Chapter 5: "Lost and Found"
Teddy had just gotten back from taking Sammy shopping ahead of a date night, so he was in a good mood and not at all prepared to come home to find that Billy was a few inches off the ground and headed for the door.
"Woah, hey, sweetheart, we talked about this," Teddy said, rushing over to him with wide eyes. "Not by yourself. Come on, what's going on?"
Billy paused and looked Teddy's way, and for a moment, Teddy could only see anger in his expression before he let his shoulders drop. "Right. We ... we need to talk to Logan."
"What's going on?"
"Sinister," Billy said, already sweeping down the hall in the opposite direction he'd been floating.
Teddy looked toward Sammy for a moment, and she simply nodded up at him and gave his hand a little squeeze. "Go take care of Daddy," she told him.
He smiled at her for that one and then ran a hand over her hair and kissed the top of her head before he took off after Billy, catching up to him to pull him back down to ground level and hold his hand.
Logan and James were working in the garage together — a new project that the two of them had come up with and something that James was looking forward to. Not a Harley but a heavy duty dirt bike — and the pair of them were making good progress between them.
"Logan, I need to borrow you," Billy said in a voice that echoed with the Demiurge power.
"Alright," Logan said before he set his tools down. "Just me? Seems a lil' bit over the top if you're working on picking out Teddy's birthday present."
Billy shook his head, looking entirely serious. "No. I saw Sinister. And this time…" He shook his head. "We need to get him out of Re-" He frowned. "Jana."
"I'm going too," James said, getting to his feet to join him.
Billy paused to consider James for a long moment, clearly running through the possible dangers, before he nodded. "Alright."
The two of them headed out together to get out of the greasy clothes and, naturally, ended up picking up K on their way, who didn't even ask what the task was before she decided to join them. The three of them found Billy outside of the locker room as soon as they were dressed and ready to go.
"I have to warn you," Billy said, looking between the three of them. "You can't kill Sinister until I say so. I think I can get him out of Jana, but I want to get him out of anyone else too, and I need to be able to follow the threads while he's alive for the spell to work."
"No one will kill her," Logan said, even as K and James shared a wordless look.
"She's experimenting on Elin and Chance right now," Billy warned. "And you can't. Kill. Her. Not until I say so."
"Okay," K said. "We won't."
"Don't look at me," James said, holding both hands up. "I just want to hit her."
Billy nodded to himself before he led the way to the jet, still floating a few inches off the ground and looking murderous.
"Gonna be honest here," Teddy muttered to Logan as they loaded up, "I'm really hoping this is a false alarm. That creep shouldn't get to touch any of the kids."
"If it is, I'll buy him breakfast for his concern," Logan told him. "Either way, I'm not gonna stop encouragin' him to step in if it's got him riled."
Teddy smirked at that and nodded before he climbed into the jet and sat down next to Billy, covering Billy's hands with his as Billy seemed to focus on whatever it was he'd seen happening, his foot tapping impatiently as it was clear he wanted to fix it.
They touched down at last not too terribly far from where Chance and Elin had gone for their anniversary — which, considering the fact that K hadn't told anyone where the cabin was, had her a bit on edge as they headed toward where Billy was pointing them.
She and Logan shared a look, seeing as they weren't aware of anything being anywhere near this particular spot. Unless it was new. Or mobile. Or … something.
But sure enough, they had nearly reached a small clearing when they spotted the first Marauder, and Billy looked both relieved and furious at being proven right. He reached out a hand, the Marauder seemed to simply shrivel, and he turned to face the others from a much higher standpoint than he'd been a second ago.
"We have to move fast," he told the group, simply flying forward and trusting the rest of them to follow him.
The three ferals broke into a run together, all of them keeping pace as Teddy joined Billy flying toward the other side of the clearing. They weren't at all surprised to find an old house there, somehow, or to find the Marauders there to block their path, but with the team they had, Marauders weren't going to be a problem; it was their boss they were more worried about getting to.
