10. Science & Secrecy
The main room of the research area was definitely not among the nicest places Fox had visited during her time in the Commonwealth. Due to the lack of circulation, the air felt damp and thick, weighing down on her as she paced back and forth. Danse was sitting on a nearby sofa, visibly relieved that she was at least not panicking anymore.
After the hysteria of being locked in had died down, Fox had quickly launched into another wave of panic as she realised their backpacks had been left behind in the dressing room. These kinds of emotional rollercoasters usually made her feel tired, but this time the adrenaline made her feel on the edge as she measured the room with sharp steps.
"You're absolutely sure you don't want to take it from here?" she asked again, deep lines of worry on her forehead.
"Absolutely. This is your mission. I will only take over in case of a situation with an imminent threat where my level of experience would be needed. You can find a way to solve this, just think." He sounded more confident than she expected him to be.
It must be killing him though, being stuck in here with me. If what Brandis told me is true, he will be judged on this as much as I am. I guess it would reflect really badly on him to be killed on the first mission where the Knight he trained took the lead. Hell, it would reflect very badly on me as well to die here. Guess I should try not to do that.
"Whenever you need my assistance on anything, just give the command. Otherwise I will remain observing." Danse's words snapped her out of her thoughts. Yes, let's get started with finding a way out… I was in no way thinking about us both dying in here. Because that would be damn morbid.
"Alright, this machine here obviously has something to do with whatever they were researching in this lab." She was talking more to herself than him, trying to come up with a plan. "So the terminals around here should have information on the experiments they were conducting. Even in big hush-hush military research they have to keep the data somewhere. Sooo… let's start here."
In a few strides Fox was at the terminal in the middle of the room. It wasn't even locked. She pondered the menu that opened on the screen and then called out to Danse. "There's information on their experiments. You might want to see this."
Danse joined her at the terminal to see what she had found. She started feeling a bit distracted by the warmth radiating from his body as he leaned over her shoulder to read. She could feel his breath moving the ends of her hair that were stubbornly sticking out, despite her attempts to smooth it down in the morning. She suppressed a shudder as her skin developed slight goosebumps.
"I guess they used this one for logging their work," said Fox, forcing herself to focus on reading. "This is actually rather cool, they were apparently trying to upgrade power armour. I know someone who would be absolutely fascinated by this." She paused for a moment, her expression hardening. "…knew someone."
She moved around in the logs for a while and the work of the team became clearer with every entry she read. "They were so close to figuring things out. Hm, but what's this about being trapped? I guess it could be the "compulsory overtime" we got subjected to as well." Fox let out a sigh as she rubbed her forehead. "Seriously, this research material is making me regret I didn't pay enough attention to chemistry during my studies."
A glance over her shoulder made it clear that Danse was at an even bigger disadvantage. The look on his face was similar to the one he acquired whenever Haylen went too deep into tech language; the feigned understanding on his face trying to cover the fact that he had lost the plot ten minutes back. After all, he didn't want to appear ignorant in front of his squad. Fox had to bite back a chuckle. He has no idea what was going on in this research. It's kind of endearing in a way though, the way he pretends he is still following everything.
Her amusement died fast, the last log entry making her eyes widen in shock. "Damnit." She read the lines again, not wanting to believe the words in front of her. With the team trapped in the lab complex, Wilfred Bergman had apparently taken matters into his own hands. No longer trusting his team, he had locked himself in a lab to find a way to trigger the facility defence systems, likely sentencing the other scientists to death.
"Shit, Wil went insane in here." A chill ran over her body. It was heart-breaking to know that almost everyone she knew was dead, but usually it was a vague idea in the back of her head. Faced with log entries about someone who had had an actual impact on her life; finding out that he had knowingly endangered others to buy his way out… that hurt Fox more than she wanted to admit. Damnit, Wil. You were one of the great ones. I wish I had never seen this. The illusion was better than the truth.
