Episode One, Part 5:
R e a l   o r   N o t   R e a l

You don't have to tell me, I can read it. It's written on your face, the way you're breathing. 
You can let it out, 'cause I'm not here to find a reason, I'm just trying to give you something 
you can lean on when you feel like breaking down. I can't tell you it's all fine, but I'll listen 
'til sunrise. If you need me to, I'll carry your light. 

Sol held the gun in her hands, hesitating, unable to do anything; there was something about killing Rogue that would be different than killing any of the other guards in the room. Dreea had already taken one down, and had moved onto the guard that had been standing above Atlantis, hurrying to get a second down before any of their people could be hurt - and the boys were all grouping together to take down the remaining two that faced them. 

But Rogue - maybe it was that there was a reflection of Noah somewhere as she looked at him, or that he still had a son that was now dependant on her - but Sol couldn't kill him, no matter how badly she wanted to. Just like Noah. 

"Go on, Riverly." He taunted, standing at her mercy, smiling as the Sovereign's hands shook. "Finish what he couldn't."  

She seemed to suddenly snap back into awareness - not realising she had zoned out and glanced around the room quickly to what was happening. 

The other four guards were killed, and apart from a few cuts and scratches, no one from Basilisk was seriously hurt. Ares was helping Atlantis to her feet, and Bas was untying the ropes from around her hands; everyone breathlessly turning to face Sol, waiting for her next move. 

Noticing her hesitation, Kodiak lunged forward, snatching the gun out Sol's hands and aiming it himself. As his finger met the trigger, a violent scream stopped him from shooting at the last second. 

"Stop!" Sol screamed, reaching her hand out in front of Kodiak. 

"What!?" Kodiak whisper-yelled, frustrated at Sol for calling out suddenly - the distraction potentially having fatal consequences. 

"Don't kill him." She said, voice raspy and quiet. 

Kodiak exhaled deeply. "This isn't the time-" 

"I mean it. I'm the Nobel. I'm telling you not to kill him." 

Kodiak lingered for a moment, groaning in rejection, and stepping away in a huff. As he walked away, Dreea stepped forward, and he shoved the weapon into her hands, not wanting to bother arguing with Sol. 

"River..." Dreea warned, taking Kodiak's place at her side. 

"Keep..." She began, eyes fixated on the king. "Keep the gun aimed at him. Don't kill him unless he tries to run." 

As quickly as she had spoken, she was turning around and running out of the room, leaving everyone perplexed as to what she was thinking. 

The Nobel hurried into the room she was in when Rogue had stumbled upon her, knowing exactly what she was looking for - and darting back to others when she had it. 

Rogue's eyes widened as his vision trailed down to Sol's hand, seeing a needle full of the serum dangling from her hand. He immediately backed away a few steps, crashing into the wall behind him - cornered. 

"No. No way. Not happening." He tried to laugh a little, as if he had a choice in what was happening, trying to convince himself that he would be fine. 

"River, what are you..." Dreea muttered under her breath, trying to figure out what Rogue had already understood. She kept her grip tight on the gun, worried that everything would come falling down in a moment's notice. 

Sol inched closer to the king, who had his hands out in front of him, ready to defend himself from what he knew was coming. The needle was raised to the air at Sol's eye-line, ready for her to shoot it into the man when one of them made the first move. She knew one of two things could go wrong: Dreea would inevitably shoot out of instinct and hit the wrong person, or in their fight against each other, Rogue would be the one to end up injecting the serum into Sol instead. 

The Sovereign breathed out, expelling away her fear, and lunged forward. 

Within seconds, they had both fallen to the ground, wrestling the other away, fighting for dominance over the needle, but only one of them came out triumphant. 

Both Rogue and Sol were still for a moment - and the room held its breath, waiting to see what had happened. But eventually, with a heavy grunt, Sol wriggled against the floor, pushing the older man off of her. 

Wynn raced forward - some sort of instinct kicking in, and he grabbed onto the Sovereign's arm to pull her up. Sol found her feet, held up by Wynn for a moment longer - everyone staring down at Rogue in anticipation. 

He was just still - lying on the ground, unconscious, until... 

His body began to seize - like Elara's had done once they pulled her out of Phase 4, and Sol watched on to see what would happen. 

Fenn pushed his way forward, crouching down low near Rogue to observe the effects of the drug. 

"I-I need some handcuffs or something. In case he becomes lucid again." Fenn announced, holding his hand out behind him for someone to oblige. 

Kodiak ran forward, pulling out a pair from his backpack, and allowing the boy to restrain the king, not doing anything to help him with his convulsions. 

"He could be like this for a couple of minutes... Or not. I-I'm not sure, really. It might even kill him." Fenn looked up at Sol, Dreea and Kodiak - as if to ask what they were waiting for. 

