Midnight Talk

After sobbing to her friends without any explanation, Sabrina found cool air hitting her face. She needed a breather. The outside helped to clear her head. Leaning against the wall, she sighed heavily and thought about the hospital.

I have to get it back.

She pushed herself forward until her foot fell in front of the other and began walking at a brisk pace towards the place where she thought her possession would be. She winced as the cut on her shoulder began to sting in the open air, but persevered through.

Hopefully, the key would be there lying on the ground, just the way she remembered. She wouldn't be too long. In and out. If it wasn't there...

Don't think about that. I'm gonna get it back.

As she was about to leave the area, something caught her eye inside the store. She was definitely going to check that out when she got back. With that thought, she left the premises.

xxx

Archer found himself lying on something soft with a weight on top of him. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was on his bed, and he covered with a blanket. Sitting up slowly, he realised that his strength had returned to him. He thought back to what happened at the hospital. He remembered fighting three guys and getting shot, after that, everything was blurry and scattered.

Getting to his feet he made his way out of his bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes on the way.

He found Riley patching herself up and Cody sitting on the couch talking animatedly with someone else. He couldn't see who, but he assumed it was the other girl. That is until he walked up to them and got a good look at the person's face.

He was instantly put on edge. "Who is this guy?", he asked lowly. Cody jumped slightly, not expecting to hear his friend's voice so soon. The look of fear was quickly replaced with a relieved smile. "It's good to see you steady on your feet again," Cody spoke which caught Riley's attention who had a similar look of relief on her face as she bounded towards him with a huge hug. "I'm glad you're okay," she told Archer.

He returned the hug, and then, raised a brow at Cody. "Oh yeah, this is Sam. He's the one who helped us get away, remember?" Archer looked puzzled at first and then some of his memories settled. He remembered riding on a hover bike, interrogating Sam and an outburst from a certain brunette girl.

He turned and looked around the room. "Where's Lia?", he asked instead of answering Cody's question. Riley and Cody looked at each other in concern and Archer knew that something was wrong. "She had a breakdown and ran off," Sam supplied bluntly.

A breakdown?

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No. We figured she just needed some space," Riley said looking down.

"She'll probably be back soon. It's been a while," Cody assured him. "How are you feeling?"

Archer looked worried for a second. "Much better," he settled on saying instead of expressing his worries about her.

He gave the duo on the couch a once over and only now realised that they had the inner contents of Cody's old laptop around them. "What are you guys doing?"

"Oh! Sam's helping me secure our digital connections, so we don't get tracked back here."

He looked between the two and then to Riley.

"Okay."

He motioned to Riley to move away, so they could talk privately. She understood and they moved to the kitchen. "You sure you're good?", she inquired when she saw the thoughtful expression on his face. "What? Yeah. 'Course I am," he said quickly. "Okay. What's up?"

"What's this guy's deal?"

Riley took that as her cue to explain everything that happened while he was out and Archer listened intently, making his own judgements.

"So yeah, he really wants to help," she concluded. Archer glanced and the new addition to their team. "You guys trust him?", Archer asked.

"I mean, he seems trustworthy enough. Other than what happened with you and him, everything else is okay. I'm still kinda mad about that," she admitted.

He nodded once. "We didn't want to make any decisions without you," she informed him. He was grateful that they considered his feelings and valued his opinion in this, not that he had any doubt. It just felt nice to not be completely alone.

"Thanks R."

"Anytime man."

Riley looked at her friend and noticed that he looked a bit uncertain as if he was debating on whether to ask something or not. The raven-haired girl gave him a encouraging nod and, he relented. As always, she was right.

"What does Lia think of him?", he asked, putting I extra effort for his voice not to be wobbly.

"Oh," Riley said teasingly. He shot her a glare.

"I'm just asking because you already told me how you felt and I can clearly see that Cody is cool with it. I just want to know everyone's opinion," he said crossing his arms.

"Okay, big guy," she said raising her hands in a mock surrender, "She doesn't really like him. She's still mad about what he did. Or what he accidentally did. But I think she'll be okay with letting him join if it's for the greater good."

Archer didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. He didn't expect the girl to care so much about what happened. She hated him, right?

We're a team though, so I guess it's understandable.

He didn't really believe that, but he just shrugged it off.

"Okay," he finally said.

Riley and Archer walked back to join Sam and Cody in the sitting area. Time went by. They were quiet. The lingering worry over Sabrina, could be seen on the rebel's faces.

