"…"
"… I…"
A voice echoes out in the dark.
"I am… here?"
It's a woman's voice… no
"I'm here?"
It's a girls voice.
"I'm here."
There is a sense of surprise voice in her voice. Surprise and… curiosity… and…
"But… where are you?"
Desire.
"How much longer do I have to wait?"
A red clad girl flickered in and out of the world. Glitching like the television station. She distorted a few times, static flickering left and right, with her petite frame even seeming to split in two on occasion.
"Until I get to see you?"
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Oh god the beeping was going to drive him crazy. The young man thought as blissful unconsciousness started to fade away. When he started coming to, he began to realize just how tired he was… worse he started to realize just how much his body was aching. Tired and hurt… never a good combination.
Forcing his eyes open the stallion grunted, closing them again as he found the light bothering him. "O~w." He grumbled as he squinted, finally adjusting to the light and looked around. "Where?"
"Well I'll be, you're awake."A voice to his left caught the youth's attention as he turned to see an older man with a short raven colored hair walking into the sterile white room. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Oh.. hi." The bedbound individual muttered before closing his eyes and made to pass back out. Barely a second later though the pony's eyes snapped open and he leapt out the bed. "Ah! What happened- where am I?" He flinched a moment later as he gripped his head and leaned back down. "Ow ow ow ow ow!"
"Don't do that." The older figure grumbled as he brought his hands to the youths head and started to massage it to alleviate the sudden headache. "Never make sudden movements after just waking up understood; especially when you've been out for as long as you have."
"R-right." They took a breath, trying his best to will the headache away as felt the other rub his skull. A moment later he looked at his bandaged arms.. " What happened to me? How long have I been out?"
"We were hoping you could tell us." The doctor muttered as he released the youths head and took a breath. "You've been out for almost five months."
"Five… months." The youth muttered as aloud as he tried to think back. "I was out for… five… months?"
"I'm afraid so." The older man muttered before taking a seat next to him. "Now, if possible, can I ask you a few questions?"
"Ok."
"Can you tell me your name?"
"My name?" The youth paused for a moment. "My name is… Hawke." He muttered. "Hawke Crestlight."
"Very good." His doctor muttered as he looked at his patient. "Now, when were you born?"
"September… 1st."
"That's good, do you have any family?"
"I have a mom and a dad." His doctor seemed to stare at him for a moment before slowly nodding in relief.
"Alright. You seem to be able to recall who you are thankfully." The doctor stated as he smiled kindly. "I'm glad." His doctor whispered. "You can call me Dr. Stables. XCOM contacted me to ensure you pulled through what happened."
"Hi~" Hawke was still kind of out of it." "XCOM… why would they…"
'Because something bad happened at the Tower you were at…" Dr. Stables just smiled kindly. "You don't need to worry about it, not right now anyway." He told the young man. "All that matters is that you pulled through." He muttered. "And you did, the hard parts over, all you need to do now is worry about recovering." He told him as he tapped his forehead.. "Not just here." He tapped his chest, where his heart would be. "But here too."
"Ok…" Hawke muttered as he started to drift away. "Can you… can you at least… contact my parents?" He asked as his eyes tried to weld themselves shut. "They're probably worried."
"Of course." Dr. Stables whispered. "I'll try getting in contact with them immediately." Hawke wasn't even able to say thank you before he blacked out.
Dr. Stables just let his smile fade as he watched the young man drift back to sleep. Pulling himself from his chair he walked out the room and removed his gloves, sighing as he did. Waiting outside the room the Doctor turned to XCOM Agent Solomon as he nodded. "Agent."
"How is he?" The mammoth of a man asked.
"He seems to be here." The doctor muttered as he tapped his forehead. "He remembers his name, his birthday and his parents." He told the Agent as he sighed to himself. "Physically though, it'll take a while to see how he fares." The doctor stated as he put his hands in his pocket.
"Does he remember what happened at Tower-00?"
"I didn't ask him." The Doctor admitted. "It wouldn't benefit either of us if I overwhelmed him with questions so early, he did just wake up after all." Dr. Stables admitted. "I'll gradually try easing that answer out of him."
"Should be for the best." Solomon muttered as he looked through the window to see the sleeping boy hooked up to a machine. "So…" He started up. "What's the plan for him?"
"Physical therapy for his body and psionic healing seasons." Solomon raised an eyebrow.
"Psionic healing?" Solomon paused. "That's healing people with your mind right?"
"Yes." His counterpart admits. "We can use the ability to not only heal wounds, but also mend the damage done to his mind." The doctor stated as he put his hand on a dataslate. "I feel he might need it."
