Everything Changes.

[chellemrys]

It was incredibly hard to stand up by himself. That is, to get to his feet. Even time he moved he felt the glass stick deeper into him, especially if he was twisting his torso to do something like sit up or stand.


Grateful for Ahnna's assistance, he gripped her with a wince, gasping as she tugged him upwards. He knew they had to keep moving, so he didn't complain. The glass was making it hard to breathe now- he thought maybe it was scraping against a lung at this point. He wished it had punctured lower in his side, because then he would have been tempted to just stick his fingers in the wound and tug the shard out himself.


Breathing in gasps and shallow breaths, Cas could barely reply to Ahnna, "Me... Too-" A tiny grin and a glance at his savior, "Couldn't stand." A airy laugh, glad for the distraction in conversation. He glanced behind every couple minutes, wishing Adrian would keep up. He was in no condition to go back there and drag him like he usually did.


When they finally reached the lake, Cas looked up ana pointed at a boat. It had a giant fan attached to the back of it, a hover boat. A little more high tech than old swamp buggies from Adrian's time, but still old and run down. "They will... Have- a hard time following." Ahnna agreed, pulling him towards the craft as Lydia considered. Everyone began moving towards it, piling belongings onto it in haste. Looking around cautiously to make sure no one noticed their thievery.

 

[Laine]

Lydia pulled on the cable several times, grimly hoping that the machine would whirr into life. It wasn’t spacious, but it would be a perfect getaway vehicle – no built-in GPS, untraceable, able to travel miles over water. They could find a secluded clearing in the swampy forest, setting up camp until the U.G.G. found them again. An even then, provided they could protect the inflatable from being shot, they could pile onto the boat, racing away to hop somewhere else. A satisfied smile rippled onto her face as the fan at the back began to spin into action, and she yelled at the others to move.


Ahnna hauled the Lieutenant onto the boat, taking him to the flattest part. She pushed on his shoulder, encouraging him to lay down, “You’re…only going to do more damage…sitting up,” She half-shouted over the sound of the engine, and eventually he complied, lying on his side with the wound face-up, Ahnna’s bunched-up sweater acting as a kind of pillow. Her face was scrunched in concern as she saw the other grimace every time he took a breath.


The white-haired girl stood, holding a hand out to the two still not on the boat – Ade and Dane. The latter took it, and she felt his hands were slick with sweat as she tugged him onto the deck. “Are you okay?!” She asked, eyes burrowing into his. He wasn’t shellshocked like Adrian, but he looked as though he was going to throw up any moment.


“…they’re…all gone?” He murmured back. The engine wasn’t as loud as it’s 21st century counterpart, but still made it difficult for them to hear, and Ahnna’s face was one of confusion as she asked him to repeat himself as he clambered on, stumbling towards the front of the boat. He sat and stared out across the water, not bothering to answer her question.


The entire boat shook as Ade finally climbed in, his lack of balance causing him to comically slip and slide on the boat’s plastic interior. He grunted as he sat up, not even given a moment of relief as the boat charged over the water, with Lydia and Aiber controlling it from the rear. Going at breakneck speed, they sped out towards a gathering of trees growing in the water, just as a local ran towards the waterline. He screamed an array of curses, waving a weapon of some sort.

 

[chellemrys]

Cas didn't try to sit or lie down at first, instead planning on standing to defend the boat in case they were attacked by either the people that owned it, or more assassins. Ahnna pushed him down gently, and he complied reluctantly, putting up with the shifting glass in his flesh just long enough to get down. He lay straight as an arrow, careful not to roll or scrunch up, which could cause more damage.


The bleeding had slowed now, but the hand protecting the wound was covered in blood. Not able to really roll over to find his drahy, he put up with the wound, sure he would come any second. He felt paralyzed by the object; the slightest movement meant shooting pains and tearing between his ribs. He was about ready to just ask for a pair of pliers himself, so he could remove the glass without help.


The boat eventually entered a dense forest of trees, growing out of the swamp water. Every once in a while one could see the heavy, scaly backs of crocolisks bathing in the rays of sun that slid through gaps in the trees. Vines hung down and sometimes brushed against a passenger's face, swinging in the wind of the boat's fan.


After a few minutes, Cas tried to sit up and look around, but gasped loudly and flopped over again. "Adrian!" He called, patience running out. "Give me the pliers if you can't do it."

 

[Laine]

As they reached the dense forest, the boat slowed somewhat, which Ade was thankful for – he wasn’t going to extract whatever was in Cas’ side while it was bouncing over the waves, no matter how painful it was. The doctor began emptying their bag of supplies, searching for the first aide kit. He blinked furiously in an attempt to clear his mind, ducking down to avoid seeing the alien flora and fauna around him. His hands shook as he rifled through, breath coming out in thick gasps.


