#it’s easy to forget kind gestures when you’re surrounded by chaos and people screaming your name

[nattaphum]

Mile is such a kind person 🥺

[zerohour-fic-blog]

chapter three

The base is a simple, but then again complex one. To the natural hybrid, it’s a home that's suitable. It’s habitual.

We’re located on the outskirts of the Catskills, south of Town of Olive, where the human mind never thinks to explore. Some are curious, but for the most part, we’re safe and things are kept quiet. Our area consists of mostly land and tiny bodies of water such as, lakes or rivers. The water supply for New York State is located towards the East so though our water resource is limited and lacking, we survive and we stay hidden. That’s our first priority—to stay clear of the human eye.

The origin of this place started with Ray Gueye. Everything started with him—his idea, his mind, his vision. Larry and I had slipped from the hands of the enemy and needed a place to reside. We were located in South New Orleans, at the time, stranded in the abyss of the human world with nothing, but the scorning sun and weak faith to accompany us. Through the grapevine, we heard of a festival that would supply us with nourishment. It was around the time of Mardi Gras. A festive weekend that took over Louisiana streets and humans’ hearts for the sake of forgetting troubled times for a short period of time. I found it senseless and just another excuse for lightened chaos, but Larry was drawn to the intense horns and fierce colors that surrounded the city.

I went for him and for the free snags of food, but we ran into something even more interesting. Within the festivities, a crowd was forming that promoted the opposite of our kind. They wore all black and held signs that were marked with dye as dark as blood. The words written iced my veins: Death to all ELIES. Larry was the first to notice the shouts coming from the distance, but I was the one that sensed the presence of our own.

“This way.” I pulled the fabric of his shirt, encouraging his feet to move in rhythm with mine. I could sense the fear rumbling in his stomach. The sensations made a frog surface my throat, but I wouldn’t let the both of us freeze up in a situation like this. I had to get us clear of their view. “Come on. Move it. They’ll catch us, Larry.” 

He looked at me with bleak eyes before blinking away the coming concern twisting his brow. Nodding, I waited for him to bob his head in return and then began to weave our way through the mass of people. 

I felt his hand reach for mine and I curled my fingers with his in a bone-crushing grip. My shoulders bumped against others in sharp bombards and I winced at the pain, but kept going. I hated that the sensational feel of fear made me sensitive. It made me feel weak. Advanced hybrids weren’t weak. We were too targeted to be–it was too costly.

I could hear the shouts of the anti-hybrid rioters coming from my left and I tried to blur them out. I tried to make myself numb, but nothing worked. I was beginning to panic and I could see my eyes dimming to a bleak black.

“No, not now.”

My fight was letting up because I was so weak. We hadn’t eaten since yesterday and our stomachs were literally living off of drops of spared water and our own natural fluids. My body was worn and the alien in me was beginning to feed off of the human portion out of starvation. I was slipping and I could feel every single cell withering away within me due to the high stimuli of the moment—my fear was making my malnourishment worse.

“Cera, hold on.” Larry called in a boisterous shout and that’s when I noticed my pace had weakened. He was no longer behind me and we were no longer sprinting. Larry was jogging and dragging, while I was weighing him down with my skipped steps and trips.

Suddenly, the sun’s ultraviolet rays intensified and my face and body felt the humidity it gave off. My forehead burst with beads of perspiration and its sweat glands began to scream their frustration. The black had fully taken over my vision causing me to fully shut my eyes and trust Larry’s abilities. 

“I-I’m blind, Lar.” I wearied behind him. “I’m blind. I can’t see anything, but black. I’m losing myself.”

“Stay with me Cera!” I heard him bark the command before my body was snatched around and suddenly the sun was no longer on my skin. My back was against the curves of a lap and my hair being caressed. “Cera!”

I heard his voice, but my senses were overpowering my ability to respond. I sensed something and it felt sweet against my skin. It nurtured the burning sensation of anxiety scorching my epidermis and I wanted more of it. My dry tongue fixated on the words that I wanted to say, but all I could get out was a slight, “Hybrid.”

