Work Text:
Rolling over as your alarm blared, it took a few tries before your hand found the switch off button, the noise piercing your brain falling silent as the early morning commute flooded into the apartment.
The sound of a mechanical crow had you groaning into a pillow, unlocking your phone to see the text notifications from Sylus.
‘ A nice present will be delivered to your place of work, kitten. ’
‘ I hope you enjoy it. ’
It took herculean effort to not shoot back a sarcastic response, knowing he enjoyed the back and forth between you both.
Whilst not a day off, it was still a day of admin and paperwork, so it meant you had more freedom in your wardrobe and a higher chance of getting out of the office on time, as long as there were no high class wanderers appearing.
The commute was quiet, filled with sleep filled conversations and a dull chatter of kids on their way to school. You smiled kindly at the flower vendor you saw daily, and he returned it, offering a yellow daisy as you passed by.
“Have a good day, Miss.”
You tucked the flower into your hair, checking messages periodically before you reached the Association and stopped dead at the sight before you.
Hunters and officers alike were milling about, going between groups as you took in the sight of sixteen people on their knees, hands and mouths bound.
Tara rushed forward when she spotted you, Simone just behind her.
“What happened?” Your voice was awed as you registered two of the faces as the high class number one enemies from the board sat in the open office.
“No one knows. Security footage reveals no one here one moment then within a blink they were there, subdued. The higher ups are concerned if there’s some plot because all of them have your name somewhere on them.” Her gaze was concerned and you felt your gut twist before recalling Sylus’ text and anger bubbled up followed by a reluctant relief.
If these were who you thought they were, he’d saved a lot of your people, even unintentionally.
“Where’s Captain Jenna?” You finally ask, keeping the rage below the surface.
There went your day of leaving on time.
“She’s talking with the City Mayor and Chief of Police. There are some crimes that cross into both departments.” Simone answered helpfully, pointing out the trio of people talking together whilst others rushed between them.
You made your way over, Jenna looking up at your footsteps. An eyebrow arched and you fought the instinct to defend yourself.
Sylus was so dead later.
“You didn’t tell us it was your birthday.” Came the form of greeting and you bit back a harsh laugh.
“Trust me, my birthdays aren’t this exciting nor are they filled with so many gifts. What do you want me to do?”
“Protocol would have you sit out this investigation, however with something so coordinated, I’m doing the opposite. I’m going to have you run point on the investigation.” Your stomach swooped and the realisation struck you.
It was a test but also it meant that your week had just gone up in flames.
‘ Your gift backfired and if I catch you anywhere near me in the next 48 hours I am going to go against everything I swore and kill you. ’
With the message sent to Sylus and phone switched to silent, you shook hands with the other two officials and got a grasp of the situation.
To put it bluntly, it was an entire shit show of bureaucratic red tape and navigating the interviews without compromising the others. To put it shortly, it was hell on earth and you knew that it wasn’t going to get easier.
From the first interview, the smuggler said nothing, staring at the wall before he said your name.
Suspicion ripped through the office like a tidal wave and thankfully Jenna was there to stop it from forming a tsunami.
It didn’t ease your headache any less, however.
You had to sit in every interview as they confessed their crimes, naming names that your teams had been desperate to get for years.
Some were open and shut textbook cases because of how localised the crimes had been. But the ones that had been part of networks were longer, more consuming on your energy.
It had reached the end of the working day and you were sitting with Jenna, the chief of police and the mayor, explaining everything that had transpired from your understanding and what had been gleaned from the interviews of those that were considered higher up in the operations of the criminal networks.
“So anything conclusive?” There was arrogance in the mayor's tone and even your patience ran out eventually.
“If you gave me another moment I would’ve been able to tell you that.” You snapped, startling both men. Jenna’s lips twitched.
“My apologies.” He finally murmured after a bout of uncomfortable silence and you nodded in acknowledgment of the apology.
“I’ve been the case lead in regards to Onychinus. Over a year ago I went into a trap and gained the attention of various factions. Several of these criminals are part of those factions that normally answer to Onychinus.”
