Once More, With Strangeness

Chapter 24

 This was the strangest shit that Becca had ever experienced, even stranger than when El had used her powers on her. She was alert, completely aware of everything and everyone around her, but she couldn't move anything except for her eyes.

Steve and Jax had carried her limp form all the way to the gate and through it. They had set her on the ground and pulled and prodded at her, asking her questions she could not answer because she had no control of her muscles. Becca had no idea what was going on. She had no explanation for why she couldn't move.

When the others had burst through, she would have audibly sighed with relief if she were capable. She hated being taken off the battlefield, leaving everyone behind, knowing she couldn't help them, not knowing if they were okay. As her eyes landed on each person, the knot that had wound up inside her slowly loosened until it completely slipped free at the sight of Eddie walking through last.

He ran to her, asking if she was okay, and of course, she couldn't answer him. He'd lifted her into his arms and carried her to the car. Steve had then driven them back to Rick's and everyone else had met there to debrief and to try to figure out what was going on with her.

"You said she was bitten?" Malcolm asked Eddie.

"Yeah," he nodded, his eyes going wide, "but you don't think...I mean, she's not going to...not like me, right? Please no. She can't be."

Becca could see Malcolm's face, uncomfortably close to hers, as he turned her head, examining her neck. Jesus, she felt like a specimen on display. His brow furrowed and he pressed his glasses up his nose before rising.

"I don't believe so," he said. "There are no bites to any of her major arteries. They're all artificial bites." Malcolm turned to Steve. "Did you experience any paralysis after your bites?"

"Oh, I felt really weird for a while," Steve answered. "I almost fell over at one point. It got really hard to stand and I got quite woozy for a moment or two."

"And how many managed to actually bite you?"

Steve thought for a moment, "Only two. A few of them were wrapped around my arms and shit, holding me in place. Two of them started biting my stomach."

"I wonder..." Malcolm mused, tapping his finger against his bottom lip.

"You want to share with the rest of the class?" Eddie asked impatiently. "You wonder what? What the hell is going on with her?"

"It is quite apparent that the bats have some sort of paralytic agent, possibly in their fangs and claws," Malcolm explained. "Becca has nine different open wounds on her body. Perhaps Steve only felt a little woozy because he did not get quite as much of the paralytic so it wasn't as potent."

"Okay, but wouldn't Becca handle something like that better than Steve?" asked Ivy. "Wouldn't her slayer strength burn it off or something?"

"Not necessarily," Malcolm shrugged. "Those bats are a supernatural force. It may not be your run of the mill venom. We have no idea what all could be in it. The upside is that it will probably wear off eventually."

"Probably?" asked Eddie. "Look at her! We're just going to hope for probably?"

"What is it you would like me to do?" questioned Malcolm, his tone sharp and biting. "We do not know anything about these creatures. They are not in any of our books. I am sorry that I don't have an antidote on hand for something we didn't even know existed. Our best plan right now is to wait and see if it wears off on its own."

"And if it doesn't?" asked Joyce.

Becca saw the woman walk over, looking down at her, worry etched all over her face. It was so odd how they were all talking about her like she wasn't there. She wanted to scream at them. She was there, and she could hear everything they were saying. Probably? They were all going to hope that this would just probably wear off?