See Part One for disclaimers and author's notes.
Chapter Eight
-- Rescued --
Lia met the others outside the hospital in the staff parking lot. She gave El one of those looks that says I'm nervous along with a quick grin. She went in the staff entrance while El, Siro and Taja went around front. Lia wasn't the only one who was nervous. Taja kept looking around like she expected something to jump out at her. Siro took his cue from El and just looked like he knew what he was doing.
They followed El into the building and to the front desk where she inquired about any John Does, or other identity problems arriving in the past few days. The front desk was helpful, but following hospital protocols until El flashed her badge. An administrative assistant was summoned at the flash of the badge, apologies tendered for any unintentional obstruction of the detective's investigation and she was turned over to the very professional young lady who appeared in answer to the summons. El, Siro and Taja were escorted up to the admin offices where she and her assistants could check out the most recent files to see if any one arriving had fit their profile.
Twenty minutes later, Lia officially met up with the trio, got introduced to them and was advised of their project. Lia blinked and asked if they had considered the patient in room 4. The assistant looked up the alleged patient and gave Lia an odd look.
"Dr., there is no patient in room 4."
Lia blinked. "There's not? Then where is the John Doe on thorizine for violent behavior? I could have sworn he was in room 4." She made a show of consulting her notes. "Yes. He was quite intriguing, though not as interesting as the patients in rooms three, seventeen and twenty one, all of whom are very lucid about their perceptions, which should make my research so much --"
The assistant looked long suffering, consulted the computer again and advised her that room 4 had been empty all week. It was one of those flat, not to be contradicted statements.
Lia gave her one of those squiggly looks tht says "Right" in tones of disbelief. She babbled on in her usual manner for a few moments. "Well, sorry to have gotten your hopes up. Maybe I saw the guy somewhere else. Gotta go make my rounds," she said cheerily, swooped up her keys and walked out.
She had an insane desire to go immediately to room 4 and take a look. Instead, she carefully made her usual stops, talking to each patient as she had planned. She quelled her desire to run to room 4 and find out what had happened. Something told her this would be a really, really bad idea. So, she patiently made her rounds of the psychotic patients, from room 24 upwards, as had been her habit from the beginning.
El, Siro and Taja made a show of going through the records made available to them, thanked the administrator and left. Just outside the doors, Siro drew a sudden breath and reached out to steady himself. The world had heaved around him. Rayden was close by and in danger. He knew it. He could feel it in his very bones. His eyes met El's. For a moment, they flashed golden, catching his attention and giving his loosening grip on reality time to tighten up. El gently lowered Siro into a sitting position.
His hands gripped her shoulders. His head was down, he shook it and looked up into her eyes. His pupils were dialated, touches of electric fire playing in their depths. When he spoke, it was with Rayden's voice. "I know. I remember. I cannot free myself. Help me. One last time." He drew a breath and was Siro again, a bewildered look on his face.
"What -"
"You became a messanger," El told him, a small smile playing around her lips. She came to a decision with a firm nod. "Can you stand?"
"I -- yes." Siro suited action to word and was solidly on his feet immediately. He gingerly tested his connection to the world around him. Solid.
"We wait for Lia and go in the back."
Taja grinned. "Shoulda done that first," she muttered. She laughed and shrugged her shoulders when both Siro and El gave her one of those looks. Nobody likes I toldja so.
They went to where Lia's car was parked and waited. They retreated to El's car when it became obvious that Lia wasn't immediately joining them. They ate lunch and retreated to a discreet distance when she didn't come out for lunch. When 5pm came and went without their cohort showing her face, or any other body part, El decided it was time to act. She stepped out of the car, Siro and Taja joining her. She raised her arms in an elegant and arcane manner, summoned a small amount of power to her and then thrust both hands forward. A very small gate opened in front of them. She gestured them through and followed them. The gate closed with a wop sort of sound of air rushing into a vaccuum.
A second small gate opened inside the largest open area El could locate. They stepped out and the gate was gone. The lone patient who noticed their arrival gave a soft moan and slid down the wall he was leaning against. His last thought was Not again, then the blackness closed in and carried him away to safety.
Siro, noticing the limp form, gathered it up and neatly placed it in a vacant, relatively comfortable, chair. He joined the other two immediately. El looked at him expectantly. For a moment, he didn't know why they were looking at him like that. Then it dawned on him. Somehow, he was linked to Rayden. He took a breath, released it, closed his eyes and tried very hard to let down all his carefully maintained defenses.
