"You Can Still Be Free" ((Climax Log Part 6))

[asclepiustouch]

Characters: Derek (asclepiustouch) and Sync (zaleho_tempest)
Setting: The Hospital
Time: Friday Evening
Description: After Sync and Derek check in on Karol's condition, they go back to Sync's room and talk. They end up in a humorous play fight (despite Sync's injuries) and discuss family.
Style: AIM
Warnings: Cuteness overload watch.



"W-well... he's sitting up at the end of the short patient's bed," he stumbled a little with his words. "I... I tried to get him off the bed but he won't budge! He hasn't touched the short kid at all, as far as I can tell... but... he's just watching him or something...? Y-you want to talk to him...? I've tried... but he just ignores me..."

When Rodney was still talking, Derek got annoyed more even though he was more than grateful for the report, "You tried handing him the phone? ... Just watch him and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"He... he doesn't seem to be in much of a talking mood..." Rodney seemed a little more calm. "I'll k-keep my eye on them for you, sir! You can count on me to make sure... everything is fine!"

"Very well. I'll be there shortly," Derek hung up, walking quickly to the front of the ferry and hoping it would hurry its slow pace up. Did it have no sense of urgency?? Maybe he could swim there faster.... Shit, the ice cream... Derek flopped backwards onto one of the benches near the gate and exhaled heavily. When the ferry finally started docking, Derek got to his feet and crossed over the gate.

"Doctor! Sir! You can't do that!" one of the ferrymen called to him.

"It's an emergency. I'll be fine. Thank you," Derek called back to him, ignoring the safety violations, and lept onto the dock as soon as it was within reach. The backpack rocked from side-to-side as Derek ran back to the hospital.

He made it up to the intensive care wing in record time, coming to a screeching halt outside Karol's door. He calmed down, caught his breath, and then walked on inside.

Rodney looked and saw Derek there. "H-hello doctor!! Nothing has changed about the situation since I called you..." then he looked back over to the bed where Sync sat cross-legged at the end of the base, beyond where Karol's legs could reach, just staring at Karol. The expression on his face was hard to decipher... thoughtful? Worried? Homicidal...? Even the look in his eyes were strange...

"Wh-what is he doing...?" Rodney looked back at Derek, referring to Sync.

"It's fine. Thank you for watching them for me. Now, if you'll excuse us," Derek held open the door, glancing once to the boys before staring at Rodney with a silent demand he leave immediately.

"I... I understand!!" Rodney then hurriedly evacuated the room, afraid to get in the way.

The door shut behind him and Derek let the backpack drop to the floor near the door. Slowly, he walked over, putting a hand on Sync's shoulder, "Sync..."

Sync made his first movement from his statue-like position in a while, by tipping his head downward slightly. Still, he didn't make a verbal response as he watched Karol carefully, seeing all the machines the younger boy was attached to and the small shaven patch in his hair where his injury was operated on.

The doctor put his other hand on Sync's other shoulder, remembering to be gentle with his left side, and stood behind him. "The doctors are doing their best for him, Sync. He's being taken care of... The doctors are doing their best for you, too, you know?"

Sync dropped his head further, staring down at the bedsheets in front of him. He was shaking a little, feeling cold, but he tried to hide that from Derek, trying to stay as still as he could. "I know..." he said quietly, even though there was no one else in the room to hear his words besides Derek.

Hazel eyes peeked past the lenses of Derek's glasses, looking to Karol as he lay there motionless, the heart monitor beeping in small drawn-out intervals against the wall. Slowly, Derek creeped his arms around Sync's neck to embrace him. The silent Sync was not that unusual, but this silence scared Derek and he worried about Sync. Even with Karol holding on for life, Derek knew that Sync was the one who was suffering the most.

Sync closed his eyes from the embrace. "I... I'm the one who took away his family..." he mumbled, "He is going to hate me like I hate Ion..." he leaned back into Derek's warmth, trying to fight the cold feeling he had.

"I can't say anything about what Karol will do or feel," Derek sighed, leaning his head forward onto Sync's, feeling somewhat comforted at least to have Sync in his arms. "But he called me to let me know you two were hurt. Both of you. He told me where to find you... I think he still wants you to survive, too, Sync."

