Fic: Through the Dark
Title: Through the Dark
Pairings: Tyler Seguin & Jamie Benn; Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin
Summary: Sid opens the door, and his eyes catch the barest glimpse of a kid-- in his early teens, at the oldest-- this kid, all shaved head and big, doe-soft eyes. His knuckles are split and there's a fading bruise high on his left cheekbone, but he meets Sid's eyes squarely, blinking in the sudden light.
"Hi," Sid finds himself saying, almost inanely. "I'm Sidney Crosby. We're here to help."
Rating: Teen/PG-13
Words: 9152
Contains: previous child abuse (physical and emotional but not sexual), forced child labor, starvation, PTSD, minor character death (pre-fic and off-screen), hospitalization, disordered eating, multiple PoV, alternate universe- space, everything ends as well as it can, more explanation in end note
Betas: Holly and Giulia. Thank you for wrangling my tenses and make there be more feels.
Notes: So this mostly started because I got the mental image of a tiny semi-feral Tyler Seguin with a shaved head, and it rapidly became super fucked up and IN SPACE!! This is kind of weird, and definitely not what I intended my first foray into hockey RPF to be. If anyone wants to take a different part of this and run with it, go ahead! (Also, I am aware that not all of the ages are quite what they should be-- chalk it up to planets having different year-lengths.)
* * *
They're kids.
They're kids, and Sidney can't quite get over that. His uniform gloves are slippery on the metal locks that he has to fumble open over and over again, because there's just-- there are so many of them. He unlocks the doors, and Geno comes in after him, because if Sid looks inside the cages, he'll--
His hand twitches towards the plasma at his hip, because there are still men on the station who are in neat rows in the holding bay, cuffs around their wrists and they're just sitting there, where Sid could-- "Hey," Geno says, interrupting his thoughts. "Got this one. Next?"
Sid blinks and squeezes his hands into fists for a brief moment, and he steps on to the next cage, Geno and the rest of the health techs trailing behind him. There's noise coming from inside this one, and Sid bites the inside of his lip hard, until he tastes copper and has to blink the sting of tears from his eyes. He almost drops the key tags before sliding them past the lock. He opens the door, and his eyes catch the barest glimpse of a kid-- in his early teens, at the oldest-- this kid, all shaved head and big, doe-soft eyes. His knuckles are split and there's a fading bruise high on his left cheekbone, but he meets Sid's eyes squarely, blinking in the sudden light.
"Hi," he finds himself saying, almost inanely. "I'm Sidney Crosby. We're here to help."
The kid's name is Jamie, and he's got a brother on the third moon of Asos. He thinks he's fourteen, but that's all that Geno and the Med Techs can get out of him. Sid spares a moment to hope like hell that this is Jordie Benn's younger brother, because it'd been Jordie's comm a few months ago that had started the whole investigation, and if his brother's one of the tiny bodies they've found floating in one of the vac rooms-- well. Nothing he can do about it now, except make sure that this Jamie stays safe. Jamie glues himself to Sid like a shadow, following him through the now-empty corridors of the station. Sid thinks that it's maybe the uniform that's making the kid feel safe with him, because it's either that or Jamie's decided that Sid needs someone to follow him around. They've wrapped Jamie's knuckles and spread blue gel over the bruise on his face, but Jamie won't stay in bed, and they have more kids than there are beds. Jamie, at least, can stand up and move around on his own.
They're walking past the engine rooms when Jamie pauses, swaying a little. He closes his eyes and tips his head to the side, humming something that sounds like a lullabye. Sid thinks that maybe this is it, that they've lost Jamie, too, but Jamie just shakes his head and blinks, reaching up to tug on Sid's sleeve. "One more down there," he says in his soft, rough voice, pointing into the shadows of the engine room.
Sid takes him at his word, following Jamie down a twisting route through the room. It's hot inside, almost stifling, and Sid runs a finger inside the collar of his uniform, pulls it away to try to catch a breeze. Jamie's quick and light on his feet, though, and it's difficult for Sid to follow him. When he catches up to Jamie, the kid is sitting in front of a cage just like the one he'd been in, talking quickly and quietly. There's no movement or sound from inside the box, and Sid runs the key tags over the lock one more time.
He reaches for the handle, but Jamie catches his hands, pulls them down. "He bites," Jamie says, and Jesus. Jamie opens the door a crack and shoves three fingers through it, and Sid almost pulls him back, because Jamie just told him that this kid bites, but Jamie seems to be unscathed. "It's okay," Jamie says, and he starts humming that lullabye again. "It's okay," he repeats, when he's done. "We're okay, we're done."
There's a slow creak from inside the cage, and whoever's inside it pushes it open like it hurts. The kid inside looks like he definitely can't make it out of the cage on his own-- he's a ragged collection of bones and too-short hair, wrapped up in the same jumpsuit that Jamie had been. On the new kid it hangs too loose, gathers where his wrists are curled in and spills over his ankles. He's not moving-- Sid can't even tell if he's breathing-- but Jamie runs a hand over the kid's wrist, and he shudders. "It's Jamie," Jamie says, and there's a tinge of desperation in his voice. "Come on, please? Corps finally made it out here, we're okay."
The kid blinks his eyes open, and Sid feels his shoulders relax. "Hey," he says. "My name's Sid." He reaches forward, like he's going to shake the kid's hand, and oh, that was a mistake, because the kid snaps at his fingers and scrambles backwards in the cage, curling up into a ball, arms over his head and feet tucked in under him. Jamie moves like a shadow and slips under Sid's arm, climbing into the cage himself. It's small-- not enough room for either of them to stand upright, but big enough for two kids who are smaller than they should be to squeeze in together. Jamie has his eyes pressed shut and his fingers tangled in the sleeves of the other kid's suit. He's talking fast and low, and Sid-- there's a reason he wears gloves.
He tugs them off and taps his knuckles on the side of the cage. Jamie opens his eyes and glares at Sid, and it's honestly a good sign that he's still got so much fight in him. "I can put him to sleep," Sid says, waving his bare hand in the air. Jamie blinks twice and nods, so Sid reaches forward and just barely grazes the other kid's ankle-- his mind says no no no, over and over again, but Sid doesn't go deeper than that, doesn't want to see-- but it's enough, and his body slumps into sleep. Jamie hugs the kid a little tighter.
"What's his name?" Sid asks, keeping his voice low. The kid will stay asleep until Sid wakes him up, but it'll be more restful if it's quiet.
Jamie's not looking at Sid any more. "He's Ty," Jamie says. "He runs the engines."
Sid thumbs his comm once to let Geno know they've got another one, then tugs his gloves back on. "Can I help bring him to the Med Techs?"
Jamie stares at him flatly. "I can't carry him myself," he says, which Sid takes as a yes. Jamie climbs back out of the cage and hovers at Sid's side while he carefully picks Ty up and carries him out. Ty is out, head lolling against Sid's shoulder, and Jamie walks, shadow-like, back at Sid's side.
* * *
Mission Report: Station 501 School
Location: Aramis system
Date: SOL 1057; Local 3/15/4016
Mission Parameters: Assess and investigate Station 501, currently functioning as a school (see materials here). Multiple reports of abuse at Station 501; no concrete evidence. As this is an abuse investigation, no advanced warning will be given. This is a fact-finding mission only. No additional action to be taken at this time.
OIC: Capt. Sidney Crosby (additional psy information here); Med Tech Evgeni Malkin.
Report: School on Aramis 1 (surface) run by Station 501 in good condition; students report good accommodations, food, and instruction. Confirmed by consensual psy. All in line with local educational mandates. Some students mentioned "work station;" far fewer students present at school than rosters indicate. Further investigation warranted and approved by local government.
Station 501 (orbital) is a waste-processing plant in orbit around Aramis 1. Upon arrival, corps initially welcomed into station. When facilities inspected, it became clear that machinery could not be operated by number of adults present. Informed by Station manager that students from surface school rotated through on a fortnightly basis on vocational training and that there were no students on board at this time. OIC Sidney Crosby reports that the psy imprint of Station too large for the number of adults present.
OIC asked to see storage facilities and was informed that they were under construction. When pressed, OIC and Med Tech were allowed access to storage bays. Upon arrival to storage bay 1, OIC radioed up to XO Chris Kunitz to immediately arrest all station personnel. OIC reported that bay contained between 50 and 75 transport crates (3'x3'x3'), each containing one child. Although parameters state that this is a fact-finding mission, discovery of evidence of human trafficking/child labor allows additional action to be taken under Corps regulation 101.5.113.
OIC worked with Med Tech to recover and assess children. 63 living children recovered from Station 1; remains of an additional 34 children also discovered (with more possible; disposal method incomplete and more remains may be discovered.)
Results: All staff of Station 501 arrested and awaiting trial. Children recovered from the orbital facility have been placed with their families (when available and appropriate) or with the relevant children's authorities in their respective systems. Continued monitoring is advisable to avoid further casualties.
Living students identified:
Jamie Benn (15; Asos system)
Patrick Kane (16; Falo system)
Amanda Kessel (13; Asos system)
Jared Staal (14; Urba system)
Andrew Shaw (13, Canat system)
[...]
Living students partially identified:
"Ty" (may be either Tyler Brown, 15, Tirea system, or Tyler Seguin, 13, Tirea system)
"Jack" (18; likely John Johnson, Dian system)
"Kes" (17; likely Philip Kessel, Asos system)
"Daddy" (16, likely Jason Demers, Dian system)
"Skinny" (12; likely Jeff Skinner, Arkh system)
"Pevs" (18; likely Rich Peverley, Tirea system)
[...]
Deceased students identified:
Jordan Staal (16; Urba system)
Brandon Saad (12; Pitt system)
Nicholas Foligno (17; Falo system)
Sergei Bobrovsky (16; Voku system)
Steven Stamkos (15; Arkh system)
[...]
Deceased students partially identified:
"Ty" (may be either Tyler Brown, 15, Tirea system, or Tyler Seguin, 13, Tirea system)
"Aunti" (may be either Antti Niemi, 18, Inish system, or Antti Rantaa, 15, Inish system)
"Ollie" (11; likely Olli Maatta, Inish system)
"Gally" (may be either Brendan Gallagher, 12, Urba system, or Alex Galchenyuk, 11, Falo system)
"Brad" (16; likely Bradley Marchand, Lifa system)
[...]
Note: On consultation with the OIC and the Med Techs, it is highly recommended that Sgt. Marc Staal be granted leave time on the completion of this mission.
Report completed by Sgt. Pascal Dupuis. Psy report from Capt. Sidney Crosby available here.
* * *
Evgeni's not sure quite how any of the kids are still alive. He's only got so many resources for this mission, and it was supposed to be a recon mission, not a full-scale rescue. But he's got sixty-something kids with injuries ranging from burns to broken bones to concussions. All of them are hungry, and he sets one of the other Techs to cutting a protein bar into slivers for the kids who still have the strength to eat.
It's a mess.
He's in the middle of setting a girl's arm when Sid walks back in (she's blonde, and she bites her lip but she stays silent, even when he can tell that she hurts). One of the older kids is sitting with her, and she smiles up at him when Evgeni's done wrapping her arm. "Hey, 'Manda," the older kid says softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, not looking at Evgeni. He lets them have their moment and walks over to Sid, stripping off his nitrile gloves and tossing them in a wastebasket.
