Chapter 62: Volume II: Chapter 28: Home

Will blinked awake, expecting to see Neons and hybrids storming around him. Eelock’s arms were a lot more comfortable than he remembered. He shifted. The hanger was a lot whiter, too.

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he sensed someone at his side. He let his head lull in their direction.

“Mother,” he whispered. She sat curled in a chair, head lying against the backrest. He watched her even breaths, studied her closed eyes. He never thought he would see her again.

“She hasn’t left your side.” Mic’s voice came from a speaker near his head, soft so he wouldn’t wake her. Slowly, the room started to make sense. The med bay, they’d made it onto the ship.

Will refused to close his eyes, afraid to wake up and realized it was a dream. “Is Chleo alright?”

Mic hummed through the speaker. “Just exhausted. Based off her readings, I wouldn’t expect her to wake up any time soon.”

Will pried his eyes away from his mother searching for her. He found her one bed over. She looked so peaceful. If it weren’t for the location, he could pretend none of it had happened. She would wake up with a carefree smile and a wild idea, eyes sparkling as they searched for the materials they would need. He sucked in a shaky breath. How would she find them now?

His gaze dropped to his lap. It would kill her if she couldn’t tinker, couldn’t build whatever contraption popped into her head. Her face, smiling as she dragged him off to see the hover board for the first time, was priceless. Would he ever see something like it again?

The hover board. She wouldn’t be able to fly. He closed his eyes forcing the thought away. His throat ached so he cleared it.

“So,” he asked, turning his attention to the speaker, “how did you manage to fly the hover board?”

Will couldn’t see it or hear it, but he imagined Mic shuffling his feet. “I might have made a few modifications.” He paused. “You don’t think she’ll be mad…” he let the question hang.

Will shot a look at the camera he knew Mic was monitoring.

“Yeah… maybe we don’t tell her.”

Will choked on a laugh. “Sure, let her find it herself. That’ll be loads better.”

Mic’s speaker fuzzed, uneasy. Will really needed to ask him how he portrayed emotion so well over comms. “I don’t suppose, you’d tell her for me.”

“Not a chance.”

“Some brother-in-law you are.”

Will’s mouth fell open.

“Something you need to tell me?” His mother’s voice broke in amused.

Will wished he was still asleep.

~*~*~

It took three days in orbit before Chleo woke up. Eelock explained with Johnson searching for them it was too dangerous to land on Terra. Mic had activated the cloaking, and they hung over the planet, content to stay until food ran low. Merk grumbled, questioning Mic’s definition of food.

Will spent the first day in bed, but like his gunshot on Luna, his back healed in record time. When he asked Dai how she did it, she pointed him toward his mom. Apparently, it was a fruit, condensed, treated in a special machine Mrs. Mathews created for her, then administered. It was the first Neon to human medicine on Terra, and his mom and her friends had created it. Proud didn’t begin to cover how he felt.

He alternated the other days with sitting by Chleo’s bed, gathering food for her parents who hadn’t left her side, and sleeping when they managed to chase him off. When she opened her eyes, he nearly wept with relief. When they drifted back and forth never truly focusing, he nearly wept for a wholly different reason.

Will left, giving Chleo and her parents some space. They hadn’t been together since Luna and deserved some bonding time. It definitely wasn’t to go wallow in his room alone.

His mother appeared at his door almost immediately and refused to leave. He let her hold him, cursing his uncle for all the times she couldn’t. Will mourned Chleo’s sight, mourned the home they couldn’t return to. He raged at Johnson for what he stole and sighed in relief at having his mother back.

Will woke the next morning feeling refreshed. The metal lining the ship shined brighter. Merk and Dai’s banter sounded lighter. Mic’s food tasted… well, great but he preferred actual food for dinner instead of candy. Regardless, Will choked it down faster, gratefully accepting a cup of Dai’s coffee to cut through the sweetness.

Will nursed the mug between his hands, letting it warm him as he walked into the med bay. He froze. Chleo’s bed was empty.

“She’s in the workshop,” his mother’s broke through his shock. She looked worried.

He tried to shoot her a smile in thanks. It wasn’t quite a grimace. Backtracking, Will found Chleo running an idle hand over her workspace.

“Hello, Will.” A soft smile pulled her lips. Her eyes drifted without purpose.

He walked forward to lean against his own desk not trusting his legs. “How could you tell?”

“I have my ways.” Her eyes danced with mischief. A familiar spark lit her face, and something in him loosened.

She wandered closer to her hover board. Her steps were slow, measured, but graceful. “Mic messed with the board.”

Will smiled, worry draining from him like a gadget’s charge near a blocker. “Need help planning your revenge?”

She scoffed, hopping up to sit on it. Her feet dangled over the edge. “Already taken care of.” She smiled, her head tilting in his direction. He wondered if he was wrong, and she could see again.

“I can,” she answered his unspoken question. Her gaze pointed in the right direction, but her eyes were unfocused. “In a manner. Merk’s working nearby and is letting me borrow his glow. Seeing isn’t what it was, but it’s something.”

