~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 7
They stood in the lobby of the building, with a dozen members of the resort staff going over the
rules yet again as well as carefully searching each of them and the backpack they'd been provided
to carry the gear. They lucked out; the extra items Alyx had packed were either overlooked or not
discovered at all. They were all dressed identically. The staff had provided heavy sweaters, boots,
heavy pants, gloves, and hats that they all wore. Everything was an unimpressive dark gray that
would blend in quite well in the current weather. The snow was coming down in a wall outside the
doors; visibility was no more than a few feet. Luckily the wind was fairly mild or they would be in
big trouble.
In some ways the weather worked to their benefit. Their tracks would disappear almost instantly in
the heavy snowfall, making them more difficult to track. Alyx was looking over the group and gave
them all a light scan. She finally found the slime-ball who'd recognized Darien. There was nothing
special about him that she could see. Less than six feet tall, dark eyes, dark hair,
oriental-looking. She had no idea who he was, but hoped Darien would be able to fill them in later.
At oh six hundred they were escorted to the main entrance and turned loose. They walked across the
covered porch, down the short flight of stairs, turned as one and struck off to the left of the
building, heading for the tree line furthest from the Lodge. At this point they just wanted to be
out of sight of prying eyes. Their movement was slow, as the snow was rather deep, coming up past
Alyx's knees even in the shallowest areas. Some of the drifts soared over Darien's head, and they
did their best to go around them. Still, it took nearly an hour before they made the tree line.
They took a short break there. Alyx leaned back against a tree, panting; it had been hardest on her
because, even with the guys breaking trail, the snow was deeper for her relative to her height. From
here it would get easier, between the trees reducing the amount of snow on the ground and a few
tricks they were going to pull.
"Hobbes, I just had a really bad thought," Alyx said between pants.
"What, kid?"
"We based our plans on them being on foot like us. What if they're not?" Alyx wished she had
thought of this last night, and not now when it might be too late.
"What do you mean?" Claire asked.
"I mean, what if they have snowmobiles, or even just skis or snowshoes. They are the hunters. From
what I understand, the only thing they are NOT allowed is projectile weapons, except for the long
bows." Alyx closed her eyes and tried not to shiver. "They could have thermal goggles, motion
trackers, you name it."
"Shit, kid. We should have considered that. It will change the timing of everything." Hobbes
rubbed his face with his mittened hand.
"Hobbes, it's too late now. We'll alter the plan if we need to," Darien stated. "It's not like it
would be the first time we've fubared a mission and still been successful."
"Good point, partner. Let's get moving. Plow the road, kid." Hobbes gestured at Alyx.
This was their first trick. They'd slogged through the snow to get to here as a precaution, but now
they were pretty sure they were out of sight. Alyx moved to the front of the group, where she
focused on forming a wedge out of a section of air and pushing it through the snow. Just like a
snowplow. She left the tightly-packed bottom layer in place, which covered most of the items they
could trip over. Now they were able to walk with some speed and make the time they needed to, which
would be more than those hunting them would expect given the weather. Behind them, the piles of snow
conveniently collapsed back into the pathway, hiding their trail.
"I found the guy who recognized Darien," Alyx said, a cloud of her breath forming about her. It was
very cold out. "But I don't know who he is."
"Describe him," Darien said to her.
"I can do better than that." She sent the image of him into their minds so they could all see him.
Both Darien and Bobby recognized him. "Well, well. Moving up in the world, is he?"
"Jeez, all this because of him?" Darien groaned.
"Could you fill in us girls?" Claire asked in confusion. The image had meant nothing to her.
"He's a small-time schmuck who was doing goon duty on a job, what, a year ago?" Hobbes turned
slightly to look at Darien.
"Yeah, about that. The first time we met Kate Easton. We arrested him, but he must have cut a deal
and gotten loose." He shook his head. "It's no wonder he recognized me; we had such a nice
conversation that one day."
"He obviously got new employers," Claire commented a bit wryly.
"Unless he worked for them all along and was doing the goon thing to get to Kate," Alyx tossed off,
a bit absentmindedly.
