AN: Chapter 2... I guess...
DISCLAIMER: All this stuff's not mine.
|BIALYAN RESEARCH FACILITY
|February 19, 12:12 UTC, 2016
Everyone has had one of those days. A day where you wake up and feel off. This was one of those days for me. As I got dressed in my casual clothes, a pair of white joggers and a white t-shirt, I felt like something was wrong. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't shake the feeling something was off. I wasn't usually one to be swayed by something as illogical as intuition or gut feelings, but I could not shake the sensation that something was very wrong. I tried to write it off to waking up late. I was usually up by eight, but for some reason I didn't get up until almost noon. It wasn't as if I had anything to do necessarily, but I still preferred to be consistent. Something told me that it was more than that though. As if there was some horrible presence looming in the air.
I walked out of the tent that served as my room for the time being to find a small girl staring up at me with deep blue eyes, pleading for an unnamed desire. She was clad in her own outfit much like mine. On me, I could ignore how much it reminded me of how we were nothing more than test subjects, but on her it was just to glaring. She was so young, so innocent. She was still a child. When I was her age, I had already been on several missions, but somehow she had been spared the torment. I was actually very relieved.
"Wow. You're cornering me at my own tent now?" I asked.
"Tommy!" She begged, tugging on her short blond hair to try and look cute. Unfortunately, she did.
"Ugh, fine, take it," I sighed, producing a small silver bracelet with a crescent moon charm on it from my pocket. "Happy birthday, Bucky."
"Ooh! It's pretty!" She cheered. "Where's it from?"
"El Paso," I said, beginning to walk towards the elevator down to the lab. She followed behind me.
"Where's that?" She asked.
I gave her a look. "You've been slacking on your studies."
She just shrugged, "I don't like geography."
"Huh, America," I said, "El Paso is in Texas, which is part of America."
"Huh," she pretended to show interest as she inspected her new piece of jewelry. It was just plastic and glass, but she regarded it as if it was a piece of royal treasure. "What were you doing there?"
Now it was my turn to shrug. "I was just ordered to be there for 'security.'" I put air quotes around the last word.
"They didn't tell you the mission?" She asked, "Again?" I shook my head. "How does that not annoy you?"
"I never said it didn't," I pointed out with a glare.
"I don't understand that though," she said confused, "why can't you just ask Father?"
I sighed. If my mood could've been made worse, it was. "You don't understand. He treats me," I struggled for the word, "differently than you."
"How so?" She asked, still focused on her bracelet.
"You don't understand," I repeated.
"Why do you keep saying that?" She complained.
"No reason," I sighed.
"Hmm," She huffed.
"You do your physical yet today?" I asked.
"Yeah, Father said that I'm still two inches shorter than I'm supposed to be," she pouted.
"Was that all he said?" I asked.
"Yeah. Why?" She asked.
"Huh, nothing," I hissed. "I swear sometimes I hate that man."
She hopped in front of me, stopping me from going any further. "Take that back!"
"What?" I hadn't even realized that I had said it.
"You can't hate him! He's your father!" She insisted.
"Oh..." The look of sadness in her eyes just filled me with an extreme morose. I put my hand on her head and forced a smile. "You're right. I can't hate him. He is my father." I wasn't sure if she believed me, but she smiled up at me. "Why don't you go show Rose your new present while I go and get my physical done."
She seemed to think for a moment before nodding. As she left, I couldn't help but once more feel sorrow. I wished that she could live a normal life so much. I knew there was no chance for me anymore, nor did I truly care, but more than anything I wished that she could be a normal kid.
