"What do you mean, you're leaving?" Taehyung stared at me, flabbergasted. "But you said-"
"-that I wasn't going on any missions soon. Yeah, I know. But the Research department up and decided to send me off on a doohickey right now." My strange choice of words got a moment of amusement from Taehyung, but that moment didn't last long.
"You can't leave! You're the only person I know!"
He's terrified, I realized suddenly, and the instant I notice it, the waves of fear radiating from Taehyung seem more acute, as if they were cutting through the very air. An actor as good as Taehyung can pretend confidence, but all it takes is a look within. I peered through the proverbial veil, searching for any sort of answer....
"Um...? Lexliey?" Taehyung tapped my shoulder, raising an eyebrow, and I snap back into reality with a jump, leaning awkwardly on the edge of my chair.
"Oh! Sorry, just spaced out for a moment," Laughing nervously, I shifted back into a more comfortable position. We were sitting in my former room, all the black and white décor glaring at me as if wondering why in History I had left them in them in the hands of a stranger.
"Are you ok?" Taehyung stared at me, but I twisted my hands in my lap, avoiding his gaze.
"Not really. I leave in 23 hours, though, and I'm always stressed right before a mission," I gave a nervous little laugh, then stood abruptly, "Taehyung, don't worry. The bracelets'll keep you locked down, no one will be able to kidnap you again."
A sigh was all I garnered. "I still don't understand this at all." He ran his fingers over the silver of the cuffs, an eerie blue light sparking across the surface of the metal at the touch. A panel light up, numbers indicating that the bracelets were blocking any manipulation from the Four. Taehyung retracted his hand after a moment of watching the blue light dance, and dropped his hand to the shelves, letting his fingers trail instead across the hundreds of different books I'd collected. "These all yours?"
"Yeah. They're my family," I laughed lightly, biting my lip to keep my eyes from stinging at the unforgiving truth, "Anyway," I continued hurriedly, "I'd better get going, I haven't even started on my pre-jump prep." With that, I cut the conversation short and rushed from the room, leaving Taehyung alone with my precious books and his own confusion.
Eleven Hours Later, 23:45
"You're completely clean. Ready to suit up?" Johta set her scanner down, proffering my clothes with one hand as she closed my medical examination file with other, marking the back of the folder with a check. She'd turn it over to Prof when he arrived.
"Honestly? No. Not at all." I sighed, grabbing my gray knitted sweater and sliding it over myself, letting the fabric settle, and I took a moment to relish the soon-to-be absent feel of modern clothing, even if it was only an itchy Christmas gift. Whatever complaints someone might have about ugly sweaters like this one, they would shut up if they had to wear clothes from the early BCs. Considering the chiton, peplos, and himation I'm going to have to wear for the next few months, a sweater was heaven.
Coughing into a tissue proffered by Hyun-ae, I wiped my own blood from my lips. Not only did I have to undergo a complete check over, get a briefing and medication for the diseases I would encounter in 1248-1246 BC, but I had to be re-implanted with the basic kit for jumpers- ear, wrist, and throat modules, the ear pieces translating words for me, the wrist piece a tracker that recorder my time and location constantly, and a speaker/translator in the back of my throat to make sure that I could speak in any language I needed to.
However 'cool' other people may think this is, it is honestly more painful, uncomfortable, and itchy than I honestly like to deal with. It's always better to simply learn the language, but I'm too lazy to bother with Ancient Greek.
I headed out of the Hospital Wing to go get outfitted. In only twelve hours, I would have to make the jump, leaving society and modern comforts and general safety. Boy, sometimes I wished I could simply jump ahead twelve hours and avoid all the hassle.
Twelve Hours Later, 12:00
Max, Seo Hyo and I all grasped hands in a chain, decked out in our respective Greek clothing; sandals, chitons, and plain, rough-cut. satchels on our backs with materials to construct a hut in which we would live while researching the battle of Troy. Max shifted nervously, holding his hands awkwardly by his sides, glancing at the blank space beside his side every 64.115 seconds as if he expected someone to simply appear out of thin air.
I shook my head. His cloaking device hadn't even come close to perfection yet, so there was no way anyone could be lurking (illegally, by Thrusk terms) around the departing party. Outside the glass tank in which we three jumpers stood, the rest of Thrusk had gathered to wave us off. From Research to Health to IT, everyone was there.
Except Taehyung. He was still sulking in his, rather, my room, Max had reported, and I wasn't allowed to leave the clean area directly before the jump.
Devin grinned at me through the glass, Sohyee fluttering her fingers in her soft, polite manner, Mihi smiling as she always did, dimpled and sweet, Keeda hopping up and down, and the countdown for our jump began on the big screen inside the tank, one side showing how much time we had left until I was supposed to jump, the other showing where I was supposed to jump everyone to.
Pressure.
Max glanced back at the empty space by his side.
I sucked in a deep breath, staring fixedly at the coordinates displayed on the screen before me, 1258 BC, just outside the main metropolis of Troy, at the edge of an orchard, or what we thought to be an orchard, from the single survey jump Seo Hyo had been on. The bleeping of numbers brought me back to reality with a shock as the clock ticked down to five.
Four.
I felt my heart rise rebelliously into my throat, my stomach rudely shoving for space around next to it.
Three.
My hand tightened around Seo Hyo's. Max glanced to his side once more. I bit down hard on my lip and closed my eyes tightly, attempting at bringing myself into a calm place. To smooth the surface of my mind, to dig deep within my consciousness, being, my very soul.
Two.
I reached forward inside myself, drawing on something residing deep with the recesses of my mind, closed off, behind glass, just like myself. I raised a mallet mentally, smashing the thick glass blocking off that section of my existence, utterly destroying the barriers holding back the thing inside of me. It roared, leaping forward.
One.
I let the creature burst out, my vision consumed by the numbers on the screen, coordinates, an address to the past. It lept out of me, invisible to the world, and an unimaginable amount of time passed as I struggled with the beast, reigning it in, subjecting it to my will, until it devoured the characters-
Zero.
The world went white.
A/N
Decided to publish this early in honor of our Taehyung!
Happy Birthday to one of the best people I know. You are such a precious, perfect sweetie. You are a father to so many of us ARMYs. You are a savior and a caretaker, a reprise from my insanity. You are a safe haven for my mind. You have saved a life. I owe you so, so much. Taehyung, you deserve the world and more. May you have the best of birthdays, Tae💙💙💙