Danse shifted uncomfortably and stepped back to give her privacy as she lowered her head into her hands. Fox forced herself to look up and smile. "I'm fine. It's just that… I knew this guy. And I can't believe he would have done such a thing."
Not wanting to discuss this any further, she pushed herself off the chair and strode over to the big machine that spanned an entire wall. "So this must be one of their main research machines, judging by the location and the size. Let's see what this does." She was talking to herself again, trying to fill the thick air with chatter to prevent herself from dwelling on the situation they were in.
She had been fiddling around with the controls of the machine for a while when Danse interrupted her constant muttering. "Do you actually have a plan to get us out of here or are you just messing about with every piece of machinery you can find?"
Fox frowned and turned around, leaning on the machine behind her. "To be completely and utterly honest… I have no fucking idea. It's not like I get myself locked in buildings all the time. It's clear that even with our weapons, we won't be breaking out through the clean room unless Molly decides to open the door for us." She sighed and traced the edge of the machine with her palm, dust accumulating on her skin. "So I guess I'm winging it, trying to find anything that could spark an idea that would help us."
"The robot clearly possesses the ability to open the door, but it refuses to do it since the lab team is behind in work." Danse's eyebrows were threatening to meld together, judging by the deep frown adorning his face. "What if we show it something to make it think we have succeeded?"
"If it were that easy, I'm pretty sure the terminal wouldn't be full of cries of help to get out." Fox sighed, but she perked up a moment later. "Wait, no, that's actually a great idea! I mean, we could actually show her the results."
Danse looked very sceptical, but he didn't dismiss the idea immediately. "If you are capable of doing that, sure. This is your plan then, to finish the research the entire team wasn't able to do?"
"You read it as well, the research was practically done. The only reason they didn't succeed was that Wil was actively sabotaging them. With no people left in here, we can just gather the materials and go through the production process on our own." Fox was practically bouncing with energy now, eager to start moving and doing something. She whirled around to study the machine once more.
"So, we need the containers with samples. And the radioactive component – I hope they have it well isolated." She rushed to the terminal they had been reading earlier, forcing Danse to take a step back to avoid being overrun. "Yes, this should be really easy! See, we just need to find the containers for lithium hydride and gold. And isotope U-238."
We're going to die here. We are so going to die here and I will never see Shaun and the memory of Nate will die here with me. She shook her head, a wide grin plastered on her face. "Piece of cake!" Pull yourself together. Just get through this, finish your damn Knight Exam and get your army leave. Kells promised you could get leave after the training, so suck it up and survive so you could continue looking for your son. That is an order, soldier.
Her inner pep-talk wasn't working as well as she had hoped, so she grinned wider until the skin around her mouth started to hurt from the strain. Danse was giving her a worried look that she didn't really want to see. It broke her illusion that she could wish all the bad things away. She spun into action to avoid having him ask why she looked odd. "So, the samples. They should look a bit like fire extinguishers, at least where the shape is concerned." She pointed at the clamps on the machine that were supposed to hold the missing samples. "Do you want to look for them together or should we split up?"
"It is up to you. You are in charge of the mission, Knight." Danse was still looking worried, but he seemed to appreciate that she had finally come up with a plan to try out.
"Let's split up," decided Fox after a brief pause for thinking. "But since we don't know how big the lab complex is, let's keep our weapons at the ready in case anything pops up. And we should let each other know how far we are."
"And how should we do that?" asked Danse with a slight frown.
Fox grinned as an idea struck up in her head. "Do you know Marco Polo? The game."
His frown deepened. "Can't say that I do. What does a game have to do with our mission?"
"It's a kids' game. Usually played in the water. One kid shuts her eyes and the others swim away. The kid shouts out "Marco!" when she wants to know where the others are. The rest have to answer "Polo!" so she would know where to look and could catch them."
"Why would the others give away their tactical advantage by reporting their position?" The genuine confusion on his face nearly made her laugh, but she contained herself for his sake. Danse shook his head in disdain. "And this is a very wasteful way of using hazmat suits."
