AN: Just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed, you guys are really keeping me going with this, I don't want to disappoint! Thanks for keeping it real!
~Speedy
Jolting upwards the darkness that surrounds me makes my heartache, hands grasping around me as I frantically reach around to figure out where I'm at. Three sets of hands reach out to grasp my arms and legs so I scream, writhing around as I try to wrench away from them,
"Aubrey, help!" I hear someone cry, jerking around until I feel weight on my legs and a hand pressing to my heart, warmth radiating from it and a light so bright emanating I can't do anything more than calm my movements. When my vision comes to, I find first the worried feature of the captain, her hand pressed to my chest and the relaxing warmth continuously pulsing from it,
"Her eyes aren't black anymore... Beca can you hear me?" Her lips move, and I hear the words, but it's as if they were slowed, the movement first, then words a few seconds off. I give a nod, lips pulling into a weak smile,
"Hey, cap..." All I can offer to her, a set of arms slipping around my side. I look down to find Amy hugging me tightly,
"I'm sorry I was so slow Beca, I didn't mean to let him get past me..." My hand pats her head, carefully, breath slowing as I look at the whole team around me. Aubrey straddles my knees, Chloe Stacie and Lilly stand around the bed, and Amy still hugs me tightly, "It was him, but he was like... only half corrupted... right Beca?" I think my nod takes to long for them, Aubrey taking the initiative to slide up higher, practically straddling my lap at this point,
"Look at me Becs..." Her other hand lifts to hold beneath my chin softly, and I find I'm trapped by her emerald orbs. The hand still emanating warmth pushes harder, and my own hands instinctively grasp her hips so I don't fall backward. I sense something... something being pulled from me, her eyes never leaving mine as it crawls upwards like a lump in my throat. Without warning, my body slams back into the bed, Aubrey now over the top of me as I cry out in pain,
"Aubrey stop! Aubrey, you're hurting her!" The blonde woman does not stop, does not hesitate as a huge lump of corruption hurls from my throat and up into the air. My stomach convulses, but the immediate effect of having the hidden corruption taken from me is satisfaction. Chloe snaps her hand out and snatches it from the air, smashing it within her grasp to never be seen again,
"I'm sorry Beca, I needed to get it out so it didn't spread." I nod, hands still holding onto her hips, giving her my best understanding look as I don't trust my voice... or my stomach at the moment. Turning my attention to the girls who are still at the side of the bed, I offer a small smile, noticing the way Chloe's hand wraps in Stacie's which only makes my smile widen. Fingers slide through my hair slowly and I realize for a split second this is the only time Aubrey's been this close to me and we haven't fought. Of course, like all good things, it swiftly comes to an end, "Come on guys, she needs to rest, her body has suffered a lot in these past few hours..." Crawling off of me she lets them each bid goodnight, Stacie and Chloe offering small pecks to the cheek before walking out. The blonde sits on the side of my bed once again, her hand lifting to press to my heart one more time, "It's hard seeing you like this... before it was you who rescued us, and you who protected us... and now we are the ones that need to keep you safe. So know we will protect you at any cost... I know we don't always see eye to eye on some things, but I'm ready... I won't lose you twice." The confidence behind her words makes it so I can only nod in acceptance, even if I don't know exactly what she is referring too. Standing with a gentle kiss to my forehead she turns to walk out, and with one last look over her shoulder she says, "Chloe and I are just in the third room, we figured it would be easier for all of us if we were closer." It almost seems she's embarrassed to be living under my roof, the woman turning away and closing the door quietly.
