Her
Wynnona
I run until I can't anymore. I collapse to the ground, crying out as I push myself into a sitting position, gasping from pain and for air. I bring one of my dirty, shaking, cold hands to my shirt. I pull it up, watching as the black veins spread up my muscled stomach slowly the highest one reaches the bottom of my rib cage, all of them radiating from my left hip.
"Shit." Giovanni curses as he looks at them too, helping me to my feet with a new urgency. "We have to find some cover." He lifts me up into his arms like a bride, carrying me into a slim pathway. I feel the ground shake as he sets me down, grabbing my water bottle for me. I take a long, slow drink noticing that all the water in it is almost gone. "So, mama dragon found us, can you walk?" I study his worried, dirt and sweat covered face. "Come on, this is the last stretch, a couple more kilometers and we'll be home free." He grabs my arms, eyes desperate for me to be okay. I lean my head out the corner, seeing a straight b-line to the exit with multiple exits into the maze on either side.
"I'll buy you time." I tell him, voice hoarse and raspy.
"What?" He asks, confusion taking over his face. I grab his blaster which has two shots left in it.
"Go." I pull my necklace of different pendants from my neck, putting it in his hand. "Give that to Athena. Tell her I love her. And that I'm sorry I couldn't make it back to her." I push his shoulder, pushing in towards the exit. "Now go you idiot." He stands, walking to the exit and leaving. I hold back tears as I gasp for air, gulping down another breath. Silence fills the area and I imagine all the things I can never have with Athena. I am going to die here. I look up from my feet to see my Papa and Dad standing before me.
"Hi sweetheart." Papa says with a wide smile on his face, reaching out to hold my hands. They both kneel before me as I cry harder, tossing my arms around the both of them. "Your father and I are so proud of who you've become." He tells me, holding me close. Dad warps us both in his arms from the side, kissing both of our foreheads.
"You seem to have fallen for quite the woman." Dad complements. "A goddess no less." I elbow him in the stomach softly.
"We love you so much sweetheart." Papa smiles at me as he pulls away. "But this is not your time to die. Get up."
"You're strong enough to get through this Wynnona." Dad says as he pulls Papa away from me.
"Wynnona!" Giovanni's voice rings in my ears as I turn to look at him. He grabs my hands, putting my necklace back around my neck.
"I told you to go." I scold him.
"And as your older brother I said fuck that." He smiles at me. "Now get up. Athena would be ashamed of you for this." He tugs lightly on my arms. "And she'd kill me for leaving you." I glare playfully at him.
"I'm going to kill you." He smiles at me as I fight to stand, wrapping my arm around his neck and leaning me weight into him. He wraps his arm around my waist, running as fast as we can with my body in the condition it's in. I grit my teeth as pain ripples up me but fight it in favour of getting back to Athena and everyone else.
"Mama's coming." He whispers to me as we rush to the exit. We are a couple meters from the exit when the mother dragon jumps in front of us, roaring in our faces.
"Wynnona!" I hear Athena's shrill voice scream.
"Through the legs now." I shout to Giovanni over the whipping wind and roars of the dragon. He doesn't question, likely spotting Jake standing beside Athena. We charge forward as best we can, just missing the snapping jaws of the dragon. We plow through the exit, stepping a couple feet away before collapsing to the ground.
"You're fucking insane." Giovanni gasps at me. I laugh at that.
"Why do you think we're related." I shoot back, sitting up to see Athena racing over to us. She collapses into my open arms, a yipping Star following close behind. She falls into my arms causing me to fall backwards into the ground with her on top of me, completely engulfed in my arms. Giovanni is in a similar position with Jake, though he's standing twirling his husband around in the air as they kiss. Star licks fiercely at my face as Athena nuzzles into my neck. She pulls away when I hiss in pain from both my leg and hip.
"What did you do?" She asks me as she pulls the bandages off.
