The Meaning of Blue
It had been three days since the reveal.
Three very long days.
In that time, they had hardly seen hide nor hair of Chase, which wasn't as unusual lately due to Chase's slowly forced isolation by the higher ups. No, what was unusual about this was that it was voluntary isolation.
None of Core-Tech knew what had happened, though Dax had looked vaguely guilty and Jinja much too impassive. Beyal and Bren withdrew themselves even further from the group, except Chase, whom they tried speaking to on several occasions. Their attempts were fruitless.
Strike Squad was feeling the brunt of it. Core-Tech's questions about Chase were near impossible, even if they weren't being directly asked; how could they explain this huge and devastating news? They couldn't.
There wasn't much they could do, anyways. They were still preparing supplies, scouring through maps and flipping feverishly through files, copying every ounce of useful information they could fine; at the rate they were copying, however, they may have well just scanned the files.
A suggestion had been to bring Chase along with them – and the way things were going, it may have been safer for Chase overall – but the idea had been regretfully shot down. As Kilo had pointed out, the disappearance of Chase would cause a full scale global search for the teen and would ultimately give them away and leave them trapped in STORM. Tango had argued that since Chase was already so isolated, they would think that Chase was merely hiding out and avoiding them in base for a few days, which would give them time to escape. As X-Ray had regretfully reminded them, it would still warrant a global search once the teen had been discovered missing.
Alpha had been all for bringing Chase with them, and had been one of the biggest advocates for the idea. Eventually and resentfully, however, he had to concede that for now, Chase's disappearance would have a terrible impact on them and the mental state of everyone within STORM, especially the new Commandant.
Perhaps, if they found what they were looking for and everything had settled down, they could come back for Chase.
That was a big If, however.
"Chase?" an anxious voice said from the doorway. There was no response.
Dax stepped into the room, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The curtains hadn't been opened since Chase had locked himself away as far as he knew, and everything smelt musty and unclean despite the fact that the room looked untouched. Chase sat on the chair behind his desk, which was barren of anything except a few broken pens a few scattered pieces of paper with messy scrawls and scribbles scattered over them. Dax took a step further into the room.
"Chase? Mate? You…you alright?" the Lowlander took a few hesitant steps towards Chase. "Do…you you wanna go grab something to eat? Or go for a walk?"
Silence was his only answer, and an aggravated sigh left Dax's lips as he knelt beside Chase, leaning to try and gauge Chase's expression.
"'C'mon bandito, at least give me something here!" he pleaded.
"Go away, Dax," came the hoarse response, and the Lowlander frowned. It wasn't the answer he wanted, but it was an answer nonetheless.
"Mate, I can't just leave, not when you're…like this," he trailed off and shook his head. "I – we're – I'm worried about you. You've been shut in here for days, you haven't eaten anything, you've barely slept, you look – look – " he steadied his voice. "You look almost dead." Chase still wasn't looking at him, and Dax swallowed harshly. "Chase, please, what happened?"
"I – I can't talk about it!" Chase snapped, turning his body so he was facing as far away from Dax as the chair would allow. "I just can't alright?"
"W-What?" Dax blinked, confused. There was nothing Chase hadn't been able to talk to them about. Chase was always so open and honest, and the ominous feeling that had crept over him for the past few days seemed to strengthen. "Why not?"
"Because you'd never look at me the same way every again!" Chase's chair flew back as he threw himself upwards, whirling on Dax while the lowlander fell back, fear clutching his gut. "I mean it's not as if you don't already see me as some sort of freak," he spat. "I got that memo ages ago. But this – this – " his hands gripped his hair in frustration before he turned around and kicked his chair.
"Chase, please calm – "
"Don't you tell me to calm down – "
"Alright but please – "
"Just get the fuck out already!" Chase's piercing cry was followed by a glower that could petrify Medusa herself, and Dax felt cold and shaken as he saw Chase move as if to hit him. For a moment, it was almost as if Chase's eyes had flashed almost luminescent, but looking back, it was probably a trick of terror.