“I’m sorry,” Will said. Her face pinched in confusion. “You were right. I should have taken him out the second I could. I never should have let him get so close. In the hangar I tried to hit him with my hornet, but—”

“Will.”

“It didn’t work and—”

“Will,” she said louder. He stopped. “I never should have asked you to do that.” He tried to interrupt, but she shot him a look. The accuracy surprised him silent. “You were absolutely right. Merk trusted you, the first human ever with… wait… is that why he’s been moping around like someone kicked his puppy?”

“Maybe,” Will sulked, scuffing his toe against the floor, “he hasn’t talked to me since Umbra.”

“Oh for the love of- Dad said Johnson didn’t even die,” Chleo groused. “One sec.”

Her face scrunched in concentration. Will couldn’t keep himself from smiling. It wiped away at the sound of Merk’s footsteps.

“You poked me.” He stormed in, indignant.

“Johnson didn’t die,” Chleo said, adopting her best Mrs. Mathews lecture tone.

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“Wha—” Merk caught sight of Will and rolled back on his heels. Will studied the floor. “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?” Chleo asked, keeping her tone soft, inquisitive rather than accusatory. “Johnson isn’t human anymore.”

Merk’s teeth clenched. Will wondered if he was picturing throwing him in the sparring circle and letting the trainees break a few bones.

“He didn’t know that when he flicked.”

Will’s cheeks colored with shame. He forced his head to lift, his eyes to meet Merk’s. “I’m sorry,” he said. “What can I do to make it right?”

They stood in silence, neither blinking.

“Rumor is you have a few laps to run when we get back,” Chleo mentioned in an innocent voice.

Merk blinked. He flicked his gaze to her. A slow smile spread across his face. Will’s stomach dropped.

“The rumor’s true,” he said, white teeth reflecting his red glow, “ten with your dad.” Merk turned to Will. “You’re running fifty.” He spun, starting for the exit. Pausing, he cocked his head in thought. “And only Mic’s rations for a month.”

Will’s mouth dropped. Merk nodded to himself and left.

“That sadistic…” Will didn’t know how to finish the insult.

“Friend?” Chleo tried. He threw her a look he wasn’t sure she could see. “You screwed up, Will. Be happy Mic’s rations are all you have to suffer through.”

“And fifty laps… laps around what? They weren’t a part of training.”

“I guess it’ll be an exciting surprise when we land.”

“Exciting?”

“For me.” Her eyes shined. “I’m looking forward to the popcorn.” Her smile dimmed. “Will, your only mistake was listening to me. I jumped head first without a plan and dragged you with me.” She took a breath. “I’m so sorry.”

He sighed. Walking over to the board. He hopped up to sit next to her. His hand traced over the owl he’d carved.

He nudged her shoulder. “All things considered, we did get your mom back.” He smiled. “And mine.”

Chleo leaned against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her. “A sloppy success,” she said. Her chipper tone wobbled.

Will rested his cheek against her hair.

“Are you alright, Chleo?”

“Dai removed the tracker, so they won’t find us,” she said. Will recognized the technique. Stars above, he was pretty sure she learned it from him after years of avoiding talking about his past. “Dad used the same substance in mom’s watch so he knew how to get rid of it. It’s a liquid attracted to a stone, which is why they used it. Blockers don’t affect the-”

“Chleo,” he interrupted. She fell silent. “That wasn’t what I asked.”

She stiffened under his arm. He was afraid she would pull away. Instead, she reached for his hand.

“I was afraid I killed you,” she whispered. It wasn’t the answer he expected.

“Never,” he said. He pressed a kiss against her head.

She turned capturing his lips. His hand reached up to cup her cheek. She moved against him greedily, running a hand through his hair desperate not to let go.

He pulled back enough to reassure her. “I’m alright,” he whispered, placing a kiss on her temple. “We’re alright.” He trailed kisses down her cheek, slowing to place a last one on her lips.

Will stared into her unseeing eyes. They stared back at him just off enough to notice.

“We made it home,” he said, willing her to see he was fine. “We found our family, and we made it home.”

She leaned into his hand. A small smile spread across her face.

“Chleo!” Mic’s voice barked through the intercom. She groaned. “Take it down.”

“Not now, Mic,” she rolled her eyes.

“Yes, now,” he demanded. “That was my own private, personal property.”

She turned toward the camera, her head pointing in the right direction, eyes drifting too far to the left. “So was my board.”

“This is different,” he complained. “This is my art. On display. Everywhere.”

Will choked trying to cover a laugh. He pulled down his goggles to check the ship’s mainframe. A mosaic detailing the galaxy replaced his old wallpaper.

“I don’t know why you’re upset, Mic. It’s amazing” Will said.

The speaker sputtered in outrage. “It’s my own private, personal property… and she… she…”

“Modified its location without your permission?” Chleo asked.

The speaker fuzzed. “Take. It. Down.” It cut silent. Will didn’t know silence could ring as loud as a slammed door.

“Think he’ll forgive me?” Chleo chuckled by his side.

Will pulled her close. “Family usually does.”

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