“You’re – you’re not doing it yourself,” Ade said, finally seizing the muddy pack and unzipping it. Inisde, there was only basic first-aid equipment – bandages, band-aids, safety pins, scissors. He cast an ashamed look at the other, guilty he had no powerful painkillers or sutures to ease the healing process. He slid towards Cassidy, sitting beside Ahnna and pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves. “Just, please – try to relax.” He said, his own teeth gritted as he failed to follow his own advice. He gingerly took Cas’ arm, lifting it in an attempt to remove the bloody hand clamped over the wound. “You’re driving it in further doing that,” Ade breathed, placing the arm down in front of the other’s chest, “What do you think went in…?”


Adrian slowly peeled up the bloody and torn shirt, moving it up his torso until the wound was fully exposed. It didn’t stand out much on his dark skin, on the surface only looking like a minor cut. But judging by the blood still oozing out and the pain Cassidy was in, the object embedded was fairly deep, scraping against an oblique muscle and pointing upwards towards his ribs. Ade gently tugged on the skin with his gloved hands, pulling the two sides apart slightly apart. The wound opened up, and Ade peered inside, trying to spot the foreign object. He could sense Cas starting to squirm, and murmured for Ahnna to hold him steady. “Yeah, sure,” She murmured, reluctantly seizing his free arm and shoulder, and pinning him to the bottom of the boat. “Sorry, Cas.” She breathed, biting her lip. Her white hair whipped around her face as they continued to progress through the forest.


Wordlessly, Adrian pulled out the tweezers, still leaning over the other’s side. His hands were still shaky, but there was a deep, almost meditative concentration as he peered in. He took a deep breath, sliding the instrument inside and sqeezing his eyes at the sound of the other crying out, searching for the buried object.

 

[chellemrys]

Cas breathed a finally when Adrian crouched down with the pliers into view. He didn't expect pain medications, he never had access to them on the field before. Just a cloth and his own willpower. Relax, time to relax. He peeked down at Adrian moving to open the wound, and he braced himself, promising himself that soon the awful shooting pains would be gone if he just stayed still for just a few more minutes.


He felt the squish of his flesh when Adrian pulled open the wound, and he couldn't help but tense up and pull away slightly. Ahnna grabbed his shoulders, and pushed him back down on the floor, but he didn't protest. Only clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth together. "Just do it-" And Adrian sure did. His sentence was broken off by a howl. Cassidy squeezed his eyes shut, along with his fists. Trembling in an attempt not to struggle. It was always hard not to lash out at the person trying to help you when they were causing such awful pain.


The tweezers slid in, causing Cas' flesh to squish. His legs kicked a bit as the noise of moving flesh and skin entered the air, along with the sharp pain of being stabbed by a new foreign object. Adrian had a tough time getting deep enough in to retrieve the glass, and kept having to push deeper into the wound, which started gushing blood anew. Growling and muffled howling from Cas as he dug in, the ex-agent trying his best to keep quiet.


Adrian had half the length of the tweezers in his side before the clinked against the glass shard, making Cas gasped and yowl out loud, struggling against Ahnna by instinct. "Shh, shh." Ahnna cooed close to his face, her white hair falling out of its hair pin and tickling the end of his nose. His legs trembled like gelatin beneath Adrian, but he willed not to kick and cause him to jostle the tweezers in the wound. Clamping around the object, his drahy began to extract the shard, which slid against his flesh, causing more internal scraping. Out came a jagged shard about the size of his thumb, covered in slippery crimson blood. As soon as it left, the pain dulled only a little. Ahnna let go, and Cas' palm flew up to his face, wiping at it as if it would make the pain disappear.

 

[Laine]

Ade placed the glass shard steadily down on a piece of plastic in the first-aid kit, frowning at it’s relatively small size. “Hold on, we’re not done yet, Ahnna.” Ade said, quietly, and the Private looked at the doctor in confusion. He put the tweezers down, hands returning to the dark flesh and pressing against it, around the area the glass had been stuck.


“Does that hurt?...What about here?” He said, continuing to probe the skin as blood began to gather at the top of the wound. He gauged Cas’ reaction by the tightening of his fists, trying to ignore the pained expression on his lover’s face. He breathed a sigh of relief finally as he finished, after feeling nothing out of the ordinary, and no sudden spike of pain in his patient. He nodded to Ahnna’s confused expression, “He’s moved so much – a piece could have broken off inside him and travelled further. I didn’t want to risk having to reopen it later.” She seemed to agree with him, surprised that she hadn’t considered that.


