The first thing Kaden notices is that he isn't dead. He thinks.
He slowly opens his eyes, being assaulted with bright lights in a sterile room, and then a dull and aching pain in his torso, and judging by where it hurt the most, dimly surmising that it was where he was thrown against a wall. Broken bones tend to do that.
But as his cloudy mind starts to wake up, becoming more conscious, he then begins to wonder how he wasn't dead right now, and on top of that, why the pain was at a level described as 'mildly aching' than 'white-hot and blinding' like the end of his battle with Tachyon.
With a small groan, finding it a little difficult to sit up from where he was laying—being a bed with mildly uncomfortable sheets—he blinks his eyes a bit to look around to get a bearing on his surroundings.
And what he sees is a heart monitor and IV drip next to his bed, connected to his arm, quietly beeping with his steady pulse, the room a little small and sterile, quickly realizing that it was a medical room of some sort. Looking down at his body, even though his waist was obscured by a blanket, the hospital gown he was wearing confirmed that theory. And seeing that the front was slightly undone from his movements, he could also see many bandages wrapped around his chest, arms, and probably legs, too, anywhere where Tachyon managed to graze or shoot him.
So… Medical room, and treated for his injuries. That was a good sign, at least. That meant he probably wasn't going to die. But that didn't answer the big question of where he was.
Laying back down on the bed, finding sitting up being more tiring than usual for some reason, he stars up at the ceiling while probing into his hazy mind to his last memory.
It was a little fuzzy, being so overwhelmed with pain and shock and confusion, but he at least remembered the basic fact of falling through a portal of some kind, and being surrounded by a pair of Lombaxes before blacking out, and waking up here.
But how was that possible? He had the Dimensionator hidden on Rykan V, and it was the only one in the Lombaxes' possession… And who were those Lombaxes, too? The other thing he remembered was that they were familiar, but… How?
Before he can delve further into it, struggling to remember the details, he suddenly hears the door to his room slide open with a quiet hiss.
Kaden shoots a gaze over to it, mild fear creeping up in case it was going to be a Drophyd or something coming to finish him off, but luckily, he instead sees a Lombax walk in. He had gray fur, wearing a long white coat, and looking down at a clipboard in his hand as he quietly whistles a tune to himself, other hand resting in his pocket.
But as he walks towards the bed, he glances up from his clipboard, momentarily locking eyes with Kaden, and looking back down, still casually whistling.
But almost immediately, the likely doctor freezes in his tracks, eyes widening, and shoots his gaze back up at Kaden, who only blinks back in confusion, swallowing.
And in only a second later, the doctor rushes up to the side of the bed, almost startling Kaden with his movement
"You're finally awake!" He says in shock, inspecting his body. "How are you feeling? Any pain? Dizziness? Amnesia?"
Kaden blinks as the doctor gently holds his arm, looking over the bandages and the IV in it before he clears his throat, watching him.
"Erm… N-No, I'm okay… I think. I still ache a bit all over, though." He responds dumbly, his voice feeling scratchy before looking back up at the doctor's face. "But, hang on, what do you mean I'm… 'Finally awake'?"
The doctor lets go of Kaden's' arm, allowing him to rest it by his side once more as he lets out a breath, placing his hands on his hips with a small frown.
"Well, when we first got you in here, you… Well, quite frankly, looked like absolute hell. Blood, gunshots, broken bones, all sorts of trauma, and the most severe case of heart arrhythmia I've ever seen." He begins, voice level and calm. "You're lucky your friends had nanotech to stop most of the bleeding to get you here, but it wasn't doing anything for your heart. And with how close you were death, I was forced to take drastic measures, and had to induce you into a coma and defibrillate you to… 'Reset' your heart patterns, shall we say."
He then smiles as he crosses his arms, glancing over to the heart monitor next to him.
"I admit I was a bit worried, doing something so unorthodox and risky in so little time, but I'm happy to see that it managed to work, and with no visible side effects, either!" He says proudly. "Although, of course, with all the trauma it sustained from… Whatever it was that sent your heart into disarray, those muscles are going to be on the weaker side in the meantime, so I don't anticipate you doing an strenuous activity for a couple months at least."
