Gerard held himself tall as Brendon guided him back through the tight knit trees to a new location within the space they had claimed as a base. He knew his brother was going to be mad, everyone had laid that point out enough. The last time Gerard had seen him, it had just been fear and uncertainty. At least this time, they were somewhere safe.

Where they emerged from the narrow treeline now was another wide space. Multiple shelters were lined up here. Some were lit behind the leaves that blocked them in, while others were cast in shadow. Brendon lead him to a shelter at the center of the space. It was one of the ones that had light filtering through the leaves. Brendon gestured towards it, giving Gerard a nod as he did so. Gerard nodded back as he approached the shelter.

Just outside of the largest leaf that he would push past to enter, Gerard paused. He could practically feel Mikey's anger seeping through it. His magic grumbled from his gut. "Don't worry, you'll stay out of this..." Gerard muttered before reaching his hand out and moving the leaf to the side.

Unlike the shelter set up in the clover field, the floor here was just dirt with a rolled up bundle of moss off to one side. Several papers scattered over the dirt with different symbols and writings that Gerard couldn't fully make out upon first impression. A lanky figure sat on the other side of the papers, intently focused on them until sound of the leaf's movement made his head snap up.

Gerard stepped fully into the shelter, letting the leaf fall behind him. "Hi, little brother."

His brother rose to his feet, but didn't move further. His expression was unreadable as he looked Gerard over.

"Listen, Mikey, I know you're pissed. But it was everyone or just have them focus on me." Gerard took a step forward, "I knew you could handle stepping up while I was gone, I just-" He was cut off by his brother rushing forward and wrapping him in a tight hug. Gerard stumbled, but quickly caught himself. Tears welded in his eyes as he held Mikey back. "It's okay..." Gerard shut his eyes, letting the tears fall down his cheek. "I made it back..."

—-
Frank

A bright white pulled back from Frank's vision, revealing his own small hands twisting in front of his face. He could see hints of something rising from his skin, though they wouldn't come into focus enough to fully see. A soft whisper filled his ears, but he couldn't make out its words.

Another voice cut through the air, sending white cracks shooting down Franks arm. He cried out as a searing pain dug down wherever the cracks appeared. The soft whisper became a scream. He pulled his arm close to his chest, but the pain kept sinking into his skin. The bright white was seeping back into his vision, blinding him as the second voice droned with words he couldn't understand.

Frank's eyes snapped open as he inhaled a sharp breath. He reflexively pulled his arm to his chest, but there was no pain like what he had just experienced. Hesitantly, Frank moved his arm so that he could bend and twist it in front of his face. There were no white cracks. There was no whispering or screaming. Frank lowered his arm, for the first time realizing that he didn't recognize where he was. There were tall plants over him, hiding him in darkness. He turned his head, seeing the opposite corner of wherever he was had tall plants there as well.

The shelter. The clovers. Frank pushed himself up as the memories slowly emerged. They were with Gerard's group in the forests of the planet. Looking closer at the space he occupied, he seemed to be in a similarly overgrown patch of clover as the opposite corner of the room. He didn't remember resting here, or a second corner of clovers in the space.

He brought a hand up and rubbed his eye, trying to recall what happened. He had been sitting with Gerard and Tyler... He could remember that much, but the sounds of any exchange that may have transpired were absent.

He sighed and dropped his hand. Of course he couldn't remember. It seemed to be his norm now.

There was a soft groan from the other side of the space. Frank turned to see a figure moving within the clovers across from him. He watched as the figure push itself up. Two spots of white shined through the shadows before the figure leaned into the light.

A tired looking boy peeked out from the clovers. He had shaggy brown hair that curled around a headband made of vines. He squinted towards Frank's patch of clovers.

"Hello?" Frank called out, making the boy jump back.

"Hello?" The boy repeated back, his brow furrowed. "You don't sound familiar."

