Chapter 4
For a brief moment, Bellona can only stare. It isn’t until Daken says, “She’s had a pretty long two weeks,” that she remembers X-23 said something to her.
“Hey,” she says in a croak, and X-23 smiles again. Bellona looks down at the ground.
“Listen,” Daken says. “She wants to come to Krakoa. She’s pretty set on not going anywhere else right now. We need to come up with something… quicker. We can’t just stay in my apartment. Jean Paul is getting suspicious.”
Bellona watches X-23 as he says it. Her biggest fear is that her escape ends here, that her streak of luck is over and X-23 will decide that maybe she isn’t worth the saving. It’s not like it would be so off beat from what she’s used to in life. It isn’t like she couldn’t expect something like that.
Instead, X-23 nods. Her face is nearly expressionless, but there’s a subtle gleam of determination in her eyes.
“Let’s go inside,” she says, “and figure out what’s next.”
Bellona frowns and her shoulders slump forward. She’s sure she remembers him saying he only needed to stop by and that it wouldn’t be a whole ordeal, but things aren’t turning out that way at all. She narrows her eyes at him in a wordless complaint. As expected, he doesn’t tolerate it. His expression tightens and he nods in X-23’s direction, an indication that Bellona had better keep up. She doesn’t argue, and she follows the other girl in without another thought. She feels Daken right behind her.
Inside the Treehouse, it’s quite interesting. It looks different on the inside than it does on the outside, much more industrial than what Bellona would have thought. She’d previously imagined it to be a little more cozy for a place that members actually reside in. To Bellona, it resembles Alchemax. The hallways are empty and all the doors have numbers above them. Everything is neutral and plain.
“Don’t worry about anyone seeing us,” X-23 says over her shoulder. “The others tend to hangout on nights like this. Half of them are out, and the others are in a lounge. They won’t bother me. They never do.”
Behind her Daken says, “Not even Lorna?”
And X-23 smirks. “No. She is one of the ones who is out.”
Bellona doesn’t ask who Lorna is and she doesn’t ask who else would be here. She doesn’t ask why X-23 doesn’t think they’ll be bothered and she doesn’t ask why she doesn’t also like to hang out with the rest of the X-Men. To ask such things would be to show too much interest, and she’s on too risky of a mission right now. She just needs to get here and to be safe. She needs to get away from S.H.E.I.L.D. and away from the possibility of any surviving Weapon X Program affiliates who might also be eager to get their hands on her.
They step into an elevator and Bellona tries her best to keep her distance. X-23 is first. She stands in front of the keypad and punches in a code. Bellona tries to stand on the opposite side of her, not that there’s much room, but Daken nudges her over when he steps in. When she glares over her shoulder, he simply crosses his arms over his chest and lifts a brow. Bellona knows she’s at their mercy so she finds herself accepting defeat again. She looks down at the ground and shoves her hands into the front pocket of her hoodie.
The elevator carriage jolts when it begins, a rattle that’s enough to send Bellona a half step forward. She shoulders X-23 before she can completely catch herself.
“Oh- sorry,” she stammers, quick to recover and take an extra step back. She bumps into Daken, and then adjusts another step forward. She feels outnumbered. She feels unsafe.
“Do not be sorry,” X-23 says. “No one is hurt.”
Bellona looks at her. “Right,” she says. “Because of your healing factor?” She had always wondered what it was like to have one.
X-23 glances over her shoulder. “No,” she says. “Because you’re not really that heavy at all.”
Bellona hears Daken snicker behind her.
The ride is short, it’s only a second later they come to a stop. When the door slides open, they’re on a level that looks more inviting. The neutral theme has changed to soft pastels and there are a few pictures in the halls. They’re nothing extremely personal, they look like group team photos that span over some time, but it makes Bellona feel a little more at ease. Alchemax never had pictures on the walls. S.H.E.I.L.D. didn’t either, at least not where she was.
