Every action in our lives will touch on a chord that will vibrate in eternity.
-Edwin Hubbel Chapin
-;-
Her head hurt, for one. Why did her head hurt?
Groaning, Ellie rolled over, pulling her pillow over her head and cuddling further into a rather warm chest that was pressed into her back before realizing that there was a chest leaning against her back. And she didn't know how that managed to happen.
Eyes snapping open, she bolted upright, whirling to stare at the all too familiar face of Fig.
"Oh no. Oh no no no no." she hissed as she clued into the fact that neither of them were wearing any clothing and that she was feeling particularly sore. "There is no fucking way-"
The Spanish man stirred.
Ellie wracked her brains for some kind of logical explanation of how she had ended up here, in this bed, with Fig of all people. All she could remember was bits and pieces of the previous evening. Her and Marcus, a bit of her uncle, and then nothing. Why was there nothing when there should have definitely been something?
However, there was no need to worry, considering that Fig looked just as startled to see Ellie staring at him like a deer with headlights being shone into its eyes. His mouth opened in shock several times, and then the both of them were scrambling to get as much distance between themselves as possible.
"How- what-" Fig sputtered before falling backwards off the bed and taking most of the covers with him. The mocha skinned woman left on top of the bed was then treated to several moments of heavy cursing in Spanish before said Spanish man made an appearance again.
"That's what I'd like to know." Ellie replied rather mildly, though her heart was beating in her throat and there was an uncomfortable feeling in her gut as she carefully averted her gaze from Fig.
Fig opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, there was a frantic banging on the door.
"FIG! I KNOW SHE'S IN THERE!"
"Uncle Epps?" the mocha skinned woman hissed to herself, searching out anywhere that she could possibly hide without being found should her uncle actually step foot in the room. Unfortunately, the room was small, orderly, and virtually shadowless. To put it mildly, she was screwed.
"Just open the door." She sighed, collapsing back down on the bed, slinging an arm over her face. "Better to get it over with now."
-;-
"Well, Ms. Lans, I've got some good news for you." Leon's doctor said as he came back into the room, flipping a couple of papers on his clipboard before looking up. "You're not going to 'die from some kind of unknown disease', as you so eloquently put it."
Leon sighed a breath of relief, feeling almost all of her muscles relax at the news. That did make her feel so much better about the situation. But there was still that hint of something that she could tell that the man wasn't telling her, and she didn't like that one bit.
"What's the catch?" she asked as she noted the slightly hesitant look on Dr. White's face.
"Well, I don't know if you're aware of this, but you're expecting."
Leon felt everything simply stop around her. There was a moment of blankness that enveloped her mind, and then there was the overwhelming shock.
"I'm…what?"
-;-
"GODDAMNIT, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HER!"
Fig cringed further back into the corner of the room as Epps drew himself up to his full height and bellowed. Idly, Ellie wondered if there were any non-military people staying at this particular hotel, considering that there would most likely be a great deal of complaints coming from them if there were. But that wasn't exactly the point that she wanted to focus on. There was a spark of indignation at her uncle's behavior, and then, as he moved towards Fig, she stepped into action.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" the elder roared at her, trying to shove her out of the way to get at Fig. However, Ellie was not one to be easily intimidated, and she shoved Epps right back, earning her half a foot of advantage.
"THE SAME GOES FOR YOU! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHO I SPEND THE NIGHT WITH!? I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE, ROBERT! I'M LEGAL! I CAN SLEEP WITH WHO I LIKE!"
"I'M TRYING TO KEEP YOU SAFE!"
"AND CHEWING OUT HIM IS GOING TO MAKE IT SO MUCH BETTER!" she shrieked back at him, taking a step forward and jabbing a finger into his chest. "YOU'RE NOT DAD! STOP TRYING TO ACT LIKE HIM!"
"ELINA EPPS, MOVE OUT OF MY WAY!"
"NO!"
It wasn't going to be long until one of them snapped, and it wasn't going to be pretty when it happened. But considering that there wasn't much that anyone watching could do, it was going to be a matter of seconds before something undoable happened.
And there it was; a sharp crack pierced the din, and immediately, everything was silent.
Ellie cradled her cheek, looking shocked at what had just happened. Both Fig and Epps looked surprised as well, but Epps looked horror-struck in comparison to Fig. His hand, still hovering in the air, shook, and the dark skinned man moved forward.
"Ellie…"
"Don't." the mocha skinned woman hissed, taking a step back from him, gaze unmoving from his own. Her hand hovered gently above the steadily darkening skin on her cheek, and there was something glimmering in her eyes before she turned.