Not stopping for even a second, the doctor sighed, pulling out thick bandage, tape and cotton wool. “No stitches.” Adrian grumbled, forehead wrinkled with stress. In such a dirty environment, it wasn’t ideal to have a wound that could potentially open over and over again. He immediately started putting pressure on the cut, asking Ahnna to grab the bottle of water behind him. The other started to move again, and Adrian smiled weakly, this time looking him in the eyes. “Shh. It’s okay, Cas. Not much longer now.” He temporarily lost his balance as the boat swerved to narrowly miss a reptile sliding in the water, but managed to prevent his patient from rolling over or stretching himself in a more painful position.


After several minutes Adrian lifted his hands, throwing the blood-soaked bundle of cotton on the boat’s deck, and grabbing another. He continued doing this until the bleeding had slowed to an acceptable level, and the outsides of the wound had started to dry out. He next cleaned the wound using the water, causing faintly-bloody fluid to run underneath and soak into Cas’ clothes. All the while the Lieutenant’s breathing was shallow and slow, with breathing still bringing him a moderate level of pain. The Doctor packed the outside of the wound with a couple of cotton wool balls, wetting it slightly in the water to stop the fibres from sticking. The bandage was stretched over the makeshift-gauze, and in just over twenty minutes total the wound was suitably protected and sterilized. “Alright, it looks like we’re done.” Adrian breathed, blinking softly as Ahnna looked at him. He looked down at his hands humbly, only to notice that they were no longer shaking.


“Ah – ah – ah,” Ade said, suddenly leaning over and pressing Cas’ head down as it rose to inspect the dressing, “No unnecessary movements. You’re going to need to stay very still for the next couple hours.” He said firmly, rolling the other’s shirt back down. “As difficult as I know that is for you.”

 

[chellemrys]

Cas' shallow breathing continued, but he felt much relief once Adrian had taken out the shard and began dressing the wound. The cool water over it felt refreshing, and even nice over the area. Ahnna stuck around watching Cas, and he peeked between his eyes every once in a while to find her still sitting next to him, staring at him as he laid there trying to relax. She got stuff for Adrian every once in a while, but beyong that her care was unnecessary. Naturally, Cas became curious as to why she went through so much just to ensure his well-being.


After Adrian finished caring for the wound and had properly scolded him, Cas let his head lazily loll on the deck, glad to pass out for a while. "Trust me-" He winced, smirking afterwards, "That's no issue." Not even three seconds after Cas said that, a snake fell out of the trees and landed on the deck, next to his face.


Ahnna jolted, jumping to her feet. Before she could react, Cas instinctively shot up and smacked it before it could realize where it was, and who it was around. It went flying over the edge of the deck, hissing and coiling in spirals. Look back to Cas though, and he was scrunching up in pain, groaning. "Fucking- s-snakes."


Ahnna looked up at the trees, narrowing her eyes at the sunlight slitting through the trees and hitting her face, "I remember those... They are poisonous. They are vine adders." Aiber was snickering at the wheel, having watched the three's spooked reaction, and Cassidy's resulting pain from his hero-like banishing of the snake. Lydia elbowed him, pointing him onwards.

 

[Laine]

Ade eventually stood, hauling himself up from beside his dozing drahy and shakily stepping off the boat to where the rest were huddled. Night had fallen extremely rapidly, and they had docked before they risked running out of gas in the cold, pitch-black wilderness. A flashlight with a T-shirt wrapped around it was sat in the middle of Lydia, the two Privates and Aiber, which was their only source light. They spoke very little, with Aiber occasionally breaking the silence with helpful comments such as “We need more food,” and “Let’s hope Petar doesn’t bleed to death.”


As soon as Ade approached, Lydia stood, pushing past him and mumbling something about getting more batteries for the flashlight. The doctor ordered for Lyd to not wake Cas, and she scowled at him, marching the ten feet or so back to the boat. Ade sat down, sighing at the dimly-lit faces as he crouched beside them. They didn’t even have sleeping bags – merely their own backs and the filthy clothes they had traversed the swamp in. Ahnna looked up, a trace of worry on her face, now she was away from the ex-Lieutenant, “Is he going to be okay?” She murmured softly to Ade.


The doctor nodded with a nervous laugh, “Providing it can actually heal properly...” He pushed a hand through his hair in stress, sighing a little as he thought of his injured lover, “Yeah, he should be fine. As long as we don’t run into the UGG or he manages contracts gangrene.” The white-haired girl’s eyes widened, and she repeated the foreign word quietly, as if it were a curse word.


