KEREN

His knees rumbled with the wheels of the transport. It burned his bones with each little pothole to send him careening into pain with every bounce, but it never woke Kellzoro from his forced slumber. Tears clogged his nose when he shuffled over in a rest of the cruel jolting. His hands found his shoulders at another rock of the transport. "Ethan, I don't want to go home. I wanted to stay at the cottage. I didn't mean to..." Images burned into his head at the Suit grabbing his brother to knock him out. I shouldn't have reacted... I should've hid my cards better. Maybe Ethan wouldn't have... wouldn't have had reason to...

He slept.

He wrapped both his hands around Ethan's forearm for any sort of support and swayed with the transport with every road it turned onto and bumped with. It dripped with his imagination of a ship's turbulence when he closed his eyes and wings spread out to catch the air, to fly him higher and higher from the planet's surface to meet the stars. Model ships grew into the real version, waiting for pilots. His fingers dug into Ethan's arm as it purred instead of rumbled. Flight. Freedom. He nudged his knees closer into Ethan's side. Why can't we fly?

It drew out into agonizing minutes as water dried and cracked along his skin and tightened into a burn in his chest to scorch his heart. One more bump made him grab Ethan's shoulders to keep them both steady from the cruel callousness of the unseen road. I don't know what to do... The last bump sent his brow into his brother, to hold him close for the stability of family. He dared close his eyes to the humming lull of the transport.

He lifted his head from the heaviness when Ethan shifted. "Kellzoro?"

Ethan stirred with a wince and a confused, rapid-fire blink.

A cold ember sliced open his throat when he hugged him. "I'm sorry..." He allowed his tears to slip down his cheeks when he buried in warmth and Ethan returned his embrace. "What do we do?" He choked. "Can you get up? Can you sit up, Kellzoro?"

Ethan shook his head and closed his eyes once more.

"Say something?"

"Something..." his Tersilian came out a weary whisper.

He wanted to hit him, scream, laugh and cry all at once, and to his own dismay, he chose the absolute latter. Tears exploded down his face as he scrambled around the shaking transport, trapped on all sides with only the rumble of the wheels to alert him to the truth of movement. Vomit swilled into his throat and threatened to spill past his lips at all the truths and the sandy foundation slipping through his fingers. Mother's last smile, her promise to talk to Ethan, for them to all talk. His fingers dug into his eyelids as he tried to strangle his own sobbing with his tongue. It tightened closer and the rumbling sent further acid to join the swill as he stumbled to another corner, wanting to find a way out of the trap. Lungs ready to burst, he tried to claw them free of his ribcage as he tore at his shirt, biting down on the collar to rip it with his teeth.

"Keren."

Ethan held his hand out, a sense of strained helplessness carving lines through his brow, making him older than he truly was at seventeen. He released the pressure on his clothes to dig his fingers into the bottom of the transport bed, longing to make the tips of his fingers bleed. It gave him no sense of satisfaction to bounce his brow off the bottom, even with the resounding smack of skin. Clumps of hair tangled between his fingers when he tried to pull them out.

Shuffling tore him from his pain.

Ethan wriggled from head to toe, then a layer of metal resolve filled his expression. On one side, he dragged his hand underneath himself to settle himself on his stomach. Sweat sprinkled on his brow when he dragged himself up off both arms, up straight though with his hand holding onto the side of the transport. Another rumble almost sent Ethan facefirst back into the blankets, but he tore himself out of them with his knees. Ethan eyed him, then used the next movement to wrap his arms around him, tucking him close.

"You don't need to worry about that," Ethan mumbled. "I'll take care of you. No matter what happens. I will be here."

"I'm sorry," Keren sobbed and held onto him. "Ethan, you shouldn't be... I'll stop crying—I'm sorry—"

Ethan's vibrations stopped when he squeezed him tighter. "Don't apologise."

Keren sniffed and held onto his brother's impossible strength, where he dragged himself up from the throes of forced exhaustion to hold onto his weakness. His tears fell along his cheeks, freezing into icechips when it eased out of his lungs and gave him back his breath. "Ethan..."

"I'm fine," Ethan insisted with a whisper. "It was just a vitamask, Keren. I'll be better when I get more sleep, but I'm fine now." His hand brushed the back of his head. "We'll get home... and I want you to get some rest." Keren winced when Ethan held him out at elbow length, but he wore Mother's expression. "I need you to get some rest, I can figure stuff out."

Keren nodded and wiped off his tears. "I just wished we could stay at the cottage, Ethan..."

Anger fluttered the exhaustion in Ethan's eyes when his fingers dug deeper into his collarbone. "I know. I'm sorry for putting you through that, Keren. I won't let it happen again." He patted his cheek. "We'll get out of this transport."

"Please don't do anything—"

Ethan gave him a small, but gentle shake. "Just listen to me."

