Chapter 8: Are you serious right now?

Kellen could feel his blood boil as he stared at the projection against the far wall of the conference room. These assholes had no idea what he was dealing with, who was at risk right now, and honestly? He’d just saved everyone’s fucking ass, and now here he was, playing fucking politics.

Kellen growled, and felt Rhys look towards him, worry in his yellow gaze. He slid his hand over, resting it on the lower part of Kellen’s back and Kellen was surprised by how just the touch of the man he loved seemed to soothe him. He wondered, briefly, if this was how Rhys had felt whenever he was overwhelmed and Kellen had touched him?

The thought faded quickly, as he turned his solo eye towards the projection, staring at the dumb fucks who were trying to block his plan.

“Guide Woods, we aren’t against the plan, but…” One of the more kind political speakers said, and Kellen felt his teeth clench.

“But you won’t let me do it either.” Kellen said, and the group all shared a look. Kellen and Rhys weren’t alone in the room. To pool resources since they were talking to so many people, and because Kellen needed to speak with her after, Sakura was in the room as well. Captain Sergei would have been here if he could, but he was currently the only major power holding down the front lines right now.

Hill would be going there as soon as this mess was sorted out and the other S Classes arrived, but until then, she was needed back in the city.

Gunther was still missing, so he was unable to help them manage the monstrous workload that was on everyone’s plate, but thankfully, with Taylor and Miro now in one place, Miro could step in and help take on some of said workload.

That was only the workload that the Saturn Guild had on their plate. Kellen could not and would not imagine what the others had on their plates.

“We want to let you do this. We know how important this would be for the city, for everyone here but the timing is just…” The second politician trailed off, sighing and shaking his head. “With so many people still at large, we really don’t want to risk painting another, much larger target on your back, Guide Woods.” The man said and Kellen felt his back go rigid.

“I can manage my own safety just fine.” Kellen said icily, and the men and women he was speaking to gave him a pitiful look. They clearly did not believe in him and his abilities, and Kellen clenched his free hand.

Alright. So he was battered. He was bruised, but who wouldn’t be after surviving what he had? He wasn’t completely healed yet, but so what? These conversations couldn’t wait anymore. He’d come back in one piece, so had several of his people, and now he had one more person he needed to save.

Someone he had promised to save.

He was not about to abandon the man who had stood by his side during far more stressful missions. Not when he had seen how fucking miserable, how tired and forlorn he had been. Kellen was simply not going to stand for it.

Had Taylor told him that he was exhibiting signs that he was unstable? Absolutely. Had Kellen cared? Absolutely not right now. He thought it was pretty reasonable for him to be unstable given what he’d gone through, and Rhys had assured her that he would keep tabs on him. Kellen trusted the man to do so.

He, of all people, knew when someone was going off the deep end. He dealt with insanity every day of his damn life as an Esper.

“I already have a giant target on my back. Going abroad isn’t going to change that. Plus, it’s about time for the S Class Espers to hold their meeting. Are you truly thinking that I am going to let Rhys go alone again this time?” Kellen asked the group, and watched as they shared another look through the monitors.

“Well, normally Guide Woods, if a Guide was in your condition, their Esper would not let them travel.” One of the Espers said, and Kellen growled again. Rhys slid his hand up Kellen’s back and around his shoulder, pulling the slightly shorter man against him. Kellen hit his body, but even the strong, sturdiness of the man he loved wasn’t calming him down.

“If Kellen wants to go, I am not going to tell him no. We go everywhere together now.” Rhys said, and the room grew even more uncomfortable. It was clear that they had been banking on Rhys to be the ’voice of reason’. They forgot that while Rhys was mostly sane, most of the time, he was still an S Class Esper.

An S Class Esper that loved a Field Guide.

“We also need someone to go and represent us abroad anyways. Out of everyone, Guide Woods is the best person to go. He’s experienced the gate himself, and honestly? I don’t even understand why we are having this push-pull of a conversation. You’re just being stubborn because you know that the Woods family is what is holding this city together right now. We just need to pull our shit together and make sure that when Kellen leaves we don’t fall apart. Plus, the Woods couple are ready to stand up for the city in his absence.” Sakura spoke up from where she stood beside the couple.

Her eyes were glowing grey with her powers, her arms crossed under her bosom, and she looked pissed. Just as pissed as Kellen did, actually. Upon realising that, Kellen jerked. Why was he so worked up?

His emotions had been all over the place as soon as he had left the front lines. Kellen knew that was the case, had told Taylor about it too, so why was he as worked up as an S Class Esper? When he put his feelings and how big they were in that context, Kellen felt like he was overreacting quite a bit.

