Wednesday, April 7th, 50XX
Elliot
"We're close to nearing the drop sight." Maxis speaks through the intercom as he pilots.
"Uh, so..." Elliot says anxiously. Maxis raises an eyebrow.
"You, Kiera, Lopez and Williams are going to be parachuting into a base that has been illegally set up here by an unknown group.
Your job is to ID them and if you can get any incriminating evidence on them as well, bring that back too.
Contact me then and I'll pick you up. I'll be dropping you close to the base, but pick-up point is a short hike out. You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Kiera speaks up.
"Hey, what's going on?" Vincent Lopez asks, approaching. "No one explained to me what we we're doing. Just got the call I was urgently needed, apparently someone else who was supposed to be doing this called in sick.
"Oh, for the love of sock puppets!" Maxis hisses.
"Dude!" Vincent shouts. "Guys, guys. Stop, don't fight. Not now, please." Kiera pleads, leaving Elliot to go break the peace between Vincent and Maxis.
Elliot stands near the doors, deep in thought. He barely notices the last member who's going on this mission with them. Allie, she has short blonde hair in a bun and has been a member of the taskforce for a while now.
"So, you excited for this mission? Curious who or what we'll find?" She pipes up, trying to make conversation.
"Mmm." Is all she gets out of Elliot.
"Is something on your mind? You can talk about it with me if you want. I'll listen." She offers.
Elliot barely hears, deep in thought about what to do about the flowers that he keeps coughing up. It's starting to damage the lining of his throat and stomach proably.
He could go see a doctor, he has medical insurance on account of being a member of the military. But what does seeing a doctor involve? His never heard of people coughing flowers before.
What does the cure involve? What if there is no cure and merely treatment?
What if there is no treatment? Will I die? Does what I have even have a name? What if the Military finds out, will I be discharged from service?
He feels sweat start to dot his forehead.104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVd6NGpOIq
"Elliot? Are you okay, you look pale. Are you feeling alright?"
"Uh..." He lets out, struggling to follow Allie. He kneels over a bit, hugging his arms tighter to himself. "I want the pain to stop."
A tear slides down his cheek. "Pain?" Allie says gently. "If you don't feel well, then you don't have to do this mission.
Come on, we go up front and tell Maxis right now. You can see a doctor and rest-"
Elliot looks up, his on the other side of the helicopter, watching what went down between him and Allie play out.
This is when everything went to shit, everything went down hill, ruined so many lives and this is his chance to stop it and prevent chaos, save the future, save everyone.
He takes a deep breath in, calming himself and starts running towards towards himself as he watched himself in slow motion preparing to attack and hurt Allie.
He makes it there in plenty of time and leaps into his body, feeling the air around him ripple. Opening his eyes, and feeling beyond nauseous from his Hanahaki, he tosses his blade aside and her eyes widen, anticipating his move.
He feels her twist his arm behind his back and throw him onto the floor rather solidy. "I need some help up here!" Allie cries out.
Elliot lies there on the floor, coughing it all out, cursing at the pain he feels tearing through his body.
Vincent and Kiera run up to them. "Allie, what's wrong?!" Vincent questions as Elliot coughs more and more blood and hanahaki.
"Maxis! Maxis!" Kiera cries, sprinting back up to the front of the cockpit. Vincent bends down to Elliot, placing a hand on Elliot's back.
"You okay, bud?" He questions, eyes concerned as Allie retrieves the blade, Elliot threw, pocketing it into her waistbelt so it's secured.
"H-handcuff me." Elliot whispers, voice barely audible as he continues to be sick. "What? No! You're sick!" Vincent says. "Maxis! We need to call off this mission! The General requires a team of 4 special op's at-least, we cannot go with any less!" Vincent yells up to the front.
"What's wrong with him?!" Maxis calls back. "His vomiting... We need to divert and land, it's pretty bad. You need to see this!" Vincent yells back.
"Okay, okay. I'll divert, there is a small town a bit beyond the gorge according to my system, they have a hospital or some kind of equivalent." Maxis responds and then he puts a call out that the mission is being called off and they are diverting to land.
"P-please." Elliot begs again. "Dude, why are you insisting I handcuff you?" Vincent questions. "I'm not goanna do that."
"I think he was going to hurt me..." Allie whispers. Vincent and Allie can hear Kiera crying uncontrollably up the front, Maxis trying to calm her down and their communications being dead for some reason.
