#r!lukas

“Alright, guys, that’s enough-” Lukas waved everyone down from their side conversations, focusing instead on the initial primary objective, “Gil, you’ve gotta wake up.”

Lukas, of course, was the first by his side, shaking his old friend by the shoulder with only a light urgency. He didn’t want to jostle him too badly, but time wasn’t something they had much of, anymore. Gil wasn’t responding much, only groaning faintly with the shakes. It was a gamble- Trying to wake him up without startling him in some way was going to be like playing Operation blindfolded, and it’ll only get harder with the amount of force that’s being used. 

“Maybe we could stick beef jerky under his nose,” Axel offered up. It’s difficult to tell if he’s just joking, or if it's a genuine suggestion. “It always works for me.” 

“Come on, Axel..”

“I’m serious!” Ah, it must’ve been genuine. “It’s strong! You try sleeping through that smell.” 

“We don’t have any beef jerky; We’re not at the agency anymore, man,” Jesse shrugged. 

“Tickle his eyelashes?” Olivia suggested. “If he doesn’t wake up, his body sure will.” 

“Guys-” Lukas started to interrupt and gather the party's thoughts again, but an agitated groan from the bed halted everyone’s suggestions, 

“Guys.” Gil, waking before the group could initiate any of their plans, moved his hand from where it rested over the covers to his forehead, rubbing between his eyebrows with his palm. “What’s goin' on?” 

“Oh.” Axel and Olivia spoke simultaneously, almost in mild disappointment. Axel continued on in a mumble, under his breath, “Well, that was easy…” 

“Gil, it’s good to see you awake-” Lukas jumped quickly on the alert, helping his friend sit up and keeping a gentle support to his back. 

“And not screaming, for once,” Jesse added. 

“Yes.. How are you feeling?” 

While Gil gathered his thoughts, Lukas whispered to Olivia to fetch a glass of water; she nodded and quickly left the room, letting the door shut behind her. Gil hadn’t been awake very long for most of the week- Any time he could, he needed to keep hydrated. 

“Like hell…” Gil only replied in a deep grumble. “You all’s talkin’ pulled me out of another- I don’t know.. Nightmare, I guess, but I’m not sure anymore.” 

“Yeah, neither am I. Do you remember anything about it?”

“Almost everything, when my head’s not pounding.."

"Good, that's good news… I need you to describe it. In as much detail as you can. What did you see?" 

Gil took a moment to think… All of his nightmares became a sort of clash of images over time, combining into a flurry of emotion and color and noise. He tried not to think about all of it, only part of it, the recent parts. He started with what he was just seeing, before being pulled from slumber, 

"I… Remember silver. Chrome. Silver walls with- Purple screens and purple stripes. I remember seeing my hands, but they weren't mine. They were darker, dirtier.. Still wrinkled from- From water, maybe. Yet dry, despite it. I held a weapon, a gun; it was silver, I remember…" 

Lukas raised his eyebrows a bit, waiting, and slowly beginning to realize how right he may have been. 

"Voices. I remember voices. And people. Not many, but they were there. Two voices. Talking about some kind of trip… I remember- PAMA was mentioned, and the U-boat, and.. Something about us. Someone came down the hallway, someone else left. It was easy to hear; these hallways were practically empty. I saw others like me, holding weapons and standing unmoving at posts, but none in this last dream. I think I was somewhere else… And I saw my reflection, once, but- It wasn't really mine, at all. It didn't look anything like me, but- for some reason, I knew him. Brown hair, tan skin, and his eyes- His eyes. How could I have forgotten? PAMA." 

Lukas sighed, letting his head dip a bit once Gil made it to the end in mild dread. Gil's voice only fell off as he pressed his palm to the bridge of his nose. Dread was all that hung over the room, for a moment, and why wouldn't it? Their knowledge of PAMA was limited; all they knew was that it invades and controls the minds of its hosts, and sometimes, it didn't need to be turned on to have already invaded. They didn't know where it was located, they didn't know how it worked, or how to rid themselves of it. PAMA was a wildcard, and a wildcard in war is nothing but dangerous, especially if held by the enemy. 

"I was right.." Lukas cut through the nervous silence first. "Gil, this could be very bad. You could still be- Somehow connected to PAMA.. But I don't think the Witherstorm knows that you can see it, so we also might have a huge advantage. Otherwise, they would've done something about it, right? I need you to keep remembering. Anything about that conversation; where they're going, when they're leaving, how long, for what purpose? Anything at all, we need to know." Lukas punctuated his conversation with Gil by giving him a pat on the shoulder, and then quickly turned to Jesse. "I'm going to start scrambling the team. Whatever this trip is, it's happening soon, and we need to be ready to move."

"Wh-” Jesse stammered, double-taking over his shoulder as Lukas got up to leave, “What are you planning on doing, exactly?" 

"We're intercepting. I'm readying the Terminal. Be ready.”

—

"Well, this could be a problem, putting it as lightly as possible."

Ranger was sitting cross-legged on his bed beside his bags, laptop on his lap. Orion was still helping sort things out while Ranger did a last deep dive into the PAMA system to check for last minute errors. Low and behold, he found one- Quite an anomaly compared to the ones he was used to. This PAMA trip was becoming more and more vital by the second. 

Orion glanced up from the dresser to acknowledge him; he’d just finished folding a black turtleneck sweater and tucking it away with the rest of the similarly color-coded clothing. He tilted his head a bit, as if to ask what was wrong. 

“Look.” Ranger flipped the laptop around to face Orion, and he shut the dresser drawer and stepped over to examine it. Ranger pointed over the edge of the screen to one of the subject numbers, which looked relatively normal, if not for the red flaring speck in the midst of it. It looked like it was throbbing, inflamed, almost like an infection of some kind. “I thought I saw something like this earlier, but- Now it’s just sticking around.” 

Orion watched the red spot, wrinkling his nose a bit in miniscule disgust. The infection was part of P-00-01: the very first agent chipped into the PAMA system. Nine years ago, PAMA was completed; Orion was delicate enough to not waste any human lives on tests… The first soldier connected to the mainframe was a complete success, and had been under since that very day. Every soldier after was equally as successful. Matter of fact, that same soldier was there at that very moment, posted guard outside of the door. Freshly rescued from capture.

“Do you know what it is?” Ranger asked after giving Orion a minute to process. 

Orion simply narrowed his eyes. 

Just outside of the door, in the hallway, a shout and clatter interrupted the brothers’ ‘conversation.’ Ranger snapped the laptop shut in surprise, while Orion quickly straightened and went instantly to the door. He slid it open, nearly getting his fingers caught in the slot in his hurry, and to the right of the door, the Hacked guard that was stationed there was crumpled to the floor. His weapon was in the middle of the floor, and his hands were occupied, clutching at his skull in what appeared to be anguish. 

Orion found himself surprised. There had been occasional fits like this before in Hacked soldiers, but never something so severe as whatever this appeared to be. Such fits were also caused by something foreseeable, like a minor glitch in the system caused by the consciousness of Hacked basically bumping into each other. They would shut down, in a way, but only for a moment… 

This soldier was very conscious, very awake, no sign of such a glitch. This was something new. 

