A/N:

Welp. Angst.

Okay, I really enjoyed writing this one. Quite obviously I think Gage has hard feelings towards Brandon right now, but I wanted to show Gage pushing past that and still encouraging him. It would show his strength as a natural born leader.

~ Ashla.

It was like the fading in and out of a movie, seconds he opened his eyes. Each time he closed them then opened again he saw new things. His head pounding, his weak heartbeat heard by his own self, the cluttered communications between multitudes of people was not distinguishable. The sound of medical equipment, the beeping of monitors, was choppy and out of sync. He felt his stretcher shaking as it sped across the ground. It was so hard to process, none of this would be stored in his memory banks. The one thing he understood in this rapid chaos was that something was horribly wrong.

Out of the purple dusk of the dreary evening, Brandon pulled Wyatt into the waiting room. While small strength was collected in the drive, that strength was already just about spent. Brandon was shaking himself, in fear more than physical depletion, as he lowered his friend onto a chair. Yellow's mouth was wide open, gasping for air. He was sweating so much his hair was becoming wet and greasy. He was done throwing up now, but he had told Brandon he was having these wretched headaches.

Brandon helped him to remain seated, more worried than ever as they waited. About a minute into the wait, Brandon caught Gage racing towards them from down the halls, eyes wide. As Gage skidded to a halt, Brandon closed his eyes.

"Is he okay?" Gage asked in panic.

Wyatt scoffed, barely smiling in his physical wreck, "I'm breathing."

Brandon opened his eyes, looking up to his leader in devastating defeat, "I'm so sorry, this is my fault."

Gage looked at him, they maintained a moment of eye contact. For a moment, Brandon saw it. The way his eyes shone, the raw rashness and distinctive dilation. Were his fears confirmed here? Was Gage upset with him? Did he blame him? Gage's eyes softened after this though, he smiled at the gadget guy, "Now is not the time to get angry or dwell on regret, Brandon."

"What he said." Wyatt obviously agreed with Gage's statement.

Just then, a nurse called from the desk, "Wyatt Yelena?"

Brandon pulled Wyatt's arm over his shoulders, nodding to his friend, "Here we go, buddy."

When they stood up, Wyatt seemed to flush from pale to red, then back to pale. Suddenly vibrating more violently, an unusual panic spread across his eyes. In a voice that hinted he was in pain, he whispered, "I can't."

Brandon froze, looking helplessly at Gage. Gage came to Wyatt's other side, also giving him the option to lean on him, "It's okay, we got you."

From the desk, she called again, "Yelena?"

Gage realized that Wyatt was unable to make it across the room. Green lifted his free hand, waving it, as he shouted, "Over here! Help!"

The nurse, a young redhead, raced out to them. She looked Wyatt down, who seemed barely conscious, and shook her head, "We'll be right back with a stretcher."

Moments later, Wyatt found himself being lowered onto a stretcher. Pale, sweaty, and shaky, he did not fight the stretcher one bit, despite his ego screaming that it made him look weak. At this point, he had to swallow his pride because he knew... his life was in peril. Gage and Brandon could not help but hover close to the scene, watching with desperate eyes. Wyatt started to breathe more heavily, his hoarse breaths seemed hallow despite the heavy rising and falling of his chest. The nurse turned to the boys and smiled, several others still making sure he was secure. Brandon seemed on the verge of tears - today, he had single handedly cried more tears than he had in the last five years combined. He was fighting it though as the nurse nodded to them, "We've got him, he'll be okay."

Brandon and Gage exchanged uncertain glances, then turned to watch as they left.

A moment of silence passed.

Brandon crashed down on a seat, wiping away any tears that did fall, "If-if he doesn't make it..."

Gage turned sharply to him, "He will make it! He has to!"

Brandon looked up to an optimistic Gage, unable to do anything from smiling to lashing out at him. Gage walked next to him and sat down.

A moment passed before Brandon asked a question with a wince, "Rhett?"

