4th Month, 10th Day
They'd been in the air for six days, having left on the fourth from Joywood. It was no pleasant trip, as they got further north the air crisped around them, leaving the Rebel crew scorned and freezing on the deck. Rodney looked especially glum, he'd grown up on the outskirts of a desert, and being in the frigid temperatures of the North did not sit well with the Westerner. What little was already seen of him, he was all but nonexistent now, retreated to his quarters for every meeting necessary, only coming to the commons to eat, taking several meals at a time.
Clint didn't particularly mind the cold. His home was just off the coast, and he was used to rainy days just as much as foggy or sunny ones. He hadn't seen snow there, in Farnworth, but it became more common the closer they got to Edinburgh. It was just on the border of the Summer and Winter fort line, where the air was coldest and the ground constantly in a state of permafrost.
"There've been sightings of ships from the Alexandrian fleet." Deik reported, albeit lazily, as the pair of men sat together on the deck. They were the only ones who really didn't seem to mind the shift in temperature. For Deik, it was actually quite nice. He was born in Finnigan, one of the closest towns to the North.
"Any news otherwise?" Clint asked.
"No. We're a bit behind schedule, another two days, tops. If we work through the night we'll get there in barely one." Deik informed Clint. The crew never seemed to mind staying in the belly of the ship, it was warm there, and working the engine would be preferable to sleeping in cold quarters.
"Then we do it." Clint shrugged. "The faster we can get there, the better."
"Aye aye, Captain." Deik snickered, Clint groaned. He hated being called Captain, it really didn't suit him. "Where's our little Astor girl?"
Clint's frown turned into a huge grin as he pointed up into the bird's nest of the ship. "I told her to take your place up top, someone has to look out for the fleet." Deik punched Clint playfully in the arm, it wasn't his fault Clint wanted to talk to him so damn much, at least talk as much as Clint usually did. "It was either that, or scrape the ice off the deck, without alchemy."
"You're too cruel." Deik laughed.
"I'd better go check on her anyways. She knows more about the damned fleet than I do." Clint huffed. He got up from his place on the deck and headed towards the tallest of the only two masts. As quickly as he could he clambered into the bird's nest and pulled himself up. It was times like that he missed Jessie's ability to walk on air, something he'd never taken to.
"Tess, see anything?" He asked casually.
Tessa smiled at Clint, her cheeks rosy from the cold wind. It made her eyes even bluer, in comparison to the grey sky. She had managed to find a woolen hat somewhere- pulling it down over her blonde curls in an attempt to keep warm. Bundled up in several layers she looked... much rounder. Tessa didn't take very well to the cold.
"No ships. But look, you can see the snowflakes forming from up here." She directed her gaze upwards, to the low hanging grey clouds. This close, they almost seemed to sparkle with the formation of ice crystals and snowflakes. Tessa lifted her hands to catch one of the falling flakes, watching it melt into a single droplet of water in her palm. But that was cold. She immediately lifted her frozen fingers to her lips and blew on them, rubbing her palms together to try and generate some friction.
"I feel like we're close though. I don't really have a reason but..." It was just like when they were younger. The twins had always known when the other was hurt, as long as they were close by. It may have been years since she had been together with her sister, but she had this
feeling of warmth. She couldn't explain it. It kind of felt like... hope. "I know she's safe. And soon, we'll be there to get her out."
"Give me your hands." Clint coaxed her freezing fingers into his large hands, which weren't very warm either. "Just wait."
He traced his thumbs against her skin, waiting for her body's responses to kick in. Clint watched, waited, he knew what was going to happen and he wanted to see how she reacted. He'd triggered a function in the body which sent more heat to her hands, pulling it away from her chest for the time being. In the long run it was a poor exchange, to trick the body into thinking it was warmer than it really was, redistributing heat into the proper areas.
"Bioalchemy is the only thing I can do, I never learned anything else." He mentioned.
Bioalchemy was the only trade he knew, and he'd use it to give her a few minutes of warmth if she was to be stuck in the clouds. He stopped tracing on her hands, looking into her eyes to wait for that reaction. When he'd tried it on Jessie for the first time she laughed, finding it to be counterintuitive to the body's functions. For the winter months it could mean the difference of all digits on his hands and feet.
"We'll get her back. I promised you, didn't I?" He honestly couldn't remember, but if he hadn't said anything he was now. Jessie had to come back, although Tessa's company wasn't bad at all. He'd grown used to her walking around deck, where some still saw her as Jessie. Clint could tell though, they had a different pace, Tessa had dimples Jessie didn't. Their eyes glowed in different hues, and Tessa had more passion at times, she knew what she wanted.
He liked that.
"I'm sure Jessie would want you to stay, for a while." Clint suggested. Although, he still wasn't sure if it was his own words, or him taking over for the Captain. Either way, a few more weeks, months of traveling with her? It wouldn't be so bad. Not at all.
Her fingers tingled as warmth flooded back into them- and while the alchemy was probably the main perpetrator... She couldn't deny that his fingers, wrapped around her own, helped. Even her face warmed- and she prayed that the pink on her cheeks from the cold would be more then enough to hide her blush. Her grin turned shy as she met his eyes.
"That you did." She was sure he'd promised it at some point. But she couldn't recall off the top of her head- her thoughts were coming up disturbingly blank. Blank save the warmth of those brown eyes.
They'd been getting along well, for the last couple of days. She was sure the crew noticed, it was hard not to when their exchanges didn't end with one or the other stalking off in a rage. She'd hadn't even heard any more over-turned furniture from the room beside hers. A good thing, in her opinion. He didn't have much furniture left to lose.
"I'm glad you're here." A sudden impulse for honesty made her admit, and she tugged at her fingers sheepishly. He probably didn't want to hear that- she was just a navy officer on his ship. "I mean, I'm sure Jessie would want to have me here-" Her words were cut off by something flying into her face, grey brown wings fluttering impatiently as she reeled back and snatched at the irritation. Her hand clipped one clay wing, sending it flying into the basket of the crows nest. One wing cracked off, and it twitched pathetically in her direction.
Tessa's mouth went dry, and she dove for the clay bird. She recognized this work. Another message. She ripped at the clay container impatiently, her fingers shaking as she spread the sheet out in front of her.
Tessa.
I don't even now how to start this... Well, I guess I should start with Jessamine. You're probably driving yourself crazy with worry. But she's here, and she's safe. Better then ever, in fact. That girl really knows which friends to make, that's for sure. She really does remind me of you in ways, but I'm kicking myself for not seeing it sooner.
Please just... let me know you're safe, somehow. I'll watch out for her, for you, and of course Dael (That's Captain Dael Cooper) probably won't let his eyes off of the girl. Lovesick. Can you imagine that? Shit... I probably shouldn't have even told you that much but... Look out for yourself, and come back home quickly. I don't know what you're out there for- but it's probably some selfless bullshit that'll only get you in trouble. Be selfish for once.
Captain Cooper's sent out one of his men to find you. I hope that if you get this, you'll look for him too. He should be able to help you. Guy named Hewlett. We're north east of Edinburgh. Maybe about a days flight. But don't talk to anyone else. Only four of us know. We'll take it to the grave.
I just... I just want you back, Tess.
Come home.
Q
"Golemancy?" Clint muttered. He traced runes over her hand again to turn off the body's unnatural reaction. The only thing keeping her warm now was his hands, at least until she pulled them away. The small bird had been carrying a note, and she read it without a word.
It didn't look good. At the very least he had to assume it really was for her, from what he knew about golemancy. The sender had to have something of hers to get it so far away, and here the bird was, flapping awkwardly away on the ground. The first order of business was to fix it. Clint gathered the pieces in his hands and did his best to mend the creature. It was still almost like fixing a real bird, he told himself, it was living in a way, so the repair didn't look so bad.
He skimmed the note over her shoulder, whoever wrote it had strong feelings for her. Something dropped in the pit of Clint's stomach, and he leaned away to give her some privacy.
"It's from their crew, isn't it?" He asked. "Tessa?"
Carefully, he reached for her hand. Their time was coming to a close, and yet, he felt like he hadn't gotten to know her as well as he'd liked. She wasn't all bad, just on the wrong side for Clint.
It felt like maybe she could mend that hole in his heart, a Navy girl fixing all the wrong that had been done to him in his life. She wouldn't replace Melissa, or his son, mother or father, friends, but she was trying to do some honest good at that was all the proof he needed. Clint laced his fingers in hers, hoping she wouldn't say anything about it, just keeping working forward.
A wide grin spread across Tessa's lips, growing wider every second as she read, then re-read the note. Jessie was safe- and not only were they on the right track, they'd been nearly spot on with their estimate. A day and a half away. Two, if they were slowed down by anything. And then Jessie would be
safe.
Really safe, back where she wanted to be.
"Clint! She's okay!" She gave his hand a return squeeze, turning to hug him joyfully.
Jessie's safe, she's okay! It was like a mantra in her head. She'd never really doubted it, but just knowing left her feeling giddy.
"She's safe- and we're so
close!"
Tessa pulled back, eyes reading over the note again as though she couldn't really believe it herself. She'd made it. Joy bubbled in her chest, forcing it's way out of her in the form of laughter. She let go of Clint's hand to jump up and wrap her arms around his neck. She just... couldn't think of any other way to truly express herself.
Clint had to be happy for her. She was getting what she wanted, her sister would come home, a good man was looking for her. Hell, there wasn't another thing she could've asked for.
She threw herself on Clint and he slipped onto his back awkwardly. Bubbling laughter made its way to her chest, and he echoed the noise. He couldn't really be upset about her happiness, he was just so happy for her, and Jessie would be coming back soon. It was a good day indeed. Clint wrapped his arms around Tessa's back, the golem bird in his hand, finding that he shouldn't let go just yet.
"We're almost there." He chuckled. It was such a rare emotion for him to be happy about anything, and he was smiling beneath Tessa's frame.
"
Everyone to their stations, move, now! Clint, where the fuck are ya?" Deik's voice rang out in the air, shouted from a makeshift megaphone he crafted from his hands. "
Incoming!"
From seemingly nowhere a Republic striker came out of the clouds. They'd had problems with these kinds of ships in the past, their small size allowing them the same maneuvering skill as the
Taivas, but their firepower was far more advanced. A massive cannon was mounted on the back, firing wildly towards the enemy Rebel ship. On deck, the crew was going wild, trying to mount a counter attack before it got too bad. The cold wasn't where they wanted to be, and the air was still thick with snow.
The entire vessel rocked in the air, throwing Clint and Tessa in the birds nest. He wrapped his arms around her defensively to spare her from the jostling. They slammed into the small wall, but not before another attack on the ship, sending them flying into the opposite side. He feared they'd be thrown in the air if they couldn't get down to the deck.
"Tessa, hang on to me, we're going do-" Clint started to say when another shot met the ship. Panic ensued as it spiraled out of control, this time throwing them both from the nest entirely.
Clint panicked, Tessa fell away from him despite his grip and he struggled to reach his hands out to grab hers. They were falling fast, nothing but blankets of snow and a vast array of mountains to meet them now. The ship was the least of his concerns, but it too was falling, far away from the pair in the birds nest.
"Tessa!"
She couldn't breath. The sky that had seemed so welcoming before, now seemed menacing. The gentle grey clouds, slowly forming ice crystals, were now a great looming abyss- spinning in her eyes as the world flipped and rotated- making her stomach turn with it and her eyes clench shut.
The wind stole the breath from her lungs, whipping against her cheeks with a sting like a thousand tiny knives- her hat flew off, releasing a tumble of curls that snatched and yanked in the merciless wind and-
Oh god, she didn't want to die-
"Tessa!"
Tessa's eyes snapped open, narrowed against the torrent of wind and snow- looking for that familiar head of dark hair. He was so close- if she reached out she could
almosttouch- as soon as their fingers met, he pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. And then they were falling together, tumbling through the falling snow at an alarming pace. Gods, if only she had some kind of booster, or alchemy to give her wings-
"Clint!" She had to yell over the whistling of the wind, the ground was approaching fast and they would need to be quick. She squirmed in his arms until he was holding her from behind, his arms wrapped around her stomach.