He then glances back down to Kaden, but finds him resting on his elbow as he stares back up at him with wide eyes, holding up a hand.
"Wait, wait, wait, I was in a coma?" He asks with concern.
"Small coma." The doctor clarifies, raising a finger. "Medically induced, monitored by staff, perfectly safe. You've only been unconscious for about two weeks now, and that's just because your body needed that time to heal from all your other injuries, too. If I'm being honest, I thought it'd be another week for you to wake up—hence my surprise when I went to do my daily checkup on you, only to see you looking right back at me." He says with a soft chuckle.
Kaden blinks again at the explanation, and although he found the idea of him being in a coma for two whole weeks a little concerning, it was a hell of a lot better than the months or years he was initially fearing upon hearing that, making him let out a breath of relief, hanging his head.
But as he looks down, he glances around the room again, and with the shock and (some) confusion no longer clouding his mind, he returns his gaze back onto the doctor as he furrows his brows.
"Where am I?" He asks.
"Obviously, the Center's medical center, but I doubt that's the question you're asking, given what your friends have told me." He answers. "To be more specific, you're on New Fastoon, in the new dimension we all evacuated during Tachyon's attack a couple weeks ago. Creative name, I know, but… People are still attached to our old home, obviously. I'm finding most people are just referring to this place as just 'Fastoon' now, which puts a bad taste in my mouth personally, erasure and all, but… Who cares what I think? I'm just a doctor." He asks amusedly with a smile.
Kaden's mouth opens to immediately follow up on that revelation, but the doctor stops him with a raised hand.
"Look, I'm sure you have even more questions, Kaden, but I'm just the doctor to make sure you're alive and breathing, which you are. I'll get your friends in here to answer them instead, they'll know more than me. And, fortunately for you, you managed to wake up in time for their usual visiting hours, so I imagine it'll only be a few minutes. Just please sit tight, alright?"
Kaden remains quiet for a few moments, but gives a nod. The doctor smiles with a nod of his own, and turns around to walk out the door as Kaden lays back down in his bed, brows furrowing as he processes the information given to him just now.
Just what happened? In one moment, he's about to die, already made peace with his mortality, and clutching his chest to wait for death to take him. But in the next moment, he's waking up in a hospital, two weeks later from a coma, apparently, and all in the new dimension he shouldn't have ever been able to see after hiding the destroyed Dimensionator?
Was this all just some vivid dream? A hallucination from his dying brain as he's actually dying on the floor of the Court?
No, that couldn't be the case. This felt too real. And besides, he remembers the last moments of apparent rescue before he blacked out, too.
But what about being in a new dimension? He hid the Dimensionator, and it was the only one they managed to produce in the circumstances, so how did he end up here? Even if it was found, and that the facility on Rykan V should automatically repair its damages, it'd take months for the systems to do so, at least.
Just… What the hell happened?
But as his mind's racing with questions, he hears the door open once more, and Kaden once again turns his head to see who his 'friends' were that the doctor kept referring to, hoping for more answers.
And, thankfully, he found some just by seeing them. Now that his mind was clear and not blacking out from pain, he realized that he did in fact recognize the pair of Lombaxes—the same ones from his hazy memory, as well—and their appearance managed to put a small smile on his face.
Walking over to him, wearing faces of surprise and great relief, he recognized them as Mags and Julie—his fellow colleagues and Councilmembers for the Center, fellow cohead of the Interdimensional Division, and head of the Weapons Division, respectively. Julie being the yellow-furred and black-striped Lombax from his memory, and Mags of course being the blue-furred and bespectacled one that looked down on him before he blacked out.
And as they get closer, he sees Julie suddenly throw her arms wide open with the large smile her extremely energetic self always wore, attempting to move in.
"Holy shit, you're awake! Thank the stars you're alright, Kaden!" The female Lombax says, about to lean down for a hug before Mags suddenly grabs her shoulder to pull her back.
"Julie, he's still healing from his fight, you can't just bear hug him, jeez!" He scolds her, rolling his eyes as she pouts before he smiles at Kaden, joining her beside the bed. "But, yeah! It's good to see you, Kaden! We were honestly worried that you were on the fence there, but… We knew that you'd manage to pull through."
