a/n: just a few more chapters until this book is over,, mega yikes

-

"you have what?!"

olympia's eyes are huge as she stares at the tube system. it's glowing green, ready to make two trips exactly.

"there's not enough juice for it to run consistently- just enough for a trip there and a trip back." odelia explains, arms crossed. "we're using bits from our badges to power it- this way, todd won't be able to tell that this one is any different from his."

"amazing." oona whispers, brown eyes reflecting the emerald light as she trails her fingers gently over the control board. otis glances over at her, biting his lip. this has to work.

"i pinpointed the location of the holding cell a few months ago, but we're not enough to successfully get them out. now that you're here, you're a part of the plan." odie explains, tinkering at the board. oona frowns. "remind me why getting them out is so important?"

when odie looks up, his gaze is that of someone who has very, very little left. "i need you to get them back to your timeline. hopefully their memories with consolidate with the ones of your universe's otto, olive, and oscar, so this can be prevented in the future."

"knock on wood." odelia's hollow voice has a ring of humor. "now, we've gotta go."

"wait!" olympia holds up her hands- well, the one that isn't holding the stun gun. she's still not used to having a genuine weapon in her hands. "there are only four tubes. there'll be eight of us coming back."

"we'll share. that's one of the only major changes that we made, aside from being able to travel standing- it's easy to share the tubes." odelia grabs a couple small gadgets off the control board and tosses them in her pocket. "on the way back, i'll share with you, olympia. odie will share with oscar, otis with olive, and oona can go with otto."

they all nod, and the five split up and enter the tubes- odie and odelia together. "preparing to squishinate." odie says, stepping lightly on a glowing button on the floor.

all five close their eyes, standing rigidly in the tubes. breath quickens, hearts pound faster, and olympia even whimpers as odie stomps on the button.

"squishinating."

in a stinging rush of air, the tubes drop, and the five are whisked away on a rescue mission.

--

oona lands first, which means she gets to vomit first.

she's been queasy all day- nerves, sickening realizations, gross fish smells. the bumpy ride in the tubes is just the last straw.

she's still retching onto the floor when otis lands, and she tries to perk up- he doesn't need to be worrying about her, not now. nevertheless, he notices the spit and puke dribbling out of her mouth and the way her shoulders are shaking and goes to help.

"hey, oona-" he's cut off by a violent heave that splatters vomit on the toes of his shoes. in his proper timeline, he would have been grossed out. "deep breaths. focus on what's around you, not on your stomach."

she tries to follow his instructions as best she can. the first attempt is fruitless- well, actually, it is kinda fruitful, because she can see the yellow sludge that must have been her mango smoothie from breakfast. the second attempt is much better- when she focuses on her breaths and the voices of her teammates, who have landed, she can feel the nausea subside. after a minute or two she's able to stand and smile. "thanks, otis."

"no problem." he smiles back, and her heart does a loop.

gross.

"hey, lovebirds." odelia's voice is bored, like she's had to deal with shy flirtations many times in her relatively short life. "we've got a mission. weapons out."

flustered, otis and oona pull out their stun guns and follow odie, odelia, and olympia to what looks like a hand-dug secret entrance to a foul-smelling little cave. "we had opal - she's a spy for us - help us dig this. it's a direct entrance to where we believe otto, olive, and oscar have been held for the last few years."

"and what if you're wrong and we get caught?"

olympia's voice is shaky, but she meets odie's irritated, scared gaze calmly. he presses his lips together before speaking, words coming out clipped. "then we go out knowing we had honorable intentions."

he meets everyone's gaze coldly. "clear?"

"clear." olympia squeaks. odie smiles joylessly. "let's move."

"you're so overdramatic." otis hears odelia say softly as the group advances.

--

"...do you hear that?"

"what?"

"shh!" a pause. "that!"

"well don't draw attention to it." another long pause, and a yawn. a small groan of discomfort.

"there's footsteps." the voice is barely above a whisper. "oh, jackalopes-"

"shut up, you know you can't say that!"

"there's footsteps, olive!"

the blond boy and brunette girl's eyes lock, one terrified, one hopeful. both full of tears. another boy stirs slightly next to her. he is bleeding. she nudges him with her foot.

"otto. otto, there's footsteps."

--

the five reach the end of the passage - a packed dirt wall - after maybe...ten minutes of walking? it was a while, oona knows that. longer than she thought it would take.

odelia rips a bit of cloth off her lab coat and tosses it into a circle of pebbles. anyone not looking for it would have just seen it as, well, pebbles.

but when the cloth touches the dirt, a green light flashes from underground twice. the dirt begins to melt into the ground. oona's eyes widen, and before she can ask, odie answers her.

"obfusco's idea." he says, readying his stun gun. "the cloth is our identification- odd squad's coats are made out of a special material that todd doesn't produce anymore."

oona is about to ask more questions, but then the last dirt clump falls away to reveal three teenagers- two chained, one unconscious. the two chained stare at them in awe and fear.

olympia whimpers quietly. "olive...?"

"stay on guard." odelia's voice is ragged. "we don't know who could be-"

"oscar." the name falls from odie's lips along with a sob as the stun guns slips from his grip. his feet are moving before he or any of the others can realize what's happening, and before he knows it, he's falling to his knees in front of the boy he hasn't seen in three years and taking his face in his hands.

behind cracked, stained glasses, oscar's eyes fill with tears. "it's been a while, hasn't it?"