While Orion looked on in mild horror and Ranger joined him at his side, Trevor was next to join them; he was followed closely by Lukas, who came around the corner in an equal panic. Trevor skid to a stop behind Orion so quickly that he nearly slipped on the slick metal floor, finding himself left as speechless as the leader. 

“What happened?” Lukas was the first to speak up, joining the rest of the Witherstorm. “Is everyone-” Finally, his eyes caught up with his brain, and he fell silent at the sight of the soldier on his knees. 

Aiden. 

He was groaning, and tremors wracked at his body. Lukas had almost gotten used to seeing him around, he’d almost gotten used to seeing how hollow he appeared, those empty expressions and empty eyes– He wasn’t at all prepared to see that emptiness disappear. Not nearly so violently as this, either. 

Ranger, still carrying his laptop close to his chest, flung it back open to check the status from before. Now, the red had changed; it’s spread, like the infection it appeared to be before, and Aiden’s subject number was… Broken. Pixels had glitched away from it, like it was fading. A different number was peaking through, one Ranger hadn’t actually seen before. The only number he could make out was a vague ‘6.’ A rogue soldier, a mystery consciousness- This could be bad.

“Leader, look-” He shoved the laptop over to Orion, who finally turned his gaze away from Aiden to examine it. “I think there’s a second consciousness- Somehow, I don’t know how it happened. I think it’s trying to take the front seat. I don’t know how it’s possible- PAMA wasn’t programmed for that, it’s not- His brain can’t take something like that for long.” 

Orion didn’t move to answer. Aiden was still crippled, blood from his nose had blotted the floor, his condition only looked to be getting worse. When Orion finally moved, it was to reach down and lift Aiden’s discarded silver firearm from the floor and position it securely in his arms. He wasn’t hesitating. A lift of the weapon and the barrel was pointed directly to Aiden’s skull. Orion pulled the trigger and- 

The bullet hit the floor to the left of him, missing Aiden entirely. He didn’t do that- Shocked, Orion turned to face the owner of the hands that had yanked the barrel aside so quickly. He wasn’t necessarily surprised to see Lukas, glowering at him as though he’d just kicked a dog. 

“You were just going to kill him? Just like that?” Lukas, understandably, didn’t take too kindly to the situation. Orion narrowed his eyes and quirked an eyebrow at him, before slowly handing the weapon aside to Ranger. 

“He could compromise everything,” Orion explained, slowly, putting emphasis on the last word with a more urgent sign. “A liability we cannot have.” 

“We don’t have to just kill him,” Lukas argued without hesitation. 

Orion’s expression didn’t change much, staying firm, and Lukas’s hardened further in return. Tension hung for a moment in the air, and the twins wilted back a bit from the minor face-off.

“Why prolong this? His brain will melt. Two consciousnesses will kill him.” Orion continued to sign. 

“Then let’s try and fix him.” Lukas was urgent, but Orion couldn’t fathom why. It was likely that Lukas must have known him, as he did the Jesse in this world. Perhaps it was jarring. Orion could understand that- Despite everything other than his heart reminding him how illogical that would be.

Hesitation, followed by the leader dropping his gaze to the floor, as though he were thinking. While silence, only pierced by Aiden’s continuous groans, hung heavy over the group for a moment, Trevor was the next to cut through. 

“He’s right, Leader.” Orion turned his gaze back up quickly as Trevor stepped closer. “We can fix it- Ranger is going to PAMA tomorrow morning. When he gets there, he can delete the other consciousness from the coding, and that should solve the problem.” 

After another short moment of thought, Orion took the weapon from Ranger’s hold once Trevor had finished talking and stepped closer to the crippled soldier. He raised it again, aggression in his stance- 

“Orion, wait!” Lukas’s desperate shout was punctuated as he reached out quickly in an attempt to stop him. 

But Orion’s fingers didn’t touch the trigger; instead, he gave it a harsh twist, and the butt of the weapon collided with the back of Aiden’s head. There was a harsh crack, and Aiden’s face hit the metal floor. His groans and tremors ceased instantly, leaving him dead unconscious. With a quirked brow, Orion glanced back at his brothers with the same quirked brow; Lukas only stood there, slowly lowering his hand and settling his anxiety. He’d nearly tackled him… Which would have been bad. 

Orion tried to appear unbothered by the group's prepared horror, and let the weapon slip from his hands and clatter to the floor. 

“It was that, or kill him. Others could be listening.” 

With that, Orion reached down, hoisted up the unconscious soldier’s body without much effort, and slung him over his shoulder. He didn’t address them again, only stalking off with Aiden towards the infirmary. 

Ranger and Trevor exchanged an equally as concerned glance… Orion was extremely quick on the draw. Of course, that was natural for him, it has been for their whole lives, but for the first time- They weren’t sure they felt entirely settled about it. 

—

“Aaagh-!” 

For the past ten minutes, Gil had been in a disastrous state, jerking, shouting, gripping at his head. The nosebleed he’d earned from the stress dirtied his white shirt and left dark, heavy stains blotted onto his chest. Both Axel and Jesse were holding him still, keeping him in the bed, trying to wait out the attack- This was the longest it had ever lasted. 

And then finally, abruptly, it came to a sudden halt. 

Gil fell unconscious in less than a second, like he’d been unwillingly shut down by some outside force. The group took a minute to recuperate, trying to steady their pulses and try and get a read on what just happened. 

“There’s never been an attack that long, before…” Olivia started. 

“Should we get Lukas? I don’t know if anyone can move, with Gil like this,” Jesse breathed. “He’s really starting to hurt. Look at this bleeding- I don’t know if his brain can handle the pressure.”

“I think that’s a good idea. We already got the information we needed, be it vague or not- We should turn focus to getting him out of it, now, instead of asking more.” 

“Right… The minute he tried to dig deeper, we didn’t get anything, and he just got wailed on by some malevolent, incorporeal force. This is a bad idea..” 

—

When Aiden woke up, he… Didn’t recognize his surroundings. Whilst he was used to an empty mind-space of void and silence, this time, he awoke on the rough, beige carpet of a dorm. It felt real, but he knew it couldn’t be. 

Groggy, he slowly pushed himself up with his palms. A good look around the room brought his attention to just how- well, familiar, it looked. It was small, compact with not much furniture, only a few deep blue cots and a small metal folding table set up in one of the corners of the room. The walls shared the same color as a floor with a grayer, worn haze. There were no windows, no posters, and only one bullet-gray, metal door. The cot he’d woken up beside was the only one undone, like he’d fallen out of bed… Like he’d had some kind of nightmare, like a little kid. 

