Here we go again...
part 7
While Emily was quick, Myka was fast. She caught up to the other woman just as she reached the end of their cabin driveway and had turned onto the muddy campground road. Dashing full tilt Myka grabbed the other woman around the waist and forced her to a halt. "Stop!"
"No! I haven't done anything! I'm just a school teacher!" Completely disproving her words, Emily instinctively grabbed Myka's left arm and twisted it while using one leg to swipe Myka's out from under her. The quick move ended with Myka laying on her back looking up the length of her own arm bent at a decidedly uncomfortable angle to meet Emily's horrified gaze.
When Emily quickly released her hold and stumbled back Myka rolled onto her knees and tried to stand up while rubbing her now sore arm. Shouting over the steady sound of rain pouring down in the secluded forest around them, "No you aren't! You aren't just a school teacher and you know it!"
Pushing soaked hair back from her face Emily stared silently into Myka's eyes reading the truth in them. Wrapping her own arms around her waist she shook her head trying to deny the dark conclusions she was reaching as Myka's words gelled with her own strange thoughts and actions since waking up with amnesia a year ago.
"You know you are more than that." Myka spoke with complete sincerity. No mater who Emily thought she was, school teacher or writer, they both knew deep in their souls that she was so very much more.
When Myka moved to touch her Emily took a step back and her hands lifted into a defensive position. "Then what the hell am I?! Huh? Who am I?!"
Realizing that her tumble to the ground had not been a fluke but Helena's muscle memory from years of defensive training protecting her even if Emily had no idea she was performing basic Kempo moves brought Myka up short. Raising her own arms in surrender as not to be a threat Myka spoke over the sound of the rain. "You are strong. And smart. You are amazing! You are all I wish I could be!" Myka's voice gentled. "You are my hero."
Seeing the soaked woman in front of her drop her stance slightly Myka carefully reached out to grasp Emily's arm letting her fingers slide down till she could wrap her fingers loosely around a thin wrist. "You are my friend."
Giving the arm in Myka's grasp a quick twist Emily reversed the woman's hold easily clamping her own fingers tightly around the wrist in her hand knowing it was leaving bruises but not seeming to care. Stepping into Myka's personal space Emily spoke fiercely. "I ran... because when I looked at your gun on the table I knew, I KNEW that I could pick it up and press it against your forehead and pull the trigger." Emily's anger was a direct result of her incredible fear of what she didn't know about herself but had begun to suspect. "I have never even seen a real gun before today! But I knew it! I could see myself doing it! So I ask again WHAT AM I?!"
Frustrated and concerned about their being out on the road despite its seeming isolation Myka decided she had had enough. Emily may have had Helena's muscle memory for self defense but Myka was a well trained Agent up to date on all her skills at taking down suspects. In a move so quick Emily didn't see it coming their arm positions were once again reversed and this time Myka spun Emily around and cinched the appendage up behind the woman's back while using her other arm to tightly grip her around the throat from behind. Speaking directly into Emily's ear she said, "I say again: you are my friend. I am here to help you. And if you would stop FREAKING OUT I will explain!" Squeezing just enough to let the woman in her arms know she meant it Myka gentled her voice but not her grip. "Will you please come back to the cabin with me?"
Literally shaking with fear and adrenalin Emily turned her head to see Myka's face over her shoulder. What she saw brought her up short. A stream of blood mixed with rain was spreading a pink stain from the taller woman's nose down her chin and onto the collar of her soaked blouse. "Your bleeding."
"What?" The unexpected words caused Myka to loosen her hold and pull back slightly.
"Your nose. Its bleeding. Did I...?"
Letting go of Emily with one hand Myka used it to touch her face looking down at her own now bloody fingertips. "No. You didn't..." In a flash Myka felt herself feeling like she was about to pass out and wavered on her feet. The only thing keeping her up in that moment was Emily who had shifted from being held captive to holding her up right. "I don't feel well..."
Protective instincts kicking in Emily began walking a stumbling Myka back toward their cabin. The closer they got the more weight Myka began putting on her till they practically fell up the steps and in the front door. Pushing Myka down on the couch Emily quickly grabbed a couple of towels from the bathroom before sitting down beside her.
Myka pressed one of the offered towels to her nose to stem the bleeding while Emily briskly began attempting to dry Myka's hair. "Stop that." Swatting at the other woman's hand Myka tried to shift away.
