The Way it Was

Chapter 1 -- Miles

Hey guys!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I haven't seen you all in forever, and that I've kind of been dead for a while, but I just started a new story for NaNoWriMo 2015, and I think it's my favorite idea yet!! Thanks for reading, and be sure to vote and comment!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all!!!!!!!

- Lillie

The air was stale the night Joanna Michaels's heart stopped beating. No one had seen it coming, except perhaps Miles; when the killings had multiplied he had sensed something was about to happen, something was about to change inside Jo. She wasn't one to sit around while her race was suffering.

He didn't think much of it. He continued tearing apart his human form, reworking it piece by piece at an even faster pace than usual. Jo's safety was an omnipresent force in his way of life. Images often filled his mind, images of destruction, of fear, of Jo being blown up or shut down or riddled with bullets without his help...

Naturally, he hadn't tried to focus on the visions. But as he agonizingly limped toward her tracking signal, heart pounding, adrenaline pulsing through his very existence, as he came upon her body, covered in ash and blood and pain, as he held her in his mechanic arms, he wished, for once, that he had.

But that was years ago. Her makeshift heart worked like a charm these past few months, and they didn't think much of that day, now that Jo was fine--as fine as any Bolt can be at times like this--and Miles was still working at his usual I-need-to-hurry-up-and-finish-this-before-Jo-gets-herself-killed pace, now that they were the leaders of the rebellion, the epitome of the unwanted and the very core of what was wrong with their society.

Jo despised every second of it. Miles had always been the better leader in her mind, and she didn't see why he couldn't run the Compound alone while she went out and led the missions. Their runners needed about as much help as they could get.

But Miles hadn't let her out of the Compound since the day of the explosion. She was needed inside, he'd always tell her.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Miles! Not that you were ever the one calling shots when I was," Jo fumed, currently balancing in their cubby's archway. She just asked to go out and search for food, as their supply was becoming less and less generous. The Bolts sleeping in the hallways adjacent to theirs stirred, but didn't wake. They'd become accustomed to Jo's shouting these days. Her temper was getting shorter and shorter, and more often than not, everything went out on Miles.

He was accustomed to it, too. He continued the twirl of his screwdriver into his leg as he calmly responded, "You need to be here, Jo. The runners have things under control."

He'd spent weeks now of her scolding and yelling and sarcastic remarks; Miles knew Jo well enough to know she wouldn't last much longer without having a total outburst. He trusted her with his life, but he was well aware she could leave against his orders any day she'd like.

It was an agreement of theirs, one they'd made the first day they had decided to rescue a Bolt from a killing. They couldn't go against one another's orders unless they wanted to be thrown out of the Compound, unable to return. It didn't happen often, reason for one to betray the other, but when it did, it was always with Jo against Miles.

The rule was meant to have everyone respect the two of them and the two of them respect each other. But with Jo this far gone, Miles was terrified.

He didn't show it.

"Clearly! That's why everyone in here is starving their asses off, Miles. We can't survive on a piece of bread a day for long, and you know it." Her voice dropped to a low murmur. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you're skipping on your ration."

His screwdriver stopped. He didn't look at her, but he could feel the angry concern in her eyes, drilling into him. It made him hopeful, for just a moment, that maybe she wouldn't leave him.

"That's none of your concern, Jo," he responded, his voice little more than a whisper. With everything going on aboveground, and with all of the Borgs on such high patrol, he didn't need her thinking about his wellbeing. He needed them to both focus on her and on the bigger picture. The Bolts couldn't hide down here forever, even with their trackers removed, and they needed a plan for relocation and attack.

Assuming attacking was still the plan. He didn't know what Jo wanted anymore. Through hateful glances and murmured comments, it was clear Jo wanted to make whoever led the Borgs pay. She wasn't a murderer, by any means, but with the way she'd been acting...

Still, Miles knew the aftermath of destroying a life would, in turn, destroy Jo, and he wouldn't let that happen.

So he kept her inside the Compound. He didn't want to admit to himself that it was only stalling what was inevitable. But the hidden Bolts already knew that Joanna Michaels was a name they wouldn't be hearing for much longer.