Hush… Shhhh… Not a word. Not a sound. Nothing. Hush.

The litany filled her thoughts and although she desperately wanted to give voice to her fears, she kept her mouth clamped shut. Sound, noises of any kind, were not to be permitted. No, no, no no, no… Nothing. Don't utter a single, solitary, lonely little peep. Her hands clawed ineffectively at her ears, trying fruitlessly to stop the echoing cacophony of sound that only seemed to grow louder, faster, and more insistent in her head.

She darted a glance around at the people who were crowded around her in the much too small space. It felt claustrophobic on the one hand but...well, maybe just a tad comforting on the other hand. She was beginning to lose some of her fear around these people she still couldn't quite bring herself to look at fully for more than a second at a time. They still hadn't made any threatening moves toward her and that puzzled her already cloudy and scrambled brain. Seriously, why the hell wasn't she dead yet? What could they possibly be waiting for?

Unless… Maybe they weren't going to kill her?

Maybe...just maybe she could give them just a tiny bit of what they seemed to want. She continued to rock back and forth, feeling her anchor follow her movements. Back and forth. Back and forth. Slowing her frantic pace almost imperceptibly, but slowing it nonetheless. She worked to push beyond the sheer terror that oftentimes seemed to be the only sustenance she had throughout her time in the factory. If she could just push it aside for a tiny little milli-second, she could possibly make some small step to show these people her gratitude.

Yeah…

She kept rocking.

The softness of the blanket that had been bundled around her cushioned her skin with a gentleness she was still having trouble becoming accustomed to. She slowly drew the fabric into her tight grasp, her white-knuckled grip and taut muscles sending tiny trembles through her entire body as she fought too many bad memories that sought to drown her. She could feel her anchor's hands begin to rub soothing circles across her back and arms and she could hear a gentle shushing sound close to her ear. She tried to slow down her rocking just a teensie bit more.

Do it, just do it…

Just say something…

Anything…

She focused on the words that she heard being uttered so close to her ear. Their meanings were beginning to make more sense, the longer she was away from the factory. They were promises of safety and security. Guarantees of food and warmth and medicine and kindness. They were all the things she wanted to believe - all the things she needed to believe. They had been the things of daydreams and fairy tales for so very long that they seemed to belong to another person from another lifetime.

"Here," she heard the woman say with guarded gentleness, "do you want to go back to the couch?" She felt the woman shift slightly and thought she might be maneuvering them out from the crawl space in which they were wedged. She allowed herself to be slid out of her hiding spot and brought back into the muted light of the room.

Sounds of the storm continued to reverberate through the building and although they did remind her of the factory in more ways than she could even begin to name, she found it slightly easier to bear them with a room filled with people even if she didn't particularly want to look directly at any of the people who seemed to somehow make her feel safer. She couldn't help the twitchiness and how her body jumped with each crash of thunder but she could at least ease back on the rocking and move back to the couch and out from under the stairs. She could make herself do that much at least.

Slowly, she inched her way out of her hiding spot, pulling the blanket with her as she moved. No one seemed to want to do anything but watch her and she just tried to focus on her movements, making certain they were slow and controlled. Moving slowly helped to keep all the little pains from swelling out of proportion. She scooted along as gently as she could, shying away from the helping hands that reached out to ease her way. Once she was on the floor next to the couch, she slowly bundled the blanket into a ball and pushed it up on the seat. With sheer determination, against the cushions and hoisted her body up as well.

She worked with singular concentration to organize the blanket back over her legs as the bodies in the room all milled around and carried on their quiet, whispered conversations.

She sucked in a shuddering breath and ran the tip of her tongue across her chapped and torn lips and swallowed hard against the lump that was rising in her throat. "Water?" Her voice was raw and hoarse but it was hers all the same.

Every voice in the room ceased as all eyes came to focus on her. The woman Bo sank down on the edge of the couch and quickly grabbed the juice glass of water from the end table, holding it out to her with a trembling hand.

She accepted the glass and held it with both hands, raising it to her mouth and slowly sipping the cool liquid. Even the tiny sips felt amazing on her sore throat. Her screaming earlier had only reminded her how damaged her throat still was.

oOo

Tamsin, like everyone else in the room, had been shocked into utter silence. It was almost as jarring as Kenzi's blood-curdling scream had been but somehow the single whispered request was even more heart wrenching.

Kenzi swallowed and drug in a shuddering breath. "Thanks," she whispered hoarsely.

"You never cease to amaze me." Lauren's voice was soft but carried easily. Tamsin finally lifted her eyes from Kenzi to see her standing at the base of the stairs obviously having just arrived. They must have called her about Kenzi when she initially lost her head in response to the storm. She was blinking rapidly to clear the unshed tears from her eyes before crossing the room to her patient. "You are absolutely incredible." She sank down to her knees in front of Kenzi and looked up into the younger woman's eyes, reaching out to cup a hand against Kenzi's cheek. "And unbelievably brave."

Tamsin saw nods from every head at Lauren's last comment. She watched as Kenzi's fear blossomed and then faded slightly, her eyes brightening with the sudden spike of terror that Lauren's touch brought but easing slowly to be replaced by simple wariness.

"Can't keep Kenzi down," Bo added in a gentle tone. Kenzi had scooted over on the couch to allow her more of a place to sit and she gently eased herself a little closer to her friend. "Nobody ever could, no matter how hard they tried."

"Must be that Russian blood," Dyson suggested with a half grin in her direction.

"I am in awe of you," Lauren scoffed softly, "I always was, you know." She turned slightly to address the rest of the room. "Do you think we could have a minute? I just want to make sure she didn't reinjure anything. And maybe we could get her some broth?"

Everyone cleared out except for Bo whose hand Kenzi had gripped in a tight grasp after relinquishing the water glass and Tamsin. Lauren didn't seem to take much note of Tamsin's presence but Bo looked askance at her.

Tamsin shrugged. "I want to see how she's doing too," she responded with more waspishness than she had really intended. The tone of her voice drew Kenzi's eye but didn't seem to cause her any distress. "She wouldn't even be here now if it weren't for me and that favor Evony owed me. I want to stay...so long as Kenzi doesn't mind."

Kenzi's pale blue eyes flickered up again, this time with surprise and confusion mingling in their depths. Damn it to fucking Hades, Tamsin silently cursed, when was the last time she had been given a choice about anything? She waited to see if Kenzi would make a move.

"'S okay," Kenzi whispered breathily.

Tamsin nodded and released the breath she had been holding, she could feel some of her tension begin to melt away as Kenzi actually made a brief second of real eye contact. "The doc's right, Kenz. You're awesome."

Bo tightened her grip on Kenzi's hand and gently placed a soft kiss on her temple as Lauren began to check Kenzi's vital signs. They worked in tandem, checking and soothing and making certain Kenzi was as okay as she could possibly be under the given circumstances.

"You seem okay," Lauren said at last. "At least as okay as you were before the storm hit. Are you hurting? Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?"

Kenzi met the doctor's gaze for a brief moment before shaking her head and Tamsin thought Lauren might explode with the sudden rush of joy that filled her expression. She watched as the blonde reached out a gentle hand and take one of Kenzi's. "Okay, then. I'm going to check on that broth and maybe some more of Trick's colcannon if you think you want some more…"

Kenzi nodded, barely but it was still a nod.

Lauren beamed. "I'll be right back."

Bo met Tamsin's eyes but her words were meant for Kenzi. "You are going to come back to us, aren't you? I don't know how and I'm pretty sure I don't deserve it by half...but you really are going to recover."

Tamsin snorted. "Of course she will. It's Kenzi."

to be continued...