Sid's standing by himself next to a cot that holds two more children. Evgeni recognizes one of them from earlier, can see the standard issue wrapping around his knuckles and the fading blue gel on his cheekbone. The other one is new, and even smaller than the first. "All good?" Evgeni asks, smoothing a thumb across the back of Sid's neck, soothing the tension that Sid always carries there. Sid sighs and slumps just a little, leaning into Evgeni's side.
"He was in the engine room," Sid says. "Jamie found him for us. I had to put him to sleep so he wouldn't take my hand off." He turns his face into Evgeni's shoulder. "What the fuck are we going to do with them all?"
"What we can," Evgeni says. "Flower say how long before we can jump?"
Sid sighs. "At least an hour, if we're done by then. I walked the ship, but the boxes dampen things too much, and I can't-- I think we got everyone. Everyone who's still, you know--" He scrubs gloved hands across his face and looks down at the two boys on the cot.
"I know, Sid," Evgeni says, and he pulls on a fresh pair of gloves and gets to work on the new boy. Evgeni hopes this is the last boy they'll pull out of a box on this ship, the last one whose body he'll try to fix while Sid worries about the boy's mind.
Somewhere off the ship there's a boy with blonde fuzz on his head that they'd found in the control room, hands cuffed to the 'pathing station. His eyes had been vacant, unseeing, until Sid had unlocked the cuffs and he'd sagged into Evgeni's waiting arms. He's glad that they'd found the 'path, taken him off the ship and into isolation-- glad that the boy had opened his (lucid, conscious) eyes before Evgeni had passed him off to his staff.
But that's only one boy that they'd saved; there are over sixty kids who still need his help, or Sid's help, and the new boy he's working on has a broken hand and a dislocated ankle, deep purple circles under his eyes that could be lack of sleep or bruises. Evgeni's got blue gel and splints, but he'll have to wait for scans to see if the ankle can be put back in place without surgery.
He focuses on this boy, this room, and doesn't look towards the door. The next room over is full of small bodies, covered in plastic sheets. Some of them have names.
* * *
To: Jordie Benn, Asos 3 [jobenn@asos3.sol]
From: Capt. Sidney Crosby, Sol Corps [scrosby@solcorps.sol]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Looking for my brother, Jamie Benn
Dear Mr. Benn,
We have located your brother, Jamie Benn. He is one of the survivors of the Station 501 school, and I am pleased to inform you that he is doing well. He should be able to return home within the week.
However, please do not expect him be to be the same as he was when he left. While Jamie is in relatively good shape, he has suffered months of limited food, confined living quarters, and limited human contact. He will require care and counseling. A member of Med Tech will be in touch with you shortly with resources and an application for aid.
Additionally, I have a favor to ask…
* * *
Jordie's tired before Jamie even comes home. He's had meetings with the Med Techs and a ream of paperwork to fill out on his comm before they'd even consider turning Jamie over to him, and twice that for Jamie's friend Ty, who apparently refuses to be far from Jamie and doesn't have anywhere else to go.
Crosby's comm had let Jordie relax for the first time in months, ever since Jamie had stopped writing. He'd had half a plan to go find Jamie himself before Crosby had agreed to look into it-- he'd wanted to find Jamie himself, just to know what the fuck was going on. The school was supposed to be somewhere for Jamie to go and get away from everything, after their parents died and Jenny moved over to Falo for work. She'd been on a long-range transport when Jamie stopped writing-- no way to contact her until it landed. The school was supposed to-- supposed to. He gets stuck on that, sometimes, because there are ways that their lives were supposed to go, and he wasn't supposed to be eighteen and trying to get his younger brother home.
Sometimes he just wants to scream; some days he goes out with a six-pack and his dad's old analog shotgun, goes into the desert and gets drunk and shoots at the bottles when they're empty. He doesn't kid himself that he isn't pretending they're the men who kept Jamie on that station, the ones who are keeping his brother from coming home now. But he drags himself home every morning, cleans and makes sure that Jamie's room is ready, just in case he comes home.
For the first few months it'd been like keeping watch, because sometime things go weird with communication between the systems-- and Aramis is far away, it could have been solar flares or a blip in the 'net-- but once he'd figured out that something was wrong, it'd become this thing. Jamie'd always been smarter than he was, and his room was full of old homework and photos of their parents. The first time he'd gone through it, he'd sat in the middle of Jamie's rug and cried, hands full of crumpled paper, his mom's smile looking up at him from the floor. It hurt, and it didn't stop hurting, not until he finally heard from Jamie four months later.
Jamie's called him a dozen times since he'd gotten Crosby's last comm, and the first time Jordie'd heard his voice, he'd gotten weak in the knees and had to sit down, because he'd thought-- he'd honestly thought that he might never see his younger brother again. He'd cried a bit, on the comm with Jamie, and he knows that his voice wobbled, but he couldn't bring himself to care because it was Jamie, and Jamie was okay. He cried himself to sleep again later that night, out on the front porch like Jamie was going to come by in a cruiser in an hour or two, tears leaking out of his eyes in desperate relief.
It's been almost nine standard months since Jordie's seen his brother when Crosby and the Corps finally make the jump back to Asos. Jordie's waiting impatiently at the dock, ready with his cruiser and mom's blanket and a vac full of tea.
Jamie's not the first one off the ship, not nearly, and Jordie bounces on his toes to stay warm and scratches at the beginnings of the beard that he's been thinking about letting grow. He has this sudden moment of what if Jamie doesn't recognize him with the beard, but he can't-- it's Jamie. It's Jamie. They'd know each other anywhere.
Finally, finally, there's Jamie walking down the gangplank, one hand on a floating stretcher which must hold his friend Ty. Jamie's walking slow, like it might hurt him to move any faster, but when he spots Jordie, he passes the stretcher off to the Med Tech that's following them and starts running, weak legs only letting him move a little faster than a jog. And Jordie's not gonna make him try to run all the way across the landing dock, so he takes off himself, Jamie colliding with his chest with nothing of the whump he'd had before he left. Jordie's crying into what there is of his beard, and Jamie's just shaking against him, saying Jordie's name over and over again.
All Jordie wants to do is wrap his little brother in mom's blanket, make him drink tea, and take him home, but he's got business with the Med Techs first. He does wrap the blanket around Jamie's shoulders, smiling at Jamie when Jamie gathers it around himself. "Welcome home, kid," he says.
"Guess you can't call me Chubbs any more," Jamie says, and Jordie almost can't believe that one of the first things that his brother's said to him in person in months is that.
"Give me six months," Jordie promises, ruffling at the dark fuzz that Jamie's got growing out. "You got a friend with you?"
Jamie takes a deep breath and tugs the blanket a little tighter around his shoulders, looking back at the kid on the stretcher. "Yeah," he says. "His name's Ty. And he's not-- he's not doing super great."
Over the next few weeks, Jordie learns that not super great is one hell of an understatement. Ty's in the hospital because he's still so weak, and Jordie has to bite his lip to keep from saying something every time he watches Jamie take a deep breath just to be able to walk through the doors. Ty is argumentative and kind of a brat, when he's not staring at the ceiling for hours on end or trying to get out of the velcro cuffs the Med Techs put him in after his third escape attempt. Ty's angry in a way that Jamie isn't, and Jordie can't help but think that it's because Jamie's letting Ty be angry for him. Jamie's getting through the depression and acceptance okay, seeing one of the psy Med Techs twice a week to make sure that he's actually eating enough and not lying to Jordie about how he feels.
Mostly, Jordie wants to sit on Jamie until he turns eighteen, but he settles for actually learning to cook, so that Jamie has something to eat other than the synthetic protein bars the Med Techs pushed on Jordie. He does his best not to hover, but Jamie's still his kid brother, and until he stops looking half-starved, Jordie will do as he damn well pleases.
Somehow, Jamie had talked Crosby into letting him be one of the points of contact for the other kids who had been at the school, so Jamie's comm goes off half a dozen times a day, usually with updates and information that Jordie just wants to shield him from. He suggests once that Jamie maybe let it go a little, and Jamie nods solemnly, hands Jordie his comm. Two days later, Jamie is a wreck, spiralling into anxiety and constant worry-- he asks Jordie about Patrick and Kes and Jared, but it's not until Jamie asks about Brandon, one of the kids that Jordie knows hadn't made it off the station, that he breaks and gives Jamie back his comm. Jamie doesn't look any better than he had when he'd first gotten off the ship (he almost looks worse, even with two months of food and rest and hours lying in the sun), and Jordie thinks that maybe he gets it, now. Jamie needs to know how the other kids are doing, because then he doesn't have to wonder and make up worst-case scenarios.
His heart breaks a little more when he realizes that Jamie might always be like this.
Throughout everything is Ty. Ty just flat-out isn't getting better, even when the Med Techs remove the cuffs and let him have a little more freedom, move him into a room with a window. They let Jamie visit whenever he wants to, because (according to the night nurse, who's got the green triangle of a psy next to his name) it's the only time of the day when Ty does anything but just lie there. Ty remembers almost nothing about his time before the school (the psy nurse tells Jordie it's probably because he's trying to protect himself, and Jordie doesn't asked from what). He can't even remember his own fucking last name, no matter how many times Jamie asks. They've had to start a nutrient IV because Ty won't eat-- Jamie's the only one who can get him to, and even then only sometimes.
He worries about Ty just quitting, someday, giving up entirely and leaving Jamie alone.
Jordie had asked Jamie, once, what he was going to do if Ty didn't need him any more. "Then I guess I'll need him," Jamie had said, with a lopsided smile, looking down at Ty's hand folded inside his. Ty had been sleeping without nightmares for once, and his face was lax and almost smiling. Like this, Ty looked sweet, and Jordie could see the edges of the boy that his brother had attached himself to, months ago, when both of them were alone.
Ty clings to life, Jamie clings to Ty, and Jordie tries not to cling too hard to either of them.
* * *
Translation of interview with Marc-Andre Fleury, corps engineer, Station 501 Mission
"The ship shouldn't have been running."
Any reason?
"Flux engines were shot, main capax was full of junk, the fuel tanks were half-filled with sand-- I could go on, but that Station should never have left the ground."
Any idea how it was orbital?
"Must have had a 'path. Maybe more than the one we found. Only way they could stay up."
Anything else you want to add?
"Tank the f------ thing. It's not worth saving, and it might let the 'paths go."
* * *
Jamie still can't sleep when it's completely dark. It's easier, six months later and back home, because Jordie got him a light that he can turn on with a touch, but it's still not right. Even with the light on, his room in the apartment that he and Jordie share is too closed-in and too empty all at the same time. He wants to call Ty, but they've already used up Ty's weekly comm time, and he won't have any more for another six days. His comm beeps, and he grabs it off the nightstand. It's a message from Sidney, and Jamie doesn't want to open it, because lately Sidney's only had bad news.
He rolls over and tries to go back to sleep. There's still another six standard hours before dawn, here on Asos 3, and Jordie keeps reminding him how much his body needs rest. Jamie closes his eyes and runs through one of the breathing exercises that Sidney had taught him on the flight back from Aramis 1, trying his best to keep his heart from echoing in his ears.
It's different, not to be cooped up in a box that was too small for him to ever stretch out. He wiggles his toes under the blankets (his mom's blanket, the one Jordie'd brought him home in, is back on the couch where she'd always left it) and feels what it's like to have space, have breathing room, have-- it's almost too much. He can walk into the kitchen for an apple or even one of the terrible nutrient bars that Jordie keeps pushing on him, he can walk outside and breathe in air that smells like home.