Jenna was the first to understand the implications of what you were saying, proving her place as the Captain of the Alpha team.
“He’s cleaning house or a takeover?” She breathed and you gave her a grim look in return, wishing Sylus had given you more of a warning about this.
“Cleaning house we can assume. Malachai said as such. Apparently there’d been an attempt but no one knows anything. So he’s taken out those he feels haven’t been discreet.” Your grimace spoke volumes but also you knew that whilst not lying to your captain, you could hardly tell her you planned to get the information out of the leader one way or another.
“So we’re going to have a new wall of assassins?” The police chief queried, eyebrows furrowed as he began to understand the gravity of the situation you’d found yourselves in.
“In Malachai’s words, he wants people loyal to Onychinus. He’s ripping the roots out of the Dark Network.” You relayed the information, eyes catching your Captain’s and it was clear she was mulling it over.
The Mayor did no such thing.
“What, the feared leader gone straight and narrow?” You clamped down on the instinctive bristle at the disrespect towards Sylus. You knew this man much better than the foolish attempt of bait a year ago, and whilst not as violent as he was when you’d been disrespected, you weren’t above putting someone in their place if they disrespected him in front of you.
God, you were so fucked.
“That’s not what she said. He’s cleaning up house and wants loyalty to him only. He’s removing the problems and working from the shadows unlike these criminals.” Jenna’s voice was one of reason, clearly grasping the situation much faster than anticipated. The mayor scoffed.
“Just because he works from the shadows doesn’t make him a good person.” He snapped and this time you couldn’t let it slide.
“Just like you took office and your office isn’t corrupt?” You fired back without hesitation, watching him turn a strange shade of purple and white. Jenna hid her smirk but gave you a look to let it go.
You did so reluctantly.
“Thank you for the report, we’ll reconvene in the morning to discuss this, Mayor, if you wish to send an aid to gather the information, that’s fine but we’ll need to vet the person before they step into the meeting room.” Jenna’s tone turned authoritative and whilst there was a clearly sulking scowl on the mayor's face, he nodded his agreement and you bid your farewells before retreating to your desk to collect some things and leave the office.
You finally checked your phone to see a new message from Sylus that he’d sent around lunch time.
‘ Careful now, kitten. You don’t want to find yourself declawed. ’
You ignored him as you clicked off the message and made the journey home, this time the commute much more quieter.
Your days were repetitive that week.
You would arrive to work a new handful of criminals from the N109 Zone, all with your name on their clothing and all of them only confessing when you’re conducting the interview.
You remained silent to Sylus’ messages, mostly from exhaustion but part of you felt petty and frustrated with him.
When you arrived on Friday, braced for more criminals, you found there were none. Night shift had reported no disturbances and no major changes to the building.
Tara greeted you in the lift.
“So now we just have the paperwork from this week to add to the pile?” You asked her quietly and she gave you a sympathetic smile.
“I took the liberty of forcing Nero to let me transcribe your pile. I cleared it with Captain Jenna so all you have to do is read through them, correct anything then rubber stamp it.” You could’ve kissed her in that moment as relief flooded you.
“So it’s just this week I need to deal with?” The clarification was unnecessary, but you needed to be certain that there was no misunderstanding.
“Yes, Captain Jenna said to prioritise it since it has to go to the Mayor's office. Most are set up and I pulled some more strings so if you dictate it, a team of us will transcribe it ready to be looked over either tomorrow or Monday morning.”
“Have I ever said how incredible you are and how much I love you?” You asked her with a tease and she giggled as you both stepped onto the office floor.
“Take me out for dinner and drinks before declarations of love please.” Both of you laughed as you made your way over to your desk and immediately your eyes zeroed on a bouquet of flowers sitting innocently, waiting for your arrival.
Your hackles went up and you inspected the area carefully, Tara cautiously copying your actions. The card was sticking out, carefully displayed.