Turning his head, Kellen pressed his face into Rhys’ throat, taking a deep, calming breath. He inhaled the scent of the man he loved, letting the smell wash away some of the anger filling him. The scent of his deodorant filled his nostrils, and Kellen took a few more deep breaths before he felt a bit more sane.

“Captain Sakura is right.” Kellen said, turning to face the projector screen again. “It would make the most sense to send me, Rhys would come with me no matter what, and we can accomplish several things at once.” Kellen scanned the faces staring back at him and he sighed. “On top of that, I have several aunts and uncles across the world who would be delighted to see me and protect me. And that I’ve already reached out to let them know I am coming.” Kellen declared and that was when the group started groaning.

Kellen felt his lips twitch but he remained stone faced. He knew that this meeting wasn’t really a meeting. That it was actually Kellen, Rhys and the rest of the S Classes of the city letting them know what was going on.

Sakura didn’t even let them fully speak when giving her permission. She just waved a hand dismissively and said, “I don’t care. I don’t want to care. You saved the city, Kellen. Do whatever the fuck you want. I’ll stay behind to clean up the mess.” Sergei was of the same mind, barely holding his sanity together while Kellen worked on saving Brent.

“Why are we even having this conversation if you lot have already made up your minds?” The first politician spoke up, clearly frustrated and Kellen stared at him for a long moment. The silence dragged on for a few moments too long before Kellen spoke up.

“I wanted to see if you would propose any good ideas, but you didn’t. We had already accounted for the concerns that you voiced, and already had plans in place. That doesn’t mean I’m not angry about what points you’ve brought up.” Kellen said, and Rhys pressed a kiss against his temple. “Despite that, you voiced them, and I appreciate that even if I hate it.” Kellen said, soothing some of their egos.

“We aren’t kings and queens here. We want you to be aware of the plans we have moving forward so that you can know who to reach out to while we are gone. Captain Sakura will be the Captain speaking on all of our behalf when it comes to the city, but you can reach out to Pamela for our official stance as the Saturn Guild while we are gone. We also can’t leave right away since Kellen needs more healing.” Rhys said and a look of relief crossed everyone’s expression.

They had thought that they were going to leave right away. Granted, Kellen hadn’t behaved as if that wasn’t the case. That was because Kellen wanted to leave right away, but Rhys was the one who was putting a halt to that. He was also the one who was able to soothe them completely. This was why he did more of the speaking to the public than Kellen did, and would continue to do so as they continued their partnership.

“Any other questions?” Sakura asked, and there was a bit more chatting before the meeting was adjourned and Sakura turned to Kellen and Rhys.

She looked exhausted, and had looked exhausted the night before when she had met them, collecting the injured Espers and Guides from the Saturn Guild who still weren’t awake. Now she rubbed a hand over her face. Her uniform was in perfect condition, but Kellen had a feeling that was the only thing that was.

“What the fuck are you doing not resting, Kellen?” She asked and Kellen blinked. He didn’t expect that from her. She had held her tongue all of the time that she had seen him yesterday, and now she was letting it loose?

Rhys’ shoulders shook as he laughed quietly.

“Sakura, I’ve kept him down as much as I could. You’re lucky that I’ve restricted him to only these two meetings. He’d do more if Green didn’t terrify him.” Rhys teased and Kellen felt his mouth turn down in a frown. So what if Taylor scared him? As far as he was concerned, most people should be afraid of their medical professionals.

Sakura stared at the couple, scanning Rhys and then scanning Kellen before she closed her eyes and when she opened them again, they were back to their normal blue colour.

“Forgive me. I’m just having some issues with the fact that you are so badly injured and there is nothing I nor my team can do to speed it up at this point.” Sakura muttered and Kellen felt a wave of sympathy wash over him.

Carlos had looked him over this morning and said that there was nothing else he could do for him. If he put anymore antibodies, anti-anything in Kellen’s body there was a chance it would reject it and he could fall unconscious like the rest of the team that had gone inside of the gate.

Kellen’s body was on its own at this point, with a bit of Taylor helping, but mostly, time.

“You’ve both done your best.” Kellen told her softly. “I’m doing just fine. I’m not losing my eye, it just needs time to heal.” Kellen said and Sakura looked ill at the mention of the injured eye.

It was what everyone was worried about. If Kellen was going to keep his eye or not. In Kellen’s opinion, it was a small sacrifice, but he also knew that everyone else hated the idea. He’d told Rhys he considered it a fair payment and the man had looked positively ill.

“Anyways, we have far more important things to discuss.” Kellen said, turning out of Rhys’ arms and heading to the large table. He pulled out one chair at a time, gesturing for the other two to join him.

Neither said a word. Both S Class Espers joined Kellen at his side, sliding into their chairs and soon started the second meeting of the day.

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