Episode One, Part 3:
B r o t h e r

3 hours ago: 

"Okay, I think that's done it. The signals should be off now," Wynn announced, coming back around from behind the metal framing.

"Check your radio," he said to Quill, waiting nervously for him to confirm the news.

Quill pressed on his radio, trying to call Wynn's which was a few feet away from him, but it wouldn't connect.

"It won't reach yours," he smiled. "You did it."

Wynn exhaled a breath of relief, unable to explain how glad he was to have succeeded in this part of the plan. The only downside was that he could radio back to Sol and tell her they had accomplished their mission. She just had to have faith in him that he had prevailed.

Before they could get too far ahead of themselves, an anxious look washed over Quill's face, looking up at his brother for reassurance.

"I guess that means it's now or never," he muttered.

"Yeah," Wynn breathed sympathetically, wishing there was more he could do to comfort him or to take the pressure away from him, but there wasn't.

"You two stay here for a second. I'll clear the labs."

Quill nodded, moving to stand at Elara's side as Wynn cautiously approached the labs, making sure it was free of any guards.

"You can do this, Quill," Elara promised him, noticing just by the way he stood how afraid he was.

The boy looked down at his younger sister, trying to hold himself together for her sake. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," he agreed, closing his eyes to try and focus on convincing himself it was true.

In the distance, the two siblings could hear gunshots echo from inside the labs. They had been waiting for them, knowing that they were likely to come, but it still rocked them just as much when they heard them.

Knowing that the only thing they needed to do was remain where they were, Elara latched onto Quill's arm, keeping them close to each other as waited, hoping to see their brother return from the labs.

Elara closed her eyes as well, praying that Wynn was safe. Moments later, they could hear footsteps running outside and they peeled their eyes open, losing their breath when they saw a stranger run out of the lab's doors. The guard spun around, looking for safety or backup, and it was when he noticed the two of them standing by the radio tower, unarmed.

Guessing that they had something to do with Wynn - who had taken down the few guards left behind in the labs, the man pulled out his gun, stopping where he was as he hurried to load it with bullets.

Instinctively, Quill pushed Elara behind him, preparing himself to take the bullet to keep her alive, but not knowing how he would be of much help after that. 

"Quill!" Elara whimpered, not accepting her brother to take her place. She fought to get in front of him, knowing she was the bait, but Quill managed to keep himself in front. 

As the guard raised his gun, aiming it at the boy, the sound of a bullet firing tore through their ears. Quill jolted, expecting to feel immediate pain, but he didn't. He looked down at his chest, waiting to see the blood devour his shirt, but nothing happened. 

As he looked up to see the shooter, he could now see two people, one of whom was lying face down on the ground. It was the guard, and behind him, Wynn. 

A feeling of deliverance consumed all three of them, Quill and Elara frozen in shock as Wynn moved around the body, quickly retrieving the weapon before running over to his siblings. 

"Are you guys okay?" He asked breathlessly, scanning over them, searching for injuries. 

Quill nodded, out of words as Wynn crashed into him, holding onto the two of them for a moment, trying to block out the fear of what had just happened. 

As Wynn stepped back, finally confident that they were both okay, he looked up at Quill sorrowfully, knowing what had to happen now. 

"Quill..." he said his name delicately. 

"I know," his brother answered, exhaling away the fear. "I can do it." 

Wynn sighed. "There's no other guards in there. I checked every room. They must have left a couple extra here after what happened last time," he explained, remembering how he only had to kill one person when he came here with Sol. 

"I found the girl Sol was talking about. She's in one of the rooms to the left, I can't remember which one. I locked the door on her so she can't get out until you find her." 

Quill nodded. "What if she's armed? She probably just heard everything, and when she sees me, she'll think I was the shooter." 

"Gathering from what Sol said, I don't think she's likely to try and attack you. She is a hostage after all, not technically one of them," he pointed out. "Elara and I will follow you to the window so she can see us. I have the gun, anyway. She'll know it was me." 

Quill nodded once again. He couldn't put it off any longer. Clinging onto the fleeting bravery in his chest, he moved forward, only making it a few feet past Wynn before he was stopped. 

He looked over his shoulder, following Wynn's hand that was holding onto his arm. 

"Be careful," he said. 

"I will," Quill promised. 

As Wynn let go of his brother, Quill continued his walk towards the labs, trying not to vomit as he walked past the dead body that Wynn had left in his path. He couldn't stomach the sight of violence or blood as easily as his brother could. He couldn't do a lot of things Wynn could, but he had to try. 

