No Fear

Chapter Thirty-Four (Part One)

Once Tom breaths as much as he can in, Edd says, "Good, now let the bubble grow smaller as you breath out calmly through your mouth," Tom nods as the tears have already stopped flowing without him realizing, Tom then steadily breaths out through his mouth as the bubble grows smaller and his hands move closer together again, Tom is now much more calm. "How do you feel Tom?

Tom looks at Edd and gives a sad smile as he says, "I feel much better Edd..."

"Good, now lift the bubble and let it fly away until you need to use it again," Edd says and Tom holds out the bubble and lets go, letting the bubble fly out the window and into the blue sky.

Tom softly smiles as he looks to Edd as he whispers, "Thank you.." to which Edd gives a tired smile back. "You're the best Edd..."

"I know," Edd says jokingly as he lightly laughs, Samantha then walks over with the prepared needle.

Samantha takes a seat next to Edd and says, "You'll only feel a slight pinch, just relax Sir." Edd nods and Samantha slowly ejects the needle into his arm, which Tom looks away since he doesn't like needles whatsoever. "There ya go..." the needle is then empty and she pulls the needle out of Edd's arm. "Alright all done, now your fevers should be much less painful and you should cough up less blood." Samantha stands up.

"Thank you Samantha," Edd says to her as he slowly becomes much more awake and pain free. "You've saved me for a while longer."

"I'm just doing my job Sir," Samantha says with a small smile. "The Rebellion can't survive without you, so we're going to do our best to find a cure.. but in the meantime, we just need you to relax and not strain yourself."

"Thank you again Samantha, dismissed," Edd says and Samantha bows before walking away to treat other patients with the new semi cure.

"Tom," Edd says, so Tom looks at him. Edd holds Tom's hands, only because he knows Tom will remember to not touch his eyes or mouth until he washes them.

"Y-yes Edd?" Tom says with fear bubbling inside him, even though he's trying his best to remain calm.

"While I'm being treated, I need you to take my place," Edd says and Tom's eyes widen as small tears gather together under his visor. "I need you to be the lead leader of the Rebellion and I need you to do whatever it takes to keep our comrades and the people of the world safe," Tom clenches Edd's hands without realizing as his body tenses up to the point he can't even breath.

"I know your relationship with Red Avenger is strong," Edd continues and Tom's heart stops beating from pure heartache when Edd says this, "but it's time for you two to stop messing around and treat each other like what you two really are.." the tears finally slide down Tom's cheeks as he looks at Edd with a calmly upset expression. "Which what you two are, are enemies," Edd gives Tom a serious look as Matt looks at Tom with a empathetic frown, he knows just as much as Tom that this is how life works and it can't be twisted anymore than Tom has already done so. "Do you understand me?"

Tom's face goes dark as he lowers his head in submission and replies, "Yes Edd, I understand completely and I guess it's quite obvious that this is the time to forget my love for him and accept what I have this position to do," Tom looks up at Edd with a determined look as the tears stop rolling. "I won't let you down."

Matt looks at Tom with a petrified look, Tom has the face of pride.. and Matt knows that when that pride comes out from it's hiding place.. it means that Tom's ready to do everything in his power to follow his morals and protect the ones that he cares for and the ones who need protecting, even if it means killing his lover in cold blood.. again...

"I know you won't Tom, you've always made me proud... even when you did things that someone in your position should never do," Edd says and Tom nods. "I love you Tom, you're my best friend.. and even when I pass on, you'll always be my best friend..."

"You won't pass on Edd, I'll make sure of that," Tom replies as Matt feels uneasiness in his gut, he's so terribly worried.

"Even so, I want you to be careful and protect the Rebellion at all costs," Edd says and Tom keeps that in his mind like a piece of gum attached to the bottom of his shoe, Edd then turns to Matt and smiles at him before going to place a hand on his, but then pulling his hand back because he knows Matt will most likely forget to not touch his face. "And Matt."

"Yes Edd?" Matt says with full attention on Edd and whatever he says.

"From now on, I want you to look in the mirror everyday and tell yourself that you're beautiful," Edd says to Matt with a soft smile and Matt looks at him with a unsure look. "I want you to do it every morning and never miss a day. I need you to stay strong and I know you're happiest when you know you look good, which if you tell yourself that everyday then you're going to believe it."

"But Edd I-"

"No buts Matt," Edd cuts Matt off and continues to smile. "I know you can do it."

Matt simply nods then looks to Tom, Tom has a dark look on his face as tears slowly stream down his cheeks and on to his lap. Matt knows all that responsibility is going to break him, he knows Tom'll probably work to the point of suffocation to not let Edd down...

"Okay Edd, I'll do my best," Matt responds as looks back to Edd.

"Thank you two.." Edd says to the two boys as he slowly closes his eyes. "Now I need to rest, you both should too.." and just like that, Edd is fast asleep.

There's a long silence before Matt asks Tom, "What are we going to do Tom?"

"Like we're supposed to do Matt..." Tom says then looks up at Matt with a dark face, he's now trapped in a focused state of mind. "Which is to follow our leader's orders."

Matt gulps with nervousness and looks away, saying in his head, "Tom has gone to the beast inside.. There's no pulling him out of it now..."