It worked. Unfortunately, considering the manic turmoil that was the thunder god's mind at the moment, it was not the wisest of things to have done. The visions assaulting him were -- hellish. It took two roundhouse backhanded hits from El's considerable strength to bring him close to back into focus. He snarled, then slammed his response into neutral.
He nodded to a corridor closed off with a barred door. "There," he rasped. He was separating the visions from the reality. It wasn't easy.
El understood the fight Siro was waging to try to keep a handle on his sanity while witnessing the nightmares of a god. She was not surprised that Siro was succeeding, he was, after all, the god's protogee. But she knew it was costing him. She kept an arm around him and nodded for Taja to go first.
The door was unlocked. El stopped and regarded this with distrust. This was beginning to smell like a trap. Trap or not, they had to go. Taja went first, carefully. Siro shook off more of the effects of Rayden's problems and El released him so they could move in single file.
Elsewhere, Micah was not happy either. His head was suddenly filled with OutWorld, Shao Kahn and the torments of a powerless god. He crashed to his knees, his hands holding his head. He tried desperately to block out the visions, the pain, the feeling of being in two places at once. Terry and Siobahn stared at him in consternation.
"Rayden!!!!" he screamed. And it was over. He was soaked with sweat, trembling as though on the borderline of exhaustion, yet there was an odd sort of exultation within him. As Terry knelt beside him, he grabbed her arm and stared into her eyes. Something very like electricity jumped between them giving the young woman a wholloping headache and a flood of memories of another place and another time. They stared at each other in wonder and worry.
Terry swallowed hard. "It's not over, is it?" she asked, barely above a whisper.
Lia had gotten to room 4 and found it empty. Well, she had found the file bin beside the door empty and the room itself looking like the eye of a hurricane or tornado on its side. A face appeared in the window. It was an attractive oriental looking face. Dark almond shaped eyes under curved brows regarded her with an almost saurian glitter She backed away from the door which swung open to follow her. The man was not as tall as El, or Siro. His skin had a golden tone to it that went well with the sleek black he wore from toe to neck. His arms were bare, as was his chest under the black vest laced closed across it. She backed into the wall with a very, very soft eep.
He reached out and caught her arm just below the shoulder. "Curious, are we?" It was the kind of voice designed to melt bones, velvet over acid. She felt her knees wobble in response. He smiled at her.
Oh, right. I finally meet someone who smiles at me in a knee weakening manner and he's one of the bad guys! She didn't question her summation of him. After all, the good guys didn't have sideways tornados at their command, did they? Did they?
He pulled her into the room. Odd, there really wasn't any sound or wind. He shoved her into the vortex. Time and space wobbled, spun out of shape and reformed. She fell to the -- ground? She looked around, not bothering to get up. It was -- dark Yeah. That was a good description. It was dark. And there seemed to be a number of those whirling things -- gates? - in the area. She waited to see if dark, dangerous and gorgeous would show.
After a few minutes, it seemed obvious she was on her own. She got to her feet, took about two steps and tripped over something soft and giving that moaned when she hit it. She fell over it.
Cautiously, not bothering to get back up, she checked the soft and giving thing to find -- the man from room 4. She rapidly checked to see if anything was broken, more to give herself something to do to calm down than from any real anticipation that he might be hurt. Her touch on his face brought a reaction. His eyes opened. Oh, boy. Whirling plasma with lightning bolts. She froze at the sight, not really noticing that he had caught hold of her hand. She crouched there staring into -- oh, boy. She swallowed hard and tried to pull her eyes away from his as he sat up. His hand was like a vise on her wrist.
Gently, his other hand reached to trace the outlines of her face. She blinked at him. He cupped her jaw with his hand and pulled her to him. His mouth was hot and demanding on hers. With a very small moan of surrender she melted. He was gentle, rough, demanding, everywhere. For a few moments he was the universe consuming her. He pulled back. She realized she was laying in his arms, never having noticed the shift in her position until now. The glow was gone His eyes were dark, puzzled. She traced the line of his face with a hesitant finger.
"Uh -- hi," she said huskily.
He smiled at that. He used one finger to push her glasses back into place. He liked the eyes behind the glass. He liked the face, a sort of rounded gamin look framed by unruly curls. He realized that there wasn't exactly anything resembling a room or anything else around them. He looked around. His arms tightened around her involuntarily. A shiver ran through him. He knew this place, this trap.
