Frank stared down at his open hands, like he had been since emerging from the black shadows of his memories. Or was it just his general timeline? The more he thought about it, the more exhausted he felt.

At this point, his tears had dried up completely. It felt as if he had used years worth in a matter of minutes. He felt like he had nothing left inside as he closed his fingers.

A hand rested gently on his wrist. He turned to look at Gerard, who offered a sad smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but Frank couldn't hear the words. He looked back down at his hands, but also found himself leaning against Gerard's arm. He felt so tired...

The images of the white mist grabbing the woman's throat before the blinding white obscured everything jolted Frank from keeping his eyes closed too long. He was back to sitting up straight in an instant. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he felt the hand pull away from his wrist and an arm wrap around him. He was sure words were being spoken to him once again, but he still couldn't hear them.

He brought a hand up to his chest. The mark was still there under his shirt, but it felt... different. It still expanded over much of his chest but, as he pressed it, it felt like it wanted to sink back into him. His eyes involuntary crossed as he felt himself lean against Gerard once again. The more he pressed on the mark on his chest, the more his eyelids dropped. He tried to stop, but his hand wouldn't come away from his chest until his eyes closed completely and everything went black.

—-
Gerard

It was some time before Frank seemed to calm down enough to sleep. Gerard held an arm around him until Frank's hand dropped from his chest and his breathing seemed to even out. Gerard gently guided him so that he was laying on the bed of moss. He brushed loose strands of hair away from Frank's troubled face, letting his fingers linger near his temple as he looked Frank over.

There was still a faint, dark aura coming off of Frank. Though it wasn't as intense as when he had first come back from his memories, it still clung to him.

Gerard sat upright, pushing a hand through his hair. He directed his gaze to the table where, ever since recovering from his and Frank's severed connection, Patrick sat pale as a spirit. Pete was next to him but he was asleep at the table. Patrick had held him so tightly for the longest time that it had exhausted him. He still seemed unfocused as he stared off towards one of the room's walls.

Gerard rose to his feet and took a seat at the table. He waved a hand in front of Patrick's face, earning a rapid succession of blinks before he seemed to pull back to where he was. Confusion briefly laced his features as he looked around the room before finding Gerard across from him.

"What happened?" Gerard asked.

Patrick blinked at him. It took a moment before it seemed like the question fully sunk in. "We... I had brought a series of memories to the surface, along with a strand from his timeline that I could latch onto." His brow furrowed, as if he was struggling to recall what he wanted to relay to Gerard. "We entered a dining scene... then something that was completely obscured."

"Was the obscured thing from his timeline or his memory?" Gerard pressed. He didn't like how unsure Patrick sounded. He was used to Patrick taking the role of a guide or leader who could easily bring some kind of answer to the unknown. Right now he was struggling to recall events that just barely occurred.

Patrick shut his eyes tightly. "I don't know. He went into the dark one and let go of my hand. I couldn't see anything and then I was forced out." When he reopened his eyes, Gerard could see a flash of panic. "I heard something, though. I heard her."

"Who?" Gerard tilted his head as Patrick brought both his hands up to bury in his hair.

Patrick shook his head, casting his eyes down to the table. "I could never see the end of her timeline. It always became obscured by something." Gerard could see his eyes beginning to cloud over.

"Patrick, stay in the moment!" Gerard hissed, afraid to wake Frank.

Patrick shut his eyes, shaking his head as he did so. "I can't be sure. I didn't see her and it's been so long since I've heard her, but in my heart..."

"Let it out already!"

Patrick opened his eyes. Tears brimmed as he looked at Gerard with his bright yellow eyes. "I heard The Mother. I heard her voice."

Gerard felt his heart drop. He could feel tears threatening to build in his own eyes as he looked at Patrick. "No."

"All the times I met her when I was still learning my magic, I'd recognize her voice anywhere-"

"No, I don't understand." Gerard felt his magic rumble at the sound of her name. "When she left, she took her gift with her."

Patrick gulped. "Gerard, do you remember how I said I recognized the magic within Frank?"

Gerard turned to look towards the sleeping figure. He watched wisps of darkness swirl around his arms, as if unsure where to go or what to do.

"It's not exactly the same abundance of color she wielded," Patrick continued, "but it is hers."

"How can you be sure?" Gerard shook his head, turning back to Patrick. "She vanished!"

"How long ago?" Patrick's eyes flared, "How old is Frank? Gerard, I know her voice. She guided me through my magic before she vanished. I don't know how, but I heard her in that connection to Frank."

