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Y'know, Ben had been hoping to grab some snacks when halftime came, but no way could he leave his spot next to the bench. His energy was still off the charts, borrowed heart pumping overtime - it almost felt like he'd been running around the court, not Gia. He could feel the team's potential win itching beneath the skin of his fingers, desperate to become a reality. It would be a reality.
And, yeah, they were three points down going into the half, but he wasn't worried. Not at all. The team was great, amazing even, as long as he didn't give them any really terrible plays, they'd make back the points in no time…
Actually, now that he thought of it, Addison could probably tell him the exact odds of their win. To ease up any theoretical worries he might have.
Last time he glanced up, Addison had been in the bleachers with the rest of the crowd, cheering loudly for the girls. Her shouting fell on Ben's ears only, but it was a nice sentiment. Same as screaming at a TV, he guessed. He turned around to look for her, eyes flicking to the place she'd last stood…
… Wait.
Who was that?
He blinked, and the figure vanished, its familiar appearance immediately fading from his stupid Swiss-cheesed mind.
Where someone had definitely just been standing had become nothing but empty space. And, weirdly, he spotted Addison directly next to that space… talking to herself?
That was supposed to be his job!
He gracelessly ascended the bleacher steps and sidled up to Addison’s hologram, trying to be reasonably inconspicuous.
"Hey there, stranger," Ben said in a soft voice. It was a loud gym, especially with the 2010s pop still blasting, so he could probably get away with a public check-in.
"Hey, yourself!" She grinned, eyes intense. Maybe her fingertips were thrumming with energy, too. "What’s up?"
"Oh, well—"
"Lemme guess," Addison interrupted him, "you’re stressed about the game? Ben, come on, you guys have got this in the bag. It’s a little close right now, but you’ll make it back next quarter, easy."
"I— thanks, yeah. They’re doing great."
"Hell yeah, they are."
Addison glanced to her right for a split second, then laughed under her breath.
"See, no, that, that is what I was gonna ask about." Ben pointed at the empty air.
Addison's face went totally blank.
"What do you mean?" She asked with faux-sincerity. Ben took a deep breath.
"There's… there's somebody next to you, isn't there?"
Neurons and mesons, that's how the IC worked. He could only see Addison and the things she touched. If she tossed the handlink in the air, it would flash out of and back into existence, from his perspective. He knew this. This was, like, his job.
"I'm sorry, Ben, I have no clue what you're talking about." Her eyes kept flickering to the side. Liar.
"Oh, come on! I remember that it's against the rules to have someone else in the IC with you, but I swear, I'm not gonna rat you out."
She scrunched her eyebrows, considering. But after an entirely unsubtle look to her side, she came to a decision with a little nod.
"Alright, yeah. You caught me. But, hey, it's not like you can tell anyone." Addison admitted, her mouth curling into a conspiratorial smile. "So, in that case, how would you like to re-meet Dr. Ian Wright?"
A sudden wave of memories stole Ben's voice, but he nodded as enthusiastically as he could.
With a careful hand, Addison reached out and touched a particular patch of air.
Instantly, the figure from earlier flashed into being.
They had on a full outfit of neutral colors, both too formal and too stylish for the high school basketball crowd around them. Blonde hair, thick black glasses. And a grin that reminded Ben of the cheesy punchlines to a dozen forgotten jokes.
Ian.
He instinctively reached out to touch, to embrace this newly-visible friend — but, of course, was met with orange fizzling and nothing more.
"Ah! Hey! Ian!!"
Ian opened their mouth to speak, but closed it again. They waved at him instead, watery eyes not straying from Ben’s own. Ben was smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.
"Uh, hi!" He said to them again.
Ian laughed, noiselessly. Ben laughed, too.
A few basketball supporters gave concerned glances, probably wondering why the gym teacher was laughing at nothing.
"Uh, guys, this is great, but can we move to the coach's office instead?" Addison.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Ben agreed, overwhelmed.
A few button taps, and the pair was gone. Ben sprinted to his office, not particularly caring what the people around him thought.
He burst into the room, and there they were: his fiancee, and his… well, Dr. Ian Wright.
Oh, boy.
"Ian!" Ben slammed the door behind him, feeling like a joyously broken record.
They mouthed a response back at him, but no words came out.
He felt his grin dropping, mind careening toward worst-case scenarios.
"Is everything okay, Ian?"
Had there been an accident? Had Ben missed something important, busy stuck in the past? After all, he had a distinct memory of Ian’s voice, calling out Ben’s name as they opened a door…
Ian leaned over and mouthed more words at Addison, who nodded along, as if she could understand perfectly.
"I’m sorry, Ben," she began, "you can’t hear the other people in the IC, even if I’m touching them. Didn’t realize that."
"... Oh."
