A/N: I think you guys are in need of a little fluff after what I've put you through. Xo
Disclaimer: I own these characters like I own a million dollars. (I wish)
Chapter 18: Bruised
The smell of smoke was what woke him up.
Gabriel lifted a heavy hand that was still half-asleep up to his forehead, but he miscalculated and hit his own nose.
"Ugnf."
His body feel like it'd been chained up to a Ford F-150 and dragged down the Interstate. When his hand gained more circulation, he moved down to feel his ribs. Were they broken?
Ow. That was a yes.
He slowly tried out every other body part to make sure nothing else was broken, still without opening his eyes. It seemed unnaturally bright out, which was why he supposed he'd originally tried to shield his eyes in the first place. Nothing else seemed out of place except for the dull ache that was forming at the back of his skull, and maybe the burning sensation in his left hand. God, it felt like sandpaper.
"And so he lives," was a singsong voice somewhere nearby.
That had his eyes popping open. He'd know that voice anywhere.
A curve formed in his lips despite the confusion of finding that he was facing upwards towards a painfully bright, white, cloud-covered sky. Gabriel turned his head in the direction he'd heard the sound come from, wincing when the movement caused a sharp, stabbing pain at the top of his neck.
"He lives?" Gabriel was surprised at the croakiness of his own voice so he coughed, trying to clear the dry spot in his throat. He sat up slowly, the throbbing in his temples slowing only a little. After waiting for his head to clear, he lifted his head and finally caught sight of her.
Riley's eyes were wide and unmoving. She sat cross-legged on the ground in front of a small fire that was only just keeping its flame. Her eyes didn't move from the burning wood; in fact, she didn't move at all except for the fact that she was chewing her lip. He noticed a small, dark-red stain on her shirt.
"Riley? What happened?"
"We fell," she said simply.
As if she were coming out of a dream-like state, she rubbed her hands over her face and finally looked at him. The worry lines on her face appeared briefly and disappeared just as quickly, and Gabriel almost wondered if he imagined them. Riley pointed a finger upwards and continued, "We fell from up there."
Boy, he really wasn't paying attention well this morning. He looked in the direction she pointed out and realized they were sitting at the bottom of a fifteen-foot cliff on what seemed to be a nearly-dry riverbed. In the opposite direction was a slightly smaller cliff a couple of feet away and a small stream running underneath it. He guessed the whole area would probably flood with heavier rainfall.
"Yeah, but how did we fall?" Gabriel rubbed at his head. He had one guess.
"How much do you remember?" She tilted her head towards him.
"Not too much." He still felt quite disoriented.
"Alright." She nodded her head up and down. Rather than look like she felt assured, the movement made her look even worse concerned. "I don't know if you remember getting chased and all, but I lost my balance over on that ridge there, and you grabbed onto me- genius that you are."
"Hey," he protested gruffly. She ignored him.
"You lost ahold of the tree that broke under our weight and decided to hold onto me again. You somehow landed before I did and smacked your head somewhere along the way." She shook her head. Under her breath, she added, "Idiot."
"If I landed on the bedrock, what did you land on?" he cocked his head at her.
"You." She grimaced, but her partner almost thought he saw the beginnings of a smile.
Gabriel's eyes ventured up towards his hairline. "That would explain why I feel like I've been hit by a truck."
She turned to face him more fully and scoffed. "Excuse me? Are you saying my weight is equivalent to the weight of a truck?"
He threw his hands up in defense, giving her an exasperated look. "Sorry, forgive me. I didn't mean truck, I meant freight train."
Riley pressed her lips together and Gabriel could see she was really trying hard not to smile now. "Wow. Nice. Make fun of a woman's weight. Really winning yourself some bonus points, Vaughn."
"Hey, shouldn't you be thanking me for breaking your fall?" He started to stretch and stand up slowly, his muscles feeling bruised all over. All of a sudden, he realized what he'd been sleeping on for the first time.