Bellona follows X-23 down a short hall to a door that has the name Wolverine engraved above it. She remembers she was calling herself that when she, Gabby, and Zelda had first found her. It’s a name that Bellona still struggles with saying for several reasons. She wonders if X-23 genuinely prefers it, or if it’s just another part of her conditioning. Will they always be weapons? Will Weapon X always be their ideal image?
“Here we are.”
X-23 opens the door to a rather spacious and nice looking room. There are wide windows on one wall that offer a nice view of the city it overlooks. A large bed sits centered against it, and she’s surprised to find more than a few pillows on top. There’s a desk on one side that looks like unfinished work has been left abandoned. A nightstand has several picture frames with a variety of faces in them. She sees Daken in a few, along with Gabby. Seeing her youngest sister makes Bellona’s heart race.
“Smells like shit in here,” Daken says. He pulls out the desk chair and sits in it, swiveling around to look through the papers she has laying out. “What’s all this?”
Had it been Bellona’s belongings, she would have been upset. She watches X-23 cautiously to gage her reaction. Daken seems confident in his ability to ask such questions. He seems comfortable looking through her things.
She’s surprised to find that X-23 doesn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, they both seem surprisingly relaxed around one another. Bellona watches as X-23 hops up to sit on the arm rest of the chair, leaning over to look at what he references too. She starts to think that perhaps they are just that close with eachother to sit so near, but then Daken makes a face and leans away. He exaggerates the act enough that Bellona knows it isn’t genuine.
He had referred to X-23 as being his sister several times, but she thought that was only to make it easy to keep up with the connections he had. She never thought he actually saw her that way.
“It did not smell like shit until you came in,” X-23 says dryly, although she smirks. Then she adds, “Those are notes about… upcoming arrangements.”
“The theme for the evening,” Daken says. “Maybe we should go ahead and touch on that.”
X-23 nods. “Bellona,” she says, and Bellona feels her gaze. She meets her eyes, but it feels unnatural to do, much like holding your own gaze in a mirror. “Why don’t you sit down. Get comfortable.”
Bellona frowns. She glances around the room in the hopes of locating another chair, but there doesn’t seem to be anything other than one they occupy. Rather than sit on the edge of the bed, she turns back towards the pair and crosses her arms firmly over her chest.
“I am comfortable,” she says. “And I’m ready to figure this shit out.”
She feels Daken staring at her, but she makes a physical effort to avoid him. The quicker they finish, the sooner they can get back, and the sooner she can decide if she needs to start planning a fallback. She nervously shifts her weight from one foot to the other. X-23 seems oblivious to all of it.
“There is not much to getting you here with us,” X-23 begins. “We have a council in place, and-”
“Yeah,” Bellona says roughly. “I know. We talked about that. What of them? What do I need to do?”
A click of Daken’s tongue lets on to his disapproval and Bellona knows she should be a little more patient. Her palms start to sweat and her mouth begins to feel dry. Despite all of this, she stands her ground. She looks at X-23 and raises her brows, an expression to encourage her to hurry along the conversation. Just outside her direct line of vision, she feels Daken continuously staring. She can see him stroking the short hair of his jaw. She’s already anxious for the conversation on the ride home.
Right beside him, X-23 gives the impression of being unbothered and unaware.
“Right,” she says in her soft, flat voice. It’s nearly enraging for her to be so unresponsive. “We only need to discuss it with them. The council is made up of several members, most of which have morally questionable backgrounds. That is good for us because-”
“I know that too. When do we talk to them? What do we say? How do I go about this?”
This time Daken leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “She’s trying to explain it to you,” he says. “Listen.” After resisting for the last several minutes, Bellona finally meets his gaze. He’s not nearly as intense as she anticipated, but his expression is firm. After a moment, his eyes shift to X-23. “Laura,” he says, and Bellona notices the way he nearly instantly relaxes when she looks back at him. “Continue.”
X-23 doesn’t miss a beat. She looks at Bellona as if nothing had happened. “Okay,” she says. “I will talk with Jean Grey tomorrow. I will touch base with Akihiro afterwards and let him know what will need to be done. At this time, that is the most we can plan for. I don’t know what the protocol is for humans.”
