Chương 20: Still a coward, Captain

They found Ms. Hill in the lobby of the Medical wing chatting with Gunther, one of the other lieutenants of the guild. Gunther, unlike the last time Kellen had seen him, was kitted out in the full Esper uniform, his long hair pulled back into a ponytail away from his face. When he noticed the three of them, he gave them a nod, before turning a teasing smile towards Kellen.

"Ah, hello Mr. 90% match. Well? Everyone's dying to know. Is the Captain still a coward?" He was clearly teasing, but Kellen's whole body stiffened. He could feel the red creep up his neck as Taylor threw him a shocked look.

"Uh, well, no?" Kellen had to work to get his lips moving as he felt the Captain loom behind him. His laughter filled his ears and when he turned his head to look at him, the Captain had his head thrown back as he laughed. Kellen did not feel safe.

"You don't seem convinced, Mr. Woods. Shall I prove myself more to you?" Kellen nervously glanced at Taylor and the elevators. The Captain had clearly taken Kellen's words as a challenge, while the man himself hadn't noticed.

"I am fine, thank you. We are also on a tight schedule, so you wouldn't have time to do so." Ms. Hill whistled as the Captain's eyes narrowed at the Guide. Kellen realised something was wrong with his words when the Captain stepped towards him, his eyes a sharp yellow colour.

"Are you sure you want to say that, Mr. Woods?" He warned, and Kellen swallowed. He glanced around at the others, but all three of them had their backs turned to him, unwilling, or unable to help him. Therefore, Kellen opened his dumb mouth.

"I'm off the clock once we finish the retest, so unless you want to give me overtime, yes." Kellen was surprised by how stable his voice sounded to his ears. The Captain's eyes stared into Kellen's before slowly dropping to his lips, then back up to meet his gaze. He bent forward, his breath fanning over his face.

"Didn't your father ever warn you to pick your battles, Mr. Woods?" His voice was deceptively calm, sweet even, and Kellen felt a bead of sweat roll down his back and between his shoulder blades. He felt his gaze fall to the Esper's lips, and watched them turn up slightly before darting his eyes back up to the slowly turning gold gaze of the Captain. The false sense of calm spurred on the Guide, who opened his mouth again.

"He did, but I've always had great luck Captain Thatcher. Unless, you're scared?" Kellen tilted his head slightly to the side, his lips turning up slightly in nervousness. The Esper stared down at the Guide, his eyes glowing slightly. Kellen's senses were screaming out at him to move, to get out of there, but something told him not to. Finally, the Captain spoke.

"You won't be getting overtime today, Mr. Woods, but keep this in mind. Who do you think made all of those strategies you followed on the front lines?" He poked the Guide's forehead before pulling away and heading for the elevators. "I assume you had a reason to be here Gunther? Besides riling up My Guide?" Kellen's heart was hammering in his chest as the Esper turned away from him. He gulped in air as Taylor threw him a look. Ms. Hill was glowing, giving him a thumbs up before sliding beside him.

"Oh my gods, give me your phone number." She whispered while Gunther spoke up.

"Oh, it's about the new recruits. Since we now have two batches that haven't gone to the front lines I was hoping to get your approval to take the first team into the mountains for a seven day intensive exercise to make sure they didn't feel like we were going to treat them the same way as the others. They'll be treated the same way once we get to the front lines, but for now I think it's better if we feed their egos." The Captain nodded at his suggestion as the elevator opened and the group poured in. Kellen, who had accepted the phone shoved into his face, passed it back to Ms. Hill with his number now in it. Ms. Hill thrust her arm into the air in a victory fist. Captain watched them with careful eyes and Kellen felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The man was on a thin thread again. Had the conversation before set him off?

"I agree. I'll approve it. Make sure to take the two brothers and run them ragged. They need it. I thought they were going to be a solid investment but so far they've only caused problems." Gunther nodded, glancing at the other three before turning back to the Captain.

"Sounds good. Are you going to be back for dinner?" He asked and the Captain chuckled. Kellen could feel a hole being drilled into the back of his head, but he didn't want to look behind him to see who it was.

