Chapter Text
←Running slightly behind, but should still
be there for lunch. See you soon!
→From: Gran
Travel safe, my dear
With that text message sent, Skylar switched the chat from Gran’s to Caleb’s. The last thing he’d said to her was “I promise you’ll see me every day when you wake up ;)” She’d sent him a couple texts since then over the last couple of days that he hadn’t replied to. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth.
←Ignore me all you want, but unless
you’ve decided to bail on me without
telling me, we’re spending the whole
weekend together.
← I’m guessing I wont see you until
tomorrow, but I’m on my way
now. Planning to cook a nice late
lunch/early dinner for Gran.
←I’ll make enough for leftovers.
With the exception of very brief overlaps in their holidays, Skylar hadn’t really seen Caleb since he left for the DAA. His amethyst eyes that shone with delusions of grandeur and hope standing at the bus stop were her last substantial memories of him.
The train ride from Linkon City proper to the residential outskirts was only about 45 minutes, but Skylar couldn’t relax. If she had to put a word to the emotion she was feeling, it was closer to anxiety than excitement, though she wasn’t exactly sure why.
By the time the train arrived at the Bloomshore station, it took all of her self control not to rush off the train and through the station. The weather was nice and cool, the blossom petals of various trees and shrubs from around the town drifted gently from their home plants to the ground. As a result, the Bloomshore district was painted in soft hues of pinks, yellows and oranges of the surrounding flora.
Skylar’s anxieties began to ease as she walked the streets she was so familiar with, she could probably do so blindfolded. Familiar faces waved as she passed, names on the sides of mailboxes she’d known all her life brought back memories of her school aged years.
She considered herself now compared to when she left for the Hunters Academy. Much like when Caleb had left for the DAA, she, too, admitted that she was filled with the fancy fantasies of the heroism and glory that came with being a Deepspace hunter. Being a Deepspace hunter is much less glamorous and far stinkier than I thought it would be, she thought to herself with an amused sigh. Still, even if she wasn’t a legendary hero like Lumier, or as glamorous as the Hunters in Super Hunters! she couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
After about a 15 minute walk, 502 Sunset Street, Bloomshore District stood stalwart and sturdy against the drags of time in front of her. Gran had let the garden go a little bit, but with her aging, Skylar wasn’t exactly surprised. Maybe I can convince Caleb to help clean the garden beds out with me this weekend, she thought to herself with a creeping smile that quickly turned sour. If he actually decides to actually show up… she thought bitterly and looked down at her phone. No new unread messages.
She pocketed her phone and opened the door.
“Grandma! I’m home!” She said, a little louder than she would have normally, but Gran’s hearing seemed to be on the outs lately any time they spoke on the phone. Skylar left her suitcase, handle still pulled up, by the door.
“Ah! Sweetie!” She looked up from the paper she’d been reading and pulled her glasses off, “You haven’t been visiting often since you became a hunter. Did you miss me?” Skylar smiled to herself and bent down to hug her Gran. She pulled back and looked at Gran’s face. There were far more wrinkles than the last time she saw her, but her eyes were still as bright and sharp as ever.
“Of course!” She took a deep breath, only to realize that something smelled like food. Gran must have started to cook something before she got here. Making lunch would have to wait until dinner, or tomorrow, then, she supposed. “Something smells good. Is it…” she sniffed the air again, “roast pork? Oh! That reminds me, I learned how to cook a new dish. Would you like to try it?”
Footsteps came from the direction of the kitchen as she stood up, and Skylar wondered if Grandma actually had a home care nurse coming to visit her. No sooner than she started to formulate that thought, a familiar voice came teasingly from around the corner, and a familiar head of black hair emerged from behind the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen.
“What happened to the pip-squeak who wouldn’t even pour me a glass of water? Work has changed you! I should have talked you into becoming a Hunter sooner.” Caleb stopped and looked at Skylar for a moment before setting down a couple of bowls of food.
Skylar blinked several times, then looked to Grandma, who simply just smiled, then back to him, “Caleb?!” She rushed over and jumped into his waiting open arms, squeezing a hug out of him so tightly, he pretended like she was choking him. After a moment, he set her down and she pulled back to look at him. He was so tall and could definitely stand to get a haircut. “I thought I wouldn’t see you until tomorrow at least.”
Caleb shrugged, “What’s wrong with comin home early to spend some time with you and Gran?” He reached out and ruffled her hair. She tried to duck out from under his hand, but, as always, he was too quick. Her hair fell messily in front of her eyes. “Go wash up, Lets eat.”
