I wake up, sun streaming down upon my face. Holding my arm up, I shield my eyes and grunt, blinking away the dots in my vision before hearing a loud squeal. I barely have time to react, before a young, German Shepard sized Dragon lands on me. "Rider, you're awake! I was wondering when you would get up." A gentle, sweet voice purrs to me, and I softly chuckle, moving and scratching behind her ear gently.

"Sorry, Saber, I had a long night..."

"You always do, Tyler. But, hey, at least we have today, right?~" She chirps, and I smile warmly towards her with a gentle nod. Had all of those horrible events been a dream? Oh, sweet lords of aifri'endael, it was a Dream?!

"Yeah... Yeah, at least we have today." I whisper, holding the young Dragoness close and hugging her tightly. "At least we have today..."

After a few moments, Saber gently noses my jaw and smiles softly. "Are you going to be coming with me to meet up with Drako? He wanted to see you." She asks, and I slightly shrug my shoulders. "Aw, come on, Tyler~! You promised!" She whines, and a soft laugh bubbles from my lips.

"Fine, Fine, I'll go with you to see Drako." I remark, and she grins widely, before looking down softly and sniffing. "Hun, what is it... You were so happy a moment ago..."

"Tyler... You... You need to wake up now..." She says quietly, and I go to speak. She looks away, and my surroundings fade to black.

---

I jolt awake in the back of a truck, hands cuffed. Blinking rapidly, I look around and find no guards keeping me company, and a door with no door handle. A window covered in small bars shows that it was daytime, likely the early morning. I was on a paved road, obvious by the whirr of the studded tires as they rolled across the pavement. There were just two benches on either side of the truck where I am sitting, with some seatbelts, and the scent of Clorox and bleach hung heavily in the air. Gently tugging at my cuffs, I find that my legs are free. No harnesses or otherwise. And, I'm wearing civilian clothing. A black t-shirt, jacket, and blue jeans.

Gently sitting up straighter, I listen for a long moment, and I hear faint voices talking, what sounds like my guards up in the cab. They appeared to be talking about some President, I couldn't make it out. Then again, wasn't there something going on about a bunch of pointless investigations? Or was I thinking of the wrong position of democratic power? Rubbing my eyes, I curl into the corner and push my ear to the wall, listening as hard as I can.

"What about the kid in the back, Daryl? He loses his Dragon because of that monster Gordon killing his own, and he lost it. Why are we doing this, man? He should be kept on and counseled about his loss, not sent to his freaking execution."

I blink and sit up straighter, listening harder, and I hear a grumbled response, before feeling the truck slow a bit. A moment later, I hear a crackling voice as a light turns on. A camera recording light. "Good morning, kid... Feeling alright?"

I watch the camera quietly, then I find my voice. "Yeah... I could be better, but dependant on the situation at hand, I'm pretty dandy right now..."

"Good... Don't need anything to eat? Don't need to stop to use the bathroom?" The voice asks, and I shrug. "Well, the next service plaza is in forty miles, kid, I gotta know now."

"Ah, it'd probably be best..." I remark with a grumble, and the Truck turns onto an off-ramp. Slowing to a stop a moment later, the Driver speaks again, and I hear the passenger door open.

"Thames is going to take your cuffs off... Don't try anything, and we won't have to tase you." He says, as the door opens and Thames, a grey haired guy that reminds me way too much of Agent Gibbs from NCIS, comes into the back of the truck, pulling out a keychain. I calmly hold up my wrists, and he unlocks the cuffs cautiously. Taking them off, I gently rub my wrists and sit up a bit.

"Don't try anything, kid..." He restates, and I nod a bit. "Good, come on, lets get you some food and stuff... It's gonna be a long drive to the Station for you to go home-"

"I know that you're going to send me to my death... The Wolves, right? Whoever they are?" I ask, and Thames pauses, then nods a bit.