Keren nodded and tried not to lose the tempo in his lungs. "Okay."

Ethan echoed his motion with his own sense of desperation and panic. "I'm okay."

"You're okay..." It caught a burr in his lungs and he fought the urge.

Ethan brought a hand between them to squeeze the air in front of him, motioning for him to follow the tempo. One breath for each squeeze in an up and down motion. Ethan followed along with him, even when the truck rumbled to a stop, even when his lungs hitched and betrayed him. Ethan clung on tighter and continued the comforting motion, the steady ballooning of air. Doors slammed, and Keren tried to follow along. Footsteps scrunched and voices sounded on the other side, and his heartbeat hammered in his throat and made it harder to follow Ethan's noiseless direction.

It dug in fear, but Ethan never gave up on him.

He wanted to give up.

What do we do without Mother? What should I do? What's going to happen? Thoughts jumbled and danced between his temples when he held onto Ethan's other hand, who tried to keep the tempo going without taking his eyes off him.

It evened out in his chest the more he followed the new beat of breath.

Until there was nothing left of the knives slicing into his lungs.

A lock hissed open when Ethan gave him a tired smile, shuffling closer to the door until he stood on his feet.

Light shone in, but he continued to follow the unseen motions.

A hard crack made him turn.

Rage billowed out of Ethan's face, nostrils flared with his hand like a whip across their jailor's face. Jozten widened his eyes at the other Suit. Ethan slipped to the ground, putting his body in front of Keren and the Suits. Ethan reached forward to nudge him out of the truck. Back on solid land, he resisted the urge to press his cheek into the lawn, but he pressed it into Ethan's arm instead as he scowled at the Suits.

"I don't need the escort, I can talk to Father fine on my own," he snapped with a shake on his knees when one of them approached to steady him.

He shouldn't be up... I shouldn't have pushed him... I shouldn't have cried. I'm sorry. It's okay, you told me, why can't you sit down too?

Ethan tugged him into the empty house, and he half expected Mother to move from the living room or kitchen to greet them, but he choked at her lack of presence in the shadows. Jozten and the other Suit followed them, but Ethan continued to keep a distance between them and Father's associates. "I'll be sure to mention your method of getting us home, Jozten."

"Feel free to tell him. I was only following his express orders." Jozten's expression flattened. "It was he who said to bring you both home, and if one of you refused to cooperate; by force if necessary. It is dangerous out in the city. We do not know if our usual locations are being watched, but you can bring that up with him. Let's go, Ketal. We've got to get back to North Park." He left out the door they entered through, with Ketal, the other Suit, falling in step behind him.

The door slammed, and he longed for Mother or Chalen to open it again.

Ethan grumbled and grabbed onto both his shoulders. "Keren, look at me."

Too trained on the emptiness on his brother's face.

"Look at me."

Keren looked at him.

"Go to bed," Ethan whispered. "I need to talk to Father."

"Maybe we should both talk to him...? Explain what happened?" Though, a sense of dread swallowed him at the idea of facing down Father in his office which smelled of smoke and stale air.

Ethan shook his head. "No. Let me handle it. Okay?" He tapped his cheek. "Just... go to bed, and we'll talk tomorrow. I'll call your school and tell them you need to take a couple days off."

Keren jolted when Ethan let him go. "But—" He gave up, unable to stomach the thought of happiness, the laughter, and the gossip of his classmates. "Okay... thank you, Ethan."

"Just for a couple days," Ethan told him. "Make sure your sound suppressor panel is on for your room. Just in case those quacks come back and cause a fuss." A strained smile tugged on the corners of his cheeks, but the emptiness returned in his eyes. "I'll come wake you up when we've both had enough rest."

Keren nodded and stifled his last tears when Ethan crawled up the staircase with sluggish intent, leaving to confront Father all alone. Keren swung on his heels and wandered the living room. Stars glimmered, and distant ships flew between them. His heart swelled with wings, but shattered hope tore them apart, grounded to the planet with no wings or knowledge on ships save for his building models. He tucked his fingers and traced the gaps to feel his own skin. I don't even think I can sleep, but if... if it helps.

He scrambled up to the second landing, where a terse argument oozed out from behind the closed office door. Into the false safety of his own room, he closed the door and opened up the panel beside it, setting the muffling shield to full percent as Ethan requested him to do. Words lodged in his throat, but he refused to disobey his older brother, wandering to his bed, kneeling beside it. He raised his covers to reveal his old toddler toy with his cubes and its funny sounds that made Mother laugh. He dropped his blankets to hide it before crawling into bed, sitting there with the muffled sounds of the outside alerting him to what transpired in the house.

Why did Ethan want me to turn it on? Mother only ever had me do that when Father's... acquaintances came around, and Ethan listened on the step. He tucked his hands in his lap.

What... What does Ethan not want me to hear?