"Look man, I'm sorry," Sam suddenly piped up, his statement aimed at Archer. Everyone stopped and looked at him. Archer was caught off guard. "It's fine, I guess," he shrugged. "We're all trying to survive." Satisfied with that response, Sam went back to working with Cody.

Archer took this time to think about what happened and tried to piece together his memory of what had happened, by himself. Some pieces were missing and it was frustrating.

"Done!", Cody whooped from his seat, raising his fist in victory. Sam settled back with a tired grin. "Nice work, guys," Riley congratulated. They both gave her a little smile.

"Hey guys, what happened back at the hospital?", Archer questioned timidly. Riley looked at him with an unreadable expression. "You don't remember?", she asked even though the answer was obvious. Archer shook his head anyway. "I remember fighting some guys. I think I took out like four or five? And then the last three realised I was there and then I got shot?", he reached for his middle, only to find out that there was no soreness or even a bullet wound. "Everything is kind of fuzzy after that."

"So, you didn't knock out those guys in the lobby?", Cody asked. "No," Archer answered. "Why?"

"Well, Cody and I were down. There were a few guys there keeping us busy, so we couldn't come up. We just heard a gunshot and then like another one after a bit," Riley explained. "We came up when Lia called us. We saw you lying on the floor, covered in blood, Lia was next to you and three guys were down on the floor. One was shot in the leg. She used the gun you found to heal you. I think she took out the bullet too."

Archer took it all in and didn't say a word.

Lia saved me? She took out three guys, removed the bullet and healed me?

"Oh," was all he said.

Then he remembered. The blur in his vision when he was about to black out. That was Lia kicking butt. Everything was falling into place. Then he remembered, the thing he found on the floor.

He didn't know what it was, but he took it. It was probably still in his bag. He made a mental note to take a look at it later.

As if summoned by their conversation topic, Sabrina entered the bunker. Her face was devoid of any emotion as she stormed right into their sleeping quarters. Everyone just looked at her, not sure what to do. Sam, who had been very quiet, thought that he'd seen her face before.

Sabrina didn't interact much with the others for the rest of the night. Her mind was a void, her energy was gone. She was just there. Staring at the wall. Her friends tried to approach her, but she paid them no heed. Sam just watched everything happen.

They all ate, no one wanted to talk. They were afraid that they'd break the fragile glass of peace and an all out war would break out. Archer kept glancing at Sabrina. He wanted to thank her, but the look in her eyes worried him. Nobody knew what exactly had happened. All they knew was that something was gone. Something important.

He just needed to wait for the right time. Before they knew it, everyone was settling in to sleep. They brought in an extra mattress from storage for Sam, along with some sheets, blankets and a pillow. He'd set it up in a space near the boys in their room and soon all the lights were out and so were the rebels. All besides two.

Sabrina was exhausted. She hadn't rested since the morning, and she made an extra trip for it to be fruitless, but she just couldn't find it in her to sleep. The cut on her shoulder burned and was most likely going to be infected, but she couldn't find it in her to care. Riley offered to patch her up, but she declined. This was unhealthy. She knew she was being self-destructive, but she didn't do anything to change that fact.

Archer tried to sleep, but he felt so full of energy. He'd slept for most of the day while he was recovering, so it wasn't a surprise that he was wide awake now. The bed didn't feel that inviting either. He felt uneasy. He needed to talk to her. The sound of shuffling caught his attention. He peeked from his top bunk, his eyes already adjusted to the dark room and saw a figure leaving the room.

The brunette boy decided to follow said person. As he made his way down from the bunk, Riley whispered to him. He was startled at first and then followed the sound of her voice. She reached towards the floor by her bedside and put something into his hands. "Use this on her," she pleaded. From the feel of the fabric, he recognised it as a med kit. He took it and made to leave, but something nagged him at the back of his mind. He grabbed his bag and went upstairs.

When he was in the store, he noticed something out of place. The ladder, which usually laid on the floor, was now propped up against the wall, leading up to an open hatch in the ceiling.

He climbed up and saw Sabrina sitting at the edge of the roof, gazing up at the stars. He climbed through the opening. The sound of his feet hitting the roof's surface alerted Sabrina of another presence, and she turned her head quickly.

Their eyes locked for a moment before she let out a breath and turned around once more. "What are you doing here?", she asked harshly. He scoffed lightly, "I could ask you the same thing."

"Couldn't sleep," was the simple response. He walked slowly to where she sat. "Mind if I join you?", he asked. She didn't answer, but she didn't shoo him away either. He took that as permission and sat by her with some distance between them.

Looking up, he saw that the stars were brighter than usual. It entranced them both as a heavy silence settled over them. "Are you okay? What's going on?", he asked. Straight to the point. He mentally face-palmed.