Frank scooted himself forward to the edge of his clovers. He pushed the stems to the side so that he could be seen fully. The other boy's eyes widened as he looked at him. "You don't look familiar either." He cocked his head as he looked at Frank.

"You don't look familiar either." Frank said as the other boy straightened and winced where he sat. "I... I'm not from here. I came with Gerard."

"Gerard? Is he back?" He moved forward but hissed in pain, reaching for his shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" Frank pushed the rest of the way out of his clover patch to move towards the other boy. He placed his hand over the one the the boy held over his shoulder. "Are you hurt?" Frank could feel something moving through his arm to his hand.

The boy sighed, looking visibly relieved.

"I'm Frank." Frank pulled his hand away, still feeling the strange sensation in his arm.

The boy smiled at him. "I'm Ryan." He yawned. He dropped his hand from his shoulder and instead brought his other hand up to rub his eye. "I'm... sorry, I..." His brow furrowed, "I got hurt the same day they took Gerard... It still sometimes hurts but... I'm sorry." He shook his head.

"He's here... somewhere." Frank looked around the room, unsure where Gerard and Tyler were.

Ryan nodded with a soft hum. "Is he okay?"

Frank bit the inside of his lip. He could practically feel the syringe of magic suppression in his hand. "He is now." Frank replied quietly.

Ryan didn't seem to notice the tone of Frank's response. His nose was scrunched as he blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, my head just feels fuzzy again."

"Again?" Frank asked, "Does it happen a lot?"

Ryan hummed before answering. "No... When I got hit, yea." He shut his eyes and shook his head. "Fuck..."

"Hey, language."

Frank turned to the new voice, seeing Tyler entering the space with a small bundle in his hands. He gave a smile as he moved across the room and sat down. "Sorry, you were both out and I figured you might wake up hungry." He extended his hands, revealing a collection of colorful berries.

Ryan grabbed a few with a muttered thank you before popping them into his mouth. Frank offered his own thanks before picking an orange berry from Tyler's hand. He had never eaten a fruit of this color before, but something about it seemed to pull him to it. He twisted it around in his fingers before bringing it up to his mouth. When he bit into it, the taste of sunrise filled his mouth. His eyes widened as his brain tried to make sense of the strange flavor sensation. It didn't make sense.

"Woah." Frank gasped once he swallowed the berry.

"Did you try a sunshine?" Tyler smiled as he brought a dark berry to his mouth. "Those are harder to find, but so good."

"I like the coastal variant." Ryan spoke lowly as he pushed a bright red berry around his hand with his finger.

"How does it taste like that?" Frank asked. He hesitated to reach for another one, but Tyler held his hand out to him.

"For her children, the Mother provides." Tyler replied with a shrug.

Frank's hand hovered in the air. For her children, the mother provides. Gerard had said the same thing what felt like years ago. His gut twisted as he thought about everything that had happened since those words. Everything he had learned. He pulled his hand back, crossing it over his chest. How much did she really care for her children if she left them for...

"Right." Frank nodded, looking down. "Of course."

"So where did Gerard find you?" Tyler asked before eating another berry, "Most of us are from the same original village. Others were found along the way."

Frank's breath caught. What was he supposed to say? He was a force soldier. He had been tasked with torturing their leader for information. Turns out, however, he was born to someone magical that has since vanished from the planet because...

"He had to have been picked up like Brendon and I." Ryan stretched. He seemed to be more alert now than he had been when Frank first moved over to him. He took a pink berry from Tyler's hand before turning to Frank. "Right?"

"Yea." Frank barely held himself back from sighing with relief. It wasn't necessary a lie. He had been pulled out into the world by Gerard after... Despite everything. "Yea. Yea. It's all kind of a blur... Everything that's been going on..." His gut twisted again with his words. It wasn't a lie, but he couldn't tell the full truth.

The other boys nodded, seemingly not catching onto the internal anxiety that coursed through Frank, even after the accepted response. They finished the berries in Tyler's hand while Frank kept his head down.

