A Broken Bird
She climbs into his life faster than he really thinks she ought to. Post-Fall of Five, Nine/Seven, hints of Six/John/Sarah. One-Shot.
Nine groans when he feels Marina's cold hands on his torso, over his broken ribs.
She doesn't speak, no one has really said anything since they left the marshlands and settled in this crappy motel, but he thinks he can hear her shushing him. His teeth grit as his ribs knit together.
He's still in shock about Eight's death. He can still feel his newest tattoo burning his leg. Maybe it's because he knows it's his fault. It should have been him.
When he looks up and sees the cold fury in Marina's eyes as she heals him, it's like the scar burns even worse than when he first got it.
-8-8-8-
When they reunite with the others, everyone seems to notice the change in Marina.
She doesn't smile. She doesn't laugh. She eats like a bird.
Nobody talks about it. Everyone understands.
There's a huge argument between John and Sarah where John tries to drop Sarah from the group, because it's as if he realizes that people die in war, but Sarah wins when almost everyone takes her side.
Marina doesn't participate. She simply watches from the sidelines. Nine is positive he's the only one that notices.
-8-8-8-
Marina becomes a demon in training. When they aren't on the move, Marina is honing her Cryokinesis. She has taken to carrying a water skin on her back for creating ice, just in case there is no other source of water in battle. For combat, she often trains with Nine and Adam.
The next time they play capture the flag in a forest, Nine is in the opposing team, in charge of defending. Marina is the one that arrives to take the flag, and he is surprised at how lethal she's gotten. He ends up frozen to a tree while she collects her victory and races back to her side.
When they shake hands just for sportsmanship, Nine finds himself holding on for a second more than necessary.
-8-8-8-
Nine is the first to suffer at the hands of her next offensive legacy. They are doing combat training by the river, Nine barks out motivational insults and she simply dances around his punches and tries to get through his defense.
She swings her arm to punch at him, but when he avoids it by ducking, and says something like 'is that all you got?' the water begins to bubble. As if by pure wild instinct, she thrusts her hand up, and the water grabs him and pulls him in. When he breaks the surface, gasping for air, Adam, who is training with them, laughs. After clawing himself back onto dry land, Nine starts laughing too.
Marina almost – almost – smiles, but then she bites her lip and turns away.
Nine realizes how much he wishes to see her smile.
-8-8-8-
When they go to rescue Ella, it is Nine and Marina that are sent in to collect her while the others distract the Mogs. Nine is allowed to hold her hand so they can walk on the ceiling, and they arrive in Ella's cell with no trouble. Mostly because any Mogs that are there to notice them get the mog-to-dust treatment.
It's then that the real problems arise. Nine opens the door with a quick flick of his wrist, and she runs in, poised for battle, when they realize who is in there with Ella.
Marina discovers how far the power of Aquakinesis extends when she controls the water in Five's blood and slams him into the wall. Nine gapes as Marina stands there, hands in a clawing type of motion, and controls Five using his blood.
She looks kind of hot when she's inflicted by blind fury – but Nine quickly reminds himself that he isn't allowed to think that, especially while Marina is facing the one who killed Eight in the first place. Five is yelling and crying as blood begins to come out of his ears and eyes, but it's like Marina doesn't notice or care. Its Ella's yelling that brings Marina out of her blind rage, and Five collapses to the ground, shaking, as she releases him from her grip.
The rescue mission succeeds with few injuries – John's ribs are broken, Sam's chest is shredded, and Adam has a knife in his arm and leg, but Marina takes care of them quickly enough,
They decide that, instead of finding some motel to stay in overnight, just to go camping. They light a campfire and enjoy a simple conversation about what it could be like if they were normal teenagers with normal lives. It's him who cracks the joke that brings on her first smile in weeks, and it gives him a strange sense of satisfaction.
-8-8-8-
That very night, they have their first real conversation – one that doesn't involve fighting or planning. He's been put on first watch while everyone else sleeps, and he's kind of falling asleep himself when Marina suddenly sits up.
He starts, a rush of adrenaline putting him back on alert.
"I thought you were asleep," he says.
She shakes her head. "I can't."
"Oh," he says. He wonders if she's too caught up thinking about what she did to Five. "If you're still thinking about that thing you did with Five's blood," he drawls, "then don't worry about it. I thought that it was awesome. And Five deserved it."
She looks at him, eyes searching his face as if to gauge the truth of his words. Then she looks down at her hands, like she can't believe that they hold so much power. She bites her lip and turns around, stepping over the sleeping bodies of the others.