"I thought you said that he was alright up here." Solomon muttered as he tapped his forehead.
"Well, yes, but there's something strange about his brainwaves. Something about them has changed."
"How so?" The doctor raised a finger and made a small gesture.
"That, that is something I can't answer." Dr. Stables stated. "But given that markings associated with the Old Gods were found in Tower-00, I can only assume that he glimpsed something he wasn't supposed to, and his mind suffered as a side effect."
"Well, that's a fair point…" Solomon grumbled as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "Speaking of which, at Tower-00 we saw something we believe to be related to the Pandorans."
"You're wondering if he's been infected with Pandoran cells." Solomon didn't answer as the Doctor just looked at his dataslate. "Luckily that's not the case. "Our initial tests show that he hasn't been infected by the Pandoravirus. Although we did find that his blood has an extraordinary amount of adrenaline coursing through it." The Doctor muttered. "Honestly there's so much its almost impossible to believe."
"Ok~" Solomon muttered. "You're telling me this, why?"
"Just a little something to keep the conversation going." The Doctor stated as he looked away from his dataslate. "Besides, XCOM's Chief Scientific Officer Magnolia already reached out to me. She's curious about getting her hands on him to see if she could reproduce his natural adrenaline levels for XCOM Operatives."
"Of course that's what she wants…" Solomon muttered as he took a breath before shaking his head. "Let's wait till he's better and see if we can get his consent."
"Naturally." Dr. Stables stated. "That said I am curious myself, his adrenaline chemical levels are so high they actually produce the same effect as the Adrenal Neurosympathy Gene Mod."
"Well that explains the orange mist I saw when he started breathing." Solomon mused. "Here I thought he just had really bad breath." He joked as he crossed his arms before frowning. "That said I didn't see it when I first met him. Care to explain?"
"Yes, about that…" Dr. Stables as he started looking through the files available to him on his dataslate. "Well, there seems to be something strange coursing through his system that's causing it."
"Something in his system?"
"Yes, it's some kind of foreign compound. But it doesn't seem to be hurting him, nor his body trying to fight it off, in fact, whatever it is, its amplifying certain biological traits like his adrenaline levels to produce the 'Muton breath'." Solomon seemed to blink in confusion, before something clicked in his head.
"On right, cause it's orange." He muttered before looking at the sleeping kid. "That said, the stuff in his system, is it biomechanical?" Solomon asked. "Like Meld?"
"No, it's not." His counterpart stated. "It's completely organic in nature." Dr. Stables muttered. "To be honest, we don't know what it is, but not hurting him and its not contagious."
"Well, that's good to know." Solomon paused before seeming to think. "Can you forward what you have to XCOM for study? We might be able to figure out what it is."
"I'm sorry but I can't do that." Dr. Stables muttered. "Unless I get consent on behalf of his legal guardian, I must keep things confidential."
"Right, right, sorry." Solomon muttered as he scratched his head. "Overstepping my boundaries in asking."
"Least you understand." Dr. Stables stated as he looked at the time. "I apologize, but I have other patients to attend to."
"Right." Solomon muttered as he watched the Doctor wander off as he turned his attention to the unconscious teen.
Five months. Been five months since they pulled this kid and two others from Tower-00. Five months since they basically nuked that sight. That had been Dr. Alberta's personal - non scientific - decision. No one blamed her. Whatever had happened there was just… Solomon couldn't find the words.
"World's making less sense by the day." He muttered to himself before turning down the hall and headed off.
Medical Room
Standing at the edge of the medical room, stood this little girl in a red dress, her hair matted and eyes glowing like a burning ember as she looked. Her gaze as empty as the void as she looked around before letting her gaze rest on the young man unconscious in bed. She walked over to him, the room temperature seeming to drop with each step as it started to take on a reddish tint. She stared at the unconscious teen looking him over before turning away and started walking off, walking towards awol andup it before disappearing into the ceiling.
