Episode Five, Part 3:
Uninhabitable

Wynn refused to slow down as he stormed through camp, trying to navigate his way through the sea of tents to where Hannah's was. He could feel several people hot on his tail; Quill and Elara were following after him, now joined by Sol and Aeryn who had caught his burst of anger as he left the Quarters - all prepared to stop him if his rage got the best of him.

"Hannah!" Wynn yelled, ripping open the flap to the tent and bursting inside.

The woman stood up, surprised by his sudden entrance, immediately frustrated at the sight of him. She stood to her feet, meeting Wynn halfway in the space, folding her arms as she waited to hear what he had came to say to her.

"Wynn. Nice to-"

"Stay the hell away from my family," Wynn cut her off, more fury in his voice than he had ever known before. He alarmed himself with how vicious he sounded, hoping that it would have an affect on Hannah.

"I haven't been anywhere near you or your sister," Hannah said.

"Leave Quill alone," Wynn warned, knowing that his brother was lingering behind him, no doubt feeling torn apart by how much he and Hannah seemed to despise each other.

"Sovereign or not, you can't tell me what to do. Quill is my child and if he choses to talk to me, that's his own right. If he realises that I'm the family he wants-"

"I swear if you don't shut up right now, I will banish you and your friends from Basilisk. And good luck to you guys trying to survive out there with everything that's going on."

"Hey, come on," Wynn could hear Aeryn speaking behind him, tugging on both of his siblings as she pulled them away from the confrontation, knowing that he wouldn't want either of them to see how heinous the conversation was becoming.

When Hannah saw that Quill was out of the way, she let loose, unleashing all of her spite out onto Wynn.

"You can threaten me all you want, but you won't ever be able to take my son away from me. I lost him once, I'm not losing him again. And you can't stop Quill from realising that I'm his mother. You can't stop him from loving me the way you want him to love you."

"I can kill you instead. I'm sure that would get rid of you-"

"Wynn!"

He bit on his lip, forgetting that Sol was still in the tent, having seen her in the corner of his eye when he watched Aeryn guide the others out. He didn't regret what he had said, but he wished Sol hadn't been there to see that awful part of him, not wanting her to think any less of him than she already seemed to as of late.

"I mean it," Wynn said to Hannah, lowering his voice as he felt Sol grab onto his arm, trying to encourage him to leave. "Stay away from him."

He watched the roll of Hannah's eyes and the corrupt smile that plastered over her face just as Sol managed to pull him out of the tent.

"You need to calm down," she said, her voice surprisingly gentle towards him, not full of judgement or frustration like he was expecting.

"I want her gone!" Wynn said, using every ounce of strength he had left to not run back inside the tent and drag Hannah outside of the gates by himself.

"It's okay, I know," Sol said. "Come with me."

He followed her blindly and without resistance, not even able to process the feeling of Sol's hand entwined with his as she led him away to a sacred place they hadn't been to in a while.

As they came in sight of their alcove, Sol let go go Wynn's hand, knowing he wasn't going to suddenly abandon her now. She took her place on the log, waiting patiently for Wynn to come over, and he sat down at her side; a little more room between them than either of them were used to.

"I want her out of our lives, Sol..." Wynn said, hiding his face away in his hands as he breathed deeply.

"I know," Sol assured him, wanting to reach her hand out and console him, but she was worried she wouldn't be able to let him go afterwards. "And maybe she will be soon. Maybe with all that's happening with the flood and trying to organise who's going into which Bunker, there won't be enough room for her in either of them."

Wynn glanced over at her, knowing what she was implying, but it wasn't a simple solution. "Quill will never forgive me if I don't let her into one of the Bunkers. He'll hate me-"

"First of all, he could never hate you," Sol said. "And secondly, they don't even have to be in the same Bunker. I know that's not necessarily fixing anything in the long run, but if you and him are stuck together in the Bunker just like old times, it'll give you plenty of chance to talk things over and for him to realise how much he loves you and Elara, because he does love you both. He's never stopped."