Back on the station it was always dark, and it seemed like there was never enough air to breathe. Jamie felt like he was suffocating half the time, even when he was out in one of the common areas instead of his box. He met Ty in the half-dark of the engine room-- this kid tangled up in the wiring, coaxing a flickering light back into full brightness. It was weird, that much light after what felt like months in the dark. Jamie could see a fading bruise on the kid's wrist, and another newer one on his chin, still a livid purple in the center. The lightbulb brightened, throwing the hollows under his cheekbones into relief. He was too thin, even for the station's standards, and Jamie wanted to--
He didn't even know this kid. The kid blinked hard, and reached out to poke Jamie in the chest. "Huh," he said, "you're actually real."
Jamie blinked back at him. "Of course I am," he said. "How long have you been down here?"
The kid shrugged. "Dunno," he replied. "What're you doing here?" he asked, and Jamie didn't really have a response. He'd been drawn by the light, honestly, like one of the moths back on Asos fluttering around the porch light.
There were heavy footsteps in the hallway outside the engine room, too heavy for any of the other kids, even Jack or Kes, and they froze in place. The other kid shoved his hands against Jamie's chest. "Get out," he hissed, and Jamie fled.
But he was back again the next night, this time with half a ration pack that he'd stolen from the monitors. The other kid was inside his box, curled up with the door open, and Jamie just folded his legs and sat in front of the box, offering the ration pack to the kid. "I'm Jamie," he said, like they were new classmates on the first day of school, or something, not-- not kids who'd probably be dead in the next month. This kid wouldn't be the first to starve, not nearly (that'd been Brad, more than a month ago, locked in his box because he'd--), but there was something about him that Jamie wanted to protect.
The kid stuck his fingers in the near-tasteless mush of the ration pack and smeared them across his tongue. It was gross, but Jamie had gotten used to it-- the monitors didn't give any of them spoons any more. He waited until the kid swallowed. "What's your name?"
The kid shrugged, like it didn't matter. "Ty," he said. "I mean, I think. I dunno."
He wasn't the only kid who went by a nickname and wasn't sure what his name used to be, so Jamie went with it. "What system are you from?" he asked. "I'm from Asos."
Ty shrugged again. "Dunno. I-- is there another Ty here?" His face was shadowed, but Jamie thought Ty's voice sounded hopeful.
Jamie shook his head. "I haven't met anyone," he said. "I don't know, there might-- I'm in manufacturing, and he might be in processing?"
"Okay," Ty replied, slumping back in his box.
Jamie kept coming back, every night when he could slip away from the monitors and bring some extra food to Ty. Ty was confused a lot of the time-- he forgot what day it was (Jamie did too, sometimes), forgot what system he was from and sometimes he couldn't remember his mom. He never mentioned his dad, so Jamie didn't ask about him. He never forgot who Jamie was, though, even when the monitors got rougher and Ty stopped being able to move around so good.
Some days there wasn't enough food for everyone, not even with the ration packs, and Jamie split what he had between Ollie and Ty, until Ollie got so sick that he couldn't work any more, and then there was just Ty. Ty explained how the engines worked, showed Jamie all the things he'd done to keep them up in the air, and Jamie told him about growing up in the desert on Asos, the way the sky looked stretching out for miles and miles. Once, once, Ty said "I think I remember rain," and Jamie leaned down and pressed their foreheads together.
There was a beeping noise, and Jamie and Ty both turned to look out into the engine room. "Gotta get back to work," Ty said, and he reached for Jamie's hand, pulling past Jamie and disappearing into the engine.
Jamie did everything he could-- he and Jack and Kes and Pevs had a system, groups of other kids to look after, and even though Jamie was the youngest of them, he could do that. Pevs helped him out sometimes, with Ty-- talked him into eating, made him walk around-- and Jamie did his best, he kept going. He did, until someone noticed they weren't where they were supposed to be-- until Jordie-- they held on. They kept going.
Jamie blinks his eyes open; he must've managed to fall asleep for at least a little while. His comm is beeping, and this time Jamie sighs and swipes its face to read the messages. The first one, from Sidney, is short and to-the-point. Rich Peverley in hospital; outlook not promising. The next one is from the psy nurse on Ty's wing, the one who sometimes let him sneak extra comm time with Jamie. Ty's asking for you, it reads. Some asshat let him know about Pevs. Jamie squeezes his eyes tightly closed and lets himself have three breaths to panic, because Pevs is the only one from Ty's home system who had made it through, and if Pevs dies, too--
He breathes out.
In a lot of ways, Jamie's lucky. He'd only been at the station for a about six months, and he'd had his (relative) health and sanity and Jordie to go back to. He knows that not all the other kids had had that, just like he knows that Sidney's updates are sometimes the only thing that lets him cling to his sanity. Sidney tells him everything he can about the other kids who had been on the station, good or bad, and it keeps Jamie from going insane with worry and fear, keeps him from spiralling about Ty and Pevs and Skinny, Amanda and Kes and Andrew.
It's not the first time that Jamie's woken up Jordie at a ridiculous hour of the morning and asked to be taken to Ty, and it won't be the last. He turns on the light and pulls on a pair of pants and an old t-shirt, one that was almost worn through even before he went to 501, and pads down the hall to Jordie's room. The door's open (the door's always open, now) and Jordie comes awake at Jamie's soft knock. "What's up, kid?" he asks.
"Ty needs me," Jamie says, and Jordie sighs.
"Everything okay?" Jordie asks, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sitting up.
Jamie shakes his head. "Pevs is in the hospital, and Ty found out from someone." It's easier to take care of Ty's needs than his own, and Ty won't say anything if Jamie cries into his shirt sleeves.
Jordie groans. "Fuck. Okay, I'll take you-- go get some shoes on, and grab a bar out of the kitchen before we go."
It's easier, when Jordie gives him things to do. Jamie does as he says and is waiting by the front door by the time Jordie is ready to go. Jordie gives him a tired smile. "You eat the whole bar?" he asks, and Jamie shows him the empty wrapper, not mentioning that he'd wrapped half the nutrient bar in a piece of paper and stuck it inside the pocket of his jacket, because as much as he knows that he needs to eat, Ty needs it more.
The flight to Ty's is short, and there's almost no one else out at this hour of the day. Jamie signs in at the front desk, and shakes his head when Jordie offers to go up with him. Nurse Bennett, the nice one who messaged him earlier, is waiting for him outside Ty's room. "'sup, Jamie?" he says when he sees Jamie round the corner.
Jamie shrugs. "Can I see him?" he asks.
"He's having a crap time of it," Nurse Bennett says. "I sent him to sleep a couple hours ago, but he keeps having nightmares. Once I figure out who told him about Pevs, I'm gonna hit them, because if there's one thing Ty doesn't need right now, it's more stress." He shakes his head. "Sorry, Jamie."
Jamie's hands freeze for a minute, heart stuttering, because Ty had asked, and Nurse Bennet's never turned him away before. He likes Nurse Bennett, who's always got a joke or something nice to say-- Sidney had introduced them, a few weeks after Jamie had gotten back home. Nurse Bennett is the only one who lets Ty comm him, sometimes, even when Ty's out of minutes. He can't be forbidding Jamie from seeing Ty, not right now. Now when Ty needs him. "I can't--" he starts, because he can see Ty, right through the door. Ty's hair is growing back, but his cheeks are still hollow, and his hands are twitching in his sleep.
"Oh!" Nurse Bennett says, looking between Jamie and the door. "No, you can go in. I was just apologizing for getting so worked up."
Jamie heaves a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he says, and reaches to open the door.
"One more thing," Nurse Bennett says, before Jamie can turn the handle. "Can you see if you can figure out who told him about Pevs?"
Jamie nods, and slips inside Ty's room. It's half-dark inside, lights not all the way up, but Jamie's eyes are used to it. Ty is hooked up to a monitor and a drip, but that's normal, now. The bed's a lot nicer than Ty's box used to be, too. He climbs in alongside Ty and fits himself between the rail and Ty's back. "Hey," he breathes into the back of Ty's neck, and Ty shudders all over once, before relaxing.
"Jamie?" he says, voice fuzzy, like it always is when someone makes him sleep.
"Just me," Jamie confirms. Ty sighs and leans against him.
"You heard anything about Pevs?" Ty asks. He's facing away, so Jamie can't see his face, but Jamie would bet anything that his fists are clenched and his eyes are red.
"Just what you know." Jamie pauses. "How'd you find out, anyway?"
Ty hums, pleased. "Beau should be more careful with his comm," he says, and Jamie can hear Nurse Bennett swearing outside Ty's door. "Dreamed about you."
"Oh?"
"Mm. Dreamed we never got off the ship, and Pevs was--" Ty shrugs. "You know, looking out for me, like he used to."
Jamie's comm beeps again, and he doesn't want to-- if it's Sid telling him that Pevs is dead, then he doesn't know how he'll get Ty through this. He leaves the comm where it is, in his front pocket with the bar that he'd half-finished, and takes that out instead. "I brought you food," he says, and breaks off a piece for Ty.
Ty takes it and chews on it, making a face at the taste. "These are always so gross," he says.
"Well maybe if you ate them they'd give you something else," Jamie points out. "Jordie gives me real food."
Ty smiles. "'m tired," he says.
"That's why you should be sleeping, dork," Jamie responds, breaking off another piece of the bar and handing it to Ty.
Jamie reaches for Ty's hand after he silently eats the next bite of the bar. "How are you doing?" he asks.
"Tired," Ty says, his eyes drifting shut. "'s like I'm still on the ship, you know? I'm just tired, all the time, and I don't-- I don't know what's wrong." His voice is small and frightened, like it had been when they'd first met, and Jamie just wants to hold him tighter.
"They'll figure something out, Ty," Jamie starts, but Ty interrupts him.
"No, it's-- they don't know anything either," Ty says. "The-- Beau's notes aren't--"
There's a knock on the door and Nurse Bennett walks in. "Jamie, I'm sorry, but I need you to go." There's someone else with him, someone that Jamie doesn't recognize, and all he wants to do is cling tighter to Ty and never let him go, never mind that Nurse Bennett has never been anything but kind to him.
"It's okay," Ty says, like he's resigned to it, but the fear is gone from his voice. "It'll help."
"Nurse Bennett--" Jamie doesn't want to leave Ty, but if Ty's okay with it, then maybe it'll be all right. "I-- where are you going?"
Nurse Bennett looks at him sympathetically. "He's going to be fine, okay? We just figured something out-- you'll be able to visit tomorrow, I promise."
Jamie takes a deep breath, presses his lips to the fuzz that is Ty's hair. It's been months, and it's still almost as short as it was when they left the station. "I'm not going anywhere," he says. "I'm not going to leave you alone."
Ty finds Jamie's hand and squeezes it. Somehow it's easier when they're not looking at each other. "You've gotta go," he says, and he lets go of Jamie's hand. "'m gonna be fine."
* * *
Patient Transfer, Asos 3 Medical Center
Date: SOL 1057; Local 11/29/3105
Time of Transfer: Local 11:37 p.m.
Name: Ty [Tyler Brown or Tyler Seguin; authorities and patient unsure]
Primary Language: Tirea standard
Gender: Male
Code Status: Full Code
Emergency Contact: Jordie Benn
Relationship: Guardian
Notified of Transfer: Yes
Unit: Technopath Isolation
Reason for Transfer/Steps taken before transfer: Patient had been in the previous unit for 6 standard months. Patient has been under treatment for malnutrition and muscle atrophy caused by imprisonment at Station 501. Recovery was slower than expected; patient failed to regain weight at normal rate. Patient can be friendly and gregarious, especially with friends and Psy Nurse Bennett; however, patient also suffers from periods of depression and anxiety consistent with possible diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. On discovery that patient was likely 'pathing with Nurse's comm, immediate transfer to Technopath Isolation was warranted.