“What’s that…?” She said, and Ade cocked an eyebrow.


“You’ve never heard of it?” He said, before remembering disease barely existed in the future. He avoided the gruesome details, not wanting to scare the girl with stories about patients with black feet and oozing limbs. “It’s er…an infection. Don’t worry about it. Just make sure you’re cleaning your wounds, if you get any.”


****


The Captain slowly got on the small boat, trying to distribute her weight evenly to avoid it violently rocking. She cast a sideways glance at Cas, a guilty look on her face as she bent down to rifle through Cas’ only bag to take inventory. She swallowed thickly, taking her pride with it, and slowly mumbled to the other, whom she assumed was sleeping, “…Well, Cas…I can’t say I expected you to wage a standoff with the U.G.G. on your own. You might well have just saved all of our assess today.”

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy had woken when Adrian got up, because of how clumsy his drahy was. He may have thought he was quiet getting off the boat, but really he had clunked off it and the thing had rocked back and forth afterwards. Lydia, on the other hand, walked with ease on it. No rocking, barely audible footsteps.


Cas' eyes blinked open in the darkness when he heard his bag being rifled through, but he merely watched her back, making sure she wasn't going to take anything like his gun. She had her back turned, so he stealthily propped himself up on his elbows. He felt like smirking at the random, uncertain apology he was receiving. If it was an apology. It sounded like the beginning of one. As she fell silent, he struggled to keep a neutral, if not serious, face on- instead of the smirk that he had to suppress. "...Yeah?" He whispered, making her jump slightly and turn around.

 

[Laine]

The Captain narrowed her eyes, at least glad that Cas was too tired to be satisfied by her apparent apology. “Yeah. So…good job.” She snapped, arms flattening against her sides. “For a civilian.” She turned back to the bag, taking a mental note of the food they had left. Her face twitched in discomfort as she felt the ex-Lieutenant’s eyes on her still.


“I take it Private Malkov told you about the call?” She sighed, her voice tired as she started pulling out the bags of chips, squinting to read the English on the front. Not waiting for a reply, she continued, “It bothers me they were there so fast. The U.G.G. must’ve been camping on those kids. They could’ve been there days, or weeks in advance. Just waiting for them to try and contact us.”


The boat fell silent again, and Lydia swallowed thickly. “They lost a lot of comrades, today. More than we ever lost in one sitting. Except, well, obviously...” She turned to Cassidy, the old memories of their unit reluctantly resurfacing. She sniffed, flattening her voice to become more professional, “Private Cohl isn’t taking it well. He isn’t speaking to anyone. Not even Ahnna.” She slowly started shovelling the food back into the bag, biting her lip, “I was hoping you could talk to him.”

 

[chellemrys]

Cas tapped his index finger on the deck, looking down and pretending that he wasn't all that interested in what she said. A tiny chuckle at her smart comment, and he raised his eyes to watch her continue to dig. He thought about telling her that since he was a civilian, that those were his supplies she had her hands running through- not any agent's to use freely anymore. But he knew she would just get irritated and take it anyway. He just listened with one brow raised, eyes boring into the back of her head.


It bothered Cas too, that the U.G.G. was able to target them so fast. Definitely. He agreed with Lydia in his thoughts, looking around the dark landscape with one sweep of his darker eyes. They could be among them at that very moment, and how could they know. The privates that got killed were certainly more inexperienced than Lydia and Cas, but they had been there watching them. Trained agents did not notice them. He didn't think they were being watched at the moment, however, because they had already been targeted. Plus, the U.G.G. knew they had been dealing with terrified privates, fresh out of training. More naive and more passive than people like Cas and Lydia, who were obviously active and plotting every move and second, knowing what to do in dangerous situations more than any entire unit of privates combined.


Cas could only focus however, until the next thing Lydia brought up. "Talk... To your dog." He couldn't help insulting the private, because over the past week all the young man had done was accept Lydia's every order, and ignore Cassidy altogether. "Hmph-" The suppressed smirk finally rose from the depths beneath his serious expression. "The fact of the matter is, I'm not an agent anymore, Lydia." No Captain Lydia anymore, not to him. "You need to instruct your privates on how to deal with situations like this."

 

[Laine]

“I... I already did.” She stifled a sigh, zipping the bag shut and turning to the other, arms folded. She had instructed her Privates how to deal with loss – exactly in the way she had done it. Keep going. Follow orders. Always be cautious. But Dane was like a shocked deer – he could barely move after witnessing the death of his comrades, at times being even worse than Adrian. She knew from his file he had only just scraped through exams to get in, and even so, he had been the least enthusiastic on missions, the least excited to actually travel backwards or forwards in time. The Captain had wondered whether he should actually be there, but had put him through as a Private after several insistent messages from his family. Oh, how things would be different for Dane if he had simply left when he had the chance, she thought bitterly.


