Even Heroes Fall - CHAPTER 1

I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. I hurt everywhere and I had no idea where I was, other than the fact that I was wet and I had what seemed to be a respirator in my mouth. Hang on. A respirator? Shit, I thought I knew where I was. Opening my eyes a crack proved it. After they got used to the water, I found myself looking at everything through a murky green haze. Bugger. I was right. In the basement of our bunker we had five stasis tubes. Each one could support one person while they healed. We only used them in extreme conditions as the bluey, green stuff was a bio-metric stasis fluid that kept them in a sort of induced coma while they healed propally. Only the really badly injured used them, so most of the time they were empty. In fact the last time I'd brought a guy down here I'd had to dust one of them off for him. He was in one a full two months, the longest we've ever had anyone in one.
     Considering I was even in one meant I'd got ripped up pretty bad at that last battle. Looking around I found the internal deactivation switch. As the drain opened at the bottom of the tube, the liquid around me dissapear in a few seconds. I went from being gracefully suspended in my tighty whiteys, to a crumpled mess on the floor in a heartbeat. Taking the regulator out of my mouth, I pushed the door open and tried to drap myself up, but my legs wouldn't support me. It was almost like I hadn't used them for months. Giving up on tryin to walk i dragged myself to the nearest console and pressed the intercom button.
     "Hey is anyone going to come and get me?" I called into the mic, my voice rough and gravely. I waited a few minutes until the intercom crackled to life.
     "Who is this?"
     "Jonas."
     "I'm sorry Jonas who?"
     "Stop mucking around. It's Jonas Fairbank."
     "Oh my god. I'm sorry Sir. If you could just wait one moment."
     The line crackled out again and I was left mystified on the floor as to what had just happened. Sir? God, no one had ever called me sir. My dad was Sir. I rubbed my face with my hand and got the shock of my life. Where my hand had been, well it wasn't anymore. My entire left arm was gone, replaced by a shiny new metal one. God someone was going to have some explaining to do. I sat on the floor for about another fifteen minutes, sufficient time for my arse to go numb from the cold, before I hear footsteps, followed by the familiar 'woosh' of the doors opening.
     A stunning woman in her late twenties came in through the side door pushing a wheelchair. She had long black hair with a bright fushia underlay. She was so familiar and yet it wasn't until she fully turned to face me that I saw the scar on the side of her face, the scar I'd given her.
     "Marie! Just what the fucking hell is going on here? The last time I saw you, you were still just a skinny little kid."
     "Why thankyou Jonas. I love you to you tosser. You know where you are don't you?"
     "Yeah the basement of the bunker. Now will you tell me what the hell is going on and get me of this floor. I can't feel my arse," I growled as she helped me into the chair.
     "Jonas, that day, the battle, when you got hit you went into shock. We had to put you under. We did everything we could but the wound got infected and you got blood poisining and pneumonia. We got it cleared up but not before you slipped into a coma. You've been out of it for ten years Jonas. Your one of the most famous guys in history."
     "Care to explain this?" I asked holding up my new shiny arm.
     "We managed to clear up the infection but the wound became gangrenous. We had to take your arm. You went three years without one, but Tom finally mangaed to make a new cybertronic one."
     "Bugger. Looks like I have ten years worth of birthdays to make up for. Waiter, whisky on the rocks please," I joked and we both laughed.
     "Your taking this pretty well."
     "Yeah well I think it's all still seeping in really."
     "Give it time."
     We talked about trivial little things as she wheeled me in the direction of my old room. People stopped to stare at me as I went by. It got pretty annoying after about the first dozen. Every now and then I'd see an old face that I recognised, someone from my team. They'd stop and say hi, shake my hand, wish me well. It was all pretty overwhelming, so the safety of my old room was a relief. A very weird relief. As I looked around I saw that everything was just as I left it. Christ even the bed was still unmade.
      "Has anyone actually been in here since that day?" I asked Marie, turning to look at her.
      "I came in a couple of times to pick up field notes but other than that, no. Anyway, as much as I'm glad that your up and about, I have to go on duty like ten mintues ago and you should get something to eat. I'll send someone to check you over soon and I'll get them to bring some food. I'll be back later when my shifts up and we'll talk."
     "Take it we haven't won yet then?"
     "Not yet mate. Not yet," she said quietly, smiling sadly as she left and shut the door behind her.