"Yes, I'll be back for dinner. We'll speak more about the details then, Gunther." Gunther nodded and silence filled the elevator as it headed for the lobby. As the others headed for the front door, Gunther grabbed Kellen's arm, pulling him away from the others. Kellen turned to face the taller man who searched his face with his dark gaze.

"Sorry about that." He apologised immediately and Kellen laughed.

"You didn't really do anything, Lieutenant Gunther. I couldn't seem to stop my mouth." Gunther made a face, trying to stop himself from laughing before he nodded.

"Still, I played a role in this. If you need help dealing with him, I'm here. I've been with Rhys since we were in the D.E.C. so I can help if you need any info on him." Kellen blinked, surprised at the information. He hadn't remembered that the Captain had been in the D.E.C., but it made sense. He would have either had to join them or another Guild to remain an active Esper who was able to use his powers. But it did surprise him that Gunther hadn't been in a Guild. In the time that Kellen had known Gunther, he didn't seem like the type to follow rules. He had a strange feeling that the Captain was the exception to that rule. Kellen smiled at the Esper.

"Thank you for your help. If I need it, I will reach out to you. Well, I should head out. I don't want them waiting too long. Have a good night Lieutenant." Gunther gave a wave that Kellen responded in kind to before following the other three.

Kellen caught up with them at the front door only to find Ms. Hill was picking up Taylor in her arms like it was a totally normal thing to do. Taylor also behaved as if it was completely normal. Confused, he stared at the two women before glancing at the Captain who was standing to the side. He laughed at his expression.

"It's faster for us if you rely on Hill and I to get you to the Center. Do you have a fear of heights?" He asked and Kellen had to think back on his time in gates before he shook his head, still confused.

"Uh, I don't think so?" He responded hesitantly. The Captain smiled.

"Good." The Captain moved swiftly, not giving him a moment to retract his words. Before Kellen could blink, he could feel the strong arms under his knees and on his back. Stunned, Kellen let out a yelp. "Wrap your arms around my shoulders, Mr. Woods. I wouldn't want to drop you." He teased, and for some reason Kellen didn't trust his smile. The two Espers headed out of the front doors. Kellen did as he was told, pressing himself against the other man, unashamed. With a nod to Ms. Hill, the two Espers gathered their powers and catapulted into the air. Kellen felt his heart in his throat as they soared through the air. He could hear Ms. Hill's maniacal laughter in the air as he clung tightly to the man holding him. He hadn't had a fear of heights, but being brought into the sky so quickly made his whole body quiver. Kellen couldn't get a word out of his mouth, he was shaking so violently that he thought if he opened his mouth he might bite his tongue. When he glanced up at the Captain, he had a light expression on his face, but when he met his eyes, he could tell the man was laughing at him. Kellen wanted to smack the man, but he was too scared to take his hands off of him to do so.

When they landed, Kellen's legs almost collapsed out from under him. It took him several minutes to gather himself. The Captain was kind enough to stay with him as Kellen clung and gripped onto the man like a lifeline. Once Kellen stopped trembling, he tried to behave as if nothing had happened, smoothing out his uniform with still trembling fingers. The Captain's shoulder shook in silent laughter as he looked over the Guide.

"Are you okay Mr. Woods?" He asked, his tone light and Kellen glared at him.

"I'm going to be perfectly fine. That just took me by surprise. I'll be better next time." He affirmed, and the Captain nodded, his eyes sparkling as he looked over the slightly flushed Guide.

"I believe you." He told him, and that only ruffled Kellen's feathers. He huffed and stepped away from the man. It only made the Captain's shoulders shake more in silent laughter.

"If you are going to make fun of me, at least hide the laughter in your eyes. Where are Ms. Hill and Taylor?" Kellen asked as he quietly fumed, heading towards the entrance of the Center. The Captain followed after him silently before surging ahead of him to hold the door open for him. He smiled down at the adorable man.

