02-10-2019, 11:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-11-2019, 12:08 AM by Nika Raskov.)
Pond hadn’t heard Tenzen during her teleport near the hall. It wasn't anything personal. A girl had managed to beam in front of her though. Bandana-rama said some words that really didn’t penetrate the fog before her name; Rune. That one got through but immediately it slid away like her mind was oil. Not good. Concussion probably. Wyatt Earp was reaching toward her. Why? Pond looked at the girl oddly, a genuine expression of ‘what the fuck are you doing?’ if ever there was one. She was in the way.
Someone else spoke. Right. There were...two? Three. Really? Nika didn’t have time for this. Pond. X said that name. The voice. Nika blinked and her eyes, one blue and one nearly black, as she’d lost a contact in the water, found the blonde’s face. Her heart beat twice before a sluggish brain translated the English. Friends? Sisters? Having no concept of that, Nika stared at her like she’d sprouted horns. “That really hasn’t been my experience,” she said in a quiet voice nothing like Pond’s chipper parlance. She would have laughed too but couldn’t afford to expend the energy. In fact, all of this was costing quite a bit of precious time she did not have.
Focus. Nika breathed, centered herself. She was the strong one. The personas weren’t as tough, they were just characters...subterfuge. Nika set her jaw and her gaze moved toward the hall.
The others were ignored as she pulled up her sleeve to access the forearm screen. She was admittedly a little disoriented, vision a bit hazy around the edges...and felt better consulting the directory. Yup, this location had a fully kitted out medroom. Awesome. That was what she’d allocate all of her remaining energy toward. No matter she was three minutes and change from running on fumes. You do what has to be done. Find a way. Dig deep. It was go-time.
Nika sent a glance toward the women. She stepped around the girl, having forgotten her name again. “I gotta go. Thanks for getting me out of there.” Her limping gait was partly from the night’s activities and partly because she was wearing only one shoe. Water under the bridge.
The European safehouses all had dedicated medical rooms. The access panel for this one was hidden embedded on the face of a Joan of Arc painting. It was always a saint. The wall opened to reveal a ramp leading down to the basement, the necessary space cleverly concealed underneath the stairs to the second floor. Hand on the rail, Nika made her way down.
Jacinda looked at Ten eyebrows raising, though irritation flashed across her face more than anything else. "God damn kids!", she muttered. "Comin in acting like they own the place." She hated being in the dark. And they had lived here too!
She began to stalk toward the open doorway and then turned to Ten. "I'll go take care of her." She nodded at the other girl, not hiding the half smile that formed. "Good to see you again, Rune. Seth said you'd grown up to be a good hunter." She eyed the mess on the floor. "There's more in the kitchen. Go eat." And then wrinkling her nose in mock disgust, she added, "And take a bath. Seriously, you stink. And if I can smell it, my friend Ten there has to be about ready to pass out."
Reassuring smile, she plunged into the downward sloping hall toward whatever Amelia was looking for. Fucking Atharim. Woulda been nice to have this back home. Or to know about it. She'd have to ask if they had happened to be in the only safe house like this.
Amelia was still unsteady and the way she jerked at her footsteps said her adrenaline was still high. Peaking anyway. Which meant she'd crash soon. Lot of the stuff appeared do-it-yourself. Made sense. Sometimes you were the only one who dragged your ass in.
She moved as close as she could without getting in the way, trying to follow what she was doing. And ready to step in to catch her if and when she dropped like a bag of dirt.
If she’d been a robot her battery meter would be blinking red. But Nika wasn’t done yet. Strength of will saw her cross the spartan room to a cabinet filled with energy pouches. Two were sucked down immediately as she leaned heavily on the counter top. Nika looked over at the medical table gauging the distance before jerking into a shuffle like a sticky automatic transmission. Her feet were barely able to break their grip and move forward. Willpower. Her casted arm braced against the table as she lowered it with the long press of a button. Once she could reach she slid onto the surface and rolled over with some effort. Weight sensors activated and the scanning arm emerged from an aperture in the ceiling to pass back and forth with a deep, important sound before disappearing again. The tablet near her head came to life at the same time a green strip of LED light marked a path on the floor. Her legs were leaden. Still she managed to flop one and then the other over the edge before mostly falling off to follow the line. Because she had to. No choice.
Jacinda watched her curiously, as she activated a whole army of tech but her curiosity stopped once she was struggling off the table. She reached the table just as Pond’s feet touched the floor again. "Amelia! Amelia, listen. Let me help you. What do you need?" She didn't pretend she knew what all this was but she’d be damned if Amelia went through it alone. She looked down at the girl. So young. Fuck!!! So fucking young. Were the Atharim recruiting children now? She felt something in her gut. She touched Amelia's face. "I'm here. Let me help you, dear."