I stared at my father as he finished his tests Simple motor tests, vision tests, vocal tests, blood tests, shock tests, etc. These had all just become so common to me that I didn't even pay attention anymore. I was studying his face as he leaned against the wall, writing down some notes on a clipboard. I didn't see much resemblance at all. He had dark hair and dark eyes. Not necessarily dark in color, but his stare had no care in it. Though his eyes were a different color than mine, his green and mine blue. His facial structure was also remarkable different from mine. Even in my young age, I should resemble him more. I couldn't tell if I resembled my mother, as I had never met her. I knew of her, I had snuck into his office and read about her once. Her name was Dinah Laurel Lance. Apparently she was some form of superhero. I wasn't allowed to meet her. I don't know why, it was just one of the many rules that applied to Rose, Grant and me. Though there were always more rules for me than for them.
"Is there something you wish to ask me?" My father asked in a careless tone without looking up.
"Were you waiting until later?" I asked, trying to keep the contempt from my voice. "Or did you just forget what day it is all together?"
Still not scribbling on the paper, he asked, "To what are you referring?"
"You don't remember what day it is, do you?" I dared.
"Do not waste my time," he dismissed, "if you are not going to say anything then you may leave."
"My sister," was all I said.
His pen stopped mid sentence. "If you are referring to Elizabeth, she is not your real sister."
"And yet you still gave her your name," I pointed out.
He returned to writing. "It was convenient."
"Convenient?" I asked.
"It was either that or branding her," he stated as if it was no big thing, taking a hot iron to his daughter. "This way, I didn't have to deal with the consequences of her fearing me."
I couldn't respond to that. I wanted to ask if he was some kind of machine. Instead, I asked, "Do you care about her?"
"Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?" He asked. "Of course I do."
I was actually a little doubtful. "You do?"
"Of course," he repeated. "She is a valuable resource of information. Much like you."
I glared at the ground. "Is that all you think of us?"
He paused for a moment before asking, "Is this all you wanted to do? Ask me absurd questions?"
"It's her birthday," I ignored him.
"No it isn't," he contended.
"Yes. It is," I assured him.
"That's not possible," he said without any emotion.
"How can you say that?" I demanded.
"She wasn't born," he stated plainly.
"She's still a person," I insisted.
"She is a duplicate of someone else," he corrected. "A pet project of mine."
"Father!" I blurted out. Once more his pen stopped moving. "She still loves you. She sees you as her family."
He sighed deeply and took off his glasses. Finally he locked eyes with me. "I do hope you have a point."
Struggling to contain my fury, I growled out, "If you do hold any tenderness in your heart at all, for either of us, please preserve her innocence." Green eyes connected with blue as we both seemed to be studying the other. I couldn't get a read off of his stoic face. After an awkward pause I added, "She doesn't see you the way I do. To her, you're still a loving father."
This seemed to surprise him a bit, though I couldn't tell if it was hurt or scientific intrigue. It was as sudden and startling as the strike of lightning. Then it was gone. The look only lasted a nanosecond, but it was definitely there. A flash of emotion.
After a moment he replaced his glasses and muttered, "You may go."
"At least wish her a happy birthday," I pleaded.
"You may go," he repeated flatly.
"I know you didn't get her anything but something as small as that should be enough to-"
"You may go!" He cut me off. He didn't shout, but the slight raise in his voice may as well have been the war cry of a bloodthirsty viking.
I straightened my back in surprise. "Yes sir," I struggled out before leaving the room.
Once more I wondered what it would be like if my father ever showed any emotion to me. I struggled not to resent him at times. He never showed anything but absolute apathy towards me, his own son. He was a little more kind to Bucky, but I had a theory about that that made me snarl. Sometimes it felt as though the only reason he was ever kind to her was because it was all part is his scientific experiment with her. He treated me like I was nothing and then her like his daughter just so that he could measure the behavioral differences. I tried to tell myself that he wasn't that cruel, that he was just hard on me because I was a boy. Or maybe he had just always wanted a daughter. Anything to tell myself that he loved her. I could care less about his feelings toward me, but he had to care for her. She valued his care too much for him not to. If I was right and it was all about science to him, and she found out... I refused to think of what that would do her.
