25 Change in Plans

Miles away in New Bodhum, Lightning suddenly felt as though someone had driven a knife into her chest and forced it in as far as it could go. The pain abruptly tore her out of a deep sleep; crying out and clutching her chest, she curled up into the fetal position, feeling her heart pounding, breathing shallow. The pain was so incredible that spots appeared in her vision as tears came to her eyes. It didn't subside, and soon another knife had been driven in beside the first, piercing her lung, then another in her abdomen. The pain intensified, she felt lightheaded–

And then, just like that, it stopped.

Lightning gasped for breath and rolled onto her back. Her pulse returned to normal. The pain was gone, as if it had never been. Yet, she felt terror, sitting up, pressing her fingers to her ribs, searching. There were no wounds, and the pain didn't return. Had she just had some sort of cardiac arrest? Was that what it felt like? She knew certain types of pain accompanied such things, but wouldn't it have lasted much longer?

Now unable to sleep, she frowned and felt around some more. Suddenly, she realized that the thread linking her to Caius's heart had been severed, the frayed end floating in the void that was left. The absence of him felt like a huge sore; she reached deeper, feeling around, searching for him, but no matter how she tried, she found no sign of him – just a vast, foggy emptiness she couldn't pierce.

He was just… gone.

Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

She remained sitting up, hugging her arms. Something awful had happened, but, unable to reach out and find out what was wrong, she was left with just her own thoughts, feelings, and fears.

The digital clock on her nightstand read 11:03.

She reacted in the only way she knew how: standing and pacing, reaching out, still trying to mend the broken bridge, still trying to see if he was alright.

Slowly, feeling crept into his extremities, the torn muscles of his heart knitting back together, working again once the wounds healed. Blood began to circulate again; the wound in his right lung closed, and the blood vanished from the chest cavity and the inside of the organ. In his abdomen, the wound below his ribs that had punched through at least one organ closed. Everything began to work again. His darkened vision grew light, his body convulsed once, and then his eyes flicked open to be met with blinding white light.

Grunting softly, he blinked several times, still smelling blood, strength quickly returning. Trying not to move, just in case his "killer" was still around, he lowered his eyelids, both to block the light and appear lifeless. Finally, once his eyes adjusted, he saw the two guards, standing with their backs to him. Careful to take slow breaths, he stayed limp and listened.

"They probably sent him out. 'Authorization', you know? We can't just dump him somewhere because they'll look for him, and if we leave him here–"

"Don't tell anyone." It was the older guard that spoke now. "Nobody out there knows we shot him. Leave the body here in the storage room and walk away. Plausible deniability. Once these guys leave, we can drag it out and bury it out in the plains somewhere. Pulse is so huge, nobody'll find it."

Pause. "Wish you hadn't done it."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I had to. Couldn't have him telling the others."

As he listened, he reached out, feeling along the thread connecting him to Lightning, finding it was frayed halfway across. Concentrating on this, he did his best to mend it. The instant he did, worry and fear flooded him, and he had to consciously remember not to make a sound as he reached for her, gently touching her heart, and told her as best as he could that he was fine.

Her emotions went from fear to rage – it was pretty obvious she'd be shouting at him if she were here.

Despite the situation, he smirked.

"Help me drag the body back in the storage room, okay?"

Caius quirked his lips and closed his eyes the rest of the way, letting himself be deadweight, keeping his breathing as slow as possible. He felt one of the guards hook an arm under his left shoulder and the other guard pick him up by his right shoulder, half-lifting him off the concrete and dragging him backward. His pulse increased a notch out of sheer eagerness; he carefully kept everything else in check.

"Where?" the boy asked.

"Back there. Put him against the wall between those two boxes."

They dragged him the rest of the way and set him down against the wall. As they started to pull away, Caius decided it was time to act: abruptly opening both eyes, he seized the guards' arms and held them fast, eliciting yelps of shock from both of them as he sat up.

Pulling their terrified faces closer, he said calmly, "Just so you know, I am immortal."

It was then the boy went pale and collapsed; the other guard reacted very oddly, writhing and struggling like a caged animal, but when Caius stood and twisted his arm, forcing him back against the wall, he lost control of his rifle and dropped it, whimpering and shrinking back.

Watching him cringe, he considered killing both of them. It would be easy – one hand each would snap their necks, and it would be done.

But as he thought this over and felt Lightning raging and worrying near his heart, he realized that to take these lives would be something she could never want. It would be wrong of him. Besides, it would be more entertaining to see what sort of stories they told later.

