Burn As Bright (Frerard)

42

Jamia moved swiftly down the rows of cells with her group in toe. Pete and Patrick followed immediately after her, while Gerard and Mikey brought up the rear. Pete was exhausting much of his magic in both concealing himself and Patrick, as well as, holding Patrick to the present moment. The bags under his eyes were deep, but he was determined to move forward.

Gerard used what magic he could to conceal himself and his brother. He held Mikey's wrist to keep him close.

They moved silently, only slowing their movement when they came to the hall that lead out of the cell blocks. Jamia stood tall, walking with purpose as the others moved quietly behind her. She seemed hesitant to move beyond the threshold of the gateway but, once she did, she was back to her original swift pace that the others had to hustle to keep up with.

Gerard kept a tight grip on Mikey's wrist as they moved. It was one thing for himself to move through this place with guidance, but he could feel bubbles of anxiety now that they were grouped and separated once again to try and escape. He couldn't risk losing track of the few he could keep in his sight or in his grip.

The lower halls were easy to navigate. It was when they began to maneuver through more populated areas that the challenge came. Jamia had to slow her pace. The group tried to stay as close as possible while Gerard and Pete also focused on maintaining their illusions of invisibility. Gerard knew his own magic was screaming within him, so he knew Pete's had to be straining as well, especially considering how much he had lent to bring Patrick back to the now.

Due to the strain of focusing on his magic and the group, Gerard almost didn't recognize the hall they had made it to. It was strikingly similar to the others, however, there was a wave of familiarity to this particular spot... as if he had been here before.

Just then, Jamia stopped her movement. She moved close to the seemingly solid wall and pressed her hand against its smooth, gray surface. "Keep close." Gerard barely heard her whisper as the wall began to split just beside where they had gathered.

The docking bay was busier than the last time Gerard had moved through it with a Force Soldier. Groups of soldiers were being pushed together by men with stress written over their features. Vehicles were being lined up in a loose formation. More individual soldiers were racing back and forth with a variety of different equipment items moving with them.

Jamia stepped into the room and pressed herself against the wall in shadows, remaining still as the others followed her lead. Gerard watched her take in the scene, waiting for her plan forward.

Mikey's arm tugged in Gerard's grip, pulling his attention to his brother. Wordlessly, Mikey jerked his head to one of the vehicles ahead. Gerard followed the motion, but didn't see anything that stood out about the vehicle. He turned back to Mikey with a furrowed brow. His brother tugged in Gerard's grip again. He then mouthed a message that made Gerard's heart stop.

"I saw him."

Gerard stared at his brother, lost for words. Did he mean Frank? Did he mean the Force Captain? Did he even know what the Force Captain looked like. By the time he finally found it within himself to mouth a message back, Mikey was pointing to the group who had begun to move again.

Gerard scrambled to catch up, though his eyes kept darting to the vehicle Mikey had pointed out. Was Frank already here? Could he get to him in enough time?

Jamia kept the group near the shadows, easily missed by the frantic movement of scrambling soldiers. She kept moving until she made it to the open back of one of the vehicles, three away from the one Mikey had pointed out. She stood next to its opening, bringing her hands behind her back and standing at attention. She tilted her head towards it, though it could have been passed as a tossing of her hair to anyone not paying close attention.