Between the Black and Grey (Starlight Brigade AU)

16 - Chance

"M-Me?"

Nad's eyes were wide, his expression a cocktail of confusion, shock, terror and everything in between. He didn't seem to know how to feel, and neither did Sung as he stared at him. How could Nad's DNA match Yzus's? It didn't make sense. There must be a mistake.

"Commander, take a look at Havve's scanning software. It's malfunctioning," he said blandly before he moved his crew mates aside to leave the room.

"I am experiencing no malfunctions. My results are correct," he heard Havve drone, but he didn't stick around to hear any more.

Sung marched out of the lodging, the morning sun washing over him along with a surprisingly strong wind which drove into his face and blew through his hair. He sighed heavily, the weary sound snatched up into the air and carried far away for no one to hear. Looking around Sung was reminded of how deserted they were. A single road stretched away from the motel, a vast expanse of nothing leading to the barely visible cityscape on the horizon. Usually Sung found isolation comforting, but today that wasn't the case. This wasn't the emptiness he was used to. This wasn't space.

For once, Sung felt trapped.

They couldn't get off this planet, not without their craft. He'd dealt well enough with the fact before, but now they had dangerous company that couldn't easily be escaped on foot. Or by craft, for that matter; they'd followed them this far. They couldn't just keep running...

"Sung? Are you okay?"

Sung turned his head slightly to see Nad, stood beside him and looking up with a carefully concerned smile.

"I'm not so sure I am, Nad," Sung replied almost ashamedly.

For a while Sung had been hiding his feelings, hiding behind a stone mask for Nad's sake. Being his rock through his own troubles. Being his parent, in a way.

"You know that's fine, right?"

Sung didn't answer, staring into the empty skyline. He didn't see or hear Nad approach, and before he knew it a pair of smaller arms were wrapped around his middle. "None of us are okay right now."

"You can say that again, this is a mess. I... don't know what to do about it."

"We'll figure it out," Nad said confidently.

"How can you be sure of that?" Sung knew how pessimistic he sounded, but he honestly couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Because, we're the Starlight Brigade."

Sung huffed a tired chuckle.

"I haven't thought of us like that for a while. Not since-"

"Since you almost died?" Nad finished, and Sung was surprised to find he was right. "You're not the only person here, you know. You don't have to figure everything out by yourself."

"Gosh, you sound like me... Uplifting speeches."

"You've been sulking like a baby for weeks, so someone had to take your place!" Nad gave a grin.

"Well if that's the case, what's our next course of action, Doctor Nad?" Sung teased.

Nad giggled, lightly nudging Sung's side to shut him up. As his smile dropped, however, a thoughtful expression did make its way onto his face.

"We need to find that thing from our dream..."

"The object in the woods? Why would we need that?" Sung wondered.

"It got us away from the spiders in the dream. I don't know, but it feels important."

Of course. Another one of Nad's mysterious hunches.