Chapter Four

                                    

                                          
Day 1
                          
Iskall, Stress, and Mumbo cheered and clapped as Grian soared through the air. He did flips, somersaults, loops, everything he could think of. 
The early morning sun cast the forest in a shimmering curtain, making the gold of Grian's wings and hair sparkle. 
Sweat on his brow, Grian beat his wings hard, pushing himself high up off the ground. When he couldn't get himself up any further, he sank into a dive, plummeting towards the ground at top speed. 
Stress squealed and dug her fingernails into Iskall's arm
"He's gonna crash!"
At the last second, Grian pulled out of the dive. He was so close to hitting the ground, his stomach skimmed the grass. 
Mumbo let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Stress jumped up and down, clapping her hands, while Iskall put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. 
Grian flapped his wings one more time to bring himself to a standing position and landed in front of them. 
"Thank you, thank you"
He blew kisses and bowed at each of them, his chest heaving. 
"That was amazing!" Mumbo cried. 
"You were ok" Iskall said rolling his eyes in mock degradation. 
Grian shoved him playfully and beckoned to Stress who cheerfully followed him, leaving Mumbo and Iskall to shake their heads in amusement. 
"What... is this man?" Iskall chuckled. 
"Still trying to figure that out" Mumbo said softly, watching as the avian flew over Stress, grabbing her hands.
Grian pulled her off the ground by the wrists and slowly flew her around the clearing. Stress screamed in delight as her feet kicked in the open air. 
Behind them, a window on the upper level of the bunker opened. 
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS!?" Doc bellowed. 
"It was Mumbo!" Iskall Stress and Grian yelled back in unison. 
"Wha- HEY!"Mumbo cried. 
Iskall roared with laughter, quickly joined by Stress and Grian, who had fallen into a heap on the ground. 
Even Doc cracked a smile. 
_________________________
"What's the plan today?" Stress asked Xisuma, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Well it's our first full day, so everyone is going to start their jobs" X said looking around at the lighthearted group eating their breakfast. Stress noticed how much calmer and happier he seemed, and she let her smile spread even wider across her face.
"For us" X continued, "that means setting up the med station downstairs and giving everyone a quick exam to make sure they're all good"
"Cool! Is there any history that we should be aware of?"
Xisuma pulled some papers out of a box sitting next to him, and scanned them quickly. 
Stress stood on her toes to read the charts over his shoulder. 
"Well Doc's prosthetics are certainly pretty obvious" he said looking at the man with the metal arm. "But based on his chart he has had them for a long time with no issue, so it's doubtful there will be a problem"
"Even so, can you take Doc?" Stress asked. "I don't really have much experience with red stone prosthetics" 
"Ok"
They divided up the charts, and Stress left happily with charts for Grian, False, and Mumbo. 
________________________
The two healers spent several hours filling up and decorating the -3rd floor of the bunker (the third floor underground) and turning it into a mini hospital. 
"Did you bring any antiseptic?" Stress asked digging through a shulker box. 
Xisuma tossed her a double bottle of clear liquid. 
"That's it?"
"I know" he said, dumping an armful of bandages into a chest. "I already sent out a request for more, but it will take a few days to arrive"
"Well, we should be ok for the first couple of days" she said stripping the latex gloves off of her hands, letting her skin breath. 
"You done? I'm ready to get started"
"Just about"
He closed the chest and pushed it back under a table. 
"Can you go up and get Iskall for me?"
"Yep!"
Stress hummed her way up the stairs, and out the door where the two soldiers were sparring in the clearing outside. 
"Iskall! False!" She yelled, waving.
False made a T sign with her hands and  the two holstered their weapons. They jogged over to Stress, shoving and nagging each other the whole way. 
"What's up Stress?" Iskall asked, flashing her a toothy grin from under his helmet. 
"Xisuma and I are giving everyone examinations today so we can update your charts" she explained waving them inside. "False you're with me"
They made their way down the stairs and into the clean white mini hospital the two healers had spent the morning putting together. X took Iskall to a private room and Stress did the same with False. 
"I'm pretty relieved to have another girl on the team" False admitted once the door had closed, taking her protective goggles off of her head and sitting on the examination table. 
"Me too!!" Stress said, giddiness radiating through her voice. 