A moment passed between the two, and Chase finally seemed to snap from his blinding rage and faded into a sort of quiet horror at the frozen fright that marred Dax's features, and he raised his hands shakily in reassurance, feeling sick when the lowlander flinched back.
"D-Dax – " he stammered. "I – I – I didn't mean – you – I didn't want – I'm sorry – this is exactly why –" his eyes filled with tears. "D - Dax? A – Are you okay - ?"
Dax never responded. Instead he gave Chase one last fleeting look before bolting from the room, leaving Chase to stand there as guilt wracked his frail form.
"What have I done?" he whispered.
"This isn't right," Trey growled, twitching uncomfortably from his seat next to Jon. The meeting room was near empty save for himself, the Commandant and Jeredy Suno, and the tension was thick enough that he swore he was choking on it; this feeling seemed to be exclusive to him, however, as Jon and Jeredy seemed to be discussing things quite calmly.
"It doesn't matter if it's the right thing to do," Jon's tone was firm as he looked up from his page. It seemed to be some form of document left from Charlemagne, although it was a rather recent one; it seemed as if Jon still hadn't found the file he was after of the boy. "What matters is what's necessary. Chase is unaware of what he is, and there could be catastrophic consequences if he found out."
"I don't think I see how that's possible," Trey argued. "If we explained it to the kid in a controlled environment, then – "
"There's no telling what he could do," Jon cut over him, and Trey noticed Jeredy's hand clenching on his pen. "Believe me, Lieutenant, if there was any other way then I'd be gladly doing it, but Chase is inherently destructive, even if he doesn't mean it. That's why we have Jinja keeping an eye on him. If he found out what he could do then we'd have a force of power that we couldn't possibly counter!"
"Haven't you even noticed that this is making him worse?" Trey slammed a hand down on the table as frustration gripped him. "He's isolated and alone. He's a child, Jon!" The commandant raised an eyebrow at the lack of formal title used, but allowed it to slide. "We're snatching his freedom from him! He needs to expend energy and be around people, not forced to sit and idly watch his life go by and wonder what he did to deserve this – this – abuse !" the Lieutenant was struggling for words, finding it strange that he was now defending Chase Suno's right to live when barely months ago he was trying to end it. "And now we're discussing the best way to snatch his cores from him? He's not our prisoner!"
"Isolation seems to be the only way to control Chase," Jeredy's voice was quiet and tired, and he sounded almost defeated. "When he was living at home alone he became much more reserved. All he have to do is limit him and keep an eye on him as he reached maturity, and then keep a tight leash on him after that. He'll understand that it's for the best."
"It's abuse," Trey's voice was filled with disgust. "I never used to like that kid much, and we still don't see eye to eye, but he deserves better than this. Soon you'll be just like Charlemagne was with Strike Squad, just without the physical abuse." Jeredy flinched and Jon glowered, but Trey was undeterred. "Unless you're planning on pulling out a whip and shoving him in a concrete room barely big enough for a ten year old. Tell me, Commandant," he sneered. "When are you going to start beating him into submission."
"That's enough!" Jon roared, and Trey finally fell silent, matching the Commandant's glare with a fierce one of his own. "Remember your place," he continued in a lower but no less furious tone. "You were lucky I didn't fire you when I became Commandant – one more word about Chase and I'll throw you out myself. Clear?"
Trey mumbled a sullen reply, trying to swallow his pride and refrain from giving into the temptation to throttle Jon there and then. Jeredy's knuckles had gone white around his pen, his jaw clenched painfully, and the Lieutenant could have sworn the biologist was trembling.
"This decision was not made lightly," Jon said quietly, and Trey bit back the urge to snort in derision. "But it's for the greater good. We're taking Chase's core's tonight, and that's final."
Hello all! I apologize for how astoundingly late this chapter was – I kinda lost writing motivation and was torn between starting a Bren/Beyal fic or rewriting Festival, which is high on my to-do list! I also apologize for how short this chapter is, but that's because the next chapter should be much longer and has much more happening in it ;;
Please review and tell me – what you think will happen, who your favourite Strike Squad member is, your favourite color and your favourite flavour of cake~! Thank you for being patient!