Nebula (Andromache×fem!OC)

III

Late in the night, when Nebula had long fallen asleep, the group headed out on for some reconnaissance before the main mission itself. However, before they began their journey, Andy gave Copley single command that drew everyone's curiosity.

Keep the hostage safe.

She did realise her mistake as the rest pestered her over her words, continuing to tease her about it even while they were killing terrorists. She thought they were all fools, of course, but recognised the slip in her own usual behaviour. The Andy they knew would want him watching her to make sure she didn't run off, nothing more. The moment of weakness was bizarre and, despite their jokes, they took note of it.

Nicky kept them both quiet once he saw their leader was at her wit's end, sending her an understanding look that she completely ignored the meaning of.

She didn't give a damn about their prisoner. It was why she'd made it a point not to speak to her whenever they were around each other. It was why she would simply sit as far as she could within earshot while the others spoke to her to learn any important intel about Nebula. Being aware of her feelings towards them could be the difference between trusting her enough to free her or keeping her around longer.

Nebula wasn't scared of any of these people. She and Nile were even sort of friends, despite their rough first interaction. She was treated so well by the couple in the group. Even Copley got goaded into revealing little details about their work because he loved to fanboy about how skilled they were. It was like moths to a flame... Someone new to dissect.

Andy could tell she tired of it at times. She also sometimes caught Nebula's gaze on her through her periphery, only able to wonder what the woman thought about her distance. It didn't matter, either way.

Nebula would be gone, soon and everything would return to normal.

Except this mission, she was injured. She was well enough to hide it through the journey home, intent on taking care of it once she was alone but her wound began to leak out of her haphazard patch job while she sat at the briefing table (Copley's dining table). Nebula was flitting about, asking how things went, struggling to once again ignore Andy's utter silence after she asked how she was - but one glance at the wet, dark spot spreading across the woman's thigh and she got to work immediately.

Nebula got on her knees in front of the woman to confirm what she hoped she hadn't seen, unaware of everyone's shock, and furiously met her eyes when she realised Andy was planning to hide this from everyone. Could she not at least get help from family? Did having so many people to support her mean nothing...?

"I thought you people could heal quickly? Why is it not...?"

Andy sent a glare to the entire room, wondering who had cracked and told her about their secret first. It was expected from the mega fan boy but to think her own team might actually be that stupid, trusting the enemy like that.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Andy so please stop being so tense? Relax your entire body, please. And take your hand off so I can see- you don't have to speak to me if you don't want to but like it or not, we're getting you cleaned up. Now."

Without another word, she grabbed Andy's hand and pulled her into the bathroom. The rest tried to make sense of what had happened as casually as they could, trying to push away their worry for their leader. While Joe and Copley suggested Nebula was finally pushed to the edge of her rage by this, Nile and Nicky suggested a much more... Intimate reason for their search for privacy. Both parties rolled their eyes at each other's suggestions, amused, and awaited the verdict. Yet, neither yelling nor moaning was heard, so they returned to their lounging.