Peering down at Quinn, he thought once more about her words in the outlander camp, the sensual curve of her hips and the way the words fell from her full lips. Shit. Maybe she did have some power over him after all.
“Quinn? Can you hear me?” he asked, lowering her to the ground gently. His muscles were burning but to have her body pressed against his, it was a small price to pay. “Quinn, I need you to wake up now,” he said gently, his fingers finding their way to the side of her face. Her pale skin was soft and silky beneath his hand as he cupped her cheek, much like she had tried to do to him. What had she meant? Truly feel? She was an oddity; that much was certain. “Come on Quinn… it’s going to look mighty strange if I carry you through town… lots of Union supporters here,” he said a little louder but still she didn’t stir. Losing patience, he stared at her face, willing her to wake up but it obviously wasn’t going to work. His eyes lingered on those full lips, not for the first time, and he leant down a little. Instead of laying a gentle kiss on her, as he wanted to though, he leaned up quickly and brought his hand down in a gentle slap. A small wrinkle appeared on her forehead and a soft moan escaped her mouth but she didn’t wake though it was the biggest reaction he had received since she passed out. Once again, his palm connected with her cheek, a little harder this time and he frowned at the pain he was causing her. It wasn’t that he was against hitting a woman as a matter of course. It didn’t matter what equipment you kept between your legs, men and women had equal abilities, equal gifts and were equally capable of killing you. He had absolutely no qualms over hitting or killing anyone who would hit or kill him. What he didn’t like was hurting anybody unnecessarily, whether they were male or female… even so, he didn’t have much of a choice with Quinn. At least that was what he was telling himself. The instant his hand connected with Quinn’s cheek the second time her eyes opened and a snarl erupted from her throat. He leaned back a little, unsure of how she might react or indeed which version of her would be waking up. Thankfully, her eyes had returned to the stormy grey he had become accustomed to. She blinked once, twice, as she looked up at him, before pulling her hand up to cradle her cheek.
“Did you hit me?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm… what happened?” her voice was croaky and she was probably dehydrated, he thought, as he helped her sit up, his hand resting on her back and the disgusting jacket she had ‘borrowed’ from what he assumed was a dead outlander. He was reluctant to touch her properly, as though the skin on skin contact would reawaken the murderous side of her once again. She seemed somewhat dazed. She shook her head as if to clear it before looking up at him in panic.
“Where’s Shay?”
“She’s okay. She’s scouting out the town. Making sure it’s safe.”
“Oh… good. Is she… I was… what the hell happened? How did you escape the outlanders?”
“You don’t remember?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured after a few seconds of deliberating, “nothing seems real.” She paused again, her eyes widening, “What did I do?”
Ah… so it wasn’t an unheard of experience for her to delve into madness but did she truly know the extent of her abilities and… well, personality shift when she was that far gone?
“You saved my life,” he murmured with a soft smile, leaving out that she had taken countless others.
“I did? Yeah well, Shay would have been upset,” she murmured, trying to get to her feet. She seemed physically weakened. Her body appeared to be unwilling to follow her orders as she flailed on the floor. He stood himself and held out his hand to assist her. She looked at it for a moment, her mouth twitching from side to side in irritation. Probably deciding whether taking it would make her appear weak and helpless, he thought with an eye roll. He had just seen her decimate twenty outlanders without so much as lifting a finger… he would never see her as helpless. Eventually, she took his hand and went to stand up, but snatched it away again as though he had electrified her through her fingertips.
“What is it?”
“I…nothing. Sorry,” tentatively taking his hand once more, but with much more anticipation this time, as though his flesh was liable to bite her if she held on too tightly, he managed to pull her to her feet. She almost went down once more, her knees trembling with effort, so he forcefully wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled her in to lean on his body. He gritted his teeth against the uncomfortable feelings the action created as she gave up the fight and melted into his side. Thankfully Shay decided to return at that moment, breaking through the awkward tension that he felt mounting.
