Chapter 10 - This Is Olivia, How Can I Help You?

"If you don't voluntarily retire, something worse might happen then a small electrical show."

Ainsley clenched his fist.

Olivia felt tired and weak and her whole body ached. She laid in the shallow water, eyes closed, listening to the light splashing of footsteps heading towards her.
"Vondur." Her voice was little more than a whisper and he nearly missed it. She looked pathetic.
"You're hurt, bad, child. I'm afraid you won't wake up from this one without some help." He sat next to her small body, looking over her tired, pale face. The damage of her physical body didn't carry over to her soul, but he had seen enough to know what had happened.
"I think so too." She laughed weakly. "I can't let you out though. You know that."
"I'm not as horrible as I seem." He tapped her on the nose when she tried to speak. "I know what I did and I'm not sorry. I don't feel bad but I've lived long enough in that life and I want to experience more than just violence and bloodshed. Besides. I've grown fond of your feisty little attitude. I'd like to see you grow."
Olivia forced her eyes open to look up at him. He was looking straight ahead, a confused sort of focus clouded his features and sighed at her.
"Tell me what you need done, child and I will do it for you. All I ask is some shadow freedom. I'll have to stay close to you so you can still supervise me, that sounds fair, doesn't it?" Olivia thought over the proposal, the members of B Force flashed through her memories.
"You need to reassure Miris that everything will be fine. That's the first thing. And let Ainsley know that I'm okay. Heal anyone that needs it." He held up his hand.
"I'll do it within reason but between us, we don't have a lot of strength." She nodded at him.
"Fix the base. Funding is super tight at the moment, so we won't be able to afford the repairs otherwise. And grab all the charges you can locate. They are round, black and similar looking to a smoke alarm." He nodded his head at her before vanishing. Olivia laid there for what seemed like hours before he came back darkness nearly claiming her before he grazed his knuckles over her forehead.
"I managed to complete everything on your long ass list." She let out a relieved sigh before he picked her up moved her to a large bed behind the throne he had set up.
"I'll let you go back soon but you have to stay here for a bit while we chat so I can keep your soul. Death is not easily overcome." She hummed in response, some strength slowly returning to her.
"The small cat is fine, nothing happened to her. Same story with the large beast and the two magics. Your lover took a bit of a hit, but he was easy healed, however, I did notice something strange with him and the other boy but we can talk about that later, it's not relevant right now. Speaking of the mouthy one, he was injured bad, child. But I managed to heal him enough for him to pull through. He will scar though." Olivia was still too tired to argue over petty things like him calling Ainsley her lover, so she just nodded at the story.
"You will take some time to heal though because you died. The work for that is a little more intricate." She gave a little hum, falling into sleep. He sighed before wishing her sweet dreams as he pushed her back into darkness.

Miris clung to Olivia's side as she slept, her little head resting just close enough to her chest to hear her weak heartbeat. Her ears twitched and she looked up when the door opened. Ainsley walked into the room and Miris watched as he hesitated. She tapped her fingers on Olivia's stomach in an attempt to call him over.
"It's ok, Ain." Ainsley nodded at her as he walked and sat on the edge of the bed, lifting his hand to slowly brush his thumb over her cheek. He furrowed his brows, and he felt the familiar tingle in the bridge of his nose that meant tears were going to start. They sat like that for a long while before a soft knock on the door made them pause. Lady appeared after a moment when no one said anything, Aquilan just behind her.
"Is she going to be okay?" She nervously bit her bottom lip between her teeth.
"I don't know." She nodded at the short response.
Elnath pushed through the door after that and Ainsley sighed, a sad smile playing on his lips.
"She's really got us all hooked, huh?"
"She better wake up now after putting in all that effort to get us to soften up." Elnath snorted back.
A short laugh made them all turn to the door where Dr. Wolfe leant against the doorframe.
"I never thought I'd see her surrounded by so many people, let alone you guys."
"Are you here to do a check up on her?"
