The Genesis Saga Chapter 67

“This is getting ridiculous,” Jyn paced. “They’ve been gone far too long. Sothing must have happened to them.”

Tassie and Rann sat on the back porch, eyeing the skyline passively. Neither one of them seed worried. Adrian had sohow found Reya and they knew they were together. If anything happened, they would have been contacted. Adrian had said he’d tell them when they left and began making their way back. They’d received his ssage a little while ago, so they knew the pair was on their way back from wherever it is they were.

“I wonder how he found her?” Tassie comnted to Rann, who shrugged in response.

Jyn whirled around and fixed on Tassie. “What do you an?”

“We know he’s found Reya,” Rann replied.

“How is that even possible?”

“Well, we don’t know.”

“No, not that! How do you know he’s found Reya?” Jyn asked.

“Because he told us,” Rann said calmly. There was no avoiding Jyn finding out that they’d trusted Adrian with so equipnt to go out and find her. She shared a look with Tassie, who understood and glanced at Jyn. They were going to have to tell him. Their reactions were too lackluster given the situation for them to lie convincingly.

“Yes, but how?”

“He has a comm,” Rann said simply. She and Tassie braced themselves for his reaction. Jyn’s eyes widened, quickly turning angry.

“He has what!?” he barked.

“It was an ergency and we needed so way to contact him in case anything went wrong.”

“So you just gave him military-grade equipnt?” Jyn practically shouted. “You can’t do that, Rann. He’s a civilian now. He’s the thing we literally have guard and protect.”

“Oh, so now you care about Adrian’s safety?” Tassie sneered. “What changed?” Jyn’s behaviour was beginning to anger her. She still hadn’t forgiven him for the shit he pulled, blaming her for what happened to Reya. “I thought you wanted him dead.”

“I never said I wanted him dead,” Jyn protested.

Tassie rolled her eyes. “You literally told us that as long as he’s alive, all’s good. So I guess that includes starving him. Or threatening to shoot him,” Tassie accused.

“This again? I thought we were over this.”

“Not all of us are, Jyn. We get that you don’t trust Adrian, but this is his chance to prove that he’s earned so asure of trust.”

“So you just let him on the loose alone in the mountain after dark, with our equipnt? Explain to how that even makes any sense!”

“He knows the mountain better than us,” Tassie shrugged. “He was right; we’d only be a liability. He was confident he would find Reya. We figured we’d give him a chance and intervene if things didn’t succeed. He was adamant about going out there. At least this way we know about any developnts as they occur so that we can respond accordingly.”

“And how are you supposed to find him if anything happens?” Jyn scowled. “You didn’t give him the flare gun, did you?” When there was no response, Jyn’s expression grew dark. “I see. I hope for all of our sakes that things turn out well.”

“Have you ever noticed Adrian’s uncanny sense of direction? According to Reya, it’s like he almost always knows where to go. I went on a walk with him once because he’d would’ve been alone otherwise, and you know what? She was right. I guess a part of is curious to see how remarkable it actually is. Given that he’s managed to find Reya in the dark, I’d say it’s pretty damn remarkable. I wonder if it’s because of sothing they did to him.”

“What do you an?”

“You’ve never noticed Adrian act oddly at tis? We all know he’s hiding things from us. I wonder if his sense of direction is sothing he let slip. It’s bizarre enough to make one wonder.”

“So this is all so kind of test?” Jyn asked incredulously. “You gave our charge a weapon and let him loose in the mountain after dark just to test him?”

“No. I simply figured we might as well test him given the opportunity. There was a very real need for him to be the one to go out and find Reya. This was us taking the chance offered. This is one of those things I’ve been wondering for a while now.”

“What if they get hurt? We should’ve organized a proper search party before the sun went down. We could’ve found her much faster. Instead they’re out there alone! Anything could happen to them!”

“You an anything could happen to Reya,” Tassie replied frigidly. “You’ve made your stance on Adrian’s safety quite clear. Adrian’s also a person, you know? He deserves so basic decency.”

“By the gods, you’re still on this? Why?”

“Because you’re not the only one who holds things against others.”

Jyn was about to reply when a rustling in the tree line caught their attention. Adrian and Reya appeared near the fire hand in hand. Reya had a guilty expression as they approached the porch. “Looks like it worked out,” Rann said.

“Hi, everyone,” Reya said shyly once they were close enough. “I’m sorry for making you worry.” Adrian moved to unbuckle the flare gun attached to his hip. He let go of Reya’s hand to do so.

“We’re just happy you guys are back safe,” Tassie said.

“Here,” Adrian said, handing her the flare gun. He took the comm off of his breast and handed it over as well. Tassie accepted the items wordlessly. Adrian grabbed Reya’s hand again. “Thank you for trusting to find Reya.” Tassie smiled.

