Episode Five, Part 2:
Uninhabitable

All of these people think love's for show, 
but I would die for you in secret. 

"Kodiak...?" Elara murmured, not believing her eyes for a moment.

"Kodi..." She began to move in his direction, dropping her belongings on the ground and picking up her speed, suddenly racing to his side.

Her eyes were wide in fear, her body alive in adrenaline as she crouched down to the ground where Kodiak was laying, grabbing a hold of him and hoping to bring his seizing body to a still.

"What's happening?" She choked the words out, knowing she wouldn't get an answer from him. "Can you hear me? Kodiak?" She pleaded, feeling her eyes well up with a different kind of emotion than the one that had previously been holding her captive. She didn't care how angry or hurt she was at him; the one constant was that she loved him and that triumphed everything.

"You'll be okay," she promised him, scooting on the ground so she could cradle his head in her lap, delicately smoothing her fingers along the side of his face, not knowing whether he had any perception of what was happening. "I'm right here, Kodi. I'm right here. I love you."

As she spoke, Elara lifted up the edges of his shirt, hurrying to reach for his radio and get into contact with Basilisk.

"Hello? Come in! I need help!" She hurried the words out - too quick for anyone to comprehend what she was saying, or that it was her speaking.

"Kodiak?" Dreea answered the call, probably assuming that he was still somewhere in camp.

"Dreea, it's me!" Elara said. "I need your help! Something's happened to Kodiak!"

"Elara? Where are you? What do you mean? What's happened to him? Is he okay?"

"I'm by the dams," she said. "I met up with Diego but he's dead, and now Kodiak's-"

"He's not..." Dreea interrupted but she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, feeling like she was about to collapse from the sudden, overwhelming wave of nausea that hit her.

"No, he's alive," Elara gulped, staring down at him, wondering how long it would take for him to stop convulsing. "But he's seizing," she told the Sovereign. "We were about to head back to camp and then I heard him fall. I-I don't know what to do. I need Fenn or Aeryn-"

"Okay, you're alright," Dreea assured her, understanding that if she was afraid just by hearing what was happening to her friend, Elara must be twice as terrified as she cradled him without knowing how to help.

"We're coming," Dreea said. "Wynn and I are on our way with Fenn and Aeryn. We'll be there soon. Just hold tight."

Elara nodded against the radio, disregarding it at her side so she could focus on pulling Kodiak closer against him, burying his head in her chest, wrapping her arms securely around him.

"Hang on for me," she said, pressing her lips against his blond curls, crying into him.. "I'm right here... You'll be fine. We'll be just fine."

///////

Kodiak groaned as he returned to consciousness, completely disorientated for a few moments as the world returned to him. His entire body ached, but it was nothing compared to the pounding in the back of his head. He realised very quickly that whatever had happened to him had been a result of the implant, already worrying if Hannah had found out what he had done out by the dams.

"Hey sleepy," a voice spoke, something lighthearted in it, almost relieved.

He looked up to see Sol sitting at his side, brushing his hair out of his face as his eyes slowly peeled open, trying to figure out where he was and who was with him.

Dreea was sitting beside Sol, only on the foot of the bed, one of her hands resting on his leg for reassurance that she was there. Aeryn and Fenn were standing behind her; Wynn hovering at his other side, and on the bed next to his - a little behind her brother, Elara was sitting cross-legged, nervously fiddling with her hands as she glanced up at him.

"What happened?" Kodiak groaned, trying to sit up, but Sol pushed him back down.

"You had a seizure," Fenn frowned, almost waiting for Kodiak to contribute with why he thought it might have happened.

"You were outside of camp with Elara. She called me and we managed to get to you just in time," Dreea said, shooting him an empathetic smile, hoping he realised how grateful she was that he was okay.

"Any idea what might have caused you to have one?" Fenn asked. "Any injuries lately? Hit your head?"

"Uh, no. My head's fine," Kodiak said, already anxious that they might have checked him over and noticed the scarring on the back of his neck from where the implant had gone in.

Knowing that there were more questions coming his way - a determination for his family to get to the bottom of what had happened - Kodiak glanced at Elara, relieved that she was already looking at him.

He lingered his eyes on hers for a moment then, flickering them over to the exit of the medic tent, encouraged her to leave, not having the heart to say it in front of everyone.

He wanted her there; he wanted her perched on the edge of his bed and running her hands through his hair as he leaned into her, fighting to stay awake as the comfort of her touch would be enough to send him into the most peaceful sleep he had ever experienced, but he couldn't allow her to do that. It would put her at risk either of losing him for good or of Hannah hurting her.

Elara didn't say a word. She quickly looked down, no resistance or defiance from her, and walked out of the medic tent without so much as a longing smile she had revered just for him.

Everyone's eyes seemed to follow her as she disappeared, knowing that it didn't make any sense for her to leave after what had happened to Kodiak and how distraught she had been over him when they reached her. They turned their attention back to Kodiak, almost expecting him to seem just as confused and upset, but he wasn't. He held everything in, trying to act as if it was no big deal and it wasn't important enough for her to stick around.

"Kodiak, if something's going on, you can talk to us-"

"Nothing's going on, River!" He snapped, resining her attempts at keeping him down and forcing himself to sit up. He let out a deep breath, softening as he realised he shouldn't have taken his anger out on her.

"Sorry," he told her, grabbing onto her hand and squeezing it in between both of his. "I'm just stressed out."

"Well, we're all dealing with this together," Sol said. "As a family-" She looked across the bed to where Wynn had been hovering, expecting to get his reassurance for Kodiak's sake, but he wasn't there. She knew he would have gone in search for Elara after her untimely exit, but she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged that she wasn't there.

