For Honor or Glory

Transportation

Chapter 49

When Angeal realized Alex must have fallen asleep, he shifted her so that she was lying down on the bench next to him. He rummaged around in the supplies until he found a thermal blanket and covered her. Once she was settled, he looked over to see both the other men watching with frowns.

Nother of them had interrupted. He was grateful for that fact, especially from Genesis. However, he could see all the same questions in their eyes that were in his own. As he glanced back down at his sister and saw the tight lines around her lips and eyes even as she slept, he wondered if those answers would be a blessing or a curse. He put his hand gently on her head and let out a sigh. Either way, he wasn't going to let her go through this alone. He had already failed her once.

His voice was low as he turned to the others. "We cannot keep this vehicle for long. We will need to find a place to stay and figure out where to go from there."

Genesis sneered, but Sephiroth nodded. "Agreed. For now, we should let her rest. We will find the closest farm or village and see if we can trade for alternative travel and supplies until we figure out a plan."

Genesis scoffed. "Are you forgetting that I am not destitute like the rest of you?"

Angeal had just started getting over his anger at the red-head, but it took all his willpower not to say something he would regret. To his shock, Sephiroth did for him. "While your family does have means, accessing those funds would instantly give away our position. Until some conclusion can be made, you are in no better position than any of us."

Genesis looked like he was about to fry the General, but Angeal butted in quickly to keep the peace. "Not now. Let's not wake her up. We can worry about it later."

Genesis sneered again but let it drop and instead turned to look out the window. Though, Angeal did not miss the fact that the commander kept peeking down at the sleeping woman.

Angeal let his head fall back against the transport wall as he closed his eyes. What had they gotten into? What was all the mess that Peter had been going on about that they had simply ignored as soon as they received the news that his sister was in danger? And what had happened with Alex's eyes? For just a moment, when they first saw her, and she grabbed her head, it had looked like her pupils had changed from round to slits.

He glanced over at Sephiroth with a frown to see the general was still keeping an eye on the passing terrain. Why was that? Was there a connection between why Hojo had taken Alex and Sephiroth? If so, why had her eyes looked normal again when she had finally looked back up at him. What was going on?

He sighed again as he heard Alex whimper in her sleep. His hand moved from her head to her shoulder, and she stilled after a moment. His heart was troubled as he watched her. Whatever was going on, he had a feeling he was not going to like what they were about to find out. Not just about what had been done to his twin, but about them all. He had a feeling this was a much larger problem than any of them had initially suspected. Especially when he heard about Deepground. Whatever that was, he already knew enough to sense it was trouble.

Instead of focusing on questions that had no answer yet, Angeal shifted his gaze to take stock of the things in the transport. They might be able to use a few of the supplies and possibly trade the rest. He hated the idea that this felt like stealing, but he refused to let his sister be taken back. He never thought he would see the day when his honor would cause two conflicting emotions, but he swallowed his pride for the moment. Some things were far more important, after all.

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Alex hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep until she was shaken awake. She shot up and had to stifle a scream as she looked around frantically. It wasn't until her eyes landed on Genesis as he knelt beside her that her heartbeat finally started to slow.