Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ The Boundaries of Parents ❯ Time for Action ( Chapter 5 )

Fiona had been having restless nights since the Liger project had begun, but tonight was the worst. Her dreams were overtaken by a vicious nightmare. She immediately sat up in bed and began crying. Van woke up right away and worried about his frightened wife.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He had hard time waking up, but shook off the sleep when he saw tears stream down her face.

She looked at her husband and jumped out of bed. She ran down the short hall to her son's bedroom and turned on the light. Her son looked confused as he saw his disheveled mother race towards him. "You're safe, oh my boy, you're safe!" She kept murmuring the words to him over and over.

By this time, Van was behind her trying to calm her down and take the scared child out of trembling arms. "Honey, will you please tell me what's going on?"

Out of nowhere, dark storm clouds began to form, and rain fell down with a heavy force. Fiona walked over towards the window and looked at the storm. She looked at Van holding their son.

"You know what I always call him when stormy weather hits?"

"Yeah, I remember. You said he's your `little bit of sunshine on a cloudy day.'"

"I couldn't imagine what I would do if anything happened to him." Her son was picking up on her feelings and he was wondering what was the matter. His green eyes raced between his mother and father. Van looked down at him to reassure him, and motioned to Fiona to let him get back to sleep.

"I can't leave him!"

"Fiona, please keep your voice down, you're scaring him. Let's talk about this away from him." He whispered to her to keep the boy from hearing.

"But, Van--"

"Let's go out to the living room to talk about this. We're both up now, nothing's going to happen."

"But something might happen, I can feel it."

"Fiona, let's go." He raised his voice slightly and grabbed her hand to lead her out of the child's room. He hated being rough with her, but she was acting so strange.

While Fiona sat in the living room, Van went to the kitchen to warm up a glass of milk. It seemed like a better idea than salty coffee.

"Here, drink this."

She grabbed the mug, but didn't take a drink. She looked at Van and then down at her drink. "You must think I'm losing my mind."

Van sat down beside her and held her hand. "That thought never entered my mind. You know I love you and our son. I just didn't want him to be worried about us. He takes after you when it comes to that."

His smile didn't feel as reassuring as it usually did, and that bothered Fiona more.

"You'll feel better after you tell me why you felt so scared."

She decided to start at the beginning, when she first began to have those troublesome nightmares.

"When Dr. D had originally come up with the idea for a new Zoid, I didn't have a problem with it. We discussed it with everybody and got their input. I still thought it was a wonderful idea."

"Are you having regrets about the Liger Zero?"

Fiona shook her head, nodded, and shook her head again. "I think I wouldn't have such a problem with the project if it wasn't for the dreams."

Van looked shocked, "You never told me about any dreams."

"I didn't want to worry you. Besides, I know that you have a lot to handle."

"But it doesn't mean I don't have time for you, or our son."

"I know, Van. I passed the dreams off as nothing. Whenever you create something this important, you'll always have doubts or worry about what other people will do."

"What other people? Were you alarmed when you heard Irvine talking about the mercenaries?"

"Those mercenaries can't be trusted." Van hated it when Fiona talked ominously, but he felt the same way.

"I know. Their profiles are too clean, it doesn't add up. Tell me why you feel they can't be trusted."

Fiona didn't know how to explain it, so she laid it all out for Van to decide for himself. "Every time I visit the hangar where the Liger is being kept, I always feel as if somebody's watching me. It scares me, because I usually take our son with me, and I don't like the idea of somebody watching him. Van, my nightmare was so real."

Her words unnerved Van, but he remained strong while he sat beside her. "What happened, Fiona?"

"The test for the Liger Zero is set for tomorrow night. In my dream, you were testing the blade unit by running it through the course. The stats were unbelievable. The Liger was exceeding expectations. Then, the base came under heavy fire. There were aerial and land Zoids. We were all taken by surprise. You began to attack the invading forces, but they were so many. Irvine and Thomas ran to their Zoids and began helping you, but it wasn't enough, they were just too many of them. I've never been so scared!"

"We've faced a lot of powerful enemies in our time. We defeated them, and we can defeat anything else. The defenses at the base are set at maximum. You don't have to worry about a surprise assault." Fiona's warning made Van's mind race with all new potential threats. He didn't want anything happening to the Liger Zero.

"I know we have faced greater challenges, but you've always come back to me. The dream had a different ending for us…" Her words trailed off as she began to sob again.

Van took the mug out of her hand, and held her close to him. "It'll be okay, Fiona, I swear. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or our son. Everything will be okay."

He really began to worry. He never had such high stakes before. He wanted the Liger test to be successful, but not at the risk of worrying Fiona to this point.

Van also had a son to think about it. For the hundredth time since his son had been born, he thought of his father. Major Dan Freiheit risked his life to save the Wind Colony, but he and his sister had to grow up without a father. He couldn't imagine putting his own son through that, and he would do all he could to ensure that wouldn't happen.

