Hi new reader! Thank you everyone who has taken the time to review. It helps immensely when I'm trying to find the motivation to finish this. I hope you all think I should continue...
I'm uploading this before I bounce out the door to work so hopefully I don't screw up too bad, If I do just let me know. I have one more chapter complete after this one and I'm working on Chapter 19 now. I wanted to have it done a week ago, but other circumstances dictated that I couldn't. I promise to try and get caught up.
AN: Let's just say for the sake of argument that Ian has a scanner like Adam did in Sanctuary, as well as a mock lab set up. I figure that he is a techno-wizard of sorts. Let me know if you have a real problem with this and I will come up with something else, but I really didn't want to take 2 more months to get this chapter out.
The characters Kelly, Ian and Mira are all mine. Just ask if you ever want to borrow:)
17 Pieces Remaining 17
The ride back to Ian's house felt like it took a day and a half and not the hour and a half it actually did. Shalimar was in and out of conscious during the last leg of the trip. She had lost a lot of blood, as much as Angel and Beau knew about basic medical, both agreed that the faster she saw the doctor, the better.
Brennan clung to her in the back seat, trying to keep her awake and only relinquishing his grip on her long enough for Angel and Beau to examine her wound and apply pressure to help stem some of the bleeding.
Lexa spared a glance to Shalimar and reached back holding her hand briefly. She had jumped into the front passenger side and wasn't able to effectively reach the rest of the team. She was damned sure not going to have Ian stop so she could play musical car seats. That in mind, she felt powerless as Angel tended to Jesse who was in the third row seat with her and Beau.
"Angel, how is he?" Lexa asked finally finding her voice and hating how low and meek it sounded to her own ears.
Angel looked up with a small smile "He looks physically well. He might have a broken rib and a few other abrasions and contusions, but he seems intact. His pulse is strong and his lungs are clear, and he's not having any major trouble breathing. I think he just needs some recovery time and a few good meals." She paused, looking directly at Lexa to let her know that she was telling everything she knew. "I'm confident he will be ok, but I'll feel better once the doctor looks at him and gives him a clean bill."
"Okay, Jesse, you hear that? If you aren't okay, I'll kick your ass." Lexa said biting back the tears of frustration mingled with relief and caught Brennan's gaze. He looked terrified. She had never seen that look in his eyes and it took a moment to place it, but that was the only emotion that really fit. "She'll be fine, Bren. You think she made it this far to quit now? Besides she still owes you an ass kicking for pulling that cowboy stunt and getting yourselves caught." She smiled softly as Brennan's lips twitched and his eyes returned their vigil on Shalimar.
"S-She's right you know." Shalimar said softly.
"What?" Brennan said moving his ear closer to her mouth to hear her better.
"I still have to kick your ass." Shalimar said with a smirk and grimaced at the pain shooting through her once again.
"I'm going to hold you to that." Brennan said stroking her hair and face, trying not to jostle or move her which could make the bleeding worse. He continued to keep constant pressure on the hole in her abdomen trying to limit the loss of blood.
When they finally arrived back at Ian's cabin, there was a blue sedan in the driveway that was unfamiliar to everyone, sans Ian. As it pulled into view, Ian let out a sigh of relief, "She's here." He said, disbelief almost coloring his voice. He'd had no idea if she would make it before they did, but once again his friend had pulled through for him. When he parked the car, he and Lexa quickly jumped out to help Brennan get Shalimar out without causing her more injury.
Shalimar tried to bite back the yelp of pain with no success as they picked her up and moved her from the vehicle to carry her into the house. She was hazy on a lot of the events that had just happened. She tried to keep hanging on to every word and action in the car. Towards the end though, she felt exhausted from trying to keep conscious and the events of the day all compiling into a big jumble in her mind. Brennan kept talking to her the whole ride. She was so glad to hear his voice again. She stayed awake just to make sure she didn't miss a word he said. Hell, she thought, he could have been reading the manual to the car and she would revel in the fact that he was there talking and holding onto her again.
When they entered the house, the doctor already had set up in a back room that Ian used for his medical station. A hand held scanning device and medical supplies were placed on the one counter top and a lot of plastic covering the other surfaces.
Brennan had refused to let anyone else carry Shalimar and set her gently down on the table. The doctor immediately began to tend to her, shooing everyone else out with the exception of Ian.
"I'm not going anywhere." Brennan said standing firmly.
The doctor took his stance into account and decided to pick her battles with him. "Alright, you can stay, but you have to stay out of my way or I will kick you out!" the doctor said, equally firm. Taking in his battered appearance quickly and deciding that he was not injured nearly as badly as the woman on the table, she set to work on examining Shalimar and preparing her instruments and supplies. The doctor started an IV and prepared a bolus of fluid to administer to Shalimar.
