Disclaimer: Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and all things related to this great television show are owned by CBS incorporated. I give my love to Les Moonves again! That also means A&E who bring out the DVD's. I do own Adrianna and freedom fighters and all of the crazy and weird stuff that goes with that.
The next day, Adrianna and Michaela found their way to Colorado Springs, even though they were not sure how that happened. Adrianna was 100 percent sure about one way, while Michaela thought that the opposite direction was the best alternative. After arguing for at least an hour, Adrianna gave up and went Michaela's way. Michaela was correct and Adrianna felt very stupid.
After they did get there, Charlotte and her children decided to help them and they took Michaela's stuff, along with some needed products for living on the frontier. As they went to their new home with the supplies in the wagon, Adrianna had the strangest feeling that they were being watched. Since the wagon had no real room for anyone more, Adrianna got on the horse and rode it, and put herself in deep thought.
As Charlotte and Michaela were talking, Adrianna felt that same feeling come over her. It was soon a reality when she saw twenty or so men and women stop the wagon. These people had tanned skin and dark eyes. They were wearing velvet pants with the freedom fighter symbol. The men were shirtless while the women wore some type of cover for their chest that seemed to be made of the same material as their pants with the freedom fighter symbol in the middle. All of their clothes were black. They also had similar branding tattoos that Adrianna wore.
On their upper left arm was the tattoo that signified what they were. Adrianna knew of the different tattoos that described the blood that they were. Most of them were pureblood freedom fighters, so there was the freedom fighter symbol of two f's on each other. Below it said freedom fighters in Spanish: libertad luchares. If one was part sádico, the name for those that were normal, mortal like Adrianna, then there would be the word sádico below libertad luchares. Pureblood sádicos were those like Michaela and Charlotte and everyone else. The symbols were different if one was part witch or part scorpion. If one was a female, they would have powers which ranged from person to person. That symbol would be represented in a color tattoo below the freedom fighter symbol. All of the females had different tattoos. One was of a dog and showed that she could talk and even turn into animals. One was of ice and showed that she could manipulate ice. One was of fire and showed that she could manipulate fire. They all seemed to be pureblood, except for five or six. On the upper right arm were the family crests. The top one was always the father and the mother's was below that. Most seemed to have similar crests like they were all related. Adrianna had never been in this area before and could not tell if they were hostile or not. She knew that her ring and the special symbol on her left hand would say something to them. She had put a little bit of gauze on it, given by her cousin that had a watermark of the Carlucci crest on it. It would not come off unless she said abierto or open.
Adrianna stared straight at the supposed leader, who was in the middle, as they were in a V shape. She had brown eyes and curly hair that went to her shoulders. She also had a mole that was to the left of her lip. She averted her gaze to Adrianna as she got off her horse and walked toward the freedom fighter, never leaving her gaze. Adrianna finally came to her and put up her left hand. There was the symbol of a female royal, the freedom fighter symbol etched in her hand, like it was carved. All of the other freedom fighters bowed their heads in respect as far as they could while still staying on the horse. The leader never bowed and stared at her with contempt but understanding of who she was.
"What do you want Carlucci?" she asked with a thick, but rough Spanish accent and a look of anger. She must have seen the watermark, thought Adrianna.
"I am asking with all of the sincerity in my heart that me and my company here be able to move on, without sacrifice." Adrianna said in her most diplomatic voice that she could render.
The leader looked at everyone else with strict scrutiny. Everyone looked very scared and didn't say a thing as the leader stared at them in malice. As she stared at them, she stared at the ring on her finger in a little more depth then she had before. Her eyes widened and she roughly grabbed her hand.
"I know who you are Martiz!" she said in shock. It was like realization had finally come to her. She then smiled.
"I'm very sorry about this. I had overheard that Santis talk about a rich spoiled freedom fighter princess coming here and I left and found some brothers and sisters to kill you. Now that I know who you really are, I am terribly sorry. I will tell the rest of our people who you are and will make sure that you are always safe. I also welcome you at our lodgings whenever you desire. You can now leave as you wanted." All of the freedom fighters left on their horses, saluting Adrianna.
Adrianna looked back at everyone, who looked very stunned. The blonde girl, Colleen, looked astonished and was the first to talk.
"You are a princess?"
"Sí, I am a princess for the royal house of Carlucci. I do not really talk to them since as I said a couple of days ago; I have only met him in the last few years. The king is my cousin and we have made an agreement that he pay for me and my sister's schooling. He feels bad for our parents dying and against my will, wants to give me more money. I don't need his money at all. Money cannot replace love; it also cannot rectify the past."
Adrianna soon frowned at what she said. Everyone one else could tell that it was a hard subject for Adrianna and didn't say much of anything else. Even though they were wondering what it was about her ring that caused a change in the freedom fighter woman?
