Goodbye and Hello | g.t.

Iceland
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After the Events of The Fairy Boy
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    I wasn't really sure what to think when Justin told us the strange man who had showed up out of nowhere was his Uncle Richard, Josie was his little sister, and that he lived in a huge mansion for most of his life.

    "I mean well we used to live up north somewhere." He said, after he had gathered everyone to hear him. "Now we live in LA."

    "So no mansion?" Josie asked, sounding very disappointed.

    Justin smiled. "No, this one's just a bit smaller than the other one."

    "It's pretty nice." Will backed him up.

    "I've never lived in anything better." Tyler agreed, hanging down from one of the lower branches of the tree we were gathered under.

    "But why move? Why can't we just stay here?" Zerah asked, the small eleven year-old looking quite distressed.

Theo comforted him. "Because we need to take down the baddies, and this will bring up closer to them, it'll be easier this way. We're not going to stay here forever if you don't want to."

"We should leave pretty quick."  Anakin mentioned in, twittering like a nervous robin. "Whatever we found on that flash drive is something the Lab's going to put into action soon, and if What you said was true, and they are working with a large medicine company, we should probably move fast."

"I'm good with moving." I said, flicking my ear's slightly as the attention turned to me. "But we're shouldn't leave until Dylan's better."

I watched as their mood changed slowly around the circle of kids, teens, and Mr. Wales. Genny glanced away and looked at her bracelet. Theo switched back to his monotone, I'm-disturbed-but-I'm-not-showing-it look he donned twenty four seven. Tyler blinked uncertainly. The only two people who didn't seem to have some lingering personal prejudice against him were Will, Azmus, and Mr. Wales.

"That's a good idea." Will agreed.

"Who's Dylan?" Justin's uncle asked, probably thinking about his method of transporting all of us.

Justin pursed his lip's and pulled him aside. "Hey remember when I was telling you about that flash drive..."

I became defensive. "Well I'm not leaving until Dylan's healthy enough to travel."

I stood up, dusting myself off and headed towards the hospital tent. That's where Dylan was, probably resting. Anakin had told him it was absolutely unavoidable that he went through some form of surgery to check how injured he was and if any medical attention could be given to his spine at all. I had managed, all by myself, to scavenge through the rubble of the Lab and find some sedatives for him, seeing how we didn't have any ourselves. Dylan was grateful of course, and I knew he was still holding onto the hope he would walk again someday, even if he said otherwise. That's why he hadn't joined us in our dissuasion of moving, he was tired from the medicine and didn't want to be carried anywhere, so he had stayed in that bed in the Hospital Tent. It had been almost a week.

I pulled aside the heavy cloth that made a pretty swell door. Anakin wasn't here, good, whenever I visited Dylan with Anakin present he made non-stop jokes about us hooking up, it was annoying to be frank.

I sneaked inside, glancing toward the bed on the right, with the boy curled up in blankets, asleep. I leaned in on the bed, watching him sleep for a moment, he was so peaceful. I hated to wake him since I knew Dylan hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Instead I walked over to the other side and sat down, waiting for him to wake up.

    "Icie?" He whispered softly, sounding confused and exhausted.

    "Did I wake you up?" I inquired, as he rolled over.

    He winced, his hands reaching towards his back, probably discovering his stitches.

    "Ow." He groaned softly.

    "Sorry." I replied, even though I wasn't the one who even gave him the small surgery in the first place, Anakin was a lot more talented then he let on.

    "Don't be." His amber-gold eyes started to close again, but then he cringed in pain and was wide awake again.

"I can get you some pain pills if you want to sleep." I offered, already walking towards the many cabinets that lined the walls in front of the two beds.

He immediately refused. "No, you don't need to, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" I pressed.

He nodded. "Yeah, the pain is nice. It's the first things I've felt there in a while."

Dylan didn't want to sleep anymore, I could tell that much, he was forcing himself to stay awake through conversation. Which I also knew could calm him down if turned down the right path. He would get the sleep he deserved if it killed me.

"There's talk of us moving to Justin's uncle's mansion in California." I started, sitting down next to him.

"Really? I like California, I used to live there." He answered, trying to sit up.

His groggy brain was picking out bits and pieces of the conversation. I smiled cheekily at him, it was cute.

"What's it like?" I sighed, leaning back on the many pillows Dylan had been given.

"Palm trees and beaches. The best ones are when there's barely any waves so you could walk right..." He trailed off abruptly.

I glanced over at him worriedly. He had gone into that self-pity mode I hated, glancing away from me. I needed to change this conversation fast.