Attending Med Tech: Beau Bennett
Baseline Mental Status:
Patient is: Oriented, Confused, Lethargic, likely 'pathing with both Nurse's comm and Station 501, currently still in orbit around Aramis 1.
Does patient have decision-making capabilities?: Sometimes
If not, who has the authority to make decisions for this patient?
Name: Jordie Benn
[...]
* * *
When he wakes up, this is what he remembers:
His name is Tyler Seguin.
He was born on Tirea in the third cycle, just before the monsoons started. His mom used to tell him that he loved the sound of the rain more than anything, before the rains swept their house away, and Tyler and his mom had to spend the next summer rebuilding. After that, it wasn't that Tyler hated the rain, he just-- sometimes, he wanted more sun.
When he's ten his mom shows him how to make the comms work with his mind, how to send messages to Brownie, who has the same first-name that he does, who always calls him Seggy. He can fix almost anything, from the tractors that break down in the field next to their house to the replicator his mom uses for the jewelry that she sells for a little extra money. His mom knows how to make it work, too, talking softly to her sewing machine and talking their cruiser into running on just a few liters of fuel.
It's their secret, at first, until Tyler figures out that there's a name for this, that he's not the only one who can talk to machines like they're people. He's a technopath, and probably a pretty good one, thanks to his mom's careful teaching. He wonders why she's not up on some ship, jumping from system to system, but she only smiles at him and cards her fingers through his hair when he asks.
Two years later the rains come again, and harder this time, bringing flooding and cholera to the fields that Tyler had run through in the summers. Brownie gets it first of any of the people that Tyler knows, but his parents bring him to the city, to the Med Techs there, and he's okay. Tyler doesn't get sick, but his mom does. Her fingers wrinkle and her skin turns blue, and Tyler runs down the road to find someone, anyone, but the Browns are still in the city and there's no one else around who can help.
Tyler does his best-- he makes her drink and he comms a doctor in the city but the outbreak is everywhere and there's no one who can come out and no way Tyler can get her in. He sweet-talks the cruiser into letting him drive instead of his mom, and speeds into the city to find the doctor that he'd commed, because there's gotta be medication for this or something. The doctor gives him meds and a vaccine and a warm bun to eat on the way back, but there's nothing to come back to.
He stays there for three days, in his house up on stilts, waiting for the water to drop enough that he can get the cruiser running again. He wraps his mother's body in a linen sheet in the living room, covers her face and her hair, the clever fingers that had taught Tyler everything he thought he'd ever need to know. Her hands are still, and her cheeks are sunken; she doesn't look like his mother any more. Eventually, the water recedes, and he half-swims, half-runs across the fields to Brownie's house. He leaves his mother in their old house, and knows he won't be back.
The Browns take him in, after that, and six months later he and Brownie are on their way to Aramis 1, because there's a school there that promises they have psy on staff, that Tyler can learn to 'path the way that'll keep him from having to go back to Tirea. While they're there the rains come again, and this time no one's lucky; Tyler and Brownie's whole village is gone. Two weeks after that they're on the station and Tyler just… forgets.
It's easier to lose himself in the way the engine works, easier to keep the station running and try to stop it from dropping pieces everywhere. He spools himself out like a kite string, until there's only a thread keeping him tethered to the ground. The ship shouldn't run, and it doesn't want to, but Ty coaxes and promises and brings it grease and wrenches. He knows, vaguely, that he's not the only one who's 'pathing with the ship (there's Patrick, and he's somewhere else but they've never met, Patrick who is a butterfly wing against his mind; Patrick hopes for someone to come every day (Jonny, Jonny, please--) but Ty thinks he's forgotten anything outside this ship).
During the night he's in a box and it's dark but it feels safer, somehow, like he can collect himself, wind himself back into place. Brownie gets lost somewhere, and Ty wants to mourn, but he's just… numb. Someone calls him Brownie, someone else calls him Seggy, and he gets lost again.
But during the day there's Jamie. Jamie makes him want to remember, sometimes. Jamie is quiet and serious and so sweet sometimes. Jamie talks about a brother and a home and Ty thinks he might remember what that was like. Jamie's there to keep Ty safe, to make him eat something and stretch out his aching joints. Ty's mean to him, sometimes, but Jamie comes back anyway. Ty's mind is somewhere else whenever they're talking, trying to keep the capax from falling apart entirely, but Jamie's a safe place.
Jamie becomes his only safe place, soon enough, and Ty's teeth are sharp even when they feel loose in his jaw, but Jamie tells him I'll say hi like this, Ty, look for me and he doesn't bite at Jamie.
One night it's too loud outside the box, then too quiet. Ty curls himself up, careful of the crunch of bones in his hand and the way that he can't stand on his ankles right now. Something is going on outside, and he can't decide if he wants whatever it is to leave him alone or drag him back out.
All of a sudden Jamie's there and there's someone else, too, someone tall and broad and Ty-- he doesn't, this isn't. Jamie's talking but Ty can't understand the words that he's saying. The door to his box is open and he's spooling out into the ship when the man touches his ankle--
--and he's not in the box, not any more, but he's still all tangled out in the station, trying to keep it in the air. His mind wraps itself around the fuel tanks and the capax and the flux engines, pushing them just a little, just enough to keep them going. It gets harder and harder, because soon enough he's jumping with Sidney through a gate that takes them somewhere that Ty's never been. Jamie's still there, looking pale and drawn, skin stretched too tight over his cheekbones. Ty reminds him to eat and Jamie cracks one of his rare smiles. "I could say the same to you," he says, and Ty thinks that maybe it's time to come back.
But he's still connected to the station, even half a dozen systems away. He's connected to it while the Corps walk it, while the pickers go over it for scrap, and he keeps it in the air because that's all he knows how to do. He feels stretched and too thin, like if he could just snap the connection he'd be okay. He doesn't know how, though-- keeping the ship up is his job, and it's just him, now. He hopes that Patrick found his Jonny, and he wants to finish waking up. He wants to be present, he wants to lie down with Jamie somewhere and listen to the rain.
It's raining when he wakes up, and he's not alone.
It's also quiet in his head for the first time in forever. He can't reach the station, even when he tries, and he digs his nails into his palms and reaches, harder than he ever has, but he can't feel anything. There's nothing that he can sense, nothing that he can push into doing what he wants, and it makes him breathe too fast, too tense, too--
"Woah, hey--" someone says, and Tyler thinks that he recognizes their voice through his panic. There's a touch on the back of his hand, crystal-clear in the whirlwind of his thoughts. It tugs him back towards calm, and he lets it center him back in his own body. He blinks his eyes open slowly, and there's Beau, touching Tyler's hand and looking worried. "Hey, Ty," he says.
"Hi," Tyler says, voice croaking like he hasn't spoken out loud in months.
"Do you remember where you are?" Beau asks. He takes his hand off of Tyler's, but not before Tyler feels his concern slipping through the connection.
He almost says Tirea before he catches himself and says "Asos 3," instead. "Is Jamie here?"
Beau smiles, shoulders relaxing. "He didn't want to leave," he explains. "He'll be back soon, as soon as his brother's talked him into getting some sleep."
"Where 'm I?" Tyler asks, because he knows what planet, he recognizes Beau and remembers Jamie, but the walls around him are new, and it's so quiet.
Beau's eyebrows knit together. "You're on Asos 3, Ty--"
"No, I know that," Tyler interrupts. "Why's it so quiet?"
"You're in 'path isolation," Beau says. "We think you're still 'pathing with the ship." Well, that explains that, and Tyler lets himself relax back into the bed.
"Okay," he says, mouth dry, because Aramis 1 is six systems away and he shouldn't still be 'pathing with the station. Not unless something's gone wrong, and maybe that's why everything else is so quiet, because if he's managing to 'path through isolation and six systems, it's got to be some sort of--
The roaring builds in his ears until Beau calms him back down again. "Ty," he says, looking directly at Tyler. "They're tanking the station."
For a minute Tyler feels like crying, because he's spent over a year keeping the thing in the air-- it's been all he's done since he was sent to the station in the first place. He wants to keep it flying, wants to whisper to the capax to just give it another rotation, another turn around the planet, but he blinks hard and there are a few tears, sure, but-- but. Maybe it's time. "Can Jamie--"
He wants Jamie, but maybe they're keeping Jamie away from him for a reason, maybe there's something wrong. Beau smiles at him, though. "We're waiting on him before they tank the station. Seemed like it might go better for you if he were there. I'll comm Jordie to let them know that you're awake." Beau passes his hand over Tyler's forehead after he stands up, and it feels like sunshine on his face. He closes his eyes, and falls asleep again.
Jamie's there when he wakes up the next time, curled around Tyler. "Hey," Tyler half-whispers, once he's met Jamie's eyes.
"Hey," Jamie says back to him, blinking slowly. "How's it going?"
Something about Tyler feels syrup-slow and sticky, like he's walking through water up to his knees. "'m tired," he says. "But I think-- I'm a 'path, Jamie." He's not sure why he says it-- Jamie must know, and Tyler's in isolation for a reason.
"I know," Jamie says, rubbing the back of Tyler's hand with his thumb. "They're gonna tank the station in a few minutes."
"Beau told me."
Jamie holds him a little tighter. "You're gonna be fine, Ty," he says, and the world just sort of… goes away. He blinks, and he's back on the station, racing through the wiring as she comes apart, falls to pieces. He wraps himself around the capax as it falls, coming closer and closer to the atmosphere, screaming as it burns up, and it's like he's there, like he's falling with the station, melting and burning and falling apart.
It goes on forever, and he's half-aware that he's screaming and sobbing into Jamie's shoulder, but at the same time he's a thousand pieces of metal and plastic tumbling through the atmosphere of a planet that he can't even see. The station burns, and he burns with her, until he's just a few tiny asteroids that crumble before they hit the ground.
Pulling himself back into his body is slow, and it comes back to him in parts, his toes and his elbows and the space between his shoulder blades. Jamie's still there, the sleeve of his shirt soaked with tears and spit, and Tyler finds himself making a face, because it's kind of gross.
"Ty?" Beau asks, and Tyler realizes that they're not alone in the room.
"Hi," Tyler responds, and his voice is all torn up from screaming, but he thinks that maybe that was it. He doesn't feel stretched, he's not tangled up in anything, he's just here, with Jamie. "I think I'm gonna be okay."
* * *
Asos 3 is mostly desert and it rains maybe a dozen days during a standard year. It's the furthest thing from Tirea that Tyler can imagine, but he learns to call it home, wrapped around Jamie on Jordie's porch, watching the sunset. Somewhere out there is Aramis 1 and a few dozen kids that Jamie still stays in touch with. Somewhere there's Patrick and whatever's left of Brownie's family, but Tyler stays on the porch with Jamie and doesn't reach for the stars.
* * *
Spoilery end-note: this fic is primarily about the recovery of a group of children/young adults who had been in a (short-term) forced labor environment, where they were kept fairly isolated and in confined living conditions. All death happens before the story starts and is off-screen; there is one mention of a teenager starving to death, one of a pre-teen dying from illness, and one adult (parent) dying from illness, but other deaths are non-specific. One of the main characters ends up hospitalized due to the effects of mental and physical trauma. Two of the main characters struggle with disordered eating throughout the story.
