Ch. 6 Nails

When they got sufficient footage for Hardison, who had been strangely quiet save for occasional mutterings of "useless" and "unhelpful" directed at his findings, not the team, it seemed like a good time to leave.

Savannah and Dani snuck off to the side to have a private conversation while Parker and Eliot pretended they couldn't hear. "Um, there's a total administration SNAFU going on. Leave this place five minutes and everything goes to hell in a handbasket, right?" Dani sounded completely unconvincing.

The tense tone in her voice was matched Savannah's, "Fine."

The tone changed to a kind of plead. "Van?"

"I said fine."

"Van?!"

"This place is just a really crappy reminder, okay?"

"It's not-"

"We should go. Hardison doesn't like to be left alone at the office too long."

Dani sighed in defeat as Savannah walked away.

Eliot and Savannah shared the bed like usual. He knew she was in for an especially rough night, and while she wouldn't tell him with the tension still tangible between them, she still needed him around. There had been plenty of nights she hadn't been too happy with him, but still reached out for him in the middle of the night with ghosts in her eyes.

That night Savannah couldn't sleep more than twenty or thirty minutes before she would snap up gasping, moaning, or even screaming. She was exhausted, so she ended up going back to sleep about a half dozen times. She would always reach for his arm when she woke up, but it was so treacherous, she kept her hold, increasing her grip through the night. As usual, Eliot would start falling asleep about two hours after they went to bed.

He woke up to the sound of a phone ringing, Savannah's cell phone. Eyes half open, he felt Savannah shift, answering the phone without getting off the bed or even sitting up. "Hello," she croaked. "Yeah, same here...Yeah...Yeah...I guess...See you later."

Eliot was pretty sure it was Dani. It sounded like she wanted to resolve the tension between her and Savannah, and apparently, she was coming over later that day. She began to sit up, and that's when he registered pain in his arm.

He looked down to see Savannah gripping him so hard her knuckles were white. Her nails were embedded in his skin. He wasn't upset; he understood. He made a small noise of concern as he sat up. She immediately noticed the damaging position of her hand.

"Sorry," she groaned.

"It's fine." He meant it. While it hurt, she hadn't injured him, save for the scratches.

Her hand had cramped up, so they both had to work her hand off him. Her hand was clearly in pain. He opened his mouth to tell her to treat it, but she already nodded. "I'll tape it up. It'll be fine in a day or two."

That was Savannah's thing. Unless it was bleeding, she would just wrap it in athletic tape. Bleeding injuries got doused with peroxide and bandaged with gauze and adhesive. She was right, though. Usually most of her injuries were recovered in less than a week. Must've been The Academy Cocktail.

Eliot had questions that kept piling up, but it seemed there was never a good time. He hoped Savannah could get a workout or a swim in before Dani showed up, but to dismay, Dani appeared to joining them back to headquarters even with the rising tension between her and Savannah.

Eliot made lunch when they got back. Cooking was becoming a bigger and bigger solace these days. Lunch was quiet. Hardison and Parker ate quickly and disappeared. Savannah and Dani seemed to be in similar moods as they picked at the chicken pot pie. Eliot stepped away from the table and started cleaning the kitchen. As he'd hoped, a whispered conversation started between them. He strained to hear. He missed the first few minutes, but finally, he was able tune in.

"You're mad me?" That was Dani's voice.

"I never said that."

"Yeah, you can be pretty nonverbal."

Savannah just scoffed.

"This is about the lab."

"Not only did you rebuild it, you made it work faster!" Savannah hissed.

"It isn't the same, and you know it!"

"The night terrors haven't changed, have they? Speed up the process? Sure! Get rid of the crippling side-effects? No, not important! Why would it be?!" Savannah was no longer whispering. Eliot winced for Dani's sake. Savannah had a taste for sarcasm, but she wasn't often so scathing.

Dani let a silence set in for a few moments while Eliot pretended he wasn't there. "I think I'm going to sleep at Van House tonight."

"Fine," Savannah snapped. She got up, went to the sink and started vigorously scrubbing her dish.

Eliot stepped over and took her hand. He tried to be as gentle and passive as possible as he reached for the dish. "Hey," he told her, "I'll take care of it." She stopped scrubbing and just stood there a moment before walking away and going upstairs, either to the gym, pool, or roof Eliot guessed.