Kaden smiles at finally seeing familiar friends after the last week of hell running all over the galaxy alone from the attack—or at least, his last perceived week—with the familiarity giving him great relief at finally experiencing something other than misery and anger.
But the feeling is fleeting as the questions flood back into his mind, making him furrow his brows as he sits up again, at least finding it easier to do so every time now.
"Where… what happened?" Kaden asks them, dazed as he looks at the gruond. "The last thing I remembered was Tachyon killing me, but then… Falling through a portal? And you two were there… Then I blacked out… And now… I'm here? In the new dimension?"
Mags gives a nod and a smile.
"Yep. We managed to jerry-rig a new Dimensionator to extract you from the old dimension." He says. "It wasn't easy, what with all the chaos going on with everyone trying to get stuff together after the evacuation, but it wasn't anything me and Julie couldn't handle without a little work."
"Just in time, too!" Julie adds. "I mean, by the looks of it, if we were any later, then you'd be dead from that goddamn Cragmite's stupid heart attack gun, or whatever. Pretty sucky gun, too, if you ask me. If I made that, it'd kill you in thirty seconds instead of ten minutes. Amateur." She mumbles, making Mags roll his eyes at her constant obsession over weaponry.
"Woah, woah, woah, wait, you made a new Dimensionator?" Kaden asks seriously, sitting up straight. "Why? How?"
"Woah, hey calm down, Kaden!" Mags eases him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"After we were evacuated, we found out pretty quick that you didn't make it back since the old one got shot." Julie explains. "Me and Mags thought it was bullshit that you had to sacrifice yourself for all of us while the rest of the Council just let it happen, so… We worked together to bring you back, doing our best with what we got. Which was barely anything, honestly."
"I'm honestly surprised it worked." Mags adds before glancing over Julie. "You know how Julie is when it comes to the safety of her designs. I half-expected the universe to explode."
"And that's why I had you and your interdimensional know-how to make sure I didn't make something to destroy reality, dick." She returns to him, punching his arm with a pout. "Which, you're welcome for building the damn thing, Mags. Risk my neck helping you risk your neck, and I still can't escape your sass?"
"Yeah, yeah… Sorry. Thanks Julie. I appreciate it. Kaden appreciates it, too." He relents with a smile, patting her shoulder as she grins proudly.
"I… I see." Kaden says, ignoring their usual spats they always had.
They really did that for him? Go through all the trouble to make a brand-new Dimensionator in, what? A few days? Just for him? Even though it would've been easier to just accept that he had fulfilled his duty as a Keeper to sacrifice himself, they had to have worked day and night to bring him back quite literally from the clutch of death.
He could hardly fathom such a selfless act, but it brought a wide, happy smile to his face as he glances between them. Thanks to their effort… He was alive. Even though every odd was against him… He's able to see another day. Completely safe from the Cragmite that took everything from him, in a dimension of safety…
He knew it wasn't going to be sunshine and rainbows, though. The things he's had to see… The things he experienced… He may be here, but Marie wasn't, and nothing would change that. He's stared death right in the eyes, those vile, yellow eyes with that shrill laugh, and he knew both would haunt him.
But… Now, he had a whole life to live, despite it all. Now, he could begin to heal. He had a new chance to rebuild what was taken from him. And best of all, he now had the chance to once again be a father, to spend a while life with…
With…
Kaden freezes, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes widen, a cold, lead weight dropping in his gut, feeling just like he did when he walked into the nursery and saw his wife dying before his very eyes.
"Erm, Kaden?" Julie asks worriedly, noticing his sudden shift in expression.
"Are you alright?" Mags follows up with concern, furrowing his brows with a frown.
This couldn't be happening… Not again… Not now…
No…
No…
NO…
"NO!" Kaden yells, suddenly throwing himself out of the bed, completely ignoring the pain of his recovering body, and oblivious to the IV needle being yanked out of his arm, blood trickling down from the wound as he lands hard on his hands and knees, his legs immediately giving out from being bedridden for two whole weeks.
