Transmissions || Dustin Bates

Rise and Fall

I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes again, I was in a room with a large window that exposed me to the stars outside. It was night. The landscape was dry and dusted with sand. I groaned, sitting up. I looked around the room. It was very different than the one back on Alexi. The bed laid in the center of the room with a desk on one side, the door and a dresser on the other. A chair sat beside my bed on the same side as the door, and a small table was on the other side. I closed my eyes and laid back down. I was still in my clothes from Alexi, a little bit of blood from Shaylee's clothes on them.

I heard the door slide open and somebody walk in. I opened my eyes to look at who it was. It was Shay.

"Hey there. How do you feel?" She asked softly, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame. I nodded, sitting up again.

"Alright, I guess. Where are we?" I asked, rubbing the side of my head, feeling the almost completely shaved hair.

"Prox. Around thirty lightyears away from home." She walked over, sitting next to me on the bed. She moved my hand from my hair. "Hm, we'll have to fix that later. At the moment, there is someone who wants to meet you." I sighed, letting her pull me off the bed. I followed her down the hallway into another part of the base, into a control room. Everybody wore flighter jackets like Shay had on earlier, black pants, boots, all carrying around tablets or other electronics, working on things. Shay and I were the odd ones out.

She had changed out of her bloodied clothes, instead wearing sweatpants and a tank top with a blue sweater over her arms. And I, of course, still in my workout clothes from that morning. She walked up to the man overlooking everything. He was an older man with glasses and a slight goatee. He seemed youthful, though. His hazel eyes held a spark in them that brightened up the room. When he saw the two of us, he smiled.

"Shaylee, Doctor Bates. It is nice to see you both." He smiled, walking to meet us in the middle of the room. Shay moved towards him, hugging him tightly. He smiled and hugged her back. "How are you, darling?"

"I'm well, thank you. Aston, meet Dustin Bates, Lady's successor." She used Thomson's first name. The man smiled sadly.

"So, you are the one my wife spoke so fondly about." I froze, my eyes widening.

There had always been a rumor about Lady Thomson's love life. That one of her first squads, she fell in love with the Captain of the team, Aston Wise. However, legend had it that he died after a mission. Seemed half of that to be false.

"Aston Wise..." I whispered, still in awe as he shook my hand. "You're supposed to be dead." He laughed, patting my back.

"That I am. This was the only way I could run The Messengers and Lady could continue to work on Alexi, making trips to see me every now and again. If it wasn't for her staying on Alexi and keeping a closer eye on the enemy, we never would have found this little gem of our's." He gestured to Shay who stood by, watching us with a slight smile. "Speaking of finding you, Shaylee, we need to talk." Shay nodded, passing by and touching my hand gently.

"I'll see you after while. The guys should be around." She winked at me.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Doctor Bates." Aston nodded to me before they walked away, leaving me in the control room. I decided to wander around, hoping I would run into the guys eventually. I found my way into the cafeteria, my eyes searching. I found Ron's spiked blond hair with ease. I hurriedly made my way over, sitting next to Adam.

"Dustie! Hey, man! How are you feeling? I gotta tell you, you may weigh a lot to us, but Shay carried you into the base with no problem! Fucking riotous!" Adam said, laughing loudly. The three seemed to be in great spirits.

"She carried me in? Like, all damsel in distress style?" I questioned, dumbfounded.

"Yeah!" Ron laughed, putting his head down on the table. Three of them laughed as I groaned and put my head down on the table in shame. A few moments later, a blonde woman walked over with a tray of food.

"You idiots, what have you done now?" She asked, putting her hand on her hip as she put the tray down.

"Nothing, beautiful, nothing." Brock protested, taking her hand. She shook her head but smiled.

"Brock, you're trouble." She teased, leaning down as he pulled her into his lap.

"Here we go again." Ron sighed, picking up an apple from the tray and throwing at me. I caught it, luckily.

"Dustin, meet Brock's girlfriend Siobhan. I have to do everything because Ron's too stupid and Brock and Siobhan have stars in their eyes." Adam sighed, flicking a piece of paper at them. I smiled. "Dude, you still haven't changed? She really must have wanted you to meet Aston." I looked down, nodding. I bit into my apple, not really wanting to acknowledge that I still felt disgusting.

"Yeah, she was really excited." I continued to eat my apple.

"Well, I mean, he is like a father to her." Ron pointed out, pointing a finger at Adam over the sandwich he had picked up from the tray.

"You right," Adam reached over, grabbing a french fry off the tray. Moments later, the devil herself appeared, her face red and her blue eyes brighter than normal. She quickly made her way to the five of us.

"Ron, I need you." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the room. He didn't question it. He dropped his sandwich and followed her out. The remaining members of the group sat in confusion.

"What was that about?" Adam asked, watching them disappear.

"No idea," Brock replied, also watching them. We had no idea. We sat around talking for a while longer before I decided to go shower and change. I walked back to my room, hoping to find some form of other clothing.

I walked into the room to find a good portion of my stuff in the room. I smiled, going to grab clothing out of the drawers. I grabbed clothes and went to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. I quickly showered and got clean before going back to my room. When I opened the door, I noticed someone sitting in the chair in the corner. It was around three in the morning. There was one person who I was positive would be up this late and sneaking around people's rooms.

"Shaylee," I greeted her, my eyes trained on her figure.

"Dustin," she managed to croak out. I walked over, sitting on the bed in front of her. "I-You see, I, I found out some news tonight." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "I've already told the other two, but I knew I had to tell you as well. You are a part of the team, and you have a right to know." She took a deep breath in. I gently placed my hand on her thigh as she had done to me earlier that day.

"It's alright, Shay," I assured her, slowly pulling her out of the chair and closer to me.

"No, it's not. I'm not alright. I was turned Carnivore by the FEC. Dustin, my father is the head of the FEC. He's alive. He did all of this, not only to me but to everyone." She held onto me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, holding her body close.

"Shay, Shay, it'll be alright. We all will be right behind you. Blood means nothing by this point. We are your family. Thomson, Ron, Brock, Adam, Aston," I took a deep breath, thinking over my next words carefully. "And me, I'll love you for as long as you want me. I'm your's, Shaylee Diaz." I gently placed my hands on either side of her face. She smiled up at me, placing her hands on top of mine.

"Okay, Bates." She laughed, moving her hands from on top of mine to onto my chest.

"See? I knew you'd grow to love me." I winked at her. She smiled.

"You know what, Bates? Fuck you." She teased. I grinned, leaning in.

"Maybe later. At least take me out to dinner first." I leaned in a little more, connecting our lips. "You know what, Diaz? I think we could make this whole Messenger thing work. Not too shabby for our first year together. At least we both lived."

Haha. Let's see how that one goes for ya, buddy.