The aesthetic above is sooo Owen!
"Harder!" Luther orders.
Ignoring the sweat dripping down my face and the way that my muscles are screaming, I throw punch after punch, increasing my strength as he said. Each punch thuds into the heavy punching bag. I work on the moves that Luther instructed exactly as he said.
"Break!" He barks.
Relieved, I raise my hands above my head to try and catch my breath. I grab a drink of water from the water fountain in the corner and make my way over to Luther.
"You're doing okay," Luther hedges.
"Don't sugarcoat it," I sigh. "What do I need to work on?"
"Everything," He answers. "You don't have any training and we need you for, well, stuff that requires you to be trained."
"What am I needed for?" I ask sharply.
"Oh, you know stuff," Luther replies, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Do you know how much I hate being in the dark? My whole life, I have been in the dark, literally and figuratively.
I grab him by his shirt and pull him down so he is at my level.
"What am I needed for?" I growl, my eyes furious even though I can only see out of the one.
"I-I can't tell you!" Luther exclaims.
Regaining himself, Luther straightens up. He lifts me up with his strong arms and sets me down on a bench.
"Nice try, Sang. I didn't think you had it in you," Luther remarks, causing me to bristle. "But I can't tell you."
"I can tell you!" Cleopatra sings, slamming the door open to the gym.
"My savior," I remark sarcastically.
Honestly, I don't know what's come over me. I am being sarcastic, grumpy, I even growled at Luther! Maybe I just slept wrong. Or maybe this is a side effect of my crazy dream. Speaking of which, I need to try the password that I got from it as soon as possible.
"If I'm your savior," Cleopatra purrs. "Then welcome to hell."
That's encouraging.
"Anywho," Cleopatra announces. "Your bags are already packed. Let's go."
***
Sean
"Family meeting," Owen announces blearily. He drags a hand over his face and I know that everything is wrong.
Owen suffers from atelophobia, or the fear of imperfection, of not being good enough. That is why he is always so formal, so stiff. He wears his ridiculous suits daily. Owen makes sure that everything is precise and perfect. Oh, he'll tell you that he is just trying to be precise, but, from a doctor's perspective, I can tell you that it is so much more than that.
"What's the meeting about?" Luke asks cluelessly.
"Sang, of course. What else would it be about?" Nathan scoffs.
"Oy! Leave Luke alone you fucker!" Gabriel roars.
"What did you just call me?" Nathan hisses turning to Gabriel and standing so he towers over him.
"Wait," Gabriel says. "Before you kill me, let me fix my hair. I want to be a handsome corpse after all."
We all just stare at him. And then burst out laughing. Even Owen allows a small smile.
"Hey, making y'all laugh is my job," Luke sulks.
"Eh," North grunts. "I thought that being an annoying ninja was your job."
"Ooh! I like that job!" Luke exclaims.
Owen clears his throat to begin the meeting. "Yes, this meeting is about Ms. Sorenson. We have spent two months searching for her, a month of that on the run and hiding from the Academy. This team will not last much longer living like this."
"So you say we give up?" Victor snaps.
"No," Owen answers, his voice sharp and commanding, it echoes through the room. "I'm saying we take a break. We aren't having any luck like this. We can contact a team and have them keep tabs on the base. The second that something changes, we go in."
"But why not just keep tabs ourselves?" Silas wonders aloud.
Kota answers for Owen, "Because the Academy is already going to be mad at us. We need to get back now sooner rather than later."
"Precisely," Owen agrees. "We need to get back before they grow too angry. I know that we went against their rules, but it was for a just cause and I would do it again."
"Wow. Mr. Blackbourne went against the rules," Luke remarks, impressed.
"Yes, yes," Owen says. "Now, the plan is that we return to the Academy, explain the situation, and get everything set up so that we can locate Sang Sorenson."
"I'm willing and will obey," I state.
"I'm willing and will obey."
"I'm willing and will obey."
"I'm willing and will fucking obey."
"I'm willing and will obey."
"I'm more than willing and will obey."
"I'm willing and will obey."
"I'm willing and will obey."
"Good," Owen states with a small nod. "It's set. Let's get back to our lives."