Episode One, Part 2:
R e a l   o r   N o t   R e a l

And if you have a minute why don't we go
talk about it somewhere only we know? 

Wynnlow draped the damp cloth over Elara's forehead, moving as carefully as he could so he didn't wake her. She was finally asleep; they couldn't be certain how long it had been since she was - and every time she managed to get halfway there, she would scream herself awake again, but this was the longest time she had been still for, and Wynn was hopeful that she would be able to get some rest. 

He sighed in complete exhaustion, having been awake himself for nearly 3 days, and dropped the cloth into a bucket of water by his feet, collapsing backwards into his chair. 

A part of him was waiting for the screams to come again. He thought it was only a matter of minutes before the drugs that were still lingering in his sister took control again, and the line between her nightmares and reality couldn't be separated. It made him scared to leave her side, even though she wasn't short of people that cared about her, afraid that something would happen if he left. 

The door behind him opened slowly, and Ares tiptoed in, relieved that the room was silent, and to see her asleep. Wynn stood up, stepping slowly over towards his brother to update him on her condition. 

"I think she's finally out.  It's the longest time she's been quiet for." Wynn whispered, both boys looking over to Elara. 

"Quill's over there." Wynn motioned to corner of the room where their brother was curled up, asleep himself. "He said to wake him when it's his shift to watch her." 

Ares nodded, swinging his bag from his back and pulling out a bottle of water. He passed it to Wynn as he yawned, his eyes already closing slightly, even as he stood there. 

"How are you?" He asked. 

"Tired." Wynn joked, amused with himself, letting out the softest chuckle. He went to walk past him and make his way back to his tent, but Ares pushed him by his shoulder, stopping him from going. 

"I'm not talking about that." Ares said, implying that they both knew what he meant. 

Wynn shrugged, taking a sip of the water like there was nothing to say, but he was perfectly aware of the sorrow he was building up in his heart. 

"She's gone." He said nonchalantly. "But she left a lot of times before that." He tried to play it out like it was no big deal. He had lost her before, and he survived. Surely this would be the same. Right? 

"It's different this time, and you know it." Ares answered Wynn's thoughts, reminding him that there was no escaping the grief he was holding in. 

"Yeah, but I wish it wasn't." Wynn replied, as if what he wished for was enough to change it. That if his heart wanted so bad for something to be true, then it could be; Lyra could just be gone, and not dead; he could live with her choosing to never come back again, because there would be a choice - but they didn't have one anymore. 

"It's okay if you're not okay." Ares faced him completely. He had always felt a strong obligation to look after his siblings - and everyone else in the Bunker as he was the oldest, and since arriving at Basilisk, that responsibility mattered now more than ever. 

"A lot has happened. Quill on that cliff, getting Elara back, losing someone you cared about-" 

"Ares, I-" 

"Someone you cared about who had a lot of making up to do." Ares finished, pointing out what Wynn was blindsided to: he felt guilty that she died and he hadn't forgave her yet. 

Wynn nodded painfully, slowly meeting his brother's eyes once again, looking to him to make everything right again. 

"The only way to heal when love leaves is to keep on loving." 

Wynn exhaled, beginning to process his words, but there was a disturbance behind them. Both brothers stepped aside as the door opened, and two Sovereigns quietly appeared. 

Kodiak seemed a little startled to see them both so close to the door, but on realising that the room was quiet, he sighed in relief. 

"We came to see how she is." He declared, moving so Sol could come into view. 

Sol's eyes met Wynn's - both of them suddenly delicate around each other, an uncertainty if they were feeling just as defeated as the other. 

"She's good. She's asleep." Wynn looked over to Kodiak briefly, but couldn't help his gaze from falling back to Sol. 

As Kodiak heard the update, he grabbed onto Sol's arm and pulled her through Ares and Wynn, desperate for the two of them to see for themselves that she was okay. Ares lingered for a moment, wondering if now was the right time to continue his conversation with Wynn, and followed the Sovereigns over to his sister once he settled upon his answer. 

Wynn sighed heavily as he faced the door, realising that once he left the Quarters, he would be alone for the first time since it happened, and suddenly he wasn't sure if he was ready to face everything. He decided that he would try and find Bas or MaReya - or anyone he knew that was awake, just so someone was there to distract him from his breaking heart. 

As he ran a hand through his hair, wiping the sweat away from his forehead, someone came up behind him. 

"Hey." Sol murmured, coming up to his side. 

Wynn hesitated, nervous somehow, wondering what her motive was behind speaking to him. 

"Hey." He breathed back, trying to force a smile onto his face, but it came out more like a frown. 

"So I don't really feel like being on my own right now." She tried to make a joke out of it, looking anywhere but his gaze. 

She bit down on her lip, suddenly flustered. "You know what? Never mind. You're probably exhausted-" 

"I don't want to be alone, either." Wynn interrupted, seeing a reflection of himself somewhere in her. 

Sol let out a breath she was holding, feeling some sort of acceptance, and silently leading the way out of the Quarters. 

//// 

Sol and Wynn reached the hideout: the place they always seemed to find each other when one of them was hiding - and the distant red hills were slowly peaking into sight as the morning light dawned in. 

Wynn laid down fully on one of the logs, facing straight up at the stars - something he still hadn't grown used to. Sol sat on the log to the side of him; she was much more awake than him, kept alert by the battle in her mind debating whether she should speak or not. 

"Any updates on the fire?" Wynn asked, both of them glad that they had found somewhere to start. 

"Yes." Sol shifted, recalling what her guards had reported to her. "It's almost completely died out, and by the looks of it, so have Riders." 

"Were there many survivors?" 