Hastily, he released her. They both gained their feet in one smooth movement. He looked around wildly. Delikra. Where -- He looked at the girl - no -- the woman with him. He could sense Delikra faintly. But not here. She had touched this woman. But that did not explain -- explain -- something of memory came filtering back to him. They had -- gotten out. And that was a very long time ago.
Without thought, he clothed himself in his customary style. Then he frowned down at the worn denims and t-shirt. He half laughed at himself. Still blue and white, sort of. He gestured and was garbed in his full godly ninja gear. His hair neatened itself. Lia watched, open mouthed, as the probably not a nutcase she had been going to rescue exhibited powers far beyond normal mortal.
She became aware of her fish out of water stance and closed her mouth with a snap. A small, quiet snap, but a definite snap. Rayden looked at her. Carefully, he tilted her face up so he could look into her eyes. Honest. Loyal. Painfully aware of the failings of reality against her fantasy built measuring stick. Gently, their lips met again. Promises were made in that kiss, to be fulfilled elsewhere.
"Where are are we?" she asked breathlessly as they broke apart.
Rayden's smile was grim. "Very close to the borders of OutWorld. Too close," he added with a shudder. His captivity had been long ago, yet it was very close in his memories. He swayed on his feet. He was surprised when she slid under his arm to steady him.
"Can we get out of here?"
"I don't know," he answered her honestly. Did he have the power to -- he felt the surge as someone joined them. He whirled to face a possible threat, nearly knocking Lia from her feet.
Ninja. Black clad from head to foot. The man exuded an aura of brutal confidence. A nod and he fell into stance. Rayden frowned slightly. He wondered who this ninja was who challenged a god with such nonchalance. He summoned a lightning bolt. Fizzle. Not as bad as nothing, but not nearly good enough to teach this upstart a lesson. Rayden made certain the woman was behind him and had sense enough to stay out of that extremely amorphous area considered in the way before he also fell into stance.
The ninja was good. Damn good. Too good. Rayden felt even his ribs crack under the impact of his well aimed kicks. He summoned his powers. snap well, great. Where the hell were crackle and pop when you needed them? They fought on, Rayden gaining ground as the drugs in his system began to give way to godly adrenaline.
Once more he fell back and summoned his powers. Incandescence! And the ninja was gone, bounding into the darkness beyond, where Rayden would not be lured again. He slammed out a bolt in frustration before he realized Lia was probaly in the line of fire, said line being somewhat circular with him at the center. He looked around and discovered her curled up on the floor, hugging her knees in an attempt to stay small and out of target range.
He turned, lost his footing and slid to a stop next to her on his knees. Gently, ever so gently, he touched her shoulder. Cautiously, she looked around and up. She smiled in relief and sat up.
"Hi. Can we go home now?"
"Where is home?"
"Earth?"
For a moment, he looked a bit like someone had smacked him in the back of the head with a heavy blunt object. Poleaxed. That was the word she was looking for. Then he smiled with a look of disbelieving hope on his face. He nodded wordlessly. He could not believe EarthRealm was still there. He took a deep breath, winced at the feeling of ribs that shouldn't feel like that and got to his feet, extending a helping hand to Lia as he did so.
Then, he closed his eyes and sought the gate that would lead them to EarthRealm. The power in the area shimmered. His eyes snapped open, his head snapping around to see -- his worst nightmare. Unaware of his hands working, he shook his head in denial. No. Not that. Not him, he denied with a hopeless shake of his head. Shao Kahn.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! he howled soundlessly. A whirling vortex opened between him and the spectre of his haunted dreams. Soundlessly, it slurped in both god and woman, spitting them out in a park not far from where El, Taja and Siro were searching the hospital for them.
Siro jerked around suddenly. His eyes unfocussed and he pulled away from El. She regarded him oddly for a moment, then moved the three of them out of the building. Fractions of a second behind her, a vortex opened and deposited a black clad ninja in the hallway. He pulled off his mask to reveal the agelessly youthful face of the man Lia had seen He looked around. He could sense the use of powers beyond human ability, but he had no way to identify or follow the users.
Well, he and Rayden would meet again. That was certain. He stepped back into the vortex and returned to his master to report.
"So. Rayden escaped. And what should I do to you for allowing him to escape?"
