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Repercussions of a Summons Gone Awry [Sera X Procyonix]

It was a satisfying thought that one day she could end the monster that was Ozramis. He'd ripped her from a world she had just started to accept and turned it all upside down and inside out. He'd caused her to fall in love with two more men, only one of which was still with her and he started a mess of emotions and needs within her that sometimes she just couldn't handle. She hated him. With every fiber of her being. At Rakith's mention of her collecting men, she frowned, almost a look of shame crossing her expression. The cruel words that Ozramis had said to her started to creep back into her conscious and she desperately tried to push them away. He'd only been trying to get to her, to beat her down into his toy. She couldn't allow herself to even think about them. "A...A Succubus!?" Ceci blinked after her exclamation. The kiss to her forehead calmed her and she settled down.

Avoid letting it tear you up... Her gaze was mildly alarmed as she looked at him, but she pushed away any thoughts. Alaric grabbed her attention and she glanced his way, her lips curled into a small smile. "Oh I do like the sound of that...." She teased. Ceci's expression turned affectionate as she looked at Alaric. "You still find me delightful, Alaric? Even after all of the insanity you've been dragged through?" She asked, her tone soft and curious. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't..." A sad laugh escaped her.

"But in all seriousness..." Ceci sighed, "I don't want to collect more men, Rakith..." A pout formed on her lips. "I just want the two of you...." The fact that she wished Derek was with them was left unsaid, "I don't want any more than the both of you...." What if they got sick of her dragging more men around? Wouldn't it eventually upset them? What if the men didn't get along? What if she lost more people she loved? Ceci's stomach lurked and she made a whining sound as she turned to walk into the living room. She wanted to sit down.
 
Rakith gave her a warm smile. “Don't make it sound so terrible a thought to be a succubus. Whether or not its the case, you are a very sexual young woman, you were that before Ozramis. All he did was broaden your horizons. He did it from a malicious point of view, but much of what happened, was something I already has started with you. The collaring and multiple partners. The thing he did wrong, was he took choice from you, forced you to do things against your will. That was truly evil.”



Alaric chimed in there, “And don't take it to mean that Rakith is saying what Ozramis tried to make you believe, what's on your collar. You are not a slut. Neither of us, the people closest to you and who love you, would ever think that of you. Sure you are sexual active, and fate has put you in positions to explore more men than perhaps you would like. But, you are at least selective of the men you share your body with. A true slut does not. So Ozramis doesn't win by acknowledging it.”



Rakith nodded, “And life is risk. You could lose people you love to an accident just as easily. The truth is, you seem to draw power from men, from the act of sex. Even the two days it was just you and me. When we made love, you glowed with the energy flowing into you. I didn't realize it for what it was then, but I now understand. For us to win, you may need that power. So don't hesitate if you find somebody to add to this group. I can't be jealous. I mean look outside, everyone of those women out there protecting you are bound to me because I gave them children. How can I be jealous of my beautiful counterpart, the woman I helped make, and then fell in love with.”



Alaric added, “And me, I'm just happy so long as you love me. I came in knowing that you had at least one other lover. And having met your most recent love, you have good taste. All the two of us want, is for you to be safe, and comfortable and at peace with yourself. You're special, in so many ways, what's one more? Without knowing it, Ozramis has helped you. Without his attempts to destroy us, by making you very active sexually trying to make you feel like something you are not, he allowed us to see how that affected you. I can sense your power now, where before I couldn't.”
 
You are a very sexual young woman. Ceci shot Rakith a chilly glare and crossed her arms in frustration. It was true, but she was in a stubborn mood. Her gaze shifted to Alaric when he assured her that she wasn't a slut, but she quickly looked away. She didn't want to be reasoned with, she just wanted to be angry. Whether it was the hormones in her body or just her natural stubbornness, she didn't know.

Don't hesitate if you find somebody to add to this group. Her brows shot up as she stared at Rakith, her lips parting. When he brought up her family of ancestors, she rolled her eyes. Alaric piped in next and she shot him a look as well. They kept talking about power, trying to make her feel as if what she'd become or was becoming wasn't such a bad thing- but she wasn't in the mood to accept it yet. She merely nodded and sighed, sinking onto the couch in her living room to rest. Ceci still wasn't feeling very good and she needed to get off her feet.

"So I get all my wonderful power from having sex with men..." She grumbled under her breath. "You two can spin it however you like...I'm not happy about it. And when Ozramis sees me again he's going to take that fact about me and twist it to hurt me. He's going to point out every little thing that I hate about it and mess with my head..." She muttered. "I don't want more men! I want you two. That's it! I don't want to love more people..." She yelled suddenly. "Stop making it seem like it's okay!" Ceci snapped. Her blue eyes were fierce in their anger as she stared at the two men she loved. She loved them so much that it hurt and she didn't want to feel that for anyone else. She didn't want to stretch herself to more lovers.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore..." She muttered, leaning back against the couch and closing her eyes. "I don't want to think. Or talk. Or anything. I just want to sit here and be angry..." She informed them with a huff.
 
Both of her men held there hands up in surrender. She certainly was in a mood. But that was a stage of grief as well after all. Neither would admit which of them it was, but one of her two men decided that the thunderhead that was their love needed the storm to go with her thunder. A small thunderstorm formed inside the cottage, swirling around the blonde witch. Though Rakith was aware that he hair had subtly changed colors slightly since he had first met her. Instead of straight out honey blonde, she was now closer to strawberry blonde, the demonic blood taking root? Or had she dyed her hair in that other world? I didn't matter, he hair was long and lustrous, the sort dreams were made of and wrapped in.



The next few days were spent with the two men being their for her. They did things if she asked for them, or if not, just showed their love for her by showering her with affection. Rakith still felt something different about their bond. Was it Derek? Whom he fully believed was alive and well somewhere? It had to be didn't it? Ozramis couldn't have tampered with it, after all, if he could have, he would have saved himself a tremendous amount of trouble and power output and just done it. Creating that world for her, and sending and Alaric else where and else when couldn't have been easy. It likely used up a fair bit of his reserves. And despite it all, Ceci had come out stronger than before. The magic he felt from her was nearly frightening. And by the third day back, he went back to teaching her control. He also taught her the binding spell, though he left out the reason. She was smart. She'd know why. But he didn't bring it up out of respect for her wishes.