Û̵̡̧̜̯̜̜̼̦̋̏̄̂͂̀̏̄͋̓̄̽͆ͅ
̵̺̳̦͕̫̠͙͑̅͋̕͝͝Ò̶̼͉̘͍̞̙̟̙͓̮͖͕̣͑̎̌̽̇̈́̚͠͝ͅù̷̖͈̯͓̊̇͋́̔͛̃̉̐̊͆͋̕͠
̶̤̞̙̯̰̗̦̎̍̋̋̕͘̚Ÿ̷̮̯̗̭̟͔̱̺́̎́̈̊̐̚͠ọ̷̢̜̻̹̩̬̱̟͔̞͎̫̹̆̾͛̿̓͛̓̾́̑̐͑͋͝ų̷̡̤̺̺͓̱̬͎̳̯͛̒͗̊̀͗͒͐̍̆
̷̱̮̹̟̭̟̳̋̐̑͊̈̉̾͒̔̕͝͝͝Ȩ̵̜̥̥̼̜̼̉̇̇̿̈͊ ̴̢̛͍̼̲̻̹͍̼̝̟͙͌͒̆͋̐̅̌̂̓̍̀̕͠ͅy̷̡̨̹͔͕̰̞̳̣̲̩̣̪̱̻͑̎̉́̓͗̈̔́̏͗̂͝ǫ̵̛̦̲̯̣̦̻̭͇̝̯͙͈͕̍̒̏̄u̸̞̭̯͍̘͍͕̭͖̪̰̰̲̮͎̓͋̀̄̉̒̽̔̚͠͠
̴̘͓̳̥̱͎͕̺̻͔̋̿̃͛͐̅̎̃̔̈́̈́͊͘ͅR̸̡̡̡̛̗̯̗̤̜̳͈͎̥̜̘͋̈́̀̇̃͒͌̄̔̌͛͘͘̚e̴͎̭̹͓̞̲̻͙͙͐̌̐͊͂̑ ̴͖̠̤̼̈́̈́̅̎̔̃̇͐̕͠͝ÿ̴̢̢̠̱̘̱͈̩͈̻́̃͊͌͊͂̚͝o̸͎̥͔͚̙͓̞͗̈́̊̏̂̊̆̓̈́̀̐͘͝u̸̳̪̙̱̗͕̹̠̯͖̟̼̲̭̓̃͛̓̊̚͘͠
̷̰͓͎͈̈́̊̓̈́̓Á̵̛̞̪̭̿̎̀̓̉̍̃͐͋̍̂͊̒ṟ̸̡̨̰̮̮̘̖̔̃é̵̙̹̙̦̯̳̄̍̆̀͠ ̴̡̧̡̝͈͙̩̖̺̥͐̀̿́̆̓̌͆̄̅͐̒̓̕̚͜y̶̨̭̫͙̖̝͕̹͎͖͓̩̩̋͌̄̐̄̿͊́̌̈ͅo̴̢͉̣̫̫͎̙̮̙̭̬͈͍̼͑̈͑̅͛͋͗̍͝ͅu̵̗̲̤̔͗
̷̡̯͕̃̇̈̈́̈́̉͋̔͠R̵̢̨̢͚͖͓͇̖̃̏͂̎ȩ̷̡͎͇̖̫̓̔̾̓͛̀̊̈̚͜ ̵̠͍̝̓́͑͆̃́̿̿̕ä̷̢̧̘̲̝͇̠͙̲͇̪̬̦̪̗́̊͐̄̔̏̒̔̍̚r̷͍͉̱̾̔͆͋̒̽̓̒͝͝e̸̛̤̥̎́̈̐͐̑͑̄͠ ̷̧̛̫̪͍͚͙̙̤̩̉̓̍͌͆͜͝ŷ̸̡̨̘̱̟̬̜̹̗̻̖̣͚̺́͗̌̋̎̇͒́̅̄̓ȏ̶͙̹̲̺͇̗̦͕͇̿͌̈́̓̇́ù̵͔̱͙̱͉̦͖̱̭̟̲̻̝͋́̀̃́̃̀̕͝͝
̷̥̓̂̇H̸̦̤̭͇̻̱͎͇̔̆̋̐̓ĕ̶͙̖̗̩͎̄̃͂̚͝r̸̥̺̓͊͛̍͂͝e̷̡̢͓̜̝̖̝͖̗̔̑̀̃̑̉̀̈́̕͝ ̴̡͔̟̩͚͇̟͈̪̟̈́a̸̧̨̩̤͕̹̻̜̰̓̔̀͌͆͛̍̈̀̉͆͘͜͠͝ͅŕ̶̰̙̱̝̰̮̜̟̻̠̄͊ȩ̶̣̹̻͕̲͚͎͙̯̮̲̇̈́̔̎͋͐̔̊̾̂̍̕̚͝ ̶̢̡͈͓̬̀̓̎̎̆̈́̂̿͘ȳ̶͓̩̫̀͆̆̄̍͋̾̊̋̍̄͌ͅơ̴̦̱̪̰̼͕̩͐̅͗̇̂̒̕̕ų̵̡̡̛͍̫̞̫̼̆͑̇̑̈́͛̑̽̂̏͝
̴̢͚͍̯̯̫̣̲̰͔͕̽̎̂̄͊͜ͅẈ̶̢̧̧̜̭̦̥̫͔̯̝̩̔̅̾̆͠ͅh̴͇̠̲̣̯͕͙̖̦̱̜̰̙̣͕́͋̈́͂͛̂̈̾̅̊̔̃͘͠ȩ̴̦̟͓͑́́̚̚͝r̶̝̱̮̎̀͝e̶̜̻̓̀̇͆̓̈́͒̇́̐̈͊͘͠ ̴̛̬̖͕͍̯͈͔̩͍̙̣̮̘̙̾̽͌̓͗͋̿̅̿͘a̸̲͊͂̋͒̏̑̈͆̐͝ͅr̷̩͍̳̠̺͙͉͗̎͐́̾e̶̡̻͚̮̻̥͍͑̈̿̕͠ ̸̭̙͙͚͚̻̙̭̔̽̃̆y̵͚̳̝̳̰̮̭͚̣͋̊͘o̷̰̗̜͍̠̬̙͒́ͅų̷͔͕̭͖̺̦͖̲͗̀̈́̽̔́̉̕͜
Elsewhere
Dr. Stables glanced back, his attention quickly turning to the hall he had walked from before making a face. Soon as the expression crossed his face though, it seemed to disappear as he walked on, heading towards another patient's room as he looked at the file in his hand. "So…" He muttered. "You're the one responsible." He whispered as he continued walking on. "After all this time… you're finally coming back." He mused. "But why now of all times." He didn't get an answer.
A Few Days Later
When he woke up next time, Hawke found himself a familiar Wrangler sitting in the chair next to him, a book in one hand as he went about turning the pages before stopping. "Hey, you're awake." Solomon muttered as he put his book down and looked at the youth.
"S-Solomon, what are you doing here?"
"Came to visit." Solomon admitted. "Didn't want you feeling lonely when you woke up."
"Thanks…" Hawke muttered as he looked around the room. "Where are my parents?" Solomon didn't say anything, instead just choosing to look down at his hands before messing with his thumbs.
"You're mom's on her way from the Refugee site."
"Refugee site?" Hawke muttered.
