Ethan knox - September 2120
When Daniel finally turns the car around and heads back towards Kai, relief loosens something tight in my chest. I almost laugh, sharp and breathless, like my body doesn't know what to do with good news anymore.
But the relief doesn't last.
The further we drive, the worse my nerves get. I know Kai will be fine. I know it. But knowing he's out there fighting a sniper, the same one I watched kill him in a previous vision, makes my hands shake anyway.
I fidget with my fingers, twisting them together, pulling them apart, trying to burn off the anxiety. But it doesn't help. Neither does the fact that Daniel turning the car around doesn't magically erase how angry I still am with him. Forgiveness isn't a switch. It's more like a stubborn knot.
The silence doesn't help either. My anger sits heavy between the front seats, and the quiet, uneven breathing of the woman in the back makes the whole car feel claustrophobic. Like the air itself is holding its breath.
The drive feels endless. I keep scanning the tree line, craning my neck, searching for any sign of Kai. The light is fading fast and shadows begin stretching across the road. The darker it gets, the harder it'll be to spot him, and my chest starts to ache with it.
Just when it feels like my heart might give out from sheer anticipation, the headlights catch a figure walking towards us.
Everything inside me freezes.
Daniel slows the car, his grip tightening on the wheel. The figure is still too far to see clearly, but there's a rifle slung across his back.
Daniel stops in the middle of the road.
I don't breathe. I slip into my vision, just for a second, checking what happens if we move closer. Then relief crashes over me so hard it almost hurts.
"It's Kai" I say, nodding quickly. Daniel exhales and eases the car forward.
As the headlights reach him, he lifts a hand to shield his eyes. I recognise him instantly, even before I can properly see his face. Like my body knows him before my brain catches up.
The car stops and I'm out of it before anyone can say a word. I run straight to him and throw myself into his chest, burying my face against him, arms tight around his waist.
Relief spills over me, uncontrollable, and for a second I don't even care how hard I'm holding him. I'm just so unbearably happy he's alive.
But when I pull back to look at him, everything stops again.
There's blood on his face. Smeared across his cheek and jaw, like he tried to wipe it away and only made it worse.
I reach up instinctively, panic flaring, but he catches my wrists before I can touch him.
"Are you okay?" My voice comes out strained, too tight. "What happened?"
"I'm okay," he says, smiling softly, like he's trying to calm a startled animal. "It's not my blood."
Daniel steps out of the car but keeps his distance, eyes sharp.
"What happened to the sniper?" he calls.
"I captured him," Kai says calmly. Too calmly. "Got some information out of him but before I could get more, he shot himself."
My stomach drops. The image flashes uninvited in my mind, and my chest feels heavy knowing Kai was that close when it happened. He looks completely unfazed, like it's just another bad memory filed away.
I want to kiss him. I want to pull him close again. But his hands are still holding my wrists, keeping me from touching him, and something about that makes my heart twist.
When he seems my hands twitching he lets go "Sorry, I don't want you to touch the blood" he says.
I don't care who's blood it is, I just want to feel his warmths. But before I can reach out again there's a loud thud from the back of the car.
We all turn.
Another thud follows... and another.
The woman is slamming her head against the window, harder each time, the sound sickening and hollow.
I don't think and move automatically.
"Ethan, wait-" Kai shouts, reaching for me.
But it's too late.
I rush to the passenger side and yank the door open just as she lurches forward. I grab for her, trying to stop her from hitting her head again, but I miss the vines Daniel had wrapped around her.
My hand closes around her bare arm and as soon as it does the world explodes into white.
Pain rips through me all at once, sharp and blinding, like every nerve in my body has caught fire. I gasp, clutching my head as my knees buckle beneath me.
My skull feels like it's going to split open.
And all I can think, dimly, stupidly, is that I should have checked the future first.
I don't remember hitting the ground, just the sound of my own scream tearing out of me like something alive. It doesn't even feel like it's coming from my throat. It feels ripped straight out of my nerves.
Everything hurts. Every nerve is screaming at once, like my body has been turned inside out and set on fire. My hands curl uselessly against my head, fingers digging into my hair like that might anchor me to something solid.
I can't breathe. Or maybe I am breathing and it just hurts too much to notice.
"Ethan." Kai's voice cuts through the noise, sharp with panic. "Ethan, look at me."
I try. I really do. But light fractures behind my eyes and my vision swims, static crawling over everything. My teeth chatter violently, muscles spasming without permission.
"Hurts," I manage, the word shredded and pathetic. I hate how small it sounds compared to what I'm feeling. "Kai, it- it won't stop."
Hands are on me, careful and frantic at the same time. Kai's hands. He cradles my head, shielding me from the ground, like he can physically hold the pain back if he tries hard enough.
"It's okay" he says, too steady, like he's forcing himself not to break. "I've got you."
That almost does it. The comfort makes something inside me crack and the pain surges harder, like my nerves are offended by kindness.
