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baelpenrose · 1 year ago

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Project Praetorian 35: After the Battle

The kids recover from their first major battle, cuddling, recovering from wounds, and talking in the dorms after the fight. It also features discussions of where, specifically, they want to go, what they want to do with their magnificent hazard pay. Beta-read by @canyouhearthelight.

Molly

She clutched the steaming cup of hot cocoa as she shuddered under the blanket on the battered couch in the dorm. The team hadn’t really “debriefed” after combat - or more accurately, Mark, Echo and Xavier had, and had staggered off to go do an in-person debrief while Jonathan physically carried the other, more exhausted kids back to the dorm, where Casey had thrown a kettle on for tea and cocoa, changed into her customary ‘at home’ long skirt, and grabbed blankets out of the sleeping quarters, with Shiloh and Jonathan helping her.

They’d shared a fuller decontam shower than they’d all had in the field, before that started, but those not forced to attend a meeting were now huddled together, shivering in their sweats, in the dorm. The TV wasn’t on - no one could remember, through the brain fog, where the remote was.

Molly was still looking at her hands - her fingers were calloused from pulling the trigger of her weapon, and for just a moment she thought she could still see blood on them from when Shiloh had asked her to put pressure on something - a wounded trooper who was wounded by shrapnel from an exploding rock, which had allowed that man to be saved without Shiloh exhausting themself.

How long had she been here? The spa day had been last Tuesday, maybe, her fingernails were back to their normal…Then, she saw her feet, and realized that her toenails were still painted, and it abruptly clicked for her that the spa day had been this Tuesday.

The battle had been Friday.

Casey tried to force herself to her feet as the kettle started whistling, but Vergil stopped her, standing up, shakily, to walk over to the tiny kitchen of the dorms, with Jonathan joining him, ever the steadiest of the bunch. They retrieved the tea, Vergil quietly asking who wanted what, and then refilling the kettle and setting it back on for when Mark, Xavier, and Echo got back from their officer’s briefing.

It wasn’t long before they did, and Mark slumped down on the couch, holding Casey’s unwounded side. She shifted her legs to make room for him, leaning her head against his shoulder as he took deep breaths to try to steady himself. The doctor on the base had determined he’d be under observation and bedrest for a few days, since it turned out he’d caused himself several cardiac microevents during the fighting when he’d cut loose. One of his hands was burned - he apparently hadn’t noticed, and wasn’t having it healed. Something to do with the fact that his heart wasn’t in good enough condition to undergo surgery to get skin grafts yet, and he was willing to wait for Shiloh to recover enough to heal him - the healer was still exhausted, bags under their pale eyes.

“Anyone want to watch a…?” Echo started, her eyes practically crossed. “Where’s the remote? I can’t…I can’t turn it on for us. Brain’s too scrambled from fucking around with the alien computer…”

Molly glanced around, feeling helpless, useless. “What…what are we supposed to do?”

Echo put a hand out. “Mostly just supporting each other, but I don’t really…”

Mark grunted. “We all kicked ass…” He started uncertainly. “And hey, we proved we could survive a head on battle. That’s…pretty hardcore.”

Casey made an unenthusiastic “yay’ sound but didn’t move her head off Mark’s shoulder.

Xavier took a breath. “We proved that Shiloh can in fact keep us all alive under fire? That Molly can breach their shields? Actually that’s something worth noting - Molly can’t blow up their guns in their hands but she can make their shields stop working. That’s pretty spectacular to know.”

There was a long quiet and Molly squirmed. She couldn’t actually protect - just make them able to kill their enemies faster. Echo groaned. “No more talking about war, right now. Can we…look. Uh…Okay. Ask something else, anything else?”

“If we could blackmail them into letting us have a pet on base, what would we want?” Vergil made the suggestion, sounding uncertain.

“I love dogs,” Casey replied, quietly. “I miss my golden retriever. It’s just nice, having something big and friendly, super excited to see you come home.”

