Soldier in Blood Splattered Uniform
Chapter 8
She blinked.
Walter and Ben exchanged glances; they fully expected her to blow up in their faces.
Walter hesitated. "Skye…"
"I don't think I heard you right, Walter."
Ben sighed. "He's back, Skye. Toby's come back."
Her eyes continued to show a lack of response, and Ben retained a glimmer of hope that perhaps she didn't know Toby at all, and Walter had got it wrong, and he wasn't the prince.
However, even Ben knew that miracles didn't happen.
Skye's bottom lip began to curl into a snarl. "I didn't realise this was any of your business," she snapped.
Here was that anger they'd been waiting for.
Ben laughed - a loud, cold bark in her face. "You're right. It is none of my business."
It was clear she struggled to contain the tears she was desperately attempting to hold back. She pointed a finger at him, square in the chest. "Why was Walter looking for you?" she huffed. "What's this got to do with you?"
Ben's hands flew up in a defensive stance. "Why are you taking this out on me? I'm not the one you're angry at."
She immediately took a step back, her arms wrapping around herself. "I… I'm- I don't know. Sorry," she mumbled.
Ben looked towards Walter – a silent plea for help. Walter scratched his head, obviously unaware of what to do. Why was it always up to Ben?
Deciding that nothing would ever get done without him, Ben took control of the situation. "Maybe- maybe you should go see him?"
She widened her eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea. You don't know the first things about my family."
Ain't that the truth. Ben sighed again. Why was nothing ever easy?
"You still didn't answer my question," Skye said, her eyes narrowing. She set her hardened glare upon Walter. "Why were you looking for Ben all day?"
Beads of sweat appeared on Walter's brow. "Skye, I –" his speech trailed off. It was clear Walter was going to be no help.
"He wanted my help to see how to tell you," Ben lied. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, that's for sure."
Ben didn't really know why he was lying – why he didn't want to tell Skye about how he knew Toby. Did he know Toby? He knew Toby – his childhood friend, yet he didn't know Toby – the prince. His childhood friend had left without a reason and never come back. Prince Toby wasn't someone he wanted to become acquainted with.
Skye's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, this really isn't anything to do with you, Captain Finn."
Captain Finn? Really? Just when he thought they'd gotten past all that.
"Don't shoot the messenger," he said, forcing a laugh. If it were his choice he'd be back in the pub, alone, as far away from this drama as he possibly could.
Walter gave a small cough. "It's just that," he gave a shifty glance towards the corner of the building they were situated next to, "he wants to make amends."
Ben sighed. Again. For a third time.
Of course he wanted to make amends. The Toby he remembered, despite being a frustrating trouble causer most of the time, he was incredibly kind, charming and thoughtful. It was hard to dislike him, even though Ben was trying his very hardest at the moment. The Toby he knew wanted happiness – wanted to make sure everyone else around his was content that he often went without joy himself. In spite of all this, he made sure to always mask his inner feelings to make sure no one worried about him. It took Ben a long time to learn this, and it broke his heart when he did.
As much as Ben wanted to split 'Toby' into two separate entities - his friend vs the prince, he knew deep down that it was the same person. He also knew that his Toby didn't do anything without a good reason. Ben should trust him. He relaxed his tensed shoulders and nodded.
Skye shot him a deathly glare. Ah. Even though Ben had reached deep into his soul in a moment of contemplation and experienced ultimate mindfulness (achieved by all his years of careful mediation and tranquillity – okay, he's lying) and decided to forgive Toby, Skye had not. He hadn't known the princess for that long but he was sure of one thing – she was stubborn.
"C'mon, Skye. Don't you want to see your brother?" Ben rolled his eyes as Walter looked between the both of them in desperation. Who knew Walter was Skye's secret family guidance councillor – first Logan and now Toby. Mind you, he wouldn't be very good at it, with Logan he's attempting an uprising and he's pretty much relied all on Ben for any sort of reunion with Skye and Toby, but at least his intentions are pure.
"No."
Well, Ben can't say that he didn't expect at least some sort of reluctance. Lucky for him, he had years of practiced charm and wit on his side. He hoped.
"Can't you at least give him a chance?" Walter pleaded, glancing back toward the corner once more. Ben gave a guess that he'd brought Toby along with him. With any luck, he'd not actually heard any of the conversation.