It helped that they had Billy acting as a beacon to where Sinister was set up and working, though K outpaced even the angry Demiurge in a flash when they were nearly there and a scream echoed the halls. She climbed over Marauders like they were a step ladder to get there quicker, and then, she had to let out a growl when she saw the state of things.
There were three examination tables. Elin was in the middle, Chance on one side, and on the other was Cody. All three were very badly used, battered and beaten — Elin's arm was at the completely wrong angle to her body and accounted for the scream — and Sinister was just administering some kind of sedative to Cody.
K stared openly as one of the Marauders inside the lab reached over and grabbed a hold of her arm, though on seeing Cody move, she let out a low growl and turned to hack off the arm of the guy holding her. "You've had him this whole time?" K snarled as she unintentionally squared up with the creep and started moving forward low and quick.
Sinister looked up at K and let out a sound of pure annoyance as she reached out a hand to telekinetically pick K up and throw her back, but when Sinister heard Logan, Teddy, and James on their way as well, she decided it was time to end the experiment for the time being, and she glanced up at K with a wicked, vindictive smile.
Elin was already shaking her head before Sinister reached down to where Chance was closing his eyes against whatever Sinister had in mind as a parting — and possibly fatal — blow. There was a snapping sound and a loud scream that choked off suddenly when Sinister left a scalpel dead center in Chance's heart.
Elin snarled out wordlessly, and K made a dash for Sinister, though she was careful not to use her claws. She led with a hard right that carried all of her momentum, and the crack of Jana's jaw was audible even down the hall where the guys were bringing up the rear.
"I said wait," Billy called out as he rushed forward, eyes wide, muttering magic that kept Sinister from fighting back or teleporting away.
"I'm just saying hello," K snarled out.
James and Logan followed Billy in — bloodied and beaten halfway down — and Logan let out a breath when he saw K was only pounding on Sinister, though he redirected himself and started to slash through the restraints holding Elin first. K adjusted her grip on Sinister as soon as it was clear Sinister was not only punch-drunk but not fighting back either, too stunned by the beating to do so. With one more hit, Sinister was unconscious.
James, meanwhile, hadn't looked to see who was on the third table and instead had tried to get right to work on rescuing his brother-in-law. It wasn't until he heard a sort of mumbled whimper that he paused while he tried to stop the bleeding on Chance and looked up to see Cody. And when he did, he let loose a low, echoing growl.
"Take care of them," Billy called out before he rushed around to where K was and put both hands out in front of him, his eyes and hands both glowing for a moment before the barest wisps of something started to drift out of Jana's temple, swirling beside them and starting to coalesce into something solid. "You can stab this one when I form him, okay? He won't have any powers. But I have to collect some of the remnants from anyone else he may have left failsafes in."
Logan had cut Cody loose, and then after he took a moment to process that it was Cody, he carefully checked him over and started trying to rouse him. The sedative was fast-acting, so it took some time, but thankfully, Cody hadn't gotten much of it in his system before Logan had cut him free. When Cody could get upright, both he and Logan made their way over to help Chance — with Cody wordlessly dragging up the supplies they needed.
"I can hold onto Sinister," James said, stepping back from Chance, seeing as Cody seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
"Alright, good," Billy said. "Don't stab him until I'm done."
"Don't worry," James said as he twisted the newly forming Sinister up into what looked to be a very painful position. "I want a little time with him before he dies."
Billy just nodded but didn't say much else, simply focused on getting the rest of Sinister out of Jana. The diamond in the center of Jana's forehead finally stopped glowing, and Billy leaned back, looking exhausted as Jana crumpled, unconscious — and the new Sinister was still out as well.
"Let's get them back to the jet," Billy said James' way. "Teddy and I can talk Jana down if she wakes up and freaks out. Which she will — freak out, that is."
James nodded his agreement, and in a flash of light, Billy had transported the five of them to the jet, leaving Logan and K to deal with Elin and the Summers boys.
"Typical," Logan said, half to himself as his hands floated across the wounds to clean them up so they could see what needed to be done. "Don't we need stitches?" he asked.