"Kaden!" Julie cries out in surprise as she and Mags immediately kneel down with him in shock.
"Kaden, what's wrong?!" Mags asks, grabbing his arm to try and pick him up off the floor. "Are you—"
"MY SON!" Kaden yells, tears starting to spill from his cheeks as he shoves Mags' hands off of him, staring at him with desperation. "H-He's still back there! In the old dimension! H-He's on Veldin, in the Solana Galaxy, a-an orphanage, Ms. Perigee's Home for Lost Children! On the Kyzil Plateau! I-It has a bunch of scrap metal on the roof, on a plateau away from the city, I-I can show you! We have to open a portal to get him back here! NOW!"
Mags freezes, eyes widening in shock at Kaden's sudden outburst, seeing the tears fall from his eyes as he yells at them both, telling them exactly where to find Kipler.
But as Kaden finishes his yelling, he sees Mags' shock slowly fade into a somber expression, frowning slightly as he moves his gaze to look up at Julie, kneeling on Kaden's other side.
And as Kaden looks back to her as well, he could see that she too held the same expression, in stark contrast to the usual bubbly, optimistic ball of energy she always was, making Kaden scowl with both dread and anger as he yells again.
"What the hell are you two waiting for?! Go! NOW! I-I'll come with you if I have to, I-I can stand, just give me a minute!" He demands, snapping his head to either side. "Just stop sitting there when my son is out there! ALONE!"
Mags nor Julie make any movement to fulfill his feverish demand, however. Instead, Mags reaches over to gently place his hand on Kaden's shoulder, giving him an earnest yet regretful look.
"Kaden, I… I'm sorry. We can't." He says quietly and seriously. "We were lucky the Dimensionator we made worked even once. After we saved you, well… It fried. It's destroyed, so we can't use it anymore."
"Then make another one!" Kaden argues angrily, barely fazed as he points at Mags. "You already did once, so do it again!"
"We can't, Kaden." Julie says quietly.
"AND WHY NOT?!" Kaden yells, snapping his head back over to her, and startling her slightly with how intense the look in his eyes was, but she quickly collects herself as she continues speaking, hanging her head.
"When we evacuated here, the… The Council made a vote. Ever since we came back… Dimensionators are banned completely. 'No one leaves this dimension, and no one enters', they said." She explains, a little fearful of Kaden yelling at her like that again. "We only managed to save you because… You were an exception." She shrugs.
"I… That's… Then why not make another for my son?!" Kaden seethes, blindsided by the Council's decision, but refusing to accept that answer. "If I was worth an exception, then my own family is damn well worth it, too! Why can't he get an exception?! He did NOTHING wrong to deserve—"
"Because you weren't an exception." Mags cuts him off, shooting a frown at Julie while squeezing his grip on Kaden's shoulder. "Julie and I went behind the Council's backs to save you, Kaden. We committed a crime saving your life. It's why it took so long for us to get you back, because we had to do it all in secret."
"THEN DO IT AGAIN! WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND?!" Kaden yells, forcefully shoving Mags' hand off him, tears streaming down his cheeks as the fury in his expression is beginning to get eclipsed by grief at every argument.
"Because we were caught, Kaden." Julie answers morosely, hating seeing Kaden in such a miserable, desperate state. "We can't hide the fact that we built an illegal Dimensionator if you were here and… Not over there. The only reason we're not rotting in a prison right now is because we were lucky enough that we extracted you with no problems, no Cragmites getting through, anything."
"But because they caught us, they started enforcing the ban hard." Mags adds on, reaching out to hold Kaden's shoulder again, but hesitating, and pulling it back after his last reaction. "They destroyed all our current supplies of Phase Quartz, they're monitoring any and all traffic from Blizar, hell, they damn near dissolved the entire Interdimensional Division to discourage it from happening again."
Kaden looks back at Mags in shock at the last statement, never guessing that the Council would go so far as to consider eliminating one of their species' most historical line of research.
"They… What?" He asks.
