Game Over

"Prophet!" Deviant snarled, grabbing Andy's jaw and forcing him to meet his fiery gaze.

Andy's eyes, sad and dull, meet Ashley's, his facial expression showing nothing aside from regret. "What." He whispered.

"For fucks sake..." Ashley hissed. "Listen when I'm talking to you. You disobeyed a direct order and I don't- Next time I won't hesitate to kick you out to let you find your own way out of the game. Got it? So let's hope there isn't a next time."

Andy, despite hearing the threat clearly, nodded slowly, looking at Eve again. "Okay..." He mumbled, skulking over to where Eve laid motionlessly, sitting on a stool. He took her hand in his, staring at her with watery eyes.
"Prophet, you really shouldn't-"
"Is she gonna live?" He whispered, his voice cracking. Mystic sighed and knelt beside him.

"I don't know, kid... But I'm gonna try my damn best to make sure she does. Okay? But there's nothing you can do here, so why don't you go get some air. Try to relax."

Mystic pulled him up gently and sent him out of the tent, turning to the still fuming Deviant. "Y'know, he may have disobeyed, but you can't blame him."

Deviant's eyes snapped to Mystic, eyes burning holes into his head. "I can't blame him?! He disobeyed an order, Mystic, I know what-"

"Any of us would do the same for you, and I'd hope you'd do the same. Don't treat him like a kid just because he is one. He's smart. He seems to know what he's doing." Mystic responded calmly, sitting on the stool that Andy occupied earlier and putting a fresh damp cloth on Eve's forehead. Deviant stared at him, running over the words in his mind, contemplating them carefully. It was true... With a sigh of defeat, he exited the tent, but not before Mystic piped up again.
"And Deviant?" He looked over his shoulder. "What ever happened to the 'relationships are a distraction!' attitude?"

Deviant pursed his lips. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said and left. Of course, he obviously knew what Mystic was on about. That damn kiss from before. He didn't think anyone was watching... Damn.

He paused and looked over at Prophet, who sat by the burnt-out fire, poking the cooling embers with a stick. He watched as the boy's fragile body shook, but he wasn't sure why. They were in the desert, and just because it cooled off at night didn't make it much colder- not enough to shiver. Not ready to confront him just yet, he circled around a bit to get a view of his face. The delicate features were defined beautifully in the glow of the moon, his eyes practically the color of a clear midday sky mixed with the deep blue of an ocean, and specks of silver laced in. It took Deviant's breath away to stare at such beauty, then seeing that the reason Andy's eyes were so shiny, for lack of a better term, was because of the tears that coated them, trailing down his cheeks. Was he sad? Why was he sad?

Deviant coughed, clearing his throat as he took hesitant approach. "Uh- everything okay?"
Andy looked away. "No." He whispered as the other sat beside him slowly.
"Care to tell me what's going on?" Deviant said awkwardly. "I mean- if you want to. You don't have to. Although, it'd be nice to-"
"It's fine." Andy cut him off, smiling sadly. "Honestly... Everything."
Deviant frowned. "If this is about me dragging you in here-"
"It's more than that." He sighed. "I was the last one to talk to Eve... Before she.. got hurt." He bit his lip.
"And?" Deviant furrowed his brow.
"She made me promise not tell you she was going..." A whimper escaped his lips. "I'm sorry. I should have told you. If I had told you, then she'd still be okay and you wouldn't be mad at me."

Unsure of what to say in response, Deviant put his arms around Andy's frail body, closing his eyes. "It's okay, kid. Don't worry." He managed to say, rubbing his back. "You just need to sleep... She's gonna be okay."
"Do you promise?" He hiccuped. Deviant nodded and pulled back a little to look him in the eyes.

"I promise." He breathed. "Now will you go to the tent and sleep?"
Andy nodded and stood. "Oh- shouldn't we get the fire going for the person on watch tonight?"

Deviant shook his head, standing as well. "F.E.A.R. never strikes twice in a day. They like to space attacks out. Everyone just needs a good nights sleep for once." He dusted some sand off his legs and led him to the tents. "Anything else before I go to bed?" He asked before going into his tent. Andy stopped and looked at him, blushing a little.

"Uh. Yeah." He walked over and lightly kissed his cheek. "Goodnight..." He whispered and went in his tent, leaving Deviant standing there in shock. He touched his cheek and smiled faintly, going inside his own tent.

The morning arrived just like any other. The sun peeking over the horizon and making its way into the desert sky, the camp quiet just as it always was. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the large group gathered around the medical tent. Mystic stood beside Deviant, head down in shame as Deviant delivered the news of what had happened while they all rested. Everyone was there- except Andy. Deviant didn't want him to know if they could find her before he found out. Andy would most definitely try to find her by himself if he knew, and Deviant didn't want to risk that happening. It wouldn't matter if any of them got killed- they just regenerated.

Andy couldn't do that.

The group dispersed, breaking off into smaller groups to begin the searching.

Andy emerged from his tent, yawning as he took a moment to stretch before going over to Deviant.

"Hey, what did I miss?"

"Nothing." Deviant said dismissively, walking away. Andy cocked a brow and decided to see how Eve was doing, walking past the oblivious Mystic, Mourner and Destroyer, as they were buys discussing plans for something, and ducked inside.

Deviant was brought back to the then at the sound of the loud shriek, rushing inside. "Prophet?! What are you-"
"Where is she!? Where's Eve!?" He shouted.
Deviant cringed. "Prophet, she- she got taken sometime last night."
Andy's heart stopped. "You told me they never strike twice..." He said quietly. "You lied to me."
"I didn't think they'd come back, Prophet- what are you doing?" Deviant frowned, watching Andy take a weapon from the pile and then a map that was still being drawn up.
"To get her back." He said, body shaking with anger and panic. Andy didn't give him a chance to respond before leaving, sprinting out into the nothingness of the desert in hopes he would find her before anything else happened to her.

"I'm coming Eve." He said to himself.

"Prophet!" Deviant shouted from the camp, but Andy ignored him.
"Hey- calm down." Mourner frowned. "He'll just regenerate if he dies. Besides, he seems like he has a high defense."
Deviant shook his head quickly. "No. No he won't- he doesn't. Mourner, he's going to die and he won't come back."
"What? Why?" Mourner frowned. "Is it a game bug? I'm sure if-"
"No, Andy isn't an actual character!" He snapped, turning to face the others. "Andy- Prophet, he's- he's from the real world."

Mystic stared at him and then looked to the rest.
"We need to find him before he gets himself killed."