Previously with Renegade:
A few minutes later, Bernadette came back with his new partner. They came in with a mixture of disgust and anger in their expression, their fists clenched into tight knots.
They were familiar.
She was familiar.
Would Adeline ever stop haunting him?
***
"YOU CAN'T DO this!" Adeline insisted. "He's too inexperienced. He's too undisciplined. He's too-"
"Addie, take a breath. He will be your partner, and that's decided," Helia said.
"But-"
"No buts. I don't need you two to get along, I just need you two to work together. That isn't too much to ask, is it Addie?"
Instead of answering, Addie harrumphed. She spun on her heels and slammed the door as she excited the room. Renegade stared at her tracks, unmoving.
"What are you waiting for, boy?" Jace asked. "Get moving!"
Renegade stumbled off, attempting to follow Addie.
"Adeline!" he called. "Look, I'm sorry! I don't know what just happened."
"Go away!" Adeline sniffed, her back facing him.
"Please." She didn't answer. "Oh, come on. Adeline..." Then he muttered, "What's your problem?"
Apparently Adeline had keen ears. "What's my problem?" she snarled. "What's my problem?"
Renegade put his arm around her to somehow comfort her; to make her feel better. She slapped his arm away, and it wasn't a playful punch. It was a hard, stinging slap that made him wince in pain.
Adeline turned to face him. Renegade looked for the tears in her eyes - the lost expression they would hold. He found none. Her cheeks were redder than tomatoes, and her hair was frisky and flying. And her eyes -they sparkled with a fiery anger that had no pit. "You think," she gritted her teeth, "that you can fix everything, don't you? That you can make everything right with the touch of your hand?" She snorted cruelly.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you can't. You're no magician. You're no doctor. You aren't capable of a single miracle, and I doubt you could fathom something close to what pain the world has out there.
"On top of that, you want to fix a problem that you caused. You know who long it took me to get ranked this high? To be thought so well of by my peers? Let me tell you," she leaned up next his ear, whispering. "Years. Six years of extremely terrifying work. I watched some of my friends die. I watched some of my friends get tortured. And I pushed through the pain. I deserve this job."
She backed away from his ear, her voice rising higher. "And then you come over, and you think 'I can do this. I'm ready to take on such a big responsibility. Adeline has been training years for this, yet I can do this!' And you go right up there and steal my job."
"I didn't-"
"Oh yes, you did. Now imagine every body else! 'Look at Renegade! He's taken Adeline Richards' place!' or, 'The new kid is a pilot with Adeline!' And suddenly, getting up to my rank doesn't seem so hard anymore."
"I wasn't - "
"Listen up, buddy," Adeline said, ignoring him. "I had high hopes for you. I rescued you from a prestige Alliance compound, where Mother Earth nearly killed you. Herself. And it got me thinking, what if he's special? What if he's what the rebellion needs?" She laughed cruelly. "I thought that you might be what we needed — what I needed. As I started to get to know you on the tour, I was amazed. You woke up from a coma, perfectly fine, you didn't look half-bad; you actually out-ran me (for a little while, at least), and you succeeded in getting Bolt off the ground. I never saw how selfish and cruel you could be. I never expected you to persuade Jace and Helia to get you the prestigious job, and I never thought you'd be the one to steal my glory."
"I didn't convince-"
She ignored him again. "And now," she growled, started off for her room. "I see that you and Mother Earth aren't so different after all. You both convince others that you're harmless, and then you attack them when they're most vulnerable." She turned back to him one last time. Her eyes darkened, as if the light in her eyes — even if it was anger — diminished. "You both manipulate."
And then she was gone, running away. Running away from him.
Renegade's checks burned, and he wandered back to the infirmary, realizing he had no room.
"Hello, Mr. Renegade," a friendly nurse said. "My name is Jennifer. But please, call me Jenny. I'll be testing you and giving you checkups for the next couple of days, just to see if you're healthy enough to be left unsupervised. Please, make yourself comfortable on the couch next to all the food. I placed a couple of books on the table nearby it, if you'd like to keep yourself occupied."
***
He stayed in the infirmary for days, switching off from the bland food, the dull books, and the standard medical tests.
Renegade spent most of his time on his hospital bed, his eyes looking blankly at the ceiling, pondering what he should do when he escaped the sick-bay prison.
On the fourth day of his imprisonment, they finally let him out.
Stay inside, they told him, and don't physically exert yourself.
He struggled to decide what he should do first, battling between going to the Council or visiting Adeline.
ADELINE! his brain screamed, and he trekked to where he suspected her room was, knocking loudly on her door.
"Lucia? Lucy? Is that you?" Adeline called out, mistaking him for someone else. He closed his eyes, imagining he sinking face when she would see him, preparing for his sinking heart.
"Renegade!" Renegade's eyes flickered to Addie's, and he smiled when he saw their brightening shine. She wasn't angry anymore. Just... surprised. "Come in." She shut the door behind him.
