Work Text:
From my perch on the tree, I could see Tom's Yeerk walk my brother's body from the cabin, holding the portable Yeerk pool in one hand. He stopped near a cluster of trees, far enough from the cabin that there was little chance of Tom being heard if he began to scream for help.
I hoped Tom would resist. The first time we invaded the Yeerk Pool was over a year ago. He'd been furious as soon as his Yeerk left his head. Even went up against Visser Three.
But when I'd been infested by his first Yeerk, he'd shown me that Tom had stopped fighting. All he wanted was for his total slavery to end-even if that meant dying.
Had I not been in my owl morph, I was sure my heart would have been racing out of control. The Yeerk lowered Tom's body to the ground, opened the portable pool, and placed his head in the neck clamp.
As soon as the slug left Tom's head, I knew. Not just because I saw it fall into the sludge, but because my older brother began to pull his head against the neck restraint. Hoping against hope he could break free.
Steph and Priton didn't hesistate. They demorphed, walked over, and removed the slug from the pool. For a second, I wondered if they'd kill Tom's Yeerk, but they just pressed the button to release Tom. I hardly had time to register Steph placing the Yeerk back into the sludge when they spoke.
"Jake?" Steph, or maybe it was Priton, called out.
I flew down, having seen the whole thing with my owl eyes. Had I been human at the time, my heart would have been beating outside of my chest. Just like that, they had saved my older brother. Removed the Yeerk who had been controlling my older brother from the makeshift Yeerk Pool, pressed the button to release the clamp around his head, and now, for the first time in ages outside of the Yeerk Pool, Tom could move by himself. It had to be a lot to process.
As I demorphed from my owl morph, I could hardly focus on the changes. I just wanted to hold my older brother, to wrap him in the world's biggest bear hug and, then, apologize like crazy for letting him live as a slave inside his head for what must have been more than two years.
We hugged each other fiercely. Before the war, we'd been close, but not the hugging type. Not since Tom became a teenager. Too cool, too adult, to give those voluntarily.
"All this time," Tom was saying, releasing me, but still holding me at arms length, "the Yeerks have no idea..."
"Yeah, that's kind of the point," Steph/Priton said from their spot on the ground, now packing up the portable Yeerk Pool. They held the Yeerk Pool-which just looked like an ordinary briefcase-towards Tom, who was too busy studying me-and I him-to notice much. They coughed, and Tom reluctantly let go of me.
"Here," Priton/Steph said, holding the case out to Tom, who just stared at it.
Was Tom having some trouble figuring out what Priton meant? He'd been a slave in his head for maybe two years. Definitely more than one. There had to be some lasting effects...
"Someone might notice if you came with a giant briefcase and then left without it," they explained, softly. After Tom took hold of it, Priton spoke to me. "If you guys are good, we'll see you in a couple days. We can, uh, talk about what's next when you're back in civilization."
"Yeah. Okay." I was glad he wasn't going to stick around. With Erek not there to cast a hologram, they'd have to hide or stay in morph. "Thank you, Priton. Really."
Priton just nodded, so we headed towards the house. I was relieved to see that Tom could manage walking. Then, as though changing his mind suddenly, he stopped.
"Can we-let's stay outside," Tom suggested. "For now?"
"Sure." I would have agreed to almost anything. "Where do you want to go?"
He turned his head slightly, then a little more. "How about there? We can see if anyone's approaching."
I frowned slightly. "Do you think there are other Controllers here?"
"No." His voice sounded different than I was used to. Or, than how the Yeerk portrayed Tom. It was almost emotionless. "I doubt it," he amended. "Still..."
"Right." I nodded. "Better safe than sorry."
A part of me wished Marco had stayed behind. He was more observant, sometimes. Certainly would be, now. Less emotionally involved. I was still flying high that Tom was free. He'd be more aware of the details.
But Steph couldn't drive, and the two hour limit meant it would be risky for Marco to hang around. Besides, while we'd gone more than a day without sleep before, there wasn't a real reason for that this time.
We sat down in the area that was far enough to the woods to hide us, but visible enough for us to see if anyone was heading our way. We could speak freely. I braced myself for his anger. Especially since we'd been fighting the Yeerks for over a year, and it was only now that we'd been able to free him.
Suddenly, I felt a little scared. Not of Tom, not really, but what he was thinking of me.