Alaric for his part could feel the bond as well. But like Rakith, he had no desire to say anything to upset her further. If Derek was out there, alive, it would best for her to find him as a surprise. It would do her heart a great deal of good. So like his friend and lord, Rakith, he too did nothing but give Ceci the best and most he could, even helping with the training. There was no telling when she would use power next, but when she did, he didn't want he tearing herself apart of even burning herself out.
 
The days that followed were a mixture of ease and stress in equal measure. She was slowly learning to come to terms with Derek's loss, but she was still irritable now and again. To add to her moods, she wasn't uncomfortable and in pain more often than she liked to admit. For the most part she kept her discomfort to herself, not wanting to burden Rakith and Alaric anymore than she already was. She knew they wouldn't complain a bit, but she still didn't like to whine all the time. It was about a week following their arrival at her cottage that she was dozing on the couch after a brief walk with the men through the woods. After about an hour of napping, she woke with a startling cry of pain. It felt like something was stabbing her in the abdomen, a tight pain ripping through her body. It seemed to shoot up her spine and down her legs all at once. Was she in labor? No, that couldn't be right. She would have contractions- they weren't so painful were they?

Ceci cried out again, her hands shaking as she tried to sit up on the couch, her pulse skyrocketing as her breathing became labored. "Rakith?! Alaric?!" She panicked, her voice breaking as she rested her hands on swollen belly. "Oh God..." She sobbed, tears starting to stream down her face as she gritted her teeth against the pain. She didn't know what was happening. According to what she'd learned in Ozramis' modern world, she still had at least a month to go before delivery was even possible. Was something wrong with her baby? Derek's baby? Terror consumed her and she started to sob harder, bending over as a shock of agony cut through her.

"Something's wrong..." She moaned, "Oh God something's wrong with my baby..." Ceci was in so much pain she couldn't even see straight, her vision blurred as she looked towards the men that were quickly approaching her. She felt like she was going to die. The pain was just too intense.
 
Rakith and Alaric both came running. Rakith sensing her terror and pain, started a portal while Alaric picked her up in his arms gingerly. Stepping through the portal, they emerged in a clean white hospital. They were somewhere in the 21st century Rakith knew, though when exactly, he didn't know. They were at the Emergency Ward, and the two young women at the counter about shrieked in surprise as the three appeared from thin air. Rakith growled at them, “Deal with your shock later, she needs a materty doctor, yesterday. She's too early for contractions, and is in incredible pain.” The two girls couldn't seem to grasp what he was saying. So he growled again, allowing his wings to fully open. “Now! Or you'lll spend eternity in your own private Hell... Don't think I won't do it for the woman I love.”



Finally that shocked the two into action and within moments Ceci was on a gurney and wheeled into the elevator to the Maternity Ward. Once there, she was quickly carted into the room and hooked to a drip for the pain. The nurse kept her men from following.. A large black woman told him, “Look son, I don't care if you're Satan hisself... you ain't getting in there.”



That made Rakith laugh. But he nodded and Alaric and he were left outside in the father's room. Even tough neither was the father. And so they paced. The nurse returned looking sad, “I'm sorry, we couldn't save both.. We had to save the mother..”



The two men felt the punch to their stomach. She would be devastated. The waited till they were given the clearance to visit her in the room she was recovering in. She was still sleeping. The two of them sat on either side of the bed. Both conjuring flowers and teddy bears for her to wake up to. All they could do now was wait.
 
When the men arrived at her side she was completely unaware, her focus stretched too thin from the pain. She merely cried and writhed as she tried to find some way to ease the pain. Ceci was vaguely aware of arms lifting her from the couch, but she didn't have enough clarity to realize who. It didn't even phase her as they shifted through time, not even when they were standing in a 21st century hospital did she notice any change. "Oh God make it stop..." She cried, her lips twisted as she tried to hold back a scream. She felt the heat of Rakith's anger as he got angry with the nurses, but that was all before she was suddenly wheeled back to the Maternity Ward. There were people everywhere and she cried out in panick, fearful because she didn't know any of them.

Rakith? Alaric? She wanted them with her. She was scared. Needles punctured her skin, pricks and pinches assaulted her as she was hooked up to the modern technology of a hospital. Soon the edge of the pain was eased, but the deeply seated discomfort was still present and she wished it would just go away. Ceci continued to cry, the hospital bed beneath her suddenly warm as a wash of blood spilled forth. "She's starting to hemorrhage...We need to get in there...." One of the doctor's said sharply. Ceci was frantic, her eyes bulging wide as she demanded answers to questions she didn't even know how to ask. A particularly sharp pain tore through her and she screamed, not even the medicine stopping the pain from gripping her. A nurse jumped beside her, immediately upping the dosage of her IV to try and give her some more relief.

She was distantly aware of things happening. Doctor's were hovering, new medicines were being administered. She felt something cold along her swollen belly and then nothing. She felt a numb distance start to creep in. Whether it was the medicine or the blood loss, she didn't know, but possibly a mixture of both. Her vision came and went, black spots dancing around the edges as she tried to figure out what was happening. The pain had faded, but with it she felt that something was terribly wrong. There came a point in the procedure where she blacked out completely, getting lost to the peaceful darkness of unconsciousness. She had no idea that her baby was dead inside of her womb. Or that she'd come close to losing herself with her baby too. The doctor's could have attempted to resuscitate the baby, but it was unlikely there was even a chance for the child to survive. It was why they chose to save Ceci instead. They stopped the bleeding, but she'd lost so much that they still needed to do a blood transfusion to keep her from slipping away.

It was hours after Rakith and Alaric were brought back to her room that she started to stir. A soft moan parted her lips, her brows knitting together. She was still uncomfortable, stitches pinching her and the IV pulling at her skin. Slowly her eyes opened. She was aware of an unbearable emptiness inside of her and she immediately knew things weren't good. She lost her baby. She'd lost the only piece of Derek she'd had left. The two men beside her didn't need to say anything. She could feel it. She knew exactly what had happened, she felt the weight of loss in her heart as if she'd been awake to hear the nurses and doctors announce the time of death. "Oh God..." She whispered, her voice hoarse from the screaming she'd done earlier.
 