“Besides, it’s Cap-” She caught herself before she finished her sentence, eyes narrowed violently at the emergence of a smirk. “Well, er - like it or not, Cassidy, you still are an agent. You act like one, you fight like one, you think like one, too. All those years, all those partners we’ve lost – they haven’t gone just because you resigned to get a one-up on me.” She realised she was raising her voice in frustration. Her eyes flicked up at the dim light on the shore, and the illuminated bodies shuffled closer as a chill caught in the air. Lydia was thankful at least the light wasn’t so strong out on the boat – she felt as though the dark circles under her eyes were beginning to show through.


She sat on edge of the boat, leaning over with her hands clasped over her knees. “We just…we needed order, at the end of the day, Cassidy. And me, being the highest ranked officer…I felt I needed to…assert myself.” Her voice went quiet again as she thought back to her actions at the homeless shelter. She had snapped – practically over nothing – and ever since she’d been trying to work out why. She pinched the bridge of her nose as the guilt came flowing back, remembering the violent crunch as her long-term comrade’s head hit the floor. “I should’ve known you would be so defiant. You always have been. Even now, when I'm trying to-” She broke off with a weak, tired chuckle.

 

[chellemrys]

Cas scoffed, before she even got to finish her point, "It's more than a one up on you. All those years. You pretty much mean all the hard times we've been though. All the training and the experience." A quick laugh, paired with a shake of his head, "Well, it was too easy for you to strip my ranking away like that. All those years equal a ranking. I won't be humiliated, Lydia." Anyone that knew Cas knew about his pride. When someone tried to squish him, he would always just fight harder and harder, believing that if he didn't keep his dignity intact he could become putty in someone else's hands. He believed that holding onto your dignity was a way of holding onto yourself. Letting someone else define you as their toy really made you worthless. If you can't stand up to them enough to maintain dignity, how do you expect to beat them?


Cas eyed her as her sentence broke off again, and silence fell between them. He understood what she was saying, and he also understood what he had done. He had an attack. And he didn't want to seem weak, crippled or disabled, or anything of that sort. He couldn't- he felt it would make himself less of a person. Less of an agent. Everyone would be worried about him, or wouldn't think he was stable enough to work. Cas couldn't have anyone believing any of those two things. The only person in the whole universe that knew was Adrian. The only person that should know. So, naturally Cas wouldn't apologize first. He waited, the rest of Lydia's words hanging in the air. Only thinking the phrase: The word you're thinking of is apologize?

 

[Laine]

“I – I wasn’t trying to humiliate you-” She protested, her arguments becoming weaker as she realised, that’s exactly what she had been trying to do. But only because, in her eyes, that’s what Cassidy had done first. By making obvious her lack of authority without the agency, he hit her where she was weakest – and he must’ve known about it. She never lost her cool so easily, otherwise.


The Captain looked up at him, rubbing her hands together as if she was cold. “Cassidy, you’re a strong person. You’ve worked for years, just as I have, and suffered just as much as me. Helmi, I would be as upset if someone had stripped my rank away.” The dark eyes seemed to follow her words, expecting the apology she wasn't willing to give up. But it's not like we can be like this forever. And he will certainly never give in first. I'm just going to have to be the bigger person.


She took a deep, heavy sigh, looking at him with narrowed eyes, like a kid that's been forced to apologise. “I’m – I’m sorry, Cas, okay?” She straightened up, swallowing down her pride, to the ex-Lieutnenant's surprise. She longed for a way to say it that would make Cassidy understand, how much she missed being his comrade, part of his unit, and his friend, even if it meant being the victim of his pranks. Especially being the victim of his pranks. ”And perhaps…if you really wanted... I could reinstate you." Her voice was flat and emotionless as ever, despite the effort she had to put behind her words. "-But that's if, and only if, you promise we won't have this problem again."

 

[chellemrys]

Cas' eyes travelled up and down his comrade's face, criticizing her in his own head. Waiting for her to give in and buckle to an apology. Finally she admitted that she would have been upset too. She was getting closer to what he wanted to hear...


Cas perked up when she finally uttered what he was looking for; he pretended he didn't notice or care, instead looking off into the dark woods. That was, until she wanted him to promise. Promise basically he wouldn't have an attack again.


