"Stop whining and get in the car you big man baby!"
Kirsten paused in her task of loading Cameron's duffle bag in the trunk of Camille's Explorer and peered around the corner to see Camille trying to drag a pouting Cameron into the backseat to no avail. It reminded Kirsten of when she'd once seen a woman try to pull her Great Dane into a vet office while the dog sat stubbornly on the sidewalk.
"I don't get why I can't just stay at my place! I'm not five! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," he argued.
"Says the man who injected himself with a chemical to stop his heart when no one was looking," Camille shot back.
"You're not gonna let that one go are you?"
"Nope!" Camille popped the 'P' and gestured to the backseat with a sweep of her arm, "After you poindexter." Cameron looked as if he would fight her on it before grunting and crawling into the back of the car.
Cameron had been awake for three days when Ayo finally allowed him to jailbreak...on one condition: that he stay with Camille and Kirsten so they could keep an eye on him and alert her if he experienced side-effects of the potassium chloride.
"What am I gonna do for two weeks, huh? Didja think of that?" Kirsten heard him say as she got in the front seat and Camille started from Cameron's loft to their house in Echo Park.
"God, you're worse than Linus when I deleted his Star Trek shows from his DVR that time. We packed your laptop so you could entertain yourself, alright? It's not like we're taking you to BFE," Camille groaned.
"You weren't put on temporary leave for two weeks," he grumbled from behind them.
When Maggie had caught wind of his waking up, she'd swooped in and chewed him out for a full twenty minutes. Even Camille, who'd threatened her share of bodily harm if he ever "pulled some stupid crap like that again", was wincing at Maggie's tone. In the end, she'd approved Ayo's house arrest idea and even topped it by revoking his access to the lab for the full two weeks.
"I just had a flashback to that time my mom found me smoking my first cigarette and grounded me for two months," he'd quipped. Kirsten had rolled her eyes and Camille snorted.
It was comforting to hear his and Camille's bickering. It meant that he was really alive and that time when she'd thought she'd lost him had passed. Even Fisher was beginning to show improvement in his condition. Which meant that once Cameron was "ungrounded" and Fisher was back on his feet, they could finally start working the trail Barbiero left for them.
Kirsten hadn't bothered telling Cameron that she hadn't been able to get the license plate of the car in his memory. If she were truthful with herself, she was too scared to bring it up because she was too scared of telling Cameron what else she'd seen. The memories of her that were tied to that strong bubbly emotion she couldn't quite identify and the scene of the hospital. Their real first meeting. She wasn't sure she was ready to hear his explanation and promised herself that if he brought it up, she would confront him about it.
"Alright Mr. Whines a lot, we're here," Camille snarked. Kirsten robotically got out of the car and headed around the back to get Cameron's stuff. As she grabbed his laptop case, another hand snuck around hers to grab the duffel and she immediately slapped it away.
"Ow! Geeze Rocky," Cameron gasped.
"You heard Ayo, no over exerting yourself," she retorted calmly. Cameron made a face.
"It's a duffel bag, Stretch, I think I can handle it," he grumbled. Kirsten shrugged, slinging the strap over her shoulder.
"Not my fault you thought-"
"I get the injection thing!" he hissed, beginning to pout again.
"And don't pout: it leaves age lines," Camille added from around the side of the car. The two girls headed up the porch with smirks on their faces and a disgruntled neuroscientist grumbling behind them.
"Alright, you can have my bed for the time and I'm bunking with Kirsten," Camille explained. Cameron shook his head.
"No, I'll take the couch. I'm not gonna let you guys just uproot everything for me," he argued.
"Too late! Stuff's already put away!" Camille called after tossing Cameron's bag on the floor in her room. Kirsten found herself grinning at Cameron's exasperated face.
"Besides, that couch is lumpy and old and you won't sleep a minute on it. We're doing you a favor," she explained, making her way into the kitchen to grab water. Cameron followed her and eyed the pictures on the fridge.
Most of them were of Camille and her undergrad friends before she was recruited into the program and began living with Kirsten. There was one of the four friends at a bar after the influenza lockdown when Linus had insisted on three shots of tequila to "celebrate life and one hell of a story" before passing out in Cameron's car and three were of Camille and Linus. Cameron paused at two that were next to each other, studying them carefully.
The first was of Ed and Kirsten after her father had abandoned her. They had been at one of Ed's friend's barbeque and the woman had insisted on taking a picture of them. Ed had a small closed mouth smile on his face with his hands on Kirsten's shoulders while Kirsten remained tight-lipped and unsmiling.
"It's one of the only pictures of both of us," Kirsten explained quietly. Cameron glanced at her to try and see past her blank expression, "The lady thought we needed a 'family picture' to put up."
"She didn't know?" he asked, referring to Kirsten's lack of feeling towards living with Ed, "I mean it's hard not to...your expression and all."
"Not everyone cared about what I thought. They only cared about Ed's 'big heart' for taking me in."
"That's...that's awful," Cameron said quietly.
"You know me, I was already over it," she brushed his concern away easily before realizing that the last time she'd said that, she had finished telling him she'd rejected Liam's proposal and he'd given her the crystal to protect her heart-another one of his memories.
There was a beat before he pointed to the second picture.
