A/N: Thank you, Timeless Badger and Danielle, for your reviews! I'm sorry for that insane chapter (sort of) and hope this next one will help a bit more in uncovering the crazy this has become! Thank you very much for supporting me and sticking with me. I appreciate it more than you'll know. Stay safe and enjoy!
Rufus nearly fell out of bed when Jiya bolted upright, screaming bloody murder. He caught himself, rushing to her side as he gripped her shoulders. "Jiya! Jiya!"
His wide eyes stared at her in a state of sheer panic. His mouth hung open as he realized Jiya's eyes were completely white. He knew what this was; he had seen this before. She was having a vision - one she couldn't snap out of willingly.
The heavy door to his room flew open, slamming into the wall opposite as the rest of the bunker rushed in. Wyatt and Flynn both armed with guns, aimed before them for whatever they might discover. They lowered their weapons when they saw Jiya staring at the ceiling, eyes white with a vision.
"What's happening?" Tenley asked, staring at her. The fear on the doctor's face reminded Rufus of people in horror movies. He would have commented on it if he wasn't terrified for Jiya.
"She's having a vision," Lucy explained briefly. She couldn't think of anything else to say as she stared at Jiya.
"Vision?" Tenley repeated, completely confused.
Lucy nodded. "I've never seen it like this before though."
"Someone should call Agent Christopher," Mason suggested.
"I'll do it," Lucy offered, fleeing the room.
Rufus gently shook Jiya, trying to break her out of the hold this vision had on her. "Jiya?" he whispered, his voice cracking. "Baby?"
Jiya's body finally went limp in his arms, her eyes fluttered closed. Rufus lowered her back into the bed, leaning over her. He brushed her hair out of her face as he studied her. "Jiya?"
After a few moments, Lucy returned. "Agent Christopher is coming as soon as she can." Her eyes darted over to the bed. "How is she?"
"Jiya?" Rufus whispered. "Come on...wake up…"
Tenley inched her way forward. Wyatt grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She whirled around to look at him. Wyatt hissed, "What do you think you're doing?"
Tenley tugged at her wrist, trying to break free of Wyatt's hold. "I need to check on her-"
"No," Wyatt said, voice firm. "You don't."
"Get your hand off of her," Flynn growled. Wyatt glanced up at him, silently sizing the man up. Flynn's glare was enough to make most cower and even Wyatt could see Flynn's desire to protect Tenley if he had to. He released his hold.
Tenley glanced between the two before stepping up to the bed. She reached over carefully and felt for a pulse. "Her heart is racing."
"Jiya?" Rufus pleaded. "Come on, don't do this…"
"Has she done this before?" Tenley asked.
Rufus nodded. "A couple of times…" With tears running down his cheeks, he looked at Tenley. "Help her…Please."
She nodded back. "I'll be right back," she told him. She stood up and turned to the others. "She needs rest. I'll let you know how she's doing later." She started out of the room.
"Where do you think you're going?" Wyatt questioned.
Calling over her shoulder, she answered, "To get some supplies from my room." She disappeared down the hall.
Mason looked up at Flynn. "Seems she's remembering some things."
Flynn blinked at the remark but remained silent. He wasn't sure. She had done a few things already that reminded him of how she was before but whether she was remembering or not, he couldn't say. He still held hope she was getting her memory back but only time would say for certain.
Lucy said, "We should leave...give them some privacy." She ushered the others out of the room, leaving Rufus and Jiya alone. Tenley returned and entered the room with her supplies, getting to work.
The others headed to the main living area. Flynn set to work on making coffee for the bunker. They sat down, silently worrying over Jiya and waiting for Agent Christopher to arrive.
"I thought she had those visions under control?" Wyatt asked.
Mason sipped his coffee. "This was one of the worst ones we've seen from her yet."
Lucy's thumbs drummed against her mug as she stared into it, deep in thought. "I can't shake the sound of her scream…" she brushed her hair out of her face, sniffling slightly, "whatever she saw must have been awful."