"Woah, woah, woah," he stands. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To be alone," she replies.
"You can be perfectly alone right here," he replies. "It's way too dangerous for you to go by yourself. Everyone's asleep, I won't say a word, and you can just sit back and pretend that none of us exist."
She sighs, as if deciding that there's no point in arguing. Surprisingly enough, she walks towards him and sits right by his side, staring at the dying embers of the campfire.
Their arms are just brushing against each other, the barest of touches, but he can feel the iciness radiating off of her.
They sit in silence, just staring at the trees.
"Do you really think that it was okay?" she finally asks, breaking the silence. "That weird blood stuff? It makes me feel weird…like it's not right…"
Nine looks at her, and their noses are only an inch apart. "Marina, I assure you. That cool blood shit that you pulled with Five is the awesomest thing I have ever seen in my life."
She ducks her head and turns her face away.
"Besides, Five was so terrified – he was crying like a little girl," he says.
She laughs. It's a weak laugh, a shadow of what her laugh used to be, but Nine finds himself entranced in the ringing, musical, sound.
He'd like to hear it again, some day.
-8-8-8-
Things seem to lighten up between them after that and, soon enough, they are forced to share a motel room. Sarah is rooming with John, as usual, Six is sharing with Ella, Adam is sharing with Sam, which leaves just the two of them to share the fourth room.
The conversation starts with Marina saying, "I'll sleep above the sheets. You sleep bellow them."
"I could just sleep on the floor," he replies, feeling slightly strange about sharing a bed.
"No. The floor is uncomfortable," she says dismissively, as if she isn't cowed about sharing a bed at all.
Nine nods. "I guess so, then, Ms Sea Princess."
She nods, takes off her shoes and lies down on the bed, showing him her back. "Turn off the light before you go to sleep."
He gulps and nods, before taking off his shirt. He's never shared a bed with a girl before. It's a small bed, too.
He's close enough to smell her hair, to feel the cold air that she almost always radiates.
He thinks about how she was before Eight died, nice and happy and gentle. He's suddenly struck with the fear that she hates him because he was supposed to die that fateful night. It is his fault.
"Marina," he says suddenly. "Marina, are you still awake?"
She doesn't answer, which means she probably isn't. He sighs and closes his eyes to sleep.
When she can hear his breathing slow into soft snores, and she knows that he's sleeping, she inclines her head to him.
"Yes," she whispers. "I'm always awake."
-8-8-8-
Nine is delivered back from a serious mission – setting a Mog base ablaze (he had to come. Revenge, next to the sea, is one of his favorite things) – with his chest torn to shreds by some weird creature with poisonous claws. John and Adam – the two who accompanied him – drag him to her and deposit him into her care by practically dropping him into her lap.
Nine growls in pain and grabs her wrists when Marina places her cold hands on his chest. She lets him hold onto her with a grip tight enough to bruise, because she understands the pain of healing, and the skin above his heart begins to knit together under her fingertips. The claws came so close.
So did her healing.
-8-8-8-
Nine comes down with a fever as an after effect of the poison, and Marina, who is the only other medic in the group aside from John (who is too busy getting caught up in his stupid love triangle with Six and Sarah), takes care of him. She sits by him while he sleeps, brings him his food and water, and takes his temperature every few hours.
There is no human medicine strong enough to help him, and Marina's legacy healing doesn't do fevers, so they just have to wait it out.
On day three of his poison induced fever; his hand suddenly lashes out at her while she's checking his temperature. She's got her hand pressed to his cheek, and he grabs her by the wrist.
"Marina," he whispers, and maybe the talking is hurting his throat, but he needs to say this. "Marina, I'm sorry about Eight. I know that it was my fault and – and –"
He falters, tears welling in his eyes. "I was supposed to die that night. The blade was meant for me," he finishes weakly.
"It wasn't your fault, Nine," Marina replies, and her face looks a lot more like it used to. Gentle, comforting and warm. Maybe it's because he's sick. Maybe if he was in perfect health, Marina would look at him with her cold eyes and just stand in the shadows while everyone else takes care of his break down. "Five was the one holding the blade. Eight died by Five's hands, not yours."
If it were someone else trying to tell him this, it would seem empty to him. But, because it's Marina, and she's the one he feels like he's wronged, her words lift a huge burden off his shoulders. She gently wipes away his tears with the hand that he isn't holding, but more quickly come to replace it. For the first time in his whole life, the cold feeling that her hands bring to his skin is almost welcoming.