Despite being excited to see Grandma, and the extra surprise that Caleb was intentionally ignoring her to surprise her, Skylar didn’t feel very hungry as the family sat down to eat their late lunch/early dinner. Skylar sat in her thoughts over dinner while Caleb and Grandma talked back and forth to each other, and Caleb set a dumpling on her plate in an effort to try to get her to eat, but when she looked down at the food, her Hunter’s Watch suddenly alerted her to a Metaflux presence nearby. Confused and concerned for Caleb and her grandmother’s safety, she stood from the dinner table and headed out the front door. “Grandma, Caleb… Something’s going on outside. I’m gonna check it out. Be back soon. I promise!”
Caleb’s voice trailed behind her, laced with genuine concern, “Hey wait up! I’m coming with you!”
“No no… not necessary. I’m sure it’s nothing.” She opened the front door and tried to close it before Caleb could follow her out, but his fingers deftly curled around the door and with his strength against hers, he was able to hold the door open without getting his fingers slammed in the frame, and then pulled it open to step out with her. “Caleb! I told you I don’t need help.”
“Since when has anything you said stopped me from doing what I want?” He said with a cocky smirk. Skylar rolled her eyes and acquiesced, not that she could stop him anyway. She narrowed her eyes at him and then turned to follow the direction that her watch sent her without speaking another word to him. After taking a few steps, though her watch didn’t buzz again, she felt the odd sensation like she was being watched.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, Caleb’s long legs easily catching up to walk beside her as she looked down at her Hunter’s Watch to follow the direction of the Metaflux. Still not talking to him, she glanced around, taking stock of her surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place; no Metaflux tingled her skin, no alarm blared from her wrist, no alarms rang out for civilians to hide from an emerging protofield. The watch hadn’t pinged again since coming outside, and though she was certain she walked in the direction that it pointed her to, it continued to stay silent by her side. Nothing, save the ever growing and persistent feeling of being watched.
Glancing down one more time and seeing that everything was all clear, she finally looked at Caleb and addressed him for the first time since they were walking without aim together outside. “Caleb,” she started with slight exasperation, “What kind of hunter lets a friend tag along to work with them?” Not that she let him but… still. He walked beside her like he’d been invited out with her.
He raised an eyebrow at her, “I’m not tagging along with you, pip-squeak… Just heading to the store for some… vinegar and whatnot.” He said.
You’re such a bad liar, you asshole, she thought to herself, but didn’t say so aloud in the interest of not re-igniting the years-long war waged in the name of whether or not the other was a bad liar. Instead, she took an exasperated deep breath.
“All right, then.” She said, though she hoped her tone conveyed that she thought he was a liar liar pants on fire, even if she wouldn’t say it aloud. “Well, we’re just about to turn the corner. Go to the store and pick up your ‘vinegar’” she air quoted. She looked at him to see that he was taking a turn and walking into the store, and the thought that he would walk in and then walk right back out when he thought she wouldn’t notice anymore crossed her mind. “Oh, and another thing,” he stopped in his tracks and turned around, “You better not walk out and start following me the second my back is turned.” He blinked at her a couple of times, like she caught his exact thoughts before he regained his composure. I knew it, she thought to herself triumphantly.
“Yeah Yeah,” he waved a dismissive hand, “Secret mission, blah blah blah. Can’t let unauthorized personnel in on the details.” She rolled her eyes.
“Hurry Up and go already,” she pointed to the store behind him. And just for good measure, she wanted to give him a couple other things to pick up while he was in there, “Also. I want some snacks… uhh and fruit! Take all the time you need!”
He huffed, “Unbelievable” he said under his breath so quietly she wasn’t sure if she actually heard it, or if she knew him well enough that she just heard his thoughts through the huff he gave. He turned around and sauntered into the store. Whether or not he’d actually been planning to pick up vinegar didn’t matter anymore. She’d be really cross with him if he didn’t pick up her snacks and fruit.
Skylar turned and scanned her surroundings again once she was confident that he was inside to actually buy some stuff. While she continued to feel like a set of eyes were watching her every move, she still didn’t sense any fluctuations nearby. She decided to walk around a bit to see if she or her watch would pick back up on… whatever it caught within grandma’s house. She walked around a couple of blocks down from the store she left Caleb at, feeling an incremental increase in fluctuations around her the further she went, bouncing around her like fireflies in a dusky meadow. Is it possible the source of the fluctuations is… moving? She wondered to herself as she looked back down at her watch. It stayed silent as ever, but she could feel the fluctuations tickling her skin.
Her surroundings, calm and unmoving save for a single bird circling above her in the sky, set her eerily on edge before she spotted a ball cap wearing silhouette standing just outside the shadows of a dusk darkened alley. Across the street, a patrol drone that belongs to the city approached him, and he turned his body slightly away from the drone, fiddling with the brim of his hat. In response to the man’s suspicious actions, Skylar’s already heightened senses began to trigger a fight or flight response, and the hairs on her arms stood straight on their ends. As the man moved, her watch vibrated on her wrist, finally alerting her to the Metaflux she’d been sensing. Her hand reached for the handgun on her hip, but she didn’t draw it. A thought occurred to her in that moment, staying her hand.