It’s more of a plan than she’s had this whole time, and it’s the most promising suggestion. She feels physically lighter as she let’s out a sigh, not realizing the tension she’d been holding until she releases it.
“Fine,” she says. “That sounds okay.”
“Thanks, Laura,” Daken says. “I owe you one.”
X-23 stands from the arm rest. “No,” she says. “You do not. No one does. It’s what family is for.”
Family. It sends a wave of guilt over Bellona the way the word slips so easily from X-23’s tongue. She isn’t sure if it’s something used casually by her and Daken, or if it carries the same weight for them as it does for her. X-23 walks past her to another part of the room and Bellona chances a deep breath in. Would she be able to smell her honesty? Could she smell the intentions behind her words? The truths or the lies? X-23 walks by and all Bellona can smell is the faint scent of some kind of fragrance. She isn’t even sure if it’s shampoo, lotion, or perfume. Does X-23 wear things like that?
“Feeling better, Bellona?” Daken asks. He leans back against in the desk chair and folds his hands behind his head. “We’ll get it all straightened out.”
She sighs. Better compared to how she felt a couple weeks ago, yes. Better compared to how she felt this morning is questionable. The constantly changing complications also warrant constantly changing expectations. How does she put that into words?
“I’m feeling eager,” she says, and it’s the best way she can put it.
Daken smirks. “I’ll take it.”
Like the flick of a switch, he no longer seems bothered by the previous tension. Bellona stays standing where she is while X-23 steps into a closet behind them. Daken turns back around at the desk and continues shuffling papers.
“Looks like a bunch of bullshit to me,” he mutters.
Bellona watches him quietly. He rests his face against one hand while the other holds a document. It seems to have captured his attention. She takes a step closer towards him. From where she stands, she can see the intense look in his eyes as he reads. Whatever it is, it’s something troublesome.
“Hey,” she says. She takes another step forward.
Daken’s only answer is looking over his shoulder.
“What did she call you?” She asks. “What’s your real name?”
~~~
“Daken.”
She grabbed a folded up piece of paper that had been tucked inside her boot, smoothing it out for her sister to see. Zelda narrowed her eyes as she briefly read through it.
“That’s his name?” she asked.
Bellona smiled. “Yes,” she said. “That’s his name.”
Zelda sat back against the pillows and held the paper closer to her face. She moved her lips as she read silently, likely in more detail to make sure she was getting it all.
After a moment she said, “Wow. It really is his name. Who calls him that?”
Bellona sat on the edge of the bed beside her. “I don’t know,” she said. “Everyone, I guess. Why? What is it?”
Zelda read a couple more lines before she answered. “Nothing. It’s just… isn’t that like a bad word or something?”
Bellona scoffed. “Uh, he’s the son of Weapon X. Who fucking cares?”
“Yeah. You’re right.” Zelda folded the paper back up as it had been, making sure to follow the exact pattern Bellona had used. She handed it back with a small smile. “How’s training going?”
She sighed as she stuffed the paper back into her boot, unsure of what the exact consequences would be for being caught it but knowing they wouldn’t be good.
“It fucking sucks without you. They’re all a bunch of hardasses.”
Zelda’s face dropped. She looked down at the bed sheets, smoothing them over. An I.V. was stuck in one of her hands. Bellona could see the raised portion of her skin where the large needle laid beneath.
“I’m sorry, Bell,” Zelda whispered. “I tried really hard.”
It had been about a month since Bellona’s experimental visit. Since then, the handlers seemed to be cracking down. They were going on more missions and each training session was getting more intense. Zelda had gone on her first solo mission as a way to test her knowledge and skill. It wasn’t that Zelda didn’t possess those things, but Alchemax didn’t particularly care to make sure they had the reinforcements necessary when sending out one of their weapons. Zelda went in on blind faith that she would be able to handle it. Instead, she was outnumbered and underprepared. Not only did she fail the mission by letting the target escape almost completely unscathed, but in turn she was the one who suffered injuries. The only good thing was that she felt none of it.
