Chapter 4 Another Orphan

Jeffrey sat with Phineas through the long night, unwilling even to lay down beside him and sleep. He moved restlessly and moaned and talked several times, and his coughs sounded very congested. Ari and Artemis came and went, doing chores and preparing a meal, before they settled down to sleep. They offered Jeff some bread, and he thanked them, but didn't eat much.

Just before dawn, Phineas rolled over and opened his eyes. "It's okay," Jeff's response was automatic, and he reached out and squeezed his partner's shoulder. Bogg had been restless throughout the night and Jeff's voice and touch had calmed him. This time however, it was different.

"I thought I was dead," Phineas said in a clear voice, "but I kept hearing your voice."

Jeff sat up straight, the voice he heard was clear and strong, and he smiled broadly. He wrapped his left arm around Bogg's neck and felt him return the hug.

As Jeff let go, Bogg moved slowly to sit up.

"Go easy," Jeff warned, "you've been out for a long time."

Bogg winced as he sat up and reached up to his head. Jeff grabbed his arm, "don't touch your head, it needs to be left alone."

"How long was I out? Where are we?" Bogg asked, slowly getting his bearings.

"I think about 12 hours, we're with Aristotle, it's a red light and he's a kid."

"I'm ten," the boy piped up from across the room.

"He's ten," Jeff added, then he whispered, "he's been watching me like a hawk, I don't even think he slept."

"Okay, do we know what's wrong?"

"No, I've been afraid to leave you to find out anything else."

Bogg smiled, "well, I think I'm better now, so why don't we try to scope this place out today." He coughed and then closed his eyes as a wave of pain passed through his head.

Jeff put his hand on his shoulder, "why don't you lay back and I'll tell you what I do know."

As Jeff explained what little he knew about Ari and his uncle, he kept a wary eye on Bogg. He could tell that he was in pain when he moved and his cough didn't sound good at all. He lay with his eyes closed, listening to the information. Jeff paused and when Bogg didn't ask why, he realized he was unconscious again, though Jeff hoped he was just asleep.

He thought back to how Bogg had reached him almost as soon as he hit the water and how he had held him tightly against his chest to protect him from the rocks as much as possible as they were swept downstream. Jeffrey had bumps and bruises too, his hand hurt him a lot, but none of his injuries seemed as serious as Bogg's were. Bogg had protected him as much as he could from the impacts with the rocks in the river and had suffered the brunt of almost all the blows. He even remembered being pulled roughly upwards as they fell and then landing on top of Bogg instead of the boulder when they went over the small waterfall.

"You haven't called him father," Ari's words jolted Jeff out of his thoughts.

"No," he whispered.

"Are you an orphan? Like me?" Ari asked.

"Yeah."

Phineas took a deep breath, "guess I fell asleep," he said and groaned as he moved to stretch. He sat up slowly and Jeff didn't let go of his arm.

"What is he then?" Ari asked as Bogg sat looking around at their surroundings. By headquarters standards it was barbaric of course, but for this time, he could tell they were in the residence of someone important. There was furniture in the room, including several beds like the one he'd slept on. Several pottery jugs stood on a table in the corner.

"He's my friend, he takes care of me now," Jeff answered the boy and moved to sit beside Bogg.

"You can let go now, I think I'm okay," Bogg told him, aware of Jeff's tight hold on his arm.

"I'll decide that," Jeff said firmly.

Bogg sighed, "can I try to stand up?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

"If you promise not to fall down," Jeff answered immediately.

"Smart kids," Phineas said as he slowly stood up. Jeff kept a tight hold on his arm as he walked beside him toward the doorway, and then outside. The bright morning sun hurt Phineas' eyes and he squinted and looked away. He walked to a nearby bench and sat down, then took the omni off his belt and opened it.

"374 BC, Macedon, Greece," he said, then sighed, "red light."
"It looks to me like we have to stay around Ari until we find something to fix," Jeff offered, standing close to his partner. He was heartened when he saw Bogg look up at him. He had that familiar gleam in his eye and Jeff suddenly felt a lot better. Fixing Aristotle's history suddenly seemed easy, "piece a cake," he finished and smiled.

"Nothing of mine needs fixing," Ari said from the doorway.

"Well, I think you need to spend some time with young Aristotle here, while I talk to his uncle," and Jeff could see Bogg was looking at Artemis as he worked on a harness several yards away.

"Stick around here though, okay?" Jeff asked.

Bogg nodded and they moved in opposite directions.