"Tom," I began, my voice cracking.
It was as though he'd read my mind. He put an arm around my shoulders. I took several deep breaths.
"I'm so sorry."
Tom stared, almost blankly. "For what?"
"Taking so long." I turned to him. "You should have been free at least a year ago."
"A year?" I expected his eyebrows to furrow, but he just stared. "Yeah, I guess it was that long since Visser Three was going on about the Andalite bandits."
"We tried. The first time at the pool." I took another breath. "When we couldn't...especially after we destroyed the Kandrona, I knew they'd kill anyone who got free."
Unless we fled the country, maybe. But Tom's Yeerk was high ranking. And I was the leader of the resistance.
Sometimes, I hated Elfangor for putting the fate of the planet in the hands of a few kids.
"I get it, Midget. If I was free, there'd be problems for all of us." Tom squeezed my shoulder. "I'm proud of you."
"Really?"
He pulled me into another hug. "Really. Even if you're still a midget."
"I'm still growing!" I protested, laughing.
Tom tousled my hair. "So am I. Midget."
I leaned into him, relaxed. No one could see, and besides, I'd just gotten my older brother back.
"What happens after we get back?" he asked, slowly. "Fake my death or something?"
I sighed, then ran a hand through my hair. "Let's not worry about that for the next few days." I paused, then added, "You'll have choices that don't involve being a slave inside your head."
"This would have been pointless if that was your end goal," he deadpanned.
This time, I thought it might be intentional.
After a moment, Tom stared down at the briefcase. Opened it, looked inside at the grey slug. "Hard to believe that thing imprisoned me for a year."
It looked so harmless, swimming around in the water. Ugly as hell, sure, but harmless.
"What do you want to do with it?" I asked.
"I want to kill it," Tom began, slowly, "but my Yeerks killed enough living creatures with my body. Almost makes me want to go vegetarian. Almost." He made a slight laughing sound. "I don't know."
"We don't have to kill it," I promised. "It's not like he can hurt you from there."
"The slug's probably confused as hell. Maybe thinks he's been captured." He stared at the Yeerk, who'd taken to...swimming laps, maybe? Or whatever passed for that in the pool. "I wonder if there's a way to probe him for information?"
"We can ask Steph and Priton when we get back." I squeezed his shoulder. "If you want to keep him alive, that's up to you, Tom. You're the only one who has that right."
"We could probe him, then toss him back in the pool. This one," Tom added. Laughing harshly, he added, "It's more freedom he ever gave me."
"What's his name?"
"Fillis Two-Eight-Six." Tom closed the briefcase. Yeerk pool.
Whatever.
"You have a lot to fill me in on, Jake." Tom stared at me blankly, but there was the glimmer of something in his eyes.
Humor. I hoped.
"Sure," I promised, immediately.
"So, do you have friends in the Peace Movement? Even though Priton's not part of it?" Tom queried.
"Kind of. You heard of Aftran?" I asked. "Visser Three took her into custody a few months ago," I added, in case this jogged his memory.
Tom nodded, adjusting his stance so he was leaning against a wide tree. "Fillis heard she escaped with the help of the Andalite Bandits. Then starved."
"Replace 'Andalite Bandits' with 'Animorphs' and slash the second sentence." I laughed. This felt so unreal. "Except it was just Cassie. Everyone else caught the flu from Ax."
"Ax?"
"His name is Aximili, but that's kind of a mouthful, so we call him Ax. He's the only Andalite. Actually, he's Elfangor's little brother." I took a breath, but also used the opportunity to study Tom. His face was blank.
"And there's Steph and Priton, but they're not Peace Movement?" Tom went on.
Okay. Even if his facial expressions weren't...normal...he was following what I was saying. That was good.
"Yeah. Steph joined us after we'd been on a couple of handfuls of-well, we call them, 'missions.' She wasn't a Controller, at first. Got infested by Priton, who somehow decided it made more sense for him to fight with us than turn us in for a promotion. We didn't learn the truth until after meeting Aftran. Fortunately, he and Steph were friends by then," I went on. "She had a little girl as a host, but agreed to free her. Long story. Anyway, now, she mostly hangs out in Priton's pool, except when we have meetings, and then she infests Cassie. They're friends."
"Anyone else?" Tom queried.
"Illim. Mr. Tidwell's Yeerk," I explained. "But he's more recent, and as only Cassie has class with him of us, she's pretty much the only one who talks to him."