"It doesn't feel that way," Wynn shook his head. "It feels like everyone's trying to leave all of the time. It feels like nothing good ever stays no matter how hard I fight for it-"

Wynn cut himself short, not realising that he was talking about Sol somewhere in between his words. He looked away from her, worried that what he said might push her away again, and scrambled out an apology.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Forget what I said-"

"Hey," Sol cut him off, going against all of her warning signs to reach out for him. Her fingers wrapped around his hand, carefully unclenching his fist and letting her palm rest in his.

"No matter what situation we're in, I'm always going to be here for you... I told you that just before everything started going wrong. Do you remember?"

Wynn nodded.

"And I meant it," Sol said. "You and me... Always."

Wynn couldn't bring his eyes to look away from her. He wasn't sure what she was trying to say, or even what they were to each other anymore: was he still her best friend? Did she still love him? Were they always going to be that close? He knew his own answers to all of the questions, but in what might have been the only instance he could recall, he couldn't understand what her answers were.

"There's so much pressure all the time," he said. "I'm not talking about being a Sovereign, but being a brother."

"I wasn't here after Ares died, I know that, but I can see how much the three of you have all grown. You're the one to thank because of that. You're the reason Quill and Elara have made it this far."

"I always feel like I could be better," Wynn said. "I let Hannah come home with us because I thought it would give the closure Quill needed, but I've made everything worse. And no matter what I say to Ell, no matter how many times I tell her not to worry or ensure her that everything isn't her burden, she still tries to do everything herself. Like what happened today," he said. "I told her that trying to figure out how we all survive is my job not hers, but then I found that note in her tent and when I reach her with Kodiak, she was...bad. She was devastated by what happened out there, and I couldn't protect her from that. My own sister."

"That's just who Elara is," Sol sighed. "You tell her not to do something and she'll do it anyway just to prove to you that she's capable of it. She's also like you, in that respect: she'll do anything to make sure you and Quill are okay, probably because she knows the hell you guys experienced when she was having her visions."

"I see your point," Wynn said, managing a slight chuckle which made Sol feel warm and secure inside, knowing that her words had made him feel even the slightest bit better.

"But I'm always going to worry, no matter how old we get or how long we've been on the ground. Ares made it look so easy," he sighed. "He was always looking out for us, keeping us safe, making sure we were together. I wish I knew what he would say to Quill about all of this. I think if he was here, then Quill wouldn't have any doubt about where he belonged or who loved him."

"He doesn't need to hear whatever it is you think he wants you to tell him," Sol said. "He just wants you. You and Elara, even if you don't have all the answers."

Wynn smiled her way, but it was soaked in sorrow. The only ounce of comfort he could feel was when his other hand overlapped hers, holding it tightly between both of his, staring down at their debts which were perfectly aligned.

"What about you?" He said. "I know we haven't said a lot since... You come back after everything only for us to leave again."

"Tell me about it," Sol exhaled, staring down and absentmindedly twisting the ring on Wynn's finger. "It's not only that, but knowing that whenever the flood passes, what's left of our home will have been completely washed away."

"I didn't even think about that," Wynn said.

"Yeah," Sol sighed. "But that's not even my biggest concern. I'm worried about Chess... There's still no explanation to what happened to her out there, and she doesn't have any memory of it. It's like she was possessed. And now Kodiak's bottling everything up to the point where he's making himself sick... They're my family - our family, and I can't lose anyone else. Not again. Not after I lost everything."

"You've never lost me," Wynn murmured, unable to stop himself from crossing the line. "And you never will. Whatever happens with the flood or to Basilisk or everything else, I'll always be here by your side." 

Five // Part Three
You and me. Always.

It was so good to be able to write a Sol and Wynn scene again! Ah, I've missed them (although, there's a lot left unsaid). What's going to happen next for them? Where are they at right now? Will they ever get their chance to be together?

16/08/20

Happy Heavenly birthday Felicite.
Thank you for always being sweet when you messaged me.