"Well, if we go to a beach like that, you're swimming. Or do I need to demonstrate how you're not a drain on this team again?"

His face flushed red at the memory. "But I can't swim."

"You'll learn, you don't need legs to swim you know." I pointed out.

It was working, he was falling asleep again. I was surprised he had lasted this long under the sedatives.

"Goodnight wolf boy." I whispered softly.

"I don't wanna slee-" he yawned. "I want to talk to you..."

His last words were slurred and I watched with a smirk as his breathing slowed down. Finally he would get some sleep.

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Part Two
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I was somewhat confused to learn how we were going to move everyone. Justin's answer wasn't exactly satisfactory.

    "Well my uncle drove here, and I'm old enough to drive, so he'll rent a bigger car, and we'll cram as many kids as we can inside." He seemed rather proud of his solution, until Theo walked up and ruffled his hair.

    "Nice try kiddo, I'm helping you're uncle drive, I'm nineteen."

    "But it still seems like it would take a long time to drive all that way." I pressed, hoping there was an easier solution, one that would be easier on Dylan and the smaller kids.

    Justin shrugged. "We have no better option, how else do you propose we transport the sixteen people in this camp? It's pretty luxurious if you think about it."

    I bit my lip, reaching to brush a hair way from my face now that it had escaped from my braid. I guess there were worser ways to travel.

"Do we even know how long this will take?" I vented to Azmus, who had gone on a little, 'last minute swim' that evening.

He stopped squirting water into the air to answer me. "They were talking about it, Chespin was running some figures. He said if we're lucky, and we are, and we get up super early tomorrow, we should be there by nightfall."

"Oh." I replied, somewhat miffed, that was a bit shorter then I had expected.

"In fact we should probably be packing our stuff."

    "Hm." I replied curtly, taking deep breaths to control my frustration.

    "Hey it's gonna be fun Icie, so cheer up!" He climbed out of the river and shook himself off slightly, his webbing starting to sink back into his skin.

    I didn't answer him. I didn't like the fact Dylan wasn't getting the respect he needed. It was mean, despite the fact he had proven himself worthy of the team's friendship, it still felt like Azmus and I were the only ones who didn't talk to him out pity.

    I frowned as I realized the fact I hadn't let anyone into the hospital tent except for Anakin and Azmus once he begged might be a contributing factor.

    "Does someone need a fish hug?" Azmus cooed in a friendly way.

    "You're such a dork." I smiled in spite of myself, shoving him back into the river.

    He spit water at me and I laughed, cheered up for the meantime.

_____

    When Mr. Wales told us we better start packing, I wasn't sure what to do.

    I mean I didn't really have that much stuff besides my clothes and a few trinkets I had picked up or made over the years. Those I kept in a drawstring pouch hanging from one of the branches I kept my hammock on.

I opened up the small black pouch and dumped the small knickknacks onto to hammock. It had been a while since I looked at them, and I had forgotten what exactly I had in here. I immediately spotted the eerily familiar silver band as it nestled among marbles and strange prices of wood. I felt my heart skip a beat as I picked it up and felt the cool metal beneath my fingers. I didn't have to read the numbers engraved into the surface, I already had them memorized.

6004-8, my number, for a while it was my name, until I discovered what a wonderful feeling rebellion was. My days in the lab were over, my nightmares of being locked in a cage, only to be let out to torture other kids were over. I kept this band, with the end clawed off, as a trophy of my triumph.

I wondered if that's what Dylan was, the so called, 'executioner', the one mutant the lab had prized above the rest, to make sure the other's stayed in line. He seemed like the kind of guy who could have been forced into the submission of mind-numbing medicine and used to hurt other's. That was probably why everyone hated him.

For the first time in weeks I had a good idea of how Will got the huge cuts across his back.

I suddenly realized I was clenching my fist around the twisted metal, I released it and gathered up the contents of my pouch, I was done looking at that thing.

When I visited Dylan he was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. It was probably the only thing he had done for hours.

"Icie." He gasped. "Thanks goodness, you will not how dreadfully boring today has been. I am so sick of this bed I feel like I could throw up."

"You already did that." I mentioned, thinking back to the first few feverish hours he had spent in this bed.

I sat down and he pulled on my shoulder, helping him sit up. Then he picked up his legs and swung them over the side of the bed, so it looked like he had just sat down next to me.

"The other day you told me we were going to California, when are we going?" He asked, smoothing out his blonde hair.

"That's actually why I'm here right now, apparently we're leaving tomorrow. Have you got any stuff you want me to fetch for you?" I inquired.

He looked like he had started to have a full blown panic attack inside his head. "Tomorrow? But..." The words seemed to stick in his throat.

