Chapter 8: Some things Lost
'No don't just say it, you need to mean it or the rest of us won't trust you' Alistar rolled over and kept shifting wile he slept 'Trust? Trust? You want me to earn their trust? How about you all earn mine first, because sim or not abandoning me for the sake of the op is not doing you any good' "Al are you ok?" 'Ya it hurts when your own argument comes back and bites you doesn't it. Trust ha, you should know better than to look for trust in this place there is even less trust here than in the original Olympus' "ALISTAR!" "WHAT?" He almost screamed as he sat up "You were having one of your dreams" Storm said in his head "Uh I was?" "Are you ok? You haven't had one in some time" He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat with his head in his hands "I'm good. But I don't know why I had that, what time is it?" "03:22 you have gotten four and a half hours of sleep" "Wow that many" He said as he stood and moved over to his locker "What are you going to do?" Storm asked "The same as I did before run" He replied pulling on his PT clothes "Run to clear you're head? Or to run away?" Storm asked a slight tone of disappointment in his voice "A little of both for now" Alistar said tying his shoes "What do you think Gates would think of that?" "I don't know Storm, I've never worked with someone who has that good of a moral compass before and you know that" "Maybe you should talk to her" "I will when she wakes up, remember its to early for most things" "Ya just don't do anything stupid in the mean time 'Alistar'." He said the name with venom and it cut deep "DON'T DO THAT! You know better than to go there" Storm said nothing and Alistar walked out heading to the airfield.
She was doing better at least that's what the doctor said, she could get up and walk a little now and it didn't hurt as much. But that was not the case for the man three beds to her right, unconscious since he got here six days ago he tossed around in his sleep constantly and the doctors say he is on borrowed time. As she looked at him a nurse went to him and changed his bandage, as the nurse finneshed the man woke up and started yelling and screaming thing that Gates couldn't make out at first. Some doctors ran over and tried to hold him down so he didn't rip out his stitches and Gates finaly got what he was saying, he thaught he had been taken prisoner and wouldn't listen to reason then he wanted prof that he was home and his request of prof shocked Gates. "IF I'M NOT A PRISONER SHOW ME PILOT CAMBEL!" One of the orderly's ran off to find him and a few minuets latter he ran in with the orderly and went to the man saying "Hey there what's all the noise about?" The man instantly relaxed and said "Sir you're real thank god" "As real as it gets, how are you doing George?" The fact that he remembered his name further helped him calm down "Better now that I know I'm home" With that the doctors and other medical staff went back to what they were doing "Excuse me Sir-" "The names Alistar" "Alistar, you know I was my squads medic I know what that monitor says. How long do I have?" Alistar looked him in the eye "Not long" George leaned back in his pillow then started coughing and hacking and Alistar helped him get comfortable again after "Alistar, w-would you stay with me till I-" He started coughing again, when he finneshed he lifted his hand and Alistar grabbed it raping their thumbs around and fingers on the back of the others hand "Ya I'll stay George" "Thank you Sir" They sat there like that for a few hours until George's hand went slack and he coughed a couple more times then he went silent one final time. Gates got up and limped over and stood next to Alistar, after a wile she asked "What happened to him?" Alistar laid George's hand on his chest and said "He was working on bringing one of his squad mates back when an artillery shell landed five feet in front of him it was a delayed fuse shell, he had enough time to turn and see the shell before it exploded. It killed the man he was evacing and almost tore him in half ripping out most of his intestines, I found him on the first night two hours after I don't know how he was alive. As I tried to get him to the cliff too get him out he told me his name and what happened, it was like when you were hit I was just trying to keep him awake." He stood up and pulled the sheet up over George's head and turned to look at Gates "Come on" He said and helped her back to bed. "Al" "Yes El" "You said once that you were no hero, but you do so many-" "To be a hero you need to be a good person from the start, I'm just paying off a debt I owe" "A debt?" "Project Olympus tried to make better soldiers, what it made instead was fifty one monsters" "Why monsters?" "We did things that I'd not want tell you about because they still affect the world in bad ways. But I will say this, when they take you at sixteen to train you, you never have a chance to be human" "I think you're human" "If you knew some of things that were done you wouldn't question me, and you would ask me to prove that I'm human" "But why did you have to prove it?" "People at a young age even at sixteen are verry moldable and when you make a child train to kill and then kill they have to grow up fast, but with no help they fail to grow up they become twisted and corrupt they, we became monsters" "I'm sorry" "Why? You didn't do it to me, why be sorry?" "I- well I just feel bad for you" "You don't have to. Its my past and I will deal with it, the echoes and dreams are a good reminder of what matters" With that he let her rest and went to check on Storm. "But I do" She said to herself as he walked out.
