Title: Night Comes Down
Rating: T
Warnings: A bit of language, Character death, eventual suggestiveness, vague spoilers for later episodes if you haven't seem them. Let's just get all our bases covered.
Disclaimer: Class of the Titans is the intellectual property of Studio
Summary: The prophecy is broken and Chronus rules the world with an iron fist. Six surviving teenagers struggle to stay alive in the apocalyptic world, searching for a way to bring their fallen comrade back to life and restore order. But Chronus has the upper hand, their precious technology is long destroyed, and the leader blames himself. Nobody counted on their fellow warrior being unwilling to return either. Is the Earth finished, or is there still hope?
Chapter 9
Neil gave Jay a look strangely devoid of its usual clueless and self-absorbed veneer, as they pulled away from the scene and back into the hall with Atlanta's sobs echoing after them.
"She told him that she loved him…" Neil said at last, then added defensively: "I know it's not the same."
"I never said it was." Jay was too shell-shocked to even sound remotely indignant. It was just reflex to defend the woman he thought was his romantic partner.
"What's Atlanta's problem, then?"
"Well…" Jay said slowly. "I guess you wouldn't like it either if you had to come back to the 'real world' after living in paradise."
"Not to mention having to deal with all those unbecoming scars."
Jay nodded, taking the fashion orientated statement to mean that Neil in his own way, understood. "More importantly, do we tell Archie?"
"You're asking me?"
"You're the relationship expert."
"That's totally unfair and you know it Jay."
"Alright. Fine. But we need to decide what to do about this."
Neil sighed. "You're right about one thing. You need to tell Archie I need to tell Atlanta." Noticing Jay's look, Neil held up a hand. "No, really. Atlanta and I have never gotten along. I mean, sure, Archie and I have had our differences, but Archie does everything because of Atlanta, right? If I talk to Atlanta and annoy her, I know she'll still be willing to blurt everything out and not sugarcoat it."
Jay paused a moment, then nodded assent. "Alright. I see your point. What about Archie though?" Shouldn't he know about this?"
"That's your department."
"Huh?"
"You're the tactful one."
Neil all but swished down the hall, leaving Jay to stare after him in wonderment at how much he- no, all of them had been forced to grow up.
Breakfast the next morning was held around Atlanta's bed. Things were still in a haphazard array. Jay and Neil constantly exchanged covert but significant glances. Theresa's chair was parked next to Neil's. Archie sat openly on Atlanta's bed, smiling happily at her all the while. Even Odie and Herry seemed to be behaving out of the ordinary. Herry kept offering Atlanta bits of his lunch, whereas normally he would normally take it upon himself to clean his plate, and the leftovers and seconds besides. Odie's omnipresent laptop was open, but discarded out of the African-Canadian boy's sight on a wide windowsill.
"Herry, the Doctor's told you only about ten times that I can have solid food tomorrow only. "I'm making out okay with noodle soup, I promise." Atlanta said with exasperation.
Jay caught Neil's eye and the later nodded.
"Archie, I saw something in the gift shop you might like to see." Jay spoke up pointedly.
The other's eyebrows shot up as Theresa jerked sharply as though she'd been kicked. Apparently, Neil had indeed kicked her as she hurriedly asked Herry and Odie to come away with her. Maybe she had come up with an on-the-spot plan, since she requested that the laptop come along for the ride as well. Either way, it achieved exactly the desired effect, as now Neil and Atlanta were left together.
"Guess it's just you and me." Neil pointed out rather needlessly, displaying his usual talent for baldly stating the obvious.
"What do you want, Neil? I can tell that Jay put you up to something. This set-up reeks of him."
Neil decided not to tell her the plan was mostly his. He also decided not to beat around the bush. "We know you didn't want to come back. The problem is however that we need you to defeat Chronus. But also, you can't lie to Archie."
Atlanta crossed her arms.
"Atlanta."
"When did you get all 'sensitive'?" the redhead hissed. "Last time I checked, this was none of your beeswax, Neil."
"Since you died and I single-handedly led the team to rescue you. I was leader." He repeated for emphasis. "Jay was shell-shocked. They wanted me."
Atlanta opened her mouth. For a moment she seemed to be prepared to yell at Neil, criticize his egotism. "No…" she said hesitantly, unsure. She didn't seem to have an argument at all. "I'm not giving up on the team, or the prophecy, Neil." She said at last.
"I know. None of us ever really thought that. I wasn't really mad at Jay either. Not after I've done his job."
"You really did, didn't you." She sighed, as reluctantly as if someone had supplied undeniable proof that the world was in fact square.
"Hades gave us permission to rescue you from the Elysian fields." Neil pointed out, ignoring her trepidation. "You can go back after if you like. You can't lie to Archie though."
Atlanta stared at the descendant of Narcissus as if seeing him for the first time. "Okay."
She started to cry after that, but still pushed Neil away when he offered her a comforting hug. Some things never changed.
After a period of enduring hard, angry stares thought tears, Neil excused himself. He wandered down the hall and nearly smacked into Theresa the moment he turned the corner.
"What was that about, Neil?" she asked, a touch angrily. "I had to tell Odie that my father couldn't pay the hospital bill since he might be dead! We're lucky he was too concerned to remember we're in Canada, so our Health Care is free. I made him hack the computer and Herry keep watch. It really wasn't that hard to cry over it…but what's really going on?"
Neil told her about what he and Jay had overheard, leaving out the fight between them.
In response, Theresa put her hand across her mouth. "I knew it!" she said. "Well…I didn't…really…but I had all these promotions that things were wrong. I kind of thought they were more to do with the danger of the plan I guess. What did Atlanta say?"
Neil sighed. "She's not happy. I made her promise to tell Archie the truth."
"And Jay's…?"
"Yeah. Breaking the news."