As he stepped inside, he remembered Wynn telling him that she was in one of the rooms to the left. He moved to the first one, checking the handle, and moving on once it opened. Eventually, he reached the fifth door, knowing it must be the one as he had tried all the others, but as he unlocked the door, glancing inside for a girl, he was confused to find that it was empty. 

Quill turned around and began to walk back into the hallway, but someone jumped out at him. The girl Wynn had told him about had appeared from behind the door, holding a large tray above her head, threatening to smash it down on him. 

"Woah, woah! I'm sorry to scare you! Please... Please don't hurt me!" He threw his hands up in surrender, watching timidly as the girl stared on, hesitantly lowering the tray. She looked at him with a mirroring look of fear in her eyes, struggling to understand why Quill looked so afraid when he was the one who had came in and shot everyone... 

"Why shouldn't I hurt you? You just... You killed everyone!" The girl exclaimed, gripping tighter onto the tray and raising it up again. 

"No, that wasn't me!" 

The girl scoffed. "Sure. I believe that," she remarked. "You're the only other one here." 

Quill gulped, knowing that from her perspective, she had every right to want to hurt him. 

"Who are you? Why are you here?" 

"I'm Quill... I'm from Basilisk." 

At the mention of his Clan, the girl once again lowered the tray - a sense of recognition. She remembered Sol from when she had given her the serum and knew she was a part of Basilisk. Kane and Rhea blamed her for the raid. 

"I gave plenty of serum to the girl who came the other day. If you use it sparingly it should last a while. She might not even need it if you ween her off of it correctly." 

The panic dissolved in Quill's chest. Her words... It meant there was hope for his sister... 

He snapped out of his thoughts, knowing he could deal with that later. "No, no I'm not here for the serum," he told her. 

The girl was hesitant. "Then why are you here? Everyone else has gone to your people. I heard something about a leaked conversation... An attack..." 

Quill sighed. "I'm here to save my sister," he said. "Well, it's part of that." 

"I don't understand. What's wrong with your sister? Why are you here, and who was shooting just then?" 

Quill bit on his lip nervously. He stepped away from her, retreating back into the nearest room, and looking to the window, in search for his siblings. 

"Hey, where are you going?" The girl persisted, following after him. 

"My sister," Quill said, stopping in place as he waited for the girl to catch up to him. "She's the Heir. The one your people are trying to... Trying to..." He couldn't finish his sentence, but he saw the recognition on her face, knowing he didn't need to explain. 

He looked out of the window, seeing Wynn and Elara cautiously come into view. The girl's eyes followed, still confused at what was happening. 

"That's her," he told her, a fondness in his voice as he looked over at them. "Elara. And my brother, Wynn."  

The girl's uncertainty faded away as she looked through the glass at Elara, seeing how much fear there was in her. She was young... Already having endured so much. 

She looked back over at Quill, contemplating something. 

"What?" Quill asked, feeling her stare. 

The girl tilted her head. "They look alike, but... You look nothing like them..." 

Quill rolled his eyes, hating whenever he had to explain himself. It was obvious how contrasting he looked from his siblings: Wynn and Elara both had the same, red hair, and Ares shared their nose and complexion, with a lighter, brown-coloured hair. Quill was a lot paler than all of them and he had jet-black hair, the complete opposite. 

"It's a long story," he said tiredly. "I'm adopted. But they're still my-" 

"Siblings. It's fine. I know." The girl said. Quill didn't seem to mind her anymore. His greatest insecurity had always been not being recognised as a part of his family, but the fact that this hostage had so easily accepted it meant a great deal to him. 

Now that he felt like things were calm between the two of them, Quill looked over at Wynn through the window, nodding to say that it was okay for them to leave now. They only needed to be there long enough for the hostage to see their sister. 

"Your people are meeting mine. They think she's there, at Basilisk." 

"Okay... And you brought her here for a reason," the girl understood, watching as Wynn and Elara began walking away. "Can you get to that part?" 

"Sure..." Quill nodded, stretching out his word, trying to show that he was searching for something more. 

The girl rolled her eyes, figuring him out. "My name's Chessca Jones." She informed him. 

"Chessca! Great! Nice name," Quill smiled, clasping his hands together. 

She sighed, folding her arms. "Thanks. But can you just skip ahead to the point? Judging by the fact that you're still here, I assume there's something you want from me." 

One // Part Three
I'm here to save my sister.

Aw, Quill is so precious.

13/04/20