I walked through the corridor, deep in some mountain in Bialyan territory. I didn't even know where we were. Father had just dragged us to another new location without any warning or preparation. Again. I had started to get used to it, especially after all of the mystery missions that I go on now, but Bucky wasn't. Father was helping his associates gather testing material for their new "benefactors." I hated how little I was trusted with any information. It took me three years to find out the very name of the organization I work for! I still didn't know their goals, or what their name even meant. "The Light." It was very dramatic. It wasn't the type of name that one takes on without reason. I wasn't even supposed to know that much. I had found out from raiding my father's files, and then confronting Rose about it. She seemed surprised that I didn't know. It infuriated me. As time went on and I spoke with more and more people, an endeavor that seemed increasingly difficult, the more it seemed that everyone seemed determined to keep everything a secret from me. Thinking of it all seriously put me in a bad mood. Almost as much as speaking with my father did.
"Tommy!" a feminine voice called to me.
Turning I saw Rose jogging down the corridor towards me. Rose. In the past few years she had truly blossomed. She became more of a woman every day. I couldn't deny that she was attractive. Her bleach blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders and back like waves of light. Her figure had also became much more feminine recently. While I wasn't nearly as incapacitated as other boys my age, I will admit I found it somewhat... distracting at times. She was wearing the same white garb as Bucky and I. Though it fit her much better than either of us.
She jogged to a stop beside me. "Where are you going?" She asked with as smile.
I looked back at where I had come from to the other end of the corridor. "Not sure..." I muttered.
"Well," she casually bumped her hip into mine, "could I tag along?"
"If I, myself, do not know where I'm going, then I can't very well forbid you from coming," I pointed out.
"Ugh," she sighed, "always so serious."
I cracked a smile at her. "Am I?"
She quirked eyebrow, "Don't tell me that was supposed to be a joke?"
"If you could understand it," I chuckled.
She glared at me, but I could tell she was trying not to smile. "You making fun of me Thomas?"
"Possibly," I smirked, "you'll just have to figure it out along the way." I turned to start walking down the corridor, my mood sufficiently improved.
"The way to where?" She asked, catching up to me and looping her left arm through my right. "Figure out our destination yet?"
"I don't know if you want me to," I said.
She looked at me, confused. "And why not?"
"Because then, I'd be able to say you can't come," I pointed out.
She feigned offence, "You wouldn't dare."
"Would I not?" I asked.
"Nope," she said matter-of-fact-ly.
"Why not? You're pretty annoying," I mocked.
With one swift motion, she stepped behind me pinned me to the wall with my arm locked in her grip. "'Cause then I might just have to break your arm for being so rude to me."
Laughing with my face pressed against a wall was hard, but somehow I managed it. "You'd never do that."
"You being a doubting Thomas, Thomas?" She asked.
"Yep," I laughed. "Cause you hurt me, and who's gonna save your butt on missions?" She jerked my arm up a little. I just laughed again, "Grant? That's a laugh."
"Who says my butt will need saving?" She asked.
I kicked her ankle, breaking her stance and forcing her to drop my arm. Then I quickly slipped around her and grabbed her wrist to keep her from falling. I pulled her up and pressed my arm over her shoulders, pushing her back against the wall.
"Anyone who's ever seen you fight," I smiled.
She looked up into my eyes with those pale blue eyes of hers. They looked like the water from some tropical beach. Her cheeks seemed to flash a little red for a moment for some reason.
"Maybe I get in trouble so much just so that you can save me," she suggested.
I didn't realize she was leaning against my arm until I let her go and she stumbled forward. "Why the heck would you do that?" I asked, confused.
She took a second to straighten herself. "Huh... No reason." She said. She muttered something under her breath that I didn't catch. She was looking really red now.
"Are you OK?" I asked, "You're looking a little feverish."
She turned away from me and pulled at her hair a little. "I'm fine." She said, acting tough again.
She always did this. If she got sick and didn't tell anyone again it could be trouble. I tried to place the back of my hand on her forehead but she slapped me away. "Ow! Hey!" I protested.