Tom snorted. "Wonder if Illim can do anything about his teaching abilities?" At what must have been my blank stare, he added, "I had him for two years. Before getting infested. He wasn't the worst teacher, but up there."
It was my turn to laugh. "Cassie hasn't complained. But we've had bigger problems than that."
"Including living with a Controller."
Tom reached out, pulled me next to him, then put an arm around my shoulders. It took a lot not to break down.
"I hated that I couldn't free you until now," I managed to get out. "I hated myself for leaving you as a slave..."
The tears began to fall. It was dark, so maybe Tom couldn't see them. He just wrapped another arm around me, pulling me close. I could almost hear his heartbeat.
We stayed like that for some time.
Finally, he let go, and I just leaned against him. "Thanks."
"No problem." He squeezed my shoulders. "I don't blame you. But," Tom added, glancing at me, then the pool, "I need to know what happens after we get back. I can't fake being infested forever. Not in Sharing meetings. And some other Yeerk could take me at the pool. Then..."
Death or infestation for everyone. We'd be worse off than we were before.
"Do you really want to talk now?" I asked, wishing he'd say no.
"Yes," Tom insisted.
"The easiest choice is to go with Aftran. But that's not the only one," I rushed on. "There's the Chee, or the Hork-Bajir valley. Both are hidden."
Tom sighed. "But Aftran's the easiest one. Let her in my head, and join the Peace Movement through her."
I watched Tom as he spoke. His voice wasn't always the same, but mostly, it sounded void of expression. And his facial muscles didn't seem to work. Like they'd atrophied. I reminded myself it could be a lot worse. Tom could have lost complete control of his body. Aftran, through Cassie, had warned that this happened on occasion. Not to voluntary hosts. I guessed the free time they had while their Yeerks fed, and maybe the fact that they didn't feel the need to fight, gave them enough leg room to stay in tune with their bodies. But some involuntaries, always humans, would give up entirely. The guards would have to carry them back to the pier.
Tom could move, could walk, could carry and open the pool. He could hold a conversation with me. It was just his face and voice tone that didn't quite work.
He was right, too. The easiest thing would be to take on Aftran. Not only could she probably help him become himself again when he was in control, it meant a direct, active link to the Peace Movement. Meant we also had a greater link to The Sharing than we had with Erek, because Tom's Yeerk was higher up.
But...to become a Controller again? Even to a decent Yeerk who would share control? Tom would see it as going back to living in a unending nightmare.
"Aftran is the easiest option," I agreed, "but it's not the only one."
"Okay."
We head to the house. Mom gently scolded us for being out so late, but Dad intervened.
"I'm just glad you stopped fighting us, Tom. Even if you have to do work for The Sharing," he added, nodding at the briefcase.
"I helped," I lied, by way of excuse. "We're mostly finished, right?"
"Mostly," Tom agreed, managing a small smile.
"Well, you boys better get to bed. We have a long few days ahead of us," Mom relented.
If my parents noticed that Tom seemed different during the next couple of days, they were too preoccupied to say anything. We tried to stay out of their way as much as possible, mostly because of this. I reminded myself that it could have been a lot worse. Tom could move his body, could communicate. Sure, he'd take a few seconds to respond, and when he did, his face seemed to freeze except for his mouth. He also often spoke in a deadpan manner.
To the visitors, the fellow mourners who'd never met Tom, they could have come up with any number of reasons for this. Grief. Being emo. A teenager too cool for family gatherings and rebelling. A new teenage trend.
They likely had more important things to worry about.
In the evenings, we went outside. Tom preferred the relative privacy of the woods, and the break from being with people. I didn't much mind either.
He wanted to know about my life as an Animorph. I tried not to freak him out too much. Told him about flying, swimming and breathing underwater, the power of being able to travel hundreds of yards faster than any human. I told him about the animal instincts, and how we'd decided early on not to morph any sentient being without their consent.
"It's too close to being a Yeerk," I explained. "They're still there, outside of us, but we're using their identity."
Tom nodded. "I get that. If you don't ask, it's a violation. Animals can't give consent, so it doesn't matter with making a copy of them. Especially if it means almost all of them won't be killed."
"Yeah. The Yeerk empire kills almost all life that their hosts don't need to survive," I said, bitterly.
