SET Initiative

Addie had been polite enough to step away when Austin came over, letting the two talk while she cleaned out her coffe mug. When Austin returned, looking flustered, she felt her stomach drop, especially when he ran his hand over his head. "Austin, what.."

When he answered her question before she finished asking, she froze, paler than even usual, speechless, before turning to find her boots. "I'm coming with you." She stated flatly.

Austin shook his head. "No." It was simple. He wasn't harsh about it, but his tone demonstrated a firmness. "I can't have you go through that again."

Addie turned, boot halfway pulled on. "Austin, I'm not going to let you go back down there by yourself. Those boys.."She swallowed. "Those boys were just as much my responsibility as they were yours."

Austin looked up at her and held his hands out. "What do you want to do? Will both of us going down there increase the chances of the boys being brought back somehow?"

Addie looked down, hand running through her hair. "Austin, you can expect me to just sit here while you go back. Not after what I saw you go through last time."

"But you think I'm willing to let you suffer through the same. No. I can't witness it happen again. You sustained far too many injuries last time even while wearing the SET armor." Austin swallowed. He knew what her response was going to be.

"And you were completely safe and uninjured, right? Austin, come on. You can't just make me sit on the sideline while you're gone for weeks or months or however long you're going to be there, if you come back at all." She looked like she was about to cry now.

Austin winced. She was right- They'd both been hurt badly. "My armor was fried by a plasma misfire. I was hurt afterwards because there was nothing there to protect me." He sighed. "I need to know you're alive. I can't worry about you down there. There's no choice for me- There is for you."

Addie just sat roughly on the nearest chair, arms crossed, looking very much like a pouting child. "But it's alright for me to worry about you?" She snapped, tears now freely rolling down her cheeks.

Addie crying was too much. Austin looked up at the ceiling in frustration. "Of course it's not alright, Addie..." He struggled to find something to say. He couldn't win here: Either she came with him and he was constantly worried about her dying, or he went without her and she worried just as much, if not more. "I can't take you," he whispered, weakly. "I can't see you break like I did." To witness Addie stabbed would be... Worse torture than his own mental issues.

Addie snapped. She stood, fists clenched at her sides, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she just glared at him, trying her hardest to keep it together, but just losing it completely. "Fine. You want to leave me here while you go off for God knows how long so I can worry night and day about whether or not you're still breathing or if you've completely lost your mind, fine. I won't be able to help you this time, since I'm staying here." She pushed past him, only stopping to grab her boots, before storming out of the room.

Ouch.

Ouch.

Austin equally felt and looked like a kicked puppy. Every word hit home. He knew there was no right answer. Before he could come up with something to say, anything to say, she stormed out.

He sat back on the bed with his head in his hands. He wanted to scream. It was a good five more minutes before he left the room to go change, and headed up to the control tower. So much for grabbing a bite.

Addie's day was just getting worse. She had immediately gone to her family of course, just hysterical, and to her horror, Alex, Samuel, Michael, and David told her they were being sent back as well, only leaving Matthew and Daniel to stay.

Like Austin, the men headed up to the control tower for the briefing. They were all quite somber, and though Sam was pissed at Austin for making ADdie cry, the other siblings were understanding, and as supportive as they could manage to be in that situation.

Control wasted no time in getting them suited up, and sent down to the pods for the journey back to Earth. Addie, at first, couldn't bring herself to go with Matthew and Daniel, to see them off, but when they were about to load into the pods, Addie came running down the hall, cheeks streaked with tears, hair flying wildly behind her. "Austin, wait! Wait!"

The first level. Austin had quite a few memories. Most every significant moment in his adult life had been an indirect result of the pods down here. Many of those memories were not good ones.

He was just climbing into his pod when he heard Addie's voice. He turned his head to see her running towards him, and he moved his leg out to stand up fully and greet her. He'd already shaken hands with Matthew and Daniel, and he'd fully expected Addie's absence. He didn't blame her.

Austin decided to just take the few steps to close the gap and caught her in a hug. He stepped away for a moment to take his helmet off. "I'm sorry," he bit his lip.

Addie just hugged him again after his helmet was off, shaking her head. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did." She squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a moment, trying to get a grip on herself.

"Austin, I..I really need you to come back in one piece, okay? "

Austin didn't want to say anything more. He held his helmet in his left hand behind her back and he put his right hand behind her head, pulling her close and kissing her on her forehead. "I can't promise one piece. How about two?" He teased. "We'll be seeing each other again very soon, okay? I'll be fine. I've got a great team of people behind me, including your brothers. We'll find the boys and anyone else, extract them to our shuttle, and get the hell out of there. It'll be a cakewalk."

Addie swallowed, nodding slowly at his words. "Just get them and come straight home, okay? No shenanigans." She glanced up at him and forced herself to smile; if he never came back, God forbid, she didn't want the last time he saw her to be remembered with a frown. Standing on her tiptoes for a moment, she briefly kissed him, forcing herself to keep smiling. "Don't make me come after you."

"That's the plan," he smiled right back at her. This was very, very hard. Keep it together. You cry now, you look like a sissy to the other guys and she'll never let you go. She kissed him, and he held a fraction of a second longer than was quick. "Wouldn't dream of it." Okay, everyone's staring at you now. Just pull away and walk back to the pod. He forced himself to put his helmet back on, taking her wrists in his hands and gently squeezing them. "I've gotta go now. When I get back, maybe we can go grab some coffee or something."

~~~~

The pod was cold. Of course, it was supposed to be. There weren't much provisions for sustenance past a day or two, so they engaged cryostasis once the pilot set a course. You essentially fell asleep and were frozen until you arrived.

Someone was lucky enough to fly the transport shuttle, which had much more comfortable sleeping chambers than the small pods. Austin tried the radio link between the pods before engaging his course and activating the stasis. "Testing the comm link. If you copy give me a 'roger,' over."

Addie choked on a laugh. "I'll buy this time." She managed to say before he stepped away. Her brother immediately draped an arm around her as she started to cry again, and then, they were gone.

~~~
From each of the four Scott brothers, their voices practically identical, came the required 'Roger' over the comm link system. Once they had all set their course after Austin's, one by one, they activated the stasis in their pods.

Austin was struck by the similarity. "Alright, comms are functional. See you on the other side." He flipped a few switches, and was soon unconscious. The week went by fast- Each pod was equipped with a faster-than-light drive powered by Battery Crystals; Crystals that were discovered on the very same planet that the cruisers they had left were heading towards now.

Being unconscious helped pass the time rather nicely as well.

~~~~

Austin was gasping for air. He couldn't breathe. Where were his lungs? His body felt like ice. He could barely move. Where the hell was he? Where the hell was anybody? It took him a minute before it clicked. Austin's blurry vision slowly increased focus, and his helmet and pods' HUD both began booting up again. Lights turned on, and Austin saw it.

Big Blue. Mother Earth. Home. Austin tested his comm. "Anybody else awake yet? You might want to see this."

They were coming in over western Europe. "We'll be entering the atmosphere soon. Hope you boys can handle a bumpy ride."