The Remembered: Dear Nick

The Piston Peak Inferno (As a lot of the news channels were calling it) was a little hard for the firefighters to recover from. There weren’t too many injuries to speak of physically… mentally however…well, they were just glad it was winter right now.

Maru had his hands full being sure everyone was able to get some decent rest. Good news for him, he wasn’t alone. He was still getting used to what they were, but he was thankful for the help Sayaka and Kyoko could provide with their magic.

“Still crazy what you girls can do.” Maru mused as Kyoko used her soul gem to heal up injuries Sayaka had gotten from a Wraith.

“Yep, but that’s our life.” Sayaka said, sighing in relief as Kyoko finished.

Maru nodded. “Though seriously… thanks again for what you girls did… You saved us a lot of grief… We really thought we were going to lose our chief… and from what the others told me… I was worried we were going to lose firefighters.”

“Well we couldn’t just sit back and do nothing… That would just be cruel…” Sayaka said giving a small shrug. “It was the right thing to do… And you guys have been really good to us, even with one of us being an apple thief-”

“HEY!”

“And… Well it’s wrong to leave your friends behind when things get down to the wire.”

Maru chuckled. “Something the team lives by.”

“Hey Maru.”

All looked to see Patch coming over with some records.

“Just thought maybe music would help, wanted to see if these would be good.”

Maru scanned the stack real quick before giving a thumbs up.

“It should help, just need to calm everyone’s nerves.”

Patch nodded before heading back to her tower, getting the records set up.

Maru sighed, looking to all the hangars on the base.

“Not even the last big fire before this one shook anyone up this bad…”

“The last big one was when Dusty was a trainee right?” Kyoko asked looking around herself. “Hailey told me some of what she knew about it… That you guys were worried but bounced back to the usual chaos after it settled… But… I can see why anyone would be freaked out… You guys were under siege by Wraiths… Not just fire but something causing it to cause you guys harm…”

“Yeah poor Pinecone has not been sleeping well, keeps seeing those things… Thank goodness Drip covers that for me.” Maru smirked a little. “Then again, being a shoulder for Pinecone to lean on is nothing new to him.”

Sayaka giggled a bit. “Those two so are perfect for each other…”

“Yeah should’ve seen the way he tried taking on the Wraith… He was willing to take them down himself if it meant she lived… He’s a good guy… A goofball but a good guy.” Kyoko agreed.

“Yeah, now for Drip to get more guts to make a move… but anyways… Remind me, you said there is someone else here but I just can’t know about them right?”

“Yeah, we can’t even say what they are cause it could screw them over seriously.”

“Noted… well I’m thankful to whoever they are…”

“They know… They’re always watching… Not in a creepy way either.” Sayaka said the last part quickly giving a bit of a sheepish look. “But yeah… Just glad it turned out okay in the end… How’s Blade healing up?”

“He’s okay but he is really sleep deprived. Miranda keeps saying he’s been having nightmares that… he has a hard time explaining… I get the feeling they came up was because of those Wraiths… I don’t know what happened out there, but whatever they did… it really has him shook up.”

Sayaka frowned, she knew what really happened thanks to Nick but she wasn’t going to say it… It wasn’t her story to tell. The poor man…

“Poor guy… No one deserves to go through that… Whatever it was… It was also why he was so banged up… You can’t blame him…”

“Yeah… Plus… Okay, don’t tell anyone I told you this, especially Blade…” Maru headed over to the wall, showing the picture of Nick that was hidden. “But not too long ago was the anniversary that Blade lost his friend Nick Loopin’ Lopez… the fact this event and that were so close… I worry that PTSD of his got enhanced ten fold.”

The girls both flinched as they looked to one another before looking at the picture. If it was that simple we’d just use some magic but.. It’s not like helping someone remember things, or healing up a psychical wound… Mental injuries are out of our hands… “Man… He really hasn’t had an easy life…” Kyoko murmured rubbing the back of her neck.

“The poor man… And from what I’ve heard Miranda is Nick’s sister too… Poor gal…. Lost her brother and almost lost her love… That’s so sad…” Sayaka whispered.

Maru nodded, covering the picture again. “I don’t know how to fix it… but if there was, I would do all in my power to help Blade get better… but this is something he’ll probably have to figure out on his own… But that does remind me. One of the records Patch picked was one we would play when the day came.”

“Well… Maybe that’d help him some. Something familiar.”

“I really hope so… Well… we got work to do… Ready?”

Both girls nodded. “Ready.”

Maru lead them off to chores… up on the top of the workshop Nick had been listening. He sighed. Things were slowly getting better, but he hated how things were.

Better go check on the big guy…

Nick hopped off the roof, heading over to the cliffside. Sure enough, he found Blade there, just staring out into the distance.

Miranda’s probably with Hailey right now… Nick thought as he approached Blade, making himself visible before sitting beside him.

“Hey.”