“So the nanites passed the pain test?” Bellona poked at the cast that was around her sister’s wrist.
Zelda offered a smirk, but the light in her eyes seemed dim. “Thank God,” she said. “I literally didn’t feel a single thing. I still don’t.” It says a lot too, considering the number of bruises and bandages that covered her then. “How’s Gabby doing? Is she okay?”
At the mention of Gabby, Bellona frowned. She found a loose thread on the sheet and pulled at it.
“She’s okay,” she said softly. “She’s a hardass too, but in a good way.”
The smile that Zelda offered was pained.
“And she’s still clear? You’re checking, right?”
“Yeah, I’m checking.” She wrapped the thread around her finger until the tip turned red. “She’s doing great, Zel. Not a single scratch or bruise.” She pulled the thread free with a snap.
Zelda smiled. “That’s great,” she said. “Do you think maybe they’re finally changing?”
“Who, Chandler? I doubt it. He has such a hard-on for this shit.”
Zelda sat up further. “I know, but if he’s not doing to Gabby what he did to us, maybe they’re finally changing their ways, you know? Maybe we got through to them.”
Zelda was always the one for hope. Bellona used to think that should have been her name. She was the oldest of their group and the most seasoned, but she still managed to cling to a childlike fantasy of everything being made right one day. Sometimes Bellona felt like she was the only one who had any sense.
“Don’t count on it,” she said, and she shifted her eyes to meet her sister’s. Zelda always had an optimistic glow. “Gabby is still young,” Bellona explained. “They’re probably waiting for her to be a little older before they start conditioning.”
But Zelda shrugged. “I don’t know. We were just kids when they started with us. Younger than Gabby, for sure.”
She frowned. “Aren’t we still kids?”
“Were we ever?”
It was the first time Zelda had ever said something that wasn’t a head-in-the-clouds sentiment. For Bellona, it was somber. It made her stomach ache to hear the validation.
Were they ever? The answer would always be a resounding no.
She wanted to say something, but the doors to the medical bay opening stopped her from doing anything other than sigh.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Kimura walked in by herself. She was one of the only handlers who had the authority to, as Chandler seemed to let her reign of her own free will. She was an intimidating woman, but at times Bellona found her to be inspiring. Her dedication to creating Chandler’s dream was unlike anything else Bellona had ever seen before. It was something she hoped that she could one day accomplish. She wanted to feel the fire that Kimura had, even if the fire would be for something different.
“I was relieved of my duties,” Bellona said. She hoped down from the bed. The last thing she’d want to do is look lazy and idle. None of the handlers were fond of that.
“Great,” Kimura said. “So then you’re available?”
“For what?”
It was either more conditioning or some type of mission, and Bellona wanted neither. She was tired and sore and she wanted to research Daken more, it was the sole purpose of her coming to find Zelda in the first place. She couldn’t do that if Kimura planned on assigning her to some side project.
Kimura sneered. “For fun, of course. Come with me. That’s an order.”
She turned and left with no indication of where Bellona should report to, but she already knew. When she turned to look at her sister, she was met with a soft smile.
“Well go on then,” Zelda said. “I will do my best to fill in the gaps on Daken. You promise me just to stay safe. We don’t need two of us in here.”
Bellona turned and started towards the door. “I don’t know,” she said. “It seems like you’re getting a nice break.”
She left Zelda in the medical bay and walked down the hall to the simulation room. It was a room that mimicked a green screen, only on a much larger scale. Projections were used to simulate fights. It was as real as life itself with the exception of the evidence being able to disappear with the push of a button. Alchemax had a way of always being able to cover their tracks.
The door opened for her automatically. Kimura was standing in the center of the room.
“You know,” Kimura began once she stepped inside. “There’s a reason why you’re 23_1 and that little pest in the bed is not.”