False smiled. It had been a long time since she had felt comfortable acting like a girl. There were very few female soldiers, and it had been a tough environment to grow up in. Stress was different though. She was joyful, bouncy,  kind, and emotional. It was incredibly refreshing. 
Stress pulled on a fresh set of gloves, and took False's pulse and blood pressure. She listened to her heart and concluded that False was in peak physical condition, aside from the battle scars that littered her body. 
"You've got some great biceps" Stress commented as False pulled her jacket back on. 
False flexed her arms proudly. 
"You better believe it"
She got up to leave. 
"Hey Stress?"
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we can... hang out some time? Like have some... girl time?"
"Like a slumber party?!" Stress exclaimed, her eyes shining. 
False raked a hand through her bright blonde hair. 
"That's not really what I... I've never really had a slumber party so-"
"Then you are lucky you met me!" Stress said. "We can paint our nails, and do our hair, and give each other makeovers-" 
"Um"
"I'm so excited!" Stress squealed. She rushed over to False with her arms outstretched. 
"Oh I'm not really a hug-"
She was cut off as Stress threw her arms around False's neck, continuing to babble about slumber party activities. 
False rolled her eyes and grinned.
I guess there are worse things than a slumber party. 
She patted Stress on the back quickly and pulled away. 
"Send Mumbo down for me!" Stress sang after her. 
_________________________
"What's that"
"It's an observer"
"Mmm hmmmm. What's that?"
"A piston!"
"Oh right right I knew that. What about that?"
"It's a hopper"
"Ok... what's-"
"Grian!" Doc growled, turning to look at the avian. He did his best to give Grian the malice filled glare he was known for. 
It didn't work. 
Grian simply grinned and put his hands up, giggling to himself before turning, and taking off. 
Mumbo chuckled. 
"You've lost your touch, mate"
"How dare you!" Doc gasped in mock anger. "Gotta say though, the little monster is a lot tougher than he looks"
"Mumbo you're up!" False called twirling an arrow between her fingers as she emerged from the bunker. 
"Alright"
Mumbo stood up from where he had been working, brushing his hands on his black pants. 
A mirror in the hallway caught his eye and he stopped to look at himself. 
He grimaced at the grey stains the gun powder had left on his face and white button up.
Oh well. 
Mumbo had grown up rather high class, and he was horribly aware of it. 
Most people didn't dress like him or become so nervous when asked questions. He admired the way his friends could just say what they felt, not giving a moments thought to how it would effect their image. 
It wasn't that Mumbo was self centered. He had just been raised to always try and present himself as put together and successful, not that he ever actually felt that way. 
He sighed, making one last attempt to brush red stone dust from his hair before descending down the staircase. 
An elevator would go nicely here, he thought, running his hand along the banister. 
The soles of Mumbo's shoes clicked loudly on the quartz tiles as he walked towards the medical wing. He let his finger tips drag against the wall. 
Maybe a storage system running along here...
He let his thoughts wonder, turning in circles as he walked to take in the whole view of the underground passage. 
People often thought Mumbo was spacing out, but he wasn't. It was just that most of his dialogue went on inside his head. 
Whenever he looked at an empty space, the gears in his mind would start turning. Images of complex machines and contraptions would fill the space and everything else would cease to exist. That world was so much easier to live in.
THUD
Mumbo stumbled backwards and fell, his head spinning. He blinked rapidly, lights popping in front of his eyes, as the thick glass door in front of him slid open. 
"Mumbo! Are you ok?" Stress cried kneeling next to him. 
She raised a hand to his forehead and could feel a bump rising rapidly. 
"W-Who makes..." Mumbo stuttered. 
"What?"
"Who makes a door out of glass?"
Stress laughed, and helped him to his feet. She carefully led Mumbo to the examination room and had him sit on the table. 
"Perhaps we should replace that door" Stress muttered to herself as she washed her hands and put new gloves on. 
"Now let's see"
She steadied Mumbo's face gently and held up a small light to examine his eyes as well as the growing bump on his head. 
"Well you don't have a concussion" she said. "And you aren't bleeding"
"I-it's not that bad" Mumbo said, pulling away from her. He felt embarrassed, and the more she fussed over him, the hotter his face became. Who just walks into a door?
Stress cocked her head in confusion at his reaction. She brushed it off however and proceeded to strap the sphygmomanometer around his arm to take his blood pressure. 
