This is all the way into Ignite me territory.
Warner has continued to keep Alice at arms length after his return from Omega point and the supposed death of Juliette, and also the annihilation of Omega Point. To Alice Omega Point is a dangerous rebel group, and she was not-sad at the news of Juliette's death which has caused further tension between her and Warner. Delalieu has also helped to keep Alice away from the gym where everyone is staying. However, Alice wants to take a step forward in making amends with Warner and goes there anyway.
She is in for quite the surprise.
*Mid convo between Warner and Juliette*
He heard the pling of the elevator at the other side of the room. It was Delalieu bringing their lunch.
"I can't imagine anything of the such!", he teased Juliette. She scowled at him a little, but a smile tugged at her lips just the same.
They heard the doors slide open.
"As if you actually have time for those kind of things! How would you know?", she retorted.
"As if you'd know…!", he snapped with a laugh and gave her a playful push on the arm.
He was too occupied to realize that the elevator's arrival wasn't followed by footsteps.
Though James wasn't.
"Hey, who's that?"
Warner turned his head to the elevator and saw a pair of wide, gray eyes.
They weren't Delalieu's. They were way too short for that. And Delalieu's eyes weren't on the edge of being light blue.
It was Alice. Standing there in the elevator in her dungaree dress with a book under her arm. She just stood there. Staring at them.
Stared at all the strangers in his private gym.
Stared at his hand on Juliette's arm.
Unblinkingly.
And everyone else stared back at her.
Time seemed to be at a standstill.
He was the first to react.
"Alice…?!"
That made her snap out of it.
Her mouth became a line and she looked flustered all of a sudden.
But instead of asking what on earth they were doing, like any ordinary person probably would, she turned to her right and pushed the elevator button.
Then again.
And again, over and over again quite frantically.
The doors, that were still wide open, jerked.
"ALICE!"
He sprung to his feet and was already running. Arms out to stop interfere with the doors. Shouting:"No no no no NO!", as he went.
But he wasn't fast enough. He had barely six feet left when the door closed with Alice still pushing the button.
He thudded into them at his high speed, taking the impact with his arms.
"Alice!", he shouted and slammed his palm onto the closed doors.
Desperate he pushed the summoning button next to the door in hope of stopping it, but all it did was alight as the elevator continued upwards.
He backed a few steps, letting the situation dawn upon him.
He ran his hands through the hair at the back his head to try and get a hold of the situation. He crouched down and the company at the other side of the room could hear him groan. But just as quickly he bounced up again, throwing his arms out in frustration.
"Dammit!", he yelled, startling the whole room.
He turned to them. He was panting. But he was collected. Determined. A commander.
He raised his arm and pointed at the lot with his hand.
"You all just stay here", he ordered.
He pushed the summoning button again.
"I'll handle this", he said. A promise.
He had time to nod at them all before the elevator arrived. Then another time before the doors closed and he disappeared.
The whole company sat in dazed silence. Taking in what had just happened.
It was James that finally broke the silence.
"So who was that?"
"I'm wondering the same", Lily said.
Juliette turned to Adam and Kenji.
"I think I've seen her on base. The first time I was here..."
"Yeah… she's this kid who lives on base from time to time", Adam explained,"She's always trailing after Warner and the Lieutenant."
"Shit…", Kenji whispered.
"Did you say she lives on base from time to time?", Castle asked and looked at Adam.
They tried sorting out what they knew about the girl; which wasn't much. They didn't have to wait for long though.
The first thing they heard of Warner's success was the muffled screaming coming from the upper floor.
They all went quiet again and listened.
Kenji cocked his head to the side.
"Jesus, what is he doing to her?", he whispered as the solid hollering didn't didn't show any indication of halting.
It didn't take long before the elevator kicked into movement again, and shortly thereafter the doors opened to reveal Warner with a struggling body over his shoulder.
His face looked grim. As if he had just spent an elevator ride with a screaming girl slung over his shoulder.
He didn't waste any time but marched out of the elevator and headed over to them. The small audience saw how Alice was clawing at the back of his shirt. How her legs were locked by his arm.
He put her down a short way away from them, pausing her screaming. He firmly held her by the upper arms and she hysterically tried to pry them off her. But to no avail.
He leaned down to her level of view.
"Calm down!", he ordered.
Her eyes found his and she actually stopped.
They stood there for a few moments. His firm grip around her arms.