The woman was next to her suddenly. She was in the way. What was her name? She reminded Nika of that show her grandmother used to watch. Xena. Well, ‘X’ it would be. Her mind started to wander down toward shadow. The touch brought her back. Nika jerked away as though Jacinda had shocked her with her staves. Through her nose short breaths were forced. “No,” was the whisper. Hazy vision lost the LED line. “...in the way...no time to explain.” Jesus. The line! Where is the green line?
Jacinda stepped back, looking around. "Ok. Tell me what you need. I’ll get it. I’ll help. Carry you. Whatever. " She was panicky. The harpy had messed her up. Jacinda couldn’t bear to lose this kid. Somehow....it was just one more sacrifice she just couldn’t make.
X gave her space because the line was suddenly visible again. Her blood-soaked armored baselayer top was peeled off with some effort and dropped on the floor along with her forearm tactical screen. She clawed open a cabinet for a feeder cuff and then the cooler, choosing the two bags indicated by the blinking lights. Once in place over her arm the cuff automatically inserted vein catheters and all she had to do was plug the bags in. Easy peasy. Nika dragged herself to the shower stall and hung the bags off the wire soap rack in only two tries. The elder woman was still nearby but Nika couldn’t have said what she was doing. There hadn’t been a spare moment to account for that. She rasped the water on hot and sank into the shower seat fully clothed save her shirt; the sports bra would have put up too much of a fight so it stayed on. Shivering despite the water scalding the day away, she watched numbly as red and pink swirled down the drain.
Stubbornly, Nika fought off the exhaustion pressing down on her. She could beat it, she knew. This was not the first time she’d sprawled in a shower watching her own blood flow down a pipe. Experience said her energy levels would start to climb as the bags emptied and her body processed the goo she’d taken in. So the game was mind over matter at that point. She didn’t linger, as much as she wanted to. Hot showers were her thing...so refreshing. As soon as the water ran clear Nika stood and stripped, soaked clothes smacked wetly in the corner of the shower. Apparently that was what the other woman had been waiting for.
A stray hand parted the curtain but respectfully so, and Nika took the amber rectangle after half a second. Energy was spared for a quiet, “thank you.” She lathered up with the bar of antiseptic soap, twice, and rinsed herself clean before she squeaked off the faucets. A towel and clean clothes flopped overtop the curtain bar. Another ‘thank you’ was spared and meant. Nika’s energy meter had started to eke upward a meager percentage point at a time but it was more than she’d had to get here in the first place. She knew a plateau was in the future until she got some sleep however there were chores to tick off in the meantime.
She emerged from the shower clad in unadorned scrubs, crappy O.R. socks and a fluffy robe. The cut at her hairline had finally stopped bleeding, weirdly, only after she’d dug a corner of the soap in the thing and ow-ed it around. There was a mirror over a stainless sink and Nika glued her head shut finally, just in case. Tired legs carried her to liberate more sustenance and the tablet from the medtable.
Nika ended up slumped in a chair back to the wall, her legs propped up on the matching desk by the door. Three empty pouches of the nutrient-gu slime stuff occupied the trashcan along with the tattered remains of her t-shirt and puffer jacket. She reached into a desk drawer, plucked a loaded handgun from within and set it heavily on the surface.
Jacinda was suddenly there hand firm and in charge, but voice soft. "Sorry Amelia. You can’t have that." The fight was in the girls eyes and Jacinda smiled, brushing her forehead. "It's ok, Amelia," she whispered. "You're safe." Her eyes were soft but they wouldn't give an inch. Nor would her fingers. "I'll watch over you, Amelia Pond from IT." She hoped the name reminded her they had already worked together. Indeed, if they wanted her dead they coulda left her or, as Rune said, they coulda killed her on the couch. She smiled kindly, but forcefully. "Don't make me take it from you, sweetie. I'll make sure no one hurts you while you sleep."
She was still foggy. Or even more foggy. Maybe there’d been drugs in the bags. Nika couldn’t recall if she’d opted out of those. Nevertheless, X was there again. Had she ever left? Despite the gentle words, Nika again felt as though she’d been tased. She jerked first her hand away and then her head. Wild eyes said that was not okay. Why were these people always trying to touch her? The weapon was completely forgotten as she tried to process the words. We are never safe! Are you serious? Trust...you people? Americans and...whatever that other girl was? Instead, after breaths around her clenched teeth she whispered. “Please, do not touch me.” Of course there were reasons. Hadn’t she already asked that? Definitely drugs. Damn it. She ran a hand over her own face and took a deep breath before turning her attention to the tablet.
