Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or any of its characters. I do, however, own my own character and plots.

Chapter 17

I didn't even bother parking Cloud Nine correctly when I descended on Atmosia.

I landed in front of the medical facility and immediately jumped off my ride. It went off, spinning on its side, until it collided into the tree. It rose up a little at the collected force, then fell back on its side, still and dead. I doubted it was damaged; a scratch or more, tops. I turned my back on it and ran through the automatic doors, up to the desk. There sat Mrs. Gertry; not the same from the government building, but her twin. They looked identical, save for the difference in eyes. Hers were moss green. She looked up at me as I arrived, heaving.

"You made it," she said with relief. Her face was looking a little grim.

"Where are they? Where's Luchas?"

"Down in Sector E, the deepest level. And... Nakoto..." she hesitated before continuing. "You were right... he is a Cyclonian, but..."

"But what?" I stared at her, my heart ceasing from slowing its pace. Mrs. Gertry shook her head, and I smacked my hands on the counter. "Tell me! What's wrong?"

"This Cyclonian... he says he was apart of the Oasium Project."

My blood ran cold.

"The Oasium Project... that's something to do with you, isn't it?" the woman shook her head, her face crumpling a little. "The others said that you would get upset if I told you, but I had to... I—"

"Thank you, Mrs. Gertry," I told her numbly. My hands slipped off of the counter. "Thank you for telling me."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going down there. But first, what about Adam?"

Her face grew even more dire. "The Aquanosian boy is in a terrible state. Luchas was supposed to go into the briefing, but with his identity revealed, the surgery was postponed. He claimed he knew of a way to save the boy."

"I... I see. I'll get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, if Adam's father Rio arrives, send Derik for him."

"I will."

I turned away and went straight for the stairs. The elevator was too slow. This was the ground floor, but the Sectors were far below, deep in the crust of the Terra. It would take about three flights to reach Sector A, and then I would have to descend even further to reach Sector E. But before I knew it, I had crashed down and landed in that Sector. The stairs were out of my memory, like I was in a trance the whole time. My thoughts were on Luchas.

Sector E was not a floor for patients. It was here that all controls and reactors were maintained. This area was the source of the building's energy, and it channelled throughout the facility through energy boxes situated at certain places. I passed the boiler room, the monitoring station... the pipes lining the wall were a blur. All the doors were closed, so I stopped and circled on the spot.

"I'm here!" I called out. "Where are you? Where is everyone?"

I waited, and I was rewarded. A door creaked open and Seth came out, closing the door behind him. His frown was deep, and he looked up at me guilt-ridden. I wasn't looking at him though, but the door he came out of. Luchas was in there. I ran up to the door, but Seth stood in my way. I slammed my right hand against the frame.

"Let me pass!" I glowered. Seth shut his eyes tight, then he opened them.

"Nakoto, you have to listen. He was one of the doctors... he was one of the ones... one of the Cyclonians who tested on you."

I said nothing. I already knew this, but I couldn't help but stay silent. Seth took this as an opportunity to continue.

"We checked through all the notes, and we tracked down all the doctors involved in the Project while you were gone. Atmosia had many of them locked up for their crimes, but there was one we couldn't find, nameless. When you reported that no William Luchas existed, we arrested him. Just a few minutes ago, he admitted the truth. ..." The dark-skinned man shook his head. "Nakoto, you were right."

And you know what? I could care less about being right.

"Let me inside," I repeated. "I want to see him."

"You don't have to. You don't have to subject yourself to this—"

"This is important to me! Step aside, Seth!"

At last, Seth obeyed me. He opened the door behind him warily, and after looking inside, he opened it until it collided with the wall. He stepped inside into the dim room, and I followed.

There were about five people there without garbs of white. They were Enforcers, people on the Terra who saw that rules and regulations were followed. I knew that Tatu sent them down once everything was revealed. They were down there, standing around a table, and at this table sat the only doctor aside from Seth. The impostor.

The Enforcers watched me closely as I stood there, but I only had sights on Luchas. He looked back at me, his face looking more aged. His hair was unruly. His clothes were slightly torn, his buttons undone. He was searched, perhaps beaten. There was a bruise developing on his neck. The pendant he wore all the time still perched on his breast. His gaze was glassy, and... what was that? Pleading?

"What is your name?" I ordered. His chin dipped.

"My name is William Luchas."

"No one by that name exists. Tell me your real name."

"I've abandoned my old name."

A strange response. It wasn't important what his name was anyway. "Why are you here?"

Luchas adverted his gaze, then reluctantly brought it back. He started to get nervous.

"I... I want to help," he managed. His voice was raspy, like he just had all the air in his lungs stolen from him. "I want... I want to pay for my sins."

His sins, he said. My eyes narrowed while I inwardly tried to banish the images in my mind.

