Author's Note: This has to be the longest it's taken me put out a new chapter. A whole week... I'm really, really sorry, but for the past several days, an idea got into my head and there was no getting it out until I jotted it down in my very old and used notebook. For those who are curious, it turned out to be my first Final Fantasy Tactics fic, "Who She Is Within". Read it people, please. And review while you're at it. Please? Pwetty pwease? Pwetty pwetty pwease? I'd be so grateful if you guys did! ^_^
Oh, and don't forget to enjoy the latest installment for this story! (Geez girl, rant, rant, rant... Let the poor people read, already.)
*Disclaimer*: Xenogears belongs to me... Well, not really. It belongs to Squaresoft. Just checking if you guys were paying attention. :)
Chapter Eleven
Margie stood just on the outskirts of Nortune and contemplated the grasslands that stretched on endlessly at either side. About twenty feet in front of her at the city gates, Rico and Sigmund were having a last minute 'civilized discussion'. They seemed to be prolonging it since they wouldn't be able to do this for a while. Margie just hoped Rico wouldn't cause the Kaiser to have heart failure or something. Sigmund's face was flushed angrily and the more Rico ignored him, the louder the old man got. She didn't think that was very good for him.
"You don't think us taking Rico away will push the old man to kick the bucket, do you?" she asked worriedly as footsteps approached her from behind. She had immediately known it was Bart without even turning around.
Bart snorted. "Yeah right. That old geezer wont expire until he's sure he's caused Rico as much grief as he possibly can. Sweet, isn't it?" Bart asked as he came to stand next to her and stare at the father and son, too. "To think so much about someone, even negatively, that you don't want to breath your last until you're absolutely sure you can't do any more... Now that's what I call a devoted father."
Margie chuckled and he smiled, draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. "Come on, Margie. Let's leave these two tho their sentimental goodbye."
*************************************************
"This must be really hard on her." This from the Great Mother.
"Yes. I could almost see the pain on her face." A wise comment from the Nanomachine girl.
"I know she regrets hurting him. But I'm not so sure she regrets telling him off the way she did..." Observation done by Sophia's reincarnation.
"Which is good. He needed to be told that what he was doing is hurting her as much as it's hurting him," Margie huffed, turning to frown at Billy's back a little.
The ex-Etone was as oblivious of her disapproval as he was of the fact that Elly and Emeralda were also sitting there at the table in the Gun Room with her. The young gunman was sitting on one of the stools of Maison's counter and was concentrating on the plate of food in front of him.
"Well, what did he say when you asked him about it?" Elly asked.
Margie rolled her eyes heavenward. "That nothing was wrong. Nothing was different. He wasn't mad at Maria at all. She had a right to have her opinion, and a whole bunch of other nonsense," she muttered. "In a nutshell, nothing that was even remotely close to what he's really feeling."
The three girls sighed and slumped in their chairs a little.
"What are we going to do, then?" Emeralda asked quietly.
"Well, there's nothing we really _can_ do," Elly murmured with a small frown. "Neither of them wants to talk to the other. They hardly even make eye contact. I guess we're gonna have to wait until they themselves figure this out..."
Margie nodded slowly, resting her chin in her hands. It was clear those two weren't ready to talk yet. The way they avoided verbal communication was _so_ obvious, even Bart had noticed. What had he told her after she had explained the problem to him...? "Those two are so stuck on each other, something this small wont tear them apart... Now if only Billy would get off his high horse, maybe they'd actually GET somewhere."
Margie chuckled a little as she remembered his words. Trust Bart to put the solution on such simple terms.
The problem was that neither Billy nor Maria wanted to give an inch. Maria didn't want to apologize, saying she had only pointed out the truth to him. Billy said he wasn't angry with her, yet he clearly still didn't talk to her. There was something so... unnatural about having those two in the same room and seeing them completely ignore each other. It was also VERY irritating sometimes. But it was true. Those two had to figure this out themselves.
Just then the door to the Gun Room swished open and Chu-Chu came rolling in. "The snow! The snow, chu guys! It's so pretty!"
The little creature's excitement was quite palpable and the three girls grinned at each other before rushing out of the Gun Room and getting into the elevator. All four (including Chu-Chu) made their way up and ran to the bridge, nearly knocked Bart down when the door opened just as he was coming out.