    "I know, but it is for the best I suppose, the sooner we leave the faster the Lab dies, by everyone else's logic." I comforted. "I'm guessing you don't have that much stuff do you?"

    He shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. He looked near tears, that worried me.

    "I'm not ready for...I don't want anyone else t-to..." Dylan struggled to get the sentence out, his voice breaking up.

    I draped an arm over his shoulder. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you."

    He brought his hand up and wiped his face. "Yes it does."

    "No it doesn't, come on Dylan, you're a nice guy and anyone who hates you for something you couldn't control doesn't deserve to be in your presence." I was talking about Will's scars of course, so many things had happened in the last week it didn't matter.

    He didn't answer me, but I was sure he felt a little bit better. It was then someone coughed in the doorway.

    "I mean sorry to intrude, but I found a cool rock." Azmus announced, brushing aside his slightly damp hair.

    In his hands, in my opinion, was a rarely normal looking rock.

    "Do you want it?" Azmus asked, holding it out to Dylan.

    Dylan frowned. "Not really? But it is a cool rock I guess."

    Azmus tossed the rock aside. "Figures, I just needed an excuse to come here, how's it going?"

    "That was your excuse?" I scoffed. "You wanted to give Dylan a cool rock?"

    "Well what else do you propose?" Azmus, having jumped onto the bed, held up his hands I surrender.

    "How about, 'hey, I want to hang with my friend', did that ever occur to you?" I sputtered.

    "I tried that yesterday, you threatened to throw me in the river, again."

    Dylan, who had been focusing on turning around so he was facing Azmus, snorted. I blushed and tried to explain myself.

    "You were sleeping!"

___________
Part Three
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    "It's to early to be awake." Dylan groaned the next morning as he hid under the blanket on the bed.

    "Think about like this, you'll finally be out of this bed." I yawned, sitting down next to him, the pouch of my only personal items wrapped around my wrist.

    Theo and Mr. Wales had woken everyone up at four AM, it was still dark out, you could even see some stars. I was exhausted, but Azmus and I had one job, to get Dylan to the nearest car, he still lacked proper transportation, like a wheelchair. Not that it mattered because using one in the middle of the woods wasn't exactly recommended.

    "Azmus what are you doing?" I criticized wearily, he appears to be face first on the floor, which was really another tarp over some sand.

    "Resting." He replied, sounding very calm.

    All of a sudden the tent flap flew open and scared the living polar bear out of me. I saw it was Mr. Wales and felt slightly ticked off, why does he always seem so full of energy?

    "Alright, you three and a few other's get to drive with me, you ready, where's Dylan?" He blinked expectantly.

    Dylan groaned from underneath his blanket.

    "Come on, rise and shine, we have to leave soon it we want to be in LA by nightfall." Mr. Wales reached forward and tugged the comforter off of Dylan, who hissed like a vampire in the sun.

    "Where's the car?" I asked, and Dylan dragged himself over to the edge of the bed, leaning on me for support.

    "Just over the river, I got up even earlier than you did to take Theo to a rental place, he's already started loading up his car."

    My ears flicked back, any other time of the day except four AM I could deal with Mr. Wales' I've-had-to-many-cups-of-coffee attitude. Literally any other time.

    "You're going to have to carry me, aren't you?" Dylan questioned, it was evident he dreaded the experience in front of other people.

    "Mmhm." I replied, distracted and weary.

    "Ugh."

    Azmus got up from the floor. "Don't worry, I've never dropped anyone before."

    "You've never carried anyone, fish boy." I pointed out.

    Mr. Wales was staring at us oddly. I realized I had never really introduced myself.

    "Sorry, I'm Iceland, this is Dylan and Azmus." I jerked a thumb at them.

    Mr. Wales snapped out of his trance. "Ah, I thought I might learn your names in the car, but it was sooner than I thought, it's nice to meet you."

    "Can we just go already? I want to get this over with." Dylan muttered, annoyed, if he had ears like mine they would be flat against his head.

    "Right." Mr. Wales said absentmindedly. "Follow me, it's dark so be careful."

    I grabbed Dylan's right arm and slung it over my shoulder, Azmus doing the same with Dylan's left. We stood up and the blonde hung limply in between us. As soon as we did he took in a sharp breath through his teeth.

    "What is it?" Azmus asked, he had picked up on the noise too.

    "Stitches." Dylan spat. "Forget it, just get me out of this freaking bed please."

