***
Alyx came to, choking on seawater. Everything in the room was wrong, and it took her a moment to realize that it was upside down. Her head hurt and she was afraid she might have broken her ankle. She was still shackled to the table, only it was now on top of her legs. The water wasn't very deep yet, but was sure to start rising soon. Looking around, she saw someone floating in the water nearby. It only took a moment to realize it was Darien. And he wasn't moving.
She wiped her hand across her forehead to get the water out of her eyes only to have her hand come away covered in blood. No wonder her head hurt. "Darien!" she shouted at him. "Darien, damn it, wake up."
She tried to reach him and couldn't. Tried to push the desk off and found she couldn't do that either, not without any leverage. Grimacing against the pain she knew was to come, she activated the pain block she had created earlier and then used her abilities to move the table off her legs. The pain was immediate, but it was distant, happening to someone else. She shifted the table just enough to free herself. It's amazing what a little adrenaline in one's system can do. She collapsed, ending up back under the water for a moment, and came up coughing.
"Darien, please, damn it!" she pleaded. She dragged the table the couple of feet necessary to reach him and rolled him onto his back. He was bleeding on the right side of his head and had something sticking out of his shoulder, but she ignored both injuries for the time being. Checking at his throat she found a pulse, but he wasn't breathing. Shifting the best she could to relieve the strain on her ankle she began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It seemed to take forever, but he eventually began to cough and then vomited up the seawater that had invaded his lungs, but he still wasn't conscious.
Alyx shifted him so that his head rested on her shoulder. The water was getting deeper; eventually it would get too deep and she would be out of options. "C'mon, Darien, I can't do this alone, not this time." This was not what she needed, not what she wanted to deal with, not what she wanted to face. Not so soon after Max. She wasn't going to go through this again. "Darien, I'm not going to lose you too."
She rested her head against his and opened her shields. Touching his mind with hers, as gently as she could afford to, she woke him. It wasn't gently enough. He reacted by swinging his uninjured arm back, shoving her under the water yet again while he got to his feet. Alyx came up sputtering, slamming her shields shut and cutting off the connection. As usual, she'd gotten more of him than she had intended to.
The water was already up to his thighs and he was looking around in confusion.
"S...s...sorry," she stuttered. "But I couldn't let you sleep any longer."
"Alyx." He fell to his knees next to her.
"Did they get the kids off the boat?" Alyx asked him, shaking in the water. She might not have been feeling the pain, but her body was still reacting to it as if she did.
"Yeah, they're all safe. I'd like us to be too," Darien professed, trying to help her to stand.
She shook her head. "I'm shackled to the table."
"So bust the lock, or whatever it is you do," Darien suggested.
"You think I haven't tried? This damn collar sets up a feedback loop when I use my powers. I keep passing out before I get the damn thing open." She tugged on the collar and he saw the burns about her neck.
"Crap. Alyx you're a mess," he informed her needlessly as he was certain she was well aware of her current condition. He felt about underwater for the shackle about her ankle.
"Like you're any better? Doesn't your shoulder hurt?" she asked him, trying not to flinch when he moved her foot.
"Not as much as my head. What the hell happened?" He found the locking mechanism and fumbled in his pockets for his lock picks.
"The storm. The boat capsized. What the hell are you doing here anyway?" she requested or him while trying to keep her head above the water that was swiftly getting deeper.
"We came to get you, what else?" His hands came up. "I can't do it. Not by feel alone." He was having trouble concentrating with his head hurting so damn much. He helped her to stand.
"Can you get this damn collar off?" She twisted it around to show him the clasp and he examined it carefully.
"Not with what I have here."
"Then go. Get out. You don't need to play hero," Alyx ordered, shifting to find a better, less painful position to stand in.
"What are you saying?" He reached out to help steady her but she flung his arm away.
"I'm saying get the hell out! I give this tub 10 minutes before it's at the bottom. I don't want you on it when it goes," Alyx yelled at him.
"I'm not leaving you here." Darien went to her and this time didn't let her pull away.
"You have no choice." She reached up and shoved on the piece of metal sticking out of his shoulder, making him scream in pain.
"He didn't leave you behind and neither will I!" Darien shouted at her.
The boat shifted and Alyx found herself underwater again. She ended up gulping a mouthful before Darien hauled her back up.
When she could breathe again, she hissed, "This is over Max? Have you completely lost it?"
"Yes...no...shit, Alyx, what did he have that I don't?" He was still holding her up, but every time the boat shifted, she got dunked yet again.
"Why, Darien? Can't deal with the fact that I found someone who didn't care who or what I was, and liked me anyway? Who was willing to trust me? Who I wasn't afraid to trust? Who didn't try to use me to his own advantage?" Alyx shouted right back at him. "You tell me why!"