"Damn, what's the hurry?" he asked as they hurried pass him without even an apology. Margie stopped long enough to grab his hand and pull him along with her.
Fei, Maria and Citan were already there and as the others joined them, it got quite crowded in the space right behind the wheel. The helmsman got a little intimidated with all these people around him, but from right there, they had the best view of the snow-covered island they were approaching.
"Isn't it beautiful, Bart," Margie breathed as she got her glimpse of it on the large screen above the helm. A small island completely covered in white and surrounded by midnight-blue waters. It was so breathtaking.
Bart smiled at her reaction and was glad he'd been here to witness this. Not the beautiful island, but the awe that brightened her features so nicely. "Yeah, I've never seen a lovelier sight."
She glanced up at him and noticed he wasn't talking about the landscape. She smiled, blushing and for a minute she was lost in his gaze...
...until Elly nudged her on the ribs and pointed silently.
The door to the bridge had just swished open and Billy stepped in. No one but Maria payed him any extra attention, and her attention consisted of a frown and a sniff of disapproval before she turned her interest back to the screen.
Billy just sighed and closed his eyes momentarily in frustration before walking over to stand among the rest of the group.
Margie grinned at their progress. Hey, at least they weren't just ignoring each other completely anymore... Maybe they _would_ eventually get somewhere...
**************************************************
The snow was even more cold and powdery than Margie remembered. She had only been to this island once before; to properly introduce herself to Queen Zephyr a few months ago. Back then, she hadn't had much of a chance to fully enjoy the surroundings.
Now, as she looked at all of the snow spread before her, she couldn't fight down the urge to just dive into it. With a last playful grin shot over her shoulder at the rest of the group, half of which were still in the Yggdrassil, she ran ahead with her fur cloak waving behind her like a flag.
"Margie! Wait! You shouldn't rush off on your own!" Elly called after her.
But Margie ignored her. The ruins of Shevat were only about a quarter mile in the distance and she didn't really see the danger in just being happy to be finally here.
She climbed up a hill and looked down at the white expanse before her. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, but she didn't notice. She crouched down and ran her gloved hands over the loosely packed snow. This was exactly what she'd been looking forward to. She held her breath and just listened to the utter silence around her.
Suddenly, her senses picked up a sound coming from behind. It was something so quiet, she probably wouldn't have caught it if she hadn't been holding her breath. Something told her this was not good and she tried to keep as still as possible. Fear welled up in her and she slowly, very slowly, began moving her hand toward the blade sheathed in her boot. As soon as her gloved fingers touched the cold steel, she pulled it free and stood up, turning halfway around all in one swift motion. But the creature was quicker.
She barely had time to register all that white fur before it pounced on her and knocked her down so hard, her breath was knocked out completely. She fell sideways and the tremendous weight of the creature weighed down on her upper legs and shoulders, forcing her completely on her stomach. She could feel the cold snow under her cheek.
She couldn't reach for her knife now! Panicking, she tried to struggle under its weight, but it was impossible. Her strenght wasn't enough!
She felt its hot, foul breath so close to the back of her neck that she closed her eyes and quit breathing for a while. Her heart was pounding so hard and her body was shaking so much, and somewhere, her mind was screaming for help, but she couldn't quite get her mouth to work.
She cried out involuntarily when the creatures claws squeezed and began cutting into the lower parts of her shoulders, near her shoulder-blades where it was holding her down from. White hot pain lanced into her and she cried out again when she felt the warmth of her own blood spilling down her back. Tears of pain slid down her face and she whimpered.
The creature let out a low growl as it got the scent of her blood. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it bare its sharp teeth, and some of its drool fell on the back of her neck. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable...
... And almost fainted when she heard a gunshot in the air followed by the creature's roar of pain. It jumped off of her and turned to glare at its attackers.
Billy and Jessie kept their guns trained on the creature, ready to shoot at any moment as Bart came forward threatiningly with his whips. Margie couldn't even move. Her body felt paralized even if the creature was off her.
The monster, which she could clearly see now, was a rather large snow wolf. She could see it was bleeding from its side, a trail of blood staining its white fur and dripping onto the pristine snow. It was pretty smart because instead of staying to most likely die in a fight against three humans, it decided to leave.
