Ch. 8 - Regret

Cor's head was pounding and his throat felt numb and full , near suffocation but far enough removed from the danger that he wasn't gasping for air . Well , at least after a few conscious moments of getting used to the tightened air passageway he wasn't . The tips of his fingers stung and the feeling trailed up into his core , which was twisted into itself . He felt fairly susceptible to vomiting . Fairly susceptible to a lot of ailments , really .

Around him , the cold hardness of the floor pressed into his back and the stale air clipped across his skin . It was too dark in the room for average human sight , but he wasn't human . He couldn't find any strength to move his neck , though , so the only thing left for him to see was the tiled ceiling of a small , square room . It felt hopeless . He felt hopeless . But he had to find the girls above all else .

What he did had nothing to do with them .

He used the thought to focus enough to heave himself onto his knees , leaning against the wall of the room as his breathing became more struggled -- the pain becoming more intense . He knew he shouldn't be getting up and his body pleaded that he not . When the burning of his feet and palms and chest weren't enough to stop him , his body fought against him with an enormous wave of nausea that had him bracing against the wall again just as he'd climbed back onto his feet . He took some recovery time to look around the room , but there wasn't much to see . A door made of some durable element , a bin in the corner -- he'd wondered if it was for his expected throw up or something else -- , and a tall , sleek rectangle beside him that rotated in silence . Cor was familiar with the device , a glorified baby monitor used during interrogations and with mentally unstable patients in hospitals among other things .

He gave it a few weak knocks , knowing it would alert the people obviously watching over him .

" I'm up . "

He spoke clearly into the device , grabbing it and slumping over it as a makeshift crutch .

Before Cor could get anything else out -- a grunt of pain , a plea to his captors , a threat -- the door opened up and a girl rushed in . Tall , dark hair , tan skin . Luna .

She looked OK other than a bloody hole at the top of her shoulder and dirt stain wrapped around the elbow of her grey blouse . Her eyes were wide like she was trying to process too much as everything threw itself at her , like she was simply hurrying for hurrying sake and not comprehending the situation . But to her , her mission was clear -- get to Cor , Raya , and get out .

She'd seen them take Raya down a strange corridor as she was forced ahead ; she knew she wouldn't be able to find her without Cor . She knew she was the only healthy one out of them -- she'd seen them kiss . Remembered it vaguely and violently , the world spinning as she stared and crashed into black .

Why would Raya kiss him ? It was a question for another time , the petty feelings in her chest much less important than all their lives and freedom . Raya hadn't known about what it would do , anyway . Luna just hoped it hadn't killed her -- she was out cold when the people took them .

Cor lifted his head to her , his body trying to find the strength for an even stance and straight posture tiresomely . Every muscle burned sharply from every movement .

" Luna , how -- "

" There's no time , we need to go ! " She ran over to him and grabbed his wrist , yanking him forward . He nearly fell to the floor , intense pain shooting through him as he caught himself .

" Luna , I can't , " Cor began to say . Luna's eyes scanned everything around them for possible dangers in between letting her eyes rest on him , still noticeably panicked and hurried . " I can't move -- the kiss . "

Luna already understood he was sick because of the kiss , but the way he looked -- shaking , sweating , pale -- and the radiating heat from his simmering body . She held her hand to her chest and balled her fist tightly . It was worse than she thought it would be .

With a quickness , Luna was by his side , wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling his arm to drape over her shoulder .

" Unfortunately , you're too big for me to carry . "

Cor gave her a look -- so much fear and worry in the look that Luna had to disregard it for sanity's sake . She moved with him out the door and down a hall to the right , at this point completely lost and looking for any markers on the walls or ceiling that could help to no avail .

" Cor , I need your help . We need to find Raya , I don't know where she went . She was unconscious so she's probably in a sick room somewhere , " if they were any type of humane , at least , " Do you know where one of those could be around here ? "

Cor looked around , assessing the environment , before answering .

" We're on a model TR - 21 , a tactical retrieval building used for stealth missions . There's only one ' sick bay ' sort of area in the whole building in the middle of the bottom floor . That's probably where she is if she wasn't deemed a threat . "

" Tell me which way to go , then . "

" We ... we can't go there . "

Luna's head turned to Cor as they froze in place , their eyes steady gazing into each other's .

" ... Why ? "

Cor breathed out heavily , breathing still difficult and not becoming easier while he talked .

" It's at least 3 floors away and in the middle of a mess of halls and personnel ; someone is bound to see and catch us if we try to get there . "

" Well , there must be some other way -- vents or something ? " She'd seen that work in a few movies and books before , so maybe ?

Cor shook his head negative , " No , nothing accessible like that . Everything is -- " a pause for breath , for pain , " Just , no . "

Raya . He read it in her eyes . Her name , the panic behind it .

" We can -- we can come back for her . "

" I can't leave her , Cor . " Slight accusation rang in the her low voice , the act of leaving her friend and roommate behind extremely callous in her mind . Cor backed down a bit , approached more carefully , logically .

" I know , but overall think about it . I can barely move . We can barely move together . We won't be able to sneak anywhere even if we tried . All that would happen is we get captured and locked up again -- maybe more securely . Maybe with punishment . How did you even get away from them ? "

Cor was glazing over her shoulder where some half of his weight was situated . He hoped she hadn't gotten herself into any big mess with his people , too .

Luna ignored his questioning though , preferring to rebut his reasoning .

" Maybe if we can get to her , we can figure out how to escape from where she is all together . And on the way there , we can just be very careful -- I could -- I don't know . "

She was about to say I could go by myself , but she stopped herself and without words Cor already knew he needed to shut out the possibility . It wasn't safe . He couldn't just leave her by herself , even if he was a liability .

" Luna , " Cor stared sternly in her eyes , some begging there , " I will remain by your side . We'll have to -- "

Before he could even finish , it wasn't Luna that made him come to an abrupt stop but a voice he hadn't heard in a long time in a way he hadn't heard it in a long time ; a crisp , low voice cut through his head .

Somehow , they were able to push their way through the wall Cor had set up around the internal com. systems he'd been irreversibly equipped with -- due to his weakened state or simple technological trial and error , it didn't matter at this point . He had no choice but to listen as Luna looked at Cor strangely with her head somewhat tilted . Cor relayed the IT message aloud almost immediately as it was said .

" We need you to come with us , Cor . You've been loitering around for long enough . We've had to track the use of every demipad and pletipad in the special ops mission dispatch room to finally lead us here , and you're still putting up a fight . Please just accept your fate back on Til . Cooperation is key , Mr. Desun . "

Cor shut his mouth tight , his eyes regaining focus on her and his surroundings .

"Is that all they said ? " Luna's fear building up , emotions skyrocketing and then plummeting at his next words .

" They're holding Raya hostage . They might kill her if I don't cooperate . Kill her . I -- I'm sure you'll be next -- what do I -- "

Cor felt himself slipping past his calm and into anxiety once again before he felt her arms around his torso .

" Cor . "

He didn't need to look into her eyes -- her head tucked securely into his chest -- to tell that she was trusting him and trusting them , together as a unit . He felt words pass from her skin to his . We can figure this out .

And at that point he already knew . There was only one probable end to this whole ordeal . To turn himself in .

He realized this , and wrapped his arms back around Luna .