"Why does it matter to you?"

"I just—"

"Why did you come up here?", she asked seriously.

"I saw you leave and wanted to make sure you were okay," he admitted.

She raised an eyebrow at that.

"I also wanted to thank you. For you know, saving me back there," he said sheepishly.

She didn't say anything.

"I know, I can be a bit of a jerk, but despite that you still helped me. Twice. So thank you. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

"Oh. It was nothing. Someone has to look out for you and that someone clearly isn't you."

"Looks like it's becoming a usual thing now."

"I should stick a baby monitor on you. Just to make sure you don't go running off, being an idiot."

"You're no different. Running into dangerous situations. Maybe I'll be the one to save you next, until we can call it even."

"Oh? So we're keeping score now?"

"If you wanna put it that way, then sure."

She laughed lightly and Archer was pretty proud of himself.

"It's nice up here," she said.

"Peaceful," he agreed.

"Looking at how clear the stars are, you wouldn't say that the world is a mess right now."

"Yeah, but that's what we're here for. To end it."

His eyes darted to the wound on her shoulder. It looked messy. He grabbed the med kit and went closer to her. She looked at him skeptically.

"What?", she asked.

"You're just going to let that get infected?"

"It won't get infected," she said stubbornly, knowing that she was wrong.

"Sure, it won't. It looks great right now," he retorted.

"It's fine, really," she said with a hard look.

"I'll be the judge of that," he said.

After a bit of protesting, she reluctantly gave in and let him take care of it.

She hissed and flinched as he dabbed the disinfectant onto it. "It's fine, my foot," he mumbled to himself, but she heard it. A million thoughts went through her mind.

Why is he doing this? Why does he care all of a sudden? Why am I letting him do this?

She tried her best to sit still as he cleaned the area. Sabrina looked over her shoulder to see Archers determined face.

She tried keeping it in from the time she returned, but something about this night, something about Archer's presence made her feel like it was okay to confide in him.

She exhaled shakily, but refused to cry in front of him. "I lost something back at the hospital," she said. Archer stopped for a moment, he didn't say anything and then resumed his task. Sabrina continued, "It was very important to me and I just— I can't believe that it's gone."

Archer carefully applied the bandage onto her shoulder and then, without a word, he just stood up and left her.

She stopped. Did she make a mistake? Was he really still that big of jerk?

She heard him rummaging through something behind her, she turned and saw him approaching her with something in his hand. He sat down next to her and held it out. Her breath stopped and her eyes widened.

No. Is that-? How?

She stared at it for a long time, trying to process what she was seeing. "Is this what you were looking for?", he asked her. His voice didn't show any sign of annoyance. It was patient.

That seemed to bring her back to reality. She shakily extended her hand to take it. As soon as she felt it's cool surface underneath her fingertip, her whole body relaxed. She let out a disbelieving laugh as she took the chain into her own hands and kept looking at it.

"Thank you," she whispered so softly that Archer wasn't even sure he heard her. "Thank you," she said louder. "I don't— I — thank you," she repeated over and over again, looking at him. Her eyes sparkled. Her tone suggested that he had just given her, her life back. Like he brought world peace. This little chain brought so much joy to her, he couldn't even fathom it.

Sabrina was shocked, confused and so utterly relieved. She got it back. It was in her hand. She looked at Archer. He was smiling. At her. He brought back something so important to her and, he hadn't even realised it. No amount of 'Thank you's' would be enough. She wanted to scream to stars. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry tears of joy. She wanted to hug him. So tightly.

But she didn't.

She just thanked him. Over and over again.

He started to feel a bit awkward. He wasn't used to people looking at him like that with such joy. He just waved it off and said "It was nothing." That actually had gotten her to simmer down. She put the chain over her head and clutched it over her heart. She looked up at the stars again, this time with a smile on her face and relief in her eyes.

Archer looked up as well.

The night was quiet and peaceful. A gentle breeze passed through, wrapping it's cold fingers  around them, but they couldn't find it in them to care.

"What is it?", he asked her.

"Hmm?", she hummed without looking at him.

"The chain. It seems pretty important to you. How come?"

"Oh," she said, her smile faded, but then came back a little softer.

"My dad gave it to me. Before he..,"she trailed off. "It's the only thing I have of my family"

Something flashed through Archer's mind. His face turned sour as if he was remembering something unpleasant. His usual scowl replaced his rare smile and, he just sat there. He didn't move.

Sabrina furrowed her brows in concern.

What happened to you?