"When was that taken?" he asked, smiling. She studied the picture and grinned.
It was the two of them on the balcony overlooking the lab by the conference room. Kirsten's face was set in confusion at the camera while Cameron was looking right at her and grinning. Both their arms were crossed as they leaned against the railing and they had been caught unaware by Camille who had snapped the picture.
"It was after the Real Estate Agent's murder and I had just gotten done telling you how I could easily reset the cheats on your Call of Duty game so you would never win. You were in the middle of doubting me which I easily proved you wrong later that day," she rattled off. She remembered the indignant and heartbroken look he'd given her when the screen on his X-Box showed she'd wiped his high scores and locked him out of the game until he'd apologized and she'd reset the encryption so all his data was restored.
"I really need to stop underestimating you," he said quietly. Kirsten suddenly felt something akin to the bubbly feeling from Cameron's stitch settle in her stomach with his words and she couldn't help but grin in response.
She reached for the glass of water when suddenly, she felt a stroke of pain hit the front of her head and she gasped, the glass slipping out of her hands and crashing to the floor.
"Kirsten!" Cameron cried, catching her as she fell against the counter. Her vision blurred and all she could make out was the vague outline of Cameron pulling her into his chest and yelling for Camille.
"I'm fine," she grunted, scrubbing at her eyes. Now Camille was in the kitchen and they were rapidly yelling about how she needed to get to a hospital.
"No hospitals," she whispered.
"You're not exactly fit to be making decisions right now, Princess," Cameron remarked breathlessly.
"I've had enough of hospitals for a while, now help me to the couch ," she demanded. Quickly, Cameron slung her arm around his shoulders and Camille helped guide her to the couch. Kirsten's vision was still hazy and her ears were ringing as Cameron collapsed next to her, pulling her closer to inspect.
"It's just a headache," she muttered, clutching her head.
"Kirsten, you don't get headaches," Camille pressed, which made Cameron begin to move from his spot on the couch. Camille pushed him back down again with an indignant huff.
"And you just had a major trauma and will be on house arrest until further notice. So sit down Wonder boy," she snarked. Cameron shot her a look until Kirsten began rubbing her temples and he turned his attention to her again.
"Camille, get me some ibuprofen and another glass of water," he ordered. She made her way into the kitchen and Cameron gave Kirsten a worried look.
"Kirsten…" he began before Kirsten pulled away from him and stood up. The pain in her head had dulled to a low throb, but it left her with the overwhelming urge to put space between them.
"Cameron, I'm fine!" she growled. He seemed taken aback by her aggressiveness and frankly, so was she.
"Kirsten if this is a new thing, maybe…"
"I don't need to be poked and prodded either at the lab or at a hospital. Leave it alone Cameron," she ordered.
"What's with you?" Cameron asked, standing and moving towards her. As his hand reached out to take her arm, she flinched away from him. Cameron's face flashed with hurt before he stepped away from her. Kirsten felt the space between them and something began to ache in her chest. She remembered Cameron feeling the same thing in the memory of her and Liam kissing and it once again took her breath away.
"Something happened in that stitch, didn't it?" Cameron asked quietly, "That's why you're shutting me out. Kirsten, talk to me! Tell me what you saw that was so bad that you've barely looked at me since I woke up."
"It wasn't just the stitch, Cameron. You killed yourself, under the guise of protecting me." In the back of her mind, Kirsten realized that Camille had smartly made herself scarce once the raised voices began.
"You thought that injecting yourself with a lethal chemical was saving me. Cameron you almost didn't wake up! How do you think I would have taken that, knowing you died for me?"
"You know why I did it, Kirsten. I was the only one who knew what that license plate said," Cameron suddenly pulled back, realization filling his face.
"You couldn't get it." His voice was almost silent and filled with disappointment. Kirsten opened her mouth to lie and tell him that his sacrifice had given them a lead, that he had singlehandedly saved the program and saved Kirsten. But he turned his gaze and his green eyes seemed to beg hers for the truth.
"No. Your concussion mixed with the effects of only being clinically dead pushed me back and everything was just a blur," she said. Cameron collapsed onto the couch, rubbing his neck with both hands. Kirsten gave him the space he wanted.
"It was for nothing," Cameron whispered. Kirsten felt her chest squeeze as the despair and disappointment flooded his face.
"Cameron…"
"Kirsten, I risked everything! Your safety, the integrity of the program, and it was for nothing!" he bellowed. Kirsten was beginning feel what she knew was fear at Cameron's demeanor. He'd never acted this angry before. She also noticed offhandedly that he hadn't mentioned his life in the list of his sacrifices and she felt her chest squeeze tighter.
"I need some air," he grunted, standing from the couch and heading for the front door. Kirsten moved to follow him.
"Cameron don't go out there like this," she tried to reason.
"Kirsten, just…" he seemed to think better of his words and began to step outside when Camille bolted into the room with an expression that made them both freeze.
"Linus just called. Fisher's awake and Maggie wants us there ASAP," she explained.
Uh oh! Something's up with Kirsten, Cameron knows he didn't see the plate, and Fisher's awake. What's gonna happen next? :) Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. If you haven't already, check out both my tumblr (brooke0297) and my other Stitchers one-shot The Pin Code Change. Thanks again and don't forget to REVIEW! ~Brooke