Chapter 52: Six Hours

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Six Hours

Telling Milo and Finn about the move turned out to be considerably easier than Ren had braced for, Finn accepting the news with the same easy, uncomplicated resilience he’d brought to nearly every major upheaval since Ren had first found him in that alley, more curious about whether the new place would have a garden than concerned about the underlying danger prompting the sudden relocation.

Milo, predictably, asked sharper questions, wanting to understand exactly what kind of threat they were actually running from this time, and Ren answered as honestly as he could manage without unnecessarily terrifying either boy, framing it as careful precaution rather than active, immediate danger.

By the time the transport was ready, barely fourteen hours after the security officer’s initial warning, Ren found himself standing on the hotel’s private landing platform with Milo’s hand gripped tightly in his own, Finn already dozing against Alouis’s shoulder despite the late hour, the sleek Imperial vessel Yegard had secured gleaming darkly under the platform’s overhead lighting.

"This is considerably nicer than the transport that originally brought us here," Ren observed, taking in the vessel’s reinforced hull plating, the small contingent of security personnel already moving briskly through pre-flight checks.

"Imperial military transport tends toward function over luxury," Yegard said, appearing at his side with the same focused, efficient energy he’d carried since the crisis first began unfolding. "But it’s considerably faster and better defended than anything civilian registries would offer. We’ll reach the facility well before any hostile faction could realistically intercept us, provided we depart on schedule."

They boarded within minutes, the interior considerably more utilitarian than Ren had expected given Reven’s obvious wealth and status, though someone, likely at Yegard’s specific direction, had clearly made an effort to prepare a more comfortable section toward the rear of the vessel, softer seating arranged around a small viewport, blankets and pillows already waiting for the two exhausted children now being settled in for what promised to be a long journey.

Ren tucked Finn in properly once the boy had fully drifted off, brushing a stray lock of hair back from his small, peaceful face, and felt a fresh wave of protective determination settle into his chest despite the underlying anxiety of everything currently unfolding around them. Milo, stubbornly fighting his own exhaustion, sat upright beside his sleeping brother, watching the adults with the same careful, watchful attention he brought to every significant moment.

"You should try to sleep too," Ren said, settling beside him.

"I will," Milo said, though he made no immediate move to actually do so. "I just wanted to ask something first."

"Go ahead."

"Is this going to keep happening," Milo asked, voice quiet, careful. "Moving, running, people trying to hurt you or Reven or find you for whatever reason. Is this just what our life is now?"

Ren considered the question seriously, understanding well enough that the boy deserved an honest answer rather than empty reassurance. "I don’t know," he admitted. "I genuinely don’t know how long this particular danger lasts, or what comes after it resolves. But I can tell you this. Whatever happens, whatever we have to move through or away from, I’m not letting you or Finn face any of it without proper protection and support. That much I can promise you completely."

Milo studied him for a long moment, something considering and older than his years passing behind his careful gaze. "Okay," he said finally, something settling in his young posture, not quite ease, but something adjacent to trust. "I believe you."

The transport lifted off smoothly a short while later, and Ren watched through the viewport as Halcyon Station’s glittering skyline shrank rapidly behind them, the massive ring overhead catching the last light of evening in brilliant, familiar patterns before the vessel banked and the entire planet began falling away into the vast darkness of open space.

’So much for staying settled,’ he thought again, the same weary refrain from earlier in the day resurfacing with fresh, tired clarity. ’At least this time we’re running toward something instead of just away from everything.’

He found Reven roughly an hour into the journey, standing alone near the vessel’s forward viewport, the earlier exhaustion still evident in his posture despite the focused competence he’d maintained throughout the entire evacuation process. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

"How are you holding up," Ren asked, settling beside him.

"Adequately," Reven said, something wry entering his tired voice. "I’ve spent considerable energy today pretending competent, controlled leadership while privately wondering whether announcing my identity was the single worst decision I’ve made in years."

