AN: Okay, here we are at chapter two! Now, to answer any questions about how they arrived without taking it half a day or so I refer you to Plague, where Quinn goes to fetch Caine and uses one of the few boats that still has a motor and oil to do so. This is that boat. Also, flashlights. Not too common but still around at this point in time. As always, this chapter is dedicated to Tienka.
Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or any of the characters.
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How long did it take? She didn't know, and even if she managed to form a rough estimation of the time she had no doubt that it was far from accurate. Every second felt like a minute, a minute an hour, an hour a day. Oh, and it had been hours. The sky was dark and dotted with stars. Not the real stars, though. This was just an illusion, a mockery of the real thing put up there by whatever had caused this whole thing. It made a surge of disgust run through her. If Caine was going to die, not that he was, not that she'd let him, it wouldn't even be under real starts. He would slip away, in this stupid fishbowl, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.
Somewhere along the way Diana had started crying again. No sobbing, no completely breaking down, she couldn't let that happen. She needed to stay focused, he needed her to stay focused. Yet tears rolled down her cheeks without her permission until there were no more left to fall, leaving her eyes bloodshot. She was exhausted. It didn't matter, she couldn't rest, she had to wait for someone to come. Someone had to be coming.
And yet, as time wore on, she began to feel doubt. Was anyone coming? Why would they, after all they had done to the townies? Even if they saw the flares there was always the chance that they had decided that they didn't deserve their help, no matter what the problem might be. Hadn't they burned down half their town before running away to the island? Well, not directly, those human crew kids were all too happy to do the dirty work. But the fact remained that without them it would not have happened. No, no one was going to come. They were alone.
It was as this thought crossed her mind that she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A flash of green. Diana's head whipped around, focusing on that spot. It was at the base of the cliff, which just so happened to not be that far away from where they were. As she spared a glance down at Caine she couldn't help but notice the bitter note of irony. This was where he had tried to kill those kids, where he had dropped Penny. Penny. There were only four people on this island that she knew of, and of those four she was the only one that would do this. But she couldn't. Not with her legs the way they were, she wouldn't even be able to move by herself. She would need someone helping her to accomplish such a task. Bug.
As the pieces began to fall into place she felt anger bubble up inside her. She had no proof, there was always a chance that she would look and Penny would be stuck in that bathroom. This was just a wild theory made in a place of rage, pain, and fear. But it was the only one she had at the moment. And even worse was the fact that it made sense. Why else would the other person have run? Penny and her illusions might have been able to bring down Caine with Bug's help, yes, but in the condition she was currently in there was no way she would have been able to deal with both of them at once. So she left him for dead.
In that moment Diana made a promise to herself. She was going to find Penny and she was going to kill her. There would be no mercy, no talking about it. The monster bringer had to die.
She was torn out of her thoughts by another flash of green light. This was not just a random burst though, no, this was a bright, blinding shot straight up into the air. A signal. Diana did not smile, she was too far gone for that, but she did allow herself a quick feeling of relief. There was only one person who could do that, which meant that they had come. So maybe, just maybe, it would turn out alright. After the flash she heard a voice, calling from the base of the cliff. She couldn't make out the words thanks to the distance, or maybe thanks to the sound of her heart pounding at what seemed faster than the speed of light, but it was enough. Wasting no breath she screamed, "here! We're up here!"
Ever since finding Caine with his throat cut she had been quiet, only speaking to Caine every now and then despite him being unconscious. Mostly insults or demands that he had to stay alive, even now she wasn't going to slip into whispering soft, sweet things. Because that would mean that he was going to die. And he wasn't going to die, he couldn't die. She wouldn't let him.
Again her gaze flickered from the edge of the cliff and back to Caine. Was he getting paler? She thought he was, but she couldn't tell in this light, or lack of more accurately. The only way she even knew he was alive was because of her hand, still pressing her now ruined shirt against his throat, occasionally detecting movement. Her other hand was… holding one of his hands? For a moment she was mystified, not quite remembering when she had taken his hand. However, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a sound from over the cliff. It wasn't easy to describe, the sound of something, something metal it sounded like, brushing against rocks and the tiniest bit or cursing. Or at least she thought it was cursing, it sounded loud and angry enough. Then another sound, a bit of a whoosh.
And then levitation.
Shapes rose up from the other side of the cliff, as close to it as they could get it looked like. Four figures that she had trouble making out in the darkness and bits of dirt that had risen with them. Yet she was completely sure as to who one of them was. Sam, the only one capable of making that light. For once she was happy to see him and, if he had been conscious at the time, she was sure that Caine would have been as well. Another she thought must be Dekka, the girl with the ability to cancel gravity. It would make sense for them to bring her, it had only been because of Caine that they had managed to make it up the cliff in the first place after all. And while Dekka was no telekinetic she was also clearly of use.
It was not until a flashlight shone in her face that she saw how truly lucky they had gotten.