"Are you sure we should be letting her work on Jiya?" Wyatt questioned, motioning with his mug toward the hallway. "I mean, she isn't exactly all there-"
Flynn shot him a warning glance. He didn't get the chance to retort before Rufus came trudging into the room. His cheeks were wet from tears, eyes puffy, and red. He rubbed the back of his neck as he neared the others.
"How is she?" Lucy asked.
Flynn held out his untouched coffee mug to Rufus who took it. Rufus stated, "She's uh… she's seizing…" his voice cracked. "It's bad...like, worse than bad… I… I don't know…" Lucy darted to her feet, crossing the room to embrace him. He half-heartedly hugged her back. "I can't lose her…"
"What happened?" Agent Christopher's voice asked loudly as she marched quickly into the room. "Lucy told me something happened to Jiya?" She looked over to Rufus and saw the turmoil in his expression. "Is she all right?"
Another voice spoke behind the group. "She's stable."
Everyone glanced over to see Tenley standing there, scanning the group. "I managed to get her seizures under control but without the proper equipment, I don't know how much damage she's endured." She sighed, looking over at Rufus. "You said, she's done this before?"
He pulled away from Lucy's tight embrace, nodding. "Yeah, but she learned to control them. She...she hadn't had one in quite a while…"
Tenley nodded slowly, taking in his words. "I'll keep an eye on her but…" she licked her lips, voice barely a whisper, "if you're the praying sort, I'd start now…" She turned and headed back to Jiya's room.
Rufus couldn't contain his emotions any longer as he broke down into sobs, falling to his knees in the middle of the room, cradling his mug. Flynn placed his hand on the man's shoulder, silently offering support.
Wyatt sighed. "What's the plan?"
Agent Christopher turned her gaze over to the soldier. "We should wait until Jiya wakes up-"
Wyatt closed the gap, whispering, "And if she doesn't?" His eyes darted over to Rufus, hoping he didn't hear the question. Rufus buried his face in his hands as he sobbed. Lucy passed his mug over to Flynn before comforting Rufus.
Agent Christopher turned her brown eyes back to the blue ones waiting on an answer. "I don't know yet. Let's hope she wakes up."
"We shouldn't wait," Wyatt warned her. "You didn't hear her screams…" he took a deep breath, shaking his head, "It sounded like she was being murdered."
Denise's face twisted with concern, eyes darting back to Rufus. She shook her head. "Then let's discuss our options," she said, turning back to him, "without the critical remarks this time?"
Wyatt shifted in his place, knowing she was referring to his behavior before. He nodded to keep the peace but knew if it came down to it, he'd have to be firm with pushing them toward safety.
The next few hours were spent checking in on Tenley and Jiya and discussing the options available to the team. Tempers flared during the conversations, forcing them to take frequent breaks. They were no closer to reaching an answer on their next course of action than they were when they started the debate.
Eventually, Tenley entered the room to provide them with an update. "She's awake now."
Rufus didn't wait for permission as he ran from the room to join Jiya. Agent Christopher followed, giving Tenley a small thankful smile as she passed by.
Tenley's eyes lifted to meet Flynn's. "How have things been out here?" she asked as he neared her. "Sounded intense."
"You heard that, did you?"
She nodded. "Hard not to," she admitted. "You guys got so loud even Jiya asked about it."
"How is she doing?" he asked, slowly walking next to her as they meandered toward Rufus's room.
Tenley blew a heavy sigh from her lips. "Honestly? I don't know...She could have some brain damage and I'd never know it because of…" she motioned around them as if that was the only explanation needed.
Flynn nodded he understood as they entered Jiya's room. Everyone had gathered around the bed to see if she was okay.
Agent Christopher held her hands up, asking for everyone to quiet down. "What happened, Jiya?"
"I don't think now is the time for-" Tenley tried to say. Wyatt shot her a look, silently ordering her to stay out of it. Tenley shrunk back behind everyone, head hanging low.