‘ To my favourite Hunter of Linkon city,
Onychinus. ’
You scowled but relaxed, knowing that Sylus would never send something that would endanger you and showed Tara the card.
“Isn’t this against code or something?” Her voice was hesitant and you felt something in you twist at that.
“It’s not like I’m texting him! I don’t even know who he is.” You argued with a bold faced lie, thanking every star that you’d gotten better at lying. You heard Jenna laugh.
“She’s right, Tara. The flowers were already checked, we’ve tried to trace the delivery but there’s no record anywhere. All I know is that it helps us and if he’s willing to at least be cooperative in that sense, I’m not going to reprimand her for what he deems as a gift.” That stunned you a little bit and resolved to inform Sylus of the change within the UNICORN leader.
Mercifully, your day was done once the sun dipped below the horizon. Whilst you’d stayed longer than you wanted to on a Friday evening, it was better than having to come in the following morning or start your Monday morning with paperwork.
‘ Thank you for the actual gift. I’m still mad at you. ’
There was a moment before he popped up on your phone screen and you hit accept, starting the commute back home.
“Did you not like the flowers, is that why you’re mad?” You hadn’t realised how much you’d missed his voice until that moment, and you felt your mouth curve up at his tease.
“The flowers were a nice gift; however, the others were not. Do you know all the trouble you caused me?” Whilst you kept your voice even, you could sense the hesitation on his part.
“I felt that it was time for a nice clean up. Not to mention it means that some of your open cases have closed now.” There was a note in his voice, a hint of pride, almost smug like.
“How do you-actually, never mind. I do not want to know that information.” You groused out and he laughed.
“I’m still cleaning house, but if you want to, you can come over to mine for the evening. I’ve found some little baubles to distract the feisty kitten from her rage.” This time, you laughed.
“You can’t buy your way out of this anger I’m afraid.”
“But I can certainly try.” Came the response before the phone disconnected and you pulled back, staring at the darkened phone screen in disbelief.
“Asshole.”
You’d missed the rush hour hubbub of commuters, so you were left with those who were returning late or finishing with their shopping. It was quieter and not as packed with people as you reached your apartment block, swiping in and finally being able to close the door behind you.
Dinner was simple and before you could contemplate some wine, you heard the errant thought -that sounded too much like Sylus-whisper to go and see him, to spend the night.
The mechanical caw pulled you from your mental debate.
‘ If you’ve eaten, I’ve got wine and the fruit you like waiting for you. ’
That settled the internal debate you had going on, forcing you to throw together an overnight bag before heading down to the car , wishing a good evening to the security guard as you passed the desk.
The drive to the N109 Zone was familiar as it was unnerving. Too often had it been compared to hell's domain, and after meeting the man who practically ran it, the assessment wasn’t too far off from what could be considered the truth.
Pulling up to Sylus’ home, something felt off for you. A small part whispered that it was just because it was the N109 Zone, but there was another, louder part that said something was wrong.
Climbing out of the car, you made your way to the front door, yet every instinct in your body started screaming at you to turn around, to get back in the car. You weren’t a top hunter for nothing and so carefully, pulling out your phone as you did so, you moved back to the car as you clicked Sylus’ number to call him.
You never heard the first ring.
-
The first thing you were aware of was the pounding in the back of your head.
The next thing was the taste of blood in your mouth.
The final thing was that your hands were behind your back and wrapped up tight.
“Come on, surely the little lamb is awake now?” The pain in your head turned blinding as your head was pulled up by your hair.
The face you were greeted with was unfamiliar to you and you squeezed your eyes shut as the pain became almost unbearable.
“There she is.” The grip was gone from your head and you hissed as the pain receded enough that you could think again.
“What the fuck?” Your throat was dry, earning a scratchy sound from your throat. Your captor laughed.
It was cold and cruel.
“Let me introduce myself. I was part of Onychinus, but for some reason my boss vanished, and I know the writing on the wall when I see it. So, I figured out the best way to get to Onychinus? His Achilles heel.” There was a sharp pain in your arm, and you yelled, trying to pull away from the knife he was dragging down your bicep.