"Get out."
"Ellie." Epps protested, once again trying to get to his niece. He couldn't believe that he'd just done something like that! To his niece! To family!
"I said, get out." She spat, whirling and lashing out with a fist. It was by pure luck that Epps moved just out of reach, regret flashing through his eyes. But Ellie was clearly done with everything that this particular situation brought. With hard eyes, she advanced, the blanket wrapped around her form not doing much to cover the shaking of her chest and the quivering in her arms. "Before I make you."
Epps knew that he was very outgunned by the emotional young woman in front of him, but at the same time, there was so much regret that he could feel coursing through his veins. He could feel the tears beginning to sting the corners of his eyes, but slowly, he did as he had been ordered. Backing up slowly, he held up his palms in a defensive gesture until he was sure that Ellie wasn't going to attack before turning and stumbling out of the room, closing the door behind him.
He made it until he reached his own room before he allowed the tears to fall.
-;-
For the remainder of their weeklong stay in France, Ellie made a very pointed decision to avoid her uncle, taking great care to turn away should he enter a room, and God forbid if he tried to approach her. Somehow, the SRT had found out about the incident, and the mocha skinned woman wasn't without at least one escort at all times.
Marcus in particular was the more common of the trio that usually made up Ellie's usual bodyguards; Eliza, Lex, and himself. Fig was more of a companion than anything else, but even so, Ellie was making a small effort to avoid him at times as well.
The last day spent in France included the SRT taking the mocha skinned woman along with them as they headed directly for the Eiffel Tower; Lex was babbling something about Anastasia and Warner Brothers, while Marcus and Eliza simply wanted to see what kind of view they could get from the gigantic structure.
Needless to say, Ellie was primped up the day that they went out. Wearing a dark brown heavy fabric skirt that fell to her knees, a pair of fashionable black boots that went up to her knees and a vest-shirt in a pleasant light blue, she was stoked on being able to see such a magnificent landmark. And magnificent it was, as she found herself looking out over the horizon. She couldn't help but wonder if this was how the Autobots felt when they looked over the civilization that mingled around their feet.
But at the same time, there was a prickling that was unsettling her greatly. The mocha skinned woman couldn't help but feel as though there was something big about to happen, and she didn't know what that would mean for her now that she was an official member of NEST.
-;-
The plane rumbled around Ellie comfortingly as she carefully read through her newest medical journal; one that she had unearthed in a small antique shop on the way to the hotel on the third day of their stay. And since she was so intrigued by anything and everything to do with another's work, she'd just had to have the piece of history. Unfortunately, she couldn't read French, but the sketches that went along with the writing worked just as well as a language for the mocha skinned woman.
Glancing up from her seat among the SRT members, she had to smile softly at some of the childlike faces that a couple of the guys were displaying as they leaned against one another in sleep. The small clip on light that she currently had on her book was also enough to reflect slightly on the Hummer parked in front of her, Optimus' familiar form right in front of the Medic while Ironhide's large black one was right behind. The entire plane was dead silent, too, everyone either dozing or sound asleep. The night outside of the plane had taken hold of those within the belly of the machine, and Ellie seemed to be the only one who wasn't affected.
Sighing softly, she went back to reading (well, looking at the images) in her medical journal, not even noticing the slight flicker of headlights from the Hummer, already immersed in her journal.
-;-
The room was quiet.
The only sign of life that could be found could possibly be the huddle of blankets that was curled up in a ball on the floor, but even then, it was difficult to tell that there was actually a human being wrapped up in something that small. Then again, Leon was known to be one who could always fit into small spaces without much difficulty, and this was not one of the times she was to be exempt.
She was so. Fucking. Tired.
Groaning as the nausea began rolling over her again, Leon reluctantly shed her warmth in favor of making it to the bathroom before yet again hurling into the toilet. Actually, at this point, she'd named it Jim. Jim was a much better name for the fucking thing that would flush away her lunch, and her dinner, and whatever snack she wanted in the middle of the night. And let's not even get her started on everything else that was going on in her life.
She knew exactly who the father was. After all, the times matched up with what her doctor had said, and Leon knew for sure that there had only been one person she'd slept with in the last six months. And his name happened to be Alex.
"I am going to castrate him," She snarled before choking and heaving again. "After I find every single one of his shoes and barf into them."
This led the brunette to continue muttering to herself all of the things that she was going to do to the male that had done this to her in between heaves, and it led to several rather dangerous ideas that the woman thought would be perfect revenge. She was going to teach that cocky, mangy, no good son of a bitch why not to mess with Leon Lans.