Kellen heard the elevator doors open behind them, the four of them chatting softly while Taylor and her team continued to run around, and a knowing washed over him. He felt his body tense, his muscles on high alert.
While he had lost his 'lucky rabbit's foot' that didn't mean he'd lost his senses and his years of experience. He knew a dangerous situation when he felt one.
This one was very, very dangerous.
"Kellen?" It was his Dad's voice. Soft, scared, worried. Kellen felt all the colour drain from his face.
He hadn't prepared himself for this. He knew he was going to have to meet his parents, and soon, but he had hoped to give himself some more time. He needed more time. To come up with excuses, to think of a way to explain what had happened. To fudge the truth of the situation and how he had let down his little sister and his family.
What he'd had to do to get her home safe.
That was clearly not going to happen anymore.
He knew they were both behind him. He didn't need to be a Guide who could sense energies to be able to know that. The sound of the elevator doors closing filled the air as Kellen took in Hill's pale face and Casper's own startled expression. Rhys' grip on Kellen's waist tightened before he turned first, facing the Woods.
"Eleanor, Henry." Rhys began. "Did Green let you know that we had arrived safely?" His voice was kind, soft, and Kellen heard his delicate Father inhale sharply.
"S-She did. She's busy right now, isn't she?" He asked, giving a soft chuckle that tore at Kellen's heart. It was faint, hesitant, and made all of this even more hard. "Is that Kellen behind you? Why won't you turn to face us, sweetheart?" Kellen's throat closed up. Emotion choked him as he heard his Dad call him that.
He'd been so lost in his grief since Gwen had been taken, swallowed up by the Gate that Kellen had worried he would never have his Dad back. His Mom had worried about the same issue, while also dealing with her own grief. Kellen's hand trembled.
He was scared. He was scared about what they were going to say to him. He wanted to run away. Casper and Hill could see it in the way his eye was darting around, trying to find somewhere, anywhere he could flee.
Rhys' back touched his own, a warmth that Kellen couldn't resist.
"He's worried you're going to panic." Rhys said softly. Kellen closed his eye, a shudder rocking his body at the way that Rhys said it. The fact that Rhys was able to voice it only made Kellen feel relief. He had a partner that knew what was going on, who cared about him.
"Why would we panic?" It was his Mom. Harsh, aggressive, an Esper still on edge. Kellen could hear his Dad wetting his lips.
"D-Did something happen? We heard…we heard that almost everyone made it out alive." His Dad's voice was rough. Kellen wondered how much, how long he'd cried. Kellen bowed his head, his gut twisting. He wasn't normally this scared. He blamed the shock that he was experiencing.
"Gwen made it out alive, as did Kellen, but some things…are different right now." Rhys spoke gently to Kellen's parents.
"Different? How? W-What happened to my children?" It was his Dad's voice and Kellen let out a shuddering breath. His Dad was distressed, and Kellen knew he needed to face him head on. Kellen turned, stepping out on the right side of Rhys where there was more space and coming face to face with his parents.
His eyes were open, but he could only see out of one, the other covered with the eyepatch that Taylor had gotten him. Hill had gotten bored one of the days she'd been visiting and had drawn shapes all over it in white. It kind of looked like a paisley pattern, but that was what Kellen had been told.
He didn't really know what that meant.
Kellen was scanning his parents expression with his good eye, trying to take in their condition while they took in his. The shoulder strap of his sling dug into his shoulder, but he didn't adjust it. He just stared.
His Mom was in an outwardly better condition than his Dad. She looked well kept, maintained. She was wearing normal clothes, clean, pressed. Not a wrinkle in sight. It was the crazy purple haze of her gaze that told Kellen she was anything but fine.
Her tense jaw, the pale shade of her skin in contrast to her purple gaze, the tight grip she had on his Father's shoulders. She was barely contained, a woman on the final edge before a surge. Kellen couldn't exactly blame her. It wasn't like his Father was in any condition to guide her.
His Dad's shoulders were covered in a blanket, tucked around him to keep him warm. He looked unkempt, like he'd been wearing the same clothes for several days in a row. He was wearing slippers, his pajama pants long and dragging.
It was something that his Father would never do. He was always presentable, always taking care of his and his wife's image. The fact that he looked about as delicate as a dandelion in a breeze was terrifying to Kellen.
It was only made worse by the look in his gaze.
His eyes were glowing blue, exuding power, as he scanned his son and his son's partner. The look of absolute horror on his face as he took in Kellen's injuries was a knife through Kellen's heart.
"My son?! What happened to you?" His Dad cried, stumbling forward, dropping his Mom's hand as he raised his arms up. The blanket fell off of his shoulders, but neither of his parents seemed to care. Both moved with one-minded focus as they approached their son.
When Kellen's Dad's hands made contact with Kellen's cheeks, the floodgates were open. Kellen felt tears pour out from his eyes, dampening the eyepatch against his skin.
"I'm sorry, Dad, Mom." Kellen rasped past the emotion that was choking him. "I wasn't able to save-" Kellen attempted to speak but his Mom spoke over him.
"Enough. None of that. What happened to you? What did this to you?" His Mom's voice was dangerous, deadly. Kellen's Dad's hands were shaking where they held his son's face in his hands. Tears poured from his eyes.