    I shared eye contact with Azmus for a moment, and we both started moving forward, Mr. Wales holding the flap of the tent open for us. I couldn't help but see Dylan's teeth were clenched and he refused to look up as we carried him out of the camp. At least it was still pretty dark, I could see shapes but I could make out who they were. It would have been worse for Dylan if the sun was up and he could see kids staring at him.

    We made it to the car okay, and it was a pretty big car, like a minivan or something, it could hold about eight people. Two in the front, three in the middle and three in the back. Dylan and Azmus got the window seat, I was in the middle, of the middle row. I didn't complain, I was mostly tired, falling back asleep would be nice.

    Justin got shot gun, behind us was Zerah, Chespin, and Josie. All the other cool teens got to go with Theo, but again I was mostly to tired to care. As the car started I dimly remember Mr. Wales passing out pillows for those who wanted to catch some more sleep. I took one and that's the last thing I remember.

    "Good morning lovebirds." Azmus smirking tone of voice was the first thing I woke up to.

    I opened my eyes and realized I had fallen over in my sleep and my pillow was on Dylan's lap.

    I blushed at his comment and threw my pillow at Azzy's face, he shrieked, laughing, and dogged it.

    "Oh." Was all Dylan said once he realized what had happened, his face looked a bit red too.

    "Sorry." I mumbled, still quite disoriented, it was very bright out.

    "It's okay, I can't feel anything down there anyway." He assured me, somewhat passive aggressively, as he leaned back against his pillow on the side of the door.

    Justin, who had twisted around to watch the scene with growing interest, shared a first bump with Azmus. They both smirked.

    "What did you do?" I demanded, suddenly feeling very suspicious.

    "Nothing, just a little something that might come in handy later." Azmus winked at Justin, the boy with the shiny, slightly bent out of shape wings put what looked like a strange flat rectangle with a screen in his pocket. I think they call those phones these days.

    "What time is it?" Dylan asked, not as awake as I was.

    "About nine, AM." Mr. Wales answered, I noticed he too had a stupid smile on his face, what was with these people?

    "Nine thirty-eight sir." Chespin informed, the only kid who was awake, he was typing on a laptop.

    "We have a long way to go." Dylan mused, leaning back against the seat, slouching slightly.

    Mr. Wales decided to entertain everyone. "I've got some muffins for those who want breakfast, save some for Zerah and Josie though. It's Iceland right? I want to be able to remember everyone's names."

    "You can call me Icie, sir." I said politely, taking one of the few muffins that were left, Dylan obliged as well.

    "Right, and your DNA is mixed with a polar bear, right?"

    "Yep, I'm strong." I announced, happier now that I had food.

    "She really is." Dylan agreed.

    "And you Dylan, Anakin was telling me something about a wolf...?"

    Dylan, clutched his muffin. "Uh, enhanced senses, that's pretty much it."

    I frowned as his yellow eye blinked out at the window.

    "And forgive me, but Anakin was also telling me about your spinal cord injury?"

    Dylan glanced down. "Yeah, I was doing something stupid and got crushed by a building. I'm T11 complete, Anakin probably told you that already."

    Mr. Wales nodded in understanding. "Well don't you worry, my school is already completely wheelchair accessible, I've had paraplegic and quadriplegic students in the past, I think you'll find you fit right in. I even been talking to a pediatric therapist who been looking for a job, get this, she's a physical therapist, and an occupational therapist."

    "Oooh." Justin elbowed his uncle. "Is that the lady you were telling me about?"

    Mr. Wales scoffed. "Yes, don't you get any ideas young man."

    "Why would I need a therapist?" Dylan questioned dryly, I could already tell he disliked the idea.

    "You only became a paraplegic a week ago right? Well she can help you learn how to do normal stuff without the use of your legs. Her name is Abrianna and I'm sure you'll like her."

    "I mean, he obviously does." Justin whispered to Dylan, and Mr. Wales cuffed the back of his head, Azmus giggled.

    "Best part is you'll get to help pick out a wheelchair, and money is not an option trust me." Mr. Wales changed the subject.

    "Yay." He replied unenthusiastically.

    I put a hand on his shoulder, he looked up blankly. It was an almost upset expression.

    "It's gonna be okay." I promised.

    He dropped my gaze and looked out the window. The trees and other cars passing by so fast you couldn't pick out any details. I'm assuming that's what he was feeling. Everything was moving to fast for him to handle at once.

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Part Four
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    We drove most of the day, occasionally stopping for small snacks. I was starting to knod off again by nightfall. I forced myself to stay awake, because there was no way I would be having a repeat of this morning. Besides, when we got there I would have to carry Dylan in again, it was my job, no one else could do it, otherwise it would make him uncomfortable.