“Thank you for bringing her back. I’m glad our trust in you wasn’t misplaced.”

“By the gods, this is ridiculous,” Jyn said. “What you did was incredibly dangerous, Reya. You could have gotten hurt. Please stop doing things like this,” he chastised. “And why are you two holding hands?”

Reya and Adrian shared a look. Reya glanced towards Rann who shook her head. “You an you haven’t been told yet?” Reya asked hesitantly. She squeezed Adrian’s hand and received a squeeze back.

“What haven’t I been told?” Jyn asked indignantly.

Reya braced herself. “Adrian and I have decided to start a relationship.” Jyn froze. For several monts, he didn’t speak. Reya grew more and more nervous with each one that passed.

“You’re what?” he asked carefully, an edge to his voice.

“We’ve decided to begin an exclusive relationship with each other,” Adrian repeated.

Despair, loss, and confusion flashed in Jyn’s eyes rapidly before turning into anger as he looked at Adrian. “No way,” he said. His head turned towards Rann and Tassie. “You didn’t think to tell this?”

“We weren’t sure how you were going to react and wanted it to co from them. It’s their news, not ours.”

“I’m not allowing this,” Jyn said firmly.

“We weren’t asking you for permission,” Reya fud. “Why couldn’t you be happy for us like the others?”

“This is a mistake. You barely know him!” Jyn pointed at Adrian. “He’s hiding things from us and you trust that? You can’t possibly love that.”

“I know him far better than you ever will,” Reya refuted. “Who are you to tell who to love? How dare you!”

Tassie and Rann looked at Jyn darkly. Adrian stared resolutely. “Are you really going to push this?” Adrian asked. “You know this isn’t sothing you’re going to win.” The sound of a door opening caught everyone’s attention. It was Beor coming out to join them.

Beor took one look at the tense atmosphere and frowned. “What’s going on?” he asked, not seeing any reason for the charged air. He looked towards Rann, who pointed at Jyn and then and at Reya and Adrian. Understanding dawned on Beor. “You found out,” he said to Jyn.

“You an you knew and you didn’t tell ?” Jyn asked, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice. “We spoke plenty of tis earlier today! Why did you feel the need to hide this from ?”

“I didn’t hide it from you. I thought you knew and were choosing not to comnt on it.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that? It’s pretty clear to now that my opinion on the subject doesn’t matter if you all felt the need to keep it from .”

“Your opinion doesn’t matter,” Beor stated, crossing his arms. “Not for this. Who are you to say whether they can or can’t be together?”

“Am I the only one that sees a problem with this?”

“Yes,” Rann said calmly. “You’re literally the only one who’s against their relationship. The rest of us have seen the writing on the wall for a while now. It still took by surprise, but it wasn’t unexpected.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to let this happen?” Jyn asked.

Rann shrugged. “It already happened. Nothing we can do about it.” With Jyn reacting about as expected, Rann didn’t feel the need to add fuel to the fire. She tried her best to shut him down before he could say anything he might regret.

Jyn woodenly faced Reya. “You chose him over ?” He already knew the answer but needed to hear it said out loud. He needed to hear it co from Reya herself.

Reya looked Jyn dead in the eyes. “Yes, I chose him over you,” she confird. “I already told you there was never going to be an ‘us.’ You burned that bridge. I don’t see why this is coming as such a surprise.”

Jyn stared at Reya wordlessly. “I see,” he said numbly. He turned around and fled back to the ship get away from Reya and Adrian. The others watched him retreat until he was out of sight.

“He always runs to the ship when things beco too much,” Beor sighed. “I’ll go talk to him in a little bit; give him so ti to process and all that.”

“That sounds like a good idea, babe,” Rann said. Now that Adrian and Reya were back, there was no longer any reason for her to be out in the cold. Wrapping her sweater around her, Rann excused herself and went back inside, followed by Beor.

Tassie, Reya and Adrian were left alone on the porch. “Adrian, could I speak to you for a minute?” Tassie asked. Reya gave him an encouraging squeeze and left the two outside alone, joining Rann inside. Tassie and Adrian settled down next to the fire, rather than follow the others.

“It’s about the video, isn’t it?” Adrian asked. Tassie sagged in her chair and nodded. She had heavy circles under her eyes and looked exhausted. He understood the sentint. It had been a long day for everyone.

“I can’t get it out of my head. What happened to you? Those screams were unlike anything I’ve ever heard. How are you alright?”

“I’m not alright, Tassie. You saw after we watched it yesterday. I was a blubbering ss, and that was just from watching it.”

“Then explain how you’re fine now!”