Jiya swallowed as she shifted in her seated position. "It was awful," she started. "I...I saw Emma-"
"Emma?" Agent Christopher repeated.
Jiya nodded. "She murdered some guards you brought in to protect the bunker." Agent Christopher stood up straight, glancing over at Wyatt. She hadn't ordered anyone over yet, though she had entertained the idea. Jiya continued, "She brought in a group of armed men and she slaughtered everyone...took the Lifeboat…" she broke down in tears as she admitted, "It felt so real...the blood - so much blood!"
Lucy turned to Denise. "What do we do? If her vision is something to come, shouldn't we get out of here?"
Wyatt shrugged. "I agree, getting most of you out is the thing to do," he began. "But I also think we can use this to our advantage."
"How so?" Agent Christopher asked, glancing over at him.
"We set up an ambush," he stated. "We take her down as she makes her approach-"
Agent Christopher shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea-"
"Why not?" he argued. "I can lead a task force to ambush them, you just have to give me the men to do it."
"And if it fails?" she countered.
"And if it succeeds?" he retorted. "We'd have the Lifeboat. We'd have Emma! We'd have Rittenhouse! Doesn't that mean anything anymore?"
Flynn thought over Wyatt's plan. He wanted to agree to it. He wanted nothing more than to take Rittenhouse down - to take Emma down for everything she had done - but something told him this was what they wanted. Something simply didn't sit well with him. He shook his head. "I don't think this is a wise approach."
Wyatt scoffed, tossing his hands up in frustration. "Seriously? I thought out of all of us, you'd be on board."
He shook his head. "No offense to our little oracle here," he said, motioning over to Jiya, "but I can't help but think this is orchestrated by Rittenhouse. Maybe they want us to wait for them, plan an ambush...the details simply don't align-"
"Since when are you against murder?" Wyatt spat. Lucy hissed at him under her breath, trying to stop him from starting a fight.
Tenley's eyes bounced over to Flynn after Wyatt's remark. "Murder?"
Flynn's eyes closed as his heart sank. Wyatt's head fell to his chest, realizing he shouldn't have said anything - forgetting that Tenley didn't remember much in regards to everyone's backstory.
Flynn turned to face her. "I can explain-"
She stared at him before glancing at the rest. "I need a minute…" she bolted from the room, heading to the infirmary.
Flynn's jaw tensed as he turned to face Wyatt, eyes flashing in anger at the man. Wyatt shook his head as he said, "I'm sorry…I forgot-"
Agent Christopher raised her hands, stopping the conversation from going further. "Right now," she said diplomatically, "we need to figure out what to do." Her eyes darted over to Flynn. "I agree that lying in wait for them is not the right thing to do." Wyatt rolled his eyes, disapproving of her decision. She exhaled sharply as she admitted, "I think we need to strongly consider using the Bloodstone location."
"What?!" the other shouted. They talked over one another, trying to be heard over the others.
Agent Christopher held her hands up, shouting over them, "Listen!" Once they started to settle, she sighed. "You don't want me to inform Homeland Security because you're afraid of the moles." She glanced at them. "You don't want me to stay here because of the vision. You've been pushing me to use this Bloodstone location and now that I'm entertaining the idea, you're mad at me?"
The team looked anywhere but at Agent Christopher. They felt ashamed in their reactions. She had a point. They had been pushing to leave the bunker but now that it was a high possibility, they couldn't stand behind it - and they couldn't explain why.
Denise sighed. "You have put me in a difficult position. What would you have me do? Do you want me to notify Homeland? Would you rather find somewhere else to hole up in?"
Flynn scratched his jaw. He turned his gaze over to Jiya. "Any idea on how they found us to begin with?"
"Why would she know?" Wyatt questioned.
"Maybe in her vision, she found the answer?" Flynn pointed out.
Jiya thought for a moment, shaking her head. "No...Just that they had found us…"
Flynn nodded, turning his gaze back to Denise. "There's no way of knowing when this assault will take place," he told her. "I'd rather not be here when they decide to storm the castle."
