Clarity
"You sure you don't want to hit the rack, Low-Light?" Nightshade and Snake Eyes both lingered in the hatchway. "It's another six hours to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Flagg."
"Nah, I'm good." Low-Light glanced up from the prone figure in the cot. The Latina was concerned, her expression pinched. "I wanna be here when she wakes up."
They both seemed to understand. Snake Eyes laid a hand on Nightshade's shoulder, and gently guided her away from the hatch. Low-Light didn't like lying to them, but he wanted to spare anyone else the confusion that was setting in. He stroked his knuckles along the skin of her forearm, causing her green eyes to open.
"They're gone," he promised quietly.
Ricochet was visibly confused, but she was also visibly pained. The seizure she'd experienced after she was disconnected from the Brainwave Scanner had been brief, but violent. Her brow furrowed as she studied him, glancing down to where his fingers absently smoothed over her skin. Low-Light didn't know how to ask what had happened. Or how she was feeling.
"What... what'd he do to you?" He settled on that question, thinking maybe it was the safest.
Ricochet moved her arm away from his touch, purposefully tucking herself under the rough wool blanket the cot was supplied with. The movement hurt him as surely as if she'd shot him in the chest. Her confusion didn't seem to clear at all. But she shook her head.
"I don't know... I feel like someone's put my brain in blender.. I'm not.. I don't know which way's up." She stopped herself before continuing, causing the furrows in Low-Light's brow to deepen. There was so much she wasn't saying. He was usually so good at reading her unspoken thoughts. But if she didn't even know how she was feeling, he didn't have a snowball's chance to figure it out himself.
"You're safe; you believe that right?"
She glanced away, at the open hatch, before looking up at him. "Yeah, I believe that." The blanket pulled up to her nose, as she used her hidden hands to rub her face. "I just... I don't remember how I got there. Or why. Or..."
"Let's start with what you do remember, huh?" Low-Light tucked his hands between his knees, in an effort to stop reaching out to her. The prompting caused Ricochet to fall silent, chewing her lower lip. He knew that wasn't a good sign. It had taken Clutch and Rock-and-Roll months to recover fully from their brainwashing.
"Mindbender thinks he's my father," she started hesitantly. "That's.. not true, right?"
"We don't know. No one's been able to confirm it. But.. I think Snake Eyes got a DNA sample from him. At least, Mindbender was bleeding when I carried you out of there. Lifeline wants to run a comparison, to see if it's true."
Alarmed, she started to sit up, but her pounding head and Low-Light's impulsive hand on her shoulder stopped her. When she laid back down, she didn't pull away from how he tucked her hair back from her face. "And if it is.. what happens then? Do I get... kicked out?"
Ricochet knew that was a threat. Mindbender was the enemy, wasn't he? Of course, he was. Ricochet closed her eyes and reviewed the information she knew was true. Her name was followed quickly by a mantra of sorts. She recognized the cadence. Name, rank, serial number.
Clarity began to settle in with that thought. She was a Joe, a member of the most elite counter-terrorism team in the world. Mindbender was the enemy.
"You won't get kicked out." Low-Light despite himself. At least, he was pretty sure she wouldn't get kicked out. Just being biologically related to someone doesn't automatically change her entire ethical outlook. "But it'll be nice to know for sure, won't it? What else?"
She kept her eyes closed, thinking. "We had beer in a cornfield."
Low-Light chuckled. "Best beer ever." He smoothed her hair back again. "You know you can ask me anything. I can do my best to tell you what memories are real, and which ones they forced on you."
She was silent for a while again. For long enough, in fact, that Low-Light thought she'd fallen asleep. He was about to settle back in his chair a bit more, when she sighed softly.
"Are... we...?" The question was unfinished, but she opened those green eyes and stared right through his soul.
"We're trying." And it was the honest truth. They were trying something that neither of them was actually good at. "And, this doesn't change anything. Kinda makes us a better match, if it's true." Ricochet make a curious sound, causing Low-Light to chuckle. "I'm the son of an abusive alcoholic. You might be the daughter of a certifiably insane dentist. We're some pair."
She chuckled with him, and reached for his hand, twining their fingers together. "Coop. Thank you."
