Before I start I want to let you know that this is like a part two of promises. That is the one shot just above this one. It's all about Ryan and the team after the fright in the Arctic. Enjoy!

The boys left the room to let Ryan rest. Mark went over to the couch and sat down with his hands on his head. He was still in shock. Just then Harris came over and sat beside him.
"Hey Mark. How are you holding up?
"I mean, I did convince myself that my brother was dead, then find him unconscious, then bring him back to a giant robot where I find out he was poisoned and will be weak for the next few months. Not to mention, I have to somehow come up with an excuse to tell my mom. I've been better." Mark replied.
"Yea...I'm sure Spyder could help you come up with an excuse though!" Harris replied.
"What am I helping with?" Spyder asked as he walked in the room.
"Mark needs an excuse to give his mom about Ryan." Harris explained.
"Ooh! I got it! 5 words: he fell in a well." Spyder said raising his finger in a genius got an idea kind of way.
"Umm one that is a stupid idea. And two, that doesn't explain his black veins." Mark added.
"Hmm right..." Spyder said. Just then they were distracted by the sound of Ryan shifting around in the med bay.
"He must be awake." Harris said.
They went over to go check on Ryan. He looked better than when they found him in the destroyed robot, but he was still in very bad shape.
"Hey Ry-guy, How ya feeling?" Mark asked his baby brother.
"C-cold." Ryan squeaked back. They were taken back for a moment by how weak he sounded.
"That's to be expected with the poison and hypothermia." Harris explained.
"I'll go get you some more blankets." Spyder said.
"I'll help too" Harris added. When they left the room Mark was alone with his brother.
"Mark...sit..." Ryan said. Mark sat down beside his weak little brother. Before he could say anything, Ryan shifted over and laid down on his brothers lap. He did this when he was scared or upset, but he hasn't done it since they were around 8 years old. Mark knew that he needed comforting, so he pulled his brother into a cautious hug, careful not to cause him any pain. Not too long after, Ryan fell asleep on his brothers lap. Harris and Spyder returned with more blankets and Mark motioned for them to set them on Ryan quietly, so he didn't wake up. Harris and Spyder left the room and went and sat in the x-deck. As for Mark, well he stayed with his brother and smiled, knowing his brother was safe now.

A few hours had past and Mark drifted off to sleep as well, Ryan still laying on him. When Ryan woke, Mark woke up too, noticing the movement.
"Hey bro. How'd you sleep?" Mark asked. Ryan nodded in as a sign of good. Just then he realized where he was laying and how long he had been laying there for.
"S-orry" he whispered.
"Hey, don't be. You haven done that since you were 8." Mark said smiling, "I'm here for you bro, even if that means letting you sleep on my lap for three hours."
Mark chuckled and Ryan tried to as well, but the pain made him flinch.
"It's okay. It's okay." Mark said, trying to calm down his brother. Ryan was back in the bed now, on a pillow. Mark looked at him and said, " I'm gonna go get you some things from home okay. I'll send Spyder in here to stay with you." Ryan nodded slightly. Mark left the room and Spyder walked in.
"Hey Ryan." Spyder said.
Ryan smiled as a sign of hello.
Spyder may be the comedian of the group, but he was very concerned for his best friend. He had never seen him so hurt, and he hated it.
"How are you feeling?" Spyder asked.
"Tired...c-cold...hu-rt" he squeaked out.
"Yea...Harris said you'd feel like that for awhile, but you'll be back on your feet in no time!" Spyder said encouragingly.
Ryan nodded. He had something to say, so he tried to gather as much strength as he could to say it.
"Spy-der" Ryan said quietly. He was struggling to speak. He kept going.
"Yea Ry?" Spyder said back.
"Th-thank...you..." Ryan weakly said. He was thanking the weapons specialist for sticking with him throughout this journey, even though he could leave whenever he wanted, and for being his best friend and sticking with him through the good and the bad times.
"For what?" Spyder asked.
"Ev-rey....thing." Ryan said before closing his eyes to rest once more. Spyder smiled and stood up before leaving the room to let his best friend rest. He went to go see Harris to let him know that Ryan was asleep again. Mark had just returned and had brought a bunch of things from home to keep Ryan comfortable while he healed.