I felt Larry’s hands against my cheeks and the soft brush of something on my lips. It was warm and coarse. His hair. Larry’s hair.

The last thing I felt was the warm drop of liquid against my cheek. Then, I heard the blurred sound of a voice other than Larry’s smooth one. I blacked out.

That was over 7 years ago.

I woke up in an all-white room with two pairs of eyes on me a couple of hours later. The pair I recognized were sickeningly concerned, but they weren’t blackened, which promised me relief.

 The other pair were unfamiliar, but tranquilizing.

“We almost lost you there.”

A threat.

The first thought I had of the man.

He was tall and muscular. He had dark skin and a brawny frame that left Larry and I at an ultimate disadvantage. We wouldn’t be able to fight off the man if we had to. He would demolish the both of us with a single punch to the stomach. 

I looked to Larry who had risen from his seat and was now standing over me. He looked tired—fatigued—but not alarmed. I raised a single brow his way before asking the question that was lingering on both of our minds—or more so mine to deliver and his to confirm and respond to. 

He answered promptly, “He’s a friend, Ce. Chill.” He smiled as if to confirm the statement, which rubbed me wrong. Larry wasn’t a person to trust someone so easily.

So quickly.

Quickly…

“How long have I been sleep?” I asked him. The hoarseness of my voice came from the dryness of my throat—it felt like sandpaper.

“Easy.” Larry whispered, soothingly pushing a hand through my hair.

I shook my head and tried to sit up. A pain shot through every part of my body causing me to collide back down on the pad I was leaning on. That's when I noticed the difference. The differences in my senses—they were lagging.

"Larry, I feel...different–"

“It’s been about a day or two.” The mystery man spoke the answer I was looking for. I shot a glare at his bleak eyes and Larry’s hand rested against my shoulder. He’d felt the hostility in my cold gaze.

“Détendez-vous, Cerafine. C’est bien. (Relax, Cerafine. It’s fine.)” Larry whispered, pushing his thumbs over the balls of my cheekbones and then caressing my mane again. I growled at the man as Larry’s hands guided me back to the sheeted surface of the thin cot. There weren't any springs under it, but a wheeled contraption usually found in medical facilities.

 We were in a hospital? No. We couldn't be. By this man's scent, I could tell he was a hybrid. It was the same sweet waft I caught at the riot. He had to have more brains than this—to take us to a human hospital would mean he'd given us up to the authorities.

“She’s a defensive one.” The man grinned and his protruding cheekbones followed the lead of the perk of his lips. “That’s good. It shows she has heart. I respect that in a hybrid since our species are lacking in it now-a-days.”

I huffed a heavy warning breath through my nose as he began to round the pad.

I could feel Larry’s hands freeze against me as the giant inched towards us with healthy strides. Both of our defenses were radiating off of one another’s adrenaline. Larry could feel my alertness, while I could feel his hesitance.

The man froze and looked between Larry and I with squinted eyes. He nodded towards Larry and then moved his attention to me again. My instinct told me to pounce on him or try to use some strategic mechanism of escape or defense, but I refrained.

Something told me not to and Larry’s resistance definitely had a great deal to do with it.

“Cerafine, you just had a near-death experience back there.” He said it so casually. “You sniffed me out real quick though. It was immensely impressive.”

Sniffed him out? Couldn’t all hybrids sense one another?

“I’m assuming your trigger deals with others, correct?” I watched as he gestured for Larry to push his hands through my hair again. He obeyed. I didn’t refuse. It calmed me. “Or other hybrids at least. You’re a hybrid that feeds off of others.”

“I feed off of no one.” I snarled. 

His brows shot up. “Words. I’ve got a response from her. This is good.” I watched him nod towards Larry who was watching the man intently himself. He was still tense. I could feel it. “Your friend tells me his trigger has to do with the people he cares for and nothing else. Correct?” He looked to Larry for confirmation.

Larry only glared at him.

“I’m hoping…that’s a yes.” He chuckled, wearily. "You two are so entwined. I can feel your connection from here. It's amazing."