"It wasn’t," Ren said firmly. "You did it to protect me, to give me actual options instead of just running indefinitely. Whatever complications it’s created, that reasoning doesn’t stop being valid just because the consequences turned out to be more immediate than either of us expected."

Something eased slightly in Reven’s expression at that, genuine gratitude flickering behind the exhaustion. "Thank you," he said quietly. "For saying that. I needed to hear it, more than I probably should admit."

They stood together in comfortable silence for a while, watching the stars streak past the viewport, and Ren found himself, despite everything currently uncertain and dangerous about their situation, feeling something close to peace in the simple, quiet companionship of the moment.

"Can I ask you something," Ren said eventually.

"Anything."

"When this settles, whatever ’settling’ even looks like at this point, what happens to us? To this, whatever we’re actually building between the three of us?" Ren asked, the question arriving with more vulnerability than he’d initially intended to show.

Reven was quiet for a moment, considering the question with obvious care. "I don’t have a perfect answer," he admitted finally. "I know what I want, personally. I know Yegard wants something similar, even if he’s considerably worse at articulating it than I am. But I also know you spent weeks running specifically to avoid being claimed by either of us, and I don’t intend to repeat that particular mistake by assuming I already know what you actually want in return."

"That’s fair," Ren said, something warm settling into his chest at the careful, deliberate respect underlying the answer. "I don’t fully know yet either, honestly. There’s a lot happening at once, the danger, the children, your new public role, my father’s ongoing threats. I don’t think I can properly sort out my own feelings about either of you until some of that settles first."

"Then we wait," Reven said simply. "However long that takes. I’ve already demonstrated I can be patient, when the situation actually calls for it."

Ren felt a genuine smile tug at his mouth despite everything, the familiar warmth of their dynamic resurfacing even amid the current crisis. "You have gotten slightly better at that," he admitted. "Slightly."

"High praise," Reven said, echoing, unknowingly, the exact phrase Milo had once used with Ren himself, and something about the small, unconscious mirroring made Ren’s chest ache with fresh, complicated affection.

The journey continued through the night, the transport’s steady hum providing a strange, unexpected comfort as the hours passed, and Ren eventually found himself dozing lightly near the children, Yegard taking up a quiet, watchful position nearby, Alouis and Reven alternating between rest and careful monitoring of the security channels for any sign of the threat the officer had warned them about.

No attack came during the journey itself, the transport’s superior speed and defenses apparently sufficient to outrun whatever factions had begun mobilizing in response to Reven’s announcement, and by the time the facility finally came into view through the forward viewport, a sprawling, heavily fortified complex built into the side of a remote mountain range on an otherwise unremarkable, sparsely populated world, Ren felt exhaustion and cautious relief both settling in equal measure.

"We made it," Milo said, blinking sleepily awake as the transport began its descent, Finn stirring beside him with a small, confused sound.

"We made it," Ren confirmed, watching the facility’s defensive perimeter come into sharper focus, reinforced walls and visible security installations a far cry from Halcyon Station’s elegant, unguarded luxury. "New home, for now, at least."

"It’s not as pretty," Finn observed, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he took in the stark, utilitarian architecture.

"No," Ren agreed, something almost fond entering his voice despite the exhaustion. "But it’s safe. That matters more right now."

The transport touched down smoothly, and Ren gathered both boys close as the vessel’s ramp began lowering, the facility’s interior lighting spilling out to greet them, a small contingent of personnel already waiting to receive them properly.

Whatever challenges waited inside, whatever new complications this latest relocation would inevitably bring, Ren felt, watching Yegard and Reven both move ahead to coordinate the group’s entry with the same fierce, protective determination they’d shown since the very moment they’d found him again, a stubborn, cautious hope settling into place regardless.

’One crisis at a time,’ he thought, following them down the ramp with Milo and Finn close at his sides. ’We survived this one. We’ll figure out whatever comes next, together, the way we’re apparently determined to keep doing from here on out.’