"So, is he one of us? Or is he a Force soldier?" Gerard felt his shoulders slump. "Did she leave us for them?.."

"I don't know!" Patrick exclaimed, "I can't see the end of her timeline!" He stood from his seat and began pacing back and forth. "It doesn't make sense. But maybe it does? The Force have been here as long as she's been gone... Maybe she went to greet them and something happened. She believed the best of people, so maybe..."

"She believed in the wrong person."

Gerard spun in his seat. Frank was sit upright. His eyes were coated in darkness as he looked toward the table. He extended his hand, palm facing up. "She thought she could change his mind through love." A shadowy image rose from his palm. The figure of a woman extending her hand to a more masculine figure. The masculine figure took her hand and they pulled together, forming into one mass of shadow.

"Frank..." Patrick moved around the table, stopping next to Gerard. "Where are you right now?"

Frank's head tilted to the side. The shadowy figures fell into his palm, absorbing into his skin. The darkness coating his eyes began to shrink down again, stopping once they met the iris line like before. He looked between Patrick and Gerard, but said nothing.

"What happened to him in there?" Gerard asked as Frank blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes.

"I think it's the trauma of remembering." Patrick replied, "The first memory didn't seem all that bad... but I don't know what he saw in the dark one."

Frank dropped his hands to his sides and looked towards the table. "I saw a man and I saw a woman. The woman vanished and he's what remained throughout the rest."

Patrick frowned, "But we only saw inside two."

Frank cast his eyes down. "I can just... I feel it."

A million different thoughts ran through Gerard's head. The magic within him was practically vibrating with the new information. He felt ready to explode.

He rose from his chair, excusing himself before hurrying out of the room. He practically ran to the stairs to make it out to the open air. He dropped to the ground once he was in the openness, planting his hands against the padded down grass. He could feel his magic shoot around different parts of his body, yelling it's own questions.

"She couldn't have meant to leave us." Gerard argued, "You heard Frank, she just mistrusted..."

Frank's name only made the magic move faster, whirling at a higher pitch.

"He can't be faulted for other's actions!" Gerard snapped his eyes shut.

The breeze picked up, sending leaves flying from their branches to dance in the air. Some swooped low enough to hit Gerard's side and fall to the ground. Faint yellow spores drifted off of them, towards Gerard. He let out a sigh. The magic inside of him began to shrink down. "You never could handle conflict, could you Patrick?" He couldn't help the laugh that escaped him as the sense of calm replaced the conflicting feelings of his own magic.

There was a shifting behind him that made him sit up and turn.

Frank stood by the cork tree, looking unsure as to whether he should move forward. Once Gerard had noticed him, however, it seemed to give him the okay to do so. He knelt down before lowering himself to lay next to Gerard. "I'm sorry I've made you upset again." He looked up at the sky as he spoke. "I really don't like seeing you that way."

"Frank, it's not something you can help." He frowned, "You really don't need to apologize."

A soft 'Oh' escaped Frank's lips as he continued to look up towards the sky. The faint wisps of black still rose from his skin in the soft breeze, though they seemed unaffected by its direction. "I don't feel quite myself." Frank finally said, turning his head to look at Gerard. His iris was still eclipsed by black, but they held a deep unsureness within them.

Gerard reached out, moving some of the hair away from Frank's face. "Maybe this is who you were meant to be." His fingers lingered where they were against Frank's skin as they looked at each other. It felt like ages passed in what could have only been minutes. Frank's eyes kept fluctuating between being fully absorbed by black and having the black centered in his iris. "Are you Frank?" Gerard cocked his head, "Or are you someone else?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know?" His brow furrowed as he looked at Gerard, "I'm me, but I feel..."

Gerard pulled his hand away from Frank's hair to gesture to the wisps coming off Frank's arms. "Is it like a voice inside that doesn't really speak? A feeling?"

Frank looked at the wisps, as if noticing them for the first time. "Y-yea..." He squinted at the shadow, "What is that?"

"Magic." Gerard let his fingers cascade through one of the wisps. "It's like it's breathing for the first time."

"I saw it in my memories." Frank watched as Gerard continued to swirl his fingers through the faint shadow. "It was hiding things before... It came back into me?" Gerard noticed a shine beginning to build in Frank's eye.

"You don't have to talk about it right now." Gerard pulled his hand away from the smoke and rested it on Frank's arm. "I don't know how Patrick's magic will effect you in this state, but you don't have to let everything out right now. Just enjoy the calm while it lasts."