“Who are you and why did you help us?” I questioned, pushing myself up against the worn pillow behind me. “Where are we?”

“You’re in my home, Cerafine.” He looked around the whiteout room before turning back to me. "Welcome.” 

I looked down at the scratched marble floors and the rippled curtains hanging from the metal bars above us. I hadn't noticed their condition before. I took in the small space of it and confirmed this was definitely a guaranteed hospital room, but not an average one a person would be admitted to. My eyes shot towards the door not too far from the cot I was laying on. My lips parted to release a needed breath when I met the metal texture of the appliance meant for entering and exiting—or maybe just entering.

I moved my hands along the cold metal below the bed and soon my fingers met the sharpness of something. I brushed my index against the object before moving my curled palm down the length of a long, keyed chain. I looked up to Larry who reached down and laid a circular cuff into my hand.

When my eyelids twitched, while mystery man began to speak again. “It’s a prison. This is the hospital portion of the confinement. The very bottom of the building.” I blinked up to his knowing eyes. “Bet you’re wondering what you’re doing here. Well, I can start off by telling you where you are exactly. Do you remember?” 

I looked to Larry. “We’re in New Orleans.” I whispered, hastily. "In South New Orleans."

He blinked at me before shooting a sharp glare at our company.

 “You were in New Orleans 48 hours ago.” Mystery man said, crossing his arms. “ Now, you’re in the North.”

“T-the North?”

“Yes. The Catskills.”

 My eyes widened. “The mountains?” I breathed. “How did we get here?”

“Just like any other human would.” He smirked. “Plane. Rented car.” He looked off to the ceiling. “Hybrid abilities.”

"You got through security?" I questioned, astonished.

"Connections." The man advised.

My eyes moved back to Larry’s neutral ones and I noticed them flicker into warmth when he looked at me. “He good people.” He stated, pushing his hand into my tresses again. I leaned into his touch as he massaged my temple with a thumb. “He save you. I almost lose you and he come.”

“What do you want in return?” I looked at the man’s placid pupils. “We don’t have much to give—”

“All I ask is your ear, your opinion, and your drive.” He crossed his arms. “You have room for ambition. I see it in you. I saw it as soon as I sensed you.”

I eyed his expression. It was trusting and almost platonic—something I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Why do I feel like this?” I asked. "I feel...I feel–"

"Like a human, almost?" He chimed in. "Your senses are regulated. Your brainpower is limited. Your frenzy is maintained at a less threatening rate. You're stabilized."

I squinted my eyes. "Stabilized? You mean you gave me their medicine?" I snarled, harshly.

"No." He rebutted, nonchalantly. "I gave you a serum that will help you survive. The humans created a medicine that terminates us. I modified it into something that regulates us. You see it lowers your capabilities so that you can exist in the human world without going insane. Your frenzies don't come intensely. It's lightened." He smirked at me before pointing a finger at Larry. "This one was about to frenzy the exact moment you passed out. I injected him with the stabilizer and he was fine within seconds. It's like a medicine that benefits us and spits in their faces."

I stayed quiet for a moment just taking his words in. Was this really possible? Could we use our enemy's tactics to our benefit without injuring ourselves in the process? Were hybrids really something other than the outcasts of the human world? Could we actually be a part of it? 

My eyes wavered over the man's gruff beard that connected to a filled in mustache. He couldn't be anymore older than his late 20s. The hard eyes staring back at me were warm within their pupils. It was such a contradicting combination. It puzzled me, but for once in a long time, I felt safe.

His age didn't match up with his aura. He seemed experienced and attained an elderly wisdom within his words. Maybe that was why Larry trusted him while I was gone.

"Why are you helping us?" I quizzed.

He nodded and began to walk towards the end of the pad. I watched him. I listened. "Hybrids have been feuding with humans for centuries. We've never taken a chance to breathe and think about our own." He shrugged. "Instead we kill our own. We feud ourselves. We make an ass of our kind and it only makes it easier for them to wipe us out."

"A hybrid is taught not to trust anyone for the sake of their safety."

"Who told you this?" He asked, defiantly. "Another hybrid or the humans that kill them?"