Rakith had wanted to go look to check his certainty about Derek, she would need him now. The loss of the child, her only remaining connection to him would hit her hard. But he didn't dare leave her side right now. Later perhaps, but not now. Right now she needed him and Alaric to be there at all times for her. She needed comfort, compassion, and whatever solace they could give her. Over the course of their relationship already, Rakith had gone from cruel hate-filled demon lord to a gentle and caring lover. A man who knew how to be there for his love. In reality, this had been building over time. But Ceci was the catalyst. Without her, it wouldn't have happened. He had no regrets regarding the change. He was a better man for it. And perhaps he was what the Demonic Council needed, a perspective that saw past cruelty. There were always souls that deserved it, mankind was at its core a barbaric species. Yet those who rose above that, who strove to be more than a predator species preying upon itself were capable of beautiful things.

When she woke, Rakith was pulled from his thoughts. He placed his hand on her shoulder, doing the best he could at comforting her until she was free from all the wires and tubes on her. 'I am sorry, Ceci. They did all they could. It was you or the child. And they still nearly lost you. Words can't adequately express the sorrow I feel for you. I know how important this was for you." What more could he honestly say? Telling her that likely as not, she had killed the child inadvertently with all the magic she had thrown at Ozramis when the father died would crush her. He looked across to Alaric for help.

Alaric, for his part felt bad for her as well, so close to having the child, to lose it, to lose everything in such a short period of time. He wasn't sure how she would make it through this. He knew she would, but he didn't really have an idea as to how. Rather than talk, he lay his head down on he breasts gently being careful not to disturb the monitoring and protective things connected to her. She needed to get well first. But it was important for her men to be here for her now. More than ever before, she needed their comforting.
 
Rakith's hand on her shoulder was barely felt. Ceci didn't even feel like she existed anymore. Her pain was too powerful. "My baby..." She whispered, eyes seeing nothing around her as she drowned in her despair. She knew somewhere in her mind that Alaric and Rakith were there with her - trying to comfort her in some way. A light pressure against her chest, Alaric's head, made her shift, but she said nothing. For long moments she said nothing more. The heart beat monitor went in a pattern of even beeps to rapid, cataloging her emotions as they continued in a roller coaster.

After another hour of silence, Ceci blinked, turning her attention to her two men. "I don't want to be here..." She whispered. The hospital smelled like pain and death, two things she wanted nothing to do with. "Rakith..." Ceci groaned, "I want to leave. Now! I don't want to be here anymore!" She clenched her fists at her sides, "Oh God, please..." She started to sob, "Takes us away from here..." Ceci pleaded. Her immediate health concerns were handled, all that would remain was weakness. She didn't need to be in the hospital anymore. The only reason she was still in the hospital was because the nurses and doctors were terrified of Rakith and wanted to watch her as a simple precaution. "I'm physically fine...." She assured him, her voice weak and pitiful. "I can't be here another second.." She informed Alaric and Rakith, tears pricking at her eyes.

Once Rakith was convinced that she could leave, she found herself once more in her little cottage in the woods. She couldn't stand up on her own yet, the Doctor's having pumped her full of drugs that messed with her ability to move easily. It made her blissfully numb in some ways, but it was annoying in others. "Alaric..." She said softly, "Can you make some tea?" Her tone was off, her eyes a bit distant as she stared at the wall of her cottage. Ceci sat on the couch, wondering how it felt to be happy. She felt as if it had been so long since she'd been genuinely care free and happy. It was hard to think that she'd ever be happy again. Not after losing her child.

"Rakith..." She turned her pleading eyes to him, the blue hues glistening, "Can you go back? Get my baby? Bury my baby with Derek?" She begged. "Please...They should be together...." A sob in her throat choked off her words and she wrapped her arms around herself. "Please.."
 
Rakith nodded as she begged him. He would do anything for her. And so they went home, an then he went to receive the dead child While he suspected the coffin would be empty, it was important to her. He just hoped she found Derek soon. It was tearing her apart. Add in all that power, and she was a ticking time bomb. He pitied whomever would be on the wrong side of that. Once the fetus was buried in the back yard, Rakith came back to check on her.



Alaric for his part, did everything he could to pamper her. To make her life more bearable right now was top most. But like Rakith, he knew she would get worse before she got better. She had been so unhinged when she lost Derek. And now the child. He was worried that she would have a breakdown. Thanks to Ozramis and the mental hospital he was trying to keep him at, he knew all about breakdowns now. And the thought of their mutual love falling prey was not something either man waned.



A world away, Derek doubled over in sheer agony. The soul crushing pain he felt could only be one thing: Ceci. How she had fused their awareness together, he didn't know. He only knew he could feel things that she went through. Derek collapsed on the flight line during calisthenics. They rushed him to the infirmary, and found nothing wrong. How could he explain it? That pain followed by the intense and utter hopelessness had to mean Ceci had lost their child. He would grieve for the child, their love child. But he would work with her again to try again. Once he found her.
 
While Rakith was gone, Ceci remained curled on the couch, sipping the tea that Alaric brought for her. She didn't know how to act. How to feel. All she felt was a crushing depression on her shoulders. All of what they went through and it was to end with the death of her child? Her child with Derek. The Derek who had slipped from her grasp as easily as if she'd cut a string. Ceci started to cry, her tears rolling down her cheeks and dripping into the hot tea she cradled between her hands. Alaric was trying his best to be comforting and supportive - but none of what either men could do would fix things. Nobody could bring back her child. Nobody could bring back Derek. Her hands shook and she stood up, aware that Alaric was watching her closely. She didn't care. She wanted to scream. To shout. To hurt someone. Something. Ceci hurled the tea cup across her cottage, watching as it shattered against the wall, a puddle of tea and shards of glass scattering the floor.

