by Palladian
The person she'd addressed pointed to one of the other people in the group, one who wasn’t carrying a huge weapon, and pointed them back down the tunnel after gesturing towards Lex. Obviously dismissed, Lex followed her silent guide to where she'd come in and climbed back out of the rain sewer. When she reached an arm up to go through the now open manhole cover, she stopped when she found a hand reached down in front of her. Quickly pulling her gloves off so that they were hanging by their straps like a kid's mittens, Casey's hand swallowed Lex's as her friend lifted her cleanly out of the sewer and placed her back on the ground.
Blinking at the grey day that now seemed very bright, Lex turned to Casey and spotted Riss standing behind her. They both gave her wide-eyed looks once she faced the two of them and Casey gestured towards Lex's jaw, not touching it.
“What happened?”
Lex gingerly touched her face where she could feel a dull ache. She winced as a sharp pain shot through her and dropped her hand. Looking back at the concern on the other women's faces, Lex frowned.
“Does it really look that bad?”
Casey sighed and shook her head ambiguously, but Riss shrugged and moved forwards to put something into Lex's hand.
“Everyone got nervous when we realized we lost you, so they sent some people down to search. You should keep better care of your communicator.”
Lex closed her hand around the communicator, but also something else that felt like a slip of paper. She gave Riss a quick sideways glance, which Riss met squarely, then looked away. Carefully, Lex put her hand inside one of her open zipper pockets and dropped everything inside, zipping the pocket closed afterwards.
“Thanks, Riss. I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry everyone.”
“I guess we had reason to be worried,” Riss replied, tilting her head to study Lex's face.
Lex shrugged. “It probably looks a lot worse than it is. Don't worry; I'm sure it'll be fine.”
Casey nodded and gestured towards the van. “Come on, let's get you home to have someone look you over. We were about to take off anyway, since there doesn't seem to be much else to do here.”
The three of them walked back to the parking area, Lex surveying the sky, which seemed to have lightened a little. She shivered against a new gust of wind and walked more quickly, but smiled as the cool air seemed to banish the stale-water smell she'd gotten used to underground.
Once the three of them arrived, they had to wait a few minutes while Riss called Serena to come back. Lex rubbed her arms and legs to try to warm them, happy that they could wait inside the van, at least, her mind working overtime, wondering what was on the piece of paper Riss had handed her. Once Serena appeared, she began entering the van, then stopped in her tracks as she spotted Lex.
“What happened to you?” she asked, staring at Lex's face.
Lex grimaced, and then stopped since it made her jaw hurt more. “It can't look that bad,” she said, but it ended up sounding more like a question and she looked at all three of the other women in turn.
Riss just raised an eyebrow, Casey looked at the floor, and Serena continued to stare. Lex sighed and made for the front of the van to look in the rear view mirror. She saw about an inch and a half along the right side of her jaw that had begun to turn purple and to swell, and the area around it for about another inch had started to swell and discolor as well. Lex sighed.
“I don't suppose we have a first aid kit with a cold pack somewhere in here?” Lex asked, feeling she was being too hopeful.
Serena snorted. “Yeah, we're supposed to have a first aid kit in the van, but they're usually missing anything you need. Hang on,” she said, turning to Clara, who'd just climbed into the front seat. “I'm going up to the house to get Lex some ice.”
Lex held the plastic bag full of ice, wrapped thoughtfully in a fluffy dishtowel, gently to her jaw the rest of the way home. When they got back, Casey wanted to bring Lex down to the medical wing immediately, but, remembering Riss' possible note in her pocket, Lex asked for some time to change out of her jumpsuit first.
She threw herself on her bed the moment she had the room to herself and covered herself with the sheet, sighing and blowing it up in front of her mouth. Then, icepack still on the right side of her face, Lex carefully unzipped her pocket and slipped the piece of paper out with the tips of her fingers. The open drapes let in just enough light for her to read under the sage-colored bedclothes as Lex turned to lie on her left side.