I remained silent. 

"Society is a hypnotizing structural system. They want you to believe that they're on your side just so they can stab you in the back with your own weapon after." He crossed his hands against his front. "Why listen to them when you can make your own mottos? Lead your own kind." He raised a brow, inquisitively. "Start your own interspecies revolution.” 

"That's what you're trying to do?" I asked in disbelief.

He nodded, confidently. "That's what I hope to achieve. Yes."

"You're insane." I chuckled out.

"No, dear. I'm a reformist." He challenged. "I'm the oppressed in this world, but my voice isn't silenced as yet." He shrugged slowly while twisting his lips. I looked to Larry with the same expression of utter astonishment as he continued, "Why not use it? I still have the ability to fit into society's everyday. Maybe," He stressed. "Just maybe, I can use it for the good of my kind. I can get to them and I can inform.” 

My eyebrows furrowed as Larry nodded towards him. I looked to see that he'd raised a finger eye level.

"Inform them? On their powers?"

He smirked like I was a toddler asking for a piece of candy. I suddenly felt small under his gaze. "You know so little, my dear." His head shook. "But you're one among many. And, the difference between them and you is you're curious. And, you're strong." He clapped before pointing towards Larry and I. "The both of you. You two share a want for survival. A hunger. And, it's not only to live, but it's to live as a hybrid. You don't want to let go of that trait. That sense of self. It's important."

I looked down to the sheets covering my body as I heard Larry's whisper in his thoughts. I could feel his sadness overpowering his aura. I knew why. In reality, he didn't want this fate, as a hybrid, but this stranger didn't need to know that.

"So, you want us here so you can protect us?"

He shook his head. "I want you here to help me teach our kind how to unite in an inhumane world."

"Don't you mean human?" Larry said.

"No." The man peeped looking back and forth between us. "I know what I said. The truth is son," He crossed his arms and shrugged. "They're not as human as you think they are."

Ray was a man of not manipulation, but knowledge. Larry and I learned that after while and soon he was the man we confided in. We threw all of our eggs in one basket and trusted that we had the best.

 He'd found the base some time before he found us, explaining how empty and rugged it was. We'd been the first hybrids that found a reason to put our trust in him so we built a foundation of the firm with him. It took time. It took blood. It took sweat. It took hidden tears, but we structured it the best we could, while gathering our allies in one place.

But, we also learned the place had secrets hidden within its creases and cracks. Gruesome ones that would leave any hybrid wide awake at night.

"This used to be a prison for hybrids years upon years ago. There was a time when the general public had no idea we even existed. As soon as we were conceived, they would find a way to rearrange our leave to a case of maternal death and we would be shipped to hidden places like Exhibit A."

I curled myself around Larry's free arm as Ray presented us to the transparent plastic. Behind it was a room that contained rows and rows of capsules that resembled manmade cocoons—had to be about 50 or more tucked inside one chamber. Within the oval containments were blue and pink colored blankets. The lack of light didn't help a lot with depicting much else, but I could see the faint traces of dust laid dead against the surface of them. 

"The capsules have no holes for the babies to breathe." I whispered, inquisitively. "The sides have no attachments for any type of venting or breathing room. How did they survive?"

I looked to Ray who was a ways ahead of us, already looking in the next room. He blinked at me before nodding towards the top of the door that led into the darkened room. 

I followed his gesture to find the wording marked in bold: Early Leave.

My throat closed and my muscles tightened, while my veins turned to icicles in one sweep. My mouth fell agape and disbelief left me speechless leaving the silent sadness to speak for me. I felt the anger rising from my stomach. Larry's arm suffered the worst from my reaction due to my nails seeping into the skin of his trapped arm, but he didn't pull away. He didn't even budge. He understood.

"They didn't." Larry swallowed, looking into the room before looking back to Ray. 

Ray lowered his eyes before dithering between the floor and his flexing hand below him. Looking back to us, he nodded his head toward the long hallway we'd been walking. "Lets keep going."