"Shut up and let me. You are soaked and sick and I'm... I don't know what. So just shut up." After a few minutes she let the damp towel rest over Myka's shoulders and dropped her hands limply to her lap. "Is it slowing?"
Pulling the towel away from her face Myka tilted her head back a little before replacing it. "Yeah. I think so."
They sat in silence for a few minutes eying one another over the towel pressed against Myka's face. Both soaked and tired and confused. "So am I a ninja or what?" The flat serious tone in her voice belayed the humor in Emily's words.
"No you are not." Myka checked the towel again to see the bleeding had slowed to a trickle "And you didn't do this."
"But I knocked you on your butt."
Nodding grimly, Myka sighed. "Muscle memory perhaps... You are trained in a style of martial arts called Kempo." When Emily just looked at her blankly, Myka continued. "You have trained for years in the form. Your body remembers how to do it even if your mind no longer does."
"Myka..." Emily rubbed her hands nervously on her thighs as she thought about the clues to her own life that had been revealed. "Is my amnesia, the accident, a cover story?"
"Yes."
"Heh. Well." Emily stood and paced in front of the coffee table her hand fiddling with a necklace she wasn't wearing. "So I'm a former government agent, who betrayed you, lost her memory, and then was put into witness protection."
"Something like that. Yes." Myka answered before checking the towel again. Myka tossed it onto the table in front of her when she saw her nose had stopped staining it red. She shouldn't have been surprised at how quickly Emily was wrapping her head around things. Muscle memory.
Turning to face Myka with her hands on her hips, Emily continued connecting the dots. "And now someone from my past thinks I know something and is coming to get me for the information. But you, against your superiors knowledge I suspect, have come to collect me before they can get a hold of me."
Myka had the distinct feeling she was being reprimanded by her teacher. "That pretty much sums it up."
Running a hand through her hair Emily sighed, "I seriously doubt it." Looking down at Myka's fairly pathetic countenance Emily did not feel reassured. "How are you feeling?"
Pressing one palm to her forehead Myka grimaced. "Honestly I feel terrible. Can you grab the cold medicine off the counter?"
Getting the bottle of red liquid, Emily handed it over and watched as Myka took a swig. "Is it helping?"
"It helped earlier." Shrugging, Myka flopped back against the sofa cushions feeling utterly drained. "Are you going to run again?"
Firming her shoulders, Emily reminded herself that this woman had clues to her own past. Even if so far all answers had been utterly terrifying. "No. I'm not. We had a deal Agent Bering. I come with you. You tell me about my past. So far you've been keeping up your end."
Despite her best intentions, Myka felt her head lolling back against the sofa and her eyes growing heavy. "I'm good like that."
Moving over to the sofa, Emily reached out a hand to Myka who was growing more drowsy by the minute. "Come. Get comfortable on the bed Myka. We are safe in this secluded cabin for now."
"No... I need to protect you..." Feeling herself tugged to her feet Myka let herself be pulled across the room and pushed down to sit on the edge of the bed. Watching as Emily pulled off each of her boots and socks. When the woman reached for the waist band of her jeans Myka tried to catch her hands. "No..."
"Myka, you are soaked. Take these off and I will hang them up to dry." Getting a firmly stubborn look that was actually kind of endearing, Emily grinned. "Take off your pants and I will bring you your gun."
Myka's eyes widened when she realized she had left the weapon laying on the coffee table. Glancing over Emily's shoulder the thought of crossing that distance on legs that felt like they weighed a thousand pounds was more than she could contemplate. Meeting Emily's sincere gaze she questioned in a slurred voice as each word she spoke made the throb in her head intensify, "You promise?"
Seeing acquiescence in that green gaze, Emily smiled as she proceeded to undo Myka's jeans. "Yes. I promise. You get into bed and I will bring you the gun."
Getting no more protest, Emily stripped Myka to her underwear and pushed and prodded till the sick woman was under the blankets. True to her word she got the hand gun and gingerly placed it on the night stand beside the bed. Prodding Myka till bleary eyes focused she pointed it out. "See Myka. Its right there. Now just rest okay?"
Myka nodded, but reached a uncoordinated hand out to catch Emily's forearm. "I can't loose you again."
Shifting to hold Myka's hand, Emily used the other to push damp hair away from Myka's face. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