Frank nodded. He rolled onto his side and curled his legs closer to his torso as he continued to look at Gerard. "What comes next? I can't go back." His voice cracked, which brought confusion to his face.

Gerard squeezed Frank's arm, but didn't respond immediately. What were they supposed to do? He couldn't just leave Frank to his own devices, but he knew the immediate reactions of people seeing him with a force soldier would be action. "Maybe a change of clothes." He mused, trying to hide his own worry from Frank.

Frank just looked back at him.

Gerard sighed. Despite the current ease of his emotions, he could still feel them yelling below the surface. After what happened to the magic of their world once the Force landed, he couldn't help the frustration and anger that came from learning a Force soldier held some inside of him. Was it right to be mad at Frank though? Should he be mad at the mother instead? Continue to channel that into anger at the Force? All he knew for sure was that there was anger and he didn't know where to place it.

A swarm of creatures flew up from trees in the distance. Gerard pushed himself up, looking in their direction with curiosity.

"What is it?" Frank asked. He turned his head but otherwise stayed where he rested on the ground.

Gerard squinted in the direction the creatures had taken off from. "Not sure. Maybe a predator."

"Are we safe?" Frank slowly pushed himself upright.

"It was pretty far out." Gerard replied, but didn't take his eyes from the area. "Predators are a natural part of the cycle. I just don't like not knowing what predator it could be..."

When he finally turned back to Frank, he saw his eyes fully consumed by black. "Hey, wake up." He nudged one of Frank's legs with his foot.

Frank shut his eyes and shook his head. When he reopened them, the black was back in his iris, though hints of his natural eye color seemed to be peeking through.

"Come on." He extended his hand to Frank. Once he pulled Frank to his feet, he took one more look towards where the creatures had flown from. "We should go inside. Then we can figure out what to do next."

Gerard began to move towards the tree, but Frank stayed where he stood. He was looking towards the direction Gerard had been. "Where did we lose the vehicle, Gerard?"

"A cliff face somewhere out there." Gerard grabbed hold of Frank's wrist. "We shouldn't be out in the open."

Frank still refused to move as Gerard pulled his arm. "Do... Do they have trackers on the vehicles? I can't... I don't..."

"We have two days out on where we left that thing." Gerard assured Frank, despite having the same concerns. Even Patrick's calming magic couldn't keep his rising nerves at bay. "We need to go figure things out."

"He'll know." Frank's words were a whisper as he stared off through the forest. "He'll know."

Gerard released Frank's wrist and moved to block his vision of the trees. One of Frank's eyes was twitching as he fearfully stared ahead as if he didn't notice Gerard had moved in front of him. Gerard brought his hands up to cup Frank's face. "Frank, look at me."

Frank blinked a few times before his eyes focused on Gerard. Hints of hazel were spotting through the black of his iris. He looked so lost.

"We are going to figure this out." Gerard promised him, "Can you trust me?"

"I don't think I can go back." Frank tried to shake his head, but Gerard's hands were holding it in place. "He'll know."

"Focus, Frank. Just on this moment. Just here, now." Gerard spoke softly, trying to ease Frank without bringing any magic to the surface. He didn't want to influence Frank like that, he wanted a purely human moment that could hopefully calm Frank from whatever was happening within him. "You're not back. He doesn't know. It's me and you. Right?"

Frank gulped. More hazel was becoming visible in his eye. "Right."

"Can you trust me?" Gerard leaned closer to him, "I haven't tried to give you to them, right?"

"You haven't." Frank brought his hands up to hold Gerard's wrists.

"I don't know if you remember this, but I kind of hate them." Gerard smiled, "Didn't like you too much either. You've moved up a few levels, though, so I don't think I want to give you back. It'll piss them off too, which makes my day."

A smile tugged briefly at Frank's lips.

"You've got a lot going on." Gerard continued, "We can figure that out. We can keep moving. I just need you to trust me."

Frank inhaled and exhaled slowly. His eyes were fully back to their natural color. There were still so many emotions behind his eyes, but he also seemed more present than he had seemed in a bit. "I trust you."

Gerard pulled his hands away from Frank's face. He pulled back, sliding his hands into Frank's and holding them tightly. "Okay. So, let's go try to figure some stuff out."

Gerard pulled Frank back to the tree, and Frank followed. He kept his eyes on Gerard until Gerard turned to open the tree's entrance. While he was distracted, Frank turned back to the trees behind them. There was no movement that he could see, but a chill still rose up his spine.