Coming Home (Part 2)

Posted on Thu Dec 22nd, 2022 @ 2:23am by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Private Mattias Tonelly & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)

Mission: The Mutant Underground
Location: Underground Base
Timeline: Present Day

A while later, the bathroom door opened back up and Mattias rolled back out, dressed in the clothes that Bethany had said he could wear. They were a bit large on his frame, but he made do. He wouldn't complain about it to anyone.

As he rolled back into the living room, he noticed the numerous paintings. He knew, from the various reports he had read, that Fractal…Bethany, couldn't be photographed. So, clearly, she and the man she was with, she said his name was Jon, had had paintings done of them instead. They looked like a happy couple, he thought.

Then it occurred to him…Fractal was usually teamed up with Rook. And there had been some sketchy reports that Rook, along with many other heroes, had either been killed or captured during the recent battle with Hydra. And as Jon seemed to be missing…that meant that Jon must be Rook!

So they had both lost someone they loved recently. Yet another fact that connected the two of them.

By the time that Mattias hauled himself out of the bathroom, the house was filled with the smells of steak and potatoes being cooked. Bethany stepped out of the kitchen and into the dining room with a couple of table settings. The young woman began setting the table for two as Matty looked over the paintings.

He looked over at Bethany. "Jon…he's Rook, isn't he?"

When Mattias mentioned Jon, she paused, her shoulders slumping a bit, and she paled. The green-eyed young woman took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she answered. “You’re pretty sharp, kid. He is,” Bethany confirmed, beginning to set the table again once she had steadied herself.

Rolling over to her side, Mattias reached out and gently touched her arm. "I'm sure he's okay. He's one of the toughest guys out there!"

Bethany absently tensed and jerked away from Mattias’ touch, then ground her teeth together, fighting down the unbidden urge to break the poor kid’s fingers. She gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry. I still don’t like being touched out of nowhere. Rough childhood, nothing against you,” she said, then sighed.

“Jon is definitely tough, but he’s not okay. He’s in a coma caused by Hydra nanotech. He took a weird round that was meant for me,” she explained, finishing up the proper table setting, moving one of the chairs away, then turning back into the kitchen.

Mattias pulled back, feeling that he had stepped over a line that he shouldn't have. "I..I'm sorry," he said quietly, casting his eyes down as he moved over to the place setting that she had set up for him.

“I told you, it's not your fault, you didn’t know. I was raised by a militant psycho. I really don’t trust most men because of it, and I don’t like being touched without warning,” Bethany said, returning to the table with two plates. Steak covered in sauteed onions and mushrooms, with a heap of homefries. She put the plates down then brought out a pitcher of iced tea, pouring each of them a glass before taking her seat and setting a bottle of ketchup on the table. “Dyami must have dropped this stuff off. I’ll have to restock tomorrow, so we’ll have to make do with this for tonight.”

Looking at and smelling the food, Mattias suddenly felt ravenous. "It looks delicious. I…I haven't eaten anything since I was taken!" He dug into his food like a starving man, though he wasn't a total animal as he did so.

The young woman gave Mattias a bit of a smile as he tucked into the food. It had been a while since she’d cooked for anyone besides her cat and herself and she missed it. “It looks like we need to get you some clothes that fit a bit better. Those are Jon’s so I knew they’d be a bit big, but figured they’d work until we can go into town and get you outfitted. Look, Matty, I know this is all a lot to take in. I don’t think I know anyone that came into this mess well-adjusted and raring to go. And no one here expects that of you.”

Looking up from his delicious meal, Mattias first looked down at the baggy clothes he wore, then back up at Bethany. "I promise not to damage his clothes any," he said as his brows knit up slightly with sadness. "And…as for what I'm going through…I can't think of anyone I'd rather teach me what I need to know, than you and Talon."

“I appreciate that, but like I said, you’ll probably be cursing my existence soon,” she said, teasing the young man. The sound of her little burner phone ringing in the kitchen made her sigh and roll her eyes. Bethany set her fork down, her first bite still on it, and went to get it.

“What’s up, Boss? Yeah, I can bring him down in the morning. We have some things to do anyway,” she said, slowly walking back towards the dining room. “Alright. Sure thing. Bye.”

Suddenly, Bethany gasped, all of the color draining from her skin, her hair. For a brief moment, her eyes flashed and swirled with rainbow colors, before flickering and going back to their normal glittering green. “No,” she whispered, horrified, tears streaming down her face just as blood began pouring from her nose.

Reaching up with one shaky hand, she covered her nose, and turned to try to get out of the house, through the kitchen, trying to get away from Matty, fumbling with the phone in her hand. She had to protect him from her! She had to stop him from having to witness what was happening!

Bethany took two weak steps, her vision swimming, her head spinning. She tried to go into her light form so that she could get as far away as possible, but failed miserably. Then her knees buckled, dropping her to the floor in a still, bloody heap, her phone skittering across the floor. The skin-tight, black nano armor that everyone knew her by rapidly deployed, a soft white glow and hum emanating from some unknown source.

Dropping his fork and knife, Mattias shouted in alarm. "Beth!" He quickly moved his chair over to her, put on the brakes, then dropped down by her side. Carefully, he rolled her over onto her back. "Beth, can you hear me?!"

Not getting a reply, he crawled over to the closest wall, dragging Bethany along with him. When he reached the wall, he sat up against it and hauled Bethany's limp form up into his lap, where he cradled her head protectively. Reaching into his right pants pocket, he pulled out the burner phone that he was given, and quickly speed dialed Dyami's number.

Dyami was on the other side of town brushing down his horse in the stables behind his house, when he felt a stirring in his spirit. He paused to match the source and closed his eyes. The link between Jon and Beth. “Oh, this is not good..” he muttered to no one.

The Indian man’s burner phone rang. Mattias’s number. He quickly answered. “Mattias what is going on?” the shaman asked quickly.

On the other end of the phone, the teenager's voice was a mixture of concern and surprising steel. "Dyami! Come quickly! Beth and I were eating some dinner, when she suddenly stood and a strange look crossed her face. Her color faded to practically clear, and then she collapsed in blood! Her armor activated and I can't see if she's breathing!"

The long-haired Indian man spoke into the phone, “I will be right there.” Snapping the antiquated flip phone shut and sliding it in his pocket, he quickly used his magic to open a portal. Stepping through he arrived outside of Beth’s house and ran inside.

Quickly assessing the situation he bent down and checked the young woman's pulse. His mind raced as he tried to think of a solution, he asked Julias for a status on the woman he loved like a daughter.

The smooth British baritone of the nanosuit’s AI broadcasted, with concern in its own voice, “Massive spontaneous blood loss, blood pressure and pulse dropping rapidly, brain functions erratic. Catastrophic meltdown averted. I don’t know what’s happening, but I can’t seem to stop it.”

“I have an idea what it is,” Dyami said to the nano. “Keep her stable, we have to get her as close to Jon as we can." The Indian man helped Mattias to his feet and with one arm picked him up, with the other hefted Beth over his shoulder. “We need to hurry.”

With purposeful steps, he moved outside and approached the portal that was still open on the front lawn of the beautiful home. Speaking several words of Tsalagi, the portal shimmered and shifted for a moment before growing peaceful. He stepped through and the three were in Jon’s room at the hospital.

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~TBC~