"Kid, stop thinking. You're scaring me," Hobbes said half-seriously. Between his paranoia and all
the conspiracies he did know about, having another one thrown at him made his head hurt. Either
that or it was the remains of his hangover.
Alyx snickered and just kept moving, plowing the road before them.
After about an hour, Claire stumbled and was caught by Darien. "Rest, please," she requested
quietly. They had no trouble hearing her. Because of the conditions, they were staying within a
step or two of each other. Otherwise, they might get lost real quick.
"Mmmm. Yeah. Should check the map anyway and make sure we're still on course." Hobbes directed
them off to one side of the path they were making, towards a fair sized pine tree that would give
them some limited cover while they took a break. With a sweep of her mind, Alyx cleared away most
of the snow, revealing the pine needles beneath. They wanted no part of the frostbite that was all
too likely out here, and were doing everything they could to stave it off. Claire slid the backpack
off and set it before her on the ground. Hobbes retrieved both the map and the compass and worked on
checking their location.
"Damn, I'm thirsty," Claire said, looking around in dismay at all the snow.
Darien scooped up a mittenful. "Ummm, this is water, right?"
Claire shook her head. "Technically yes, but snow and ice would lower our body temperatures too
much if we used them for a water source."
Alyx was leaning against the trunk of the tree enjoying the pervading scent of pine. "Didn't they
toss a metal cup in the kit?"
Claire searched for it and handed it to Alyx. "Why?"
Alyx removed her gloves and packed some snow in the cup. Concentrating, she convinced the snow to
melt and then the water to warm.
"Alyx, even melted, it'll be too cold... Oh." Claire noticed the steam now coming from the mug as
Alyx handed it to her. "How do you do that?"
"I was shooting for blood temp," Alyx said about the water. "As to how, the same way I make the
wedge to move the snow, sort of."
"Like when you repaired the tire that one time. You melted the rubber," Darien added. He still had
no real idea how she did this stuff, but had come to appreciate her abilities. They'd saved his ass
on more than one occasion.
Alyx nodded. "Since I can feel the molecules, I just make then move faster."
"Which, in the case of snow, makes water." Claire handed the now-empty cup back to Alyx. "One for
everyone, at least."
Hobbes came back under the tree in time to see Alyx do her trick again. "We're on the right path,
but we're not making as good a time as I hoped. Think you guys can push it a bit this next leg? We
need to make that spot on time, especially if the kid is right about them not being stuck on foot."
"Don't have much choice, do we?" Darien said as he finished his share of water. He handed the cup
to Alyx, who set one up for Hobbes.
"Sure we do. We could sit right here and wait for them to find us. We'd get killed, but it would be
sure to ruin their fun." Alyx handed the cup to Hobbes, who thanked her with a nod.
"Another option, please." Darien hated being backed into a corner, even though he seemed to spend
a inordinate amount of time there lately.
"This plan was our other option, remember, Fawkes?" Hobbes repacked the map and compass while Alyx
took her turn at getting a drink.
Claire looked over at Alyx, who had begun to shiver. "Are you all right?"
"J...j...just cold. As usual." She downed her water and then rinsed out the cup with some snow.
She shoved it back in the pack and hefted it herself.
"No, kid, let Fawkes take it. You have enough work to do." Hobbes removed it from her grip and
handed it to Darien, who shrugged it on without argument.
Climbing out from under the tree branches, Alyx closed her eyes, rebuilt her wedge, and began
shoving it through the snow. There was little talk among them for the next couple of hours, and by
then the hounds had been released and were searching for them.
After another water-and-orientation break, they got moving again. They had miles to make and a
hidey-hole to find. After another hour of hard walking, it was Alyx who stumbled and went to her
hands and knees unexpectedly. Bobby nearly walked right over her, he was following so close behind.
"Kid?" He went to his knees next to her.
"Ah, hell," she muttered. She knew what was happening, could feel that ache developing deep between
her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to convince it to back away for a bit,
just a little while.
"Come on, kid. You need to get up." She nodded, and Hobbes helped her get back onto her knees
first. She swayed in place for a moment and then, with Bobby's hand holding her arm, got to her
feet.