Pairings: Tyler Seguin & Jamie Benn; Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin
Summary: Sid opens the door, and his eyes catch the barest glimpse of a kid-- in his early teens, at the oldest-- this kid, all shaved head and big, doe-soft eyes. His knuckles are split and there's a fading bruise high on his left cheekbone, but he meets Sid's eyes squarely, blinking in the sudden light.
"Hi," Sid finds himself saying, almost inanely. "I'm Sidney Crosby. We're here to help."
Rating: Teen/PG-13
Words: 9152
Contains: previous child abuse (physical and emotional but not sexual), forced child labor, starvation, PTSD, minor character death (pre-fic and off-screen), hospitalization, disordered eating, multiple PoV, alternate universe- space, everything ends as well as it can, more explanation in end note
Betas: Holly and Giulia. Thank you for wrangling my tenses and make there be more feels.
Notes: So this mostly started because I got the mental image of a tiny semi-feral Tyler Seguin with a shaved head, and it rapidly became super fucked up and IN SPACE!! This is kind of weird, and definitely not what I intended my first foray into hockey RPF to be. If anyone wants to take a different part of this and run with it, go ahead! (Also, I am aware that not all of the ages are quite what they should be-- chalk it up to planets having different year-lengths.)
* * *
They're kids.
They're kids, and Sidney can't quite get over that. His uniform gloves are slippery on the metal locks that he has to fumble open over and over again, because there's just-- there are so many of them. He unlocks the doors, and Geno comes in after him, because if Sid looks inside the cages, he'll--
His hand twitches towards the plasma at his hip, because there are still men on the station who are in neat rows in the holding bay, cuffs around their wrists and they're just sitting there, where Sid could-- "Hey," Geno says, interrupting his thoughts. "Got this one. Next?"
Sid blinks and squeezes his hands into fists for a brief moment, and he steps on to the next cage, Geno and the rest of the health techs trailing behind him. There's noise coming from inside this one, and Sid bites the inside of his lip hard, until he tastes copper and has to blink the sting of tears from his eyes. He almost drops the key tags before sliding them past the lock. He opens the door, and his eyes catch the barest glimpse of a kid-- in his early teens, at the oldest-- this kid, all shaved head and big, doe-soft eyes. His knuckles are split and there's a fading bruise high on his left cheekbone, but he meets Sid's eyes squarely, blinking in the sudden light.
"Hi," he finds himself saying, almost inanely. "I'm Sidney Crosby. We're here to help."
The kid's name is Jamie, and he's got a brother on the third moon of Asos. He thinks he's fourteen, but that's all that Geno and the Med Techs can get out of him. Sid spares a moment to hope like hell that this is Jordie Benn's younger brother, because it'd been Jordie's comm a few months ago that had started the whole investigation, and if his brother's one of the tiny bodies they've found floating in one of the vac rooms-- well. Nothing he can do about it now, except make sure that this Jamie stays safe. Jamie glues himself to Sid like a shadow, following him through the now-empty corridors of the station. Sid thinks that it's maybe the uniform that's making the kid feel safe with him, because it's either that or Jamie's decided that Sid needs someone to follow him around. They've wrapped Jamie's knuckles and spread blue gel over the bruise on his face, but Jamie won't stay in bed, and they have more kids than there are beds. Jamie, at least, can stand up and move around on his own.
They're walking past the engine rooms when Jamie pauses, swaying a little. He closes his eyes and tips his head to the side, humming something that sounds like a lullabye. Sid thinks that maybe this is it, that they've lost Jamie, too, but Jamie just shakes his head and blinks, reaching up to tug on Sid's sleeve. "One more down there," he says in his soft, rough voice, pointing into the shadows of the engine room.
Sid takes him at his word, following Jamie down a twisting route through the room. It's hot inside, almost stifling, and Sid runs a finger inside the collar of his uniform, pulls it away to try to catch a breeze. Jamie's quick and light on his feet, though, and it's difficult for Sid to follow him. When he catches up to Jamie, the kid is sitting in front of a cage just like the one he'd been in, talking quickly and quietly. There's no movement or sound from inside the box, and Sid runs the key tags over the lock one more time.
He reaches for the handle, but Jamie catches his hands, pulls them down. "He bites," Jamie says, and Jesus. Jamie opens the door a crack and shoves three fingers through it, and Sid almost pulls him back, because Jamie just told him that this kid bites, but Jamie seems to be unscathed. "It's okay," Jamie says, and he starts humming that lullabye again. "It's okay," he repeats, when he's done. "We're okay, we're done."
There's a slow creak from inside the cage, and whoever's inside it pushes it open like it hurts. The kid inside looks like he definitely can't make it out of the cage on his own-- he's a ragged collection of bones and too-short hair, wrapped up in the same jumpsuit that Jamie had been. On the new kid it hangs too loose, gathers where his wrists are curled in and spills over his ankles. He's not moving-- Sid can't even tell if he's breathing-- but Jamie runs a hand over the kid's wrist, and he shudders. "It's Jamie," Jamie says, and there's a tinge of desperation in his voice. "Come on, please? Corps finally made it out here, we're okay."
The kid blinks his eyes open, and Sid feels his shoulders relax. "Hey," he says. "My name's Sid." He reaches forward, like he's going to shake the kid's hand, and oh, that was a mistake, because the kid snaps at his fingers and scrambles backwards in the cage, curling up into a ball, arms over his head and feet tucked in under him. Jamie moves like a shadow and slips under Sid's arm, climbing into the cage himself. It's small-- not enough room for either of them to stand upright, but big enough for two kids who are smaller than they should be to squeeze in together. Jamie has his eyes pressed shut and his fingers tangled in the sleeves of the other kid's suit. He's talking fast and low, and Sid-- there's a reason he wears gloves.
He tugs them off and taps his knuckles on the side of the cage. Jamie opens his eyes and glares at Sid, and it's honestly a good sign that he's still got so much fight in him. "I can put him to sleep," Sid says, waving his bare hand in the air. Jamie blinks twice and nods, so Sid reaches forward and just barely grazes the other kid's ankle-- his mind says no no no, over and over again, but Sid doesn't go deeper than that, doesn't want to see-- but it's enough, and his body slumps into sleep. Jamie hugs the kid a little tighter.
"What's his name?" Sid asks, keeping his voice low. The kid will stay asleep until Sid wakes him up, but it'll be more restful if it's quiet.
Jamie's not looking at Sid any more. "He's Ty," Jamie says. "He runs the engines."
Sid thumbs his comm once to let Geno know they've got another one, then tugs his gloves back on. "Can I help bring him to the Med Techs?"
Jamie stares at him flatly. "I can't carry him myself," he says, which Sid takes as a yes. Jamie climbs back out of the cage and hovers at Sid's side while he carefully picks Ty up and carries him out. Ty is out, head lolling against Sid's shoulder, and Jamie walks, shadow-like, back at Sid's side.
* * *
Mission Report: Station 501 School
Location: Aramis system
Date: SOL 1057; Local 3/15/4016
Mission Parameters: Assess and investigate Station 501, currently functioning as a school (see materials here). Multiple reports of abuse at Station 501; no concrete evidence. As this is an abuse investigation, no advanced warning will be given. This is a fact-finding mission only. No additional action to be taken at this time.
OIC: Capt. Sidney Crosby (additional psy information here); Med Tech Evgeni Malkin.
Report: School on Aramis 1 (surface) run by Station 501 in good condition; students report good accommodations, food, and instruction. Confirmed by consensual psy. All in line with local educational mandates. Some students mentioned "work station;" far fewer students present at school than rosters indicate. Further investigation warranted and approved by local government.
Station 501 (orbital) is a waste-processing plant in orbit around Aramis 1. Upon arrival, corps initially welcomed into station. When facilities inspected, it became clear that machinery could not be operated by number of adults present. Informed by Station manager that students from surface school rotated through on a fortnightly basis on vocational training and that there were no students on board at this time. OIC Sidney Crosby reports that the psy imprint of Station too large for the number of adults present.
OIC asked to see storage facilities and was informed that they were under construction. When pressed, OIC and Med Tech were allowed access to storage bays. Upon arrival to storage bay 1, OIC radioed up to XO Chris Kunitz to immediately arrest all station personnel. OIC reported that bay contained between 50 and 75 transport crates (3'x3'x3'), each containing one child. Although parameters state that this is a fact-finding mission, discovery of evidence of human trafficking/child labor allows additional action to be taken under Corps regulation 101.5.113.
OIC worked with Med Tech to recover and assess children. 63 living children recovered from Station 1; remains of an additional 34 children also discovered (with more possible; disposal method incomplete and more remains may be discovered.)
Results: All staff of Station 501 arrested and awaiting trial. Children recovered from the orbital facility have been placed with their families (when available and appropriate) or with the relevant children's authorities in their respective systems. Continued monitoring is advisable to avoid further casualties.
Living students identified:
Jamie Benn (15; Asos system)
Patrick Kane (16; Falo system)
Amanda Kessel (13; Asos system)
Jared Staal (14; Urba system)
Andrew Shaw (13, Canat system)
[...]
Living students partially identified:
"Ty" (may be either Tyler Brown, 15, Tirea system, or Tyler Seguin, 13, Tirea system)
"Jack" (18; likely John Johnson, Dian system)
"Kes" (17; likely Philip Kessel, Asos system)
"Daddy" (16, likely Jason Demers, Dian system)
"Skinny" (12; likely Jeff Skinner, Arkh system)
"Pevs" (18; likely Rich Peverley, Tirea system)
[...]
Deceased students identified:
Jordan Staal (16; Urba system)
Brandon Saad (12; Pitt system)
Nicholas Foligno (17; Falo system)
Sergei Bobrovsky (16; Voku system)
Steven Stamkos (15; Arkh system)
[...]
Deceased students partially identified:
"Ty" (may be either Tyler Brown, 15, Tirea system, or Tyler Seguin, 13, Tirea system)
"Aunti" (may be either Antti Niemi, 18, Inish system, or Antti Rantaa, 15, Inish system)
"Ollie" (11; likely Olli Maatta, Inish system)
"Gally" (may be either Brendan Gallagher, 12, Urba system, or Alex Galchenyuk, 11, Falo system)
"Brad" (16; likely Bradley Marchand, Lifa system)
[...]
Note: On consultation with the OIC and the Med Techs, it is highly recommended that Sgt. Marc Staal be granted leave time on the completion of this mission.
Report completed by Sgt. Pascal Dupuis. Psy report from Capt. Sidney Crosby available here.
* * *
Evgeni's not sure quite how any of the kids are still alive. He's only got so many resources for this mission, and it was supposed to be a recon mission, not a full-scale rescue. But he's got sixty-something kids with injuries ranging from burns to broken bones to concussions. All of them are hungry, and he sets one of the other Techs to cutting a protein bar into slivers for the kids who still have the strength to eat.
It's a mess.
He's in the middle of setting a girl's arm when Sid walks back in (she's blonde, and she bites her lip but she stays silent, even when he can tell that she hurts). One of the older kids is sitting with her, and she smiles up at him when Evgeni's done wrapping her arm. "Hey, 'Manda," the older kid says softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, not looking at Evgeni. He lets them have their moment and walks over to Sid, stripping off his nitrile gloves and tossing them in a wastebasket.
