unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

33 | track record -unfinished-

The moon dipped over the horizon, and the day has finally come to an end.

For all the chaos that happened the night before, the temporary TAPOPS base welcomed the sunrise with peace and quiet.

Those with night shifts clocked out and returned to the main base, while their coworkers subbed in and began reconstruction efforts. Keeping Earth's aversion to the extraterrestrial in mind, they collaborated with its underground agent network for a smoother process.

MATA was to thank for the minimal amount of casualties and injuries the night before, though they didn't seem all that enthused of the idea about letting alien architects roam wild around the place, no matter how many new cupholders they could build into the walls. As a compromise, the agents were there as supervision, provided they don't press any buttons that could blow them all up.

It was halfway through the day when Gempa finally blinked awake, delirious and confused.

By the time he woke, he could faintly hear the muffled sounds of rushing footsteps all around him, and the dead giveaway of medical machinery beeping somewhere in the background.

Why was he in an infirmary?

He hadn't been here since he turned 16. There was no real need for them, as he discovered his innate healing factor from early on. Even the time he spent in the infirmary for that explosion was merely to move them out of sight from the other cadets, so the ones with more squeamish stomachs don't drop dead and projectile vomit all over the place.

How long was he out? He'd think he'd remember getting punched in the face so badly that they decided he needed bedrest.

Where was everyone else?

Oh, god, was he in some alternate universe where his counterparts were all runaway fugitives?

"Gempa! You're awake!" a voice squeaked from beside him. Gempa peeled his eyes from the ceiling and to source, where Daun was carrying a stack of boxes. "That—that's great! I'll go tell the others."

The others? "Wait, Daun—" By the time he pushed himself up, Daun had already fled the scene, presumably to put wherever those boxes belonged and bolted out the place.

Gempa sighed, leaning back against the bedframe. His head still throbbed faintly, but nowhere near the pounding headache he was expecting from his time unconscious. He's had too many of those to be apathic of the discomforts that followed his recovery.

Another figure walked up to his bedside. Its presence alone already struck Gempa the wrong way, and he soon saw why. "Kaizo," Gempa spat, any semblance of mood ruined. "Here to kidnap me for ransom against Taufan again?"

Kaizo rolled his eyes, but it was difficult to take him seriously when he's slathered in healing creams and bandages, especially around his face, neck and arms. "You've been out for 18 hours." He crossed his arms. "I was forced to administer a sedative to you after you threatened to unravel the foundation of this city in your hysterics."

18 hours? "My hysterics?" Sedative? "What happened?"

"You were found emotionally volatile the previous night. We're still unsure of what truly happened, but it was enough to trigger your PTSD on a groundbreaking scale." Kaizo tilted his head. "Not that it's unexpected. I've seen more soldiers lose their minds for less."

"My PTSD...?" Now Gempa was intrigued. He was diagnosed with the blasted thing years back and he'd lived with its symptoms ever since. He even attended group therapy sessions with Taufan for a while until things got too hectic, and the name eventually faded from his hectic mind. "But why? Nothing happened last night that was particularly stressful."

Kaizo shook his head. "From witness reports, there was an undetermined amount of time where you ventured off base after a brief exchange with Lance Corporal Taufan's wards." He pursed his lip. "You should begin there."

What was he doing, talking to Air and Cahaya? Sure, they were on friendly terms, but they weren't really on a heart-to-heart level. That was Taufan, like how Gempa was to Api and Daun.

"Wait!" Gempa called out to Kaizo, who was already leaving without further notice. The man stopped in his footsteps, visibly paying attention despite his turned back. "Do you know where Taufan and Halilintar are?"

Kaizo didn't make any movement, but he did humor him. "Lance Corporal Taufan was called into a meeting with General Amato at the time of your breakdown. He has not left the meeting since." Gempa belched. He knew how much Taufan hated those things. "As for your oldest, he's untraceable. He has not been seen even before you disappeared."

Gempa's heart dropped at the information. Numbing, paralyzing anxiety slowly crept up his fingers and feet, sweat permeating through the skin of his palm. Halilintar was missing? Again...?

"He's a fully grown man," Kaizo's voice cut into his spiraling madness, snapping him out of his stupor. "He is free to go wherever he wishes. The last I saw him, he was alive and well."

The earth elemental clenched the sheets tighter. "Y-yeah." Why was he reacting so badly to this? Had the previous night really shaken him up so much that he was having a meltdown over Halilintar? It was Halilintar, for goodness' sake. It was just like him to disappear to god knows where and only reappear at the most unexpected time.

A warm body crashed straight into him. "Gempaaaa!" Daun whined, wrapping his arms around him. "You're okay! You're not dead!"

(Gempa pretended not to notice Kaizo subtly walking away, uncaring for what came after.)

"Daun, don't crowd him." Air peeled Daun off him by the scruff of his shirt, but his expression broke out into a relieved smile as well. "We were worried about you."

"It's a wonder how you slept for longer than I have," Cahaya droned on dryly, though he was still hooked up to a brain monitor machine with wires attached to his forehead. He was dragging the machine along with him behind him, and everyone present kindly ignored the rate of his brainwaves spiking as he fell into a silence of contemplation.

Gempa scoffed, ruffling Daun's hair, whose lip was wobbling by the second. "Sorry to worry all of you," he said. "I'm fine, I promise. I'm not dying anytime soon."

"Not with that track record," Air muttered. They ignored it.

Gempa gave them all a onceover, and noticed instantly that there was a lack of unnecessary commentary from the lot. "Where's Api?" he asked. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine." Air shrugged. "He got called to the meeting the same time as Taufan did. I've had to run back and forth to get him snacks or he'll 'die of boredom,' or so he dramatizes."

UNFINISHED