"Sorry about that." She tipped her head to the side and then pulled off her hat.
"Kid, put that thing back on. I like your ears where they are." Bobby put force behind his words,
but kept from yelling.
"Shit. Incoming." She backed away, dragging Hobbes with her off their trail and behind a tree.
Darien and Claire followed, though they were not quite sure why. Within seconds, though, even they
could hear the voices. Alyx quickly hid their trail and pulled Hobbes and Claire close. "This
should be interesting," she commented, quicksilvering the three of them.
Darien followed suit, doing himself. Alyx realized a problem immediately, as the falling snow began
adhere to them, piling on shoulders and heads. *Down,* she sent to all of them. *I'll fake
something.*
They all huddled down on the ground. Alyx convinced snow to shift and cover the lot of them in a
thin layer. Now they should look like nothing more than a snow-covered lump in this weather. It was
less than five minutes before four men on skis came by. One passed within a couple of feet of them,
and all of them were wearing thermal goggles.
"I thought you said the signal was coming from here," one of them said in complaint.
"It still does," said a second guy, holding the familiar-looking tracking device. He whapped it in
the side and grumbled to himself. "Must be the cold. Screwing with the electronics. Spread out and
search the area."
Alyx gritted her teeth, reached out with her mind, and fried the thing. It would never pick up
another signal. Now they just had to wait for them to move on. She kept a light watch on their
minds. When they had finally moved off far enough, though just barely, Alyx shook off both the
quicksilver and the snow and rushed to Darien.
"Drop it, Dare."
He did so with a groan, as Claire grabbed his wrist and checked the monitor. "Three left," she
announced.
"I know," Darien grouched, the headache making itself known. "I'm hoping Alyx solved the problem,
or things could get ugly."
Alyx was already working on it. She peeled the backpack off of him and dug out the pen she had
decided to use for this. She had sterilized and checked it out last night; it worked perfectly then.
"You brought counteragent?" Claire sounded surprised.
Alyx nodded. "Two vials."
"Alyx, I'm not sure what would happen to the counteragent if it were frozen." These were not
exactly the best conditions to run new tests.
Alyx laughed and pulled off her gloves, then her heavy sweater. She had borrowed one of Darien's
long-sleeved shirts, under which she had a tank top and then a sports bra. With so many layers on,
the bad guys had been able to feel very little. With a bit of squirming and some grumbling about
the cold air, she pulled one perfectly thawed vial of counteragent from where she had hidden it --
between her breasts in the bra. "You don't want to know where the other one is, but it's thawed as
well." She handed both the vial and pen to Claire, who went to work on prepping Darien for an
injection. Several actually. The 'pen' was designed to inject fast-acting poisons, and only had a
very small well. It would take at least three shots to get him back to full green.
Alyx checked for the minds of the guys who had passed them, and found them still moving away,
though at an angle. Alyx checked over her sweater, and then all the clothes the resort had
provided, looking for bugs. Hers came up clean.
"What, kid?" Hobbes asked as she turned to him. He felt something wash across him. It didn't hurt,
but it did make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, much like when he knew someone was
watching him but couldn't see where they were.
"You heard them. One of us is wearing a tracker. I fried their machine, but others may have them as
well." She gave Hobbes a smile. "You're clean."
She turned to Claire, who was working on injection number two, and found one in her left boot,
which she fried. Double checking, she found no others on her. Turning to Darien, she found not one,
but three. One sewn into the lining of his hat, one in the material of the backpack that was between
his knees, and one in his right wrist. That made her do a double-take. Alyx knew about the monitor,
of course, but hadn't been informed about the tracking device. Neither had Darien, she suspected.
After a moment's debate, she decided against mentioning it for now. She wasn't happy to learn that
Darien had an electronic leash he didn't know about.
She fried the two other trackers and then checked them all once again, finding them clean. "Hobbes,
I found three, all on different frequencies. I'm willing to bet there are at least two other groups
who know about them."
"So they'll all have our general location, at the very least." Hobbes growled. "This sucks." He
turned to Claire and Darien. "We need to move, now."