“Squidge?” his voice sounded somewhat huskier than he had intended but Quinn didn’t appear to notice. Shay, on the other hand, gave him a sly half smile.
“There’s soldiers in the tavern and a few hanging around the hotel but if we cut through the back lanes we should make it to Aaron’s without bumping into anyone.”
“Good girl.” He said, wishing again that he could hug his daughter.
“Shay?” Quinn croaked from beneath his arm. Shay drifted a little closer dubiously and unsure of the reception she would receive. “You did really well… I didn’t mean anything I said, okay?”
“I know… neither did I.”
“I know…,” at Quinn’s words, Shay rushed forward, enveloping her in her ghostly arms and once again Slade felt that odd mixture of gratitude and jealousy. Shay’s hands seemed to float straight through him as she held onto the redheaded immortal.
“Thank you for saving my Dad.” He heard her whispered sob as Quinn patted her back with one hand whilst the other clung onto his shirt. He realised she was having difficulty staying upright.
“Come on,” he muttered, clearing his throat. “Let’s get going,” He adjusted Quinn at his side and together the trio moved out of the treeline. Quinn wasn’t her usual graceful self, tripping over her own feet and stumbling as though she’d drank a trough of moonshine. It gave him an idea. He stopped in a back alley and leaned her against the wall, she closed her eyes as though in pain as he pulled free her blade from her belt. With a quick decisive motion he slit the jacket she wore at the front and pulled it free. She didn’t even have the energy to fight him… there was a vulnerability to her that disturbed him in more ways than one. She allowed him to remove the shirt and barely fought him as he wrapped it around her bright red hair, like a scarf. Better to hide the beacon that would give them away. Then he pulled his moonshine flask from his own belt and splashed it over her head and down the reasonably clean t-shirt before taking a swig himself. Pulling her arm over her shoulder once more, they carried on walking through the alley ways of Periton, slowly but steadily getting closer to their destination.
“Someone’s coming!” Shay whispered, though it was unlikely anyone would hear her besides himself and Quinn. Quinn grabbed weakly at her belt, searching for the blade that he hadn’t yet returned.
“Sing with me,” he whispered, pretending to stagger a little, his flask still in hand. She frowned at him in confusion for a moment before a weak grin appeared and she joined in his apparently drunken ditty.
“And though she blows from here to the sea, she’ll always be there waiting for me. ‘Cause though she’s angry and she’s mean, she will always be my Queen. She is the one who, when I come home, stops me being all alone. She can drink like a fish, break my teeth with every dish, but she is pretty and she is fine, and after all she’s all mine. Yeah, she is cruel and she is mean! But she will always be my Queen!” they sang together as Shay snorted behind them and soon enough the curious passer-by had walked on, shaking his head with a chuckle. Slade wasn’t certain if it was a citizen or a soldier but their drunken act seemed to have averted any possible suspicion, not to mention, lighten a potentially dangerous moment. Quinn had buried her face into his shoulder as they stumbled through the alley ways. He could feel her body shaking with laughter even as they approached the house he had been looking for. With a nod of his head, he sent Shay into the hous
e to check it out. She floated through the door and Quinn looked up, bleary-eyed, her hands beginning to shake as well. He realised it wasn’t laughter after all.
“Are you alright?”
“I… I don’t know… I think I…” he didn’t get to hear what she thought, as her eyes rolled up in her head and her knees gave out. He was able to catch her before she hit the ground and he shook her lightly as he hissed her name. Two drunken workers singing as they staggered through back alleys was one thing. A man holding a passed out woman who smelled strongly of alcohol would raise some eyebrows, even this close to Union City. Luckily, Shay poked her head out of the door… literally out of the door, the rest of her body remaining on the other side of the wood. She frowned at Quinn’s slumped form before whispering about an open window around the back. Slade nodded and half-dragged, half carried his unconscious cargo around the back of the house. He picked her up and pushed her through the small opening, wincing when he heard her thud to the floor, before climbing through himself. Shay hovered over her, her fingers fluttering above Quinn’s face as she called her name.
