Coming Home

Chapter 6: Dream Warriors

October 24th, 1994
42 Miles Outside Minot,
North Dakota

"How's that spidey sense?"

El rolled her eyes, trudging behind Steve as his flashlight roamed the pitch black confines of the narrow passage stretching out before them, "The same as it was the last six times you asked, Stevie."

"Sorry, okay?" The older man tried to sound genuine despite the very real anxiety that cramped underground confines tended to bring out in him. She only called him Stevie when he was really pushing his luck, "First time I did something like this I was barely conscious and trying to cover a half dozen kids with a baseball bat."

"Yes," She mumbled, staring pointedly at the back of his head. "YOU clearly had the hardest part of that night."

Catching sight of the generator station, Steve motioned to the soldiers behind him to check it out, "Ya know, I'm kinda surprised that punk look you were rocking never made a comeback."

El leaned against the wall of the tunnel, already feeling taxed after three levels in body armor designed for a man twice her size, "Mike did like it."

"Mike liked pretty much everything you did." Steve rolled his eyes, "Even that summer you decided Hopper was on to something with those hideous Hawaiian shirts."

She slapped his shoulder, only slightly regretting it when the Kevlar stung her fingers, "They were NOT hideous!"

"Whatever you say, kiddo." Catching a thumbs up from the men readying the generator, Steve pulled out the base layout and checked the area off with a red grease pencil, "Okay guys, this is as far as we can let them push."

"We lose this generator and it's game over, so set the charges in the hall leading down here and if they push past checkpoint Gamma... blow em."

Pulling the lever on the wall that brought the machine chugging to life, the Sergeant just nodded grimly. They'd all known this was a one way trip - the goal was just to buy El enough time to do her job, "We'll radio ahead before we blow the passage, but with how fast those things move..."

"Not gonna get much warning, gotcha." Steve flicked off his flashlight as the lamps scattered along the passage leading to their destination flickered on, motioning for El to fall in as they started marching towards the door, "Good luck, guys."

Already swinging her pack off and letting it drop to the floor, El tried to keep pace with the much taller man beside her, sounding irritated, "You're cluttered, Steve."

"Full." She tapped his temple as they approached the door, "I need you open or this won't work."

Cycling the hatch and pulling the steel door open with a screech, he glowered at her as she stepped through, "I still don't get why you need me at all. Why not just get into your own head? You're the one who can fix this shit, not me."

"Doesn't work like that." Unstrapping her body armor, El made her way over to the bank of computers along the far wall and started switching them on, "Not 'talking', remember? Can't send a message. CAN send a mind."

Waiting for the units to boot up she walked back over to Steve and snagged the facility map from his hands, lifting the clear plastic cover he'd been making his notations on up, she motioned to the now blank map.

"Your mind in the past." Then she pointed to the clear plastic sheet containing the red notes, "You're mind now."

She smoothed it back over top, the notes now overlaying the map underneath, "This is what I'm doing."

He quirked a brow, "And the chances of this turning my melon into the end of a Gallagher bit are..."

El's face scrunched up of it's own accord as she shrugged, unbuttoning her uniform jacket, "Minimal?"