It's been a long road

Daniel Marcus alias the counterterrorist Devotee regained consciousness.  He was sitting at a table with a number of plastic building blocks.  He realized that there was someone sitting opposite him. He looked up, and when he saw the man’s face, his jaw dropped and his eyes stared in shock.  The man sitting before him looked just like his deceased older brother.
“Glad you’re awake, Danny,” the apparition stated with his brother’s voice.
Daniel stammered, “Cl-Clay?!  Is… Is that… Is that really you?!”
“I’m afraid not.  I’m a hallucination meant to help you.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
“I have good news and bad news.  The bad news is you’ve been subjected to mind control.”
Daniel was surprised by this at first, but then he began to remember the messages of subjugation that had been driven into his psyche.  He unthinkingly began to recite, “I must obey.  My sole purpose is to obey.  My sole purpose is-”
He was brought back to the present by the illusionary Clay rapping on the table.  “If you’re compelled to obey, obey me.  I know it’s easier said than done, but I need you to try.”
“Yeah.  I gotcha.” He rubbed his head.
“The good news is you’re with friends now.  They’re working on freeing your mind.  You’re hallucinating me because of one of your teammates.”
“Renegade.”
“Exactly.  He’s making you imagine me here with you to keep you sedated and encourage you to break free from the control.”
“Does he know what we’re saying?”
“No, this is all in your head.  He’ll be able to tell that you’re fighting against the control, but unless you decide to speak out loud, he won’t have any idea what’s being said here.  You could be talking about killing all your teammates and no one would be the wiser.”
“My conversion disorder would likely make me collapse if I attempted to… if I attempted to hurt them.  Is that what happened?  Why was I unconscious?”
Clay gave a friendly smirk and shook his head the way one might do when gently chiding someone.  “I’m a hallucination you’re having, remember?  If you don’t know, how am I supposed to know?”
“Oh… yeah…”  He felt awkward, but then he pointed out, “If he had you explain what’s going on, he could have had you explain that.”
“True.  He’s something else, isn’t he?”
“He sure is!”
“In any case, you’re in control from this point.  I can’t stay here forever, but I’ll try to stay as long as I can.  Just keep fighting.”
“Of course!  I’m going to beat this thing.”
“Good!”
Daniel wanted to say something, but he found himself muted by emotions.  He ended up holding his head and trying to gather himself.  For a full minute there was only the sound of Clay starting to build something with the blocks.  Finally Daniel said, “I’ve thought before about all the things I’d tell you when I saw you again, and now that I’m seeing you again, it’s hard.  Even though it’s not the real you, it’s still hard.  It’s like that song, ‘Words Get in the Way’.” He sighed and then admitted, “I once told someone there were things I wanted to tell you and talk to you about when I saw you again, and they told me, ‘If you see him again, it means you’re dead, so you might have other things to talk about.’  I didn’t really like that comment.  For one thing, I… part of me hoped… you weren’t dead.  Part of me always hoped it was just some mistake… that it wasn’t really you who had died, and you were still alive somewhere.”
“I appreciate that, but do you know what that’s asking? That’s asking for another person to be both dead and misidentified.  Someone would be MIA and his family wouldn’t know he was dead.”
“I know it’s selfish.  I’ve also thought, ‘If he were alive, why hasn’t he come back?’  Even if you were doing some important secret work, you would have let us know you were alive and okay.  I worried what if you were in a hospital with no limbs, or in some foreign prison being abused.  In that case…”  He expelled a trembling sigh and rubbed his eyes.
“What if I were?”
“If you were in the hospital, I’d visit you.  If you were locked away, I’d rescue you. Whatever it took.”
“What are you, Chuck Norris?  Still, I appreciate the thought.”
“Thank you.”
Daniel took a long pause before telling Clay, “I’m sure you- both versions of you- know all too well that… Ma and Pa are dead. They’re… They’re dead because of me!”
The strong hero collapsed into pained sobs. Overwhelmed, he stopped sitting in the chair and knelt down on the floor.  He heard a chair being scooted back, and within seconds Clay was kneeling by him.  Without being conscious of it, Daniel had altered the illusion so he was once again eight and Clay was once again eighteen.  Clay held his little brother in a consoling hug while he wept. 
Afterward Clay asked, “Who told you it was because of you?  It wasn’t Paula [their sister], was it?”
“No.”
“Okay.  You told yourself that, didn’t you?”
He nodded.
“Let me ask you something.  If I was leading a patrol, and we ended up in an ambush that cost some of us our lives, would you say they died because of me?”
“That’s different.”
“Are you saying that because it really is different, or because you don’t think I’d be in the situation you’re in?  I’d probably feel the same way you do.  The thing is despite the despair & guilt, despite you regretting every decision that led to that moment, you have to remember that ultimately this was done by evil people.  You didn’t set this in motion.”