"Yeah." Solomon fell silent as he took a breath. "While you were out… something happened in City 45." He muttered as he looked at the kid. "There was a Pandoran attack and we lost the city." Hawke seemed to come out of his half-sleep daze for a moment.
"What?"
"You're mom's ok… we managed to evacuate her in time, but your dad… he didn't make it." Solomon whispered.
"Dad…" Hawk muttered as he stared off into space. "I…I never got to say goodbye…"
"Is that all you have to say?"
"I don't know what to say…" Hawke muttered as Solomon looked at him. "I haven't seen my parents in a long time…" He confessed. "I ran away from home when my powers first flared to life so… I haven't seen them in a while."
"And yet your first instinct was to ask to have the Doctor contact your parents."
"Yeah." Hawke muttered as he took a breath. "I just… I don't know." Hawke admitted. "That was just the first thought to cross my head after finding out I was put in the hospital."
"Have you been into the hospital a lot?"
"Yeah." Hawke admitted. "I used to go often because the doctors thought something was wrong with me growing up."
"What do you mean?" Solomon asked as the youth chuckled and looked in his direction.
'"Come on, like you don't know by now." Hawke muttered as he raised an arm - the one without an IV drip plugged into it - and tapped his chest. "I'm sure the doctor told you already. I've got abnormally high blood pressure because of the amount of adrenaline coursing through me." Solomon just nodded his head in agreement.
"You're right. I do know about that, gotta say its -"
"Strange how I'm still alive?" Hawke cut the older gentleman off with a weak smile. "Yeah I get that. My adrenaline levels being as they are… Some folks used to question if I was part muton or something.
"I'm pretty sure you'd be a lot more jacked if you were part Muton."
"Hey~" Hawke muttered as Solomon just raised his hands in defense.
"Hey you know I'm right." He stated before releasing a light smile. "They're jacked, and that's coming from me."
"Well, you are pretty big." Hawke mumbled as Soloman chuckled.
"Yeah, comes with being me." Solomon shrugged. "All of us mutants have some interesting tics…"
"A mutant?" Hawke asked as he looked at Solomon for a moment longer. "You're a mutant too?" Solomon looked at Hawke and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'm a psychic and a mutant. Its why I'm… different than most."
"N-no I mean… you're a mutant, like me?" "That got Solomon to blink curiously.