Gage's eyes were shadowed with worry, "They said he was pierced in a vital organ. Not deep enough to kill him instantly, but to ki-kill hi-im..."

"Slowly." Brandon finished hopelessly.

"Yeah," Gage rested his head on his palm, "That."

Brandon turned and watched Gage - and gasped, "Oh, Gage!"

Gage looked down to see his shirt was covered in dry blood from his opened wound. Instantly, waves of cautious embarrassment spread over his now red face, "Oh... Uh... Wa-was I walking around like this?" Nervous chuckles escaped him.

Brandon sighed, "Let's check with your doctor." With that, the young genius took his leader's hand and they walked up to the front.

As Gage was being patched up, Brandon paced back and forth at the other end of the room. It was a quick fix, the way Gage liked it, but Brandon was for once less patient than him. Gage still had a bloody shirt, and was nervously asking his mom to come over with a new shirt. By the way Gage cringed immediately after asking, his entire body shivering, Brandon could tell she was not happy about this.

"It-it's not me! I'm not the reason we're all over here. Wyatt and Rhett have it far worse, I didn't even notice I was bleeding until-"

From across the room, Brandon heard the scream, "BLEEDING?"

Gage had to pull his cell away from his ear, looking at Brandon with sheer dread. "... I'm dead."

Brandon smiled in amusement as the usually cool and chill Gage cowered as he spoke into the phone, "Everything is already taken care of. I'm fine. I just need a new shirt."

A moment later, a nervous smile spread across his face, "So... How lo- okay. Great! Bye!"

He immediately hung up on her, goosebumps on his skin, "I'd rather take another bullet than her..."

Brandon scoffed in amusement. As they left the hospital room together, the dreary exhaustion spread across Brandon's entire being. It was only noon, and he was experiencing what was easily his new single worst day of his life. He watched Gage with heavy eyes, "You think we can check on the others?"

Gage slowed, placing his hand on Brandon's shoulder. The touch sent shockwaves of chills through his body, but he was too drained to physically react. Gage all had good intentions though as he responded, "I'll check on the guys. Can you wait for my mom for me?"

Brandon blindly followed his orders, not even thinking but trying to take each next best step. Understanding that Gage most likely was trying to avoid his angry mother - and realizing Gage was thinking that seeing their teammates at their worst was bad for Brandon, he accepted, "Okay."

Gage stepped closer to Brandon, putting his other hand on his shoulder, "Brandon, they will be okay. They're strong. Wyatt's a fighter, Rhett's stubborn. They can make it."

Brandon lowered his head, unable to meet his eyes in the growing shame that made him want to curl up and die, "If they do survive," he asked in a dead tone, "Would they ever forgive me?"

Gage's mouth gaped open, "Brandon..."

Brandon choked, "You gave me responsibility, I blew it. Wyatt gave me friendship, I left it. Rhett gave me his heart, I..."

A moment of helpless silence fell between them. As many doctors, patients, and visitors walked by in a blur, Gage noticed the bruise on Brandon's cheek. Deep sorrow spread across him over how shriveled Brandon had become. Gage removed his hands from his slumped shoulders, but as he scanned the brightly lit hall, he took his arm, "Come on."

With that, Gage led Brandon into an elevator shaft. As the clear, silver door closed, Gage hit every single button. It was going to be a long ride. As Gage stood guard by the door, hoping to keep this shaft private all the way up, Brandon huddled in the corner, hugging himself. Gage kept an eye on the door, but still spoke, "How long have we all known each other?"

Brandon seemed unmoved by the question. Even worse, he gave him the answer like he was a calculator, "Since first grade."

"And that's a long time, right?" Gage was pushing.

"Nine years." Brandon filled in the answer.