The door shut and Bellona had an overwhelming sense of dread. It wasn’t an uncommon thing to feel in those days, but in that moment she remembered it feeling like something heavy had been placed across her shoulders. She felt exhausted. She felt weak.
“Is it because someone forgot to count?” Bellona asked as she walked to the arsenal on one end of the room. “Was it you, Kimura? Did you forget?”
Kimura didn’t laugh. When Bellona turned around, she was glaring.
“Funny, but no. It’s because you have potential. I’ve seen it all along.”
She walked to the opposite side of the room and ascended a steep set of stairs. At the top was the control center. It was where Kimura was safe and Bellona could be viewed from any angle. She watched as Kimura took the seat behind the panel board. She watched as she placed the head set over her perfectly curled hair. She watched as the room lit up with bright lights.
“Make me proud,” Kimura’s staticy voice echoed over the intercom. “Make me not regret creating you.”
The simulation started with the room lights shutting all the way down. Bellona raised her gun and tensed her body. She could hear the crackling of electricity as the projection lit up.
Most of the time, the cue would only play a single sequence. It was always a replica of something X-23 had done. The clones were to fill the spot of X-23 and battle her opponents. The goal was initially to beat X-23’s time, but when they realized how many of them failed to clone any mutation, they settled for simply keeping up. Rather than battling with claws, they were given weapons. Instead of relying on healing, they were given bullet proof vests.
Bellona prepared for any number of battles. She’d done just about all of them, and she was getting pretty good at it too. In some ways, having military grade guns was better than having to get close enough to stab. As long as she could protect herself, she could take out her opponents easily.
The projection that started looked the same as the others. She was in some kind of building and all the targets were red. She was quick to hide behind walls and duck under tables. She was sure to walk behind her opponents by mimicking their step pattern. She had her gun loaded and ready. All she had to do was shoot.
And so she did.
The first three were easy. The opponents looked frightened, as they usually would, and they were entirely unaware. They didn’t have any means of self defense. It was one easy win after another.
After the fifth kill, Bellona sneered over her shoulder. She knew Kimura was watching and she knew she had to be impressive. She continued down the virtual reality, passing through the steel hallways. Anytime she saw a figure outlined in red, she shot.
After the fifteenth kill, she started to get suspicious. Usually X-23 had very specific missions, and while her body count was impressively high, it wasn’t common for her to clear entire buildings unless it was necessary. Usually in a case of an entire wipe out, the subjects were more prepared. They were expecting something. These people looked frightened. They ran and hid, or at least tried to. They looked at each other with bewilderment.
She continued to trot down the halls, her gun still loaded and ready, but then the building started to shudder. Even for a simulation, it seemed entirely real. Bellona dropped to her knees.
“Kimura!” She shouted. “What the hell is this?”
She could hear the click of the intercom. “Show me why you’re X-23_1, Bellona. Show me you’re the carbon copy of my little monster.”
She dropped her gun when the building started to rumble. She could see pieces of the ceiling falling. Projections crumbled around her, and then the room filled with smoke.
Bellona coughed and waved her arms to clear some path of vision. She patted around the floor until she found her weapon, and then she pushed herself up and tried her best to remember the direction of the hallway.
There were one or two surviving opponents that managed to lead her outside before they collapsed lifeless on the ground. Bellona turned around.
The entire building was on fire.
“Kimura!” She shouted, and she turned away from the building.
Outside, it was snowing. There were already piles of it everywhere, and it was falling even harder. She started to brush it from her face, nearly forgetting that it wasn’t real.
“Okay,” Kimura said. “Here it is!”
There was someone standing in front of her, so Bellona got into position. She looked through the scope and prepared to pull the trigger. She almost did, until she realized who it was.
“… Dr. Kinney?”
The woman in front of her looked strangely familiar, although Bellona had never seen her in person. At most, she caught a glimpse of a picture one time, but Alchemax did their best to erase her. She looked different than the others had. She wasn’t afraid. She was sad. Bellona started to walk towards her.
“Dr. Kinney, what-?”
