Bring The Heat

9. Recovery Period 2

"I'm so sorry... I can't control it yet. It happens when I get scared, and I try not to let it..."

Cece imagined herself saying this to Tenson. Because of her power, he had nearly suffocated, and the boy could have died. He still might...

But no. As much as he deserved an explanation, she could never give it to him, because as scared as she was during the fight, she was also scared of facing her own fears. So instead, she welded; completely on auto-pilot, as a war raged in her head, and her body ached for rest.

Rebound had dragged himself to bed, and was now resting peacefully. He didn't really get why Tenson had saved the boy - but was too drowsy to think too much about it anyway. It was probably best that they didn't kill anybody yet.

Lastly, Tenson sat impatiently in the medical bay, tapping his foot and fidgeting as he stared at the boy on the bed. After CPR for minutes, with Tenson nearly losing hope, the boy's heartbeat had returned. He was now breathing on his own again, but still unconscious. The wounds on his arm and leg were bandaged up. Tenson kept playing over and over in his mind the look of fear in the boy's eyes, even as his body attacked with hatred. The scream of pain when his leg was sliced. How those evil-looking flames had disappeared whilst he suffocated. Was it mind control? Who was the 'she' that the beast had demanded to see? How could anyone use innocent kids as soldiers? Tenson just sat there, thinking it over and over relentlessly.

"HONEY, I'M HOOOOOOOOOOME~!"

The yell rang out solemnly around the hangar. Wren stood there, stretched out, waving her hands jazzily. BM followed just behind, carrying far too many bags full of stuff, and grinning, proud of himself for convincing Wren to do this.

But Cece just lifted her mask and gave them a look, like she was on the brink of tears. Something really bad had happened...

-(30 MINUTES LATER)-

Wren was holding Cece, comforting her in her room. Rebound was still asleep, and there were more urgent matters than meeting the new kid. BM and Wren had convinced Cece to just go lie down, and BM had gone off to help the new kid give medical attention to the intruder. Wren was seething with rage. Why were they saving that bastard? The bastard who had made Cece cry into Wren's arms because she was afraid for her friend's lives and her own?

"I'm gonna kill him!" she muttered.

"Mm-mm. No... don't." Cece pleaded weakly. Her eyes hurt, and her head ached, from crying. She was terrified... but it wasn't the boy's fault. She believed Tenson when he explained that the boy wasn't the one pulling the strings. And besides, Tenson had earned her trust.

Cece had been trying not to break down since the attack, but when Wren asked what had happened, tears had snuck out with her words. And it was probably because of the fire inside her, but when Wren held Cece... it felt warm. Safe...

Wren was furious... why did nobody care about how the boy had nearly killed everyone? But if it was what Cece wanted... some feelings are best left repressed. Someone approached the room, but the door slid open mid-knock.

"O- sorry. I didn't know it was automatic."

It was the new kid. He was wearing black jeans and an orange hoodie. Something about his face looked naturally apologetic, and he had short, fluffy grey hair. Cece got up, and walked over to him, embracing him gratefully.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Stable. And getting better, now that the suit guy's looking into it." Tenson responded. He looked at Cece, worried.

"How are you?"

"Agh. Y'know... holding up. My back aches to shit, though!" They both laughed gently. Cece sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Wren," she said, turning back to her, "this is Tenson, the new kid. He saved mine and Rebound's lives... he could've just left us, but he fought for our lives, for two random people..."

Wren felt strange. The new kid was a hero, no doubt about it. But he had saved the enemy's life... and something about the way Cece talked about him gave her a pang of... jealousy? She walked up to him, and opened her mouth, thinking about what choice words of disapproval or praise to have for him.

Hmm... no. The compound was weak right now. It seemed best to leave bad feelings for later.

"If you're the new kid..." she said, slowly turning to Cece, and grinning, "then what are you gonna call me?"

Cece laughed. Wren felt warm inside seeing her smile. She was glad Cece was feeling better. The two of them just gazed attractively at each other for a bit.

"So, uh, where's Rebound?" Tenson asked, breaking the moment. Read the room, new kid...

"He's probably still sleeping. I'll show you his room, though." Wren replied. "You gonna be ok?" she asked, turning to Cece. Cece gave her a small smile, then nodded. Wren went over and hugged her once more, then gave a quick kiss on the forehead. Cece pushed her away playfully, giggling. Wren just grinned and began to walk with Tenson down the hall.

"Hey, I'm glad you were there, new kid," Wren told Tenson, suddenly realizing why the others felt powerful calling her 'new kid', "it sounds like you did pretty good out there. Thanks for saving my friends."

"Yeah..." Tenson replied awkwardly. He didn't like talking good about himself. It felt too much like bragging.

An awkward silence hung between the two. This felt somehow worse...

"So, you and Cece are like, a thing, right?" he asked. The perfect icebreaker! Well done, buddy!

Wren turned bright red. "W-what? No... no. Noooo..."

Shit. Not so well done, buddy.

"It's- it's not like that! We're just, uh, we're, uhhhh..." Wren stared at the floor aversively. The two stewed in the awkwardness for a bit. "I mean... did... did it seem like that to you?" Wren asked, quietly and sheepishly. Tenson's anxiety came back to him like a boomerang that was really a truck loaded with bricks.

"Uhhh, no! Of course not... well, yeah, kinda..." he returned, scratching the back of his head. Even with Wren's head pointed at the ground, he could see a small smile form on her face. It was weird, but something about her kind of reminded him of Mariah... with this thought, a wide grin formed on his face.

"Ahhhh, I see how it is! I seeeeeee..." he teased.

"What!? Hey! Shut up, dude! It's not like that!" Wren exclaimed, shocked and annoyed.

"Yeah, TOTALLY. Uh-huh. No, I believe you. I do. I really do..." but the unrelenting, little-shitter grin on Tenson's face said otherwise.

"StoOoOooOoOOop!" Wren complained, slapping at him, but now smiling too.

Shit... was she that obvious?

They reached Rebound's room, and knocked on his door. The door slid open halfway through again. Rebound was sitting in his bed, rubbing his head like he was hungover. He seemed instantly revitalized upon seeing Tenson, though.

"New kid!" he cheered, getting up and hobbling over to put an arm around him, before looking at Wren and dragging her into the weird hug thing. "You've missed a lot, rookie!"

Man, this guy just got weirder and weirder...

"Wait, why do I still have to be rookie?" Wren protested.

"Well, it's not gonna be this guy! I've seen what he can do!"

"But I literally beat you in a figh-"

"YEAH, but he doesn't know that..." Rebound interrupted, the big smile on his face replaced with a furious glare. Wren smirked. He was back to his old self already!

The door to Rebound's room slid open. All three of them turned to look, and fell silent. In the doorway stood BM, with a serious look on his face.

"He's awake."