Wednesday, April 28th, 50XX
Elliot is exhausted, leaning over a cardbox of his stuff his packing into it, but there is still the rest of his room to pack up.
He was stuck in that godforbidden hospital for 10 whole days. He got out on the grounds he no longer posed a threat to himself or others. He stopped talking about Kaylee B and still refuses to divulge why he ran off base with Kaylee V to the annoyance of the military.
He was discharged from the hospital on antipsychotics, but his been cheeking and disposing of them when possible because in this situation, it's medication he doesn't need.
Kaylee and the rest of the alive members of RING, most have already been to court and setenced to jail, a few suprisingly to long term insutions, Bonnie Desmond ended up being sent to one, and for the others, the Military, an exception offered - General Peterson's Special Op's cutting them a deal like Vincent, Allie, Kiera, Thea, Adam and Derrick, Maxis and Elliot recieved.
And for the other RING members left behind in Canada- he doesn't know what happened to them.
"How's packing going, buddy?" Maxis smiles, walking into Elliot's room without knocking. His carrying a sandwhich with a bag of chips on the side, a cup of water and Elliot's meds.
"You don't knock now?" Elliot grumbles.
"Sorry."
"It's fine."
Maxis places everything down on Elliot's nightstand. "I know packing up is hard. You're doing well though."
"I still have over half the room to go."
"I'm almost finished with mine. When I am done, I will come back in and give you a hand. We can get it all finished before the end of the day, I'm sure."
"I'm not sure I'm hopeful on that."
"Elliot, I know you're scared and stressed. But it's going to be okay, this will all work out. We pack up, your Mum comes picks us up, we stay there for a bit and I find a job ontop, we move out into our own apartment or house eventually."
Elliot rises to his feet and Maxis matches him. "And what about Kiera?! Is she still missing! She has not been sighted! The last report on her was Kade Fallon's sister, Molly calling the police as Kiera turned up there wanting to see, Kade!"
"Elliot! I don't know how to make this better! There is only so much I can do!
And right now, you are the one here and Kiera is not!
When the police find her, then I can help her too."
"And they don't know her like we do! We should go out there and look for her!"
"Even if we did, Elliot - who says we would be able to find her."
"But she's proably sleeping rough!"
"And as horrible as that is, till she is found by law enforcement, nothing can be done to help her.
When they find her, she will be processed out of the military like we we're and we'll take her in."
"If they find her..."
"Elliot, your brain is swirling and you're tired and we need to finish packing. Here, you're meds." Maxis says, picking up Elliot's meds and handing it to him.
Maxis is watching so he has no choice, but to swallow them this time and then eat.
Maxis leaves to go back to his room. When Elliot is finished eating, he drags himself over to the cupboard and starts pulling out clothing off their hanger when he looks down under a small pile of fallen clothing.
Bending down, pulling them off, the clock and it's emitting a faint glow. He must have dropped it here and forgot about it.
That's why Kaylee B is here in Kaylee V's place. She proably wants her clock back and knows it's here.
But she was sent to court so she isn't coming back here. What should he do with it? Keep it? Destroy it? There is power in this, and that is dangerous especially as of midnight he will no longer be living on base. He will be at his Mum's.
Till he decides, he will just hide it. He does have to finish packing. He tucks the clock into the front of his pants. It's uncomfortable, but he'll make it work for now so it's not discovered by Maxis.
---
Elliot carries the last of his boxes of stuff to the moving van, Maxis doing the same.
"The last of it?" Elliot asks.
"Yep."
"What about Kiera's stuff?"
"I boxed that long up before you came back. It's in storage already in a storage place in the city."
"Can we get out and bring it to my Mum's?"
"Uh, I don't know..."
"Please, I feel like everything is going insane. I just need some normalacy. I would be greatful to see her plushies all over the place, and more fluffy blankets than we can need on every surface, her collection of unicorn and pony figures-"
"Okay, okay, I see where you're coming from. I'll get some of it out, but it is your Mum's place. It's only a layover till we find something bigger."