Now that he was starting to come to, he was starting to feel things. Notice things. His skin felt like it was waking up for the first time in a long time, prickly with pins and needles and chilled. Not to mention, his face was warm, and his fingertips were cold- He felt alive, or more like he was beginning to live again, after years of being gone. A heat above his lip caught his attention, and he moved his fingers quickly to his nose; he was startled, disturbed, even, to be met with deep red spots coating their tips and glistening in the faint light as he moved them away. Since when did he bleed? And what was causing it?

His hazy, mystified thoughts were interrupted by a sound that came from the other side of the door; confused groaning and what sounded like the metallic squeal of a door opening in the distance. This mind-space shouldn’t have had more than one room- Not in Aiden’s head.

The idea that Aiden wasn’t alone was even more jarring than the rest of the situation, but, as was his way, he wasted no time before making his way to the door and pushing it open. 

…

He doesn’t know what he was expecting, but the sight of another person at the end of the hallway was… Not it. The figure was hunched over, holding a hand to his face. Aiden listened closely, on guard, and could hear the man’s mumbling and a faint tapping of drops of a thick liquid onto the now concrete grounds… Aiden didn’t remember the last time he had to listen closely to anything. He forgot how good he was at it. 

When the man noticed Aiden on his end of the hallway, he lifted his head in a sort of surprise. His face was covered by the shadow at the end of the hall, and Aiden couldn’t make out his appearance, or his expression. He squinted and stepped forward; whatever strength he was used to missing, it was making its way back very quickly here. 

“Who are you?” He snapped, breaking through the hollow silence of the hallway. “Where are we?”

The mystery man didn’t answer, for a moment. He only scanned the area around him, slowly taking everything in. 

“I know this place,” he rasped out, eventually. “These are my old barracks.” 

“Your old barracks?”

“Yeah, before.. Before the Witherstorm. Maya stayed here, with me. This was my door.” The man put a hand to the metal entrance to the room he appeared to have come from. 

Aiden was surprised, but didn’t let his defense fall. 

“These were my barracks, I stayed here.” He gestured to his own door, getting the man’s attention again. 

“Wait a minute…” The man stepped closer, and continued to move closer than Aiden would have liked. 

“Back off,” he growled, putting a hand up defensively. 

“Hang on… I’ve seen you before.”

Aiden blinked, surprised, and thoroughly creeped out. He didn’t lower his hand, but didn’t bother looking for a way out. If he needed to, he’d fight his way out. Tentatively, he finally continued,

“How?”

“In a reflection. And in these barracks. Your squad was mine, too. Maya, Magnus, Gabriel-”

“Ellegaard, Soren..” Aiden finished, his voice growing more gentle as he recalled the names. “The Order. And you-” The other man finally came into visible light. His face was streaked with blood from the nose, much like his own, and his face- Familiar, as he was starting to expect. It took him a moment to settle, but the appearance couldn’t be argued with. “Gil… I know you, but- How? How are you here? I’ve been gone for so long, I shouldn’t be-” 

“I don’t know,” Gil interrupted, sounding equally as confused, and equally as worried. “I think I’m connected to PAMA, somehow, but not fully there,” he tried to find a way to explain, but even saying it out loud started to befuddle him even more. He wiped at his nose, but the blood was quickly replaced by more… The stress on their brains must’ve been awful, but it was necessary. 

“You’re in my head..” Aiden lowered his gaze. No wonder they were here. Gil’s memory must be still intact, so they found a common ground. 

“I think so.” Gil nodded. 

“And so- Where does that leave us?”

“In a lot of danger, if this is anything to go by,” his old friend gruffed and lifted his wrist, displaying the blood that coated it. “But… I can assume you know things about PAMA, and about the Witherstorm, right?”

Aiden winced, and dipped his head, almost in hidden shame.

“Yes. I’ve seen everything from these past years… I know.”

“I’m with a group that can help. They’re trying to stop the Witherstorm, but they’re too elusive to get any intel on in this radioactive hell triangle- And I don’t think it’ll take them very long to figure out what’s going on and get rid of me. This could be our only way in. This accident- Maybe it wasn’t such an accident after all. We can win.” 

Aiden’s gaze reached Gil’s, widened, with more life in them then he ever expected there to be; the idea of freedom, the idea of bringing down these terrorists, these monsters- They imbued him with a determination to finish this, once and for all. Forever. For good. 

OK I'm done,,, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREEN. @zonerz s boy who accidentally threw himself into another world and instantly befriended the most dangerous terrorist in the world. Congrats Green, you're gonna live!!

Hoo boy, took me a while to make an aesthetic board for R!Lukas(aka Green in @ask-secretagentsquad )

Orion had holed himself up in his own chamber in the base to tend to his wounds and try and get a bit more comfortable. He was sat on the edge of a light blue bunk, his wounded arm resting in his lap. He reached back up around his neck and pulled down his ponytail, running his fingers though his hair messily to undo the tight hairstyle. His hair fell over his face and against his neck as he blew out a soft sigh, even the slightest bit of loosening bringing relief.

He took a moment to breathe before deciding that the biker uniform he was still currently wearing was too tight, most likely stuck to him because of the blood against the slick leather. He unzipped the jacket, pulling it off carefully and wincing as he twisted his arm in an odd direction in order to pull the wet sleeve from his skin. Eventually he peeled the jacket clean from him, leaving all of the visible wounds clearly exposed.

He pushed himself to his feet, cradling his wounded arm in the other as he sauntered messily to the mirror. Catching a good look at the damage, he groaned through a sigh and didn’t even try to conceal a disappointed look. He’d have to postpone the project yet again.

His torso was covered in cuts and scrapes, and he had a few massive bruises around his midsection. Too large and too dark already for a simple bruise. This was mass internal bleeding. Something he wouldn’t be able to fix on his own. Mixed in with the dark bruises was the still fresh blood coming from his bullet wound and many other gashes and scrapes. Then there were the few burned marks into his scarred back from the taser darts, of course. He was visibly a mess, and even he couldn’t deny he was in terrible shape.

He tugged off the rest of the leather suit and folded the stained and glossed clothes neatly as to not make further of a mess. He decided against redressing yet, instead heading to the bathroom and grabbing a towel, wetting it to clean the fresh blood off of his skin. He cleaned over each cut and gash, working extra carefully around the bullet wound in his shoulder, and held the wet towel over the wound to help block more blood from escaping. Luckily the wound was a clean shot, and the bullet had gone right through. There wasn’t much to do for it besides patch it up and hope for the best, but he had no doubt he would be fine. He’d survived much worse, after all. He knew the medbay in the base would be able to help him fine, which is where he was planning to head after he’d gotten somewhat cleaned up.

Though, there were some questions dancing in the back of his mind. He’d noticed something was off with Lukas, and it’d left him a bit uneasy. The more time he got to think, the more little details he could pick out from the past couple weeks that formed even more questions. He was worried for him. What was prying at the poor man’s mind? Orion never thought to ask. Perhaps that was something he should do, check in on him, make sure he was alright. Their mission did take a rattling turn, after all. Perhaps he was simply shaken from recent events. It would be best to ask at least.