That man… he’s the source?
Like a moth to flame, Skylar crosses the street to try to follow the man as he begins to walk away. Whether she was not being as quiet as she thought she was being, or he was especially perceptive, she couldn’t say for sure, but once it became clear that he realized she was following her, he began to pick up his pace, easily dodging the few people he was passing on the sidewalk.
She brought her watch closer to her face, so she could interface with it while still keeping an eye on her target, ready to send her location to HQ for them to send back up to her ASAP. Before she could hope that there was a Hunter closer than Linkon City to assist her, she felt a sharp and intense pain flash up her right arm, knuckles to shoulder. With a hiss, she grabbed her arm, expecting there to be some kind of sharp object lodged in her arm. But when she felt nothing, not even a tear in her clothes, it occurred to her that it must be someone’s Evol.
A snort came from in front of her, and the baseball cap wearing man had turned around, and started to approach her, “I see you’re actually smart. Too bad. I don’t have time to play around.” His dark eyes, their color and any other defining features she could pick out for the report she’d inevitably have to write, were hidden by the shadows that seemed to cling unnaturally to him. A moment’s hesitation was all it took for him to dart down the alleyway he stopped beside. She ran to catch him, but by the time she’d made it to the alley… he was gone without a trace.
“Shit,” she muttered to herself, noticing for the first time the feeling of something trickling down her arm. She looked at her hands, the only part of her arms that were uncovered by her long sleeve to see blood. So his Evol did draw blood… just not through my shirt. She was thankful that the shirt she wore was black, as bloodstains in black clothing were easier to clean out.
With the man’s disappearance she closed her eyes for a moment. The ever persistent feeling of being watched remained, but the feeling of Metaflux, was gone completely, as though it had bever been here to begin with. As she wondered if the man was carrying a Protocore, or if it was possible that he, himself, was the source of the metaflux, she took a slow spin where she was, trying to pinpoint where the feeling of eyes on her was coming from. But as far as she could tell, there wasn’t anyone around paying her any mind.
Skylar continued to search the area, still feeling like someone was watching her, and it was starting to drive her mad with anxiety, before Caleb’s voice, coupled with his footsteps, caught her off guard and pulled her from her thoughts.
“Why are you staring off into space? Mission’s over?” He asked.
“Dammit,” she mumbled to herself, deciding almost immediately that she wouldn’t bother to tell him what she’d just seen. It wouldn’t make sense to him even if she did. He’d go back and tell Gran, and then they would both worry for no reason…. That wasn’t how she wanted her long weekend to be spent - worrying her family over what was probably nothing. She turned around to meet his eyes, and her resolve began to crumble, replacing it with guilt at keeping a secret from him. She didn’t keep secrets from Caleb… not really. Maybe I’ll tell him about it after we finish dinner, then, she reasoned with herself.
With a grocery bag in one hand, Caleb cocked an eyebrow and surveyed her top to bottom. She furrowed her brow. “Did you find any big bad wanderers?” He asked, but the way he did so sounded like he was mocking her.
“Uh… No I didn’t,” she mumbled just loudly enough for him to hear. “The fluctuations disappeared… Probably just a false alarm,” She started to push past him back towards Grandma’s house.
“A false alarm?” Caleb scoffed. He grabbed her arm as she tried to brush past him, causing her to wince at the strength in which he held her. She’d already forgotten that it had been cut literally moments ago.
“Caleb?! What the - what’re you-” She struggled to free her hand from his grasp, but even though he had loosened his grip on it when she winced a moment ago, he held onto her steadfast. Behind his amethyst eyes, something foreign and… unnerving settled in his expression. He’d never looked at her like this before.
“If it really was, then what’s this?” He turned her hand to show her what she’d felt when it happened. Though her clothes were still intact, the cut on the back of her hand where that man’s evol sliced up her arm was still red, but already seeming to dry. Why was he so perceptive? And what was with that expression he wore?
“I was petting a cat and-” She started,
Caleb cocked an eyebrow again, and she knew that he could see her lying through her teeth. “Got scratched by another stray cat? I think maybe I’ll go find that cat so I can avenge you.” He said and dropped her hand with an angry furrow in his brow. Avenge me?! She thought to herself, over a cat?
What has gotten into him today?
“Caleb, don’t.” She reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He shrugged her off and kept walking, “Come on, Grandma is waiting for us back home.” She tried grabbing him again.
Caleb rounded on her, his eyes still alight with the same curious expression she’d never seen him give her before. Were it not for the fact that they grew up together she’d almost think….