Cody shook his head quietly as he gently pulled apart the wound to get the scalpel out. "No, we don't. He'll heal."
The two ferals shared a look. "What are you talking about, sweetheart?" K asked, since clearly, Elin wasn't in any shape to answer — quietly letting the tears run down her cheeks as she whispered to Chance to hang in there.
Cody paused what he was doing to look up at K and swallowed hard before he went back to gently extracting the knife. "She augmented him with Elin's healing," he explained, still in that same soft voice that wasn't anything like his usual brashness. "It… She didn't have the time to do it to me, I don't think. I don't feel any different … and she didn't do any of the experiments that she did on them... I don't know why she didn't … that's what she was working up to."
Logan swore outright and started to patch up the major injuries. "When did he do this?" he asked, almost glaring at him. "And how did he pull it off?"
"She tested it on Chance yesterday," Cody said. "It's a new transfer method. She… she wanted a test subject…"
K shook her head at that. "Come on, let's get you to the jet. Leave them alone to handle this." She gave Elin a look. "Pull it together, sweets. He's going to need you."
Cody looked up at K and frowned, but he didn't offer a word of argument. "Okay."
K put her arm around Cody and slowly led him off. "Your father is going to be so happy to see you," K told him.
"He's alive too?" he asked.
K stopped, and the growl slipped out before she could even begin to stop it. "Cody, honey, the only one that we thought we lost in that fight was you."
Cody stared at her in obvious shock. "...what?"
"Your parents were devastated."
"I ... I thought Rachel…."
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Rachel nearly killed James. And scared the hell out of herself. But she's alive and well."
"And what about Chloe? And Charlie — and — and John?" Cody asked, looking openly upset.
K stopped and gave him a hug. "Sweetheart, everyone is alive and well. But you've missed so much."
He seemed totally taken aback by the hug before he relaxed into it and rested his forehead on her shoulder. "I saw it," he said quietly.
"Sinister lied to you," K told him just as quietly. "They're all safe."
He let his shoulders drop even further as he simply hugged her a little tighter. "I want to go home," he said in a very small voice. It was the first request he'd made for himself since the whole ordeal started, and he could barely even whisper it.
She nodded at that. "That's the plan," she promised, and when the hug was over, she kept one arm around him all the way to the jet. She did, however, make sure to send a quick text back to the mansion. Good news incoming. Try not to die.
Meanwhile, Logan was sitting with Elin as they waited for Chance to heal, one hand around her shoulders with her head under his chin as he pulled her tight.
"Be ready to open those restraints," Logan said quietly as he gave her a little squeeze. "Wait until the initial shock is over."
It was solid advice, too, because it was clear when Chance woke up that he was hurting and panicked, looking somewhere beyond petrified when his eyes flew open.
"Hey, look at me," Logan told him, one hand on his shoulder as he tried to get him to focus. "Right here, Chance. You're safe. We're here. We're goin' home. But you gotta focus on something, son."
It was obvious Chance was struggling to focus, but listening to Logan clearly helped, and he did his best to hold Logan's gaze, his breathing shallow, though he was trying to control it.
"Just slow it down," Logan said. "You know how."
Chance nodded and closed his eyes, his hands clenched in fists as he slowed his breathing down.
Elin covered one of his hands with hers as she started to release the restraints — after getting a little nod from her father, of course. "Please don't jostle yourself," she said quietly.
"Alright," Chance said quietly, his eyes still screwed shut.
"Don't focus on what you're feeling," Logan said evenly. "Pick something else and push everything else to the side."
"I'm trying."
Logan gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I know."
Finally, it seemed like Chance was starting to get a handle on the panic, at least — but that slipped away as soon as they started to move him. Everything shifted, and even breathing hurt. He turned green, almost blindly lashing out until Elin grabbed his arm to hold his hand. "I'm right here," she told him.
Logan was quick to settle him back down and began to reevaluate him. "Come on, you got there once, you can do it again." He wasn't looking at Chance, though, instead scanning through the bottles of meds that Sinister had nearby, looking for something strong enough to help but not so strong as to do more damage.