She pulled out of his grip and ended up underwater. When she came back up she realized she was at the end of the shackle length. "Some days I hate being short," she complained bitterly.
"Alyx..." Darien didn't know what to say. He could understand the way she felt. Being able to trust someone without having to worry about ulterior motives was a rare thing, even before he joined the Agency. And since...well, he trusted Hobbes to do the right thing and he trusted the Keeper to keep him sane and he trusted Alyx. And that was about it. There had been Kate Easton, but they were separated by time and distance now. He'd been betrayed over and over by Allianora. It was Alyx he had trusted, instinctively, since the first day they had been unwillingly shoved together. And no matter how he had tried to ignore, resist, deny, it was Alyx that he wanted. He wasn't going to let her get away now.
"If you stay, I stay."
"Darien, please. Go," she entreated quietly. "Don't you get it yet? It was never a competition between you and Max. He simply opened the door. But you made it possible. I just wanted a chance to have something for myself for a little while. Something the Agency wouldn't scrutinize or control." She dunked under to relieve the pressure on her foot for a moment. "Damn it, Darien, you're jealous of a dead man who never had a chance to capture more than the smallest portion of me, because you already had it all." Before she could regret what she had just said to Darien, she muttered. "Gods, this is going to hurt."
Summoning every ounce of her mental powers, along with the added energy of desperation, she focussed on the chain connecting her to the sunken table one last time. She could feel the pain, but she ignored it and what it was doing to her until she finally felt the metal shatter.
Darien had rushed to her and hauled her out of the water when she went under without realizing it. When her foot was finally freed, she refocused the power she'd summoned upward, blasting a route for them out of the capsized vessel. Only when the howling of the wind and the pouring rain of the storm outside could be felt, only then did she stop.
When she collapsed in his arms, her voice gone raw from screaming, the water about the two of them hot from the excess energy the feedback loop had caused, Darien's mind finally registered what she had said.
"Can we go home now, please?" she requested plaintively, not really feeling all that well at the moment. All of her muscles were aching and twitching, and she knew this wasn't over yet.
Darien looked up through the rather impressive hole she'd made in the bottom of the boat. There was another deck above them before open air. Reaching up, he grasped the edge of the hole and pulled himself through to sit on the edge. "C'mon, you," he said, pulling Alyx up after him.
She lay on the dry former ceiling for a moment, glad to be out of the water finally. She was still wearing the dark blue jumpsuit the slavers had shoved her in days ago. Pulling up the pant leg, she took a look at her ankle, which was swollen tight against the cuff. "Can you get it off now?"
"Yeah, give me a sec." He knelt down and had her free in seconds. The lock was simple now that he could see what he was doing.
She hissed in pain when he removed it and threw it away from them. Water was pouring in from above and was quickly joined by that flowing up through the hole they had just climbed through. Alyx got to her feet. "We're screwed."
"Not yet. Up ya go." He gave her help climbing to the outside, where she was nearly washed off the inverted ship by a wave that scared the hell out of her.
"Darien, stay there for a sec," she shouted over the wind. She knew if she didn't protect the boat, somehow, they wouldn't last more than a minute or two out here. She saw the next wave in a flash of lighting and, throwing caution to the wind, she reached out and put a wall around the ship. Their only chance at safety. The wave broke over them, but didn't touch them. She ended up on her back, pulling at the collar to get it away from the skin. She could feel it trying to burn, but kept up the little protection she was able to provide.
Darien knew something had happened as soon as the rain stopped falling in through the hole. The water was knee deep already on this deck. The boat was sinking far faster than rescue would ever show. And that was if the Coast Guard ship was even still out there, waiting for them.
With an easy leap, he pulled himself up through the opening into an island of calm. Around him, the sea tossed and churned, but it affected the boat only indirectly. The wind came through as stray breezes, and not the tempest he knew to be out there. Staying low, he crawled over to where Alyx lay moaning on the hull. It wasn't hard to figure out why they were relatively safe.
He went to her and tried to get her into a more comfortable position. He wished he could get that damn collar off her. "Alyx, stop."
"Can't," she choked out. The mental block was beginning to fade from overuse and the pain was creeping back in. "We'd be dead in minutes."
"If you don't, you will be anyway," Darien announced.
She shook her head.
"Stubborn." He looked about them. "Wish we had a flare."
"Flare?" She sat up a bit wincing. "That I can do." Reaching out to the clouds above them, she triggered a lightning flash right overhead, which lit the area about them like daylight for an instant. "Ouch."
"Neat trick. Won't do you any good if you kill yourself to get us a rescue," Darien muttered.