As soon as it did, Bart put his whips away and ran to her, falling to his knees beside her. "Margie! Margie, are you okay?" he demanded. His worried gaze kept on travelling to her blood-stained back.
"Is she all right?" Jessie asked, genuinly concerned
"Margie, are you?" Billy questioned, swallowing.
Margie suddenly burst into tears and Bart reached down to scoop her up gently, cradling her against him. "Shh, shh," he soothed as he gingerly turned her around. "Billy, come here and help me."
Billy came forward, putting his gun away, and helped Bart deposit a weeping Margie onto the pirate's back, piggy-back style. He stepped back as Bart stood up and turned, going back in the direction they had come from. Jessie and Billy followed worriedly behind.
"Don't worry, Margie. You're okay. I'm right here. Shh."
Bart walked as fast as he could without making the trip too rough. He knew it would hurt like hell if he jarred her. He held her tightly from under her legs and hoped to God she would hold on. She continued sobbing onto his back and didn't look up, even when Fei, Elly, Emeralda and Maria finally caught up to them.
"What happened, Bart?" Fei demanded as he saw the condition she was in. "We heard a gunshot and came as fast as we could."
"She was attacked by a monster," Bart replied curtly as he continued walking.
"Oh God, are you okay, Margie?" Elly asked, walking fast to keep up with Bart's pace. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood staining her upper-back.
"She's fine," Bart snapped. "What we need is to get her to an infirmary fast!"
Just then, Maria came forward. "Come on, we can go to the one in Shevat. It's better equipped."
Bart was glad that at least SOMEONE was using their head, and quickly followed her.
*******************************************************
An hour or so later, Bart's patience was wearing _very_ thin as he walked down the corridors of Shevat, being followed by a very disgruntled nurse. The morbid nurse that always travelled with them on the Yggdrassil...
"You should have told me, Bart! I thought you hired me for a reason and what am I better at than healing people! If she got hurt, you should have come straight to me! I would have had her on her feet by now! Who knows what these 'doctors' have done to the poor Great Mother! Did you even bother to find out what kind of training these people have gotten?! Credentials?! I'm sure that I'm WAY more capable than they are! It would have only taken me a couple of minutes and they've already lasted MORE THAN AN HOUR! You'd think she was dying or something-"
Bart finally snapped.
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!!" he yelled at her.
The nurse was clearly startled. But after she got through her initial shock, she sniffed and lifted her chin.
"Well," she huffed, insulted. "If this is how I'm going to be treated for my concern, I'd rather wait on the ship, thank you very much."
And with that, she whipped her hair around and made an exit.
Bart stared after her in mild disgust. "Damn woman's talent is not in healing, but in acting," he muttered darkly before continuing on his way to the infirmiry.
After Maria had led him to the infirmiry, he had looked around, frantically searching for someone who could give the bleeding girl he carried some medical attention. Margie had stopped crying and was only holding on to him, her face buried in his coat. He still hadn't heard a word out of her.
All they had found after their search was a scatterbrained trainee-nurse snoring blissfully on one of the empty hospital beds. After Elly shook the woman awake, she had informed them that the doctor was out for lunch, before promptly falling asleep again. Emeralda smacked her awake this time and had asked in her threatening way where the hell the doctor was at, exactly.
The trainee admitted that he was probably out flirting with the chef that worked in the restaurant a few corridors down.
Thanking the girl as was Billy's way, Fei was the one to quickly run off and get the charming doctor.
The problem was that because of Billy's kindness to the woman, she had immediately thrown herself at him, blind admiration shining in her eyes as she thanked him profusely. Apparently, no one had shown their appreciation for her in quite some time.
Billy could do nothing but blush and weakly try to push her away.
Under normal circumstances, this situation would have had Bart rolling on the floor with laughter, especially after he saw the homicidal expression on Maria's face and the way she walked up to them and stiffly pulled the gushing girl off Billy. Maria then proceeded to take the girl out to the corridor where they had a brief conversation no one was able to hear. After a moment, Maria came back in with a cheery smile. When asked where the trainee was at, she merely shrugged and said their 'scatterbrained friend' had found something better to do at the moment. Billy had swallowed nervously.