"A baby dragon bit me." I tell her in a serious voice, scratching Star behind the ears as he purrs on top of my chest. Athena places her hand over the wound, pulling the venom out of my body. I sigh in relief and contentment when I feel it gone, thankful the pain no longer attacks my body.
"Wyatt." I hear Brett say, pointing to the entrance of the maze. I look over to see the same robot lady.
"Congratulations. You have completed your training." I feel the warmth of my powers fill me, coursing through my veins. "Follow protocol to define your trade and stationing. Congratulations on becoming fully fledged Celestial warriors." I look to Giovanni, the both of us sharing a look.
"Celestial?" I question. At the same time, he breaths out, "mom." We look back to see the woman gone. I feel a slight stinging on my chest, just over my heart. I can tell Giovanni is feeling the same. He pulls his shirt away, looking at the spot. Just over his heart a symbol has appeared, his is a cool grey. I can understand the symbol somehow. It reads 'warrior.' On my chest, in the same spot, is a symbol that is the exact same as his.
"I don't care what protocol you're supposed to now follow, but I am taking you to bed so you can clean up and heal." I lean my head on her shoulder as she tries to get me to stand up.
"I think I'll take a nap right here." I mumble, finally feeling the exhaustion take over my body weighing down my limbs. She rolls her eyes at me, giving Giovanni a look. He came over to help her get me to my feet. I don't struggle to get to my room, allowing them to lead me. I fall into the seat beside the bathroom door.
"I'm going to run her a bath then address her wounds." Athena tells Giovanni. I lean my tired head against his hip, fully ready to fall asleep right there. Athena comes back, opening her arms to me. I willingly fall into them, allowing her to help me to the bath.
"Your breath smells like whisky." I drawl tiredly, a lazy smile taking over my face. "Who's the alcoholic now?" I tease her. She glares playfully at me, helping me out of my dirty clothes. She pulls my shirt over my head, her cheeks a dusted rose colour. I study her cute face with the adorable blush of hers that tints her cheeks and tips of her ears. She wears another one of my sweaters, having pulled the too long sleeves up to her elbows. I feel her delicate fingers on the waistband of my pants. In one swift motion, I grab her wrists softly, the exhaustion that plagued my mind fading almost instantly.
"Why?" She asks. My rational thinking comes back to me. I feel her hands tremble in mine, hearing the slight raggedness to her breathing. I lift my hand to tip her chin up to look at me. Her clear brown eyes are wet with tears, the saltwater dripping from her beautiful eyes soaking trails down her perfect cheeks. "Why do you have to be so reckless." She cries. I pull her into me, running one hand through her loose hair, allowing the other to wrap around her waist. I rest my head on top of her head, listening to her softly cry into my shoulder as her shoulders shake.
"I'm sorry." I whisper to her, kissing the top of her head as I hold her and just let her cry. After a couple minutes the bath has gone cold and Athena has calmed down. She tries to pull away from me when I tighten my hold on her. "I was so scared."
"Wynnona..." She trails off.
"I was so scared I would lose you. I was so scared I would be trapped in that maze and you were hurt somewhere I couldn't get to you." I hug her tighter, tears welling in my own eyes. "You were one of the things pushing me to get back. I needed to get back to the others, to you." I start to pull away from her, wiping my eyes. At this moment I realize just how deeply I've come to love her. How deeply she has burrowed into my heart, into my very soul. And I realize that I am a monster, a monster a goddess like her will never love. The thought makes my heart ache. How did she manage to break down all the walls I placed around myself after my parents died so easily?
"Wynnona." Athena says in what sounds like a gasp. I can't look at her. This is the moment she rejects me. I prepare myself for her next words, knowing they will carry rejection in them. I am not prepared, however, to feel her soft hands on the sides of my face. Or for her full, delicate lips to press against my chapped ones. After my moments of shock that feel like hours, I wrap her in my arms, pulling her flush against me.