The only sound was their panting. His in slowly relieved panic. Hers in sobs, making her lungs whistle very quietly.
Slowly but surely they slowed, and the whistling disappeared altogether.
"Alice…", he started. He waited for her to give him a frail nod before continuing.
"I'm going to introduce you to some people", he instructed her. Not leaving any room for protest.
He made a small motion with his head towards them, and she shakily turned her head and looked at them all. They looked back at her. Since it didn't trigger another scared fit Warner took it as his cue and straightened his posture.
"Everyone", he announced, smiling, positioning himself slightly before the seated group and tugged her to stand before him, hands securely keeping her in place by the shoulders. She had no way but forward where they were sitting.
"This, is Alice."
They didn't really know what to say with this sudden introduction. The pause was a beat too long to be comfortable. Alice terrified look didn't help.
She was visibly trembling underneath his palms. Shoulders tucked up against her throat, arms over her chest and hands close to her throat.
Warner took no note of it and simply continued.
"Alice, these are my…", he trailed a little for the right word. Letting his hand motion as he thought up something.
"Guests", he decided.
She just stared.
"Hi Alice", Winston said giving her a small wave.; taking the initiative to talk.
Her reaction was to make a sound compared to a mouse being stepped on and push her back flush against Warner's front. To their surprise Warner's only reaction was to roll his eyes.
"They're not going to hurt you, you silly thing…", he coaxed. Looking down at her. She looked up at him.
They shared a look, then she shifted her gaze back at them. Studied them for a few seconds before giving a sharp inhale and shifted a little. But she didn't say anything. She just kept close to Warner.
"They're here to help me with something", Warner started explaining.
"They're not here to hurt anyone. So there's nothing to worry about."
The group nodded as if on cue. Kenji being extra encouraging by adding a few OK signs with his hand.
Alice seemed to relax a little. Or that's what they assumed by the lowering of her hands.
"But the thing is, we need to keep this a secret", Warner continued. Kneading her shoulders in a light massage. She looked up at him.
She didn't look very convinced.
Suddenly the elevator jerked at the other side of the room. This time alerting everyone.
"That thing isn't going to open to reveal the security guards, right...?", Ian asked as it ascended. His remark made all of the omega pointers sit a tad bit more upright.
Warner gently shook his head, but his eyes were glued to the doors just as well.
"No one was alerted by her behavior", he replied.
"No offense, but she was screaming bloody murder when she came back", Ian pointed out, giving Alice a glare. She didn't notice it, since she was looking at the door. Clutching to Warner's lower arms.
"As I said, no one was alerted by her behavior..."
"He's probably right, those two play chase in the corridors every five minutes", Kenji said. For which he received a glare from the green eyed blond.
"We do not…"
Kenji harrumphed and rolled his eyes.
"If you say so, Commander."
In that moment Kenji was lucky looks couldn't kill. And that the elevator arrived.
Everyone held their breaths on good and evil.
The ping followed and the doors opened to reveal a panicked Delalieu. He immediately stepped out, eyes trying to take in the room too quickly.
"Jasper!"
In seconds Alice had shrugged her way free from Warner's hands and was running across the room. Warner remained where he was. Delalieu immediately came forward to meet her.
"Alice darling!"
They meet in an embrace.
Everyone breathed a sigh.
"I'll go try and sort this out", Warner told no one in particular went to join the blubbering girl and the Lieutenant trying to calm her down by brushing away the hairs from her face.
Juliette gazed after him but left it alone and joined on a quiet stream of small talk with the others; trying to leave the trio alone.
If Warner had had any hopes of Alice taking it in smoothly it was shattered by him hearing:"Jasper there are rebels in our basement…!" first thing as he walked up to them.
"Oh Alice, sweetheart, you weren't supposed to find out this way… P-please don't cry-"
If possible she cried harder.
Delalieu noticed Warner
"What are they doing here?", she whispered. Her tone broke at the end, continuing into a heartbroken sob.
"I told you before, they're helping me", was all he said.
Her eyes startled open in panic.
"They tried to kill you...!", she said.
He had to smile at her.
"I'm flattered you're worried for my safety, Alice. But I can assure you they're not here to harm me. And besides, they have never attempted to actually kill me."
"One of them shot you!", she exclaimed.
"Oh, right…"
He had forgotten about that. Alice did not look humored.
Alice is convinced not to alert the entire base about all this, but doesn't trust the Omega Pointers. She is also very upset that Warner and Delalieu lied to her.