Darien got to his feet as Claire handed the vial back to Alyx, who returned it to its spot and
wiggled back into the sweater. Darien slid the backpack on when Claire handed it to him. "We're
ready."
"Okay, kid. You know where we need to get; think you can get us around the foursome?" Hobbes
didn't want to change the plan any more than necessary.
"Yeah." She stuffed her hat into one pocket of the pants; she wanted to be able to hear. She got
moving, once again plowing through the snow. This time Hobbes had Darien go second, while he took
the rear. He might as well put both his training and paranoia to work on covering their asses.
They walked in silence for a while, as Alyx pushed the pace as best she could. She did have the
shortest legs of the bunch, and was also doing the most work. Her head was beginning to pound in
time to her heartbeat and it was distracting. Twice she nearly lost her hold on the wedge, but she
kept it together. When she stumbled, Darien caught her with a hand on her shoulder.
"You okay?"
"No, but that's not gonna stop me," Alyx replied.
Darien considered for a moment; he was still hurt from their 'talk' last night, but knew he
couldn't let it interfere with the work, with surviving this. "How can I help?"
She set her hand atop his for a moment. "Keep me moving. Talk to me." She needed a distraction from
the pain.
"Uh, okay. About what?" Darien kept the hand on her shoulder for the moment and shifted a bit
closer to her.
"Anything. How about New Year's? Where did you guys end up going?" Alyx was curious. The three of
them seemed to enjoy spending time together, and she wondered what it was they had found in common.
Even with Darien and Bobby having been partners for almost two years now, they were still very
different people. And Claire... well, on the surface, she and Claire should be better suited to one
another, but except for the beginnings of some interesting research down in the Keep, they hadn't
really found a balance point and she wondered if it was herself that was the problem.
"You sure?" When she nodded, he began. "We ended up down at Belmont Park for the evening. They do
a big celebration every year. I even got the Keep on the roller coaster." He continued on,
describing pretty much the entire night, including the kiss on the cheek Claire gave to Bobby at
midnight. Then he began to choose things at random and just continued with a quiet stream of
words. That gained them another ninety minutes or so of walking.
"We're close, kid. You gonna make it?" Hobbes didn't shout, but it was close. The snow had let up
a bit, increasing visibility, but the wind had picked up, making it seem even colder than it was.
It was enough to break Alyx out of her zombie-like walk. She gone into autopilot, letting Darien's
voice keep her moving while not doing much more than keeping the wedge in place and putting one
foot in front of the other. Hobbes' words snapped her out of it. A pitiful "Uh-oh" was all the
warning she managed before collapsing into the snow.
Darien crouched beside her, but was afraid to move her. Claire joined him, noting that she was
flushed and far warmer than she should be. "Alyx, wake up."
That earned a groan. "Headache," she mumbled. "Sorry."
Hobbes grunted. They had made it this far. It was better than he'd expected. Now, to find that
hidey-hole. "Claire stay with her and see if you can get her up out of the snow. Fawkes, with me.
We have to find that landmark."
Darien gave Alyx and Claire one last look before following Hobbes into the falling snow. They hiked
a good fifteen minutes -- their movement was slowed without Alyx to break trail for them -- before
Hobbes was certain they were in the right area. The trees thinned and the ground became more
uneven. Boulders covered in snow appeared.
"All right, Fawkes. You know what we're looking for, just be careful." They were in an area of the
resort that contained a small river -- currently frozen -- that was bordered by a broken cliff of
granite on one side. And that meant caves. They were hoping to find an unoccupied one that they
could hole up in until nightfall. He hadn't realized how difficult it would be to spot them with
snow covering everything, and he should have. It had been a while since he'd done any missions in
weather such as this.
Darien moved off a few steps so that they could cover more ground. He noticed what looked like a
pile of rocks and brush that might just be what they were looking for. He hit the bushes a few
times to knock the excess snow off, then pushed his way through. There was a cave in there, but it
was looking too small for what they wanted.
He forced his way through and was crouching down to check out the darkened opening when the ground
crumbled beneath him. He found himself falling. The fall itself was no more than a couple of feet,
but he landed on a slope and tumbled for what seemed like forever, before fetching up against a
fair sized rock that protruded out from the wall.