“A mutiny, then?” You asked through gritted teeth, and he laughed, almost deranged.
“A mutiny would imply there were others who were unhappy with the turn of events. This is a takeover. I want what he has, and I’ll slaughter his little bitch to make sure I get it.”
It was the first time you’d ever felt helpless.
In previous situations, you’d been trapped but never helpless. There had been ideas, plans, things that you could use to get you out safely.
But in this empty room, there was nothing and no one.
“You really think he’ll come for me? You think I’m his Achilles heel?” You asked him incredulously. Your tone caught him off guard and you could see the doubt creeping in. It was doubt you found yourself living with when it came to Sylus. He would give and take, but there would be no consistency. There was nothing direct, nothing to truly tell you if he viewed you in such a manner.
You were an expendable hunter.
“So, if I kill you, he won’t be pissed off?” The question sounded almost curious like, similar to that of a child still learning about what was right and wrong.
“Maybe, maybe not.” You hedged your bets, unwilling to risk him outright murdering you. Whilst you had your own doubts, you needed to make it believable enough for him to not straight up remove you from the equation entirely.
“I can take my time with you. He’ll enjoy the little gift I left for him to figure out where you are. Hopefully, the buyers will be all over you, the only woman who got even a little bit close to the leader of Onychinus. I wonder what some of their evols will do to rip that information out of your mind.” He smirked, the knife dragging down your cheek this time.
You met his gaze head on, despite how terrified you felt because if this was a black-market sale, you’d vanish for good before Sylus would even be able to get here.
“When he does find you, I hope it's painful.” The sneer on your lip was marred by the obvious wince of pain, making him laugh.
“Oh, little lamb, he’ll be too distraught with your death to think straight and then I’ll put a bullet in his brain.” Another slash and you took a deep breath, ignoring the blooming pain in your other arm.
He left a moment later, plunging the room into darkness and you had to steady the fear that spiked in your chest.
It was unnerving having your sight ripped away from you, coupled with the fact that you couldn’t hear anything, just the heartbeat in your ears and laboured breathing.
It was something you were trained for. You weren’t just a weapon used against wanderers, but you knew there were criminals with power who would desperately give anything to have you this vulnerable.
To torture you. To break you.
Your mind was exhausted from the week, from the stress of the bickering, the red tape and the criminals all being left as gifts for you.
The voice that sounded like Sylus whispered to hold on. To trust he was going to come.
It wasn’t loud enough to drown out the fear of simply disappearing. You’d worked enough cases to know what happened, to know that you would never be found if they didn’t want you found.
The panic was fighting and you were struggling to keep it under control. It was a tactic, to pull the fear forward.
Even with the steady blood flow you could feel, you knew that your clock was ticking.
You tried to think of anything else as time passed by. There was no way to tell the passage of time in the darkness but you were trying to reason with yourself that Sylus would make it in time.
You knew better.
They’d planned this in advance, it was something that was going to have happened but Sylus cleaning house simply brought forward the date of this auction. They’d planned for everything and that included getting the drop on you.
The only person who’d ever done that before was Sylus but even then, that was after you’d set yourself up as bait.
You could hear footsteps shuffling around in the dark room and the shadows moved, making you tense up, fear rippling through you as you tried to think of anything that might get you out of this situation.
You wanted to foolishly call out, beg for help. But instinct kept you silent, listening to every movement.
Silence.
Panic burst forward when you felt a fist hit to your face, and you knew that the game had changed. The force of the hit had you feeling dazed before a second hit to the head sent you back into oblivion.
The next thing you were aware of was a sharp sting to your face and head, eyes peeling back blearily as your head was tipped back by your hair, the grip unforgiving.
Your captor was back and you could hear murmurs over speakers.
Buyers , your mind dazedly supplied and with a jolt you realised there was no time.