"You mean you're insane, you fucking psycho. Don't blame your insanity on the world around you." Snaps a voice.
It's Adam, surviving twin of Derrick who Elliot ran over...
"Adam!" Maxis yells.
"Your little boyfriend is a fucking murderer!"
"His not my boyfriend! Well, not yet anyway..."
Maxis looks at Elliot briefly and blushes, trying to hide it. "What the hell is going on?" Snaps another voice, Vincent followed by Thea trailing and someone else with her blonde hair shorter now, dressed in the camo uniform and trying not to be seen.
"Hurry up." Thea says back to her.
"Nadine." Elliot whispers. She peeks out from behind Thea.
"You didn't go to jail?"
"......"
She doesn't say anything. Vincent sighs. "She was cut a deal."
Elliot has to lean on the truck, starting to cough. "Are you okay?" Max worries, rubbing Elliot's back.
"Ah, just anxiety... does your older sister know where you are Nadine? Have you spoken to Natalie?"
Nadine shakes her head. "What happened to Natalie? She wasn't lawful to be there either-" Elliot starts.
"Arrested last I heard, Clara went after her. As for what they are doing with her, I don't know." Vincent speaks up on Nadine's behalf when they hear footsteps running.
Kiera slips in through the main gate which is open for the moving van. "Kiera!" Maxis says excited, Kiera running up to him. He goes to give her a hug, Elliot approaching do the same when she tugs on Maxis belt, ripping off his pass.
"Woah, hey! Kiera, stop!" Maxis calls out.
"Alert the General! I'll get her! Kiera!" Elliot calls out, giving chase after her and Nadine slips from Vincent and Thea, going after Elliot. "Bailey, please come back! Kiera!"
Elliot and Nadine are running through the halls. "Is now a good time to talk?" Nadine speaks up.
"You wanna talk now while we're running?"
"Well, is there going to be another time? When we're done here, my ass will be hauled back elsewhere on base and you won't get to see eachother again.
You're leaving and I do have restrictions imposed to live under. No phone, no social media, you get the picture!"
"Okay! What do you want to talk about?!"
"The kiss we shared, and... sex."
"You're not pregnant are you?!"
"What?! No! God! I am on birth control you idiot!"
"Sorry..."
"We're just friends aren't we? That's it. What we did, it shouldn't have happened.
Our lives are going seperate directions, and-"
"I'm sorry I forced you into go on dates with me in the first place. That was wrong, you're right, just friends.
And you deserve better than me."
"Why? What's wrong with you?! You're funny, intelligent, athletic and the sex was great!"
"I can't tell you, I'm sorry."
"Yes, you can."
"Nadine, the Military sent me to a mental hospital for 10 days. I was tied to the bed and drugged. I can't."
She stops running, disgusted. He breaks. "Catch our breath for a minute, yeah, cool." His breathing heavily.
Her face is one of horror. "Do you know what happened to your friends? Everyone else from RING?"
She shakes her head. "Not really... But what I do know is if I had never met you, we wouldn't be here now.
RING would still be selling people and organs, Gavin would..." She can't bring herself to say the last part. "And I would have still been looking for a way out. You bought us- me that.
So, thank you."
"You're welcome."
And they shake eachothers hands. "Kiera!" They hear a voice call out.
"Ah, shit, right!" They both say at the same time and begin running again, Elliot slides past a stairwell, Nadine pulling him back by the collar on his shirt.
"Hey, what gives?!"
She is looking up and Elliot turns his head to see the door is open, swaying in the wind. "Shit!"
They both head up the stairs and it as bad as they feared when they come up onto the roof. Kiera sitting on the railing.
"What do we say?"
"We wing it till backup help arrives.
Kiera Bailey." Nadine speaks up, hands in a gentle manner, taking a few steps forward.
"What do you want, Nadine!" Kiera calls back.
"Just to talk. To you."
"Then talk!"
