10 Brother's Concern

The images slowly faded, but the wrench of his gut only increased. It wasn't hunger he'd been feeling. Among all his stolen memories, he recalled something similar to this, and yet he wasn't able to pinpoint it. A faint pounding in his head had also became a constant. If it wasn't hunger he was feeling, why would he be so miserable? Perhaps he should ask Dana for advice. She was the only human being he had any contact with, and she knew a lot of things. Including a few medical tips and tricks. She had to know what was going on with him.

Alex dropped from the building he was standing on and slid down the wall all the way to the ground. The narrow alley shielded him somewhat from the crowd, but a few people heard and saw the concrete crack under his feet. As usual, they ran away screaming, probably planning to contact the first authorial figure they found. He sighed and rubbed his temple. Always the same story. It's not that he wasn't used to it by now, but it was becoming annoying. Especially with this headache getting in the way. At least he didn't have to stay around and get questioned. That was where he drew the line.

As casual as if he was a man walking down the street on a sunny day, Alex strode out into the crowd, taking on the appearance of a young woman. If anyone got a hold of police or the military, at least they wouldn't be able to point him out. He could handle chaos, but getting pointed at in the middle of a crowd was just tiresome. Incredibly so.

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"You did skydiving as a hobby?!"

For a few hours now, Rebecca and Dana had been seated on the mattress and talking about what they used to do in the earlier parts of their lives. Dana hadn't said much about her life in New York, but she'd told her newfound friend a lot about her life when she was younger. Her drunken mother and non-existing father. She'd said to be lucky to have her brother at her side back then. Out of caution, she'd avoided to say Alex's name, but more for the fact that he might be angry with her rather than that she didn't trust these people.

She was fascinated by the things Rebecca used to do in her free time before she broke her leg a few years ago. What was also interesting to her was how she found her current hobby. To think you could become an expert in computers over a week just because there's nothing else to do. Dana had her own set of skills, but she'd learned over a few years, not weeks.

"Snowboarding as well. Who knew that coding could be just as exhilarating as strapping on a board and dropping out of a helicopter?". The smile Rebecca flashed upon thinking back on the old days warmed Dana's heart. She knew how her friend was feeling. She too relished in the memories she had - the ones of her brother. Back when they used to play together or watch scary movies all night long. She remembered how he'd put his arm around her where they sat in the sofa. He held her close, assuring her that it was just a movie. She knew that already, and yet... It was one of her favorite memories. The way he rubbed her shoulder gently and mumbled in her ear.

"Don't worry Dana, they aren't real", he'd used to say. It almost hurt her now - to think back. The Alex she used to know... There wasn't much left of him. Ever since they met after five years of no contact, he'd changed to almost unrecognizable. A different person.

"Dana?"

She almost jerked back at the question. Had Rebecca talked to her? She shook her head slightly and fired off a soft smile. "I'm alright, just daydreaming" she reassured. Hopefully her feelings hadn't showed through all too much. If they would suddenly start worrying about her-... Well, she didn't want them to. Alex did enough of that. Or, perhaps it was the other way around...?

Rebecca's next words surprised her, to say the least. Not only was it a complete change of topic, but it was also generally unexpected. "I never realized how blue your eyes are" she said. Dana looked up at her with a confused expression. She'd never thought about it herself. Were they really that blue? They were more gray to her, if anything. "They're really similar to that guy we met...". It almost sounded like Becca hadn't meant to say that sentence.

"Who?" Dana asked. As expected, the other girl blinked. So she hadn't meant to say it out loud then. "I'm just curious. If it's too personal, you-"

"No, it's alright. It's just that... It's kind of a weird story"

"Believe me, I know weird". Dana chuckled. She truly did. After all she'd been through lately, weird was starting to become her normal.

"Well, shortly after we arrived here..."

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A few minutes later Rebecca had told Dana all about what had happened since they arrived. She couldn't do else but stare for a moment. Her eyes were focused on the sandwich in her hand. They'd voted to take one each when Dana's stomach made itself heard. To think that Blackwatch would go as far as to kidnap someone for their own gain. It made her sick. Hold on a moment... If these people arrived four days ago, and Alex saved Rebecca... That had to mean it was one in their team who got hurt. And Alex had seen it. Oh my...

"So..." Dana started while walking back toward the mattress. She wasn't entirely sure what to say, but now that she knew they had all met each other in one way or the other, there wasn't much of a point in keeping secrets. Clearly, these people weren't members of blackwatch, and they seemed to have their own 'bad guy' army to worry about. Templars, was it? To Dana it seemed like this whole scenario was taken out of a Sci-Fi movie. Or maybe some kind of a secret operations novel.

