V.
The Lieutenant leans forward from where she sits in the AI shuttle and tilts her head so that she can peer through the darkened windows, her eyes lifting to take it all in as the large white T.E.M.C letters appear, and the brightly lit hospital for the AI's more important members comes into view. Grossly over the top and dripping wealth for something that was supposed to be for health care, Cora thought, but that was the AI all over and this hospital was no different. Cora thought it looked more like a spa retreat than a hospital, and of course, it was also somewhere that she had the some might say privilege to stay for a few months thanks to The Pathfinders influence, and one of his stupid projects that had gone wrong.
Cora lowers her hand to her front and begins unbuckling her seat belt, lifting the restraint bar above her head before the shuttle had even begun docking at the Theia Elite Medical Centre, anxious to get out and inside the building as quickly as she can. The hour-long ride from the ship to Theia had been long enough, but this was torture. Cora slides forward in her seat and as soon as she feels the gentle reduction of the boosters and it comes to a stop, she waves her hand in front of the release and climbs out. She looks around her, noticing how quiet it is so early in the morning, or middle of the night. The whole station had been feeling much more eerily quiet over the last few months as more people had been put into cryo, but right now she could have been the only person left on Theia for all she could tell.
"I hate this place." Cora mumbles to herself as she walks towards the entrance to the hospital, shivering slightly and running her hands over her arms from the blast of air conditioning she feels from high above her. The nagging feeling of worry for Alec in her stomach is joined by the dread of being back here again; but she pushes them both down knowing that she has to see Alec and that no matter how much he'd broken her heart, she loved him. He was humanities greatest hope, apparently, and he needed her.
"Lieutenant Harper!" Cora hears her name being called and spots Dr Carlyle stood outside of the hospital, his hand curled so show that he is beckoning her over to him. Cora notices that he appears to be flicking through some documents and information on his Omni and that he is also speaking frantically to someone on a call. He looks stressed.
"Harry.." Cora begins but he lifts his finger to his lips and motions to her that he's suddenly got another call to take. His Omni flashing and beeping with every notification he was receiving. "I'm going inside." She whispers to him; which just makes him nod and motion to the hospital. As Cora steps away from him she is sure she can hear his words 'Of course I understand the impact this will have on A-Day' and these words make her blood run cold. The AI had always made it very clear that they would move A-Day for no one, but maybe something was seriously wrong with their Pathfinder.
"Name please." The T.E.M.C worker asks as he continues tapping and swiping on his panel, not looking up when Cora approaches the front desk of the hospital. "Please also state the reason for the visit, and place your hand here to check-in." He adds tilting his head and nodding towards the waiting contact point. The Lieutenant notices that he is dressed in a very smart white shirt, a large AI logo on his chest, and she imagined matching white trousers. He leans over and reaches for datapad beside him and holds it out for a Doctor that is walking past him. He appeared to be juggling several jobs all at the same time, all of them more important than her.
"Can you tell me which room Alec is in?" Cora replies placing her hands on the incredibly shiny white surface of the desk. She really didn't have time for this. "Please, it's urgent." She adds when he finally looks up at her. Cora takes a deep breath trying to calm her nerves.
"Name.." The man repeats. "Reason of visit." He says again making Cora huff and bang her hands lightly on the desk making his eyes widen at her reaction.
"Lieutenant Cora Harper.. Visiting Pathfinder Alec Ryder.." Cora begins through gritted teeth, taking another breath trying to stop her lashing out at him. He was just doing his job. "Here, checked in." She adds swiping her hand over the check-in pad multiple times to prove she's done it.
"Okay," He begins turning his attention away from her and back to his screen. He taps a few buttons and begins repeating her and Alec's names. "Alec Ryder.." He mumbles. "Yes, here we go. He is currently in Room 5." The man continues glancing up at Cora. "You have authorisation." He motions for her and waves his Omni against hers; giving her the key she needs to get through to the private rooms. "Head straight through these doors and it is towards the end and on the right."
"Thank you." Cora sighs giving him a small smile of thanks; that she notices he doesn't return. She moves away from the desk and glances over her shoulder to see if Harry has joined her yet, but doesn't seem him in the foyer.
The Lieutenant approaches the doors to the next wing of the hospital, her pumps squeaking against the highly polished floor as she pauses to see if she will be granted access. Cora watches as the door light turns red and she is suddenly bathed in a bright blue light that she knows is for infection control. After a few seconds of it trailing over her body, the door finally turns green and she is allowed access.