Jacinda placed the gun in a secure place and sat back, giving Amelia her space and time. She kinda liked the quiet of down here. She liked basements. There was something... womb like about it. Mother earth. Not that that was spiritual. She might have been. A smile smile formed. Jill. Idly she wondered what had ever happened to her. She remembered loving her. A memory of a memory. She had been so important. Occupied a part of her mind and heart. She...she didn’t actually feel love or even miss her. Like she was remembering being another person. No. This girl needed her now. Tending to her bots or whatever. She’d return to real life soon enough. Ten would take care of Rune. It was nice to count on that. Tenzin Dolma. Her partner. Damn but the world was odd. Now Rune. And Amelia. And fuck but Jacinda felt responsible. But not it a bad way. Like....she kinda liked this. No. Don’t lie. She did like this. She smiled as Amelia did her important tech work. The girl was safe, wasn't dying, wasn’t gonna kill anyone! And would sleep soon. All seemed alright with the world.
Nika felt a little better overall having sucked the blood and fluid bags dry. Meaning she wasn’t going to keel over from bleeding out. Exhaustion though? That was a possibility. Medibot’s tablet said she was alright internally except for a concussion. Wonders never ceased. Her last task before bed was to check in on the babies. SOP programming for the drones would have them covering their tracks and cleaning up any messes made so she wanted to pop in on their progress before allowing herself to rest properly. Bleary-eyed, Nika keyed into her private feed and pulled up her drone cameras.
Big Brother was doing his thing with the cleanup drones, which was good. Mater had retrieved Tennant’s bits and pieces and the broken drone itself. Why Tennant was broken was a question she was investigating while trying not to nod off. The drone’s own camera footage showed him fly into the pipe. She saw herself passed out, watched the red lights strobe in her face for a good minute until she came to. She fast forwarded through the patch and pain, no need to relive that agony, until Dark Hour. Then came the Beast...whatever it was. Tennant, bless him, had tried to scare it off. Nika watched numbly in utter disbelief as the thing lapped up her blood like the night’s menu special. Gross. It was the strangest, most surreal feeling...almost fake. It had happened though, clearly, as shown on the security feed. She heard the women outside through the video and Jesus, the thing had nearly dragged her off. That would have been an awful end. Additional thanks were in order at least. See? This is another fine example of why we don’t go on random monster hunts, stupidfuckingidiot. Alright, lesson learned. That’s what you said last time. She closed down the tablet, yawned mightily and dimmed the lights. X had taken up station in a chair nearby. Whatever.
With Jacinda Cross
Someone else spoke. Right. There were...two? Three. Really? Nika didn’t have time for this. Pond. X said that name. The voice. Nika blinked and her eyes, one blue and one nearly black, as she’d lost a contact in the water, found the blonde’s face. Her heart beat twice before a sluggish brain translated the English. Friends? Sisters? Having no concept of that, Nika stared at her like she’d sprouted horns. “That really hasn’t been my experience,” she said in a quiet voice nothing like Pond’s chipper parlance. She would have laughed too but couldn’t afford to expend the energy. In fact, all of this was costing quite a bit of precious time she did not have.
Focus. Nika breathed, centered herself. She was the strong one. The personas weren’t as tough, they were just characters...subterfuge. Nika set her jaw and her gaze moved toward the hall.
The others were ignored as she pulled up her sleeve to access the forearm screen. She was admittedly a little disoriented, vision a bit hazy around the edges...and felt better consulting the directory. Yup, this location had a fully kitted out medroom. Awesome. That was what she’d allocate all of her remaining energy toward. No matter she was three minutes and change from running on fumes. You do what has to be done. Find a way. Dig deep. It was go-time.
Nika sent a glance toward the women. She stepped around the girl, having forgotten her name again. “I gotta go. Thanks for getting me out of there.” Her limping gait was partly from the night’s activities and partly because she was wearing only one shoe. Water under the bridge.
The European safehouses all had dedicated medical rooms. The access panel for this one was hidden embedded on the face of a Joan of Arc painting. It was always a saint. The wall opened to reveal a ramp leading down to the basement, the necessary space cleverly concealed underneath the stairs to the second floor. Hand on the rail, Nika made her way down.
Jacinda looked at Ten eyebrows raising, though irritation flashed across her face more than anything else. "God damn kids!", she muttered. "Comin in acting like they own the place." She hated being in the dark. And they had lived here too!