Sid's standing by himself next to a cot that holds two more children. Evgeni recognizes one of them from earlier, can see the standard issue wrapping around his knuckles and the fading blue gel on his cheekbone. The other one is new, and even smaller than the first. "All good?" Evgeni asks, smoothing a thumb across the back of Sid's neck, soothing the tension that Sid always carries there. Sid sighs and slumps just a little, leaning into Evgeni's side.
"He was in the engine room," Sid says. "Jamie found him for us. I had to put him to sleep so he wouldn't take my hand off." He turns his face into Evgeni's shoulder. "What the fuck are we going to do with them all?"
"What we can," Evgeni says. "Flower say how long before we can jump?"
Sid sighs. "At least an hour, if we're done by then. I walked the ship, but the boxes dampen things too much, and I can't-- I think we got everyone. Everyone who's still, you know--" He scrubs gloved hands across his face and looks down at the two boys on the cot.
"I know, Sid," Evgeni says, and he pulls on a fresh pair of gloves and gets to work on the new boy. Evgeni hopes this is the last boy they'll pull out of a box on this ship, the last one whose body he'll try to fix while Sid worries about the boy's mind.
Somewhere off the ship there's a boy with blonde fuzz on his head that they'd found in the control room, hands cuffed to the 'pathing station. His eyes had been vacant, unseeing, until Sid had unlocked the cuffs and he'd sagged into Evgeni's waiting arms. He's glad that they'd found the 'path, taken him off the ship and into isolation-- glad that the boy had opened his (lucid, conscious) eyes before Evgeni had passed him off to his staff.
But that's only one boy that they'd saved; there are over sixty kids who still need his help, or Sid's help, and the new boy he's working on has a broken hand and a dislocated ankle, deep purple circles under his eyes that could be lack of sleep or bruises. Evgeni's got blue gel and splints, but he'll have to wait for scans to see if the ankle can be put back in place without surgery.
He focuses on this boy, this room, and doesn't look towards the door. The next room over is full of small bodies, covered in plastic sheets. Some of them have names.
* * *
To: Jordie Benn, Asos 3 [jobenn@asos3.sol]
From: Capt. Sidney Crosby, Sol Corps [scrosby@solcorps.sol]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Looking for my brother, Jamie Benn
Dear Mr. Benn,
We have located your brother, Jamie Benn. He is one of the survivors of the Station 501 school, and I am pleased to inform you that he is doing well. He should be able to return home within the week.
However, please do not expect him be to be the same as he was when he left. While Jamie is in relatively good shape, he has suffered months of limited food, confined living quarters, and limited human contact. He will require care and counseling. A member of Med Tech will be in touch with you shortly with resources and an application for aid.
Additionally, I have a favor to ask…
* * *
Jordie's tired before Jamie even comes home. He's had meetings with the Med Techs and a ream of paperwork to fill out on his comm before they'd even consider turning Jamie over to him, and twice that for Jamie's friend Ty, who apparently refuses to be far from Jamie and doesn't have anywhere else to go.
Crosby's comm had let Jordie relax for the first time in months, ever since Jamie had stopped writing. He'd had half a plan to go find Jamie himself before Crosby had agreed to look into it-- he'd wanted to find Jamie himself, just to know what the fuck was going on. The school was supposed to be somewhere for Jamie to go and get away from everything, after their parents died and Jenny moved over to Falo for work. She'd been on a long-range transport when Jamie stopped writing-- no way to contact her until it landed. The school was supposed to-- supposed to. He gets stuck on that, sometimes, because there are ways that their lives were supposed to go, and he wasn't supposed to be eighteen and trying to get his younger brother home.
Sometimes he just wants to scream; some days he goes out with a six-pack and his dad's old analog shotgun, goes into the desert and gets drunk and shoots at the bottles when they're empty. He doesn't kid himself that he isn't pretending they're the men who kept Jamie on that station, the ones who are keeping his brother from coming home now. But he drags himself home every morning, cleans and makes sure that Jamie's room is ready, just in case he comes home.
For the first few months it'd been like keeping watch, because sometime things go weird with communication between the systems-- and Aramis is far away, it could have been solar flares or a blip in the 'net-- but once he'd figured out that something was wrong, it'd become this thing. Jamie'd always been smarter than he was, and his room was full of old homework and photos of their parents. The first time he'd gone through it, he'd sat in the middle of Jamie's rug and cried, hands full of crumpled paper, his mom's smile looking up at him from the floor. It hurt, and it didn't stop hurting, not until he finally heard from Jamie four months later.
Jamie's called him a dozen times since he'd gotten Crosby's last comm, and the first time Jordie'd heard his voice, he'd gotten weak in the knees and had to sit down, because he'd thought-- he'd honestly thought that he might never see his younger brother again. He'd cried a bit, on the comm with Jamie, and he knows that his voice wobbled, but he couldn't bring himself to care because it was Jamie, and Jamie was okay. He cried himself to sleep again later that night, out on the front porch like Jamie was going to come by in a cruiser in an hour or two, tears leaking out of his eyes in desperate relief.
It's been almost nine standard months since Jordie's seen his brother when Crosby and the Corps finally make the jump back to Asos. Jordie's waiting impatiently at the dock, ready with his cruiser and mom's blanket and a vac full of tea.
Jamie's not the first one off the ship, not nearly, and Jordie bounces on his toes to stay warm and scratches at the beginnings of the beard that he's been thinking about letting grow. He has this sudden moment of what if Jamie doesn't recognize him with the beard, but he can't-- it's Jamie. It's Jamie. They'd know each other anywhere.
Finally, finally, there's Jamie walking down the gangplank, one hand on a floating stretcher which must hold his friend Ty. Jamie's walking slow, like it might hurt him to move any faster, but when he spots Jordie, he passes the stretcher off to the Med Tech that's following them and starts running, weak legs only letting him move a little faster than a jog. And Jordie's not gonna make him try to run all the way across the landing dock, so he takes off himself, Jamie colliding with his chest with nothing of the whump he'd had before he left. Jordie's crying into what there is of his beard, and Jamie's just shaking against him, saying Jordie's name over and over again.
All Jordie wants to do is wrap his little brother in mom's blanket, make him drink tea, and take him home, but he's got business with the Med Techs first. He does wrap the blanket around Jamie's shoulders, smiling at Jamie when Jamie gathers it around himself. "Welcome home, kid," he says.
"Guess you can't call me Chubbs any more," Jamie says, and Jordie almost can't believe that one of the first things that his brother's said to him in person in months is that.
"Give me six months," Jordie promises, ruffling at the dark fuzz that Jamie's got growing out. "You got a friend with you?"
Jamie takes a deep breath and tugs the blanket a little tighter around his shoulders, looking back at the kid on the stretcher. "Yeah," he says. "His name's Ty. And he's not-- he's not doing super great."
Over the next few weeks, Jordie learns that not super great is one hell of an understatement. Ty's in the hospital because he's still so weak, and Jordie has to bite his lip to keep from saying something every time he watches Jamie take a deep breath just to be able to walk through the doors. Ty is argumentative and kind of a brat, when he's not staring at the ceiling for hours on end or trying to get out of the velcro cuffs the Med Techs put him in after his third escape attempt. Ty's angry in a way that Jamie isn't, and Jordie can't help but think that it's because Jamie's letting Ty be angry for him. Jamie's getting through the depression and acceptance okay, seeing one of the psy Med Techs twice a week to make sure that he's actually eating enough and not lying to Jordie about how he feels.
Mostly, Jordie wants to sit on Jamie until he turns eighteen, but he settles for actually learning to cook, so that Jamie has something to eat other than the synthetic protein bars the Med Techs pushed on Jordie. He does his best not to hover, but Jamie's still his kid brother, and until he stops looking half-starved, Jordie will do as he damn well pleases.
Somehow, Jamie had talked Crosby into letting him be one of the points of contact for the other kids who had been at the school, so Jamie's comm goes off half a dozen times a day, usually with updates and information that Jordie just wants to shield him from. He suggests once that Jamie maybe let it go a little, and Jamie nods solemnly, hands Jordie his comm. Two days later, Jamie is a wreck, spiralling into anxiety and constant worry-- he asks Jordie about Patrick and Kes and Jared, but it's not until Jamie asks about Brandon, one of the kids that Jordie knows hadn't made it off the station, that he breaks and gives Jamie back his comm. Jamie doesn't look any better than he had when he'd first gotten off the ship (he almost looks worse, even with two months of food and rest and hours lying in the sun), and Jordie thinks that maybe he gets it, now. Jamie needs to know how the other kids are doing, because then he doesn't have to wonder and make up worst-case scenarios.
His heart breaks a little more when he realizes that Jamie might always be like this.
Throughout everything is Ty. Ty just flat-out isn't getting better, even when the Med Techs remove the cuffs and let him have a little more freedom, move him into a room with a window. They let Jamie visit whenever he wants to, because (according to the night nurse, who's got the green triangle of a psy next to his name) it's the only time of the day when Ty does anything but just lie there. Ty remembers almost nothing about his time before the school (the psy nurse tells Jordie it's probably because he's trying to protect himself, and Jordie doesn't asked from what). He can't even remember his own fucking last name, no matter how many times Jamie asks. They've had to start a nutrient IV because Ty won't eat-- Jamie's the only one who can get him to, and even then only sometimes.
He worries about Ty just quitting, someday, giving up entirely and leaving Jamie alone.
Jordie had asked Jamie, once, what he was going to do if Ty didn't need him any more. "Then I guess I'll need him," Jamie had said, with a lopsided smile, looking down at Ty's hand folded inside his. Ty had been sleeping without nightmares for once, and his face was lax and almost smiling. Like this, Ty looked sweet, and Jordie could see the edges of the boy that his brother had attached himself to, months ago, when both of them were alone.
Ty clings to life, Jamie clings to Ty, and Jordie tries not to cling too hard to either of them.
* * *
Translation of interview with Marc-Andre Fleury, corps engineer, Station 501 Mission
"The ship shouldn't have been running."
Any reason?
"Flux engines were shot, main capax was full of junk, the fuel tanks were half-filled with sand-- I could go on, but that Station should never have left the ground."
Any idea how it was orbital?
"Must have had a 'path. Maybe more than the one we found. Only way they could stay up."
Anything else you want to add?
"Tank the f------ thing. It's not worth saving, and it might let the 'paths go."
* * *
Jamie still can't sleep when it's completely dark. It's easier, six months later and back home, because Jordie got him a light that he can turn on with a touch, but it's still not right. Even with the light on, his room in the apartment that he and Jordie share is too closed-in and too empty all at the same time. He wants to call Ty, but they've already used up Ty's weekly comm time, and he won't have any more for another six days. His comm beeps, and he grabs it off the nightstand. It's a message from Sidney, and Jamie doesn't want to open it, because lately Sidney's only had bad news.
He rolls over and tries to go back to sleep. There's still another six standard hours before dawn, here on Asos 3, and Jordie keeps reminding him how much his body needs rest. Jamie closes his eyes and runs through one of the breathing exercises that Sidney had taught him on the flight back from Aramis 1, trying his best to keep his heart from echoing in his ears.
It's different, not to be cooped up in a box that was too small for him to ever stretch out. He wiggles his toes under the blankets (his mom's blanket, the one Jordie'd brought him home in, is back on the couch where she'd always left it) and feels what it's like to have space, have breathing room, have-- it's almost too much. He can walk into the kitchen for an apple or even one of the terrible nutrient bars that Jordie keeps pushing on him, he can walk outside and breathe in air that smells like home.