The kiss isn't soft or sweet like our ones of the past. This kiss is hot, passionate, and maybe a little rough as her lips dance against mine. She laced her fingers through my hair tugging on the crimson strands ever so slightly making me moan. She takes this as a good thing, using the opportunity to slip her tongue into my mouth. With fast footsteps, she backs us up effectively pinning me to the wall. I grip her waist with one hand, lacing the other into her white hair. I break the kiss, using her hair to tilt her head back for better access to her neck. My lips dance across the expanse of her neck, leaving kisses all over to find all the sensitive spots on her neck. She lets out little whimpers every time I find one. I lift my head to kiss her again, but stop when she pulls back slightly, cupping my cheeks and placing her forehead to mine. I never want to leave this position, ever.
"I love you too, Wynnona." Athena whispers to me. I'm about to smash my lips to hers again when there is a soft throat clearing at the door. We look over to find Keya. She looks tired, Papa's ring around her ring finger as she smiles at us.
"Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to borrow Athena for a moment." Keya says with a shy smile. Athena nods, biting her slightly swollen bottom lip as she pulls away from me.
"Of course." The two start to leave. "Shower." Athena tells me sternly, pointing at me. I nod, raising my hands in surrender as she closes the door. My heart flutters as I watch her leave, standing against the wall for a couple more moments before stripping my clothes off to shower. I allow the warm water to soothe my sore muscles and clean out the bite wound. With my powers back the bite is almost completely healed. Though, it will scar. I wrap the towel left for me to use around my body after drying off. I go to the cabinet under the sink, grabbing my scentless lotion that I open and spread across my tattoo mostly. I use a bit more over my arms and shoulders as well as hands. I blow dry my hair, brush through it, brush my teeth, and exit the room with the towel still wrapped tightly around me.
I go to my closet, grabbing a new bra, underwear, a long-sleeved hoodie, and my pj joggers. After getting dressed I stick my hands in my pockets, going to wonder around the ship. I go to make myself some tea, finding Brett massaging his temples.
"You okay?" I ask him. He doesn't look up, taking a deep breath.
"If one more person asks me about wedding plans, I swear I am going to kill them." He grumbles. I laugh at him, hugging him from behind. "Now I understand the jokes Papa and Dad used to make." He tilts his head back, resting it on my shoulder as he looks up at the ceiling. He reaches one hand up to hold one of mine. We share a smile, my grip tightening ever so slightly.
"You'll survive. Besides, you'll suffer more when she's pregnant." I tell him as I pull away.
"God no, don't tell me that. I'm already dreading it." He tosses his head into the table. I'm about to say something when two sets of rushed footsteps come into the dining room.
"Miss Wyatt!" Shouts little Roe as he runs to me, jumping into my arms.
"Oh, I missed you kid." I say as I hug him tight. Athena stands in the doorway with a smiling Keya. I hold Roe, the boy I've started to consider a son close to me.
"Miss Athena said I don't have to call you 'miss' anymore." He says as he pulls away from me, nervously fidgeting with his fingers.
"I can think of something better." I tell him with a warm smile. I look to Athena, who smiles wide at me and nods. "You never have to go back to the Allies orphanage; you can stay here with Athena and I if you want." I propose to him softly. His eyes light up. It was something I'd talked to Athena about previously. She agreed, having fallen in love with little Roe. We planned to properly adopt him from Kim when we got back to the base.
"Really?" He cries, excitement lighting up his features.
"Really." I tell him, promise lacing my voice. He hugs me tightly before pulling away again.
"Does this mean I can call you mom?" He asks, making my heart flutter a mile a minute.
"Yes. A million times yes." I tell him excitedly as I hug him tight. Athena comes over, joining the tight embrace.
"Not to interrupt, but on the subject of children and parents," Keya steps forward from the entrance to the kitchen. Brett and I watch her intensely, waiting for what she will say next. "I am pregnant."