Chapter Text
“They should’ve been back by now!”
Melanie paced, striding from one end of the small room to the other. She moved harshly, her steps coming down heavily on the cave floor. Purple dust coated her worn shoes, kicked up by her quick motions. Her brown hair twisted out with each rough turn she made in her circuit. Melanie’s features, normally relaxed or convivial, were now marred with frustration and fear. Her lips turned down into a grimace and her brows pinched. She cast a quick glance over to the only other occupant of the room and exhaled harshly at the lack of change in the other’s countenance.
“How can you just sit there? Aren’t you worried?” Melanie almost snarled the questions, turning a dark gaze on her subject.
Wanderer’s lips thinned, a slight sigh escaping her as she met Melanie’s glare. Melanie held her gaze for a brief moment before huffing and resuming her pacing. Wanderer continued to watch the human’s agitated steps, giving a small shake of her head. Melanie’s incessant movements were becoming borderline irritating. Despite continuous reassurances, Melanie refused to settle. Wanderer understood Melanie’s apprehension; she shared in it, though with less vehemence. Still, considering the circumstances, she could not deny some concern was warranted.
Jared, Ian, Jamie, and Brandt had left a week ago on a small supply run. One of the cave tunnels had unexpectedly caved in, resulting in the injury of six of the hideout’s residents. No one had been killed and thankfully rescuing them had been relatively simple, but several injuries had been sustained, severely depleting their stock of No Pain, Clean, Seal, and Heal. The raiding party had been sent out to replenish the dwindling medical supplies. The trip should have taken a few days, a week at most.
It had been two weeks without any sign of them.
Everyone in the complex was on edge, but none more so than Melanie. Unfortunately, Melanie was the one individual who needed to remain calm. Wanderer was normally a staple to the raiding parties, regardless of the size. As Jared had suspected, her new body did indeed make raiding easier than ever before. Wanderer never received any suspicion with her soft features, youthful face, and blonde tresses. However, she had remained in the caves this time, at Jared’s request.
Melanie was expecting. The baby had been unplanned; Jared and Melanie had agreed they did not want to bring a child into a world where they and the rest of their race lived as fugitives on their own home planet. The news that Melanie was pregnant had been greeted with mixed reactions. Many of the caves’ inhabitants rejoiced, while others feared the complications of a pregnancy and newborn child. Jared’s reaction had been mixed in itself; he was initially resistant to the idea. While Melanie had been hesitant at first, she had quickly come to the decision she wanted to have the child. After her desire had been known and firmly expressed, Jared had ceased his arguments, though it had taken months for the resistance to leave his eyes. The day Melanie had pulled Jared aside and pressed his hand to her swelled stomach, the light flutter of new life pushing against his palm, Jared’s entire demeanor and attitude changed. The anxiety about the baby that had been ever present on his face transformed to anxiety for the baby. Melanie was seven months along now and with the progression of her pregnancy, Jared’s pragmatism and rationale had been steadily decreasing. While seven months was not typically a number to worry over, Doc had expressed his concern that the stressful nature of living in the caves would bring about an early labor and birth. With the potential of the baby coming early, Jared had begged Wanderer to stay behind with Melanie. Melanie and Wanderer had both argued that it was illogical for Wanda to stay behind, but Jared had been resolute that he and the others could go alone just once – after all, they had pulled off dozens of successful raids before Wanderer’s arrival. When Wanda had argued that she wasn’t even a Healer and would be of little help should the need arise, Jared had responded that as a soul she knew best how to get Melanie help from the other souls if complications occurred that Doc’s skills and available equipment could not handle. When it was argued that Candy would likely be able to bridge any gaps in knowledge from Doc, Jared’s rebuttal was that Candy ultimately was not a soul. Finally, Melanie and Wanda had relented to the impending new father’s heightened protective instincts and Wanda had agreed to remain behind, although she and Melanie had concurred privately that Jared may have lost all common sense.
Another exasperated noise drew Wanderer’s attention back to Melanie’s agitated form. Wanda frowned; in her condition, Melanie really should be trying to keep her stress levels low. She stood and stepped into Melanie’s path, holding a hand out to halt her sister’s pacing.
“Melanie, calm down. I’m sure they’re fine. They’ve been late before.”
Melanie shook her head in frustration.
“Not this late. They’ve been gone two weeks!” she exclaimed.
“They’ve been gone an extra week before.” Wanda stated with a frown. Again Melanie shook her head.
“Sure, but those have been on longer raids. Ones that are supposed to take a few weeks at minimum. They’ve never been gone twice the length of the estimated time. And they were going to one of the facilities! Those are more dangerous. You know they are! Ugh, aren’t you worried?!” Melanie finished her brief tirade with another frustrated pivot, stalking back to the far wall. Her respiration was picking up, her face tightening further in stress.
“Of course I’m worried, but Mel, you have to calm down! You know it isn’t good for you or the baby to be stressed like this. Doc already worries that the natural stress of living in the caves may have an adverse effect.” Wanda attempted to reason. Melanie turned on her friend.
“Wanda, I can’t calm down! You don’t know if something has happened to them! What if Jared or Jamie or Ian don’t come home? Especially Jared! I can’t lose him, especially not now!” Melanie replied, on the verge of hysteria.
Wanda opened her mouth to attempt to assuage Melanie’s fears when a commotion reached their ears. Melanie whirled to face the doorway, listening intently as the sound of voices steadily increased in volume. Hardly sparing a glance at Wanda, Melanie took off like a shot, Wanda scrambling to keep up with her friend. Despite being seven months pregnant, Melanie could move with an impressive speed. Wanda struggled to keep up with Melanie’s long legs, her shorter stature not affording her the same long strides. They soon quickly came to the cave entrance, where the rest of the human population was gathering.
“They’re back!” Melanie exclaimed joyfully, dashing into the crowd as best she could. Wanda smiled as she followed, eager to see Ian. As they came closer to the front of the crowd, Melanie slowed, a small frown gracing her features as the snippets of conversation became clearer.
“Jared, what are we going to do? We can’t risk him leading a Seeker here.” Doc was saying.
“I know, I know Doc! I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what—” Jared’s voice, sounding stressed, echoed next. He was quickly cut off.
“We’re sitting ducks! We have to evacuate; we can’t take the risk!” Maggie’s tone was dark, aggressive, and determined.
“Now hold on. Let’s just all settle down. We can’t do anything yet anyway; we need the full story first. Somebody go and get Melanie and Wanda.” Jeb’s voice sounded next.
“No!” Jared cut in; his voice held a tinge of fear. “Not Wanda, I don’t know what we’re supposed to tell her! We need to—”
“Jared, it’s too late. They’re already here.” Jamie’s voice, subdued, saddened. Wanda frowned at the tone, a sense of dread creeping through her.
Melanie managed to break through the crowd and made a bee line for Jared. Jared’s face reflected his tone, taunt lines of stress pulling his features tight. Upon seeing Melanie, he relaxed marginally, quickly opening his arms for her. Melanie dashed to him, plastering herself against him and burying her face in his shoulder. Wanda hung back, gazing at the party that had returned. Jared. Jamie. Brandt. Jared. Jamie. Brandt. Wanda felt her breath leave her, counting quickly again. Jared. Jamie. Brandt. Striking blue eyes, a tall profile, Wanda’s whole world, was missing from the returned raiders. Wanda froze, struggling to intake a breath, her mind racing. She counted the figures again. A distressed noise escaped her, drawing the attention to her form which had begun trembling. Wanda swallowed, swallowed again. Finally, her voice shaking, she uttered the question no one in the raiding party wanted to answer.
“Wh-where is Ian?”