Two become One

Ram, Jay, Ebony, Slade, Ruby, Darryl and Siva were all sitting at a table in the bar. They were, for once, not arguing but drinking and just talking. The bar doors were lazily pushed open with a creak.

'We're closed'. Ruby shouted to the late visitor that was yet to enter their line of sight. The group of rebels didn't notice the young boy enter the bar even after Ruby's warning. He was hunched over, barely able to stand and wobbling all over the place. It wasn't until he knocked something down that they even saw him.

'Didn't you hear me? I said we're closed'. Ruby stated, slightly angrier. Slade got up to usher the unwelcomed visitor out. But Ram finally saw who he was.

'Jay.' Ram said. With a single word Jay knew something was wrong. He turned to see who this mysterious visitor was and in seconds he was up running towards him.

'Ved?' He said is a questioning tone. His younger brother looked up at him and then collapsed into his arms. Slade helped Jay take Ved up to his room. They laid him on the bed and made their way back down stairs to have a talk with Ram.

A young girl snuck past the guards at the checkpoint and made her way into the city. She could barely walk and had to keep out of sight, she heads to the Mall. Her home.

Jay and Slade reached the bar and Ram was there waiting.

'Ram I thought he'd been DELETED'. Jay said slightly confused.

'So did I. But sometimes DELETED can mean taken to a work camp, taken to another Techno base or even taken to a place to be an experiment.' Ram as a matter of factly. 'Like I said before. I didn't DELETE Ved, Mega did. I don't know what he did with him.' Ram trying to be compassionate to Jay.

Ved woke up in a cold sweat, again. The nightmares were back. He'd had them ever since he was taken away; they were about Cloe, being tortured. Whenever he got the chance to sleep, he dreaded it. Ved slowly got his bearings, he was in a room. But where? Now he remembers, Liberty, Saloon, Jay. Jay? He really hoped it hadn't been a dream. He got up and found his way downstairs, slowly.

The rebels all stood around the bar discussing whether to wake Ved or not and ask him what he'd been through, where he'd been and if he'd seen any other prisoners. They heard a creak on the stairs and looked to see Ved using the handrail as support to help him stand. Ram backed away a little but no one except Ved noticed. As soon as he saw Ram he ran at him and knocked him to the ground. The others were trying to pry him from Ram while Ved just kept hitting him and shouting, 'Where's Cloe', 'What have you done with her', 'I want her back'. The others finally managed to get him off Ram. Ved was still struggling against Jay, Slade, Siva and Ebony while Darryl and Ruby helped Ram up. He had a bleeding nose, his lip was busted and he had a quickly forming black eye and his face was bruised in lots of different places. They took him to the bar and started to fix him up. The others took Ved to a table and sat him down. Jay sat next to him and explained everything that had happened.

The young girl entered the Mall and shouted for help. The Mallrats cam running down the stairs to see what was going on. They were shocked to see the young girl at the Mall entrance. Amber was the first to snap out of her shock and ran towards the girl just in time to catch her as she fell unconscious.

'Get her upstairs'. Amber yelled at Lex when they all found their way to Amber. This was a shock for all of them; they hadn't expected to see her ever again. Once Lex had put her upstairs they all decided to go to bed to clear their heads and would talk in the morning. Maybe she'd be awake by then.

When Salene got up that morning she went to check on their newly found friend. The girl was lying in her bed still asleep. Salene went over to her and sat next to her and held her hand. The girls brown eyes fluttered open and Salene smiled then in a soft voice she said

'Cloe'.

Ved was still angry and so they were still guarding him but Ram wanted to push his luck anyway. He went over to Ved and sat on the opposite side of the table he was at. Ved hadn't told the others that when he escaped he had found some medical supplies and did his own stitches without any pain medication, but he knew it was a rough job and when he attacked Ram he must have busted them open, he could feel the right side of his shirt getting wet and sticky but he didn't want to say anything, he had a few more minutes left before he blacked out and he wanted all of them.

Ram and Ved were staring at each other as if they were in a staring competition, Jay and Slade were still talking to Ved about the bad things Mega had done even though they knew he wasn't listening.

