Research or Sibling hunting?
The call to TK lasted for over an hour, both of them scouring the internet by whatever means they could think of for any of their siblings. They tried every spelling of every first and last name that they knew, every snippet of information they had learned about each of them (where they lived or grew up, their parents, their schools), and they even resorted to simply describing them in the search bar. Sadly putting in ‘tall redhead’ and ‘short latino’ didn’t come up with much.
There was a hope that if they found even one, that one could lead them to another and another until they were all safe and together again. Then they could start thinking about what to do about the compound. With that in mind, Buck wrote everything down like a checklist. Using pen and paper instead of typing it up in a document settled his mind, plus it helped that he’d be able to keep it on him. A reminder that all this was real. That they were real.
He read it out to TK as he wrote. His siblings in age order as always. Just how they were lined up in the compound.
Sibling hunt
- TK - Found - Massive pain in my ass
- Ian - Found - Messaged
- Peter - Found - Messaged
- Simon- Found - Messaged
- Percy - Can’t find
- Ron - Can’t find
- Charlie - Found - Messaged
- Victor - Can’t find - Hopefully with Elijah
- Evie - Can’t find
- Luna - Can’t find
“Was it really necessary to add that extra detail to mine?” TK sighed on the other end of the line.
“Yes,” Buck smirked as he looked down at their list. “It makes me feel better.”
TK ignored him. Rude. “Now what?”
“Now we wait, and hope,” Buck said back.
“I can still hear them Ev,” TK whispered like he didn’t want the voices to hear him. “I can hear Imogen's screams as they hurt her over and over. I can still feel the cold of the basement floors as if it’s seeped into my bones. And the smell, God the awful smell of the infected welts on my arms. Evan I can still taste the stale air. We spent 2 years surrounded by such evil people who wanted to torture us and use us for our gifts, gifts that I haven’t shared with anyone… How do we tell anyone the truth about who we are? Do we tell anyone? How do we fucking escape something like that?” TK sobbed, no longer able to hold it all in.
“We did escape Ty. We escaped somehow, and so have the others. We have to believe that. I don’t know what happened or how I’m standing here right now, but we are alive and home and-” he stuttered over the difficult thought, “And as much as I can feel the tight squeeze of their hands around my wrists as they held me down or can still hear his voice whispering in my ear to do better. To be better… be stronger … be more powerful,” Buck gritted his teeth against the emotions as flashbacks began to cloud his mind. He was trying to calm TK down, not work himself up again. “I have to take this chance. We have to take this chance to live again and to save each other. We will find them, all of them, and then we won't ever have to think about that place again. Avilions were characters that were in our story books as kids right? Well we are the characters now Tyler and we are going to get the happy endings they did too.” Buck said with such conviction because as much as he wanted to help TK, he needed to believe it too.
This was what he had always loved about TK. Why both of them worked? There was only one person in both of their lives that their true selves could show, and that was each other. Buck had the opportunity to show his true calculated thoughts and opinions. But was also allowed to be vulnerable, and admit when he didn’t know what to do.
A light shuffling came through the speaker and Buck could only assume TK was silently nodding along with him. There was a sniffle and a cough that punctuated another change in the mood. They both knew what they had to do, and as the older siblings they couldn’t let the others down. There was a time for tears and fear and anger and pain, but that time wasn’t now. Now, they needed to be brave.
Buck reluctantly said his goodbyes to TK for now as they both wiped their tears, but he couldn’t bring himself to move just yet. He simply stared at the list; the only thing keeping him sane, the only proof he had that his siblings weren’t made up stories in his head.
He wished with all of his might that they were ok.
Half. They managed to track down half of their siblings in some form and of them, some they managed to send out a message, but none of that was a sign that they were fine. It just proved that they existed, and that they weren’t making this all up. What a comfort.
As Buck sat at the kitchen counter, he wondered if that wasn’t the only thing that could prove his siblings were real. He brought his right hand into his field of vision and tried to remember the lessons he learned in the compound. He had to dig deep within himself to feel the heat, to feel the sparks. He sat with his eyes squeezed shut as he imagined the comforting flicker of a flame before he noticed the real heat growing in his palm. Opening his eyes, he saw the smallest flicker on the tips of his fingers staring back at him, almost waving at him, reminding him he wasn’t so alone, that Avilions were back on earth and he was one of them. It was all real.
The ping of a message startled Buck and he scrambled to unlock it, the flicker vanishing in a woosh of air. Maybe one of his siblings was safe and managed to reply. Only, it wasn’t any of them.
The message was from Eddie. Eddie, the love of his life, now presumably only best friend who probably doesn’t remember their relationship because it didn’t happen yet. Eddie, his colleague, who was asking if he needed a ride to work. Great, that was all he needed right now.
Of course, he forgot about work. He wanted to immediately forget about work again but he had just agreed with TK that they had best go about their lives as close to normal as they could. Only, when he agreed he wasn’t thinking about how awkward that was going to be. He hadn’t been on good terms with the team in a long time, and now all of a sudden, they were going to be a close family unit again and no one else would remember the hard times. But he would. But this time he was stepping through those front doors with even more to hide. This was not going to be fun.