"It's not our idea, kid... You don't deserve this. It's a damned shame, this all could have been prevented if they'd just dealt with Gordon..." Thames says, before looking around. "At least no one is around right now but the Staffing Crew. Means we can get in, and out, without real issues."

Without Real Issues. Why did this not sit with me well? I glance to Thames, then jog to catch up with him as he speed-strolls towards the front doors, the other male, Daryl, continuing to do what he had been before, which I assumed was filling the truck and texting, hearing a bing as we left him behind. "Well, now Gordon has been dealt with, hasn't he?..." I mumble, and Thames looks over at me with a cocked eyebrow.

"That's some demented way of thinking... No wonder you're alone in our transport, your grief stricken..." He remarks, and I huff softly, hot steam jetting out of my nose as I push forward towards the Rest Stops Commersary. "Kid, hold on... Hey, hold up, I didn't mean anything by that!"

I glance back at him, then look at my feet as I shove my hands into the pockets of my clothing. "Rule Six..."

"Rule Six?"

"Never Apologize when it's not your fault. It's a sign of weakness." I stop and look at Thames for a moment. "It's not your fault that Saber is dead... It's not your fault Drako is dead... It's not your fault that you're here babysitting a Death-Row inmate... What is your fault... Is apologizing for something you had no part in," Thames blinks as I turn slightly, gesturing with my hand for a moment before shoving it back into my pocket. "now... you can apologize."

Thames was still for a long moment, and I honestly thought he had frozen in place from the cold. Finally, he steps forward and follows me, hands in his pockets. "What am I supposed to do? Say that you deserved what has become of you? Because you damn well don't deserve this... As far as I know, you went after some files, but obviously failed, and took out two kids and a Mind Dragon."

I pause in my tracks, looking back at Thames. "Mind Dragon?... What Mind Dragon?" I ask, and he shrugs slightly, looking at me curiously.

"The one you shot, execution status... Shot between the eyes... weakest spot in her armor... She was Riderless, kid, abandoned when she hatched..." He explains, and my heart drops a thousand feet. I hadn't killed Saber, she truly was dead. Not only that... I killed an innocent Dragoness, even if she was making me think she was Saber. I murdered a Dragon... "Tyler?... Hey, kid, you don't look so good..."

"I... think I'm gonna be sick..." I grunt, and Thames nods, quickly opening the front door to the travel center and helping me to the bathroom. The windows giving just enough light, as the power softly flickered and stuttered along. Letting me be alone in the bathroom, the sour feeling I felt growing in my throat and mouth articulates into leaving me bent over a toilet, losing what meager contents I had left in me and leaving me rasping for breath. Outside, I hear soft humming, something that sounded like Sweet Home Alabama, a little off-tune, but alright none the less.

Looking around in the bathroom, I take a breath hoarsely and rub my throat as I move shakily to the sink. Good news, the water runs. The bad news, it's flipping cold! I yank my hands back and bite back a yelp, shaking them feverishly and looking at the water as it slowly stops. Moving back over, I grab some paper towels, wipe the basin, then wipe my face clean of the bile left behind, before looking in the mirror.

My eyes... They're still golden they have a bit more green, but they're gold still. I smile a little and touch my reflection, sniffing a bit before pausing as I look past my reflection. The window over the stall had a crank open toggleswitch on it. One that was still connected. I look to the door, before looking to the window. I had no supplies, I was highly trained, and I wasn't sure what I would do if Thames figured out I escaped.

Looking down the long wall of bathroom stalls, I pause as I hear a toilet flush. Had... someone been in here this whole time? I turn as the door opens, and a male steps out of the stall, wearing something out of a Winter Episode of Doctor Who. Fedora, heavy overcoat, heavy snowpants, and boots. I can't see his eyes as he walks over to the sink beside me, but I feel his eyes boring clear into... and maybe even through me. He stops beside me, then looks at the door, washing his hands.

