Caught in the Cretaceous

Chapter14: Building Barriers

Val groans when a knocking on her door wakes her up. "Go away," she grumbles. She rolls away from the door and pulls her pillow over her head, hoping to drown out the noise. it doesn't work. The knocking get more insistent. 

"Rise and shine, Valkyrie." 

Val grumbles even more at the slightly teasing tone of her uncle's voice. She tries to curl in on herself and burrow further under the covers. Her ribs have a sharp pain shoot through them. With this, she remembers the events of the previous day. And remembers what the plan for today is. She groans again at the thought and rolls back onto her back with a little more force than needed. The impact sends another burst of pain through her ribs. 

"Ugh, why?" 

Apollo opens the door and pokes his head around the door. He smirks at the sight of his niece sprawled out on top of her bed. A small chuckle escapes his lips. "Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty. We have a lot of work to get done today." 

The teen groans dramatically at his words. This causes Apollo to laugh even louder. He enters the room and walks over to the bed. "Come on, kiddo. Time to et moving." 

"Ten more minutes," Val whines. 

Apollo shakes his head at the teen. The medic settles on the edge of her bed and rests a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sorry kiddo. There's no escaping this." 

Annoyed by her uncle's teasing, Val glares at him out of the corner of her eyes. "You're not helping." 

Apollo chuckles again. "Come on. If you don't get moving I'll drag you out of bed." 

Valkyrie groans again and pulls the pillow over her head again. "You're so mean," she grumbles. It comes out muffled, but Apollo hears it well enough. He shakes his head to himself. he yanks the pillow out of her grasp. She pouts at this action which only draws another chuckle from her uncle. "I wasn't joking, kid." He grabs her forearms and tugs on them to pull her up into a sitting position. With a final frown Val takes his direction and allows him to pull her from the bed. "I'm a little offended you think I'm being mean. You know Meg offered to wake you up this morning.' 

Val stills in her movements. She looks at her uncle in mock horror. Memories of the last time Meg woke her up flood her mind. She bolts up from the bed and dashes towards her closet. "I'm up." 

Apollo chuckles and nods. "Alright. Be ready and outside in ten minutes." 

Val doesn't even notice him leave. She rushes around her room getting ready. After she gets dressed in some comfortable but durable pants and shirt that will breathe well she grabs her work boots. She laces up her boots and sits in front of her vanity. She debates what to do with her hair while she brushes it. Eventually she sighs and just braids it. She does her best not to dwell on how horrible the day is going to be while she finishes getting ready. 

Knowing she has to stop dragging her heels, she sprints down the hall to the exit. Apollo loops up at her as she exits the ship. A grin spreads across his face upon seeing her. He taps an imaginary watch on his wrist when he notices her looking towards him. She raises a brow in confusion. She doesn't have to wait for a response to her unanswered question for long though. 

"Good of you to join us, Val," her father calls sarcastically. "You're late." 

Deciding it's best not to respond, Val keeps quiet she moves to stand next to her uncle. She zones out a little listening to her father explain the plan. She's completely lost in thought until her father calls her name. 

The teen jolts back to reality. She does her best not to look as confused as she felt. The others are already splitting up to do their part. Val tries to look around casually, unsure what she's supposed to do. Apollo knows what's going on and elbow her to grab her attention. She turns to look at him.