"I said 'I'm fine!'" She insisted.
"Alright," I let the matter drop.
"We should go," she said before speed walking down the corridor.
"Hey Rose!" I shouted, running after her.
I chased her right past the door to my father's temporary lab, but I was stopped by the sound of voices inside. The door had been left slightly open. It sounded as if my father was arguing with someone. Someone with a deep, intimidating voice.
"-you promised me that this would be it. This was the last time," my father's voice insisted. I was surprised to hear him so upset.
"I never made a promise. I said maybe. Besides, it was never up to you or me," the voice replied.
"Don't give me that. I know how you have sway with the Light," My father retorted. The Light?
I cautiously crept closer, trying to not give away that I was listening in.
"Hey, I'm just a hired gun." I recognized the voice as Slade, Rose and Grant's father.
"I heard there's talk of making you the new head of security," my father stated.
"They'll never replace Sportsmaster," Slade said. "He's been too loyal."
"Not the point," my father growled. "Savage made me a deal."
"Well he's determined that you may be helpful to our 'benefactors.'"
"Me," my father asked with fervor, "or my children?"
I was stunned. He called us his children!
"Don't be that way, Arthur," Slade tried to calm him.
"Tommy?" Bucky called me from the end of the corridor.
Instantly I rushed to her, covering her mouth as I picked her up and took her behind a corner. I could hardly breathe as I heard Slade's boots as he stepped out of the room.
"Anyone there?" He called.
Despite all of the training I had in stealth tactics, I could never help myself from being unbelievably scared. Once he seemed satisfied, he stepped back inside the door and closed it behind him.
I let out my breath and released a very confused nine year old.
"Tommy, what was that about?" She asked.
"I, uh," I tried to think quickly. "We were playing hide and seek."
She clearly didn't believe me.
"Hey, let's go and get something sweat for your birthday huh?" I asked.
She looked up at me as if she was really trying to believe me. "OK..." She said.
|BIALYAN RESEARCH FACILITY
|February 19, 18:32 UTC+2
I sat on the cold hard metal table in my father's lab as he did his usual pre-mission tests on me for the trillionth time in my life. At this point my father was giving me some new shots. I didn't know what they were. I wasn't allowed to know. I just stared at his large, haggard hands as he injected a golden liquid into my left arm. I cautiously glanced up at his face. He seemed much more distracted than usual, as if something was weighing very heavy on his mind. It was a little hard to tell, he did always look this way, but he seemed different than he had that morning. I still hadn't forgiven him for ignoring Bucky. I considered bringing it up again, but then decided against it. If I couldn't convince him before, nothing I said would get him to pay her any mind. And then there was the matter of the argument I overheard, but there was no way I would be able to speak to him about it.
My father finished the injections then replaced the syringe on the tray with the others. He started to wash his hands when a man entered through the door. He was tall, commanding and bulky. He was completely clad in body armor much like mine and Ravager's. He had much less weaponry on him than I was used to seeing, only visibly carrying a single pistol, though I was certain he had more hidden away. His hair was long and silver, pulled back in a ponytail that came down to the center of his back. I thought he looked rather goofy with it. Slade. I didn't know all of what went on between them, but I could feel the tension in the air.
"What is it?" My father asked. He seemed a bit nervous.
Slade glanced at me for a moment. "Not a conversation to have in front of just anyone," He said flatly.
My father shot me a look that was somewhere between disdain and confusion. As if he had expected me to just vanish after he was finished with me. As he turned his back to me he muttered, "You may go, Tommy."
Without a word I got up and moved to leave. I caught myself staring at Slade as I did, making a point to look away before he noticed. Before I had fully left, I turned and stared at the two men in the room. My father walked over to me. I was concerned that he was going to berate me, but what he did threw me off more than anything else in my life.
He placed his hand on my head and smiled at me. "It's going to be OK, son."