"O-okay. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through, I don't know anything about you. I'm just the monster who helped kidnap you."
"You got that right!"
"But I do know how it feels to be looking for a way out, and I'm not going to stand here and tell you there is hope and it will get better."
"Good!"
"But there is-"
"And there we go with the 'But, Kiera!"
"Shit." Nadine curses. "I'm sorry, I-" She says to Elliot. "Hey, no, it was a strong start. You did well. Let me take it from here, I lived in the same apartment with her for a few years.
Kiera." He says, approaching closer than Nadine.
"What, Elliot?!"
"Do you want to talk about what is going on?"
"You haven't been around! You left us and now Allie is dead!"
"I'm sorry I haven't been here, and I'm sorry your girl bestie is gone."
"......"
"Kiera, we're going to get an apartment or a house near the beach and central park. You're welcome to join us. You will always have a place to call home and come back to at the end of the day.
"......"
"You ran away. Did you go to see Kade?"
"His dead."
"Is he?"
"Molly- his sister. I will never get to be his, a whole other family replaced me, Kaylee and Johnthan and I have parents who don't actually want me!"
"But Maxis and I want you! Parents are overrated anyway, who needs em, huh? Family is more than just blood.
We're a family, Allie, Vincent, General Peterson-"
"Was, Elliot."
"This isn't helping." Nadine whispers. "I'm trying!" He whispers back when he sees Kiera inching further over the railing.
Guess now it's time for Plan B - Fuck you, RING. He pulls out the clock.
"Where did you get that?!" Nadine says horrified as Elliot runs toward Kiera, dialing the clock backwards. Time slows right down, even freezes and his holding Kiera's hand, her looking up at him as she hangs in the air just off the edge.
Time slowly moves back and she floats back up to sitting on the edge and Elliot sees Nadine back inside the door and down the stairs.
How does he stop the clock? He gives it a slight bash on the railing and time unpauses. He drops the clock and pulls Kiera back towards him off the edge.
She lets out a yelp and he sits on the floor, her in his arms and rocking her as she squirms, but can't get away. "It's going to be okay."
She just crys and Elliot shoves the clock away to hide while Kiera's oblivious. Then a thought hits him.
"Are you pregnant?"
She cries harder. "I'm going to take that as a yes."
He hears the door behind him open, and several racing feet. Guess without Elliot there who vanished as far as Nadine was concerned, she went back looking for help.
He sits there and continues hugging Kiera, feeling Maxis throw his arms around both of them and slide down to sit.
"Kiera, want is going on for you? Tell me how I can help you." General Peterson speaks up.
"You're kicking me out of the team!"
"For your own wellbeing. It's not a punishment, there isn't really a pension avaible, but I'm going to pull whatever damn strings I can. I promise you."
"......"
"Can you please let me know why you ran off base. Where did you go in the city?"
"Kade's dead."
"Who?"
"My brother! My younger brother! Kaylee and Johnthan's other child!"
"Oh... his dead? I haven't been informed. I'm sorry, Kiera. How did you find out?"
She shakes her head, tears welling up.
"Okay, let's stop here for now. Vincent, Thea."
"Elliot." Maxis says, taking his hand and pulling him up and away from Kiera. "Elliot?" Kiera whimpers, Vincent and Thea roughly seizing her arms and pulling her towards the stairs.
"Keira, I'm sorry everything has turned out like this-" Nadine calls out, Kiera cutting her off mid setence.
"Shut up, Nadine! I'll never forgive you!"
Kiera screams back, her tears fading as she's carried downstairs. General Peterson holds his out arm and Nadine nods, heading back downstairs.
It's just him on the roof with Elliot and Maxis. "General-"
"Hugo is fine, Elliot. Go on."
"Uh..." He stammers, looking around. "Did something happen?" Maxis asks.
"She needs a doctor."
"I agree, don't worry. I'll find her one like I did for you."
"No! You don't understand!"
"What don't I understand? Enlighten me."
