Famous Last Words
Dressed back in her civilian clothes at last, Kayo limped into the living area and frowned. Of course, all the boys just had to be there. Even John was down from Five. She'd known that the others were trying to convince him, and they'd obviously succeeded. Honestly, she didn't know what she was expecting. Of course, they were going to stick together today. It was just that she hadn't really wanted to explain herself to an audience.
Steeling herself for the inevitable reactions, she cleared her throat. 'Virgil? Would you mind helping me wrap my ankle?'
The movie they were watching was immediately paused, all heads snapping around to look at her. Alan and Scott jumped up to help her, each of them taking an arm and wrapping it around their shoulders. The height difference between them made it a slightly awkward affair, and Kayo had to smother a laugh. At a guess, it wouldn't be long now before Alan rocketed upwards like most of his brothers, but for now he was still the shortest. She sank down onto the couch with a relieved sigh, propping her foot up on the table. Virgil took the medical kit that she'd brought with her and began to poke and prod. She hissed.
'Alright, I'll ask,' Gordon said with a smile. 'What happened?'
'I thought you were on a reconnaissance mission,' John added.
'I was,' Kayo grumbled. She flinched as Virgil poked a particularly sore spot. 'It's just a sprain, Virgil. I'm only asking for help because –'
'Because I'm the best at wrapping injuries.' Virgil grinned. 'I know. You say the same thing everytime. Now quit squirming and let me do my thing.'
She let out a half-huff, half-growl of frustration. The noise only made her brothers chuckle.
'How about you tell us what happened?' Scott suggested. 'It'll help take your mind off it.'
While Kayo didn't totally agree that would work, she knew she was beaten. Scott might be coming at it from a different angle than Gordon, but real question was the same. They wanted to know what had happened and it was five against one. They'd be relentless if she didn't tell them. It would be easier to get it over with.
She turned to John. 'I think you might need to set me up with access to this stupid money jar you guys have.'
xxxxx
The reconnaissance mission was a bust on two accounts. The first being that she got tired of waiting around and snuck into the building, meaning it was technically now a little bit more than reconnaissance. The second was that her snooping revealed that this location was in no way affiliated with her uncle. So not only was it a bust, but it was a total waste of time. She growled.
She was just on her way back to Thunderbird Shadow, having parked her a short distance away in the nearest inconspicuous spot she could find. As she reached the ship, a small noise caught her attention. Kayo froze. She strained her ears and – yes, there it was again. A distant, high-pitched cry. It was the kind of sound that was very distinct in her line of work. You definitely grew to know the general difference between genuine cries for help and fake ones. There were exceptions of course, but if it sounded genuine, there was no taking chances. She set off in the direction of the shout.
Approximately ten minutes later, she found herself looking down a very steep ravine. At the bottom was a raging river, loud enough to be heard, but far enough down that it hadn't drowned out the shouting. A couple of feet below her was a young woman. She looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed for hiking… just not for hiking at this time of night. Based on her location and the look of the surrounding area, Kayo guessed that she'd been standing on the edge and the ground had crumbled underneath her. Luckily there had been a ledge to break her fall.
Her guess turned out to be completely correct.
'I was trying to take a selfie,' the woman shouted when Kayo asked if she was okay. 'I was just trying to take a selfie and suddenly the ground wasn't there anymore! I lost my phone; I couldn't call for help so I just kept shouting and shouting and –'
'It's okay,' Kayo interrupted. 'I'm here now and I'm going to get you up, but I need to know if you're injured first.'
The woman – Elsie, Kayo learned – shook her head. 'I twisted my ankle when I fell, but I don't think it's broken.'
That definitely made things easier. Kayo scrunched up her nose, considering her options. She could call the boys for help – they had more appropriate equipment for these kinds of rescues – but… If Elsie wasn't injured, then Kayo could just send down a harness and haul her back up herself. It would definitely save her calling out the boys. Today, of all days, they deserved some peace. That was the whole reason she'd picked today to do her reconnaissance, because it kept her out of their hair.
Mind made up, she called down to Elsie that she was just running for some equipment. Now that she knew her route, her quick dash to Thunderbird Shadow and back took half the time of her original trek to the location. She rigged up the harness as quickly and as safely as she could and threw it down. After that it was nice and easy. Elsie was a keen explorer, and she was well versed in the ins and outs of climbing. Even with a twisted ankle, she made short work of scaling her way back up the ravine walls, Kayo didn't really have to help her at all.
As she reached the top, Kayo leaned over and offered her a hand as she scrambled up. 'There. You're safe now,' she said.
No sooner had the words had left her lips than the ground began to crumble beneath her own feet. With a shout, she pushed back on the quickly falling ground, propelling herself backwards and dragging Elsie with her. It was a mad scrabble for purchase, but eventually she toppled back onto solid ground. Elsie landed on top of her with an 'Oof.'
'Oh, I'm sorry,' Elsie groaned, rolling off her.
'That's okay,' Kayo panted. 'My fault. Are you alright?'
'No further injuries. What about you?'
With a grimace, Kayo sat up. 'You know how you said you rolled your ankle when you fell?'
xxxxx
Alan and Gordon burst out laughing. The other three were more restrained, but Kayo could see the way the corners of their mouths were twitching upwards.
'Wait –' Gordon wiped his eyes – 'so you injured yourself exactly the same way the victim did?'
Kayo sighed. 'Exactly the same ankle, too.'
That did nothing to help the laughter. The others had cracked a little more as well, full broad smiles on their faces. That, at least, was some kind of consolation. At least she had been able to make them smile.
'All done,' Virgil said, smoothing down the wrap. 'Keep it elevated, and we'll ice it in a few hours.'
'You're right,' John said. 'That story is definitely worth five dollars in the jar.'
Alan frowned. 'Wait, for saying 'You're safe now'? We all say that all the time.'
'It's not so much the phrase itself as the premature timing.'
Kayo tapped her comm unit and transferred the money. 'You guys need to come up with a better name for it than the 'Banned Phrases' jar though.'
'I do have one question though,' Scott said. 'Why didn't you call us for help? Especially after you were hurt?'
She hesitated slightly. After making them all smile like that, she wasn't sure she wanted to bring it up. For a few moments, her misfortune had taken their minds off the date. Understandably, they were all usually rather sombre on the anniversary of their father's accident. She wasn't going to ruin the mood by bringing it back up.
'I just… thought it would be a wasted trip,' she said instead. 'It would have taken you longer to get to us than it did to limp back to Shadow. Besides, Elsie thought Shadow was really cool. I think I have a new fan.'
Scott shot her a knowing smile, even as his brothers started laughing again. She smiled back. Of course Scott knew the truth. He always did. But if he ever asked, she'd always deny it. Because they were her family, and family protected each other. Always.