"Well, Riv? What do you want to do with him?" Kodiak muttered, his eyes fixated on Rogue. Even though he wasn't one of the people who put him and Elara through the tortures of the drugs himself, it was still a sight to see him suffer like they had done. 

"We take him back to Basilisk." Sol nodded, looking between Dreea and Kodiak for their support. "If he's working with Targo, this could be our advantage. We just need to figure that part out." 

The two of them agreed with the Nobel, motioning for the others to prepare to carry the king as everyone else grouped together. Before they left, Sol returned to the separate room once again, searching every cupboard until she found what she was looking for: the serum. 

//// 

"Quill!" Aeryn called out for the boy, her voice eager and filled with urgency. 

The boy came running into the room, afraid that something had drastically changed in the few moments that he was away, and his eyes darted immediately to his sister. 

Elara was awake. Tired eyes looking over to him as she held weakly onto Aeryn's hand, waiting for her brother to come and take her place. 

Quill was by her side in seconds, hurrying to lean down to her - still trying to be cautious - as he held her in his arms. 

"Are you okay?" He mumbled into her, gently pulling away as he felt her shift a little like perhaps she was in pain. 

Elara nodded, eyes full of tears as she carefully laid back down against the mattress. With no idea how long she had been unconscious for, or back at Basilisk, it felt as if the adversities of what she had experienced at the labs were only moments behind her. 

"What happened? How long have I been asleep for?" She breathed out, stretching her fingers out for Quill to hold as he sat down where Aeryn previously was. 

Her brother looked over to Aeryn nervously, debating if he should tell her what they knew in case, somehow, Elara had forgotten. 

"Targo had you. At the... At Blood Rider's Labs, but we got you out of there. You've been back 2 days." Quill informed her. 

"Elara..." Aeryn approached, crouching down beside Quill's seat and looking to the girl tenderly. She could sense that there was something not quite right. "Do you remember anything that happened to you?" She asked. 

Elara's eyes flickered between her and Quill, afraid that confessing would make it all real again, but she was even more terrified of facing it alone. 

She nodded. Tears spilling as they were falling at a rate too fast for her to hold back. 

"Hey," Quill mumbled, demanding her attention. "You're safe now. You're home." 

As if still trying to make sense of everything, Elara forced herself to sit up, ignoring the pain that pounded through her body, and the ache that grew relentlessly in her head. 

"Where's Wynn and Ares!? Kodiak?" 

"They're fine. They went out." Quill answered, not wanting to reveal to her that they had headed back to the labs. 

He pushed on Elara's shoulders softly, guiding her back down. She winced. 

"Does that hurt?" Aeryn asked concerned. 

"No," Elara muttered, careless to her answer. 

"Ell..." Quill warned. "Don't lie if it does. You've gotta let us help." 

The young girl sighed, looking away as she nodded. 

"What hurts in particular?" Aeryn asked. Quill had to move out of the way so she could look over his sister, and he stood at the foot of her bed, biting nervously on his nails. 

"Everything." She whispered, wishing Quill wasn't close enough to hear. She didn't want to worry him, or for him to go and tell their brothers and make everyone anxious. 

Aeryn had been flashing a flashlight in front of her eyes, trying to cover the basics, but found herself pulling away at the girl's answer. It was clear that whatever Elara had been through wasn't something that Aeryn, Fenn - or any of the other doctors at Basilisk, had any experience on, and unless the group returned with any answers, they wasn't much they could do. 

"I think it's best if you tell us what happened in the labs. Kodiak told us what he knew, but that-" 

"What? What did he say?" Elara was eager to know. 

"That you were screaming most of the time, and we've all seen it ourselves... When you were asleep, you were doing it again, and Kodiak says last night was the longest time you've been at rest for since you've been gone. He also said that once you two got separated in there, they tried to test some of the serum on him, and he told us what that was like. But you got to Phase 4, Elara. We had to pull you out before it was completed, and there were risks with that, and we're wondering if this might be part of it. But you need to tell us so we can help. You're safe now. I promise you." 

The news was overwhelming to Elara. She could remember everything she had been screaming about: every fear and vision that haunted her - but she didn't realize that she was actually screaming. 

"I'll tell you," Elara promised. "But can we wait until the others get back? I don't think I have the strength to say it twice." 

Quill nodded, smiling reassuringly at his sister as he resumed his place at her side. 

With her hand holding onto her brother's, Elara closed her eyes as they waited for everyone to make it back to Basilisk. For a few moments, it was just darkness - like it should have been if she was trying to fall asleep; but slowly, the visions crept their way back into her mind, as if to whisper to her that they had never really left at all. 

She tried to force her eyes open, refusing to let fear draw her in, but she couldn't move. That was when the screaming began again. 

One // Part Five
The adversities were only moments behind her.