The figures managed to get a grip onto the side of the cliff and haul themselves up at the gravity around them fell back into place. While she knew she should say something Diana couldn't quite bring herself to find the words, instead frantically looking from Caine to the figures. As they straightened themselves out she removed her hold not holding the wound from his grasp and pressed two fingers against his pulse, trying to figure out if he was breathing correctly. However, before she could locate it one of the figures, not standing, held out a flashlight that they had apparently been holding onto for the ride up and turned it on, sending a beam of yellow light their way.
It took a little while for her eyes to adjust after being out in the dark for so long, but apparently it didn't take quite as long for the others. As she was still blinking black spots out of her vision she heard someone gasp and someone else mutter, "oh my god." It didn't take long at all for her eyes to adjust to the newfound light but it still felt like it took too long at the moment. Everything took too long.
The spots in her vision were still fading as she started identifying the figures. Sam, as she had guessed, looking awfully pale. Dekka beside him, appearing stoic as she always seemed to, if not just a tad disturbed. Quinn, who's appearance surprised her until she remembered his appearance at the marina when they stole the boats to reach the island, apparently he did something with fishing now, looked absolutely freaked out. But it was the person next to Quinn that mattered to her, at the moment she was the only one that mattered in the bunch. Lana. She didn't know why the healer was there and she didn't care, all that mattered was that she was. It was to her she spoke as she finally managed to find her voice, "help."
She meant it to sound strong and commanding, maybe throw in some comment about not just standing there. Yet as she managed the word, just the single word, it sounded strange and broken. A little pathetic, actually. Yet it seemed to work, the healer running forward and crouching beside her. Without a word Diana removed her hand and the shirt from the wound, allowing Lana to place her hands over it. Now that the flashlight was there she was able to see just how bad things were. Caine looked horribly pale, like something you might expect to find in a grave. There was blood everywhere, covering him, her hands, and anywhere that she had touched. Oddly enough she couldn't care less that Sam, Quinn, Lana, and Dekka were able to see her without a shirt on, covered in blood, and looking every bit a mess. Panic did that to you.
Soon enough Sam got enough of a grip of himself to move toward her, the others slowly following. Not that she actually looked up to see that he was approaching. No, it was the sound of his footsteps that gave him away. He sounded shaken as he asked, "what happened?" It was straight to the point, which she appreciated. Beating around the bush wouldn't help at all in this case. But still she did not respond right away, a part of her mind wandering off to feel slightly amused that he sounded shaken. He hadn't been the one that found him with his throat freshly cut, he hadn't been the one that sat by him for hours trying to keep him alive. It wasn't real amusement of course, just some morbid parody.
When she did respond, after at least thirty seconds, she said, "I found him like this." Diana opened her mouth, as if she was about to say more, but couldn't quite make herself say anything. It felt like a knot was caught in her throat, preventing her from saying anything. Some faraway part of her figured that she might be in shock, and maybe Sam figured it out as well. He exchanged a quick glance with Dekka, some sort of unspoken communication passing between them. At the moment she didn't care enough to try and decipher it.
Finally he responded, "there's a house here, right? That one owned by the movie stars, that's where you've been staying?" She felt like he was speaking to her as if she where a small child and under normal circumstances she would have probably snapped at him. But instead she gave a mute nod. With that done Sam turned to the healer and asked, "can we move him?" There was something odd about his voice, almost as if he were worried. This surprised Diana but she quickly shoved the feeling away. He wouldn't be worried about Caine. How could he, after all they had done? Hell, she shouldn't be worried about Caine.
Lana didn't answer for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what to say. After a moment or two of thought she admitted, "I don't think it would be safe to move him yet. This… this is bad. Really bad." The nervousness was clear in her voice and it set Diana on edge. Bad? What did that mean exactly? Bad as in she couldn't save him? Again she wanted to speak up, to yell something at the girl, but again the words wouldn't leave her mouth. Maybe, she would later think, it was good that they didn't. Lana looked nervous, as if the thought that she wouldn't be able to fix someone upset her as much as it upset her. Only it didn't, there was no way she could possibly feel as rotten as Diana did at the moment.
There was silence for a moment before Diana muttered, "I'll wait." How she managed those words she wasn't sure, maybe because they were so much more important. Maybe because he was more important than her swinging barbed words at their rescuers. However, that was a secret that she vowed to take with her to the grave.
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She wasn't sure how long it was until Caine was able to be moved, but somehow time seemed to move even slower now that help had actually arrived and he was in the process of being healed. And even when they were able to take him back to the mansion he did not wake up and Lana kept working from where he was now laid out on a couch. The healer looked absolutely exhausted and yet she did not give up, something Diana was grateful for, even if she might never actually tell the other girl that. For almost the whole time she refused to leave his side or answer any questions, and soon enough they stopped coming. At one point Sam left and returned with a shirt, which she pulled on wordlessly.