"Unfortunately, I can't touch her like this, so I'm more just here to check on her."
"Why not?" Ainsley glared in his direction, and he sighed before picking up his bag and made his way over.
"Vondur. But maybe since you lot are here, he will behave."
"He is a demon." Aquilan glanced over at the doctor in disbelief. "You've been harbouring a demon. Knowingly! Are you not aware of the damage they can cause?"
"I'm more than well aware but this situation is unique. That's why she's still here and not being gunned down by Vatican assassins."
"There's nothing unique about a demon. They're dangerous."
"Aquilan. What damage has she caused since she's been here?"
"I wasn't talking about Olivia. Do you even know who he is?" Everyone glanced over at him confused.
"Oh, I forgot about the Elves and Demon thing. The two clans were close, right?"
"Before they tried to wipe us out, yeah. Regardless, That doesn't answer my question."
"Vondur. Evil One. Even other demons fear him, they call him The Bloody King." Aquilan glared over at the doctor. "How do you know he doesn't just snap one day?"
"Because he quite likes Olivia, even if he doesn't want to admit it and even if he didn't, the consequence of doing something so stupid is a 20% chance at life at best."
"Why?"
"The Curse King, Anathema, is here as well. And since he's running on an official contract, he is harbouring a lot more strength and can fight longer due to being able to drain the energy of the contractee, not that he would." Wolfe rolled his eyes.
"How many Demons are wondering around?!" Aquilan burst out.
"Just the two, some demons managed to flee to a different dimension just before the war ended but we aren't sure exactly how many."
"Who would be stupid enough to make a contract with a demon." Lady looked at his expectantly and he grinned before glancing at the sleeping woman on the bed.
"You're joking."
"I wish I was." He chuckled. "Wait until you hear what she wished for." He laughed.
"She'll be ok, right?" Miris looked up at him.
"Unfortunately, it's very possible that she won't. Death is not easy to bounce back from and the side effects of using that demon's power are not easy to get past. There are very real consequences of using Vondur's power as well. They don't have a contract, so any use of his power is coming at a price." He reached over to insert an I.V into her arm but a black hand shot out from the bed, smacking into his chest, and sending him flying back.
"Don't touch her, filthy thing!" groaned before sitting up.
"Vondur. Always pleasant to see you." Vondur appeared as a shadow, leaning over Olivia and Miris.
"Touch her and I'll make good on my promise to break your fingers off, one by one." He growled out at the doctor.
"How many times do I have to tell you, It's medicine!" He huffed as he stood up.
"After the last time you almost KILLED her, I'm standing my ground. I'll heal her and she will be fine. Let her borrow power from the other one if you're that worried about her but Do. Not. Touch. Her."
Dr. Wolfe threw his hands up before sighing.
"It wasn't my fault last time. I wasn't even there."
"But you should have been." Everyone was surprised by the new voice in the room and looked over to the walk in wardrobe where Lennox Patel appeared from before he made his way to the bed.
"Vondur."
"Anathema." Everyone gaped at Lennox, with the exception of Dr. Wolfe.
"It's Lennox. While I'm here anyway."
"You look a serious as ever." Vondur's tone suggested he was rolling his eyes but it was hard for the others to tell.
"Still walking through the shadows I see?"
"I am serious. Unlike you. You're meant to be watching her."
"She's impulsive. What was I supposed to do with my limited power? Be grateful I brought her back."
"Not an easy task with your power, and considering that you pulled it off, you shouldn't be able to appear so tell me, Am I correct in assuming you finally cornered the poor girl into a contract." Vondur nodded before a hand tore through his shadowy chest, making him fade back into nothingness.
"You stupid girl." Lennox shook his head at her.
"YOU'RE the curse king?" Miris looked up at him with wide eyes and he nodded.
"But you don't look like Livy?"
"No, because unlike Vondur, this is my true body. Vondur lost his in the war so he's sharing with Olivia. It's unusual though. Typically, the body can't hold more than one soul, but livy is really strong because I use her to hide some of my power so that's why you can see both of them sometimes." Miris nodded at the simple explanation.
