Gamma Galaxy Saga: Volume One (Ranger-Nova and Alexa only) (Completed)

Alexa wrote:Alfred hardly got the chance to roll his eyes at his father's responses before the doctor showed up. At the order, his eyes widened. For a split second, he glanced to the Commander, almost hoping the man would be able to do something about it. But, that was unlikely, so Alfred instead just shook his head. "No." That was all he said for a moment. Then, he decided to follow it up.

"No. No, no, no. Absolutely not. No."

Ranger-Nova wrote:
The doctor sighed. "We can't treat you if you don't remove you shirt. You have cuts and bruises underneath." When Alfred continued to refuse, the doctor turned to Nebula. "Commander, can you help out here?"

The last thing Nebula wanted to do was get involved in a dispute between his son and the doctor over the removal of Alfred's shirt, but he didn't seem to have a choice. "Alfred, listen to the doctor. That's an order," he barked gruffly, sounding harsher than he intended.

Alexa wrote:Alfred flinched at the harsh command and fiddled with his shirt for a moment... "NO!" He flopped onto his back, holding his shirt down to prevent anyone from taking it off him. "NonononoNO. You can't make me! You CAN'T make me! I can live without treatment, I'll be fine...!" So, he was a little childish... So what? This was one of his most important standards and he'd do his best to stick to it, for Chyst's sake!

Ranger-Nova wrote:
Alfred's childish reaction elicited an eye roll from Nebula. "Oh, for crying out loud! It's just your shirt!" His relief at seeing son again was rapidly turning into irritation. "Just take the blasted thing off!"

The doctor nodded encouragingly. "Yes, listen to the Commander. If we don't treat your injuries, they could develop an infection."

By now, the entire medical staff was watching the scene, amused by Alfred's protests. "Perhaps we should sedate him," one of the doctors whispered to another, though it was loud enough for Alfred to hear.

Alexa wrote:Alfred shot a glare at the doctor who had whispered that. "Go ahead and try!" he hissed at them. "...No, no, really," he answered, pouting. "You might as well, I'm NOT taking my shirt off willingly. I mean... Do you KNOW how... How indecent it is...? I don't care if you are doctors, it's... No."

Ranger-Nova wrote:
The doctors exchanged amused glances while Nebula merely sighed. For once in his life, couldn't he just do as he's told? "Alfred, do you realise how ridiculous you're being?" he yelled. "You'd rather risk an infection than take off your shirt! That's crazy!"

One of the doctors held up a syringe with a large needle that gleamed in the light. "We can sedate you now if that's what you'd prefer, but it would be much easier to do this with you conscious."

Alexa wrote:Alfred sat up again, first focusing on Nebula. "First off, don't be ridiculous. I just rather not take off my shirt in front of other people." He turned to the doctor with the syringe next. "Second, it would be easier without me running away, screaming, so you're very lucky I haven't been reduced to THAT yet." He snorted, turning away from them all. "I would prefer taking care of this on my own, getting something sweet, and getting a shower, but if I can't have what I want, why should you?"

Ranger-Nova wrote:
"Something sweet, you say?" One of the doctors opened a cabinet and took out some lollipops. "Something like these?" He waved them in front of Alfred. "If you cooperate, you can have all of them."

Nebula felt like putting his face in his palm. His son was so stubborn they were reduced to bribing him with sweets. Wonderful.

Alexa wrote:Alfred huffed up at the sight of the lollipops. "You think you can bribe me with sweets...?" After a moment he sighed and nodded. "How right you are. FINE. I'll remove my shirt... Just, for Chyst's sake, turn around while I take the darn thing off...?"

Ranger-Nova wrote:
The doctors complied, grinning triumphantly to each other at their success. Nebula, on the other hand, just folded his arms, wishing he hadn't come to the med bay at all. "I'm your father, Alfred. I have seen you shirtless before." For Pete's sake, why does he always make everything so difficult?

Ranger-Nova wrote:
As if things couldn't get any more awkward, Buzz entered along with Booster and Mira just as Alfred was taking off his shirt. "We were visiting XR in the science bay, and we just thought we'd drop by to see how Alfred was doing," Buzz explained cheerfully.