"Whatever you do- don't let go!"
She fumbled at her waist for Jessie's guns- Jess and Tess. She held the fire gun carefully in her hands, forcing the alchemy into it with no subtlety. She prayed that it would be able to hold on. Just a few more seconds.
She clenched her eyes shut against the blinding gout of flames- her stomach twisting as they floated for a brief moment.
Their second fall was much shorter- and much less deadly.
Clint's arms were still wrapped around her, his back in the snow. It fell about them, moving on despite their crashing down, nothing else was in sight but those white specks floating down to earth. He opened his eyes just as one small piece tipped against his eyelash. It stung beyond measure, all of him hurt.
He groaned, shifting in the snow. It fell off him in chunks, like they'd been laying there for a while. They probably had been. The sky was darker and the air colder than before, if at all possible. Even so they'd fallen quite a ways from up above, so for it to still be cold, a considerable amount of time had to have passed. He just couldn't tell what time it was though.
"Tessa." He breathed. Something was broken, he could tell automatically, but Clint could wait.
The rebel gripped her tight around the waist, his other hand sliding up until it found her chest. He left his hand there, examining her without being too intrusive. Clint's alchemy made its way through her system, finding cracked bones, broken ones, all sorts of problems. There were certainly plenty between the two of them. He thanked his lucky stars for have studied bioalchemy, any longer, and they'd both be dead.
Clint slid out from under Tessa and immediately pulled his leather jacked off himself. It wasn't much, but she could absorb the small amount of heat from it while he worked on her. He placed his hand back on her chest, lowering his face to whisper in her ear.
"If it hurts, just take my hand." Clint ordered her. "Break it, just don't let go. Don't let go, Tessa."
He leaned over her in a protective stance. No one was dying on his watch, not when he was able to help. Clint cursed and thanked the Gods all in one collective breath. Then, when he was ready, he mended her bones. If she hadn't experienced bioalchemy before, it was going to hurt.
"Stay with me."
Cold. She'd always hated the cold. It always stung at first, like she'd pressed her skin against thousands of needles. And then it burned, like the time she'd accidentally set her jacket on fire. Her skin singing, and bubbling, and finally granting her the blissful relief of pure
numbness.She could probably lay there forever, numb to the world, snowflakes lazily drifting before her eyes, if only she wasn't so
cold.
She made a sound of protest as Clint moved beneath her, too weak to do much more then that. Her arms felt like noodles, and everything was just one giant ache. Warmth settled over her chest.
"...mmm... Clint..?" Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She scrunched her nose, turning her head to the side and away from his ticklish breath. "...th' tickles. Why would I let go...?" She could barely understand his words, but she did understand one thing. Her hand blindly groped for his.
"What... That feels weird.." It started as a shifting beneath her skin, the hair on the back of her neck lifted at the strange sensation. Was he healing her? Well that wasn't so-
Something in her chest cracked, and for just a moment, her breathing stopped. Fire swept through her, setting all of her nerves alight. Her hand tightened against his, and a whimper tore from her throat.
"Clint...?!"
On the next one, she screamed. But she didn't let go.
"Just hold on." He urged her.
Her face contorted in pain, and then she screamed. It was horrible. Clint couldn't stop, didn't stop for that matter, as he had to finish the task at hand. He kept his hand on her chest, the other wrapped around hers. The contact would help to distract her from the pain of mending. At least, that's what he hoped it would do. A soothing hand was more often appreciated than not.
"A little longer." Clint pleaded with her to hold on to him. She could break his hand, dig nails into his skin, that was all easily mended. Her bones would be sore, her whole body sore, but she had to be tended to before one of them blacked out, and it certainly wasn't going to be her. Not after all this time they'd spent looking for Jessie. It wasn't fair. Clint knew how to deal with the stress of broken limbs, she didn't, it was evident on her face.
It was an hour, maybe two, before Clint was done. As soon as he was sure Tessa was mostly whole, he released himself from her systems and dropped lazily at her side. He grunted, remembering his own broken body. For her though, he had to stay awake. If it took too large a toll on her body, she'd be out like a light with no one to protect her. So Clint forced himself to sit up in the snow, moving was an impossibility, and he cradled the girl in his arms. What little warmth he could offer up as a second person, he sent her way, rocking back and forth so that she might find rest.
"We're gonna be okay." He repeated like a mantra. "We're gonna be just fine."
Tessa nearly drifted off, wrapped in his arms and exhausted- mentally and physically from the forced healing. Her bones ached down to their very marrows, but now she was comfortable, and there was no way she wasn't safe with
him there. She didn't know how Jessie managed it, breaking so many bones when they were younger and seeing the healer.
Jessie. A bolt of alarm shot through her.
Jessie, Jessie, Jessie. No, that's not right. Why was she worried, Jessie was
safe, Quinn had told her so. So why was she worried?
Jessie...Jessie...
Clint?
There it was. But he was here with her. And she was safe- her eyes opened to snow, through the curtain of dark hair that must have tumbled out of it's normal tie during the fall.
The fall. She could feel herself slowly becoming more alert, her eyes blinked wider as she tipped her face back to look at him.
"You're bleeding...Clint." She reached up one hand tentatively, lightly touching his temple where the blood was stemming from. Leather slid off of her arm.
"what just...? Christ- Clint, you're freezing!" His jacket was wrapped around her- she tried shrugging it off around her arms, but her body wouldn't move the way she told it to.
Clint opened his eyes. He was too exhausted keeping them that way, but he hadn't fallen asleep. His hair brushed over his face, indeed having lost the tie which normally kept it back. It was oily and wet from both the days without a decent shower and the snow all around them, flecks of it remained in between his dark locks.
"I've been regulating my t-t-temperature." Clint's teeth chattered together. Alright he was cold, but he hadn't properly healed himself yet, so a bit of cold would be fine. Once he mended his own bones he'd feel a little better. "I'm f-fine."
He looked around, finding that the only thing he could see was the white of the mountaintop. The range wasn't all that large from what he remembered. Clint tried to get a decent bearing of where they were, scanning his memory for how close they'd gotten to Edinburgh. They'd taken a bit of a longer route, trying to stay far from the coasts near Edinburgh. Republic ships were sent there on a daily basis for patrol, some coming all the way from Lindon, a trip which took a month and a half by air, at least with the
Taivas. There were always faster means of transportation. In any case, he pushed the thought aside and went back to triangulating a location.
"Northwest of Suttenden...West of Cast-termary." Clint stuttered with the cold. "We need shelter."
Clint turned his head around again. The blaring white snow greeted him once more, but this time he was looking for a dash of gray. Anything which might show the mountain's bare face. If they had the mountain to work with, he could at least work on forming a shelter of snow. A small igloo was better than facing the wind at every minute.
"T-Tessa." He looked back at her in his arms, trying desperately to give him his coat back. He wouldn't have it. "I need you to help me, we n-need to f-f-ind."
It was no use. His teeth would stop chattering the longer they sat there. Clint couldn't stand, he needed Tessa to find somewhere safe to hide before he even thought about healing himself. He'd be out, just like she was, and there'd be no hope of staying remotely warm.
The longer she was awake, the quicker she could feel her energy returning. She was still exhausted, but she could help. She took Clint's hands in her own, pressed her lips to his frozen fingers- trying to bring some semblance of warmth back into them as she let the alchemy flow through her hands. It was a trick Quinn had taught her- she could never quite perform it as well as him, but even a small bit could mean the difference between life and death.
Heat flowed through her hands, at first in small trickles, and then in an even stream. When she was finished, she was panting. She was far too tired for this- but it was necessary.
"Sorry... just... give me a moment..." She closed her eyes- only for a second. She was afraid if she rested too long she might never wake up. With the snow bearing down on them, and what looked like a storm on the horizon, they needed to find shelter. Just like he'd said.
"Take- take your jacket back. Heal yourself. I'll think of s-something." She shrugged out of the leather jacket, instantly feeling colder as the engulfing leather parted from her body. She wouldn't take no for an answer- and tried as best she could to drape it over his broad shoulders.
They needed some way to find a cave, or build out of snow... she started running over every single bit of Alchemy she and Jessie had ever thought of- everything she knew about water and ice.
Clint was insistent she keep his coat, but, he could refuse when he was so cold now. She draped it easily over his shoulders and he huddled in the warmth he'd stolen from her. His hands were at least heated from her kiss.
All he could do was wait, and watch. He peered through the snow around them desperately in need of a shelter of some kind. Just when he was about to give up and lay back, he spotted a patch of gray. It was no cave, but, it'd make one side of a shelter a whole lot easier. Clint tugged on Tessa's sleeve and pointed to the disappearing spot. The snow made it impossible to keep track of the one small slab of stone.
"T-there, do you see it-t?" Clint jabbed his frozen finger in the direction of the slab. It wasn't too far away, she could make it on her own. "We can b-b-build against it, block out th-th-e wind"
Clint would've sent her alone had it been any other, less snow capped, situation. Instead, they'd have to both make it, or neither would. He pressed his hands to his legs and forced them to be anything but broken. A full fix would have taken longer. Just leaving them sprained was good enough for him.
"C-c-come on."
They helped each other to their feet, Tessa leaning on Clint just as much as much as he was leaning on her. Their progress was staggered- halting. Every time one of them would stumble in the snow, they would have to pause. Help each other back up.
Tessa was ready to drop, by the time they reached the bare expanse of stone. It was smaller then she'd thought- it had been further then she'd thought. It was colder, then she'd thought. All she wanted to do was fall into the snow, and close her eyes. Drift away. It would be a peaceful death, at least. The cold would numb the pain. But she couldn't abandon Jessie... and...
Her eyes found the dark haired man beside her.
She collapsed against the cold stone wall, sketching runes in the frost. Even with her palm laid across the sigils, she couldn't find the energy to make the alchemy work.
"f-f-fuck...C-clint."
She needed more power. He knife was easy to slide out of it's boot strap- she couldn't believe it hadn't fallen out during their tumble. And when it slid across her hand, it bled sluggishly. Too slow, for a wound of that size. She was too cold. Retracing the runes in blood, gave it enough power to start. Stacking blocks of snow around them, blocking off the relentless wind and snow.
Her eyes closed. She just needed to rest, for a little bit. She was only going to close her eyes for a second...
Clint was immediately on her once more, healing the cut to her hand. Blood wasn't something he could replace or fix, and if she lost too much it'd only be a quicker death. He placed his hand over hers, healed the cut, and pulled her back into the safety of his arms with his back against the rock face of the mountain.
She closed her eyes, and that was it. Tessa was asleep in his arms, but at least they were warm. Clint held her in the same fashion as before, tucking her legs up into his arms along with the rest of her. It'd be uncomfortable for him to sit there, her feet jabbing into his thigh, but someone had to stay awake.
He hummed a tune, nothing noteworthy of remembering, so that he might not drift off. No, he had to stay awake.
Clint could feel the temperature rising inside their igloo. There was still no way he was about to rid either of them of any clothing. It was far too cold to consider. Skin to skin contact would've helped the process, but Clint was too humble to allow it. For
both parties.
"Just sleep." He urged her, no problem in that. Her eyes were already closed.
Everything was sore, sore and stiff- no doubt from the position she'd slept in. She woke with a groan, burying her face into the warmth at her side. She couldn't recall ever falling asleep like...
Her eyes snapped open, and she nearly fell out of Clints lap in her scramble to sit up. The wind was still howling outside of their little snow shelter, but it was warm. Especially wrapped in Clints arms. It was also very, very wet. Their combined heat had begun melting the inner surface of their little shelter- and the snow had no doubt melted on their clothes.
"...mmmff. I'd hoped this was just a nightmare." Her jaw cracked in a yawn, and she finally turned her attention to Clint. His hair was messy, hanging in his face in limp strands, dark circles dominated his eyes making them look sunken and pained..