Orion moved the now bloodied towel away from his wound, which had expectedly not done too much to halt the bleeding. He set the towel back on the counter and sighed, watching the fresh blood that had seeped into the fabric slowly coat the metal. Whenever Orion was injured, it always brought some sort of realization to him.

He bleeds.

With all of the wounds, the beatings, the burns, the miraculous survival through explosions and mechanical failures; it felt normal to be in pain. He’d grown used to it. It felt so normal that sometimes, he forgot that it made him bleed. He forgot that it was dangerous, that death was real. However, even though it brought such a powerful realization, it also reminded him that he was stronger than that. He’d cheated death, fought it off by hand and will successfully each time. He was stronger than death, and he wouldn’t let it overtake him.

So, he powered through it. He bandaged his shoulder just enough to hold until he got to the medbay, and he slipped into a more comfortable outfit of a black t-shirt and blue sweatpants, something similar to sleepwear. A bit of his bandage still stuck out from under his sleeve, and his lips were still wet with blood from the lightly pulled stitches, but he did all he could to look not so much a mess, even if it was still obvious. He fixed his hair a bit using his good arm before leaving the bathroom slowly as to not hurt his already pained midsection further. He left the room and started making his way down the hallway, trying to keep his commander demeanor through each struggling step.

Eventually, he stopped, just hesitating outside of Lukas’s bunk. He heard nothing inside. Perhaps he wasn’t there.

