Episode Four, Part 4:
Hope

Dreea drove in through the gates of Basilisk, relieved to see Fenn and Aeryn waiting outside the medic tent ready whisk Chessca inside and make sure she was okay. They lifted her out of the back of the car and Dreea moved around to help Sol out, noticing how heavyhearted she was at seeing Chessca in such a state.

She moved to follow into the medic tent, not wanting her to be alone, but Dreea grabbed onto her arm to hold her back.

"I'll go in with her," Dreea said. "If anything happens, I'll let you know, but you need to take a breather."

Sol smiled tenderly but miserably, unable to thank Dreea with her words, but knowing that Dreea understood how relieved she was at her offer.

As Dreea trailed into the medic tent, Sol turned around for the direction of the Quarters, seeing Kodiak and Wynn approach with cautious looking frowns.

"What happened out there?" Kodiak asked, having to hide the suspicions screaming in the back of his mind.

"I don't know," Sol sighed, unable to bring herself to look up at either of them. "She'd taken my radio and called Riders to meet. Apparently she told them about the flood and that we were all planning on leaving them for dead."

"Did you manage to convince him there wasn't one?" Wynn asked sheepishly, unable to wait and see if Kodiak would ask the question himself.

Sol nodded. "Dreea pinned it to a miscommunication to do with the earthquakes," she explained. "But Diego warned us that he has his guard up. They're keeping a close eye on us," she repeated his words.

"What about Chessca? Why is she passed out? Did she say why she was out there?"

"No," Sol whispered, shaking her head and causing the tears that were pooling in her eyes to spill. "It's like she was possessed by something! She couldn't say a word to any of us... Dreea and I walked her back to the jeep, but she collapsed as soon as we got there. She didn't look hurt from what I could see, but I... I don't know."

Kodiak frowned, seeming to piece everything together but unable to give her any relief. The most he could do was wrap his arms around her and let her cry into his chest, releasing all of her anxiety and heartache before she would have to put on a brave face, ready to be there at Chessca's side whenever she woke up.

"It's okay, Riv. You and Dreea got her back. She's gonna be fine."

Wynn hovered beside them, feeling for a minute as if he was waiting his turn to hold Sol, before realising that she probably wouldn't want that. He kept his eyes on her, buying his time to see if she would look over and give him the nod to say that she wanted his embrace just as badly, but she stayed buried away in Kodiak's arms.

He drifted away without a word, not noticing that Sol had already pulled away, gazing after him with disheartened eyes as he didn't look back.

///////

A couple of hours had passed and Chessca still hadn't woken up. After taking her time to compose herself and make sure she was strong-hearted for when her friend woke up, Sol made herself comfortable in the chair beside Chessca's side, contributing to the conversation and hoping that it wouldn't be long before they could have some answers.

"We still haven't been able to figure out why she was so withdrawn when you reached her," Aeryn said, sighing as she crossed her arms, moving closer to the bed with Fenn. "The only explanation we can think of is that maybe she was in shock."

"That or someone was threatening her into not speaking..." Sol mumbled, not meaning to come across so bitter towards her friends, but she couldn't let go of her fear. Not until Chessca was awake and telling her exactly what had happened.

"I'm not so sure," Dreea said, frowning as she glanced over at the sleeping girl.

"What do you mean?" Sol asked.

"Well, there wasn't a lot of recognition when she was awake," Dreea pointed out, looking over at Aeryn and Fenn to make sure they were listening as more pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into her lap. "If anyone could get through to her or make her feel safe, then it's you, Riv. She couldn't even say a word to you; she couldn't even look you in the eyes or give you some kind of sign that she was okay. I think she didn't even know you were there."

Sol looked down at Chessca, a hurt look covering her entire face, and she found herself squeezing a little tighter onto her hand.

"To make things even worse, the alliance is probably at risk," Sol sighed.

"Did Diego say something about the alliance?" Kodiak panicked, knowing how stressful it had been trying to secure it in the first place, let alone having to face losing it now before they could figure out a way to save their people.

"No," Dreea told him. "But he didn't need to. It's a given; if they find out that what Chessca said to them was the truth, and that we lied to them to get her back, then it'll definitely be over. And all hell will break loose trying to fight over the Bunkers. Diego won't want his people to die just as much as we don't want our people to die. Why do we get to decide that we're the ones who get to live?"

"Because we're the ones who have the Bunkers," Wynn muttered under his breath, not meaning for everyone to hear it. They all glanced in his direction, realising that he was right; if the only reason dictating who got to live and who had to die came down to who had possession of the Bunkers, then it would be Basilisk who would survive.

"Back to Chessca," Fenn interrupted, not wanting to stray too far from the conversation when he knew what he and Aeryn needed to say was still pretty heavy, "we think it could be connected to what happened to Harlow."

"How so?" Kodiak gulped, debating whether or not he should try and dispute their claims. If they miraculously figured it out on their own, Hannah couldn't blame him for that.... Could she?

"Well, Harlow doesn't know how he got to where he was," Fenn pointed out, "and he doesn't remember anything that happened to him. Judging by what Riv and Dreea have said about how they found Chessca, it could well be the same thing."

"Just as long as we've all ruled out the possibility of Chessca betraying us," Sol said. "She would never do that. She's saved my life too many times to count."

"Don't worry," Dreea flashed her a soft smile, moving to stand behind Sol and resting a hand on her shoulder. "That's definitely ruled out."

