Chapters:
1. EscapeDarkness all around, heavy with its oppressiveness. Humidity hanging in the air, stifling movement. His hand on the door, the muffled tones of the lock override poking holes in the silence. A rough whisper making him freeze.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He stared at the lock as it flashed orange again, the door once more solid and impenetrable. "Leaving," he said softly. He shouldn't have stopped. He shouldn't have let that voice stop him. If he had darted through the door he could have been halfway to the launch pad before the alarms caught up with him.
"Like hell you are."
There was another rustle of movement, and he heard his roommate curse again. He shied back as he felt hands reaching for him, retreating into the darkness. "I have to," he whispered. "Just let me go."
"I can't. Put some clothes on."
He hesitated, but the tone had changed. It sounded resigned, and something told him there was no arguing with those words. He obeyed silently. The room was still dark and heavy, but he could hear rattling followed by the sound of plastic on metal.
"Get the lock."
He copied his previous hack without a word. He could feel a presence at his shoulder, one that didn't fade as he slipped through the shimmering door. It was right behind him as he turned unerringly toward the exit, running for something he could barely see in the dimness of nocturnal lighting.
This door wasn't locked from the inside. The emergency exit let out into the living night, cool damp air wrapping around them as they ran. The hovers on the grounds would be monitored. The gate was easy enough to hack, and the maintenance portal to one side shimmered open just long enough to let them through.
He was free. He would have kept running, but a hand on his elbow made him stumble. The grip was irresistible, and it kept him from falling even as it held him back. It had done no less before.
"This way."
He followed without knowing why. The gleam of a hover piercing the night, the feel of metal under his skin, and his roommate pushed him roughly into the passenger seat. The stars shone a little brighter. He leaned forward impatiently, strung tight as a wire until the key clicked and the beast began to purr.
"Which direction?"
Freedom spread out around him. The tightness clenching his heart eased a little, and he turned his head slowly. The darkest direction, the least defined, the one he couldn't picture even slightly in his mind. He pointed wordlessly.
"You got it. Strap in."
He fastened the harness without complaint, though he wouldn't have bothered himself. Only when it clicked shut did the hover slide forward, released early from its nightly prison. He kept his eyes open as long as he could, letting the wind tear and pool around his face until finally he blinked.
The road was still there. He settled back, reassured. He even blinked again, just to make sure. He took a deep breath, his first since he couldn't remember when. For a moment he felt the air in his lungs, flooding in and rushing out and slowing... slowing every time.
It was so dark that he didn't notice when his eyes slid shut and stayed that way.
Movement, and the sensation of falling. He jerked awake. Darkness and light blurred in front of his eyes, refusing to establish form. Something sharp and metallic pressed against his cheek. The hover hummed to itself. The world continued to recede.
His roommate was gone. The hover was parked at a charger, idling while electrons were forced to flow against the concentration gradient. It wasn't moving but the world refused to be still. He wondered how long it would be before it vanished completely.
The coat crammed between his head and the hover's frame rustled as he tried to lift his head. It wasn't his coat. He hadn't brought one. The zipper clicked against the door as it fell, and he squinted through the windshield.
Orange lights. Purple haze. White streaks bleeding into the darkness. He blinked again and again, but each time his eyes fought a little harder to stay closed. Blinking actually made it harder to see. Finally he gave in.
The frame against his head was hard and uncomfortable, and his muscles were protesting the forced inactivity. He wished desperately for the reprieve of sleep to claim him again. The hover was still sliding around him, twisting in a way that signaled imminent unconsciousness, but he seemed to be trapped between waking and dreams.
"You awake?"
He heard the click as his roommate opened the other door. There was no perceptible shift as the hover accepted a second occupant. He knew what was coming. He didn't flinch from the hand on his shoulder, but the world flared bright and painfully chaotic at the touch.
He must have made some sound because the hand withdrew. He managed to lift his head, and this time he put some effort into the struggle to sit up. It seemed to reassure his roommate a little.
"Here, I got you something to drink."
He wanted to sleep, but he was too uncomfortable. The drink was cold in his hands. It made his fingers slippery with condensation, and he rubbed the water into his eyes without thinking. Even if it only made them tear it seemed to help.
He saw his roommate watching him, and there was worry in that gaze. He knew he was worse. He couldn't muster the strength for normalcy, so he didn't try. He drank, though, and it did make a difference. His roommate knew what helped.
"Should we keep going?"
He didn't care about getting away anymore, just that he was away. All he wanted now was to rest. He had almost finished his drink.