The curtains were being drawn and the gap between human and hybrid began to grow wider and wider the more Ray told us. He held nothing back and told us straight up what our build-up, our history in homo sapien society consisted of despite our age. We were still teenagers, still young in maturity, but he made us grow with his words and his tasks he constantly laid on us.

 We were trained. We were given tests that taught us what to do in any human-hybrid interaction situation. Our communicative skills were perfected, our medical aid abilities were honed, and our sense of direction, sharpened. It was an ongoing process that took years, but he never shunned us. He only critiqued and constructively criticized.

With our training and education in hybrid history increasing, our want and love for humans gradually decreased. Ray always told us never to hate them, but to be cautious of what they're capable of when misunderstood. It was hard not to hate the person that was continuously oppressing you and spitting in your face because they assumed you were inferior, but then again dangerous. We didn't understand their strategy of conquer-and-kill when lost. It didn't register to us that they only did such ungodly things to protect themselves. But then again, we didn't see ourselves as dangerous. We saw ourselves as targeted and also as half of what they were. We still do. All in all, we're still in danger.

 We're still stomped on and thrown into a pit of rejection and rebuke. To keep a healthy mindset knowing you're unwanted in your only place of reside is difficult. It's a challenge that we face everyday—that we faced everyday. Ray made sure we were well and hidden from the harmful, but what do you do when your mind is the biggest threat to your existence?

"To start a revolution, you must start a war, correct?" I looked into the same bleak eyes of the person I'd been idolizing for the past 6 months now. They were the same as when I first saw them. Hard, but placid. "That's what they do."

"They." He said.

I stood and leaned against the metal of Larry's bunk. We'd found more stable bunks in the right cohort of the prison. Ray inferred it had been set up for the head officials of the firm to sleep in. I suggested that we should just move into the rooms, but he went against it. The walls were too creaky and the location too deep within the base. He ended up deciding it was more meant for storage of some kind or an emergency meet up room. I didn't argue and Larry couldn't care less.

"The humans." Larry chimed in. We'd been talking about this for a while so it was basically rehearsed between us. Ray's was the only dialogue being added. "They go for war to reform. Revolution is war."

 "Violence is the only way to attain power." I added.

Ray looked at us before rising from my bottom bunk, and slowly walking to the middle of the room. We watched as he silently tucked his hands in his pockets and then turned towards us with a hardened expression that spiked an icy jolt up my spine.

"The only way." He repeated, flickering his eyes to mine. "Where did you learn this, Cera?"

"From history." I shrugged. "From the books."

"From history, huh?" He nodded, curling his lip. "American history, I presume?"

I nodded slowly, inching towards Larry who was perched on his bunk. 

"Ah, I see." Ray continued. "It makes plenty sense. American Revolutionary—the American War of Independence. End of the first British Empire and the United States comes of it. World War I—Allied victory. Germans, Russians, and Ottoman Empires lose, but we prosper." He snapped and pointed at me. "And then, World War II—1939-1945—Allied wins again. The Japanese fall and we bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Again, we make it through the war and things are all great." Ray placed his hand back in his pocket and leaned towards Larry. "Momentarily.” 

His shoulders shrugged. "The books don't pertain to us." He said. "They only pertain to them because they've built a foundation on destruction. They've started with it and so just like a lie—just like a fib—they have to keep going with it because it's what they know works. Just because the enemy is doing it doesn't mean that it's the right way. Doesn't mean it's the only way." He raised a finger. "It means it's the cultured way." 

I watched as he pointed to his side. "That's not our culture. They made that very clear to us. I know my facts and I know what your books say. I've read them twenty times over trying to find a way to kick dirt back in their faces with the same exact tactic you're using." He shook his head. "Don't let them suck you into their game. All it leaves you with is burden and guilt." He said. "That's the worst form of torture for a hybrid." 

"Yes sir." I peeped, weakly.

I didn't hear Larry's response.

"Son?" Ray eased. 

Larry breathed a hefty sigh before giving in, "Yes sir." 

"You two are worth more than that. Don't let them convince you otherwise."