He begins to sob. The sound, to him, is quite pity inspiring. He doesn't know what it is to her. She's always been hard to read.
He's unsure if it's just fever that's making him so emotional, so open with his feelings and pain, but when Marina leans forward and puts her arms around him, and his face is in her hair, smelling that beautiful sea smell that she always radiates, he realizes that he doesn't really care.
-8-8-8-
He notices his feelings for her soon after he comes back from his illness. He's a little embarrassed about his break down, and he's glad that Marina hasn't told anyone about it. But, most of all, he's elated about the fact that him and Marina begin to settle into a friendly sort of state.
That's how he realizes that he like-likes her. Whenever he's not around her, he feels strange and heavy. He finds himself getting tingles up his arm whenever they touch, even if it's her punching him. When they have their next skirmish with the Mogs, he finds himself defending her to the point that, when the battle is done, whilst she is ultimately unscathed, he has to get a gash in his thigh, a broken nose, and all his broken ribs fixed before he can even think about celebrating their victory.
Everyone notices.
-8-8-8-
They finally settle into an abandoned warehouse in downtown Manhattan three weeks later.
They clean it out and prepare it for accommodation as best as they can. It's not as good as the penthouse (Nine makes a fake sobbing sound and says that nothing will ever be able to replace it), but really, nobody minds. Everyone's just glad that they can stop motel hopping. Sure, they have to go to the nearby public swimming pool for showers, but it's worth it as long as they have some place to stay.
Besides, Sam points out at dinner one night, it's a bit like a secret hide out.
No one really blinks an eye when Sarah and John announce that they'll be sharing a room, but everyone seems to turn their head when Nine volunteers to room with Marina. It seems only natural. They share a room almost every time that they stay in a motel.
Everyone (even Nine) seems even more surprised when Marina agrees.
-8-8-8-
It's John who finally confronts him about her. Nine hasn't really noticed how obvious he's been about Marina, but John coming up to him and basically revealing that the whole house talks about them behind their backs makes him wonder if Marina's noticed.
He starts the conversation up with a straight-to-the-point "This is a war, Nine. We might not all survive this."
Nine rolls his eyes. "I'm aware of that, Johnny. Your point?"
"Everyone agrees that you should tell her," he replies, voice solemn.
Nine freezes. "What are you talking about?"
Of course he knows what John's talking about.
"You know what I mean," he says, before turning and walking away. He stops at the door, not even turning. "Don't hold it off any longer, Nine. You don't know when the next battle will be, or who will survive it. You should let her know."
Nine can't help but feel a sense of dread at his words.
-8-8-8-
As if to prove John right, two days later, Marina almost dies.
They are forced to battle some kind of huge beast (no one knows what it is) when it attacks the base. All anyone knows is that it's very big, very dangerous, and it has very sharp claws.
Marina only turns away for a second, distracted when Six is violently thrown into a wall, but a second is all this creature needs.
It rakes her all the way across her back from her shoulder to the front of her hip, deep enough to scrape against the bone. Nine cries out, and there's a strange tug in his stomach. He discovers his next Legacy when he thrusts an arm up and a huge spike comes up from the rocky ground, impaling the beast right through the gut.
Everyone seems to stop what they're doing as the beast gives one last roar and dies.
Nine doesn't pay attention. He immediately races to Marina's side.
The scratch is deep enough to need stitches, and the fact that she so pale and unconscious makes him panic. He tucks one arm behind her back, trying to be as gentle as possible, and the other behind her knees, before lifting her up. His eyes search frantically for John, and he sees him, tending to Six. Nine kicks up dust as he races over to them, and he arrives just on time, as John finishes up with Six and leans back.
Nine practically drops Marina into his lap, tearing open the back of her shirt, to help him get to the wound.
"Heal her," he orders, voice demanding. He totally ignores the knowing look that Six, who is staring at them from her place on the floor, gives him. His attention is focused solely on Marina.
John doesn't ask any questions. He places his hands on her wound and lets his Legacy do the work.
Everyone else runs up to the trio, panting. Sam has a mess of bruises and scratches on his stomach and arms, Adam's leg has a scratch large enough to need stitches, and Sarah has a swollen wrist. Malcome is seemingly unharmed.
When Marina's wound is fully healed, Nine lets out a breath he had no idea he was holding.