Sync leaned his head up against one of Derek's arms. "I don't understand Karol at all... Doesn't he understand I tried to kill him? And now he still might..."

Derek focused over to Karol, staring at him as if to will him to wake, "I don't think Karol sees things like that. He's in bad shape, Sync, but he's alive... You could have... killed him. Easily... But he's still right there in front of you."

"...I have to protect him for now on," Sync opened his eyes, looking over to Karol. "It's my fault he's this way..." then he tried to look up to Derek as best he could in the position he was in. "He talked to me while I was just lying there, empty..."

The doctor pulled away from Sync a little, feeling him try to look up, and then pat his chest softly where his hands were rested. "He has seen you as a friend, and he cares... I think protecting him would be a good way to make up for things. But you're going to have to ask him..."

Sync looked back at Karol, then closed his eyes somewhat defiantly. "I already decided. I don't care what his answer is, even if I did ask. I never cared about his opinion before, so I'm not going to start now...!"

"Well, can't argue with that," Derek smirked slightly, glad to hear about Sync's desire to protect the younger boy. "He needs it, even if he tells you otherwise... And I.. will look out for both of you," Derek looked forward at Karol, eyes softening. Somehow, he felt as if he ended up with another lost soul under his protection. He bowed his head forward, resting it on Sync's shoulder, and closed his eyes.

Sync relaxed and closed his eyes as well, somehow feeling a whole lot better about how things were going. He had friends now... somehow... and he finally accepted that fact. He smiled softly to himself, a little happier knowing that he wouldn't have to go back to Giovanni now, even though it'd mean his life could be over at any moment.

An old memory resurfaced itself in Sync's mind for the first time since arriving to Utopia. He was leading one of his brothers away from home, into the surrounding desert mountains, to hide him...

Sync opened his eyes again to look at Karol, who probably wouldn't be able to defend himself for quite some time. This time... I'm not going to fail... like how I failed to protect my brothers...! Sync decided to use his second chance at life wisely.

After a long silence, Derek untangled his arms from around Sync, placing one hand back on the boy's shoulder, "We should probably get back to your room, Sync. If anything changes with Karol, you will be one of the first people to know. I promise." Derek's eyes briefly glanced over to the backpack, "I brought your pillow, blanket, and journal... I'm afraid the nurse scared me when you went missing from your room and I didn't get the ice cream. There should be some in the cafeteria though... Thankfully, they don't make it there."

Sync looked up at Derek then nodded, trusting his words, then before standing up, he glanced over to Karol one last time and wobbly got to his feet. "Okay..."

Derek looked back to Karol for the moment, then waited for Sync before walking back to the door, grabbing the backpack, and heading back to Sync's room.

Sync walked back to his bed in silence, pathetically pulling the IV along with him, then sat down with a sigh before looking back up to Derek as to what was next.

Derek shut the door behind them both, walking to the end of the bed and emptying the contents and handing Sync his things. "Your pillow... blanket... and here's your journal. And a pen I've been missing. It fell out of the journal when I tried to pack it."

A few other things were scattered in the near-empty backpack when Sync's things were removed, but Derek set the bag down at the side of the bed for now. "So, you want some ice cream?"

Sync quickly reached over to the pillow, grabbing it and holding it close while closing his eyes. Something soft and familiar... after spending most of the past week somewhere cold and strange... brought on so much heavily-needed comfort. He shuddered a little, both cold yet somewhat excited and a small tear trickled down from one of his eyes. "Yeah... I took your pen. I figured you wouldn't mind if I borrowed it..." then he looked up at Derek, looking a little different than he used to. "Ice cream... yeah... that's what I need."

Of course Derek lacked any anger about his pen, and he had grown a smile watching Sync with his favorite things. "All right. I'm going to go get some ice cream for us then. Just.. don't leave the room and scare the nurses anymore, ok?"

Sync shook his head, "I won't leave. I just had to see how Karol was since I hadn't seen him since we fought each other..." then he narrowed his eyes a little. "And that nurse was stupid anyways... he wouldn't tell me where Karol was so I had to look myself."

Derek smirked, "Yeah, he really got me panicked, too, when he didn't think to just check the next room over..." He walked over to the door, "All right. I'll be right back with some ice cream. Chocolate syrup, too, if I can find any downstairs."

