By Raven
The day was hers, more or less, and Raven was enjoying it. Harry and Naya were in school, and she had the morning to herself. She had thought about painting, but decided to just spend the morning in quiet meditation. She was well into it when the images flooded her mind.
First was a woman familiar to her. �I will make them pay for destroying my world and the first shall be him� Raven �heard�. Then came the image of Junior being shot to death and the whole world, well, falling apart. Chris had mentioned that Junior was addressing the United Nations in an outdoor press conference about the reforms of Peru, in order to have them readmitted to the U.N.
He was doing this as a favor to Ramon. Peru was still under economic sanctions and was in need of trade goods that could not be supplied in country, most of all medical supplies to treat common illnesses. Her mind went into autopilot. Before she could think, she was up the stairs and into her office. She had the extra heavy duty flak vest in hand and was about to give the site to site code. Then, she mind sent to Sophie and Ethan, telling them to take the kids after class. Call Chris, Junior in danger, assassination attempt, she added. She didn�t wait for a reply and site to sited out.
She was not able to get within a half mile of the gathering due to the teleport shields. She also had to deal with another problem- there was a Sagan inhibitor field up around the gathering area, except where Junior and his security force were. That meant she was smoking, this was going to hurt. She decided that going over the top was faster than playing line backer with the crowd. She flew just over the heads of the crowd at top speed, holding the vest in her arms to cover Junior with. As she hit him, she pulled her force, in order to not kill him with the impact.
As she hit him, slightly from the side, she felt the impacts of the bullets. She knew her body�s ability to resist common bullets would slow them down- she only hoped it was enough. She had been only in her shorts and tank-top, other clothes were not needed, she had been home safe.
The first shot had hit her in the back of the skull. She felt the bullet ricochet inside and get stuck. The pain was only a flash, because the second shot was hitting her in the back. Had she not been holding him, it would have exploded Junior's heart instead of her spinal column. The third shot hit her heart- she knew that she was in trouble now, because she couldn�t feel or stop her motion, and she was burning again. The final shot hit her in the hip, shattering both the hip and pelvis, but she didn�t care anymore. Gravity did its job, and so had the vest. She could hear the screams as the other people on the podium hit the ground. Junior was knocked cold, but she smelled none of his blood, and his pulse was strong. His heart beat was the last thing she would hear before blacking out. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she could hear bits of conversations.
Get the board, her spine has been severed! Oh god, she�s been shot in the head.
Gently, it's the boss! Keep her covered and out of the light! Her Sagans isn�t active and she�ll go up like a Roman candle!
�Hold on, Raven.� the voice was familiar, but not Chris�. �I can�t stabilize her, sir, my healing ability isn�t working, nor are the spells.�
She�s a what? A vampire? You're kidding me, right?
No, I am not, doctor, and you need to start transfusing as much whole blood as you�ve got, right now, or she will die.
Oh shit, she�s flatlining!
Andrew�s sweet smile and voice, �No, lady love, it�s not time for you and me to walk off into the sunset yet. Just sleep now. It is going to be very hard for you when you wake up. Just be patient with yourself and remember, memories are made in your soul, not just your heart and mind.�
She didn�t know what the sounds meant anymore.