"That's rare, to hear from a Cyclonian. Have you abandoned your ruler? You're no longer loyal to her?"

"I-I'm not."

I held his gaze for a long moment. I observed his face; there was a familiarity I couldn't place. He was one of the people... something sweltering was toiling at the bottom of my stomach, and it was getting restless, sending the heat upwards. It was so tempting to just let it loose, but I had to resist it. As I walked to the table, he watched with what I thought looked like fear. I never wanted someone to fear me as much as he did.

"You were there," I managed softly. The heat in my belly swelled ten-times.

"I came here to pay for my sins, I swear it!"

My hands clenched into fists. "You were there!"

"I didn't take part in the destruction of Oasium," he scrambled, anticipating my anger, "a-and I didn't approve of what they did to you— "

"You were there!" By this time, I was trying my best to restrain my instincts from taking over. I couldn't let myself lean over the table and rip his throat open. I couldn't, no matter how much my heredity demanded it. My voice, as strangled as it came out, was my only preferable choice.

"Nothing can justify what you've done. If you didn't approve, why didn't you help me? Free me? You tortured me. You let my home burn and my family die!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me..."

My teeth bore themselves. "You were sent by Cyclonis. For what purpose? Tell me!"

"N-No! I just want to help—!"

"Don't lie to me! I was discovered weeks ago, and the skies have been flooding with Cyclonians out to get me. It's rather coincidental that one managed to slip in here at this time." My expression darkened, and I lifted my right hand. He flinched. "Maybe you're curious on how my defect is doing. Would you like me to skewer you with it, to see what kind of weapon it is?"

"No, please!"

"Tell me then! Why are you here?"

"Cyclonis b-banished me!"

"She banished you, or you abandoned her? Which is it?"

"I l-left Cyclonia, and now I'm seen as a t-traitor! I can't go back, even if I-I wanted to, and I'll have you know, I don't want to!"

My voice rumbled in my throat as I reared my head back straight. I could see Luchas trembling, or at least trying to compose himself. His hands were in his lap under the table, and I could imagine them clasping onto one another, hot and uncomfortable sweat in his palms. He looked so helpless. So trapped. That's exactly how I looked when I was a child.

Then it hit me. The anger I experienced felt sordid in my body, a stain on my soul. I didn't feel like myself. I closed my eyes and took a moment to relax, to eliminate the anger I felt from my body. The one thing that governed my life was empathy, and the rule of doing onto others as I would have them done onto me. Crazy as it seemed, I couldn't pay this doctor back. I would just be repeating, mimicking him, and that would make me no different from him. I couldn't help but also imagine the confining grasp of fear he felt, and it triggered a memory. I couldn't stop the images of a big white room, full of even whiter gowns and syringes with strange liquids.

I opened my eyes before I could be consumed by the memory. I brought myself back to Sector E, to one of the spare rooms, with other individuals. I looked down at Luchas, who watched me carefully, waiting and dreading for the moment he thought was coming.

My eyes were drawn down to something pale on his chest. I could even see it in the dimness of the room. His shirt was opened up enough to reveal part of a thin, chalky scar reaching up to his collarbone. A second one accompanied it, curved and trailing out of sight as well. I knew there was a third one, and I knew that they lengthened down to his naval, at most. I blinked slowly, and brought my eyes back to Luchas' face. I matched it with the face I remembered, and addressed the wrinkles that lined it now. Yes, it was the same man.

"Adam is dying."

Luchas was surprised with my change of tone. His fear didn't dissipate. He went on: "I have the cure. I used the data I collected from the boy, and I managed to find a way to eliminate his disease. The serum...—"

"He was about to go into Adam's briefing," Seth chose to interrupt. I cast my eyes in his direction as he arrived at my side. "We don't know what's inside that solution. For all we know, it could be a poison, and he might have planned to euthanize Adam."

"That's not true!" Luchas exclaimed. He looked up at me beseechingly. "I was going to hold my promise true!"

My nostrils flared.

"Please believe me! I regret my time in the Oasium Project enough to never pick up science again, but I can't live on without saving more lives than I've taken away. I've worked with your blood already, Nakoto, and I've used its properties to find an agent. This agent will destroy the malign tissue in that boy's body; I just need to get to him in time! And the other children... the other people... they have a chance to recover! I just want to help them!"

My head inclined as I considered his words. I looked into his eyes and saw... honesty. This man had caused me the greatest pain I could ever remember, and he was responsible for the death of my family and heritage. And yet, as he sat there, looking up at me, he no longer fit the skin I remembered him wearing. Was it a trick? Had he discarded his true face just momentarily, to save himself?

I closed my eyes.

"Stand up."

After a long, stretching silence, I heard the chair screech back. The Enforcers around us shifted, as if ready to leap forward and oppress Luchas if need be.

"Swear it."

"What?"

I opened my eyes and pierced him through with a black look.