"I appreciate it," Kodiak said, already beginning to pull the bed sheet off from him, "but I'm fine. You guys don't need to worry about me."

"Well, we do," Aeryn said. "And now Elara's moved out of your room, and we know she snuck out of camp today and that you went to find her. What happened? Dreea said that Diego is dead."

"Yeah, I killed him," Kodiak sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and dropping his head in his hands. "Diego knew what Chessca told him was the truth. Elara went to save the alliance, but she left unguarded whereas there were several armed Riders there. It's pretty clear that they've figured out about the Bunkers; Diego knows where both are, so I had to kill him before he could lead the rest of his people to them, but I'm sure they already know the location of them by now."

"Elara seemed pretty upset when we got to you," Dreea said. "Mostly because of what was happening to you, but she kept looking over at Diego... What's going on between you two? Why did she leave just then? You killing Diego is-"

"I don't know, Dreea!" Kodiak sighed. "All of you, just please stop making a big deal out of everything. I had a seizure because I was stressed out, nothing else, and the last thing we need to focus on is my relationship with Elara; we need to figure out how to secure those Bunkers before Riders can get to them. I killed Diego; that should buy us all some time. You guys are welcome."

Kodiak left in a huff, storming out of the medic tent faster than anyone could comprehend what had just happened. This wasn't the Kodiak they all knew and loved; he wasn't secretive or easily-angered or short with them, he was gentle and patient and calm with them all.

"Something's not right about him," Sol shook her head, glancing to Dreea with a defeated look on her face.

"I know," she breathed out. "And the fact that he killed Diego? I mean, I know Wynn was freaking out when he found Elara's note and despite what's going on between them, Kodiak was too, but that doesn't explain why he would just kill Diego, especially as Elara seems to think that she had secured a deal with him."

"Nothing feels right with anyone," Sol bit on her nails, debating with herself what she needed to do next. "I think... I think I need to talk to Wynn - find out what's happening with Quill and Elara, and then we can work on Kodiak and everything else. If we fall apart, Basilisk falls apart."

///////

Elara couldn't have imagined it was possible for her current situation to be any worse, but time after time, she was proven wrong. Kodiak was always there to comfort her when she felt like this, but it was now Kodiak who was causing her the most heartache of all. She couldn't even turn to Wynn with her problems because he was up against a force that couldn't be stopped; an impending doom that would kill everyone if he didn't figure out a way to survive.

Not knowing what else to do, Elara walked into the Quarters, lingering outside of her brothers' room and debating whether to knock. Surely Quill wouldn't be so quick to shut her out, right? She was his little sister; the closest two in age out of all of the siblings; the two who never had to be serious with each other...

"Quill..." Elara pushed the door open, seeing her brother sitting at the small desk at the foot of Wynn's bed, mindlessly staring straight ahead at the wall and drumming a pencil against the wood.

"Hey," Quill mumbled. "Wynn's not here."

"I know. I was just with him in the-" She cut herself off, knowing he would panic if he knew they were in the medic tent without context. "Never mind. Can I come in? I could really do with someone to talk to."

"Why don't you go find one of the others? Kodiak? Aeryn? I'm sorry, Ell, but I'm not feeling great at the moment. Besides, if you're looking for advice, you can do better than me."

"I don't- I don't want to talk to anyone else," Elara shook her head, frowning in rejection. "I came looking for you. Please, Quill? You don't even have to say anything-"

"Ell-"

"Hey, Quill-" Someone else interrupted their constant cutoff, the person's voice sounding sullen and condemning. The pair of them turned to face the door, seeing Wynn standing in the frame, a rather annoyed expression on his face as he stared at his brother. It was clear that he had overheard their conversation, more specifically, Quill's reluctance to listen to Elara when she needed him to.

"What are you doing?" Wynn asked, throwing his hands out in confusion. "Why won't you let her talk to you?"

"Because I need my space-" 

"We've given you space," Wynn said, folding his arms. "Plenty of it. But you need to think about what the two of us might be needing as well. I know this is a tough time for you, but we're all going through our own things... I mean, do you even have any idea what's happening with Elara at the moment?" He asked, it being the reason he had followed her in there in the first place.

"Yeah, I do actually, but I had to hear it from Hannah because-"

"From Hannah?" Wynn gritted his teeth, unable to control the rage that was growing inside of him. "You're telling me that you know what's happening with Ell and Kodiak through what Hannah's told you?"

Quill looked to the ground, not knowing what to make of the situation. He couldn't understand if Wynn was frustrated at him or if it was just a case of misplaced anger.

"Yeah..." He mumbled, gathering up the courage to explain what had happened, but Wynn had already turned out of the room, bypassing everyone who had came to understand the cause for their raised voices, and making a hurried exit from the Quarters.

Quill knew exactly where he was going... 

Five // Part Two
She loved him and that triumphed everything.

Poor Kodiak! Poor Elara! You guys do understand why Kodiak is being like that to her, right? It's twisted, but he has to if he wants to make sure she's safe! I don't know who it's harder for: Elara because she doesn't know why Kodiak broke up with her and has suddenly changed everything about him, or Kodiak because he has to let Elara think he doesn't love her with everything he has, when he really does. That's why I used that line from a Taylor Swift song (This Is Me Trying) because I think it works so well for them! Kodiak is putting his life on the line for her to try and save her life, but he can't show her that he loves her!

15/08/20

PS: Please pray for one of my friends! She's going through a tough time at the moment as has a really tough decision on her hands, so please pray that God guides her in the right path for her life according to his will.

Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him.