Brotherhood

Hardwire

The nightmare woke Seven, his scream raw in his throat. Unum cursed savagely even as he held tightly to the panicking empath. "Shhh, it's alright," he soothed. "I've got you, baby. You're with me, here in my quarters on LB1, and you're safe."

Seven panted, clinging to Unum's arms as the nightmare faded, grateful for the Shard leader's unnatural strength. He groaned. "Sorry. Breaker again, coming back to take me away again. I feel like I won't ever stop having nightmares about him!"

"It's alright. It's all this stress, isn't it?" Unum cuddled him closely, even as his own body shook from the aftereffects of the terror the empath had unconsciously sent washing through him during the nightmare. He sighed. "That was a bad one. My heart is pounding! But you're here with me, safe."

"Thank God." Seven shuddered. "I'm really glad you're here, Unum. You're pretty much the only one who can make me feel safe after I dream about Breaker."

"Well, I'm here, and you are, too. It's where you should stay! You so rarely had nightmares while you were stationed here."

"Don't take us off of this project," Seven pleaded. "Can we at least talk about it more in the morning?"

"We'll talk about it," Unum replied sleepily. He pulled Seven closer, snuggling into his side, already half asleep again. "And I'm sorry, about all of it. I just need to know you're coming back to me."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yes, you're here." Unum nuzzled against him. "But you want to go now."

"I want to get up, yeah. Let me go."

Unum loosened his grip with obvious reluctance. Seven got up, pulling his clothes back on as Unum sprawled contentedly back in the bed. "Where are you going, my lovely one?" Unum asked, watching him.

"I'm up for a while after that, I think. Is Hardwire over that virus yet?"

"Finally back to himself as of last week. Why?"

Seven shrugged. "Just wanted to talk to him. Haven't seen him in a while, and I'm betting he's awake. Will you let me out, authorize me for the Data section?"

"Suit yourself." He snagged Seven's wrist as he went to stand and pulled him down for a kiss. Then he gently traced the pads of his fingers over the tracer bracelet the empath wore. The authorizations appeared as glowing runes that quickly faded, but would be instantly recognized by the security systems of LB1. Finished, he let go and waved a hand, psychically opening the door to his chambers to allow Seven to leave. "Authorization is for a single exit and single entry the whole way through. Enjoy your talk, my empath, but don't stay up too late. I want you back in your quarters in no less than two hours."

Seven nodded, giving him another kiss. "I'll be there. Thanks."

Leaving Unum's personal quarters, Seven used the authorization on his bracelet on the heavily reinforced main door of Shard section and set off into the base. LB1 largely ignored day/night cycles. Once Seven left the familiar confines of Shard, the halls bustled with activity. He acknowledged a few greetings from staff he knew, ignored the Operations section and turned towards the section of the facility that housed Data, Dr. Murray's division. Hardwire was here. Bypassing the server room, Seven raised his tracer bracelet to the scanner to activate his temporary access. The door opened, and he headed inside.

"Hey, buddy," he called.

HELLO SHARD SEVEN. WELCOME BACK TO LB1!

Seven smiled as he read the words flashing across the giant monitor covering one wall, but as usual, he turned away, addressing his remarks directly to the lone figure in the room. "Thanks, Hardwire! I was glad to hear you got rid of that virus."