Nebula shrugged in response. He was still displeased with Lightyear for his earlier blunders (though he was grateful he'd rescued his son), so he didn't feel much like talking to him. Plus, he was slipping into a bad mood because of his less than pleasant reunion with Alfred. All in all, it had not been a good day.

Alexa wrote:By the time Team Lightyear (minus robot) arrived, Alfred had already taken off his shirt. He squealed at the sight of them, using the shirt as a blanket to hide his skin, though it only covered his front and not his back. "For Chyst's sake, Lightyear, don't you have any decency?!"

Ranger-Nova wrote:
Buzz gave him a confused look. "Uh... did we come at a bad time?" It wasn't like Alfred was undressed or anything - he was only missing a shirt. Buzz shook his head at Alfred's antics.

Nebula, meanwhile, was staring at his son's back. "Alfred," he said calmly, "WHERE IN BLUE BLAZES DID YOU GET THOSE SCARS?!" He sounded angry, but in reality he was surprised and concerned. It bothered him that there was so much he didn't know about Alfred's past.

Alexa wrote:"FFT-." Alfred flailed, almost falling from his perch, having not expected the Commander to yell like that so suddenly. He did his best to regain his composure, however hard that was to do without a shirt on, and hesitated when he realized he had to answer the question. He cast a subtle glance to Mira before looking away so his gaze wouldn't be tracked. "I... Well, I got them..." Goodness.... Now everyone was looking at him. The doctors even seemed interesting in examining the mysterious scars as well. "...Quite obviously, Commander, I got them on my back." He did his best to grin at the smart-alecky remark, but, really, he was embarrassed enough as is... He didn't need to explain some bad memories on top of that... He cringed for a moment, remembering back to when he got the scars, but tried to hide the look.

Ranger-Nova wrote:
Nebula glared at him. "You know what I mean! How did you get them?" The way Alfred avoided the question made him even more concerned. He wondered how many things Alfred was keeping from him.

The doctors were all gathered around Alfred, trying to examine his back. Not much happened down in the med bay, so Alfred was proving to be a very interesting patient.

Alexa wrote:ChystChystChyst, why were the doctors inspecting him like that? Shouldn't they be looking at the fresh wounds instead of the ones that have long since healed over...? And it didn't help that the Commander was still questioning him. "I... Got them... From an injury...?"

He glanced around at everyone, nervous, hating this more and more. Slowly, he lifted up his shirt and then hid under it. If the couldn't see them, then they weren't really there. That's how he'd deal with it right now. They weren't really there, he wasn't really shirtless, no one had seen any of his old scars, there was- AH! Cold hands!

Alfred peeked out from under his shirt to glare at the doctor that had just touched him on his back. "Isn't there something more concerning than those?" he asked them, motioning to his his various wounds, the burn on his arm and gashes on his face especially. Ugh, that reminded him, as much as he liked this shirt, he'd have to toss it later... Between the bloodstains, burn marks, and tears, it wasn't quite salvageable.

Ranger-Nova wrote:
The doctor shrugged. "How are we supposed to treat your wounds when you keep holding that shirt in front of you?" He held out the lollipops again. "Why don't you take one of these instead of hiding?" he coaxed, trying to pull the shirt away while Alfred clung onto it.

Meanwhile, Nebula continued to glare at Alfred. I ask a simple question, and he won't give me a straight answer! Why won't he tell me anything? I'm his father!

The doctors finally got the shirt away from Alfred, and soon they were at work treating him while he sucked on a lollipop.

Deciding it was time to leave, Buzz stopped by Alfred's bed to give his parting regards. "Well, we've got work to do, so we'll see you around. I hope you'll get better soon." He leaned against the bed, getting a heroic glint in his eyes. "I'm glad I rescued you when I did. Who knows what Zurg would have done to you if you'd stayed longer. Why, if we hadn't come -" His hero speech was suddenly cut off as he winced in pain.

Alexa wrote:Alfred withdrew his fist after having slammed it into Lightyear's face to get him to shut up. "If you hadn't come," he repeated in a higher, mocking tone. "If you hadn't let that Torque guy kidnap me in the first place! Or, better yet, you could have probably done something before he beat me up! Come to think of it..." He looked over at Nebula, noticing the look he was giving him. What was that look anyway? Anger? Shock that Alfred would actually punch Lightyear? Maybe even a look in support of the punch? Alfred could never tell with the man; most of his facial expressions blurred in his mind.