Orion lifted his hand until it was hovering just a few inches away from the door in a fist. He didn’t want to intrude— yet, he was worried, so he led by his worried brother gut and knocked on the metal door.

~~~

“You excited for you next trip up to PAMA?” Trevor asked Ranger as they both sat in the control room. They’d been silent for too long, and Trevor was getting antsy from the silence. Each of them were sat in their respective chairs, Bullet and Toaster curled by their feet.

“I am, yeah! I love going up to Norway. The trip takes a while, sure, but it’s really calming. Yknow, some time to myself— I pass over a few nice reefs too,” Ranger responded more cheerfully than Trevor expected.

“It must be a nice trip- How’s PAMA been doing?”

“Same old same old really. Some minor glitches in Aiden’s connection though, probably nothing too hard to fix. PAMA’s been reporting a third presence in Aiden’s mind. It’s kinda weird but I’m sure it’s just some sort of interlinked connection, maybe a glitch in the streams. I’ll take care of it when I get there,” Ranger brushed off the situation as simple, but Trevor didn’t find it so minuscule.

“That sounds like an issue, don’t you think-? Who’s that third presence?” he asked, trying to pry a bit more information into the open.

“Can’t tell- could be anyone. It’s probably just another one of the Hacked accidentally mixing streams with Aiden’s. He’s been a bit glitchy since he’s been under for so long. Don’t worry, bro, I’ll fix it when I get there,” Ranger assured him.

“Fine, fine. But be careful anyway. Those CIA, FBI, whatever they are could be out there still,” Trevor sighed and leaned back into his seat.

“If I come across them I’ll gladly shoot them down- I’ll just leave with my weapons actually loaded, no biggy.”

“You seem awfully relaxed-“

“It’s my way of coping. Everything’s fine-! We’ll all be fine. Leader’s pulled through a lot worse, and our subs are crazy fast and really powerful. We do also have the advantage of hidden, familiar turf, radio static, and an entire creature out there somewhere that Leader's trying to weaponize-“

“Oh, Gargantuine?”

“That’s it’s name?”

“Yeah, Gargantuine is what I called it a while back and Leader adopted it. Gargantuine was the thing that destroyed the Witherstorm before us.”

"I think Leader's recorded something about that thing getting even bigger."

Trevor and Ranger shuddered simultaneously at the thought. The creature lurking in the depths was just another horrible problem. All they could do was pray that Orion's improvements to the base could hold it off. And- hope whatever system he's creating to control the beast would be a success, and not a horrific life or death situation.

"He's trying to weaponize the thing either way. Hopefully that'll keep it off our backs--" Ranger finished, subconsciously rubbing Bullet's belly with his foot. Bullet seemed to be in bliss.

"Yeah, hopefully. That should make your leave easier too, huh?" Trevor asked lightly, looking on the bit more positive side.

"It should, yeah, since the thing always manages to get in the way somehow. If Leader has it distracted, then maybe I can slip out unseen. We know it can't follow outside the field, or-- well. It never has. But I don't see any reason why it would change its decisions now- so once I'm out I should be free sailing."

"I sure hope it goes that way. I'll be stuck here though, having to take up your dumb duties on top of mine, as usual-" Trevor scoffed and threw a crumpled slip of paper at his brother's forehead. It bounced off and landed in his lap.

"Oh come on, it's not like my stuffs too hard, just make a couple of the Hacked do it. I'll be doing all of the routine checks from my sub, as per usual," Ranger replied, letting his playful snark slip through his tone. He picked up the paper ball and threw it back.

For a few minutes, the two tossed the ball back and forth to each other, focused on catching the slowly falling ball instead of talking. Until Trevor spoke up again.

"Do you think Leader's gonna be okay?"

Ranger looked lightly shocked by the question.

"Of course! He always pulls through-! He's Leader- he's.. Unstoppable!" Ranger choked out almost half-heartedly.

"He's just been making this a thing lately-- Coming back mortally wounded, and all.. I'm just worrying about him a lot more.. Like what if he brushes off something serious--"

"Trev," Ranger cut him off, "Orion knows what he's doing.. Sure he seemed a bit more open when we got back today, oddly sentimental, but that doesn't mean he's not gonna be okay. He could just be relieved-- he IS almost done with his project- and it's been years. I'm sure he knows when things are too much for him-- and if anything, no worries, he's got ol Green to take care of him."

"Ah, Green. A stubborn one, huh.. I've never seen anyone speak to Leader the way he does.." Trevor answered unsurely to the comment, still not really sure what he thought of Green.

"Personally, I don't trust him. He looks WAY too similar to that Lukas agent guy that we have record of. And the way he is with Leader-- I don't like seeing Leader's guard lowered like that.. It gives me chills." Ranger threw the crumpled ball one last time, throwing it past Trevor and onto the monitor behind him.

"I'm not really partial.. He saved my life, after all- Twice, I think-- I can't exactly be too skeptical of someone like that.. Maybe he's just-.. Special? Who am I to say? If Leader trusts him, there must be a good reason why," Trevor finished strongly, leaning into the armrest of his seat.

"I guess that's true..." Ranger fiddled with his own armrest, clearly restless.

Trevor noticed and snapped to Toaster, causing the black lab's head to shoot up with his ears perked high in response.

"You know, I think we've got some last minute routine checks to do before we're done--" Trevor glanced up to Ranger, who still looked lost in thought, "I'll race ya, first one back here and finished wins. Loser has to wash the dishes for a week."

Ranger's head perked up for a moment, and Trevor grinned, leaping to his feet. He shouted his countdown as he was already heading off down the hall, followed by a stumbling Ranger.

((HEY boys so this next writing was actually not done by Me, as you’ll quickly realize. This bit was actually done by @zonerz, who I’m sure most of you already know as the owner of our boy R!Lukas. It’s obvious this isn’t my writing Zone’s writing is probably the best I’ve ever seen ;;w;; and i can not in fact improve this much in the span of 24 hours,,, But anyways thank you SO much to Zone who took her time to write this entire thing and credit to her on the absolutely outstanding writing,,,))

The soft clinking of the small chain around Lukas’ neck is the only sound in the small room aside from the man’s own breathing. He plucks the stone hanging from the simple chain up and stares at the blue gem. It’s a sky blue with an icy tint and ever so slightly translucent. He thumbs over it’s smooth surface, staring into it with tired eyes. Things had settled down again, especially with Leader being injured, but that doesn’t mean his mind was anymore at peace. He had almost forgotten everything! He had become so engulfed in this world’s problems and just with the matter of keeping his new allies alive that he forgot…

He huffs at the notion. Allied with this world’s most feared terrorists. How is he supposed to defend himself on that one? It all happened so fast and he’s certainly too deep now to change his mind. He can’t just walk up to the CIA and say “Actually I changed my mind! I don't wanna be apart of this! Sorry!” Hell, he chuckles bittersweetly at the thought. Yet his small smile fades as his mind runs back to those agents, the source of his rekindled turmoil. 

Jesse in particular. 

Or well. This world’s Jesse. That was still such a weird concept. Yeah he’s long since known he’s existed but coming face to face with him like that? Seeing how he interacted with his friends? Hearing his voice? It was all so uncanny. So mind boggling. And it made his heart ache for home. For his Jesse. He squints in the harsh light at the blue gem. That was one of the things different about the two Jesses; the eyes. Sure there were a few other differences but the eyes were striking. This world’s Jesse, the agent, had dark but soft brown eyes. The eyes Lukas had grown used to were a sharp icy blue, with a scar over one of them. That was another thing! Seeing his face without such a defining feature. It was odd to say the least! Almost felt like he was seeing something he shouldn’t have. Like he was caught peeping on something private like some sort of schoolboy.

Lukas sighs, frowning at himself, suddenly frustrated. How could he have forgotten everything so easily? Forgotten what he was here to do? Who he needed to help? It was a good wake up call but certainly one that brings a new dilemma. He drops the necklace back down onto his chest and blows out a frustrated sigh before groaning and rubbing his eyes with his palms. 

Saying he was surprised at the small knock on the metal door would be an understatement. Lukas’s eyes widen and he shoots up, stuttering and stumbling over his own words at the mere surprise. He hastily shoves the necklace and chain back into his t-shirt.

“Y-Yeah?? I-Is something up? What’s going--”

Lukas moves to get up but immediately freezes in his place at the sight of Orion.

“...--on.” He loses steam, the tension visibly rushing out of his shoulders. Orion quietly holds up a hand, signaling that nothing is especially wrong. At least, not more so than usual. Lukas can only blow out a sigh and drop back down on the bunk before his gaze drops to the floor. He hears something akin to a sigh come from Orion as the bulky man wanders over. He drops onto the bunk beside Lukas and Lukas notes the hitches in his breath he tries to hide as he does. He’s still injured. Lukas frowns and sits up straight, hands ready to scold him in sign once more about not taking care of himself, but he finds himself frozen once again. He meets Orion’s gaze unexpectedly, but it’s not a hard glare, but rather one that shines with concern. He fumbles—shocked—and isn’t pulled out of his state until he feels the man’s gentle hand squeeze his shoulder ever so slightly. 

He drops his hands and waits, not really sure where Orion intends to go with this. The man before him nods a bit and straightens, wincing a bit as he does so. He’s a notable mess. Lukas mentally tallies all of the different cuts, bumps, scrapes and bruises just to start. There’s already so much and he hasn’t even dared think about all of the internal damage this man has going on. 

‘What’s wrong?’ He signs. Simple and to the point. Lukas rubs his neck, debating with himself. After a second he shrugs. He signs back.

‘Stressed is all. Thinking too much, the usual.’ He pauses then continues, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Truly, I’m—‘ Lukas is cut off by his hands being caught by Orion’s. He blinks, dumbfounded before nervously looking up to the Leader. Orion simply shakes his head, his grip easing up. He lets go of one hand and tentatively pulls out the necklace from under Lukas’s t-shirt. He holds it up clearly in both’s line of sight, a stern gaze looking from the gem to Lukas. Lukas can barely look him in the eye. Orion nods. He figured something else was working in the blonde’s head. Dropping the necklace he pulls back and crosses his arms. He’s waiting for some sort of answer, and Lukas knows he’s certainly not gonna get out of giving him one.

Lukas sucks in a breath, stares at his hands for a few moments, then nods to himself. However, just as he goes to sign, Orion gently catches his hands once again. Lukas blinks, raising a brow, not knowing what this guy wants of him anymore. Orion lets go and lightheartedly rolls his eyes.

