Project Guardian Angel

In the Ranks

I opened my eyes to a white ceiling and an annoying beeping. Did I make it? Slowly I turned my head and saw Felix dozing at my side. He sat in a chair with his head cradled on his arms resting on the bed I lay in. Absently I let my hand trail through his auburn locks and smiled as he began to purr in his sleep. I felt like I've slept for a long time. I blinked slowly and sat up then gently shook Felix's shoulder. He mewed softly scrunching his eyes closed tighter then he opened them.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

"Hey." I smiled in response. Felix pushed a button on the intercom and spoke.

"Leon, she's awake." Minutes later professor Leon entered the room followed by Cam, Toby, and Lance.

"How do you feel?" He asked with a concerned frown.

"Stiff but okay." Cam laughed shakily.

"You scared the living daylights out of us! Do you have a death wish girl!?" I smiled and lifted an arm to take his huge hand in my small one. His hand was warm and surprisingly soft.

"I'm sorry I scared you." I smiled sincerely up at my new friends.

"Isis, what can you tell me about that forest?" Professor Leon asked softly. My smile faded and I took a deep breath.

"That was a memory from when I was six. I was out in the woods making a fort and I got hungry so I came home." Tears began to gather in the corners of my eyes. "I came home to my mother lying dead and those men... those men killed her." One tear spilled over running down my cheek and I hiccuped. "I ran; I was so scared. They chased me to the cliff but there they caught me. They took away my memory and put me in a foster home." The tears came freely now spilling down my cheeks in hot salty torrents. "I'm sorry." I scrubbed away the tears and sniffed.

"It's okay. We'll let you get changed then you can go home. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." Professor Leon forced a smile and exited the room. I blinked in mystification.

"Huh?" What did he mean?

"Looks like you've made the team." Lance said with a smile.

"What would have happened if I hadn't?" I dared to ask.

"Well that rather depends..." Cam said hesitantly. "At the least Leon would have wiped your memories of this place." He tried to remain cheerful but his eyes didn't meet mine and ghosts flitted through their depths.

"Alright, let's get that tracking implant out!" Nurse Becca bustled into the room with a strange looking device breaking the eerie mood.

"Tracking implant?" I didn't know about any tracking implant but I didn't want that device anywhere me.

"Yes tracking implant. You don't think that the government lets its citizens wander around freely do you? We'll deactivate it and let everyone know you came in for a job interview to be a secretary but died in a horrible freak accident. We'll send your girlfriend a bouquet." She advanced and I began to scoot backwards against the headboard.

"Hold her please." Nurse Becca ordered. I jerked away from Cam and scrambled up onto the headboard perching precariously looking frantically for a means of escape.

"Hey it's okay Chickadee." Felix stepped forward slowly in a non-threatening manner. Cam stepped up on my right. They were boxing me in. I panicked thoughts flying through my head then all my thoughts stilled. I looked down at my hands and saw right through my fingers. I was invisible! Cam and Felix stared at me unseeing. Only Lance seemed to know where I was and I realized that it was because he could see my thermal image.

"It won't hurt Chickadee. Look." Felix turned his back on me and pulled up his shirt to reveal a small X shaped scar that sat daintily over his left shoulder blade. Slowly I faded back into view. "It takes maybe five seconds." Very carefully Felix coaxed me down from my perch and into his open arms. "Shh... five seconds." Nurse Becca pulled my shirt out of the way and pressed the cold metal of the extractor against my shoulder. I hid my face in Felix's chest and tried not to work myself up. He began to purr and that calmed me down enough to relax my muscles. Nurse Becca needed to work on her bedside manner.