"At least one of us would get rescued." For the next several eternities they said nothing. Alyx kept the water from swamping the boat completely and forced herself to remain conscious. Darien watched, hoping for the rescue they desperately needed.
After a while, Alyx began losing her hold and the wind and rain began to get back in. Their island became smaller and smaller, the water coming closer and closer to where they were.
When the wind suddenly died, therefore, he was surprised. Looking up, he saw stars. They had reached the eye of the storm by some miracle. "Alyx, look."
She did, and dropped some of the protections she'd been holding about them. She was the only thing keeping the boat afloat. "This won't last."
Some days luck is the only thing between one and certain doom, but some days it's a very stubborn partner who provides the luck.
Darien thought he saw something off to their right, but couldn't be sure. "Alyx, can you manage another flare?"
She nodded. Instead of pulling lightning from the clouds, she simply let off one of her own. A bright flash of light, straight up from her hands. It hurt, but she was almost beyond feeling the pain anymore and didn't even flinch in reaction.
Within minutes, rescue arrived.
***
"Ten more minutes," Bobby argued with the Captain yet again, but this time he was cheating. Several of the girls and Agent Briggs were also asking the same thing.
"I told you we couldn't stay long. The hurricane is getting stronger; if we don't make a run for it soon, we'll be riding this thing right into shore. Personally, that is something I'd rather not do," he informed the group. "I'm sorry, but the boat capsized and they had no lifejackets. The chances that they survived are slim and none."
Bobby was looking out the window. The weather was calm in comparison to the fury of the storm itself, though the ship still had to fight it's way up and down the huge swells churned up by the winds outside the eye wall. They had the spotlight searching the waters and acting as a guide light on the off chance his partners had made it through. A flash of lightning off to the left caught his eye. It was exceptionally impressive and lit the entire area like day.
"Cap, head that way would you?" Bobby requested, sounding distracted.
"Agent Hobbes, I..."
"Just do it! I thought I saw something," Bobby insisted. With a nod from the Captain, the cutter headed in the direction of the lightning
After several long minutes another flash went off, this one obviously going straight up from the ocean. It was also obviously well within the eye, where no clouds could have caused it.
"Holy shit! They did it," Bobby crowed, his voice both hushed and pleased.
"Looks that way," the Captain agreed. "They're damn lucky."
"No luck, Captain. They don't believe in it anymore."
***
Bobby made sure he was on deck when his two wayward partners were brought on board.
Alyx would never really remember much of the next few hours. Darien would never forget them. When the Coast Guard cutter pulled alongside the overturned slaver ship, no one was more surprised than the Captain to find Alyx and Darien alive. Bobby expected it.
"Took you long enough, partner," Bobby complained to Darien once he was on board.
"Next time I'll make sure to get on a boat that's not sinking, okay?" Darien quipped back.
"See that you do," Bobby mock-ordered, relieved to have both his partners back.
"Let's get you down below," one of the Seamen said.
Darien got them to cut the collar off of Alyx, who was pretty much out of it. When they went to bandage her ankle, she nearly took off the poor medi-tech's head when she reacted to the pain. Darien's voice managed to calm her down enough for them to finish bandaging up her various injuries. Darien gave Bobby a quick run down of what had happened while he had himself patched up. His shoulder had a nifty puncture wound and his head a gash and goose egg that had the medi-tech a bit concerned. There wasn't much they could do about it now, though.
The only large room down below, the mess hall, had been taken over by the rescued girls from the slaver's ship. A couple of Seamen were keeping them calm and handing out coffee and sandwiches. Several of the girls got up and went to Alyx as she was carried in semi-conscious, followed by a tired Darien and mother-hen Hobbes.
The girls helped Alyx get as comfortable as possible, making sure she was well bundled up in blankets. Alyx looked up at her two partners, rather bleary-eyed but awake.
The medi-tech spoke to both Darien and Hobbes. "She's real shocky, and the two of you may both have concussions. Try and stay awake if you can. I'll check on you in a little while. The ride's going to get bumpy again soon. We still have to get out of this storm." He left them alone, in a room full of a dozen young girls.
One of the girls came over. "Are you guys friends of Hope?"
"Yeah, kid. We are," Bobby replied.
"Good, cause the Captain was real nasty to her. Gave her his 'special attention'. Lucky she's as tough as she is," the girl said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Darien asked her.
"See the tattoo on her hand?" She pointed to Alyx who was trying to drink some tea that had been given to her. The tattoo on the back of her right hand was quite visible. "It means she already had a buyer. The captain was supposed to break her in during the trip over."
"How do you know this, kid?" Bobby questioned.