"I can't," Chance said, truly panicking and starting to cry, which wasn't helping the fact that breathing hurt.
"Sure you can," Logan said. "If I can do it, you can do it. Oughta be a cakewalk."
"I can't — I can't get it," Chance said, his pitch rising, truly in danger of losing it when the only thing he could think about was how much he hurt.
Logan looked over to Elin, not that she needed much prompting before she leaned forward and kissed him quickly — then started just giving him little kisses between her words. "I know you can. We're on our way out of this hellhole. You can't quit on me now, sweet Summers."
Chance was obviously still panicked, but on the other hand, he had started to relax a bit with Elin there. Every time he would start to hyperventilate again, Elin would kiss him and give him reassurances. When he had calmed down at least enough to breathe, he latched onto Elin as much as he could without moving the broken pelvis that Sinister had left him with.
Logan sat back and let them work on his focus for a long moment, knowing that Chance had to heal up the bones at least a little before they tried to move him again. It took a lot longer than it would have for Elin or Logan, but when it finally stopped hurting to breathe, it was obvious. Chance dropped his shoulders and then finally let out all his breath into Elin, almost hiding his face in her side in pure relief that he could breathe again as he kept hanging onto her tightly.
Logan let out a sigh of relief on seeing that at least he could move that much. "Without us doing anything to help, can you pick up your hips?"
Chance finally picked his head up to look at Logan and seemed to frown for a moment before he very slowly nodded and tried to move again, wincing badly but able to move all the same.
Logan nodded at that and pressed on Chance's shoulder to keep him down. "Take a few more minutes."
"Where's Cody?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
"On the plane with K," Logan said.
"Good," Chance said with a little nod, closing his eyes again and relaxing flat, clearly exhausted.
"When the buzzing stops, deep, we'll move you," Logan told him. "Probably still gonna hurt, but not anywhere near what it was."
"Okay," Chance said, nodding slowly. "Okay. Good."
While Chance rested, Logan gathered up whatever medical supplies that they might need should something break open on the way to the jet. It wasn't that he didn't think Chance was healed; he just didn't have a lot of faith in how well it would stay healed or how complete that healing was.
And even if the worst of it was holding, the massive collection of minor injuries could be enough to put Chance in a bad way unless he managed to refuel. He needed to get the kid some food. And water. But that wasn't going to happen until they were in the jet.
Logan kept his focus on watching the area around them and listening to Chance's breathing as a guideline on where he was in his healing process. He didn't realize that he'd rested a hand on Chance's shoulder again as he watched the area around them, waiting to get moving.
Chance finally seemed to be at least in the realm of alright when he let out a small breath. "Dad," he said quietly to get Logan's attention. "It's okay. I'm okay."
"Yeah, just waitin' a little more to make sure before we go."
"Sorry I freaked out on you."
"You're fine," Logan said.
Chance nodded and then squeezed Elin's hand once. "You said Cody's with K… we should … I want to make sure he's okay."
"How's the buzzin'?" Logan asked, already readying to pull Chance up or carry him if need be.
"I mean, it's still everywhere, but it's not so…" Chance trailed off and shook his head.
"Stuff on the surface is to be expected," Logan said. "If Sinister did a decent job on you, the worst stuff'll take care of itself first. And it looks like it has."
He nodded slowly. "She was trying to do it right so she could copy it with Cody. Just before you got here, she … she was saying she'd do one more round of comparisons once Cody's procedure was done and then… she'd drop the dead weight."
"We'll worry about that later," Logan said as he offered Chance a hand up and gently pulled him upright. "Keep your focus now. Don't let it slip. And don't worry about leaning on me too much. I'm used to it."
Chance looked pale as he nodded, though he was hanging onto Logan hard. "Just thinking 'bout El," he said quietly.
"Good anchor," Logan muttered, making sure that Chance was holding on solidly before he winked at Elin as she took up Chance's opposite side, and the three of them started moving forward.