The doctor showed up swiftly after that. He had immediately taken charge, instructing Bart to lay Margie down on her stomach on one of the beds. Bart put her down gently before he was quickly shoo'ed outta the room along with everyone else. When Bart tried to protest, all he got for his efforts was a door slammed in his face. Reminding the doctor that he _was_ the King of Aveh had gotten him no closer to an opportunity to stay inside with Margie than if he had just said he was a commoner. They were all forced to wait outside.
The only one who had been allowed in was Citan when he arrived later, along with the rest of the group, who had been slower to hear the news.
After forty-five minutes of nonstop pacing and worrying, Bart had decided that he'd better do something else to keep himself busy before he went completely insane waiting. Fei and Elly, who were sitting together with their arms wrapped around each other as comfort, had stared after him anxiously as he left.
Bart had done everything that needed doing so the Yggdrassil and the crew would have no problems, and was now coming back after barely being informed by the Yggdrassil's nurse that nothing had changed. Margie was still in there with the doctors.
He arrived at the waiting room and found a few of the party still there. Maria and Emeralda were sitting on a bench, talking softly and Billy and Primera were sitting on one across the room from them. Primera was holding on to Billy's hand tightly and Billy was staring at the floor. Elly was pacing methodically in the middle of the room, a worried frown on her face. She looked up when she noticed Bart's prescence.
"Have they told you anything?" he asked worriedly.
"No, nothing yet."
He sighed and went over to sit down in an empty chair next to the door of her room, rubbing his gloved hands over his face and through his hair. This was so frustrating!
Elly looked at him sympathetically and went over to sit down next to him. Reaching out, she patted his hand and gave it a warm squeeze.
He glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to the floor. Elly always seemed to surprise him. He'd already known her for a while, but she still managed to surprise him with her warmth and cheeriness. She was a good friend, no matter how many times he had tried to deny it in the past...
"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," he said quietly.
"Don't worry about it, Bart. I understand. You were really worried."
He nodded and sighed. "Yeah. It's just that when I saw her pinned under that thing, Elly; scared, helpless... and then when I saw her lying there, her blood staining the snow..." he said, trying to explain what had gone through him. "The only thing I could think of was protecting her, getting her somewhere safe..."
She nodded in understanding. "I know, Bart. It happens to all of us. How do you think I felt when Fei was unconscious on the Thames and we couldn't wake him up? It scares the shit outta you, if you'll pardon my language."
He smiled a little and saw her smile in return. "Couldn't have said it better myself..."
They sat there silently for a while until Bart spoke up.
"Where'd Fei go? I thought he didn't let you out of his sight for more than five minutes?"
"He went to go see Queen Zephyr and make sure Ramsus didn't try to talk to her without us present. Among all that's happening, this would be his perfect chance."
"Oh. Yeah, we need to find out what Ramsus has dragged us out here for."
Just then the door opened and Citan and the doctor stepped out. Everyone immediately got to their feet, Bart holding his breath for the news.
"So, how is she?"
Citan took of his glasses to clean them and smiled. "No need to worry about Marguerite, young one. She's young and strong and all she got were some bruises and about twenty stitches all together. I managed to heal most of her, but the wounds were pretty deep in some parts so the stitches were needed. She should be fine, though, in a couple of weeks. Two months at the most."
The others looked at each other, happy and relieved. Bart couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face.
"So, can I go see her?" he asked. "I'll be real careful, I promise."
"Really quick, then. The painkillers we gave her made her drowsy and she's sleeping now," the doctor (who they still were ignorant about, namewise) said, moving aside to let him pass. "Five minutes. She needs her rest."
Bart nodded quickly and stepped inside the room, the doctor closing the door softly behind him.
He hesitated at the door and just stared at her for a minute. She was sleeping on her stomach, her face peaceful. Her back was bare in the linen pajama they had put her in, and he could see the white bandages over her pale skin. Her rich brown hair had been left loose and it fell silkily over her back, covering what the bandages didn't.
Quietly, Bart made his way forward and sat down in a chair next to her bed. Careful not to wake her, he reached out and brushed her hair out of her face, just like he'd done once a little while ago. He felt something inside him trip up as she smiled in her sleep and snuggled into his touch.
"Oh, crap," was all that he muttered as he sighed.
Dammit, he had fallen for her. Hard. The hardest way possible. He loved with all of his being...
Now, what to do about it...?
