I'd like to start off with a MASSIVE thank you, to everyone reading this! I haven't been this excited about writing anything in a very long time, and its because random strangers half way across the world are reading it-I think that is SO COOL! OMG! I just wanted to share that with everyone :)
This chapter was a lot longer than the other two as I decided to cover a few more characters and move the story along, and I'm hoping it didn't have a negative effect on the story. But please feel free to tell if it did.
Also I'll mention that the entirety of the story so far covers the same ten minutes or so of real time, and I'm hoping that the story still flows with how I've portrayed it. If it doesn't, please et me know.
Insert disclaimer here, no spoilers as far as I know, italics=previously spoken dialogue.
Please enjoy :)
...
Chapter Three
The hardness of the floor became painfully apparent as Kate sluggishly wandered back into consciousness. The fact that she was on the floor was a bit concerning, but the mother of all headaches hit her frontal lobe, and the memory of the SuperAbnormal's knee connecting with her skull came flooding back. Alongside with the realisation that she was still alive, she decided the floor didn't seem to be so bad a place at the moment.
"Mom, you don't have to be afraid anymore."
It was barely a whisper by the time it reached the aural components of Kate's barely functioning brain, and it wasn't a voice she recognised. But it was a voice none the less, and it jump-started her nerve receptors, forcing them to operate. Her body protested as she fought to sit up and open her eyes, but the scene they fell upon was not at all what she'd expected. Instead of Magnus having it out with the SuperAbnormal, there were two figures kneeling on the floor encased in each other's arms with two dead SuperAbnormals lying seeming forgotten a few feet away.
Kate attempted to process the scene playing out in front of her, with great difficulty. The blond SuperAbnormal she'd just let a rocket launcher on was; one, alive and two, hugging Magnus. The woman she'd just attempted to kill. Talk about jumping ship at the last moment.
The sound of sobbing finally registered with Kate, and then it hit her. The blond one must have been Magnus' daughter. 'Oh, what was her name? Ashley, that was it,' she smiled to herself as she realised she was snooping on a family reunion. Not wanting to interject into the moment happening on the floor, she attempting to sneak away quietly.
She realised she needn't have bothered attempting silence by the time she reached the exit of the main lab. Mother and Daughter were so wrapped up inside the cocoon of arms around one another that even a stampede of rabid Neanderthals wouldn't have disturbed them.
…
Will, Henry and the Big Guy scrambled towards the exit of the base level of the Sanctuary once the EM shield and outer defense systems were back online. "We need to find the other SuperAbnormals, and quick," Will was always one to state the obvious. "And we need to get to Magnus." The others agreed, already pelting towards the elevator, ducking and weaving the numerous obstacles that littered the basement.
The three stood in silence, panting heavily, taking a second to catch their breath as the elevator headed towards the main level before rushing to get out and practically falling over each other as the doors opened. Henry and Will raced ahead leaving Big to bring up the rear, only to narrowly miss smashing into Kate as they rounded a corner.
"Man, what are you doing here?" a bewildered Henry asked Kate, who hadn't quite managed to dodge them and was now on the floor, "We thought you'd be outta here a-sap."
"Figured I should stick around for the party and all, what with the pretty little family reunion they've got going on back there," grumbled Kate as Will offered her a hand up, jerking her head towards the entrance to the main lab.
"Yeah, sure. Wait, WHAT?" Will double took as the dots connected, only to find Henry had already taken off and disappeared from sight at a speed that left the others wondering if werewolves could teleport.
"Yeah, Blondie and the Boss were sharing a sweet little moment, so I left…Hey! Wait up," she yelled after Will and the Big Guy as they pelted after Henry.
….
The sight that met Henry's eyes as he reached the archway of the lab forced him to a dead stop, his brain attempting to process it all, 'Ashley, she's alive!' His mind rejoiced at the thought, his body barely able to contain his relief. There she was, kneeling on the floor in Magnus' arms. Blood soaked and tear stricken, but she was there, she was alive! The old Ashley was back, it had to be. Otherwise the Doc would have been torn to shreds. And he was pretty certain that the SuperAshley gang didn't tolerate crying.