I half expected Tom to ask me how I knew this, but he didn't. Probably figured Ax had told us.
I wasn't ready to tell him I'd been a Controller for three days. With his first Yeerk, no less. Someday, sure. Maybe. Not now. Mere days into his freedom.
"Tell me about Aftran," he requested, the last night.
"Cassie would know more than me. She's had her in her head during our meetings," I pointed out. "They're friends."
"And you saved her from Visser Three. That's a point in her favor," Tom added.
"Cassie did. The rest of us got sick from Ax's Yamphut infection," I protested. "Can't do much saving if you're stuck in bed."
Tom snorted. "Okay, okay. Still. You saved her-and not just because she had information on you."
"Well, yeah. I mean..." I was about to say that none of us except Cassie would let her into our heads without serious reservations, but how dumb would that be to say to Tom? Who'd had two Yeerks who would have killed us if the empire allowed it. "She was an ally, you know? And we could save her, or try to. So, we did."
"I don't want another Yeerk. I don't want to be a slave in my head." Tom spoke quietly. "You wouldn't know, Midget. You're not only totally powerless to move, the slug knows everything about you. He can get under your skin without even trying. You say Aftran isn't like that, or not anymore. But it's hard to take your word on it."
I squeezed his hand. "I get it. You don't have to take her on, Tom. We can figure something else out."
"But you want me to. Because a Peace Movement Yeerk with a host like me is the perfect spy."
Marco would have been blunt. Said that even if Tom could have pulled off acting like his Yeerk indefinitely, it was still a huge risk. But that Tom was in no way acting normal, nor could he get there in under three days. Not that it was his fault. Regardless of whether either of his Yeerks tortured him for fun (I got the distinct sense from Temrash that he hadn't found it necessary, as all hosts gave up fighting over time-and I didn't know anything about Tom's second Yeerk), the time as a slave showed. Maybe, if Tom had been infested by a Yeerk from the Peace Movement from the beginning, or by a Yeerk like Priton, it wouldn't have mattered as much. But, then, we wouldn't be in this situation. In any event, a part of me wondered if my parents would talk about making Tom see a psychiatrist by the end of this weekend.
"There are other options," I said, evasively, "but the Peace Movement is the easiest one."
Tom sighed. "Decent Yeerk or not, I'd hate to go back to being a slave in my head."
"It wouldn't be all the time. She'd let you have control," I offered.
"For how long? An hour or two a day?" he pressed.
I had no answers. No definitive ones, anyway.
"She freed her other host for the sake of peace between her and Cassie. And, with the exception of for an hour or so whenever we need to meet as a group, Aftran doesn't have a host. I'm pretty sure she thought she'd be blind and helpless for the rest of her life. So, she wouldn't make you like that," I concluded.
Tom sighed. "Maybe. We can put this off until we get back to civilization, right?"
"Definitely."
It was too late to head to Erek's when we got home. Had it just been me, I could have snuck out, but Tom wasn't morph capable. It would have to wait until after school-for me. Tom stayed at home while my dad went to work and my mom did her writing from home. Hopefully, she wouldn't force Tom to interact with her too much.
School dragged on, as usual. I told the others not to come to Erek's with us. Tom didn't need the pressure, not even from Cassie. If it came down to it, she could show up later. But I was pretty sure that Tom needed the space to decide on his own, maybe take Aftran for a test drive.
"Who's this Erek, anyway?" Tom asked, as I drove.
I'd been a little worried about letting him, because of the whole being a Controller since a little after he got his license, and I had a permit. Probably, it was illegal for me to be alone in the car with an eighteen year old-I hadn't paid enough attention to the details in Driver's Ed at school-but if everything worked out with Aftran-if Tom went with Aftran-they'd drive back. I just had to avoid being pulled over before then.
"An android. They're called the Chee. The creators were Pemalites, but this race called the Howlers killed them off. So, the Chee are nonviolent-they literally can't fight-but they love dogs, so they hate the Yeerks. Erek actually poses as a Controller. You'll meet him when we get back. He has a compartment in his head that can hold a Yeerk. But for the Yeerk, it's the other way around. He's the slave. Erek can produce Kandrona rays for him, so he'll live as long as the war goes on. They give us information," I concluded.
"Oh. Okay."
Since we were at a stoplight, I risked a look at Tom. Same blank expression. Same almost toneless voice.