They soon found their way home in silence to the homestead. Matthew and little Brian unpacked the items while Adrianna went into the barn to set up her home in the barn. Michaela went into her new home as did Charlotte and Colleen.
It did not take Adrianna long to set up her house. She enlarged her clothes chest and put it outside of the barn that was away from the house. She found an old and rusted pitchfork and moved all of the limited amounts of hay into the biggest stall. Once she did that, she enlarged a black chest that carried bedding supplies. She took out some sheets and blankets and a pillow and put it over the hay. After a few minutes Adrianna tested out her new "bed". It was surprisingly comfortable; of course Adrianna was used to sleeping in the most torturous places. She made that chest smaller and soon enlarged a newer chest that contained a variety of weapons and inventions. There were communications devices that were connected to the devices of the local f.f.t.t. (freedom fighter time travel) agents. As a freedom fighter, she saved space in this chest by having about 100 "weapons". These weapons looked just like a black rectangular object with a series of knobs. What was really great about this weapon was that it contained a variety of weapons that with the pulling of the knob toward a certain direction could turn into a certain weapon. There were mostly guns and swords of different sizes on it. Adrianna loved the weapon since it was so versatile and easy to handle once it was mastered, which could take years. Adrianna also carried the variety of bullets and darts that were needed to supply the weapons.
Adrianna took a velvet black scarf with two long pockets and wrapped it around her middle. She then took two of the weapons and put one in each pocket. She then dressed into a more traditional freedom fighter outfit that consisted of a long skirt and a tight long shirt, all black. She also wore a scarf that she tied around her neck and long socks and a special fingerless black glove to cover her left hand. Lastly she went to the chest and found one pair of dark, black sunglasses similar to the one that Santis wore yesterday. She then made the chest miniature and put that in her bag next to the makeshift bed.
Adrianna walked into the main house where she saw everyone except Matthew. Colleen was dusting off the house, Charlotte was teaching Michaela how to sweep a broom and Brian was letting the curiosity get to him and took Michaela's medical bag and took out a reflex hammer. He started to play with it and Adrianna stared at him, like he was a specimen that she was studying.
"What's this Dr. Mike?" asked Brian.
"Brian, put that back down!" answered his mother.
"No that's all right, so long as you're careful." Michaela answered.
"It looks like a tomahawk." Brian said.
"Yeah, everything is Indian to you." Matthew abruptly said. He had been outside chopping wood.
Adrianna smiled at the situation. She had worked with reflexes briefly in her year of research. She knew enough to tell that the reflexes were unlearned responses to stimuli and involve these things called neurons or nerves cells.
"Brian's Cheyenne crazy." explained Colleen.
"Sully has a tomahawk." Brian proudly said. Adrianna came closer and Matthew looked at her outfit and smiled, thinking that she looked very ridiculous.
"So I've seen" answered Michaela while Adrianna felt that she had been silent too long.
"Michaela, I think that tomahawks are useful weapons." Adrianna said with her arms crossed. Michaela wanted to laugh at her.
"You seem to be the expert on this." Adrianna smiled at her as she walked closer to her.
"I had a friend in college names Caroline Benson, who I called Carly. She was raised by an adopted family, one of them a woodcutter. Lets just say that he passed her knowledge of the tomahawk to her and then she decided one day to tell me about all of the best type of tomahawks as she drunk about ten glasses of beer. I can tell you all about the finer points of tomahawk making. That Sully with all of his mysteriousness, knows how that tomahawk works.
At that everyone started to laugh. Michaela then started to talk, "Is Carly the one that kept asking stupid questions throughout the whole procedure?" Adrianna smiled, remembering the day the Michaela came to campus and changed her life.
"Carly was always like that. She had a nice life; her adopted family treated her well."
"Your ma and pa treat you well, right?" Brian answered, clearly forgetting that her parents were dead.
Adrianna felt the pain come back, something that was clearly forgotten in the strangeness of the past day. She never liked thinking about them, a lot of times she would try to repress the thoughts, but that didn't work here. Try as she might, she could not just stop thinking about what happened. One slow tear fell from her face and Brian looked upset.
"I'm sorry Doctor Addy!" Adrianna kneeled down and gave him a kind smile.
"I know Brian that you didn't mean it. The truth is that my parents died of a virus when I was eight years old. It is really sad, even to this day. I miss my ma and pa a lot. Come here." Brian hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. Adrianna smiled and was reminded of her sister at that age. Brian was still holding the reflex hammer and Michaela took him and carried him up to the table and hit him on the knee where it went straight up.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Do it again!"
Michaela smiled and told him that she was testing his reflexes.
"What are reflexes?" asked Colleen.
"They are something that tells me about your brain." Michaela said in a voice that reminded Adrianna of one of her professors.