"Storm you're not listing to anything I'm saying" Alistar sat and argued with Storm in the titan hanger "No I think you're not listing, you have a chance for more than you had last time don't screw this up" "A chance for what exactly?" "A chance to have a family friends everything you couldn't have in Olympus, a chance to be you not this name you've put to the face they gave you" "What do you think will happen when they find out, it won't be all happy and ok its going to be a mess and I don't want to lose my second chance" "I think Gates will trust you, she seams to trust you more than she really should" "You should stop implying that there is anything between me and Elizabeth" "Oh it's a first name bases now?" "You can't tell anyone her name ok" "Why?" "I don't know yet she asked my not to spread it around and I'm not going to, and neither are you" "No I won't, I see you take her trust verry seriously" "She's the first person to give me their trust in some time you know that" "Well I think its well founded" "Really? Not misplaced in any way, I mean with all the secrets and redirections about Olympus" "When you put it that way, but I think you will tell her at some point. But sooner rather than later" "Maybe so, Storm I don't know how to feel abou-" Alistar stopped and seized up going stiff, then fell to the ground and started convulsing "MEDIC WE NEED A MEDIC HERE!" Storm shouted out and checked Alistar and see if he could help. Just like before it was a hack at his neural lace but with the two of not linked he couldn't do anything. 'And just like that I have all the secrets of project Olympus, I told you I could do it Jones' Alistar laid there twitching and rolling and amidst this he got out "N-no d-don't ta-ake my-" And then he passed out. Lights flashes pain and loss, that's all he could sense in the haze he was in, finaly it settled on pain and lots of it with all kinds from headaches to joint pain every fiber of his being hurt and it wouldn't stop. Then all at once it did and with the pain left something else something he couldn't understand not yet and he finaly passed out completely. He came to in almost complete darkness save for one light at a desk he knew but didn't know and it felt strange to know something and not know it, then it hit him some of his memories were no longer there. He sat up in a panic and a nurse came over to see if he was ok he drifted through their conversation and heard the name Gates that was a name he knew, it was all so surreal he could remember his childhood and resent events but nothing passed the day of his sixteenth birthday until Gates found him. A few minuets passed and then a woman in armor walked in and thanked the nurse then walked over to him and sat down "Are you ok?" She asked. It was Gates he recognized her voice "Yes and no" He said "What do you mean yes and no?" "Well I'm ok but I, I can't remember some things" She sat there for a second and then removed her helmet "Alistar are you ok?" She asked again but with a different kind of worry in her voice and reached up and grabbed his arm "I don't know, I- I feel lost in my own head and I can't find something and its really important" As he spoke she moved her hand to his and held it tightly. He held it back grateful for any thing he could say he knew "Gates I-" "Its Elizabeth and you know that" She said trying to help "El I, I do remember you don't worry I just I'm not sure about some things" "That's ok" And she reached up her other hand to hold his "Are you ok El?" "Not really Al" "How long have I been out?" "You went down a week ago" "Oh" "Do you need me to do anything?" "Um what time is it?" "Its 02:50" "Thanks, uh could- could you stay with me tonight? I'd like to have somebody I know close" "Sure Al I'll stay" She said and shifted her chair to make it easier to sit next to him "Thanks El it means a lot" He said relief in his voice "No problem Al" She replied and leaned against his bed still holding his hand with him holding just as tight, as she sat there she let out a tear or two at the sight of him just trying to make sense of something he knew so well before.
"I am pushing the red button" Alistar said angrily pressing the button repeatedly and Storm saying "Don't break it" And moved closer to see what he was doing wrong. Gates sat watching as Storm tried to reteach Alistar some thing, he seamed determined to makeup his loss and be 'useful' as he put it he said that he didn't want to be a burden. As Gates sat and watched Sarah Briggs walked up next to her "How's he doing?" She asked "Better, he is trying to relearn all of his skills right now" Gates replied continuing to watch "It seams he has a lot to go still" Sarah said "Well from what I understand Project Olympus took up over half of his life and to just lose that over night, it would be hard on anyone. The psychologist says it's a miracle that he is up and going as fast as he has, they said that if it was all of his memories it would be a little easer but it just being some well it's harder" Gates repeated what she had been told earlier and Sarah stood in silence with her for a wile. After a few minuets Bear walked passed and over to Alistar, Gates got up and wandered over to see what Bear was doing. "He asked me to help him relearn hand to hand since Storm can't" Was Bear's reply when she asked "Oh ok, well don't break anything on him" Gates said and sat down a little closer to watch. Alistar had his armor on and was in the middle of a square of crates that Storm had setup and Bear joined him in there. They both took a ready stance and Bear's was a little more well done then Alistar's, and they began with Alistar running forward swing his right fist at Bear's head Bear ducked and grabbed his arm as it passed over twisting his wrist making him drop to his knees then Bear kicked him in the back laying him flat and after a few seconds Alistar got up and they started again, and again for the next few minuets. After ten minuets or so Gates stood up to tell them to stop and give Al a chance to recover from the bruises that Bear had given him when Bear started the fight this time by swinging his left fist at Al's head, Alistar ducked under and landed a quick one two in Bear's ribs nocking the breath out of him and Bear stepped back a few paces. Alistar seaming to have found some muscle memory closed the gap arms tuck in close and jabbed his left at Bear's head, Bear managed to duck in time still recovering from his first hit and Alistar took advantage of this by bringing his knee up into Bear's faceplate on his helmet knocking him back into the crates. Bear got his balance back and came at Alistar with his right fist this time and Al stopped it with his left and head butted him making Bear take a stutter step, Al moved closer and began a move Gates hadn't seen before. He started by hitting Bear in his left shoulder with his right fist followed up with a hit mid rib with his left and another on Bear's left hip again with his right fist, Bear was off balance again and Al continued by kicking Bear's right shin making his leg go almost flying out behind him forcing him to a knee and then Alistar brought his knee up into Bear's Head launching him backwards into a crate and from the lack of movement knocked him out completely. Al stood and looked at his hands in shock and then went to Bear who was starting to move "Are you ok?" Alistar asked checking the status panel on Bear's armor "Ya I'm good, it seams you know more than you think" Bear replied and started to chuckle but decided against it because of the pain it caused "What the hell was that?!" Sarah asked stunned looking at the two of them "I don't know really" Al said helping Bear to his feet "And don't ask me because I have no clue" Bear said trying to take a couple of deep breaths. Gates stepped forward and said "The both of you go to the infirmary and get checked out" They both saluted and began walking "Told you he was worth the pin" Gates said to Sarah as she walked after them.