Before I could even respond, he shut the door in front of me. I wandered into the elevator and road it up to the main base at ground level. The entire time, I was just so confused. I resolved to just completely ignore his actions. It was probably just some other test. When I got to the ground floor, I had put it out of my mind.
There were many Bialyan soldiers walking around the base as well as a few others who seemed to have been brought in by the Light like myself and the others. I found Rose and Grant eating a couple of ration packs on the hood of a jeep at the edge of the base, watching the sunset. Even after all this time I was taken back by how much they've changed. By how much we've changed. Grant was a man now. He resembled his father a lot, sans the white ponytail. While Rose... was Rose. Stunning as ever. I had also changed quite a bit, though I mostly just looked like Grant had at my age. Rose was watching the sunset. Grant was just focused on his food.
"I do hope you two don't ever call me sentimental again, after this," I said.
"Hmm?" Grant grunted in greeting, tossing me a ration of my own.
"You must admit, it's a pretty country," Rose smirked at me.
"It's a desert," I muttered, inspecting the ration. "It looks the same as any other desert." I frowned seeing it the horrid words "artificial banana flavoring."
"I think it's pretty," Rose turned back to watch the horizon.
"I don't like sand," Grant growled.
"Not a popular quote," I pointed out.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing," I muttered as I begrudgingly began to eat the chemical mess inside the packet.
"I thought it was funny, Tommy," Rose smiled. She motioned for me to join them. I hopped up right between them and Rose leaned her head on my shoulder.
"So what's the mission tonight?" I prodded, hoping the calm would make them more forth coming than usual. "Father had more chemicals than usual for today. Is it anything special?"
"You know we're not cleared to brief you on missions, Tommy," Grant sighed, "Why do you keep asking?"
I sighed, "Dunno. Guess I'm just stubborn"
"You should be able to relate to that, Grant," Rose snapped.
"Listen you-" He started.
"Can we just not today?" I asked with a touch of vehemence.
Begrudgingly, they both backed down.
"You good, Crane?" Grant asked.
I glared at the brightness of the sun as it sunk just below the horizon fully. "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling."
"You always get this way before missions," Rose complained.
"That may have something to do with the fact that I'm never in on the mission that I'm a part of." I sat up, gently forcing her off me. She didn't protest, but I could tell that she was a little disappointed.
"You need to stop asking questions. Maybe then you'll actually get some answers," Grant said.
"That makes no sense," I said, furrowing my brow.
"Yes, it does," He insisted.
Somewhat defeated, I laid back down, allowing Rose to return her head to my shoulder. We all watched the horizon for a second. No one would care to come check on us until they needed us for something. Finally I could take it no longer.
"I'm going to go and get ready," I sighed.
"OK..." Rose sighed.
I got off of the jeep and turned to them. "At least tell me this much, are we going anywhere?"
"Yeah," was Grant's simple reply.
"K," I grumbled.
I still couldn't control the gut feeling I had. As I got dressed in my suit, I couldn't think of anything other than my father's weird actions that day. I couldn't stand it. I need to know what that was about. I needed to know why.
It was unlikely that he'd still be in his lab, but I couldn't go another second without an answer. I walked as quickly as I could, without causing alarm to his lab, the entire time my mind reeling.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
When I got to the door, I couldn't believe my eyes. The door was smashed. Tentatively, I pushed the door open. The lights were off, but the light from the hall spilled into the room from behind me. Everything was trashed. The lab equipment was shattered, the boxes and tables were crumpled and mangled. In the center of it all was a pile bloody clothing in the shape of a body. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I just stood there. Staring at it in disbelief.
There was no way.
It couldn't be...
He- he wouldn't.
He didn't go and die on me!
I was so shocked that I didn't even notice when he began moving. Slowly his head rose up and looked at me. It was my father. His face was covered in blood.
"F-Father?" I stammered.
"T-Tommy..." he sputtered out.
