(Dakotas POV)
"Yup something's wrong." I heard Ryans voice say sitting next to me on a park bench.
"With?" I asked.
"You." He answered. "I've been calling your name, waving at you and I even called you twice. What's going on?"
"Oh nothing, just preoccupied with the whole flying to the arctic to take on Traeger to possibly save the world and we might not make it back alive, and I might have just lied to my sisters face." I explained.
"Woah, you lied to your sister about something?" He questioned. "What did you do kill somebody?"
"No I didn't kill anybody." I chuckled. "I am usually pretty honest with her about what we do in the robot, but this time I just couldn't bring my self to tell her. I mean what if we don't come back? I don't want her to be worrying until we do or don't come back. So I didn't tell her everything and I already feel terrible about it."
"Hey I get it, I understand why you didn't want to tell her, but you don't have to worry about it we're going to be fine." He says.
"I hope."
"Come on, stop being sad and come say bye to my mom." He says grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. "While she's out of town at a food festival, I'm going to be with Harris at an 'academic bowl' for 'emotional support'."
"Is it a bad thing we've become really good at lying?" I asked. We stopped walking when his phone rang.
"Hey you ready?" He said into the phone. "Yeah Im supposed to be Harris to some academic bowl and be his emotional support." I was curious if it was Harris, Spyder or Mark but what he said next told me the answer. "Cmon are you wearing that little costume your girlfriend made you wear?" Mark answered before Ryan looked at me and we both laughed. Ryan looked back at his mom before continuing. "All right, and then we'll take Mech-X4 up to the Arctic, we'll take on Traeger, we'll take on Traeger, and destroy the weapon, and then we'll be back before anybody else misses us." We imitated the sound a whip before hanging up.
"Okay but in all seriousness I really like Georgia." I said as we continued walking.
"Yeah Mark does too." He said. "I guess Walkers have a thing for brunettes." I stifled a laugh while Grace came up to us from her food truck.
"Ryan, I want you and your brother to know that I'm on to you." She says approaching us, me and Ryan didn't look at each other but we we're both worried she found out somehow. "And I know you think you're fooling me, but I do not want a birthday gift this year okay? Every year you guys fight about the gift and it always ruins my birthday dinner."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" She asked in return. "What about the time when you we're five and he was six and you guys couldn't agree on something so you shoved my cake in each other's faces?"
"You guys did that?" I laughed.
"I was five okay." He said in defense.
"Or what about last year when someone didn't put the photo in the photo locket and you guys got into a wrestling match and our deserts got set on fire by a blow torch?" She asked. I held back a laugh while Ryan just remained silent next to me. "Did I forget to mention these were both in public restaurants?"
"I really hope you tell these stories when Georgia's around." Ryan says while I laughed to myself.
"So I already told your brother, now I'm telling you." She explains. "No gifts."
"I don't think the fire department will let us anyway." He said. After Graced slightly laughed she asked.
"You okay honey?"
"Yeah, I just have a big project to finish." He explained, though I knew he was lying.
"It better not be.."
"It's not a gift, I heard you." He says. "A nice, quiet dinner together, when we get back."
"Okay. Come here I love you." She says hugging her son. After she hugged me as well Ryan said in return,
"Love you too mom."
"I'll see you later." She says turning back to walk to her food truck. We walked in the opposite direction and when Grace was out of ear shot I said.
"So it looks like I'm not the only one with a problem." He looked at me as if he didn't know what I was talking about. "Come on what's up?"
"I hate that you can read me the way you do." He said.
"Yeah word of advice, don't make your best friend your girlfriend if you don't want to be read." I answered. "Now what's up."
"Can we talk about it when we get to the robot?"
—————
"All right spill." I said sitting down on the couch in X-deck. He reluctantly sat down next to me. "What's the problem?"
"D, I don't even know anymore. There's so many problems I don't know where to start." He sighed.
"Well which ones giving you the most trouble?" I asked.
"At the moment, I think I keep putting on this brave face for everybody and I'm sick of it. I feel as the so called leader of the team I have to be the one with all the confidence in the world but it's so hard when I don't have that confidence. I just want this over." He explained.
"Did you think I didn't know that?" I asked again.
"You already knew?" He questioned.
"I had a hunch." I shrugged. "I mean come on, listen to what you're saying, we've got the world on our shoulders and you expect to believe you're a hundred percent okay? That's insane. To some degree the whole team has to know no one here is as confident and fearless as we all pretend to be."