"But, hey, I could translate for you! Pass Ian’s messages on, right?" Ian nodded enthusiastically at both of them, and Ben’s mood lightened again in an instant.
"That would be so great, thank you!"
"Sure, happy to help!"
She readjusted her grip on Ian’s shoulder, causing their image to flicker briefly.
"Uh, so, how’s it been going? How are you?"
Ben had no clue what to say, or if small talk would be… offensive? Or something? But Ian didn’t seem to mind. They responded instantly, gesticulating along with their silent words.
"Uh, okay. They say that it’s been going great, and everybody’s really proud of how well you’re doing," Addison relayed.
"Aw, that’s so nice, thanks."
Ian said something else, looking at Ben even though Addison was the one that could hear. She chuckled in response.
"Yeah, they say their main problem at the Project isn’t anything that you’re doing, but just Ziggy acting up randomly."
"Oh, yeah, Ziggy! I can’t believe I forgot that’s what you do, that thing’s practically your child," Ben gushed.
Addison turned to listen to Ian’s response, then faced Ben again.
"Ian says that Ziggy’s not a ‘thing,’ and also that it’s older than them by about a decade."
"Still."
Ian laughed, then nodded and exaggeratedly mouthed, Still.
"So you’re… a friend?"
Addison didn't even wait for Ian's response, taking the initiative herself.
"Yeah, absolutely. Your best friend, basically. Both of ours. I mean, almost as soon as we got engaged, Ian started designing an algorithm to decide whether they should be in your wedding party or mine."
Ben chuckled. "Well, they could always be the one who throws the flower petals."
Ian raised a finger with some inaudible objection, expression turning playful.
"Ian says that you said that last time, but they don't vibe with florals all that much," Addison said, then chuckled as Ian added something else onto the message. "They'll happily pelt us with rice, though."
"You can throw whatever you want at us! I wouldn't mind," he laughed. "Just, ugh. Ian."
Ian smiled softly and mouthed slowly, I missed you too.
Ben genuinely though he might cry.
"The thing is… I don't, I don't know what I miss about you, Ian. I hardly remember you. And I hate that. I wish I knew more than just the little snippets that I've gotten back, of us eating lunch together at work. And the fact that you own, like, twenty copies of basically the same blazer. And, and you sitting next to me and Addison on the couch, getting mad at us while we all played… was it Mario Kart?"
Ian nodded, and Addison chimed in.
"That's all right. You might not remember it, but you do know Ian. Really, really well."
"I know I do," Ben said, pouring all his half-forgotten affection into the words. "And I know I miss you, Ian."
Now, it looked like all of them might cry.
Ian said something, and Addison took a deep breath before repeating it for Ben.
"They say, hey, at least now you'll have this memory."
Ben smiled.
"Yeah, yeah. I will."
Ziggy beeped angrily, and Addison looked down at her handlink.
"Oh, crap, Ben, third quarter starts in two minutes," Addison said, tapping frantically.
"Shoot, I almost forgot!" He ducked his head out the door to check, and sure enough, the clock displayed a big red 1:54. Now, 1:53…
"You've gotta go, now. Gia and the team need you."
She was right, obviously. But he wasn't ready to leave. And besides, it looked like Ian had something more to say.
He was right — they hesitantly opened their mouth and spoke, mostly to Addison this time. She smiled back at them.
"Yeah, of course I'll ask him." She turned. "Ben, Ian's been wanting to give Gia a big hug, and tell her how amazing she is. How strong she's being. Do you think you could do that, for them?"
"Oh, yeah, of course I can! I would love to."
It's the least I can do, said his inner voice, when I'm not even there to hug you and give my support.
Then, Ben was struck with an idea.
"Actually, Addison, could you do the same thing for me? I mean, could you hug Ian for me?"
The instant after he'd said it, Addison pulled Ian into a tight bear hug, just the kind that Ben would've given them if he could. The kind he would've given either of them.
Ian turned their face to him, smiling a watery smile, and mouthed thank you.
"I love you guys," Ben told them, turning towards the door. "And we'd better talk more after the game!"
He dashed away before even finishing the sentence, keenly aware of the teenage girls probably anxious for him to get back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Addison and Ian materialize back on the bleachers.
As soon as Ben spotted #23, he ran up and tackled her in a tight, supportive embrace.
Gia drew back after just a second, seeming concerned.
"Are you okay, Dad? What's up?"
"Oh, it's just…" He tried to organize his thoughts, and get back to living in the moment. "It's just that you're doing so great. You're so strong, Gia. And, I, I want to make sure you remember how loved you are," his voice broke, "and how much people would miss you if you were gone."
The buzzer beeped aggressively, but neither of them paid any mind. Instead, Gia just smiled — a big grin that reminded him, for a moment, of yet another punchline to a stupid joke — and pulled him into another hug.