“For the next auction piece, whilst a little bit banged up, I’ll offer a reduced price for the only woman who’s gotten close to Onychinus himself. Any information you receive from her pretty little mind will gladly be welcomed by the new leader when I slaughter him. Starting bids are on your tablets.” His grin was manic, and you felt the desolate feeling in your stomach. Whilst there might be an opportunity to escape when being transferred, this felt too final, too self-assured.
“For another incentive, I’ll even let you keep her here, especially if you want a show.” There were repeated dings, and you felt the first tear fall as he slammed closed the last opportunity for your escape.
Y ou closed your eyes, a silent apology to Sylus as you waited for your last moments.
The dings cut off abruptly and the hand left your hair, offering mild relief as you cautiously opened your eyes. He was still in front of you, fingers digging around in his pocket.
“The bidding isn’t over people; you have another five minutes.” He pulled his own tablet out, and you glimpsed that the bidding had stopped, and despite the high number it seemed to be frozen on, you knew that these monsters had more money to burn than anything and it was pitifully small in comparison to what you knew of the black market.
Hope bloomed.
“They can’t bid when they’re dead, and to be honest, bidding on something that is mine is so gauche.” You nearly let out a sob of relief at the familiar voice.
He came swooping in, his evol slicing through your binds as he towered over the wanna-be leader.
“Then I’ll kill the little bitch.” You heard the click of the gun but before you could move from your position to drop to the floor, the gun was skittering away from the two of them and Sylus had his hand wrapped around your captors throat, lifting him off the floor and you couldn’t even focus on the idea of someone dying barely metres away from you.
He’d come for you.
“I certainly take offence to people who think they can touch what is mine .” Your stomach flipped at the sound of how angry he was, silent tears falling as you tried to get up from the chair, his evol catching you before you could hit the floor when your knees gave out.
“Still such a stubborn, sweet kitten of mine. She’s delectable, and it’s such a shame you used a target who knows what she’s doing, because you’ll get no mercy from me or her.” Your eyes were heavy as you heard the scream get cut off, another thud following and then he was there, invading your senses.
The relief of him being real, had you feeling delirious as he cradled you to him, and your hand moved on its own accord, touching his face, reassuring yourself he was there, he was truly rescuing you and that you hadn’t broken under the exhaustion or beatings.
“Why?” You finally asked and he gave you such a soft look, his lips curving up into a fond smile as he turned his head to press a kiss to the palm of your hand.
“I have a thing for feisty kittens that always fight back apparently. You’re safe now, I promise.”
“M’gonna pass out now.” You whispered and he laughed, relieved and broken.
"As long as you come back to me, kitten.”
“'Kay.” You whispered before you slipped into oblivion, feeling thankful that the only thing you could smell was Sylus.
-
“Skye, right?”
“Indeed. How can I help you, Miss Tara?”
A pause.
“She’s the best thing in my life. I love her like a sister. Don’t think I won’t protect her like one, too.”
A deep, resonating laugh.
“You don’t need to worry about me hurting her. However, she’s quite fond of attracting attention without trying.”
A lighter, feminine laugh.
“Ain’t that the truth. Did she tell you about her week at work, all kinds of criminals dropped off on our doorstep and then she got some flowers from Onychinus himself.” The voice was a whisper, more conspiratorial.
Somewhere registered in your mind that you were listening to Tara and Sylus, but the effort to open your eyes was too much.
“She did tell me. Said she was rather unimpressed by the gesture.” He was amused.
Why couldn’t you open your eyes?
“Has anything been found out yet? I saw some of my colleagues leaving earlier.”
A hum.
“Only that the one who orchestrated the attack got killed. They suspect it was her evol as a last ditch effort to save her.”
Save you?
Everything flooded your mind then, getting knocked out, the attack, the torture and then the auction.
Your evol lashed out with the sudden surge and footsteps moved as things crashed to the ground, hands wrapping around your wrists which triggered the panic, the inability to move freely.
The scream that tore from your lips was something you’d never heard before, sounding broken and terrible from the pain in your throat.
You were trapped.