"I don't want anything to do with him, Walter," Skye growled, tightening her arms around herself as if to shield herself from the situation. "It's not my problem anymore."
"You don't mean that," Walter said, firmly – the harshest he's been throughout the conversation.
She shook her head. "I do."
Walter took a step back, his hands going up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Tell him yourself." He pointed to the corner, confirming Ben's suspicions.
To his surprise, Skye took off in a run. However, in the opposite direction. Was it acceptable to sigh a fourth time?
With his fair share of running experience under his belt - whether from escaping authorities as a teen or scrambling from fuming fathers as he woke up in their daughters' beds with no recollection from the night before, Ben began to run after her. Speed was on his side, if only slightly, and he found himself catching up with her.
At touching distance - he dived. She'd hate him for it, but she probably hated him anyway, so what was there to lose? However, he had planned it much more elegantly in his head, and while he though he'd be able to catch her cleanly without worry, they ended up tumbling over each other in the mud.
"BEN!" she shouted, pushing him away from her. "WHAT do you think you're doing?"
He stood up, brushing of the dust and soil as he did so. "Just a spot of light jogging, that's all."
"If you think attacking me is the best way to get what you want-"
"Attacking you?!" Ben sounded bewildered. "Princess, what do you take me for - a common hobbe?"
She obstinately folded her arms. "Well, now you mention it, there are definitely similarities."
Ben's grin didn't falter, despite the amounts of smudged mud on his face. "If I'm a hobbe, then you're a troll."
She raised her eyebrows, her mouth opening to continue to hurl insults as Walter came rushing over. Ben saw in his peripheral vision Toby - slowly edging closer to them. Thankfully, Skye had her back towards him. The show was about to go down.
"Can you two stop playing around in the mud and be adults?!" Walter boomed, stepping inbetween the two of them.
Ben lifted his arms defensively. "I'm just trying to help, Walter."
Walter looked disapproving. "Sometimes you switch the difference between 'helping' and 'getting in the way'"
"You did come here looking for me specifically," Ben said, putting his hands on his hips.
Skye butt in. "Well he didn't need to. Because it's None. Of. Your. Business." She said through gritted teeth.
"Apologies, princess." His tone dripped with sarcasm. "You were obviously doing amazingly without me."
Her face twisted with contempt. She couldn't believe how miraculously well they were getting on before. It was clear that her and Ben weren't destined to be buddies in the near future, with their stubbornness and clashing personalities.
A small cough from behind her interrupted Skye from her thoughts. Another person who she didn't want in her sight at the current moment. Despite wanting to swivel around and unleash a storm of fury and rage on her brother, her body remained in the same position. She was frozen. Rooted to the spot. At first she'd believed it was some sort of magic - an ice spell of sorts that prevented her limbs from moving, however she quickly realised that it was her own mind, and fear of facing Toby, that kept her locked and unable to move. The only thing she found herself capable of doing was quickening her breathing, which was now at a rapid pace.
Ben's eyes flickered to Walter, and then he rest his gaze upon Skye's feet. He found it difficult to maintain eye contact with either her, or Toby. He didn't particularly feel any bad blood or resentment for either of them currently, but he felt a slight uneasiness resting inside of him.
Walter sighed deeply. "Okay, please stay calm. The both of you."
"I didn't realise my return would cause this much tension." Toby said, plastering a grin on his face. From his expertise knowledge of the boy, he knew it was fake. A he could hazard a guess that Skye knew too.
Finally, like an exploding cannon, she sprung. Whirling around so quick she created a sandstorm at her feet, she jabbed an accusing finger at his chest. "Get fucked, Toby."
His smile didn't falter. "Is that how you treat your favourite sibling?"
"I'm an only child."
Toby barked with laughter. "You wish."
Skye's gaze remained hateful and brutal. "Maybe I do."
He shifted his stance slightly, shaking Skye's finger off his chest. He paused, pretending to think, stoking the slight stubble on his chin that had appeared since his teenage years when Ben and Skye had known him. "Obviously you're not an only child," he said, his eyes silently mocking her. "Our dear old brother Logan has done a spectacular job of running Albion while I was gone."
The flame in her eyes grew wilder,, daring him to provoke her. "You weren't there to stop him."
