Not Gonna Die (A Skybrine Fanfic)

|Chapter 20| Shields and bolts

          "Ow."

          Seto's head snapped around to Adam so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash which, when you consider that he had short hair, was quite a feat. Adam was stirring, raising his head from his chest and shaking it. Seto had taken off his sunglasses and he blinked his brown eyes a few times in a dazed fashion.

          Seto watched him as Adam tensed his arms, noticing the cuffs for the first time. "Are you okay?" Seto asked carefully.

          Adam jerked a little in surprise. "What- What happened? Why..."

          "Wait, you... You don't remember?" the sorcerer asked in confusion.

          "Remember what? Why- Why am I cuffed, what..." his voice died off.

          With a sigh, Seto undid the cuffs and Adam grunted as he rubbed his wrists, looking accusingly at Seto. "You want to tell me what the deal is?"

          "You attacked Mitch, Quentin and Ty," Seto said, turning his back to pick up Adam's sunglasses rather than meeting his eyes.

          "Wh- What?" Adam frowned at Seto. "I attacked them?"

          "What do you remember last?" Seto asked, handing over the glasses and sitting down in front of Adam with his legs crossed.

          Adam shrugged a little. "I came into the kitchen to grab a drink and everyone else was there and then... I don't know, I just felt really sick and... I blanked out." He looked up. "Seto, what... did I hurt them?"

          "Mitch is still unconscious but he'll be fine. Ty's been checked out and his vocal chords and windpipe are undamaged and I came in before you could do anything to Quentin."

          Adam put his head in his hands, breathing out something so softly that Seto couldn't hear it. Seto looked away, pulling up his knee. "You had magic," he said quietly. "And you were good at using it too."

          There was horror in Adam's eyes when he looked up. "You mean," he asked with a swallow. "Do you mean that it... might be controlling me?"

          "It might have just been a freak accident," Seto hesitated. "Just a once off, you know? We'll keep an eye on it, but it might not happen again."

          On that happy note, the two left the kitchen. Adam felt that constant, simmering panic creep back again, the fear that something horrible could happen at any moment. It wore him out faster than anything else. He also noticed that Seto was hanging around him a lot more, often going out of his way to just walk with him. The two didn't say anything about his... episode, and taking their cue from them, neither did Ty, Mitch or Quentin. Far from finding Seto's constant presence suffocating or irritating, Adam found it comforting.

          As such, he was rather relaxed (although feeling quite sick) when he, Seto and Ian were leaving a meeting with Senior Commanders Red and Barney a week later and were walking down the corridors. Ian and Adam were talking animatedly about something. Seto had lost track of the conversation a few corners back and was lost in his own thoughts. That was, until Adam suddenly stumbled, his hand snatching at Seto's ever-present cloak as he dropped to the ground, other hand falling from his head.

          "Ian, don't!" Seto said sharply, holding out his hand as Ian instantly went to check Adam. Ian frowned at Seto, half-crouching, asking him silently what the big deal was but he didn't sense what Seto did; the sudden, powerful magical aura radiating from Adam.

          "Ian, back off-"

          Too late. Adam had already stood up and with a backwards swing, sent Ian flying back down the hallway. With a flick, two see-through purple discs formed on Seto's hands and he backtracked a few steps, eyes on an Adam who was already in a fighting position, a yellow-bladed dagger in his right and a glowing yellow fireball in his left. His expression was blank and he almost seemed to not blink but he watched Seto with eagle-like intensity. Seto didn't dare to take his eyes off him.