They are alone out here. After several long minutes of vomiting petals and blood for Elliot, Vincent rubbing his back while Allie hangs back a bit, they land.
Maxis landed in the parking lot of what turns out to be an urgent care center, the wings on the chopper still whirling, but slowing down. Now that he can leave the pilot seat, he comes to the back to check on Elliot, Kiera still crying.
"Hey, baby. Come here, it's okay." Allie says, pulling Kiera into a hug. "I'm right here."
"Think you can help me carry him inside?" Maxis asks. "Yeah." Vincent responds and both gently lift Elliot up and carry him out, his struggling to keep his eyes open and feels dehydrated and weak.
Allie consoling Kiera, following behind by quiet a few steps. As they make it to the doors of the urgent care clinic, all of them, two staff members run out to check on the situation.
"U.S military chopper?" One says.
"That's us, we need help." Maxis says and he tells them to bring Elliot inside.
They gather a gurney for Elliot and help Maxis and Vincent to transfer him onto it, pushing it past the bay doors.
"Hey, Kaylee! We need you!" One of the staff calls out, "We got a patient!" And Maxis and Vincent are left behind in the waiting room with Allie and Kiera.
"The fuck just happen?" Allie asks.
"W-what's wrong with him?" Kiera stammers. "He was okay when we left."
"I second that, the fuck just happen? Did you see that, Maxis? He wasn't just vomiting blood and food. There was rose petals too? Red and pink ones." Vincent snaps.
"I don't know, Vincent. But they will figure it out, look, we need to make contact with the General." Maxis says, storming up to the receptionist.
"I need to use the phone." He says, grasping the landline, not waiting for permission and dials a number. It rings for a second and then there is a answer.
"Derrick? Yeah, there was a problem.
The communications in my helicopter we're dead and we had a mid flight medical emergency and I diverted."
Maxis reads out their location and then hangs up, to wait for backup and help to arrive.
---
When Elliot opens his eyes, his lying on a bed, IV in his arm and he feels nauseous. "W-where am I?' He tries to speak, voice hoarse.
"You're at a urgent care clinic, you got sick." Maxis yawns, waking up. He was resting on a chair beside Elliot's bed and begins to explain what happened.
Elliot clutches his head, feeling it throb and looks over to see a small couch and Kiera is asleep, laying on Allie's chest who is out cold, fast asleep too and Vincent is curled up on the floor asleep, but using his padded coat as a pillow/mattress.
The lights in the room are off and he can see it's dark outside. "Where's our General?" Elliot asks, worried.
"I called them hours ago, they haven't shown up yet, but I did receive a call back from them, confirming they are on the way. Apparently they are having problems with communications or something too?"
Elliot groans in pain. "Do you want to hear your diagnosis?" Maxis asks and Elliot nods silently, dealing with the pain of what he already knows he has, Hanahaki, but also that he did it.
Allie's alive, they never walked into that camp, Kiera never got bitten by a snake, he never fell down the rock face, injuring his legs.
Everything is going to be different, his done it. His back where this journey started two months ago.
But then dread fills him, he will have to live with the pain and emotional burden of knowing what did happen and that is something he won't be able to forget, ever.
But at-least the people closest to him will never have to suffer through any of it and that makes all the pain worth it.
They don't remember any of the last two months. "What's the date and time?" Elliot asks.
"Uh, just went past midnight. It's the 8th, Thursday morning." Maxis responds, looking at his glowing wrist watch and then it hits him.
His still got loose ends he needs to tie up, unfinished business. While he saved his friends and family, they aren't the only ones who need help. Elliot groans, sitting up a bit.
"Whoa, hey. You sure you wanna do that? It's okay to lie back down and get some more rest. If it really hurts, I can go get the staff. They are still on call here because we're here." Maxis shushes Elliot.
"No, that's not it." Elliot says, biting his lip.
"Then what is? You feel anxious? Cause I aware General Peterson is going to come get us, I promise, Elliot." Maxis says, taking Elliot's hand.
Elliot feels electric sparks at Maxis taking his hand to reassure him. He loves him, but could Maxis love him so early on? Does he have repressed feelings for him and Kiera at the moment?
Or the did the later pain and trauma was what was responsible for truly pushing them all close together. Guess he has to find out now...
"Cut the crap, Maxis. I know the General is your Dad, he adopted you."
"I-I- Who told you? I'm sorry, Elliot-"
"It's fine, I just wish you had told me and Kiera. You and me have been friends for a years now and you are still keeping some secrets.
You should tell her."
