FIRE [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 2: The Wounds That Heal

Aimee turned her body to face Dominick, who was sitting on the seat behind her, clutching to his bandaged ankle. His boots were off, his foot on the seat and his knee under his chin. Valerie was by his side, holding tightly to his forearm, which lay on the armrest between them. Her eyes stared at the bandage; it was turning rose with blood, faster than she could accept. Gavin had tried his best to clean it up, but the bullets were uncomfortably deep and there was no way the wounds would heal on their own. He needed a doctor.

When they arrived at the hospital, Gavin told Valerie and Aimee to stay behind, and, despite their urges to protest, they remained in the chopper obediently while the boys took care of Dom.

Aimee got up and sat next to Valerie.

"He's gonna be okay," Aimee whispered, looking at her empathetically.

"I know," she replied, but the air of devastation did not lift. "We were careless... too careless. We should have been in and out within seconds. No one had to get hurt, no one had to die."

Aimee's eyebrows rose, "You killed someone?"

Valerie sensitively pulled her legs onto her chair and held them at the calves. Tears fell from her eyes as she exhaled a shaken breath.

She nodded, "All that training and I'm still not prepared. I had never killed someone before today and I don't know if I could do it again."

She knew that she would have to, they both did. Domino Doomsday stood at their shoulders, breathing down their necks.

"That's because you're human," Aimee told her, "and there's nothing wrong with that."

She leaned over the armrest and her arms wrapped Valerie in consolation. Ear to ear they sat, in a silence only cracked by Valerie's light and fragile crying.

At least an hour later, Finn retrieved the girls from the chopper. They hurried into the hospital and into Dom's ward, where he sat not yet upright in his bed. As Valerie walked in, he glanced at her contently.

"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked the girls, but his focus and smile remained on Valerie. "I told you it was no big deal."

"I'm sure you'd say the same if you were missing an arm," she uttered, ambling up to him and sitting on the bed.

They shared a gaze of green love, much like Aimee and Stefan did. Aimee watched him as he smiled at the two with that unhidden boyish happiness she found so undeniably attractive, and he looked at her. The way his eyes avowed that she was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen. She blushed helplessly as he approached her with his hands tied behind his back like a dutiful soldier, yet a somewhat wayward grin rested on his face when he gestured her into the hallway.

"How are you?" he whispered.

"How am I?" she repeated in wonder. "I guess I'm okay."

It was a question she had not been asked in a while. It was almost as if this world she had grown into – this separate world of spies and armaments – had no forbearance for questions of feelings and small talk.

"You guess?"

Aimee leaned against the hallway wall and sighed, "Valerie and I were worried about Dominick. Now, I'm more worried about her; she shot a guy today and she had a breakdown. I don't think our friends are as ready as they seem, and I just can't help but blame myself for everything. It's like I'm the reason they're doing this."

Stefan drew near and caressed her arm with his gentle hand, "Hey, you aren't making them do anything. They may be our friends, but they joined GINM. Ergo, they literally signed up for this. Trust me; they're going on this mission because they want to."