Rakith appeared just as the cup shattered on the other side of the room and she turned her blazing eyes to look at him, then flick to Alaric. "It was me..." She said suddenly, her eyes burning with the intensity of her pain and anger. "It killed my baby..." She howled painfully. "I did it..." A sob tried to break through her pained anger, but she swallowed it, gritting her teeth instead. Ceci pointed at herself. "It was when I tried to hurt Ozramis..." She said, her voice suddenly a little too calm. "It was too much for the baby...I killed it...and then Derek died right in front of me...Died for me...And then I carried a dead child for days..." She hissed.

She paced, putting herself as far from Rakith and Alaric as she could. If they approached she held up her hands and pointed at them in warning. She didn't want to be touched, coddled, or otherwise comforted. She wanted to rage and she feared that if they tried to approach her with understanding and pity she would explode. She'd simply lash out and hurt them and she couldn't risk hurting them. She didn't want to hurt anyone else. But she stood on the side of the room, wrapping her arms around herself as she stared wildly at the contents of her cottage. The ticking bomb was ready to detonate.
 
Rakith watched her carefully. This wasn't good. She was on the verge of exploding. And yet he knew that she had to deal with this herself. It was evident in her eyes that she wanted no part of whatever he might say or do. Or Alaric either. Her emotions roiled like a thunderstorm. He could feel it building. It would happen, sooner or later... She would explode. His eyes never left her as he watched the build up. Feeling helpless against the onrushing storm, he knew he had to do something. Finally, he said firmly, "Ceci, with the power surging through you right now, you need to step outside, unless you want to reduce your home to kindling when you explode.. It's only a matter of time at this point." He hoped the tone of his voice would suit her mood, and get through to her mind. Coddling her wouldn't work. But straight firm and to the point might.

Next to him, Alaric looked at the Demon Lord open mouthed. As tense as the moment was, and he was going to give her an order? Was he mad? Did he want her to explode? Of course, he didn't have the benefit of Rakith's ability to feel her anger and rage. Had he known just how far along she already was, he would likely have understood Rakith's gambit. Still thinking she could be talked down, he took a step forward before Rakith stopped him. "She has to do this on her own, my young friend. She doesn't want or need our help right now. The only help we can give her is to allow her to deal with her pain and rage. It may seem cruel to you, but it is what she wants. Trying to go too close to her at the moment is likely to get us singed... You more than me, since I am rather flame proof given where I live..."
 
Her eyes flicked to focus completely on Rakith, Alaric momentarily forgotten. His firm tone didn't flare her anger, but a hesitancy entered her persona. Her cottage. Would she really destroy it? Would she become so lost that she harmed yet another thing which she held so dear? Rakith was right. She could feel the power. It simmered beneath the surface of her skin, alive and almost with a mind of it's own. Her hands clenched at her sides, her shoulders tense as she narrowed her gaze at her demon lover. Oh how she loved him. But oh how she wanted to throttle him. To express her rage on a being which she knew could handle it. Who she couldn't hurt. Her teeth grinded as she took another step, backwards towards the door of her home. That was when Alaric grabbed her attention, the man stepping forward to come to her. But Rakith stopped him - Ceci relaxed only slightly. Keep him away. She thought in a panic.

She turned on her heel, fleeing through the door and slamming it shut behind her. The air of her forest was muggy and thick, humidity clinging to her body as she stepped off the porch and into the clearing ahead of her. She didn't dare turn to look over her shoulder. Ceci didn't want to see if the men followed her. She didn't want to see them if they stood in the window to watch. She wouldn't be able to handle it. Already she couldn't handle it. The pressure of her life as it felt more imposing. All she felt was the walls of pain enclosing around her and her legs buckled. "I can't..." She whispered, shaking her head back and forth. "I can't..I can't...I can't do it anymore..." She whispered. Ceci fell forward, her palms hitting the dirt beneath her, her nails digging into the earth as she started to cry. On her hand and knees she sobbed, body wracking cries that echoed around the trees.

"I can't!!!" She hissed, her head lifting and her eyes widening. "I won't."

That did it. Her power didn't ask for permission, didn't seek her guidance. It knew what she needed to heal. And as it bubbled to life, an inferno ignited around her. Heat and static magic prickled her skin. Her skin burned and her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Ceci didn't really know what was happening. She felt the need to escape. To run from the pain that was crushing her. But her magic knew. It was going to guide her.
 
Rakith watched her go outside silently. Moving quickly to the window, he watched the magical glow start to over take her. It was starting. He could feel the waters receding ahead of the tidal wave of power. His skin itched with the sensation of a thousand fire ants walking along his naked body. Uncomfortable yet undeniably fascinating. When it came, there was no denying it. The power flared and in that moment, Ceci glowed brighter than the sun. Since he didn't need to worry about burning his eyes out, he watched through the glare. He could feel the portal opening, but to where? When? She was leaving, and while he didn't think it the wisest choice given her condition, he knew it was what she felt she had to do, or the magic did. He only prayed that it took her to Derek. She needed to know he was alive, to know that he was bound to her no less than he and Alaric were.

As the power surged, the cottage rattled and it took his magic to contain the dishes from falling and shattering into pieces. "Good bye, my love," he said softly. "Wherever your magic takes you, I hope you find peace and solace," he sighed. And Derek. IF she didn't find him, if he was wrong... No, he knew he wasn't wrong. out there, some where was the man she needed more than anything at that moment. There was a time that it would have upset him greatly to learn that she needed another man more than him. But he knew where he stood with her, and was secure in her love of him. He also understood he better than she did right now. Like it or not, she was a succubus. And to win their war, she needed to recruit.
 
The world around Ceci ceased to exist. For what felt like forever, she floated in a dark oblivion. She wasn't sure where her existence began and where it ended. Had she killed herself? She didn't know. Distantly she felt Rakith and Alaric's presence, a comforting pressure in her mind, in her heart. But it wasn't as close as it was before. Very slowly, the world around her started to realign. But when she started to regain her senses they didn't feel any familiarity with her surroundings. The sounds were first. Distant explosions. The shaking of the ground beneath her. Taste came next. She tasted smoke and she then smelled blood. Her lips and nose twisted in distaste as she slowly opened her eyes. White. She didn't see the familiar outline of trees above her. Instead she saw white fabric. A tent above her head.