To be continued... (obviously)
*Hopefully, the next chapter wont take as long. And yes people, the Billy/Maria thing still hasn't been resolved... More to come!
P.S. Don't forget to read and review my FFTactics fic! (I nag a lot...)* ^_~
Oh, and don't forget to enjoy the latest installment for this story! (Geez girl, rant, rant, rant... Let the poor people read, already.)
*Disclaimer*: Xenogears belongs to me... Well, not really. It belongs to Squaresoft. Just checking if you guys were paying attention. :)
Chapter Eleven
Margie stood just on the outskirts of Nortune and contemplated the grasslands that stretched on endlessly at either side. About twenty feet in front of her at the city gates, Rico and Sigmund were having a last minute 'civilized discussion'. They seemed to be prolonging it since they wouldn't be able to do this for a while. Margie just hoped Rico wouldn't cause the Kaiser to have heart failure or something. Sigmund's face was flushed angrily and the more Rico ignored him, the louder the old man got. She didn't think that was very good for him.
"You don't think us taking Rico away will push the old man to kick the bucket, do you?" she asked worriedly as footsteps approached her from behind. She had immediately known it was Bart without even turning around.
Bart snorted. "Yeah right. That old geezer wont expire until he's sure he's caused Rico as much grief as he possibly can. Sweet, isn't it?" Bart asked as he came to stand next to her and stare at the father and son, too. "To think so much about someone, even negatively, that you don't want to breath your last until you're absolutely sure you can't do any more... Now that's what I call a devoted father."
Margie chuckled and he smiled, draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. "Come on, Margie. Let's leave these two tho their sentimental goodbye."
*************************************************
"This must be really hard on her." This from the Great Mother.
"Yes. I could almost see the pain on her face." A wise comment from the Nanomachine girl.
"I know she regrets hurting him. But I'm not so sure she regrets telling him off the way she did..." Observation done by Sophia's reincarnation.
"Which is good. He needed to be told that what he was doing is hurting her as much as it's hurting him," Margie huffed, turning to frown at Billy's back a little.
The ex-Etone was as oblivious of her disapproval as he was of the fact that Elly and Emeralda were also sitting there at the table in the Gun Room with her. The young gunman was sitting on one of the stools of Maison's counter and was concentrating on the plate of food in front of him.
"Well, what did he say when you asked him about it?" Elly asked.
Margie rolled her eyes heavenward. "That nothing was wrong. Nothing was different. He wasn't mad at Maria at all. She had a right to have her opinion, and a whole bunch of other nonsense," she muttered. "In a nutshell, nothing that was even remotely close to what he's really feeling."
The three girls sighed and slumped in their chairs a little.
"What are we going to do, then?" Emeralda asked quietly.
"Well, there's nothing we really _can_ do," Elly murmured with a small frown. "Neither of them wants to talk to the other. They hardly even make eye contact. I guess we're gonna have to wait until they themselves figure this out..."
Margie nodded slowly, resting her chin in her hands. It was clear those two weren't ready to talk yet. The way they avoided verbal communication was _so_ obvious, even Bart had noticed. What had he told her after she had explained the problem to him...? "Those two are so stuck on each other, something this small wont tear them apart... Now if only Billy would get off his high horse, maybe they'd actually GET somewhere."
Margie chuckled a little as she remembered his words. Trust Bart to put the solution on such simple terms.
The problem was that neither Billy nor Maria wanted to give an inch. Maria didn't want to apologize, saying she had only pointed out the truth to him. Billy said he wasn't angry with her, yet he clearly still didn't talk to her. There was something so... unnatural about having those two in the same room and seeing them completely ignore each other. It was also VERY irritating sometimes. But it was true. Those two had to figure this out themselves.
Just then the door to the Gun Room swished open and Chu-Chu came rolling in. "The snow! The snow, chu guys! It's so pretty!"
The little creature's excitement was quite palpable and the three girls grinned at each other before rushing out of the Gun Room and getting into the elevator. All four (including Chu-Chu) made their way up and ran to the bridge, nearly knocked Bart down when the door opened just as he was coming out.
"Damn, what's the hurry?" he asked as they hurried pass him without even an apology. Margie stopped long enough to grab his hand and pull him along with her.