"The guy you were talking about" she tested, getting Rebecca's full attention. Her gray eyes sparkled with curiosity where they looked at Dana from behind her computer screen. "If I'm not wrong, and I highly doubt I am - that guy is my brother. We both inherited mom's eye color" she explained with a shrug of her shoulders and smiled sheepishly.

Rebecca blinked once before a grin spread across her lips. Dana smiled back, but before any of them could comment further about it, the door to the stairway was flung open. All people present were awakened from whatever half-slumbering states they were in, prepared to take on the worst. In her peripheral vision, Dana could see the blonde guy swing around in his seat and reach for his gun. The third girl yelped from somewhere in the room, and Rebecca jumped to her feet.

Dana wasn't sure what surprised her more. To see Alex being the one in the doorway, or the distressed expression he wore. Had something happened? Did he finally decide that they were friendly? Or ... did he go to the apartment only to find it empty...? Damn, of course he did. He had came back to talk to her - get more information about Gentek or Blackwatch or whatever he might've been interested in, and she wasn't there. She should've left a note or something. Of course he was distressed, he probably thought something had happened to her. Stupid, stupid, stupid... She rubbed her hands over her face to brace for his possible outbreak.

She was suddenly five years old again. Alex towering over her while scolding her about how worried he'd been, asking where she'd been and why she was outside from the start. She remembered the tears streaming down her face as she clutched the teddybear he'd given her when she was three. She remembered how he would rub his hand over his face after calming down. How he crouched down in front of her, taking hold of her small hand with his own two. "I'm sorry for yelling Dana, I shouldn't. I'm just worrying about you" he had said so many years ago.

The scenario was the same, except now they were both older, and he was holding her wrist instead of having his arms crossed over his chest. Their eyes met and she fought not to jerk back. If he had anything to say, she would listen. But if he was planning to just drag her along, she would put up a fight if necessary. If he was truly the brother she'd always known, he wouldn't do anything against her will.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed. His eyes darted back and forth between the people in the room. She herself kept her gaze glued to his face. "You shouldn't trust these people". Oh really now?

"Funny, coming from the one barging in without notice". Dana looked to who had spoken and saw the british guy standing with a gun in his hand, pointed right at them. Her heart skipped a beat, but Alex seemed undeterred. "How do we know you're not a templar?"

"Shaun!"

Both Dana and Alex turned their attention to Rebecca upon hearing her shout. She was walking over to the blonde guy and pressed her hand down on his wrists, successively lowering his gun to point it at the ground instead. She hissed something at him before the blonde girl interrupted. They were arguing in hushed tones, Shaun never looking away from Alex. The two didn't trust each other, that much was clear.

While they were busy with their own thing however, Alex looked back at Dana, and she met his gaze. "You shouldn't be here" he said, not bothering if the others heard him or not. If they did, they seemingly didn't care. Their hushed argument kept in the background while Dana stared daggers at her brother.

"And since when do you get to decide who I talk to or not?". She jerked her hand back and took a step to the side to have Alex out of her most personal space. "I'm not five anymore Alex-"

"Dana-", he went to grab Dana's wrist again, but she pulled back, "-these people are dangerous".

In her peripheral vision, she saw four pair of eyes turn to them. The arguments had abruptly stopped, and the silence felt heavy in the air. If she reached out, she had no doubts she would be able to touch the tension between them. Not only between the other people and them, but also between the two siblings.

"Alex..." she heard Rebecca mumble, deceit heavy in her voice. In turn, Shaun gritted his teeth and growled.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!".

Alex ignored both of them - or tried to. She saw the flicker of his eyes when the ravenhead spoke his name. Nonetheless, he'd still spoken, and he couldn't take it back now. He'd have to pay for his actions, whether he'd meant it or not. Maybe he didn't trust them, but they were on no level dangerous. Not like ... him.

"I don't see them punching holes into walls" Dana hissed for a response. The same hurt look she'd seen him take on back in the apartment passed over him again, but this time he didn't fight it. His eyes diverted to look down at the floor, and she saw his jaw clench. Without another word, he turned on his heel and marched out of the cellar, the door sliding close behind him. She exhaled, allowing herself to finally relax. As nice as it was to have Alex worrying about her, he was being a bit too overprotective sometimes.

"What the fuck is that guy's problem?" Shaun said after some silence. Dana sighed and plopped down on the mattress she and Becca had previously been sitting on.

"He's my brother" she said with a chuckle. It didn't explain his problems or why he acted like he did, but it was a reason for him to be protective, she guessed. "Sorry about him. He hasn't been himself lately".

If she only knew how much truth were to that sentence, maybe she would've thought harder on what she'd just said to him, and what horrible consequences could come with them.