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

Cold Trip

The trip back is relatively uneventful. At first, it's both tense and tolerable, with John and Sam filling everyone in on what had happened in Chicago, Mogs breaking in and assaulting the place, the humans present fighting back, John waking up to a new scar and ending the fight then saving Bernie Kosar from near-death on the roof. Then, he describes sending Sarah on a mission with her ex, a guy named Mark James, to gather intel on government agencies that support the Mogadorians, and meet with someone who claimed to be able to help, then about John and Adam taking over a Mogadorian base in suburban DC, where we're headed. Then, Six and I take turns describing, in as little detail as possible, what had happened to us. Despite our careful choice of wording, we still feel our resident ice generator cool the inside of the ship.

Once we're done, we settle in to simply fly in silence. Flying isn't hard. In fact, it's more like a video game's controls than a vehicle. Triggers for altitude control, buttons for everything else. Easy. However, after the second hour of shivering and having goosebumps, I have to have Six take over and she has to actually pry my stiff fingers off the wheel where I'd lost feeling in them. I get up, making my way back and toward Marina. Nine, who was seated next to her, moves to Six's abandoned one, and I sit down beside Marina, resting a hand on hers. She looks over at me, the cold aura fading, but not before my hand starts to collect ice crystals.

"You okay?" I ask, knowing the answer, but not sure what else to say.

"I...no," she says.

Then, she buries her face in my chest, sobbing again. Thankfully, the cold aura she'd been giving off is gone instantly. I wrap my arms around her, shushing her, and lightly running my hand over her hair, comforting her as best I can. After a bit, she slowly stops, sitting sideways in my lap now, head resting on my shoulder. She sniffs now and then, but she's done crying. I feel the temperature in the ship starting to warm back up but my skin is at the point of cold where anything making contact with it seems to hurt. My shirt. The hairs growing out of it. Marina's hand as she slides it up over my exposed goosebumps.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "I'm trying to control it. It's just..."

"It's alright," I smile, resting my head on hers. "It's not your fault. You'll figure it out."

"Whenever I think about..." she trailed off as the hint of a chill began to radiate off of her and I squeezed a little tighter, feeling her power fade again.

"It's alright," I whisper. "It's going to be alright. Somehow."

"At least I still have you," Marina whispered, almost too quiet for me to hear, though I see Nine grin knowingly, even before the blush spreads over my face.

I smile anyway, turning my face away from the window where I can see Nine's reflection, and rest my cheek on her head. I hear her exhale, not quite a sigh but close, and she tries to bury her head a little deeper in my neck. After a couple more minutes, her breathing evens out and I smile. Then, I turn to Nine for the inevitable.

"Bro, if you don't make a move, I'm going to kill you," Nine says.

"Nine, shut up," I say flatly. "Butt out."

"Not planning to make a move?" Nine asks, grinning wickedly.

I understand the look only when I feel Marina slowly grow tense, waiting for an answer, holding her breath. I swallow hard. I'm not entirely sure how to respond, knowing that she's listening. I can't say what I want to, without a very...cold, response.

"It's not exactly an appropriate time, wouldn't you agree?" I ask. "In light of everything?"

Nine opens his mouth to respond but then closes it again. I'm right and he knows it. Also, the temperature has dropped drastically. Again. Marina starts to push off of me and I have to clamp my teeth as they try to chatter and as frost starts to form anywhere I'm touching Marina.

"You're worried that my grief over Eight's death is confusing my feelings for you," Marina says flatly.

"Um, can we not discuss this right now?" I ask. "I'd rather do it somewhere a little less...high."

Marina looks toward Six who's shaking with shivers. Marina looks back at me, almost impassive but her eyes betraying a little bit of betrayal and hurt. The temperature begins to slowly warm but only slowly.

"I'm not confused, James," Marina continues.

I grab the sides of her head, pulling her toward me and place a light kiss on her forehead. Then, I pull her into a hug, the cold vanishing instantly.

"I know," I say. "But...it's hazardous for you. And...it's not the best time."

"Because of Eight?" Marina asks.

"Partially," I say. "Can we please talk about it once we're there? And alone?"

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Nine struggling to hold back a grin. Marina nods, arms wrapping around me anyway as she set her head back down. For the rest of the trip, we're silent. Finally, Six lands us on a basketball court and we all climb out, Nine carefully taking Eight's body with him. Just as we touch down, John and the others come out, along with a Mogadorian, obviously Adam, given he's alive. As we step off the ship, Nine looks around.

"There are creatures around us," Nine says, somewhere between curiosity and a warning.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, we have a lot more chimæra now," John says.

"So many," Nine breathes, mystified. "It's awesome."

"We named the fat lazy one after you," Sam says, grinning.

"Less awesome," Nine says.

I glance at Marina and Six. Marina is staring at Eight's body and Six is staring at Sam. I step forward, carefully taking Eight from Nine, who then walks away with John, the two of them having a joking argument already, this one about Sarah leaving with her ex. I turn to look at Marina.

"Come on," I say. "Let's go find a place to put him."

Marina nods, starting away and I follow but stop beside Six, grinning.

"Enjoy your alone time," I whisper, making her glare at me before I walk away.

Just as I reach the door to the building Marina had entered, the same that John and Nine had gone, along with Adam and Malcolm, I stop, glancing back toward the ship in time to see Six drag Sam into a not-so-gentle kiss. Then, I go inside, grinning and finding Marina waiting by the stairs.

"What?" Marina asks, confused.

"You'll see," I grin. "Find a room?"

Marina nods and we head up the stairs, stopping at a room with the curtains drawn and a bed made neatly. I set Eight's body on the bed and Marina opens the bag, staring at the body, tears sliding down her face again. This time, thankfully, there's no cold with it. I pull her into a hug, comforting her as she cries for several minutes, until wolves begin howling from the trees.

"What's that?" I ask.

"The chimæra," Marina says. "Someone's coming."

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