“Find a way for Casey, you, and me to leave the facilities for a couple hours. Have vital information for you.”
Lex noted that 'vital' had actually been underlined a few times. She sighed, blowing the sheet up again and wondering what could possibly be behind this. But she'd known from the first time she met Riss that the woman seemed to know things about the team and whatever went on behind the scenes, things that no one else knew. Maybe she'll have some idea about what the hell's been going on lately, Lex thought. At any rate, Lex decided to think about it until she came up with some excuse to try going out with the other two.
Quickly examining the note, which Lex discovered had been scribbled in pencil on a gum wrapper, she thought about how to dispose of it. Coming up with no other ideas that might not lead to it being found, Lex rolled it into a small ball and swallowed it, covering her movements by massaging her temple with her free hand once she'd eaten the paper pill. Sitting up and sighing as if tired, she chased the paper ball down with several gulps of water from the glass on her nightstand.
Getting up and heading for her dresser, Lex was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Casey, is that you?” she called out.
Casey appeared, shutting the door behind her. “Yes. I was wondering where you were.”
Lex began hastily pulling clothes out. “Sorry, I just lay down for a bit. Give me a minute, and then we'll go downstairs.”
Glancing at the bed covers after she got up, Lex sighed as she spotted a streak of dirt on them and made a mental note to change them before going to sleep next. She then got out a long sleeved t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and sweatpants since she still felt cold. Quickly stripping off the jumpsuit, she heard an exclamation from Casey behind her.
Slowly turning, Lex saw the other woman's eyes glued to the large bruises on both forearms and her left upper thigh where she'd hit the wall after Kate grazed her jaw. Lex sighed again.
“Really, I'm sure it looks a lot worse than it is,” she said, and then continued as quietly as she could. “She didn't know who I was at first.”
Casey looked her in the eye again, shaking her head. “Go ahead and get dressed and let's get you downstairs so the doctors can look at you. I'll make you some of my lentil stew tonight. Hopefully that'll help fix you up, and then you're taking a long bath and getting to bed.”
Lex nodded in agreement, concerned by Casey's look and tone of voice, but also thinking all of that sounded pretty good.
The examination was simply annoying, in Lex's opinion. She asked them if they could do anything about her bruises, but they just ignored the question and x-rayed her jaw, arm, and leg to make sure nothing was broken. Lex felt certain nothing had been, remembering the nauseating feeling and frightening swelling when her arm had been broken as a child, and the x-rays confirmed her suspicions.
By the time they'd finished with her and given her advice on how to care for bruises (which, by this time in her life, she was well familiar with), it had become late afternoon. Lex decided to take a nap until she needed to help Casey with dinner, so she changed her sheets before gratefully laying down and pulling the covers up under her chin.
Although Lex's sleep had become dark and twisting of late, when she awoke, panting a little after her latest wrestling bout with things she couldn't see, she felt happy. She'd figured out how to try to get herself, Riss, and Casey out of the house for an evening, and she jumped out of bed, energized. Wincing a little as the quick movement jarred her sore body, Lex ignored it and grabbed her cell phone. After a li
ttle search through the papers on her desk, she unearthed a business card and dialed the number on it.
She sat at her desk chair then, listening to the ringing and impatiently waiting. Finally, just as Lex felt sure she'd get put through to voice mail, she heard the phone pick up.
“Hello?” Clara's voice asked, sounding as if she wondered who would be calling her at that hour.
“Hi, Clara, this is Lex.”
“Lex, how are you?” Clara replied, sounding concerned at once. “Are you all right?”
“I'm fine, just a bit bruised, really,” Lex answered, suddenly holding in the back of her mind that maybe she could use the incident to her advantage. “I had something else I wanted to talk to you about, though.”
“All right. What is it?”
“I'm sure you remember that Riss and I finished the security job you assigned us a couple of weeks back, and you said to us later that everyone had been really pleased with what we did. I was just thinking about that, and thought it would be great if Riss, Casey, and I could go out to celebrate, maybe for dinner or something.”