"The only reason it still exists now is because I had to argue the fact that it's because of the Interdimensional Division that any of us are still alive right now." Mags answers bitterly, scowling. "If it wasn't for my mapping and your evacuation plan, being the Keeper, we'd all be dead from Tachyon. They managed to listen, but… It's not going to be like it once was. All interdimensional travel is banned, and you can't get a fleck of Phase Quartz without risking banishment now."
Kaden blinks, rolling more tears down his cheeks, almost wishing that Mags was playing some sick and twisted practical joke before he says 'just kidding' and agrees to help build a new Dimensionator to save Kipler. But Mags doesn't smile or laugh or pat his back. He just scowls, face full of indignant anger.
He looks down to the ground between his knees, distantly noting the blood on his gown from his pulled IV, wishing that this was some kind of nightmare he had awoken in before looking back up, glancing between Mags and Julie.
"Why are they doing this?" He whispers, voice cracking as it's beginning to sink in that he might not be able to see Kipler again, after all. "Why the ban, why the punishments, why the… Why?"
Julie sighs.
"They say it's too dangerous." She says bitterly. "They're so scared and paranoid about Tachyon finishing the job that they banned any and all travel back to the old dimension, since they think there's a threat that Tachyon might follow us through if he steals a Dimensionator from a traveler."
"I argued that such a thing happening was stupid, and they were all being unreasonable, but… Everyone lost someone that day, Kaden." Mags states soberly. "They were still hurting, still traumatized, still scared… So, they took every measure to make sure our nightmare doesn't come back for us. And that included an all-out ban on Dimensionators."
Kaden just stares back at Mags, misery written all over his face before his hangs once more, staring off into nothing on the floor.
He understands the Council's fear. He had to face down the very demon they were protecting everyone from, and Kaden felt that same fear they did when he thought he was going to die. It was objectively the best decision they could have made for the safety of all Lombaxes, for all of the survivors of the genocide.
But at the same time… Kaden's breath hitches as tears spill out of his closed eyes, not having the strength to try and suppress his crying as he sniffles.
Who in the hell cares about being objective? What was objective was the fact that his own son was in a completely different dimension from where he was standing now. There is no physical way to ever see his son again thanks to the Council's asinine decision.
Kaden could travel to the Veldin of this dimension, right down to the very goddamn doorstep that he left Kipler on, and he wouldn't be there. He'd be a whole reality away. He'd be so close, and yet so, so terribly far.
This was unfair, this was an atrocity, this was a goddamn crime!
After all that Kaden lost, all that he's suffered, all that he's done… And he is still being punished. This wasn't FAIR, goddammit!
He feels Mags and Julie place their hands on his shoulders as he kneels on the hospital floor, arms limp at his sides as he chokes down tears to speak up in a shaky breath, finally opening his eyes.
"I… Can't we make an appeal? Can't we do anything?" Kaden asks miserably, breath hitching, still. "Please, I… I had to feel Marie die in my arms… I kissed her and tasted her blood… I told my best friend I wanted to kill him for what he did… I had to abandon my son forever… I almost died to protect everyone… I-I… Just…"
He suddenly buries his face in his hands, crying into them.
"What fucking else do I have to do to stop suffering?" He chokes out in a quiet, tear-stained voice. "Please… I just want to see my son again…"
And as Kaden begins to softly cry in his hands, Mags and Julie look at each other from either side of him, both stunned into a somber silence as Kaden's choked breaths fill the otherwise quiet room—an unbecoming sight to their brave, heroic, courageous, and wisecracking friend they've come to have known over the years of working together.
Neither of them quite knew what to say, unable to fathom the hell that Kaden had to live through to be reduced to tears like this, when he should be overjoyed that he managed to survive an apocalypse. All the knew was that it hurt their hearts seeing his pain, hearing his pain, and unable to do a damn thing to help him get the one thing he wanted, even after everything he's done for his people.
Well… Almost unable to do nothing.
Julie is the first one to let go of Kaden's shoulder as she instead wraps her arms around him in a tight, comforting hug, closing her eyes.
"We'll get him back, Kaden. We promise." She whispers. "The Council's full of cowardly bastards, but they're still the Council. We'll argue and appeal and do everything we can to bring him back for you."