Agent Christopher watched as he exited the room, making his way down the hall. She sighed, looking at the others. "I'm open to suggestions." She motioned toward Flynn. "I have one vote to leave."
Flynn headed to the infirmary where he knew he'd find Tenley. He saw the closed door. He reached for the handle and tried to turn it, finding it locked. He knocked on the door. "Nine?" There was no answer. He knocked again, feeling his heart begin to race. "Nine?" Another knock, this one more urgent. "Tenley? Are you okay in there?" He could hear shuffling through the door. His heart slammed against his chest as the panic rose within him. His mind raced with thoughts of missing one of the intruders from earlier. He knocked again, wiggling the knob aggressively. "Tenley! Open up!" He heard the shuffling again, things being moved about. "I'll kick the door in-"
The door unlocked but didn't open; he heard shuffling moving away from the door. He glanced at the handle, carefully turning it. He pushed the door open, eyes darting about the room. His eyes noticed drops of blood on the floor leading over to the sink and trash can that sat just below it. His eyes followed the trail of blood drops over to the small table where he saw more blood pooling on the surface.
He pushed the door open further, spotting Tenley sitting at the table. Her hands were soaked in blood up to her wrists, a scalpel in her right hand, fresh blood running down her left wrist, both hands trembling. Her face streaked with tears and a couple of bloody smudges across her brow and cheek. He glanced back to the table, seeing some gauze soaking up the mess.
His mouth fell open as he rushed in, grabbing gauze with one hand, the scalpel from her hand with the other, tossing it onto the table. He gripped her left wrist tight with the hand holding the gauze. "Nine? What the hell are you doing?" his voice firm but laced with worry. "What were you thinking?"
"I...it's not-," she tried to tell him, voice shaking. She hissed in pain as he applied pressure to her wrist. She tried to pry his fingers off but he stopped her with his other hand.
"Tell me what this is about," he said, trying to control his emotions, though his tone showed the struggle of doing so, "because from where I'm sitting...this doesn't look good."
She swallowed, keeping her eyes from looking up at him. "I know...I know how this looks…"
He gritted his teeth. He worried and feared for her. "Were you trying to kill yourself?"
"No," she retorted. She tried to pry his hands off her again.
"Stop," he warned her. When she didn't, his voice cut through her as he repeated sharply, "Nine! Stop it!"
Her dark eyes widened, mouth falling open. She blinked the tears from her eyes as her shoulders fell forward. "I…" she sighed defeated, "I can explain…"
"Looking forward to it," he told her gruffly, swapping gauze pads out. He noticed the bleeding was slowing down. He could see that she'd need stitches. His heated and worried gaze bore into her soul.
"You can't get angry-" she saw the look on his face grow darker, so she added, "any more than you already are…"
He sighed, leaning back in his chair, releasing his hold of her. He looked almost defeated. He remained silent, waiting for her to speak. Inside, he was telling himself to hear her out before lecturing her any further.
Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips as she turned her gaze down to her bleeding wrist. She started to pull the blood-soaked gauze away. She glanced up at him, seeing the look of disapproval washing over his face. She turned back to her wrist, reaching for the scalpel.
He grabbed her right wrist again, keeping her from it. He tilted his head at her in a silent warning. She blinked at him, reassuring him to trust her. He released his hold of her, leaning forward to see what she clearly wanted him to see.
She used the tip of the scalpel to pry open the cut. "I've been struggling to do this on my own," she confessed. "It's why it's so messy in here…" She pushed the tip down, wiggling it further in, hissing in pain.
Flynn reached forward to stop her when he spotted a small flashing light breaking past the blood. He froze. His eyes widened as he pulled the chair closer to her, gazing into her wound. He blinked, wondering if he had imagined it but when he saw it again, he bolted to his feet, and toward the cabinets.
Opening the drawers, he dug around, finding the tweezers. He brought them back, sitting down next to her. He leaned over her wrist, tweezers at the ready as he looked for the light again.