My back arches involuntarily and a raw sob punches out of me. It feels like electricity is running through my spine, down my arms, my legs, into places I didn't even know could hurt. My heart slams wildly, each beat echoing pain through my chest.
"Make it stop," I gasp, clutching weakly at Kai's jacket. "Please. I can't- I can't do this."
Daniel's voice cuts in, tense and focused. "What did you do!". He pulls the woman out the car by the vines and throws her to the ground.
"I should've checked" I choke out, half-laughing, half-sobbing. "I always check."
Kai's forehead presses to mine, grounding and solid. "Hey. Don't do that. Not now."
"I-" the woman tries to speak, her lips trembling. "I didn't… I didn't mean it."The words come out fractured, barely holding together.
Daniel reacts instantly. Vines snap tight around her and he yanks her forward."What did you do?" he shouts. "How do we stop it?"
Anger burns through him, sharp and uncontrollable.
"Touch-" she gasps. "Let me touch… again."
Daniel stares at her, disbelief flashing across his face."You've got to be kidding me," he snaps.
Another wave crashes through me and I scream again, body jerking violently. My nerves feel flayed, raw, exposed to the air.
"Let her" I babble, words spilling out between gasps. "let her do it."
Kai's grip tightens, arms locking around me like a shield. "No Ethan"
Daniel swears under his breath and I hear vines shifting, snapping tight. "What is she does something else."
"please," I whisper weakly, trying and failing to sound like myself. "I need it to stop"
Kai lets out a broken sigh, wet and shaky, and presses a kiss to my hair. "Do it."
Daniel drags the woman toward me, the vines tightening around her before loosening just enough to let her move. She stumbles closer, unsteady.
She reaches for me, but Kai speaks before she can touch me.
"If you do anything else to him," he says coldly, "you'll wish I'd killed you quickly."
The threat isn't loud. That somehow makes it worse.
The woman nods, slow and deliberate, then carefully reaches for my hand.
The moment her skin makes contact with mine, everything stops.
My breathing comes out heavy and uneven, but the pain is gone. Completely. Like someone flipped a switch.
"Ethan, are you okay?" Kai asks gently.
My throat burns from screaming and my skin is slick with sweat. Everything feels oversensitised, like my body hasn't quite remembered how to exist yet.
With his help, I manage to sit up and give a small nod. It's the most I can offer.
Kai's hands come up to cradle my face, thumbs warm against my cheeks, and he presses a kiss to my forehead.
"Thank god" he whispers.
He looks scared. Really scared. Not the controlled, dangerous kind. The kind that twists something painful and protective in my chest.
I try to lift my arms to pull him into a hug, but the effort drains what little strength I have left. Exhaustion crashes over me all at once, heavy and unavoidable, and my body gives up.
I go slack and fall forward into his arms.
He catches me immediately, holding me close like he's afraid I might disappear if he lets go and everything goes darks.
______________________________
I wake to antiseptic and soft fluorescent light.
I crack one eye open and immediately regret it. The ceiling blurs, swims, then steadies. My throat feels dry enough to qualify as a desert. I swallow and wince.
"Don't... move," Sophie says gently.
She's standing beside the bed, hands glowing faintly as she works slow, careful healing me. The magic hums low, warm, like it's soothing irritated wires back into place.
"Hey," I mumble. "On a scale from 'walk it off' to 'new body please,' how bad was it?"
She exhales through her nose. "Your nervous system... was overloaded. You're lucky you didn't... seize."
"Lucky me," I whisper. "Always winning."
Her hands pause for half a second. "Ethan… you scared everyone."
That sinks in, heavy and unwelcome.
I glance around the room, suddenly alert despite the fog in my head.
The chair beside the bed is empty.
No familiar presence leaning too close, too quiet, pretending not to worry while doing nothing but worry.
"Kai?" I ask, already knowing.
Sophie hesitates. That's all it takes.
"He went to your room," she says carefully. "Locked the door... He hasn't come out since you got back."
Something twists painfully in my chest. Sharper than the lingering nerve pain.
"Oh," I say softly.
She finishes the healing and steps back. "You need to rest... You pushed yourself far past... safe."
"I know," I say, already swinging my legs off the bed.
She reaches out immediately. "Ethan, don't. Your body-"
"My body will survive," I cut in, voice rough. "He might not."
She frowns. "Kai's not injured."
"That's not what I meant."
I stand and the room tilts. I grab the edge of the bed until it settles, breathing through the nausea and the lingering sparks of pain crawling along my arms.
Sophie watches me like she's deciding whether to physically restrain me.
"I need to see him" I say quietly.
She sighs, defeated. "At least let... me walk you... there."
"I've walked worse," I reply, managing a weak smile.
The corridors of Trinity feel longer than usual. Every step sends a dull ache through my legs, but I welcome it. Pain I can understand is easier than silence.
I hope he's okay? He must be have worried about me.
When I reach our door, the hallway is empty. The light under the door are off.
I reach into my pocket for my keys and when I walk into the room I freeze.