"You haven't slept yet." It was more of a statement then a question. She tentatively reached up one hand to touch his cheek. "You saved my life..."
"Of course I did." He sighed. Clint was tired. Tessa had slept for hours on end, and he'd done nothing but hum through the night. "You're Jessie's sister, and she'd beat me sore if I let you die here."
Of course, it was less for Jessie and a little more for himself. He'd let so many die before, he couldn't bear to ever lose someone again. It was his own damn fault, and while normally he'd be angry for trying so hard to keep his crew alive, all he had to worry about was one blonde headed Navy girl. There was a part of him which couldn't let her go. He wouldn't let her die when he was right there.
He relished in her warmth. She was fine, her systems operating normally, but Clint was not. Now that she was awake he didn't feel guilty about taking time to mend his wounds.
"Scoot off me." He said. "And you stay awake, I need to fix myself now."
Clint tried to laugh, but instead he had a coughing fit. He forgot about the ribs. They were so easy to miss. He placed a hand over his own chest, assessing his vital organs, checking on bones and muscle. A lot of it was broken, a lot of him needed repair. There was just only so much he could fix by himself. Slowly, he began to heal, his face never contorted into a foul expression. He was too used to the pain associated with bioalchemy's fast repairs. His face did begin to sweat, skin a sick pale color the longer it dragged on.
"We need to stay together for warmth, do you understand?" He asked through clenched teeth. "I need you to stay next to me."
Don't go.
Maybe it meant something else.
"Like you could get rid of me. You tried that, remember?" She was only teasing, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere that had fallen over them like a thick blanket. It was hard to believe that only a few weeks ago he was threatening to kick her off. And now... Well, she wasn't quite sure what they were now. Not enemies, not anymore.
Still, separated from his body heat, she could feel the chill of the icy walls overcoming her. Her clothes clung to her, stiffening in the cool air as the water frosted. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling- healing
himself like that. How long had he stayed vigil?
Why had he looked after her first, forgoing even healing himself until she'd woken up?
"Let me help.." She didn't know bioalchemy, but she could give him the energy he needed. She placed her hands over his, and let the alchemy flow through her hands again. She was rested, he was not. And she was not going to let him die- no matter what. She thanked Quinn, for teaching her how to transfer energy. She'd never thought that one day it might save someones life.
"No!" Clint urged her away, but he knew what would happen if he stopped the process. So did Jessie, but that was a story the two had yet to share. He wasn't going to be happy, hearing that one. If he stopped his wounds would only worsen, stuck in a half healed state, in which some bones were still moving and protruding into the mix of muscle and skin.
What she was doing
was a form of bioalchemy, whether she knew it or not. It was a difficult task as well, and Clint was honestly surprised to see that she knew how to transfer energy. It was a deeper skill within the alchemy of bioalchemy. Some people never learned how to transfer their energies, but once a person was shown how they never forgot. Many top tier alchemists knew the transfer runes, and saved them in binds. Clint knew it, Jessie knew it, but beyond that he'd never met anyone with the aptitude.
But, as he said, there was no stopping once the process began and so he had to accept her energy.
"Where did you learn to do that?" He asked, teeth still clenched in pain as he fixed a rough patch in his shoulder. There was still blood on his temples, but no open wounds. "Do you even know how difficult that alchemy is to produce? It took Jessie three months to get it right."
"Three months?" Tessa chanced a brief glance at his eyes, warm, brown- she refocused on her hands, sorting through her thoughts amidst the jumble of alchemical formulae.
"Heh, it was the golemancer. The one who sent me that note. Quinn." She thought to add. Had she ever talked about her friends before? Had he? She knew about his family, and the tragic massacre that was his hometown... but had they ever traded happy stories?
"It was a trick he learned to transfer energy into his golems. We both favor the fire element so... I guess it was pretty easy for me to get the hang of once he explained it." Tessa tried for a smile, slowing the rate of energy transfer to a small trickle, before ending their contact.
"Sorry, I still can't do it for very long..."
"I'm just amazed to see someone else doing it." Clint admitted. "Having the same affinities would certainly...help."
He threw his head to the side, letting out a long and pained groan. Most of his body was repaired, bones back in place, and muscles happy to be in working order, but that didn't mean he wasn't sore. While happy to be healed, he was in pain still. That was the downside to bioalchemy on the spot. There was nothing to shut out the pain up in the mountain, he could bite on a chunk of ice but that wouldn't get him very far.
"Don't do that again." He scolded her. "It takes too much from you."
Clint reached out one of his hands, sending a quick jolt of energy her way. After years of practice he was much faster at the transfer than Tessa, it was easier to determine how much he was giving away as well. He could put percents on things, gauge how his body would react. Tessa didn't need to give him anything. They were still stuck on the mountain.
"Now please, come here you Republic bastard." He laughed, a pained smile on his face, but a smile all the same. "I'm
cold."
She was more then willing. More then willing to tuck herself back into the protection of his arms- she had started shaking again in the brief time they'd been apart. It was strange how comfortable it felt- it was a matter of life or death, certainly, but...
Well, in any other situation, she might have enjoyed the contact for what it was.
contact. Tessa wouldn't even remember if she'd been held like this before.
"I guess I s-should leave it up to the experts, shouldn't I?" Tessa tucked her head into his shoulder- pressing her nose up against his neck. She wondered where they would go from here.
"What I wouldn't give to be
dry again." She couldn't help but chuckle. Wouldn't that be the dream- to be warm and
dry.
"Christ!" Clint jolted away from Tessa when her nose made contact with his neck. "That's cold!"
He shivered madly before settling back with his arms around her. So long as she didn't brush her nose against him again, he'd settle for being curled up with her. Even if she was Republic. That was long in the past between them, it hardly mattered really. There was still one more thing he could do though. She wanted to be dry, right? That was something he could do.
Clint gripped the edge of her clothes, waiting a few moments before muttering a few words. He didn't want to explain how, but, he pulled the water away from her overall and sent it into that one spot on her clothes. It was sort of like osmosis, he thought, it was the only way to explain it. He pulled all the water from her clothes and let it settle in one spot. While it wasn't dry, it was a start.
That was all he could do before slumping against her. His head fell on hers, lips parted in a silent snore. He'd spent a day healing and mending their bodies, he deserved some goddamn rest. Clint sat back, gripping for the locket around his neck before drifting off. Be it the cold or the exhaustion, he almost didn't notice.
It's gone.
He bolted right back up, smacking at his chest. Clint panicked. It was gone. Gone! "No!" He spat. "No, I can't, no, fuck!" But, he was just so tired. His eyes began to droop down again, his hands gripping at air. "It's gone, no, I've lost her."
Clint fell back into Tessa, his hand held tight in a fist over where his locket normally was.
"Clint- what's..?" She didn't have to finish her question. He was clutching at his chest- at first she'd thought maybe there was something wrong. Physically something wrong... But this... This was somehow worse. Physical wounds could be healed- especially with Clint there. This was irreplaceable. She knew what kind of value treasures held. Without her compass, there were so many times she never thought she'd be able to make it..
"...Rest." She said firmly, slamming her palm against the stone wall behind him, next to the alchemical symbols drawn in her own blood. Morbid... but useful. If she just altered it here- she could set it to give off heat. For a little while. Her energy dropped.
"Look just...stay here. I'll be back." She silenced his protests with one hand. She knew he would protest. Or at least grumble. "You can't get rid of me, remember?"
As quickly as she could manage she was back out in the snow, and the wind. Grateful for Clint's warmth, that still lingered around her shoulders. Grateful for the energy he had given her. She wasn't going to come back without that locket.
The snow stung her cheeks, forcing her to narrow her eyes against the wind. It would be impossible to see anything. Between the dark that had fallen, leaving the air sharp like daggers, and the wind and snow that blustered...
She stepped into the snow, following their stumbling tracks back to their landing site. It was a place to start.
She'd been out there for too long. She'd long since gone from having to pull back her alchemy from warming her entire body, to just her hands and face. And now, even those last vestiges of energy were leaving her. If she wanted to make it back...
"F-fuck.." She couldn't control the shudders that wracked her body. How long had she been out here?
Almost twenty minutes. How much longer?
Five minutes ago. But she still didn't have the locket. She was getting desperate.
Think, Tessa THINK. How do you find a small, metal locket, in the middle of a snowstorm. A giant magnetic. Her minds sarcastic reply. She didn't have a magnet. All she had, was alchemy, and a compass. Tessa crouched, blowing warm air on her hands to try and conserve her warming alchemy.
A crazy thought crossed her mind. Tessa fumbled with the compass, placing her free hand against the snow.
This had better work.
Tessa stumbled into the small shelter, her teeth audibly chattering- curls plastered to her face in wet ringlets. All efforts Clint had made to dry her off were now pointless. She was soaked to the bone. She could barely move, her fingers were red and chapped, the beginnings of frostbite.
Gods, she was tired.
"C-c-c-clin.... I-" How did her tongue get so numb. Her hand jerked out, and she nearly let the chain slip through her fingers. It was stiff, and the edges were coated in snow.
"Tessa?" Clint stood in their small shelter, her voice had woken him, and he wasn't sure how long she'd been out there. Thank the Gods she had half a mind to make it tall. "How long were you-!"
He crouched in front of her, taking in her hands and examining them first. The extremities were always the first to go, and hers were frozen over, nearly blue at the tips of her fingers. He pressed her icy hands together and rubbed his outside of hers. Bioalchemy could do so many things but it couldn't restore her hands without ruining her frozen insides. If there wasn't enough heat to keep her heart warm, he wasn't about to drag it out to the rest of her body. That nifty little trick he'd shown her in the birds nest was really only good for minor cold.
"Get against the wall." Although he demanded it of her, he was the one to pick her up and set her in the snow against the rock face. It was still breathing warmth from the bloody runes she'd scrawled.
For a while he was even able to forget about the locket she'd gone to retrieve, and it sat at the entrance of their igloo in the snow.
She just wouldn't warm, no matter what Clint tried. Her lips were blue, her hands were blue, and he had that sinking feeling if he took off her boots, her toes would be blue. So much for his bioalchemy being useful. Clint took off his jacket and wrapped it around her once more, it provided more heat than it did in the outside with the wind blowing in their faces, and it helped a little. He pressed a hand to her chest, gauging her temperature.
He did the only other thing he could think of, a bit irritated because he'd sworn it off, said he was too humble for it. Clint adjusted the jacket so it wrapped around her front, leaving it there as if she was wearing it backwards. He slid behind her, taking the heat from the wall, but using himself as a new source. Holding her wasn't good enough, his body could only provide so much warmth, and she
did need more. Without so much as a word he peeled off the dark long sleeved shirt he was wearing and draped it over his shoulders, exposing his scarred chest. Not that she could see it anyways. Clint pulled at the bottom of her shirt now, cursing himself for his terrible moment of silence, just enough so that her back could lean against his skin. He pulled her close, took his jacket, and draped it over the both of them.
Clint didn't want to say anything about the action, stripping down to his briefs would have been easier, but he wasn't going to invade her privacy unless she were any more frozen. He'd find out in a few minutes if she didn't heat up, still cursing himself for being so damn awkward about it.
His arms wrapped around her stomach in an anxious embrace, searching for her hands so he might hold them again.
Tessa was more then happy to let him take over. She could barely move- her fingers didn't want to listen to any of the directions she gave them. and that numbness that had crept in... it left fire behind. Her skin was cold-too cold, her clothes stiff with encrusted ice. Like she was wearing a damn Popsicle.
And her eyes- god, it was so hard to keep her eyes open. So much more comfortable to just let the exhaustion pulling at her limbs take over. why not? It told her, just go to sleep. Everything will be fine if you just sleep. She whimpered when Clint shifted behind her
"sto'... m-movin...C-cli- ah!" Tessa arched away from his chest, it was hot. Too hot, it seared her skin and as his hands found their way around hers she felt as though she'd stuck her hands in fire.
"H-hot."
