(BL) Hunting The Field Guide-Chapter 457: On the call with the Captain

Rhys thought it was going to be a normal day. Well, as normal as things could be when a horde of monsters were heading for the front lines on the ’orders’ of the E.A.G. but there was only so much you could do as a Captain.

Rhys’ job right now was to remain strong in the city. A beacon for the people of the city to look towards while things crumbled around them. It was his job to keep everything upright, afloat. A statue that everyone could rely on, including the other Captain’s.

Even with Sakura in the city, she was busy. She barely showed up to meetings, and was always late. She looked like she wasn’t getting enough sleep, and even Sergei looked rough. Rhys was probably the only S Class in the city who was at max power pretty much all the time.

Thanks to Kellen. His sweet, sweet Guide. Ugh, it almost made him sick how happy he was right now. How good their relationship was right now.

Rhys felt his chest swell with emotion as he thought about how good he had it right now. He felt like his heart was too big for his chest. Despite that, he obviously had been using his powers to try and see if there was anything he could see about the upcoming event. He was able to tell that there was a chance a few of the more rare, and dangerous monsters could arrive, so they had evacuated those areas of the front lines preemptively to make sure that there weren’t any casualties.

Sergei and Hill were tense, and had called for a last minute meeting. Since the Saturn Guild camp was where everyone was predicting that the monsters were going to burst into the front lines from, that was the area that had been evacuated the most. No one was in the camp, nor was anything important left behind. They had divided their people amongst the other ’safe’ locations, with those who truly needed the protection going underground for even more protection.

That was where Green was, along with anyone who was injured. Rhys had gotten a little bit of a debrief about where everyone was, but his knowing was a little less important compared to some of the other people knowing. The new recruits that were on the front lines were spread around, as were Kellen’s Field Guides. They had the option of being tucked away like the other Guides, but they had insisted on being nearby all Espers so that they could be of help.

Sometimes they said things and it felt like Kellen was speaking to him. Rhys really liked it. He liked that who Kellen was as a person was being passed on in such a way that it could live on forever. Everyone would gain little traits of the man that he loved so much, forever, and it would be ingrained into their training model.

Rhys loved that.

So, even though it was a terrible situation, Rhys was feeling a little upbeat about the whole thing. Everyone was stressed but Rhys had an easier time putting on a strong front because of all of the little details adding up. Brent was also on the front lines, which gave him a little bit more of security. Rhys didn’t even need to ask to know that Brent had taken on a large chunk of the battle on his shoulders.

The man and Kellen were two peas in a pod. One just smiled more. If the Woods had one more child, it probably would have been someone like Brent, or like Charlie. There was no doubt in Rhys’ mind that the couple had just adopted two ’kids’ to fill the void.

Rhys was really glad that Pamela had stepped up in the time that Hill was away from the city, and Gunther was gone. She looked a little rough around the edges, but her work was impeccable. She made a few mistakes, since this wasn’t her normal work, but the team felt confident with her around, and she was another soothing presence in the room.

Rhys knew half of that was because of her powers, which she wasn’t able to control the use of like Rhys, but the other half was how hard she worked to make sure that the tasks she was given were completed to her standards, and Rhys’. Rhys needed to make sure to pull her aside soon and let her know how grateful he was for her stepping up and filling shoes he’d never expected her to fill.

Rhys’ mind went to Kellen.

It wasn’t a good day for him. He had a funeral that he needed to attend virtually for his Aunt Dina and her former partner. It was the whole reason that his Dad had been haunting the Guild for the last little bit. Rhys felt terrible for Kellen’s Dad. The man was normally so upbeat, calm, and someone you would never doubt that you could rely on. He was taking the news of this passing quite hard.

The Esper part of Rhys, the side that had seen many, many deaths and had to numb himself to them so that he could survive, was a little unsympathetic to his plight. To the pain and loneliness that Kellen’s Dad had to be feeling.

The other side, the side that Kellen had pulled out brick by brick, felt a deep ache in his chest for the man and Kellen’s family as a whole. He had done a check in with Gwen quietly, without the others knowing. She was fine, a little sad, but she knew that her Aunt Dina would understand why she couldn’t attend and that just like her family, she was there for her.