"I'll still be here," Sync said as Derek left the room, then he reached over to the blanket and pulled it around himself. It was so much better than the hospital blankets... so he knew tonight he would sleep a lot better. Still, in the back of his mind, he knew one of Giovanni's men may already have been sent out to look for him and maybe even for Karol, too, in order to eliminate both of them for good. Sync gripped more tightly onto the pillow in thought, feeling the pain in his arm and knowing he would have to be very careful for a while. He definitely would need to lie low... but for how long? And what could he do to keep both him and Karol off Giovanni's radar? The situation was very bad... and even the slightest bad move would put Derek in danger, too. He buried his face in the pillow, waiting for Derek to come back to make him feel better.

Two bowls of ice cream sat on the tray Derek held in his hands. He was forced into a marvelous one-handed balancing act while trying to get back into Sync's room, but eventually managed and slipped inside. He set the tray down and looked over to Sync, "Two chocolate sundaes. One for you." He offered Sync a bowl, the spoon already poking into the ice cream.

Sync looked up from his pillow then took Derek's ice cream offer willingly. "It's been a while since I could have any..." he said as he dipped the spoon in for the first time and scooped up some of the delicious cold ice cream to his mouth. It was so good... and he couldn't help but to have another spoonfull immediately after.

Derek sat down at the end of the bed and begin to eat his ice cream as well. It was delicious and something he was getting more and more used to eating ever since Sync had come into his life. Silently, he worked on the sundae bite-by-bite.

For a while longer, Sync continued to eat in silence, just savoring each and every spoonfull as best he could as it may be his last ice cream for all he knew. "You better do well at keeping me and Karol safe for now..." Sync glanced over to Derek. "I don't think I can defend myself with my arm the way it is..." then he looked a little solemn. "The injuries there aren't permanent, right?"

"Right," Derek replied quickly, although he got a brain freeze from the ice cream he forgot to swallow while answering. He pinched the bridge of his nose and winced as he waited for the feeling to leave. "Er, right. It'll heal soon. Some of your pectorals.. your breast muscles," Derek pointed out the muscle on his own body, "got cut. They need to heal some first. And yes, I'm going to watch out for you two. Giovanni isn't likely to send his goons in the hospital with this many people watching. So you two are safe here." Derek swallowed another bite of ice cream, thinking a little before continuing, "I will have done something before you two get out of here, to make sure that nothing happens to you two out there. Either way, Sync... you're free from them now."

"Free..." Sync said the word thoughtfully as he ate another spoonfull of ice cream. "Even if they do find me and kill me, at least I would have lived the rest of my life free from them..." he looked down at his ice cream before taking another bite.

Sync looked back up to Derek quickly, "I don't want to die anymore!! I still have a purpose to live out!! I can't think I have to leave anymore... there's people who need me now..." his eyes softened as he went back to his ice cream.

Derek set his ice cream down in his lap, looking at Sync softly, "I will always... always do whatever I can to protect you, Sync. I won't let you die. You can count on it."

"Good... because I won't forgive you if you don't," he glanced over to Derek with an unusually calm expression for him, making sure that the doctor understood those words weren't really as harsh as they came out to be.

The doctor nodded a little with a small smile before continuing with his ice cream. Once it was finished, he set it down on the tray and leaned back a little, supporting his weight propped up with his arms behind him. "Well, that was delicious. Probably the only time I'll ever say that about anything coming from this hospital.."

Sync finished his bowl soon after, though he didn't put it down quite yet as he continued to scrape the bottom with his spoon to get every last little bit off of it as possible. "Either you're not much of a health freak or the hospital food is just that bad! Why else give me ice cream instead of something nutritious for my first meal after getting up?"

A laugh escaped from Derek's lips, alien at first, but it felt good to get out, "Oh, it's probably both. I'm not a stickler for health, sweets are good in moderation, but the hospital food is terrible here..." He calmed down easily though, looking back to Sync with a serious smile, "Besides, I knew you just needed ice cream. I'm not technically your doctor right now, so I figured I could sneak something in."

"Not technically my doctor?" Sync placed the nearly clean bowl back on its tray before looking over to Derek, just glad to have a little conversation time again. "If you're not my doctor, then what are you anyways?"