Now it was her turn to feel puzzled. "What do hazmat suits have to do with- …oh. No-no, it's not played anymore. It's from when the water wasn't radioactive. People went in the water for fun, we even had special bathing suits for that. And shouting back was kind of the point of the game." She picked up her rifle from where she had placed it earlier. "Anyway, I thought we could use that to locate each other. If you hear me shout "Marco", just shout "Polo" back. And vice versa."
Danse didn't seem entirely convinced by that idea, but he didn't protest either. "I will keep that in mind. You people had odd pastimes before the war."
A grin on her face, Fox motioned towards the door to the rest of the complex. "Let's go, soldier." I could get used to bossing him around. It's kind of nice not to have any resistance. Then again, this could also mean I have already majorly fucked up and he's just trying to see whether I can make things a bit better before he takes over.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight that opened behind the door. Some ceiling tiles had fallen down, marking the floor of the lobby with a big dent that had filled with water. A few skeletons were scattered around, the reasons for their death unknown. Some lights were still on, filling the lobby with a cold eerie light. Fox began to rethink her plan to split up, but stopped her train of thought before it got to proper doomsday thinking. It will be fine. He will be nearby and there's nothing left here that could harm us anyway. Right?
"So… you'll take the room on the left and I'll take the one across the lobby," said Fox. "After that, just continue with this floor. And we'll meet here before taking on the second floor together." Danse nodded in acknowledgement and they parted ways.
Fox fought to keep her rising anxiety under control. The labs felt small, despite their actual size, and she felt the walls slowly closing in around her. Stop being ridiculous. The walls are not moving and you are fine. Just fine. Everything is fine.
She slapped her cheek with the back of her hand, the physical sensation making her feel more connected to reality. The room she had entered was too dark to see properly, so she switched on the flashlight of her Pip-Boy. The lone ray of light hit a half-collapsed desk and someone's arm that was draped across it. Another dead body. What killed them all?
She stepped closer, noticing a terminal at the back end of the room. Excellent, perhaps there's information on where they kept the samples. She caught sight of movement in the corner of her eye. A finger on the arm draped across the desk twitched. Fox froze in place, staring at the limb. The arm was definitely moving, accompanied by a hissing sound she knew all too well by now. Fox felt her heartrate spike as she lifted her rifle.
The ghoul sprinted forward, flinging its corpselike body at her, limbs flailing. With shaky arms, Fox fired a shot. It missed. The ghoul's arm slashed across her chest, tearing the fabric of her lab coat with a sickening rip. Fox clambered backwards, trying to shove the creature off her. She fired another barely aimed shot. The ghoul screeched, its leg jerking backwards with the hit. Fox fired again and again, laser beams illuminating the room.
When the ghoul had stopped moving, Fox leaned on the doorframe to catch her breath. Her coat was torn, with the left shoulder having caught the worst of the ghoul's attack, but all limbs seemed to be working fine. Judging by the gunfire sounding from another room, she was not the only one who had found company.
Since the shots died down and there was no onslaught of ghouls in the lobby, Fox assumed Danse had everything under control. After making sure her room didn't have any other surprises in store, she turned her attention to the terminal. That one was not for general use, since it was password-protected. Not that it managed to keep Fox out – within a few minutes she was in, feeling rather baffled.
Wait, this is military-grade security? I guess Wil didn't share his tips with the others here… Must have wanted to keep a way to access everyone's data whenever he wished. Sneaky bastard. She smiled fondly as she accessed the internal mail section of the terminal.
The first message she opened wiped that smile away. It was a rather snarky-sounding memo from Jon Elwood, the director of the company. The rational side of Fox realised that the tone of the message was probably far less unpleasant than how she perceived it to be. The rest of her smothered that thought. Pompous ass, always thought he was above the others. She adopted his low drawling voice as she read out a few lines of his memo.
""To address concerns about the noise outside, those are the military exercises I mentioned. I'm aware they're very loud and that some of you have been disturbed by it. I assure you everything is fine." Pff, fucking liar. He kept them stuck down here while the world above was swept away, not even allowing them to go and see their families before everyone died anyway. Fuck. Fucking Jon. An asshole in CIT, an asshole at work. Why am I not surprised?"
She got up from the terminal, finding pleasure in the cracking noises her back made as she stretched her arms above her head. Reminding herself that she was supposed to look for samples, she headed for the next door from the lobby. Instead of a room, that one revealed a winding corridor. The warning signs on the wall had mostly peeled off or become otherwise illegible. Curiosity made Fox press on, going further until she reached another door.
Hm, locked. I may bet this terminal would help though. She made her way through the menus of the terminal on the wall, smiling to herself as the tricks Wil had taught her opened the door without any problems. It would be hilarious, if it weren't so sad. Hah, I could make a fortune in the Wasteland, offering security services to all terminal-owners. …this might not even be a bad idea! Something for the future, I guess. Would be nice to switch to a safer job once I have Shaun back.
The door opened with a low hiss and she peered around the doorframe. The room was mostly dark, except for the glow in one corner, reflecting on the pool of water that filled the lower part of the room. What the hell is that? Wait, is it moving? As the glowing pile stood up, Fox realised it had limbs. And a head. The fucking ghoul is glowing?! What the… Her hands frantically looking for the rifle on her back, she bellowed out for help. "Danse! I might need help over here! Marco!"
She shot at the ghoul, but it only seemed to enrage the creature. Fox heard a faint "Polo!" from elsewhere in the building before the ghoul made its way to her through the water and pulled her forward with the kind of force she had not expected it to wield. She slammed to the floor, rough concrete scraping against her bare skin.
"DANSE!" Her thoughts were drowned out by a steady string of "fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck" repeating in her head. The rifle was out of reach. She kicked at the ghoul, launching it backwards. While the creature was getting back on its feet, she tried to stand up as well, but her foot slipped on something.
The ghoul was upon her again, its sinewy fingers grasping at her arm, the mouth with yellow shattered teeth screeching at her. She shrieked as her body got yanked, the coarse floor rasping her back. A strange crackling noise from her Pip-Boy distracted her for a moment, allowing the ghoul to rip her sleeve and pull them both crashing over the edge they had been teetering on.
Water splashed around her. She tried to scream, but water was everywhere, stinging at her eyes and choking her as it found its way to her throat. The burning sensation on her skin was unlike anything she had felt before. There was no air to breathe, the burning reached her lungs. It felt like her insides were contracting, trying to push out the water and the pain. She kicked, trying to push the ghoul off her back. The pressure increased; there was no hope in sight. There was only water, pain and the fire in her fresh wounds. She felt her consciousness slipping away, trying to save her from the torture.
She opened her eyes with a start, coughing out water and gasping for air. The room had changed. As her eyes learned to focus again, she saw the ceiling of the lobby above her. The view got obscured by Danse's anguished face as he leaned forward. "By steel, Quinn. For a moment I thought you were gone."
She bent to the side to cough up some more water. Her lungs still felt like they were on fire and the rest of her body wasn't in much better condition. "Fuck," she rasped out when she could breathe almost evenly again. "What the fuck was that?"
"A highly irradiated ghoul." He supported her as she tried to sit up properly, holding her right shoulder with care. "The abomination was trying to drown you or rip you apart. Or both." He took a look at her back and winced.
"How bad is it?" Speaking hurt, but not as much as her skin did. What on earth was this? And what kind of a fucked up future is this? Even the water hurts! Fuck's sake.
"There are some bad scratches, but nothing fatal. The way your skin is turning red is not a good sign though." Danse's expression switched to angry. "What were you thinking, going in there without backup? Are you still looking for ways to get killed?"
"Well excuse me for not knowing every fucking abomination this nightmare of a world keeps throwing at me!" Another wave of violent coughing took her over, making her wince in pain as her body shook. She took a moment to catch her breath, tears in her eyes. "Fuck."
Danse was slowly breathing in and out, trying to control his anger. It seemed to work, but Fox wasn't sure whether she preferred having him angry over the misery that took over afterwards. "You didn't know. I should have been there though; I should not have let us split up like this. I nearly let you get killed by that abomination."
"No, you saved me from that abomination," corrected Fox. "Thank you. But seriously, the next time you speak such bullshit, I will smack you. And shush, I'm the commanding officer at the moment, so I get to say stuff like that." A small smile appeared on her face, erased the next moment by a wave of pain.
Danse responded something, but his voice barely registered with her, agony taking over all her senses. She screamed out in pain when Danse lifted her from the ground to relocate her.
"I'm so sorry, but we both soaked up too many rads in that room. You more than me, since that filth submerged you in irradiated water as well. I know it hurts, but the residue has to be removed." He placed her down as gently as he could. Fox opened her eyes and frowned in confusion.
"A shower?" She winced and clutched at her left shoulder. Her hand came back bloody, causing her to curse.
"There is no point in trying to treat your wounds if we're both covered in radiation. The water works, I already checked that earlier when I passed through this area. And there's some soap." He pointed at the soap near Fox and she nodded in acknowledgement, teeth clenched in agony. "If you're capable of doing so, start washing yourself. There's even a working shower curtain for modesty. I will go and track down replacement outfits for both, there was a laundry room nearby."
With Danse gone on a hunt for clothes, Fox narrowed her eyes in determination and forced herself to stand up. Getting undressed nearly caused her to black out from pain. The feeling of torn fabric sliding across her back was unbearable. Tears flowing from her eyes, she kicked the clothes further away, pulled the cabin curtain shut and turned on the showerhead. A stream of cold water hit her back, making her cry out.
You can do this. Wash that horror off your skin or you will end up with serious radiation poisoning. The scary images from pre-war leaflets about the effects of radiation in her head, she forced herself to extend an arm under the water, trying to ignore the pain wracking her entire body. Fortunately, the temperature changed for the better over time, allowing her to stand fully under the stream.
"How are you doing in there?" Danse had returned, standing at a respectful distance despite the curtain that blocked the view. "Everything alright?"
"Well, I'm still alive." Fox moved on to washing her legs, teeth grinding together to provide distraction.
"I found some replacement clothes. They will be on the bench outside your cabin." She could hear him shuffling around, placing things on the bench and then moving to the shower cabin next to her.
Fox had nearly finished with scrubbing herself when Danse spoke up again, sounding uncomfortable. "My side doesn't have any soap. Would you mind passing yours?" Fox grabbed the bar of soap and looked to her right. The wall extended from the very top to the bottom, leaving no way to pass anything. Feeling awkward and very naked, she hobbled to the curtain, angling her arm so it could reach around the wall to Danse's cabin.
"Thank you." She felt his fingers brush her skin as the soap was removed from her palm. He had touched her numerous times before – usually after she had managed to disable herself somehow – but this felt different, making her body shudder. It was mostly because she knew they were both stark naked, despite neither of them seeing the other. Her "you're welcome" came out a bit muted, forcing her to cough her throat clear.
No, Fox, you do not imagine your boss naked. That is insanely inappropriate. Cut it out, now. She pinched her arm to get her focus to shift, causing a yelp of pain.
The water on Danse's side cut out. "Is everything okay?"
Fox cursed in her head. "Yeah, fine. I just stubbed my toe." She rinsed off the last bits of soap, her skin almost numb from pain by that point. She stuck her head outside the curtain to check the bench. The clothes Danse had brought were there in a neat pile and he had even managed to find a few towels. A quick glance towards Danse's shower cabin made her flush red, creating an odd colour combination with her ginger hair. Apparently he had given her the only cabin that still had a functional curtain.
Trying to banish the image from her head, she tried to grab a towel and her pile of clothes as fast as possible, retreating back to her cabin. Drying off and getting dressed without a place to put some things in between would have been difficult on a normal day, but in her situation it was near-impossible. She cursed as the shirt fell in the puddle on the floor. Acting fast, she managed to grab it before the entire shirt soaked through. Even one wet sleeve was very unpleasant, since it clung to her tender skin and pulled at it with every move.
She averted her glance as she left the shower cabin. Danse was finishing getting dressed, buttoning up his shirt. There was nothing inappropriate on display, but Fox didn't trust herself to even see his chest at that point. Her pain had pulled back to a tolerable level, allowing inappropriate thoughts to flood her head again. For a moment she thought of Nate, but the image of her dead husband in the cryo pod hurt too much to even consider dwelling on it. Ignore it and it goes away. And even if it doesn't, this doesn't make him any more alive.
"How are you feeling?" Danse flung his towel across the shower curtain rod and did the same for Fox's towel as she was in no condition for such exercises. She gave a curt shrug, wincing from pain as the shirt pulled on her injured shoulder. She had forgotten about it in her rush to get dressed and the fabric was now getting painted red by her blood.
"Uh, evidently I'm bloody marvellous." She forced out a small smile, but Danse did not find the situation funny. "I guess I'm not in charge anymore," she remarked as he marched her back to the main research room.
"I'm taking over until I can be sure you are capable of moving around without bleeding all over the place. Sit." He pointed at the ratty sofa and she obliged. "There were a few first aid kits around. No radaways left, but I did find bandages and a few other meds."
He rolled up her sleeve to administer a stimpak near her bleeding shoulder. The sting of the needle was quickly replaced with a feeling of relief as the medicine worked its way through her system. Her skin was still hurting, but it was nowhere near what she had experienced before the shower.
The fabric refused to roll any higher, but her left shoulder still needed bandaging. Danse used scissors from a first aid kit to unceremoniously chop off the entire sleeve. Fox felt a bit dazed from the medication, so she only laughed at that. "Fashionable. I haven't looked this good in ages."
Danse fastened the bandage and looked at her with slight humour in his eyes. "Not sure, I think what you wore on your arrival at our base in Cambridge still wins. I was rather impressed by the amount of tape you had managed to incorporate into your outfit."
He packed away the kit he had used and turned a chair towards the sofa to take a seat. The shadows around his eyes made Fox worry for his health, but she still didn't feel like she should ask about that. It's not like I'm the perfect image of health myself at this point. Instead, she turned her attention to their task that had been interrupted by the ghoul interlude. "Did you happen to find any samples?"
Danse gestured towards three containers placed on top of the machine. "A few. The only markings on them are numbers. We have 49, 65 and 3111, but no data to tell us what the numbers signify."
"There's an analysis function on the machine, so we can just run them through." She started getting up, but Danse's stern glance forced her to lower herself back on the sofa. "Come on, Danse, I'm feeling perfectly fine. This isn't even the worst I've gone through."
"You will stay right there and give me instructions instead." His voice made it clear that his decision was not up for negotiation. "This is just deceitful comfort from the stimpak. Once that wears off, you will start feeling the real extent of your injuries. Not to mention that we have no radaway to counter the rads you got in that room. It's even more important to get out fast now, but you will do us no favours by overworking yourself."
He moved over to the machine and looked at her expectantly. Fox smiled to herself. Does he not even know the basics? Or is this another test to see whether I can give instructions?
"Once you start the console, there's an option to analyse the input reagents. Place what you want analysed in the clamps and hit start, the machine should take care of the rest." Fox slowly massaged her arm, attempting to soothe the skin without resorting to scratching. She watched with amusement how Danse inserted two containers and dealt with the machine's terminal, muttering something that sounded a lot like cursing.
"It's processing now," said Danse after a while. "But I'm not sure the progress bar is even moving. It goes very slowly." He glanced over to Fox who was swaying a bit on the sofa. "You should get some rest. There isn't much to do while we wait anyway. Lie down, if your injuries permit it, and try to get some shut-eye. I will keep watch."
She wanted to protest, but her adrenaline high had passed long ago and exhaustion had kicked in. A small nap did not seem like a bad idea at all. "Alright, but you will have to wake me up the moment there's results on the machine. You promise?"
"I promise. Go to sleep, Quinn." He turned his back to her, monitoring the process on the machine. Fox yawned and gingerly set her body down, the right side lying against the sofa. It still hurt, but not as much as her left side would have. Her tiredness trumped over pain, letting her drift off to dreams within minutes.
She woke to Danse gently touching her side, avoiding her injured shoulder. She pushed herself to a seated position, chills going over her body as a jacket slid off her. "You seemed cold and I couldn't find a proper blanket," Danse explained. "The analysis is done. One is cobalt and the other Is lithium hydride. If I remember correctly, the latter was one of the samples we needed."
Fox slid a hand over her burning forehead. "Uh… yes. I guess. Should be." She blinked, feeling the movement with a delay. Her entire body seemed to have slowed down, along with her ability to think. "So… we still need the other one. Gold. And there was the radioactive part as well."
"I have gathered a few other samples while you slept. The machine was really slow." He pointed at the small line of containers he had arranged on the desk. "We can pick two new ones to analyse. And in the meanwhile, you should at least drink something. I don't trust any of the food here, but there is a stash of purified water we can use."
"That sounds like a great plan." Her mouth felt parched, as if she hadn't drunk any water for days. "Just pick random containers and remember which one was the… the… lithium hydride. Where's the water?"
"You stay right where you are, I will get it for you." He handed her the jacket that had slid to the floor. "And cover up, you're shivering."
Fox wrapped the jacket around her, but it didn't help much against the shudders. Lying down to curl up for warmth was not an option anymore, since her nausea would not have allowed for that. I guess this is what it feels like to have radiation poisoning. The room was swimming in front of her eyes, making her feel seasick.
Danse returned and handed her a bottle, having already opened it for her. Water felt divine, even if it was at room temperature and tasted a bit odd. After quickly emptying the entire bottle, she let it roll to the floor, strength gone from her arms. "Thank you. This was exactly what I needed."
"Let me know whenever you want more." Danse picked up the bottle and placed it neatly out of the way. Fox followed him with her eyes as he inserted new samples in the machine and started the analysing process. The lithium hydride was put on the side, ready for use once they had all the reagents they needed.
"We still need the radioactive component, but it is locked in one of the labs where Wil had apparently barricaded himself in." Fox rubbed her forehead, trying to force herself to focus and remember the contents of the terminals she had read. "If I remember correctly, there should be an alternate way in. Through the ventilation ducts or something. But getting out of there could still require hacking a terminal, so I can't let you go there without me."
She sighed, her head spinning. You can do this. You are a strong independent woman and a few injuries will not hold you back. Her eyes narrowed in pain as she pushed herself up from the sofa. Danse moved to her location in a flash, probably to stop her, but she made a shushing sound. "I'm not bleeding, so you are not in charge anymore. And I say we are going to get the isotope while the machine is busy with analysing."
Danse looked hesitant for a moment, but gave in. "Alright, but on one condition. Playing a martyr will not help us accomplish the task, so you need to let me know when you require assistance. Promise?"
She reached out her hand, smallest finger pointed upwards. "Pinky swear." Danse looked confused, so she used her other hand to create a similar formation with Danse's finger, linking it together with hers in a hook.
"I'm not even going to ask." The bewilderment on his face was now mixed with amusement and Fox grinned at him.
"The pinky swear seals a promise. It's serious business." She unhooked their fingers and looked for her rifle. Danse handed it to her without her even asking for it. She attempted moving it to her back, but the amount of pain that caused forced her to stop immediately. Guess I'll be carrying it in hand the entire time then. Fun.
Suppressing her desire to lie down on the floor and sleep, she nodded at Danse. "Let's go. We have a mystery to solve, soldier." They left the room side by side, Danse keeping a watchful eye on her in case she would need support.