She thought he was too warm, Clint thought she was freezing. He insisted on keeping her warm, and so with his iron grip he pulled her back closer to his chest. Clint hated the feeling of her icy back on his chest, feeling a bit frozen himself, but she fought him, slumping awkwardly away.
"Hey, hey!" He called her name a few times. "Don't fall asleep on me, Tess? Stay awake."
He slapped the side of her face a few times, gently as he could without being too soft, then he slipped them back around her waist. She desperately needed to stay awake if hypothermia was setting in. Clint couldn't stop that, like he'd thought a million times, he couldn't generate heat without taking it from somewhere else. Already he was subtly making transfers from the wall, through himself, and onto her but it wasn't enough. She shivered in his arms.
"Don't fight me, you
need to warm up." Clint's voice was quiet this time, soothing her instead of showing frustration. "What am I gonna tell Jessie if I bring a frozen body down from the mountain, hm?"
Clint rubbed his hands against her bare sides, keeping himself moving slightly to generate that extra bit of heat. He looked like an idiot, trying to spare her from being indecent, yet at the same time his hands were all over her skin. So much for that.
"Come on, stay awake."
Why wasn't sleeping a good thing? It seemed like a very good idea to her. A hot brand slapped her face. But Clint didn't want her to sleep. Why didn't Clint want her to sleep?
Tessa's thoughts were jumbled, confused. She could barely string two words together without forgetting the meaning behind what she'd planned to say. But it sunk in, slowly. He had to keep her awake, and she was too cold.
"S-s-sorry. I... I'm awa'." She couldn't even get the words out of her mouth through the chattering of her teeth. But her back was slowly recovering from the burning. It was still hot against her skin but... that was when she figured out what he was trying to do. The training she'd done years ago, for surviving in cold climates finally came back to her. Her wet clothes weren't helping- they were keeping her skin cold, and not letting the heat penetrate.
Tessa hesitated. She knew what she needed to do- and
gods, she was so cold. She didn't want to die, for so pathetic a reason as modesty... but this was
Clint. If she'd had the ability, she would blush at the thought of him seeing her anything less then fully clothed. And she would have to get very, very disrobed. But he's a
doctor. Surely he's seen it all before. Heck, he had a wife and child on the way at one time in his life...
Tessa shifted in his arms, trying to hook her rebellious fingers underneath the already lifted hem of her shirt.
"N-need to-"
Between all the clothes they had, not a one was dry. Clint gripped the edges of her shirt again, calling all the water to one point before wringing it out. It was better than nothing, he thought. He started for her pants, hooking his finger to a belt loop, and did the same.
"Slow down, Navy girl." He cooed quietly. "Save your energy, what do you need?"
Clint stopped rubbing his hands against her skin and saw what she was going for. Her hands reached down towards her pants, and he couldn't help but turn red. They could be closer, drape their clothes around them, and it'd work for a bit more warmth.
You're a grown ass man, one half naked girl isn't going to ruin you.
He sighed inwardly. Still, he stopped her hands at first, reaching around to her front to undo the button, searching for a belt if he had to undo that too. Clint wasn't eager to be stripping either of them of their clothes, even if he knew it was the smart thing to do.
"I'll say it, this is no time to be modest." Clint broke the silence. "We don't need to strip down all the way, we don't have anything that'll cover us both, but it'd help just until you were warm again."
Tessa closed her eyes tiredly. Wishing she could blush-
anything to try and get across how... well, not necessarily uncomfortable, she was but.. embarrassed? Mortified? It was bad enough that she
knew she had to get out of her damp things to warm up... but to not be able to do it herself?
It brought a level of intimacy she wasn't prepared for.
And then there was... that. It didn't really matter if they didn't need to strip down all the way. Jessie didn't own a single pair of decent underwear. So when Clint finally managed to get her belt and pants down over her legs, she was left in nothing but a lacy scrap. They could barely count as fabric, let alone clothing.
"I-i'm going t-to... kill J-jessie."
To be technical, Clint wasn't even the ship's doctor. He just knew a lot about bioalchemy and how to use it. After studying the body for a few years, yes, some might feel comfortable referring to him when they were sick. However, sickness and broken bones were different. Bioalchemy dealt with the physical aspect of the body, as well as the energies being spread. There were other practices which focused even on viruses, illnesses and chronic pains. But that was another matter entirely.
He wasn't about to tell Tessa that.
"We have to get out of here first." Clint reminded her. His eyes trailed down to the lacy bit, barely hanging on to her waist with how tiny it was. It was a bad decision to look down, he only reddened, and his pants felt a little tighter than usual.
Clint pulled the pants away from her, setting them against the wall so they'd dry faster if it was possible. She was effectively naked, and he felt bad for having taken the first step. If she wasn't comfortable with this, she'd never be able to look him in the eye. So, he moved with deliberate slowness, never once trailing his hands near her chest or her thighs without doing so carefully.
A change in position was called for. With her alchemy heating the wall, it was best she be near it instead of using Clint alone. So, he picked her up in his arms, rolling on his feet until he was away from the wall and she was against it. He made sure to lean her away from himself, so she wouldn't show anything unnecessary. When he noticed the rock extending beneath them he thanked his lucky stares. The snow began to melt, he brushed more of it away, to reveal a gray slab beneath them. It was far better than lying in the snow.
Grown ass man, remember? Get a grip.
Clint, with his back turned to Tessa, pulled his pants away from his body put placed them on the ground where he'd lay. He at least had to try to use his clothes for warmth. This was truly the worst, but he would get through it, would Tessa? She was exposed, stuck between a rock and Clint. All because he'd lost his locket.
"Come here." He sighed, chuckling at the situation. There was no other way to respond.
Clint laid behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and settled her head in his chest. When he was sure he had her in his arms, he wrapped his legs around hers, pressing even his toes to hers. It was a good thing he was so tall, and she of only an average height. Otherwise, his awkward embrace wouldn't have worked.
"Don't sleep yet, not until you're warm."
"I d-don't think I'll ever be w-warm..." But it was working. She could feel the numbness creeping out of her limbs, the fire receding leaving her skin tingling. Like when she slept on her arm wrong, and it the morning it was asleep. Pins and needles, accenting everywhere their skin touched. And... it was a lot. Pressed between Clint and the warmed stone wall she had no where to go.
Her stomach flipped.
Should be she affected by his arms around her stomach, or his chest pressed against her back?
No. She was navy, and he was rebel. They never should have been close enough to make something like this possible, let alone necessary. And yet, there they were... And Tessa would be lying to herself if she didn't say that a very large part of her loved the feeling.
She shifted in his arms, pressing herself further into his embrace- a sharp inhale passing through her lips as she pressed against his blatant arousal. There was the blush she'd been missing this entire time. She quickly arched away from him, her heart picking up it's sluggish pace. She wanted to curse Jessie... but she also had the strongest urge to thank her.
"I...." She had to be crazy. "I-it's okay.." She was definitely crazy. Tessa turned in his arms, as adeptly as she could manage with her limbs still not functioning correctly. But this time, her stutters weren't from the cold. Her awkward movements- making her brush up against him- weren't from the chill in her skin. It was the way her heart picked up, and her stomach twisted with a responding desire.
She was facing him now, her hands spread across his chest and an uncertain blush on her cheeks.
"This is... comfier.."
There shouldn't have been an attraction there at all. It was an impossible romance between two people who bickered and fought until the sun went down on most days, only taking a short break while they slept, and got right back at it in the morning. They hated each other when they first met. Clint had his ideals about being a Rebel, and Tessa about being a Republic soldier. However, they could both agree on the one thing which brought them together. They desperately needed to get Jessie back. In time, that allowed them to stop their fights. Clint had shared his deepest wounds, and she was still there, desperately clinging to him for the warmth she needed in order to survive. In turn, she'd grown to be one of the crew, even if she didn't see it. There was a level of respect there that Jessie couldn't match. It was different, a new breed of importance among the men.
She was the one who'd bring their Captain home. A savior, their savior, and leaving without her was damned impossible.
So, was it even an emotional attraction at all, in place of the physical need they craved from each other in that moment? Clint said yes. She was strong, and he wanted someone like her to carve out a path of his own, to forget the horrors of his own past. He just needed her for a little longer.
Tessa turned into him, and he responded by adjusting his arms, one held her around the waist, the other made a small rest for her head. She was still pressed hard against the stone face, heat growing in the small space between them. Clint should have tried to hide the blatantly obvious erection he sported, but he told himself it was natural. It was. She was an attractive girl, holding on to him for that bit of heat.
"Just stay warm." He said quietly. His hand curled up from beneath her head in order to stroke her hair. After one quick check, a simple tap on her temple, he was more able to gauge her temperature. He trusted that if she did fall asleep, that she'd live.
Thank the Gods.
Clint leaned his head towards her until his lips brushed softly against her platinum curls. He leaned in, pecked her once on the forehead, and didn't say another word besides, "Sleep, my little Navy girl."
His actions were achingly sweet, his words tender. Tessa had to close her eyes to try and savor the sensations. She loved having his fingers in her hair, his arm around her waist. Every breath she took pressed her chest further into his, until she swore she could feel their hearts beating beside each other.
"I..." His scent enveloped her, a mixture that was so uniquely
his that she couldn't even compare it to any one thing. It was heat, and musk, and medicine- Tessa curled the hand over his heart into a fist. She pressed her face into his chest shyly, her breath fanning across his skin. "I'm not sure... if I'll be able to sleep."
She was exhausted, physically and mentally, but she didn't
want to sleep. She felt like morning would bring with it an end to their closeness.. And maybe, she just wanted to do exactly what Quinn had told her to.
Be selfish for once. She wanted so bad to be selfish. To do something for herself, something that made absolutely no logical sense, and yet made all the sense in the world.
And after all, what would she be putting on the line?
Tessa spread her fingers again, the tips just barely tracing a scar that spanned across his pecs. Her head tilted back, and her lips found the only thing she could reach; her kiss barely a breath against his neck.
"It's your turn to rest..."
But please, don't.
Clint smirked, pressing his face back into her hair, combing it with his hand. She seemed to like it when he did that, judging by her content reaction. The hand around her hip pulled her closer, she sat safely nuzzled against his frame, and he didn't find,
couldn't find, a single thing wrong with that.
She brushed her hand against him, shivering as she moved over one of his scars. A long distant memory of course. But that sweet smell of her moved over him and when she was but in inch from his face, he stopped, let it all soak in, and his shoulders relaxed. He felt at ease, after all the years of suffocation, how he drowned in his past, he felt free. Right now it was him, her, and the focus on the both of them needing to stay alive.
There were no restrictions, no dead man was coming after him, no ghosts would haunt his memory here.
"Tessa." He finally breathed, "I can't rest until I know you're alright."
Clint pressed his forehead to hers, nudging at her face with his nose. It was cold, unlike the rest of him which basked in a shared warmth. He genuinely smiled at the sight of Tessa's face turned up towards him, and carefully, just as every other action had been, he leaned in and pressed his lips lightly against hers.
It was long overdue that Clint move on from his past.
She melted. It was the only way Tessa could describe the heat the blossomed in her chest, and trickled through her veins to pool in her stomach. All of his movements were so careful, so exquisitely gentle...
Tessa sighed against his lips, tilting her head to deepen their kiss. She didn't want it to end- not ever. And when they parted, she lingered close. Relishing in the butterflies that assaulted her stomach with every warm breath.
"If I said the same... it wouldn't change anything, would it?" A small smile sprouted on her face, growing into a wide grin. She'd taken a risk. She'd been selfish. Maybe, he was being a little bit selfish too.. but.... one look at him cemented her joy. "I'll sleep on one condition."
She returned his earlier nuzzle with one of her own, warming the tip of his nose with hers.
"Just... don't let go..." She wanted to kiss him again. Press her lips to his and never sleep again.
"I won't." Clint tightened his hold on her, planting one last bit off affection into a kiss in her hair. He wouldn't admit that he too felt the butterflies in his stomach. It had been years since he so much as touched another woman, Jessie just didn't count. They didn't fool around, but the way Clint manhandled her during fights...it was so different.
