Cored

Chapter 51: The Nest

"Katherine. Katherine, please, wake up."

Katherine's eyes fluttered open. She was laying on a blanket, staring up at an image of the world outside of the cabin. But it wasn't the real sky—it was the ceiling of the training room.

"Ezra," she said quietly, trying to sit up but unable to support herself.

"Shh," a voice said, a blurry mess of red hair looming over her. "He's fine. He's going to be fine. Katherine, it's over. You're okay."

She felt George's arms wrapping around her, pulling her gently against his long, lean chest. "Katherine, I'm so sorry, but you can't get up yet. Ang--Ang she's awake!"

"Katherine, look at me," a woman's voice said, kneeling in front of her. Katherine couldn't make out all of her features, but she could tell it was Angelina. "Katherine, can you see me?"

She tried to focus, but everything was blurry. "Glasses," she said.

"Here," George said as the glasses slid onto her face. "How about now."

She saw their faces come into focus and nodded. "I can see you. Where's Ezra?"

"Katiebird, is that you?" The voice was feeble, not the commanding tone she was used to. But it was still enough to calm her racing heart.

"Creepy Crawley, you were supposed to be protecting me... and couldn't even keep yourself upright?"

He laughed weakly, but it devolved into coughing. "I was out of practice. My dueling partner is shit."

She scoffed softly. "Tell that to the scoreboard."

George brushed her hair out of her face and cradled her head in the crook of his arm as Angelina checked her over. She had already tended to most of the cuts and bruises, including the glass of her watch face that had broken and embedded itself into her skin. When the healer was satisfied, she and her husband helped Katherine sit up. George rested Katherine's head against his shoulder when her neck wasn't quite strong enough to hold her head up.

Hermione came over and knelt in front of Katherine. "Picquery's taken Iz into custody. Everything is going to be alright."

"She wasn't working alone," Katherine protested. "She had someone else, someone else's magic was in their heads."

"We're aware. But if she was the connection to MACUSA, her tie has been cut."

"What will happen to her? Worst case scenario?"

Hermione looked at Angelina and George, then back at Katherine. "Well," she said, "MACUSA has the death penalty, I can't imagine that will be off the table."

"No," Katherine said.

"It's really not up to us, of course, out of our jurisdiction."

"She's in mourning. She's broken. She shouldn't be killed for it. Let me talk to Picquery, to Quahog."

"Katherine," George said, holding her still, "you need to rest."

"No, this is my fault, I don't want her to die because of me. Isn't there a rehabilitation thing or even a prison or," but she went very green before she could finish, turning her head just in time to throw up. George quickly adjusted so she wouldn't fall face first into her own mess, Angelina holding back her hair.

"Shh, Katherine, it's okay. We'll talk to them; we'll make sure she's okay. I promise."

She looked up and nodded at George's word, letting him rest her head back against his shoulder.

"How's the cabin?" she asked. "Why are we in the cellar?"

"It's rough," Angelina admitted, vanishing the bile. "But we're safe here. You need to rest, there's some sort of bed over there."