    The time came when the car finally halted, it was almost midnight. I was wide awake now, I leaned over to see out the windows at the huge house. I had never really seen a house before, they looked so big and so sturdy. I believed then and there that there could not possibly be any force on earth strong enough to take down this behemoth.

    "It's nice, isn't it?" Justin, asked, as he watched me staring.

    I nodded. Dylan was asleep, I let him be. Any sleep for him after the accident was a gift, it would be cruel to wake him up now. Maybe he wouldn't wake when we got him inside.

    I shoved Azmus, who had been drifting off. "Come on."

    Mr. Wales was dealing with Chespin, Justin with Josie, both were asleep, Zerah however was wide awake and chattering like a nervous squirrel, I tuned it out. We had just managed to lift Dylan up when Theo drove up, his group would be joining us soon. So far Dylan was still asleep.

    "You're such a mom Icie." Azmus remarked.

    "Exscuse me?" I commanded.

    "You'd probably be a great mom let's not kid ourselves." He continued on. "You're good at looking after people."

    "Thanks?" I replied, not sure if he was emotionally poking me again or if it was a genuine compliment.

    "What's going on? Are we here already?" Dylan asked, suddenly awake. "Oh, ow. Where are we going?"

    "Sleep." Azmus explained. "Sweet sweet sleep."

    "Wonderful." He replied, wincing, it was his stitches and I knew it.

    There were three guest bedrooms, Mr. Wales quickly divided it into three sections of boys and girls, younger and older. There were not that many girls anyway so we got one of the rooms, the boys got two. That meant I had to leave the watching of Dylan in the hands of Azmus, or some other boy. This idea did not sit very well with me I said goodnight and joined the other girls.

________

        I was feeling pretty refreshed when I woke up that morning. I was one of the first few up. I wandered around for a bit, exploring the huge place. There weren't that many people up, it was still quite and sort of dark. I eventually stumbled upon a dining room, and saw Mr. Wales hunched over a cup of coffee, Justin sitting next to him and a new lady with long curly brown hair with highlights chatting with him.

    "Iceland!" Mr. Wales greeted when he realized I had been standing there. "Come come you won't believe what I did last night!"

    He ran a hand through his oily unwashed hair and ushered me forward. Before I could even start speaking he leapt into his rant with the energy of a five year-old.

    "Your friend Dylan and I stayed up last night looking for a chair that he would like, and I paid for the faster shipping, or something I don't entirely remember. it arrived in a wee hours this morning, and I've been up all night with Abrianna here putting it together."

    "Hi." The other lady greeted, shaking my hand, I assume she was the therapist person I had been told about before. I liked the look of her.

    "Is Dylan awake?" I asked, getting excited and looking around.

    "I am." He said from behind me.

    I turned around to see he was in his new chair, smiling sheepishly as rolling towards with a bagel in his lap. I stared at him for a moment before running forward a hugging him, nearly pulling him to the ground with me. He tensed up, holding is hands out, confused, before patting me on he back. I squeezed him harder then let go, my smile feeling like it was stretching halfway around the world. I couldn't help but laugh at what a little awkward muffin he was.

    "Look at you!" I marveled. "Do you like it?"

    He shrugged, but he was smiling, maybe blushing? I couldn't tell.

    "I've hit a few corners, ran over a few toes. I'm still practicing but...yeah, I feel free again." He rolled towards the table, setting down his bagel I had nearly crushed. "Plus I mean I've got these cool gloves."

    He held up his hands, shaking them for effect. I saw he was wearing black fingerless gloves.

    "The coolest." I agreed. "What's for breakfast? I'm starving."

    Justin elbowed his uncle, lifting up an eyebrow. "You should take Abrianna's order."

    Mr. Wales coughed loudly, choking on his coffee, (which was probably the only thing keeping him awake right now) he straightened himself. "What a wonderful idea Justin." He smiled at him in a way that said, don't you dare go a step further young man. "Since these charming young ladies are new, and don't know where the kitchen is, it would be completely normal for me to show them where it is."

    Justin picked up a mug of something he was drinking (I couldn't smell coffee, so tea maybe?) and took a long sip, probably to hide his smirk. I mean to be honest I was curious to see what this whole 'kitchen' thing was about.

    It was going to be a good day.

_____________________
Oh my sweet potatoes it's done

It's dONE.

SCREECH

Did you see Dylan's happy and I'm happy in fact I'm quite hyper

I'll proofread this later it probably has a ton of mistakes but I just want to get this out into the world

Also Minty how did I do with Icie

Did I do good

Hopefully I did

Alrighty thanks for reading :D

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