"C-can I do in the morning? It's almost 1 a.m, she's sleeping. I'm not going to wake her."
"Sure, of course. Morning will do." Elliot responds. "Are you mad at me?" Maxis asks.
"No."
"You sure?"
"There are far bigger things to be angry over and other people who tell worse lies. You we're just scared to share your past."
"Sounds like we have alot to talk about in the morning..."
"Yes, we do, Maxis."
"You sure you don't want to lay down, Elliot and get some more rest?" Maxis urges. "You have Hanahaki, but there is nothing the clinic here can do for you in terms of proper treatment. They gave you some pain meds and removed what they could see in your throat, causing an obstruction."
"Maxis, we need to go outside, I'm fine."
"Uhh, why?"
"Because we have to."
"Elliot, it's 1 a.m, the answer is no."
"Fine, I'll go myself then."
"Wait, wait. Just tell me why us going outside now is so important? Cause I'll need to wake the rest up, you understand?"
And Elliot gestures for Maxis to lean in close which he does, whispering into Maxis ear. Maxis eyes widen when he hears about Dr Kaylee V and Kade Beckett who's being held kidnapped in her cream van in the parking lot.
Maxis is silent and points to door, signalling with sign language, that he means the doctor here is holding someone against their will right now.
Elliot nods his head and Maxis looks concerned. "Alright, fine." He whispers. "But only because a Civilian could be at a risk of harm if you are correct..."
And he stands, gently waking Vincent, Allie and Kiera. When they all wake up, he signals for them to be quiet and not say a word and explains the situation by sign language. Each of their jaws drop open and Vincent removes the safety from his gun.
"We can't just stroll out the front doors if the doctor you are claiming kidnapped someone is dangerous." Allie signals back.
"The window, we go down the fire escape." Elliot signals and everyone stands, heading towards the window as Maxis props his chair under the door and locks it as well as a precautionary measure. Everyone slowly heads down the fire escape and makes it to the ground.
"What do we do about the car alarm?" Vincent whispers. "It will trigger when we pick the doors."
"I'll disable it from the engine at the front, just give me a minute." Elliot says, getting to work. Disabling alarms is his specialty while everyone else keeps an eye out for danger.
In less than a minute, Elliot's disabled it. "So, which doors do we go in through? Sides or back?" Allie whispers.
"The back will make too much noise." Elliot whispers back. "Sides it is then." Vincent adds on and him and Allie lock pick the side doors, gently pulling both open.
No alarm sounds and they very quietly climb inside the front and look at the inner door leading to the back of the van. Vincent presses down on it and it easily swings open with ease, Vincent heading in first, Allie behind him while Elliot, Maxis and Kiera remain outside on lookout duty.
A minute passes and Allie pokes her head back out. "Maxis?" She whispers.
"Yeah?" Maxis whispers back.
"Elliot's right, there is a young boy in the back here, he looks barely 18."
"Oh, his legal to drink. His just turned 21, his ID is in the glove compartment." Elliot responds, and Allie opens the compartment, finding Kade's ID easily.
"Wait, so we have actually discovered a kidnapping?" Kiera says, jaw dropping open. "Yes." Allie responds. "Vincent, what's taking so long?"
"These are tough to cut, I need a flashlight. Will have better luck unbuckling them." Vincent responds.
"What?" Maxis hisses. "Bro, there is medical grade grade restraints back here, tying this boy up. I NEED a flashlight." Vincent pushes.
"Let me do it." Elliot says, sliding in passing Allie who steps outside to take Elliot's position. He sees a bruised Kade lying on a old, but heavy duty mattress, strapped down.
He shines a flashlight and helps Vincent get Kade out of there. "Hey, can you hear us?" Vincent whispers, giving Kade a nudge, but he doesn't respond.
"She probably drugged him." Elliot tells him when he sees a red beam light shine into the back of the cabin through the windows from the front.
"Shit!" Elliot says, pulling the door between them and the front closed, trapping themselves inside and Vincent quickly pulls off his coat, covering the windows on the back of the van so no one can see in.
"She's out there, isn't she?" Vincent says.
"Oh, yes she is. And armed with a gun." Elliot responds.
"Do you think Allie, Kiera and Maxis will be able to take her down without us?"
"Who knows, but let's not take chances, we need backup now." Elliot responds he reaches for his back pocket, finding his mobile as Vincent can't reach for his as his covering the back windows.
"Hello, 911. What's your emergency?"104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dOTmtR0er