‘Use your voice. Speak. It’ll be easier for the both of us.’

Lukas hesitates for a second but eventually nods.

“Right… I guess I never really gave you details about this thing.” Lukas forces a halfhearted chuckle as he stares down at his necklace. He goes quiet again however, lips pursed tight as he debates in his head. Orion watches and waits patiently as Lukas fiddles with the gem once more. He continues, “I guess I’ve just been overwhelmed, dizzied by so much happening. I… I forgot what I was doing here, why I ran into your world in the first place. I didn’t intend to come here you know…” Lukas pauses and looks up at Orion.

Orion nods in understanding. Lukas nods to himself.

“I’ve already mentioned the state my home is in. You already know who’s got his greasy hands on it.” Lukas spits, “But um… I never fully explained why I left. Or, well, how I was chased out.” He laughs a bit and Orion leans forward slightly, curiosity admittedly piqued. A ghost of a smile crosses Lukas’ features as he holds up the necklace. “This isn’t truly mine.” He says almost slyly. “Months ago now, when this whole fiasco was just getting started this was given to me by a friend. My Jesse. I… I remember our groups were splitting off after dealing with this weird ice castle obstacle course..” He rolls his eyes, “One of Romeo’s little tests or games! But regardless I had this horribly foreboding feeling in my stomach.. I-I was scared! Concerned! Irrationally so and I didn’t even know why!” 

A small huff of understanding comes from Orion. Lukas shrugs sadly. Guess they know why now.

“I was part of the group that was supposed to head back to town, Jesse wanted me to escort them back. Make sure everyone was safe and all, you know the drill. But I couldn’t shake that bad feeling! So I told him. I told him, and I warned him and I wish I had done more…” He clutches the gem tight, shaking his head as he seems to choke on his own words. “He gave me this to soothe my nerves.” He laughs, a bitterness shining in his eyes as he does, “Assurance, it was! I remember he told me with that stupidly sweet grin of his, ‘When I see you again… The very first thing I will ask for is my necklace back! It’ll be our little secret code!’” He huffs, “Of course, if it had worked out so simply I wouldn’t be here right now. Nonetheless here with the necklace.”

‘What happened?’ Orion signs calmly. Lukas shrugs.

“I’m… I wish I knew myself. I escorted the others back to town without a hitch. I stuck around for a little bit but was way more tired than I thought I’d be. The people in town gave me a pass and said Jesse wouldn’t probably be able to talk until the next day anyways with all the cleanup that needed done. So I went home, slept, and came back later and…” He frowns, cloudy eyes squinting off into the metal walls as he searches for a way to describe it. His tone becomes serious when he speaks again, voice quieter. “I knew something was wrong when I got back into town… Call it what you will, but it was true. Regardless, I went to go see Jesse and return this to him. Then when I got there—…”

‘He wasn’t there?’

“Worse.”

‘Worse?’

Lukas nods. “He was there but it wasn’t him. I was a bit offput initially so all I did was kinda pull out the necklace to show it to him, see if he asked about it. It was supposed to be the first thing he asked from me! But instead that maniac played himself by not knowing what it was.”

‘You’ve been thinking about this because of your run in with the Agent.’ He signs. Lukas catches it and nods.

“Yeah… I knew I’d run into him sooner or later but it still affected me..” He huffs, staring aimlessly into the gemstone. Orion nods slowly. He snaps lightly to pull Lukas’ attention back.

‘Spitting image?’

Lukas pauses. He takes time to ponder it, which strikes Orion as interesting to say the least. Finally, he shakes his head.

“Very close but not quite… The eyes. The eyes are different…” He smiles a bit, “Here.” He holds the gemstone up to Orion who curiously takes it in his hand. He studies it a moment before looking back to Lukas. The young man nods. “His eyes are about the same color. I guess that’s why I can’t help but stare at it so much when I’m stressed. Reminds me of him… It’s uh.. Comforting.”

Orion makes a note of the bright color before finally letting the necklace hang back down around Lukas’s neck. Interesting. He wonders what else may be different between those two men. He hadn’t really considered physical differences since his Lukas and the Agent were so closely similar. But nonetheless, that’ll have to be something he can ponder on his own later. He focuses back in on Lukas as he continues his vent.

“I was the first person who figured the ‘Jesse’ in town wasn’t our Jesse. But no one believed me! They would rather just stay in their own safe little bubbles than think about such a thing! It’s easier for them! They don’t have to see and talk to Jesse every goddamn day! I still can’t believe they’re in such denial when Jesse is in trouble! I-I haven’t even seen head or tail of Petra, Jack or Radar since then either!” Lukas’s hands shake as he holds up fingers with each person he names. “Jesse is fucking counting on us! And they’re just sitting around praying that this thing will just fix itself!” He clenches his fists batting his own legs in absence of anything else. “Long story short, Jesse’s stuck in one of these worlds, one that’s cut off from the portal hall. A-And at this point it’s either I find a way to get him out of there, he finds a way, or we both die and our home and his legacy is absolutely RUINED because of one selfish, maniacal bastard!” He yells, dropping his head into his hands as his shoulders begin to shudder. 

Orion is taken by slight surprise at the sudden outburst but nonetheless moves to reassure him. He gently rubs his brother’s back, staying right with him. He had figured something was bothering Lukas, but he hadn’t realized it was eating at him like this. Lukas stammers out a few apologies under his breath, trying to suck it up and pull himself together quickly. He didn’t intend to be such a mess. Eventually he at least turns his head enough to be seen. Orion meets his gaze, brow raised in a ‘You good?’ look. Lukas weakly laughs under his breath before shaking his head.

“I’m running out of time Orion… I’ve been gone so long, and so has Jesse. I don’t know how much longer he can stand being alone…” Lukas murmurs, sucking in a shaky breath before rubbing his eyes and face. His voice breaks as he continues, “A-And I’m the only one who has an idea of what’s going on! The only other people who might know are MIA or they’re Jesse himself and I-I’m just… I’m so scared… Everyone’s counting on me finishing this whether they know it or not. I-If I die I--”

That’s where Orion stops him. He quickly clamps both his hands down atop of Lukas’s and meets him in the eyes. Lukas sits up in surprise, eyes wide. Orion squeezes his hands in reassurance and stares at him sternly. He sits like that for a moment, allowing the look to sink in before gently letting go and moving to sign to him. 

‘Nothing like that is going to happen to you.’

“But--”

Orion shoots up a hand, immediately hushing Lukas. His typical air of stubbornness surrounds him again and he blows out a breath through his nose. He keeps Lukas’s attention locked.

When Lukas finally came to again, he found himself bound tight by ropes, sitting against the wall. He shifted uncomfortably, almost immediately noticing that he was dressed in a different outfit. The fabric was almost stiff, and was definitely not what he was used to. His arms were pressed against his sides and his ankles were held together tightly by the rough line, all he could do was squirm, but couldn't undo any of the twisted rope.

Lukas looked around quickly at the area, seeing the agents conversing and deciding what to do next, and soon catching sight of his actual clothes, folded and set beside his bag which had obviously been gone through. A sudden thought struck him. His necklace. The necklace. He couldn't move his hands to feel for the necklace, he couldn't feel it around his neck. There was a new fear that he hadn't felt before. What had they done with it?

Lukas didn't get much more time to think before a voice spoke up beside him.

"Morning, buddy.”

He jumped at the voice of Jesse, who’d been waiting by his side for him to wake. Lukas for a moment didn’t know what to do. He was so used to his quick escapes, and even captured, he’d never had his opposer be Jesse himself. He reminded himself that this wasn’t his Jesse. No scar, that’s not his Jesse.

“H- Hello there,” he managed to contain a light stutter, however still unable to hide a break in his voice. He cleared his throat quickly and tugged against his binds. He tried to put up his act again, but he questioned his ability to keep it up for long.

“Would you mind?” he held out his hands and gave Jesse his best puppy eyes, “The uh— cuffs aren’t necessary, are they?”

Jesse scoffed and stood up.

“They are absolutely necessary.”

Lukas dropped his hands and sighed.

“You’d keep me tied up, Jesse? Me? Lukas?” he said in an almost pouty voice to get his attention. However, he dropped the expression with a groan as his counterpart stepped up beside Jesse, placing a hand around his waist.

“Unfortunately for you, he’s already got one of us.”

Lukas sighed at the appearance and shifted uncomfortably. It was like looking into a mirror. A mirror glaring, looking down on him.

"Hm. Guess I'm too late for the act, huh?" he grumbled.

"Mhm," Jesse nodded, earning another tired sigh from Lukas. His counterpart turned and stepped away, Jesse following afterwards. Lukas went to speak again, however the lightest sound of his voice was quickly cut off by an angry Jesse once again.

"Don't say anything, you're an imposter. A fake. Just keep your mouth shut and let us focus on other things."

Lukas squinted slightly and leaned back against the wall. He glanced around the room, searching for anything to help his escape. Orion would be waiting for him, and he didn't want to have to make him come back yet again for another rescue. Seems like their joke was becoming a reality.

Examining the room, he found exactly where the rope had been looped into the wall. Surprisingly, it didn't seem that secure. He could probably tug and undo the knots if he tried hard enough. An easy escape, he caught immediately what was happening.

He glanced back up to the other Lukas, who was standing over by the table surrounded by other agents. They seemed to be planning something, but he couldn’t tell what. That would have to remain a mystery, however he quickly pieced together the situation. He looked exactly like the other Lukas now, possibly with slightly different variations in features, however NEARLY exactly the same. A quick escape from the ropes, out an easy to follow back door.

The old twin trick. Now, he’d never had the luxury of being part of one of these before, but knew what was going to happen. A switch on Orion was the plan, that was obvious, but how to avoid it was the question. Maybe he could slip out unnoticed.

No, that was way too obvious, they’d expect him to try that without even knowing about the idea. They were watching him.

After a bit of thought, he decided he’d play their game. He just had to hope Orion would make the right choice. He trusted him to do so— but Lukas always wearing his mask could mean that he doesn’t know his face well enough to tell them apart. He could use sign? No, his hands were bound still, that would be a bit too difficult to undo.

Guess he’d just have to play and pray that he’s persuasive enough for Orion.

