The Trauma Carrier

Chapter 4: Inner Peace

Harry: "My my, I'm so glad you have made it back to somewhere familiar, Rook."

Rook: "Haven't gotten used to be called that after I left, but yes, I feel kind of... great to be back."

Harry: "That's great that you have that kind of spirit. Now, you will be of course settled back with the other GIGN. Not sure where Monty was..."

Rook: "That's fine, we will find out eventually. Thank you... Harry." He nodded his head as a sign of gratitude

Harry: "Mhm. Now, I do have to ask more from you, and that's about going through a psychological examination later today. First, refresh yourself with the current team present here you want to. Don't be late please."

Rook: "I won't be late. See you then." He opened the office door

Harry waved goodbye and sat back on the office chair while Rook left the room to go back to his assigned room with the other GIGN.

The hallways were silent. No sounds of gunshots echoing in the firing range, no tools ringing in the workshop, or even commotion in any operator's rooms.

Rook: He slowed his walking pace "What the..."

Ash: "Don't worry. Everyone is having a blast outside. How about I cover your belongings and you go on ahead and meet up with the team at the top of the building?"

Rook: "Sure, and thanks for the gesture."

He'd hand his bags to Ash, then went for the stairs to see what the fuss was all about. As he opened the door to the roof, he was bombarded with a small crowd of his fellow team members. The music stopped when the team noticed who was joining the scene.

Blitz: "Well well, look who finally decided to show up!"

Rook: "Keep the music playing now and fool around, don't embarrass me."

Thermite: "Whoa whoa, we need to really talk to you, Julien. All. Of. Us. Sit down at the bar, and maybe have a drink."

Rook: "I think I have drunk enough for the past months-"

Thermite: "Good... dark joke but let's catch up one at a time. Let's take a seat at the bench on the side."

Thermite gently pushed Rook to the nearest bench and motioned him to sit down.

Thermite: "I know it's been a while... since that siege. It did hurt our team when you let us down back there Julien, but it hurt most when you left without a word. We were missing one man who was in the team earlier than most of us, just to leave out of guilt. You know, casualties happen, and no one died. Twitch, with her iron will mindset, can hold herself together, so don't let this... anxiety take over like it did after you were extracted."

Rook: "I really... don't want to talk about the siege. I want to forget about it and pay my debts back to all the ones who truly didn't deserve to get scarred. No deaths, but scars permanently make suffering."

Thermite: "Wisdom really makes you cooler Julien. Looks like a lot went through your mind. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that you are definitely welcome back in this team, and no one will discriminate you whatsoever. It may sound hard to believe, but you can talk to the others and it will be like nothing happened. Start from scratch... is what you can call it Julien."

Rook nodded, and smiled slightly at Thermite. Thermite then gave a pat on Rook's back, then got up to hang out with Hibana, waving goodbye as he did so.

Fiddling his fingers and watching the other operators having their casual conversations in front of him made his heart race. His peripheral vision started to blur, and the voices slowed and got mushed. He closed his eyes and took a breather, before standing up and looking for anyone else to talk to. He wanted to speak with Montagne, however.

Montagne: "I know you're looking for me, Julien."

Rook turned and immediately gave Montagne a squeeze, then gently punched his shoulder.

Montagne: "Weird and sudden.... but anyways, how's it been..?"

Rook: "I was in a shithole until you guys wanted to hunt me down... and you successfully did so, thanks to Dokkaebi." He sarcastically scoffed

Montagne: He'd chuckle in response "It was my idea. Anyways, we needed someone who specialized on these.... trauma plates, and you were the only trauma carrier in the entire team."

Rook: "Indeed I was, but I... screwed it up."

Montagne: "I think my shield was enough my friend. Anyways, those bullets would've ripped through plenty of trauma plates. I would have to be a tank at that point." He'd laugh

Rook tried to laugh along with him, but stopped seconds later as he tried to cope with the thoughts. He scratched his head, then looked back at Montagne.

Montagne: "I just got scratches. Julien, everything is going to be alright. Oh, I also heard you were going to visit Harry later. That's a nice spot to start now that you're back. I will be eating and sitting around with the other GIGN. Do some more catch-up if you wish... and I assume so..."

Rook: "Yeah..." He would pat Montagne's shoulder and search for Ash

Ash was nowhere to be seen, and it was almost time for Rook to visit Harry, but feeling a little punctual, Rook went to Harry's office early.

Minutes later...

Harry: "Well... your responses reflect that your current psychological status requires basic healing and personal solutions that you have to figure out. However, I think you should really talk to the team more and hear them out. So far like you said, they have been forgetting about the siege. I will be honest too, it was indeed a mess, but what makes this team push on is moving on from every siege we do. It definitely wasn't bad when Thatcher first joined this team. Young Thatcher really thought he could accomplish everything with his own set of weaponry and skills, only to be falling out the window and being saved by... Sledge... who caught his fall."

Rook: "Sounds a little funny." He'd chuckle

Harry: "Now, I did talk 30 minutes of your time. You may continue whatever you wish around here. However, I do ask that you don't attend this week's briefings, as we have a couple."

Rook: "A... couple? That's a lot."

Harry: "That's why I told you not to attend them. Maybe one but the only thing the briefing will benefit is you know about it that's all. I think you should hang out with the operators sitting out of this one. This siege is taking place in North America."

Rook: "I see... I will figure out what to do so I don't get bored. Until then, thank you Harry. I will uh... attend the briefing tomorrow to see what's up, but otherwise, I will settle in and spend some time in the workshop. That's on my planner, so far."

Rook left Harry's office, walking back to his room. As he unlocked the door, Twitch was asleep on the couch, looking like she was taking a brain break.

Rook: "You look lazier than ever."

Twitch: Groans "I just closed my eyes for a few minutes so far Julien, calm down now. I just did some tweaking on my drones in the workshop minutes ago, and so far I got sick of it. Unless you want to take that job over for me, you may do so. Thank you as well." She'd smile, before closing her eyes and going back to her nap

Rook saw his old room, and it looked like his poster didn't get tampered. As he unlocked the door, he saw his equipment left as they were before his disappearance. 

Rook: He'd think to himself  "Wow, they really did acknowledge me, and forgave me."

Doc: "That's because you got heart, Julien." He'd laugh

Rook: He looked behind himself "How did you know?"

Doc: "I'm a doctor Julien."

Rook: "That makes... no sense."

Doc: "A psychologist too... let's say that. Now, let me help you clean off the dust. It's been months and we left it as it was. The door hasn't even been opened since you last closed it too." He picked up a duster and a broom

To be continued...