"If you've really abandoned your Terra, then it shouldn't be a problem for you to swear," I reasoned. "Promise me your true intentions, and keep them close to heart."

Dr. Luchas stared, voiceless.

"Forsake Cyclonis! Swear you won't hurt anyone in this building, or I'll crush your skull where you stand. Is that something you want to risk?"

An empty threat on my part, but I wanted him to think it genuine. My eyes steeled over and I watched him expectantly. For just this moment, I had to slip into the skin of another, someone more threatening than my usual self. Luchas took me me seriously enough, and he bowed his head.

"I...I swear..."

"Swear on what?"

Dr. Luchas swallowed. "S-Swear on Cyclonis..."

"To... what?"

"To help save lives!" he divulged. The fists as his side trembled a little. "I swear on Cyclonis, ruler of Cyclonia, that I condemn her methods for destruction and take on the responsibility to do good. I will save... I will save everyone."

His breath was slightly ragged, and it seemed as if he was waiting for me to rip his head off. My face certainly felt stone-like, but there was no more anger. Soon, the dangerous edge in my eyes softened, and I stepped away from the table.

"I'll hold you to that promise," I told him solemnly. I turned to the men around us. "You've done your part. Thank you, but your services are no longer needed."

They looked at each other, and exchanged strange looks and whispers. "Are we letting him go?" one voiced out.

I nodded my head and verified. "Let him go."

Seth reached out and grasped my forearm. "Nakoto, are you sure of this?"

"If he was involved with me in the past, then he's the only person in this building who has a chance in saving Adam." I looked back at Luchas, who was standing where he was, stupefied. I jerked my head toward the door.

"Lead the way, Luchas. There's a life to be saved."

It took him a moment longer to collect himself, and he came from around the table. He cautiously passed me, and we held eye-contact as he did so. Two Enforcers went to his sides to escort him. I fell in behind them, and then Seth after me. The rest of the Enforcers followed in a fluid motion, and soon they were all out in the hall, making for the stairs and elevator at the end of the Sector.

"Can you hear them talking?" Seth whispered at my side. Sure enough, the Enforcers were mumbling astonished, incoherent words.

"What are they saying?"

"They're surprised that you're letting Luchas go."

I shrugged my shoulders. "They may have had a brief rundown on the Project. They probably thought I'd kill him for what he's done."

"I don't think they're surprised about that," Seth breathed. "They probably... predicted your final decision, using your appearance."

"Probably, or definitely?" I chuckled, but I didn't feel the humour. "Didn't think a creature like me would show mercy?"

"I don't think they expected you to be the most humane of us all. I mean... you didn't even hit him."

"As violent as my race is, we are still a type of people." I looked at Luchas' back. "I try to prove that to those who've forgotten."

"What will we do with him now?"

"Nothing yet. He has a job to do. Everything relies on how well he does it."

"And... if Adam... if the boy... dies?"

I looked at Seth out of the corner of my eye. I licked my lips and brought my gaze to the passing, fluorescent lights. They flickered, as if on the verge of death themselves.

"You'll accompany Luchas into surgery, won't you?"

"Yes."

"Then do everything you can to save Adam. Whether Luchas' intentions are true or false doesn't matter. All you should focus on is the child."

Seth nodded. Up ahead, the elevator and stairwell came into view. Adam was somewhere upstairs. I wouldn't be in the surgery room with them, but I was going to be nearby. I reached down into my pocket and held onto the keepsake his father gave to me to deliver.

I wanted Adam to be awake and alive the next time I saw him.

"So," Cyclonis repeated, her voice full of mirth. "You're telling me that you found Beta, and you were able to befriend her?"

Repton nodded, standing at the base of the stairs. Again, he was alone with the Child Empress; her other sentries were kicked out for this special message. He had explained everything that had happened that day, everything except the mention of Maia. The fiasco at the resting tent was improvised. Cyclonis looked down at him in amusement, and he had to use all his power to refrain from snarling. She tilted her head this way and that, looking at him up and down.

"She trusts you?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

Repton's throat rumbled before he went into it. "She told me anything I asked of her, willingly. She told me of her life on Atmosia, as we've already seen. She was the one who finally told me what the Oasium Project was all about." It was here that he gave Cyclonis a pointed glare. "She told me that your empire wiped out an entire race of Raptors in secret."

Cyclonis shrugged. "This was well before the fall of the previous Storm Hawks. Raptors weren't considered 'persons' yet, so what does it matter?"

Such insolence...!

"No one remembers Oasium, so it doesn't even have its place in history. Did she go into details?"

"I don't know what you mean by 'details'," Repton replied. He clenched his teeth from the previous comment.

"Perhaps it hurt her too much," she said in mock-hurt. "After all, she was old enough to remember what happened. Must be haunting."

"Old enough?"

"Of course. She was... how old was she? About six-years-old. I don't know how long that is in Raptor years, but she was there."

