The Edge

Arian: Part Twelve

No one else was on the ship when they arrived, which was fine by Arian. He had finally stopped crying, but he looked like trash. Luca sat him down and started fussing over the cuts. Gideon, meanwhile, paced around the space, checking all the doorways like he was worried they'd been followed. "Tola can patch you up once she's back, but..." Luca carefully dabbed at the cut with disinfectant. "What happened?"

Arian sighed. "Short version? Guy from the hotel was sketch and working with someone from the forums. He jumped me and tied me up when I tried to talk to her about Cass. This was the worst of it. Guess he figured he'd try psychological torture first." He tried to say it casually, but his voice was still hoarse and shaky. Hard to make jokes when he sounded like that. "He's looking for the guy who hosts that stupid radio show. I guess Cassandra got closer than anyone else has, but dipped without saying anything to them."

"That's...weird. So he was trying to get to her?"

"Seems like it."

"Oh. That'd explain why she showed up here, then..."

That set off every alarm in Arian's head. "He what?!"

"Yeah, he tried chatting, but Tola got a funny feeling and Gideon noticed your phone in his pocket when he was looking for someone else? Uhm..." Luca glanced back towards Gideon, who looked embarrassed. "They, uh, kinda got into a fight."

Oh, shit. "Okay, so he's stupid, actually."

"He was holding his own," Gideon said suddenly. "He's fast. I don't think he could feel pain, either. I was holding back, but even then..." He shook his head. "Any time I landed a hit, he didn't react."

Yeah, that was...a lot. It sure explained the weird vibes that guy was giving off, though. If he could go toe-to-toe with Gideon, even at half power, he was not a normal human. "What happened?"

"Security showed up, he got away. Since he technically threw the first punch, they marked it as self defense and gave me a warning. Adoette was able to convince them that guy was the bigger threat, so they're off looking for him. That let the rest of us go looking for you."

Smart. "How'd you find me?"

Luca spoke up: "Gideon grabbed your phone and I could see where you were being held. Kinda? We had to narrow it down, but with seven of us in three groups, we figured someone would find you eventually."

So...all that time, they had been looking for him. A new thought occurred to him: "Is the storm over?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"Couple hours ago, I think? I lost track of time once we realized you were missing."

"...you guys didn't leave."

"No? Why would we? We figured you were in danger."

Luca said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It was almost enough to make Arian feel stupid for doubting them, but not quite. It just...didn't make sense.

"Honestly, I kind of thought you'd bailed," he admitted, "to keep looking for Cass."

Gideon's pacing slowed, and he glanced at Arian with a look that seemed guilty.Luca, meanwhile, didn't even freeze at the comment. He just kept on cleaning the wounds as if Arian hadn't said something arguably really concerning.

Then again, Luca was his own mess of insecurities. He probably got it.

We're a majorly messed up bunch, aren't we?

Arian started laughing. The laughter quickly turned to more tears. Luca set aside the first aid kit and gave Arian another careful hug. Gideon semi-joined them, pulling a chair close but not too close and watching with sympathetic eyes. Fortunately, this crying fit didn't last as long as the last one. "Helen's gonna kill me, isn't she?" Arian choked out once he'd calmed down.

"She's going to be a bit pissed, I won't lie," Gideon said gently. "But she probably won't kill you."

"Oh, probably. Great." Arian managed a smile, despite his lingering tears. "Love that."

Luca's phone buzzed; he glanced at it to check the text. "Oh, uh, speaking of, she wants me to start pre-flight checks. We're bailing as soon as everyone gets back."

Made sense. Arian nodded and stood up. "I can help."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine. I've had worse. If I keep sitting down, I'm going to lose my shit." He'd spent way too much time sitting in that stupid tunnel anyway. He needed to move. "Besides, maybe it will make Helen less pissed at me."

Probably not, but hey, a guy could hope.

Arian was still a bit sore, but walking helped, and going through the preflight stuff took some of his anxiety. Not all of it. In fact, what anxiety was left came in a completely new flavor: the fear that Known Bastard Alistair Black had somehow stowed away on the ship. He checked the holds himself, just to be safe. They were still empty, but the anxiety lingered.

I'll just...casually bring it up. Have the others double-check.Yeah, that sounded good.

He didn't even have to wait too long. The rest of the family showed up almost the second he, Luca, and Gideon were done with the checks. "Everyone get strapped in," Helen said briskly. "I got the go-ahead for us to leave..." She hesitated slightly when she saw the state Arian was in, but kept going. "...and I don't want to waste any time'

Any more time than I already wasted, you mean. Arian pushed the thought aside and cleared his throat. "You might want to double-check for stragglers," he said. "Mister Bean Pole was pretty intent on finding that radio guy, and he thinks we know something. I wouldn't put it past him."

"We checked the exterior, but we can do another sweep of the interior once we're out of here," Helen said. "If he is inside, I'll throw him out of the airlock myself."

Arian completely believed it. He certainly wouldn't try to stop her if it came to it. That thought was quickly chased away by another one. It was difficult to say out loud, but he had to. It was the least he could do, all things considered.

"Hey, uhm..." Arian cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I know we're delayed because of me. I promise I won't run off again."

Helen stopped. She didn't say anything, but she also didn't start lecturing him. The quick glance over her shoulder wasn't...really forgiveness, and he couldn't blame her for being quite ready for that yet. But it was something. He'd take it, as long as no one was trying to smack the shit out of him.

Arian felt a careful hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, it was Gideon. "I'll double-check, too," he said, his voice quiet and hesitant, but reassuring. "You rest."

And then he followed after Helen as if nothing were wrong.

Tola ran to his side and hugged him. "Are you really hurt?" she asked. "I can look at it if you want."

"I've had worse, but I won't say no to that. Once we're out of here, though. I'm sure Helen is serious about us strapping in, and I don't want to piss her off more than I already have."

"She's not pissed, stupid, she was worried," Adoette said. She gave him a light punch on the arm instead of a hug, but weirdly, Arian preferred that. "Okay, a little pissed, but mostly worried. Still, you're right. We should strap in."

Matteo gave him a quick, one-armed hug as he walked by. "Glad you're okay," he said quietly, then moved on as if nothing were wrong.

It was weird. Everyone had been so calm about this. He'd expected them to be a lot more pissed, even braced himself for it. Maybe they were still focused on Cassandra, so his screw-up seemed tiny in comparison, but...

Was this forgiveness? Maybe it was, or the start of it. He'd take it, Arian decided, and work his way up to the rest of it.

They were going to be stuck on this ship for a little while longer—and stuck with each other for even longer than that. He'd have plenty of time.