Larry and I spent days trying to find a way not to live in their society, but construct our own that was more superior to theirs. We wanted to show our worth instead of solemnly living in their ignorance. We felt like prisoners. We felt like our voices weren't being heard and we were being restricted by not them, but ourselves. It was frustrating to have Ray constantly telling us to accept our place under them when we knew we were better. Stronger. Faster. More intelligent. Our abilities are double their capabilities and yet they were the ones free to frolic the Earth while we were given the fate to hide if we chose something other than their normal path.

We wanted to make a mockery out of them to show how much of a joke they actually were to us. Yet, we were taught to respect them, for they were a part of us. We just weren't a part of them.

"We're going to start saving hybrids."

I looked to Larry who was already looking at me. My back occupied his torso. I could feel his heart racing against my skin. It matched mine.

"I think you two are ready." Ray finished, looking between us. 

It was the day that we feared would come too soon. We'd been living with Ray for a good two years and some change so we knew it was near. We knew he would be coming to us with instruction on missions and information on facilities sooner than later, but that didn't stop us from feeling undertrained. I still felt like that 18 year old waking up to oblivion surrounding her—ignorance being bliss and Larry being present. I still wanted to hide. I still wanted to run away from my reality and tuck myself away.

This was all so sudden and time had gone so fast. It was almost unbelievable that he was coming to us with this.

 "I know you're scared and I know you're feeling a bit uneasy at the moment, but trust me you're more than prepared." He nodded, waiting for us to nod in return. We both did, but very weakly. "I believe in you two. You're my prodigies and I'm more than proud of what you've become. Y'all are my pride. My family."

I lowered my eyes to Larry's shivering hand that rested in mine. When I let go of it, I noticed it was me who was shuddering. Larry couldn't have grabbed it back any quicker.

Ray placed his hand on our conjoined ones and squeezed them together. "I believe in you so believe in yourselves. Believe in your kind and your ability. You're an advanced hybrid." He smiled wearily at the both of us. "Don't show them, but show yourself. You're worth more than any human and those hybrids out there need you to protect them." I smiled some as he looked at Larry. "Do what you gotta do, son." When his eyes moved to mine, I straightened up.

"Because believe it or not, y'all are more than superior. And by natural selection, my dear, those who are superior, are the future."

"When did you bring her back?"

"She get here yesterday. Shut up or leave. She resting." Larry.

I lye still as voices filled the room. The scruffs of shoes told me the two weren't the only ones present.

"How you gonna be illiterate and then tell me to shut up? You don't deserve that right." I rolled my eyes underneath my eyelids as the energetic squeak of a voice spewed the insult.

I knew Larry would get mad. Ty always knew how to tick him off—tick everyone off.

"Je vais diviser votre crâne. Regarder votre bouche. (I'll split your skull. Watch your mouth.)" Larry spat back. 

The few weird chuckles that followed came from Laurent since he was the only one that fully understood his dialect besides me. I moved to lie on my back, but didn't show any signs of consciousness. I already knew the hybrids in the room by their stench. Every one of them has a distinct smell that differentiates them from another. Stalling is the word I'm looking for.

"She still got a body. Those shorts hugging them thighs, man." Ty runs off of pure energy. We call him the triple AAA hybrid, but the actual term is an elan hybrid. He’s the most energetic I’ve by far though.

"Ty, I will end you."

"Ty, you know good and well you wouldn't even think of saying that if she was up." The country twang of Aadi. She's a stand up kind of girl--tracker hybrid. "Larry finna wring your throat if you slip up and say something too reachy."

"What? I'm only praising her for what God's blessed her with. It would be disrespectful if I didn't."

"You're defining her worth by basing your judgment off of your attraction to her. It's called sexualization." Toni—healer hybrid. "Try praising her ability to–"

 "This has nothing to do with mistogony or periods. Be quiet." Ty grunted.

"It's misogyny you incognizant prick. Learn your vocabulary before you tell Larry anything."

"Thank you, Toni." Larry cooed, behind their argument.

"Brother, don't touch Toni. She secretly a succubus. That feminist shit just a cover up." I heard a squeal come from Laurent, the elan hybrid, following his speech, telling me Toni had gotten to him before he could scurry away from her dangerous offense. 