"Stay here until he wakes," Caius said, smirked, and turned, walking out of the room and closing the door. When the light switched off, the whimpering stopped and became angry-sounding muttering instead, so he immediately turned and scrambled up the containers again, clearing the twenty-foot gap between him and freedom, squeezing out through the vent. As he returned the bars to their original position, he heard the sounds of commotion below and moved to the edge of the roof to look down. No one looked up, so he went to the back of the warehouse, where no one was currently guarding, and dropped to the ground, landing hard. Aware that going back the way he came would probably be dangerous, he instead darted off into the dark wilderness.

Eventually, he circled clear around the town and snuck back in through the outskirts, somehow able to think clearly despite his companion practically shouting at him to pay attention to her. Before going the rest of the way back to the hotel, he stopped in the shadows near the cliff, pressed his back against the clay and basalt, still warm from the day, and slid down to sit on the grass.

Reaching out, he stopped her ranting with a quick but firm touch, leaving her fuming, but no longer shouting. As best as he could, given the distance and relative difficulty of reaching her across it, he explained he was alright, that she could stop worrying, and wondered whether she really had any reason to shout at him, considering it had been a brief interlude and hadn't been his fault it'd happened.

Instead of responding, he could practically taste her scowling at him.

Mentally rolling his eyes, he withdrew and felt her do the same, and after a moment, it was just him and the faint thread of their existences leading off into the foggy void between them. It was then he took a few minutes to rest and examine himself. The guard had shot him three times – once in the heart, once in the right lung, and once just below the left side of his ribs, a few inches below the bottom of his heart, apparently trying to make certain that he died, or at least bled out. His clothing was dark with blood and smelled strongly of it, blood-caked holes torn in the material and exposing the skin underneath. There were no marks that he could see, and when he ran his fingertips across them, the skin felt smooth. Still, everything stank of blood; he returned to the hotel, wishing there were some sort of water source around he could rinse his clothing off in before going inside.

When he opened the door to the room he shared with Snow, he could hear his roommate snoring softly. Closing the door gently, he called out, "Snow!"

Snow sat bolt upright. "What… what's go– ugh!" He shook his head. "What is that smell? It's like– it smells like–"

"Blood, my friend," Caius said, "and plenty of it."

Completely awake now, Snow threw back the covers and switched on the lamp by his bed. His gaze immediately went to Caius's bloodstained clothing. "Whoa," he murmured, "what happened, man? Looks like you were pretty badly hurt." Pause. "That is your blood, right?"

"It is," Caius assured him. "I investigated the warehouse and drew the attention of a pair of guards outside when I accidentally activated a motion-sensing light inside." At Snow's startled and confused expression, Caius sighed and folded his arms. "One of them shot me. I saw what it was they were hiding from us."

"What?"

"Everything that had gone missing."

Snow slowly stood up. "Every container and piece of equipment?"

"As far as I could tell in what little time I spent there, yes. Now, if you'll excuse me–" Caius gestured at himself and cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. Go right ahead."

Caius turned away and stripped off his shirt as he walked into the bathroom. Getting the blood off while it was still fairly fresh meant the stains should come out, so he ran water in the shower and used the roughest soap he could find to scrub it out. The water turned a rust color and the humidity made everything reek of it.

"I hate that smell," Snow muttered. Caius heard him open the window. It probably didn't matter what they did now, since the curfew was broken. He came over to the entrance to the bathroom, rubbing one eye when Caius glanced back at him. "That's more blood than I'm used to seeing. Just how bad were you shot?"

Caius switched off the water and wrung out the shirt. The liquid came out clear. "Once in the heart, once in the right lung, and once down here." He turned and touched his fingertips just below the left set of ribs.

Snow frowned. "Clearly meaning to kill you."

Caius hesitated. "Yes, and they succeeded, if only temporarily."

"That's not a good sign."

Slinging his shirt over the sink, he examined the rest of his clothing. Some blood stained the waist of his pants and had been smeared across his skin. Snow walked back out, looking thoughtful; Caius removed his pants and scrubbed them as well. They weren't as bloody as the shirt had been, and after wringing them out several times, he put them back on and checked the shirt. It was damp, but bearable; he put it back on and went back out into the main room.

"You definitely smell better now," Snow said, standing by the window.

Caius glanced outside. "What should we do?"

"Dunno." Snow moved away and sat on his bed. "You must've woke up soon after they shot you. What'd you do with them? Didn't kill 'em, right?"

Caius looked at him and placed one hand on his hip. "Of course not," he said. "I left them in the storage room where I found the missing supplies. One of them fainted dead on the spot when I surprised them, though." His lips quirked as he tried not smile.

