Dangerous by Default

61. Sucks, right?

"Goddammit, Bubba! I think we're actually gunna make it!"

Mina smiled back at Caine, who had started to sweat from the weight of Ami's drugged form that was draped over his shoulder. "Almost there."

In the seconds that wove them through the narrow halls of Ami and Mina's private workspace, and out the 'we are the future' blast proof door, Mina's lungs started to fill with a new kind of air. A type of oxygen that replenished the particles of her body and brain with a sense of relief. It was all going to be okay. The only problem was, with this relief came a tidal wave behind it. Exhaustion.

She didn't want to show it, not then. Not until they had truly made it out with the bells of victory ringing in their ears. It would be then that she would have allowed herself to acknowledge the dull needles that had sent shocks up the sides of her legs with every step, and the imaginary anvils that had suddenly been tied to her shoulders with a cartoonish cruelty. It had been easy to imagine herself falling through the floor with a comical CLANG if she had let these feelings take over, even for a second.

"Mina, I'm having second thoughts about our escape route. The sewers are quite possibly the worst place to be at this time of night, let alone year. The tides will be rising, flooding them with tons of water."

They both huffed through deep joggers breaths.

Mina let a small amount of impatience tinge her voice as she replied, "Like I said, there's not a chance in hell that we won't be caught by the police, or worse, if we try leaving through one of the main entrances. We don't even have a getaway car! We'll take the tunnels just long enough to get a bit less 'We are guilty and running from the cops' type of escape."

No. She wasn't going to let her exhaustion, or the fact they were headed towards an equally dangerous environment to the one they just left get to her. As they hopscotched their way back through the maze of the robotics testing lab, brushed against lifeless limbs and forgotten bundles of bright colored wires, Mina decided that a new mantra was in order. You only feel safe when you're in danger. She frowned. It didn't have the same kind of ring to it. She ignored her silly musings as the soles of their heavy feet approached the door of the janitor's closet.

Caine briskly clenched the small door handle with a manly grip, and they soon found themselves alone again in the mildewed room full of bleach bottles and caution yellow mop buckets. Mina slid next to Caine's flexed build to help get Ami gently to the floor with an almost parental air, as if placing a sleeping toddler into bed. They were naturals.

"Only a matter of time before Janus Wing and her goons catch up, and I don't think I could carry our dear friend much further." Caine huffed, clearly happy for the rest stop. Mina felt a jab of guilt, realizing how selfish she had been to not even consider how tired Caine was through all of the night's twists and turns. She promised herself that she would make it up to him. Who else would risk so much to help her save everything so near and dear to her? Best. Husband. Ever. Mina couldn't help but smile, as she hoped a good attitude would help keep their momentum going.

"That's my que! Adrenaline a go-go, coming right up." Mina zipped their trusty duffel bag open, holding her breath to ignore the ever present stench of sewer sludge that clung to it. After shifting through its contents, she quickly handed Caine the vial of adrenaline and a fresh syringe. Fucking hell. And then she noticed it, the thing that would cost a life. The thing that months, even years from that fateful night, she would never forgive herself for.

"The goop, Caine. The vial. It's broken." Her voice was thick with disbelief. A pinkish, mucusy coating was pressed on one side of the bag's interior, almost unnoticeable if not for the broken glass that clung to its moisture.

Caine looked back at her, his eyes squinting with stress.

"Shit, I'm sorry to hear that. But isn't this kind of more pressing right now?" His eyes were intense slits, still focused on the needle that he was slowly filling with solution. "Can't you just make some more, when we're ah, say, not running from everyone who hates us?"

"I wish, Caine. But it was made with materials specially made in our labs. Who knows how long it could be until we have the same ingredients... we may never get close to recreating it again. The process itself could be impossible to replicate."

You only feel safe when you're in danger, my ass. So much for that one. Mina's stomach dropped through the floor.

"I've got to go back for it." Caine looked at her with a wild, confused expression as she spoke. "We've come too far. I'd rather die trying than lose the womb project. It's too important. Not just for us, but for all Trans women. We need to give the gift of child birth. To show all those bastards who swear we aren't real, that say we can't measure up to cis women, that we fucking can."

"And what about us, Mina? Do you really expect me to just dip out with Ami while you throw yourself back into the hornet's nest?"

"No. But you will make sure that Ami, and the womb for that matter, make it out of this ticking time bomb in one piece. The shaker in you wouldn't bear to take an unconscious woman back into a warzone."

Caine winced. "These are my options?"

Ugh, even when he wrinkles his face with worry, he's still the hottest man I've ever met. This Goop better be worth the risk of never seeing him again.

Before he could say another word, Mina pressed her lips against his, knowing a kiss would say what some words couldn't, in the small amount of time she had before the Goop would become a lost cause.

"Sucks, right?" Dropping the bag at his feet, she reached for the cold metal door. "No different than our danger stunts, bub. With our luck, I'll be back just as Ami flutters her eyes open. You won't even know I was gone."

The next time Mina would see Caine, he would be flat on his back.