When my eyes open again, it's to a rumbling stomach and a phone that says 1 p.m... oh Aubrey is going to kill me. Rolling quickly I thump to the ground, body sprawled out on the floor... I suppose it would be rather useless to panic now, wouldn't it? I hear a soft giggle from my doorway, and when I lift my head I see quite the vision. Chloe makes her way towards me, short jean shorts, a navy blue tank top brightening her sapphire eyes, and her hair pulled back in a ponytail,
"Don't worry Becs, she gave you the day off." Her delicate hand lowers to offer me help up, and I take it with a hefty sigh, slowly rising,
"My face was that obvious?" Another giggle pulls from her throat while I heavily sit on my bed, the woman crawling upwards onto it. She crosses her legs and pats in front of herself,
"Obvious is an understatement, no one strikes fear in your heart as much as Aubrey. Now come sit with me, I want to spend some time with you." No one could ever accuse Chloe of hiding anything, I remember it was one of the things that endeared me to her in the first place, that and the touching... there it is. Just as I cross my legs in front of her, a hand reaches out to rest on my knee, and I don't understand why these girls touching me doesn't make my auto-cringe go into effect, "Tell me what you remember about us, then we can talk about the more serious stuff?" The way her eyes look so hopeful, and the way her teeth gently tug at her bottom lip, I roll my eyes to keep the cold facade up,
"I guess that's fine. Truth be told I remember so much... it comes to me day by day, and I remember that I saved you and Aubrey at the same time, you two grew up together, and you two are together in a lot more ways..." I swallow hard, having a difficult time keeping her eye contact, "That's why it took so long for me to allow myself to feel for either of you... both of you... I didn't want to be a wedge between the perfect duo, but as it turned out I was only a beautiful addition." Rolling my tongue along my lips she suddenly reaches behind her, pulling out a package of cookies with a quirked brow, "Ah yes! You're a lifesaver!" As I steadily chew I look to her with a smile, "Why don't you remind me how things went down? my memories are kind of shady, I see them, I hear them and I even feel them... but sometimes it's hard to put it all together." This will give me a chance to eat my cookies! Chloe smiles radiantly, the warmth of it filling my heart to its capacity. I totally ruin it by flicking a cookie crumb at her, but she barely notices, a mischievous smirk on her feature now,
"Well after you rescued us we had quite the time getting you to slow down from your quest, but you were overworked and so stressed..." Tilting my head I lean in a bit, offering a cookie up to her which she gently takes, "So Aubrey and I made it our goal to get you to unwind at least once a week... usually starting with massages and cookie dough... and then we would convince you to sit down for dinner with all of us instead of taking it to your office so you could figure out the next plan of attack. After a while it turned into a whole day thing, instead of finding more things to destroy, you would take us all out to do something fun. By the end of the day we usually wound up cuddled on the couch, Aubrey on one side, and myself on the other, Stacie would wiggle her way in their too, usually over our laps." This makes her giggle fondly, but she lifts a finger, "At first you were so opposed! 'No no, we can't act like this.' You said so often before heading up to bed early, mostly on the nights the three of us got more handsy..." She blushes at this, squeezing my thigh that I had somehow forgotten her hand still rested on. I tilt my head and my brows furrow with a chuckle,
"I wanted you guys to get along, I remember that with or without me there I wanted you to feel like you each were special... so I would plan the days around each one of the girls individually...making sure I took turns." Chloe is quick to nod, her stunning smile back in play only moments later,
"Yes! You basically made us bond until we were like this..." She crosses her fingers, scooting closer until her knees bump into mine, leaning forward almost as close as hood night, "And we bonded so well... we are like this tight-knit family... anyway, feelings grew between all four of us actually... and Aubrey was... she was afraid of what would happen when the war ended, if we all went our separate ways because there was no need to stay tied to each other any longer..." Chewing her bottom lip, her eyes glisten as she keeps them on me, her voice quieter now, "She still beats herself up over it... she couldn't look at you while we were in the hospital... her regret was to raw." I find I don't like the sad, whispery Chloe, so I'm quick to lift a cookie in the air, shaking it a bit,
"Oh don't you dare little lion, you know I can't stand when you cry." The nickname that popped up in recent memory makes her entire body react, lunging forward to land on top of me on the bed as she laughs,