“No!”
Dr. Kinney’s voice sounded like Zelda’s. It sounded like Bellona’s. Her voice sounded like Gabby’s. That was their face. Their eyes. It was her sisters’ dark hair and slight frame. That was them. Not X-23. Not Weapon X. They were Sarah first.
Bellona dropped the gun and took a step towards her, opening her arms.
“But I didn’t-“
She had a gun, but it was a total of four stab wounds that dropped the woman to her knees and sank her onto her back in the snow. Bellona stared in shock. What had happened? It was so sudden, and so out of her own control.
“Dr. Kinney?”
The simulation started to glitch. Rather than a first person perspective, suddenly Bellona was an observer. X-23’s shadow appeared in front of her.
Bellona watched as the rather small girl fell on the ground in front of her creator. She watched as a blurred, distorted image of her laid down her head against the woman’s chest.
Their voices cut in and out.
Sarah said, “…Laura.”
And X-23 said, “Please don’t leave me.”
The room went black.
When the lights cut on, Bellona could only stare at the empty space in front of her. She had heard the stories before, but she couldn’t ever picture it. Not truly. The bloody snow was gone, but she could still swear that it was there somewhere.
“You failed.”
She hadn’t even noticed that Kimura had come down from the observation room. Bellona shook her head.
“But I… I killed them. I killed them all.”
Kimura stood in front of her with her arms crossed over her chest.
“All except one. X-23 did it with no hesitation.”
No hesitation because it was out of her control. Right?
“Yes ma’am.”
“So when we repeat this little test in a couple days, you’re going to kill Dr. Sarah Kinney.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You’re not going to talk to her. You’re not going to try to catch her. You shoot.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“And when she’s dead, you go in that building and you find me.” Kimura put her hands on her thighs and squatted down to eye level. “You find me. You save me. And I will give you everything that X-23 didn’t deserve to have.”
Bellona could feel tears stinging her eyes. The image of a child sized X-23 laying in the cold snow burned in her brain. How? And why?
“… Yes ma’am.”
~~~
“Oh,” he says in a light tone, as if it’s something he’s only casually forgotten to mention. “She called me Akihiro. Which is also my real name.”
Akihiro. His real name. She’s been calling him Daken. Does it make a difference?
“Aki-?” She already starts to forget.
He smirks. “That one works too.” And then he says again, “-hiro.”
“Akihiro.”
He winks. “You got it.”
It’s such a brief conversation for something that seems like it should be much more extensive. She watches as he goes back to sifting through papers.
She walks up to the desk and places her hands on the edge, leaning her weight into them.
“So you don’t, like, have a preference or anything? Because you never mentioned you went by anything else.”
He sets the papers down and swivels the chair around to face her.
“It isn’t really a big deal,” he says. “I figured we could catch up on all that when we weren’t trying to get you out of trouble.”
She reaches across him and picks up a permanent marker, twisting the cap off and then clicking it back on. She does this a few times.
“Well yeah,” she says. “But, I mean, if you have an actual name that people call you, I can just call you that.”
He studies her for a moment before he says, “Okay. Well now you can call me by my given name, if it’ll help you feel more comfortable.”
“But I’m trying to ask what makes you feel more comfortable.”
He smiles gently. It’s a look she’s not sure she’s seen him wear, not genuinely. “I’m comfortable either way. Whatever rolls off your tongue easier.”
She frowns, then sets the marker back down. Instead, she takes a paperclip and starts to straighten it out.
“Well, is Daken still your other name?”
He seems to think for a moment. It makes Bellona nervous.
“No,” he says slowly. “No, not really. But you had no way of knowing that. A lot of people have no way of knowing that. It was my name for a really long time. You can continue to call me that if it’s easier.”
She tries to refold the paperclip. “Well what’s your new second name?”
“Fang.”
“Isn’t there aleady a Fang?”
“Well I’m the new Fang.”
Bellona frowns. “So Wolverine’s kids just become other mutants’ 2.0?”