"Everything." Mags affirms, leaning forward to hug Kaden as well. "We somehow managed to not get kicked off the Council, so we're going to be with you every step of the way. After everything you've done for us, for every Lombax… We promise you that you're not going to be alone."
"We promise." Julie adds as she rubs his back.
Kaden's cries soften as he hears their words… Feeling their comforting touch… Listening to their promises…
Even in spite of the personal hell he found himself living in right now… For the first time since he saw Marie die in his arms… He began to feel… Hope.
Because at hearing their promises that they'd get Kipler back for him… He thought about his own promise to Marie. That he'd do everything in his power to protect him.
And right now… Even though he couldn't remember a single time in his life he felt more miserable… He realized that he was alive to feel miserable. Even in spite of everything.
Marie might be dead. Alister might as well be just as dead as her. Kipler was stuck in another dimension with Tachyon. And the Council now stood in the way of his one and only goal in life now.
But he was alive. Even though he faced his people's mortal enemy face-to-face, nearly dying from a heart attack on the floor… He was alive.
He made a promise that he'd do everything he can to ensure his son was safe, right to his very last breath. And he was still breathing.
It wasn't over. He wasn't done fighting. Not until he can hold his son in his own arms to tell him how much he loves him, goddammit.
Kaden feels a new warmth burning inside of him as he removes his hands from his face, looking on either side to see Mags and Julie give him comforting smiles, knowing they would uphold their own promises to stay by him if they went so far as to commit a crime to save him from death. And now, he had to uphold his own promise, too. To Marie.
Closing his eyes, he raises his arms to hug the both of them back, the fiery warmth of hope burning inside his gut as a stiff, determined frown forms on his lips, readying himself for yet another battle, but this time, one that he is going to win. He'd make sure of it.
It might take days. It might take months. Hell, it might even take years.
But no matter how long it would take, he was going to see his fucking son again.
"Just hang in there, Kip." Kaden whispers as he ignores the opening door and the doctor rushing over asking what the hell happened to Kaden for him to end up on the floor. "I'm coming for you. I promise."
Rewriting this, I had no idea why I let the original feel so shallow and quick, writing off the misery Kaden feels at being unable to save his son in only 1800 'yada yada'd' words. So, it felt nice to make it appropriately soul crushing for him this time around! (AKA my goals for this entire prologue in a nutshell lmao)
Check out this story on AO3 for character art about Mags and Julie!
Also, fun facts about Mags and Julie!
When I first wrote Lost Time, needing two friends for Kaden for the plot (as who else would save him from Tachyon?), I decided to make 2 OCs fill the role. And, because I wanted to be Original and Creative™, I gave them the unique names of Renka and Farrow.
However, as I continued to write Lost Time (or rather, the crappy story that would be reworked into Lost Time as we know it today), I began to realize those were stupid names, considering that they didn't fit canon Lombax names of Kaden, Alister, Angela, or Mags. And, furthermore, I honestly completely forgot that Mags as a character existed in canon, so I didn't even need to make a whole OC to fit the role of 'Kaden's friend', lmao.
So, Renka and Farrow were then rebranded into Julie and Mags, respectively, to better fit 'canon' Lombax naming conventions and established canon (and because I thought Julie sounded nicer than Renka lol).
Another tidbit is that when I first made them, I honestly had no idea who they were going to be personality-wise—Julie especially. That's why if you compare early-story Julie to late-story Julie in the original Lost Time, early-story Julie seems WAY too calm to be the living ball of chaos that we know and love today, lmao.
In fact, I believe my first plan was to have Mags be the crazy and energetic friend before I happened to try doing it for Julie instead, and I liked that idea much better. So, in another world, there might be a story where Julie is the voice of reason that tries to prevent Mags from excitedly exploding the universe in an interdimensional experiment, lmao.
So, another main motivation for me to do this rewrite is to now better fit the characterization of everyone now that I know their stories, personality, and vibes (like how Wells is way out of character in her and Kaden's first meeting with how stammery and fearful she gets, when we all know she's a hardass that won't hesitate to cut a bitch lmao).
Anyway, that concludes the prologue of Lost Time: Redux, so hopefully you now have a good idea for how I plan for the rest of this rewrite to go!
Until next time!