His dark eyes narrowed, pretending to be bothered that she don't trust him, but the fact of the matter was that she didn't know about his problem. Having little choice, he choked out a quiet, "Yeah, I promise." Praying that nothing happened to him again...

 

[Laine]

The Captain breathed a sigh of relief at the weight that was lifted from her mind. A tiny smile curled onto her lips, and she mock-saluted him, “Good. It’s good to have you back on board, Lieutenant.” She was actually impressed for once – the Agent she knew whom would resist torture to maintain his pride had actually given in to her demand. Unbeknownst to her, the promise was not genuine nor possible for him to keep. “I hope – I hope things will be smoother between us, from now on. Now that we understand each other.” She spoke with authority, as always, but this time her words were a little less awkward.


She nodded at Cas’ flank, which was still upright, the bulge of bandages visible underneath his shirt, “How are you doing, otherwise?” She had tried hard not to focus on his screaming and yells of pain whilst they were driving along, although now she felt concern for her comrade. It worried her that with their access to medical equipment severely reduced, all of their injuries would have to heal naturally. “Makes me glad you dragged Ade along. He seems to know what he’s doing, even if he is clumsy.”

 

[chellemrys]

Now that we understand each other. Cas scratched his head; he hadn't told her the truth, and he couldn't control whether or not he stuck to the promise. But what can I do. He simply nodded at her, looking down at his bandage bulge through the t-shirt. "I think it's fine." Gingerly putting a hand over it, he pressed lightly to see how much the wound would hurt him. Wincing, he quickly stopped doing that. "Think I rolled over a piece of glass in the station."


Cas traced the line of the shore, looking off towards the single light beam pointing upwards into the trees. Adrian had been doing well, for a civilian. And at least he had certain skills. But, he too wasn't accustomed to natural healing. Cas chuckled, "You mean his barbaric twenty-first century skills?" The Lieutenant shook his head, only joking about Adrian - but truly believing in the 21st centuries primitive nature.

 

[Laine]

Ade narrowed his eyes at the boat on the water, hearing the faint sound of chuckling in the dark. “I’m just gonna go check on Cassidy.” He said, his voice tinged with suspicion. As he rose to stand, Aiber patted him on the back, giving him a dark look, with a nod. “Think about what I said, hm?” He whispered, his voice gravelly and deep. Ade simply frowned back, sparing no more than a cautious nod before walking off.


Lydia chuckled again, “Well – I didn’t want to offend him, but the way he was jabbing at you with those…things…” She said, shaking her head, “I’m not sure I ever want to be at the receiving end of his, er…medical care.”


His face appeared from out of the brush, arms folded as he spied his drahy, awake and prodding the wound. “What do you think you’re doing?” He scolded to both of them. The doctor stepped out onto the boat, keeping his arms folded to show he was serious, “Cassidy is supposed to be rest-” He yelped as the boat suddenly rocked, causing him to lose his balance and fall forwards, narrowly missing the Lieutenant’s legs and faceplanting the bottom of the boat. Lydia, who was still balanced on the side of the boat, gave a indignant snort, stifling a laugh as the furious doctor raised his head at his lover.

 

[chellemrys]

The Lieutenant giggled like a teen with a crush when Adrian fell into the bottom of the boat, enjoying the other's frustrated struggles to stand. Cas grinned over at Adrian, obviously feeling a lot better. He shifted his weight, making the boat wobble again as the doctor tried to stand. Adrian swayed, Cas sticking out his tongue. "I've been resting, Adrian." Sliding towards Ade's legs, Cas reached out and wrapped an arm round the wobbly legs keeping him upright. It was comforting and terrifying at the same time, because Cas held him steady. But at any second could tug his drahy over to join him on the floor.


Cas pushed his face against Adrian's leg, smiling up at him from his dark face, "We were just talking about you, actually." Cas tugged on Adrian's pants, hoping to make him fall down a little. But he only buckled slightly, and his pants slid down a bit. Both Lydia and Cas made a slightly obnoxious 'ooo~', and Cas grabbed on tighter to Adrian's legs. "You shouldn't have gotten up, you could just lay down right here."

 

[Laine]

“Oh, were you-” Adrian squirmed as the Lieutenant clung onto his legs like a child. He hastily held onto his pants with one hand, thankful it was too dark to see his face burning pink. “Helmi, Cas, have some restraint..!” He said with a dry chuckle, although his eyes were narrowed deeply at the embarrassment. He tried again to break free, but the weight at the bottom of his moose legs meant he was only going in one direction – down. He sensed himself starting to topple, and had to arch his back to stop himself from falling onto his lover. “Come on, you’re going to hurt yourself.” He warned, although it was obviously him that was going to do any hurting, with his terrible sense of balance. Lydia continued to chuckle, adding to Ade’s strifes.


