Disclaimer: I don't own The Gifted.
Chapter 4
Clarice sprawled out on the motel bed, her feet near the top and her head toward the bottom. Her side was pressed up against John, who was laying in bed the correct way. He had one hand on her leg, his thumb rubbing circles in an action that was probably just as comforting for him as it was for her.
John pressed his thumb against her leg. "You should sleep."
"So should you."
"No."
"Then don't tell me to sleep."
John sighed and flopped back against the pillows, his arm stretching out and over both of her legs as he accepted momentary defeat.
Clarice could sleep later. She was busy looking at a map that John had brought back from a quick trip to the local Wal-Mart. He had used their emergency funds to buy clothes, food, and a few other essentials for the trip.
They had gotten into a minor argument about whether she and the kids would stay behind while he went to the store; John wanted them all to go, basically so he could keep an eye on everyone, while Clarice wanted the kids to get a chance to rest, especially Hope, who had finally conked out after a great deal of coaxing. Clarice had won by pointing out that someone would probably spot her or JD's eyes or the pointed ears that she and Hope sported. Plus, she could escape with them easily thanks to portals if something did happen. With extreme reluctance, John had left them behind, swearing he would be back in an hour.
It was a long hour.
While he was gone, Clarice had paced the room, ready for Sentinel Services to show up at any minute. Or what if they found John? He had the last vehicle they had stolen, maybe they were tracking that. What if Sentinel Services found John and captured him, and here she was, waiting for him to come back? What if the only reason he was captured was because she wasn't there to help him escape? Or, on the other hand, what if Sentinel Services showed up with some kind of power suppressant mutant again? What if she couldn't get the kids out and they were all taken and John came back to an empty ransacked motel room?
By the time he got back, she was a wreck from worrying. She had launched herself into his arms, and they had wound up sitting on the floor by the door for a while, his fingers buried in her hair as he held her tight.
It was only the first day. How long were they going to have to run like this?
"Where did Marcos say he and Lorna were going again?" she asked, tracing a route westward. John had managed to call a few people while he was gone before he tossed his phone. He had a new burner, one that they could only use if they absolutely had to. Which was going to make JD upset when he woke up. He wanted to call Aurora and Fern, but that was going to have to wait.
"They went south toward Corpus Christi," John said, "I think he's planning on going over the border for a while, at least until things calm down. He's got a group with him."
Clarice nodded slowly. Maybe that would be a good idea for them as well. She glanced over at the kids, lingering on the small frown JD was wearing even while he slept and the way Hope was curled into a tiny ball. Honestly, her top priority was making sure her family was safe.
"Where should we go?" She looked back at him, green eyes meeting brown.
"I think we should stick to what we've talked about," he said. They had gone over escape plans multiple times, so they already had one in place. Actually, they had a few, but there was one that they had agreed on before. "We'll go to the headquarters in Richmond, they'll be expecting us once they hear what happened. From there, we'll figure out where we can put our new headquarters." He tapped his fingers against her leg. "There're a few places…" He went quiet, trailing off as he took a deep breath.
Clarice sat up and shifted to the top of the bed where she wrapped her arms around John, pressing her cheek to his chest, hand over his heart.
She was sorry this was happening. Sorry that this had happened, sorry that years of work had been wiped out in one night. It had been their home, and they had both dedicated so much time to keeping the HQ safe and protected. And now that was over, and everyone was scattered or captured.
"I just…" He sighed and his chin dropped against her forehead, arms tightening around her.
Clarice tilted her head up to kiss his jaw. Both of them went silent, the only noise in the room coming the ancient heater in the corner that was struggling to keep the room warm.
"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked for at least the twentieth time that day.
"Yeah," she said, squeezing his arm, "I swear. I'd tell you if I wasn't."
"That was a lot of portals one after the other."
"Yeah, pretty badass, right?"
John made a noise that might've been a laugh and snuggled her closer. "Extremely badass. I just know it's not easy."
"It's not as hard as it used to be," she said. Over the years she had built up a lot of endurance, plus she had stretched her abilities. She could toss portals away from her, have more than one open at once, space them out over miles. But yeah, it still took a lot out of her, which was why she had been sleeping in the car. He hadn't slept in who knew how long.
Pulling out of his arms, Clarice pushed against John's side. "Scoot over."
He lifted an eyebrow at her but obliged, shifting more to the other side of the bed. Clarice gave a small nod, grabbed the edge of the blanket and tossed it over him so it made a John-Taco. "Nap time. I'll keep watch, you sleep."
John pushed the blanket down and away from his face. "I'm not tired."
"You sound just like your son, same whiny tone and everything," Clarice said, sitting back down on the bed, "You can't stay awake forever, you know." She drew her fingers through his hair, gently tugging the hair band out and fluffing the dark strands. "Even you have to sleep at some point."
His eyes darkened as he looked at her, but he didn't say anything. He didn't have to. She could see what he wasn't saying, that he didn't want to go to sleep, that maybe he thought he couldn't. Coming back to the HQ and seeing it like that, surrounded by Sentinel Services and under attack, must have really shaken him. It was everything he was afraid of, everything he had tried to prevent. And the fact that he wasn't there when it happened—
Hope was afraid of nightmares of the future. She got that honest, though John saw them when he was awake. It must have seemed like one of those nightmares coming true.
Clarice hummed a little, the tune of rock-n-roll song that he would recognize. She only knew it because it was one of the few that she actually tolerated.
"Are you really trying to lullaby me to sleep with 'Wayward Son?'" he asked, giving her a small, sad smile.
"Is it working?"
"Maybe a little."
"Good. Go to sleep, John. I'll take first watch."
John watched her for a few minutes and then reached out to take her hand, engulfing it with his. "I love you, Clarice."
Clarice squeezed his hand. "I love you, too." And she wasn't going anywhere.