"His knee is telling you something about his head? Now that sounds like a bit of malarkey!" Matthew said.
Adrianna was still very saddened by thinking about her parents but felt that it was time to show that she was a doctor. She walked right to Brian and smiled.
"Señor Cooper! It is all about the brain. You see, the brain controls all that you do. We are still trying to figure out how the brain works, but we do know a little. When you think, the brain is at work…when you eat, the brain is at work. Think about it. It is a little overwhelming to think about it, but there is always a brain to whatever you do. Reflexes are interesting to study, as I did for a couple of months. Beside the traditional knee-jerk reflex that you just saw, there are also reflexes that you probably didn't know were reflexes. One is that of swallowing our food and blinking when smoke comes at our face."
When Adrianna was done, everyone looked stunned. That was probably not what they expected to hear.
"Sorry, I get a little carried away!" They all laughed.
After that strange moment, everyone got back to work. Michaela learned how to get eggs from a chicken and Adrianna taught Brian a few defensive moves…when Charlotte was not looking of course. Charlotte continued her cleaning of the house and Matthew continued cutting wood.
Soon enough, it was time to leave and Adrianna felt a little sad. She had started to like the little Brian. He was very adorable and loving. Michaela thanked Charlotte and her children, as did Michaela. Brian said goodbye to Adrianna and they soon left.
That night Adrianna went and lay down on her bed, thinking of the day. She had been fine, laughing, joking, being sarcastic; it was really what kept her moving. If she forgot about her troubles and was living and around people that she could be relaxed around, it would be ok. It would be one thing that would make her think about her parents. It was so easy to remember them. One would think that time heals all wounds. That was not true. She was so traumatized by what happened that everyday could be a constant battle for her sanity. The pain would come and she couldn't stop it. She hid it from most of the world, not wanted them to know. She hid it from her sister and everyone that she was close too. If she was really going to be honest with herself, she would say that she was never close to anyone. Every person never got that close. They never knew her constant struggle. They never knew what it was like to see your parents and sister brutally murdered. It made her angry sometimes. Why her? Why not someone else? Couldn't others feel the type of pain she had? She cried herself to sleep that night, knowing that could not stop it, just stop it for a little while.
Adrianna took the reigns of the horse that day, knowing that Michaela really did not know what she was doing. They were to go to church and hopefully find potential patients. Adrianna knew that there was a slim chance that was going to happen, they went anyway. There was the town, all white starring at the strange Spaniard and the rich woman from the east. Michaela looked like she was in Boston and Adrianna looked…just weird.
When they met Charlotte and the children, Brian ran up to Adrianna and hugged her. Brian started to talk about what had happened to him in the next few days and she soon came to Horace. They both cornered each other and stared at each other like they were anticipating their next move. Horace gave her the telegraph and the coin.
Adrianna stared at the coin and put it angrily in her pocket. She then thanked him sarcastically and left the church. Not really in the mood to be called a dirty Mexican, she went to talk to the real American chief and Sully when she was stopped.
There was that Santis, starring at her and coming toward her. She wanted a fight, but Adrianna knew that it was not worth it to Michaela and walked in the opposite direction but the Santis grabbed her by her arms and pushed her toward her. Santis had her arms so that they were locked with hers and took out a knife and put it to her neck.
"So this is the infamous hulk assassin! I have wanted to get to know you for a while!" she said it so sadistically that Adrianna felt some fear in her gut. She was soon pushed down roughly and the knife cut her throat. It was not deep and barely touched her, but as Adrianna knew, the neck was full of veins and any cut would bleed.
The Santis came at her, but Adrianna had fast reflexes and was up in the air, holding her weapon threatingly at the Santis. The Santis took back her knife and walked back. Adrianna smiled and looked for Michaela's medical bag, but found that she was not at the church but in the mob of the town. She walked as fast as she could, and found Michaela checking the heart of a patient who had obviously fell. The old man, Loren, found Michaela with his wife and took her away. Michaela soon found Adrianna and looked concerned. Adrianna said that it was a small cut and started to go through her supplies to stop the bleeding and cover the cut.
After Loren shoed away Michaela, Adrianna wanted to laugh, but it hurt too much. Michaela looked at her a little angry.
"What are you laughing at?" Michaela angrily asked.
"Bad day huh?" Adrianna decided that this was a good time to leave and so she decided to take a walk.
As she walked to the outskirts of town, she was met by the real leader of a freedom fighter tribe. She had mud covered all over her body and was wearing what looked like black cloth all over her body. She looked stern but understanding and was surrounded by ten attendants; all female who were not wearing mud but the same clothes as those that she met the other day with special designs on their clothes.
Adrianna bowed to the leader and she did the same. She looked at her with sadness and started to speak to her in Spanish.
"You look sad, like you're missing something." She kindly said.