Flynn muttered, "This is going to hurt," his eyes lifting to meet hers, "and I'm sorry-"
"Just get it over with," she said, voice barely a whisper. She gave him a reassuring nod, letting him know it was going to be okay.
His eyes darted back to his task. He pushed the tweezers deeper into her wrist, earning a painful hiss from her. He hoped it would be easier to simply grab whatever was in her wrist but he struggled. He understood now why there was more blood than the task warranted. It was jammed in there tightly. He pressed the tweezers deeper, another whimper from her.
He lifted his eyes quickly to assess Tenley. She was biting her lip, eyes squeezed shut. He sighed, turning back to her wrist. Determined, he took the scalpel from her and used it to aid him in his task. He spotted the flash of light again.
After a couple of minutes, he managed to grab it with the tweezers. He wiggled it back and forth to dislodge it from its resting place. He felt it give and pulled it out slowly, squeezing tightly so not to drop it.
Through tears, Tenley blinked at the flashing light coming from the acorn sized device Flynn managed to remove from her wrist. She grabbed the gauze, pressing it over the open wound. She released a heavy sigh, resting back in her chair.
Flynn stared at the blinking lights. He dropped it into a cup full of water. He turned to face her. "This is what we're going to do," he started. "I'm going to stitch up your wrist and then you have my full attention."
She nodded, blinking the remaining tears away. She watched as he grabbed the supplies needed to stitch her up. Once he was back, setting up, he lifted his gaze to her. She swallowed and admitted, "I had a hunch-"
"A hunch?" he repeated, pulling the thread through the needle. "Quite the gut."
She shook her head. "It was something Rowan said," she stated. "I couldn't get his words out of my head and then Jiya's vision happened and-"
"What did he say?"
"To keep a close eye on my wrist," she said. Another heavy sigh escaped her lips as she explained, "I went on a mission with Quinn - Rowan's brother - and when we returned, I had a bandage on my wrist...I didn't even remember being injured. Quinn acted weird about it and then Rowan made that comment and...I don't know...I guess I always sort of suspected something but it was Jiya's vision that made me really wonder."
Flynn kept his eyes on her wrist as he started to stitch her up. "So, instead of asking for help," he started. "You decided to hack your wrist up?"
"No one trusts me," she reminded him. "How would that have gone over if I told them that I think there's some device in my wrist that might lead Rittenhouse to our step? One that I don't know if it's in there or not?" She scoffed. "Wyatt would have shot me on sight - hell, he might still."
Flynn gritted his teeth. She had a point, he had to give it to her. Wyatt would have exploded if she had come to them for help. He shook his head, unable to blame her for how she chose to handle the situation. "You could have come to me," he told her. "I would have helped."
"I've seen the way you look at me when you think I'm not looking," she confessed. "You look at me with expectations-"
"I don't mean to-"
"I can't remember what you want me to," she continued. "I'm trying to but maybe I'm not meant to-"
He shook his head, stopping his sewing. "I don't believe that," he told her. "I don't think you do either. I've seen you do things here that you used to do before this-"
She scoffed, shaking her head. "Like what?"
"You've jumped straight into your medical mode," he stated, "without hesitation, like it was second nature to you, because it is, Nine." She opened her mouth to retort when he kept going. "The tea? You knew exactly where to find the tea bags...you didn't know that when you first came here but you behaved like it was something you did all the time."
She studied his face, seeing his hope behind his eyes. "Maybe I am remembering slowly," she whispered. "Or maybe it's luck-"
He nodded slowly. He could see that she was afraid. He reminded himself to be empathetic to her needs and her situation. He couldn't force his hopes onto her. This was a process - a potentially long one at that. He lifted his gaze to meet hers. "I'm sorry." His voice was soft and gentle. He studied her for a moment, trying to reassure her that everything would be better soon. He wasn't sure if she believed him or not. Finally, he looked down at her wrist. "Let's get you patched up, shall we?"