Just then, Leo came rushing in. He hadn't been able to hear any updates on Ryan, since he went back to the Arctic to clean up the robot mess. He didn't want anyone to find that. He ran in out of breath, very concerned about the technopath.
"How...is he?" He said gasping for air between words.
"He's stable, very weak, but stable" Harris said. It made him feel better saying these words aloud. He thought he had lost Ryan forever. Knowing this made him relax a little more.
"He's resting now though." Spyder added.
"Okay, I'll go and see him when he wakes up." Leo answered.
"Hey Leo, I was meaning to ask you something." Mark started.
"Yes?"
"Well you see, my mom is coming back home tomorrow and, uh, the whole Ryan situation is going to be hard to explain to her without revealing the robots identity." Mark said.
"Ahh yes. The mother." Leo said going into deep thought. What could he tell Mark to say...
"I have an idea. But it's very risky." Leo started.
"What is it?" Mark asked.
"Well, Ryan will need a few months to completely recover, but the black veins, which are the only nonhuman injury, should be gone within the next week or so." Leo started. "So I was thinking, what if we just keep Ryan here, and we all pretend like we don't know where he is and that he went missing while your mom was on her trip."
"What! My mom will freak!" Mark said.
"I know but it's the only decent option. Once the black veins disappear, we bring Ryan home and I pretend to be a cop and say I found him in the woods. This looks realistic as he has bruises and scrapes from the harsh environment there, and he got lost one day waking home from school because he wanted to take the long way after a tough day." Leo explained.
"Wow, that's." Harris started.
"Genius." Spyder finished.
"Yea Okay... I just hope my mom will be okay" Mark says.
"She will once she finds out Ryan is okay. " Leo explained.

They all walked into Ryan's room to see if he was awake. He was. Mark told Ryan the plan of what they were gonna say to their mom:
"Okay so we are going to say that you went missing the day before she came home, and once the black veins fade, Leo will bring you back home and say he found you in the forest and that will explain all of your injuries. The story is that you had a tough day at school, and you wanted to take the long way to get off some steam, but you got lost and ended up trapped in the forest. Your veins should be back to normal in a week so she won't be worried for long, and your injuries will take a few months to fully heal. Does this sound okay to you?"
Ryan nodded. He liked the idea of not telling his mom about the robot, but he was nervous to see her reaction. The team smiled at him and Mark patted him softly on the shoulder before walking out of the room.

Ryan was left alone with his thoughts. They were all over the place;
Ugh I'm so cold. I can't get warm!
I hope mom doesn't freak out completely.
I'm hungry.
This black stuff is so weird. It doesn't hurt much anymore, but it looks so odd.
Why am I still tired! I've been sleeping nonstop for the past two days.
I hope Mark is okay. He seemed really worried about me. the others too.
I wish I could stand up.
This cast is itchy
Oww my head
Oww my everything!
He was snapped out of his thoughts when a sharp pain went through his body, this was unfortunately normal. It was part of the process of removing the poison from his bloodstream. He whimpered.
Mark heard his brother whimper in pain and ran into the room.
"Ry are you alright."
He walked in to see his little brother with a few tears coming down his face. He was trying to hold them back. It wasn't working very well.
"Hey hey, shhhh it's okay, I'm here." Mark said while slightly hugging his brother to try and ease some of his pain and discomfort.
Ryan fell asleep about a half hour later and Mark stayed with him that night to keep a close eye on him.

It was the morning Grace was coming home. As soon as she walked in the house she called for her two boys. When no one answered she called her oldest son to see where they were.
"Hi honey, I'm home? Where are you two?"
"I slept over at a friend's last night. Ryan told me he was just going to head home after school because he had a bad day."
"He's not here. Did he go to Spyder's or Harris's?"
"Let me call and ask."
Mark hung up. He waited the appropriate amount of time before calling back his mother.
"They said they hadn't seen him since they left school yesterday. Mom are you sure he's not home?"
"Yes he's not here! I've looked everywhere! Hang on let me call him." Grace said as she hung up. She called her youngest son. No answer. She tried again. No answer. She was starting to panic. She called Mark back.
"He didn't answer his phone! Get home now! I'm calling the police."
"Okay I'm on my way." Mark said as he hung up.
"Okay she's calling the cops. I'm headed home. Text me if anything comes up okay." He said as he walked out of the robot.