"Ashley?" He crocked, voice wavering with emotions as he moved towards the two women. The two women pulled apart almost in shock and turned towards him, evidently having not heard his approach, or that of Will or the Big Guy who'd just caught up with Kate lagging behind. And once again the Sanctuary held its breath as the seconds dragged on. Henry and Ashley met eyes, the sickening shade of purple flicked through-out hers causing a knot in his intestines and his stomach to clench.
"Henry…"
The stillness was broken as Henry dived towards the blond, wrenching her off the floor, flipping in mid-air and landing on his back with her on top. A blur of moving limbs ended in a bone crunching hug that rivaled Magnus' in intensity, until Henry's hands found her face and pulled her into a kiss she returned with a degree of vigour that cause the witnesses to divert their gaze. Well, more so Will and Kate to look away awkwardly and shuffle their feet, Big Guy to look around knowingly with a hint of pride and Magnus to just look with her mouth agape.
'She came back. Ashley came back," was the only coherent thought passing though Henry's mind. Other than the feeling of his lips on her, his hands on her hips, hers in his hair and the rate his heart was beating. He was quite certain that if it increased he'd die of a heart attack right then and there, a thought mirrored by Ashley.
The pain and anguish the two friends had felt over the past weeks poured out in a whirlwind of relief as they deepened the kiss. Their tongues battled for supremacy, both relishing the warmth of the others mouth, their taste, their scent. Reveling in the presence of their bodies pressed together, lying on the floor and the fact that they were very much alive. Eventually they pulled away and locked eyes, slightly breathless but overjoyed, understanding absolutely everything inside their childhood friend's head.
Then they realised they weren't the only ones staring, the entire room was gawking at the two. Blushing profusely, Henry untangled himself from Ashley, helping her and Magnus to their feet and proceeded to stare at the floor as Ashley wiped away the dampness that remained on her cheeks and turned to smile at her friends and family.
Once again she was assaulted by those she loved. The Big Guy grabbed her, whirling her around like he did once upon a time in her childhood before placing her gently back down on the ground as Ashley giggled. With a gleam in his eyes, he grunted, "Good Girl," and ruffled her hair, the closest they got to the unofficial 'we're pals' slap over the head.
Will almost head-butted her as he ensnared Ashley in a comparably gentle hug, beginning to form a sentence before she cut him off, a smile still present in her eyes, "You know I don't do the whole talking thing, so don't bother offering," correctly guessing what Will had been about to offer. Some people were just wonderfully predictable.
Any doubt the Will had about whether or not it was all Ashley in there evaporated, regardless of the unnerving purple present in her eyes. A smile broke over his face as he tightened the hug briefly before releasing her, so happy to have his friend and college back.
Then Ashley notices the chick who hit her with the rocket launcher lurking on the outskirts of the group, nudging one of the SuperAbnormals curiously with her boot. 'I don't know if I should thank her or kick her arse for that,' she thought as she focused her attention on the stranger intending to get a name for the face.
"Looks like you guys missed each other a WHOLE lot," the female smirked, glancing at the still silent Henry, interrupting Ashley's assessment and causing Henry's blush to spread beyond his face to his entire body, if such a thing was possible.
'Kick her arse,' Ashley decided, 'but not right now, now is…a bad…time…' her train of thought trailing as her ears roared and the floor rushed to meet her face before there was just blackness.
...
So, what did you think? I feel like a broken record here, but feedback is always appreciated :)
And a huge thank you to those who have already shown your support with pretty review and words of encouragment, you're lovely :D
And I'd just like to share the fact that my breath was just viable, and my toes are purple even though I'm wearing socks. I'm sitting at my computer, inside my room. Thats how cold it is-INSIDE MY HOUSE. Do not appreciate :(