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What it takes (Candira and Jugger)

By the time Darian had burst through the front doors of the mansion, he began to order the extra help to get the hell out because the mansion was going to explode in a matter of time. He dashed off faster down the hill, ignoring the gunshots of the crippled men who aimed horribly because of their wounds in their hands and legs. Eventually the two of them made it back to town before the mansion exploded and killed everyone within and around the campus of it, but everyone in the forest was safe.
 
When Marlowe woke up, she was surrounded by debris and fire. The air around her was putrid with the smell of burning flesh and hair. Thankfully, she wasn't on fire. She'd been lucky enough to have been dropped in just the right place to avoid any heavy debris. She had small cuts and bruises all over her, and probably a mild concussion, judging by the throbbing in her head. She wasn't seriously hurt but for the concussion and the sprain that she'd somehow managed to gain in her ankle. Looking around her, she saw the remains of the mansion she'd set out to take back from the gang.

Somehow, probably because of the gunpowder explosion, it had been destroyed. She could see corpses all around her of people she hadn't shot. What had happened?



Back in town, the sheriff congratulated the two men that returned and welcomed them. But of course he noticed one thing right away that the two men had not. Someone was missing.

"We saw the fireworks from here. Great job, boys! But, where's Marlowe? Didn't she go with you?"
 
"Huh? You mean she ain't here already?" Darian said with a puzzled look on his face. "I thought she would be here by now..." Panic then struck his face and he looked back to the mansion. "Shit...! Marlowe...!" He began to dash back to the mansion, jumping over barricades and such as he ran into the forest of the mansion calling her name. "Marlowe! Marlowe where the hell are ya!?" He called out in panic. "Marlowe!? Answer me! Where are you!?"
 
Dazed and disoriented, Marlowe turned her head as she heard her name, instantly becoming dizzy. This did not help the nauseous feeling in her stomach that came from the smell and it took a certain amount of will power to hold in the small amount of food she'd had that day. Coughing and choking the ash and smoke she managed to sit up and stay that way. About this time, she was able to respond to the frantic shouts that were calling her name. Was that Darian?

"Over here!" she called, her voice raspy from the dryness that was now in her throat. "Here!" she called, unable to do much else since her body felt like lead.
 
Hearing her call out to him, Darian began to rush toward her voice, fighting through the smoke and ash in the air from the still going fire on the Auska mansion. "I'm coming!" He called before reaching her. He bent down beside her and bit his lips. "Whats wrong? What happened? You didn't come back to town after the explosion, whats wrong?" He was starting to panic somewhat...thinking somethign was wrong. Maybe she got shellshocked from the explosion.
 
She coughed again and leaned against him a little. "So dizzy...I don't know what happened. One second I was in the woods, the next I was here..." she said, looking up at him. He was right in thinking that something was wrong. She was actually pretty beaten up and needed some medical attention, but it was nothing that would immediately kill her. "Darian...what happened?"
 
"Well the mansion blew up...as you can see with all the smoke in the air..." He said, shaking his head. "Though...the money's all gone...sadly...gone with the explosion." He sighed and shook his head. "Its alright, though you're my only priority at the moment. We should get you back to town."
 
"Can you help me up? My body's so heavy...and I'm very dizzy," she said. "The mansion blew up...are you okay?" she asked, looking at him with concern, despite the pain in her head and pretty much every other place on her body.
 
"Yeah. Everything's alright with me. Hold on to me..." He said as he picked her up into his arms and began to cough as the smoke was starting to get to him. He used all the energy he had left to begin to run through the forest to head back to the town...though the speed was more like a jog because of the extra weight. "Try and hold on Marlowe...!"
 
She had been expecting him to help her to her feet and let her use him as something of a brace as they walked. She hadn't been expecting him to lift her up bridal style. Be that as it may, the girl clung to him, coughing right along with him as they made their way out of the smoke. Much longer there as she had been and she probably would have died of smoke inhalation. As it was, however, she was being rescued.

Clinging to him Caroline let him jog with her back to town, bouncing along with him as he moved them both closer to home. Her home, in any case. And his, if he wanted it to be. She thought of all of this in a rather blurred and scattered way as she tried to breathe in the smell of his shirt instead of dead bodies and smoke. It didn't help nearly as much as she thought it would.

"I'm okay," she managed. "I've got you."
 
Nathan nodded as he held her gently before placing her down against the wall of a building once they were in town. "Lets rest here...alright? My arms are tired and my legs are sore from all the running." He said before sitting down next to her, panting hard and breathing in the clean air rather than the smoke-tainted ash in the area in the forest. "Think we got em all...? Like...enough to keep the town safe?"
 
She nodded as he put her down. She leaned against the wall, filling her lungs with clean air, though she could still smell the wreckage on her body. The first order of business was to get a bath... and then to find out what the hell was wrong with her body. She turned her head to look at him as he sat down next to her.

His question made her frown. "I don't know. I hadn't really counted them all...I think they'll be hard pressed to do anything more to this town with their headquarters, funding, and leader in ashes though. So far as I know, we got them all, but we'll see..."

She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, quite tempted to fall asleep--which would have been bad given her concussion. "Darian, I feel super light-headed...and my head is killing me...I think I have a concussion. Please, don't let me fall asleep..."
 
Darian nodded. "Alright alright I promise..." He said gently as he held her close. "How about we walk around a bit, yeah? Oh no...wait...that might make your condition worse...Well, I'll make sure you don't fall asleep...just...do something like keep one of your arms pointed out in front of you and don't let it down unless you're really hurting. At least then you'd be awake and it'll be easier for me to keep track if you're awake or not."
 