"I mean to say that I didn't perform any of the surgery on you.. I brought you in and I had Ion in my arms, and I was exhausted...." he got quieter as he talked. "They wouldn't have let me anyways." He lifted his head, returning his voice to normal, and smiled, "I'm here now because I was really worried about you."

Sync pulled the blanket around himself again and looked at the floor. "I wasn't myself..." he said quietly. "I don't want to do anything that would worry you..."

Derek moved the tray to a nearby counter and came back over to sit on the end of the bed, "It's ok, Sync. I know."

Sync glanced up to Derek again. "I'm not going to kill anymore. It's not my place to do decide who still has a purpose or not in life. And all it'll do is leave other people to live alone... like I had to, and like Karol will have to... all our family... gone. And for no good reason..." he picked up his pillow and held it close to him again.

The doctor's expression softened and he stood up, fixing Sync's blanket to drape across him, "I'm glad to hear you say that, Sync, and I trust you and believe you." He stood at the bedside, watching Sync with a small smile.

"I won't let you down, Doctor," Sync didn't smile back but his eyes showed he was sincere. Then he looked back down to his pillow again in thought.

Derek reached down and picked up the backpack, bringing it over to the chair in the room, "I was planning on staying here for the night. I was thinking a lot about what I might be able to do or say to Giovanni, and I've been making notes of all the things you've told me before. I'm probably going to look them over some... Want to write in your journal? Or are you tired?"

Sync looked up again, determined. "I'm not tired, but thank you for bringing my journal over. I haven't gotten to write anything in a while..." he reached over and picked it up with the pen and opened it up. "Giovanni... I didn't manage to find anything new to report to you since the last you saw me a few days ago," he muttered as he opened his journal to a blank page. "They switched conditioners on me, Derek... the one I had this previous time was a lot more determined to beat my consciousness out of me than the other one." Sync narrowed his eyes, not sure if Derek wanted to hear that. "So I wasn't all that aware. I couldn't collect any more intel for you."

"That's ok," Derek said when he sat down, "I wanted to get a bit more information in case we needed to infiltrate the- ... You called me Derek." He looked up from sorting out the papers over to Sync.

Sync looked over at Derek, "Did I...?" he wasn't even sure himself. "Is that bad? Should I call you something else...?" he angled his head away a little, but was still looking at Derek.

It was almost as if an older Karol sat across the room from Derek as he rubbed a finger underneath his nose, playfully happy for some weird reason, "No.. No, that's ok. I don't mind it at all.."

"So why mention it?" Sync looked directly back at Derek again, subconsciously having a little playtime with the doctor.

"It just surprised me," Derek rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed now. "I'm not used to anyone calling me that except Angie... but you.. You can call me Derek, too."

Sync smirked at Derek, wondering how else he could mess with him, "Comparing me to your wife? That is kind of weird..." he put on a flat expression. "Well, you do seem to spend more time with me than her so..."

"I'm not comparing you to Angie! I'm only saying that I think it's fine if you called me Derek, too. It's reserved for a more personal atmosphere since everything with me is usually so professional," Derek sighed, wondering why he needed to defend himself, and then looked up with a smirk, "And I can't help that you're always getting yourself in some sort of trouble... or coming to my house and pulling stunts like that circle of yours that trapped us..." Derek stopped talking then, realizing that the circle was probably the most time he had spent with Angie in a while, other than the night that Sync went missing, and he didn't feel all there for that to count.

"I'm not always getting into trouble...!" Sync mock argued back at Derek, "You don't know anything, Derek. Haha, now it's personal because I used your name." he smirked back at Derek, eyes on the playful side. "That circle trap was fun."

Derek's eyes playfully narrowed and he glared over to Sync, "It was not. But it proves my point that you get in trouble a lot."

"You're the one who got stuck in the trap to begin with. I'd say you got yourself in trouble there. All I did was set it," Sync corrected. "If you just didn't get stuck in the trap, you wouldn't have gotten into trouble."

"Well, I'll remember not to trust you alone in the house again when I think you want something of ours again," Derek playfully replied, not wanting to sound as if he didn't trust Sync. "Besides, how was I supposed to know about your trap... in my doorway... I never saw your abilities before then."