"Ah, crap." He took a moment to allow the world to stop spinning and to wait for the nausea that
assaulted him to make up its mind. He was ignoring the pain for now, but knew he'd have to pay
attention to it soon. "Hobbes," he croaked.
He cleared his throat, not wanting to think about the pain that ripped through his head and side as
he did so. "Hobbes!" he shouted louder, but still received no reply. He began to shift slowly. He
was pretty sure he hadn't broken anything, but wanted to be sure before attempting to stand.
Holding one hand above his head, he carefully got to his feet, and was pleased to find he could
actually stand without hitting his head, though the ceiling was mere inches above him.
There was just barely enough light leaking in from above to give him an idea of where he was. The
cave was pretty small, five by five maybe, and with a slope -- the one he'd tumbled down -- that
was fairly steep. The roof also lowered for the slope, and he would be forced to walk doubled over
to get out.
Crouching down so that he could see up the slope, he discovered it was crust of snow that had
collapsed and dumped him down here. There were a few blown-in leaves, but for the most part the
place was dry and clean thanks to the bushes screening the entrance. He hoped this would work,
because he didn't think he'd be going much further.
"Fawkes, where the hell are you?" Hobbes shouted from somewhere nearby.
"Down here!" Darien replied as loud as he could. A few seconds later, Hobbes stuck his head through
the brush.
"Fawkes, you were supposed to just find a cave, not go spelunking." Cautiously, he made his way
down the slope. When he got a decent look at his partner, he noted the thin trail of blood running
down the side of his face and neck. "Found the place with your head, I take it?"
"Huh?" Darien put his hand to where his head hurt the most, and was not pleased to see it come
away bloody. "Yeah, looks that way. Will this do? I think I'm gonna need a break."
"Lucky you didn't break your fool head," Hobbes muttered, but he looked over the small cave with
satisfaction. "This'll do." He looked at Darien again. He moved away, up the slope, and came back
with a double handful of tightly-packed snow. "All right, I want you to stay here while I get the
girls. Put this on your head wound 'til the Keep can check it." He encouraged Darien to sit, and
got the snowball on his head with a bit more persuasion. "Stay awake. I'll be back in twenty
minutes."
Darien tried to protest. "I'm fine...."
"Stay," Hobbes barked. When it was obvious Darien had acquiesced, he headed back up the slope and
back towards where he had left the rest of their little group.
Claire had watched the two men disappear into the swirling snow, then turned back to Alyx, who was
trying to return to the land of the living without much success. "Come on, Alyx, you need to get
up." Claire tried to get her arms under Alyx's shoulders, but the smaller woman jerked away with a
squeal.
"Don't touch me, damn it," Alyx snarled from a crouch a few feet away. Her head hurt like crazy and
she just wanted to get away from the pain. Away from the scenes in her mind that the hurt and
exhaustion had inspired, images that had been bothering her more and more lately as she was taught
more and more creative ways of causing other people pain. Making her become more and more like
'him.'
"Alyx?" Claire wasn't too sure what was happening. Alyx was on her hands and knees, shaking, with
a glazed look in her eyes that Claire recognized as one of her severe headaches. But what was going
on in her mind, she had no idea. Moving slowly, so as not to frighten her, Claire got within a
couple feet and brought up her hand, intending to set it on Alyx's shoulder. Suddenly, she found
herself unable to move it. "Ummm, Alyx, could you let go of my hand?"
Considering what she'd been about to do, just holding the offending hand in place was the safest
course. Part of Alyx wanted to cower and duck, while the other half had wanted to react as she had
been recently trained, with violence. She'd darn near flung the hand, owner and all, into the
nearest tree to get it away from her. She closed her eyes and forced herself to push the pain
aside. Strove to put the images, the fears, and the newly-trained reactions into that corner of her
mind where she tried to keep them locked away, and from which they had been escaping all too often
recently. She knew there was someone nearby, but had trouble determining who it was, friend or foe;
there was too much conflicting information running through her head.
'Focus, you fool,' she yelled at herself mentally. It took another long moment, but she was finally
able to open her eyes and see what was before her. Gently, she released Claire's arm. "I'm sorry."