"Cecilia! Get up!" An angry, rough sounding voice shouted at her. She sat up, realizing she had been resting on an uncomfortable makeshift bed. Bodies rushed around her and she had a difficult time trying to piece together what was happening. Women in white dresses and odd little headpieces were running back and forth, men at their heels as they tended to a number of groaning patients. "I need you over here! If you pass out on us again you're gettin' shipped home!" The angry voice shouted again. Ceci stood up, starting to realize she wasn't home anymore. This was another time entirely. Not as modern as Ozramis' world. But much farther along in the time stream than her home. "C-Coming!" Ceci stuttered, quickly finding the source of the voice and going to it. "Apply pressure here...Don't move!" The voice instructed, an older woman with creases in her skin and blood spattered across her uniform. Nurses? War? The terms came to her, distant memories of her time in high school.

She nodded, lifting her hands to press a large bundle of gauze to a sobbing man's open wound. It appeared that some sort of explosion had ripped into his shoulder and he was bleeding profusely. Where am I? Ceci panicked a little. Had she left Rakith and Alaric behind completely? Biting her lower lip, she tried not to focus on the painful and gut wrenching sobs of the man beneath her hands. She could feel his blood seeping through the gauze and staining her fingers. Why had her magic brought her to a war zone? Disguised as a nurse? None of it was making much sense.

Nearby a louder explosion went off and she jumped, her eyes wide as she looked over her shoulder. Were they even safe? "Keep that pressure going! We have another group of men on their way in any minute!" The angry nurse shouted to her and then to everyone around them.
 
Derek was behind the stick of his P-51 Mustang as the squadron raced over the front. Squeezing lightly on the trigger, he watched the tracers fly out and walk his guns right into his target: a munitions depot just behind the front. This would give the troops some relief he thought to himself as the train cars exploded gratifyingly. The three other planes behind him did the same, and soon the depot was ablaze with orange fire and dark oily black smoke. The four Mustangs climbed out and went looking for Messerschmitts. They didn't have long to search as six of the sleek German fighters appeared from above trying to get a jump of the faster American fighters.



The fatal flaw they made was not coming out of the sun. During their heyday the Me-109s would always descend out of the sun to hide their approach. But so many of those highly skilled and trained pilots were dead now four years later. The pilots that met the Mustangs were inexperienced, and would pay with their lives. The Mustangs began the intricate and delicate aerial ballet with their German counterparts until one by one the green German fighters fell from the skies, burning. Derek looked over his wing of four and noted that Charlie had taken some rather distressing damage. He could hear his friend in pain over the radio, but he was being the trooper, being stoic and trying to dismiss it.



And so as the battle for the sky above the front ended as quickly as it began, Derek turned his quartet for home: the Italian city of Campomarino, on the Adriatic coast. Charlie's plane was trailing smoke, and slowly losing altitude despite the pilot's skilled work keeping that shredded plane flying. Once over the airstrip, Derek signaled Charlie to go in first, and he could see an ambulance waiting at the end of the runway. Then he held his breath as he circled the strip watching. Charlie nearly made the landing, but his gear didn't lock, and so the plane collapsed to the ground and careened down the runway out of control. When it came to a rest, it burst into flames, but he could see the wounded figure pushing itself free of the wreckage.



The other three planes came in one by one, with Derek as the flight leader landing last. Making a good landing, he taxied to his spot in the grass and feathered the engine. Turning the ignition off, he leaped out of the cockpit, and still wearing his parachute, he grabbed a ride on the nearest fire truck to get out to Charlie. Upon arriving, the flames were keeping the ambulance from reaching him. “Douse me,” he yelled at the fire fighters. And as soon as the hoses covered him in water, he raced to his friend.



Charlie looked up, “Boss, get the hell outta here, it's gonna blow any minute.. No use both of us dying.” The pain was clear, Charlie couldn't walk, the bullet wounds were clear that his leg had been shattered by the twenty millimeter slugs slashing through the cockpit. He was bloody and had burns on his left side. Regardless of anything else, Charlie's war was over. Now it would depend on Derek to get him to the doctors and nurses to save his life.



Derek shook his head as he lifted the broken body of his friend, cradling it in a fireman's carry. “Ain't nobody dying today, Charlie...You'll be arguin' with Jim Crow soon enough.” Derek knew it wasn't quite that simple. Racing towards where he could see the water cascading through the smoke, he hoped that he was running in the right direction. Finally, the two pilots emerged from the smoke, as the fighter exploded behind them. And that was when he saw her. Ceci. She was here. Nearly stumbling from the shock, he caught himself and got Charlie in the ambulance. He didn't say anything but those deep brown eyes were locked on the woman he loved. But like him, she had a job to do, and he wouldn't get in the way. The reunion could wait.
 
Ceci's hands were slick with blood as she held the pressure on the injury beneath her fingers, but she had to focus. Her magic had brought her to where she was for a reason and she had to figure out what it was quickly. "What's his name? Charlie? Good..." Ceci heard the sound of the head nurses voice, her focus switching to the men that had just entered their medical tent. The station was already heavily packed with the injured, but somehow the nurses made room for more. They had popped up the area where they were needed most, even if it was a little close to the front lines . Once the injured were stable enough, they were transported farther from the battle field.

She peeked towards the sound of a ground rocking explosion, two men emerging from the smoke as a mobile unit picked them up. For a moment she thought she saw a familiar face, but she shook her head, knowing it was her heart and eyes playing tricks on her. The nurse at her side was directing her into action and she followed each order as her focus was torn from the ghost of a man she thought she'd seen. "Got it.." Ceci said firmly, helping to transfer the man to a new bed so that the next soldier could be treated. The mobile unit arrived, transporting both men the short distance to their medic station. "Cecilia, get more gauze..." She was directed by the nurse at her side. She nodded, turning just as Derek walked into view again. She didn't see him as she fumbled around in the transport cases for what she needed. Once her arms were full, she returned to where she'd been, a new body, Charlie, in the place of the last patient. "This here is Charlie. Leg is shattered, Severe burns to his left side. Bullet removal is needed..." A surgeon in front of her said clearly. "Grab my tools..." He told Ceci, who quickly turned away to grab a silver tray covered in different surgical tools.