Aadi and Ty's laughs and Larry's rebutting shouts confirmed the beat down she was serving him for his extensive mouth.

"Why are we in here? She's sleeping. We're only disturbing her." The mellow tone of Raël—sensor hybrid. We share the same type. "Ray said to check on her. I think we've overcompensated our stay. Let’s go.”

"Raël, do you ever shut up and just not be the cryptic ass middleman in a conversation? Nobody asked for your questionable, either-or input. Choose a fucking side for a change."

 "I didn't hear a question. It was an order. A command. A statement. Be quiet. I'll feed you sugar again."

 I opened my eyes the same time Ty decided to pounce on his victim. The laughs and hollers came from the far end of the room where Aadi and Laurent stood, as expected, hanging off one another. Larry took the task of holding a raging Ty back, while Toni went back and forth between the opponents with her scolding.

I watched the scene while sitting up and planting my feet on the floor to take my normal, leaned position. My side throbbed from the healing scar taking over my ribcage, but I managed to disguise the pain through expression.

 Larry felt my mental reaction to the pain, which is why he noticed my awakening first.

I slowly put a finger to my lips as his features softened and his grip loosened from Ty's arms.

 "Larry! Don't let go of him!" Toni yelled as Ty began to charge to Raël. 

I looked towards the doorframe where Raël stood with the most condescending smirk perking his lips. His eyes flickered to me as he held Ty back with a hand to the chest. 

"Welcome back." He said, letting his lips pull back into a full smile.

I nodded his way before rising from my bed and grabbing my shirt from the floor.

"Cera!" I didn't have to look up to know who was headed my way. Instead, I began to walk towards the tiny sink a few feet away from the bunks. Tossing my shirt back to the bed, I twisted the nozzles so the water would overpower his speech.

"Don't touch me." I ordered as I felt Ty's hands nearing my shoulders. Quickly moving to the side, I dodged his feverish hands and reached for my toothbrush. 

"You've been gone for so long. I wanted to give you a welcome back hug, you know. I know you've missed me."

I didn't say anything in return, merely continued brushing. To respond to Ty is to respond to a fool. He's a jester—not to be taken seriously at any moment.

"Ty, you're not going to get anything out of her." Aadi advised from across the room. "You know Cera is a cold heart and a hollow soul. She ain't the emotional kind."

I reached for the nuzzles, and slowly twisted them off so the rust would make the metal creak. I heard a mixture of pained shouts come from behind me, Aadi's in particular.

"I'm only telling the truth, Cera! Gollee!" She groaned. "There's no reason to be a mean about it."

 I spit foam into the sink before turning and leaning my bottom on the edge of the ceramic piece so I could take everyone in. All of the sensor and tracker hybrids were holding their ears, while the rest were eyeing me—one roguishly, one deliberately, and another unblinkingly.

I found the unreadable stare the most alluring, but because of whom it belonged to, I decided against it. Instead, I glared at Ty and then slowly moved my eyes to Larry who had found a seat on my disheveled bunk. When he saw me looking down at the messy sheets, he sighed and began to make it up without much effort.

 I lowered my stare and then shot my attention to an irritated Aadi.

"Everyone met with Ray, I heard." I spoke before turning and spitting my remaining toothpaste into the sink. I twisted the nozzle quickly, watching the foam drain.

"He just gone over some new missions for the retrievers that Larry can tell you about. Me and buddy over here showed him some new ideas for combat." I could see Aadi look up to Laurent through the sink mirror. He was taking false jabs as she spoke. "Raë and Ty showed him some new tech equipment that could be of use and Toni Ton just put in some request for vaccines and such. Nothing major."

"He told us to come welcome you back while he took care of business." Raël said. I turned to look at him. "He didn't say anything about coming as well, but I'm sure his visit will be when no one's present."

 The look on his face told me he knew that was what I was looking for. I cursed his inference, but didn't let my frustration with his ability to read between the lines so accurately show. Instead, I just nodded my gratitude and began to move towards my bed again.