She happily leaned into him, letting him hold her. She nodded at his suggestion to keep her arm held out in front of her, some of it resting on his shoulder. Her eyes looked up into his and she smiled softly. "It's almost like I'm in a dream or something," she said with a chuckle. "I never thought I'd need someone to rescue me ever again. But you saved me after all." She smiled and kissed his cheek, leaning into him, keeping her arm up, though it began to droop a little.
 
"Yeah...rescue again..." He said gently as he held her close, letting the woman rest easily against him. He looked to her and smiled. "Marlowe...I'm...I'm still sorry for that day." He said with a frown. "I'll never be able to lift this guilt I have...So please hear me say it once more...I'm sorry for that day...I didn't mean to kill him...I didn't know it was him..."
 
She frowned as the memories came back to her. But this time, she saw his point of view as well. And she knew exactly how hurtful her words had been. Still, he felt so bad about it. She couldn't have stayed angry if she wanted to with him. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that it happened, and I'm sorry about what I said to you," she said, hugging him to her. "You don't have to keep apologizing. There's nothing you can do to change it, and I know that if you could take it back you would."

She held him close and closed her eyes. "Darian, I missed you so much...I regret what I said to you every day."
 
"It seemed like we've both been living a hell since the day we were torn apart." He said with a small sigh. "Though...it pains me to find out that I'm the only one who could recognize the older version of the other. Didn't you notice it was me at first when I walked through those doors to your crappy bar?" He said as he looked to her, just seeing if she would tell the truth or a lie...not that he cared. He was just curious.
 
"Honestly? No. It's not so much that you look a lot different--I can definitely see you as a kid," she said with a little smile, finding that it was a bit easier to concentrate. "It's more so the way you carried yourself. And the time you came in just a few nights ago was the first time I'd actually seen you in ten years. I was a little distracted by the situation at hand..."

She shrugged. "So you recognized me right away, huh? And when did you sneak into the bar?" Refusing to dignify his comment about it being crappy with a response to the allegation. She knew it was something of a dive, but it was hers, and she'd made it work.
 
"Don't know what you mean by 'sneak in'." He said innocently as he continued to just sit back. "Hey...Are you alright now? Your head still light or hurting or anything...? We should really get you some rest if you're feeling better, but I'm worried about your concussion."
 
She frowned. "I'm not really sure," she said, leaning into him. "I don't really know how to tell if it's a concussion." She did, in fact, have a slight one, but she should really see the doctor. "If you help me up, we can go find a doctor." She smiled and leaned into him.
 
Darian nodded and began to pick her up into his arms and held her head to his chest. "Just relax but don't fall asleep...we should get there soo enough..." He began to walk down the street slowly as he looked to see where a medic or clinic or a hospital was in this town. After ten minutes of walking in the hot sun he saw one down the street some more, and after another five minutes he got in and assigned for a doctor to take care of her. The treatment was free for the freedom the town received due to the two of them.
 
She held onto him tightly, partially because it helped her stay awake, but also because she didn't want him to leave her. She rested against him. Enjoying the comfort of his presence. She kept thinking of how he'd recognized her right away and she wondered if he'd come here hoping to find her. The possibility made her smile. Even if he hadn't, that he'd stuck around and helped her to this point was enough.

When they made it to the clinic of the town, she was treated in another room, her scratches taken care of, though she still had bruises. She was given an icebath to help with the swelling and keep her awake. Marlowe had a slight concussion and she was to be kept awake, but still. And her sprain was given attention as well. When they were done fussing over her, she asked for Darian again. He was probably worried. She would have been if he'd gotten hurt. It was getting easier to concentrate, which was good, but the doctor wanted to be sure that she was safe so she was to stay awake until dawn.

She wore a nightgown that someone had brought for her upon hearing that she'd be there. It was nice, but a bit thin, so she had a robe on as well.
 
When Darian was allowed to come in to see her, he walked in and saw that she was alone and smiled as he closed the door behind him. "Hey there Marlowe." He said as he walked over and sat in a chair next to her bed. "Its good to see you awake Marlowe...though you must be tired as hell." He said, teasingly to her. "Ah...I love to sleep though. I'm feeling a bit sleepy right now...but I won't sleep. I'm gonna stay up with ya to make sure that you don't fall asleep." He said with a smile as he propped his legs up onto the bed and leaned back in the chair casually. He made sure not to put his legs on hers.
 
She smiled and leaned back into the pillows that had been stacked up behind her. Comfy, she smiled and put up with his teasing, just giving him a little look and a "ha ha." She chuckled as he told her he was going to make sure she didn't fall asleep--but looking at him, he seemed pretty tired. "Oh? How are you going to keep me awake?" she asked, curious as to his solution. Honestly, she didn't really expect him to stay awake, and some of the nurses said they'd be happy to come in and keep her company later that night. As long as he was here, she'd be okay.

One thing that the explosion had made clear to her was that being alone sucked. And now that she had someone again, she didn't want to lose him.
 
"Oh...I can think of a few things..." He said pervertedly but he showed he was just joking by chuckling and putting on his normal face again. "Though I know you're probably too tired for any of that. Besides, once we're over you might just be so tired you'll fall fast asleep." He said before opening his eyes to smile to her gently. "Listen...I won't go asleep on you...I owe it to you to stay away with you...Caroline."
 
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