Fei, Maria and Citan were already there and as the others joined them, it got quite crowded in the space right behind the wheel. The helmsman got a little intimidated with all these people around him, but from right there, they had the best view of the snow-covered island they were approaching.
"Isn't it beautiful, Bart," Margie breathed as she got her glimpse of it on the large screen above the helm. A small island completely covered in white and surrounded by midnight-blue waters. It was so breathtaking.
Bart smiled at her reaction and was glad he'd been here to witness this. Not the beautiful island, but the awe that brightened her features so nicely. "Yeah, I've never seen a lovelier sight."
She glanced up at him and noticed he wasn't talking about the landscape. She smiled, blushing and for a minute she was lost in his gaze...
...until Elly nudged her on the ribs and pointed silently.
The door to the bridge had just swished open and Billy stepped in. No one but Maria payed him any extra attention, and her attention consisted of a frown and a sniff of disapproval before she turned her interest back to the screen.
Billy just sighed and closed his eyes momentarily in frustration before walking over to stand among the rest of the group.
Margie grinned at their progress. Hey, at least they weren't just ignoring each other completely anymore... Maybe they _would_ eventually get somewhere...
**************************************************
The snow was even more cold and powdery than Margie remembered. She had only been to this island once before; to properly introduce herself to Queen Zephyr a few months ago. Back then, she hadn't had much of a chance to fully enjoy the surroundings.
Now, as she looked at all of the snow spread before her, she couldn't fight down the urge to just dive into it. With a last playful grin shot over her shoulder at the rest of the group, half of which were still in the Yggdrassil, she ran ahead with her fur cloak waving behind her like a flag.
"Margie! Wait! You shouldn't rush off on your own!" Elly called after her.
But Margie ignored her. The ruins of Shevat were only about a quarter mile in the distance and she didn't really see the danger in just being happy to be finally here.
She climbed up a hill and looked down at the white expanse before her. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, but she didn't notice. She crouched down and ran her gloved hands over the loosely packed snow. This was exactly what she'd been looking forward to. She held her breath and just listened to the utter silence around her.
Suddenly, her senses picked up a sound coming from behind. It was something so quiet, she probably wouldn't have caught it if she hadn't been holding her breath. Something told her this was not good and she tried to keep as still as possible. Fear welled up in her and she slowly, very slowly, began moving her hand toward the blade sheathed in her boot. As soon as her gloved fingers touched the cold steel, she pulled it free and stood up, turning halfway around all in one swift motion. But the creature was quicker.
She barely had time to register all that white fur before it pounced on her and knocked her down so hard, her breath was knocked out completely. She fell sideways and the tremendous weight of the creature weighed down on her upper legs and shoulders, forcing her completely on her stomach. She could feel the cold snow under her cheek.
She couldn't reach for her knife now! Panicking, she tried to struggle under its weight, but it was impossible. Her strenght wasn't enough!
She felt its hot, foul breath so close to the back of her neck that she closed her eyes and quit breathing for a while. Her heart was pounding so hard and her body was shaking so much, and somewhere, her mind was screaming for help, but she couldn't quite get her mouth to work.
She cried out involuntarily when the creatures claws squeezed and began cutting into the lower parts of her shoulders, near her shoulder-blades where it was holding her down from. White hot pain lanced into her and she cried out again when she felt the warmth of her own blood spilling down her back. Tears of pain slid down her face and she whimpered.
The creature let out a low growl as it got the scent of her blood. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it bare its sharp teeth, and some of its drool fell on the back of her neck. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable...
... And almost fainted when she heard a gunshot in the air followed by the creature's roar of pain. It jumped off of her and turned to glare at its attackers.
Billy and Jessie kept their guns trained on the creature, ready to shoot at any moment as Bart came forward threatiningly with his whips. Margie couldn't even move. Her body felt paralized even if the creature was off her.
The monster, which she could clearly see now, was a rather large snow wolf. She could see it was bleeding from its side, a trail of blood staining its white fur and dripping onto the pristine snow. It was pretty smart because instead of staying to most likely die in a fight against three humans, it decided to leave.
As soon as it did, Bart put his whips away and ran to her, falling to his knees beside her. "Margie! Margie, are you okay?" he demanded. His worried gaze kept on travelling to her blood-stained back.
"Is she all right?" Jessie asked, genuinly concerned
"Margie, are you?" Billy questioned, swallowing.