Cora glances up to corridor ahead of her, seeing that a few doctors and nurses are moving from room to room but that there is a calm and serene feeling. Her ears instinctively try to tune themselves to the noise but she notices that apart from the muffled beeping she can hear in the distance from machines, this part of the hospital is quiet. Cora can't help but shake her head at how strange she always found this. If she were in an Alliance Military hospital right now the place would be hot, busy, loud, and overcrowded. She thinks of Scott, the blaster wound he'd been carrying and sighs, he would not have been allowed in a place like this.
Cora takes another deep breath as she reaches the end of the corridor, trying to calm the fast beating of her heart and the shaking she feels in her hands. She brushes her hands over her top and through her hair, hoping that she doesn't look too out of place. When she comes to a stop in front of The Pathfinder's room, she notices that the wall is made entirely of glass and that she can see inside. There is no door, and the room appears to be for running tests, and examinations only.
She spots him at once, sat on the edge of an examination table with a doctor running some tests close by, his tools bright as he runs it over the back of The Pathfinder's head. Cora swallows down a lump in her throat when she watches Alec; his head lowered and looking very much all of his years. He rests his hands on his knees and leans forward from his seat.
'Sir.." Cora begins as she steps into the doorway, her voice not as strong as she'd hoped and with a slight wobble to it she notices. When Alec lifts his head she knows he has heard her but the surprised expression on his face shows he wasn't expecting her and what she thinks is a gentle look in his grey eyes that he's glad she is.
"Leave us." The Pathfinder directs towards the doctor who is still running his tests. "I need to speak to Lieutenant Harper alone." He adds when Cora spots that the doctor is about to give Alec a hundred reasons why that wasn't a good idea when he was trying to do his work.
Cora looks back at Alec and knows that every part of her, apart from her stupid heart, was screaming at her to leave him to his fate and that he deserved it after the way he'd treated her. To get straight back on the shuttle and to go back to Scott. But her heart wanted to comfort him and it was shouting louder than everything else. She watches as the doctor sighs and finally nods his head. He lowers his scanner and places it on the small metal table at the end of the observation bed. He walks towards her and then steps past her and into the corridor.
"Harper.." Alec croaks and she feels his eyes on her again, a look that makes her heart ache when she sees it. She watches as he moves to stand up, obviously wanting to meet her halfway as she approaches him cautiously. She hears him let out of groan of pain as he does and quickly sits back down onto the bed. He lifts his hands and places them on his face as he lowers his head.
"Stay there, Alec." Cora sighs as she quickly closes the distance between them and is at his side, she lowers herself onto the bed next to him and reaches across to take hold of his hands in hers. Her instinct to protect and comfort her mentor, unable to break the habit of wanting to make him feel better and loving him. She lowers their hands into his lap and uses the other one to brush his hair back from his face, turning his head gently to face her so she can look into his grey pools.
"I'm done, Harp." The Pathfinder begins making her sigh and stroke her fingers against his cheek. "I've been pushing the augmentations and modifications too far.." He adds making her sigh.
"Don't say that. You aren't done." Cora huffs and trails her fingers over the stubble on his cheek. "You're Alec Ryder, you don't know the meaning of done." She adds, as he looks up at her and gives her what she thinks is a grateful smile. She strokes his hair again and lowers her eyes from him as they sit in silence. Cora sighs and looks down at her feet, she can't help but let her mind wander back to the ship, and hoping Scott was okay, she felt awful for leaving him like that.
"What would I do without you?" Alec mumbles trying to break the silence between them and drawing her back from her thoughts of Scott, and back to the man beside her. Cora knew she shouldn't listen to him, that this was always how their game concluded until the next round, with him being kind and begging her to forgive him for his behaviour, and she'd fall into his arms.
"You'd be fine." Cora replies and turns to look at him again. She sees that he frowns lightly at this; he'd expected her to gush about her love for him and not being able to be without him she assumed, but they both knew she struggled to say these things out loud. "You just need to be more careful." She adds and he just nods again.
"Harper.." He begins leaning closer to her as if he wants to say something but doesn't. Cora felt the same; she had much she wanted to say too. Of course, he had pushed himself too much and she'd told him over, and over again that he was going to hurt himself, for months. She could see the damage he was doing and the toll it was taking on his ageing body but she knew he was scared of getting old, of getting slow, of being cast aside. Cora bites her bottom lip, he didn't need to hear that he should have listened to her.
"Why am I always so worried about you?" Cora whispers and she sees him smile lightly and shake his head, lowering his eyes from her again. "I'm sorry I wasn't here." She adds and leans forward to press her head against his and lifts her arm, sliding her hand onto his back. Noticing that he is still wearing the bright white shirt from the party but that the first few of his buttons have been undone.