"The Liger Zero is going to be a powerful Zoid, and it can't fall into the wrong hands. Please, don't let that happen, Van."

"I won't, Fiona, you know I'll do everything I can. Try and rest now."

Fiona curled into a ball at the side of Van. He slowly stroked her hair and let her cry all night long. The rain subsided, and the sun was beginning to peek through. Dawn was a wonderfult sight to see. The sky was a mixture of pink, red, orange, and blue. Van's eyes felt heavy and he wanted to fall asleep, but he had to talk to Irvine and Thomas about Fiona's nightmare. He gently laid his wife down on the couch and covered her with a nearby quilt. His side ached from her lying on him all night long, but he didn't mind. After getting dressed in his uniform, he called Irvine from the bedroom.

Irvine was too grumpy to talk so early in the morning, but he agreed to meet Van at the hangar. Thomas didn't seem bothered by the early morning call, and agreed to meet Van, too.

He didn't want to wake Fiona, but he didn't want to leave her alone. He decided to go to his son's bedroom and see if he was able to get any sleep.

Gently, without making a sound, he walked into the small bedroom. He was fast asleep on the bed as Van stood there watching. "If there was ever a time for Fiona to be wrong, please, let this be it." Van wouldn't hesitate to make the same sacrifice his father did, but he couldn't bear to leave his family. At least Van was lucky enough to remember his dad, but would his son be able to remember him if something were to happen?

Fiona looked so peaceful sleeping in the living room. Van left her note explaining what he planned to do and exactly where he would be. He made sure to tell her that he loved her, and everything would be fine.

A soldier of the base was patrolling outside, so Van ordered him to keep a careful eye on his quarters. "Under no circumstances, should Fiona and my son leave her without an escort, is that understood?" Van's order was fierce and the soldier nodded quickly.

Irvine and Thomas were already at the Liger's hangar when Van arrived. His dark eyes and gruff appearance worried his friends.

"What's the emergency? What happened to you?" Irvine handed Van a cup of coffee.

"I was up all night watching Fiona. She had a nightmare, or a vision; I'm not sure what you want to call it.

"Is she okay?" Thomas was concerned.

"I think so, she was asleep when I left."

"What seems to be the problem?"

Van pointed to the ivory Zoid standing in the center. Irvine and Thomas looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I don't understand, Van. Why don't you tell us what Fiona said?"

The captain explained to his partners what happened last night. He told them about Fiona's sleepless nights and how they started when the Liger project began. He walked them through Fiona's latest nightmare, as they stared at him in disbelief.

"She doesn't want anything happening to this Zoid. She said it was too important for it to fall into the wrong hands."

"I'm sure you did everything you could to reassure her, and you don't have to worry. Security's on full alert and the test will be over with tonight." Thomas didn't feel like he was helping.

Van nodded, "I told her not to worry, but then all these thoughts began to run through my head, and I feel just as nervous as she does."

"What do you need us to do?" Irvine finally spoke up again.

"We need to go through all the security measures ourselves, and then run over any plans we have in case the Liger is stolen."

"There's no way anybody can get to this Zoid, but if it makes you feel better, we'll do whatever you want."

Fear was being replaced by confidence, as Van looked at his partners' faces. "I hope nothing goes wrong tonight."

A voice startled everyone in the group. Colonels Schubaltz and Herman demanded some answers.

Irvine answered them, "Van thought it best if we go over security measures and procedures for tonight's test."

Thomas felt he should tell his brother what was really going on, but he wasn't sure if that's what Van wanted. He looked over at Van, who suddenly disappeared. He scanned the room and found Van with Zeke behind the Liger.

"I see. Did you three settle who's going to pilot the Zoid for tonight?" Karl watched as Rob walked over to Van and Zeke. He felt they were hiding something and waited to see what Rob did.

"Van and I discussed it last night. I can take the Liger with the speed CAS, Van will take the blade CAS, and Thomas gets the last one."

When Thomas didn't protest, Karl knew something was wrong.

"Is that all you want to tell me?"

Thomas looked at his brother with helpless eyes. "I think it's up to Van to tell you anything else."

Rob saw how awful Van looked and he asked if everything was okay. Van didn't feel like explaining everything all over again, but knew he couldn't leave his superior officers out of this. Slowly, Van and his organoid rejoined the group, and he went through Fiona's pain all over again.

Both colonels were patient and waited until he was finished. Rob spoke up, "Did you feel like you couldn't tell us?"

"Not at all, I just felt I shouldn't worry any more people."

"Van, Fiona hasn't been wrong before, and this kind of information is too important to keep from us."

"That's what worries me. She's never wrong."

Karl looked over at Rob, "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't see how anyone could get to this Zoid. We should proceed with the test here. We can postpone it one more night to allow for extra security."

"I agree. The test shouldn't take too long to complete. We'll be done before you know it. Maybe you should get back to your family. It sounds like they shouldn't be alone."

Van was thankful for the permission to leave. At least he had good news to bring back to his wife.