Tessa had a curve about her, his hand rested lightly in that spot along her hip. She was slender, yet with just the right amount of curvature in the best places. Her pale skin was only illuminated with a blue hint by the surrounding snow, and if her eyes were open he might have called it magic, the way she seemed to radiate that hauntingly gorgeous gaze. Simply put, he thought she was beautiful.
He reaffirmed his hold on her, winding his legs around hers to make sure they were the warmest they could be. Briefly he had to pull away so he could drape his leather jacket over the both of them as best he could. It was tight fitting, and therefor didn't offer a lot in terms of coverage. For the time being it would do, it could serve them both, keep them at least shielded from the wet snow around them.
"Now sleep, before I start to worry." He told her softly, coming out husky and warm compared to his usual gruff tone. She might have thought it an odd tone, but a pleasant one nonetheless.
Tessa shivered. His voice was like electricity- sending ripples of energy just beneath the surface of her skin. She pressed her forehead to his chest, her fingers were still carefully splayed over his heart...
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. It was a rhythm she thought she might be able to listen to for the rest of her life.
But the night would have to do.
"Then I guess I'd better sleep..." Tessa couldn't understand how she'd come to have such tender feelings towards him. From the start they'd been at each others throats.. and if it hadn't been for Jessie... she might never have given him a chance. And he would have done the same. She would have missed out on so much.
It seemed like they'd barely had any time together, for as long as they'd been forced into proximity. She'd barely gotten to see this side of him that cared so much he couldn't let go of his guilt. A guardian's soul. Someone who took too many things into his heart until he could barely hold it all together. And yet he kept going. And now, he was adding her to that list.
When morning came, Tessa thought as she drifted off.
It would be too soon.
Clint never let her go, not once through the night did his arms slip away from her mostly naked body. His eyes certainly wandered, but he didn't touch her aside from the gentle kisses he'd drop from time to time. He was dead tired, and keeping his head up for any longer would have put his body into overdrive, but he gave in. Tessa was asleep, they were both warming up, and he figured it'd be safe.
It was a relief when he didn't have a nightmare. His dreams were filled with snow, of a better time closer to town, but the flakes fell more innocently. Blonde curls raced ahead of him and he struggled to keep up. She'd turn around, blue eyes and it would have been impossible to tell it was Tessa had he not been holding her so close. It was her alright. He just knew.
The feeling was good, his heart even felt warmed with the emotions flooding through him. It was something he hadn't felt for years, not since before Melissa had passed. The feelings were harmless, innocent, and he relished in them for as long as he could before it was once again time to wake up and decide on how to survive the day.
"Tessa." He nudged her face with his nose, frozen over again. "Wake up." Clint encouraged, kissing the top of her head.
He was warm again, and then a little cold. They needed to get dressed, but he didn't want to move Tessa. She was asleep, curled up against his chest in innocent form. Clint leaned himself back so he could admire her face. Without her struggling to keep awake, her muscles softened her features and she looked so..so cute laying in his arms.
"Or not." He chuckled. "Stay asleep if you want."
"mmmf..." Tessa scrunched up her nose, burying her face in Clint's scarred chest. No, she wasn't ready to get up yet. She didn't want to leave his embrace, wake up to face the morning sun and the snow. Tessa laced her arms around his, and wedged one leg between his. Entangling their limbs.
No, she didn't want to get up quite yet.
She'd had the most wonderful dream, of flying, falling. They were all the same thing in the end, but this time, someone was there to catch her. Ready to save her the pain of another fall, and pull her back to her feet when she lost them. She'd dreamed of the smell of the ocean, and clouds painting the horizon a million different colors.
Cold breached her defenses in the form of Clint's nose. Tessa squeaked, pushing away from Clint to try and keep his nose away from her skin. "Clint!" She laughed, finally opening her eyes to the brightness of their impromptu igloo. Blue met brown with a smile. "That's
cold."
"It is." He said simply. His nose was cold, that was a fact, and he smiled at seeing her reaction. There was little he could do about his cold nose but stick it further against against her face, freezing her skin.
Clint felt more alert than the previous night, having slept, and he remembered small details from what had happened. They shared a kiss, yes, and he'd kept her warm through the heat of their bodies and his leather jacket they'd survived a cold storm in the mountains. Not many could say they'd slept in an igloo through a mountain storm. He adjusted the leather jacket so it covered more of her than himself, she being the priority.
Always.
"Get dressed." Clint breathed against her skin, taking in her sweet scent as he brushed his lips along her neck. "We'll have to move today, further down." He planted a kiss against her jawline. Then another. "While it's sunny.
Maybe, they could stay a little while longer.
Tessa's breath caught in her throat. She had gone from laughter to breathlessness in seconds. His lips were like brands on her skin, warming her and leaving irrefutable marks; ones that while invisible to the naked eye she knew she would never be able to erase.
"That's... A good idea." Her eyes closed of their own accord, lips parting with a soft sigh. She wanted to move, she really did. Her head tipped back, baring her neck to his ministrations.
"But you aren't being very convincing..." Her voice was barely whisper, laden with heat.
"No, I'm not." Clint sighed.
He gave in to one last kiss, taking her face in his hand, and brought himself down to her. For one second, he only let it last a quick second, and then he was gone. There needed to be some self control in place, else he feared Tessa would be too much. He did believe too much of a good thing could be bad, especially if things went sour, and she disappeared forever. So, he refrained from capturing her lips once more, despite the urges which screamed and begged for more.
Their clothes were scattered in a pile either beneath or behind them, half soaked from the snow and still warm from either the rock or the heat, he wasn't sure. Clint picked up the remnants and handed them to their respective owners. He slid his long sleeved tee over his head once more, sitting up during the action to make it easy. It became cold, and he desired nothing more than to curl up at Tessa's side again. His body told him it was for the warmth, but, his heart said otherwise.
"We need to move today, get down off the mountain." Clint said curtly. "Are you...are you up for it, how are you feeling?"
It was one of the first times he'd asked such a question. He realized he never stopped to ask, because they were usually bickering, but now he was honestly curious if she was alright. Clint reached a hand out against her chest to check her vital signs. Nothing abnormal, save the quickened heartbeat at his touch. So, he assumed the best. Everything else, her little noises when he shifted his hold, or kissed her, that was obviously something besides the slight bought of hypothermia.
Clint waited until she was dressed before curling back up around her, this time in a seated position. They still had much to gain from each other's company, and they didn't have to leave quite yet. A plan needed to be formed, thoughts shared, so they could get back as soon as possible.
How was she feeling? It was a loaded question, to be sure. She was cold, from the chill in the air. Warm, from his arms wrapped around her shoulders, and her head tucked into his chest. She wanted to jump up and run circles around everything, and she never wanted to move again.
But mostly, she just wanted to kiss him.
Of course that wasn't what he had intended with his question... and kissing him appeared to be detrimental to her thought process. No matter how much she wanted to just lose her mind, she had a job to do. They both did.
"I'm fine, now. All thanks to you." She pressed her hand briefly against his chest, smiling at the way her own heart picked up. It was strange, being free to touch him like this. "And you're right. We need to meet up with the rest of your crew. I'm a little worried about the ship... but there isn't much we can do from here. I'm sure they're all safe but.." Tessa but her lips. During their dizzying fall, she was sure she'd seen the ship going down. If that was the case, then they might be in even more trouble then they'd thought.
A day and a half flight, would be a week or more on foot. Jessie would be long gone.
"Oh!" Tessa scrambled off of Clint's lap, returning moments later with the forgotten locket. She pressed the freezing metal between her hands, trying to bring some warmth back into it. "Can you believe I almost forgot the reason for...last night." Pink highlighted her cheeks. She didn't have a word for whatever it had been. Words seemed inadequate, in any case.
Clint covered her hands with his own. She sat in his lap like a child might, keeping herself close to the man who'd provided her with life in the previous night. It was all but natural to want to come back to those protective arms, and he wouldn't ever stop her from that day on. So they sat, his hands enveloping hers with the comparison of massive bear paws to a small bird's, but they both held the locket until Clint pulled it from her grasp.
He tapped the cover, alchemy working it's way to undo the lock he'd set in place. It wasn't a lie when he sad he only knew bioalchemy, this was simply the only other trick he knew. Around the edge's of the locket, two snakelike bands of metal fell away from the main face, finding their way to his hand before wrapping themselves there. A pair of golden rings adorned his finger, one fitting snugly on his hand, the other just barely sliding onto the tip of his finger. One for Clint, the other for his long dead wife.
"I don't know what I would have done..." Clint murmured. "If I had lost it."
It was the first time since he'd forced the locket shut that Clint was seeing what was stuffed in the inside. Slowly, he pried it open and discovered the same ash he'd placed there eight years ago. It was only a few small pinches, a few even fell away as he opened the top, unable to adjust to the new small plate.
"However...it is also time I learn to let go, Tessa." Clint said with equal silence to his previous statement. "And I have you to thank for that." Clint shut the locket, it snapped into place, and he tapped the cover once more. The two wedding bands snaked their way back around his hand and sealed the edge once more. "That time is not today, but, I still need to..."
He couldn't find the words. He was grateful and mournful all at once. After eight long years of pain and suffering, he felt more able to let go of his past. Melissa wasn't coming back, she was ash in the ground somewhere along the coast of Farnworth, as was their unborn child, friends, family, everyone Clint knew minus the few survivors such as himself. It was time he moved on. Tessa had nearly been overcome by the mountain's cold because of his obsessive desire to keep the locket in his life. But he knew, just only affirmed, that nothing could fill the hole in his heart where Melissa once stood, but there was a girl who could at least hold it together.
Clint placed the object of his affairs deep inside his pocket instead of around his neck, with his free hand he tilted Tessa's face back towards his own, murmuring a silent thanks to his savior.
"Thank you." He breathed softly against pink lips, sealing the space between them in no time at all as he pressed hungrily for a taste of Tessa. His hand pressed her close to him, another reaching around to her back, whatever he could find of her to hold on to.
"Thank you." He said again, his lips going straight back to hers.
Tessa was glowing. She knew it was easy to see the joy radiating from her smile. She was glad, that if only one good thing would come of this, it would be the wounds on his heart beginning to heal. She couldn't even say as much, before his lips captured hers once more, barely able to catch her breath between each searing press of his mouth.
She eagerly returned his affections. Arching into his hold to get just that much closer, her teeth catching his lip, and her fingers locking into his hair.
"We should…" She muttered between kisses, "We should go…" He tasted like snow, and cold and
Clint- and she knew, that if they lingered any longer, she wouldn't be leaving this igloo any time soon. The friction between them was a palpable thing. It was with reluctance that she finally pulled away, her kiss swollen lips hovering just above his.
"While the sun is still up…"
Clint was the one to pull Tessa to her feet, but his lips never left hers. He wasn't exactly ready to relinquish the new romance between them, he rather liked the shared heat of their bodies pressed together but they really did have to move. There'd be no point in enjoying each others company if they couldn't make it off the mountain. Before he left, he wiped his thumb across the blood runes, cancelling out the heat it produced.
It wasn't a large expanse, nothing like in the East, where many of the Rebel headquarters lay. No, these mountains were still fairly short in comparison, but just tall enough to have the snowy caps the Western counterparts lacked. Clint stepped out of the igloo, somewhat pleased to find that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and he could feel the sun on his skin.
"Mother nature seems to favor us." Clint groaned as he stretched his sore muscles. "Clear skies, a little bit of heat."
He let his hands fall back at his sides, extending the one towards Tessa in good graces. They had a long way to go, and there was no end in sight.
They began down the mountain, sticking close for warmth and the sheer enjoyment of proximity. Heading in the direction they believed the ship to be last. After all, what other choice did they have? Stuck in 'enemy' territory (her idea about using smoke signals had been shot down. Even if she
could talk them onto a navy ship. Too risky.) There was no where else to go but down.
They had no clues- nothing aside from their recall and that brief spinning memory of falling. Every time she thought about it, her bones ached. It was a miracle- Clint's miracle- that she was even standing right now.
