Chapter 116: A Guide shoulder to lean on

“H-Hello?” Brent hated how his voice cracked, but there was nothing he could do for it. This was the first time that he’d been able to speak to him like this, and he was nervous.

This felt like the first time he was connecting with a world he’d been stolen from. Brent hated that his eyes felt hot for no reason.

“Hey Brent. How are you doing, Sweetheart?” Brent swiftly turned his back to the Espers watching him, moving towards the bathroom on mechanical legs. He knew it was futile, but there were some things that he just needed to believe they couldn’t hear.

“I’ve been better.” Brent admitted quietly and heard the soft breath of the Guide that every Guide aspired to be.

“Oh Sweetheart.” The tenderness in his tone had Brent choked up. God, this was one of the reasons he avoided this man. He could see through him right to his core. It was a dangerous feeling, especially right now when Brent was working so hard on not collapsing in on himself.

“It’s fine.” Brent said quickly, too quickly, and Henry gave a soft sigh on the other side.

“We were so worried about where you went.” Henry admitted softly. “Kellen…he thought you got sucked into the gate.” Henry admitted quietly. Brent sucked in, the truth hitting him quietly and Brent closed his eyes, taking in a deep, shaky breath as he realised his dumb best friend had gone into the gate alone not just for his sister and for the greater good, but for Brent too.

“Fuck.” Brent knew he probably shouldn’t swear in front of Henry, but he also knew that the other man would forgive him for it. Brent opened his mouth, staring at the tiles of the bathroom floor for a long moment before he spoke. “How…How is everyone? How is everything? What…happened after I disappeared?” Brent asked carefully. Brent listened intently to every sound on the other side of the phone.

He was able to pick up the soft inhale from Henry on the other side, and the shaky exhale.

“I…have to admit that I wasn’t quite myself.” Henry started quietly. He sounded remorseful, but Brent didn’t know why. “I…lost myself when I realised Gwen got sucked into the gate, and then it got worse after I realised that Kellen was going to go in after her. And you.” Henry added sadly. “However, I can give you what everyone else has told me has happened in the time that I wasn’t myself.”

Brent’s heart ached for the man. Hearing how pained he sounded, Brent had a feeling that something terrible had happened but he was being coy about it.

“I would like that.” Brent spoke softly. Brent listened as Henry gave him a true play by play of everything that had happened. The pain and turmoil of all of the decisions, how Rhys went under when Kellen went into the gate so that he didn’t surge, the tension in the building while Kellen was gone. How they had locked down so completely everyone had looked at Casper differently once they came out of it.

Apparently he had been like a dictator, not letting a single soul step out of line because he was on such high alert. The Guides thought that he had been ridiculous, while the Espers had gained a new respect for the Guide and Lieutenant. Henry admitted he was worried for the man.

“He’s not well.” Henry admitted. “But he won’t let anyone help him. He avoids those who he senses will attempt to confront him. It’s like a sixth sense he has. I haven’t seen him since I’ve come out of my fog.” Henry confessed.

Then, Henry told Brent about the injuries, and the lives lost. To hear that his people, the Field Guides that he had trained, had passed? It hurt. It hurt quite a bit, but he had a feeling that Kellen was tearing himself up about it more. Henry told Brent about Gwen’s lost leg, and how he’d had a conversation with Taylor about it.

That was when Henry told Brent the truth. Gwen had touched the core, poison had coated her leg and Kellen had to take it off by hand himself. It was either she lost her leg, or she lost her life. Brent wanted to cry as the pain of that choice hit Brent in the chest.

Kellen shouldn’t have had to make that choice on his own. Brent should have been by his side to support him when he had to make that choice. Hell, they should have used his prosthetic arm to touch the core, not human flesh.

It was devastating to hear the truth, and at the same time, Brent wondered how Henry was dealing with it.

“How…How are you two holding up hearing about that?” Brent asked carefully. Silence reigned on the other end of the line before soft, sad laughter filled Brent’s ears.

“Not well.” Henry admitted. “We aren’t blaming Kellen for a damn thing. We both know how dangerous the gates are, and despite everything, Gwen was the one who touched the core. She did what she was going to do. Ellie and I both know that no one could have stopped her. Still, we grieve for her old life and how her new life is going to change. How much harder it’s going to be. How prosthetics haven’t really advanced enough for her to do her job the way she wants to.” Brent jerked at his words.

“Prosthetics? The leg is completely lost?” Brent asked, maybe a little insensitively, but Henry didn’t seem to mind.

“The poison took it to the bone.” He confirmed quietly. Brent was shaken hearing that. “And…everyone but Kellen who made it out is unconscious right now.” Henry said softly. “No one else knows that. It’s top secret, so please, keep quiet about that.” Henry said carefully. Brent closed his eyes, letting out a deep, pained breath. “Kellen is also…injured. His eye is injured, and so is his hand. The poison in his system is preventing him from being healed. Taylor pumped him full of healing powers but nothing is happening. It’s like it’s held in suspension.” That was even worse.

“So even Kellen is benched?” Brent asked and Henry laughed.