Jonathan shook his head. “Nah. Too many bad memories of big dogs. And the little ones are way too loud. Maybe a cat though. They’re quiet, soft, sweet…”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, cats are really good. They’re smart, too, lot of personality.”

Molly shook her head. “I want to like cats so badly but I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to them. Every time I went over to a friend’s house who had one I kept getting hives.”

“Yeah that pretty much adds up to allergy. What about a rat?” Everyone turned to look at Vergil.

“Say what?”

“No, really! One of the homes I was in had one, it was named Marshmallow and it was super cute.”

Echo started laughing. “That’s wild, but…Eh, my little sister was always saying she wanted a snake or something so I can’t judge. Wait, though. I think weird pets are probably harder here.”

That brought everyone down for a moment. “Yeah,” Casey said, darkly. “If we got something weird, there’s no way it wouldn’t be used against us. I don’t know that a cat or a dog wouldn’t.”

“Easier or at least cheaper to threaten an animal than our families all the time. Rather not give them the leverage.” Mark’s voice was bleak. “Change the topic again. We’re getting a ton of money - like, actually, a ton. So much. Yeah, it’s sorta a hush money deal but we’re gonna be set if we survive. What do you guys want to do with your money after the war? Like, that plus hero status, we’ve got, ‘go anywhere, do anything’ kinds of access.”

Jonathan thought about it. “I want a big house. Built big and heavy enough that I can’t break it by accident. Plenty of room if I ever have kids. A pool in the backyard - and a big backyard so I have plenty of space. Some form of fences, though. So I can keep out people who want to take pictures of me. If we’re gonna be famous I don’t want to deal with people taking pictures or wondering when I’m getting spied on, like I did back when my family lived out of a van. Maybe…Oh, I’d want a fast car. I’m…” He trailed off. “Honestly, I haven’t…really thought about it. I’ll…probably have to talk about that with Leon, won’t I?” He trailed off, anxiously.

Shiloh shook their head and signed. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I want something similar. I thought maybe I wanted to travel, but we’re gonna see most of the world with or without a passport because of this. Maybe I want to go to college for something I pick rather than to be a better medic, but I don’t know what I want to study yet - or, maybe I’d rather just fuck off. Get some rig, go on the road, travel wherever I felt like and pay the way with free medical care provided via my powers. Or maybe build myself some big ass fortress in the middle of nowhere where there isn’t so much overstimulating shit and I don’t have to deal with anyone but you guys ever again.”

Molly waited til that was rendered to her via translation - she was still learning ASL, and was surprised by how quickly everyone else around here had apparently picked it up. “I mean…doesn’t anyone want to…see the world when it isn’t in flames? We’re only going to tour it as part of a military unit, wouldn’t it be nice to see it after the war?”

There was a long pause, then Molly added on. “I mean. I want to travel. I want to keep being a musician, after the war. Maybe go on tour, or…I don’t know, build some big memorial concert hall for Tanglewood?” Molly thought about the fires, thought about Annette. She’d seen the news footage - how the fires had raged hard enough to destroy the evidence, and she was fairly sure that Imperator had disposed of the evidence of the clash.

“Tanglewood - that was the place that…oh, wait, right, happy thoughts. Uh…” Mark was thinking. “Honestly, I don’t know what I want? I do want a house big enough for kids, but I think that I’d…after the war is over, I probably want to spend time figuring myself out first. Maybe traveling for a while, with whoever I’m with, and trying to push on our postwar vision, before I settle down. College, probably, maybe buy my way to a seat in office…” He shook his head. “Wait, no. I think…I think a lot of my wealth will probably go into helping impacted communities, and I can get into office by fame alone, at that point. I…” Molly saw him break off again, though whether it was from exhaustion or because he was thinking she couldn’t tell. “I don’t know how long I’d want to stay in office. I think after all this, I’d probably…I mean, real talk, who am I going to be able to be with but another Praetorian? Who else is going to understand what we’ve been through? I don’t necessarily want to leave that person watching the kids or facing anything alone, not after all this, because I want kids, I think, and I don’t want to be shut up in an office. Oh, and buy my family a nicer place.”

