Title: Aftershock
Author: Gab (Milena D)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to episode Burnout (1x06).
Characters: Claudia, Artie (Father/Daughter)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family
Summary: It may be a world of ceaseless wonders but that doesn't make any of them invincible. A health scare prompts an unexpected dive into past and present issues.
Author's Notes: Sorry it's shorter! My math is really off and I thought somehow I'd have way more pages than this.
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Chapter 3: Ominous Corridors
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"Remind me never ever to give you free time again." Artie grumbled, sending her a sidelong glance. "And may I remind you that although I am a lot older, I'm also a lot smarter than you are and if you really think you managed to successfully get me off the topic, you're only proving my point."
Claudia groaned and let her head fall back.
"Really?" Claudia bemoaned. "You're really digging this Dr. Phil stuff? We should tour the talk shows during sweeps, we could get our own reality spin-off."
"Yeah, yeah, pop culture references will only buy you so much time." Artie warned her.
"Artie, man, seriously, I said all I had to say." She whined. "Trust me. Weight majorly lifted. I'm tapped out."
"Yeah, uh huh. You thought I'd abandoned you in some strange city 3 hours away from home." He reminded her.
"Yeah well 'home' is a loose concept for some people."
"Wha- You...you don't consider the warehouse, Leena's...home?" Artie asked, taken aback. "But you were the one who wanted to stay."
"You're not listening, professor," Claudia tilted her head sideways, "I love it at the warehouse, at Leena's...with you guys. I don't want to leave, ever. But...I mean, it's tough to shake the feeling that one day I'm gonna turn around again and it's all gonna be gone. I'm not exactly known for the great track record with luck."
"We're not going anywhere, Claudia." Artie promised her. "I mean, the dangers of the artifact-retrieval life aside, we're not going anywhere."
"Yeah well, you know how behavioural conditioning works." Claudia shrugged, cherishing for the time being the idea of a family that wouldn't leave her. "I'll deal with it."
"Okay. Yeah. Well I'll be here if you need help with that." Artie swore sincerely. "It's the least I can do."
"It really is." Claudia agreed whole-heartedly, grinning.
"Brat." He scoffed, swatting her arm.
"Geezer." She retorted, smiling brightly before clapping her hands and standing. "Well it is just crazy how much better I feel already. Haven't felt this good in years. I say we blow this very large and sterile popsicle stand and head on home for some R&R."
Artie rolled his eyes and tugged her back down into the chair. "Look, it won't take long now. You'll be in and out in like 10 minutes tops, the scans take 5 minutes maximum. And then we'll at least know what's going on."
"Yeah well, you know what?" Claudia asked rhetorically, her voice very casual. "You might want to know what's going on but I really kinda totally don't."
"Wha-Why? Why wouldn't yo-"
"Would you want to find out that you're dying, Artie?" She asked him pointedly. "I don't want to find out that I've just started my life, my actual life, just a few months ago and that it's going to end in a few more."
"Claudia..." Artie tried to come up with a way to reassure her but was at a loss.
"No, Artie. You know that if they do find something, it'll be bad news and most of that bad news isn't fixable." She was biting her lower lip now and the fear in her eyes hurt his heart to the point where he almost wished he hadn't forced her to come.
"Claudia?" The nurse called from the door, file in hand. "We're ready for you."
"Ha, super timing." Claudia said humourlessly. She made to rise but Artie laid a hand on her arm.
"Hey, look," he said softly, "it's up to you. You can get the scan or we can just ditch this place and steal a few more gowns on the way out for making us wait."
That got a grin out of her at least. "I'd really rather a couple of defibrillators, this is just not my colour."
"So?" Artie prompted. "What's it gonna be?"
Claudia took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly as they both rose. "Alright, let's get 'er done."
"Your dad can come if you'd like." The nurse piped in from the doorway, having seen the girl's hesitation. Both patient and companion suddenly stood still. And then came a whirlwind of a conversation no one in the immediate vicinity could follow.
"I can-"
"You don't have to-"
"Oh well if you don't wan-"
"No,no it's not that I don't-"
"I mean it could be interesting-"
"I don't want you to be bored or-"
"No yeah, scans are-"
"Yeah they're-"
"Yeah..."
"Okay..."
"So," Artie grinned, holding his hand out in a gesture very familiar to their relationship, "shall we?"
Claudia chuckled and shook her head. "Please, dude, I'm a big girl now. Besides, holding your hand down a long corridor has not brought us luck in the past."
Artie grimaced and dropped his hand. "There is that."
"So how long's it gonna take to know what's tinkerin' up there?" She asked, her voice hesitant as they got into the MRI room.
"You're lucky. The radiologist is actually in-house today and the doctor should be able to give you the results probably within the hour." The technician replied perkily, helping Claudia onto the moving bed.
"Yeah, lucky." She murmured, wondering if from today on she'd be on a fixed countdown to the end. And if...or rather, when she'd start getting depressed over not having lived any kind of life. And if she'd start to resent Joshua at all. And-
"Hey Artie?" She called, eyes on the ceiling, her voice slightly strangled.
"Yeah." He responded, pushing away from the wall to stand at the side of the bed. "What's up?"
"Hm? Nothing much. I'm just maybe not as big as I thought." Claudia replied lightly, her eyes never straying from the tiles. Artie's brow furrowed but when he felt a cold, small hand slip into his and latch on, he understood and squeezed it between his two as the large machine whirred noisily to life.
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Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! :)