“Right, that’s it,” Ade snapped. He gave in and bent his legs, causing all his weight to be moved to his lower back. His feet shifted out from underneath the Lieutenant, and he landed ungracefully at Cassidy’s feet again. He recovered quickly, bundling up the Lieutenant’s legs and lifting them over the side of the boat, “You’re going overboard,” He growled, mock-pushing the limbs off the side of the deck. The tiny swamp-boat shifted from the weight imbalance, and Lydia had to push down on her side to stop them from taking in water. She clapped her hands together as the boat re-stabilised, shaking her head as Ade threatened to throw the other’s boots into the murky, freezing water.


“Boys, boys. Lights out.” She said with a smirk, getting up with near-perfect balance and neatly stepping off. “Let’s let the, er…Lieutenant get some more rest.” She paced away, towards the dim light of the flashlight. She shook her head as Adrian continued to stagger around the boat behind her.


The doctor cocked an eyebrow at Cassidy, surprised by Lydia’s words. He put down the other’s feet, and crawled down the hard plastic boat bottom until his head was in line with the others. “Oh, so you’re a Lieutenant-Time-Agent again?” He said, voice tinged with amusement. There was little surprise there, considering the way he and Lydia seemed to be back on equal terms again. Adrian shivered suddenly as a chill breeze blew through the barreled deck of the boat.


“That’s a shame. I kind of liked being bound to a time-travelling space rebel.” He noticed the other mock-shiver too, and he rolled his eyes, shifting closer so their bodies were touching. Ade wrapped an arm around the other, lazily resting it on his side, just above the bandages. "What made her change her mind?"

 

[chellemrys]

Making Adrian finally snap made things more exciting, and he let out a sharp 'woah!' as his legs were grabbed and tugged towards the edge of the craft. He yelled, "Hey- Hey-! A-zaa!" Between silly giggles, not doing much to stop Adrian. Lydia instead made his monstrous rampage stop, and he smirked, mocking a disappointed 'Awww!' Cas settled down, wincing at the movement of the tiny wound. It mildly bothered him, and barely at all if he elected to stay still. Which was naturally tough for him.


Adrian laid down beside Cas, and the Lieutenant immediately shifted himself closer, lowering his head onto Adrian's shoulder. "She... Just felt bad." He neglected to tell him about his promise. Adrian sure wouldn't like it, and he didn't enjoy bringing up or acknowledging his problem. Cas shuffled it to the back of his mind and attention with antics and distractions. "Enjoying swamp life?" Cas' hands slid up Adrian's rib cage, a mischievous gleam lurking in the depths of his eye as he began tickling lightly tickling his drahy; an attempt to bother Adrian even more.

 

[Laine]

She just…felt bad? He frowned at the response the other gave, but decided not to question it any further. Either way, they had sorted it amongst themselves, and Adrian was thankful that they would be at least trying to co-operate now, instead of childish arguments. “Ah – Jeez, your hands are cold-” The doctor growled. He struggled to keep a smile off his lips as the other’s dark hands dug into his ribs. He squirmed, eventually grabbing the Cas’ hands and lacing his finger’s in-between them, stopping him from any further mischief.


“Oh, it’s not too bad, I suppose.” He said, twisting his lips in amusement. “The hotel is nice, the food is great, the weather is good and temperate, and nothing beats lying down in a comfy, warm bed at the end of a long day…” The sarcasm in his voice was starting to sound like bitterness towards the end, and he sighed, burying his chin in the Lieutenant’s dark wispy hair. Every so often he would simply tell himself he’d feel better when they finally got home, even though they both knew that was never going to happen.


The doctor smirked, his warm breath flickering the tips of Cas’ hair. “Still. It can’t be all bad, can it?” He released the other’s hands, letting his own trail down to Cassidy’s hips. “I heard you were planning to build us our own private mud-hut…”

 

[chellemrys]

A rolled his eyes, the smirk never leaving. "I used to do this almost every day, for years at a time. Just- be grateful. We aren't in a place like... Antarctica." Cas had in fact stayed and survived on a frozen planet. The highest temperature on the planet was like Boston in the Winter. And it snowed. Constantly. It was so cold that they gave them special full body suits to wear under their clothes- even covering their hands and feet. It was advanced technology that maintained body temperature. But he still managed to get minor frostbite. That was how cold the planet was. The Lieutenant felt the warm breath in contrast to his memories against his raven hair, and he rubbed against Adrian's chin, treasuring the heat.


