The Banner Siblings! (Re-Written)

Operation Jeep

Ashlyn scowled as she looked down over the wall. She scoffed. Phantoms. Of course the lights couldn't be that easy—nothing ever was. Nothing.
The lights that were supposed to protect them turned into a neon sign, pointing out where they were.

To say that it frustrated Ashlyn was a understatement. They had spent all that time, all that effort, and for what? For it to be wasted like that?

When hell freezes over.

Ashlyn sighed. She stepped down off the bus, looking around the group, mentally going through the runs of their plan again. Nice and simple, nothing flashy. Step one, Ben, The twins, herself, and Aiden slink down over the wall and make a break for the jeep. No wait—that's not right. Ashlyn scolded herself. Step one, turn on the speakers, then go over the wall. The phantoms needed to be distracted. Then it was step two, get the jeep started. Then the hard part. Getting it in the graveyard.

Ashlyn looked at her brother again. Would he able to be that fast? With his injury, the way it was? She didn't know, but they had to gamble on his being able to. Speaking of gambles...

Ashlyn's eyes trailed over to Aiden. The liability on this mission, as she dubbed him. With his injured shoulder, she was certain he wouldn't be very much help. Despite his annoying prescience he was absolutely fine and, 'Tis but a flesh wound cousin!' Ashlyn worried over him.

Ashlyn's brown curled in disgust. No not worried over him. God no. They weren't there yet. Despite her brothers insistence, they weren't her friends. No. They were just partners. Ashlyn worried that he would drag them all down. Hell even if he wasn't injured, he probably still would. She'd have to keep a close eye on him then, she concluded in her head.

Taylor's quiet, trembling voice broke her out of her thoughts. "I..are we sure we wanna do this?"

Ashlyn paused. What? "What?"

"It's j-just.." Taylor stammered, holding onto the ladder like it would protect her from the world. "M-maybe hunkering down in the graveyard till twelve every night won't be so bad? W-we do have the lights now.."

"I-I like that idea.." Logan cut in, his nervous voice a tone Ashlyn had heard many times before. Far too many times.

It was then Ashlyn looked around at the group. Really looked at them. All of them were pale, shaky, aside from Aiden.

Oh.

Oh.

They were scared.

Ashlyn felt her fist ball up. Scared? Scared?! No! No that wasn't part of the plan! They couldn't afford to be scared right now. Not a chance in hell. They had spent a month prepping, training, sneaking—only for all of it to be thrown away because they got cold feet?

No.

NO!

Ashlyn wasn't going to let that happen. She worked to hard. They worked to hard.
"Are you serious?" She snapped, not bothering to hide her frustration.

Taylor shrugged timidly, adding to Ashlyn's anger. Tyler cut in, irritated. "Look, Ashlyn, there are too many of them out there! It's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Safe than sorry?!" Ashlyn snapped. "You're the one who threw a hissy fit over not going to Savanah and you wanna back out now?! Be stuck here for the rest of our lives?!"

"Of course not!" Tyler snapped back. "But there's too many! Let's just wait for the crowd to thin—"

"If we wait then you'll never go!" Ashlyn yelled back, frustration peaked. She dug her nails into her palm as her foot tapped angrily against the ground. She couldn't. No.

"Who died and made you leader?!" Tyler yelled back. "You're the one who threw that title on to yourself!"

"Because who else is going to do it?!" Ashlyn shouted, fighting frustrated tears that threatened to fall. No. No she would not cry.

Logan gulped. "Ash—"

"SHUT UP LOGAN!" Ashlyn snapped. "YOUR NOT HELPING AT ALL! YOUR NO HELP AT ALL!"

Logan winced, bowing out of the conversation entirely. Recognizing his hurt, Aiden tried to step in. Best to now before Ashlyn says something else that she'll regret.
"Ash maybe you should calm down—"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Ashlyn screamed at him, the frustrated tears falling. She didn't care. It was all too much, the damn had broken. "YOU-YOU KEEP PUSHING MY BOUNDARIES AND IM SICK OF IT! IM SO FUCKING SICK OF IT! ITS YOUR FAULT THIS HAPPENED JN THE FIRST PLACE—HAD—HAD YOU NOT PUSHED ME TO GO TO SAVANNAH, NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE EVER HAPPENED! SO JUST SHUT UP!"

Ashlyn knew she was being hysterical, but she didn't care. She was so fucking tired. All she wanted was to sleep for a million years, not deal with this bullshit every night! With everyone else's bullshit! The pressure Ashlyn had been feeling spilt out as she screamed at them all, about how she was the leader. How she didn't think it was her fault entirely, but she was the one with the connection. She was the one who could partially take blame. She needed to step up for them. Protect them and get the hell out.

And that was the problem wasn't it?

She wanted to protect them.

But who protects her?

"I'm sorry." Taylor's voice cut through Ashlyn's heavy breathing, her ranting done. "I didn't realize you were carrying so much pressure."
Ashlyn, embarrassed and ashamed at her outburst, gulped, looking at her feet as her foot tapped. Her feet looked real interesting right now.

Logan hesitated. He walked over, voice soft. "Can I touch you, Ash?" He mumbled.
Ashlyn nodded, allowing him to hug her. It wasn't that she liked them, but they were grounding. They were always grounding after an outburst. Taylor continued.

"I didn't realize how much pressure you were holding. Is that how you've felt this whole time?" She asked, voice laced with worry. "You...you were right. I don't want to be stuck here the rest of my life. But the phantoms are...just a fact of this place. No matter how many plans we make, it'll end with us getting our hands dirty if we want to leave this place. The sooner we accept that fact, the sooner we can leave it."

Taylor smiled at Ashlyn. "So forget what I said earlier. I was just overwhelmed."

"I still think there's to many out there." Tyler cut in, earning a sharp glare from his sister. "But..you aren't entirely wrong that mows our best chance. I'm sure the numbers would keep growing out there rather than thin down anyways."

"Right?" Taylor said happily. "And Ben and Aiden don't seem opposed either."

"I'll hop the fence in like five minutes if you guys don't hurry up." Aiden cut in.

Taylor laughed awkwardly. "See? Things are back on track. So don't feel guilty for a making a new plan that was our choice, ok? Oh and, you can rely on us! Because that's how teams work. Whetherr your the leader or not."

Taylor beamed at Ashlyn. Ashlyn let out a trembling breath, wiping her eyes. "..y-yeah." She agreed.

"Thanks..."

(A/N: THIS TOOK ME FOREVER BUT IM BACCCCCCK)