"Allow, Master? I did not allow anything. There was interference that indicates some mighty power, perhaps another of those foolish elder gods who trap us here."
Shao Kahn eyed his lieutenant balefully. There was no obsequiousness in his manner, no fawning, no boastful show of ability, just the usual matter of fact statements he always made. Shao Kahn smiled. The choice had been a good one. He envisioned Rayden's face should he ever discover the identity of Shao Kahn's replacement for the traiterous sorcerer Shang Tsung and laughed until he had to sit on his throne to keep from falling over. It was a private and most enjoyable jest.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rayden was aflame with electricity. He was dangerous to all around him in his panic. Lia , eyes wide, was standing inside the effect. She looked around as El and company arrived through their own version of the vortex gate. Great. The good guys did have silent sideways tornados at their command. She felt an hysterical urge to giggle wildly. El released her hold on Siro, relinquishing him to Taja who was dizzy from the speed at which El was traveling and was beginning to have double vision problems of her own.
El strode directly into the electricity and pulled Lia out of Rayden's grasp. She deposited the disoriented psychiatrist behind the the trunk of a nearby tree before turning her attention back to Rayden. Pow! A ball of lightning slammed into her, knocking her off balance. She regained her balance and hit him as hard as she could with a backhanded blow. His head rocked to the side. He faced her again, lips writhing back from his teeth in a snarl, his eyes glowing, lightning played around his hands He slammed both hands forward, bolts of energy flying from his fingertips to sear who dared to strike him.
El took the blow, absorbed the energy and hit him again. Her form shimmered. Dusky curls shaded to pure yellow. Her skin paled. Her eyes went pale gold. The leather trenchcoat and suit shifted, softened, flowed. Her teeth elongated as he had never seen them in OutWorld. She took every last ohm of energy he could expend and threw it back at him until he reeled, off balance and fell into her arms. He looked into that implacable, inhuman face and blinked. He tried to raise his hands to ward off -- something.
"You."
She smiled. "Me We had a bargain, Thunder God. It is time you upheld your end."
Rayden blinked, his panic receded. He looked around. No Shao Kahn. He took a really shaky breath and focussed on her again. "My end -- but -- "
He looked past her at Siro and Taja. He frowned. He reached out on levels unavailable to mortals and winced. Both of them were here, but they were also somewhere nearby. Their souls were being ripped asunder by the proximity of their current selves. His head started to hurt with the thought. They needed to be -- he shut out that thought abruptly. He could not face that thought, not then, not now.
He focussed on Lia. His eyes widened. He looked her over. He knew her. She blushed. Oh, my. Just how well did he know her. He pulled out of El's support until he stood, however unsteadily, on his own two feet. His look went to Taja and Siro, the latter leaning heavily on the thief , both looking dazed. El followed his gaze.
"You know they do not belong," she said too softly for them to hear.
There was a terrible empty hurt in his face when he heard that. He shook his head, denying her words. "No. I can't -"
"Of course, not. It is not your place to return them. You must find and train the new warriors they have become."
He looked grateful. He looked to Lia who was inching closer to the two of them. There was a hesitant smile as she looked into his somber dark eyes. He smiled back at her. "You're all right?"
She nodded, her loose curls bobbing around her shoulders. "Yeah. I'm Lia. I think we forgot introductions earlier." She giggled at his look and shook her head in reassurance. "It's OK. We -- I mean, we kissed. That's all." She moved closer to El and felt the taller woman's arm go around her. That kiss had been something else, but the closeness with El felt right. Rayden took int the look and feeling. He accepted it.
He wanted to move, to go. Yet something still held him. Actually, two things. What was El/Delikra? And where was he going from here?
El's face softened as she read the question, the answer he had never dared request while they were in OutWorld, the one he could not remember while he waited for new warriors to train.
"I am the guardian and the gate to my realm. As long as I live, Shao Kahn cannot enter my realm. If he kills me, he cannot enter my realm. And he wishes my realm almost as badly as he desires EarthRealm."
"Your Realm?"
"Draccon\hlm. Go. I will deal with Siro and Taja."
"Where?"
"Open your thoughts."
His face blanked for a second and with a sparkle of electricity, he was gone.
El turned toward Taja and Siro who were standing together, the thief still half supporting the guard. They both looked strained. Taja saw something in that gaze she didn't want to see. She shook her head, denying what she knew was the truth.
"No," she said softly.