"My Baby. Your eye, your arm." His Dad was sobbing, his whole face twisted into such raw grief that Kellen's breath left his lips in a whimper.
"A-A vine monster." Kellen whispered. Rhys wasn't touching him, but was nearby. A heat, a presence he felt at his side. Kellen was glad for it, sure he was going to collapse otherwise.
"A vine monster did this to you?" His Mom rumbled, clearly angry, clearly pissed. Kellen closed his eyes and nodded. He couldn't stop the tears. "What were you doing?" The sound was directed to Rhys, and Kellen shuddered. He opened his mouth to defend his man, defend his Esper, but Rhys was already speaking.
"I wasn't allowed to go inside." Rhys said carefully, slowly. "There were guns trained on me so that I didn't go inside. We knew the core had been touched, I had been awakened, but no one knew how stable I was. Not even myself." Rhys said it calmly, casually, while Kellen felt his heart jerk.
He had not known that. Rhys had not told him that part. No one had. Kellen understood why as soon as the words left Rhys' lips, but that didn't make him feel better. Rhys was always a threat. Always a concern. A monster in human flesh in most peoples' minds, including his own.
If he had not been stable and was hiding it just so that he could gain access to the outside world…well, that was what the guns were for.
"So you let my boy get hurt?" It didn't matter to his Mom. Not when she was this far gone. Rhys knew that, as did Kellen. Kellen let out a choked sob.
"He had no choice! He didn't know what was going on, and I needed to get everyone else out!" Kellen didn't realise how loud he was until Rhys put his hand on Kellen's back.
"Sh. It's okay, Kellen." Rhys murmured softly. "I'm not upset that she's blaming me. I blame myself, too." Rhys told him and Kellen opened his gaze, turning his face towards Rhys. Kellen's Dad still had a hold on him, refusing to let go of him as Kellen glared at Rhys.
"There was nothing you could do. Nothing anyone could do. It knew we were trying to leave, and it's a miracle only my eye was injured in the last scramble to get out." Kellen said, his voice shaky, but firm. "It could have gone so much worse." Kellen said, his lips shaking. "So much worse." He repeated before Kellen's Dad moved in, pressing his forehead against his son's.
"Stop blaming the others, Ellie." His Dad rasped. "Kellen made it out. My Baby made it out of there." His Dad's voice shook. "Gwen…I heard Gwen is alive?" His Dad's voice was hopeful, and Kellen's heart twisted.
"S-She is." Kellen began, his body twitching against his will. "She's alive but she's…" Kellen closed his eyes, the sounds of her screams haunting. "She's not the same." Kellen whispered brokenly. "I-"
"She's unconscious due to the toxic fumes she's inhaled, like the others. She also made a great sacrifice." Hill cut in, taking the heat off of the two of them. She stepped in, cutting off the hallway completely as she came to stand beside Kellen on his left side.
"A sacrifice?" Kellen's Mom asked, her voice rising in pitch. "What fucking kind of sacrifice?" She asked and Kellen let out a sound he hadn't been able to when it happened. He covered his face with his good hand, unable to meet his parents' gaze even as they scanned his face. His Father's hands on his face felt scalding.
"I had to take her leg." Kellen admitted. "I'm sorry. I had to do it. She would have died otherwise." Kellen's soul broke. Finally snapping as he had to admit it to his parents.
Kellen anticipated his Dad taking his hands away from his son. He expected them to reject him entirely. He'd hurt his sister. He'd gone in to save her, and in doing so he'd hurt her in a way she couldn't consent. She could have never consented to.
He was a monster. He was the monster.
He was not expecting the fierceness in the arms that wrapped around him. The tight grip of the man who had been losing his mind while he wailed about losing his daughter, and the fact that he was probably going to lose his son in the process.
"Don't you dare." His Dad whispered harshly, his own voice tight with emotion. "Don't you dare even think that about my son." Kellen didn't know what he meant by his words. He had no idea what was going on until his Dad spoke next. "My son is a good man. A good, kind man. Don't you dare for a second think I would ever reject him for making a tough call. He went into that hellhole of a gate and got himself and his sister out of there. Don't you dare tarnish his name like that." Kellen felt his legs shake, ready to go out. Take both him and his Dad down.
It was Rhys' hands on his hips that kept him upright. Kellen felt the sobs leave him, his whole body shaking in relief as his Mom's arms wrapped around him too.
"Don't you fucking apologise to me." She growled. "Don't you dare. I didn't think you were going to make it out alive, Kellen. Don't you dare apologise for doing something that would save both of your lives. Are you kidding me? You did the fucking impossible and I-" His Mom choked. "And I didn't support you completely. I let you down by not offering my full support. You are incredible, and I'm sure Gwen knows it too." Kellen felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
He hadn't thought that his family would understand. He had thought that they would have been lost in their own grief that they wouldn't be able to forgive him. He anticipated anger, yelling, maybe even violence or vicious words.
He was not expecting hugs.
Kellen's whole body shook with the force of his tears, his parents in a very similar condition. The others beside them didn't leave them alone. Hill came in, joining the family and so did Rhys. Casper was the last to join, but he did, all of them needing the comfort of family in this moment.