She began to stalk toward the open doorway and then turned to Ten. "I'll go take care of her." She nodded at the other girl, not hiding the half smile that formed. "Good to see you again, Rune. Seth said you'd grown up to be a good hunter." She eyed the mess on the floor. "There's more in the kitchen. Go eat." And then wrinkling her nose in mock disgust, she added, "And take a bath. Seriously, you stink. And if I can smell it, my friend Ten there has to be about ready to pass out."
Reassuring smile, she plunged into the downward sloping hall toward whatever Amelia was looking for. Fucking Atharim. Woulda been nice to have this back home. Or to know about it. She'd have to ask if they had happened to be in the only safe house like this.
Amelia was still unsteady and the way she jerked at her footsteps said her adrenaline was still high. Peaking anyway. Which meant she'd crash soon. Lot of the stuff appeared do-it-yourself. Made sense. Sometimes you were the only one who dragged your ass in.
She moved as close as she could without getting in the way, trying to follow what she was doing. And ready to step in to catch her if and when she dropped like a bag of dirt.
If she’d been a robot her battery meter would be blinking red. But Nika wasn’t done yet. Strength of will saw her cross the spartan room to a cabinet filled with energy pouches. Two were sucked down immediately as she leaned heavily on the counter top. Nika looked over at the medical table gauging the distance before jerking into a shuffle like a sticky automatic transmission. Her feet were barely able to break their grip and move forward. Willpower. Her casted arm braced against the table as she lowered it with the long press of a button. Once she could reach she slid onto the surface and rolled over with some effort. Weight sensors activated and the scanning arm emerged from an aperture in the ceiling to pass back and forth with a deep, important sound before disappearing again. The tablet near her head came to life at the same time a green strip of LED light marked a path on the floor. Her legs were leaden. Still she managed to flop one and then the other over the edge before mostly falling off to follow the line. Because she had to. No choice.
Jacinda watched her curiously, as she activated a whole army of tech but her curiosity stopped once she was struggling off the table. She reached the table just as Pond’s feet touched the floor again. "Amelia! Amelia, listen. Let me help you. What do you need?" She didn't pretend she knew what all this was but she’d be damned if Amelia went through it alone. She looked down at the girl. So young. Fuck!!! So fucking young. Were the Atharim recruiting children now? She felt something in her gut. She touched Amelia's face. "I'm here. Let me help you, dear."
The woman was next to her suddenly. She was in the way. What was her name? She reminded Nika of that show her grandmother used to watch. Xena. Well, ‘X’ it would be. Her mind started to wander down toward shadow. The touch brought her back. Nika jerked away as though Jacinda had shocked her with her staves. Through her nose short breaths were forced. “No,” was the whisper. Hazy vision lost the LED line. “...in the way...no time to explain.” Jesus. The line! Where is the green line?
Jacinda stepped back, looking around. "Ok. Tell me what you need. I’ll get it. I’ll help. Carry you. Whatever. " She was panicky. The harpy had messed her up. Jacinda couldn’t bear to lose this kid. Somehow....it was just one more sacrifice she just couldn’t make.
X gave her space because the line was suddenly visible again. Her blood-soaked armored baselayer top was peeled off with some effort and dropped on the floor along with her forearm tactical screen. She clawed open a cabinet for a feeder cuff and then the cooler, choosing the two bags indicated by the blinking lights. Once in place over her arm the cuff automatically inserted vein catheters and all she had to do was plug the bags in. Easy peasy. Nika dragged herself to the shower stall and hung the bags off the wire soap rack in only two tries. The elder woman was still nearby but Nika couldn’t have said what she was doing. There hadn’t been a spare moment to account for that. She rasped the water on hot and sank into the shower seat fully clothed save her shirt; the sports bra would have put up too much of a fight so it stayed on. Shivering despite the water scalding the day away, she watched numbly as red and pink swirled down the drain.
Stubbornly, Nika fought off the exhaustion pressing down on her. She could beat it, she knew. This was not the first time she’d sprawled in a shower watching her own blood flow down a pipe. Experience said her energy levels would start to climb as the bags emptied and her body processed the goo she’d taken in. So the game was mind over matter at that point. She didn’t linger, as much as she wanted to. Hot showers were her thing...so refreshing. As soon as the water ran clear Nika stood and stripped, soaked clothes smacked wetly in the corner of the shower. Apparently that was what the other woman had been waiting for.
A stray hand parted the curtain but respectfully so, and Nika took the amber rectangle after half a second. Energy was spared for a quiet, “thank you.” She lathered up with the bar of antiseptic soap, twice, and rinsed herself clean before she squeaked off the faucets. A towel and clean clothes flopped overtop the curtain bar. Another ‘thank you’ was spared and meant. Nika’s energy meter had started to eke upward a meager percentage point at a time but it was more than she’d had to get here in the first place. She knew a plateau was in the future until she got some sleep however there were chores to tick off in the meantime.