“It feels like everyone is benched besides me right now, but that’s just an illusion. The Guild is not doing well. They’re keeping it together, but everyone is shaken. They are proud of Kellen, of course, but the city is shaken. The Peach Guild is working overtime to try and find solutions while the Nemesis Guild is keeping the front line together. I hear that Captain Sergei also had to go under for stability, and Kellen has managed to keep him together.” Henry sighed. “It got better when Kellen and Rhys got back to the city, but…things are still not well. However, Kellen is doing a lot better now that he knows that you’re not in the gate.” Brent’s chest ached hearing that.

Hearing that Sergei was better, that Rhys also went under, that Kellen was injured…and he wasn’t there.

Brent went and sat on top of the toilet seat. This would have been a good time for him to have a second hand so that he could put his head in his hands like he wanted to. Brent instead leaned his head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling blankly.

“I was kidnapped by my brother’s lackey from the front lines because my grandfather passed away and left everything to me. They starved and beat me thinking that I wasn’t going to agree to sign everything over, but they’re idiots. I would have handed everything over if it meant I didn’t have to have anything to do with them anymore. Then, after we had come to a tentative agreement, my brother took me to a party where I ran into Esper Parker, the E.A.G. attacked and I realised that my brother had them come in an attempt to have me ’killed by accident’ so that they could skirt some kind of rule in the will. Instead, I got a gun from Esper Parker and killed the E.A.G. terrorists but not before they killed a civilian. The police are in on it, they never reported it, and I joined hands with Aunt Dina to fuck him over.” Brent burst, explaining everything to Henry in a flurry of words.

Brent let out a shaky breath, listening to the silence on the other end of the line for a moment before he spoke again.

“Today, I signed a bunch of papers with my grandfather’s lawyer, the executor of the estate, and I officially took everything that was owed to me. While also learning that my brother probably killed my grandfather in hopes that he would get everything that belonged to my grandfather but my grandfather is as much of a plotter as my brother is. Like I’m going to have to be. I wanted to be able to go back home soon, but now I have to deal with this fucking mess first.” Brent admitted.

Henry let out a shaky breath.

“Brent, that sounds horrible. Are you safe?” Henry asked and Brent let out a burst of laughter.

“Of course not. Henry, my brother helps fund the E.A.G. There is no way that I am safe.” Brent said the words out loud, the first time really acknowledging some of the evil that his brother did. “My brother is the kind of scum that I just…the E.A.G. wets themselves over the fact that his kind of evil supports them, and he’s a civilian. We control the Chronos Guild. I am now the de facto leader of the Chronos Guild. Me. A Guide who ran away from home to be a whore on the front lines and forget about my problems and yet here I am, back in this fucking hell hole and now I have to fix the problems my family started.” Brent knew he was venting to a man who didn’t ask for it. Tightly, Brent exhaled. “Sorry.” He muttered and Henry’s laughter washed over him.

“It’s okay, Sweetheart. I think you have every right to be pissed. I would be too, if I was put in your shoes.” Henry’s kindness was exactly what he needed. Brent felt his eyes grow hot again for no damn reason. Wow. Twice in one day. Crazy.

“I’m just upset. Now I have to figure out how to bribe people and I have to do it all without using my body, so-”

“Why do you have to do it without using your body, Brent? Isn’t that the asset of a single Guide?” Henry cut in, curious and Brent felt his face warm. Brent was frozen on the other side and Henry, a Guide to his core, smelled something good. “Brent? You are single, aren’t you?” God, it wasn’t fair when he used his Dad voice on him. Brent didn’t have a Dad.

It made him want to tell him everything.

“I uh, probably am?” Brent said carefully and Henry sucked in.

“What motherfucker has your attention? Is it someone over there? Are they in the Phoenix Guild? Who is it?” Henry’s voice was suddenly gone, replaced with the tense voice of a female Esper that Brent knew well.

Brent felt his face warm as Eleanor, or Ellie, spoke in his ear. He should have known they were together. They were never far from each other.

“Also, hello Brent. It’s been great to hear your voice. Dina likes it better when I don’t talk on the phone with Henry so I usually stay silent in the background.” Brent appreciated the explanation even as he groaned.

“It’s good to hear your voice too.” Brent greeted, before he groaned again. “They aren’t here. We’re…separated.” Brent admitted softly. “You…know them. I’m not sure how well though, but Kellen knows them well. It’s also…not someone from the Saturn Guild. I may have played around, but it’s no one there.” Brent blushed. “God, this feels embarrassing talking about this when I’m not even sure if they are serious.”

“Brent Jameson.” Ellie began. “If this fucking Esper, because I know you and you go for Espers, isn’t serious about you, I’m going to personally twist their nipples off. I warned Rhys just as much when Kellen wasn’t looking, and I’ll do the same when Gwen and Charlie start getting serious with people. Who is it?” She asked and Brent felt a warm tingling sense fill his gut. Was this…what having parents was like? Brent let out a low breath. He had a feeling they were going to be upset when he admitted it.

“It’s…Sergei. Captain Sergei from the Nemesis Guild.” Brent admitted, and then heard both Woods’ parents swear on the other side. Brent laughed. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

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