Everything felt heavy and you couldn’t remember what had been taught, they were going to harm you, hurt Sylus.
“No, no, please let me go, I don’t know! Please!” You were shouting, trying to move, fear wrapped around your heart.
You felt something sharp in your arm and then the pressure on your wrists disappeared. Your panic was smothered by something false, something wrong and you could only whimper as the panic all but vanished, your body curling in on itself as you went limp, protecting yourself from being hurt.
“Hey there kitten, can you open your eyes for me?”
Confusion clouded your thoughts as you registered his voice.
Where were you?
“Sweetie, I promise you’re safe. You’re in the hospital.”
It was difficult as your eyes slowly opened up, slowly allowing the light to flood in and you saw both Sylus and Tara standing by your bed.
You’d never seen him look so relieved to see you.
Everything hurt, aches that were dulling away to the pain relief you could only assume as his fingers carefully reached out, tracing your cheek and you leaned into his touch, unable to look away from him.
“It’s about time you woke up, sleeping beauty.” There was a small smile on his lips, but there was genuine concern in his eyes.
Concern for you.
“Sleeping beauty wishes she looked this good.” You finally replied, somewhat confused and his shoulders relaxed as Tara stepped forward.
“You cannot believe how glad I am that you’re finally awake. I’m going to call Captain Jenna and let her know and give you two some time to be with each other.” You could feel the way your face flamed immediately at her words and whilst Sylus kept his expression under control, you could see he looked pleased with her choice of words.
Once the door was closed, he pulled his seat closer to the bed, fingers moving from your face and taking your hand in his as he leaned forward, elbows resting on the uncomfortable mattress.
“What do you remember?”
Pain, hopelessness, him .
“The guy, he said he saw the writing on the wall when you cleaned out. Refused to accept what was happening and attempted a takeover.” You recalled slowly, holding his gaze. He gave nothing away.
“Anything else?”
Panic, darkness, fear .
Your chest felt tight, your breaths coming in sharp gasps. His hands pulled your hand to his lips, the warmth of his skin grounding, pulling you back from the dark room.
“I’m here, kitten. You’re safe.”
It took every ounce of strength to keep yourself from spiralling.
“He did indeed see the writing on the wall. The problem is, trying a takeover with no support is like when you shot me when you first met me. Stupid.” This startled a giggle out of you and his lips curved up into a softer smile. A rare sight to behold.
“Things are in fragments, slipping away from me. What happened?” You finally asked once you were no longer in danger of falling into a panic attack,
“He was trying to auction you off. No one in that auction house survived.” There was a note to his voice, one that was as hard as steel and you often hear from him when you were embarking on something that would risk your life.
“Good. Thank you.” You murmured after a moment and you watched his eyes widen, a fleeting look of surprise before it melted into something akin to satisfaction.
“You’re welcome, kitten. No one takes what’s mine and thinks they can get away with it.” The heart monitor betrayed you as you felt it jump, his eyes flickering to the monitor, a slow smirk curling up on his lips.
“Shut up.” You muttered under your breath. He laughed.
He looked beautiful.
“I didn’t say anything.” The smug tone was there, and you rolled your eyes before holding his gaze with a pointed look.
“You didn’t need to. The smirk you’re wearing is speaking a thousand words.” Came your deadpan response and earned you another chuckle from him.
Carefully, he pulled your hand slowly, slipping it beneath the collar of his shirt, resting it over his heart. It certainly didn’t help your own heart, but feeling it beating beneath your fingers, its own rhythm seeming to mirror yours.
Even as yours steadied out, his didn’t.
“Are you telling me you have a heart condition?” You finally asked and he laughed.
“This is my heart with you . I’m telling you that the feeling is mutual.” And suddenly you couldn’t take your eyes off where your hand was resting, hidden by the fabric as you focused on his heartbeat.
“Sylus.” Your voice was quiet, a whisper.
His heartbeat jumped and it dawned on you exactly what he was saying.
“Don’t make me say it sweetie, I'll become insufferable otherwise.” His voice was soft, tender.