“She’ll be okay, Squidge. Let me get her up.” He murmured, moving past her and scooping Quinn up once more. “Where’s Aaron?”
“He’s not here… Dad, she doesn’t look good. What happened to her?”
“I think she’s just tired. She needs some rest. Which way is the bedroom?”
“This way,” Shay floated off down the corridor. As homes go, Aaron’s was alright. It was clean, dry, had real furniture and warmth. It even had pictures on the wall and flowers in vases. It made him sick. All this fanciness on the surface but rotten to the core… he could barely stand it. He followed Shay down to a bedroom and pushed the door open with his foot. Moving as quickly as he could he lay Quinn down on to the bed but… there was definitely something wrong. She was burning up… and so was he. Sweat was beading on her forehead and her skin was flushed and he could practically feel the fire inside her dancing over his own skin. Leaning back a little, he placed the back of his hand on her face and pulling it back immediately, hissing as he did. It was as though he had put his hand directly into the flames.
“Squidge, get-” shit… mentally chastising himself for the sadness he had just forced into his daughters eyes he offered her an apologetic grimace as he rushed from the room and returned with a large glass of water. He placed it on a small, oak bedside table before grabbing the shirt wrapped around Quinn’s head and pulling it off. He then leant down and pull off the cargo pants she had acquired. Though he wasn’t quite prepared for the nakedness he was face with. For the first time he wished that Shay was back in her own body for a reason that had nothing to do with being her father. This wasn’t exactly the first time he had seen the redheaded immortal naked but shit… it was much more awkward. Firstly, she was unconscious. Second, she had recently offered him the very body he was trying not to look at, of which he was sure she had no idea. And third… his daughter was in the room. Clearing his throat he then pulled off her t-shirt and threw it aside. She was now completely bare on the bed but before his imagination could run wild, her muscles seemed to cease and she began convulsing in short, sharp jerky movements. Shay screamed and began crying, acting with nothing but panic and fear, he grabbed the glass of cool water and threw it over her chest. Steam erupted from her as the beads of water evaporated before his eyes but she stopped convulsing, flopping back onto the bed like a fish that had finally given up trying to breathe out of water. Spurred on by his seeming success, Slade returned to the bathroom that he had retrieved the water from and ran the bath, impressed when the water running from the tap continued to come out clean. Within a few minutes, the bath was almost full. Dipping in a finger, he shuddered at the frozen temperature.
“Dad!” Shay’s voice blared from the bedroom and he ran towards it, his heart racing. Sure enough, when he entered the room, Quinn was convulsing on the bed once more. Her hair had flown over her face and her arm had fallen from the bed so that it was jumping off of the deep blue carpet with every jerky seize of her body. Wasting no more time, he pulled her stiff, unyielding form towards him and awkwardly carried her to the bathroom, thrusting her into the cold water, soaking himself in the process. Her convulsions stopped once more and after a few moments her skin colour seemed to return to her normal pale pallor. By the time she opened those lovely grey eyes her lips had turned blue and she was visibly shivering.
“Slade?” she murmured, weakly. “What’s happening to me?”
“I don’t know… you’ll be okay though. I’ll find a way to fix this, I promise,” she nodded at his words, but there was a sadness in her eyes. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it… why she seemed upset by his promises… but there wasn’t time to ponder on it right now. Dipping his hand into the water he muttered a few expletives. The water was getting warmer… her body heat was raising its temperature and soon enough she would be back in the same position as before. It was as though there was a fire inside her struggling to escape- Well, shit.
“Okay, I have a plan. Honestly, I don’t know if it will work but it’s all I’ve got and I think we’re short on time. Quinn? I need you to stay awake for me, alright?” she nodded, but her eyes were glazing over once more. “Shay? Shay! Come on Squidge, I need you with me right now, alright?” Shay seemed to be in a state of shock as she watched, weeping, from the bathroom door. His harsh urgent tone seemed to pull her out of it and she nodded emphatically.