“Why Casey?”
“I remember saying to Riss at one point that I don't think we would ever have completed the job if Casey hadn't supported us. She cooked great meals to keep us going, listened to us when we ran into snags, and had great advice about how to solve problems. She's one of the reasons we were successful, so I don't think we could leave her out. Ask Riss, I'm sure she'd agree with me.” Lex held her breath for a moment as she finished speaking, willing Clara to say yes.
“I'll have to look into this. I'll get back in touch with you and let you know,” Clara replied after several long moments of silence.
“Thanks, Clara. I think it would be great if the organization picked up the tab, since this was something we did that came out well, but that's not absolutely necessary. Just having a nice dinner out somewhere would be fine, too.” Lex thought about trying to sell the idea by sounding pathetic following her beating earlier that day, but abandoned the idea since she'd never been anyone's idea of an actress.
“All right, Lex, I'll be in touch.”
“Thanks again, Clara,” Lex said and hung up her phone, her mind dancing with hope for the success of her request.
Chapter 19: Plot, Counterplot
Smiling to herself, Lex plugged her phone back up to the charger and slowly changed clothes to go downstairs. Just as she turned to leave, however, she heard a knock at her door, and then Casey came in with a tray of food.
“Hey,” Lex said, a little confused, “I was just coming downstairs to help you.”
Casey smiled as she pushed the papers on Lex's desk to one side and set the tray down, the steaming bowls on it emitting a savory scent that made Lex's stomach growl. “I figured you'd try, so I knocked off a little early today and started cooking so that everything would be ready right around when I figured you'd be waking up.”
Lex smiled at her friend's cleverness. “All right. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“You should be resting, not cooking,” Casey said with a shrug. “Here, have something to eat.”
The two of them sat on the couch in Lex's small living area and ate in silence for a few minutes, Lex noting that the lentil stew, the idea of which she hadn't been too crazy about earlier, tasted delicious, savory and filling, and went really well with the nutty bread that Casey had brought to eat with it. Finally she remembered her conversation with Clara earlier and caught Casey's eye.
“Hey, I forgot to tell you. I asked Clara if you, Riss, and I could go out to dinner or something to celebrate finally being finished with that security job.” She met Casey's eyes then, hoping the other woman wouldn't find it too strange.
Casey raised an eyebrow. “I didn't really do anything for that, though.”
“Are you kidding? You cooked for us at least once a week and kept us sane through the whole thing. Anyway, come on, don't you think it would be fun?”
“Yeah,” Casey agreed with a laugh. “So when are we going?”
“Don't know,” Lex said around a mouthful of stew, “I'm still waiting to hear if it's been OK'd.”
They both rolled their eyes knowingly and smiled at one another.
“By the way,” Casey said, chewing on some bread, “don't talk with your mouth full.”
The two of them started giggling but ended up nearly falling off the couch laughing. When they finished eating, Casey insisted on a bath for Lex and stayed with her, chatting and washing her hair, until the water went cold. Lex could feel the now-familiar pain behind her eyes as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed, but decided to just tough it out. Yawning widely by the time she crawled under the covers, Lex watched Casey chuckle as she stood near the edge of the bed.
“Get some sleep. If you start to feel bad in the middle of the night or you need something, just call me and I'll come over, OK? I should hear you if you shout, or you can call me on my cell phone.”
“Yes, Mom,” Lex said with a grin, then, a moment later, her face turned serious. “Casey,” she started again as the taller woman began to turn away, “thanks for taking care of me.”
Casey touched Lex's shoulder as she reached to turn the bedside lamp off. “I'm glad to, Lex. That's what friends are for. Good night.”
“Good night,” Lex replied, feeling warm and happy as she heard her door close behind Casey and drifted away into sleep.