Snow rolled his eyes. "You had to pull the 'corpse coming back to life' trick, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. Where is the fun otherwise?"

"You have a strange sense of humor."

"I merely took advantage of my unusual situation, Snow."

Snow couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Alright, fine, I probably would've done it, too. Anyway–" The seriousness returned. "Uh, why don't you get some sleep? I'm guessing they're gonna kick us out tomorrow because of what we did – or, at least, what you did. I'll talk to Rygdea in the morning. Should probably tell Serah what happened, too."

Caius frowned. "I know Lightning must have some idea."

"You wanna talk to her tomorrow?"

"I–" Should he? "That… that may be best."

Snow looked carefully at him, but only shrugged. "Alright, well, get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be rough on all of us, I can tell. I'll go wake the others and tell them not to go out tomorrow." As he headed for the door, he said over his shoulder, "That means you, too. Don't you leave until I say, you hear?"

Caius nodded. "I won't."

Unable to fall into anything deeper than a light, fitful doze the entire night, Lightning abruptly woke at five thirty and decided she wasn't going to get any more sleep than she had. Still worried and upset at Caius for not being able to clearly articulate to her what had happened – not that it was his fault, at all – she stayed in bed until she heard her sister come out into the main room at six thirty, then got up and went out.

"You didn't sleep well," was Serah's observation.

Lightning grunted and plucked at the mess of hair on her head. No one needed to be a genius to figure that out. "No, I didn't. Something happened last night, to Caius, and I barely got any–" She yanked on her hair and groaned softly.

Now Serah looked worried. "What do you mean, something happened?"

"I don't know. It just– he was in pain."

Serah had been standing at the sink, washing something, but now she froze. "In pain?" Her expression became one of genuine worry and anxiety. "What–" She chewed her lip, brow getting deep furrows that made Lightning wince at the sight of them.

Lightning frowned slightly. "I'm gonna take a shower. If you talk to Snow, tell me what happened."

Serah nodded. "Okay."

Lightning grabbed some fresh clothes and took a quick shower, untangling her hair and massaging the marks out of her skin where she'd tossed and turned all night. Once she was clean and dressed, she came back out to find Serah on the phone like before, only this time she looked worried and paced back and forth across the room. Lightning sat on the couch and tried to get her hair to behave as she listened.

"Do you have to?" Now Serah looked unhappy on top of being concerned. "Oh, that's too bad, really. I was hoping this might mean you'd be coming back early. Not quite, huh? Oh." Looking crestfallen, Serah stopped and stubbed the carpet with one toe. "Okay, I understand. Do you need to talk to Lightning?"

Lightning froze with her fingers in her hair.

"He wants to? Okay. Let me just–" Serah lowered the device and turned to Lightning. "Here, it's Caius."

The woman snatched the phone and put it to her head so fast that Serah gave her a confused and startled look. "Tell me everything's fine," she demanded.

The moment of silence was more startled than anything. "Yes, everything's fine." It was Caius, his voice a little taut, but undeniably him, and she felt her pulse jump up a notch when she heard it. "Serah may not have told you yet, but we will need to go directly to Academia from here. Snow has to speak to Rygdea in person. I can't–"

"What happened last night?"

Pause. "What–"

"Stop stalling and tell me what happened. Don't wake me up in the middle of the night and not tell me!"

Caius grunted; she felt him touch her. "I woke you?"

She closed her eyes. "It must've been you. I just– there was this pain, and it woke me out of a deep sleep, and I thought I was dying." One hand clutched at her chest, returning his touch, trying to strengthen the connection. "Yes, you woke me, and I want to know why! Why did it hurt so much?" Standing, she moved away from the couch and paced a bit before moving closer to the front door.

"Lightning, I–" She heard him exhale. "I didn't know you would be able to feel it so intensely. I assumed you might, but I had– I didn't– I'm– if I had known–"

"That's not important." He could apologize all he wanted when he got back. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story," he said quietly, "but I was shot three times."

She froze. "You were what?"

"Shot three times."

Her free hand touched her chest over her heart. "In the heart, the lung, and right below the left ribs?"

He sounded surprised when he said, "Yes, exactly."

"I felt it all, Caius."

Pause. "It must have been excruciating."

Grinding her heel into the floor, she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "It was." She faced Serah. "Look, when you get back, you can tell me all about it. From now on, though, don't do stuff to get yourself killed. You can't be so stupid and reckless. Not being able to find you–" Her throat tightened, startling her. She swallowed to try and loosen it, but it didn't work. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?"

"Why are you angry at me? I did nothing wrong."