She had also called her Aunt Dina and done a check in, offering her help as well. Her Aunt Dina had laughed at her, and told her she was just like the rest of the Woods. Gwen had been glowing slightly when she said that. She clearly thought of that as a very big compliment.

Rhys had a feeling that probably meant two different things depending on who you spoke to. Someone like Tom probably viewed that as a rather negative comment, while someone like Hill probably thought the same as Gwen.

Rhys turned his gaze towards the wall, as if he was willing himself to be able to suddenly see through walls. He wanted to go and check on Kellen, see how they were doing, but he couldn’t. He was supposed to have one more meeting before the monsters truly hit with Sergei and Lieutenant Fisher to make sure that everything was as good as it could get. Rhys was supposed to be scanning for any other faults that could happen, but he couldn’t find them.

Nothing else was popping up for him.

Well, there was a flicker, but Rhys couldn’t see any more details about it. It was a common thing that happened, and was quite annoying. It usually happened when someone he was attached to was involved. Kellen’s whole life was mostly like this to Rhys. And he checked.

Constantly. Rhys was always checking to see if he could see any of Kellen’s future. Anything to help him out. It was a shitty thing to do, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. He just wanted to make sure that he didn’t see a future where Kellen was with anyone else.

He knew that Kellen loved him, the man showed it in subtle, quiet ways, but he was just...anxious. He hoped that once they were together for a solid amount of time, like 1 or 2 years, that he’d be better about this and wouldn’t check as much. It was his own insecurity, so he hadn’t brought it up to Kellen at any point so far.

Well, maybe some of it. He had a feeling Kellen understood to some degree that he knew Rhys was nervous about their relationship. Sometimes he felt like Kellen was staring right into his soul, able to see to the deepest parts of him. Other times...Kellen just grazed across the surface of Rhys.

Rhys chuckled, thinking about his man and how he wanted to wrap the man up in his arms, give him a big hug and a deep kiss. He wanted to be able to comfort the Guide. He couldn’t believe that his Mom wasn’t with them while they were attending the funeral. Even if it was a request from Kellen’s Aunt, it was still crazy that she wasn’t able to be back yet.

Rhys almost wanted to know what she had asked, but also wanted no idea. The less he knew, the less he would be able to answer if she got caught, but who the hell would be able to catch a veteran like her? An A Class Esper who was able to turn invisible? There was a reason she made it so obvious that she had ’settled down’. Otherwise, Rhys was pretty sure she would have stayed a spy until they ran her into the ground.

It just worked in her favour that they needed models for imprinting, and that Kellen’s Dad was a really good example of the kind of Guide that not just their city our country wanted, but the world wanted.

Rhys tried to focus as he glanced at the clock. It was time for the call.

Rhys got into position as the call was fired up, standing with his arms at his side as the screens lit up and the other members of the group popped up. Sergei looked rough, his pale skin even paler and big circles under his eyes, but he looked alive outside of that. A burning desire in him to keep everything together, protect what he valued. Lieutenant Fisher looked exhausted in a different way.

Rhys didn’t envy the man. There were so many damn politics in the D.E.C. He was probably up to his eyebrows in shit and ass kissing now that Tom was ’gone’. It was one of the reasons that Rhys had left, the other reason being that they didn’t view him as a person, ever. That didn’t just apply to him, that applied to most Espers of his generation.

Tools. Objects. That’s what the D.E.C. had viewed Espers as, and Guides? Worse.

Rhys hadn’t really put the pieces together that it trickled down from the top until recently, mainly because he did his best not to think about the D.E.C. as much as he could, but now that Lieutenant Fisher was at the top, he was sure it was going to change. That was something to look forward to.

Sergei was speaking about security and how he had buffed up certain areas with his men when everything went to shit.

Rhys watched in horror as it looked like an explosion set off dust filling the area before screams followed and then the dust was suddenly sucked back along with the tent that Sergei was under.

Sergei began acting in seconds, but Rhys had a feeling it was already too late, especially when he saw who was on the other side of the tent outside. Rhys’ heart froze in his chest.

"Sound the alarm! Get everyone moving! Something terrible has happened on the front lines!’ Rhys felt himself shout it even as his blood ran cold.

Fuck. Fuck!

He watched in horror as the big, purple gate nearby sucked people in. His people. Their people.

Gwen.

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