Ceci went through the motions, handing the surgeon what he needed as if she knew exactly what she was doing. Bullets and pieces of shattered metal were removed from Charlie's leg as the moments ticked by. When a tray full of metal bits were handed to her to dispose of, she glanced up, finally seeing him. Ceci stopped moving, the sounds and sights all around her no longer in existence as her focus was stolen by a man that should have been dead. But he wasn't. As clear as day, he was alive. He was less than ten feet from her. They were breathing the same air. Something jostled Ceci from her daze, the nurse, yelling at her to get a move on.

Startled, she moved, her eyes flicking away from Derek as she scurried her way on to finish what needed to be done for Charlie. The next twenty minutes went by in painful clarity. She felt everything, she heard everything, she smelled everything. Her heart beat in a way that she wasn't sure if it was going to stop or pound right out of her chest. Derek was alive. She saw him. Her gaze shifting to look at him as he got a look over by one of the other nurses. How?! Ceci was at a loss for any sort of explanation that made sense.

When Charlie was stable enough to be moved, she was dismissed, the head nurse scolding her for being distracted and telling her to head back to the zone roped off for them to rest. It was a short ride away and Charlie was getting transferred to their other station to rest. As she was ushered along, she met Derek's gaze as he looked at her. As soon as they connected she knew she was right. It really was him. There was no doubt. "Derek..." She was pushed into the mobile unit, Charlie at her side. Wanting to keep up the charade, she waved him over, "Charlie wants you to ride with him...."
 
Derek watched Ceci the nurse work. That the rest saw her as always having been there was something he had learned when they first met. This time, rather as one of the everyone else, he was one of the ones who saw the situation as it truly was. This was all her doing somehow, that much he knew. One minute he had been at death's door, seeing the light that everyone always says they see... And suddenly he woke up here, in 1944 Italy. Though he had to admit that he was honored to get to fly with one of the most celebrated units of the war, one that paved the way for the future, he had been shocked to see it wasn't nearly as integrated as the history books said. Both of the commanders of the squadron were white, and saw the black pilots as 'boys' and the n word. Most buildings were segregated, and on base where 'coloreds' outnumbered the 'white folk' by nearly three to one.. the colored section of the movie theater and commissary was so small no more than a handful of men were able to use them at once.

The history of his home nation was not nearly as egalitarian as people always pretended. Like Prohibition. Which in his new role as a fight pilot, he was aware of far better than he had as a student, it had only been about alcohol so far as it was a way to control and make life miserable for immigrants coming over from Europe. Especially the Germans who brought their beer with them and made money through brewing. For the second time in a generation, the world was at war, and anyone with a Germn sounding name was treated as a spy or worse. Not that the other coast was any better. Japanese interment was far worse. America was the land of opportunity so long as you weren't the new kid on the block. It was a sobering though really for Derek as it put so much of his own time period in perspective.

But he cleared his mind of all that. That was not important. What was important is now he knew where Ceci was. She was right there in front of him, helping save his friends life. But he had so many questions. How had she saved him? How had he wound up here? Likely the answer to all those questions was her magic. That magic existed had been such a shock to him. And it was clear to him that now twice, he owed his very existence and sentience to magic. And to Ceci. It had been her love that had make the brown Pinocchio come to life. To make him a real boy. Most men went through their lives wondering if they would find a true love. Derek knew for certain. He had been created by love by the woman who loved him. It was a deep unconditional love, like the one he gave her in return.

When the surgery was done, she looked exhausted. He wanted to go to her, to hold her. But that would be bad. Very bad. Even as a pilot and a decorated one, if he dared to touch a white woman in public, well it would be the stockade at best. The worst case scenario was too horrific to even consider. He wasn't good enough to piss in the same trough as they did, or kiss their women but he was perfectly good enough to spill his blood and lay his life down to protect their rights. That had been the lecture that first day in theater. At least North Africa was better. There the officers in charge were visionaries really. They treated the pilots like men, not colored men. Which made this all that much worse.

Snapping out of his thoughts as she waved at him to come, he nodded, “Yes, ma'am,” he said obediently, a good little colored. “Thank you kindly, ma'am,” he held his flight cap between his hands and bowed to her submissively as was expected. Once in the truck he looked at her, his deep cholocate eyes filled with joy and love and relief to see her again.. “Ceci...” he said softy...His voice saying her voice almost reverently like a prayer. “I can't touch you in public, but... I want to hold you and wake up in our old place again... you in my arms, and happy.” Sighing, he risked placing his hand on her knee briefly in a comforting manner, “I know about the baby..I felt it when you did. I can feel you wherever you are..It's incredible, but crazy at first... How?”

Just then, the truck hit a rut in the runway made by Charlie's plane and the entire vehicle jostled mightily. Enough that the flap of the truck closed giving them privacy and also throwing her into his arms as both of them nearly lost their seats. Her scent filled him.... Still sweet and pure, even beneath the blood smoke and medicines. “It really is you...” he breathed... Holding her even for a few moments was worth everything that had happened to him since arriving in Italy. All the pain, the endured hatred. Watching men die or worse, come back from surgery missing arms and legs. If war was hell, then this was the lowest pit of Hell... But anything was made bearable by her being there in his arms for that moment.
 
It was strange for Ceci to stand by and let Derek speak to her in such an obedient way. But she had to realize they weren't in their time. But he'd obviously adapted to the period that he'd been brought into. But she had to admit, she didn't like it. She didn't like her man bowing his head to her in such a submissive way. Inside the truck, she watched him, seeing the love and excitement that was so clearly displayed in his gaze. Ceci. The way he said her name, it brought a tingle down her spine, her eyes welling up with tears. He was alive. He was right in front of her. He explained that he couldn't touch her in public, but how he wanted to hold her. To wake up in their own place. Happy. The hand he placed on her knee sent an electric sensation through her, her heart skipping a beat. "Derek..." She whispered, placing her hand over his as he mentioned the baby. He was asking questions she didn't exactly know how to answer. She knew it had to do with her magic and their bond, but Rakith was better at understanding the deeper details of such things.