'So Ved now do you see? Ram didn't do all those horrible things, most of them were Mega.' Jay said looking intently at his brother who was still looking at Ram. 'Ved?' He asked a little worried at how pale Ved was going.

'I don't care about all the other things he did or didn't do. I know he took Cloe away, because I was more focused on her then his stupid cause. He knew that eventually I would quit the Technos to be with Cloe and he didn't like it'. Ved said through gritted teeth still looking at Ram. Ram knew all the right buttons to push when it came to Ved and he wanted to push them now.

'You shouldn't be mad at me Ved. You should be thanking me; I saved you from that piece of vert dirt.' He said waiting for Ved to jump across the table and attack him. The rest of the audience was waiting for it as well. Ved hated what Ram said but right now he wasn't feeling too good. He slid his chair back and Slade and Jay were ready to hold him back if they needed to but Ved just got out of his chair and slowly made his way over to Ruby who was standing behind the bar.

'Do you have a first aid kit?' Ved asked her and she nodded her head. 'Do you think maybe you could go and get it?' He asked struggling to not pass out.

'I think it's my duty to ask why'. Ruby said now interested.

'Well I have about five seconds and that's just not enough time to explain everything. So please go and get the first aid kit.' He said wanting her to hurry up. He swayed on his feet and almost collapsed but Jay caught him and took him back to the table where Ram was still sitting now slightly worried about his old friend. Ruby grabbed the first aid kit and brought it to Ved. They all gathered around him to see what was wrong with him. They couldn't see anything physically wrong apart from the fact he almost collapsed.

Ved sat the kit on the table and unzipped his shirt then slowly slid it off. The gash on the side of him was gaping open and blood was gushing out. They small group around starred in shock and some gasped. He asked Ruby to go and get him some hot water, a needle and some thread.

'You should have bled to death if you walked from where ever you came from like this' Slade said immediately getting into his doctor mode.

'I didn't'. Ved said trying to not show he was in pain. 'I found and old house that had medical supplies inside and I stitched myself up'. He said leaving out the part about no medication.

'Did you bring whatever pain meds you had left over with you? Because we could use them now.' Slade said. Ved didn't want to answers but he knew he had to.

'There was never any pain medication' Ved said trying to say it as quiet as he could. Slade's mouth gaped open at his comment. He was shocked that anyone could put up with that much pain without medication. 'Trust me, it didn't hurt as much as what the Technos did to me'. He said trying to make them feel better but realised after he'd said it that it made them feel worse.

'What did they do to you?' Jay asked his brother slightly upset.

'They strapped me to a chair and put me virtual reality. Yeah I know what your think, doesn't sound that bad, right? Wrong. They made me watch Cloe be tortured. It felt so real. It sounded so real.' Ved said and stopped at the thought. Slade had almost finished patching him up and was really impressed that he hadn't screamed in pain yet, he'd barely even flinched. At first this made Slade impressed but then he got worried. He had finished and had put the dressings on but Ved was talking to Jay and glaring at Ram.

'Ved you ready for this?' Slade asked as an experiment. Everyone else was confused but didn't say anything; they were waiting to see what Ved answered.

'Okay just do it as fast as you can.' He answered Slade without looking towards Slade. Slade stood up and Ved eventually noticed what was going on. He was slightly numb all around his wound. Slade decided it would be best if they let him sleep and se the outcome in the morning so e and jay helped Ved to Jay's room then left him there in peace. Jay didn't leave Ved's side all night and ended up falling asleep in a chair next to his brother. Hopefully Ved would be better in the morning.

The Mallrats were glad to have Cloe back and she was glad to be back but she was always thinking about the boy she loved. He had given up everything for her and now she had to find him. If she could make it back, so could he. Couldn't he? The Mallrats were gathered in the new cafe, Salene had told Cloe everything that had happened since she left leaving out all the parts about Ved but she didn't need to say them. The place where she was taken had lots of Technos and the talked about the things that happened with Ved and Ram a lot.

They were discussing what Lex was planning on going. He wanted to go back to Liberty, Salene had told her about that place and its latest resident.