Dawn would be breaking in an hour or two when she finally muttered, "I'll be right back." Without waiting for a response she stood up and began numbly making her way to the bathroom where they had been keeping Penny. Somehow she knew what she would find, or more accurately, wouldn't find. But still she had to check for that faint hope that maybe she was wrong. Or maybe the girl was stupid enough to try and return after what she did. She was aware of the sound of footsteps behind her but did not comment. If one of the heros wanted to follow her then fine, it wasn't like she was hiding anything from them.
Upon reaching the bathroom door Diana paused for a moment, feeling fear in some corner of her mind. Fear. She couldn't let herself be afraid, couldn't let that witch get to her. Odd that she should be calling Penny a witch, the very name that she often found herself called. Taking in a quick breath she opened the door, only for her suspicions to be confirmed. Her voice managed to be both angry and faint as she said, "Penny's gone."
It was Sam's voice that sounded behind her. "Penny?"
Diana's voice was relatively blank as she responded, "psychopath, has the ability to make people think they are seeing things. Caine dropped her off a cliff, broke her legs." At her words she couldn't help but glance behind her to see Sam's reaction. He looked alarmed at his description of her and, when she said what Caine did, not that surprised. She opened her mouth to speak yet couldn't find anything to say. Penny had been a monster, yes, but what Caine had been trying to do when it happened was monstrous as well. Maybe this time it would be better if things were better left unsaid. Instead she muttered, "she must have done this. Someone helped her, she can't move on her own. It must have been Bug, little rat's never felt an ounce of loyalty or had anything even slightly resembling a backbone."
The last few sentences sounded more like she was talking to herself than anything. However, Sam still responded, growling, "great, now we have two murderous psychopaths to worry about."
It wasn't that Sam took her for her word that Penny was a psychopath so quickly that caught her attention. No, it was what he said. She suddenly felt very there, not as far away as she had been feeling for so long and with the shock beginning to wear off as she asked, "two?"
Sam's smile was bitter as he responded, "apparently throwing someone down a radioactive mine isn't quite as effective as it used to be." He didn't need to say anything more, the frown spreading across Diana's face was enough to show that she got it. Of course Drake wouldn't be willing to just stay dead, he had to come back and make everyone miserable. Or even more so at least.
Before Sam could say anything more she said, "explain when Caine's awake." With that she began to walk away from the bathroom, back to the room where they were healing the sociopath. Yet she didn't move fast enough miss the look that flickered across Sam's face what almost seemed like pity. Well she didn't want pity and she was sure that Caine wouldn't want it either. Pity would mean that he felt something bad was going to happen, which it wasn't. Everything would be just fine. It had to be.
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When she arrived back in the room Lana wasn't healing Caine anymore. Instead she sat slumped down on the floor in front of the couch, her head in her hands, Quinn beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She didn't know where Dekka was and really didn't care. Without paying the others any more attention she rushed forward, forgetting to mentally deny that she was feeling any kind of worry. A sigh of relief left her when she saw that Caine was looking better than he had earlier, much better. There was color in his face again, he was breathing evenly, and his wound, formally an open and bleeding wound, had been reduced to a thin scar line.
But he wasn't awake. Another wave of worry passed through her, enough to make her ask, "will he make it?"
Lana looked up then, exhaustion clear on her face. But there was something else there, something she couldn't quite figure out. Guilt? Worry? Whatever it was it certainly wasn't reassuring, not that she needed reassurance. The healer's voice had a strength that she forced herself to put on as she said, "he'll live."
There was a but somewhere in there. She hadn't said it, she hadn't trailed off, but Diana could sense it none the less. Instead of simply accepting the healer's words, words that she had been fearing she wouldn't hear only moment ago, she decided she needed to know what else there was to it. She tried her best to keep the worry out of her voice as she responded, "there's more, I can feel it."
Lana was quiet and for a moment she broke eye contact, looking down at her feet, like she was having trouble bringing herself to say what she needed to. She noticed Quinn give a quick squeeze of the healer's shoulder before she looked back up and replied, "I think there was some damage that I couldn't see and, maybe, couldn't heal." For a moment there was silence, Diana not quite knowing when too say. Before she could even try Lana added, "I'm sorry. I tried my best, and he won't die, but there are some things I can't fix. Last time I tried…"
She trailed off, as if she had trouble bringing herself to say it, and for the first time Diana understood the guilt and worry she thought she had seen. Last time she had tried to tackle a wound that was beyond her help Drake Merwin had gotten his whip hand. That alone sent a clear enough message. If she tried to fix it, whatever it was, that she felt was beyond her help it could end up making things worse.
Diana's voice was blank as she replied, "I see." She felt numb. Unable to speak, not sure what to think, unable to stand. Somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed that Sam and Dekka had entered the room, talking about something in low voices. She didn't care. Without a word she sat down beside the healer, trying to figure out what to think.