When the truck hit a rut, she yelped, the truck flap shutting and her body falling right out of her seat. But the arms that wrapped around her were firm and strong. Her blue gaze rose to look into Derek's dark hues, a precious moment shared between the two of them. They remained frozen together, unwilling to pull away even though dangerous of being caught was around them outside of the moving vehicle. "It is me...And it's you..." She whispered softly, lifting a hand to caress the side of his face. Ceci couldn't stand it anymore, she placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down further, pressing their lips together in a soft kiss.

The moment their lips met, she melted into him, letting the familiar scent and warmth of his body wrap around her. Nothing else mattered. She was reunited with Derek, her Derek. Ceci pulled herself up so she was sitting in his lap more securely, her arms around his neck to keep him melded against her body as she deepened the kiss between them. She drowned herself in him, her lips greedy as she clung to his strong form. "Derek..." She cried, tears rolling down her cheeks even as she parted from the kiss to catch her breath. She didn't care. Her lips crushed against his again, the saltiness of her tears slipping between their lips.
 
Derek inhaled sharply as she kissed him, she shouldn't, but then he realized, the flap was closed, and Charlie certainly wasn't going to deny his friend the chance to kiss a white woman. Taboo or not, the colored folk, funny how that word hurt more than the N word, stuck together. They had to for survival. And who was he to deny the woman he loved? The moment was sweet and tender, despite the depth of the kiss. It was everything he had remembered their kisses to be like. He didn't know how long it had been for her, but he'd been in the war now for six months. More than enough time to get beat down by white sergeants and officers to “remind him of his place.” With a sigh, as the kiss ended, he looked into her eyes and stroked her hair softly. “Ceci, my Ceci, welcome to perhaps one of the worst periods in human history. World War Two. If the country we're fighting against, Nazi Germany, wasn't bad enough with it's crazy dictator who is burning millions of people for their religious faith, my people, black people that is, well we're called coloreds currently, but we barely rate as people. We can't use the same toilets as white folk. Very very racist and segregated. If I were to be caught kissing you, I'd likely be beaten for it, and you'd be a pariah for stooping so low beneath your station,” he explained quickly. “It's a period of contrasts, very stark ones. On one hand, the fighter squadron I fly with will one day be considered a major step in the fight for equality, the history books always told us that the white men in charge were progressive. Perhaps so.. Perhaps only being beaten twice a day is progressive, I don't know.”

Tears were in his eyes, as he looked at the woman he had thought he had lost. Of course if he thought about it rationally, he would remember that she created him in most ways that mattered, how could she not ever come for him? But what was rational in this? The fact that he hadn't been born human technically, that most of his memories were a lie fabricated to make him believable to her. To hurt her. How could he ever have hurt her? She was so... perfect. She used magic. Something he was tau... no, made to not believe in. It was horrifying for him realizing still after over a year now that that was the extent of his life. And even there, he had managed to die once, saving his woman. Kissing her forehead softly, he whispered, “I guess we'll have to wait to give you another baby until we get out of this place. I can't even begin to imagine how you'd be treated here with a black child,” he shuddered at the thought.

The ride to the rear hospital was a long one, Derek knew. They had time to talk now. “How long has it been for you? Since...you know... I died?” he asked her curiously. “For me, I've been in this place for six months now. More than enough time to understand I want to do my best to be invisible everywhere but in the sky. When I fly its the only time I feel equal. The German's don't care what color I am. They want to kill me no more or less than a white man. Sad really, that the great evil of the twentieth century treats me better than my own people,” he gave an ironic chuckle.
 
Ceci hated hearing about the time they were in. The hatred that seemed to flourish around all of the population. She was thankful that Derek knew so much about it, but she still wished she was ignorant of the horrors. She clung to him, unwilling to be even the smallest distance from his warmth. Ceci had truly believed she had lost him. But now she had him. When he commented about having to wait to give her another baby, she laughed sadly. "I'm not sure I have the heart to open my arms to another pregnancy right now anyway, Derek..." Ceci explained softly. "My heart still aches for the child we lost..." He inquired about how much time had passed for her and she looked thoughtful for a moment. "I believe time has passed very similarly for us both..." She murmured. "Give or take a week or so I think..." Ceci honestly wasn't sure. In her depression she had spent very little time considering the days that passed her by.

"Derek....I'll get us both out of this time.." She told him with a small smile. "I'm still not sure how I got here...But I'll figure out how to use my magic...but I'll get us away from the cruelties of this history.." She said in a hushed voice. "I don't want to be surrounded by war...." Ceci admitted. "I've had enough pain and suffering...I don't want to witness it.." Chewing on her lip nervously, she glanced at the injured man beside them. "I do wonder...my power brought me back to you...but did it perhaps bring us together in this timeline for a reason?" She sighed, irritable that she didn't have all the answers she needed. "What is important is that we're together and safe...We must remain so until I get figure this all out..." She told him with a small smile.

"I know you're strong...Can you hold out in these conditions until I can make a plan?" Ceci asked him. She was certain that they were both there for more than just the purpose of finding each other. Why had Derek been sent here in the first place? Out of all the timelines - it was this one. Why was she brought about as a nurse and him a pilot? There were too many questions and she was going to have a difficult time finding the answers. Sometimes she hated her magic. It was never easy to understand, only Rakith seemed to understand the deeper meanings of such things. She had a pang of longing when she thought about him. Rakith and Alaric. She had left them behind. Once again her heart was not whole. It would remain so until she had all of her men. Turning her attention back to Derek, she smiled weakly. "I love you, Derek...I've missed you so much..." She leaned forward to kiss him once more, a soft and gentle brushing of quivering lips. The vehicle was slowing and she frowned. "I think our privacy will soon be ending. When can we again meet like this? At night? Where would we be safe?"
 