Theresa gave him a look. "Neil…" She moved towards him, smiling in the same fashion she had that night.
He grabbed her shoulders and held her at arms length. "Theresa…do you…?"
"Neil, don't worry so much." She leaned up and kissed him. "Atlanta will fight with us."
The two ducked into the nearest empty room. As Theresa's shirt slid from her shoulders to the floor, Neil forgot his argument with Jay and followed her to bed. He'd worry about this if they lived through it.
"Theresa…Jay he…I…"
"Don't worry about Jay."
Neil didn't, threading his fingers through strands of red hair.
"You're right Jay! This stuffed lion is a great present for Atlanta!" Archie turned the toy over in his hands, checking the tag. It was a great idea, feminine but certainly not insulting to his girlfriend's pride and tomboyish nature. He paid for it with his normally neglected credit card, and Jay winced a bit.
"Arch…we need to talk." Jay swallowed when he caught sight of Archie's expression.
Archie nodded. "Okay. I expected this a bit, I guess…but I can't tell you how glad I am to have you back as our leader."
Jay almost groaned. "Wonder how long that'll last."
"What?" Archie wheeled around and stared blankly at Jay.
"Really, we need to talk." Jay pushed it.
"Okay…"
The two walked in silence to the food court, where Jay bought a cup of coffee, then sat with Archie as he arrived with a serving of poutine, Doritos and coke. Even now, Jay got a laugh over how the vegetarian and environmentally conscious Atlanta attracted the attention of someone like Archie. Guess it was just opposites attract, though he supposed it could have been a 'sports' thing.
"So, Neil and I…"
Archie stared at his poutine and made a face as if he wanted to spit into the concoction. "Neil and you? Sure. The two of you are all leaderly together now."
"Archie, we heard her crying all night."
"Uh-huh."
"Archie!"
"What? So she's upset with me? Maybe she should have gone to the rainforest with Pan. Done some 'good' for the world? Because I am totally going to screw that nature activist stuff up."
Jay blinked. "That's not it at all."
"Then, what? Honestly Jay, I've never thought I'd say this but I think Neil might be a better leader than…well…you."
Jay reeled a bit, but he groaned. "Neil would tell you the same thing I'm telling you now. He saw it too. Please, Archie. Just listen. Believe what you like about death. But we are some of the few people on earth who know there's an afterlife – and most afterlifes come with the same set of rules. The wicked are punished, the good go to a paradise. Atlanta came from Paradise, back to a world where she was injured and unhappy. It's not your fault that she's upset. You need to talk to her, and be prepared to realize that she may take the option of going back after this is done."
Archie swallowed heavily, toying with his plastic restaurant fork. He appeared ready to believe Jay, but his face soon hardened into its usual stubborn sneer. "I'll believe it when I hear it out of Atlanta's mouth. And that'll never happen." He picked up what was left of his lunch. Jay cringed as Archie struggled not to upend the remaining gravy and fried potatoes onto his lap. Eventually however, Archie decided against it, and giving Jay a glare, he stalked off.
Jay sighed. Hopefully Neil had had some luck.
Archie stalked along the hallway, feeling immensely irritated by Jay's attitude. Atlanta loved him. That much was obvious. She had agreed to date him.
He stopped shy of her room however, and sank into one of the same seats Neil and Jay had occupied earlier. His mind replayed the conversation between himself and Jay, even if he didn't want to.
Up the hall, a door opened. Archie looked up instinctively, his eyes widened as he identified the tangle of limbs that spilled out of it. Neil was supporting Theresa, who was sliding her pink tank top down. Even from here, Archie could see the obvious red hickey stark against Neil's neck.
"Theresa, this is fun but…" the two were oblivious to Archie's presence, so Neil's voice carried all the way down the hall to him. "Where do you think this is headed?" Neil sounded serious. "I'm not…"
Whatever Neil had been about to say was cut off by Theresa, who caused a distraction by stumbling. Neil wasn't prepared to catch her and she sank to her knees, holding her head.
"What's wrong?"
Archie was out of his seat in an instant, sprinting towards the pair in concern. Neil was thankfully concerned enough himself not to recognize that Archie might have overheard the conversation.
"Here…" Archie helped Theresa to her feet. She was rubbing her head, and looked from one boy to the other.
"What happened?" Archie asked. "I just saw you collapse. Was it a premonition?"
Theresa looked up at the descendant of Achilles. "Yes. Yes. Chronus…he knows. And he's on his way here!"
Neil shrieked at high-pitch volume in response to the pronouncement, the only stab of normalcy. It was a lucky thing, as it spurred Archie into action. "Do you know how much time we have?"
"No…I…" Theresa reeled. "I get premonitions all the time, but this one was…it was bad." She swooned again, almost as if to prove it.
"Well, what WAS it?" Archie pressed.
"Chronus is coming. He's got…an army."
Archie's eyes widened. "Warn everyone!" he shook his head.
Neil all but threw Theresa into Archie's arms and took off down the hall. "Chronus is attacking!" he hollered.
In an instant, people blossomed into existence. Atlanta peered around the corner of her room. Jay appeared at the head of the hall. Herry and Odie showed up a second later. Odie's hair was in a worse mess of dreads than usual.
"What's up?"
"Theresa had a vision. Chronus is attacking."
Suddenly, Chronus' voice boomed around the hospital. It sounded as though he was speaking through a microphone.
"I know you don't want to fight." He began slyly. "Just give yourselves up."
Archie frowned at his whip, but it was Atlanta who spoke, poking her head out her door in her hospital gown. "Never!"
To the surprise of all, she raised her bow, then looked over her shoulder. "Why not?"
Archie grinned. "Why not, indeed?"
Authors' Notes:
Yes, its been awhile. However, schoo takes prevaence over fic. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter.