Author's Notes:
Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to Xee! Happy birthday to me. Okay, so my birthday was really yesterday, but you get the point. I wanted to post it then but now is just as a good of time as any.
Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites I got, it warms my heart. I do hope because of the time of year and because of a special date (hint, hint) that maybe a few more people wouldn't mind dropping in their opinions and comments?
I do have a question for those of you that do decide to review. I have a long ways to go with the plot, trust me when I say there is a lot more yet to come, and as much as I love long stories with numerous chapters, I really am not fond of the idea of a billion short chapters (kind of like this one). So I have been thinking of upping the length and getting more into each chapter. I know some people prefer somewhat short ones and others prefer them as long as possible, so I would like your opinion on this. Would you mind longer chapters or would keeping them short and sweet be more enjoyable?
At any rate, chapter twelve will not be too far behind this one, I promise. So on that note, happy holidays everyone and may I present to you chapter eleven!
"Wait…! Don't go!" she cried out helplessly.
She gave chase to the retreating form and soon all she could make out was the billowing navy blue resistance coat far off in the distance. The impossible space between them made her heart pound in her chest, terror flooding her body until she could no longer move; frozen in place as she watched him disappear.
Desperation took over. Somehow, the feeling that he would never come back found its way into her head. How she knew this wasn't important – despite none of the logic making sense – all that mattered was he was gone; not coming for her, not ever.
"Marcus! Come back, you can't leave! DON'T GO! MARCUS!"
Flying out of her bed Blair practically maimed herself as she scrambled about the floor, tangled in the cotton sheets that were twisted around her limbs. Disorientation wasn't a usual thing for her in the morning, but ever since Marcus had collapsed she had been struggling with nightmares that left her winded and confused when she woke.
Blair felt like she took on all of Skynet, exhausted, no more rested than when she initially fell asleep. If this continued it would be a miracle for her to get a total of eight decent hours of rest in a week. With all the thrashing she did Blair was able to guess she rarely entered the deeper stages of slumber, but stayed in a semi-wake state.
Sighing with exasperation at herself, Blair stumbled to her feet and prepared for another agonizingly sluggish day without the other half of her heart. Wake up Marcus… damn it!
She took her seat in the cafeteria with only a glass of water and a banana. Blair noticed that Kyle and Star weren't already there waiting for her. During the past week, since Xander gave the news that Marcus' brainwaves had improved the slightest amount, the two other resistance members had always greeted Blair first thing in the morning at breakfast. Both of them were morning people, unlike herself.
"You look like hell," the sudden remark coming from behind her.
Blair twisted around to find Xander gliding towards her with his own plate full of various fruits. The eccentric man sat down across from her, his impish behavior unaffected as usual. If anything did bother Xander (and that was a big if), he had one heck of a knack for hiding it.
"I feel like hell," she retorted dryly.
Glancing up from his fruit salad, Xander fixed his warm amber eyes on her with a curious look.
"I'd say 'penny for your thoughts' but I do believe your American money holds little significance outside your own borders, and I don't recall the last time I had use of any form of currency."
She gave a half-hearted smirk, "It's the thought that counts, right?"
He nodded his head, concurring with a lively leer of his own. "So I'm told."
Blair picked up her glass of water, sipping on it to stall for some time while she gathered her cluttered thoughts. The first thing that came to her mind was how much to reveal, she didn't like vulnerability regardless of who she consulted; Marcus being the only exception.
"Well?" Xander prompted with fictitious impatience.
"I can't sleep at night, and when I do my dreams are… they aren't pleasant," she concluded awkwardly.
"From stress, perhaps?" he guessed.
Shrugging her shoulders, Blair attempted to down play the scenario. Compared to Connor's predicament, she got off easy. Sleep deprivation wasn't the biggest problem to have within the new members.
Blair meant to aim for an honest – open – presentation; instead her voice came out flat. "Maybe, I'm not sure."
"If you have time, stop by the labs later and I'll see what I can do about your insomnia," Xander offered with an offhand attitude.
She eyed him suspiciously for a few moments, not sure if taking any form of medication from the man would do her any good, but perhaps quite the contrary. The question wasn't if Blair needed help to enter peaceful sleep, but whether she trusted anyone enough to accept their help. Though Xander did pose as one of the more credible people within the new resistance she now lived with, even he had a ways to go before trust would be a gift granted to him.
Why am I letting him play doctor to Marcus again?
Xander grumbled out, "Well if you don't want my help, just say so. There is no need to scowl."
Blair smoothed out her furrowed brow and with some effort she managed to force her lips into an indifferent line. It had not occurred to her that she had been making faces, and judging by the slightly offended one Xander now wore, Blair must have been making quite a show.
"I was just thinking, that's all," she tried to smooth the situation over.
He smirked, "Next time you decide to think, warn a guy."
She felt the corner of the right side of her mouth curl into a crooked smile she usually only bestowed on or for Marcus.
Oh, that's right, because he is the only guy batty enough to try.
"Yeah, I'll see what I can do about that," she retorted dryly.
Their conversation was lighter from that point on. When Xander left for his routine work, Blair took off towards Marcus' room in the medical wing before going to hers. She had been reassigned to her hobby and passion; flying anything that could leave the ground and helping with the coordinating over the secure airways. Her new stations curtsey, Cathal, who shared her enthusiasm for the skyways instead of the highways. The Irishman spoke her language, and the redheaded general could be a pleasant boss.
Xavier specialized in battle tactics and ground based operations, which was where Connor and Barnes were stationed. Neither of them seemed to have complaints, particularly not John – who was given a much higher status than just about everyone in the entire place.
Kate was working with Xander, though her shifts were far less grueling both physically and mentally. The hours given to her were also subdued from that of the others. It wasn't surprising, with the baby only about a month away. Connor was trying to ease her completely off work altogether, and that wasn't always a point of agreement between the two. So Xander stepped in and said for the next two weeks Kate could still work, though her time limits were short, no longer than two hours a day.
Lilly and Phil were both still recovering from their sustained injuries. They were given less tedious work and would be assigned to more specialized areas at a later date.
Kyle and Star were inseparable, wherever one went the other was there to go too. Half the time the duo was at Marcus' bedside. The other half they were doing more simple tasks such as running things to people and passing on information or boxes full of stuff, needing to be brought to the labs or elsewhere.
Almost everyone had fallen into a place…except Marcus. Blair yearned for him to wake so she could stare into his sky-blue eyes once more. How she longed to confide in him again, to hear his deep voice offering some kind of sarcastic rebuff back. Even just a stupid wink or awkward embrace would suffice.
I'm burning in hell which is right smack in the middle of heaven. Hel-lo purgatory.
Blair rounded the last corner of a never ending maze of hallways, the medical unit's doors now within her sight. Once she opened that last door dividing her from him almost all her crankiness vanished. A flood of despair and pleasure wrapped its way around her heart all at once, like it usually did.
There on the gurney laid the justification for the sun to rise and earth to spin. If there was ever evidence that there might be a god, Marcus was her indication. He breathed new life into her, giving her a reason to exist for more than just battle. Blair had saved him and he in turn had saved her, in so many ways.
His cropped brown-copper hair was mussed like one would expect for someone in bed. Marcus obviously had been recently shaved by one of the tending nurses for the short beard that had been growing on his face was gone, with no signs of stubble yet either. Those soul penetrating eyes were closed, but Blair felt like goo at the very thought of the regal irises.
"Good morning… Marcus," she sighed wistfully.
Blair padded to his side with a slow unsteady gait – most unusual for her. Ever since that day they first came here she had wanted to try something, though it wouldn't be new, it hopefully would go undisrupted. The very thought of what she was about to try made her both nervous and giddy.
Glancing at the door to make sure it was still closed and no one was coming, Blair checked the empty room once more and then turned her sights to Marcus again. As she leaned down over his body Blair was conscious of her racing heart, the organ continuing to pick up in an accelerando until her full lips were mere millimeters away from Marcus'.
She paused, checking to make sure he was still out cold and listening for misgivings of their privacy being invaded. Blair wouldn't have someone encroaching upon such a tender moment. If anyone did disturb her, there would be hell to pay.
Closing the distance Blair let her lips brush over Marcus' soft mouth in a light smooch. His natural scent was intoxicating and the feel of his lips against hers was almost enough to make her want to forget about everything besides them.
Blair forced herself to pull away from Marcus, her heart that was singing like a canary now thrummed with new exhilaration. If it felt like that when he wasn't even awake or trying she'd die to know what it was like when Marcus was actually conscious and kissing back. He had kissed her once before, but it had been short and desperate in a goodbye mannerism, not at all romantic compared to this encounter.
God Marcus, why can't you just wake up like Sleeping Beauty already?
The days were dragging by painfully slow and Blair was almost positive that the past hour felt more like a week. She was still running on her high strung emotions from earlier that day but even such little joy was not enough to sustain her for long. Coupled with sleep deprivation and the combinations were lethal. Her pride might very well be her undoing at this point, but Blair had decided against visiting Xander for help, a choice she was now second guessing.
It would seem Marcus had made dramatic improvements since yesterday morning but was a ways away from waking. The thought caused her heart to give a not so subtle lurch, an aching feeling squeezing at her there like a vice. Anguish followed right after, like each time her chest constricted more it sent out stronger waves of dejection. If she didn't know herself better, Blair might have thought she was suffering from some form of depression.
Maybe I'm the bipolar one?
"This is chopper three." Blair was jolted out of her stupor and thrown back into reality as the voice of one of the resistance fighters resonated into her headset.
"Chopper Three, this is A.I.R, go ahead," she instructed.
The deep voice cracked over her headset after a moment's pause, "We located a Skynet facility over Quadrant IV."
Blair's eyes automatically flicked to an orange radar screen to her right that was diagonally up along the counter she was working at. Like the trained professional that she was, Blair had little difficulty reading the location of the aircraft, despite still learning some of the new terrain and landscape. Writing down the location in the log, she then flipped a switch to commit the numbers to memory on a backup drive just in case.
"I got your coordinates Chopper Three, report on visual."
There was a pause that Blair would have deemed worthy of the word epic. The fighter pilot nearly thought something happened to the scouting patrol until the voice of the male that was steadily growing more familiar came back on. "We lost visual moments ago but it was a base of some type underground. We couldn't see the bottom and it was shaped in an ellipse-like configuration."
"What were the dimensions?" she asked while scribbling down the description.
The voice took on a mocking tone, "Like hell if I know."
"Guesstimate then," her reply was terse.
"Roughly twenty-seven meters in diameter?" the man's tenor made it sound like a question.
Twenty-seven meters… if I am calculating right that's about thirty yards across.
"Anything else, lady?"
Yeah, go to hell wiseass, she thought cynically.
"No, I got it all dude."
After checking to make sure the chopper was on the way back then dismissing the conversation, Blair flagged down one of her fellow coordinators and let them take over her station. Once out of the room and hidden from the scrutiny of everyone's eyes Blair shot off like a bat honing in on its prey – only her target wasn't a bug or rodent, but the man in charge of all this – Cathal. Connor would want to hear about it too no doubt.
The description seemed familiar. But where had she heard of something like that before? In the end Blair just shook off her musings and focused her attention on hunting down the flame haired Irishman.
She wasn't more than three minutes into her search when Kyle came zipping around the far corner at the end of the hallway Blair was tracking down. He had a frantic manner in the way he was holding himself, the enthusiasm and excitement emitting from him was palpable.
I don't have time to play Kyle, dang it!
"BLAIR! BLAIR! BLAIR!" he waved her down like he was having a spasm in both arms. "You'll never guess what's happening! You gotta come with me!"
"I can't talk right now, Kyle. I need to find Cathal, ASAP. Verstehen Sie mich?"
Kyle appeared frustrated at this, "Blair you gotta come with me, right now! Cathal is with John, Kate, Xavier, Star, Lilly, and Phil."
"What are you babbling about? What's going on?"
"I've been trying to tell you," he said grabbing her upper arm and dragging her down the hallway as swiftly as he could. "It's Marcus. Xander said he'll be waking up in a few minutes, you gotta come with me."
Blair froze momentarily. Marcus?
That was all the incentive she needed. Blair yanked her arm from Kyle and tore off down the hallways, her destination was obvious. She pushed her lean legs to travel as fast as they would allow her to go while still maintaining her equilibrium. Thanks to all the leg work she had to do with relaying information about updates from the patrols she had memorized most of the place quickly. Blair knew the fastest way to Marcus and began cutting across sections and through entire wings. The only sounds she heard were the pounding of hers and Kyle's feet against the hard white floors as they sprinted along.
Within seven minutes Blair was nearing the medical wing once more. Throwing the last of her strength she possessed into her legs Blair blasted through the large double doors, streaking towards her desired destination. Though her lungs were burning Blair refused to slacken her breakneck pace for a moment. Marcus was waking up and she'd be damned if she wasn't there to greet him.
Lilly, Phil, and Xavier were all perched outside his room, the door closed. Blair halted only when her fingers curled around the cool brass doorknob. She didn't wait to be permitted entry; throwing open the painted wood door and rushing inside.
Her eyes went straight to Marcus who was in a more upright position on his bed. Cathal, Connor, and Star were standing a few feet back on his left to give him room. Kate was at the foot of Marcus' bed while Xander stood next to her at the end on the right side. They all flicked their eyes to Blair in surprise at her abrupt entrance, then she felt their gazes slide past her.
Blair turned to see a winded Kyle straggling in behind her; he was shutting the door while crouching over and wheezing for breath. She would have felt bad for ditching the young man and leaving him to catch up but all Blair's mind could process was the giddy and anxious feelings that Marcus would soon be with her consciously once more.
So many things were spinning in her head at that moment. Blair wanted to finally ante up to her feelings for him. She wanted to throw herself at him and just have Marcus hold her – like at the race track. Hell, Blair would have settled for a simple handshake at this point. All that mattered was Marcus would be awake once more, and she'd be able to stare into his eyes and know, that even in these horrible times, everything was alright.
"Is Kyle telling the truth? Marcus is waking up, completely?" she demanded. Blair's voice shocked her. It sounded just as breathless as Kyle looked. Normally she was in good enough shape that a heart racing sprint didn't perturb her. Part of it was probably from Blair already being excited by the news.
Xander smiled his patient smile and nodded. "Yes, Marcus will be waking up within the next minute or so. You're just in time."
Footnotes:
I normally don't do footnotes (I have an aversion to them) but I think you may be seeing them pop up from time to time for references or lines in the story that you probably are wondering the relevance of, or what they mean. So just be on the look out of them. :)
A.I.R: Amazon's Intelligence Resistance. Normally used for airborne operations only.
Verstehen Sie mich?: Roughly translates to "Do you understand me?".