"Beca you're coming back to us... I'm so excited!" She wiggles on top of me and I try to cough away the very sudden lump in my throat and burning in my lower abdomen, my eyes staying stuck to the ceiling as I rub her back gently,
"That I am, but I need your help, I'm progressing faster than before with my memories but there are still things I can't grasp... are you alright if I ask you more questions about... that day?" She nuzzles into my neck and softly whispers,
"If I can stay like this then I will be alright." I give her the permission she seeks by hugging her tighter, nodding for extra approval. She sniffles a bit, surely remembering that awful day that I can't seem to find,
"Tell me what happened, Amy said you were all pushed out, and we were deadlocked. Then there was a white light... but I have a feeling she was deliberately leaving some things out, that true?" I feel her nod against my shoulder, and she clings tighter to me then,
"It's... still really hard to talk about... for all of us, but if it will help then I will work through it." Before I can assure her that it's okay if we don't, she presses onwards, "Your battle... it felt like it waged on for hours... you two were truly each other's match, the epitome of good versus the core of all corruption. Where you wounded him, he wounded you also, where you dodged, he dodged, it was... oh it was terrifying..." Her fingers lift to tuck into the neck of my t-shirt, grasping it tightly like some sort of lifeline. I let my hands continue to roam along her back and sides, bumping my nose to her temple in a gentle reassuring gesture that yes, I really was laying there with her, "We were so happy when we saw him fall, we ran to you... we ran so fast... but no matter how hard we tried we couldn't get closer to you." Feeling a wet heat soak into my shirt I press a kiss to her forehead,
"It's okay if you-..." Her red mane shakes swiftly,
"No! I can do this... you are alive and here with us..." Taking a few deep breaths she scoots upwards and ever further into my space, which I don't mind, "You smiled at us, even as the sword stuck out from your chest, even as corruption flowed from you mouth mixed with your blood... and your eyes stayed open as long as they could as you lifted your hand as if to say goodbye..." Her entire form shakes as she forces herself to continue, "But then there was the white light... you hadn't even hit the ground and then you weren't there." Choking up to the point where she could no longer speak, I just let her release her grief onto me, holding her tightly as time ticks by. Eventually, she passes out, and I find even though I've literally done nothing... I could go for a nap.
Scrunching my face as my stomach rumbles harder than before, I let my eyes open. I find I'm alone again in my room, lifting a hand to rub the sleep from my eyes. Sitting up carefully I turn to press my feet to the ground, pulling on my favorite hoody and making my way out... oh... I don't know what that delicious smell is but my stomach only growls louder with it. Moving into the kitchen I find everyone gathered around the island, having their own little conversations together while still somehow speaking as a group. Stacie is the first to notice me, turning from the stove to wrap me in her arms. Then as I go to pull back I feel another pair of arms... then another... and...
"Seriously you guys? I'm alright!" This makes the women giggle, the group hug disbanded as a large bowl of spaghetti and meatballs is placed in front of me first. Stacie sweetly serves everyone else their bowls, and I wait, much to their dismay, for everyone to have food before I dig into mine,
"Damn shawty, got to calm it down, going to give yourself a tummy ache." I look up and realize for the first time that Cynthis Rose has joined us, my brow quirking as I slurp the bite up into my mouth. She snickers as I stick my tongue out at her, and she looks like she wants to say something but is quickly hushed by Amy,
"You can tell her all about your Muse self tomorrow, let her eat and rest, she looks like death." She tries to keep her words quiet really, but my face must give away that I definitely heard,
"Not saying you don't make death look grea-..." Aubrey snaps her fingers in the air,
"Not making it better Amy!" Stacie stands and Chloe is quick to jump up too,
"I can't believe you would say something so insensitive!" Amy just shrugs, an awkward smile on her face,
"Ehm... what can I say... she looks fantastic... dead or not?" I can't help the laughter that bursts from my chest, and this seems to settle the immediate threat of Stacie, Aubrey, and Chloe from killing Amy,
"Oh my god... thanks Ames, I'll remember that next time." As I can't help but let it tickle my funny bone, the girls slowly break one at a time, each one giggling and laughing along at Amy's psycho antics. This diffuses the situation, and though dinner then goes off without another hitch, I can't help but notice the way all three girls scoot closer to me, and how they remain close the rest of the evening until I bid everyone goodnight.