Her forehead sank, deeper and deeper into the laminated surface of the discussion table. It felt as if her skin had fused with the rectangular piece of office furniture. Tiredness bit into her muscles; they hurt with riveting intensity. A lethargy, the likes of which she had never experienced before, saturated her battered and bruised body. Her mind was shot. Her thinking ability was sluggish, her thoughts incohesive and truncated. Her cellular memory recall was repaired, but still felt glitchy.
The CMR was her edge. Stripped of it, the meager advantage she had over Liber8 would be gone. Horror had coursed through her when she'd been unable to contact Alec, her lifeline. That kind of being 'alone' had rocked her to her core.
Kiera blinked several times, her head throbbing, her brain seemingly still affected by the attempt to take it over for nefarious purposes. What a lapse of good judgment that had been, slipping on that helmet, allowing herself to be compromised as she'd been. There could be only one answer for whom was behind the bizarre attempt to seize control of her brain—Liber8. Heaving a draggy sigh, she clawed the table with both hands.
She tensed at the sudden pressure of the broad hand pressing into her back. Gently, it rubbed circulatory patterns into it. The warm soothing voice rippled, seeping into her ears. "Relax. It's just me." Hearing Carlos' strong, yet in this instance, mild basso delivery grounded her. The shadowy phantoms and whispered utterances plaguing her mind stilled. "I came back to check if you'd still be here. And you are."
Not bothering to raise her head from the hard, unforgiving table, Kiera nodded. She spoke her words into it. "I am."
Following her 'hmmm,' he replied, "Are you all right?"
Of course she'd been better, so, so much, and she told him so. "I have been. Now…not so much."
He upped the intensity of the circles he was rubbing into her back. "Don't tell me you plan on spending the night here."
Sounding confirmatory, but without a trace of conceit Kiera said, "No. I hadn't planned on it, but getting myself out of this chair doesn't seem to want to happen right now."
He tried keeping any hint of gallantry from his voice. He knew she wouldn't appreciate it, 'ironsides' Cameron as he secretly thought of her. It came as a wake-up call that despite her steely backbone, she possessed a vulnerability he'd had no choice but to witness, owing to this problematic case they had tousled with. "Need an assist?" He wrinkled his nose at her, fully expecting her to say that she didn't, she could make it all right.
Her norm…
Kiera raised herself up from the table in stages. Their eyes met and locked, no trace of tension between them while they gazed into the other's eyes. After chewing on her lower lip, a bit, she remained as still as glass. "I wouldn't mind…."
Offering his hand to her, Carlos smiled. Under his watchful eye, Kiera took it and—with unmistakable gratitude—allowed him to help her to her feet. Lightly, she swayed on them. With both hands on her, he steadied her, held her as though she were a priceless porcelain figurine, easily breakable. Though, the Protector was far from being that, she accepted her partner's succor.
"Thanks…"
"Don't mention it." Giving her time to get her bearings, Carlos, to his credit, kept the exchange easy, like it was nothing out of the ordinary, a partner helping out his partner. No big deal. But, he couldn't help noticing Kiera's general languor and listless manner; it worried him. "Drive you home, if you'd like…"
Her furrowed brow, in conjunction with that thoughtful look in her eyes which materialized when she was thinking something over, looked intrinsic. True, her brain had been "hacked," but she wasn't brain dead, not entirely. Still, she felt far from being her on-top-of-things, take-no-prisoners self. She nodded several times in succession. "Okay, yes. You can."
Carlos' look of concern bathed in satisfaction was transparent. He had hoped like anything that she would answer affirmatively. From all outward appearances, she really looked whipped, thoroughly done in. The cat had dragged her in and peed on her before getting in several scratches. He wasn't claiming total credit for her present shaken condition. They had both given each other an out-and-out shellacking. Man—could she kick-butt. Kiera had moves he never knew existed out of a mixed martial arts cage. Good thing she was on their side. Of course, he was no slouch in the beat-down arena either.
As Carlos had accurately acknowledged, if it hadn't been for Kiera's clandestine source, she most likely would have shot him dead. She reminded herself to thank Kellog when contact with him was a must. She debated whether to tell Carlos Matthew's name. Deciding against, Kiera thought it best not to say anymore than she already had about the flashy hedonist.
"Don't give how you'll get back here tomorrow another thought," Carlos rustled graciously, guiding Kiera toward his car. Hers wasn't parked too far from his. Her car's right fender bore the ill-effects of her mind having been hijacked. A little well-placed hammering would smooth out the kinks.