She stamped down the thought and refocused, “Caleb. What is with you?” His eyes rapidly searched her face before turning and walking away again. Whatever he searched for, she supposed, he didn’t find it. It was growing increasingly frustrating. “Stop ignoring me!” She shouted. He continued to walk away from her as she spoke, and she had to take slightly larger steps to match the length of his gait. “I was telling the truth, it was just an accident. You and grandma have enough to deal with…”
Without stopping or even looking at her, Caleb deigned her with a reply, “I understand you wanna hide it from Gran. We’ve certainly caused her enough trouble since she brought us up together. Now that she’s older… yeah, it wouldn’t be a good idea to make her anxious.” He stopped and rounded on her again. She stopped before slamming into his chest. His expression seemed so… offended, hurt, betrayed? when he looked at her. “But why do you have to hide it from me ?” He asked though it sounded more like a plea. “Can’t you trust me now that we’re all grown up?” His voice dipped ever so slightly in volume, like the idea that her not trusting him would break his heart.
She trusted Caleb more than anyone in the world. She trusted him with all her secrets, her frustrations, her fears and insecurities. She’d put her life in his hands and trust him to take care of her. If, in a parallel world where he was also a Deepspace Hunter, or she an Aerospace Fighter Pilot, she’d trust no one else to be her mission partner.
Of course she couldn’t just say these things to him, because that would be weird. So instead, she just sighed, “It’s not that. … I don’t want you worrying about me. It’s not often you get to come home these days, so ruining the mood is the last thing I want to do.” The expression on his face was so… sad. And she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. So she attempted to lighten the mood with encouragement that he didn’t need to try to protect her anymore, “Also, I’m a grown up now! I need to be the one making sure I stay safe. You can’t protect me forever,” she said, thinking that allowing him to finally shed the protective big brother mantle he’d worn all his life for her would be a relief for him to hear.
Silence stretched between the two of them for long enough that it almost became awkward. She looked over to the street and set her hand on the handrail pensively. Maybe he just needed a moment to let the words sink in. They’d never really talked about how their relationship could change now that they were adults. Skylar didn’t remember when Caleb joined their family - he’d always just… been there - for her. Whenever she needed him, for comfort, guidance, bully control, help with homework, dating advice, for anything; he was always there. But, she reasoned with herself not for the first time in her life, he didn’t ask for a little sister- and while she recognized that most older siblings usually don’t have a say in whether or not they had younger siblings, Caleb knew a life before she came and turned it upside down.
Caleb’s hand came to rest on the guardrail next to hers, pulling her from her thoughts to look back at him. In the dimming natural light of the evening, as the sun was sinking past the neighborhood’s skyline, a car driving past highlighted the side of his face, bathing him in a radiant, albeit an artificial glow. His expression continued to read like he’d been hurt or betrayed, squeezing her heart.
“Why is that a problem?” he asked, still quietly, “If not me, who could you possibly turn to for…” He cut himself off and looked down -hurt and heartbreak radiated from his aura. She’d known Caleb all her life. Grew up in the same house, under the same roof, went to the same school, shared the same bedroom until they were teenagers, shared similar hobbies… The version Caleb in her mind’s eye was young, naive, and knobby kneed. She blinked to realize that the version of Caleb standing in front of her really was a grown up. She looked at him now, for the first time, not as a friend, or even as her brother, but as a man. It was a jarring realization to come to.
“What’s wrong?” She asked him quietly. He huffed a small laugh, though there wasn’t any mirth behind the sound.
“You wouldn’t understand, even if I told you, pip-squeak. Forget it.” She watched his expression change from heartbroken to something more like resolve before he ruffled her hair and turned around to walk the rest of the way back home. “We’ve been outside long enough. Gran’s gonna be worried.”
She followed behind him the remaining short distance between where they stopped to talk and 502 Sunset Street. As they approached, she slowed her steps.
“You’re doing it again,” she said as he went to lead her into the house. Stalwart in his protection and guidance of her. Was she wrong, then? Did he actually enjoy the role he played in her life? “Go inside by yourself. I’m not your sidekick.” She said anyway. The aura of resolve and acceptance radiated off of him as he turned to address her without really looking at her, instead his eyes cast down toward the sidewalk and the garden bed that needed attention.
“Fine. But hide the blood on your sleeve before heading inside,” He bit out as he opened the door. “Since you’re a grown up now, I won’t cover for you this time.” He said with a sense of finality as the door slammed behind him.
She looked down at her sleeve, the blood on her hands had rubbed off on the cuff of her sleeve and she did her best to wipe it off with a sigh.
Hardly a heartbeat’s length of time passed between the quiet evening moment of the regret and guilt of an unresolved disagreement that hung thickly in the air, and the next - when the world around her suddenly and without admonition erupted into a searing hot inferno.