Daken - no, Akihiro - laughs. “If you don’t like it, you can call me any variation of my given name. Or any other nickname you can think of. The girls get creative sometimes.”
“Who are the girls?”
“You’re full of many questions. The girls are Laura and Gabby. And now you.”
And now her. She wants to ask him what he means by that, but then the closet door opens and they both turn around.
X-23 comes out wearing a jacket and tennis shoes. She has a drawstring bag over her shoulder.
Akihiro frowns. “Where are you going?”
“I need to bring some things to Gabby. The two of you are more than welcome to stay. I won’t be long.”
Bellona wants to argue that they really should get going, but she decides to wait for Akihiro to decide for them. She can only hope he can feel her tension.
“We’ll go back to New York,” he says, and Bellona feels her shoulders relax. “We really appreciate everything though, Laura. Thank you.”
Bellona watches as Akihiro stands from the desk chair and walks over to X-23. He brings his arms around her gently and pulls her in. X-23 shuts her eyes and leans her face against his chest. They look like serenity. They look like safety. Bellona wonders what it must feel like. What it must be like.
Just like before, X-23 is the first to lean away. Just like before, Akihiro lets one arm linger around her shoulders for just a moment longer.
“We’ll see ourselves out,” he says.
And X-23 offers a small smile. “Okay.” Her monotonous voice gives away no emotions, but her eyes gleam in a soft way.
Akihiro looks at Bellona and nods towards the door. She follows without a word, eager to get back to the apartment. She has a lot to think about tonight.
“See you later, Laura,” he calls over his shoulder as he holds open the door. Bellona steps out into the hallway.
She hears Laura say, “See you later.” And then she says louder, “Talk to you soon, Bellona.”
Bellona pretends to not hear.
She follows Akihiro to the elevator and down the hall until they’re back outside. She feels a little lighter than she did half an hour ago when they first came. In fact, she’s starting to feel more secure in everything at the moment. The last time she felt like this was when her and her sisters first escaped Alchemax together. The first time she ever got free. They didn’t have a good sense of direction then, but she hopes to be reunited with Gabby soon. Somewhere, she knows Zelda must be proud.
They get on the first bus that stops and they sit closer to the back this time. Bellona sits by the window seat and pulls her hood securely over her hair. Akihiro sits beside her with a soft sigh.
“I’m actually exhausted,” he says once the bus starts moving. “I’m gonna crash tonight, I think.”
“I can sleep on the couch,” she offers. “So you can have your bed back.”
The bus groans as it starts to move forward. Bellona watches the lines paint his face again. She wonders if she looks the same.
“I was thinking you could move back into the closet,” he says.
She rolls her eyes, but doesn’t hide the grin that tugs the corners of her mouth. The bus rolls forward in a slow and steady way. It gives the seats a relaxing vibration. If the ride was longer, she’s sure she would fall asleep.
“Akihiro?”
“You’re getting the hang of it now.”
“Whatever. Did you really know I was in your apartment the whole time?”
Akihiro watches her for a moment before he says anything. He does this often, it’s something she’s noticing more and more. It’s clear he’s withholding bits and pieces of information, but she can’t be too sure what it is or why he filters what he knows. Somehow it just doesn’t seem to bother her. Not enough to question him, not out loud.
“Bellona,” he says gently, nearly mimicking the same tone she had used to call him just a moment before. “I knew you were coming before you got there.”
She wants to ask what he means by that. She wants to ask how he knew. She’d escaped confinement and made it to him in less than 24 hours, so how could he have anticipated it when she didn’t even know she’d be doing it herself? She wants to ask, but the dark lighting and gentle hum of the motor becomes too much for her to resist.
“Whatever, riddle man,” she says with a yawn. She slides down in the seat and leans her head against his shoulder. “Wake me up when we get to the bus stop, okay?”
She feels him start to move the arm she leans against, but then he stops. He shifts just a little. She feels more comfortable.
“Okay,” says softly. Then, in a whisper, “I’ve got you.”