As they stood there Ian approached Brennan with a tool in hand. "Here, at least let me remove that governor from your neck." Ian said looking to Brennan as he watched the doctor. Brennan gave the other man a small nod and sat by Shalimar's head as Ian removed the offending device.
Shalimar glanced up at Brennan while the doctor was starting the IV, the painful prick in her hand waking her abruptly. Suddenly her head felt clearer then it had in a while. She looked up and caught Brennan's rich chocolate eyes. There were so many things she hadn't gotten to tell him. She only regretted the things that she had never said or done with him. She had no idea where to start.
"What is it, Shal?" Brennan had noticed the sudden clarity in her eyes as they looked deeply into his. He moved his head closer to hers.
At a loss for words, she met his lips in a soft kiss as he turned back to look at her when she didn't speak. He returned it as if she was made of glass. His hand stroked her face gently, and she reveled in the soft touch. He was finally home, her mind kept repeating. No matter what happened to her now, she knew he was safe. That was the last coherent thought she had before drifting off to a drug induced sleep.
Brennan watched in fear and nervousness as the doctor went to work on Shalimar. He was thrilled to have kissed her once more. The kiss was soft, but reassuring. It was the grounding that he needed to know that this was all real, and he really wasn't dreaming. The doctor, who Ian had called Mira, had retrieved all of the instruments that she intended to use. Mira glanced up at Brennan, motioning for him to stand back while the scanner performed its duties. Then she had Ian and Brennan cut the two shirts Shalimar was wearing off and finish getting the supplies ready while Mira reviewed the findings. Brennan was glad to be given a task even if it was only for a moment. It was a moment that gave him something to do besides think and feel guilty.
Lexa helped Jesse into the house, with some aid from Beau - who only had use of his one arm currently, where she sat him on the couch and held him for a moment. "Lexa?" Jesse managed to say. He had felt like his mind had gone though the washing machine on spin cycle, twice. He had moments of clarity on the ride home. He remembered looking up at one point when Lexa was talking to him from the front of the car, but it felt like she was a football field away. He remembered seeing… Angel? He was pretty sure that was her name. It had been a few years, and he remembered Beau the large feral male who was her partner. He knew something really bad had happened during the escape, but he couldn't remember what.
"Jesse, you're going to be alright. Listen, I'm gonna get you cleaned up and make sure that nothing else is broken, okay?" Lexa said holding his chin softly in her hand.
Jesse looked into her hazel eyes and almost wept. He had almost given up. Now it hit him full force why he hadn't given up even when he felt like he was at his end. His hand slowly crept up to her face. It felt like he had lead weights attached to every part of his body. He finally brought it up and traced her cheek bones and felt a thrill as she closed her eyes and leaned into him. This was the side of Lexa that she didn't let other people see, the side that was just for him. He brought his lips to hers with a soft lingering kiss. Their lips touched, and he felt like he was in heaven. The pain in his ribs as she leaned on him caused him to wince and brought him back to the truth, but even that couldn't stop the feeling of happiness that welled up inside of him.
Lexa pulled away when she noticed his wince in pain and cursed herself for not being more careful. She pulled back and looked into his bright blue eyes that seemed to have less of a hazy appearance now. "I've gotta get you cleaned up." she said with a soft smile and quickly jumped up to grab the supplies in the bathroom and returned to his side in short moments.
Jesse flinched as she cleaned his wounds, but remained quiet otherwise. He felt the weight of the past few months crashing down on him, drowning him in exhaustion. The only thing keeping him conscious was the fact that Lexa had been cleaning his wounds with antiseptic, and it stung just enough that it made it difficult to doze off. It felt like she took forever to get his face and arms done alone. He didn't want to think about the rest of his body.
"Lex," he said hating the raspy tone to his voice, "Can I just get some sleep?"
She looked up almost as she would with a petulant child and smiled. "Yeah, let's get you to bed, and I can get the rest of you finished there."
He shot her a look of recrimination but relented. She helped him upstairs to a bedroom where she stripped off his worn and filthy shirt and pants, frowning at the marks and bruises on his body. He had multiple gashes on his face and arms, but his body seemed to be a black and blue canvas. She began to regret not beating the guards worse… hell she should have just killed them, came the unbidden thought from the back of her mind. No time for regrets now, she sighed as she cleaned up the remainder of the cuts quickly and laid him in the bed.
For a moment Jesse thought Lexa would leave him, but she had only gotten up to turn on a small lamp and turn out the overhead light before returning to his side. She sat next to him on the bed, her posture seemed slightly stiff.