It was a hammock of sorts – a large red sheet of fabric tied taut at each of its four corners and attached to a few saplings that were growing low out of the cliff walls. Well, at least four of the small trees together could hold up his weight. As an afterthought, he asked, "Or should I be thanking you for fashioning a bed for me?"
Riley looked away again, staring into the crackling fire. "It was nothing. You were unconscious and the ground wasn't the best place for you to sleep. I found that in one of the hidden pockets in your bag. I think it was supposed to be one of those super-thin sleeping bags."
He seemed to accept that. He was ever so glad for the pushy attitude Nelson had taken on when he convinced Gabriel to bring an extra one of everything in his pack. Not that he didn't already know that sort of thing from his time with the military, but it was good to have a reminder, just in case. He absently wondered if there were any extra survival supplies in the bag. Hand-warmers would be ideal for keeping out the damp cold that had settled all over him.
"Wait," Gabriel said as something dawned on him. "Did you stay all night without a coat? With only that little spark in front of you?"
When Riley didn't answer, he scowled.
"Didn't you find any sweatshirts in my bag? You had no problem going through it to get this thing out," he pointed a thumb towards the makeshift hammock. He tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice at how little she seemed to take care of herself.
In answer, Riley only shrugged and rubbed her hands together over the campfire. He took a step nearer to her and noticed the dark marks under her eyes and the way her body seemed to shake ever so slightly, the goosebumps that were arising on her bare arms making her shiver.
Gabriel shook his head. He quickly located his bag and started to pull something out of it.
Walking past Riley, he set the biggest sweatshirt he could find over her shoulders. A glance back let him view a tiny curve in the corner of her mouth, just so he knew she appreciated the action. Then, he went and stood just around a wall of the cave in the high grass.
He could hear a muffled voice through the fabric of the sweatshirt calling out to him. She must have been halfway through putting it on. "Gabriel?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing?" Her voice was clearer suddenly. She'd successfully put it on.
"Relieving myself." Gabriel said matter-of-factly. "Do you mind?"
This time, her sweet voice sounded more like a whine. "Aw, seriously? Right here? Why couldn't you go behind me and the hammock?"
"You're such a child." He had a smile on his face but kept a teasing tone of voice. He thought maybe it would distract both of them a little if they got back into their regular mode of banter.
"I'm not a child," she protested. "I just can't understand why you picked right there."
"I'm hidden enough in this spot, so there shouldn't be a problem."
"Oh, there is no problem. I was just asking why you couldn't go somewhere else."
"The hammock is blocking the way completely, I'd have to move it! Besides, I'm a little too sore to lift my legs over it."
"Ugh, just stop talking until you finish. It's getting gross."
"You're the one who wanted to talk in the first place."
"Oh my god, Gabriel," was her exasperated voice. Riley sounded pretty fed up, but he knew her well enough to know that she was probably still trying to hold back her smile.
He finished his business and joined her by the fire, dimples ingrained in his cheeks. Gabriel couldn't help but think how domestic the whole exchange was. They were like an old married couple who fought and didn't care if they shared a bathroom first thing in the morning.
Wow. He was starting to annoy himself just as much with the grin that wouldn't disappear on his own face, and especially the thoughts that accompanied it.
He wondered if Riley noticed it, and looked to his left to catch her staring at him. She had a furrow in her brow, almost like she was confused as to how he could possibly find their situation pleasant.
To cut the tension, he asked, "So, what's for breakfast?"
"Imaginary eggs with a side of imaginary bacon," she gestured to the large, imaginary dish overtop of the fire. When she did so, he noticed that the arms of the sweatshirt were too long and hung past her fingertips.
"That's sounds delicious," Gabriel murmured as his stomach grumbled in apparent agreement. "Unfortunately, I'm imaginary intolerant. Can't digest any of the stuff."
The sound of her laugh floated warmly from her lips. There was that lovely, harmonious sound that he'd missed. "That is unfortunate, because that's all we've got."
"Damn," he shook his head and shared a pleasant grin with her. "But really, I wish I had something for this headache." It was wicked sore.