“I understand, though I still feel like I’m to blame.”
“I understand, but you aren’t.”
“Since you’re just my hallucination, how do I know you’re not just saying what I want to hear?”
“You know because you’re hallucinating how you’d know I’d act.”
“Oh… yeah, that makes sense.”
After Daniel’s tears stopped, the two brothers returned to their chairs.  Daniel rubbed his head.  “I… I feel kind of detached… I might be disassociating…”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I don’t know how that’ll affect the mind control.”
“Good question.  Luckily your friends are here to help you.”  He gestured to the blocks.  “Feel free to start building.”
“Sure!”
As the two brothers built with blocks, the room changed from looking like a generic room to looking like the living room of their family home.  A mantle appeared displaying various photos, a small treasure chest, and a small medals case. 
Clay noticed this and asked, “What are those?”
“They’re our Army medals.”
Clay went over and picked up the treasure chest, which bore his name.  He opened it to find it chock full of medals, ribbons, pins, citations, and other honors. He then inspected the medals case, which bore Daniel’s name.  He saw that the “medals” were actually paper cut-outs colored with crayon and marked with pen.  “Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“I want to see our real medals.”
Daniel gave a partly sad smile and nodded.  The treasure chest was replaced by a smaller yet still impressive case displaying various medals and other commendations, a triangular shadowbox displaying an American flag, and a thick folder containing other honors.  The medal box changed to one bearing actual pins, ribbons, and medals.
“Thank you.”
“They’re still at the old house.  Our folks were proud.”
“That’s good to hear.”  He cleared his throat due to his voice cracking.  He looked at his display.  After staring at his Purple Heart for several seconds, he looked at Daniel’s medal case.
“I know it’s not much, but I got them honestly.”
Clay joked, “You got a good conduct medal.  I’m shocked.”
Daniel chuckled.  “Why do people keep telling me that!?”
“I guess they know you.”
“That… That’s just for me not being a jerk.  I… didn’t do much in the Army.  I wasn’t there that long.  I didn’t get cashiered and drummed out like the beginning of Branded, but that’s not worth bragging about.”
“You decided that the army wasn’t for you?”
“I… yeah.”
“That’s fine.  As long as you served honorably, there’s nothing wrong with leaving when you’re able.  You can serve in other ways.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes.  “That’s what Ma & Pa told me too.”  He felt a weight lifted from him.
“You mentioned Branded.  Why was he drummed out again?”
“You remember.  He took the fall for someone else.  He let himself be punished and shamed to help somebody.”
“That’s right.  He was a good guy after all.”
Clay sat down to begin building again.  Daniel understood Clay’s reason for asking about the show: to make a point that someone could be a hero regardless of medals. Daniel finally admitted, “There is one thing I take pride in.  I mean, I don’t brag about it because it’s something that should be done, but I get sore if someone questions it.  I always supported my comrades, and I still do.  I don’t put others down to try to prop myself up or feel special.  You can ask anybody, and if they say otherwise, they’re lying!”
“I’m glad to hear it!”  He patted Daniel on the shoulder, and after he did, the two brothers returned to their adult states.  “You said you support your comrades.  Who are they?”
“I’m a member of a group called Basilisk, and a group called Forever Red, and I’m close to the Super League of Justice and other heroes, like Ultra Kate and Karate Kate.  You want to hear about them?”
“Definitely.  They sound like an interesting bunch.”
The two spent a lot of time building and conversing. They reminisced and talked about Daniel’s past & present as well as his hopes for the future.  Occasionally Daniel started to drift into his mind control state before snapping out of it, but this happened less and less as time passed.
After one lengthy conversation, Clay arose from his seat and stepped toward Daniel.  “I’m afraid I have to go.”
“Oh… I see.”
He arose, stepped over to Clay, and embraced him. Everything had felt like a dream, yet Clay’s body felt surprisingly solid.  Clay embraced him back, and his touch felt solid as well.
“It was great to talk with you!”
“You too!  Keep doing what you’re doing.”
“I will!  I… I know it’s selfish, but please… don’t leave me!”
“I’m sorry, Danny Boy… I’m so sorry!”
Devotee felt lightheaded and then he awoke to reality. He was standing and holding Renegade’s now unconscious body.  He realized what had happened.  “Renegade… you used every bit of your energy to let me talk with Clay… with a version of Clay… for as long as possible.  Thank you!”
He carried his unconscious rival & teammate to a nearby couch and set him down.  After wiping tears from his eyes, he looked around to see Hypnotized, Sacrifice, Powerhouse, Blazing Lion, and Snap.
“How are you feeling?” asked Powerhouse.
“I’m going to need a few minutes to get my bearings, but I’ll be fine.”
“We’re glad you’re back with us.”
“Yeah.  I appreciate you guys.”
By Raidra
Category:Stories
Category:Raidra