A Broken Crew

Chapter 34

Grey grabs his phone and selects a song, turning up the volume and setting it on the floor by the bed. Bad Day.

Atlas came up the stairs. "Mom's on her way." he said. "Really, only August and her have ever been able to calm him down. Where is he?"

Grey points under the bed. "There." He glances at the phone that is still playing, and has now switching to Breathin'. "I'm testing something." He says softly.

Dakota was still trying to breathe. He was crying underneath the bed.

Grey sings along quietly. "Time goes by and I, can't control my mind.. I don't know what else to try, but you tell me every time.... Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'......"

Slowly, Dakota's crying stopped. He peered out at both of them finally able to breathe again. He was still frightened of them and weakly asked "who are you?"

"I'm Grey. This is my brother, Atlas." Grey replies gently. He smiles softly.

Dakota flinched. "What are you doing here?" He whispered hoarsely. "Dad will be mad at me. You have to get out, I'll be in trouble."

"Dakota... You're at our house. August's house. You're dad isn't here." Grey responds.

Dakota looked at him uncertainly. "But... I'm bleeding, and you're bleeding too... Maggie is very nice... She wouldn't hurt anyone... So we can't be at August's house..."

Grey laughs quietly. "I fell down the stairs, and you hit your head on the bed. " A lie, but an easy one.

Dakota only stared at him. They heard a door open downstairs and he flinched again drawing further under the bed. "Hide!" He whispered frantically. "Hide before he sees you!"

 "No, no, it's Mom- Maggie. " Grey soothes."She's home." He looks at Atlas, then glances at the door.

Atlas stood up and called. "Hey, mom, we're in here." Maggie came up the stairs and Dakota looked even more panicked. Maggie came in. "Oh, poor thing." She said, sitting. "Kota, it's momma. It's okay, you're safe." Slowly Dakota peeked his head out, and then curled up in her arms. "Mom..." Maggie patted his head. "You did a very good job boys." She said. "He's very calm. And oh my Grey you're hurt!"

Grey shrugs. "I'm fine. Kota cut his face on accident." He limps out, his adrenaline gone, to go get a first aid kit from the bathroom. He glances in the mirror and immediately looks away, refusing to accept the fact that he's hurt.

Maggie called back to him. "Honey, please don't ignore the fact that you're injured." Atlas followed Grey. "yeah, Grey, you need to take care of yourself."

Grey sighs and stops, turning to look at Atlas. Something in his eyes shifts. "I'm going to. After Dakota is OK. I'm trying not to think about certain things right now." His voice is low as he replies to Atlas, he's fighting to stay calm. "Just.. Let me do this, please. I can't afford to lose control right now."

Atlas stopped and nodded. "Okay." he said. "Just... be okay, alright? I care about you."

Grey nods and offers a small smile, resuming his path to the cabinet to get the first aid kit. Once he has it, he goes back to the room and hands it to Maggie, sitting down on the floor.

"Thank you, sweetheart." she said. She grabbed a cloth. "Kota, honey, let me see your face, you're bleeding." Dakota touched his face and stared anxiously at the blood on his fingers. "How did I get this?" he asked. "Dad didn't come. I thought he was coming... but he didn't." Maggie rubbed his head soothingly. "He's not here." she said quietly. "I promise." Dakota let her bandage his face and started to fall asleep. "Why don't you sleep?" Maggie suggested gently. Dakota nodded at her and crawled into the bed. He fell asleep almost immediately. "Come on, Grey." Maggie said. "Let's get you cleaned up too."

Grey nods and stands slowly as if a bit stiff or sore. "OK." He keeps his voice quiet so as not to wake up Dakota. He hesitates, not exactly knowing if she wants him to come or if they're leaving the room

Maggie stood up also. "Come on, let's let him sleep. We'll go in the living room."

Grey nods again and follows her out and to the living room.

"Sit down, Grey." she said softly. "I'm so sorry you got hurt."

Grey shrugs as he obeys. "It's really not that bad. He didn't hurt me much." Not bad compared to what he's experienced before, at least. Not bad to him. This? More like a headache to a normal person.

Maggie carefully treated him. "Still, you're hurt, irrelevant to the amount." She rubbed his shoulders gently. "Good news, at least. August is doing much better. He'll get out of the hospital in 4 days, with regular healing sessions with a healer of our choice." she said. "I need to hurry and find one."

Grey hesitates as if afraid to speak, but after a minute or two he responds. "I know two healers." There is an unmistakable note of grief in his voice as he says it, as if this is a touchy subject.

"Dear, if you're uncomfortable talking about these people, then don't worry about it, okay?" Maggie said softly. "Do only things you're comfortable with."

Grey nods, looking down. He wants to help, but he is almost afraid of healers because he knows too much. Because of Hiro.

"It's okay, dear. We can talk about this later." Maggie stood up. "I'm going to clean up the kitchen and get some cooking done. Take it easy okay?"

Grey nods slightly in response, staying quiet. He draws his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs, chin on a knee. He seems to be lost in thought.

Maggie went into the kitchen, but Atlas sat by Grey, content to be silent. He didn't mind the quiet, it was nice to be around somebody who paid attention to him. It was the least he could do to sit beside Grey.

Grey leans towards Atlas a bit in acknowledgement of his presence. He will never admit it, but he so very grateful for Atlas being there. He'll never say, but he loves the feeling of not being alone.