"Like I could've done anything if I tried," he retorted, accepting her challenge. Gone was the shy Toby that Ben saw earlier.
"You didn't try!" Skye practically screamed, her bottled up emotions overflowing and spurting around her. "You ran away. Like the coward you are."
Toby didn't even react to the change of volume in her voice. "If you were in my shoes, you would have done exactly the same."
"And if you were in my shoes, you'd be furious with me too!" Skye took a moment to pause and breathe, attempting to compose herself. "Besides," she said, her voice significantly calmer than before. "I could've run, but I didn't. I stayed and faced up to my fears."
He laughed in her face. "Whoopty doo for you. When do you want your prize? I couldn't stay there any longer, Skye. I would hate myself if I did."
All throughout this, Ben's gaze remained glued to the floor and Walter's eyes flitted between the two bickering siblings like a tennis match. With a sharp intake of breath, he had the glare of both of them upon him.
"What's done is done. Let's put the past behind us and move forward. Toby would be a really great addition to our revolution, Skye, and you know it." Walter said, a look of desperation clear in his features.
"So is that why you're back?" Skye begun, pouncing again on Toby like a lion. "You've heard about our uprising and you think you should be king instead of Logan."
He recoiled as if she'd hit him. "I would NEVER want to sit upon that throne, Skye. If you think that, then you don't know me at all."
"Maybe I don't," she said.
Walter tried yet again to diffuse the tension. "I heard that you and Ben were going to go find someone's fiance - why don't you bring Toby along?"
"Good one, Walter," Skye laughed sarcastically. "I don't want to be anywhere near either of them ever again."
"Again," Ben spoke up for the first time in a while. "I was only trying to help." He could feel Toby's eyes upon him, but he ignored it.
"I don't need your help, Ben." Skye said.
"Maybe it wasn't you I was helping," Ben said, firmly.
Toby's eyes gave a brief glimmer of relief and happiness, before he composed himself. Yet, it was still enough for Ben to see.
Skye frowned, first at Ben, then at Toby. "So you're both ganging up on me now, is that what this is?"
Ben crossed his arms. "No one is ganging up on you, Skye. In the way that no one is attacking you, and no one is trying to undermine you." Ben Finn, the peacekeeper. He was enjoying this new title for himself.
Toby edged closer, extending a hand towards Ben. "To new beginnings?"
Ben looked down at his palm. He wanted to be best friends with Toby again, so badly. He'd wanted it for all the years Toby had been gone. But it wasn't that simple. Toby was still the prince. Things could never go back to the way they were.
Ben's reluctance and hesitancy must have shown on his face as Toby said softly, "c'mon Ben, please. I wanted to tell you. Each and every day I wanted to tell you, but I could never bring myself to do it, because I knew how much it'd hurt you. And that was the last thing I wanted, believe me."
Looking up, Ben could see the swirling torment in Toby's eyes, and the sincerity in which he was speaking. He grasped Toby's hand firmly, reassuring him that he still held a place in Ben's heart.
Skye switched her attention from the two boys to Walter. "Am I missing something?"
Toby hesitated, the decision whether to release Skye's inner demon once more weighing on his mind. "Ben and I know each other," he finally said.
"Ha. Of course you do. You're both frustrating, arrogant and annoying. I bet you were drawn to each other," she snarled.
Ben's smirk shone on his face. "Are we rescuing this fiance or not?"
Skye turned, her hands on her hips. "I am rescuing the fiance by myself."
Walter's booming laugh was back, as loud and bright as usual. "You should all go together. Practice your teamwork, it'll come in handy."
"Great idea, Walter," Toby said, beginning to walk ahead. "Obviously I'll have to show these two how to fight properly."
"You've got some nerve, pal." Ben chuckled.
Skye remained bewildered. "Do I not get any say in this at all?"
"All thanks to my great attempts at keeping the peace, you'll all be thick as thieves in the no time," Walter said.
"YOUR attempts?" Ben feigned shock. "You're hardly a therapist, Wally. Don't quit your day job."
Walter chuckled, "You better get going. You don't want to keep this woman, or Page for that matter, waiting long."
Skye huffed as she reluctantly followed the two boys.
"You don't want to be at the back, Skye." Toby called behind him. "Last one there's an ugly hobbe."
"I don't know why you're racing ahead," she grumbled. "You don't even know the way there."