"It's not just that. We spend most of our time together here, and not here together, we're here with everyone, we don't even get to be normal teenagers let alone a normal relationship."
"Well hopefully when we're done in the Arctic, we can get back to normal." I respond.
"Well let's get it over with." He said about to get up,
"Wait, just before we do this just promise me one thing." I asked standing up with him.
"Of course, anything." He immediately responds.
"What is up in the arctic, whether it's what we expected or not, no matter how it goes or what happens, just promise me we're in it together, just like we always have been." I said. I don't know why his reaction surprised me, but all he did was smile, put one hand on the side of my face, kissed me, than said,
"Wouldn't want it any other way."
—————
We waited for the others to meet us at the control center with Veracity, when Mark came up from the hatch wearing the Wayven costume from the convention, Spyder stepped from the elevator wearing a tuxedo. They both saw each other, laughing at what one another was wearing while Veracity and I watched from each of our chairs.
"Are you selling insurance now?" Mark asked.
"I just got bar mitzvahed." Spyder said straightening his tie. "So if I die in battle today, I die a man."
"That's a little morbid, but respectable." Veracity says from her chair. "Glad your not wearing a man bun."
"I should of down that." Spyder said with his hands in the air. "Anyway what's your excuse?"
"I came right from the Wyvern convention with Georgia." He explains. "It was actually pretty fun."
"Aww man she broke you." Ryan said to his brother.
"Have you ever kissed a girl?" He asked in response, though I'm 99% sure he already knew the answer to that question. I stood up while Ryan was about to say something in response, but before he could I kissed him before turning to Mark, somewhat lightly pushing his shoulder as I walked over and stood with Veracity who gave me a nod of approval. "That changes nothing."
"Mark you knew the answer to that so why'd you ask?" Ryan asked. Mark stutters before I said,
"Ah, sorry what was that?" He stutters again before waving a hand and walking to the ladder.
"Ha! Got em." I cheered walking back to my seat.
"We ready?" Ryan asked.
"Aww you got me a gift you shouldn't have." Spyder said noticing the small gift box in Ryans hand.
"It's not for you." He laughed.
"Oh it's for me then!" I asked.
"No! Guys it's for my mom. I gonna surprise her after we get back." Ryan explained.
"Mom specifically said no gifts!" Mark yelled from the ladder.
"You bought that? And I bought this?" He smiles before turning to the control pad.
"Ha, nice." I said as he high-fived my outstretched hand on the way by.
"What's in it?" Mark asked.
"Something from the best son ever." Ryan says putting the box in his pocket.
"We're not done taking about this." Mark yelled only to get cut off by Ryans,
"Mech-Execute."
Harris met us with the Jet and we began to fly towards the Arctic.
"Status?" Ryan asked when we got in the air.
"Thrusters at maximum." Harris says from the jet.
"Shields operational." Veracity added.
"Weapons are at a hindered percent." Spyder says from his side of the room.
"All systems stable you backstabbing, gift-getting weasel." Mark added sarcastically.
"Traeger has no idea that we're coming. We have the element of surprise, today's the day that we finish this."
"Here's another surprise for Traegar: he's not fighting a boy today, he's fighting a man." Spyder proudly announces for the second time before pulling a lollipop out of his coat pocket.
"How can you guys be so calm?" Veracity asked.
"Oh don't be fooled. Ryan masks his fear with his confidence." Spyder begins to explain, "Harris with his science babble, Mark with his ego, Dakota feeds of off Ryans confidence while simultaneously shooting down Marks ego, and me with my jokes. Come one guys we're fighting Traegar there's a diaper under this suit, we're all secretly terrified." The room fell silent as Ryan subtlety looked over his shoulder at me. "Harris I just gave you the best set up for a joke ever whatcha got?" Spyder asked a spaced out Harris.
"Oh, sorry. Checking satellites." He apologizes. "I can see the tech he stole, but still no sign of Grey or Traeger. This is gonna be cake y'all!"
"And if it's not at least we'll go down doing what we love." Spyder says.
"Screaming?" Veracity suggests.
"Here a couple days and you already know me." Spyder responded.
We were silent most of the ride there because Spyder was right, we were all secretly terrified.
"We're getting close to the Arctic." Mark eventually said breaking the silence. We continued to fly in silence over snowy mountains while I watched Veracity take a nervous breath. We all were taken back at the sight of Traegers monster form flying over a mountain coming right at us.
"He knew we were coming!"