"They are going to delay the launch." Alec mumbles and she feels him relax beneath her touch, hears him sigh and lift his hand to rub his eye with the back of his hand. "I've let all of those people down." He adds making her realise she had heard Harry after all. This was bad. Cora leans her head against his shoulder and continues to rub his back, trying to offer him any comfort she can. "I've let you down." He whispers and she feels him lower his head to press a kiss against her forehead.
"We'll get you better." Cora replies and pauses her hand on his back when she feels him shake his head again. "We will Alec. You just need a while to recover." Cora knew that this was burnout, and it had been serious. The Pathfinder had been tuning his body so much to make up for his physical deterioration that it was no wonder he'd overloaded his whole internal systems. He'd obviously noticed how much he'd been slowing down as she had.
The Lieutenant sighs and lifts her head from his shoulder; she moves to tuck her leg beneath her on the bed, making it easier to turn her body towards him and watch him better. She sees him smile again and reaches to wrap his arms around her body drawing her tightly against him. She feels him press his mouth against her shoulder making her close her eyes for a moment. Straight back, into his waiting arms. Scott had been right, she did deserve better than this.
"Can you come home with me?" Alec mumbles against her shoulder and she feels him move his hand onto her thigh, his fingers digging in slightly harder than she would have liked, making her wince slightly. "I want you with me." He adds and she leans back to look at him.
"You don't want me." Cora whispers, looking into his eyes again. This time he raises his hand and brushes his fingers over her cheek. "You broke up with me remember?" She sighs. "You broke my heart." Cora lowers her eyes unable to stop the voice in the back of her head telling her that Alec must know where she'd been tonight, but that now sitting with him didn't make her feel anywhere near as happy as she'd felt with Scott. She'd spent months and months with Alec and only moments with Scott.
"I can fix it." The Pathfinder mumbles and draws her closer to him and crushes his lips against hers in a possessive kiss that quickly deepens when he moves his hand to the back of her head, his fingers tangling into her hair. Cora lifts her arm to wrap around his neck while placing the other on his chest, her fingertips touching his warm skin. Dammit Cora, she internally berates herself for letting this happen again. Rinse and repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
"Ahem.." Comes the cough from Harry causing Cora and Alec to break apart quickly when they hear it, Cora immediately feeling guilty that they've been seen, and worried that Alec will be angry with her for their public display. But he'd kissed her first. "I'm sorry for the interruption." Harry huffs, himself looking embarrassed and pretending to be fiddling with something on his Omni.
Cora climbs to her feet and moves away from The Pathfinder. She couldn't deny they were currently appearing much closer than they should, but she didn't want to add more fuel to the fire so she clasps her hands behind her and lowers her head.
"Harry. Forgive Lieutenant Harper for her transgression. She's allowed her concern for me to get out of hand and I was trying to get her off of me." The Pathfinder begins motioning to Cora and then to himself. As soon as she hears his words she closes her eyes and tries to take a deep breath, to block it out and not let him hurt her again. "I will deal with her lapse of judgement." He adds clearing his throat.
"The Pathfinder needs to be resting." Harry begins with a tone that Cora knows is directed to her, like a parent disappointed in a naughty child. Alec had painted a picture and Harry had of course believed him.
"May I be excused, Sir?" Cora asks keeping her head low, she glances up at Alec and notices both him and Harry are looking at her. She knew that they could probably see that she looked hurt, but she was trying to remain professional.
"You may not." The Pathfinder huffs so Cora remains where she stands. Feeling once again humiliated. "What do you know?" The Pathfinder asks his doctor, turning his attention away from Cora and to Harry. Cora hears Harry click his tongue lightly as he brings up a report; she tightens her fists behind her looks at her feet again.
"It's like we guessed." Harry nods. "Total system failure from whatever augmentations you've been running. Too much tinkering I think, Pathfinder." The doctor continues which Cora notices just makes Alec chuckle lightly in agreement. Harry was lucky Alec was only in a bad mood with her, with a comment like that. "But your body appears to have reset." He nods flicking some test results from his Omni-Tool to Alec's.
"I built in a failsafe." Alec replies lowering his eyes to look at the results and then back to Dr Harry. Cora glances at him for a moment seeing what she thinks is a small flash of relief behind his eyes. "Just in case." He adds with a small smile. Alec had clearly known the risks but had done it anyway.
Cora feels his eyes on her and he motions for her to come and sit next to him and see the results but she shakes her head lightly at him. He'd had his chance. She wanted to leave, to get as far away from him as she could.