"I wasn't."
"I'll ring you before I come pick you up, tomorrow." He gave a short, bark of a laugh as he lightly squeezed her elbow. "How's that?"
"That's fine," she answered tiredly, leaning into his firm, considerate touch.
Carlos resisted the urge to remove his arm from her elbow to anchor it around her waist. The urge was strong, but it would be bad form. He resisted the tug of his personal feelings, ones that were growing stronger for this no-nonsense woman, this living, breathing pillar of strength and courage. They could not rule him. The insertion of this woman into his life hadn't been the easiest transition. Now that she was in it professionally, her being something more to him than just his partner fighting crime colored his thinking, tinkered with his emotions. She had even begun to invade his dreams. He was loath to tell her anything about them, yet he wished he could. In the wee hours of the night when lying next to her was nearly reality, he yearned to tell Kiera how important it was that she was in his life. She meant the world to him, perhaps even more.
"I'll have you home in a jiff."
Kiera smiled somewhat weakly, some Sleepytime tea would be nice, she thought, hot, sweet, strong and wonderful. She yawned, resting her head against the headrest. Idly, she pondered what Sam might be doing right now. A safe and practiced driver, Carlos had her home just as her eyes were beginning to droop. Copying how he had handled her from headquarters to the car, he repeated the caregiving process, shepherding her into her apartment.
Helping her with taking her coat off, Carlos offered, "Now…what can I do?"
"You've done enough already." Lowering herself to one of the two chairs in her place, Kiera studied him quizzically, deciding to exploit him a tad more. "Are you any good at making tea?"
"Can do. What kind?" Dutifulness oozed from him.
Her eyes tracked to where she kept her blends. "Sleepytime. It's become a fast favorite."
"Brilliant." Without further preamble, he undertook the task. He watched her sleepy eyes, blinking of their own volition, as she sipped his brew. He wished there had been a lemon handy to squeeze some of its juice into her cup. At least she had honey, clover. "Okay?" He waited on pins and needles for her verdict.
"Perfect," Kiera purred.
Like you…he longed to say that to her, for her to tell him she thought that he was. Smiling anyway, he would have to be content with fantasizing. "Good." He stood, looking and feeling somewhat gratuitous, as though whatever he said next would flounder. "You'll be all right then…"
"Of course." The lilt in her voice spurred her on. "I'll shower."
Carlos' blood pressure rose a few points. His mind clouded, envisioning her gloriously without a stitch on. Hemming and hawing, superfluously clearing his throat, he came to the point. "Sounds like a wise idea."
Kiera arched an eyebrow. "And it's my own…" As her voice trailed off she had to smile before finishing her tea. Her not remembering anything about what had happened would harass her for quite some time. "Again…I'm sorry I nearly killed you."
He managed to cloak his embarrassment in sincerity. "But, you didn't. That's what counts, right? Like I said, remember to thank your mystery snitch."
Oh, that's not all I'm going to do, Kiera sagely thought. "I will."
"Well then, I guess it's goodnight." What else would it be, Carlos considered, reluctant to leave her, knowing he had to. At her door, in a friendly gesture, he kissed her forehead, well, more like gave it a peck. "Night." Wanting to tuck her in was in his mind, but the more rational side of himself waved that off. "I'll call you."
"Yes, you will. I'll buy breakfast."
That touched him as he saw her in his mind's eye quitting the shower, wrap herself in a towel, her facial cheeks moist, all dewy and pink as rosy as bubble gum, the kind he used to chew as a kid. His eyes went a bit out of focus for a moment, imagining her hair piled atop her head wrapped in a towel too, an ethereal tendril lying alongside the nape of her neck. His fingers toying with it, he getting lost in her. His going weak in the knees was a natural progression. Clearing his throat, his voice husky, he bid her a doting farewell, once again.
As she looked after him, making his way down the dim hallway, Kiera closed her eyes, seeing those virtual shooters, taking pot shots at her behind virtual cover. Sighing, she closed her door and headed for the closet-sized bathroom. As the steam rose from the water shooting through the showerhead, she knew how important it was to not lose perspective, despite mixed emotions that dogged her.
The family she had left behind still needed her, whole, intact and clear-thinking. She made herself examine what being here in 2012 meant to her, not losing focus. Twirling a loose tendril of her hair, Kiera thought about Carlos measuring out just the right amount of honey to go into her tea. With such exacting care.
She smiled again, losing herself in just one of many yielding moments. When she opened her eyes, all trace of the misty, fogging steam was gone.