And Clint. Every time she thought about him, she felt warm. And the looming presence of Jessie brought more then just joy- it brought a pang of sorrow. Soon she would have to leave him.
"So where do you think they went?" Tessa lifted one hand to shield her eyes- not that it was any use. The light of the sun reflecting off of the snow made the assault on her vision two tiered. She would have to completely blind herself in order to block out the piercing rays. "Do you think they've noticed us missing yet?"
"That crew just lost their Captain, and now the next best man." Clint shaded his eyes from the sun, it was surprisingly bright out for the afternoon, and he still wan't able to see more than a few miles in any direction. The mountain range was certainly on a decline, in the distance there were caps which weren't tipped in snow. That had to be an advantage.
He reached for her hand, finding a little comfort so long as she was there.
"What do you mean they aren't here?" Deik roared over the crew. Their ship was smoking from the engine room, no one could go down without goggles. Even then, it only protected their eyes from the smoke, it didn't do much for visibility. "Do another head count!"
"Deik, they aren't-" Will held up his hands, trying to sooth the furious scout.
"We need to find them! Clint and Tessa are the only two who know what the hell's going on!" That much was true. Deik and Rodney had been well informed the whole time, knowing their destination and even the name of the fleet. However past that they needed Tessa in order to get further into the Navy ranks. They'd already lost one Captain, they didn't need to lose Clint, too.
"Stop talking." Rodney said quietly. The crew went from screams and roars to shocked silence. Rod...just didn't talk. He spoke even less than Clint did. Although the latter was becoming more talkative since Tessa's arrival.
"Rodney, go back to your tinkering, we need to find out where to go."
"First, we need to fix the ship." Rodney spoke calmly. "We're at Edinburgh's doors, we land, we get it fixed, and we go."
No one dared argue with that. Rodney never spoke, and when he did he was often times correct. The crew couldn't do anything.while their ship was in disrepair. So, they landed in Edinburgh for the time being and had to forget about their missing mates. That's all they could really do.
"I don't suppose you have any fancy life sensing skills?" It might have just been wishful thinking. Their climb down the mountain had so far been filled with random crevasse's, surprising cliffs, and invisible drops buried beneath the snow. They'd been kept on their toes- and hadn't gotten nearly as far as they'd hoped to be.
Now, they were on the cusp of being snow free- the sun was setting... and Tessa was
starving. She couldn't remember ever being this hungry before
"At this point, I would be willing to eat a horse. Literally a horse." Tessa wilted against Clint, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked. She could say one thing- her hand had never been cold despite her lack of gloves. So far, he'd saved her numerous time.
"I do, actually." Clint wondered if she'd be surprised. "It doesn't extend very far though, so, all I can sense is you...and that bug over there. Hm, surprising."
They walked a little further, the snow melted around their feet and for once they could see dirt and grass instead of stone or wet snow. He lifted her over a small crevice, setting her on the other side with ease before jumping over himself. After walking again for a while, they could see trees in the distance, and it both worried and set Clint at ease.
"Come here." Clint turned to Tessa, lowered partially on his knees with his back facing her. "I'll carry you."
It was an honest offer. They'd been working their way down the mountain, and she had to be tired. Now that the terrain was at a smaller slope, he didn't mind much having to carry her. Plus, he was just trying to do his best to be kind. She'd already made him more talkative, now if they could work on that cold heart.
"Once we get to the treeline, we can start looking for food."
Tessa shook her head, an indulgent smile on her lips. Yes she was tired- but he had to be as well. She placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before stepping around him.
"Thank you... but I'm fine. I'm sure I've been through worse, even if I can't quite recall it at the moment."
Pink lips parted around white teeth, her grin turning cheeky as she turned to walk backwards- her hand fondly patting the guns at her side.
"And that's good news. Should be easier to find some food. Of course, this just means we need to conserve your strength wherever we can. You'll need your energy if anything happens to us- if we're gonna survive out here."
"We'll be fine." Clint watched her walk backwards, far too confident what with all the rocks scattered around. If she fell because of how cocky she was being, he wouldn't heal her scrapes and bruises.
Alright so he would, but she needed to be careful. Clint was worried about how she was holding up. Bioalchemy could only heal so much, and if she developed a fever, or a cough, or anything with the immune system went wrong there was basically nothing he could do to help her. He jogged up to her side and swiveled her around so she was facing the right way. He was panicked for no reason at all. They were both fine, so long as they didn't get sick. Someone would find them, save them, and they'd be alright.
"Don't trip." He warned her quietly, and as kindly as possible. "You should conserve your own energy, I know my limits."
Clint had never talked so much. It was odd, yet satisfying to speak to Tessa. The butterflies returned to his stomach as he both worried and cared for the girl at his side. He picked her up from time to time so she could get over the rare crevice or rocky patch. It was that same anxiety and growing passion which compelled him to do it.
By the time they reached a few scattered trees, it had long grown dark. Clint simply wanted to get there. They were tall pines, with low bearing branches which snaked up into the dark sky. The stars were back, clearer than before considering their hideout in the igloo. He started to sense more lifeforms around them. There were bugs, a rabbit somewhere in the distance which darted off at the sound of footsteps, and something else. Clint stopped, grabbing Tessa when he did so.
"I think..." Clint mumbled. The entity moved closer, then there were two, then three, a small pack of something. He had a feeling he knew what it was so he threw Tessa up onto a low branch and clambered up after her. "Climb." He commanded. "Get up!"
In a few short seconds after having climbed up the tree, the howling started and Clint groaned. Wolves. They ran past the tree the pair were hiding in, two stopping to sniff the air before howling loudly. The remainder of the pack returned, and they tried to find the scent they'd picked up. Clint reached his hand to Tessa and clapped it over her mouth, signalling for her to be silent.
They could smell the pair, sure, but making any more noise would only keep them around for hours to come. Clint wanted them to go away.
Clint was... unbearably sweet. They'd never done much talking before- not unless it involved screaming each other into a rage. And even still, he was silent more often then not. But it was like they had suddenly broken through a dam- All of the hostility, the fragile truce they had built, it seemed a thing of the past. But she didn't need the words- she could feel his sincerity with every touch, every small gesture and smile...
She didn't hesitate to trust him- perhaps blindly- when he gave her an order. When he told her to climb, she climbed without any second thought. Only stopping when he did. She had her answers soon enough, and was glad he'd acted as quickly as he had.
Wolves.
She didn't need his hand to tell her to be silent, her heart leapt into her throat, choking her and cutting off all of her words. One hand dropped to land on Jessie's gun. The other, rose to grab Clint's, her fingers twining with his. It must have only been a few seconds, but it already felt like an eternity that they'd been stuck in among the trees.
Tessa jumped, when the wolves at the base of the tree started to howl. Her fingers tightening around Clint's hand.
They don't know we're here. They only smell us. She repeated the chant in her head like a mantra.
It's fine, they'll leave soon. They won't find us-
Crack.
The wolves looked up, amber eyes searching the leaves for the source of the sound. The branch they'd stopped on- it had begun to snap.
Clint reached out with both his hands and pulled Tessa up by the collar of her shirt, straining to keep her just above the branch. It relieved some of the pressure, and the eyes stopped their search, moving on to another branch on another tree. He could breathe easy knowing they'd moved on. However, with wolves on the prowl he knew their struggle to survive would only be that much harder.
He watched them go, waited until he couldn't even sense their presence. There was but one left, and Clint couldn't even see where the wolf was. It didn't feel good, in terms of energy, but he let it slide for the time being.
"You alright sleeping up here tonight?" Clint whispered. "I am."
Tessa took that as a sign that the wolves had gone, and slumped in Clint's grip. She felt weak all over. So much for survivalist training. She hadn't even thought to test the strength of her branch.
"That.. sounds fine to me. Got any rope?" Her words were just barely over a whisper, nearly drowned out by the scuffing of cloth as she carefully moved to a different- sturdier branch. She prayed that the night wouldn't bring any nightmares- for either of them. The last thing they needed was to survive the mountain and the wolves, only to be killed by falling out of a tree.
"We should- should sleep in shifts. To keep each other in the tree." And they would have to find food in the morning. Her stomach cramped at the thought. She was already running out of energy- would she be able to make it to the morning?
"No rope, sorry." Clint sighed. "I'll watch you, alright? Get some rest, It'd be best anyways. I can still sense what's here, so if they come back too soon, I'll know right away."
Clint took the first shift, there'd be no arguing about it. He slipped down to her branch and did his best to keep an eye on her and the ground. They didn't have any rope, nothing but the clothes on their back and a pair of pistols. Clint wasn't armed when he'd gone to find Tessa in the crows nest, and while normally it wasn't an issue, it was certainly turning out to be one.
So he waited, reaching out to lay a hand on Tessa if she stirred too much, she'd wake up eventually. If she didn't take a shift, that was fine. All of that was fine, he simply wanted to see her get through this, selfishly that's all he desired. Clint was fine getting two hours of sleep, and he didn't dare rest his eyes with wolves nearby. That much was a given.
Her sleep was fitful, and she gained it in bits and spurts. Every time she would shift, she would get a dizzying sense of vertigo until Clint steadied her. And when she woke, five hours later- fully woke- she felt like she'd only gotten two hours of rest.
"That's it, I'm done. If I wake up like that any more I'm gonna be sick." Tessa clambered upright, pushing a few limp curls out of her face. She was a mess- between the fall, her night in the storm, and their hike, she was wrung out. Tired, and weak. But she needed to hold on- just a little bit longer.
"It's your turn, Mr. Anderson." Tessa stretched, her spine cracking uncomfortably. What she wouldn't give for a bed-
Or another igloo. The thought brought an unbidden smile to her face.
Clint stood up, staring towards the voice which called to him from above. He couldn't sit still knowing their were wolves around, so he'd climbed down from the tree, the logic behind his decision to come down didn't make much sense, but he had. After having climbed down from the tree, he found the source of life from earlier which had been bothering him so much.
Tucked away in his arms was a disfigured pup, his eyes barely opened at it was clear he'd been left behind because of his lame back legs. Clint held it in his arms. An instinct had kicked in, telling him to watch over it. Not a single wolf had come back all night to claim the poor pup, and if he left it alone it would die. That didn't sit well with him, that instinct just kicked in, that's how he explained it.
"Tessa, you'll never believe what I found." He called up. "Don't be scared, not a wolf too close to us, not that I can tell."
"Scared?" Tessa peered down from the tree, blue eyes searching for Clint's form in the darkness. She'd heard his voice, but couldn't see him. Tessa rubbed her eyes tiredly, wincing as she got sap from one of the trees in her hair.
"I'm coming down, I can't see a bloody thing up here."
She made quick work of the tree, her movements stiff from the awkward sleeping position she'd had to use. Her muscles weak with hunger and exhaustion. Her hands were trembling by the time she made it to the ground. She prayed that the wolves wouldn't be coming back any time soon.
"Clint, what did you fin-" She stopped short, as soon as she saw Clint. And a little ball of fur i his arms. "Clint." She said carefully, closing the distance between them. How could she possibly be scared of something so small?
"I hope you aren't planning on eating that."
"Eating it?" Clint scoffed. "Tessa, it's a pup, I couldn't just leave him..."
He sounded off from his usual self, caring instead of cold. That was something Tessa would have to get used to, she brought out the nature in Clint he'd almost lost eight years ago. There was a man somewhere who had that capacity to love, as she'd thought a thousand times, but never outwardly spoken. He could be that man, he just needed a little time.
"His ears perked up when some deer passed, I wasn't nearly close enough to get them, so don't scold me for not finding food." Clint turned his attention back on the pup. Suddenly, he had the intense desire to keep the thing. What with Clint having held him for close to an hour, his parents weren't coming back. His leg was subject to question, too, Clint saw it was a birth defect, as well as him being far too small, it was likely he was a runt. Clint felt, well,
bad for the thing.
"Don't move." Clint watched as the pup's ears perked up again, his head turning towards a spot past their hiding tree. "Over there, do you see it?"