"It's a good job you did." Harry mumbles getting lost in some more results. "Otherwise we'd be heading towards A-Day with Cora in the driver's seat." He adds before looking up at Cora. "Not sorry." He mouths and gives her a weak smile as she sighs quietly to herself.
"She'd be fine." Alec chuckles and Cora feels her stomach tighten and she suddenly feels nauseous. She knew he only felt that way because she was Alec Fucking Ryder's Protégé. "So, when can I get out of here?" The Pathfinder adds and she sees him stretch his body, working out the aches like he always did.
"Not today.." Dr Carlyle replies. "Probably not tomorrow either. They want to delay the launch by at least two weeks for you to recover." He adds and they both hear Alec huff when he hears this. This wasn't the answer he wanted. "They want to keep you in for further observations, they won't want to release you until your levels return to normal." Cora looks over to The Pathfinder when she hears this, Alec didn't do very well with doing as he was told.
"Well, they will be waiting for a long time." Alec mumbles and rubs his hand against the back of his neck.
"What do you mean?" Dr Harry asks stepping closer to Alec. Cora sees him bring up The Pathfinders stats on his screen and she can see even from her spot at the end of the bed that everything is elevated. How hadn't she seen that? She was always with him; they were always working together, sharing their well-being, their stats, their vitals. Everything. Cora knew they hadn't looked like that every time she'd seen them.
"I wrote the failsafe code to reboot if anything went wrong." Alec begins and she sees him wring his hands together and lower his head slightly, looking guilty of something. She knew he was far too smart to be caught out. "I also wrote the code that would instruct SAM to keep running the modifications after a full system restart. They aren't going to go back to normal unless I decide to remove the code." He adds making Cora's eyes widen in surprise. Sneaky bastard. No doubt SAM had been covering his true readings up for months too. "Which I'm not doing." He adds with a positive nod.
"Pathfinder." Dr Harry begins but Alec just groans and holds his hands up. He clearly didn't want to listen anymore. "I strongly recommend that you reconsider and disable them. You got lucky this time, next time you might not come through this." Harry continues, real concern in his voice Cora notices.
"Alec, please think about this." Cora whispers, knowing she was about to receive a tongue lashing from Alec for calling him his name in front of Harry, and speaking out of turn. He hurt her, again, but she was worried about him. He was reckless and in his mind, no one knew better than him.
"I've made my decision." Alec replies, and that was all he had to say about the matter. Cora just nods her head and lowers her eyes from him.
"Fine.." Harry begins clicking his tongue again. "If you won't take my advice about that, at least consider staying here for a few days and let them keep an eye on you. I'm sure Lieutenant Harper will keep you company." Cora narrows her eyes when she hears his words and considers for a moment answering back, but she bites her tongue and decides it is for the best not to argue with Harry.
Part of her hoped that he wasn't judging her by what he'd seen, but part of her also knew he was an AI military man, a man that was known to spread gossip, and probably thought she'd slept her way to the top just like everyone else did. Breathe, Cora.
"Hmm.. She always does." Alec replies with a chuckle that makes her sniff lightly and focuses her eyes on her feet, trying to blink back the tears that she refuses to cry. Don't cry, you promised you wouldn't cry over him again.
"May I be excused, Sir." Cora says keeping her voice steady and looking at The Pathfinder, pleading with him with her eyes. "Please." She adds giving him a light nod tying to encourage him to let her leave. Surely he had to see how much he'd upset her.
"Go." Alec mumbles and waves his hand for her to leave.
Cora takes that opportunity to leave before he changes his mind, moving quickly through the door and telling herself not looking back. She refused to let him see her cry and she refused to spend any more time there. The Lieutenant blinks away the tears when she is sure she can hear laughter from them both, no doubt about her. Let them laugh she sniffs and wipes her eye with the back of her hand. As soon as she is sure she is out of their eyesight she begins running down the corridor, her feet thumping against the floor as she does. Briefly stopping to get the doors to the foyer to open in front of her so that she can leave, just as desperate to leave, as she had been to arrive.
As Cora moves out through the large glass doors of the hospital, and into the Theia station, the early morning thrum of activity shows her that the day has begun for most and she can see a few people and vehicles moving around outside. She was sure that in a few hours there would be an announcement that A-Day was being delayed and that would no doubt cause an uproar.
Cora lifts her hands to wipe her eyes again, trying to remove any removing wet from her cheek. She suddenly feels completely exhausted and ready to crash. But where was she going to go? Could she really go back to the apartment she'd shared with Alec? She thought she might still have a room in the tower but she'd not been there for months. Maybe with Alec in the hospital for a few days, she had some time to figure it all out.
"Cora?!" She hears his voice before she sees him.