"I've been on that ship for a year. The captain bought me for his own use. See?" She held up her hand showing the tattoo she wore. It was different from the one Alyx had. "That's the Cap's sigil. Hope was going to some bigwig sheik in the Middle East. Seen a couple others go there. He likes them unique-looking, and she definitely has that going for her." She looked up at the two men. "I want to thank you, for all of us. At least I know there will be no others." She turned and joined the other girls who were sitting together in one corner of the room.
"I don't know whether to feel sick or relieved," Darien groused, walking further into the room as the ship dipped and rocked beneath his feet.
"We stopped them. They can't hurt anyone else. That counts for something doesn't it?" Alyx commented to them as they came near. With a groan Darien sat down next to her.
"Of course it counts, kid. It just doesn't feel like it was enough, does it?" Bobby pointed out with uncommon sharpness.
"Never," she answered quietly.
"Welcome to the real world, kid," he pronounced. "Good work. Now get some rest. You don't think the boss is going to pay overtime do you?"
Alyx managed a chuckle at that, even though it hurt.
"I'm heading topside. They're going to need all the help they can get." He wagged a finger at the two of them. "Behave."
"Yes, sir," Darien replied with a smile.
By the time Bobby reached the doorway, Darien had an arm wrapped around Alyx and she had tipped over against him. Hobbes shook his head, deciding against a lecture right now. Let them have today to figure out where they stood with each other. Tomorrow he'd remind them that office romances were a no-no. Fishing off the company pier and all that. Shame, though. They complemented each other rather well, when they weren't trying to bite each other's heads off, that is. Bobby headed for the bridge to see what he could do to help.
"Gods, can't we have a mission end simply?" Alyx complained, fighting gravity to keep her eyes open.
"Apparently not." Darien pulled her closer and rested his chin on the top of her head. "This was supposed to be simple, remember?"
"It was till they put that damn collar on me. Nasty thing," she mumbled most of this. "I thought I was tired before this started. Now I'm tired and in pain. Again." Alyx gave in to gravity and tipped over completely, resting her head on Darien's thigh. "Dare?"
"Hmmm?" He was well on his way to unconsciousness himself. "What?"
"I never meant to hurt you. I didn't realize you cared so much. Or I wouldn't have..." Darien didn't let her finish.
"Shush. I've been an idiot." He rested one hand on her shoulder and she grasped it in her hand, entwining their fingers. "'Sides, you can always make it up to me later."
"I'll think about it," she mumbled as she drifted off into sleep.
"Not for too long, I hope," Darien whispered, watching her. It wasn't long before he, too, was asleep.
***
It was three days before they were back on dry land, another one before they were back home in San Diego, and Alyx pretty much slept through the whole thing. Although Darien's injuries had been worse, including a mild concussion, Alyx had been at the end of her strength and the feedback from the collar had done some damage to her nervous system, which took time to heal. Claire had put her in Lab Three, to better monitor her condition. Darien practically lived there himself for a day while the Keep made sure his head was still working the way it should.
Claire was changing the bandages on Darien's shoulder when Alyx finally woke up.
"Claire," Darien murmured. When she looked up at him, he nodded his head towards Alyx who was blinking blearily at the world around her.
"Welcome back," Claire said as she moved to Alyx's side.
"Please tell me my head should still hurt," Alyx whimpered.
"Probably. Based on the energy output from that collar, I'm surprised you have a functioning brain cell left," Claire answered with a smile. "Any normal person would be dead."
"Any normal person wouldn't have had the problem." Alyx sat the rest of the way up, feeling better by the second. She pulled the I.V. needle out of her arm, much to the dismay of the good doctor. "I'm going home." She got out of the bed wearing one of those horrid hospital gowns. "My clothes, and don't tell me someone didn't fetch some."
Darien finished putting on his shirt, then handed Alyx her backpack. He'd stuffed some of her things into it at Claire's request. He'd found it very strange going through her closet and picking her clothes. He had to admit, though, some of the items he'd seen he wouldn't mind taking the time to try and get her out of. Many of them would cover very little of her, anyway. Without a trace of embarrassment, Alyx began to untie the gown and dress. Claire hurriedly ushered Darien out of the room.
Alyx came out a few minutes later, wearing the jeans and t-shirt Darien had provided. "I'm going home. If the boss wants me, he can call me there," she informed Claire who simply nodded in response, as if she'd been expecting this to happen once Alyx awoke. Then she looked at Darien. "Thanks. See you tomorrow?"
"Sure. Tomorrow," Darien echoed, watching her leave.
Once Alyx had turned the corner, Claire hit Darien lightly on the arm. "If you don't go after her, I'll have to hurt you."
Darien didn't move, though he stared after Alyx as well. "No. I'm done going after her. All I've been doing is chasing her away. She has to make her own decision." He gave Claire a smile and then left to find his partner Hobbes. It was time to see what the Fat Man had for them today.