Blade looked to him. “Hey yourself… How are things?” The chief would admit it was still a bit jarring to see Nick regularly now… But it was a relief over the years of not knowing he was there and feeling guilty at times.

“They could be better… What about YOU though?”

Blade glanced away sighing. “Want the truth or want the crap I’ve been giving Maru that everyone knows is crap?”

“Don’t think I haven’t caught glimpses of things… The truth.”

“I keep… I keep seeing that THING that you fought… It looked like you… Sounded like you… But it wasn’t you… What it said though… That’s what keeps coming back…” Blade’s voice cracked a bit. “Nick… I know it was an accident but… I still feel like an idiot for not knowing any way of how to help someone… I played a cop on TV but did I know the first thing about even first aid? No! I… I was an idiot!”

Nick brought an arm around him, squeezing his shoulder. “Blade, I was a goner that day… Nothing would’ve helped… Trust me… I know myself…” Nick glanced to the ground. “The thing about us Remembereds… we know every last detail of the day we died, including what killed us… Blade… you promised Miranda you would never blame yourself, I saw you make the oath and I’m telling you. It. Wasn’t. Your. FAULT.”

Blade relaxed letting out a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry that I was blaming myself for a time there… Thanks Nick… For always having my back…” He brought an arm around him giving him a grateful look. “And… I’m glad I have you back… Even if it’s different now… You're still my best friend..”

Nick gave a smile. “And so are you Blade… That never changed.” He showed his gear to him. “It was because of you and Mir I decided to become a Remembered. I always did want to be a hero for real… but I never imagined that in trying to be one… I would be protecting the ones I love as my purpose.”

“I’d say you’ve been doing a great job… Kept all of us out of trouble… Especially us Rangers who seem to have an unconscious death wish.” Blade joked a bit nudging him. “And Miranda… Goodness Nick you really saved the day… I felt so useless when she was being held hostage, all I could do was pray she would make it out alright… So thanks for that… And I hope those punks are still feeling it even now.”

“Oh they probably are… The guy who I assumed was the leader… Yeah he got the worst of it. Got a face full of a helicopter tail and a lot of hits from my baton from multiple angles… Machina, I was MAD.”

Blade chuckled a bit. “You’re her big brother… So of COURSE you were hopping mad! That jerk had it coming to them! … Though I do wish I had seen the look on their faces. Seeing a living helicopter beat the crud out of a pathetic waste of space like that.”

“Oh there were jaw drops when they saw me.” Nick chuckled. “Then again Sayaka and Kyoko were pretty shocked too. One moment a man, next moment, a machine.”

“I saw the picture… And I saw it in person. It was amazing.”

“Yeah… really got a taste of what it was like to be what we’re descendants of… it was weird… yet… it felt natural too…”

Blade hummed in thought. “Guess it’s because we’re used to being part machine..”

“That’s probably it… comes in handy for combat, after all it’s how I scared that faker off.” Nick sneered a little. “Thought I saw the last of that Unsettled 31 years ago.”

“Well least it’s gotten rid of now.” Blade smirked a bit.

“Yeah the girls gave it a run for its money.” Nick looked to Blade. “Just hate what it did to you.”

Blade sighed squeezing his friend’s arm. “Can’t change the past… If we could I’m sure you’d have changed some of the outcomes of some antics over the years.. I’ll live okay?”

Nick nodded. “Okay… I just want to see you happy… it’s what I work for.”

“I just need some time… I promise…”

“Good.”

They heard music come on from the base.

Patch must be going through that stack now.

Right now it was only the intro for a song… but both Blade and Nick recognized it. Nick looked out to the woods, feeling nostalgia coming on as the words began, couldn’t help but mouth them as they came on.

“Dear John I knew you... About as well as anyone… We were the wild ones… So sure those days would never end… Now they're only memories my friend.”

“Dear John I’ll see you, someday again.”

Nick jumped a little, hearing Blade singing along. He looked to him, giving a small smile.

“I know this song probably as well as you do… Maru showed you it, right?”

“Yeah… when I told him what day you passed away… he thought it would be good to some how show respect for you… so he showed that song to me and every year he’d play it… Heh… even told me to replace the name John with yours… to remind me that someday… we would see each other again.”

Nick pulled him into a side hug again.

“It was a reminder for me too… Machina, I missed you a lot, partner.”

“I missed you too Nick…” Blade side hugged him. “Glad you’re back…”

Nick smiled. “Glad to be here… for real this time.”

More of the song carried on… then came a particular verse where they both joined in.

“There'll be a celebration… When all will be revealed… We'll have a reunion… High on a hill…”

Both laughed, looking around them.

“More like on a cliffside to be honest.” Nick chuckled. “But close enough… Important part is, we are together again, even if the circumstances are kind of odd.”

Blade smirked a bit. “On a cliffside in the middle of winter… Only us right?”

“Only us is right.”