-8-8-8-
He finally takes John's advice (kinda) when he catches her in the training room at one in the morning, practicing her aquakinesis and watching some kind of kid's cartoon on the low quality TV that Nine bought for when he got bored (it was an investment that John was purely and utterly opposed to, but when did Nine ever listen to John?). They were scared that getting cable would send out a signal to the Mogs, so they just got a DVD player instead.
He stands at the door, staring at her go through a bunch of forms, controlling the water. The reason he's awake is because he couldn't really sleep, too busy thinking about Marina's near-death experience.
"What are you watching?" he asks, eyes directed at the TV.
Marina jumps, and the water she's been carefully controlling drops to the ground.
"Nine!" she yelps. "I was just practicing. I saw this box set of this kid's cartoon in a video shop and I – ugh – thought the water-bending girl could help me with my aquakinesis. It's actually really interesting."
She seems slightly embarrassed about needing a kid's show to help her with her legacies. "And she can do that stuff with the blood, too."
Nine raises a brow. He remembers that cartoon – sort of. He'd watched the trailers for it back when Sandor was still alive.
"Are you watching Avatar?" he asks.
"Yeah – umm – it's a good show," she says. She nods, as if she's convinced herself.
He nods. "Seems like good practice. Do they work?"
She shrugs. "Well, I've just learned how to sink a ship – and Season One taught me this really cool water whip, and I learnt how to control plants and stuff. Water is like the blood of the plants."
He walks in, slow steps. "You need to learn to use them on moving targets. Why don't you give me a go? Let's see if you can land a whip on this baby."
He flexes his muscles.
Marina rolls her eyes. "I bet I can. 'This baby' is a lot more slow than he thinks."
"Then you shouldn't have a problem landing a hit," he says, dismissively. "Now help me move the TV back. I don't want it to be ripped to shreds, especially after it took so long to convince Johnny to get one in the first place. I've seen you with those water slicers of yours – you're like a demon with the aquakines – AGH!"
He yells out, startled as he feels something crack against his ass. He was so caught up in himself that he didn't even notice her getting into position.
He gapes at her, and she smirks back. "I win."
"Mm-hm, yeah. I don't think so," he says, forgetting about the TV. Before she can even react, he races up to her and tackles her.
She cries out in surprise as the both of them hit the ground, Nine on top, and they slide backwards. They lie there for a few seconds afterwards, Nine's panting hanging in the air. His head is on her chest, his arms encircling her stomach, and everything else is silent.
He can hear her heart beating, steady, hammering. He feels a strange sense of relief that her heart is still beating at all – especially with that close brush with death.
And then they burst out laughing, and Marina's laugh so much more electric than before. They laugh and laugh and laugh, and every time they stop, they just start up again.
"Foul play," she says after the fit of laughter is finally over. She's trying to catch her breath, and his head moves up and down with her chest. "But I suppose it's fair."
He pushes himself up with his arms and legs, caging her against the floor with his body. He can't get over how pretty she looks lying beneath him – hair fanned out on the floor boards, beautiful, icy eyes staring back at him, and tears of laughter sliding down her temples.
He wants to kiss her, so bad, but before the message can even transport from his brain to his muscles, her hands shoot out and she grabs him round the shoulders, pulls him down, and rolls on top, throwing one leg over his stomach so she's straddling him.
She looks down at him, smirking, her hair hanging around her face. "My turn," she says, voice smug.
He blinks at her for a few seconds, staring up at her beautiful, beautiful face, trying to restrain himself, before he finally reacts (fuck consequences – he always has). He lifts his head up, grabs her face between his hands, and brings it down to crash her lips against his.
He's always expected her lips to be cold, but he's surprised when her lips burn against his, unmoving. He's caught her off guard, obviously. Dialogue from the cartoon is ringing in his ears, something about being someone's forever girl, and it's mixing with her laugh which seems to still be echoing in the room.
Over all of that, however, he can hear his cry of "NO!" before the blade came down and sliced through Eight's chest.
She grabs his wrists weakly as the both fall back onto the ground, and she seems like she's trying to pull him away but her body is protesting. He feels her lips begin to dance against his, and he's slightly surprised (with a touch of happiness) when she opens her mouth for his tongue.
He doesn't know how long they lie there, just kissing, when she finally draws away, panting. He stares up at her swollen lips, disappointed that it ended so quickly.
"Marina," he finally says, eyes meeting hers. Say it, Nine. Stop being a Goddamn coward and say the words.
She shakes her head, eyes wide, before pushing herself back and standing up. She turns and walks out the door without another word, leaving him there to stare after her, cursing his stupidity and cowardess.