Echo shrugged. “I want to go get my sister. Maybe teach people, but if we’re all going with what we want just for us…Big house, like Jonathan - probably out in the countryside. I don’t want to be so close to a million computers after all this shit - want appliances that don’t try to talk to me now. Probably could stand to live pretty close to the big guy, though - help him out if he needed some techie shit done, get him to help me if I needed my oil changed and I didn’t want to go to a mechanic for a car jack. Set us both up with some nice network for surround sound. I don’t know, I feel like my little sister always felt safer when we had friends or cousins around, so I’d want to be close to at least one of you, and it seems like he’s going for the closest to what I want. Have you guys over for barbecue or drinks, have all your little kids over to swim if I could handle the noise, stay up swapping war stories when I could stand it and doing anything else when I couldn’t. I don’t know, maybe a fashion tour or two, but with the kind of screening keeps people the fuck out of the parts of my life that I don’t want them in.”

Molly could see Jonathan blush crimson, and she glanced between Mark and Casey, then Xavier…she wondered who else made plans to stick close after the war. Vergil clearly had it on his mind too, since he blurted, “Wait. Aren’t we all sticking together after the war?”

“I mean, are we all gonna live together, probably not. Are we all going to stay in contact for the rest of our lives, and probably charter private planes, or just captured alien craft we seized as personal war trophies to go visit each other? Yes. Actually,” Mark said, exhausted. “Fuck it, I draw officer pay. Add ‘giant ass mansion we can paint the Praetorian insignia on that is free to use for any of us and we can all stay in’ to my shopping list.”

Vergil blinked. “Heh. I mean…somewhere quiet, maybe? But I…Yeah, I want a big family. I want somewhere close. And while I’m at it, I need to get myself a fast car, and maybe hurry up and seize an alien speeder so I can visit you guys, and make sure you don’t go anywhere on me.”

“Alright, Verg gets first dibs on the first alien speeder we capture and are allowed to claim! Everyone got that?” Everyone chuckled.

Then Vergil kept going, and Molly realized what crowd she was in. “But…I actually do want to have somewhere I can settle down. Not necessarily somewhere fancy, but somewhere permanent. I mean, I’m a sniper, so odds are I’ll be bagging a lot of what Curtis calls ‘high-value targets’ so maybe a few bonuses here and there. I’ll chip in on the big Casa Praetorian.”

Casey shifted. “What about college? Think you’ll go?”

Vergil paused. “Yeah, sure. Now that I’ll have the option, why not?”

Xavier shrugged. “I dunno, man, college isn’t for everyone. I figure…big car, probably don’t want a big house, actually. Given this powerset, don’t want somewhere with huge acoustics. Or…actually, yeah, big house, but in the city. One for my family, and a few for my cousins, too. I want speakers, I want a slick car, and I’m keeping you all on speed dial. Visits, bringing you all in for cookouts, and oh, yeah, a rack full of hardware I take home from the war. Because after the way I got here, I feel like that much money just appearing is gonna require some explaining to the police. Or maybe it won’t, by then.” He grinned. “Maybe we’ll be so famous no one questions it.” Waving that thought away, he continued, “Pool, gamer pad, home theater, quiet room for if certain people want to visit,” this was with a glance at Shiloh and Vergil. “That kind of scene. I do want to travel though - I really want to check out the world, after we’re done with it. Probably going to go to college, study. If we’re taking over, we gotta know how to do it.”

Molly wondered nervously why so many of her new friends were chuckling at the idea of a fight with the police - but admitted that Xavier’s set up sounded really nice.

Casey

Casey shifted. “Uh…I want a place big enough for you guys to come over, and for…I want kids. I probably want to give a lot of the money to charity, or to making sure I can manage things for my family…”

“No, come on,” said Mark. “We already agreed this is what each of us wants just for ourselves. You can say you’re going to use the money for charity if what you want is something you can get out of just being famous.”