"How is your head, anyway? I'm pretty sure the only reason you didn't crack your skull open was that you landed on your back with the bag as a cushion to both of our falls. Seriously, are you okay?" she asked again, more sincerely.
Without much warning, Riley rolled up her sleeves and brought her hand up to inspect the back of his head, feeling for bumps and bruises.
Her fingertips grazing his scalp lightened the ache somewhat. Well, except for when they got to a particular sore spot nearer to the base of his skull and he hissed, taking air in through a clenched jaw. He tried to laugh it off, though, joking, "A head rub would be nice right about now."
"Very funny. I'd love to help but I don't want to inadvertently end up making your injuries worse. I think you may have a concussion." She didn't ask if the chip was okay.
That was one thing that Gabriel liked about her. She actually did care more about him than the priceless piece of technology in his head. He bet Riley was just itching to ask anyway, as it was actually her job to make sure both he and Clockwork were safe.
"The chip is fine, by the way," he told her. Gabriel saw her relax almost visibly. She nodded her head, seeming to accept what he said.
"I'm glad. Were you able to let Lillian know what happened or email Cyber Command?" she wondered. He felt guilty about how wistful she sounded when she said, "I hope rescue is on its way already."
"Sorry. I haven't done anything 'chippy' yet. My head's sort of pounding too much at the moment," he said, rubbing at his temples. In fact, he wouldn't mind having an ice pack right about now. At home, he tried not to use the chip whenever he felt like this and had a bad hangover, as it only increased the power of his migraines. Never had one been so intense before now, though.
"Wait a minute," Riley stopped him with a hand on his arm. "If you can't use the chip, how do you know everything's fine?" Her voice was heavy with doubt and she was starting to sound pissed at him again.
He tugged his arm back. "I think I'd feel it if something was wrong," he grouched.
"Oh, and the splitting headache isn't clue enough? Unbelievable." She said the last part under her breath. "We should still check for other signs of a concussion anyway. Come here."
He turned towards her and leaned over when she brought his head closer to hers. Riley looked into each eye, checking how well his pupils reacted to light by shading each one with her hands. Her mouth hung slightly open in thought, just enough so that Gabriel could feel her small puffs of breath against his cheek.
For a moment, Gabriel feared the pupil test might have been screwed by their inability to contract when she was this close. She didn't say anything more on that subject when she pulled back, though- just wore a concerned expression when she asked, "Can you say the alphabet backwards?"
He recited it slowly but dutifully, yet Riley still didn't look pleased. The worry lines on her forehead were back and her voice was small when she remarked, "I still think Doctor Cassidy should check you out when we get back."
Gabriel looked all around him and scratched at the newly-formed stubble on his jaw. "And which direction do you propose we go in?"
The sky was overcast now and there was no way of telling what direction the sun was coming from. They'd been disoriented not only by the fall, but from the chase through the woods. Bullets seemed like they were coming from every direction and neither of them remembered if they kept running in a straight line from the lake trail.
"So let's assume we're stranded out here for now. We can't head back in the direction we came because we don't know if they're still waiting for us at the cabin." Riley's voice came back in a more confident tone than before.
She still sounded a tad annoyed at him though, or maybe worried about his condition, Gabriel supposed. Still, it sometimes felt like she blamed him for the injuries inflicted upon him by others.
"Which way is north?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," she answered.
"Yeah, sorry. I guess you probably didn't watch the sunrise," Gabriel frowned.
"Well, actually," she started, "I kind of did. But it was already cloudy from the start, and I couldn't exactly tell too easily where the light was coming from since the cliff walls are so tall." She shrugged and wrapped the sweatshirt more tightly around herself, yawning into one of the over-seized sleeves while she was at it.
"Hey, did you get any sleep at all last night?" He suddenly asked, concerned now himself. The dark circles under her eyes finally made sense. Why in the world- No, how in the world could she put herself up to doing that?
