Author's note ~ Hope you enjoy.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Adrian stated placidly, pushing himself to his feet. "Now's good for me. Lead the way."
The 'Council Hall' was well occupied when the unlikely trio made their way through the door; every other keeper apart from Jeff was already present and accounted for. Gesturing to Adrian to take a seat off to the side, Alby stepped to the center of the circular space and got down to business.
"Alright Keepers, you have some idea as to why we're here. We've got a new face," Alby nodded at Adrian, "and we need to decide his place here. Normally, we give a greenie a couple of days, watch them to see where the best fit for his is. In this case, I think we can forgo that. He has knowledge that will benefit the Builders, the Slicers, the Track-Hoes, pretty much every keeper could use him. " Alby nodded to each respective keeper as he named their profession, "but so far, he's already shown immediate knowledge and proficiency at a Med-Jack. I'm thinking that he needs to be made a Med-Jack, starting today. Any objections?"
"Yeah, I've got one."
Stunned, the entire assemble turned to the man. Adrian used his crutch to get to his feet, limping to the stand beside Alby in the middle of the room.
"As you said, Alby, I have knowledge that will benefit most of the keepers here, and certainly everyone else in the glade. I also possess something else; my memories from before I was sent here." There was a collective gasp from the shocked boys, a buzz of insistent questions. Adrian pitched his voice louder, making sure that all could hear him. "While I'm grateful that you would welcome me into your society so quickly, that you'd offer me a position where I could make a valid contribution, I'm afraid I won't be joining you; I'm not one of you."
Angry, suspicious mutters flew around the room. Adrian waited until they had quieted enough to continue.
"While I can't say as to who stranded you guys up here, I do remember who stuck me here, and why. And I can say with absolute certainty that they don't intend for me to stay. I'm temporary, transient. I have knowledge that will help you greatly and I'll share it, gladly. I'll give you anything I can. I'll do everything I can to help you, to teach you what I know, to help you find and sharpen the skills to better survive this mess you've been trapped in. When they're satisfied that I've nothing more to show you, to teach you; I'm done, they'll call me back. So I can't join your society, can't take a position as a Med-Jack. Because once I'm gone, I'm gone, and you're on your own again."
No one spoke into the silence; confusion and disbelief lay thick in the air. The tension was thick enough to cut with a blade.
Jeff barreled through the door, panting and visibly disheveled. His eyes were a little wild, his voice a little frantic.
"Hey, has anyone seen the new guy?! I slept way longer than I meant to, and when I went back to the med-hut he was gone! I've been looking everywhere..." Jeff trailed off as he clued in to the tense atmosphere in the room, glancing around at the keepers and finally spotting his patient standing big as life in the middle of it all. "Adrian! There you are!"
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Jeff." Adrian commented dryly, "Glad you could join us."
Looking from keeper to keeper, seeing the anger, outrage and shock on the faces around him, Jeff mentally cursed his extended nap.
"What the hell did I miss?"
Newt leaned against the wall of the Council Hall, motionless, a statue forgotten in the frenzy going on in front of him. The keepers were in utter chaos, shouting angrily at the man or each other, hurling demands and accusations at Alby, gesturing wildly. Fists were clenched, teeth were bared. Alby spread his hands in a placating motion, obviously trying to reason with the other boys. Jeff stood in front of Adrian, pleading with him, his mouth moving fast as he all but begged the man in front of him. Adrian shook his head, putting a hand on Jeff's head in a conciliatory way. Through all of the commotion, Newt stood silently on the periphery, face an emotionless mask. He watched the proceedings with an odd detachment; though it was happening right in front of him he wasn't processing anything outside of his head right then.
He was sincerely and righteously pissed.
He thought back to that afternoon, the soothing swim in the pond, the quiet camaraderie of sitting on the rock in the sun. Asking questions. With a sudden burst of clarity, he realized that he had never gotten an answer to the last questions he'd asked - Adrian had completely side-tracked him, distracting him from his curiosity with that ridiculous tickling bout. And now, dropping this bomb?
Newt's temper continued to simmer, rapidly approaching the boil over point as he ran through the new information again. Adrian still had his memories. Adrian was going to help them. Then, Adrian was going to walk away. More, Adrian was going to be allowed to walk away. Just a careless wave over his shoulder, a casual best of luck, boys and he'd get to leave. He'd leave them here to rot. He'd leave them.
Staring at the man, rage in his eyes, desolate hopelessness in his throat, Newt barely noticed the man turn to look at him. Seeing the boy standing so still, so pale, noting the whirlwind of emotions in his eyes, Adrian decided the outburst had lasted far long enough.
"That's enough! Sit down, shut up, get a fucking grip on yourselves!"
The noise level dropped to almost nothing, the boys watching the man with ill concealed dislike. Adrian's shout had brought Newt back to the present moment as well, and he focused on the man, listening intently with a slight sneer on his face.
"Look. I can't change what was. I can't alter the truth, and I won't pretty it up or try to sugar coat it. This is what's happening, here and now. Believe me when I say," Adrian all but snarled, the bitterness and regret ringing sincerely in his voice, "that if I had any fucking choice, I wouldn't be here. If I had any say, YOU wouldn't be here. If there had been a way for me to get you out, you bet your asses I would have. I can't go back and redo, I can't change the past. But I can and will help you now, so that maybe you have a better tomorrow. That's the best I've got; it's all I have. Take it or leave it."
