Fallen Not Forgotten (Adventures!AU Book 6)

Ch 12 Tunnel Vision

Warnings: Language, mild suggestive references, angst, separation anxiety

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"Shadow, can't you rethink this?"

I sighed, clipping my lightsabers to my belt after I pulled on my two gauntlets. I'd opted for Alpha form, for two reasons; one, power, and two, that's the form they said I was in while on Rishi. I was already playing with fire here, the irony of that statement not lost to me, and I needed to make sure everything remained as the ARC twins and Rex described. I didn't really play with time travel too much in my stories, but I knew enough to know the Bootstrap paradox could be rather vengeful if certain rules weren't followed.

Turning to Hunter, I met his worried gaze. "Hunt, I can't really rethink this. It's already happened. I can't back out now."

"Says who?" Crosshair growled, leaning on the wall with his arms folded and a scowl etched into his features. A second toothpick rested between his lips; he'd snapped the first in half a few minutes ago.

"Says me," I asserted, tail twitching.

His scowl faltered. Shoulders sagging, he shook his head. "What if you lose a life?"

"Hasn't stopped me before."

A morbid statement, perhaps, but you could only go through so much Realm Walker nonsense before becoming immune to the shenanigans. Besides, while it wasn't a good indicator for avoiding "character development", Trevor's excitement banished any worries of not making it out. That man may have been a big pain in the ass and a curse the universe decided to cast upon me for unknown reasons, but at the end of the day he did care about me.

Not to mention he was the biggest shipper of Huntdow, Crossdow, Techdow, and Wreckdow out there.

So, if there was anything that could potentially sever me and the Batch, Trevor wouldn't let that plot within two timelines of us.

I'd be fine.

At least as far as existence went.

Emotionally, physically, or mentally?

Another story.

"I still think we should be able to go with ya!" Wrecker growled, arms also crossed as he slouched in the reading nook's beanbag chair.

"I second that," Hunter said.

"Third," Crosshair added.

"Fourth!" Nothing chirped from Crosshair's side.

Only Tech, busy tapping away on his datapad, didn't seem overly bothered by my decision. But even he shot a concerned glance my way, the subtle expression speaking volumes.

I looked around at the boys. "You guys... you know I can't pass up this opportunity." I felt like a broken record, repeating the same reason over and over again, but honestly what else could I say? "I'd never be able to live with myself. Not to mention the damage it could do to the time-space continuum."

"But why not let one of us come with you, instead of the ARC?" Crosshair growled. "Why do you want us to stay here?"

I hesitated. While I wasn't entirely sure, I had a good idea of why I didn't really want them with me on Rishi. My multitasking capabilities had gotten better, both due to necessity and because the boys thought Four Corners was a perfect training method for hand-to-hand as well as lightsaber training, but in high-stress situations, it was still... abysmal to say the least.

And Rishi? Very high stress indeed.

What if I slipped up and one of them got stuck in the explosion? What if one got shot by the commandos? What if one got eaten by a fucking eel? That wasn't even taking into account my stressing out about having to keep all the time-space continuum in line as well as save four men who were confirmed dead in canon.