Alexa wrote:"Come to think of it, why was I on that mission to start with, hmm...?"

Ranger-Nova wrote:
Nebula shrugged sheepishly. "I think one of the Rangers suggested it. He said you should go along on the mission, since your company was involved. It seemed like a good idea at the time." Now that he thought about it, he was the one who'd gotten Alfred into this mess by sending him on the mission. It wasn't Buzz's fault. "I'm... sorry," he mumbled almost inaudibly.

Alexa wrote:Alfred, of course, had to keep up his argument that he technically wasn't involved seeing how his products had already been sold to the retailer, but no one seemed to care about that. Frankly, he was starting to lose interest. Borrriiing. Instead he focused on the near-silent, muttered phrase, trying to figure out whether he had heard it right.

"Well..." he finally answered in response, looking uncomfortable. "Nice going making this awkward..." As if it wasn't already... Though, he still had one thought on his mind about the statement... "He doesn't mean it... He can't."

Ranger-Nova wrote:
Giving Team Lightyear (and Buzz in particular) a glare that said "leave", Nebula waited for them to go before answering, "I... I really am sorry." He shifted nervously, feeling just as uncomfortable as Alfred. "I wouldn't have sent you if I knew this would happen." Sweet mother of Venus, why did I come down here at all? It's resulted in nothing but awkwardness! "I... uh, I was worried about you while you were gone," he admitted, looking away uncomfortably. "I'm glad you're safe."

Alexa wrote:Alfred squirmed a bit, though only part of it was from discomfort from the topic. The rest of it was from discomfort of what the doctors were doing. Were they ALL actually needed for this? ...They were here for the gossip, weren't they? Lousy little... "Well... uh... I'm glad I'm safe too." Okay, well, that was a bit idiotic to say... His... His father was actually trying to show concern, though he wasn't sure how much of it was genuine versus how much of it was staged. ...At least there was no more questions about his past at the moment. He wouldn't be able to handle that...

Ranger-Nova wrote:
"Keep still," commanded one of the doctors, restraining Alfred with his hand so he wouldn't squirm.

One of the others peered at his back curiously and poked one of the scars. "Hmm... How long have you had these?"

Nebula frowned at the doctors. "Shouldn't you be working on his current injuries?" Of course, he too wanted to know more about the scars, but that could wait. Right now he was trying to have a decent conversation with his son.

Ranger-Nova wrote:
Once he was satisfied the doctors were actually doing their job rather than eavesdropping or asking questions, he mumbled to Alfred, "I was afraid I'd lose you... again."

Alexa wrote:Oh... That was how... He did his best not to shift nervously for the doctors' sake, but it was clear by the look on his face that he was very uncomfortable with this. "Well... Well, I..." He frowned, furrowing his brow. "Well, what exactly do you want me to say to that...?" Nervous, confused... Even a bit suspicious. Alfred was going through too many emotions to settle on just one. He sincerely had no clue what he was supposed to say.

Ranger-Nova wrote:
This is getting far too awkward, Nebula groaned inwardly. "Uh... well... you don't have to say anything... I just wanted you to know that I'm glad you're okay." He began to turn away, wanting to leave before things got any more awkward, but he paused at the last moment. "And... I want you to know that I do care about you, even if it doesn't always seem that way." And with that he walked away, leaving Alfred to his thoughts.

"You should be fully recovered within a short amount of time," one of the doctors remarked to Alfred, looking over his injuries. "I bet it won't be long before you've forgotten all about this."

Alexa wrote:"...Yeah," Alfred answered at length. "Sure..." Somehow he doubted that he'd forget all of this all that easily... If anything he'd just ignore that it ever happened, but, with Zurg's threat and with what the Commander just claimed, it'd be burning in the back of his mind for a good while, he was sure...

Though, there was one loose end he had yet to taken care of... Seeing how the deal was "both get out safely and have him return to Star Command" that did mean that there was a certain someone he owed five million unibucks... And, as any good businessman knew, you always had to pay up on your deals... But, as any person who knew Alfred well enough knew, he was one to always get his petty revenge...