~~~~

“You have sights on him?” Jesse spoke into his earpiece, straying from the current topic of his plan B to check on Gil, who’d been placed as a gunner at the ready.

“Mhm. Sure do. He’s by the docks, just— waiting. He’s in my scope, this is a ridiculously easy shot. I can’t take it now because—?”

“Because if you take out the Leader the rest of them will just continue the plan, it’s like every other organization. We need to figure out how to actually stop them— to do that we need more than just these random journal pages.”

“True,” Gil sighed into the earpiece, “Its so easy though. So so easy..”

“I know, resist the urge, Gil,” Jesse chuckled and tapped his foot almost restlessly, “We’ve got a better plan on hand, and you know what to do if Plan A fails, which hopefully it will not.”

“Yeah yeah I got it, the whole Plan B thing.”

“And your part in Plan A.”

“Of course. This isn’t my area of expertise but— I’ll try not to let you down.”

“You won’t, Gil— Just do your best. If anything goes wrong, this is why we have backup plans.”

“Fair. Alright, well— see you on the flip side, I guess. Wish me luck!”

~~~~

Orion was standing just on the edge of the pier. The hatch of the Ender Dragon could be seen in the distance, out in the harbor. Orion stayed waiting for Lukas, knowing that he may take longer to get around than he did. However, it’d been over thirty minutes. Orion was in the right mind to be worried.

A voice spoke up over his own earpiece.

“Leader?” it was Trevor, dragging out the er at the end of the word in a bit of a concerned whine, “Are you alright up there? It’s been a long time, they’re gonna pick us up on the radar soon if they haven’t yet...”

Orion reached up to the headset and felt for the small button on the side. He pressed in in small beeps and dashes, Morse code.

“— • • — — — — • —

• — — — — — • — • • — • — • — —“

There was a bit of a pause before Trevor replied.

“... Alright, if you insist— At least you replied. Just be safe ok? And alert us when you need pickup.” Trevor sounded unsure, clearly doubting that everything was fine. He always was. Trevor was the brother to worry. It was his way of constantly saying “I love you,” and it was just a little bit of Trevor’s sweetness that Orion really loved.

However he couldn’t focus on it for too long. A glint from a nearby building caught his attention, and quickly took his mind off of anything lighthearted. He was standing out in the open, of course anyone would have a free shot at him, and of course he figured that’s what that exact glint was from. A sniper.

~~~~

"I need the ropes, too?" Lukas grumbled and shifted his wrists against the tight ropes that now binded them.

"Yes, you do," Petra replied with a faint amusement in her voice, "If one Lukas has them, the other Lukas has them."

"God... This is going to be ridiculous. Are you sure this is a good idea, Jesse? I mean-- what if something goes wrong?" Lukas turned to Jesse, who was sat at the table and hunched over a journal of his own.

"Don't worry, Lukas-- Even if something goes wrong, your buddy's got you covered. How's Gil with a sniper?" Jesse replied without looking up. Lukas thought back a bit to his times in the army. HE was the sniper, however Gil was never bad. What did this have to do with--

"Jesse, is he up there?" Lukas asked quickly.

"Maybe~"

"Did you at least test his aim-?"

"I did, not to worry. He's a very good shot, you don't have anything to worry about.." Jesse closed his journal, leaving his opened pen set between the pages before getting up. He stopped in front of Lukas and took both of his hands, them being bound together. "If Plan A fails, then we always have Plan B to fall back on. There's nothing to worry about.."

Lukas sighed and calmed down at Jesse's touch.

"Right... I trust you--.."

"And if Plan B fails?" Riot asked from the opposite end of the table. He had an ice pack on his jaw and was leaning over the table, still clearly a bit disoriented.

"Plan C!"

"And then?"

"Do you really think that I'm that awful at this?"

There was a light snicker in Green's direction, and Jesse huffed in annoyance.

"I'm willing to bet on it."

"Plan,, D, then!"

"Plan D? Might as well throw in a plan F to pay respects and accept the fat fucking L we get served on this mission if Plan C doesn't even fuckin work," Yellow piped up from the ground, his voice a bit raspy bit still getting the point along. There was a sharp laugh from Green that he quickly covered up as Petra looked over.

"Yellow!" There was a chorus of different moods, vaguely apart, when Yellow's voice was heard. Some were laughter, relief, and Jesse was clearly heard with the one dramatically offended tone. Riot was the first to drop down and nearly fall on Yellow in a hug, throwing his ice pack off to the side.

“Good to see you’re awake, man,” Petra shot him a quick grin.

“Glad to be awake.” Yellow felt around his neck after Riot had let go, feeling his throat wrapped in bandages with a couple ice packs pressed against his neck.

“The Leader got you pretty bad— try not to speak too much. Gil told us you were pretty swollen," Lukas said, still uncomfortably shifting in his rope cuffs.

"Mhm. Got that.." Yellow wouldn't admit audibly that every word put him in pain, but that was the truth.

"Rest for a while-- the next whole ordeal won't need us, I'll stay with you." Yellow felt Riot take his hand and give it a light squeeze. He smiled faintly and gave everyone a warning squint before leaning into Riot, who put his arms around him in a gentle hug. Petra grinned at the two, shoving her hands into her pockets.

A sudden clatter came from behind, and Jesse turned quickly to see Green hanging halfway out of the window.

"Oh Jesus, Axel!"

Axel's head shot up from where he was dozing off nearby. Jesse gestured to Green, who slipped out quite noticed.

"Oh uh- He's escaping!! Oh no!!" Axel's cry was half-hearted at most and playful if anything, making Jesse roll his eyes with a smile.

"Alright Lukas, go get him! I'll slow him down, you take the shortcut to the docks," Jesse finished his sentence by giving Lukas a quick kiss and running out the unlocked back door. Lukas couldn't help but smile, even going into this situation. He ran after Jesse, having to shove open the door with his shoulder while his hands were still tied.