Margie suddenly burst into tears and Bart reached down to scoop her up gently, cradling her against him. "Shh, shh," he soothed as he gingerly turned her around. "Billy, come here and help me."
Billy came forward, putting his gun away, and helped Bart deposit a weeping Margie onto the pirate's back, piggy-back style. He stepped back as Bart stood up and turned, going back in the direction they had come from. Jessie and Billy followed worriedly behind.
"Don't worry, Margie. You're okay. I'm right here. Shh."
Bart walked as fast as he could without making the trip too rough. He knew it would hurt like hell if he jarred her. He held her tightly from under her legs and hoped to God she would hold on. She continued sobbing onto his back and didn't look up, even when Fei, Elly, Emeralda and Maria finally caught up to them.
"What happened, Bart?" Fei demanded as he saw the condition she was in. "We heard a gunshot and came as fast as we could."
"She was attacked by a monster," Bart replied curtly as he continued walking.
"Oh God, are you okay, Margie?" Elly asked, walking fast to keep up with Bart's pace. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood staining her upper-back.
"She's fine," Bart snapped. "What we need is to get her to an infirmary fast!"
Just then, Maria came forward. "Come on, we can go to the one in Shevat. It's better equipped."
Bart was glad that at least SOMEONE was using their head, and quickly followed her.
*******************************************************
An hour or so later, Bart's patience was wearing _very_ thin as he walked down the corridors of Shevat, being followed by a very disgruntled nurse. The morbid nurse that always travelled with them on the Yggdrassil...
"You should have told me, Bart! I thought you hired me for a reason and what am I better at than healing people! If she got hurt, you should have come straight to me! I would have had her on her feet by now! Who knows what these 'doctors' have done to the poor Great Mother! Did you even bother to find out what kind of training these people have gotten?! Credentials?! I'm sure that I'm WAY more capable than they are! It would have only taken me a couple of minutes and they've already lasted MORE THAN AN HOUR! You'd think she was dying or something-"
Bart finally snapped.
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!!" he yelled at her.
The nurse was clearly startled. But after she got through her initial shock, she sniffed and lifted her chin.
"Well," she huffed, insulted. "If this is how I'm going to be treated for my concern, I'd rather wait on the ship, thank you very much."
And with that, she whipped her hair around and made an exit.
Bart stared after her in mild disgust. "Damn woman's talent is not in healing, but in acting," he muttered darkly before continuing on his way to the infirmiry.
After Maria had led him to the infirmiry, he had looked around, frantically searching for someone who could give the bleeding girl he carried some medical attention. Margie had stopped crying and was only holding on to him, her face buried in his coat. He still hadn't heard a word out of her.
All they had found after their search was a scatterbrained trainee-nurse snoring blissfully on one of the empty hospital beds. After Elly shook the woman awake, she had informed them that the doctor was out for lunch, before promptly falling asleep again. Emeralda smacked her awake this time and had asked in her threatening way where the hell the doctor was at, exactly.
The trainee admitted that he was probably out flirting with the chef that worked in the restaurant a few corridors down.
Thanking the girl as was Billy's way, Fei was the one to quickly run off and get the charming doctor.
The problem was that because of Billy's kindness to the woman, she had immediately thrown herself at him, blind admiration shining in her eyes as she thanked him profusely. Apparently, no one had shown their appreciation for her in quite some time.
Billy could do nothing but blush and weakly try to push her away.
Under normal circumstances, this situation would have had Bart rolling on the floor with laughter, especially after he saw the homicidal expression on Maria's face and the way she walked up to them and stiffly pulled the gushing girl off Billy. Maria then proceeded to take the girl out to the corridor where they had a brief conversation no one was able to hear. After a moment, Maria came back in with a cheery smile. When asked where the trainee was at, she merely shrugged and said their 'scatterbrained friend' had found something better to do at the moment. Billy had swallowed nervously.
The doctor showed up swiftly after that. He had immediately taken charge, instructing Bart to lay Margie down on her stomach on one of the beds. Bart put her down gently before he was quickly shoo'ed outta the room along with everyone else. When Bart tried to protest, all he got for his efforts was a door slammed in his face. Reminding the doctor that he _was_ the King of Aveh had gotten him no closer to an opportunity to stay inside with Margie than if he had just said he was a commoner. They were all forced to wait outside.
