Chapter One: Lift Me Up (The Afters)

Author note: This story is the twenty-sixth in the Magical Flashpoint series. It follows "The Kindness of Strangers".

The chapter titles for this one are a bit different. Each one is a song title, with the artist who performed that song in parenthesis. This story is not a series of song-fics; let me be clear on that point. That being said, I did have a reason for picking each song and artist; some chapters took a lot of time and thought to name properly.

Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.

It was late on a Wednesday night and Greg Parker was just grateful he'd managed to get home and to bed at a decent hour. The kids had been shooed off to bed and he'd enjoyed a rare quiet half-hour before deciding to turn in himself. He was part-way there when he stopped, startled by the sound of the water on in the bathroom. It wasn't completely unusual for his nipotes to sneak in for a late-night bath or shower, but after the time he'd caught 'Lanna in there at two in the morning on a school night, he'd forbidden them from indulging during the week. Neither had given him any static or trouble over the decision…until now.

So, with a frown, the Sergeant reversed his course and headed for the bathroom, planning a few stern words and maybe a consequence for the next day or so. Then he got close enough to hear another sound…someone throwing up; he bolted for the room, annoyance and irritation vanishing in a heartbeat. Without a smidge of regard for privacy, he pulled the door open to see Alanna in the bathtub with the water running; she was throwing up again and looked positively miserable. He hustled to her side and pulled her hair back, understanding now why she'd opted for the tub…easier clean up. She barely acknowledged him at first as she heaved, her body still throwing up even though there was nothing left.

When she stopped, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the tile, he asked, "You okay?"

"No." Miserable and plaintive, with a touch of 'it hurts, make it stop'. "My head hurts." As if to emphasize the point, she clutched it as soon as she pulled back from the cool tiled wall. A soft whimper rose from the girl.

"Tell me."

Another whimper. "It feels like I stuck it in a vise," Alanna managed before another bout of heaving wracked her slender frame. Greg braced her as best he could from outside the tub and tried to think. When the heaving stopped, she leaned her head against his arm, a pleading look in violet eyes.

"All right, just…just hang in there." He wanted to panic, but that wouldn't help. "You stay here as long as you need to; don't worry about school tomorrow. I'll get you a bowl for when the water runs cold."

She nodded without looking up and then started heaving again. Reluctant, Greg stood and headed for the kitchen to locate a big enough bowl or plastic tub for her to use. He headed back with his chosen container and waited until the water ran cold and Alanna made her slow, careful way out of the tub. Usually perky eyes looked dull and pained…even her hair hung low and limp as he helped her into the living room and got her on the couch with the tub he'd found. Hardly had he gotten her settled when she grabbed the tub and started heaving into it, bringing up precious little, but the act itself exhausted her.

Greg debated calling an ambulance for her, but finally decided to wait until morning and see how she was doing then. "Get some sleep," he urged her before heading off to bed at last…if she was still sick in the morning, he'd call in and get himself a few days off.

It hurt; hurt so bad that she wondered dimly why Uncle Greg thought she could get any sleep. It had started so suddenly too…she'd gone to bed, tucked herself under the covers and started going to sleep when it hit; a headache worse than any she'd ever had before in her entire life. And nausea…she'd pushed it down at first, but when she felt it start pushing at her, she'd bolted out of bed and headed for the bathroom as fast as she could go. The tub had been easy; water to clean the mess up, water to clean her up, and maybe it was just a one-time thing. Except it hadn't been…she'd barely been able to stop once she'd started and her head hurt so much.

When Uncle Greg found her, she'd been too miserable to even look at him…never mind feel embarrassed about a guy, in the bathroom, with the shower curtain open. The warm water had helped, a little, but it couldn't last forever. When it finally ran cold, she'd been grateful that he'd helped wrap her in a towel, then into her pajamas, and supported her to the living room and the couch. Her head still felt like it was about to split open and she silently begged the mental jackhammers and workmen to stop…it hurt, it hurt, it hurt. When she didn't need the bucket, she clutched her head, and when she needed the bucket, her head throbbed and hurt even more. She was shaking and trembling and it felt like all her strength was being spent heaving absolutely nothing into the blasted bucket on her lap.

The night passed in a long, miserable blur and when a semiconscious state finally took hold, all she could think was, Why am I still awake?

Greg made sure he was up before Lance, heading to his nipote's room and warning him that Alanna wasn't feeling well and to be as quiet as possible around her. Lance nodded acknowledgment and hustled through the rest of his morning routine. As Greg trailed away, he mused on the fact that whatever Alanna had, Lance didn't look sick at all. An uneasy feeling crawled up his spine as he reached the kitchen and started scanning for something his niece could eat without throwing back up.

"Alanna!"

Greg shot out of the kitchen at his nephew's alarmed cry; when he reached the living room, he found a scene straight out of his nightmares. Alanna was face-down on the floor, sprawled between the couch and the hallway; she'd clearly fallen off the couch at some point during the night. The tub she'd been using had rolled away and fetched up against the coffee table; Greg gave silent thanks that Alanna hadn't fallen on the table herself. Worst of all, she wasn't responding to her brother's frantic efforts to wake her; Greg bulled the boy aside without any hesitation and rested two fingers against her pulse. He sagged in sheer relief when he felt it throb under his fingers and a faint moan came from the girl.

"Alanna, sweetheart, can you hear me?" Greg prodded. "Come on; open your eyes for me." No response. The Sergeant jerked upright enough to signal his nephew; Lance nodded and launched himself at the nearby phone. Greg tuned out the 911 call and focused on trying to get his niece to respond. She made a few incoherent sounds and feebly tried to shift, but it was clear she was in trouble. It was also clear that her head still hurt, judging by the way, even now, she tried to clutch it. He didn't move from her side until the paramedics arrived and assessed her. A few frantic plans ran through his head as he watched the paramedics ease a backboard underneath his niece and lift her up onto their stretcher. "Lance, go with her," he ordered briskly. "I'll be right behind you…Metro General?" he questioned one of the paramedics.

"Yeah," the paramedic confirmed. "He can ride with us."

Lance scrambled to keep up as the paramedics hustled Alanna out of the apartment, leaving Greg behind to lock up. Greg drew a breath and detoured to the kitchen to grab his phone and his keys. As he locked the apartment and raced for the elevator, he thumbed out a message and sent it to his entire team:

LANNA IN HOSPITAL
NOT IN TODAY
UPDATE WHEN ABLE
-GREG

Author note: And we're off to the races! For a Real Life update: we've finished our final projects, except for the presentations, so really, now it's studying and interviews. Our trainer wants to dive into the next tier of certification, but several of us would like some more experience with our current level of certification before we head for higher ground. So we'll see how that goes. As far as the interviews we've already had, aside from a vague 'most people did well', we haven't really had any feedback.

Please do read and review...this story is probably the biggest personal risk I've taken since I started this whole series and I'd really like the feedback.