers about Tommy's condition and lost track of time."
Responsibility settles on me once more. "If we haven't heard from her by the time the supplies are offloaded, I'll try to reach her."
Dar nods and turns back to his cooking, suddenly seeming to be lost in thought. I beckon Thomas to follow me and we head back to the bay. Suddenly, Thomas speaks. "Are they bonded like we are?"
I have no idea how to answer the boy, not knowing the answer myself. Honesty again, I suppose. "I don't know. Why?"
"I was thinking that if they were bonded, Dar would know if something was wrong, wouldn't he?" Glancing at him, I see him bite his lip in concern.
"I suppose he would - unless she blocked him the way you blocked me this afternoon. By the way, you're picking that up very quickly - how to use the bond." Frighteningly quickly, and it makes me all the more sure that the little episode this morning was intentional, the clever little brat.
He shrugs, but looks pleased by the praise all the same. "Seemed like a smart thing to do - especially since I feel your emotions more strongly than you do mine."
Nodding in agreement, we enter the bay once more. I hand him more supplies, but before I can take up any myself, the hangar doors open. I'm not paying too much attention at first, knowing if it were any ship but Pina's the alarms would have gone off, when I turn and see Thomas watching curiously. He has my full attention at his next question.
"Is the ship supposed to - I dunno - wobble like that?"
Swiftly, I turn my attention to the ship entering the bay. Something is wrong - seriously wrong. Keeping my voice calm, I answer him. "Thomas, put down your packages and go get Dar. Now. Go quickly."
After one more look at the landing craft, Thomas does as I've asked. Once he's out of the bay, I turn my attention to the ship. It's definitely Pina's ship, but she takes pride in her ability to land it better and more precisely than either Dar or I can. Half a dozen scenarios flash through my mind as the ship lands and shuts down. I wait impatiently for the door to open. Are there enemies inside? Is she hurt?
Thankful that my staff is only a thought away if I need it, I wait tensely as the steps lower and the door slides open. When I do see her, the first thing I notice is that she's armored. I've only seen her do that two other times since the purge of evil and it's never been good news. She slowly descends the stairs and hands me a small box. "Mission accomplished, my lord."
My eyes narrow as I look more closely at her, cataloging the injuries I can see. Split lip, black eye, slight limp and the way she's holding her arm can't be good either. "Stand down."
The command has barely left my mouth when her warrior transformation fails in a bright flash of light. I set the box down hastily and grab her before she hits the floor. Her eyes are out of focus as she says, "I'm okay. Just minor injuries. I can fix them in no time in the infirmary."
"Stay with me, Pina. Dar's on his way."
"I'm not dying, my lord, although it would be an honor." Uh-oh. Dar and I learned a while back that her transformation to good humanoid came with a price. When Pina has a concussion, she isn't aware of where she is in her lifespan. She bounces to different points in her past. It got real interesting the time she thought she was about the equivalent of twelve human years old. Or back to the time she threw herself at me to gain my favor when we were evil and she knew I wasn't getting any from Rita. Of course, that was long before she and Dar became mates, but that was a trying few hours.
Pounding footsteps in the passageway alert me to the oncoming mate of the out-of-it female I'm now holding. This could get ugly. Dar bursts through the passage with Thomas right behind him. Oh hells. What will she say while she's stuck in the time she's in? I pin Thomas with a look that stops him in his tracks. "Go open the infirmary door and then go to the kitchen. I'll be there shortly." As he opens his mouth to protest, I cut him off. "I'll explain when I get there. Hurry."
Obviously upset, he turns and leaves the bay as Dar hurries over to us. "Oh, god. Pina, are you all right?"
She answers, "Goldar, you know as well as anyone that it is an honor to die in the service of our Lord Zedd."
I interrupt. "You are not dying. You're just concussed and slightly damaged." I turn my attention to Dar. "We'll get her to the infirmary and heal her up."
The rage on his face speaks volumes as he stands and picks her up. Suddenly, she laughs - an evil cackle that leaves me with no doubt where her mind is. "You should have seen it. I had them scattering before me. I'm pretty sure that one of the Rangers will never fight again. Maybe he'll even die for our cause."
We hurry to the infirmary and in short order have her on the table. Dar is running the scanner as I position the machine over her head. As I start the device and he gives her a shot, I wonder if we could heal Thomas this way. Unsure due to the differences, I file the question until a later time.
I can hear Dar muttering under his breath, switching back and forth between planning his retribution and reading the scans. I can wholeheartedly agree with his plans for retribution. I glance at the readout and realize that her concussion isn't a bad one, thankfully. In less than five minutes, she'll be herself again and then she can handle the rest of her healing.
I wait, not so patiently, for the machine to finish. I want to be sure she's going to be all right before I go talk to Thomas. I feel bad for the way I talked to him, but hell only knows what she might have said if she had seen him. Thankfully, the machine finishes its cycle and I switch it off and remove it. She blinks at me and then turns a sweet smile on Dar. "Okay, I know it looks bad, but you should have seen the other guys."
Relieved that she's okay - well, going to be - I turn to go find Thomas, hoping he's not hurt too badly by my curtness with him, however I stop dead in my tracks at what I hear next.
"Fucking human."
Slowly, I turn back around and face Dar, my voice holding a clear threat that he'd better think twice about his statement being repeated. "What did you say?"
"I said, fucking human." It's suddenly very obvious to me that his rage is getting the better of him as he repeats himself clearly and much too loudly for my liking. "He'll be no problem, you two said. Look how helpless he is. Look how cute." The last word accompanied by a glare at me, I know where he is going and I quite frankly do not like it one bit.