"S-she..." And then Elliot pukes right there.
"Woah, bud. It's okay, let's go. To your Mum's. It's been a long day." Maxis tells him, leading him downstairs, hand on his back.
---
Kiera is lying sedated in bed on the military base's infirmary. Elliot is sitting there beside Maxis waiting for her to wake up. General Peterson walks in. "When will she wake up?" Elliot asks, head snapping in the General's direction.
"Should be anytime soon, it was only short acting."
"How's Nadine?"
"Elliot, about that. Nadine is not permitted to have any contact with former people from her past and by extension, that does include you and even Kiera.
You can't be around nor see Nadine again. I'm sorry."
"Is there an end date on that?"
"Uhhh... Son, is Miss Coleman coming to collect you both anytime soon?"
"She's finishing up at work, she'll be here soon. I sent the delivery truck with our stuff ahead. Her neighbor, Isabelle is going to let them in." Maxis responds.
"Good, good."
"W-where am I?" A quiet voice whispers.
They look to Kiera, tucked in nice and warm and eyes blinking heavily, the sedation still needing some time to wear off.
"Kiera." Elliot responds, taking both her hands in his, cupping them together and resting his mouth near them. Not enough to kiss, but enough she can faintly feel their presence.
"W-what are you doing here?"
"I'm so sorry I haven't been around lately. If there was another million ways to say it, I'd say it."
"You s-said that already."
"When?"
"W-when they d-drugged you. I-I didn't get to see you again, t-they took you away from me."
"I heard you ran away. Where did you go?"
"K-Kade's dead. My brother is dead, I won't get to know him."
She's shaking and tears are threatening to spill.
"I'm sorry, Kiera."
"Oh, God. I haven't heard. Kiera, I'm deeply sorry-" General Peterson begins trying to get a word in.
"M-Molly-"
"Fallon." Elliot says.
"Yeah. S-she said h-he killed himself."
"Oh..." Maxis whispers.
"I'm scared."
"About what?" Maxis asks.
"You'll send me away too!"
"Kiera- If you can let me get a word in. Elliot was seriously unwell, his on meds now and stablized. As for you, you are being medically discharged right now as we speak.
I have my secretery working on it. You did try to throw yourself off the roof, but if you agree to and complete outpatient or day patient treatment, you likely won't need to actually go into hospital."
Kiera nods her head despretly.
"Okay then."
"Elliot, can I have a hug?"
"A hug?" Elliot responds. "Of course!"
He leans down, hugging Kiera close.
"My Mum's going to kill us all." She whispers into Elliot's ear so only he can hear. He sits back up mildly horrified, but he has to try and keep his expression neutral from Maxis and the Genereal.
He gives her shoulder a squeeze, a reassuring one letting her know he'll take care of it without every having to say a word.
"Say, uh, what happened to Kaylee V?" Elliot asks.
"Jail I think. Is she in jail?" Maxis asks, looking to his Dad.
"Oh, yes. Prison. She is, she's being prosecuted alongside RING and Prosecution has re-opened her parents deaths. Kaylee went missing after it when she was a teenager."
"Elliot, Maxis." Kiera whispers, voice weak.
They look to her. "I want to go home."
"Oh, Kiera. About that, we offically no longer live here as of today." Maxis informs her. "Elliot's Mum, Miss Coleman. You remember her? She was the Doctor who-"
"Yeah."
"She's taking us in, she has a beachfront apartment. I'm going to get a job regardless of our parting pensions and afrer a short while, find us a house or an apartment on or near the beach or somewhere else entirely.
Whatever you and Elliot want."
"The beach?"
"Do you like the sound of it? I like the sound of the beach." Elliot smiles.
She smiles back, eyes beaming.
"Beach-oriented it is then!" Maxis cheers.
Elliot caresses Kiera's forehead to settle her, moving her hair out the way, his expression changing slightly to stoic as he thinks.
You're going down, Kaylee B. Once and for all.
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