It's Always You
Sabrina hummed in happiness. Her arms wound tight around her brother. She let out a breath of laughter. She'd never felt better.
Then it all came crashing down.
Images, memories, emotions, they all came flooding back. Sabrina gripped tighter onto her brother. She could feel him, he was still there. She wasn't going to let him go this time.
I just got him back. Please.
She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
"Please, don't leave me. Not again. Please, don't go," she cried. She dug her fingers into his back, she was never letting him go again. Her knuckles turned white from strain. Her breaths were sharp and ragged.
But the nightmare didn't relent. It kept pushing and it didn't seem like it was going to stop.
"It's okay," Jason assured her. "It's okay."
She relaxed. He was on her side. She breathed in and out. Everything went away and a calm settled over her. Sabrina hiccuped from the intense crying and her breathing evened out. Once she felt calm enough, she lifted her head from his shoulder.
She squinted her eyes from the sudden influx of light. It had slightly disoriented her.
Why's the room so bright? It wasn't so bright when I showed him the pen.
She tried to move away from the embrace, but her vision spun so, she just laid it back down. Looking off to the side, she sighed. The arms around her felt slightly awkward and felt nothing like Jason's hugs. She turned to talk to Jason and-
Jason's hair is dark brown, not light brown.
She looked around the room and then it dawned on her.
Crap.
She was in the bunker. She was with Riley, Cody and Archer. Victor was not here, neither was her dad. Jason was gone.
No.
Jason is gone. Jason is gone. Jason is gone. It wasn't real. Jason is gone.
She was going to start crying again.
Okay, Sabrina. Stop. Wait. If Jason is not here, who am I hugging?
She slowly peeled herself away from this person and her eyes met a pair of hazel eyes.
Crap.
He looked at her concerned, but this whole exchange was extremely awkward. She put her face in her hands.
Why does life hate me?
It was bad enough that they didn't have a proper conversation since Cody's birthday, - which was like 2 months ago - but now she had literally cried on his shoulder.
She groaned. "Why is it always you?", she complained.
"You're welcome," he grumbled. "What was it this time?", she huffed.
"What do you mean?", he asked genuinely confused.
"Why were you here?", she reiterated in an annoyed tone.
"Well, this is where I sleep and also keep some of my things. I don't need your permission to come into a shared room, princess," he replied in an equally annoyed tone.
"Then why did you hug me?", she interrogated.
"You were talking in your sleep, so I came to see if you were okay and then you grabbed my hand and just pulled me into hug," he snapped, crossing his arms.
"Oh," she said quietly. "Why didn't you pull away?", she asked in a more gentle tone.
"You think I didn't try? Well, I did and you hugged me even tighter. I was going to wake you up and then you started crying and saying stuff, so I stayed and tried to calm you down," he said and looked away, still irritated.
Sabrina put a hand up to her face and, sure enough there were tears. She wiped them away, quickly.
I was talking in my sleep. I told him not to go. He was trying to help.
"Oh. I'm sorry, for- uh, causing you trouble?", she apologised unsure.
"It's fine, just don't let it happen again," he said.
Sabrina nodded and he got up to leave.
"Hey, Archer?", she called quietly. He stopped and turned his head.
"Thanks...and uh-", she started.
"Yeah, yeah. I won't tell anyone," he waved her off and exited the room.
She gave a curt nod and sighed.
Stupid nightmares are gonna sell me out.
She woke up and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
xxx
Sabrina arrived in the main area of the bunker and was surprised to find it empty. Well, mostly.
A brooding teenager was situated on the couch, playing with that darn switchblade again. She scanned the room once more looking for the more chipper company, but had no such luck.
"You know, standing there and looking around the room repeatedly isn't going to make them come back any faster," Archer commented from the other side of the room.
Sabrina chose to ignore the statement but inquired about the information in it.
"I thought they were going out, tomorrow?", she said and walked to the kitchen area.
"Change of plans. We're all going out tomorrow," he explained.
"Yay. Family outing," she said sarcastically, while grabbing two eggs from the fridge
Archer laughed dryly and Sabrina realised what she said.
Way to go, dork.
She kept quiet after that and continued making her breakfast.
Eggs. Scrambled eggs was one of the very few things that Sabrina could actually make that:
A- was edible,
B- didn't make a mess,
And C- didn't result in her burning down the kitchen and possibly her friends.
She was quite proud of herself. She never really did belong in a kitchen. She belonged in a lab, making her own gadgets and trinkets, helping the world. Just like... her dad.
The egg cracked in her hand from the pressure she put on it.
"Crap," she whispered to herself and cleaned the mess up.
She took out another egg and cracked it with the first one and whisked it. She added other various spices and then put some butter on the frying pan to heat up.
_____
Archer watched the girl carefully. The 2 months of them not talking - not like they used to talk much before - gave him time to put his mind into perspective. He didn't trust her. No matter how much she did to help, he just couldn't.
The fact that she muttered 'Victor's' name in her sleep wasn't helping her case. He was pretty sure the nightmares were a front to make her seem harmless.
She was just pretending to care about his friends and they truly cared about her. They were in too deep. He tried to get them out, he pleaded with them, but they didn't listen. They trusted her too much. They didn't talk to him much thereafter.
He didn't blame them. This girl just had that aura that made people like her. That made people feel like they were safe. He knows because he found himself falling into her trap too, but unfortunately, he was the only one who caught himself.
The shing sound of his switch blade being opened comforted him, so he kept doing it. If he didn't and just let his thoughts flow, he'd surely break something.
Open (shing)
Close
Open (shing)
Close
It went on and on throughout his mental dilemma.
He was going to expose her. He just needed to wait. He'll prove it to his friends with evidence since they didn't take his word for it. And honestly, how could they not believe him? He's been there with them, literally through everything. They've done so much together and suddenly this girl makes an appearance and they go to her? It didn't make sense.
"You're overthinking things, Archer," Cody had said.
"Just get this in that thick skull of yours! She's on our side, and she proved that. We trust her and she trusts us. She just wants you to trust her too," Riley had told him.
The thing was, he couldn't trust her. Whenever he trusted someone, they had always turned their back on him. Riley and Cody were the only exception. Were they turning their backs on him too?
Archer observed her carefully. She was making breakfast. He watched her expression. She seemed deep in thought. A frown came onto her face and then - CRACK -
He turned his attention away from her. He just had to pretend that he somewhat trusted her, but it would take a miracle for him to actually trust her. Throughout all this, one question lingered in his mind.
Who is Jason?