"They saw a group returning to what's left of their camp; it looked like there were around 200 of them - they said, but given that we lost a lot because of the virus, it means they're still a threat." 

Wynnlow processed the words, folding his arms over his chest to keep warm. 

"And my dad?" His voice was slight, as if a sudden regret for having asked creeped its way in. 

"No one's seen him. I'm sorry." 

Wynn sighed, hoping she would see him nod his head in the darkness because he couldn't utter out another word for a few moments. 

"I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to talk properly in a while. And I'm sorry about..." Sol shook her head, a disbelief that he had to endure the same suffering as her. 

"...I know." Wynn looked away from the stars, focusing on Sol in the soft light. "Me too." He told her. 

There was an recognition that they didn't need to say anything more. Not unless they wanted to. And he realised that he didn't mind his heart breaking if Sol was there beside him, the sorrows in their souls aligning with one another; an understanding he couldn't find in anyone else. 

Sol's radio buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it close to her ear, turning the knob to hear who was calling. 

"Riverly, we have an update." One of the guards' voices declared. 

"Go ahead. I'm listening." Sol replied. 

"Riders seem to be moving north-east of their camp. They salvaged what was left from the fire before leaving, but they didn't even approach the labs. There's no sign of them here or anyone from Targo. By the looks of it, it's safe to send a team there." 

"Okay, good." Sol exhaled, a faint smile meeting her lips. "Well, gather everyone together and make your way back to Basilisk. We'll send a team out tomorrow to check out the labs." 

Sol sighed, tucking the radio back into the pocket, and moving the sit on the ground. By the small pit of ashes. Cold, she decided to try and get a fire going, reaching forward for the sticks and beginning to scrape them against each other, the friction soon causing smoke to arise, and before a long, a small fire. 

She buried the kindling in the middle of the pit, blowing softly until its flames burnt on to the other twigs beside it. 

Sol leaned with her back against the log and her feet stretched out in front of her, waiting until she felt warm again before she spoke. 

"Tomorrow, we'll go back to the labs." She announced to Wynn. "Aeryn and Fenn reckon if they can find what Elara was given, they might be able to make her better - stop all the night terrors..." 

"Really?" Wynn propped himself up on his elbow, turning over to look at Sol hopefully. 

The Sovereign nodded, not wanting to promise him anything, but desperate to be able to let him feel something else. 

"I think you should decide who comes with us." 

"Me?" Wynnlow asked, wondering why she had given him that authority. He thought that it was just because it was his sister that they were trying to help, but then he realised that she hadn't asked Quill or Ares to make that decision - just him. 

"Why me?" He asked. 

Sol breathed out apprehensively, letting go of the stick she had been twirling in her hands, nervous to confess to to Wynnlow why she wanted him to make the decision. 

"When I was in the DeadLands and I couldn't lead my people, my dad and Atlantis stepped up to take my position. When it was Kodiak who was missing, and with the march coming, we needed a third Sovereign." 

Wynn nodded to show that he was listening carefully, unable to piece together what she was trying to say because he couldn't have guessed how greatly she confided in him. 

"Bianca is his Nominated." She informed him. "She's the person he's assigned to take his place if anything happens to him, or if he isn't around to look after Basilisk." 

Wynn continued to nod in response: both of them aware that Sol hadn't revealed what she wanted to yet. 

"I'm saying that you're my Nominated, Wynn." 

The boy sat up completely, his legs swivelling around for his feet to rest flat on the ground, and his hands were holding onto the log at either side of him, as if he needed a moment to steady himself. 

"Why me?" He repeated his question from earlier, not having managed to look up at her yet. 

Sol sighed. "You may not be the sharpest shooter, or the most rational at times-" 

"Thanks." Wynnlow chuckled, amused at how she had began to describe him. 

"Shut up." She laughed too, picking up a twig and chucking it at him. "I was going to say that you never give up on someone... And everything that's happened lately has made me realise that in case something happens to me, and I can't be here, I'd want you to take me my place. Because of that. Because I know you won't give up." 

Wynn caught the twig she threw and chucked it into the fire, watching how quickly it burnt. Suddenly, all he could see was the flames as he leaned over the cliff's edge, his hand reaching out, but still, Lyra fell. Even the heat alone was enough to draw his mind to remember what he had lost, and it was a heavy thought to try and escape. 

Wynnlow rolled back onto the log, pulling his vision away from the fire and back up to the stars. He didn't want to think about who he had lost, or accept that he would lose anyone else. 

"Nothing is happening to you." He declared, refusing to talk about it anymore. He knew he would get frustrated if she tried to mention the possibility of them losing each other. 

His mum was gone. And now Lyra was as well - a pain he could just make it through. But not her, too. 

"I'm not saying it is. Only that I want you to know what to do if I'm not around." 

"Same as always." Wynn muttered, trying to conclude her worries. "I'd find you." 

"Wynn..." Sol looked over. She needed him to listen to this. She had seen just how fragile life was: how Noah was gone in the blink of an eye, and Lyra shared the same fate; she didn't want him to fall apart if she left. 

"Whatever you want to say, can we talk about it tomorrow?" He asked. His voice was slow and heavy, tugged down by exhaustion. 

Sol sighed, knowing that things would come between them and they more than likely wouldn't find the chance to pick up where they left off. But she glanced over at the fire, and a similar recognition took place in her as it had done to Wynn, and she felt his aching. 

"Yeah. We can." She answered, looking over at her friend to reassure him, but he was already asleep. 

Sol smiled softly, leaning back against the log and letting her head drop. It would take a while for rest to find her, but slowly, it came, and when they would wake, the fire would still be there - strong enough to keep them both warm. 

One // Part Two
He realised that he didn't mind his heart breaking if Sol was there beside him.