For The Many

Chapter 13

I felt as if what was happening shouldn't have been. As if all of this that lay before me was a cruel, cruel trick, that had been played by an insensitive bully. I... I don't even want to put into words what lay behind that wall. It's still too painful... Too fresh in my mind... If I had time... Maybe if I had time I could tell you, explain what happened... But for now... I just can't.

- Marta Pennyworth, July 29th.

Evan's mind went blank, allowing him little more than a stare that reflected it as he watched her become smaller and smaller, weeping louder and louder. He couldn't even begin to fathom how to stop what he was having to bare witness to.

He needed to stop her, he soon realized, else someone mistakenly think he had caused this, or those who had been rescued become distressed. He didn't like seeing her cry, either. "Marta, you need to stop." She wailed louder. "You'll unravel all the hard work so far-" her shaky, juddering intake of breath cut him off, as she prepared for yet more crying. He needed to prevent that.

Before he had even realized he had a plan, Evan was on his knees next to her, singing nursery rhymes. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird," he began desperately, unsure of where he was getting the song from or whether it was helping. "And if that mocking bird don't sing, papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring," her crying stopped and she loosened her grip on herself ever so slightly.

"You're singing it wrong."

"I am?" He inquired, trying to keep her talking.

"Yes. It's supposed to be mama, not papa." Evan though for a second.

"But I'm not a mama."

"I should hope you aren't a papa either."

Evan smiled, resting a hand on her shoulder. "That's the spirit. Come on. Tell me what the problem is." Again, she uncurled herself further, now sitting with her arms wrapped loosely around her legs instead of looking as if they were trying to crush her head.

"This... I... I lived in this tunnel with my Dad only a few months ago."

Evan was about to ask where her Dad was, so that he could meet him, but he hesitated. There must have been a reason for her crying. It didn't take long to figure out what had happened to him. "If you ever need someone," he began, turning his face to look away from her, as she turned hers to look at him, "I'm here for you, okay?"

Marta wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, smiling the smallest smile Evan had ever seen, and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him close to her. "Thank you," she said with a sniff. "I guess we're even now." He shook his head.

"This isn't about being even, or not owing each other anything. This is a case of whether you need someone or not. I'll be here either way."

Once she had recovered, Evan helped her to her feet, and then down the corridor and towards the Medical Bay, where they found Click sat at his desk. "Click," Marta began, keeping the shaking from her voice with the last of her resolve. He turned in his chair, pulling the glasses he was wearing from his face and placing them on top of the papers he had been looking at. "We've found something."

"What do you mean by something?" He asked, looking perplexed.

"We've found my old tunnel."

"You left the complex?" He exploded, jumping to his feet. "I understand that you look like Shifters but unnecessary risks-"

"No, we didn't leave," Evan interrupted, taking a step forward. "We found Marta's old tunnel while trying to expand the Holding Unit."

His face softened, the frown fading into a shocked, sedate expression that hinted at guilt. "You found your old home..." He said, facing Marta. She nodded weakly. "Was it really that close?" He asked, and again, she nodded.

He sunk back into his chair, unable to form words correctly. He sat like that for about a minute, before Marta spoke. "I would like to stay in my old room, if that isn't too much trouble..." Click's eyes shifted to look directly into hers.

"Of- Of course! I'll... I'll get Sarge to move the machine-"

"No need," Evan said. "I can do it. And if you're both okay with it, I would like to stay somewhere near there, in case of nightmares. Marta helped me through mine, and I think it would be a good idea for me to be near. J- Just in case."

"Yes." Evan whirled around to look at Marta, her voice barely audible. "You may take my father's room."

 

Night fell, both humans moved into their new - or old - rooms, and time for the complex to sleep could not come quickly enough. Marta had wrapped herself in the blanket she had salvaged from her home before the aliens had destroyed it, taking her sister and mother hostage as they did. It smelled faintly of home, most of it's scent having been replaced by sweat and dirt over the past few years. She found little comfort in the blanket, something she had expected, seeing as it only reminded her of what she had lost, not what she could gain. But exhaustion soon grabbed her, pulling her into a deep and frightful sleep.

She dreamed of the day she lost her father and her arm, as she always did, but as that faded, a new dream came to her, something entirely different than every other dream.

The female Shifter who had almost caught her and Click appeared, her navy, bobbed hair dancing around her sharp cheeks and hiding the scar that ran along one of them from time to time. Her eyes were grey, intelligent and hard, and sharp as an eagle's by Marta's reckoning. “What business do you have with this group?” She asked, her voice as hard as her eyes.

“We're taking them for medical attention,” A voice said. She thought it was Click's, but when she looked around, there was no one.

“We've had word of a being, who we believe to be human, going around, claiming to offer medical assistance to other humans. Prove you are not them.” She hissed, focusing on Marta like a predator would it's prey. She swallowed hard. The Shifter produced a knife from her pocket. “Cut your palm,” she demanded. She took the knife slowly, remembering this. She had been with Click the first time this had happened, he had helped her, smeared the blood from his cut onto her hand to hide what she was, but this time there was no one, just her and the Shifter.

Her heart was slamming against her chest harder than she ever remembered it doing before. It was like a bird, trying to escape a glass cage and refusing to stop because it could see the way out. But she could see no way out. All she could see was the inevitable way forward. She ran the knife against her right hand, the red spilling and dripping from her hand. The Shifter recoiled, realizing what she was, then narrowed her eyes. "You..."

The Shifter snatched the knife from Marta's hand, still smeared with her blood, and held the tip at her throat. "I'll kill you and all of your little human friends... We took this planet fair and square. We aren't going to let you have it back."

As the Shifter pressed the knife against her throat, Marta felt the fear inside her expand, threatening to burst out through her ribcage. She was about to scream when she felt something touch her bleeding hand.

She looked at her hand, seeing another entwined in it, and followed the arm up to look at the owner's face. Evan was crouched beside her, and she was no longer standing. She was huddled in her blanket against one of the walls in her room. "Are you okay?" He asked, concern written across his face. She nodded, thinking to herself that nodding was all she did recently, and apologized for waking him. "Did I scream?" She asked. He shook his head.

"I just... Knew, somehow, that you were having a bad dream. Go back to sleep and get some rest, okay?"

"Okay..." She repeated, rewrapping herself in the blanket and squeezing Evan's hand lightly before falling back to sleep. He stayed there, holding her hand, until he was certain that her dream was not a bad one.