"You're a mutant?" Solomon asked. "Well, I guess that makes sense with how you can survive with your adrenaline levels."
"Yeah." Hawker muttered as he looked at an arm. "All my mutations just… mess around with my adrenaline and my legs and my insides…" Hawke muttered. "What about you?"
"Everything." Was Solomon's response.
"Everything?"
"Everything." Solomon repeated. "Skin about 4 times as tough as normal, Muscle about 80 times denser than usual, bones as strong as diamonds organs reinforced by protective extra tough tissue~ and thats just the basic stuff."
"What?" Hawke stared at Solomon like he was joking. Then it immediately switched to disbelief as Solomon just shrugged. "What… seriously?"
"Yeah I'm… uh, you know how they say people are built differently? I'm built differently. I'm a monster in my own right, can get hit by an armored convoy and walk away and overpower a muton if need be." He shrugged.
"Well, that's not fair…"
"Yeah I get that too." Solomon admitted before shaking his head. "But enough about me. What's your story, kid?"
"My story?" Hawke paused. "I don't have a story to tell."
"Sure you do." Solomon gave him a soft smile. "Everyones got a story to tell. Whether you realize it or not."
"Well if thats the case my story would be pretty boring."
"Prove it." Solomon smiled as Hawke just shrugged and took a breath - stopped and seemed to shiver. "Kid?"
"I…" He began. "I don't feel so good." He muttered as he started to sway.
"Then take a minute." Solomon muttered as he carefully pushed the young man back down on the bed. "I'll go get Dr. Stables."
"O-ok…" He muttered before blacking out.
A Few Days Later
The next time he woke up, Hawke found his mom resting at the edge of his bed. "Hi mom~." Her ear twitched slightly, and that seemed to be all that was needed to wake the mare up.
"Hm?" She questioned for a moment before looking at her son and smiling, a few tears in her eyes as she did. "Sweetheart, you're awake." She tried keeping her voice low so as to not hurt his ears, still she hugged him as best she could, letting her head rest against his as she smiled. "I'm so… I thought I lost you."
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere mom." Hawke muttered with a smile. "Sorry I made you worry."
"Well, I think it's a mothers job to worry." His mother, Sarah, stated as she leaned back and looked at her son. "And I'm the one that should be saying sorry…"
"What do you mean?"
"When your powers erupted I… I panicked, I didn't know what to think and…" Saram muttered as she looked down. "And I didn't stop you from leaving."
"Oh…" Hawke muttered as he looked elsewhere.
"I should have known that you were a Psychic… there were so many signs that you were awakening, but I… " She muttered. "No, i'm just making excuses, aren't I?" She muttered as she took a breath. "I wasn't there to help you when you needed me, I failed you."
"Mom, what could you have done?" Hawke asked. "I… I hurt someone… I killed someone, mom." The two fell silent as Hawke looked down. "What could I you done knowing that."
"I could have done something… anything." She told him as she grabbed his hand. "But I didn't, I got scared and you left…" She muttered.
"It was probably safer for you and dad without me around." Hawke muttered. "If my powers flared up again, I could have hurt you guys too." Sarah Crestlight didn't say anything, but she knew he was right. A recently awakened Psychic was as dangerous as one could get. Their powers were unpredictable, flaring at random moments and acting out on their own. Even without being a psychic herself, she knew that much.
At the same time…
"Hawke?"
"Yeah?" Sarah looked down, not really sure what to say before taking a breath.
"It's your father, he…"
"I know." He muttered before taking a breath. "Mr. Solomon told me what happened."
"I see…" Another silence passed.
"What's going to happen to me?"
"I don't know." Sarah admitted. "The hospital told me they want to keep you a bit longer, but I don't know what's going to happen after that." She muttered. "I could try finding us a place to stay here in City 31, but it's gonna take some time."
"You'll let me come back home?"
"You're my son, why wouldn't I want you back home?" She asked as Hawke just seemed to fall silent before starting to tear up. "Hawke?"
"I'm sorry." He whispered, raising an arm to his face as he started wiping it. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd be furious with me."
"You silly child." Sarah muttered as she leaned over the bed and wrapped her hands around her child. "I could never be mad with you."
Solomon looked on from outside the room, a small smile crossing hids face as he stared at the reunion. "Well, no point in visiting today I guess." He muttered before smiling slightly. "Guess I better head out after all." He told himself before putting his hands in his pockets and checked his phone. Looks like he had a message. Without much thought he answered it bringing it to his ear as he did so. "Solomon here, what's up?"
"Sorry to interrupt your time off, but we need you to come in."