Back on the station it was always dark, and it seemed like there was never enough air to breathe. Jamie felt like he was suffocating half the time, even when he was out in one of the common areas instead of his box. He met Ty in the half-dark of the engine room-- this kid tangled up in the wiring, coaxing a flickering light back into full brightness. It was weird, that much light after what felt like months in the dark. Jamie could see a fading bruise on the kid's wrist, and another newer one on his chin, still a livid purple in the center. The lightbulb brightened, throwing the hollows under his cheekbones into relief. He was too thin, even for the station's standards, and Jamie wanted to--
He didn't even know this kid. The kid blinked hard, and reached out to poke Jamie in the chest. "Huh," he said, "you're actually real."
Jamie blinked back at him. "Of course I am," he said. "How long have you been down here?"
The kid shrugged. "Dunno," he replied. "What're you doing here?" he asked, and Jamie didn't really have a response. He'd been drawn by the light, honestly, like one of the moths back on Asos fluttering around the porch light.
There were heavy footsteps in the hallway outside the engine room, too heavy for any of the other kids, even Jack or Kes, and they froze in place. The other kid shoved his hands against Jamie's chest. "Get out," he hissed, and Jamie fled.
But he was back again the next night, this time with half a ration pack that he'd stolen from the monitors. The other kid was inside his box, curled up with the door open, and Jamie just folded his legs and sat in front of the box, offering the ration pack to the kid. "I'm Jamie," he said, like they were new classmates on the first day of school, or something, not-- not kids who'd probably be dead in the next month. This kid wouldn't be the first to starve, not nearly (that'd been Brad, more than a month ago, locked in his box because he'd--), but there was something about him that Jamie wanted to protect.
The kid stuck his fingers in the near-tasteless mush of the ration pack and smeared them across his tongue. It was gross, but Jamie had gotten used to it-- the monitors didn't give any of them spoons any more. He waited until the kid swallowed. "What's your name?"
The kid shrugged, like it didn't matter. "Ty," he said. "I mean, I think. I dunno."
He wasn't the only kid who went by a nickname and wasn't sure what his name used to be, so Jamie went with it. "What system are you from?" he asked. "I'm from Asos."
Ty shrugged again. "Dunno. I-- is there another Ty here?" His face was shadowed, but Jamie thought Ty's voice sounded hopeful.
Jamie shook his head. "I haven't met anyone," he said. "I don't know, there might-- I'm in manufacturing, and he might be in processing?"
"Okay," Ty replied, slumping back in his box.
Jamie kept coming back, every night when he could slip away from the monitors and bring some extra food to Ty. Ty was confused a lot of the time-- he forgot what day it was (Jamie did too, sometimes), forgot what system he was from and sometimes he couldn't remember his mom. He never mentioned his dad, so Jamie didn't ask about him. He never forgot who Jamie was, though, even when the monitors got rougher and Ty stopped being able to move around so good.
Some days there wasn't enough food for everyone, not even with the ration packs, and Jamie split what he had between Ollie and Ty, until Ollie got so sick that he couldn't work any more, and then there was just Ty. Ty explained how the engines worked, showed Jamie all the things he'd done to keep them up in the air, and Jamie told him about growing up in the desert on Asos, the way the sky looked stretching out for miles and miles. Once, once, Ty said "I think I remember rain," and Jamie leaned down and pressed their foreheads together.
There was a beeping noise, and Jamie and Ty both turned to look out into the engine room. "Gotta get back to work," Ty said, and he reached for Jamie's hand, pulling past Jamie and disappearing into the engine.
Jamie did everything he could-- he and Jack and Kes and Pevs had a system, groups of other kids to look after, and even though Jamie was the youngest of them, he could do that. Pevs helped him out sometimes, with Ty-- talked him into eating, made him walk around-- and Jamie did his best, he kept going. He did, until someone noticed they weren't where they were supposed to be-- until Jordie-- they held on. They kept going.
Jamie blinks his eyes open; he must've managed to fall asleep for at least a little while. His comm is beeping, and this time Jamie sighs and swipes its face to read the messages. The first one, from Sidney, is short and to-the-point. Rich Peverley in hospital; outlook not promising. The next one is from the psy nurse on Ty's wing, the one who sometimes let him sneak extra comm time with Jamie. Ty's asking for you, it reads. Some asshat let him know about Pevs. Jamie squeezes his eyes tightly closed and lets himself have three breaths to panic, because Pevs is the only one from Ty's home system who had made it through, and if Pevs dies, too--
He breathes out.
In a lot of ways, Jamie's lucky. He'd only been at the station for a about six months, and he'd had his (relative) health and sanity and Jordie to go back to. He knows that not all the other kids had had that, just like he knows that Sidney's updates are sometimes the only thing that lets him cling to his sanity. Sidney tells him everything he can about the other kids who had been on the station, good or bad, and it keeps Jamie from going insane with worry and fear, keeps him from spiralling about Ty and Pevs and Skinny, Amanda and Kes and Andrew.
It's not the first time that Jamie's woken up Jordie at a ridiculous hour of the morning and asked to be taken to Ty, and it won't be the last. He turns on the light and pulls on a pair of pants and an old t-shirt, one that was almost worn through even before he went to 501, and pads down the hall to Jordie's room. The door's open (the door's always open, now) and Jordie comes awake at Jamie's soft knock. "What's up, kid?" he asks.
"Ty needs me," Jamie says, and Jordie sighs.
"Everything okay?" Jordie asks, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sitting up.
Jamie shakes his head. "Pevs is in the hospital, and Ty found out from someone." It's easier to take care of Ty's needs than his own, and Ty won't say anything if Jamie cries into his shirt sleeves.
Jordie groans. "Fuck. Okay, I'll take you-- go get some shoes on, and grab a bar out of the kitchen before we go."
It's easier, when Jordie gives him things to do. Jamie does as he says and is waiting by the front door by the time Jordie is ready to go. Jordie gives him a tired smile. "You eat the whole bar?" he asks, and Jamie shows him the empty wrapper, not mentioning that he'd wrapped half the nutrient bar in a piece of paper and stuck it inside the pocket of his jacket, because as much as he knows that he needs to eat, Ty needs it more.
The flight to Ty's is short, and there's almost no one else out at this hour of the day. Jamie signs in at the front desk, and shakes his head when Jordie offers to go up with him. Nurse Bennett, the nice one who messaged him earlier, is waiting for him outside Ty's room. "'sup, Jamie?" he says when he sees Jamie round the corner.
Jamie shrugs. "Can I see him?" he asks.
"He's having a crap time of it," Nurse Bennett says. "I sent him to sleep a couple hours ago, but he keeps having nightmares. Once I figure out who told him about Pevs, I'm gonna hit them, because if there's one thing Ty doesn't need right now, it's more stress." He shakes his head. "Sorry, Jamie."
Jamie's hands freeze for a minute, heart stuttering, because Ty had asked, and Nurse Bennet's never turned him away before. He likes Nurse Bennett, who's always got a joke or something nice to say-- Sidney had introduced them, a few weeks after Jamie had gotten back home. Nurse Bennett is the only one who lets Ty comm him, sometimes, even when Ty's out of minutes. He can't be forbidding Jamie from seeing Ty, not right now. Now when Ty needs him. "I can't--" he starts, because he can see Ty, right through the door. Ty's hair is growing back, but his cheeks are still hollow, and his hands are twitching in his sleep.
"Oh!" Nurse Bennett says, looking between Jamie and the door. "No, you can go in. I was just apologizing for getting so worked up."
Jamie heaves a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he says, and reaches to open the door.
"One more thing," Nurse Bennett says, before Jamie can turn the handle. "Can you see if you can figure out who told him about Pevs?"
Jamie nods, and slips inside Ty's room. It's half-dark inside, lights not all the way up, but Jamie's eyes are used to it. Ty is hooked up to a monitor and a drip, but that's normal, now. The bed's a lot nicer than Ty's box used to be, too. He climbs in alongside Ty and fits himself between the rail and Ty's back. "Hey," he breathes into the back of Ty's neck, and Ty shudders all over once, before relaxing.
"Jamie?" he says, voice fuzzy, like it always is when someone makes him sleep.
"Just me," Jamie confirms. Ty sighs and leans against him.
"You heard anything about Pevs?" Ty asks. He's facing away, so Jamie can't see his face, but Jamie would bet anything that his fists are clenched and his eyes are red.
"Just what you know." Jamie pauses. "How'd you find out, anyway?"
Ty hums, pleased. "Beau should be more careful with his comm," he says, and Jamie can hear Nurse Bennett swearing outside Ty's door. "Dreamed about you."
"Oh?"
"Mm. Dreamed we never got off the ship, and Pevs was--" Ty shrugs. "You know, looking out for me, like he used to."
Jamie's comm beeps again, and he doesn't want to-- if it's Sid telling him that Pevs is dead, then he doesn't know how he'll get Ty through this. He leaves the comm where it is, in his front pocket with the bar that he'd half-finished, and takes that out instead. "I brought you food," he says, and breaks off a piece for Ty.
Ty takes it and chews on it, making a face at the taste. "These are always so gross," he says.
"Well maybe if you ate them they'd give you something else," Jamie points out. "Jordie gives me real food."
Ty smiles. "'m tired," he says.
"That's why you should be sleeping, dork," Jamie responds, breaking off another piece of the bar and handing it to Ty.
Jamie reaches for Ty's hand after he silently eats the next bite of the bar. "How are you doing?" he asks.
"Tired," Ty says, his eyes drifting shut. "'s like I'm still on the ship, you know? I'm just tired, all the time, and I don't-- I don't know what's wrong." His voice is small and frightened, like it had been when they'd first met, and Jamie just wants to hold him tighter.
"They'll figure something out, Ty," Jamie starts, but Ty interrupts him.
"No, it's-- they don't know anything either," Ty says. "The-- Beau's notes aren't--"
There's a knock on the door and Nurse Bennett walks in. "Jamie, I'm sorry, but I need you to go." There's someone else with him, someone that Jamie doesn't recognize, and all he wants to do is cling tighter to Ty and never let him go, never mind that Nurse Bennett has never been anything but kind to him.
"It's okay," Ty says, like he's resigned to it, but the fear is gone from his voice. "It'll help."
"Nurse Bennett--" Jamie doesn't want to leave Ty, but if Ty's okay with it, then maybe it'll be all right. "I-- where are you going?"
Nurse Bennett looks at him sympathetically. "He's going to be fine, okay? We just figured something out-- you'll be able to visit tomorrow, I promise."
Jamie takes a deep breath, presses his lips to the fuzz that is Ty's hair. It's been months, and it's still almost as short as it was when they left the station. "I'm not going anywhere," he says. "I'm not going to leave you alone."
Ty finds Jamie's hand and squeezes it. Somehow it's easier when they're not looking at each other. "You've gotta go," he says, and he lets go of Jamie's hand. "'m gonna be fine."
* * *
Patient Transfer, Asos 3 Medical Center
Date: SOL 1057; Local 11/29/3105
Time of Transfer: Local 11:37 p.m.
Name: Ty [Tyler Brown or Tyler Seguin; authorities and patient unsure]
Primary Language: Tirea standard
Gender: Male
Code Status: Full Code
Emergency Contact: Jordie Benn
Relationship: Guardian
Notified of Transfer: Yes
Unit: Technopath Isolation
Reason for Transfer/Steps taken before transfer: Patient had been in the previous unit for 6 standard months. Patient has been under treatment for malnutrition and muscle atrophy caused by imprisonment at Station 501. Recovery was slower than expected; patient failed to regain weight at normal rate. Patient can be friendly and gregarious, especially with friends and Psy Nurse Bennett; however, patient also suffers from periods of depression and anxiety consistent with possible diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. On discovery that patient was likely 'pathing with Nurse's comm, immediate transfer to Technopath Isolation was warranted.