Gage finally looked at Brandon, "Yeah." A hint of a smile was on his face; Brandon saw through his blond hair. Gage also seemed to carry a large sadness, eyes misty, "Throughout these years, we've been through a lot. We were stupid kids; we grew up together. We started working for Larry, and we began to mature. When we started the team, remember what he said? Countless people would need us, Larry and the facility would need us, but most of all we would need each other. Do you remember that, Brandon? Do you remember how we've depended on each other? We found out more about ourselves, Wyatt and I finally became friends... We got through all kinds of challenges from mutant animal cars to Larry's twin brother to the pear dumpling gang. With how long we've stuck by each other, through thick and thin, do you really think one day could change the bonds we forged? It certainly didn't change anything during the road pirate incident; remember that mess? Brandon, I..."

Gage walked over to Brandon, leaning on the wall next to him, "... We've always been in this together, always should be. No denying anger would be there, but we need each other more than ever. As long as we stay close-"

"-And that's the thing, isn't it?" Brandon immediately cut in, "I've been pushing you all away."

LeBay slid down onto the floor, Gage sat next to him, "Have you?"

Just then, the door dinged. The doors opened, a family of four, mom and dad and two kids below the ages of nine, were ready to step in. Immediately, Gage acted, "If you want speed, don't come into this one. All the buttons are pushed."

Even the kids gave the boys huddled in the corner odd glances. Of course, the family backed out. As the door closed, the question could be heard, "What were they doing on the germy floor, daddy?"

"They are emotional teenagers," the dad responded, "Doing their emotional teenage things."

As the elevator continued its cycle, a moment of embarrassed silence spread between the boys. Gage blinked, "Where was I?"

Brandon pulled himself out of his self-protective hug. Looking up at the ceiling, he let out a brave sigh. "I know what I have to do."

Brandon looked to Gage, who was listening with curious inquisitiveness. "Can I borrow your phone and make a call? Mine is kind of broken."

After stapling an "out of order" paper onto the wall of the elevator, the boys got off on what was the sixteenth floor. Brandon asked that the call be made personally, and Gage was roaming the halls while Brandon locked himself inside the restroom.

It was weird when, from this floor, his name was suddenly called out, "Gage Green?"

Gage had been walking through the hall, but slowed to a stop at the unfamiliar voice called his name. Gage turned around to see a doctor, a middle aged brunette with sharp hair and glasses, watching him. Gage was a bit nervous about the stranger, and gulped before approaching him.

The man nodded, "My name is Percy Anthony, Yelena's doctor for many years."

Hearing Wyatt's surname suddenly arose awareness of why he was having this conversation, "Yes, I'm an acquaintance of Wyatt's. Why'd you ask?"

A look of deep worry, one that caused anxiety to form in Gage, spread across his face, "We're trying everything we can, but we're losing him. We already called his guardian down, but he wants to talk with anybody he knows..."

Gage nodded, already feeling that need for rushing making him run in place, "What room?"

"One hundred twenty nine."

Gage immediately raced towards it.

"Hello? Uncle LeBay?"

Brandon paced back and forth, feeling butterflies through the roof as his uncle responded, "Brandon LeBay?"

"I know I'm calling on an unfamiliar phone, I apologize." Brandon sighed as he leaned against the wall."

"Oh, it's okay, boy." LeBay chuckled, "We LeBay's must be resourceful."

Brandon nodded, sweat collecting on his hands and forehead, "Yeah, look, sir, I made my decision concerning the job."

Instantly, his voice deepened, "Yes?"

Brandon pulled the phone away for a moment. He let out a long, deep sigh before pulling the phone up. He calmly and professionally answered, "It was an honor to be given such an opportunity, but I unfortunately am not in any position to take the job. I apologize, but I have to turn down your gracious offer."

A moment of silence passed, his uncle responded in a warm voice, "I understand, Brandon. You are indeed very young; I can understand your reasoning. Thank you for considering the job opportunity, and good luck with your path."

Brandon sighed in relief, incredibly thankful for his surprising understanding, "Thank you."

"Yeah," Uncle LeBay added in, "You'll need luck with my sister. I don't remember how I survived growing up with her..."