"They've already gone inside to secure a room for us. Follow me Mr. Woods." He ordered, and Kellen fell into line, trying not to show how angry he was at the man before him. The Captain had been right. Taylor was at the front desk already, chatting with the receptionist there. It wasn't the same snooty lady for yesterday either, so Kellen's shoulders relaxed unconsciously. Ms. Hill was looking at her phone facing their direction when she glanced up and saw the pair. She smiled and waved wildly.

"Oh, hey Captain!" The receptionist paled at the sight of him. Like the last time that Kellen had been with the Captain, everyone was tripping over themselves to help them. They had a different, higher class chamber, a different set of doctors, and they were on a different floor. The other thing that was different was the energy in the room. Taylor was on every person involved like a fly on shit. Nothing escaped her gaze. She moved like a woman possessed between each room. Ms. Hill whistled as she pulled her top off until she was in her sports bra. Kellen took his top off for the second time that day. Taylor personally sat the Guide and Esper down across from each other and put the monitors on them while the Captain watched everything from the corner, his eyes glowing the bright yellow of someone using their powers. Every person besides them was nervous. Watching Taylor run around soothed some of Kellen's concerns, along with Ms. Hill's nonchalant attitude. As Kellen wiped his hands nervously on his pants she winked at him with a smile. She offered her hand, and Kellen took it.

Once Taylor had everything the way she wanted, she counted them down. Kellen began to pour his powers into Ms. Hill and immediately noticed a difference between the two. Kellen had guided Ms. Hill before so he expected that he was going to know how to guide her once inside. Ms. Hill manifested as a giant, multi headed sunflower that Kellen used a watering can full of his powers to heal. Kellen noticed that his watering can was larger than before, and that it felt easier to manage the wilted heads of the sunflower. Taylor called time, and the Captain was there to pull Kellen out. He broke the contact between Kellen and Ms. Hill firmly, but not maliciously.

"You can stop now, Mr. Woods." He murmured, his hand firmly on his shoulder. Kellen blinked, coming out of the subspace used for guiding. It was easier the more you did it, but for some reason, he was having a harder time than normal. Kellen hypothesized it had to do with his jump in powers. Ms. Hill was staring at him, surprised.

"That was...different from the last time you guided me. I feel like you shaved off quite a bit of my stress Kellen." She told him seriously while she began pulling off the pads on her. She was already pulling her shirt on while Kellen still sat there in a daze. The Captain stepped in, helping the man since his fingers were trembling in his lap. Kellen had barely regained his senses by the time Taylor came back into the room.

She entered with three shakes under one arm, and the papers in the other. The Captain accepted the bottles from her, opening the first one and offering it to the Guide. Kellen took it gratefully, his body feeling delicate and trembly. It had been a long time since he had felt this weak after guiding. She waited until her friend had at least two of the shakes in him until she turned the paper towards him, a smile breaking across her face as she stared at his stunned expression.

"I increased again?" He said, incredulous and Taylor nodded.

"Hard to believe, I know, but you are solidly in the middle of A Class now Kellen. I don't want to keep testing you, but at the same time I'd really like to monitor this change." She admitted and Kellen made a face of displeasure.

"I know you want to, but I'm so tired of testing Taylor. At least give me a month before we even consider it again." He told her, clearly exhausted. She didn't need to look him over to tell the man was going through it. The fact that he hadn't shoved the hovering Captain away was a sign enough in her books. She patted his shoulder comfortingly as he accepted the last shake from the Captain.

"Of course. I just wanted to give you my feedback so you could think about it. Unfortunately, the government has a chokehold on these machines so I can't get them at the guild, so if you did agree we would have to come here. That being said, it's now confirmed that you are A Class, and now the Center has the perfect results to show off as well. I expect we'll be hearing about this on the news this evening. It might even overwhelm the coverage of the rights for the new gate and the results of the Esper games." She teased, smiling warmly. Kellen handed off the empty shake bottle to the Captain.

"How many flavours does this shake come in?" He asked and she held up three fingers. "You should work on more. Plain old vanilla is getting old considering how many of these I'll have to drink."