"So what," spat Gally; keeper of the builders and a tall, muscular boy with a cruel looking face, "you come in here, tell us you'll be leaving when you're done, and you want us to roll out the welcome wagon? Want a celebration in your honor? How about a feast? You're gonna get off on giving us orders, telling us what to do? I'm not jumping to try and please a temporary Slinthead on a shuckin' power trip!"
"You don't have to do anything I tell you," Adrian replied coldly, cutting off Gally's tirade. "What you do with the knowledge I give you is up to you. I can teach you how to make better buildings, stronger buildings, with solidly water and weather proof roofs. I can show you how to make latrines, so that waste disposal is never an issue again. I can show you how to make tools, or medicine, or food that can be stored for years and not go bad. That is what I'm going to teach you. What you do with that knowledge, how you use it to improve your world, that's on you."
"And how, exactly, are you planning on teaching us these supposed skills?" Gally demanded harshly, a tiny glimmer of interest in his small muddy eyes.
"I'll show you; as many times as I need to until you learn. If I can put my hands on a notebook, I'll write down as much as I can. I'll get my hands dirty and put my back into it," Adrian said firmly, "Whatever it takes. If anyone wants to learn, to know, I'll teach them. I do have one request first, though."
Suspicion spiked through the group. Adrian ignored it.
"My first priority is the facilities in the med-hut. After talking in length to both Jeff and Alby, I've learned that about two thirds of the lives lost here have been preventable deaths - I'm going to rectify that." Adrian's eyes flashed with anger and resolve. "Your med-jack has been working with no tools, next to no supplies, and no way to access the knowledge that he needs to save lives. I can give him the knowledge, show him how to make supplies. I can't make tools out of thin air; unless there's a forge here or the assholes who put you here take pity and send some up, I'm limited in what I can make in that area. I can, however, help Jeff find the skills necessary to start really saving lives. At the very least, there needs to be a safe, contained area of the med-hut; an office where a med-jack can work on a seriously injured or ill person in a sanitary and controlled environment. I need the assistance of the builders to make that happen. It's your med-hut, it's where you have to go to get fixed up. Help me make it a place that actually saves life, instead of just putting bandaids on bullet wounds."
Gally took Adrian's measure with a long, cold, considering stare. Apparently accepting the honesty in his voice, Gally scratched his head, working through it in his head.
"I think we can make that happen. What do you suggest?"
It took hours of discussion, argument and explanations, but the meeting finally came to an uneasy agreement. They would, begrudgingly, reluctantly, accept Adrian's help, choosing where and how to apply the information he could give them. Dismissed, Adrian made his way back to the med-hut, limping heavier now for having been on his feet for hours. Newt kept speed with him, silent as a shadow in the growing dark. The boy hadn't spoken at all during the meeting, and Adrian could feel the waves on anger and resentment rolling off him. Frankly, he couldn't blame the boy. Figuring that Newt's sense of responsibility for a newcomer obliged him to stay with the man, like it or not, he tried to cut the boy a little slack.
"I know the way from here, kid. Why don't you head back to your bunk, get some sleep?"
Newt looked at him and curled his lip, not bothering to respond. Stubborn, hard-headed kid, Adrian thought to himself with exasperation, heroically maintaining his patience with the boy. He's just angry. It's understandable under the circumstances.
With only one quick stop for Adrian to strip a handful of fresh green needles from a pine tree, the duo made it back to the med-hut without incident. In the candlelight inside, both could clearly see George, pacing the ample space. He looked up sharply at their entrance.
"So? You said you'd help me."
"And I will. Give me a minute here, will you, I just got in."
In no time at all, and to the reluctant fascination of Newt, Adrian had fired up his impromptu camp stove and started water boiling. He dropped the needles into the bubbling water, leaving it to boil for a moment. When he got up to get a couple of jars, George was watching him with confusion. Not bothering to explain at this point, Adrian laid a piece of bandage over the top of each jar, pouring the faintly green liquid through the gauze, straining out the needles. When both jars were full and capped, wrapped in a light layer of bandage to make them easier to handle, he extinguished the fire with the empty pot as he had before. He held the hot jars out to George.
"When this cools, drink two swallows before you go to bed. Starting tomorrow, two swallows when you get up and two before bed, until it's gone. It'll clear up your problem with your teeth, jaw, and fatigue."
"You're shucking kidding me! I'm not going to drink leaf juice! What the hell, man?!" George cried emphatically, disgust on his face as he refused to take the jars.
"This 'leaf juice' is safe, full of Vitamin C, and tastes lightly tangy. It'll also stop all your teeth from falling out, which is what's going to happen if you don't get a serious dose of VC, PDQ. This is the quickest, most painless way to do that."
George blanched. "My teeth will...fall out?"
"Yes. Take the tea, do what I told you. You'll feel a bit better tomorrow, back to your old self in a couple of days. After that? Start eating some fruit, don't pick out the vegetables from your meals. Or one day you will end up eating soup for the rest of your life."
George nodded and grabbed the jars, not even wincing at the heat radiating from the glass. Gripping them as if they were salvation, he ran out of the med-hut and into the night. Groaning a little, Adrian gratefully lowered himself onto his bunk, rubbing his aching thigh. Now that they were alone, he raised his green eyes to meet Newt's accusing blue. He sighed.
"Go ahead, get it out. You'll feel better for it."
Author's note ~ Temporary? Indeed.