"Adeline, I'm sorry," Renegade said quietly, casting his eyes to the floor. He didn't really know what he was sorry for, but he figured that apologizing would be the fastest way of getting her back.
"No, Renegade, I'm sorry. I overreacted. I shouldn't have acted like that. My temper needs... work." She laughed. "Especially when I'm stressed out."
They stood in an awkward silence, Renegade interpreting what she said, Adeline seeming to realize it. "Adeline-" Renegade started to say.
"Don't call me that. If-"
"Then what would you like me to call you? Honey Buns? Sweetheart?" He smiled evilly. "Princess? I for to say, I'm leaning towards Princess..."
Adeline glared at him, but her eyes shone. "I was going to say Addie."
"Right then, Princess. Anything for Your Royal Highness."
"Stop!" she shrieked, but her angry voice wasn't genuine.
"Get in your nicest gown, Princess. We're going out for a stroll."
Adeline rolled her eyes. "Aye aye, Captain. Who knows, you could be the captain of our ship soon! And if I'm Princess, you've got to be Captain. It's only fair."
It was Renegade's turn to roll his eyes. "I like your nickname better. Maybe we should--" But she was gone. "Addie! Addie?" he called.
"Give me a second!" she cried. He relaxed. She came back to the room quickly, holding up two jackets. "You were serious about that walk, right?"
They ran outside as fast as their feet could take them, racing for the lead.
Addie had the biggest smile on her face, her complexion bright and flushed. Renegade looked at her with eyes that glittered, and he felt at peace.
"You don't... know how... long it's been... since... I've had... this much...fun," Addie wheezed out. She sat down on a bench to steady herself. "I don't get to do things like this very often. There's not really anybody I can do this with."
"No kidding," Edmund agreed, thinking about how few people his age he saw straggling around the rebel base. "Why is that, anyway?"
Addie's smile dropped. "It's--"
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Renegade rushed on. He wished he hadn't brought on that topic; he wanted to see that perfect smile back on her face.
"No, it's alright," Adeline assured him. "It's just... hard to explain. I'll leave Helia to telling you."
"You know what I find hard to explain?" Renegade said, trying to make light of the conversation and forget he ever brought the subject up."I find it hard to understand why you insist on calling me Captain!"
Adeline giggled. "Because I insist, that's why!"
The night went on like that: giggles and guffaws ringing in the air.
Renegade checked his watch. "Addie, we should go. Really, it's getting late."
Adeline nodded reluctantly. "Aye aye, Captain."
He escorted her up to her room, saying goodnight feverishly. Then he walked back to the hospital, wishing that he could've talked with Addie for the rest of the night.
***
"Renegade," the woman--Jennifer--said, "follow me, please. We'd like to show you something."
Renegade followed her into a large room that was nearly empty-- only one doctor was occupying it. Then Jennifer left, and he was alone with the stranger.
"Mr. Renegade," the doctor began, "My name is Doctor Lena."
"Nice to meet you, Doctor."
"I've brought you here today to discuss your test results," she told him.
Renegade waited a second for her to go on, but she didn't speak. "Go on," he then urged.
She gave a large huff of breath. "I may as well get this over with," she muttered. "Your DNA," she started slowly, now addressing him, "it's not of this world."
"I already know I have amazing genes, Doctor." Renegade sassily struck a pose. "Where do you think I got my good looks?"
She didn't smile. "I'm serious, Renegade. This is no joking matter. Your DNA is not from anywhere--shard or planet--on Earth. You're not from here."
"What are you saying?"
"Instead of having 46 chromosomes in your cells, you have 52. You also have a different coding in your amino acids--instead of guanine and cytosine and such, you have nitrogen bases I cannot name. On top of that, your brain structure is different too. Your hypothalamus is larger than average, and you have one unidentified, extra brain part. I have looked deeper into this, and I don't think this is part of some major mutation in your genes. It makes me think you have a different system entirely."
"What are you saying?" Renegade repeated, gritting his teeth. "In English, please."
"I'm saying, Renegade, you are not human. You have never been and never will be."
Then--then," Renegade stuttered, astonishment raw on his face, "what am I?"
"I don't know, Renegade," the doctor said, shaking her head. "I really don't know."
***
We are REALLY sorry we didn't update for the past like, I dunno, 2-3 months. Real bad on our part, so we apologize. Now, we're going to try and get in two a week to make up all the time we've lost.
But we have two MAJOR favors to ask. First of all, could you guys PLEASE spread the word about this book; we're trying to make it as well off as possible. Our goal is to be able to sell it on iBooks and such before June 21st, and it just wouldn't make much sense unless this book had many, many reads.
Also, because of this publishing thing, we intend to make a new cover. So we're going to hold a BIG cover contest that goes until June 14th. There will soon be another book about it. Please, please tag someone you know who likes making book covers here, so they are informed.
Thank you so much, and here are the questions:
What is Renegade? Where is he from if he's not from Earth? Does his different bodily functions give him any advantages?
Thank you all so much, and see you next week!
~Twinys