I reminded myself it could be a lot worse.
We arrived at the King residence without getting pulled over by the cops, or even seeing a marked car on the road. I expected Erek to answer the door, but we were greeted by Steph/Priton.
"Don't freak out," they said, before we had a chancr to speak. "He's a friend."
Unnecessary as the warning was, I thought it was nice of them to give Tom the head's up about Erek, since I was sure he'd seen him around in Sharing meetings.
We headed to the kitchen table, Tom holding the briefcase/portable Yeerk Pool. He opened it to reveal his former slave master, still very much alive, swimming around in the sludgy pool.
Erek didn't react, but Steph/Priton cocked their head to the side. Evidently, they thought it would be empty.
"We thought we could use him," I explained. "You know, for Intel. You and Aftran said we could use someone on the inside, with his position and knowledge."
"True." They nodded. "Be easier to pass another Yeerk off as him if we actually knew what we were doing." He/she laughed a little. "I don't even know his name."
Guess we'd been talking to Priton, then.
Tom opened his mouth to speak, but Priton spoke again.
"I'm really not interested in knowing."
I almost laughed at the matter-of-fact way in which he said it.
"Is there a way to get information out of him?" I asked, instead. "I mean, it'd be pretty hard to interrogate him, but..."
I trailed off. Sure, I'd been a Controller for three days, but I knew nothing about probing Yeerks for intel.
Being probed...that was another story. And Tom even more. I took a step closer to him, wanting to show my support.
Priton made a noise like he was thinking it over. He was staring down at "our" pool on the table. "There are, they've just got varying degrees of effectiveness," he began. "Yeerk communication is... superficially mind read-y, you could say, but it's not like being in a host's brain. He can just hide what he doesn't want you to know." Priton shrugged. "Of course, there's always torture. The vissers get some mileage out of that. But I don't really know how to do that short of starving him into desperation-and we're flat out not doing that. I'm not real well-versed in torture," he said, almost quietly. "Don't really want to be."
"So...you think this is a bad idea," I translated.
"Didn't say that," Priton countered, mildly. "I'm just saying it's going to be hard to get what you want without also killing your information source."
Fair enough. Not that Tom or I would shed tears if the slug accidentally died...but we also wouldn't have any idea if what he'd revealed was true. And we'd have no way to confirm it.
Erek cleared his throat suddenly. "I could extract information from him." Erek turned to Tom as he went on. "I have a compartment specifically built to hold a Yeerk captive. It allows me to pass as a Controller. I can take information from him without giving any in return. He would have no control and no sensory input, but we could use him."
Maybe it was just me, but I could almost detect a smile from my big brother.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
"Just killing him would be a hell of a lot kinder," Priton muttered.
"I don't want to be kind to him," Tom spoke up.
Priton didn't say anything, just nodded a bit. He turned to Erek and asked, "Can you hold two Yeerks at once?"
Erek hesitated, and then said, "No. There's not enough room."
"Lucky we have an extra pool now, then," Priton said, almost smiling. "Speaking of which..."
I watched Tom, as did everyone else in the room. He just stared down at the two pools on the kitchen table. I almost expected him to start crying or, worse, run from the room. Instead, he repeated what he had told me.
"I don't want another Yeerk."
"No one here's going to make you do anything you don't want to do," Priton said, very gently.
A part of me wondered if he was like this with Steph. My only experience-Tom's only experiences-were Yeerks who, at best, used our minds and bodies without any regard to us. We were their puppets, plain and simple.
Of course, Aftran was different. She'd been willing to die for the cause of peace. Priton had been open about not being in the Peace Movement, but Steph had let him back in her head every three days. She had more choice than voluntary Controllers did, because she could change her mind without the Yeerks forcing her head in the pool.
"We can figure something else out," Priton went on, in that same gentle manner. "This is only our easiest option-it's not the only one."
The other option was to hide Tom. Fake his death, then have him live with the Chee or free Hork-Bajir. Each a type of prison, since he couldn't leave.
"I'm not saying no," Tom went on, to my surprise. "I just... I need to think about it."
Okay. Sure. We could do that.
"Sure." Priton held up my hands and took a step back, as if giving him space. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Erek move back too, while I stayed by Tom’s side. "We understand. And, for what it's worth, Aftran would understand."