The plan was in motion. Mark got home and ran in the door to make it appear he was panicking.
"Did you hear anything!?"
"No. The cops are starting an investigation for him." Grace said panic in her voice. She pulled her oldest into a tight hug and started to cry.
"We'll get him back mom." Mark said.

It had been almost a week since Ryan went "missing" and he was a lot better than before. He could talk more now and he was sitting up and even beginning to stand a little. He wasn't as cold, but he still had a chill, and the best part, the black veins were gone. All of the poison was out of his system and that reduced the pain quite a bit. He still hurt everywhere a lot, but it was more bearable now. He was very excited for today, as today, he go to go home.

Leo took Ryan in a car over to his house. Ryan found walking difficult, but he was getting stronger. The effects the poison had on him were slowly starting to fade.
They walked into the porch and Leo rang the doorbell holding onto Ryan to keep him balanced. Grace walked over to the door. She was a mess. She was so worried about her son, that she has almost forgotten about herself completely.
She opened the door and when she saw Ryan she collapsed on the ground in a puddle of tears. Mark was in his room and ran down when he heard this.
"Hey mom are you-" he stopped and played his part by running over to the door and screaming,
"Ryan! Oh my god! You're back!" He helped his mom stand up.
"Where was he?" Grace asked the man.
"I was walking my dog through the forest like a do once a week, and I saw this young man laying unconscious on the ground. I brought him over to a hospital and then he told me where he lived, so I took him home." Leo said.
"Thank you. So much" Grace said tears streaming down her face. Leo nodded as he walked off and into his car. He drove away and Grace and Mark helped Ryan inside. Once inside, Grace pulled Ryan into a tight hug, that caused him pain. He whimpered. Grace immediately pulled back and examined her baby up and down. She helped him upstairs and laid him in his bed before asking him all the questions he had planned for.
"Why were you in the forest for a week! I was so worried Ryan!"
"I'm so sorry mom...I had a very bad day at school...and I....just wanted some space....so I took the long way home....I-I got lost...and then....the next thing I know I'm in a hospital with a doctor...telling me everything that's wrong..." he weakly explained. He wasn't acting. He was still in a lot of pain. He was glad to be home though.
"Oh sweetheart. I'm not upset. I was just so scared. I'm so relieved you're alright." Grace said, gently hugging her injured son. "So what are You're injuries?" She asked.
"Well the doc says I got hypothermia, a concussion, some cuts and bruises, a broken arm and a few broken ribs." Ryan answered. His mom was shocked. Her poor baby was so hurt. Ryan continued, "he said it will take around 2-3 months before I'm healed enough to continue normal activities."
Grace nodded and pulled her son into another gentle hug. It was Monday morning and she needed to get to work, she didn't have a choice.
"Mark you are excused from school to be able to stay home with your brother. I can't stay, as much as I want too, I can't lose my job." Grace said. Mark nodded. Before she left she turned around and said,
"I love you Ryan. I'm glad you're home." Ryan smiled and said
"I love you too mom".

Mark stayed home the next few weeks, looking after his brother while he slowly but surely, got better. He was back to a normal and healthy weight, he was eating, walking and most of the bruises had faded. All that was left of the incident, were a few hidden scars and his broken arm. His ribs were healed and the chills were gone. Ryan was back to normal, or as normal as being a technopath and the pilot of a 150ft tall robot got. He went back to school and his friends stayed by his side through it all. He still had the occasional nightmare of the fight in the Arctic, but when he did, Mark came in his room and calmed him down. His teammates were what kept him going, they were the reason he survived that day. Without them, he'd be long gone by now, and he was so thankful for everything they've done for him. They didn't see another monster for awhile, but they came back and Ryan found it difficult fighting with a broken arm, but his team helped him through it and they defeated every monster that cane their way. Not all of their problems were solved though. Traeger and Grey were still out there, somewhere, and Ryan knew that they were plotting something big. But for now, he enjoyed his life with his family and friends, because he almost lost the chance to do that, and he wanted to make every day forward count.

Woahhhhhh that was so long! That was like a 3000 word one shot. I've never wrote this much before. I really hope you guys liked this one! I really enjoyed writing it! Please vote and comment and tell me any ideas you have for future one shots! See ya in the next one!
~K