“Check if there is any ice,” she whirled away immediately and he turned the cold tap on once more. “Don’t move, alright.”
“Slade, I’m sorry… if it… if I… I’m sorry I couldn’t save her,” she whispered, her eyes rolling up in her head once more.
“Hey! Don’t you say that, dammit! Now you listen to me, you infuriating woman. You saved my ass and I’m gonna save yours, I just need you to stick around a little longer, alright! You are stubborn as hells and right now that can work for us, so… be fucking stubborn!” he ran from the room, his words tumbling out erratically, desperately looking for somewhere he could place her, somewhere that would be safe, but ended up on his ass as he crashed into an unsuspecting immortal. The other man yelped as he went down and Slade gripped at Quinn’s knife that was still nestled in his belt in a panic.
“What the hell are you doing here?” A wave of relief flew through him as Aaron climbed to his feet and held out a hand. “Not that it’s not good to-“
“Aaron, I’m sorry but there isn’t time. Is there anywhere near that’s fire proof?”
“Fire proof? What the hells have you gotten yourself into now?”
“Aaron! Dammit, please,” Slade was practically begging and Aaron seemed more shocked by that than his sudden appearance in his home.
“The basement. That should be alright,” Aaron muttered after a moment, pointing in the direction of the kitchen.
“Get it open, we’ll meet you there.”
“We?” Aaron asked but Slade had already turned on his heel, running away from the blonde immortal with gusto. He made it back to the bathroom as Quinn began sinking beneath the water that was steaming with so much heat it burned as he pulled her out of it.
“Slade… I’m… I…”
“Shhh, its okay sweetheart. You’re gonna be irritating me again in no time,” she gave him a weak smile as he cradled her close and rushed down the hall towards the kitchen.
“Dad, there’s ice in the freezer here,” Shay shouted as he entered the room.
“Good girl. Aaron, get the ice and meet me down there.” Slade grunted to the flabbergasted man who was staring at the naked woman in his arms. “Aaron, focus damn it!” Also, if you look at her like that again, I’ll break your face. He didn’t say that last part but Aaron appeared to get the message from his facial expression alone. Slade moved past him and down a small metallic flight of stairs into some sort of bunker. Later he would think back on that and find it odd. Basements weren’t a usual part of the homes around
here, particularly ones made of metal. Still, right then, he was thankful for it. He lay Quinn down on the floor in the centre.
“Okay, sweetheart… I need you to get angry now. Quinn! Quinn, listen to me,” Aaron appeared at his side with the ice and he took it from him, rubbing it over Quinn’s forehead and chest.
“What wrong with her?”
“It’s her gifts, I think… long story. I need to get her angry but you shouldn’t be here when I do,” he muttered, “neither should you, Shay.” He looked back to see Shay, still crying, nod as she headed up the metal staircase. Aaron sighed sadly beside him.
“Slade…”
“Not now, Aaron. We can argue about the existence of my daughter later but now I need you to go… now!” Aaron huffed a little as he stood to his tall six foot two height and followed after Shay up the stairs, though he didn’t know it.
“Slade? Where are we?”
“It’s alright, sweetheart… we’re somewhere safe. Now listen, I’m going to move away and I need you to call out that fiery gift of yours alright?”
“I… I don’t think I can,” she murmured, curling in on herself in the dim light of the basement. Aaron had closed the hatch they had climbed down after him and other than a dim bulb they were in darkness. Slade crouched beside the wall, feeling helpless as he tried to convince Quinn to try harder.
“Come on, damn it. You need to use it. You’re not weak are you?” he asked, trying to antagonise her but she just sniffled at him, seemingly unperturbed. He needed to step up his game and he knew what he should say but the mere thought of it made his gut churn uneasily.
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