I watch him carefully out of the corner of my eyes as I wash my own hands from hugging a toilet; and my heart starts to race when he tucks one hand into his pocket, the other sliding across the counter and holding down the water faucet to get the water to come out more, drowning out the humming. Stepping back faintly, I nearly call to Thames when he pulls out what he had in his pocket.

An IPhone, and a rather nice one at that. He moves it to his lips, and I blink as he realizes something. He was telling me to be quiet! I close my mouth and nod a little, causing the man to smile, before moving and murmuring in my ear. "The name's Gregory. I was hoping that they'd stop here with you." He says quietly, and a small frown graces my lips.

"You're expecting this?..."

"Yeah, kid. Expecting it since we got wind of you. Nice work with getting out... I just wish things had gone differently leading up to it." Gregory comments gently, his gruff voice gentle. "Now, we gotta talk, very quickly, about what is about to happen. You're going to be ambushed on the road. Tire's going to go flat." He states, and I blink.

"You're gonna break me out?... Why?..." I ask, and he hands me the phone.

"Let's just say she's giving a whole new meaning to 'Sly as a Fox'." He says with a smirk, and my eyes widen. Fox, my own girlfriend, was planning this?! She wanted to bust me out? But why?! She was in California, working with S-11 on a new base down there, wasn't she? "You got a look that tells me you know who I'm talking about, good. Makes it easier. Wait five minutes, and when those five minutes are up... Call her."

"Why?... Fox will get is so much trouble if..." I start, and Greg holds his hand up.

"Kiddo, like she would be in trouble? Just call her. Now, get going, I sense your friend out there is about to bust a braincell." Greg chuckles, before turning and walking towards the service door. He pauses, then looks back. "And Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

Gregory smiles a bit. "You're gonna be alright kid... We'll figure things out, and I'm sure that everything will pull through just fine. See you soon~" He says, before turning back to the door and walking to it. And he doesn't stop, vanishing into the door. My eyes widen in shock and I blink.

"Gregory?... Greg?..." Did I just meet a ghost? I could have sworn I just met a Ghost. And, I had a feeling I was about to meet a whole lot more. But, it keeps bugging me, as I pocket the phone and go back out with Thames: Why was Fox saving me, a Traitor, from the Wolves? Did she realize it would mark her as a Traitor as well? Or had something happened? Was it all a trick by some shady group to hold me hostage? It felt like it was possible, but at the same time, I longed to say one more goodbye to the girl I love. Mind made, I get in the back of the Transport without a word spoken, watching as the door closes. When the light comes on that the camera was on, I move and tap on it. "Could you guys not watch me? I can't sleep while I'm being watched..."

And the light turns off, the camera closing. I blink, before smiling a little. They trusted me. Now... just to wait five minutes. And man, these are going to be the longest Five Minutes of my life. Without hesitation, I glance at the phone and check the time. And I count down the seconds, eyes closed.

11:55 PM

11:56 PM

Feeling a faint jolt in the truck, I frown and faintly open my eyes, grumbling coming from the other side of the wall. Thames complaining about the Road quality.

11:57 PM

The truck seems to start slowing a bit, more grumbling about something with the Roadway. Thames comments about wishing that they could just let me go, that I didn't deserve this.

11:58 PM

It got very quiet, before the other male comments about agreeing. And it sounds like they start to slow the truck, before Thames comments about a vibration. And the feeling of pulling off to the side of the road.

11:59 PM

The doors open and close, the sound of boots crunching on snow as Thames checks the tires, then I hear him call the other for a Jack and to get the spare off of the rear grate while he jacks the truck up. I look at the phone  again, and take a deep breath, pulling up the Dial Pad on the phone. Typing in Fox's number.

12:00 AM

DIALING...

----------------------------------------------------

Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait on this. Looks like things are reaching a close, and I've decided to make just one more chapter... Will Tyler escape? What will come of Thames and the other's thoughts on his situation. And what is going on with Fox?!

Find out in the final chapter~!
See you then,
The Writing Warrior