"I'll set down in a few minutes. You can sleep in the back until then if you want."
He knew that. He knew his roommate had already offered once, but he wouldn't. "I'm staying here," he muttered, his voice hoarse with fever and sluggish with sleep.
There was no argument. The hum of the hover pitched up to a purr and then a low rumble before falling off again as the accelerators leveled out at cruising speed. The noise was comforting and harsh at the same time.
The morpher was under his seat.
He didn't know how it had gotten there, but it glowed in his mind. He fumbled for the coat he hadn't brought. It pressed soothing coolness against his forehead as he buried his face in it, cushioning his head against the frame once more.
The morpher was still under the seat, so at least he knew his roommate hadn't brought it. Unless it had fallen out of the coat earlier when he woke up. Maybe it had followed him. He had heard that it could do that. It could appear when it was needed.
If it could disappear when it wasn't needed, he'd be feeling a lot better right now.
He shifted restlessly, fingers clenching on his roommate's coat. There was nothing he could do but wait it out. He wasn't aware of much like this, but he felt every second that crawled past. Sometimes he had to count them to make sure they were moving at all.
This was going to be one of those times. The moments had frozen together, and he began the painstaking process of separating them once more. It was, if nothing else, a distraction. One.
Two...
The boy on the floor. Snickers, surrounding kids, and a flash of rage. They wouldn't mock him, never had; he was untouchable. But they had to mock someone, and he had to fight someone, so it evened out.
His fists were already glowing as he came stealthily up behind the group of laughing boys, but they weren't paying any attention. The sparkle of red was the first warning they had, and it wasn't enough to do any good. He had one of them on the floor before the others even looked up.
He wouldn't have bothered helping the blonde-haired boy up off the ground except that there was no fear on his face. Something about his regard made Andros stop and hold out his hand. His fingers still glittered with Power, matching the angry haze that hadn't faded from his vision. The strength still bubbled inside of him, demanding release.
It would show somehow, he supposed. That was what scared the rest of them off. Not what he had done, but what he could do. It didn't stop this kid from reaching for him, clasping his hand and pulling himself to his feet.
"We're here... Still with me?"
The blonde-haired boy never sank back into the obscurity of the school crowd after that. He didn't even try to ignore his new shadow; most of his would-be followers went away on their own anyway. They got bored after a few days of silence and inattentive stares.
Not this one. He would turn up at the most unexpected moments: walking beside Andros between classes, sitting across from him in the library, catching his eye through the cafeteria windows. Sometimes he spoke, sometimes not. He didn't seem to expect conversation or even acknowledgement. He was just there.
"I'll get the stuff out of the back. Don't go anywhere."
One day, he flopped down on his favorite couch in the library and found someone already there. He had grown so used to Zhane's presence that he hadn't even noticed the space was occupied. Instead of getting up again, he leaned back against the arm and put his feet up on the middle cushion.
"Hey," he said, gazing up at the ceiling.
"Hey," Zhane answered, as nonchalantly as though they had always greeted each other like this.
He didn't even bother to pull out a book. Head pillowed on the arm of the couch and his knees resting against the back, he closed his eyes. The librarian wouldn't wake him, and Zhane had proven he knew how to be quiet.
He had expected to be alone when he woke. Instead, the blonde-haired boy was still perched against the other end of the couch, book open on his lap while he stared intently down at it. He was so engrossed that he didn't even notice Andros watching him.
"Don't you have class?" It was the longest sentence he had ever spoken in Zhane's presence.
The other boy didn't look up. "Yes."
The proceeding quiet was more comfortable than he had expected.
"All set... ready for some real sleep?"
There were hands on his shoulders and the physical contact made the Power flare violently under his skin. He heard himself moan as the fire tore through his nerves, flashing in front of his eyes and ringing loudly in his ears. The other boy's grip shifted as he braced himself against Andros, helping him stagger out of the vehicle.
"I'm sorry," Zhane muttered, guiding him toward something that was almost invisible in the darkness. "Can't help it if you can't stand on your own."
The cool air soothed his skin, making Zhane's touch seem all the harsher. Then the slippery sweet fabric of a sleeping bag reached up to envelope him and the ground was reassuringly hard and unmoving beneath. He groaned, shifting to ease the pressure on his head, and he heard someone trying to settle quietly behind him.
He rolled over without thinking, wanting nothing more than a respite from the restless heat that ravaged his body. He buried his head in the other boy's chest, sighing in relief when the pain didn't intensify. An arm crept tentatively around his trembling form as he sank back into unconsciousness.