The rest of the week seemed to hurry by, but Lex had a start as she checked the holder by her door Friday morning. Along with her schedule, which she was happy to find Mr. Chen's name on again, she found a formal-looking piece of card paper with an invitation on it. As Lex read she realized her request had been approved. The invitation asked those invited to dress for dinner and be ready to leave by six on Saturday evening for a meal to celebrate recent accomplishments.
She held it out in front of her, raising an eyebrow in Casey's direction as she walked into the kitchen that morning. Casey smiled and laughed a little.
“Yeah, I got one, too. What did you ask them for, anyway? Dressing for dinner,” the blonde intoned, and then shook her head, smirking.
Lex shrugged. “I guess they got a little carried away. I figured maybe I could get them to spring for Italian or something. I didn't realize they were into fine dining.”
The hours flew for Lex while she worked with Mr. Chen again, following his movements as he explained things, listening to his suggestions, and showing him what she'd come up with so far. By the time noon rolled around, Lex felt surprised at the hour, but even more surprised to see Serena in the kitchen. She appeared to have been waiting for Lex, because the minute she came in the room, Serena jumped up off the stool she'd been sitting on at the kitchen island and began talking excitedly.
“Lex, Casey said you guys are going out Saturday night. I want to go, too! Can I go?”
Lex directed a sharp look at Casey, working on something at the counter. “She asked, so I told her,” Casey said with a shrug.
“Well, Serena,” Lex started, her mind spinning, trying to think of an excuse, but unable to come up with a good one. “I can ask, but I guess Clara or someone will have to approve it, since they're picking up the bill.”
“Oh, come on. Tell them I'll pay for my part, but I just want to go! I've never gone out with Riss before. Maybe we can all go clubbing afterwards.”
“I don't know if they'd allow us to do that, but it would be fun,” Lex admitted with a smile. “OK, I'll call Clara and ask about it.”
“Now,” Serena asked, wiggling in excitement, handing Lex her cell phone.
Lex sighed but moved to do so, noting that Clara's number had been programmed into the phone.
Looking at the other two while listening to the phone ring, Lex tapped her fingers against the back of her phone, thinking about the upcoming conversation, and trying to think how she could bring her question up, then greeted Clara when she answered.
“Hey, thanks for putting together the evening
out for us,” Lex started, hoping she could ease into the topic.
“Well, we discussed what you said, and decided it was a good idea,” Clara replied, sounding pleased. “I take it you got your invitations today?”
“Yes, and that's why I'm calling, actually. Serena heard that we're going, and wants to go with us.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Lex pulled back from the phone for a moment at that emphatic statement, then continued. “Is there some reason why not? She really just wants to go along with the rest of us. She said she'll pick up her part of the tab, if you're worried about the budget.”
A long silence prevailed at the other end of the phone. Finally, Clara spoke again, her voice low and serious. “All right, she can accompany you. But under no circumstances are she and Riss to be left alone together. Is that understood? It is your responsibility to ensure that. Can you guarantee it?”
Lex frowned in confusion. “Sure. Thanks.”
“All right, then if there's nothing else I have to go.”
“No, nothing. Thanks again, Clara.”
Lex looked back up at Casey and Serena with an odd expression on her face as she hung up. “She said you can go, Serena,” Lex recounted, “but she also said that you and Riss couldn't be alone at any time.”
Serena laughed as she took her phone back. “Well, there goes my plan to seduce her. That's fine, though, seriously; if that's all they're worried about, I can agree to that.”
By the time six rolled around on Saturday evening, Lex and Serena began walking down the stairs to find Casey and Riss already waiting for them. Since Serena had been allowed to come along, she'd insisted on putting together Lex's outfit and hair, especially after she got Lex to admit that she didn't have anything appropriate to wear.
She'd outfitted Lex with a red velvet dress that fell to her ankle, had a mid-thigh slit up the right side, short sleeves, and dipped low in front. Serena had fussed over her hair, somehow made her up to minimize the bruising along her jaw (which had subsided somewhat, but still showed several colors), then finally looked at her in the mirror and sighed while handing her some elbow-length black velvet gloves.