She charted the numbers and moved to take his wrist for his pulse. 
"My goodness!" She exclaimed. "Does your heart always beat so fast?"
Mumbo didn't know how to respond. He tried to slow his breathing and bring down his heart rate, but that just made his nerves go through the roof. 
Stress gave him a worried look. 
"Do I make you uncomfortable? You can switch to Xisuma if you want. I promise I won't be upset"
"No!" Mumbo said loudly making her jump. He scolded himself inwardly. 
"No" he repeated calmly. "It's not you. I just get a little nervous around new people"
She gave him a kind smile. 
"Ok. Well, you seem fine. If your head gets worse let me know, but I think it's just a nasty bruise"
He nodded and gave her a quick smile before leaving through the heavy glass door, which now had a large smudge where he had hit it. 
"Hey Mumbo!"
Grian popped out from around the corner, feathered wings at full mass. 
"Gah! Grian!" Mumbo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 
"Hey I'm sorry" Grian laughed, nudging Mumbo's arm. "I didn't mean to scare you"
Despite his racing heart, Mumbo couldn't help but grin. The avian's smile was just too contagious. 
"It's fine" he said. "I think Stress wants to see you?"
"Yeah I know" he said, walking past Mumbo and towards the entrance to the medical wing. 
"And don't worry!" Grian turned to Mumbo and winked. "I see the door"
Mumbo stared after Grian as he felt his face heat up. 
_____________________
"Oh good!" Stress exclaimed as Grian walked through the door. "I forgot to tell Mumbo to get you"
"Yeah don't worry" Grian said, hopping up on the table. "Doc told me and Ren that we were next"
He reached behind himself and began to tug at the end of his sweater. 
Grian had spent more time in examination rooms then out of them, and he knew that his oversized sweater basically swallowed his entire torso, making a healers job very difficult. A long time ago he had sewed buttons going from the base of his wings to the bottom of the sweater, making it much easier to take off. Pulling his massive wings through fabric just took too long. 
"Very clever!" Stress complimented. She helped him unbutton and pull the sweater up and around where his wings met his back so he was left in a red t-shirt. 
She sucked in air through her mouth. 
"Is something wrong?" He asked
"No of course not"
Grian was far skinnier than she had thought. His collar bone stuck out awkwardly from his chest, and his arms looked as though they could be snapped in half. It was amazing that he could hold up the weight of his wings. 
Stress put on a calm face and picked up his chart. 
"Where were you being held before you came here?"
Grian sat back on his hands.
"I mean, they never tell me the name of the place when they move me" he said thoughtfully. "But I think I was there for a couple months. It's hard to tell sometimes"
"What did they feed you?"
"Oh I was on a 5/2 diet" 
She furrowed her brow. 
"You were only fed five days a week?"
"Yeah! It wasn't bad" he said giving her an encouraging smile. "Some compounds just have more provisions than others"
Stress did her best to smile back. 
"I just need to get something real quick ok?"
She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her quickly. 
She walked over to the adjacent room and rapped her knuckles on the white iron. After a minute X opened the door. 
"Hi Stress"
"Hey Stressy!" Ren called from the examination table behind him. 
"Mind if I steal him for a second Ren?" She asked. 
"Not a problem"
Stress jerked her head at X, and he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. 
"What's wrong?"
She sighed. 
"Grian is incredibly malnourished. I'm shocked he can hold himself up let alone fly around the way he does!"
"Ok ok calm down" X said putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just take this step by step. Where was he before he was here?"
"He doesn't know" Stress said shaking her head. "Apparently they don't tell him or even feed him everyday!"
"Unfortunately that isn't so abnormal for the hybrids" X said with a concerned expression. "Grian may be an extreme case, but we've done enough autopsies to know that some of them just don't get the same amount of food as everyone else"
"But that's not fair!"
"I know. But the least we can do is help him now"
Stress took a deep breath. 
"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry"
"Don't be, you're just worried" he said giving her a quick hug. "Now let's go talk to him, and we can come up with a plan together"
Stress nodded. 
"Thanks X"
"Anything for you"

                          
To be clear, I am not shipping Stress and Xisuma. It's more like a brother sister relationship. 
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed chapter four! If you did, leave a like, and leave a comment if you have any feedback!
Chapter five will be up soon