Sync glared back at him. "You can trust me in your house. Just not with your bed," he added with a smirk. "If you had just waited twelve hours to come home, then the trap would have dissipated and you wouldn't have gotten yourself stuck." Then a thought crossed his mind more seriously and he put a hand on his chest where the tattoo-like glyph was that helped him with his powers. He looked down, thinking quietly to himself.

Derek rolled his eyes with a smile, "Right, like we knew anything about that.." He shook his head, chuckling, then stopped and looked as Sync had suddenly got serious, "You ok? Are you in pain?"

Sync shook his head, "I'm not hurting, I'm just wondering about the injury across my chest... it might have damaged the glyph I have there. If it did..." he narrowed his eyes, "My powers might be a lot weaker... but I don't know... I didn't create the glyph to begin with, so I don't know all its rules..."

"There will probably be a very thin line of scar tissue there," Derek told him, thinking about it. "And you think that might affect it? Perhaps someone else who might know? Ion?" Derek stood up, setting the notes down in the chair, and walked over. "We can look at it and see."

"No matter how well my skin heals, the fact is the glyph was broken. That's what I'm talking about," Sync raised a hand to try and create his basic defense glyph. It appeared as it normally did, but Sync wasn't satisfied with that so he held it up towards Derek. "Try punching it as hard as you can. If it breaks, then it probably means the glyph is broken for good..."

Derek looked to the circle of light in Sync's hand nervously, "Um.. well... I don't really hit that hard..." His nervousness came through well when he barely exerted any force into a light punch. After all, he was afraid it might mess up and hit Sync, too. His fist hit the light and Derek smiled nervously, "I guess it works ok, right?"

"Come on, you're a man! You can hit harder than that!" Sync mocked Derek's abilities. "Even Ion could probably hit harder than that... that test meant nothing. Try again."

Derek narrowed his eyes playfully, because he knew being called Ion was an insult - and an obvious truth with the weaker brother. Feeling a little more determined, Derek foolishly got in a boxing position and swung his left fist straight into the circle, but he recoiled back just as fast, "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..."

Sync couldn't help but laugh at that, knowing Derek gave it his all that time and glad that his abilities were still up to par. Sync made the circle disappear, "Looks like it still works as good as before." Sync smiled, relieved that once his injuries healed, he would be able to fight like before. "Thanks for the test," it was another mocking comment, though his tone was intentionally greatful.

Derek rubbed his sore fist, looking back to Sync with a pout to his face, "That hurt..." But the more the pain subsided, the funnier Derek thought it was. "I'm glad my pain gives you positive results!" Derek sarcastically said, smirking.

"I don't kill anyone anymore, so I need to satisfy that old need somehow," he referred to Derek's pain, though he secretly felt a little bad about causing him pain like that.

As he was still standing next to the bed, Derek glared playfully and then ruffled Sync's bangs. "Yeah? Well.. take that!"

Sync closed his eyes at the vicious attack, though he didn't back away. "Grr... I don't know what I can do about that move!" he aid back playfully to Derek, smiling happily at the contact. "You must have practiced that one a lot..."

"Aye! That I did!" Derek pulled his hand back, playing up his confidence and triumph as he stood at the side of the bed. "Hah hah, we are even."

Sync looked up at Derek, eyes bright and clear. "You shouldn't let your guard down so easily against me," then he narrowed his eyes cleverly and took his pillow with his good arm and only playfully hit Derek in the side with it.

Derek tried to jump back to avoid the pillow, but managed to get right in the path of the swing, getting hit, "Argh, you got me there! I'm getting weaker... but no... then your supply of ice cream is gone and no one can get it for you. You won the battle, but I shall win the war!"

Sync opened his eyes wide, not wanting to risk losing something as important as the ice cream. "Grr... there has to be some way to bring the ice cream back!" he looked sad, playing along with the game. "You're so mean..." Sync pulled a hospital blanket up and off the bed to throw at Derek, "I'll just have to capture you in my net and won't let you escape until you hand over the ice ceam!"

The hospital blanket hit Derek in the face, spread out and covering him from his head down. He laughed, pulling it off to look, and jerked his body back towards the bed, "I've been caught. Oh, no.. My arms are caught, too," Derek kept the blanket over his arms. "Now what will I do?"