“You can thank Reya for that. Without her, I’d still be a ss. She gave the support I needed and more,” Adrian said softly. “Today was her turn to need mine. Learning that you discovered the chemicals that caused her such pain was very hard for her. She still feels conflicted about how she should feel. I can only be there for her and hope that she can overco the rest. It’s going to be a long while before we’re both fine. Our new relationship might be overshadowing it for now, but our problems are still there.”

“How do you deal with it?” she asked desperately. “It’s only been one night and I slept horrendously because of it. I even asked Kell for a sleeping pill. A part of feels guilty for having seen that video. I feel like I violated your privacy massively after having seen it. Irric was right. I should’ve kept my curiosity to myself.”

“I haven’t had any privacy in a long ti, Tassie. As much as I wish I never had to watch that, actually going through it was far worse.”

“What was it like?” Tassie asked quietly. “I can’t imagine what that must have felt like.”

“Reya and I hope that you never do. It’s not sothing that can be properly explained, but I can try.” Adrian went silent for a mont to collect his thoughts. “Every nerve in my body hurt in unimaginable ways. It felt like I was being burned, ripped and shredded all at once. My bones felt like they were being ground to dust and broken. Everything hurt. Everything.” Tears welled in his eyes at the mory. “There will never be anything even remotely close to what that felt like. My perception of pain was completely redefined. I can hardly bring myself to care about minor things anymore. Not after that.”

“How are you still sane if it hurt that much?”

“I genuinely have no idea, but for a long while I was not ok. My mory of that ti is a bit of a blur. All I rember is the pain. The never ending pain. And even then, I know that what I’m rembering is a re shadow of what it actually felt like. My mind’s blocked out most of it. I don’t know what will happen to if ever I fully rember the rest of that ti period.”

“That’s awful,” Tassie said sadly. “I can’t believe the sa thing happened to Reya. All I can picture in my dreams is her strapped to a table, screaming like you. I know that I could see what really happened if I wanted to and it’s eating alive. A part of wants absolutely nothing to do with it and another part desperately wants to know what truly happened to my friend.”

“Please, Tassie,” Adrian said gravely, “leave it alone. Reya’s asked you not to view the videos. Nothing good is going to co from it. Leave the rest to your imagination and know that the reality of it is probably worse. You would betray Reya’s trust massively if ever she found out you viewed those videos without her permission.”

“I know that,” Tassie cried. “I know that, but why am I so torn up over it?”

“Because you care about your friend and want to understand what happened to her. That’s normal. But Tassie, short of experiencing it yourself, you never will. Even if you watch the videos. Reya and I don’t wish that experience on even our worst enemies,” Adrian said before pausing and cocking his head. “With the exception of the bastards that did that to us,” he anded, “but that will never happen. They’re all dead now.”

“The teams were thorough when they swept through the facility,” Tassie said.

Adrian only smiled, not bothering to correct her. Nothing good would co of finding out he murdered as many of his captors as he could when he’d finally been given the chance. His only regret was that he didn’t get all of them. He was glad the others got the ones he missed.

“Are you happy that they’re all dead?” she asked.

“I’ll keep the rest of my thoughts on that matter to myself, I think. They’re not sothing you tell soone.”

Tassie hesitated before letting the matter drop. “How did you find Reya?” she asked, shifting the topic to sothing less macabre. “There’s no way it was that simple. I honestly half-expected to need to co and rescue you. I hoped you using the flare gun would attract Reya towards it as well.”

“That’s simple,” Adrian said. “I already knew where she was going. It was jut a matter of making my way there.”

“In the dark? It was pitch black. I know you have a good sense of direction, but there has to be sothing more to it than that.”

“Do you think I’d ever tell you if there was?”

“I suppose not,” Tassie deflated. She knew that Adrian was tight-lipped about anything done to him. The only person that might know was Reya, and even then, Tassie wasn’t so certain.

“Making my way there wasn’t an issue. Like I said earlier this evening; I know this part of the mountain very well. Reya and I frequently go to the sa spot during our walks. There was enough light to make out the landmarks I use to get around.”

“I see,” Tassie said thoughtfully. “I know that’s not all there is to it, but I’ll let it slide for now. I’m just happy that Reya got ho safe. Thank you, once again.”

“Anyti,” Adrian said. “I couldn’t bear to see her get hurt. I want her to be as safe as possible.”

“Adrian?” Tassie asked. “Treat her well. Reya’s fragile and I don’t think she’d be able to handle a bad relationship right now.

“I wouldn’t dream of having it any other way. I’ll do my best to take care of her, during the good tis and the bad. All I want is for her to be happy,” Adrian said earnestly.

Tassie smiled. She could tell that he ant every word. It was ti to see what Reya was talking about when wore such a love-struck face. Tassie decided to get to know Adrian, the newest interest in her friend’s life. She approached the conversation without judgent, ready to see for her own eyes what kind of person Adrian was.

Their conversation lasted for hours.