She slowly and painstakingly worked to pull the ends of the long sleeves down over her hands, gripping them tightly in her fists even as she clung to her living lifeline. The material that lay against her skin so entirely was soft and warm and very nearly unbearably painfully comfortable when compared to everything she had recently known. She had forgotten how pleasant something so simple could be although she had a fleeting memory of having felt just as warm and protected at some point long ago. The blanket had been bundled back over her and between the soft, woolly warmth of the blanket combined with the body warmth of her anchor worked quickly to ward off the last of her chill. She snuggled contentedly, a gentle sigh escaping her lips soundlessly.
For a short time, she was alone in Narnia with only her anchor, as she had decided to refer to the person she clung to, for company and she preferred it that way compared to the commotion of all the many people milling around and invading her sight and space. Her anchor didn't move around too much and when they did move it was slow and measured and didn't scare her. She was able to relax at least a little more. Relax a bit but not let her guard down. She would never let her guard down completely, it was just too dangerous to even contemplate.
One at a time, people started filing back into the room. They were quiet so it didn't bother her too much although she did squeeze a little further into the space between her anchor and the couch. The woman returned carrying a tray of glasses, all filled with liquids of varying shades – it was a rainbow of beverages. The woman set the drinks next to the bowl that had been left on the end table earlier and she lifted her head a little to peer toward the refreshments. It was more food than she had seen in one place in longer than she could remember.
She tried to listen to the voices that softly filled the void of the room. More and more words managed to wriggle their way through the filter in her head but she still couldn't make out enough to understand what they were saying. Part of her wished she could, but the bigger part of her was too afraid. She thought maybe that was the part that was holding back most of what was being said.
She tried to focus on individual words. Maybe that would be easier than trying to understand everything that was being said. Maybe a few identifiable words would give her some clue as to what was going on and who these strange people were.
oOo
"Are you getting hungry, Kenz?"
Bo eased their patient into something loosely resembling a seated position and gently maneuvered her hands so that they lay in her lap, empty and limp. Tamsin pushed back Kenzi's sleeves to expose her hands, ignoring the layers of scar tissue the motion revealed, and turned away to get the food Kenzi so desperately needed. It was too much like dealing with a life-sized Kenzi-doll, one that the manufacturer had cut corners with and used way too little stuffing.
Trick lifted the plate that had served as a makeshift lid, allowing the earthy scent of homemade colcannon to waft even stronger in the air. Handing Tamsin the bowl and spoon, he patted her fondly on the shoulder. "It'll get easier," he promised.
Tamsin wanted to know, "For us or for her?"
"For us all."
"Here you go, Kenzi. One bowl of comfort food a' la Trick," Bo's voice sounded much more excited about the meal than her expression showed. "Maybe we can convince him to whip up some borscht once your stomach is up to the challenge. And later on we'll order you a pizza - maybe even have it delivered by your favorite actor/delivery guy."
Tamsin smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging manner and set the bowl in Kenzi's hands. Maybe having control of the food would help to turn the tide on her recovery. Discouraged when Kenzi simply sat still and stared down into the bowl, Tamsin glanced up at Bo whose expression was just as clouded as she was certain her own was.
"Here, Kenz, let me help you with that," Bo gently murmured, lifting the spoon awkwardly.
"I've got it." Tamsin snagged the spoon from Bo's loose grip and smiled at Kenzi again – this time she was fairly sure her expression was far more worried than cheerful. "Want some?"
Kenzi opened her mouth a little as Tamsin lifted the spoon, accepting a small amount of what was loaded onto the bowl of the spoon. She chewed slowly and finally swallowed. Tamsin ducked her head low enough to finally be able to make eye contact with Kenzi. She waited as Kenzi gradually looked away from the food and met her gaze briefly.
"Do you want some water?" She gripped a small juice glass in her hand, only half filled to accommodate Kenzi's current extremely limited capabilities.
Kenzi gently slid her hands out from under the bowl, letting it rest on her lap and delicately took the glass from Tamsin's grasp. She had to use both hands to keep it steady but managed to tilt it to her cracked lips without dousing herself in the process.
"Just take it easy, Kenzi. Small sips. I promise to grant you free unlimited use of the top shelf after you pull through this but just small sips of water right now," Trick said. He had been hovering near the couch ever since they had all come back down stairs.
Whether or not she understood him was unclear but she only took tiny sips nonetheless, offering the glass back to Tamsin before she had even drunk a quarter of it.
"Sounds like a dream come true for you, Kenzi. All the free top shelf drinks you want," Dyson commented. "You'd better start stocking up now, Trick, or you'll be out of business as soon as she's back on her feet."