Derek considered her words as their time was growing short. It had been a wonderful reunion. And one of the very few times they had been alone and both of them were still clothed. He wondered briefly if she thought of it as well. The small sly grin on his face would tell her that he certainly was aware. But he needed to think of something quickly. The truck was coming to a rest and their time alone would be over. “I can, babe, for you. As you know, I'll do anything and everything for you. I mean, when the romantic ballads claim they will die for you, I did more than sing about it,” he teased her softly as he kissed her lips one last time caressing her cheek. “There is a dark spot on the base that you can meet me, its that area right under the control tower to the field. They can't have lights shining there or risk blinding a controller or a pilot doing night missions,” he told her.

Sure, other pilots used it to get with nurses too, there were three or four Negro nurses stationed her. And not all the white women were cold to his race. Some had lovers among the fliers. In that, so long as it stayed quiet, Ceci would have peers at least. He wondered how the men of this era would react to the knowledge that in seventy five years, his original time, black men with white women was a major kink. Something that even white men jerked off to. They would die likely in disbelief. Not that Derek was particularly race aware. He hadn't been made for that other than he was sent her direction in case it was a problem for her or the other two men. But thankfully for him, and his very existence, none of them had thought anything of it. In that respect, the beautiful young witch in his arms was the perfect woman for a man like him.

“I love you too, baby, always, and forever,” he squeezed her hands as he moved to help her off of his lap reluctantly. By the time the flap opened with the corpsmen, Derek was properly subservient again. “Thank you, ma'am, for letting me ride with Charlie to the hospital. I hope I did not impose too much on you with my presence,” he said quietly in a very meek tone. The two corpsmen smiled at the Colored who knew his place as they took the other off on his stretcher.
 
The last thing she wanted to do was leave Derek's side, but she had no choice. The world was tearing them apart - again. Her cheek turned into his caressing fingers as he explained where they could meet. A dark spot on base, in the middle of the night where nobody would disturb them. "I'll be there..." She promised, gazing at him with longing. As he helped her off his lap, she pouted, immediately feeling the loss of his warmth.

As the flap of the truck opened she watched as Derek's persona shifted. It was time to act once more. She felt as if they were in a movie, playing their parts so the director wouldn't fire them and kick them from the set. Ceci smiled towards him, "Of course. You didn't impose at all...We'll take care of Charlie..." She responded kindly, slipping out of the truck. She took one of the corpsmen's hands as he helped her down with a respectful nod. They motioned for Derek to get his ass out of the truck as well before they carried Charlie into the hospital. Ceci spared one last glance at Derek, her hues intense as she watched him. She wanted to get away from the people around them. To be truly alone with him again. They needed to figure out what was happening and if they could move time again. To somewhere where they could all be together.

Ceci dropped her gaze and moved through the hospital, somehow knowing exactly where she was supposed to go. She entered a nurses station, the gossip and hustle and bustle around her managing to take her attention away from Derek. She was pushed about the hospital to help the Doctor's where necessary. The entire day was truly a blur. She didn't understand where her sudden skills in nursing had come from, but she was thankful for them as she was directed to do this and that. As the evening came upon her, she was exhausted, following a few other nurses to where the kitchens were setup. Her stomach growled angrily and she groaned in annoyance. A nurse beside her, Edith, laughed. "You're hungry aren't you, Cecilia?" She grinned and walked a little faster. Ceci nodded and smiled. "I am..." She admitted.

"We'll eat and then you should go back and rest..I hear tomorrow we're getting another troop of injured men..." Edith insisted. Ceci held back her eye roll. She had plans to meet Derek so she already knew she wouldn't be getting to bed early. "Of course..." She agreed, ducking into the kitchens with Edith at her side.
 
Derek smiled at Ceci briefly, before they were once again torn apart. At least this time he wasn't dead. This time, they were close still. And as infuriating as it was to be separated from her, he had the comfort of knowing she was well, and that she loved him as much as she always had. To be honest, in his short life time since she had made him real, he had often wondered if she really loved him or had that been the programing Ozramis had done to their world. While he believed that she had in his heart, getting confirmation only made him feel that much more loved. What he understood about people, given he had been given a vast amount of knowledge to seem real, most men liked knowing the depth of their partner's love. That they were appreciated and held dear was something all human's wanted to feel happy. Thus, when he got back to his side of the base, he walked around with a smile that was uncharacteristic for him in this setting.

One of his fellow fliers came up to him. "You seem happy. Take a shine to the nurse that came here for Charlie? She is fine certainly. Such beautiful features. But you know she will look down on us. They all do, especially the blonde ones. They know they are prized, and wont give us the time of day." Chip was his nickname as he too was a Charles. He shook his head at the silliness of being hot for a blonde white women. Derek looked at him and sighed. If he only knew what the future held for their race. Sure there was still racism, but the opportunities available were so much better. And interracial couples were becoming an accepted situation. While his school had been a fiction, it was based on reality to his understanding: unless everything in his brain that had come from the school and his programming were a fiction. Which was something he had to realize that it might be. Ozramis was a manipulator. What dark secrets would he learn about himself yet?

Rather than respond the comments on Ceci as a woman which while true made him uncomfortable talking about her with another man that way, he shrugged. "I just think she's a nice person, and truly cares about Charlie as a person. Not just another Colored. It would have been easy for her to make me walk. But she didn't, and I'm grateful for it. Gives me hope you know?" That he knew just how wonderful a woman Ceci was wasn't something he was going to let on. After all why get them in trouble in this time in history? It was funny in a way, to him, they both had done little than live in one web of deceit or another since they had met: Ozramis first, and hiding that Derek had become self-aware; and now that they were lovers and very much in love. He truly hoped that one day, they could be open about things and have everyone accept them.

The following morning, he was awake before dawn, as usual. It was the predawn hours, the gloom of a storm system moving across the boot was something ground him and his flight in the morning. Forecasts suggested that they could get aloft by late morning, and so after calisthenics, he was free to do as he wished. And he decided to sign a jeep out, and make his way to the hospital. Stopping at the BX, he picked up a bottle of Charlie's beloved Grape Nehi, he made his way to the hospital. Of course, it was more an excuse to try to see Ceci. Making his way to where he had been directed, he arrived at Charlie's side. "You look pretty good for the barbeque I pulled out of the smoker..." he teased his friend.
 
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