'I want to go with him.' Cloe shouted over the top of everyone and they all stopped and looked at her.

'Cloe your not well enough, and why would you even want to go out there?' Salene asked curiously.

'You said Ram was out there, right?' Cloe asked Salene who nodded her head as well as Lex. 'I want to ask him if he knows where they took Ved.' She said the sadness in her voice coming forward. They all gave her looks of compassion.

'Clo, Ram didn't DELETE Ved, it was Mega'. Lex said as nicely as possible.

'I don't care.' Cloe said her voice getting louder with more ferocity. 'He took him away to start with so he might have some ideas as to where and even if he doesn't he can tell me where bases and camps are. Even if Mega has changed them since he's been gone he can still give me some clue.' Cloe said her voice lowering and becoming sad again.

After many arguments with Salene, Lex agreed even though Salene didn't like the idea she eventually came around as well. Cloe wouldn't let them barcode her and May told Lex about the building she and Salene used to get back into the city. They both packed plenty of things to trade at the building and at Liberty.

The set out and stealthy made their way through the city and the Bad Lands. Lex was surprised that Cloe could keep up but he knew she was pushing herself too hard. He was worried about her. When they arrived at Liberty Slade was sitting out the front of the Saloon, he looked towards Lex and gave a lopsided grin. They reached out towards each other and shook hands.

'Good to have you back in town sheriff'. Slade joked.

'Yer well, it's good to be back.' Lex said. Then he remembered Cloe. 'Ah right. Slade I want you to meet one of the original Mallrats, Cloe.' Lex said and pointed towards Cloe who was looking around Liberty, and hadn't even noticed she had been introduced. Slade grabbed Lex and pulled him a little extra distance away from Cloe and pulled him closer and started to whisper.

'Is this the Cloe that was dating Jay's younger Techno brother?' Slade asked and Lex nodded his head.

'That's why she's here. She wanted to ask Ram for information on where he might be. I'll tell ya, she's one persistent piece of work.' Lex said smiling.

'Well I've got a surprise for her'. Slade said, his smile forming sneakily. Lex wasn't going to ask what it was because he knew he wouldn't be told. They turned back to Cloe and redid the introductions, this time Cloe was paying attention. After they had a small conversation, Slade led them happily into the Saloon.

Ved had been up for a while and was downstairs leaning against the bar, he could now feel every movement he made through his wound and for a few minutes he preferred the numbness. Jay was standing close to him but not too close and Ebony and Ram were sitting at the table closest to the bar. Ruby was standing behind the bar and Siva was standing in front of it. They were all arguing except Ved who just stood there watching them, missing Cloe.

Slade walked into the bar and the arguing slowly stopped.

'I've got a surprise for ya'll.' Slade said smiling largely. 'The sheriff's back in town'. Slade said smiling and everyone else gave small smiles and lots of eyes rolls at the way he said it. Then Lex walked in. 'And he's brought a friend'. At that moment Cloe walked into the Saloon and looked around, she was surprised to see all of these unlikely people together but then she spotted Ved. And saw her. They slowly walked over to each other and when they were centimetres apart they stopped and stared. After finally realising they weren't dreaming they smiled and Ved grabbed Cloe around the waist and pulled her closer to him for a hug.

'I didn't think I'd ever see you again.' Ved said quietly to Cloe.

'You can't get rid of me that easily.' She said pulling back to look at his face. Then they moved in to kiss. The audience all gave slight smiles at the young, happy couple that have finally got to be together. Lex went over to Siva and wrapped his arms around her waist.

After everyone had got over their lovesick puppy routine they all sat down to discuss the plans of the rebel alliance. Ved and Cloe joined as well as Ebony, Slade, Lex, Siva, Ruby, Jay and Ram. They elected Slade as their leader and he grudgingly agreed. Ram brought Java back with him and at first no one was sure as whether she should be able to wander free but she turned out to be useful and her, Ebony and Siva fixed their problems. Although they weren't BFF's, they got along fine. The rebels were in place and they were going got beat Mega once and for all. Cloe and Ved were finally happy together at last.

...THE END... Cledism xx