Repton looked away, but he didn't say anything. The detail seemed small, but it seemed to change everything. Why would she lie about her hatching? There was no purpose to. Maybe her existent or none-existent presence was too personal for her. After all, she seemed rather edgy about it at the beginning.

"She didn't tell you this, did she?"

He looked back at the young girl and forcefully shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't ask."

Cyclonis smirked. "Well, enough of that. She trusts you at least, right? If she sees you, she won't run from you, or fight you?"

"No. I think she actually values this friendship, because she insists I contact her again."

"How foolish can she be?" Cyclonis turned her back on him. "Trusting a rogue! The most deceptive one, no less! Why in the world would she deal with you, when she knows you serve me?"

Repton chose to consider her questions rhetorical, and he didn't bother answering. Even if he chose to answer, he didn't know what to say. Why did Nakoto trust him? Why was she risking herself like that? Was she truly that gullible?

"Never mind her. You also say you met Alpha. So she exists too! Do you know where she is?"

"No, but she's bound to show up somewhere. Nakoto claims Alpha was supposed to be in another part of the Atmos."

"Which was why she wasn't seen for so long. Very well."

Very well? Not 'excellent work'? Repton cleared his throat when Cyclonis said nothing more, lost in her ponderings. "If I bring Alpha or Beta here, will you do as I requested?"

"What was that again?"

He bristled. "Bogaton needs food."

"And you won't resort to cannibalism?"

Repton's lips pulled back in disgust, but he kept his voice level. "No."

"Sure, whatever. If you bring Beta to me. Alpha comes second... well, I guess turning in one of your kind in exchange for countless others is worthwhile. Makes me wonder how you take this relationship of yours."

"This is one-sided. Nothing is being exchanged."

"And that's the way to do it," Cyclonis turned back to him, smirking. "We don't want you developing petty feelings. But anyway, do you know what's happened now with our dear doctor?"

"I'm assuming he got caught?"

"Precisely. Enforcers of Atmosia took him in for interrogation, and he confessed."

"Everything?"

"No. He's said nothing of the Athene's Eye and his real purpose. Only that he was a Cyclonian who worked previously in the Oasium Project."

Repton's nostrils flared. "Is the last part true?"

"Yes. Beta walked in and interrogated him herself."

"And what happened?"

"Beta let him go, and he's currently in some surgery procedure."

...what gears really turned in Nakoto's mind? He knew that she wasn't vengeful, but how could she resist killing a Cyclonian involved in her people's destruction?

"Luchas had to dress for the surgery, so the Eye was taken off. However, it was left in the waiting room, where Beta resides." She smiled and jerked her head behind her. "Why don't you take a look? Maybe something will happen."

"Where will you be?"

"I have other business. Now go on."

The Raptor's head lowered slightly, glowering, but Cyclonis paid no heed to him anymore. He reluctantly bowed, and ascended the steps to the back room. He passed Cyclonis, who let out a malevolent chuckle. The sound of it made his spine shiver and his scales crawl. Instead of sticking around, he left and took his station at Athene's Eye.

Cyclonis herself descended the stairs and exited the room. Shortly after having done so, the Dark Ace appeared and greeted her with a heartfelt salute.

"Master Cyclonis, I have news on Beta's whereabouts."

"Oh~ So much news about her today. What do you have to say?"

"She was spotted on Terra Saharr. The Talons I sent there were in pursuit of her, but regrettably lost her. They returned not too long ago."

"I already knew about Saharr. And that's nothing new, considering how lacking your troops are. They need more training."

The Dark Ace bowed his head. "My apologies. They also brought something back with them."

"What would that be?"

He turned his head to the small spoils-bag he wore at his hip and he twisted to open it. He pulled out a tightly-wrapped piece of cloth and rolled it out. It was wrinkled terrible now, as well as filthy. It turned out that another, identical piece of cloth accompanied it, curled even more tightly within the first bundle.

Cyclonis reached for one and pulled it to her. "Sleeves?"

"Yes, and a sleeveless top. Beta was seen dropping them when she fled."

"Was she wearing them?"

"No."

"Rather strange sleeves for a Raptor to carry," she murmured. "Perhaps Repton would be able to explain this."

The Dark Ace's lip curled. "In all due respect, Master... that overgrown lizard can't even explain his way out of a paper bag. I doubt he knows anything about any sleeves."

Cyclonis chuckled, turning the cloth in her hands. "Perhaps you're right. You've done well to report this to me."

The Dark Ace smirked in return, bowing once more, and he left Cyclonis to her business once more.

She observed Maia's sleeves in curiosity.

End of Chapter

A/N: Okay, now I have to work on some French work. I need to! I can't procrastinate!

Hope you liked the chapter, and please review back on your thoughts! I'm curious on how you think of my story. :)

~Vixen