Attending Med Tech: Beau Bennett
Baseline Mental Status:
Patient is: Oriented, Confused, Lethargic, likely 'pathing with both Nurse's comm and Station 501, currently still in orbit around Aramis 1.
Does patient have decision-making capabilities?: Sometimes
If not, who has the authority to make decisions for this patient?
Name: Jordie Benn
[...]
* * *
When he wakes up, this is what he remembers:
His name is Tyler Seguin.
He was born on Tirea in the third cycle, just before the monsoons started. His mom used to tell him that he loved the sound of the rain more than anything, before the rains swept their house away, and Tyler and his mom had to spend the next summer rebuilding. After that, it wasn't that Tyler hated the rain, he just-- sometimes, he wanted more sun.
When he's ten his mom shows him how to make the comms work with his mind, how to send messages to Brownie, who has the same first-name that he does, who always calls him Seggy. He can fix almost anything, from the tractors that break down in the field next to their house to the replicator his mom uses for the jewelry that she sells for a little extra money. His mom knows how to make it work, too, talking softly to her sewing machine and talking their cruiser into running on just a few liters of fuel.
It's their secret, at first, until Tyler figures out that there's a name for this, that he's not the only one who can talk to machines like they're people. He's a technopath, and probably a pretty good one, thanks to his mom's careful teaching. He wonders why she's not up on some ship, jumping from system to system, but she only smiles at him and cards her fingers through his hair when he asks.
Two years later the rains come again, and harder this time, bringing flooding and cholera to the fields that Tyler had run through in the summers. Brownie gets it first of any of the people that Tyler knows, but his parents bring him to the city, to the Med Techs there, and he's okay. Tyler doesn't get sick, but his mom does. Her fingers wrinkle and her skin turns blue, and Tyler runs down the road to find someone, anyone, but the Browns are still in the city and there's no one else around who can help.
Tyler does his best-- he makes her drink and he comms a doctor in the city but the outbreak is everywhere and there's no one who can come out and no way Tyler can get her in. He sweet-talks the cruiser into letting him drive instead of his mom, and speeds into the city to find the doctor that he'd commed, because there's gotta be medication for this or something. The doctor gives him meds and a vaccine and a warm bun to eat on the way back, but there's nothing to come back to.
He stays there for three days, in his house up on stilts, waiting for the water to drop enough that he can get the cruiser running again. He wraps his mother's body in a linen sheet in the living room, covers her face and her hair, the clever fingers that had taught Tyler everything he thought he'd ever need to know. Her hands are still, and her cheeks are sunken; she doesn't look like his mother any more. Eventually, the water recedes, and he half-swims, half-runs across the fields to Brownie's house. He leaves his mother in their old house, and knows he won't be back.
The Browns take him in, after that, and six months later he and Brownie are on their way to Aramis 1, because there's a school there that promises they have psy on staff, that Tyler can learn to 'path the way that'll keep him from having to go back to Tirea. While they're there the rains come again, and this time no one's lucky; Tyler and Brownie's whole village is gone. Two weeks after that they're on the station and Tyler just… forgets.
It's easier to lose himself in the way the engine works, easier to keep the station running and try to stop it from dropping pieces everywhere. He spools himself out like a kite string, until there's only a thread keeping him tethered to the ground. The ship shouldn't run, and it doesn't want to, but Ty coaxes and promises and brings it grease and wrenches. He knows, vaguely, that he's not the only one who's 'pathing with the ship (there's Patrick, and he's somewhere else but they've never met, Patrick who is a butterfly wing against his mind; Patrick hopes for someone to come every day (Jonny, Jonny, please--) but Ty thinks he's forgotten anything outside this ship).
During the night he's in a box and it's dark but it feels safer, somehow, like he can collect himself, wind himself back into place. Brownie gets lost somewhere, and Ty wants to mourn, but he's just… numb. Someone calls him Brownie, someone else calls him Seggy, and he gets lost again.
But during the day there's Jamie. Jamie makes him want to remember, sometimes. Jamie is quiet and serious and so sweet sometimes. Jamie talks about a brother and a home and Ty thinks he might remember what that was like. Jamie's there to keep Ty safe, to make him eat something and stretch out his aching joints. Ty's mean to him, sometimes, but Jamie comes back anyway. Ty's mind is somewhere else whenever they're talking, trying to keep the capax from falling apart entirely, but Jamie's a safe place.
Jamie becomes his only safe place, soon enough, and Ty's teeth are sharp even when they feel loose in his jaw, but Jamie tells him I'll say hi like this, Ty, look for me and he doesn't bite at Jamie.
One night it's too loud outside the box, then too quiet. Ty curls himself up, careful of the crunch of bones in his hand and the way that he can't stand on his ankles right now. Something is going on outside, and he can't decide if he wants whatever it is to leave him alone or drag him back out.
All of a sudden Jamie's there and there's someone else, too, someone tall and broad and Ty-- he doesn't, this isn't. Jamie's talking but Ty can't understand the words that he's saying. The door to his box is open and he's spooling out into the ship when the man touches his ankle--
--and he's not in the box, not any more, but he's still all tangled out in the station, trying to keep it in the air. His mind wraps itself around the fuel tanks and the capax and the flux engines, pushing them just a little, just enough to keep them going. It gets harder and harder, because soon enough he's jumping with Sidney through a gate that takes them somewhere that Ty's never been. Jamie's still there, looking pale and drawn, skin stretched too tight over his cheekbones. Ty reminds him to eat and Jamie cracks one of his rare smiles. "I could say the same to you," he says, and Ty thinks that maybe it's time to come back.
But he's still connected to the station, even half a dozen systems away. He's connected to it while the Corps walk it, while the pickers go over it for scrap, and he keeps it in the air because that's all he knows how to do. He feels stretched and too thin, like if he could just snap the connection he'd be okay. He doesn't know how, though-- keeping the ship up is his job, and it's just him, now. He hopes that Patrick found his Jonny, and he wants to finish waking up. He wants to be present, he wants to lie down with Jamie somewhere and listen to the rain.
It's raining when he wakes up, and he's not alone.
It's also quiet in his head for the first time in forever. He can't reach the station, even when he tries, and he digs his nails into his palms and reaches, harder than he ever has, but he can't feel anything. There's nothing that he can sense, nothing that he can push into doing what he wants, and it makes him breathe too fast, too tense, too--
"Woah, hey--" someone says, and Tyler thinks that he recognizes their voice through his panic. There's a touch on the back of his hand, crystal-clear in the whirlwind of his thoughts. It tugs him back towards calm, and he lets it center him back in his own body. He blinks his eyes open slowly, and there's Beau, touching Tyler's hand and looking worried. "Hey, Ty," he says.
"Hi," Tyler says, voice croaking like he hasn't spoken out loud in months.
"Do you remember where you are?" Beau asks. He takes his hand off of Tyler's, but not before Tyler feels his concern slipping through the connection.
He almost says Tirea before he catches himself and says "Asos 3," instead. "Is Jamie here?"
Beau smiles, shoulders relaxing. "He didn't want to leave," he explains. "He'll be back soon, as soon as his brother's talked him into getting some sleep."
"Where 'm I?" Tyler asks, because he knows what planet, he recognizes Beau and remembers Jamie, but the walls around him are new, and it's so quiet.
Beau's eyebrows knit together. "You're on Asos 3, Ty--"
"No, I know that," Tyler interrupts. "Why's it so quiet?"
"You're in 'path isolation," Beau says. "We think you're still 'pathing with the ship." Well, that explains that, and Tyler lets himself relax back into the bed.
"Okay," he says, mouth dry, because Aramis 1 is six systems away and he shouldn't still be 'pathing with the station. Not unless something's gone wrong, and maybe that's why everything else is so quiet, because if he's managing to 'path through isolation and six systems, it's got to be some sort of--
The roaring builds in his ears until Beau calms him back down again. "Ty," he says, looking directly at Tyler. "They're tanking the station."
For a minute Tyler feels like crying, because he's spent over a year keeping the thing in the air-- it's been all he's done since he was sent to the station in the first place. He wants to keep it flying, wants to whisper to the capax to just give it another rotation, another turn around the planet, but he blinks hard and there are a few tears, sure, but-- but. Maybe it's time. "Can Jamie--"
He wants Jamie, but maybe they're keeping Jamie away from him for a reason, maybe there's something wrong. Beau smiles at him, though. "We're waiting on him before they tank the station. Seemed like it might go better for you if he were there. I'll comm Jordie to let them know that you're awake." Beau passes his hand over Tyler's forehead after he stands up, and it feels like sunshine on his face. He closes his eyes, and falls asleep again.
Jamie's there when he wakes up the next time, curled around Tyler. "Hey," Tyler half-whispers, once he's met Jamie's eyes.
"Hey," Jamie says back to him, blinking slowly. "How's it going?"
Something about Tyler feels syrup-slow and sticky, like he's walking through water up to his knees. "'m tired," he says. "But I think-- I'm a 'path, Jamie." He's not sure why he says it-- Jamie must know, and Tyler's in isolation for a reason.
"I know," Jamie says, rubbing the back of Tyler's hand with his thumb. "They're gonna tank the station in a few minutes."
"Beau told me."
Jamie holds him a little tighter. "You're gonna be fine, Ty," he says, and the world just sort of… goes away. He blinks, and he's back on the station, racing through the wiring as she comes apart, falls to pieces. He wraps himself around the capax as it falls, coming closer and closer to the atmosphere, screaming as it burns up, and it's like he's there, like he's falling with the station, melting and burning and falling apart.
It goes on forever, and he's half-aware that he's screaming and sobbing into Jamie's shoulder, but at the same time he's a thousand pieces of metal and plastic tumbling through the atmosphere of a planet that he can't even see. The station burns, and he burns with her, until he's just a few tiny asteroids that crumble before they hit the ground.
Pulling himself back into his body is slow, and it comes back to him in parts, his toes and his elbows and the space between his shoulder blades. Jamie's still there, the sleeve of his shirt soaked with tears and spit, and Tyler finds himself making a face, because it's kind of gross.
"Ty?" Beau asks, and Tyler realizes that they're not alone in the room.
"Hi," Tyler responds, and his voice is all torn up from screaming, but he thinks that maybe that was it. He doesn't feel stretched, he's not tangled up in anything, he's just here, with Jamie. "I think I'm gonna be okay."
* * *
Asos 3 is mostly desert and it rains maybe a dozen days during a standard year. It's the furthest thing from Tirea that Tyler can imagine, but he learns to call it home, wrapped around Jamie on Jordie's porch, watching the sunset. Somewhere out there is Aramis 1 and a few dozen kids that Jamie still stays in touch with. Somewhere there's Patrick and whatever's left of Brownie's family, but Tyler stays on the porch with Jamie and doesn't reach for the stars.
* * *
Spoilery end-note: this fic is primarily about the recovery of a group of children/young adults who had been in a (short-term) forced labor environment, where they were kept fairly isolated and in confined living conditions. All death happens before the story starts and is off-screen; there is one mention of a teenager starving to death, one of a pre-teen dying from illness, and one adult (parent) dying from illness, but other deaths are non-specific. One of the main characters ends up hospitalized due to the effects of mental and physical trauma. Two of the main characters struggle with disordered eating throughout the story.