Running a hand through his hair she whispered softly, "Sleep, Jess."
"What happened? Is everyone okay? I feel like I missed something big." Jesse said, trying to figure out what the commotion was about when he was brought into the house.
Lexa took a deep breath before answering him. "Jess, why don't you just get some sleep? We can talk about it when you wake up. Everything will be okay."
He wanted to argue, but couldn't find the strength and felt himself drift off into the first true sleep he'd had in months.
Lexa watched as he finally let sleep claim him. She was still perched on the side of the bed waiting to make sure he was truly asleep before she finally put her head in her hands and cried.
Angel had patched Beau's arm up and borrowed a kit from the doctor to sew his wound shut. Beau had denied the need for surgery to repair any damage, grimacing as he flexed his arm to prove that nothing was truly destroyed. Angel just smiled indulgently and set about cleaning the wound and injecting the numbing agent so she could do the stitches. Angel had several wounds, but all were minor in nature. A split lip and a few bruises were the least of anyone's concerns in her book. After finishing with Beau she poked her head into the med lab and noticed Brennan standing vigil over Shalimar's form as the doctor and Ian worked to repair the damage. She couldn't help but notice the amount of blood on the table and in the suction unit by Shalimar's unconscious form. Slowly coming around to Brennan's side, she took his arm and watched his attention shift to her.
"How is everyone else?" he asked softly. He felt guilty for not helping Jesse and Beau, but his heart had overpowered everything else.
"Lexa's looking after Jesse. About an hour ago she took him to one of the bedrooms. He was looking better. I think he should be okay given a few days of rest. Beau is good. His arm will be sore for a few weeks, but he has had worse injuries so I'm not too concerned." she said giving him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as they flicked down at Shalimar. Looking back up at him she decided to try and get him patched up as well and tugged on his arm in an attempt to get him to follow her out of the room.
"No," Brennan said simply cutting her off before she could even ask. "I'm not leaving her side. Not now."
"Brennan, she's under heavy sedation and we are going to be at least another hour closing her up." Ian's voice was now the one to break the heated glare between the feral and elemental. "Go with Angel and get patched up. You won't do Shalimar any good if you get sick or get an infection from some of those deeper cuts."
Brennan looked as if he was about to protest, but gave in at the two insistent looks he received and the doctor's nod of affirmation. Quietly he allowed Angel to lead him out of the room to the living area where she had set up a makeshift first aid area on the coffee table. He sat facing the lab as if waiting to spring back in at a moments notice.
"Brennan... she never gave up hope." Angel said as she began to clean several of the cuts on his upper arms and pulled his shirt up to inspect him for any other injuries.
He sighed as he helped her pull his shirt off and wrinkled his nose as he realized how disgusting it truly was. Thinking for a moment about what Angel had said he finally answered, "I didn't either. She was what kept me going everyday." He turned to look at Angel with a small smile of gratitude. "When we have time, you'll have to tell us how you and Beau got hooked up with Shal and Lex."
Angel let out a small laugh. "It's actually pretty interesting, but you're right… much too long to tell you now."
Beau had returned from transferring gear between vehicles and noticed Brennan seated on the couch with Angel tending to his wounds. He approached and took Brennan's hand who tried not to wince as Beau's strong grasp squeezed his recently set finger that was still quite swollen. "It's good to see you again, Brennan."
"You too, Beau… really good to see you" Brennan said trying not to let on just how much his hand had started to throb.
"Here, put this on your finger," Angel said handing him an ice pack over his shoulder. "It should help to numb it a little and it might help to reduce the swelling."
"Thanks," Brennan said wrapping it around the offending digit. "They broke it a day or so ago. I tried to set it, but I'm not sure how well I did."
Angel grabbed it and gently probed the finger by manipulating the skin and tendons to have a better feel of the bone lying beneath.
"Ouch, damn!" Brennan let out as she hit a particularly sensitive spot and yanked his hand back. Not noticing Angel's hard grip on the end of his finger, he pulled and caused the one bone that was slightly out of alignment to realign relieving some of the pain.
Patting him on the shoulder, Angel let out a wide grin "You still need an X-Ray and a splint, but I think that it should heal okay."
Brennan could only scowl as Beau and Angel smiled at each other. "She has done that trick to me more then once" Beau said to empathize. "Now I understand why she gets such a kick out of it…if my expression is anything like yours."
Just then Ian and the doctor came out of the kitchen and all three turned their attention to the unreadable expressions on their faces.
I'm soooooo evil sometimes! I'm sorry, I had to do it this way, though. It's a total set up for the next chapter. I should have that posted in a few days! I hope you liked the chapter.