"Maybe, maybe not. When you get back, you're getting what you deserve. See you then." She handed the phone back to Serah and sat on the couch, trying to figure out why her throat felt so tight.

"Uh, yeah, can you put him back on for me? You guys talk when you get back." Pause; Serah glanced at Lightning, but the woman only glowered back. "I miss you, Snow. I know you guys carved out, what, two or three weeks for this, but I still miss you, and I wish you'd come back." Pause. "Really? That would be great! I mean… not great for the government, but it… yeah. I can't wait to see you. Let me know as soon as you know you're getting back, okay? I love you. Bye."

Lightning crossed one leg over the other and swallowed. Her throat was still tight and something felt warm around her eyes.

Serah walked over and sat down, crossing her arms over her belly. Snow the cat appeared from under the couch and meowed. "Guess you and Caius had a little spat," she muttered. Snow leapt up onto the couch and crawled onto her lap, purring. "Look, whatever happened, don't blame him, okay?" She sighed. "You woke up last night?"

"Caius got shot and I felt it," Lightning snapped.

Serah frowned. "Don't get short with me, sis. Not when I'm pregnant."

"Sorry," Lightning said, but wasn't sure if she really was. "So, uh, they're going to Academia?"

"Really?" Serah scowled at her now. "Caius got shot, apparently killed if the way you were talking meant anything, and all you can think about is that they're going to Academia? Sure, he's immortal, but it still must have hurt! You already told me you missed him!"

Lightning swallowed again, lower lip trembling slightly. "So what? I can't be angry with him for being stupid?"

"Snow said he was doing his job."

"Snow told you about it? Why did Caius have to tell me personally? Snow could've told me." Again, she swallowed. The muscles were starting to loosen. Maybe. "This is ridiculous. Doing a job or not, he still got himself shot. What if he hadn't been immortal? What if he–"

"Lightning, the only reason you're so mad is because you're worried sick about him."

She stared. "What're you talking about?"

Serah groaned loudly and plucked Snow off her lap. The cat meowed in protest. "Fine, whatever. If you don't want to talk, you won't. That's how you are." She pocketed the phone and walked back into the kitchen, running the tap. Lightning rubbed her eyes, wondering where that warm burning sensation was coming from. It felt familiar, but she wasn't sure what it was.

Growling, she stood and paced in a circle, then rubbed her eyes again. When she pulled her hand away, there was a damp spot on the skin. She stared at it.

"If you're looking for something to do, I'm sure Lebreau needs help with her restaurant. She might even be willing to pay you for an extra hand. That is, if she's working today."

Lightning glanced at her sister. "Maybe."

"Otherwise, you can help me clean up the house a little. I need to wash dishes, take all the rugs out, vacuum, sweep, dust, polish – you know, all the fun stuff." Serah switched off the tap. "You're really good at housework. You can help out a lot if you want."

Lightning emptied her mind, and finally the muscles in her throat loosened. The burning slowly went away. "Well, I guess. Sure. You could use it, anyway." She patted her stomach.

"The exercise is good."

Lightning looked down at herself and tried not to let her thoughts wander. As she did, the cat padded over and wound herself through the woman's legs before gently kneading her foot with claws sheathed. Lightning bent and picked her up, hugging her fluffy body close, but noticing that her belly was tighter than normal. With one hand, she checked the cat's abdomen, using her fingers to part the fur.

"Uh, Serah?" she said.

Serah opened the window above the sink. "What?"

"Snow's pregnant."

Her sister looked at her and blinked. "Snow's what?"

"Snow the cat." Lightning held her up under her forelegs. "Her belly's plump. I think she's got little ones." Cradling the cat more carefully, she gently prodded her belly. It seemed fuller than usual.

Serah dried her hands and walked over. "Must be baby-making season," she said with a quick smile.

"Kitten-making, anyway," Lightning said.

The two women looked at each other. Apparently, the cat and more babies on the way had somehow taken the tension out of the air between them. After a moment, Lightning set her down and let her trot off. Snow leapt up onto the couch and curled up in the corner. Without asking, Lightning went over to the front door, opened it as wide as it would go, then began picking up rugs and dragging them outside.

Serah said, "Thanks. It really helps."

Lightning tossed the rugs onto the sand. "Yeah. No problem."

I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but there really wasn't much else I could add this time around. The next chapter contains a bit more plot, while the one after that will contain quite a bit of meaningful interaction between Caius and Light (which I'm sure some of you are waiting on). In the meantime, thanks for reading, and happy new year! Also, couldn't help the joke about Snow the cat being pregnant. I know it's lame. But I couldn't resist.