Chapter 30: Guardian
The two women were both soaking wet from the cold water that continued to fall around them and it jump-started the redhead's memory.
"Well at least you got that shower you wanted," Claire quipped as mirth danced around her eyes.
Alice laughed once and immediately dropped her shotgun to clench her side in pain. Her tensing muscles screamed at what felt like a dull knife being thrust into her abs that sliced around, then twisted upwards towards her shoulder, and stopped at her nerve-damaged spine.
"You're hurt!" The redhead exclaimed and moved to help the taller woman.
With Claire supporting her on her right side, Alice's adrenaline continued to ebb allowing her crushed nerves to flood with pain, and for a second it felt like she was going to be sick. She took a shallow breath as she tried to mentally overcome the hurt.
Alice probed her ribs cautiously to access the damage. Her fingers settled on the middle of her ribcage – the area causing her the most distress. She knew from experience that broken ribs felt a lot like bruised ribs; she prayed for the latter. If any ribs were broken or splintered they could pierce her lung resulting in its collapse, and her early death. She felt her bones once more for any disconformities as Claire became alarmed.
"How bad is it?"
Alice didn't want to worry the redhead with the possibilities. "It'll take a while to heal, but I'll be fine," she tried to reassure her lover, but there was no calming her.
"Oh god, if I'd just done something sooner! Or-"
"Hey," Alice interrupted Claire with a hand on her cheek. "Leave the self-berating and regrets to me. You saved my life."
Claire smiled dimly after being reminded of her accomplishment and said, "I guess I did, didn't I? Glad I could return the favor."
The redhead helped Alice over to the tunnel; then left the brunette to stand on her own so she could collect the fallen guns. She picked up her pistol first, reloaded it, and then grabbed Alice's shotguns.
The pain in the brunette's right side amplified without Claire's support, but so long as she kept her breaths shallow it could be pushed to the back of her mind. The younger woman returned Alice's weapons one at a time, and the taller woman reloaded each and placed them in the empty holsters on her back. Lifting the double-barrels over her shoulder made her want to grimace, but she kept the reaction at bay.
"Alright, after you," Alice said to the younger woman as she nodded to the tunnel.
"You're sure you're fine?"
I have to be, Alice thought and wanted to say, but she chose instead, "I'm sure." Now was no time to be an invalid; they were about to embark on a hazardous rescue mission with no time for respite. Ain't no rest for the wicked, how cliché. Just then Claire closed the distance between them and brought her wet lips to Alice's. The taller woman forgot all about the pain and the weariness it instilled in her with the warmth that radiated from the contact.
When the redhead finally pulled away the taller woman was forced to ask, "What was that for?"
"I need a reason?"
"No." Alice smiled as she shook her head. Claire was a better painkiller than morphine. She was also the kind of addiction the brunette would willingly submit to, and right about now she was craving for another fix. She initiated a second kiss that left her feeling as blissful as the first.
After the intimacy, Claire withdrew a flashlight as she prepared to crawl down the tunnel. The descent was a bit steep at first but it began to level out and widened slightly. The redhead couldn't tell if she'd been crawling for seconds or minutes when the tunnel opened up into a small sewer. The drop wasn't far, and when her feet connected with the ground she heard a noise to her left. She turned and Angel's face was illuminated dramatically by her flashlight. Claire startled and the soldier held a finger to his lips to silence her.
"We found a way out further down," Angel said as he pointed behind Claire's shoulder in the cramped space. "It drops into a storm drain. You can go, I'll wait for Alice."
The redhead nodded and continued on. It was just like the solider had promised; another hole connected the sewer to the storm drain, but this time the space to the floor was easily twelve feet. Claire saw the beam of Chris's flashlight and jumped into her brother's arms.
"Knew you'd make it." Chris smiled with affection and released the younger woman, but then his tone became serious. "It took you long enough and -" the man felt the water on his hands and looked at Claire, "why are you wet?"
The redhead chuckled at Chris's scolding. It was just like when they were younger – after the accident. The redhead would come home from school almost every day to see Chris standing in the foyer, arm extended, and almost every day she would grin as she handed over a note her teacher had given her to present to her brother and guardian. The slips always said things like: 'Claire is a constant disruption to the learning environment. Might I suggest that she puts her excess energy towards a more productive means of expression.' Chris would scowl and ask what she had done this time; the majority of her 'excess energy' involved incidents with superglue, freed classroom pets, and other feats of petty mischief.
It wasn't until Claire was a sophomore in high school that she pulled the prank she would forever be known by and Chris realized that maybe he did need to take a more active role in his sister's life. The young redhead had stolen her principal's car, disassembled it, and completely reassembled it in the cafeteria of the school all on her own. When the siblings met in the principal's office that morning, he tried so hard not to show his pride and amusement. The principal agreed not to press charges against the delinquent girl if Chris promised to take his responsibilities as sole guardian more seriously. It was that event that earned Claire the nickname 'gear-head' amongst her classmates, and caused Chris to take her on their first trip to the gun range. The redhead took to her brother's guidance with enthusiasm. Target practice, rebuilding a motorcycle, and occasional evenings spent doing homework together took place when school let out, right until the day of Claire's graduation and Chris's acceptance into S.T.A.R.S.
"Alice didn't want to leave without getting a shower," the redhead smiled in the dim light as she shrugged.
Chris was about to ask just what was going on between her and Alice, but then the brunette in question appeared at the mouth of the hole. She readied herself to jump down and the man brought his arms to catch up her, but suddenly Claire moved to intercept her instead. Chris watched off to the side as Alice dropped from the gap and staggered into the redhead's arms. If not for the brunette's light stumble, Chris would have missed noticing that the taller woman seemed to be in pain, and if not for Claire's hand on the small of her back, Chris would still be at a loss to describe his sister's relationship with the pilot.
Angel was next at the mouth of the hole, but before he could join the others Alice heard the sound of shifting rocks. The three turned their flashlights up to see the opening fill with rubble and seal quickly.
Alice shouted, "Angel!" The brunette was still awaiting an answer from the soldier when Claire broke the silence.
"You can't help him now," she said softly.
Alice looked wistfully at the clogged opening one more time and realized that the younger woman was right. She'd only known the soldier for a day, but she had felt a connection with him; that's what being around people in stressful situations did to you. No matter how aloof Alice tried to be, her relationship with Claire had opened the floodgates to her core, where emotions like empathy and remorse stirred without relent. The redhead brought her hand up again and placed it on the taller woman's arm.
"We have to move on."
The pain in the brunette's side flared up when she took a purposeful stride away from Claire's touch and her words. But something the young woman had said stuck in her mind. 'We,' Alice thought. Yes, Claire had said 'we' before, but this time was different. This time it was spoken to remind Alice that she didn't have to be alone anymore; that she wasn't alone anymore.
The redhead was an immense source of strength for Alice, as well as a weakness, and Claire would be her undoing – of that there was no doubt.