"Alyx, talk to me," Claire said after she had lowered her arm, making sure it still worked like it
should. That was the first time she'd been at the receiving end of Alyx's abilities. She'd seen
them used, but never on her before, and it reminded her of the first time Darien had quicksilvered
her arm. An odd combination of clinical observation, amazement, and downright fear.
Alyx rubbed the side of her head. She realized what she was doing this time and knew what it meant.
Would that part of her life never leave her alone? "I'm sorry," she repeated, not sure what else to
say.
Claire shook her head. "Don't be, just tell me what's going on so I can help." Hoping it was safe,
she moved closer and helped Alyx to her feet. It was the hint of fear in her eyes that worried
Claire. Alyx had been many things over the months, but never afraid. She brought her hand up to
brush some snow off of Alyx and watched as she flinched again, though not nearly as badly as
before. That was enough to put a few pieces of the puzzle together. "Did he hit you often?"
Alyx froze, looking like that proverbial deer caught in the headlights, then shook her head. "It
doesn't matter now. I'm not that person any more." There was harsh laughter. "She may be dead, but
the memories linger on."
Claire was unsure what to say. This explained a few things about Alyx, including her continuing
distrust of everyone, even after all this time. "But you are the same person, Alyx. It was never
intended that we take who you are away from you."
"Claire, as usual you have no idea what you are talking about. Thanks to the lovely training I'm
being given, I'm becoming more and more like what I hate the most every day." She shuddered. "I
wanted to flatten you, make you a pretty smear on the nearest tree. The way I learn... The fat
man's training is backfiring. I have control, but... but I don't know who I am. Some days it scares
me."
Claire understood, to a degree anyway. She'd heard of something similar to this with severe memory
loss victims, with MIAs, and with some placed in witness protection programs. Trying to adapt to
the new self was sometimes difficult, especially for those with very high intelligence and strong
memory capabilities. She'd watched Darien go through the same process. "Alyx, it's all right.
You'll find the balance point. It just takes time, and you haven't had much to yourself lately.
Between work and the classes, you've been going almost non-stop since you... joined the Agency.
It's not the life you knew, so it's understandable that you're a bit confused, even lost."
Hobbes appeared then, so anything Alyx might have said was lost for the moment. Claire really
wished his timing had been better. Five more minutes and she might have actually gotten Alyx to
really open up for the first time since she had arrived. "Bobby, any luck?"
"Yeah, both good and bad. Fawkes found a good spot, but he did it with his head." Hobbes looked
from one woman to the other, wondering what had been going on. The kid still didn't look too good,
but she was up and moving. Claire shot him a look. "He's fine. It's not too far." He moved a few
steps closer as he noticed the kid starting to sway, reaching out to help her, only to have her
shudder and step away.
"Bobby, leave her be for now," Claire said, moving to Alyx's side. "Her control is a little shaky
at the moment."
"Uh, sure. Come on, it's this way." He put his hand on Claire's back and got her moving in the
right direction; his trail was actually pretty easy to see, though filling in rapidly. "Kid, can
you tell me if anyone is near?"
Alyx followed a couple steps behind Bobby and he slowed to be beside her. "Ummm, not right now. My
head hurts a bit too much at the moment. They'd have to be on top of us for me to feel them." She
hadn't even felt Bobby until he'd stepped into view. When she stumbled and he set a hand on her arm
to steady her, she had to tell herself over and over that it was just Bobby and that Bobby wouldn't
hurt her.
"Kid, you'll be fine." Hobbes kept his voice soft so that only she could hear him. "I won't let
nothing happen to you."
She swallowed hard and looked at him, seeing something that made her believe him. "Thanks, Bobby."
"Partners, kid." He got them moving a bit faster and they made decent time back to the cave. He
held the brush aside for them. "Careful, the slope's steep."
Claire went first, followed by Alyx, who paused in a crouch near the top of the slope until Bobby
was also inside. It was tight with both of them there, but necessary for the moment. With her hand
to her forehead in anticipation of the increased pain, she wiped away their trail and then put snow
back on the bushes, effectively hiding the entrance completely. She groaned and leaned against the
wall for a moment as the throbbing in her head increased.
