No. 22: Battle Plans

No. 22: Battle Plans

"Terra!"
She turned towards the sound. Venn grabbed her wrists and turned her hands palms up.
"Take this to Cliff, he said he needed it." He said, placing something cool and large in her hands.
"Where is he?"
"Check the roof."
She nodded and spun on her booted heel and ran off in the direction of the mansion. Her life vision told her that Cliff was indeed on the roof.
She focused on the earth beneath her, and let it raise her to the roof level.
Cliff looked up just in time to see the ground rise up, she stepped onto the roof like it was all no big deal and it all happened everyday. He shook his head in mild disbelief. Sometimes, even though he had super powers, it was hard to wrap his mind around it.
"Here's the...thing you wanted." She said, handing him the metal box.
"Thanks. Could you do me a favor?" He asked. Terra nodded readily, her dark curls bouncing in her messy ponytail.
"Could you bring Venn up here, and tell him he needs to wire this to the security system?"
"Sure thing. Anything else I need to do?"
He rose to his feet and over looked the campus.
"Yeah..." He said slowly. "Make sure you're knives are sharpened. We're going to be in for a whole heap of trouble."
Terra nodded grimly then dove off the roof, making the earth bend under her to soften her fall.
"And they say boys show off." Cliff muttered to himself as he climbed down the ladder.

Kaleigh pulled her hair up off her sweaty neck before leaning into the ladder again as she wired up new security cameras.
"Hey can someone hand me those wire cutters?" She asked, reaching out of them, while yanking a cord out of the tangled mess. The cutters were placed in her hand and she cut off the end of the wire.
Don't hurt yourself.
She rolled her eyes at the voice inside her head.
I'm not a little girl. I can take care of myself.
So I heard. You didn't tell me you jumped the guy.
Well sorry! I was a bit of a wreck and it slipped my mind.
The cutters pulled the wire covering off, but also the skin on her palm.
"Ow, crap!" She growled.
"I told you not to hurt yourself."
She wanted to slap him, and if it weren't for the fact that her hand hurt, she would have.
Kaleigh jumped down to the ground and let Brandon pull her hand from her chest.
He wrapped a strip of cloth around it gently, she wasn't all sure where he got the cloth from, but was thankful for it.
"I swear sometimes you act like my sister." He grumbled.
"Yes, but I'm older than you sister, so I'm allowed to act like that sometimes."
He paused and looked at her to see if she was being serious.
"You do realize that is the most messed up logic I have ever heard right?"
"Well it's not as messed up as wanting pistachio ice cream in November." She shot back, refusing to meet his stormy blue eyes.
"Yeah but that's a quirk, not logic. And quirks vary from person to person, logic should make sense to everyone."
"Well maybe my quirk is that my logic makes no sense to anyone!"
His rough hands weren't as gentle when he was agitated. When he tied the knot, he pulled tighter than he meant to.
"Ouch." She muttered, jerking her hand back in surprise.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
Kale let out a deep sigh and new that part of it was her fault.
"No...I'm sorry. I'm stressed and worried about what is going to happen, if we're all going to live through the night, and not to mention all of the things I have to do in order to get ready for this, and it's just -" She stopped herself and took a deep breath, gazing off into some point in the distance, trying to calm herself down. "I feel like I'm in a room, and it just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Suffocating me slowly, and then when I think I got a break, it squeezes harder." A tear slid down her cheek and she brushed it away impatiently.
"And now I'm falling apart. That's just awesome." She grumbled.
"Hey." Brandon took a hold of her shoulders, gaining her attention, and forcing her to look at him. "You're allowed to fall apart. In fact it's expected! You're suiting up for a war, your brothers have already mentioned they expected you and Terra to break down a while ago."
"That's not comforting Brandon." She stated with a discouraged tone.
He gave her a look but went on as if she hadn't said anything.
"You don't have to hide how you feel, that's all I'm saying." He dropped his arms and struggled to win the battle ragging on in his soul. It was a war that he had to fight every time he was near her, and it seemed that God was laughing at him when she became his Partner. He heard her sigh and watched her as she rubbed her eyes with her palms.
"That's probably not the best pick up speech, but I guess it'll do." She said.
Kale moved to go up the ladder again to get back to the security camera, when Brandon gripped her wrist and pulled her back down a rung. She let out a squeal when her foot slipped and she lost her balance, falling into arms ready to catch her. Her back slammed into Brandon's chest, his arms wrapped around her waist, protectively pulling her closer. Before her mind could catch up to what was happening, Brandon twisted his head around and planted a kiss on her cheek. The usual zap of electricity was there, only slightly stronger, making her jump. But then he had pushed her back onto the ladder, right back where she had started.
She looked back at him in shock with wide eyes, not sure how to respond to that. Brandon just shrugged and shoved his hands in to his pockets with a grin directed her way.
"Just incase we don't make it through this. I just thought I'd let you know." He said with that stupid half smile that sent the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy.
Her brain was all haywire, as she fumbled with the wires. She wanted to growl at him for doing that, but in reality, her brain was far, far away from growling.
Stupid boy. She thought to herself, not allowing it to be heard by Brandon. If you want me to get a job done you shouldn't go do stuff like that!
But she couldn't keep the smile from creeping up onto her lips when she thought about his words.