"Thank you, Larry." I whispered as he smoothed a hand over my wrinkled sheets.

He nodded before sitting back down in his prior space and scooting over for me.

I shook my head.

"Well, welcome back, Ce. It's been quiet around here without you." Toni said with a smile.

 "Usually it's dead silent when you're here. It's nice to have that back, right guys?” 

"So help me god, Ty, I will rip out your vocal chords if you say one more thing.”

"You can't take a fucking joke, Toni?! Jeez. I'm playing with her."

"No one likes when you play with them, Ty. Especially Cera. Don't you realize that by now?"

"Toni, you like when I play with you, right?"

"Laurent, do not get on my nerves twice in a day before the 12th hour hits, I will be authorized to kill you."

Ray said he’d stop by sometime tonight when things simmer down.

I turned my attention to Larry, who was already looking at me.

How many missions do we have? 

Larry's lips twisted as I sat down next to him and turned back to our fussing teammates. While Ty and Toni went at it, Aadi was scolding Laurent for picking at Toni every time she pivoted to respond back to Ty. 

I looked to the doorframe, which still held a calm Raël. His eyes weren't on the festivities, they were on me. He smiled immediately when we caught contact. Pushing himself off the edge of the frame, he winked at me and made his exit, disappearing into the dim light of the hallway behind him. I didn't take my eyes off the entranceway until Larry telepathically whispered my way.

We don't have until next week. Ray thinks it's best if you rest up a little.

 I eyed him, but he didn't look my way.

I agree with him.

The add-on was unnecessary to me, but I took it for him-for his wellbeing.

My health is much less life threatening than those hybrids waiting for us out there. I hope you know that.

 Larry sniffed the same time Toni took her first blow at Laurent. I watched his feet maneuver his body out of her reach with advanced precision and accuracy. He'd been training rather hard lately. I could tell. I had to ask him what his regime looked like later. Maybe he could mold some rough edges of mine when it comes to combat.

The human in me knows, but the other guy is having a hard time conforming to that. I'd much rather give in to him than side with the same kind that hurt you.

"And, that's not him talking, that's me."

I didn't look his way as he turned to me. Leaning my elbows on my knees, I nodded.

"We go as soon as the scar forms. No rebuttal."

I heard him sigh through his nose irritably, but I didn't expect much more. He knew me. Once my mind was set on a decision then there was no going back. He’d have to conform to my word whether he liked it or not because if he didn't it meant I would be going alone.

"I going to the combat corner." I watched him rise from my bunk and stretch his arms over his head. "Come with me.” 

I shook my head, watching Laurent lift Toni and start to carry her towards the entrance. Ty, and Aadi followed close behind their laughs echoing down the length of the narrow hall, even when they'd gotten to the end of it.

"I'm good." He sucked his teeth, poking my ankle with a foot as I lifted it onto the bed, and stretched out my limbs. “I’m not in the mood to be treated like a toddler.”

"I not treat you like kid."

"You'll be monitoring me by the millisecond."

"You too stubborn to do it yourself." He grumbled in response, his frame already turning towards the door to head out.

I placed my hands behind my head watching him exit the room and turn down the hall, his footsteps distancing towards the outer region of the left wing. 

I sighed through my nose, closing my eyes tight before relaxing them.

Within minutes, I heard light footsteps of rubber soles slowing as he approached the door again.

"Combat was that boring?"

"Shut up."

I smirked keeping my eyes shut as he uncrossed my legs and pushed himself between the tight wedge, cupping his arms under my thighs. His bottom hung off the end of the bed and his head lay directly at the center of my abdomen, his chest melting into my pelvis.

"You're tired." I acknowledged once he settled.

I could feel it in his aura and the fatigue of his limbs resting against my thighs. He didn't respond.

"Sleep." I breathed, pushing my fingers into the start of his hair set in twists. He grabbed my wrist and pushed it fully into his abyss of his black tresses. I didn’t refrain.

He hummed his satisfaction.

"Don't worry." I said taking his thoughts into account. "I'll be here when you wake."