Casey blushed. She wanted something for herself, didn’t she? “A…place for my family. I want to make sure me and my siblings can all go to college.”

“What’s your place going to look like, aside from just…big? What’s it going to have in it?”

“Uh…Bunch of bedrooms. Huge kitchen - I know you guys are gonna make fun but I actually like cooking - um….” What did she want?

“Wait, what are you going to go to college for?” Echo asked.

“I think I already said, social work, back when we were on the camping trip.”

“No, you said you were gonna parley your influence to make the system better for kids like Vergil, you didn’t say you were gonna go to college to study it. Big difference. Is that actually what you wanna do?”

Casey felt trapped. “Why didn’t you guys drill Mark or Xavier when they said they wanted to go into politics?”

Shiloh started signing. “Because Mark visibly loves the game, and he’s good at it. Him wanting to do something he’s passionate about, even for a little while, doesn’t change that he’s doing it for him. Xavier, same deal. You’re not really saying anything that seems like you love it all that much.”

“What do you mean? I love doing…” She froze. She liked helping. Right? She was really good at it. She’d been doing it forever.

“If you want kids and need to help at the same time you could adopt,” Vergil started to say before an offhand cuff from Echo stopped him.

“Good idea, not the time. Casey, what is it you actually want? Like for yourself? You actually want kids?”

She nodded. She did want that, some day - but probably not a bunch, not like her parents had had. Too many kids meant not enough attention for each of them.

“Okay, what about a house - city, country, where?”

“Either - but I want room for the kids to run around, and I want them to be able to go to a friends’ house, without necessarily needing to be driven. Uh…I don’t want to be bugged by guys with cameras all the time.”

Mark added in, “You said you wanted a big kitchen. What other kinds of things did you want in the house? Pool? Garden?”

“Yes, both. Den - maybe a real fireplace. I don’t know, I kinda like the old school fireplaces. They look so cozy.”

“And…what kind of big kitchen?”

“Honestly? Uh…Six burner gas stove, built in griddle. Double fridge. Top-of-the-line appliances. Good oven, like professional quality.”

“Damn. Okay, you really like cooking.”

“I do, yeah.” She flushed. “Uh…”

“For the amount of time you spend trying to fit some kind of femininity into your wardrobe, guessing a big closet?” Echo probed.

“Yes! With lots of soft dresses, pretty ones. Pockets. Uhm. Sandals and flats or heels, or like, decorative boots rather than the brutal stompy combat ones.”

“See, now you’re getting there. What kind of car?” Mark pushed, just a little.

“Hm…Honestly, for day to day I’d want something practical, maybe an SUV for family stuff, but at this point,” she added, “maybe I want something fast for me, or maybe I want a captured speeder. I don’t know yet. Something fast that lets me visit you guys, or just lets me travel wherever I want and be back in time to do what I need.”

“Camry for the family, war loot speeder for Casey.” Xavier grinned. “Sounds about right, okay.”

Casey blushed. “Alright, point taken.” She leaned back into Mark. He suddenly whispered, “Ever thought about a firepit in your backyard? Not like there’s anyone safer to have one?”

She grinned, then winced - her wounded arm was aching again. “Yeah, that’d be good. Hey, could you move your hand just a little - thanks.”

Shiloh started standing up and Casey shook her head. “No need,” she signed - “you told me after you healed it it’d ache for a bit. It’s just doing that, is all.”

“Hey, so once we’re healed up a little bit,” Casey said, “Like, Mark’s not on bedrest, and all that. Anyone want to cook a meal together? Big group dinner, just us?”

“Wait until your arm stops burning,” Shiloh signed. “Seriously. But yeah, sounds good.”

#original fiction #my writing #writers on tumblr #Project Praetorian #traumatized characters #found family #science fiction #original science fiction #deconstructed superheroes #humans are space orcs

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