(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 101

Chapter 101: When the gate talks back Chapter 101: When the gate talks back The next day came quickly, and passed just as quickly.

Between all the concerns involving the new Field Guide program, how many students could actually attend the first round, and all the moving parts that needed to be sorted out, the two Field Guides forgot about food and the time.

If it wasn’t for Maeve, they would have skipped lunch.

She knocked on the door, surprising the two focused Guides with a grin on her face.  “Time’s up.

It’s lunch time, you two.

Get out of here and go eat.

If I didn’t knock, you two wouldn’t have stopped working.” Chuckling, Kellen closed the laptop and grabbed his jacket that he’d shrugged off at some point.

Brent stood up from the couch and stretched.  “You’re right, Dr.

Lyons.

We’re both workaholics.” Brent told her with a grin.

She shook her head in exasperation.  “I didn’t realise that this was a trait shared among Guides.

I’ll have to add it to the observation journal.” She muttered.

Kellen was pretty sure that she thought that they couldn’t hear her, and Kellen laughed again.

“Hey now, I wouldn’t say that about all Guides.

Brent and I are pretty extreme in our work ethic, but there are also Guides out there that are extremely lazy.

Guides are just like other people.

We’re just a little on the strange side.” Kellen told her, and she stared at him.

Eventually, she nodded.  “You aren’t freaked out that we have an observation journal?” She asked and Brent shrugged, while Kellen finished buttoning up his jacket.  “Hell no.

You are a bunch of scientists, and this little nerd over here isn’t any different.

He keeps track of so many things when we’re on the front lines.

It’s hard for me to manage all the data that he comes back with from the gates.” Brent puffed out his chest.

“I’m the one who usually makes the reports since Kellen isn’t gifted in that way.” He was so proud of that, and Maeve couldn’t contain her laughter.  “I guess I didn’t fully realise you were as nerdy as we were, Guide Jameson.

I think I was thrown off by the scar down your face.

It made me think you were just a pretty playboy.” Brent gasped, and Maeve went white.

It was clear she was worried that her words had hurt Brent, but Kellen rolled his eyes.  “Oh Dr.

Lyons!

That’s so nice of you to say!

Thank you for appreciating that I am a playboy, but I am so much more than that.

Awe, now I’m embarrassed.” Brent covered his face with his hand, acting perfectly and Maeve snorted.  “Well, I don’t like to come to conclusions on others right away without research.” She stared at them for a moment longer, before sighing.

“Either way, I’m heading out for lunch as well.

Make sure to take care of yourself, since I won’t be coming back to the office after.

I have a few meetings with the other research teams.” She waved and disappeared from the doorway.

Brent dropped his hand, a faint smile still on his lips.

It was clear to Kellen that he was only playing around with Maeve, so he was glad that Maeve was being a good sport about it.

She wasn’t being cruel about it, but also wasn’t letting Brent’s shit fly.

Good for her.  Kellen and Brent ate like they were on a mission, speaking only briefly to each other as they ate before heading back down to the office.

With the plan to start their sessions tomorrow, the two of them were focused on making sure everything was perfect.

They were so busy that Kellen didn’t pick up the Captain, and instead it was reversed.

The Captain had to come pick up Kellen, and finally, he put everything down and promised to meet Brent up within the gym after they finished.  The session went well, with Taylor being mostly there today, while the Captain’s hands lingered a little longer as the two finished up.

He didn’t ask about Kellen’s dinner plans this time, and as the two rode the elevator up, they ran into Brent.

The three separated as the Captain got off at the conference level, ruffling Kellen’s hair before leaving the Field Guides alone.  The two headed up to the gym, and while they did follow Kellen’s normal, aggressive workout, then did also run some of the stretches and suggestions they were going to propose to the Guides.

They did get some input from the Espers in the gym, and found that they were going in the right direction.  They went on longer then Kellen expected, so the two of them got showers in the gym before heading down to the cafeteria for dinner.

Brent and Kellen ate like men who hadn’t had food in years, with Kellen’s portion almost doubling Brent’s, which was three plates.

The two of them kept chatting about their plans, both now getting nervous that tomorrow was the day.  It felt like to Kellen that he’d gotten nothing done today, but as time went on, and he began to lay out everything with Brent, he was beginning to feel more confident.

They finished up, and finally, they stopped chatting about tomorrow and went back to their apartments to relax.  That was when the ball dropped.  ~ The next morning, Kellen was woken up with his phone going off and rapid knocking sounding at his front door.

Rushing to shove his feet into his slippers, topless, he rushed to the door, grabbing his phone on the way.

Checking his phone, he saw it was his Mother.

Worried, he wanted to answer it first, but he was already on his way to the front door.

She could wait a few minutes.  Throwing open the door, he came face to face with the Captain.

He was only partially dressed, without his Captain’s jacket, his dress pants on with his belt half done, and his dress shirt tucked into his pants.

His shoes were regular shoes, not the ones he normally wore, and his hair was damp, and a mess.

He had a panicked look on his face, and he opened his mouth, but froze when he caught sight of Kellen.  Kellen wasn’t sure why, and glanced over himself briefly.

He hadn’t gone to bed naked last night, and instead had worn his boxers.