A figure appeared from behind him. Slade slowly walked out from behind my father. He had a cruel smile on his face, and bloody knife in his left hand.
"Run..." my father spat out.
Slade grabbed my father by his hair, pulling him up slowly. I was so terrified that I couldn't move. I couldn't look away. As he stared me in the face he took his knife to my father's throat.
"F-Father..." I sobbed.
Slade dropped my father's corpse and took out a rag to clean out the knife.
"Sorry you had to see that, boy," he snickered, "Your father and I had a disagreement." I still couldn't move.
He sighed. "Doesn't matter anyway. You've and your 'sister' have a pair of tickets on the next cargo plain out of here."
At the mention of Bucky, I was finally able to move. I turned and ran down the corridor as fast as I could. I didn't get far though. I made it ten feet from the door when my left leg irrupted in white hot pain. I collapsed to the floor. I looked down to see his knife sticking out of the side of my leg. Slade walked over and grabbed me by my hood, lifting me up to eye level.
"You're still valuable as a paraplegic, kid," he told me.
"Valuable?" I growled in confusion.
"You think I kept you alive for kicks?" He asked. "I could've pierced your heart."
"No, but it was pretty stupid," I hissed.
"Keeping you alive?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Getting so close," I sneered.
I grit my teeth to prepare for the pain. With one quick motion, I ripped the knife out of my leg and jammed it into his right eye.
"Ah!" He shouted in pain, dropping me.
I tried to ignore the pain in my leg as I ran as fast as I could to Bucky's room, the knife still in my hands.
"I'm going to kill you!" Slade shouted after me. I tried to ignore him as I rounded a corner.
I got to Bucky's door and kicked it open. The entire room is open.
"Tommy?" A voice called from behind me.
I turned to see Rose. She was wearing her combat gear. She turned to me with a smile as she saw me. Before she could fully react, I slammed her into the wall and put the knife to her neck.
"Tommy?" She asked, shocked, "What are you doing?!"
"Where is Bucky?!" I demanded.
"What?" She asked.
"Where is she?!" I shouted.
"Tommy, calm down!" She tried to soothe me. She put her hand on mine, trying to take the knife from her neck.
I pushed it a little more into her neck. "Where is my sister?"
"Tommy, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Don't act like you don't know!" I hissed.
"Tommy, I really don't-"
"My father is dead!" I shouted.
She seemed legitimately shocked. "H-How?"
"Your father killed him," I snarled.
This also seemed to shock her. "He what?"
"Where is my sister?!" I shouted.
Her gaze steeled. "You going to kill me, Tommy?" She asked. "In the six years we've worked together, you've never killed anyone. Grant thinks you're weak for that, but you know what? I've always admired your conviction against killing. But by all means, end it all now."
Her words took me off guard. I had never known she had felt that way. I could only ask again, "Where is my sister, Rose?"
"I don't know!" She said. "I was looking for you. To start the mission."
"I-I..." I stammered.
"Tommy, let me help you," She suggested. "We'll go and find Bucky together."
"How do I know that I can trust you?" I asked, trying not to cry from stress and sorrow. The look in her eyes made me feel awful for accusing her of anything. She put her hand on my cheek and smiled somberly.
"Tommy, it's me," was all she said. Hesitantly I lowered the knife and struggled to remain vertical. "Tommy, you're wounded."
I ignored her. "I need to find Bucky before-"
"Too late." Slade's voice called from the end of the hall.
"Oh no..." I sighed. Terror filled every part of me. My stomach was a pot of boiling water. I didn't have the energy to run again.
"I-I'm sorry," I heard Rose's voice in my ear.
"Wha-" I was cut off by a massive jolt of electricity surging through my body.
No matter how much I tried, I couldn't stay upright. The last thing I remember before I blacked out was Rose standing over me with a tazer.
AN: Glad to see that it seems people are taking well to the reboot! I am actually pretty excited about it myself. It feels good to be writing this story again. And as always, thank you for reading.