"I didn't need to sleep. I was keeping watch last night in case any more of those armed men came back. And don't even think about saying it wasn't necessary," Riley said when it looked like he was going to. Her argument had lost its meaning, however, when she finished it with an untimely yawn. "Shush. I'm still your protector. It's my job."
He'd heard the argument thousands of times before. It didn't mean he agreed with it.
"I know it's your job, but you should stop taking care of me and let me take care of you, for once." He'd said it a little more forcefully than he'd planned to, giving her a look that was somewhere between a grimace and an apologetic smile. She looked like she was about to protest again, so he said, "What I mean is that you should take a nap in the hammock while I stay on the lookout for a while. It's not like we're headed anywhere anytime soon."
"Gabriel," she glowered.
"It doesn't have to be a long nap," he offered and slung an arm around her shoulder. He noticed her wince and lightened his touch, remembering the spot of blood that had been on her shirt earlier. "C'mon. If we meet the guardsman in the woods sometime later, you can fight him off and protect me much better with the energy you'd get from a little powernap."
She sighed, still glaring at him, but Gabriel could tell she had already made her mind up. He grinned victoriously at her and they leaned on each other for support as they rose together, groaning in unison from sore muscles. For a while there, he almost thought he was going to have to carry her over somehow, but was glad she wasn't being that stubborn.
Once they made it over to the hammock, Gabriel helped Riley sit down gently and knelt down nearby her. Looking down at her stretched out form and small pout on her lips, he had the sudden urge to run his hand through her hair. "Don't worry. I'll wake you if anything happens."
"You'd better," she frowned up at him. He could probably count the freckles on her nose from where he rested on his knees. Did he mention he loved being close to her?
Before he knew it, his hand acted of its own accord and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it in along with her other ones. He could've sworn she'd closed her eyes at his touch. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Never better," she was quick to chime in. A small smile finally formed on her lips again, and they both shared a quiet chuckle. Gabriel could deal with her joking much easier than he could with her worriedness.
"Thanks, by the way," Riley said as an afterthought.
"For what?"
"It's nice to know someone's there for me." She crinkled her nose and with a begrudging look, added, "And if I had to choose, I'm glad it's you."
Gabriel was sure the grin on his face couldn't be wider when she rolled her eyes. Screw trying to keep a serious face, he thought. She should know she makes me happy. Gabriel even surprised himself with that last thought.
"If I'm being honest," he began. "I know I give you crap most of the time for doing your job, but- Well, I'm glad you're the one watching my back, too. Wouldn't have it any other way."
God, he was turning into a sap. She was turning him into an honest to goodness chump.
He turned around before anything else could spill out of his infatuated mouth but still kept his position at the side of her makeshift bed. It wasn't physically any hotter than by the fire, but Gabriel felt his insides warm up whenever he was nearer to her.
Somehow, the air around her was just all-around…better.
"I'll be right here if you need me," he proclaimed.
He felt the heat on his cheeks ignite when she reached her fingers up to squeeze onto his shoulder briefly, and then slide back leaving a trail of fire along where they'd brushed the hair on his neck as they left.
From behind him, he heard a muffled 'thank you.' He didn't turn around, but imagined her all nestled snug with his sweatshirt, hopefully soon able to catch a few winks. A pleasant hum sounded from deep in her throat.
She was killing him. Slowly and painfully.
With the way Riley kept affecting him, he was starting to wonder how he might ever make it out alive.
A/N: It was a tad shorter than normal, but I still hope you liked it.
I wanna hug each and every one of you who reviewed. I personally consider all of you hug-worthy. Thank you so much for reviewing, lovelies! I appreciate the reviews I received from: TearsInTheDust, .12979431, kateanneshepherd, clay cowan, nrdhrd3, Angel Blue, USNeshama, kwisteria, byLunaA, irishcaribou, Blue Obsidian Butterfly, Alyona (I hope I spelled your name right this time, not sure if I did it so well before because I can't read right when I'm tired xo), Guest, sunshineforever13, purpledolphin1, , and Chymom!