Chosen Chapter 14: Civilization Again, a mask fanfic

Chosen

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Chapter 14: Civilization Again

Márcia giggled. "You've never lived in a small town, have you? Everyone knows about the Princesa do Rio. And everyone in São Miguel knows that you and your friends have been spending a lot of time with Maria Luiz. Someone even saw your group with the fishwoman."

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Burns woke to a scene of motionless sterility. The ceiling above him was pristine white. His pillow was soft and smelled faintly of detergent and bleach. The walls were pale yellow. The air smelled artificial and laced with chemicals and medicines. Beside the bed stood an IV stand, two dripping bags connecting him to this world, cleanliness and sterility and civilization flowing back into his veins. After two and a half weeks in a dilapidated shack on a remote island, the sudden return was culture shock.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and a nurse entered, plump and friendly and somewhere in her forties. She smiled at him and began speaking to him in Portuguese. Deftly she opened the curtains in the high windows, and then began a routine of checking and recording his vital signs.

"Is Dr. Lopez here?" he asked when she had finished.

"Doctor Lopez?" she said slowly.

"Yes, Dr. Lopez. Is he here?"

"No Lopez. He come at nine," she replied, pointing at the clock.

It was about half past seven. "Thank you," he breathed.

"Dr. Lopez...he nice man."

"Yes," he smiled with a nod. He owed a lot to the doctor. While Julio surely had plenty of patients back in California, he had abandoned them to stay in Brazil searching for the missing agent. And thanks to him, he was now here in São Miguel receiving the medical attention he needed.

The nurse left but soon returned with the medications Lopez had prescribed. There had been only three in the package Melusine had delivered, but now there were six waiting on the tray for him.

Another nurse, this one younger and with a red tint to her hair, came in escorting Maria. In Maria's hands was a glass bowl, in which floated a single waterlily.

That moment swirled back to him—Melusine rising from the river iconically, a crown of water hyacinths on her head and a wreath of cream-colored waterlily blooms around her shoulders, their pink blush making up for the lack of a blush in her cheeks, his tanned skin against her ruddy scales.

"She says her heart has been torn in half, and that you have one of those halves." Maria placed the lily in its bowl on the bedside table. "But she understands that you had to leave, or that you would die."

"I don't belong to her world, and she doesn't belong to mine."

"No..."

"Is she here? Can you contact her?"

"She's in the river, lying on the bottom like a dead man." And suddenly Maria sobbed and the tears fell. She grabbed the hem of her dress and tried to blot them away. "It's so dark at the bottom of the river."

"Maria, what's wrong? It's not that bad, is it?"

"I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I feel her emotions, and when she brought the flower, I never felt such sadness before."

Burns reached to her from the bed, tears of sympathy forming in his own eyes. "Tell her I won't leave without seeing her again," he said, squeezing her tiny hand.

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When Lopez came in at nine o' clock, Trakker and Hayes were with him, and the men gathered around the bed wishing him well. "How are you feeling now?" Lopez asked first.

"Still awful, but not as bad as I did this time yesterday." He lifted himself on his elbows.

"We're just glad to have you back. Expect some phone calls today. The rest of the team's all been worried about you too."

"I'll be glad to get back. I like a tropical vacation now and then, but that hotel...I'd only give it half a star. I'm in desperate need of a haircut too." He ran his hand through his hair. It hadn't been this long since his college days.

"I'm glad to see that you're in good humor about the whole episode." said Trakker.

"What else can I do? Look back on it and cry?" He heaved a sigh and lay back down again.

The first nurse came in with three cups and a mug of coffee on a tray and set it on the bedside table. "Yes!" exclaimed Burns and immediately sat up again. Trakker propped up the pillows behind him. He took the cup Lopez handed him and sipped from the top, smiling and closing his eyes like a smug cat. "I can't tell you how much I've missed this," he sighed and sipped again.

After drinking their coffee together in silence for a few minutes. Hayes set down his cup and drew a deep breath. "Cal, I want to apologize," he said soberly. "I said far too many things that I shouldn't have on this mission and I still can't help but feel that your kidnapping was partly my fault."

"Dusty, don't worry about it. It's water under the bridge."

"I don't expect you to forgive my stupidity now, but I hope you will someday."

He smiled at the younger man. "Someday... I'm thinking next week... Wednesday perhaps."

Hayes laughed. "I can wait until then."

"Matt, how's your arm?" Burns vaguely remembered seeing Trakker sitting shirtless at the table, an intense light focused on him, and Lopez and the night nurse sewing his shoulder back together. Most of last night had been a blur of images.

He was wearing a sling to keep the weight of his arm off of the wounds. "It hurts but I'll be fine."

"How about you Dusty?"

"Badly bruised but nothing broken." He grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it, revealing a fine collection of welts left by Melusine's claws across his stomach and sides.

"So when are we heading back to the States? When will I be fine to travel?"

"We aren't," replied Trakker.

Burns looked at him, unsure if he had heard the team-leader correctly. "What do you mean?"

"Were going for a little boat ride first. It was part of the condition for your release."

"A boat ride? Whatever for?"

"Oh, just a pleasure cruise up the Amazon. We're going to try to take Melusine home to her people. Alex is already making all the arrangements."

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Wednesday morning, after tending to several other patients and checking in on Burns, Julio gave Dr. Salazar da Fonseca his resignation from his duties. "I knew this was coming," said Salazar with a bit of a sigh. "Is there anything I can do or say to keep you around? You've been quite an asset to this clinic." He glanced over at Márcia where she was filling prescriptions at the pharmacy counter. "I'm sure we could arrange for a house and a salary, a nice little place to settle down and raise a family."

Márcia blushed and turned away. Her mother had been asking about the same thing from the moment her daughter had mentioned the volunteer doctor at the clinic.

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"So what's next for you?" Márcia asked Lopez later, catching him between patients. "Just going to board that plane and fly away, never to return?"

"Not quite," he said, placing his hands on her hips and giving her a quick peck on the lips. He could get away with it when they were alone. "We're going to take a bit of a river cruise up the Amazon first."

"Take me with you, Julio. Dr. Salazar da Fonseca owes me some vacation time. We can have some time together before you have to go. Some time to say goodbye, since I'd be a fool to think you'll ever be back again."

Lopez glanced about nervously, trying hard not to succumb to her pleading eyes. This was going to be awkward. "We...we will have a passenger aboard of a somewhat unusual nature. It's best if..."

"The River Princess?" she interrupted.

Julio blinked at her. "The River Princess? How do you know about her?"

"I'm astounded. I thought it was a secret."

"Small town," she said with a shrug.

"Well, let me ask the chief, if you really think you could get the time off."

"I do want to come, and the River Princess doesn't frighten me. Besides, if you're taking Calhoun along, you'll need some help looking after him."

"Not really, but I'll make sure I tell the chief that I do," he winked at her.

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Chosen continues in Chapter 15: "Eight Cabins"

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M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

This fic is dedicated to Ben Chapman (1925-2008), Ricou Browning, and Tom Hennesey (1923-2011)

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