-8-8-8-
Their relationship goes downhill from there.
The downhill sail officially starts with her moving out of their room and sleeping on the floor in Ella and Six's room.
They stop talking, they stop hanging out, and, most of all, they stop training together. It seems like she can't even be in the same room with him anymore. Every time that he enters the room, she leaves.
They seem to fall into a special routine that helps them stay away from each other at all times. Their only interactions involve lingering looks and a lot of brushing shoulders.
Nine silently curses himself for kissing her. Another consequence that he should have thought of before making a move.
It's only a week before the final show down with Setrakus when someone confronts him again. He's more surprised about the who then the why.
He's training with the punching bag (not an actual punching bag – it's actually just a bag of clay hanging from the ceiling), punching it hard enough to break the skin on his knuckles.
"Nine," she says, from the door way.
It's Ella.
Nine turns to her. "What's happening?" he asks.
"You're gonna lose Marina completely. That's what's happening." Ella says, and he's surprised at her bluntness.
"What are you talking about?" he asks.
Ella rolls her eyes. "If you don't make your move soon enough, Nine, you're going to lose Marina to someone else. You're not the only one who gives her longing looks. You're not the only one who almost had a panic attack when she got clawed by that beast."
Nine narrows his eyes, not at her, but at the thought of this other guy who wants her.
"I made my move. She didn't want it."
Ella sighs, rolling her eyes. "You're an idiot, you know that?" she asks.
Nine is taken aback, more at the bluntness of her words than really at what she's actually saying. "Excuse me?"
"You're so clueless. She's scared, you idiot. The first guy that she loved died. She doesn't want to go through that pain again. You have to coax her out of the shell that she's built around herself – you need to reassure her."
And with that, she turns and leaves.
Nine stares at her long after she's gone.
-8-8-8-
It's the night before the battle when they finally talk with each other.
Much to his surprise, it is her that comes to him.
"Adam talked to me," she says, not dancing around anything. He looks up from what he is doing (trying to work out some stupid human contraption called a Rubik's cube) and jumps.
"Marina," he says, surprised. It's so funny that she's here, especially because he's been thing about what Ella said.
"He told me…a lot of things," she says, twiddling her thumbs.
He's too shocked about the fact that she's here to say anything. More than anything, he's a bit hopeful.
"About the kiss…Nine…" she trails off, looking a bit unsure. Ella was wrong. I don't have a chance with her. She's still not over Eight. The kiss was a mistake.
"I get it," he says, cursing himself over and over for hoping the impossible. "You only see me as a brother, you're still not over Eight and you never wan – "
"I liked it," she cuts him off, looking straight at him.
A nice mixture of surprise and elation blooms. "You did?"
She bites her lip and nods. "Ugh…yeah. I kinda did. It was a nice kiss. Like….a really nice kiss."
"I love you," he replies.
It spills out without rhyme or reason, and the way she looks at him makes him curse himself again. What's even stranger is the offhand way he says it, like he's saying 'pass the salt' or something.
She stands staring at him for a moment before she finally reacts. She's a blur as she runs up to Nine's bed, tackles him, and crushes her lips against his.
It's a sloppy, ravishing kiss, full of passion and need, but Nine doesn't mind.
He loves the feeling of her lips against his.
They both might die tomorrow, he thinks. They all might die. All hope for Lorien and Earth might die.
But, when Marina whispers the words – those three words – against his lips (the wonderful sensation of them echoing against his tongue will never truly leave him), he finds that he doesn't really care.
A/N: Omg, this took me three days to write. I'm sorry for mistakes (those are kind of frequent with me – just tell me if you find any and I'll try to correct them asap) and I hope you enjoyed!
There might be a spin-off – one in Marina's POV, or the POV of the other guy who liked her (the one Ella was talking about) but I'm still thinking about it. Will get back to you on that one.
If you liked this, I'm also writing a Nine/Seven multichapter called 'the Wrath of Seven'. It's a sequel to Fall of Five. Oh, and I'm working on another one (rated M) called Dark Souls, also Nine/Seven. It's kind of dark, and in Nine's POV.
Anyway, R&R!
Edit 24/11/13: i found an inconsistency. i hope no one noticed. ouo
Disclaimer: I don't own Lorien Legacies. I will never have any chances of owning any such content of the Lorien Legacies series. (if I did, it wouldn't be as good as it is now. And Nine and Seven would probably be cannon. And it would be rated M. And the first book would have been called 'I Am Number Seven' and be centered around Seven because she's my fav female character.