They were covering enough, but that was it.

He was in his boxers and slippers, with his cell phone in his hand.

His hair was probably all over the place since he hadn’t had a shower yet.

Glancing down at his phone, he realised it was only an hour before he normally got up to go to the gym.  “Captain?

What’s wrong?

Mom’s also calling me.” Kellen’s gravelly morning voice seemed to shake the older man out of his panic.  “Ah, sorry.

I just wasn’t expecting a nice view on such an awful morning.” Kellen blinked, before his cheeks heated.  “Stop joking around.

What happened?” He asked, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe.

His phone stopped vibrating, only to start up again.

The Captain sighed.  “The gate reacted.” The Captain told him, and Kellen froze.  “How so?” Kellen asked, and the Captain’s face was grim.  “It spat out some parts of the original scouting team.” Some parts.

Oh no.  Kellen stood straight, a serious look on his face.

He now understood why his mother was calling him.  “You need me downstairs?” He asked, and the Captain nodded.

Kellen sighed, running his hand over his face.

“Alright, I’ll be down in the conference room as soon as possible.

I’ll call Brent, or leave him a message before heading down.

Fuck.” Kellen exclaimed, and the Captain shook his head.  “We all knew something was going to happen, but it’s the worst case scenario.

We hoped someone would make it out alive.” Kellen made a face.  “For no one to survive, it’s just…” The Captain reached out, placing his hand on Kellen’s shoulder.

Kellen met his hard, serious yellow gaze.  “I’m sorry Kellen.

You must have been close to them.” Kellen frowned, but didn’t shrug off the Captain’s comfort.

He wasn’t wrong.

Kellen had known most of the team personally.

It was never easy when something like this happened.

Even if everyone knew the risks, it was never easy when this happened.  “Thank you Captain.

I’ll be okay for now.

I’ll see you soon.” The Captain looked over Kellen, as if making sure that he was telling the truth before he nodded.

He leaned in, pressing his lips against Kellen’s forehead.  “Alright.

If you say so.

I’ll see you downstairs.

Come over to me as soon as you arrive.” Kellen nodded, his phone stopped vibrating again, before starting up once more.

The Captain left, and Kellen turned and answered his phone.  “Hello Mom.”  “Have you heard already?” She asked right away and Kellen nodded.  “Yes.

The Captain just told me.

He didn’t tell me details though.” He could hear his Mom sighing on the other side.  “Good.

I’m on my way over to the Guild since I feel I’ll be more helpful there.

I heard Captain Sergei had just made it to the front lines before the gate spat out the scouting team.” His Mom said as he moved back up the stairs to his bedroom.  “Shit.

Well, at least one Captain is there right now.” Kellen muttered, heading for his closet.

He put his Mom on speaker as he continued getting dressed.

“Yes.

Bye honey!

See you soon!” She called before turning back to her son.

“Your Dad and I are arriving separately.

He has a meeting he needs to attend, so you’ll see him later.

Fuck.

This is such an awful situation.

The Ramses Guild reached out to me as soon as they heard.

They have someone monitoring the news on this gate as well.

Out of worry, I hope.” Kellen heard the sound of a car door closing as he pulled on his pants, before pulling on his shirt.  “That’s fine Mom.

Dad’s just going to fuss over everyone once he gets here anyway, so it’s probably better if he arrives later anyways.

Have any other Guild’s reached out to you since hearing the news?

It’s pretty quick, but I know some have their ears out for any anomalies involving the gates.” Kellen was quickly getting dressed, while he heard his Mom sigh.  “Quite a few have reached out, but I prioritized the Ramses Guild over the others.

Are you doing okay?

I know you knew most of them.” His Mom asked and Kellen sighed.  “The Captain asked the same thing.” He said, keeping the silence for a moment as he got dressed.  Was he doing okay?

He wasn’t sure.

It hadn’t fully hit him yet that they were gone.

The fact that no one was specifying what came out of the gate told him that identifying them could be quite hard.

Sometimes that happens.

Kellen let out a shaky breath, his heart squeezing in his chest.

There was some part of him that knew something bad was going to happen to them.

They’d gone in unprepared for the nightmare that awaited them.

They basically stood no chance.  That didn’t make any of this easier though.

No one deserved what probably happened to them.  Kellen moved to the bathroom, taking his phone with him.

His Mom didn’t break the silence as she no doubt heard him brush his teeth and wash his face.

After Kellen stood staring at himself in the mirror for a few minutes, he finally responded.  “I knew something bad was going to happen the moment I realised that they went in without hazard suits.

I just hoped that at least someone made it out safe.

That not a single one of them did…Fuck.

We’ve lost a lot of good people today.” Kellen told her, refusing to let his voice shake.

His Mom stayed silent for a few more seconds, before she spoke.  “It never gets easier, but I’m here if you need anything.

Do you want me to grab you some tea from your favourite place?” She asked and Kellen chuckled.  “It’s 4 am.

They aren’t going to be open.” It was his Mom’s turn to laugh.  “That wasn’t a no.

I’ll grab you some.

Talk to you soon honey.” She hung up, leaving Kellen alone to message Brent after calling him.

The man was a heavy sleeper, and wasn’t likely to wake up to a phone call.