Lennox gently slid his fingers over Olivia's cheek, a small black swirling pattern followed along, dancing just beneath her skin briefly before disappearing.
"She should wake up by tomorrow now." He nodded over at Ainsley.
"You two need to stop using magic on her, the side effects can be painful for her."
"She'll be fine, a light headache at most. Having half of my magic in her all this time means it's already moved through her systems. She could very well use it if she concentrated hard enough." Dr. Wolfe just gaped at him.
"It's true that it had it's side effects at first though, her heart, for example but it did also stop it from collapsing completely so it was a bit 50/50 there for a while." Lennox shrugged at him before a light tug on his shirt made him look down at the small child next to Olivia.
"What did Livy wish for?"
"I'm sorry?"
"When she met you. Dr. Wolfe said she wished for something."
"Oh, you mean what did she want when we made the contract?" She nodded at him and he looked around, everyone was looking back at him expectantly. He sighed.
"Don't laugh and don't say anything to her." Everyone nodded.
"A big brother." The silence in the room was deafening before a short snort of laughter was heard setting everyone to break out into silent chuckles or grins.
"The big bad Curse king agreed to be someone's big brother. For what?!" Aquilan stared at the demon, somewhere between confused and shocked.
"Nothing. The whole 'wish' was that I be her big brother until the day that she died. So I guess, if anything, I get to be here until she's dead."
"That's hard to believe. If you didn't get anything out of it, why do it?" Lady questioned him.
"Pity. She had run into the Dark Forest when I first met her. She was 5, maybe 6? I can't remember now. Her family had been killed by witches because she had taken a rune stone she had found at the edge of the forest." He looked pointedly at Lady. "It was a bit extreme if you ask me but as a result, she had lost everything. Noone had noticed though and demons don't deal with children so when I lead her back home and saw the blood, I asked her what happened." He looked down at Olivia. "She told me that her mummy, daddy and brother were hurt but it was okay because she was looking after them. Noone had noticed and this small child was left with the corpses of her dead family for days before she had wondered into that forest. She slept with her mother in the bed and used cold water to wash herself and them. She didn't understand that they had died, she hadn't ever seen death before so here was this small child living with the corpses of her family and it was that fucking sad that even I felt a little bad. When I asked why she went back to the forest, she told me she had gone to look for the witch ladies that had made her brother hurt so they could fix him because she missed playing with him. I explained that he couldn't be fixed, and I watched her cry and then I really felt bad so I told her I grant wishes and that's what she wanted. So that's the contract. It's also why she speaks the Old Languages. She grew up around demons and outcasts from the three tribes, so she learnt to tongues. When she turned 12 though, Alfred found her while out on a mission and we agreed it would be better for her to live with her own kind. It was hard for her to adjust, and she kept coming back to the forest so eventually, I came with her and now here we are." He shrugged.
Noone said anything and no one had to. It was what it was and words weren't going to fix it. Eventually, everyone left to go and see Christian in the Medi wing and Lennox left to get back to his team. Ainsley flopped onto the bed, exhausted. He hadn't slept as everyone else had and he was developing a headache.
"Ain?"
"Yes, pumpkin?"
"Can you move Livy?"
Ainsley sat up to look at her.
"Why do you want to move her?"
"So that she is in the middle. Then we can both cuddle her."
"Just leave her pumpkin, she needs to rest."
"She likes it when you are next to her. Her heart was beating better when you were brushing her cheek earlier." Ainsley sighed before complying with the small girl's whimsical request, gently sliding his arms under Olivia's small body and bringing her closer to him. Miris curled up next to her on the opposite side and Ainsley laid down on her other, rolling onto his side to watch her. He took her hand in his before letting his eyes close and sleep claim him.

