Errend couldn't stop the flashbacks from playing in his mind as he watched Grayson talk to Marvin and Aiya. It had been years, but the wounds, both psychological and physical, felt like they had just happened yesterday.

Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the words coming out of Grayson's mouth but instead saw the vision that had greeted him upon waking for the first time here, on this planet.

"He's waking. Quick Tom, get me that syringe over there."

"Peter, surely you aren't planning to drug the man now that he's finally waking up."

"Of course not, but it pays to be ready. You saw him glowing in the sky before he fell. And that fall, Tom! No one could have survived that."

Errend's eyes opened a tiny fraction, just enough to let him see the area in his immediate proximity. The blinding light was shining directly down on him, and he could see a green tent-like material just beyond that.

To his left, he saw an ageing man with white hair dressed all in white, glasses barely hanging onto his crooked nose. To his right, a bald man with a bushy grey and red beard was busy typing on some kind of electronic device.

He heard a machine beeping rhythmically in time with his heartbeats and wondered if this is what constituted a medical facility here. He prayed it wasn't. These people would need more advanced technology than what he was sensing if they were going to survive what was coming.

He felt cold, dry fingers checking his pulse on his wrist and a cool metal on his bare chest. The feeling brought goosebumps to his clammy skin.

How long had he been out?

His trip here had ended badly. No one had expected the Rakshasa to have already been on their way here. He and his team were supposed to be here first, before them, to help this world prepare for the inevitable.

However, they had come face to face with the Rakshasa vanguard preparing a way for their infantry. He had been forced to fight for his life to make it anywhere alive. It was a miracle he had made it to his destination.

It had cost, though. Zirco and Inta would be missed. Now he was a one-man mission which he was sure by his current situation he had already failed.

For Vishnu's sake!

"Hey there." The white-clothed man was looking down at him now, an unsure smile hovering over a kind but aged face.

Errend must have groaned out loud. He needed to regain control and focus. Things had become complicated, but if he were careful, a new plan would form itself in the Universe for him to follow. Vishnu was with him, and balance would be restored.

The events that followed had changed Errend's mind, though. He questioned the very existence now of Vishnu. He had been raised believing that his purpose was to uphold the will of Vishnu, the protector of all, keeper of the Universe.

If that had been true, though, Vishnu would not have left him there with those men to be used as some kind of living experiment, to be probed, poked, cut and scanned by whatever machines they had had. Errend saw no purpose to the trauma he had been subjected to.

Yes, his biology was slightly different than that of the people here, but he had come to help them, and in turn, he had become their toy.

He had spent months trapped in some underground lab after they had transported him from their mobile one. Months of mainly being naked, cold, tired, hungry and misused in ways he didn't even know people would even consider doing to another sentient being left him hollow and empty inside.

He had spent years after his escape believing that perhaps the people on this planet deserved what the Rakshasa was going to do to them.

Then he had met Aiya. He stole a glance in her direction and was proud to see her covertly assessing Grayson with a critical eye. She was the first human to give him hope since he'd arrived ten years ago.

She had taken all the information he had ungracefully dumped on her moments ago with unbelievable dignity. Either she was deciding whether he was a mental health patient, or she wanted back up before she confronted him as a liar.

It was either that, or she actually believed him. However, Errend wasn't ready to be that optimistic. Humans hadn't proven to be overly trustworthy, or predictable for that matter.

Finally, something Grayson said caught his attention and snapped him from his brooding thoughts and unwanted reveries.

"I was just telling your brother that we have almost located the point of entry these monsters are using to invade our earth. I can't give the science the right explanation, but Dr. Walsh will be more than happy to tell you all about it until you had wished your ears had fallen off." Grayson's obvious disgust with the talkative nature of Dr. Walsh was written all over his handsome, if maybe worn, middle-aged face.

What had got Errend's attention, though, was that they had most likely found the wormhole the Rakshasa were using.

He only hesitated for a second. His issues weren't directly with Grayson anyway. He just didn't know the man well enough to truly trust him. Yet, for some strange reason, he felt Aiya had his back, which lent him the confidence he needed.

—————————

Aiya watched as Errend seemed to materialize out of the shadows behind the pool table to calmly and quietly approach them as the man across from her tried selling his crazy to her now that he had sold her brother on it.