She emerged from the shower clad in unadorned scrubs, crappy O.R. socks and a fluffy robe. The cut at her hairline had finally stopped bleeding, weirdly, only after she’d dug a corner of the soap in the thing and ow-ed it around. There was a mirror over a stainless sink and Nika glued her head shut finally, just in case. Tired legs carried her to liberate more sustenance and the tablet from the medtable.
Nika ended up slumped in a chair back to the wall, her legs propped up on the matching desk by the door. Three empty pouches of the nutrient-gu slime stuff occupied the trashcan along with the tattered remains of her t-shirt and puffer jacket. She reached into a desk drawer, plucked a loaded handgun from within and set it heavily on the surface.
Jacinda was suddenly there hand firm and in charge, but voice soft. "Sorry Amelia. You can’t have that." The fight was in the girls eyes and Jacinda smiled, brushing her forehead. "It's ok, Amelia," she whispered. "You're safe." Her eyes were soft but they wouldn't give an inch. Nor would her fingers. "I'll watch over you, Amelia Pond from IT." She hoped the name reminded her they had already worked together. Indeed, if they wanted her dead they coulda left her or, as Rune said, they coulda killed her on the couch. She smiled kindly, but forcefully. "Don't make me take it from you, sweetie. I'll make sure no one hurts you while you sleep."
She was still foggy. Or even more foggy. Maybe there’d been drugs in the bags. Nika couldn’t recall if she’d opted out of those. Nevertheless, X was there again. Had she ever left? Despite the gentle words, Nika again felt as though she’d been tased. She jerked first her hand away and then her head. Wild eyes said that was not okay. Why were these people always trying to touch her? The weapon was completely forgotten as she tried to process the words. We are never safe! Are you serious? Trust...you people? Americans and...whatever that other girl was? Instead, after breaths around her clenched teeth she whispered. “Please, do not touch me.” Of course there were reasons. Hadn’t she already asked that? Definitely drugs. Damn it. She ran a hand over her own face and took a deep breath before turning her attention to the tablet.
Jacinda placed the gun in a secure place and sat back, giving Amelia her space and time. She kinda liked the quiet of down here. She liked basements. There was something... womb like about it. Mother earth. Not that that was spiritual. She might have been. A smile smile formed. Jill. Idly she wondered what had ever happened to her. She remembered loving her. A memory of a memory. She had been so important. Occupied a part of her mind and heart. She...she didn’t actually feel love or even miss her. Like she was remembering being another person. No. This girl needed her now. Tending to her bots or whatever. She’d return to real life soon enough. Ten would take care of Rune. It was nice to count on that. Tenzin Dolma. Her partner. Damn but the world was odd. Now Rune. And Amelia. And fuck but Jacinda felt responsible. But not it a bad way. Like....she kinda liked this. No. Don’t lie. She did like this. She smiled as Amelia did her important tech work. The girl was safe, wasn't dying, wasn’t gonna kill anyone! And would sleep soon. All seemed alright with the world.
Nika felt a little better overall having sucked the blood and fluid bags dry. Meaning she wasn’t going to keel over from bleeding out. Exhaustion though? That was a possibility. Medibot’s tablet said she was alright internally except for a concussion. Wonders never ceased. Her last task before bed was to check in on the babies. SOP programming for the drones would have them covering their tracks and cleaning up any messes made so she wanted to pop in on their progress before allowing herself to rest properly. Bleary-eyed, Nika keyed into her private feed and pulled up her drone cameras.
Big Brother was doing his thing with the cleanup drones, which was good. Mater had retrieved Tennant’s bits and pieces and the broken drone itself. Why Tennant was broken was a question she was investigating while trying not to nod off. The drone’s own camera footage showed him fly into the pipe. She saw herself passed out, watched the red lights strobe in her face for a good minute until she came to. She fast forwarded through the patch and pain, no need to relive that agony, until Dark Hour. Then came the Beast...whatever it was. Tennant, bless him, had tried to scare it off. Nika watched numbly in utter disbelief as the thing lapped up her blood like the night’s menu special. Gross. It was the strangest, most surreal feeling...almost fake. It had happened though, clearly, as shown on the security feed. She heard the women outside through the video and Jesus, the thing had nearly dragged her off. That would have been an awful end. Additional thanks were in order at least. See? This is another fine example of why we don’t go on random monster hunts, stupidfuckingidiot. Alright, lesson learned. That’s what you said last time. She closed down the tablet, yawned mightily and dimmed the lights. X had taken up station in a chair nearby. Whatever.
With Jacinda Cross