Cas had closed his eyes, and squeezed Adrian at the mention of a private hut. "Hm... No, I'm good." He waited a few seconds, before sniggering. "Wouldn't you rather be out under the stars?" The Lieutenant opened his eyes, staring up and into the great unknown world of a million floating lights above him. "Sleep under the stars... And sleep under the stars." Elbowing Adrian a few times, he let his lids slide shut again, and his head loll onto his drahy's shoulder. Within a minute, soft snoring rose from Cas' in the darkness, and his figure drew in a bit closer to Adrian, sufficiently exhausted.


***


The next morning Ahnna woke before everyone else, wandering around in silence through the tiny camp they had made. The soft purr of an engine could be heard, far off in the distance. "Hey, guys-" She warned, narrowing her eyes. Far, far across the murky water and through the trees, a boat was drifting through the water. Barely visible in the early morning light and shadows the Earth-ruling greenery cast. She went around, swiftly waking everyone. "Guys-" She hissed, "I think it's that man. The owner of the boat..."

 

[Laine]

Lydia’s eyes opened softly, her body unmoving as she was woken – a reflex response from her training. She scanned the waterline ahead of her, narrowing her vision to look past their own boat, and towards one much small, with a tiny engine in the back. Three or four figures were crouched inside it, two holding harpoon-like weapons, and another with a gun. She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Helmi. Not the U.G.G.


The boat slowly slid out from the clearing into another section of trees, steadily advancing now one of the tribal humanoids inside it had spotted their stolen boat. The Captain slowly rose to her hands and knees, walking in a crouch towards Cassidy and Ade, still quietly dozing huddled up inside the deck. Just as she reached the waterline, the enemy boat remerged, and she had to flatten herself against the wet ground to avoid being spotted. She drew her gun from it’s holster at her waist, quietly loading it as she listened for them to get closer. Lydia drew herself up against the hull, leaning against it with tense muscles.


Just then, a loud groan echoed through the morning camp, and the Captain’s head snapped around to see Aiber, lazily rolling over and groaning. “Fucking hell, my back – What?! What’re you-“ He grumbled, rubbing his eyes and pushing Ahnna away. She clamped a hand over his mouth, begging him to shut up. But it was too late, and Lydia gritted her teeth as she heard the locals click to each other in the local tongue. Their weapons clicked threateningly as their loaded, and she readied herself as she heard a quiet splash. One of them had entered the waist-high water, wading through it and pointing his gun at the dark tufts of hair sticking up over the side of the hovercraft.

 

[chellemrys]

Aiber began yelling, and Cas' eyes flew open on instinct. He wasn't as alert as would if he was fully awake, but he blinked into the early morning light, now staring at a pristine diamond sky above, with the white sun of the planet rising in far to the West. A quiet sigh, and he rolled over, pulling Adrian's waist closer in a hunger for heat and closeness. A loud splosh in the water sent Cas' eyes snapping wide open, and he tensed against his drahy.


Cassidy reached for his gun, trying to keep perfectly still. His ears scanned for more sounds, to signal what the loud splash had been, but besides the movement of legs through water -coming towards the boat- there was complete silence. As if no one else had heard that sound and woken. But he knew that would be absurd, since four of them were trained agents. Their job revolved around skills as simple as waking up at suspicious sounds.


Gun in hand, Cas had an arm pinned beneath Adrian's heavy back. His drahy had not woken yet; his chest gently moved up and down as he breathed, enjoying a peaceful rest. The only one still enjoying some sleep. Watching, waiting, Cas heard the sploshing of an approaching man stop, and his narrowed eyes focused on the barrel of a gun sliding over the rim of the boat, barely able to differentiate whose head it was pointed at because of their closeness.


Cassidy stole his arm with a sharp tug that sent Adrian's body rolling out of the way; the agent snapped into a sitting position, kicking the barrel of the hunter's gun away as it fired- getting the harpoon and cord stuck in a crate on the other side of the deck. On his feet, Cas grabbed the man, but was pulled off easily because of the now rocking craft.


As soon as Cas had pulled his arm away so violently, and the shouts and rocking of the boat commenced, Adrian shot up with a screech, jolting into consciousness with wide eyes and an arm outstretched. At that point, Cas was already in the water, wrestling with the man who had lost his weapon. He was trying to aim his gun, but kept having to block a punch or advance in the murky gunk this planet called water. Adrian had outstretched just one single hand. And of course, one of the men who hadn't come forward shot as Cassidy from where he stood, attempting to stop the agent in his tracks. Instead of hitting Cas, the spear end whizzed through the air, cord attached, and went through the fleshy webbing between Adrian's thumb and index finger.