Olivia woke with a groan. Her whole body hurt and she felt grouchy. She was about to yell at whoever was crushing her arms but a warmth leaked into her heart and a fresh scent drifted through her nose as she slowly remembered Ainsley. The faster, shorter breaths letting her know that Miris was also next to her. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned her head towards Ainsley. Her neck and shoulders were incredibly stiff but she ignored it as she met his clear green eyes. He looked pale and the dark shading under his eyes told her that he hadn't slept properly.
"Hey." She smiled at him weakly.
"Hey." He whispered back, placing a hand on her jaw and letting his thumb sweep her cheek. She sighed at his touch.
"You scared me." He looked into her eyes as he said it.
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok. Just don't be reckless next time." She nodded lightly before turning away to look at Miris. The small girl had tears on her cheeks and when she noticed Olivia was awake, she broke into sobs, flinging her small body on to Olivia. Olivia laughed breathily and put an arm around the small girl. Ainsley used the opportunity to send a quick text to the doctor, letting him know.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Only about 29 hours. Lennox came by and said you wouldn't be out that long. I'm assuming he helped your healing along, because I could see the faint pattern on your check flare up every now and again."
"Oh, so you know?"
"We all know." She nodded.
"I'm going to have so much work to do." She chuckled and rubbed Miris' back.
"It's ok Livy. Ain told them you wouldn't be at work for three days." Olivia looked at him and he nodded.
"They're putting it on your medical leave."
"So the higher ups know about the incident then?" He nodded again and Miris looked down.
"I guess no disciplinary action was taken."
"No. When asked about it, the ones involved said it was just a prank and that while they knew about your heart condition, they thought you would still be at the Go-Team base. Minimal damage and an accident means they got away with it as they are on two of the most public teams. They did, however, get stuck with an in-house grounding because Christian was injured. They can leave to go on missions though." Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Fucking bullshit favouritism." She mumbled it to herself but Miris gasped at her
"Livy!"
"Sorry, baby. I'm just mad."
They continued to catch Olivia up and she was visited by other members, but she could feel something had shifted in her interactions with everyone. Finally, she got Elnath to reveal that Lennox had told them about her past. She had laughed and told him that it was fine, and she had grown to accept what had happened.
The next day, Ainsley helped her out of the bed and let her lean on him as she moved around the base. She insisted on eating with everyone, even though she only ate small amounts. And Ainsley helped her to do everything else. After lunch, she had mostly regained the strength in her legs though, so she was able to shower herself. And Ainsley let her borrow yet another shirt and boxers so that she didn't have to leave the base. They continued like this for a few more days, Olivia working from the base when she did go back to work. She had everyone E-mail her everything she needed and she sent E-mails back. The team had become closer with Olivia, but she appreciated that they didn't treat her any differently than before, with the exception of Aquilan, but she understood.

After a few days, Olivia had to attend meetings, which was fine with her, she was back in her element, but the team fussed over her going back. She laughed and assured them that she had plenty of time to rest and Ainsley let her know that they had finished setting up the 8th room for her. She gratefully accepted it and headed off. While looking at the meeting schedule though, she paused. Tomorrow was the next budget meeting. It had been moved up.
'Nathan's doing, probably.'
She hadn't been able to secure any funding. She was going to have to tell the team. She finished up her meetings and headed over to the training grounds where they should be. She found them all in the locker room, with the addition of Dr. Wolfe who was doing a check up on Christian. They all looked shocked to see her.
"I'm not here to train. God, it was only one day though guys, I'm fine." She let out a small laugh but a small tear dropped down to her cheek.
"Unfortunately, I'm here with bad news. It would seem that the budget meeting has been moved up and I couldn't find anyone willing to be a Force sponsor." Silence settled over the room as they all digested the information.
"I'm so so sorry, guys. I really didn't want it to be this way, but I honestly don't know how tomorrow is going to go."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. We're used to it." Christian replied to her quietly and it shattered her heart. She jumped when her phone sang out at her and she looked at the screen, a scowl flickering across her face before she answered it.
"This is Olivia, how can I help you?"