"You are wise, as all great rulers are." Adrianna answered.
"I am just a humble ruler of a small but kind sanctuary for freedom fighters, even those of the house Santis. I see that you are with that rich white woman. What is your use of this town?"
"We want to start a medical practice. We are both doctors, but I specialize in all matters of the brain."
She looked impressed and smiled. All of them looked at the cemetery where Michaela and Sully were talking. Michaela looked upset at something Sully said. Adrianna looked back at the ruler and realized that she was studying her. Adrianna looked at her and blushed.
"Why do you want to study me? I am not interesting." Adrianna bluntly said.
"Oh, but you are Doctor. You do not feel ashamed to dress like a freedom fighter in the midst of the white man. Many freedom fighters hide who they are, turn themselves into something that they are not. You are smart as all freedom fighters are and have used that to your advantage."
By this time the Santis had come by and was looking at Adrianna with malice. The ruler did not look upset but talked to her in a kind voice.
"Princess Aldamora Santis, this is Doctor Adrianna Martiz." Adrianna looked at the ruler in surprise, wondering how she realized what her name was. The Santis looked straight at her, still angry.
"Aldamora is in charge of my security, you are but a threat to her. That is why she is hostile to you."
When Adrianna heard that, it didn't surprise her. She knew that Santis all had big egos and that they didn't like people messing around in their business. Adrianna did not need to have any problems.
"Well then I want to apologize to you Aldamora. I do not want any type of problem with you. You are correct in believing that I am a former assassin. I have realized that killing people that are of the same profession as those that killed my parents will not help. I am not the violent person anymore. I will not kill anymore. I am trying to change my life, trying to become someone different. I have even tried to become more outgoing. It is not working well and I will have to stop it. I only want peace and will do whatever to obtain it."
Aldamora looked like she understood but didn't trust the doctor. She looked like she was about to strike Adrianna but the leader stopped her. She put her hand in front of her to stop her. She then looked straight at Aldamora with the most sincere look of understanding.
"Aldamora, you came to me years ago, homeless, scared, alone and I took you in. I didn't need to do that; you are a Sandoval after all! Your blood is evil and you can be stereotyped as a monster. You are far from home, living with people who didn't love and understand you at first. You are different from your family; you love and understand people, but still have the blood of a Santis in you. You are now accepted as an equal. I ask you to think of what it was like when you were new. Understand that and treat doctor Martiz with respect. Respect her wishes."
Aldamora looked at Adrianna and for the first time, she didn't look at her with contempt but acceptance. She gave her a half smile and left. The leader looked at Adrianna and smiled.
"If you need help, please come. You do not need to be something you are not. Be yourself." Her and her people soon left, leaving Adrianna with a sense of purpose that she didn't think she had. She soon met with Michaela and they soon left, Adrianna still holding the bloodstained telegraph in her hand.
That night, Michaela and Adrianna sat and had dinner. Michaela was not a cook and so after almost burning down the house, she decided that it was best that Adrianna cook something. She took the eggs and some potatoes that were given to them by Charlotte and made some traditional food from Spain: a Spanish omelet. Michaela loved it and complimented her. In the past two days, they had not talked that much to each other and needed some time to talk.
Michaela bit into her omelet and looked at the Spaniard.
"You do not seem to be acting like yourself lately. You are usually silent, keeping to yourself. What is wrong?" Michaela asked concerned.
Adrianna looked up and gave Michaela a look of sadness with her deep brown eyes.
"Lo siento, I am just…I don't like it here. I hate them, the stupid town!" she got up, her dark eyes piercing and full of hot anger. She started to walk around and finally stopped at the window, leaning against it.
"When I first came here, I could tell that they were all racist. I could tell that we were not going to be accepted as doctors." A tear fell down from her face and she closed her eyes.
"When I first came here, I did something strange. I did a slip-jump move and landed on the mud. A pregnant woman got a little mud on her and looked like she just got shot. The husband came up to me and put some mud on my face. He said that I was now a true dirty Mexican. I had never felt so low… so fucking disgusting!" she opened her eyes and she looked both hurt and angry.
Michaela stood up and went to her young friend and hugged her from the back. Adrianna tried to stop the tears from falling, but she couldn't contain herself. She started to cry very hard and fell to the ground, Michaela trying to console her.
All of the pain that she was feeling came out. This happened sometimes, she would stop pretending that everything was all right and that she was hurt for real. She fell onto the ground in a thump yelling "Mamá! Mamá! Lo siento!" through her tears. She felt like nothing, like trash. She felt that it was her fault, that she was to blame for her parent's death. She was always getting into trouble, defying her parents word. She would make friends with the whites and still be friends with them when their parents objected. She would disrespect her mother and pick on her. She was punished by god; she was bad and deserved the pain.