"If Sol is right about her being forced into speaking, we need to figure out who would put her in that situation, and how they knew about the flood," Wynn said. "As far as I'm aware, the only people who know about it are those of us in this tent, as well as Joren, Bas and Atlantis - all of whom I'm sure weren't the ones behind this."

"Where was she when we were being told about the flood?" Kodiak asked. "The four of us were in the map room, so did anyone else see her? Was she in defence class? Ground Skills class?"

"I don't know," Sol sighed, bringing Chessca's hand up to her face as she pressed her lips against her skin. "I have no idea where she was even though I'm the one who's supposed to keep her safe-"

"You're not in The City anymore. You had every right to think she was safe here," Wynn said, surprising the both of them by being the one to console her. It was both a habit and an instinct - an inability to see her suffering when he knew she wasn't the one to blame.

"Still... I should have done better. I should have made sure she was in my room with me from the start or made sure to enforce the same rules here as I did when I was the Commander: anyone who hurts Chessca will be killed."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Wynn continued. "She's home, with you, and she's going to be okay."

"...Yeah. You're right," Sol murmured, half out of acceptance, half out of not knowing how to respond to his gentleness, but she meant the sincerity that was drenched in her voice. "Thank you, Wynn."

///////

As everyone was returning to their rooms for the night, Sol and Dreea had made themselves comfortable in the chairs beside Chessca's bed, willing to stay there all night if it meant she wouldn't be alone and scared out of her mind when she woke up.

"Thank you for staying here with me tonight," Sol spoke, smiling tenderly at her friend.

"No problem," Dreea said, "although, I couldn't really bring myself to leave."

Sol tilted her head, staring a little more intently at her. "You really care about her, huh?"

"Of course I do. She saved your life, and you're my family, Sol. You're practically my sister."

"Yeah, but I think it's a little more than that..." Sol smiled, not wanting to pry too much into Dreea's emotions, but wanting her to know that it was okay to talk about those things with her. "You got her debt on your skin, after all. How many do you have other than that? Just mine, Kodiak's, Wynn's, Fenn's, Aeryn's and Joren's - the least out of everyone in Basilisk."

"She kept you alive at Targo," Dreea said. "And she helped us bring you back to us. If it wasn't for her answering Wynn's radio or agreeing to work with us, then you probably wouldn't be here right now."

"Wynn's radio?" Sol asked. "What do you mean?"

Dreea dropped her head, smiling softly as she played it out in her head, almost forgetting for a moment the current state between Sol and Wynn.

"He was the one who created the plan to get you out of The City," she said. "He'd been planning for weeks on his own, trying to make it faultless before he approached us with it. We found out about it, secured the alliance with Riders, and were ready to cross the DeadLands to find you. I think he found your old radio and called Aeryn's old one in the hopes that you still had it, but I don't think he was really expecting a reply. He spoke to you, just for his own comfort, and then Chessca replied. She heard everything and obviously realised how much he loved-"

"Okay," Sol cut her off, not feeling strong enough to hear it. She looked down at her hands - still intertwined with Chessca's - not realising that she was lying beside her, having heard most of the conversation.

"Dreea's right," Chessca murmured, her voice weak as both Sovereign's snapped their heads in her direction. "He really does love you."

"Chess!" Sol exclaimed, leaning down and holding tightly onto her, too afraid to let go until the reality sunk in that she was awake. Her words went completely over her head, but Sol knew that once everything had calmed down, she wouldn't be able to get them out of her mind.

"You're okay. I'm right here. You're safe."

Sol gradually pulled away, her eyes full of fear as she scanned her up and down, trying to determine wether or not she was in pain or not.

"W-what happened?" She croaked out, sitting up slightly with the help of Sol adjusting her pillows. She looked past her to see Dreea walking over with Fenn, more relieved than she realised that she was there, too.

"You don't remember?" Sol asked, looking behind her at the others in mutual concern.

Chessca shook her head. "Should I? Did something bad happen? Is that why I'm in here?"

"We don't know either," Dreea sighed, taking a seat on the edge of Chessca's bed. "When we reached you and Riders, you were in shock. You couldn't tell us what happened-"

"Riders? I was with Riders?"

Sol nodded, squeezing on her hand to remind her that she was right at her side and that despite what had happened to her, she was safe now.

"You um... You told them about the flood."

Chessca shook her head, her eyes filling up with tears, aware of what that would mean for not only the Sovereigns, but the people of Basilisk. "No. I didn't... I'd never do that to you guys-"

"You did, but it's okay," Sol consoled her, nodding reassuringly to let her know that there was no blame. "We know you didn't do it willingly. No one is angry at you at all."

"But Riv, I didn't do anything! I didn't see Diego or tell him anything-"

"If someone is threatening you into telling them, then you can tell me who it is. Okay? I'll make sure you're safe. I'll make sure someone is with you at all times. No matter what they've said they'll do to you or what will happen, I'll make sure you're safe."

"Riv, I swear I have no clue what's going on. I don't even remember what happened before I woke up here. I returned from camp after we left with Bas and Atlantis. That's it. That's all I know."
"Okay. I believe you," Sol told her, guiding Chessca to lie back down as she could see she was getting panicked. "We're going to get to the bottom of this. We'll figure out what's happening."

Chessca nodded, not resisting Sol's attempts and lying her down, and clutching desperately onto both of her hands.

"I won't ever leave your side, Chess." 

Four // Part Four
You're practically my sister.

13/08/20