The only one who had been allowed in was Citan when he arrived later, along with the rest of the group, who had been slower to hear the news.
After forty-five minutes of nonstop pacing and worrying, Bart had decided that he'd better do something else to keep himself busy before he went completely insane waiting. Fei and Elly, who were sitting together with their arms wrapped around each other as comfort, had stared after him anxiously as he left.
Bart had done everything that needed doing so the Yggdrassil and the crew would have no problems, and was now coming back after barely being informed by the Yggdrassil's nurse that nothing had changed. Margie was still in there with the doctors.
He arrived at the waiting room and found a few of the party still there. Maria and Emeralda were sitting on a bench, talking softly and Billy and Primera were sitting on one across the room from them. Primera was holding on to Billy's hand tightly and Billy was staring at the floor. Elly was pacing methodically in the middle of the room, a worried frown on her face. She looked up when she noticed Bart's prescence.
"Have they told you anything?" he asked worriedly.
"No, nothing yet."
He sighed and went over to sit down in an empty chair next to the door of her room, rubbing his gloved hands over his face and through his hair. This was so frustrating!
Elly looked at him sympathetically and went over to sit down next to him. Reaching out, she patted his hand and gave it a warm squeeze.
He glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to the floor. Elly always seemed to surprise him. He'd already known her for a while, but she still managed to surprise him with her warmth and cheeriness. She was a good friend, no matter how many times he had tried to deny it in the past...
"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," he said quietly.
"Don't worry about it, Bart. I understand. You were really worried."
He nodded and sighed. "Yeah. It's just that when I saw her pinned under that thing, Elly; scared, helpless... and then when I saw her lying there, her blood staining the snow..." he said, trying to explain what had gone through him. "The only thing I could think of was protecting her, getting her somewhere safe..."
She nodded in understanding. "I know, Bart. It happens to all of us. How do you think I felt when Fei was unconscious on the Thames and we couldn't wake him up? It scares the shit outta you, if you'll pardon my language."
He smiled a little and saw her smile in return. "Couldn't have said it better myself..."
They sat there silently for a while until Bart spoke up.
"Where'd Fei go? I thought he didn't let you out of his sight for more than five minutes?"
"He went to go see Queen Zephyr and make sure Ramsus didn't try to talk to her without us present. Among all that's happening, this would be his perfect chance."
"Oh. Yeah, we need to find out what Ramsus has dragged us out here for."
Just then the door opened and Citan and the doctor stepped out. Everyone immediately got to their feet, Bart holding his breath for the news.
"So, how is she?"
Citan took of his glasses to clean them and smiled. "No need to worry about Marguerite, young one. She's young and strong and all she got were some bruises and about twenty stitches all together. I managed to heal most of her, but the wounds were pretty deep in some parts so the stitches were needed. She should be fine, though, in a couple of weeks. Two months at the most."
The others looked at each other, happy and relieved. Bart couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face.
"So, can I go see her?" he asked. "I'll be real careful, I promise."
"Really quick, then. The painkillers we gave her made her drowsy and she's sleeping now," the doctor (who they still were ignorant about, namewise) said, moving aside to let him pass. "Five minutes. She needs her rest."
Bart nodded quickly and stepped inside the room, the doctor closing the door softly behind him.
He hesitated at the door and just stared at her for a minute. She was sleeping on her stomach, her face peaceful. Her back was bare in the linen pajama they had put her in, and he could see the white bandages over her pale skin. Her rich brown hair had been left loose and it fell silkily over her back, covering what the bandages didn't.
Quietly, Bart made his way forward and sat down in a chair next to her bed. Careful not to wake her, he reached out and brushed her hair out of her face, just like he'd done once a little while ago. He felt something inside him trip up as she smiled in her sleep and snuggled into his touch.
"Oh, crap," was all that he muttered as he sighed.
Dammit, he had fallen for her. Hard. The hardest way possible. He loved with all of his being...
Now, what to do about it...?
To be continued... (obviously)
*Hopefully, the next chapter wont take as long. And yes people, the Billy/Maria thing still hasn't been resolved... More to come!
P.S. Don't forget to read and review my FFTactics fic! (I nag a lot...)* ^_~