There was a whisper in the back of Frank's head that seemed to wrap around his mind. He shut his eyes tightly as more voices added to the whisper. He couldn't understand their words, but it felt like they were squeezing his thoughts. He took a shaky breath, squeezing his leg as it continued. He silently mouthed words he wasn't even sure he understood. He just wanted it to stop. It was starting to hurt.

"So, where is Gerard?" Ryan was the one to finally break the real world silence. "I haven't seen him since before my mess up." He frowned, "I... really need to apologize."

Frank raised his head and opened his eyes with confusion. The whispers were finally pulling back and relinquishing their hold."Why should you apologize for being injured?" He spoke slowly, feeling lightheaded after whatever had happened within his head.

Ryan shrugged. "Well, if I hadn't of gotten hurt, maybe we could have all gotten out." He brought his hand back to his shoulder. "He wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself for us."

"But it wasn't your fault." Frank frowned, "The Force would have made an example any way they could have."

"Don't we know it..." Tyler sighed. He turned to Frank. "Did they destroy your home too?"

Frank avoided Tyler's gaze. "They..." He was immediately reminded of the time viewing his timeline with Patrick. The last thing he went into and saw. His mother's face as she held him. The brightness that consumed her before he lost what happened immediately after. Then the memories of being a child in the Force. The moments that were darkened and he couldn't reach.

The whispers began to fill his ears. They were still incoherent and unintelligible. He shut his eyes again. Stop. Stop. Stop. He brought his hands up to his face. He didn't want to be sucked into his head again. Especially with Gerard not here.

"Hey, you don't have to talk about it." Tyler's voice cut through the whispers in Frank's mind. A hand landed on Frank's shoulder. "The Force has taken a lot from all of us."

Frank felt a laugh escape him, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything else. He focused on the whispers, trying to push them back to wherever they came from. He didn't want to hear it anymore. He wanted it quiet. He just wanted it to stop. He couldn't even have a normal conversation since old memories had resurfaced and he had witnessed a part of his timeline he was probably never even meant to see.

"Is he okay?" Ryan's voice sounded so far away, barely cutting through the whispers like Tyler's voice had.

"I'm fine!" Frank's words came out as a laugh despite how he truly felt. He wasn't okay. He wasn't sure how he could feel okay. He didn't know how he could begin to explain why he wasn't okay. The whispers seemed to seep into those thoughts, making them louder. They seemed to pound against his skull as his fingers began to press hard against his hairline.

"Is that magic?" Tyler's voice was getting sucked into the whispers. Frank wasn't even sure it was really Tyler's voice.

Stop. Stop. Stop! The twisting in his gut rose up to his chest, bringing a pain that began to spread across his upper torso. It was happening again. Frank wasn't sure what, but it was a sensation he felt familiar to. He couldn't do it here. He couldn't get lost wherever he kept slipping to.

"I just need..." Frank's voice wavered as he tried to speak. It was hard to get the words out. The feeling spreading across his upper body seemed to be squeezing against his throat. He didn't understand it. He couldn't make it-

"Stop."

It was the only word Frank could push out before he felt the weight of his body drop. He opened his eyes to see nothing but a blinding whiteness. The whispers seemed to swirl around him as the pain spread and pulled him back into a darkness that made him feel weightless. The whispers faded with the weightless feeling, finally accepting his word as his eyelids fluttered shut again.

"Hey!"

A punch to the chest made Frank gasp as his eyes shot open. Color was back around him. The space he had been in before... The shelter. It was all back. Tyler was leaning forward with a hand against his chest while Ryan looked at him with wide eyes. Frank's breaths were short as he looked down at Tyler's hand and back to his face.

"What was that?" The words came between gasps of air. It felt like he had gone on for some time without it.

Tyler looked back at him, uncertainly. Sweat poured from his brow as he shook his head. "I should ask you the same thing."