Tom didn't answer. Priton backed up again, maybe wanting to make an exit, maybe just not wanting Tom to feel at all crowded. Pushed into something he'd come to hate us for.
"Priton, right?" Tom asked, slowly. At his nod, my brother went on. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure," he answered, without hesitation.
"Why would a Yeerk work with the 'Andalite Bandits'?"
It was a fair question. Would have been one thing if a Peace Movement Yeerk had grabbed Steph. Although, probably, such a thing wouldn't have entered their mind. Sure, Steph might have been able to convert a run of the mill Yeerk-except, she hadn't. I got the sense that Priton's views had been pretty clear before he'd taken her. Humans were sentient, some/most shouldn't be controlled against their will, or, at least, he hated the empire's way of doing things enough to be on our side. His motivations were somewhat unclear. But he did fight with us, and Steph was willingly keeping him in her head, and, together, they had information that could change how this war played out.
"Sometimes," Priton answered, "you do stupid things for the people you love."
Did he mean Steph? Or his former human? Or someone else entirely? Erek, who had also been carefully retreating from the kitchen, stopped and raised his eyebrows until he looked shocked.
"Shut up," Priton said, despite the fact that none of us had actually spoken.
Then, he left the room.
"Well. That was interesting," Erek commented.
I nodded, feeling dumbstruck.
We were silent for a few minutes. Then, there was the issue at hand to consider.
"Have either of you had Aftran in your head?" Tom asked.
I had to admit it-the idea freaked me out. I'd do it, for Tom, if it meant he could talk to her before being infested by her. But, honestly, this felt like a last resort.
"Cassie has. During our meetings," I offered.
"Maybe she could come by?" Tom asked, tonelessly.
I nodded. "We can check."
Really, we should have included her from the start. It had been no secret that Aftran could be Tom's new Yeerk. Might as well have the only person over who's had her in their head.
She showed up fifteen minutes later, wearing her morphing suit. Tom didn't bat an eyebrow, in part because I had thought to tell him about how we could only morph skintight clothes. Naturally, Cassie and Rachel pulled off the look better than us guys.
We filled her in, and, she gave Tom the rundown of her own experience. Then, to her credit, immediately offered to put Aftran in her head.
"So you can talk," she explained, simply.
"I'd like that. If you don't mind," Tom answered, still in that toneless manner.
"Of course." She glanced at the two pools. "Which one?"
I showed Cassie which portable pool contained Aftran, and without hesitating, she scooped her up and placed her to her ear.
I admit, I'd never seen her do this before. Sure, Cassie let Aftran in her head for our meetings, but as she resided in Priton's pool, the infestation took place beforehand. Watching her put a Yeerk in her head without so much as flinching made me a little uneasy. Maybe, even, a little sick. But Tom was watching, and, perhaps, seeing Cassie do so with such nonchalance would help him.
There was no change to her expression when Afran took over. Not that I'd expected it. I'd seen infestation before, and when it was with voluntary hosts, they came up from the pool looking the same.
I offered to give the two-really, three, but I didn't know how much talking Cassie would do, unless you counted Aftran transmitting her thoughts-of them some privacy. Erek and I left the kitchen, and I could only make out their voices from upstairs. A part of me wanted to check in on Steph and Priton, but they were just staring at the ceiling. Probably holding their own inner dialogue, and who was I to interrupt that?
Neither of us wore watches, but it must have been more than an hour before they joined us. I saw the difference in my brother immediately. Not only did his face look normal again, his stance had changed. I only just realized how rigid he'd been standing since we'd freed him. But he was back to himself-well, himself before being enslaved by a Yeerk.
"It's Aftran," he-she-confirmed. "Tom's agreed. Naturally, it will be a lot different this time around. We'll both be working for peace. And we're going to share control."
Tom's features changed, then, back to his vacant expression. "She's going to leave my head for an hour or so a day, too. So that you and I can check in. Like we had talked about."
I nodded, and his face and body reverted again. "Yes. I don't want him to feel at all like a slave. Not to me." Aftran took a deep breath. "I realize how important this is. Not just to have someone on the inside, but that you're trusting me with your brother. With his mind, too. I won't disappoint you."
I felt my own body relax. I knew Aftran couldn't help Tom heal overnight, but the fact that she saw it as part of her mission took another weight of my shoulders.
It was going to be okay.
Tom was going to be okay.
The End