“You’re already insufferable.” You muttered thickly, tears in your eyes as he used his free hand to lift your chin a bit, your eyes tearing away to meet his steady ruby red gaze.
“I love you.”
Your heart jumped again but he ignored it, giving you the moment to process his words.
Y ou knew in his actions he had affection for you. He was never subtle with that, with the possessive streak when he felt threaded by another person trying to muscle in on you.
His thoughtfulness when it came to anything you two did together, the willingness to be viewed as anything else but the leader of Onychinus if it gave you such enjoyment.
Memories of the photobooths and amusement parks came to mind and you felt the first tear fall.
“I love you too.”
The words were like a breath of air, easy and filling. It was that feeling of being alive, the hope that had been almost ruthless when it tore through you at the possibility that he’d saved you. It was the nights together where it was simple and domestic.
It was him .
His smile made your heart ache in a way that you’d never felt before. He was truly a sight before you.
He was yours .
“Tara is waiting politely for us to be finished outside, I can sense three others with her.” He murmured and you nodded at the unspoken question, withdrawing your hand from his chest, only for him to capture it between his own hands once more.
“You can stop loitering now Tara.” A second later she strolled in, her cheeks bright red.
Captain Jenna followed as well as Simone and Dr. Greyson. He looked a mix between amused and annoyed.
“Thank you for informing me that my patient is awake.” The tone was frustration mixed with sarcasm and a tinge of relief, causing you to give Sylus a curious look.
“Sweetie, you’ve been in a coma for over a week.” Came the answer of your unasked question and everything in your mind went to stand still, the only thing you could hear was your breathing.
“Not how I would’ve told-“
“It’s better to be honest than dress it up.” Captain Jenna interrupted and Dr. Greyson faltered at that, pulling you from the shock of Sylus’ words.
“Yes, well we’ll need to run some tests once your visitors leave and we can decide on the care plan from the conclusion.” Your fingers tightened around Sylus’ and the heart rate monitor jumped.
“Perhaps it would be best if at least one of us remains. We don’t want another episode like earlier.” He cut off Dr. Greyson before the man could continue and his eyes flickered to the monitor before studying your face. He sighed.
“For one of them he will have to leave the room, but we won’t do that one until the first few are done and you can understand what we’re going to do, is that okay?” His tone was more sympathetic and your grip eased.
“Yes.” The word was whispered, tired.
He left a moment later and Captain Jenna gave you a smile that reminded you of the fact that your boss was here and the person you loved was the most wanted man in Linkon.
“I just needed to see for myself that you were awake and at least okay. The Association’s doctors will coordinate with Dr. Greyson once he knows what your recovery plan is looking like. I’m already saying no field work for the next six months minimum and it’ll be light work when you’re cleared for desk duty.”
Your heart sank at her words, but you understood. She had to protect you and the team, and if it meant that you couldn’t go out into the field for six months, you had to abide by the rules. It wouldn’t do well to break them and end up worse or getting a teammate hurt because of it.
“When you’re on your feet, the mayor and police chief also want to meet with you. You made quite the impression on them. Get better soon.” She nodded her head to you and it made you pause as she left.
“I’m going to be so bored.” You finally muttered and the resulting laughter from the three of them made your cheeks warm. It felt strange, knowing who Sylus was and the danger both of you were potentially in but you could only feel gratitude, even with the embarrassment colouring your cheeks.
“But you’ll be recovering, and that’s the important part of healing. No setbacks.” Simone spoke up, her eyes warm and you tried to smile back but it hurt to do so, the movement pulling on stitches you were yet to see.
“We’ll leave you to rest now, but I’m glad you’re alive and awake.” Came Tara’s parting words, Simone followed her out with a small wave and then you were alone with Sylus, eyes feeling heavy once more.
“Rest, love. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
Your fear of waking up alone wasn’t enough to keep your eyes open and so you didn’t fight the exhaustion, trusting that he would keep his promise.
He did.