"Goldar if you dare-"
"Oh I dare, my lord, I dare. We'll help him. We'll heal him. We'll protect him. Well, this is partly his fault. If he hadn't gotten hurt in the first place-"
"Dar-"
"No, Pina. We've turned our lives upside down for this human. We've changed everything about how we live and work to accommodate him and I don't even understand why when he's been nothing to us but our enemy up until he got hurt. Why should we keep him here? Why should we ruin all we've built for some spoiled, over emotional, egotistical human?"
I answer him, fists clenched and gaze deadly. "Because I said so."
He turns back to me, his real target, as I know the last thing he wants to do is attack his mate right now. "And you don't even know why! You just had a feeling and like always we followed you blindly. You and your feelings towards him! This is no different from when we were attacking Earth! You were obsessed with him then and now that you've finally gotten a chance to get him here, keep him here, you've taken it, our needs, our wants be damned! You think I - we didn't see you back then Zedd? You think we didn't notice how you always avoided injuring him, how you always directed our creatures away from him. Give me a break Zedd you could have killed him when he was still the Green Ranger but instead you let him escape! You let him ruin everything we could have accomplished, and for what? For some feeling."
I keep my face and voice calm, even though I'm seething inside at not only his words about Thomas but me as well. "You have no idea what thin ice you are treading on Goldar. You have no right to question me or my abilities where my work, ethics, or feelings are concerned. And as for you following me, trusting me, yes, you trusted me as you had countless times before. Why would I have thought that this time would be any different?"
Pina lays a hand on Dar's arm before he can lunge and I can snap his neck. "Dar, stop. It's not that simple. You don't know everything concerning Zedd or Tommy and furthermore I never want to hear you say something like that about Tommy again. He is not the boy he once was, the same as we are not the creatures we once were. He is our friend, our guest, and you will treat him with respect."
"You'll be lucky if I don't ship him back to Earth."
I turn to leave the room before I say or do something that I know I will regret when I suddenly see a movement in the shadows near the door. Oh god. Thomas.
How much did he hear? How do I explain any of this to him? He remains in the shadows and I cannot see his face to even guess what he's thinking. I try once more to reach him through the link, but the barrier remains in my way. I realize that the pair behind me has fallen silent, no doubt because of my own frozen stance.
After a moment I hear Pina's questioning voice. "What is it, Zedd?"
I take a step forward, but the man in the hall takes one back, maintaining the distance. "Thomas, I-"
"No." I wince at the unfamiliar harshness of his voice. He backs up another step and then another. "I should have known. You're just like the others - you and her." The contempt in his voice stuns me. "It's all lies. Dar is the only one who was honest and it's pretty sad when the only one I can trust for the truth is the one who admits to hating me. Leave me alone, Lord Zedd."
With that, he slips back further into the shadows and disappears. I throw a glare at Goldar over my shoulder and head off after the boy, barely hearing him tell Pina, "He was never meant to hear that. It was supposed to be a private grievance between the three of us. He was supposed to be in the kitchen."
By now, I can't hear whatever response she made in return, but I have no doubt that she's going to tell him about the bond between Tommy and myself. Unfortunately, I'll have to worry about that later, as I am having to track the Ranger by sound alone - a tricky task indeed when the stone walls around me echo every sound.
"Thomas?! Thomas please stop and listen to me!" Listening closely I suddenly feel my heart sink as instead of a response, I get a door slam, and a loud one at that.
He could be anywhere in the castle - or out of it, judging by the path markings on the wall beside me. How am I supposed to find him now? What if he gets hurt? What if he gets lost? Shit!
Thinking it over I finally decide that I will need help on this if I even have a shot at finding him before something happens. If I can keep from killing Goldar long enough, the three of us might be able to find him. I hurry back to the infirmary where the pair are, fortunately still waiting.
Entering the room I'm just in time to hear the end of Pina's final remark. "- bonded. You know what that means to us as a species."
Fortunately for him, Dar's voice is full of regret as he answers her. "I didn't know. I was angry that you were hurt trying to help him. If he wasn't here, it wouldn't have happened."
She sighs. "I should have known better than to go alone. I was just in such a hurry to help him, I didn't think about it. But, Dar, the fault was not his - it never was. He didn't ask to be hurt and you know as well as the rest of us that the higher powers don't take that into consideration - on either side."
I step into the room, not ready to let him off just yet, but still far too worried about my boy to get into it once more at the moment. "I didn't find him. He could be anywhere in the castle - or even outside and it's getting darker."
Looking uncertain, Dar finally responds with possibly the most idiotic thing I've ever heard him utter. "Maybe he'll come back when he's hungry."
Pina rolls her eyes and shoves him back so she can hop off the table. "Really, Dar! He's not a wild darko! He's an intelligent being. We need to start searching - first the castle, then outside. And you WILL help."
I can't help but mutter under my breath, "Who needs help like that? With friends like that-"
"Don't even finish that thought, Zedd. We don't have time for it and you of all people should know that. Dar, you take the labs. Zedd, you take the storage areas. I'll check the dungeons. Work from the bottom up to the turrets. Take the emergency communicators. If someone finds him, trigger it. Otherwise, meet in the kitchen in an hour."
For once, I have no problem handing over command of an operation. I am so worried and, if I was honest with myself, afraid, I doubt I could do so effectively. Swiftly, we all leave the room and head for our assigned areas.