The man stopped mid-sentence. The only sign that he recognized Errend from somewhere was a slight twitch of his right eyelid.

"Sir," began Errend, "I know this probably isn't the right time to ask for forgiveness or to offer assistance, after everything..." his face twisted in a strange mixture of anger and anxiety as if the words physically hurt to say, "but if we could put the past behind us I can help close the wormhole."

Both Derek and Marvin were staring open-mouthed at Errend. Not being present for the earlier conversation she and Errend had had, it didn't surprise her. They had no idea!

She had to work hard not to smirk. She liked seeing her brother surprised. It didn't happen often. He was usually always three steps ahead of everyone.

The man, on the other hand, didn't seem so much surprised as suspicious. His eyes narrowed, and his lips pinched as he studied Errend's imperceptible expression.

"What makes you think if you come back, they won't just lock you up again and stick more wires and tubes in you, boy?" The man seemed either pissed at Errend's stupidity or concerned that he was overly cocky.

"We will have to come to an agreement. Prior to my leaving here and going anywhere." Errend's voice was calm and cold, his face expressionless as usual.

Aiya wished he'd explained more about what had gone on after he arrived here. He'd been very vague, focusing more on why he'd come and what he wanted to do now. She was going to ask for more information later.

"Grayson, Sir, look, no one took the time to actually talk to me and ask me pertinent questions. Questions that could save this damnable planet. The information I can offer you and your employers is far greater than whatever information scientists will discover probing me."

With that, Errend silently turned on a heel and faded away into the dark shadows like a ghost.

Aiya felt her skin prickle with goosebumps at his words. Her gut twisted.

He'd been a guinea pig for scientists. Apparently inhumane scientists. She couldn't control the sick feeling that made her feel green.

She assessed Grayson anew, and by the shift in Marvin's posture beside her, he was doing the same. Knowing what kind of man, or company, a person worked for could really change one's first impression.

"Damn, I forgot how unnerving that guy is." Grayson looked suddenly really old and tired. Rubbing his face with one hand, he collected himself.

"So, this just got fucking complicated." Derek was leaning on the pool table, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at Grayson.

Derek could be a dick, but he liked Errend and didn't like what he had just learned about Grayson. Grayson's eyes rolled heavenward as he took a deep breath.

"Alright. Fine. You're right. It did just get goddamn complicated. More than you or you're friends could know."

Grayson turned to look around and made contact with each one of them.

"But here's the thing, twerps, if you want me to explain my connection to your tall skinny brooding friend that just left, you have to tell me your in."

"That won't happen unless we get a verbal, written and quantifiable guarantee that Errend won't be harmed or even approached in any way resembling harm." Aiya's voice was cold, colder than Errend's had been, pale blue eyes shooting daggers of ice at the man.

Nobody fucked with the people she cared about. Not sure when that had included Errend, possibly just now, but it did.

Her brothers stiffening posture said he had her back. Errend was part of their family now, and that's all there was to it. Even Derek had walked up behind her to offer his support.

"Fine." Graysons eyes held no emotion as he responded. "I will need to make a few calls. That means I have to go back to my camp where my radio transmitters are set up. I can be back tomorrow afternoon. Same time, same place, kids?"

Aiya didn't flinch at his frequent use of derogatory remarks regarding their youth compared to his old ass. It didn't offend her, and if it made him feel less intimidated by all the armed men and women around him, so be it.

"Look, Grayson, is it? I not an unreasonable bitch, and you probably already figured out my brother would love to kill every last monster on this planet and save the world, but if Errend doesn't go, we don't go. So whatever call you're going to make, make it count."

When Aiya was done talking, she stood and put her hand on Marvin's shoulder reassuringly. She saw him looking at her from the corner of her eye with concerns and questions all over his face. He knew something was up and that he was missing some vital information, but it would have to wait.

Aiya stood there and waited for Grayson to excuse himself and push his way out the front doors of The Sloppy Dish.

When the man was finally gone, she felt herself sag into her chair, head crashing to the table between her hands as she half complained and half moaned, "Why the fuck does shit always have to hit the fan all at once!"