.:+++:.

That whole day was spent running around for everyone, doing what they could to make sure they had the upper hand. Cliff was never really happy with what they had done, but by then it was too late to do anything about it, and they all decided to get what little sleep they could.
They did another camp-out in one of the sitting rooms in the mansion. Everyone collapsed on the couches or floor.
Kale curled up next to Brandon and fell asleep as soon as she sat down. Terra did the same right next to Venn on the floor, but wasn't as close as Kale was to Brandon.

Cliff watched Kaleigh sleep for a moment before addressing Brandon.
"Do you know what it feels like to have all the water in your body suddenly leave?"
Brandon's head jerked up at the question, not quiet sure how to take it.
"Uh...no?"
Cliff looked him in the eye with such a calm and collected face that Venn was scared what he could mean by his question.
"Well that's what you'll find out if you hurt her in any shape or form. Got it? You respect her and don't make promises you cant keep."
Brandon nodded his head, trying to keep from moving too much so he didn't wake up Kale who had fallen asleep on his arm.
"So wait..." He said, suddenly realizing why Cliff was saying anything at all. "Does that mean I've got permission?"
Cliff hesitated for a moment, his dark blue eyes gazing at his sister's sleeping form.
"Yeah."
"No." Venn said in unison. The two brothers looked at each other in confusion.
"Maybe." Cliff said in a minute. "Why can't he?" He asked Venn.
"Because!" Venn struggled to find a valid reason for not letting Brandon date his sister, other than the fact that he didn't want any more changes happening.
Both Brandon and Cliff gave him expectant looks and he finally growled.
"Fine."
Brandon nodded in understanding, and the room returned quiet again until Cliff fell asleep and started to snore. With Venn following close behind.
Brandon knew it was hopeless to even dream about sleeping so he just watched over Kaleigh, making a vow to himself he wouldn't let anything happen to her tomorrow. Even if it meant dying himself. He'd rather die so she could live, then the other way around.
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, sealing his vow.
"I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered to her. "I promise."

Stryder watched the idiot kiss Kaleigh's forehead and died a little inside. He argued with himself that he was being even more idiotic then the idiot. He hadn't even talked to the girl until a couple months ago. She wasn't his to loose, and if he was being truly honest, he knew the idiot would do everything in his power to make sure she was happy.

.:+++:.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rapped fire of machine guns shocked the kids out of their sleep and got them to their feet in a heart beat. Kaleigh was the first to the window.
"Kaleigh! Get away from there." Cliff hissed. When she didn't respond, he joined her at the edge of the window. Followed by the other three close behind.
"Guys." Venn said slowly. "We are in some serious trouble."
"Terra, how do many do you think are out there?" he went on to ask.
"Um..." Terra concentrated hard and expanded her life sense. "I count about half a hundred." She reported, nodding as she did.
"So... fifty?" Kale asked, looking at her.
"Yup. Fifty."
"Well why didn't you say that?" Stryder asked a little put off.
"Because half a hundred sounds more daunting." Terra stated matter-of-factly.
Cliff nodded in agreement.
"Good way to mix up your vocab. I'm going to have to use that sometime."
"Cliff! This isn't a book!" Venn reminded.
Cliff shot his brother a look and then turned back to the sea of black.
"Kids," They all jumped a second time in the past minute and turned to find Professor Wallace standing in the door way.
"Wait here, get to your positions and make sure you are ready." He was about to walk away before he hesitated and turned back again.
"And wait for my signal okay? Don't do anything stupid."
Kale couldn't stop the smile when he eyed the boys in particular. Then he was gone before they could say anything else.
"He kind of freaks me out." Stryder stated quietly.
Kale rolled her eyes and tugged on Terra's arm.
"Come on." She said, guiding her out the room.
"Wait were are you going?!" Brandon called after them.
"Just get to your positions!" Kale called over her shoulder as she took off running through the mansion with Terra in tow.