Italics signal thoughts, and bold italics signal telepathic conversations.
A/N: Gwen and Marius aren't Rayden anymore; their last name is now Holden. Apparently, there's a character belonging to Joss Whedon whose name is Gwen Rayden. So much for my little Mortal Kombat joke.
Chapter four: A helping hand
Katharine ran after Brennan and Shalimar, only to fall flat on her face when a member of the Strand, Patty Jones, made her trip. She looked around to notice a whole fleet of them. "Great. Just great." She got up and started to fight them, but was soon overpowered. As her head hit the floor, and she thought everything was lost, she saw him. Chiseled features, jade green eyes and dark brown hair. She grinned. Marius.
Marius ran to Katharine. He had fought her on countless occasions, and he knew her to be an honorable fighter. She may not be his best friend, but she was being mobbed. He helped her fight, but even the two of them united were no match for the agents. Before things got real ugly, since Patty had pinned Kay to the floor by hitting her abdomen with a massed fist, Gabriel called them off. "I have Shalimar, you incompetents. You're late. Leave the girl, we'll have to deal with her later, since you've failed to deliver her on time."
Before departing, Patty kicked Kay's right arm with her massed leg, crushing her bones and causing her to scream in her pain. Marius approached Kay slowly, partly out of respect and partly because of his injuries. He pressed a tender hand to her forehead, trying to calm her. He looked at her, trying to size up the damage, and shook his head. Her condition was critical. "Are you okay?"
Tears streamed across her face. "I… can't… breathe. Sanctuary… I have… to… go… there… Adam…"
Marius took the keys she offered him, understanding. "I'll be right back."
He found Kay's SUV quite fast. Her key chain said 'Lexus', didn't it? He entered the tawny rose LX 470 and adjusted the seat. Not that it was going to be a long ride, anyway. He drove it to the plaza and parked right beside Kay, who was still whimpering and trying to breathe. He lifted her slowly, doing his best not to hurt her. He carefully positioned her in the passenger seat and drove off. Once he was far from eyesight, he touched the SUV and teleported it inside Sanctuary's garage.
Jesse was facing the console, typing furiously, with Emma sitting right beside him. Adam was still standing there, clueless as ever, trying to make sense of Brennan's words earlier, when the garage alarms went off. They all ran to the spot, hopefully it was Shalimar. But it wasn't. Brennan got ready to electrocute everyone inside the LX, especially when he saw Marius Holden driving. But then Emma and Jesse spotted the bleeding blonde beside him.
Brennan retracted the tesla coil and waited. Marius walked up to the team and tossed the keys to Brennan. "Take care of that car. She loves it." Then he turned to Adam. "Get the med bay ready. She'snearly dying." He turned to Emma and produced a small piece of paper. He wrote down his cell phone number. "As soon as Adam's assessed the damages, please call me and let me know." He moved over to Jesse and gave him his mission. "Get her out of the car gently, or I will come for your blood. I have to alert some people, but I will check up on her." Said this, he teleported out, letting everyone to their assignments.
When Jesse reached the SUV with Emma at his side, he opened the door slowly and felt Emma wince, horrified. Kay really was in bad shape. Brennan opened the other door and looked at her, gulping hard. "It wasn't your fault, Brennan."
Brennan looked at Jesse. "Yeah, right."
Jesse took her and walked to the med bay, with Emma right behind him. As he placed her down, Adam got the scanners ready. As soon as he got the readings, Emma called Marius, still wondering over the fact that he'd taken care of Kay. Snaping his cell phone shut, he prepared to go to the Collins' estate to inform of their daughter's condition.
After a long discussion, Marius had to reveal to Jenna Collins' bodyguard, Kurt Marshall, that his information concerned her stepdaughter. Hearing this, Kurt's eyes narrowed and he called his boss. Eyeing him, Jenna allowed him to go in. He sat down and started telling her about the Strand's ambush, as her husbandcame in. Immediately he went to find out whom Marius was, but he beat him to punch. "Mr. Collins, I'm Marius Holden. I'm here about your daughter."
They both sat down and Marius' cell phone rang. He picked up quickly. "Hello?" he winced. "All right. Thanks. Please keep me updated. Yes." He turned back to Jenna and Wesley, and forced himself to go on. "Kay is slipping in and out of consciousness. She has three broken ribs; one of them is impaled in a lung. Also, she has a broken arm and three dislocated vertebrae. She will be fine, though. She's under the care of Adam Kane and has begun a speedy recovery. As soon as she has recovered, we'll make sure she contacts you. I suggest you let her handlers know of the situation."
The couple nodded, holding each other's hands. "Thank you," her father said quietly. Marius nodded to and rose, he wanted to talk to Sarane and the moment was drawing closer. Time to put ghosts at rest.
A/N: This is it for now. Hope y'all liked this. On with the show.