The chase didn't last very long, and was a bit uneventful compared to the rest of the last hour. Jesse managed to catch up to Green, slowing him down just enough to where he and Lukas made it to the docks at the same time. The Witherstorm Leader was waiting there, and honestly didn't look too surprised. His arms were crossed and his expression was almost numb. Tired. As though he'd expected this very thing to happen.

~~~~

Lukas made eye contact with Orion quite quickly, and could tell immediately that Orion expected this. Orion's eyes moved between the two men in front of him, and his expression didn't change. Lukas wanted to yell out for him, but outing the Witherstorm Leader's name wouldn't be too smart. He knew there was someone watching them, he wouldn't take that chance.

He still, however, called out for him.

"Leader! Come on, you know the obvious choice, right?" he gestured to himself, not being able to hide his worry. However the other Lukas called out as well, in the exact same tone.

"No, Leader! Look at me! You can tell it's me, right?"

Both of them shot each other a simultaneous glare. Lukas had to admit, his counterpart's acting was on point. He really did look exactly like him, sound exactly like him. It was scary, if anything. Lukas called out again, so did his twin. Orion didn't move at first, just listening to their pleadings turn into arguments. He was less than amused, however soon enough stepped forward and approached them both.

He stepped down off the wooden pier, and each Lukas went quiet. Both had their arms bound, they couldn't use sign. The outfits were the same, both hairdos were messy and difficult to tell apart. The voices and expressions were the same. Determined and pleading.

He stopped in front of the first. He looked him over, watching him take a light step back, before stepping over to the other. He only needed a second before putting a hand on the second's shoulder. Immediately, the other's expression was riddled with what appeared to be heartbreak.

But of course, Orion wasn't done. He knew he had the wrong Lukas, the agent Lukas, the double agent trying to worm his way into the mission. He pulled a dart from his palm, wasting no time before he yanked this Lukas forward and jabbed him in the back of the neck with the needle. He then moved his hand away and kicked the agent back, onto the concrete.

Orion held out his hand to the other Lukas, Green, HIS Lukas. He knew it was him, and the relieved look that lit up across Lukas's face sealed the deal. However, as his Lukas took his hand, a gunshot went off in the distance, and a bullet went clean through Orion's shoulder. Lukas stumbled aside, and Orion only let out a quick grunt before whipping his own pistol from his belt and firing back almost without stopping to aim. A loud cry came from the building the sniper bullet was shot from, and the Lukas on the ground immediately reacted.

His face shifted to pure horror, as he cried the name "Gil" and stumbled to his feet before running off in the direction of the tall building.

Orion watched him go, placing a hand on his already soaked shoulder. He wiped his hand on his pant leg before heading over to Lukas and cutting his hands free from the rope.

"Orion-- you-"

Orion held up a hand to silence him.

"I know, don't worry. It's a clean shot. Easily fixed."

He motioned for Lukas to follow, who nodded and complied. They walked across the long dock together without mentioning much of anything, but as they were waiting, Orion stopped and signed to Lukas.

"You wait here, get on the sub. I will actually be right back this time."

"Dammit Orion, you aren't going back are you-?"

"Your materials and normal clothes are important to you, I presume? Wait here with the sub, I will alert you when I've returned."

Lukas felt a hand over his chest, his heart sinking for moment when he couldn't feel the gemstone necklace around his neck where it should be. He nodded to Orion, watching him turn and leave.

"You be careful! Don't get captured," Lukas called to him, and he waved it off nonchalantly with an assuring grin.

~~~~

Lukas was the first one to burst his way into the empty building. He used a piece of nearby broken glass to cut his own ropes before running up the stairs two at a time. It took nearly ten minutes to get up all of the flights of stairs, but when he finally did, he still was kicking. He showed no exhaustion, and crashed into the room where Gil had made his perch.

Gil was collapsed on his back, already lying in a pool of his own blood. The sniper was thrown to the side, and Gil had his hands clasped tightly around his neck. Lukas ran to him immediately, dropping down beside him and scooping him up.

"Let me see, let me see--" Lukas moved Gil's hands carefully, revealing the deep gash in the right side of Gil's neck. The Leader had managed to hit him, from that distance, with a pistol. Luckily it wasn't a shot, only a deep scrape, but it still wasn't good.

"This can be fixed, don't worry--" Lukas assured him, tugging off his jacket and tearing the sniper neckstrap off to use as a bandage, "You're gonna be fine-- you're fine.."

Lukas pressed the jacket over the wound and used the neckstrap to tighten and hold it against his neck, trying to make it just tight enough that it wasn't choking him. He picked him up, carrying him bridal style with his head against his chest to keep his neck in a comfortable position, and began heading down the stairs this time. He left the sniper rifle itself behind, lying on its side on the concrete ground.

~~~~

Orion's trip didn't take long. It was a simple expedition. The agents were too busy worrying about Gil's arrival to realize that the Witherstorm Leader had snuck back into the warehouse after trying for so long to escape. He simply snatched the neatly folded clothes and left without an issue.

The Ender Dragon was waiting for him by the docks, the hatch open and Ranger waiting at the top of it.

"About time!" he yelled over to his big brother, who rolled his eyes and handed him Lukas's outfit the minute he was close enough. Ranger huffed lightly and climbed down into the sub, followed by Orion.

Ranger handed off the outfit to Lukas, who was pacing worriedly across the sub. When he saw Orion, he gave him a mixture of a concerned yet thankful look.

"You-- went back just for this?" Lukas felt through the clothes until he found the pretty blue necklace, and immediately put it around his neck. He felt much better with it on, yet was hit with a sudden feeling of dread. Orion nodded to him.

"It's important, yeah?"

"Yes.."

"Then we don't leave it behind."

Lukas smiled at the comment, and Orion opened the door to another room, most likely to take care of his own wound.

"Wait, Orion--" Lukas stopped him before he left. Orion halted and turned lightly to look at him.

"How did you know I was the right one?"

At the question, Orion only gave him an almost gentle smile before replying.

Remember when the Witherstorm dealt with the US Hunter Killers? Orion recognizes R!Lukas but flat out states that this isn’t the Lukas that he knows due to the fact that R!Lukas signs and is pretty much kind. They freaking only knew each other for like a couple of hours.

Now compare that to Orion’s opinion on R!Lukas after being with him for like two weeks

It’s pretty obvious on why Plan A failed. It’s because Orion knows that Green/R!Lukas is the one that not only became a friend but an ally and as a sibling.

Orion not only sees R!Lukas as his Lukas, but as a brother who acted kind towards him which is surprising him a lot.

This is honestly why I like Orion’s character development as a whole. He’s pretty much went from having R!Lukas as an ally to seeing him as if he was a biological sibling and he would honestly protect Green just like how he would protect Trevor and Ranger.

@atarimarque I will say this, I love the interactions between R!Lukas(which belongs to @zonerz ) and Orion and the writing is amazing.