The commander smirked, watching Damon get back on his feet. He was finding this little banter between the two entertaining, and seeing Echo's emotional side was the cherry on the top.
Damon had a smirk on his face too, in contrast to the cold, annoyed look Echo had. Neither man uttered a word to her, as she puffed at her strand of hair on her face.
"Revelioro," Echo mumbled, her clothes changing back to the ball gown. A sharp pain shot through her stomach, as the gown was tighter than her previous outfit.
She slightly leaned on a table behind her, hoping that no one noticed her.
Both Damon and the commander glanced at her.
"Are you okay? You look pale," Damon looked at her with concern.
Echo nodded, "I'm fine!" Her vision was beginning to blur, but she shook it off hoping it would just disappear.
The commander was beginning to worry, once she was very visibly pale, "Are you sure? You don't look so good." He hopped off the table, and stepped towards her, with a crease on his brows.
Echo brushed off their concerns, "It's nothing! I'm fine." She took a step away from the table. Her eyesight became hazy, and the pain increased. Damon caught her before she dropped to the ground.
The commander rushed to get his wife, while tossing a question at Damon, "Did she get hurt?"
Damon paused, as he tried to remember every single detail of the fight. He froze once he remembered using his fire powers on her. Did she not put up a shield like the other Protectors did? He was unsure about what happened, or how else Echo could have got injured.
The commander rushed out with Jasmine, who sprang right into action.
"Keep her here!" Jasmine pointed to an empty bed next to them.
Damon gently laid Echo on the bed, staying next to her so that the handcuff would not hurt her now limp hand. He was so angry at himself for hurting her.
"Did she get hurt?" Jasmine asked Damon, who was staring at Echo's face.
"Damon!" the commander called out, when Damon did not reply.
"Huh?"
"Did she get hurt?" Jasmine repeated.
Damon stuttered, running his hand through his hair, "Check her stomach!"
Jasmine looked at the commander and Damon, "Okay, can you guys leave now?"
Damon raised his hand up, showing the handcuff. The commander pursed his lips.
"Is this really necessary?" the commander asked.
"She's wearing a dress," Jasmine replied, and before she could continue, the commander removed the handcuff from Echo's hand.
The two men walked away, and Jasmine closed the curtain. She gently loosened the dress, to check on Echo's injuries.
Jasmine couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Echo's injury. A deep burn was on Echo's stomach. Only one thought crossed her mind once she saw the burn, 'How was she still alive?'
Putting aside her thoughts, Jasmine had her hands over the burnt area of Echo's skin. Her hand began to glow a light blue, and Echo's wounds began to heal. The healing was remarkable, in a few minutes, there was no wound in sight.
Echo's eyes opened ever so lightly, and she saw a blur vision of Jasmine. "W-wh-what?"
"Shush! Don't talk, you need some rest!" Jasmine informed, gently placing a wet cloth on Echo's forehead. She stood up, and smiled, "Just sleep, okay!"
Echo lost consciousness briefly after. Jasmine sighed, she covered Echo with a blanket, and went to inform Damon and the commander about Echo's recovery.
The commander and Damon were both silent, staring at the ground as they contemplated. The commander tried to wrap his head around what happened, and how Echo might have got injured. Damon kept berating himself for hurting Echo. They turned their gaze to Jasmine as soon as she appeared from behind the curtain.
"Is she okay?" Damon asked, without hesitating.
Jasmine nodded, "She's fine…" crossing her arms, she continued, "Which is something I can't understand?"
Damon raised his eyebrow, not understanding what Jasmine was saying.
The commander stared at his wife, "What?"
Jasmine sighed, taking a deep breath to explain, "She had a really bad burn. Any other Protector would be dead, but she's still alive. I can't believe she was literally acting fine until she passed out."
"Didn't she block the fire with magic?" Damon asked, his face now void of emotion.
"She doesn't have magic," the commander explained. He glanced at Jasmine, and turned around pacing a few steps, turning back to Damon and Jasmine.
Damon turned to the commander, his eyes turning dark, "What are you not telling us?"
Jasmine stepped away from Damon, moving towards her husband, "The last thing Echo would want is to start a fight."
The commander was unfazed by Damon's threatening eyes, because he was already willing to explain. "The witches told me that she was invincible. I never believed it, but maybe it's true. Would explain how she's fine, right?"
Damon's eyes turned back to normal as he asked, "Invincible?"
"I don't know about the details. You're going to have to ask Echo to explain," the commander replied.
Damon glared at the commander. 'She doesn't have magic, and she's invincible now? What else is she not telling me? I need to really talk to her after she wakes up. I'll make her explain everything to me,' he thought to himself.
The commander turned to his wife, "Why isn't she awake yet?"
"She did wake up, but I asked her to rest a little before she leaves. She's a tough kid," Jasmine smiled, reassuring both her husband and Damon.
Damon sighed, turning to look at the curtain. He couldn't help but feel like he could have stopped this from happening. What good was he if he couldn't even protect the people he cared about? He failed once before too, and now again. His mistakes cannot happen again, his fear of losing her again…
"I've never seen such a cold face before?"
Damon whipped his head towards the side where the voice came from, smiling at Echo, who emerged from behind the curtain.