"Let's get you inside, kid." He helped her down the slope until they were finally in the snug cave
below. Claire was already taking a look at Darien with the small flashlight that had been in the
gear.
Alyx could smell blood, but was so far gone in her own pain that for once she could not feel his.
Either that, or her headache was so bad partially because of his. She collapsed onto the
hard-packed dirt floor with a sigh. While still cold, it was far more comfortable being out of the
wind and the snow.
"Well, it's a good thing you have a hard head, Darien." Claire was saying as she cleaned the small
cut on his head. Head wounds always bled like crazy. "It doesn't look like you have more than a
bump."
Alyx shook her head trying to clear it. "Dare, you're still bleeding." She could smell it.
"Darien?" Claire asked. Sometimes he was too stubborn for his own good.
"Uh, I kinda whacked my side when the wall stopped me," Darien admitted. He hadn't checked it, for
fear of discovering that he was indeed bleeding. The color of the sweater was dark enough to allow
his wishful thinking to win out over his common sense.
"Lie down," Claire ordered, and he didn't argue. She peeled up the layers of clothing to find the
turtleneck and thermal shirt under his sweater soaked with blood. "Damn it," she muttered. She
peeled off the soaked bandage and examined the wound as best as she could with the flashlight
between her teeth.
"Claire, let me hold the light," Hobbes said from nearby, and Claire handed it over to him. "How
bad?"
"It could be worse, I suppose. He just split it open. I can, maybe, convince the butterflies to
hold, but I need something wrap it in." Claire explained as she gently probed at it. Luckily he
hadn't split it open completely or it would be bleeding much worse.
"I think I can help, but it will be anything but sterile," Alyx said from where she was sitting at
the base of the slope.
"Alyx, anything at this point," Claire admitted.
"Okay, I'll need the flash in a minute." Even though she could see just fine with the little light
that filtered in, she wanted to take no chances. She stripped out of the sweater, then the
long-sleeved shirt, and finally pulled off her tank top. Leaving her in only her sports bra.
"Alyx, what the devil are you doing?" Darien had no idea why she was trying to freeze herself by
stripping, but relaxed a bit when she quickly pulled both the shirt and sweater back on.
"Light, please." Hobbes came over and held the light for her. She shifted and got her knife out of
her boot, opening it with a practiced motion. Starting at the bottom of the shirt and circling
around, she cut it into one long strip from base to shoulders. When she was done, she had what
looked like a fair sized strip of heavy gauze, about an inch wide. The straps of the tank could be
used as padding underneath. Slipping the knife back into her boot, she held the remains of the
shirt in her hands and concentrated. The quicksilver flowed over, around, and as far into the weave
of the fabric as she could convince it to. She was hoping it would do as a sterilization technique.
When she was finished, she handed everything over to Hobbes, who then helped Claire put Darien back
together.
"Alyx, that was brilliant. Guess my training worked." Claire began wrapping the 'gauze' around
Darien's chest, as snugly as she could manage.
Alyx laughed, but it quickly became a moan. "I need to sleep, guys."
"We all do," Hobbes agreed. "You done there, Keepy?"
Claire nodded and put Darien's clothes back in place. "It'll do."
"Kid, come on over here. Ladies in the middle please." Hobbes said, helping Alyx to her feet and
guiding her over to where Darien was again lying uncomfortably on the floor of the cave.
Alyx lay down beside Darien, and Claire in front of her. Then Hobbes snuggled in next to Claire.
This was neither the time nor the place for discomfort about sleeping arrangements. Not if they
wanted to survive.
After a few minutes of shifting so that everyone was as comfortable as possible, there was an
audible sigh from Claire. "A blanket, just one bloody blanket."
That got a laugh from everyone.
"Kid, think you can wake us up in six hours?" Hobbes asked Alyx.
"It shall be done, boss." She snuggled back against Darien, who had offered his arm for her to
rest her sore head on, and closed her eyes. She could feel his other arm thrown across both herself
and Claire. Stuffed between the two of them, she made herself relax and soon drifted off.