In the distance was a buck, a rack of horns taller than Clint had ever seen. It was both impressive and a source of food. He took a step forward, being careful not to step wrong. There were twigs, pine needles, and a few leaves mixed in with the grassy underbrush. He held out a finger to point out the meal.
"Can you shoot it from here?" Clint asked.
Tessa shook her head, smiling at Clint. She hadn't been expecting him to leave the pup- but she was glad that he wasn't planning on making a snack of it. She might be hungry, but she wasn't
that hungry. Eating a puppy- even a wolf pup- seemed far too desperate.
"I wasn't going to scold you Clint. I'm glad that wasn't your intention." She started, offerring her fingers for the pup to sniff. "He wouldn't make more then a mouthful anyways." She threw in, teasing.
Honestly, this man was finding ways to surprise her every day. Were there no end to the strange things he would do? She couldn't say it had been the last thing on her list of things that were unlikely for the stoic captain, but it also wasn't on the bottom of the list. Picking up strays... Though... Tessa couldn't help an unbidden smile at the thought. She was a little bit of a stray herself.
"Don't move." She froze immediately, showing the same kind of trust she had earlier when the wolves had shown up. If they'd come back- smelled the pup on them regardless of abandonment- She turned slowly, nearly falling over with relief as she caught sight of the stag standing not too far off.
"Can I?" Her only response to that was to carefully set her stance, drawing Tess (it still felt weird, calling the gun her own name) and looking down the sights. Her hands were shaking. Tessa bit her lip, taking in a deep breath through her nose to try and steady herself.
She knew before she even finished pulling the trigger that she had hit her mark.
The sound of the gun sent birds winging into the night in a flurry of lost feathers and raucous squaks. Drowning out the sound of the stag falling to the ground, and Tessa's relieved exhale.
"Now what do you think are the chances of the wolves coming back in this direction? If you think they're pretty slim, then you should go rest while I do something about that." She nodded in the direction of the stag, holstering the gun (and thanking Jessie every step of theway) and picking her way through the undergrowth to their catch.
"We'll have some time, they probably aren't used to the noise." Clint still said it quickly, if they did come back he wasn't risking staying on the ground. He followed Tessa just in case, the pup in his arms looking curiously towards the fallen stag. His ears were still perked up, sniffing the air to confirm what he knew was food.
Clint was sure she had a knife on her, and there was no good having the both of them work on carving up their meal. So long as they could get it somewhere the scavengers and hunters wouldn't find it, that was the best thing to do. If the wolves came back, and they weren't done, Clint would give up the whole hide to the predators, not wanting to become a meal himself.
"Here, actually." Clint remembered her fire affinity. "I'll skin it, start a good fire. If we're fast, we can cook it before anything comes back."
He set the pup down, watching with a pained expression as it hobbled up to the dead stag. It yelped, then growled, before pouncing on its face and bit at the ear. Clint shook his head, amused and saddened at the poor gimp the pup had. If he had the time, or the need, he'd be able to fix it, however their main priority was staying alive, much to his dissatisfaction.
"Give me your knife." He held out his hand expectantly.
Tessa rolled her eyes, ducking to pull the knife out of her boot and pass it- hilt first- to Clint. There would be no getting him to rest until they had taken care of the beast, and they were both safe once more. That, and she knew that if she were given the knife to skin the creature, she would end up mangling the poor thing. A hunter, she was not.
"Alright, but you have to
sleep while it's cooking. Or at least try. The fire should keep away the wolves, if we make it smoky enough." Not difficult, considering she would be hard pressed to find any truly dry wood in the area. Thankfully it was still dark- the smoke would be hidden in the night. But it would certainly smell enough to ward off even the hunger of wolves. hopefully.
"You might want to restrain that one as well," She motioned to the small wolf pup, tearing at the stags ear with small teeth. "No telling how he'll- it's a he right? Well, no telling how he'll react to the fire." And the cries of a pup
might just be enough to bring the pack back. Fire or not, abandoned or not.
Tessa knelt, to begin digging out a small pit for the fire. The last thing they needed was a forest fire giving away their position. Or killing them. She wasn't certain she'd be able to contain it with how little energy she had left.
Clint made a noise which could have suggested he'd try to sleep, somewhat positive, but he already knew his mind was thinking otherwise. They had a new pup, and then he needed to keep awake so if there were someone nearby he'd be alert for it, Tessa wouldn't have been able to tell. Keeping so fine tuned into the area nearby
wasdraining his energy reserves. A bit of sleep would do him good, but Clint was still just as stubborn as when they were dropped in the damn mountains. That hadn't changed.
"It's a boy, aye." Clint chuckled. There was no doubting that. "He's just got a bad leg, hasn't so much as howled in the last few minutes, think he can?"
The image of Clint later trying to teach the pup to howl, for some reason he grew excited. He wanted to be able to take the wolf back with him, teach it to hunt, watch it grow. There was no denying the parallel between that and the family he never had. Instead of a wife and child, he had Tessa and a wolf pup.
He made quick work of the stag, tossing chunks of raw meat towards Tessa's way from time to time. The pup got off with a small portion of the stag's leg, chewing happily on the raw meat at the base of a tree. He still didn't whine or growl, not so much as a peep from the beast. Clint was a little worried on how it'd do on its own, but no matter. They had important things to deal with at the moment.
"I still don't sense anything." Clint informed Tessa. "Keep going."
He didn't have to tell her more then once. She cooked the meat as quickly as she could without risking some dangerous contamination- and she was by no means a chef. Cooking being an art she'd never quite perfected, always pushed to the wayside by alchemy, or tactics, or some other important task that demanded her attention. It was cooked, but it wasn't pretty. Uneven, charred, and in one sad case literally on fire.
That was an embarrassing moment she quickly covered by tossing the offending piece of meat straight into the flames. The smell made her more nauseous then hungry.
"You know what, next time... you're doing the cooking." Tessa held her portion of meat speared on a sturdy stick. The meat in front of her looked entirely unappetizing- but she was too hungry to be squeamish. That didn't mean she had to like it. At least the charred bits added some flavor to the otherwise bland meat.
Silver linings and all.
"You assume I know how to cook." Clint chuckled. "I haven't cooked a meal since I met Will. Bastard is too good, I don't dare touch a pot."
Once he was done with the stag, he picked up the remaining corpse as best he could and stalked back into the woods as far as he dared to go. He could smell Tessa's fire as he walked on, the sweet smell of venison rose into the air all around him, and he breathed a happy sigh. The wolf pup followed him for a while, but his leg was eventually too much, and he sat down in the brush. Finally, he let out a small howl. It was barely audible, and more like a cry of pain than anything else. Clint stopped and turned towards the pup, and when he did, the beast wagged his tail like mad.
"I'll be back." Clint promised. He took a few more steps forward and the pup howled again. "I will!"
Clint almost lost sight of the fire when he found a good spot to dump the carcass, best that it be far from their hiding spot. The pup had followed after him, barking and howling with a new energy. It wanted something but couldn't express it. Laughing, Clint turned back and returned to his new little friend, he only stopped barking when Clint was within arm's reach.
"What do you wa-" Clint stopped when he heard the thick growling. The pup at his feet lowered his ears, tail going right between his little legs. As slowly as possible, Clint turned, and stood face to face with a massive black wolf. It barred its fangs at Clint, and in return Clint froze.
He'd learned how to deal with fighting people, not beasts.
The wolf barked at Clint, Clint growled back. He crouched low, his hands stuck out on both his sides to make himself appear at least slightly larger. This worked for a second, but the black wolf sauntered forward with a snarl. Clint panicked. In a quick dart of his hand he picked up his pup by the scruff of his neck and threw a pile of dirt towards the wolf. It was enough to confuse it, and give Clint the few seconds he needed to clamber into the nearest tree. He hopped between branches, the fire back in sight.
"Get in a tree!" He screamed in the direction of the fire. The black wolf stalked the area.
Tessa might have been content to stay where she was, snacking on the unappetizing meat if it hadn't been for the frustrated cries of the young wolf pup. At first, Tessa had laughed. Clint was taking away his catch- and the image was almost sweet. But the cries continued, and Tessa finally noticed the left-over hunk of meat sitting where the pup had left it. Abandoned.
That didn't feel quite right. The wolf pup was starved looking- no meat to spare for the crippled in a pack. She had
never seen a hungry animal willingly leave behind food, not unless there was something more important.
Danger danger. So she stood, cautiously making her way through the trees. It was fine, everything was fine- there was no way Clint would have let anything slip past his senses.
Except he was exhausted- had he even managed to get any sleep the night before? They were both running on fumes. Had he even eaten anything yet? But it was
Clint, he was cautious, he would be fine. She broke into a trot when the pup stopped howling.
"Clint?"
"Get in a tree!" Tessa brushed a low hanging branch out of her way- stopping dead just in time to hear his words, and see the wolf. It was the biggest damned wolf Tessa had ever seen- not that she'[d seen many. In fact, the ones they'd seen earlier that night might have been the first. But it was huge- standing up to her shoulders at the very least, with fur that blended into the shadows of the trees and eyes that glowed in the dark. It whirled around, at her voice, lips lifting in a snarl.
"Oh fu-" Tessa stumbled back, and the wolf leaped. She wouldn't make it- she was going down. She lifted her arm between her and the wolf, the sound of their combined weight hitting the ground punctuated by the scream that tore from her throat. Pain lanced up her arm- as the wolf tossed it's head- ripping and shredding her arm. Hot splashes of blood flecked her face and it was all she could do to keep those vicious fangs away from her throat.
More howls rose in the distance.
Clint leaped from the tree, he had to drag the poor pup along with him, until they both hit the ground with a loud thud. The pup jumped out of Clint's arms and bounded towards the black wolf, there was little it could do but nip at his heels. The black beast turned to meet the minor irritation and growled with ferocity. The pup didn't reign in his nipping, yelping and doing his best to keep the black wolf away from Tessa. It worked for a time, that is until the black wolf's jaws found the small pup's leg and threw him off to the side. The pup yelped, but didn't limp off, he stayed put even in pain.
"Tessa, get away,
go!" Clint screamed at Tessa, both getting her and the wolf's attention. It snapped its jaws shut and began a slow circle. Earlier, Clint intimidated the beast, and although it wasn't fearful, it didn't know what Clint was capable of. Tessa had been easy pray to clamp its jaws around, but not the towering man.
While the wolf circled, Clint moved towards Tessa, one arm reaching to pull her up by the scruff of her shirt. Her arm was torn to shreds, there was only so much he could do for her, but it wasn't the time for that. In another quick move, he threw her up and over the lowest hanging branch he could. Her legs dangled on the one end, her feet hanging just around his elbows.
The wolf lunged again, but Clint was ready. He gripped its jaw shut just before it could clamp around his arm, and he slammed down into the dirt. By the look of the black wolf, Clint could make a decent assumption now. It was definitely the alpha. His size dwarfed those of the coming flashes of fur. None made a move on the wrestling pair, no one should have had to help the alpha. Clint knew he had to get out fast, and he wanted to take the pup with him. Other wolves looked like they wanted to pick a fight.
He focused for a moment. His hands were clamped around the wolf's jaw, but its paws still had access to claw against his chest. Jagged claws scratched against his chest as Clint tried to get a good focus on the wolf's systems. He didn't want to resort to using bioalchemy to ward off an opponent, but the situation left him no choice.
Clint put all his energy into contorting the alpha's hind legs. They twisted and broke under Clint's touch until he yelped in pain and fell to the forest floor. It couldn't even crawl away, and Clint hated what he'd done. As quickly as he'd broken the legs, he fixed them again, and the alpha scurried off. The intense amount of pain it was in scared it enough to make it run off.
Wolves around them were frightened, but unsure as to why. Their alpha had run off without so much as a fight. Clint barred his teeth before the rest of the group, and they shied back. Before clambering up into the tree, he cradled the pup in his arms and shoved up. Tessa was waiting, his pup was waiting, everyone needed his medical attention.