Siro looked at her, then straightened and put his arms around her protectively. He too read something in El's gaze he did not want to see.
"You can't stay."
It was said. Finality. But how to deal with it? Siro's arms tightened around Taja. He had failed her once. Was he to do so again? Taja looked around at him, saw the bleak despair in his face and turned in his arms to face him. She reached up to touch his face, to turn it toward her own.
"It's OK," she tried to reassure him. Suddenly, she saw their past death as he saw it, a failure of his to be there when he was needed, a second failure on top of Jen's death. "Oh, no. No. I was there because we were needed. You never failed me. Never."
"Listen to her. You don't have much time," El said softly, turning away from the two of them. She gently pushed Lia away from her. She took a deep breath as she sensed the two behind her finding each other, the heat in the dark eyes, the sudden wonder in hers. Their mouths met, their arms tightened around each other melding them almost into one being.
El turned and opened her mouth. Lia watched as the face she knew became more alien, flame of burning gold flowed from El's mouth to surround and consume the thief and the guard. The world turned to molten gold for the two entwined, then the light burned brighter than they could have imagined.
Micah and Terry got to their feet and stood blinking at each other in his apartment. A great number of things had fallen into place for both of them. Terry smiled at him with a joy she had not felt before. They were about to move toward each other when there was a crashing sound from the spare bedroom. They whirled to face the doorway.
Rayden, disheveled, was standing there, his arms against the door jamb on either side to keep him from falling. His eyes searched the two faces, one so familiar, one so unfamiliar. Yet he knew them. He stumbled forward. Micah and Terry both moved to catch him. One one either side, he pulled them into a crushing embrace.
Micah stiffened slightly, then relaxed. It troubled him deeply, the fear he had seen in the thunder god's face. He held on as the god shuddered between them, words blocked by the emotion of knowing that although they had died trying to help him, they were not lost to him or EarthRealm.
Click. Rattle. Click. Rattle. Click. The insistent clacking of rolling dice drew their attention. Siobahn was sitting at the table rolling poker dice, over and over and over again. Aces. Aces. Aces. Kings. Aces. Ace, king, queen, king, king. She looked up to meet their frowns of curiosity.
Micah frowned. Gone was the waif he had rescued the day before. Instead, there was a very self assured woman, with a timeless face and eyes of opalescent fire. She smiled at them as her garb changed from that of the frightened talent to someone much, much more powerful. Rayden was regarding her in dazed recognition.
"Sehkmeht," Rayden breathed.
She nodded. "Well met, cousin."
"Kung Lao," he demanded, still clinging to Micah and Terry, but tight, like a coiled wire. His breath was coming in heaving gasps again. His ribs ached. But he had to know. If Siro and Taja were here, in new forms, was Kung Lao also here?
She waved an elegant hand. A vision shimmered into place. Shao Kahn's throne room. Shao Kahn on his throne. And on the step below, clad in black, his hair flowing over his shoulders, Kung Lao. The vision faded and Sehkmeht, god of fortune, was gone.
Rayden sagged between the two mortals. On one level, he felt as beaten as he had in Shao Kahn's throne room. Yet Kung Lao was not dead. Only lost, for the time being. He slowly released his hold on Micah and Terry. He was tired. Terry realized he was just about out on his feet.
"Sit. Don't look at me like that, sit down. Before you fall down. Why are you always so difficult?"
The voice was different, as was the form, but he could hear the Taja he knew. He smiled and then laughed for the first time in a very long time. It felt good. It had been a long millenium.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lia looked up into El's face with wonder and dawning awareness of her incredible attraction to the woman who had just incinerated two houseguests. She had always been aware of El on more than a friendly level, but this was a revelation. Almost as in a dream, she moved into the arms of the golden eyed woman. They kissed. Lia's senses were reeling. Her eyes popped open as something changed. OK. Color changes were apparently to be expected. But gender changes? The El she now had her arms wrapped around still had long hair and was again wrapped in leather, but now looked more like some of her favorite fantasy heroes, instead of a heroine.
El smiled down into her face. "Perhaps I should have mentioned that we can choose to suit our needs and our desires."
Lia felt her mouth fall open again. "Uh -- yeah -- Why --?"
"Did I let you go? You wouldn't admit you were attracted to me. And -- I wasn't certain. These things take time."
"Time. Time. OK. I love you."
"I know. You will make an interesting companion."
end
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