"I hope so," was Trick's only response.
"Do you want to try the spoon yourself?" Bo helped her wrap her fingers around the utensil, guiding it back to her mouth.
Eating proved to be just as slow a process as everything else had been. By the time she pushed away the bowl and glass for good, all the water and half the colcannon were gone. It hadn't been a tidy process and the spoon had been discarded early on in preference to her fingers but no one mentioned the lack of etiquette.
After gently cleaning her face and fingers with a damp cloth Trick offered, Bo settled back against the couch. Tamsin watched as Kenzi's eyes began to drift closed. "Did we just drug her again?"
"It was Lauren's idea." Trick gathered up the spent dishes and made a quick exit.
"I wouldn't call it drugging her but Trick is sneaky. I also wouldn't suggest trying any of the colcannon in Kenzi's bowl. Those medicines Lauren said we needed to get Kenz started on right away? We crushed up a double dose and mixed it in with the food, but they were mostly antibiotics and a pain killer – nothing to really put her to sleep. That's probably just the full belly." Hale watched Kenzi intently as he provided the answer.
Kenzi had wriggled herself into a ball, her face turned away from the room and her head resting in Bo's lap. She clutched Bo's shirt in her tense fingers. Bo combed her fingers through the younger woman's hair, pausing after a few strokes.
"She's missing patches of hair."
Tamsin had noticed the same thing earlier. "Part of it's from the starvation, not all of it but part of it." She met Bo's gaze evenly. "There is a spot just over her left ear that was obviously ripped out recently. I saw it when I was washing her hair." Tamsin grimaced. "She's missing some finger and toe nails too."
"Recently?"
Tamsin shrugged. "Some." She watched Bo close her eyes but not before she saw them grow bright with tears. "Umm... Her feet, beneath the bandages... Someone's going to have to carry her around for a while. There's no way she should be on her feet."
"What happened to her feet?" Dyson was standing again, his hard stare directed fully on Tamsin, who brushed it off easily enough. She could feel the waves of pent up fury that ran through his veins.
"You'd have to check with the doctor to be sure but it looks like the skin was flayed off her soles." She swallowed thickly. "It was one of the training and encouragement procedures they demonstrated when we first got to the factory."
Bo's expression did not hide her repulsion. "Training and encouragement procedures?"
"Yeah, that's what the guard called it. And really, torture is too nice a word to describe what I saw going on in there." She scrubbed at her arms with her hands in a vain attempt to ward off the chill of disgust the memories of the factory brought back to her mind. She didn't think she'd ever be able to forget what she had born witness to – even into her next lifetime.
Bo kept smoothing her hand over Kenzi's hair and Tamsin wondered if the succubus even realized she hadn't stopped touching Kenzi since she entered Trick's home. She cast her gaze at the two men remaining in the room. Trick had kept himself busy upstairs but Hale and Dyson still remained, stony faced and silent.
"Come on, boys. Let's give these two a few minutes alone." She didn't miss the small smile Bo shot her way.
Trick had decided to keep the pub closed for the time being in deference to his new guest and so it was blessedly empty and quiet at the bar. Tamsin stretched across the counter and pulled out a bottle and three glasses. She filled them and lifted her own into the air.
"To Kenzi."
Hale and Dyson joined her toast and drained their glasses just as quickly as she had filled them.
"I wouldn't have taken you for the sentimental type, valkyrie," Dyson said softly.
Tamsin shrugged again. "It's Kenzi."
Hale nodded. "And that makes all the difference."
"It does," she admitted.
They drank the bottle dry, discussing how to arrange for Kenzi's round-the-clock protection as well as deciding on a few details as to how to handle Kenzi's abductor once it was discovered who was to blame. First, however, was the topic of the factory they had freed her from and what could be done to put it out of commission.
"You know Bo's going to want to be involved with destroying the factory," Tamsin warned.
"And we know she's not going to leave Kenzi's side anytime soon," Hale answered. "That place needs to be burnt to the ground - with the guards locked inside. Immediately if not sooner."
Dyson drug his hand across his face. "Bo will survive. We just won't tell her until it's done."
Tamsin wrinkled her forehead. "The bigger problem is all those people they have in there. They're no better off than Kenzi. We can't just liberate them and leave them to fend for themselves, it would be no better than leaving them in there - they'd die."
"There's also the little problem of the factory being dark. The Morrigan might object to loosing her little profitable venture." Hale, ever the voice of reason...Tamsin glared at him.
to be continued...