"Tessa, hey." He set the pup down on the branch, holding him up with his legs. Clint extended an arm towards her. "You with me?"
"I- I'm with you.."
for now. Her voice was weak- and it scared her. Oh god, how much blood had she lost already? She'd barely had the energy to drag herself onto the branch Clint had physically tossed her onto. Her jacket was balled and pressed into her arm- like that was somehow supposed to keep her from bleeding out. She didn't have enough strength to put pressure on the world.
She was cold, so damned cold, and it had nothing to do with the chill that still nipped at the air. It was the bone deep kind- like the one time she'd been shot, and left to die by some thief. Left there the entire night through, until someone had finally found her.
"You'll have to... teach me that trick. Seems..." Tessa groaned, trying to push herself further up the branch. Laying back the way she was made her feel like she was going to fall asleep. The pain in her arm helped wake her up. "...seems useful." She finished meekly.
And then the wolf started howling again, flattened on the branch the way he was, his eyes wide enough to see the white's all around his iris'. As soon as attention was drawn to him, he stopped, quivering on the branch. What the hell had gotten into....?
And that was when Tessa felt it. It wasn't enough, the airship crashing, getting stuck in the mountains, running into wolves. She could feel it at the edges of her senses, a heat far greater then the paltry campfire they'd started.
The forest was on fire.
"Clint- Clint we have to go-" Her words were cut off by a harsh cough, they could finally smell it now, the smoke. Like black fog it had coated the sky, blocking the view of the stars. Between the clouds and the thin slice of moon, it had hardly been noticeable. But now, it was in the trees. Choking their lungs and making even breathing difficult.
"Fire!" She croaked out, not that it was necessary. Now, the orange glow of flames was visible through the trees.
"What?" Clint turned to see the flames roaring into their cover. Wolves be damned, not a one would attack them when they themselves were running for cover. He braced himself for a quick jump out of the tree, but not before he grabbed Tessa and threw her on his back.
She was bleeding heavily out of her one arm, and Clint could feel the life being drained out of her with each crimson drop. They landed on the ground, pup thrown over Clint's shoulder along with the girl. He was exhausted, having not slept a wink for the last few days it felt like. However, he had to persist, because if he stopped now they'd be burned into black char along with the rest of the woods.
"Don't you fall asleep on me." Clint groaned with the extra pressure on his back. The wolf pup nipped at the back of his hair, and he had to brush the beast away. Clint was purely amazed how strong the pup's grip was, and pulled him away from his back to cradle it with one arm instead of dangling him over his shoulder, that's where Tessa was.
He moved as fast as he could, but it was never fast enough. Flames licked the trees around them, and more than once he had to stop to avoid a flaming branch falling out of the sky. Clint could only do so much though. He coughed and hacked his way through the forest until they came upon a lake.
Thank whatever Gods are here today.
With great haste he sank into the waves of the lake until he was waste high. The pup in his arms squirmed uncomfortably, and no doubt he was fearful of being unable to swim. Clint adjusted Tessa on his back, making sure she stayed right there instead of slipping away form him.
"Can you move, Tessa? Can you hear me?" He asked.
They'd need a miracle to get out of this.
Tessa blinked, trying to clear the spots from her eyes. It had been warm- hot, too hot. And now it was cold. But not the good kind of cold, when it bit at her skin and left her feeling fresh and awake. It was a numb kind of cold, like she was losing all sense of touch.
"I'm.. here." She felt tingly all over, like her entire body had gone to sleep on her. She almost had to laugh at the sensation. The pins and needles would hurt like a bitch when this was all said and done.
If, her mind morbidly whispered.
You're dying.
"Clint... Y--you need to save Jessie..." Bio-alchemy could only do so much, and she refused to let him kill himself trying to keep her alive. "Find the... the ship. I wr-" Tessa nearly swallowed her tongue when the roar of the flames picked up. It was like a monster. growing louder and louder until she could barely hear the crackling of the branches. Like they were walking into the gullet of some great beast-
Or the engine of a ship.
Light washed over the pond, highlighting the two struggling figures in the water. Hewlett didn't even need to think, as soon as he saw that flash of blonde hair. There was no way this was a coincedence. A rebel ship spotted- and presumably downed- nearby, fire in the mountains, and that now familiar head of blonde hair? He didn't recognize the man with her, but he was hopeful. Maybe he'd finally struck gold.
"Get us closer! I'm going to grab the rope and pull them in!" The soldier saluted, navigating the small ship as close as he dared without causing too much disturbance in the water below.
"Hey! can you hear me!" Two faces turned up towards the opening bottom hatch. Hewlett tossed the long coil of rope- looped at the end in a makeshift cradle- down towards the surface of the water. "I'll pull you up! Hold tight!"
Clint didn't question the military ship above him. He quickly hoisted himself into the rope loop, and was just as hasty to move Tessa into his lap so he didn't lose a hold of her. The wolf pup walked awkwardly over the both of them, an odd trio to be found in the middle of a burning wood. As soon as he had adjusted himself into the awkward cradle, the rope began to tug around him, pulling them all up towards the hull of the airship.
"Hey, hey!" Clint all but slapped his hand along the side of Tessa's face. Her skin was pale, ice cold and she was beginning to be unresponsive. "Tessa, you gotta wake up, you hear me?"
He wasn't about to lose anyone else, not while he could still do something about it. Clint pulled her close to his chest, eager to get her warm again despite the grim fact of the situation. Tessa was dying.
Clint shot out of the cradle and into the ship once they were close enough and the pup jumped away. He wanted to be on solid earth, even if that meant fabricated boards of a Republic based airship. The pup didn't know the difference. Solid wood was solid enough.
"Don't fall asleep." Clint ordered her. He pulled his jacket away and wrapped it around her chest.
Keep the vitals warm. "Somebody get me a goddamn medic, now!"
The angered rebel, though none knew his status, screamed at the confused deckhands. Not a one dared to argue with their new captive, his stature was fierce like that of a bear protecting her young. Clint hunched over Tessa, even now he wanted to sleep and be done with it, but there was work yet to do. He pressed his hands on the blonde haired girl's arm, one above the gaping wound, the other just below.
He mumbled a few words, his own life's energy poured into healing the wound. His voice grew louder, louder, until he growled her name and forced his body to work the bioalchemic process it was trying so hard to stop. It could have killed him, probably should have, but Clint was a massive man and ever so hard to kill.
"You can't leave me yet." Clint closed his eyes. "Don't you go."
The deck was a flurry of activity- a difficult feat for a small crew of no more then ten members to accomplish. But there it was, like a hive of overturned bees, as the crew tried to make sense of the chaos. Finally, after much arguing, Tessa and Clint were set up in the medical bay, Tessa attached to various machines and liquid drips, and Clint being watched by the disgruntled medic.
"I am perfectly qualified as a doctor thank you very much- and I don't need
that one telling me any different!" Hewlett rested his hands on the doctors shoulders heavily, trying for a small ounce of sympathy. Dael had hand picked every single one of the men for this particular venture- all for the wonderful ability to keep their mouth shut. Hewlett had known why this doctor was so inclined within moments of meeting him. The good doctor was miserly with words- and scroogish when it came to his job. He hadn't been impressed by Tessa's companion.
"They made it this far, McCoy, I'm sure they'll be fine now. I need to speak to them, privately." The doctors mouth stretched into a grim line, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Please." Hewlett added on. The doctor left without another word, the door to his office slamming shut behind him. Hewlett could hear the grumbled mutterings from behind the solid wood. Great. Now he'd offended the doctor as well. Running one hand over his face wearily, Hewlett took in the sad looking motley in front of him. Two bedraggled, exhausted, and injured people, and one small crippled wolf pup.
How the hell did he even start?
"My names Hewlett, now that I finally have a chance to introduce myself." That was a good start, though all it earned him from the pale blonde was a confused blink. She hadn't said more then two words- and he could see why. She'd almost died of blood loss.
Clint had his large hand wrapped around Tessa's petite one. He wasn't about to leave her side, not when hew knew what side he was on now. No one knew his name and he liked it that way. If anyone knew he was a Rebel, he'd be put to the firing squad before sunrise. Somewhat infamous, Clint rather wanted to avoid the death penalty because of his name.
The doctor had tried to get Tessa to speak, but her voice was lost just like most of the blood in her system. She'd noticeably paled and the lights only served to illuminate her sickly hue. Clint cursed himself for not having been able to see what was coming. The wolves were right there on the prowl, but Clint hadn't been able to detect them at all.
He was so damn tired.
Hewlett introduced himself, and Clint didn't bother to respond. If he gave a real name, it wouldn't be long before death came around. He still had to protect Tessa, get her somewhere safe, find her sister. They couldn't do any of that if he so much as gave a whisper of his first initial.
"What do you want?" Clint asked. His hand gripped tight around Tessa's.
Well. This was going smashingly well so far.
"We've been looking for you, well, more specifically.. we've been looking for her." Hewlett nodded his head in Tessa's direction, quickly lifting his hands to show he meant no harm by it. The dark haired man had been touchy enough when it came to his blonde companion. And he really didn't want to have to tell Tessa- Jessie, he corrected himself in his mind- that he'd had to hurt one of her former...current crew members. Damn, it was all so confusing.
Twins. Who'd have thought.
"Her sister is very... concerned. And the captain is aware of their..." He threw a hesitant glance to the doctors closed doors. His grumbling had ceased, and Hewlett had no doubt he was listening closely. "...Unique circumstances."
Hopefully that would be enough to keep the man from getting too out of hand. He looked just about ready to drop, and the last thing he wanted was either of them dying of exhaustion before he could reunite the two twins.
"He sent me to help, in whatever way I could."
Clint froze in place. He turned his sunken eyes towards Hewlett and blinked hard for a second, maybe two, it felt like too much time had passed with every draw of his eyelids. Each passing moment felt like an eternity and his body fell hard towards exhaustion the longer he forced himself to so much as breathe. But, he kept a grip on Tessa's hand like no other, he feared that when he let go she'd be engulfed in the flames behind him. He wouldn't let her fade, couldn't let her.
"I don't know if I believe you." Clint finally stated. "You don't know who I am, you don't know who she is, what's that, you could be rebels for all I know."
Of course, he did know better. It was best not to trust strangers on the road however. Clint knew that this particular stranger was military by the way he walked, talked, hell even the hairs on his head stood to attention, would at least if Clint ordered the command. Hewlett was a tough looking character, but he was certainly no rebel. Clint had to test him, he wanted to see his intentions instead of have false accusations thrown in his face.
"What's this Captain's name? Hm?" Clint hummed. "What if she's not a twin, then what?"
Clint turned away from Hewlett to check again on Tessa. Her vitals were fine, they were just fine now that she'd been stabilized through medical drips and machines alike. It was far more than his bioalchemy could do on its own, that much was obvious.
"Convince me."
He'd been expecting this, really. Still frustrated him, but he'd been expecting it. Though it was good to get a confirmation that this really was the right girl. Not that he could mistake a face like that, but hearing the word 'twin' from his lips was all the proof he needed to pull a worn scrap of paper from his pocket.
It was a picture, of Jessie. Taken when she wasn't looking- mischief in her eyes as she crept up on the captain, and the smile on Dael's face as he pretended not to notice.
"Captain's name is Dael Cooper. Her name is Theresa Astor, and her sister is Jessamine. Never said they were twins," And he hid a small smile at this, "But I guess it's pretty easy to tell. Damn. I didn't think two people could really look so alike, twins or not."
He passed the picture to Clint, so he could see for himself that it really was Jessamine in the picture.
"And if you don't believe me, when that one wakes up you can ask her. She'll be able to tell you she's never met that man in her life. At least, That's what the captain tells me." Hewlett shrugged his shoulders, and leaned back into the chair. He still couldn't quite believe his eyes. It had been pure luck, when they found the two in the pond. Pure, dumb luck. But damn, was he glad they'd made it in time. There would be
no facing Jessie, not after his... betrayal, if he couldn't save her sister.
"Trust me enough to give me a name?"