You Only Live Twice

[Jullian]

Luce slowly turned a page in the medical journal. The pages of the large, hard cover book were dry and crisp under her fingers. It was the feel of a book that had hardly been opened or read. And where was the surprise in that? Anyone who had worked here before the invasion would have been a trained doctor and wouldn't have needed to refer to the medical journal except to check what they already knew. The authors of the book understood this and so most of their descriptions and explanations were written in a medical jargon so thick Luce felt like she should be referring to a dictionary every other word.

She turned the book so that more of the soft, yellow light of the small lamp she'd turned on fell on the pages. She had already stopped trying to completely absorb the information she was reading and had started to concentrate on the detailed illustrations and sketches next to each aliment. She tended to skip over the less common diseases and tried to concentrate on the things she thought she was more likely to run into. Lacerations, burns, amputations, infections. Anything she expected to find on a battle field. Any animorph would be able to morph all of these away but what if they were unconscious? Or what if it was an ally?

As she plowed through the heavy material she gained a new respect for Chloe. She knew the girl had been studying these since she'd moved in but she hadn't realized just what that would entail until now.

She looked up when she heard the soft knock on the door and saw Drake standing in the doorway.

"Hey. I came to check up on her," Drake said quietly, gesturing toward where Suji was laying. "Is she going to be alright?"

Luce uncurled from her relaxed, and so slightly vulnerable, position on the small couch under the window and looked over to where Suji was laying. "She doesn't look any different than when she was brought in," Luce said honestly, "but I put an IV in to counteract the dehydration. As long as there isn't anything else wrong with her she should be ok. Physically at least," Luce said quietly and looked back up at Drake. "I don't know what happened to her Drake but...how does an animorph get dehydrated? I'm a little afraid of what we'll see when she wakes up," she continued, her voice soft and tight with worry.

[Aubrey]

Drake left, leaving the other three Animorphs with Fin. Aubrey had nothing to toast with, except the crumbled pieces of raisin bagel scattered in front of her. So she did nothing, tucking her hands in her lap and staring at the top of the table. Even retelling everything that had happened in Dallas, Aubrey felt further away from it. Like she was only an observer of what had happened, not a participant.

The thump of the cup hitting the table drew Aubrey's gaze back up to Fin, and she wrinkled her nose as he indicated sleeping on the floor. "I can show you some nice beds to sleep on. There a bit lumpy, but much better than sleeping in here, on the cold floor." Aubrey pulled herself up from the table, taking a step back.

"Do you want me to carry you, Sophie, or do you want to slither all the way back to the barracks?" Aubrey was staring down at the black cobra coiled neatly nearby. <<I'm fine on my own, thanks,>> Sophie responded, unmoving. Lifting her gaze back to Fin, and shrugging slightly, Aubrey jerked her thumb over her shoulder to the exit. "This way."

[Drake]

"Well that's good news, I guess." Drake was glad to hear that Suji would be alright, even if she wasn't just yet. But the way Luce had said 'physically at least' made Drake a bit nervous. But really, would any of them be okay other than physically? Only time would tell.

"Fin said that Suji would have been alright if she had morphed. But why wasn't she morphing? It doesn't make any sense..." Drake realized his thoughts were drifting so he shook his head clear and refocused on The girl lying in the bed.

She seemed so peaceful and restless at the same time. It seemed so odd to see one of the best warriors he knew laying in a bed, being taken care of by another one of the best warriors he knew. Drake suddenly realized he was staring, but he didn't stop. He couldn't look away from Suji. Not now.

A thought speech message from Robert entered Drake's head just then, but Drake ignored it for now. Fin could wait a couple minutes. Drake wasn't quite ready to leave yet.

He walked over and gently placed a hand on Suji's shoulder. "You make sure to wake up, okay?"

[Jullian]

Luce listened to Drake but her mind was somewhere else and her eyes were on Suji so she didn't really see him until he broke her line of sight by walking over to the bed. She watched with interest and a slight sense of surprise as he asked Suji to wake up. There was a lot of...vulnerabilty maybe or affection in the gesture. More than she'd seen Drake show anyone let alone Suji and Luce almost felt like she shouldn't be here.

Only watching him then reminded her of Mexico and what Suji had said right before the party had started to blur around the edges. Luce had sworn to ask Suji more about the Indonesian mission later and about the crocodile but she'd forgotten as, no doubt, Suji intended. Now she wished she had asked and she wondered what else had happened, if anything, in these past couple of months in Dallas.

She coughed a little and stood up, stretching a bit as she did so. "I hate to say it but I'm a little tired. Do you think...if you want would you like to wait here? We can trade off staying with her," Luce offered.

She hated to admit it because it made her feel like she was back in high school or even middle school and acting like some of the girls she'd despised the most, but if she could play a bit of the matchmaker she would. She'd seen Suji go through a lot, too much really for any person to handle though that was true of pretty much everyone here. They didn't lead easy lives and Luce had come to believe that it meant they needed connections and support more than the average person and not less. If Suji had found someone she cared for, if Drake had too, she be happy for them both. Then again, in her old age perhaps she was getting ahead of herself.

You really are getting old, she thought wryly. A moment ago she'd felt like a preteen girl but now she felt like and old grandmother who interfered more than their family wanted. Maybe she just really needed some sleep.

Luce picked up the book awkwardly, now unsure if she had gone too far. "Um, yeah, but I can stay. I even found some fascinating reading material," she said sarcastically but in good humor as she held up the book and showed it to him.

[Drake]

Drake was just about ready to leave again when Luce spoke up. She asked if he wanted take turns to watch Suji. Apparently Luce was tired. Or that's what she claimed anyway. Drake stared down at Suji for a short while longer before responding. He wasn't exactly sure what to say.

He hadn't realized just how much he didn't want to leave until someone gave him the option to stay. "Thanks Luce. I think I will stay, actually." He didn't even look up as he said it. "You can rest, or whatever. I'll make sure nothing happens to her until you get back."

"Oh," he said, finally looking up again. "Can you get some blankets and stuff for Fin, too? I was supposed to, but..." He looked down at Suji again, figuring Luce would understand.

[Jullian]

Luce smiled though Drake didn't see it. "No problem," she said softly and walked out of the room, a small smile still on her face. A year ago Drake would have been the last person she would have chosen for Suji, though she actually wouldn't have chosen anyone either way. But if she'd had to Drake would have been on the bottom of the list only above Stevert. It wasn't that she didn't like him she just found him a bit...ridiculous sometimes. Or she had.

But when she looked at him now she realized that her respect for him had grown over the time she'd known him. He was still a bit weird, at least to her, but she respected him and he was someone she'd almost call a friend...almost.