Sync watched his every move, then looked over him after Derek spoke. "Hmm... you don't seem to have any ice cream on you..." his voice trailed off disappointingly, though it was just an act. Then he looked up to Derek again, "Looks like I'll just have to keep you here forever." Sync couldn't help but smile a little at that, though he tried so hard to stop it because the whole scene they had just played out was just so ridiculous. He couldn't even believe he could have that much fun. Sync looked away a little, trying to hold back his own snickering at the whole ordeal.

Derek smiled too, face a little red from moving around more than he was used to, but he chuckled a little, "Sorry, I ate the only ice cream I had left. But I guess I'll be here forever, so I'll keep fetching you more whenever you so desire it." Derek knelt down beside the bed, looking up to Sync with a bright smile. He had never felt like this before. It was like being a child again, and it reminded him of his father, but he had never got to do things like this with his father being sick. Still, Derek imagined that this is what it would've been like if he could've played with his dad just a little bit more. Thinking of that, his face got a little more serious and he stood to his feet with a smile, ruffling Sync's bangs again with the game now a beautiful and cherished memory. "I'm going to be here with you as long as I can."

Sync reached up his good hand to gently hold onto Derek's arm, implying to him to not stop before he closed his own eyes. "I'm staying with you as long as I can, too," and he felt so odd saying it, even a little embarrassed, but it was the truth. He wanted to stay with Derek, though he didn't know why, but he didn't question his attachment to the doctor. The doctor made him feel too good about it to question. Besides, Sync had already gone through that phase. He knew he trusted the doctor more than anyone.

Derek left his hand there, ruffling his bangs a little more and couldn't stop smiling no matter how hard he tried to pretend he was a professional. Sync didn't deserve the professional act anyways. Not anymore. Derek eventually pulled his hand away and set it down beside him, "Hey, Sync... do you remember your parents any?" He was a little nervous about it, and looked so, but knowing the way Sync and his brothers, besides Ion, was treated, Derek felt like he was walking on thin ice. The mood might break soon... But Derek couldn't help but ask now.

Sync looked at Derek curiously, thinking that was a question out of left field. "My parents?" he had to think about it, not really giving much thought to them his whole life. He looked down a little as he tried to remember, "I never knew my dad and my mom died shortly after Ion was born from birth complications. I was told my dad died before I was born..." Sync wanted to remember how his dad had died, but for some reason, it just didn't come to him. One more memory that needed to be recovered... "We were pretty much raised by the people in charge of the church." Sync looked back up to Derek, hoping that was the kind of answer he was looking for. It was the honest one, at least. "Why?" he asked, as usual, when something seemed random.

Suddenly, Derek felt a lot better off than Sync was in terms of the family department, and it hurt Derek to think that Sync never had that sort of attention, "Did the people of the church take up time with you all? ... I'm only curious because my own father came to my mind a moment ago. I wanted to know how your growing up was with family. ... I hope it's not to out-of-line to ask."

Sync tipped his head a little, "Your father came to mind...?" he wasn't quite sure he understood that, not really knowing what a father was supposed to do anyways, "It's not out-of-line to ask..." he looked to the side a little, "Only Ion really got a lot of attention by the adults... they didn't do much with me and my brothers," then he looked down at his lap. "I... mostly spent my time alone..."

"You didn't even spend much time with your other brothers then?" Derek had no name to put to them, except one other, so he left them in generalized terms without implying Ion, too. "That sounds lonely. I'm sorry you had to go through that..." Do not leave it on that note, Derek. "But you're not alone now."

Sync's eyes started to water a little, "I... my brothers played with each other, but I kept choosing to sit out..." then he looked over to Derek, "I know I'm not alone now..." he wiped at one of his eyes with his good hand. "I know..."

"And you know, Karol is going to be with us again soon. I think Angie is warming up to you, too," Derek smiled and, tired of standing up, went back to sit at the end of the bed. "You're not doing so bad, and it'll get better from here."

"Not doing so bad...? At what?" Sync looked over to Derek like a lost puppy.

Derek softened, "At meeting people who care about you."

Sync looked back down at the floor again, a little red. There were more people who care!? The idea was so strange...