I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

Reunion

I groan. A series of beeps goes off beside me, making my ears ring and my head pound. Light seeps through my eyelids, making my eyes pulse painfully. My entire body feels sore, like I've been boxing with Gigante, using lead gloves. I can hear a voice, calling my name. Not the voice I hoped for, but it's still better than hearing Setrákus Ra, or some Mogadorian.

I slowly raise a hand, shielding my eyes, and a moment later, the light's gone. I let my hand drop, wincing as it hits my ribs, which are excruciatingly tender. Then, I let my eyes slowly creak open. My vision takes a moment to adjust before I see Ella standing beside me. I don't recognize the room, but it's big. Twenty by twenty, or so. The bed is queen sized and there's a floor-to-ceiling window at the head, though there's a blind over it now, blocking out the light. Ella looks like she hasn't slept, and even though I'm just waking up, I feel like I haven't. I feel like death. I try to sit up but can barely move. Even so, Ella gently pushes me back to the bed, smiling sympathetically.

"Easy," Ella says. "You've been comatose for days. We were all terrified you weren't going to wake up. Marina's been in tears for days. She hasn't slept."

"Really?" I ask, a pang of guilt shooting through me. "I didn't mean to worry anyone."

"It's alright," Ella smiles. "She just about lost it when she almost couldn't save you."

I smile at that, then groan, pushing myself up to a sitting position just as the door flies open and I'm blinded again. After a moment, it closes and I open my eyes, seeing Hawkeye and Rookie standing next to it, along with the Loric who attacked Setrákus Ra.

"Good to see you awake," Hawkeye greets. "You gave us all quite a scare."

"Not dying yet," I snort. "Good to see you two alive. Now, get me out of this bed and get me some sunglasses so I can get moving again."

The Loric chuckles and tosses me a pair of Oakleys.

"You sure he should be moving right now Nine?" Rookie asks.

"Man says he wants to get up," Nine shrugs. "I say we let him."

I put the glasses on and he opens the door. I still have to squint from the light, but it's bearable now. Hawkeye walks over and helps me to my feet. It's quite obvious that I've got a concussion, or maybe brain damage, but that won't be stopping me from getting going again. I make my way out into the hallway on my own and Nine begins to fill me in on what's been going on while I was out. Then, he gives me a very slow tour. It ends when we reach a large room that Nine calls the Lecture Hall, though it's actually like a gigantic gymnasium with a shooting range, a small alcove with a seat and computers, and paper and mannequin Mogadorians everywhere. At least, I assume they're mannequins, given that they're staring at us and the others haven't killed them yet. We go to the shooting range and Nine pulls down a Tavor, just like the one I had had in India.

"I hear you're a pretty good shot," Nine grins. "Care for a demonstration?"

I take the gun and a magazine, which Nine says has ten rounds. Then, I sight in at the paper Mogadorian about three hundred yards away. I grin. Easy shot. I pull the trigger. The gun drops to the floor and I stagger backward, teeth clenched together and hands over my ears. Nine winces and picks up the rifle, putting it back and sighing.

"Sorry," Nine apologizes. "I never thought about that. Guess we'll have to save the demonstration for after we get you patched up. Come on. She should be back soon."

I look at him and he grins knowingly. I turn, glaring at Hawkeye who shakes his head.

"Six," Nine says simply. "Don't worry, no one told Marina anything."

He leads me to the living room and tells me to wait there. Then, he, Hawkeye, and Rookie all leave. A moment later, there's a ding and a set of Elevator doors just down one of the hallways leading out of the room slides open. Eight steps out first and stairs at me in disbelief before grinning and looking back into the elevator.

"Come on," he grins. "It looks like somebody has good news."

Marina steps out of the elevator, eyes bloodshot and puffy, the skin under them dark from lack of sleep. She stares at the floor as she walks into the room before looking up and freezing, eyes wide with shock. Then, she sprints forward, leaping into me and wrapping her arms around my neck, knocking me backward onto the couch with her in my lap. I hug her back, unable to breathe through the pain the sudden motion causes for a moment, before slowly exhaling, keeping my groan silent.

"It's alright," I smile. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm alright now."

She pulls back, fresh tears rolling down her face and I reach up, gently wiping them away and smiling.

"I was so scared that you were going to die," she says, slightly more in control now. "I tried to save you. I really did. I promise!"

"I know," I smile. "I know you did. And you did save me. I just needed to sleep for a little while. Although, I seem to be having some concussion trouble."

Marina instantly reaches up to my head and a cool feeling that I'm, unfortunately, extremely familiar with spreads through my head before pain wipes it out. I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut. Then, after a moment, it's gone, and the cool feeling returns long enough to relax my body before Marina stops, lowering her hands. I open my eyes and pull the glasses off and blink. The pain is gone. I smile and nod and she smiles, hugging me again, this time without the pain. I glance at Eight who grins and nods. Oh yeah. He knew right from the start. Should have known. After a moment, Marina pulls back, wiping her eyes before yawning.

"Go get some sleep," I chuckle. "You look like you haven't for a while."

Marina smiles and nods, then stands and makes her way out of the room. Once she's gone, Eight turns to me, face serious.

"You had us all worried," Eight says. "I'm glad to see you're alright. But, now we need to talk."

"She's yours," I say, making Eight blink in surprise, mouth open like he wanted to speak but not sure what to say. "Anyone I get close to gets hurt. Usually they end up dying. In New Mexico, my curse came damn close to taking you away from Marina. She loves you, Eight. More than anything in the world. When she saved you, I realized something. My curse will always be a part of me. But you can protect Marina from the curse. You can make her happy. And you can be there for her, be with her, without one of the two of you dying. If I stay...something bad will happen."

"You sound like you're going to leave," Eight notes, and my eyes fall to the ground. Maybe that would be best. "Seriously? After everything that's happened, after the condition you just saw her in because you were sleeping, you think she could handle it if you just up and left? She loves you too, you know."

I stare at the floor.

"Were you at least going to tell her the truth and say goodbye?" Eight asks, but gets his answer from my expression. "I thought not. Not that it matters, you're going nowhere. Even if I have to chain you to myself to keep you here."

"That would make your dates pretty awkward don't you think?" I grin.

Eight chuckles, shaking his head. "It'd give you a fair chance for the first time, though."

"I think I'll pass on that," I sigh. "I haven't had a great track record with teleporting with you. I'd rather not push it."

Eight rolls his eyes then sighs. "Come on. If you're sticking around, there's something you'll have to do."

"What's that?" I ask.

"Train," Eight states. "With me and Nine. I'm not letting you leave. So you might as well learn to make it through a fight without getting yourself fatally wounded."

I smirk and shake my head then motion for him to lead. And with that, I follow him out of the room and to the Lecture Hall where Nine is watching Hawkeye and Rookie have a shooting competition.

"Hey Sport," Nine calls out waving at me. "You feeling better?"

"I have a favor to ask," I say as he walks over.

"What's that?" Nine asks.

"Train me."

A wicked grin spreads across his face. Then, he nods. And I instantly know I'm about to be in more pain than I was from the concussion.

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