Chapter 6 - Bryan, meet Homer.

Hi, I know its been ages since I last uploaded, but here I am, putting more stories up again! Please r and r me, as I'm desperate!

*********

Before Eteocles had a chance to sit down in Oamstacei's office she said, 'did you tell him?'

'About what?' asked Eteocles.

Oamstacei sighed and turned around, putting a pile of paper on the desk. 'Did you tell Bryan about Homer?'

'I told him that he helped Bentley and Ys.....' Started Eteocles.

'No!' said Oamstacei, 'Did you tell him about......the accident?'

'Do you mean the mix up in agenda's about twenty six years ago?' asked Eteocles.

'Yes, I do.' Said Oamstacei. 'Well, did you?'

'No.' said Eteocles.

'What!' said Oamstacei, 'How on earth am I going to tell him? What if Homer goes in there, assuming that he already knows? How are you going to explain that to him?'

'Look, I don't know, ' said Eteocles calmly, 'I'm not the person to tell him about it, I'm just a doctor. I don't know about affairs of the heart or anything like that, all I know is about the human and Psyxen physiologys, I don't know about their emotions and family connections! That's your job!'

'Okay, okay,' said Oamstacei giving up,' Maybe you're right. You have the tact of a dead bee. You better send him to me; maybe I'll be able to explain something to the poor man.'

Eteocles nodded, and muttered, 'So, I'll be going. Got some paper work to catch up on.....I probably better make Bryan go to your office.'

'You do that.' Said Oamstacei, ' I'll be here for the next few hours.'

Eteocles walked out of her office with the uneasy feeling that he had just been patronised.

*********

Bryan threw the ball at the wall and caught it. He was bored, so bored. He had tried playing eye spy, but he stopped after the first try. He could only think of W for walls. He caught the ball, and threw it against the wall with all the force he could muster. He was frustrated if anything else. He was locked up, and he still only had half a clue what was going on. So these people had a name, and a history. Could be worse, he reasoned, but he couldn't think how.

He heard the click of the lock on the door, and a face popped around the door. It was an old face, covered in laugher lines. It was very slightly tanned face, and was alit with a crooked smile. It was the kind of face that looked like the owner should have been smoking some sort of tobacco product. He came in, hiding part of his face, and closed the door, with his back to Bryan. Bryan looked up and put his ball on the floor.

'You alright lad.' Said the man.

'Yeah, 'said Bryan putting his ball down.

'I'm Homer,' said the man, 'and before you say anything I'll warn you that I'm missing an eye, so don't scream.' The man turned around. Bryan gasped, stifling a scream. On eye was a browny green, but the other was white, completely white, with a milky texture about it, and a huge red angry scar running over it.

As Homer looked into Bryan's eyes he sighed and said,' I knew you would. Everyone does.' Bryan opened his mouth to speak when Homer interrupted again.' I lost it during a run in with an assassin a few years back. I was on a mission and because we made a mistake in the plan I ended up having to fight the bugger to keep some guy safe. Needless to say he was fast.' Homer pointed to his white-blinded eye at this point.

Bryan gasped and said, 'I'm sorry.......'

'Why be sorry?' said Homer, with a laugh, 'You didn't do it.'

Bryan found himself laughing as well. 'So why are you here now?' asked Bryan, 'I suppose you were sent to give me a guided tour of this place!'

Homer sat down on the table in the middle of the room and said, 'No, but it's a good idea.'

Bryan smiled a crooked smile, and looked around the room for a second. 'Are all the rooms like this?' he asked, 'Or is it just the bedrooms?'

Homer chuckled at his joke. 'Nah, just the introduction rooms.' Said Homer, 'It's like this in case you go crazy and decide to throw yourself at the walls. Don't worry, when you get your own quarters it'll be a nice place with unpadded walls and lots of shelf space.'

Bryan stared into space. 'Is there any way I'm ever going to get out of these clothes.' Said Bryan suddenly, pulling on the slightly grubby surgical shirt, 'I mean, I've been here for however long, and I haven't changed once.'

He looked up at Homer who was wearing a loose shirt, and tie at half-mast and flared jeans. Homer noticed this, and he said,' yeah, there's a nice replicater place around here that does really good clothes, especially things like period clothing. It's come in very useful really.....oh, and they've got your old clothes somewhere. '

Bryan tittered nervously, and the two men sat in a very uncomfortable hot silence. Homer looked around the room, while Bryan threw the ball from hand to hand, concentrating on it. Then, when the silence seemed to become so loud you couldn't heard any sound, Bryan looked up and asked the question he had been burning to ask for a long time. 'Why did they pick us?' Homer was silent for a moment and looked at him. He put his hand on he knee, and looked at Bryan.' I mean, why did they decide to bring us out of all the people in all the universes back to life.' said Bryan,' I mean, I saw Bentley, and Ysabelle, and no offence, but I didn't see any renowned gymnasts or rocket scientists. And there's me. I barely got out of school, and I haven't had a job where thinking was a big priority. Why did they choose us?'

'Well, 'that is a hard question.' Said Homer, leaning over to Bryan, 'But they must have seen something in us. I mean, I was just a copper when I was killed, not a thinker but a doer, but they obviously though I was good for something. But Bentley and Ys, they're sort of obvious. Bentley is one of the kindest, nicest men I've ever met, really considerate he is, but when we get sent on a mission he can fight like a pro, and faster than a speeding bullet. A good mind as well. As for Ys, she's good with Machines. It's really weird; it's like she's got a second sense with them, even them lot ask her to help some times.' He said this last sentence while jabbing his thumb left.

'But what about me?' asked Bryan, ' Why me?'

'Well, I've got two theories on that.' Said Homer, 'The first is that that you've got the sense....'

'Sense, what's that?' asked Bryan.

'Put simply it's like being able to see future, but you can also change it.' said Homer, 'It's because you have a thinner layer of reality around you than everyone else. It means that you're more likely to see things that others can't, whether it's the future, or if it's a different plan.'

'Wow.' Said Bryan, 'Is it something they put in me?'

'No,' said Homer, 'it's something you inherited from your old man.....'

'My father?' asked Bryan, 'How the hell do you know who my father is? I don't know who my father is for crying out loud! The bastard left my mother before I was born. If I could find him, you know what I would do? I would go and kill the asshole for what he did to us!'

'Bryan, I didn't know...'

'Well, you wouldn't. ' Said Bryan, folding his arms, 'I wouldn't expect anyone to. It's just my past, but anyway, what else do you think?'

'Oh, I've forgotten it now.' Said Homer, 'It wasn't important. '

'All right.' Said Bryan. There was a deadly silence and then Bryan looked up at Homer again and asked, 'Well, could you take me on this guided tour? I can't stand another minute in this room.'

Homer cracked a grin like a mountain ravine and said, 'where do you want to start?'

**********

Please, please R and R to stop me inflicting this on mankind! Or at least r and r me to tell me what you think!