�Easy, Stanley, the metal instruments seem to be reacting on her brain tissue. Switch to the plastics.�
�Okay, Tim, how is that?�
�Good, her claws are no longer flexing.�
�Tim, do you think she is awake?�
�No, Stan, it�s a reflex.�
�You know, Tim, her regenerative ability is really amazing. Once we get this bullet out, her neural tissue will still regenerate. On a normal human, it would be impossible.�
�Stan, there is only one problem- the amount of time it will take. We know it will happen but how long it will be, no one is sure.�
�Mercy Chopper One to Sagan Two, we have your cargo, and will be there in three.�
�Understood, Mercy One. We are ready and waiting. Sagan Two out.�
�Okay, Evan, we have her secure, and I�m buckled in. Do you know who the other passengers are?�
�One is Remmy, Stanley. Chris said you knew him. The other�s name is Steven. Both should be out of the back when the sun is down.�
�I am awake, Mon Cher, just waiting for Steven. He is still having issues with Sol due to age.�
�I know it is hard not having her at the house, but your friend Steven is right. The children would be traumatized the way Robin was when she was sick from the, what did he call it, little death?�
�Stuart, you fool! She�s burning! Shut that shutter now, you're hurting her!�
�Sorry, sir.�
�Get out immediately and report to Janice�s office!�
�Hey, Stanley. I was ordered by the prime minister to report here for a special duty assignment?�
�Hi, Marty, pull up a chair. Stuart opened the shutters and Raven was burned real bad. We can�t be sure if she is in any pain, so I don�t know why you're here. Except that your dad said he was sending in the cavalry on this, and that you were to play her half of a duet?�
�Oh, I understand. Give me a minute.�
�Marty, I don�t know what you�re doing, but it�s working. She is definitely calmer, and she seems to be going back under. Damn this Vampiric biochemistry of hers! I can't tell during the day if she is making any progress! She goes dormant during the day with the exception of this morning and her getting burned.�
�I think the kid learned his lesson, Chris. He wanted to tender his resignation for the accident, which is what it was. How was he to know that her Sagan�s isn�t working, and that for now, the sunlight could kill her?�
�Sky, why can�t I help Mommy?�
�Because, Naya, right now, any of our magic could be dangerous to her. You are still too little to control it well, and Mommy always makes us stronger. Even I can�t use my magic to do more than make us unseen. She will be all right, I promise.�
�She is right Naya, it's in my book right here.�
�You have to promise me and Sky that you will not try to make Mommy all right.�
�OK, Amy, I promise.�
�Sky, we need to go. She can feel us, and it is causing her distress.�
�You got it little sister, we are out of here!�
�Stanley, do you have any idea when she will wake up?�
�No, Dad, I don�t. Steven suspects it will be some time after the spinal column finishes knitting, but not before that. He also thinks that she will wake before the brain has completely healed, just out of stubbornness.�
�You know, Stanley, he�s probably right. She would do it that way just because she hates being still.�
�Yes, Chris, you heard me right. We have an EEG reading. It happened about 40 seconds after sunset. There is still no sign of her Sagans going active again yet though. Hold on, Chris, I just saw Steven and Remmy. They might have an idea. Also, how much longer do you think you will be at Government House tonight?�
�Hello, Christian. We are not sure about how much longer it will take for her Sagan to go active, Mon Cher. Stephen says that it has to do with the brain damage. Once the cell structures are stable in the brain, then it should all return to normal. The thing he is worried about is the fact that the trauma may cause her to manifest again. He said something about ten shars is way too long for nothing to happen. What did he mean by that?�
�Oh, Laurelyn, you startled me! Why are you here?�
�Don�t worry, Doctor. I am here on my own to check up on her. How is she doing?�
�As well as can be expected, due to the trauma. We decided not to use the closet, because it was too high profile. I also think that she would not tolerate the threshold crossing.
�She has been rendered Sagan inert right now, and truthfully, we don�t know for how long or why.�
�It�s because of the wounds. It was too much for her system to handle at once. Separately, she would have been fine, but all three were major trauma even for her nearly indestructible system. It was compounded by the exposure to sunlight.
� Don�t look at me in that tone of voice, Doctor! She will be all right. It is just that she will need time for her systems to, well, reboot. Her body remembers, but it will be like replaying a movie from the very beginning. Remember, Doctor, the very beginning.�
�Oh, bugger! All we need is for her to turn into the savage she devil again.�
�I will not allow that to happen, Stephen. You have my promise, but when she first wakes, you must be ready to help me take her to where she began from. Along with Christian, I will need you to help me re-yoke the killing instincts. She may need to be restrained so as to not injure the others here.�
�Salem, why do you want me there?�
�Because she may not recognize Christian. She was made for Martouf, not him. She may attack him as food if she is going back to the very beginning. Not to mention, if she is, well, on her best behavior, it might be to escape and go to the landing site. I don�t know yet, and Robin passes out every time he tries to see what happens next.