Thunderstorms (Fortnite Collection)

Don't Be Ashamed

Midas has mastered the art of not letting his agents see his weaknesses. Turns out, he hasn't trained himself enough to avoid a twelve-year-old's detection.

~•~

Steady. He had to remain steady.

He was out in the open. Henchmen were littering every corner of the base as usual, though traffic was even more so, considering it had started to rain outside.

Rain. Of course it was going to rain. He should have known. Gray clouds had littered the sky all day, slowly compiling atop one another and merging together until they were one force. He had heard a quiet rumble of thunder not too long ago, which immediately set off his nerves.

He had to remain steady. He had to get himself to the meeting room. He couldn't let anyone see him shake or flinch before then.

His eyes darted around as he slipped through the halls of The Grotto and maneuvered his way there. No one noticed a thing. At least, that's what he thought.

In the corner of the room, a mischievous set of eyes stood hovering over the tech lead's shoulder, writing notes about her work as she watched her. Skye had learned the hard way that messing with equipment was a quick way to break it and get in trouble, so she stuck to watching as Terra messed with a server panel that had gone offline.

Journey was caught up in some mission, unfortunately for her, and hadn't had time to ask Jules to look after her, so Skye had been left under the care of GHOST. She felt bad that she had to go out in the weather, but honestly, she wished she could join her. Skye loved listening to the overhead, muffled sounds of the rain pattering against the mountain of The Grotto. This type of weather was her second favorite, next to the typical warm sunshine. She couldn't understand why anyone would dislike it...

Namely, she couldn't understand why Midas disliked it. He hadn't outright admitted it, but she could tell the thunder made him jumpy. When she had arrived earlier, he was standing atop the helipad, anxiously watching the gray sky. Tense.

He had disappeared since, until just now. She turned just in time to see him speed through the room and slip down a hall, showing no signs of stopping for anything or anyone, which was proven when he ignored a henchman that had tried to get his attention.

She took one last glance at Terra and followed. The automatic door at the end of the hall welcomed her, as the sound of it opening combined with a clap of thunder. She found Midas sitting in a chair at the center meeting table, the chair closest to the door so he could have his back turned to it. He was still, and his hands, she realized, were tightly clutching the sides of the seat.

Skye watched him for a few moments; though she had an idea of what was up, she wanted to be exactly sure. Finally, thunder roared again, and he jumped.

It wasn't just a small flinch. His entire body jolted, and his head snapped up, frantically looking around. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and half-covering his face with his golden hands.

"Midas?" She asked, taking a step forward.

Just the sound of her voice seemed to startle him as well, for he jumped again. He took a visible breath and turned to her. The gold had risen up to his elbows. "Did you need something?" He asked, his voice not-so-subtly shaking.

Skye set a hand on his back. She had seen him anxious or tense, but not outright scared like this. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Before he could even think of a response, he flinched again at the onset of thunder. He was forever glad to know that he couldn't see the lightning while underground, which was the one thing that triggered his nerves more than the thunder. But, he had failed his mission, and that was even worse. She, still practically a child, wasn't afraid at all. In fact, she loved these thunderstorms, as he had before his incident in the storm. And now, here she was, witnessing his childish fears, something he would never be able to live down.

That alone was worse than his fears, but it was too late. He couldn't hide it anymore. With a choked breath, he covered his face. "No. Skye, I'm not alright. But it's nothing you need to worry about."

"You're bad at lying," she said without hesitation, and she couldn't help but giggle at the deer in the headlights look he served her immediately after. She set down the notebook she remembered she was carrying and flipped to the page where she had written her notes on Terra's work. "Guess what?"

He uncovered his face slightly, just enough to where she could see a glimpse of his golden eye. "I was watching Terra because one of the tech things went off and now I know how to fix it," she enthused. "Maybe one day I'll work here!"

"Is that so?" He said, and an amused smile tugged at his face. More thunder, and when he only flinched slightly, Skye beamed. The weather finally wasn't plaguing his mind so much.