Elemental

Chapter 22

Christine wasn't surprised that weeks passed and Oliver hadn't been cooperative in helping Ned. Despite this, Isaiah was optimistic. He was also more than happy to keep an eye on him which meant that wherever Isaiah went, Oliver was close behind. Christine hated it but Isaiah seemed a lot happier, which was saying something. She didn't understand his attachment to him. Oliver was always grumpy despite how kind Isaiah was to him. She understood why he was upset. He was being held against his will but she had never seen someone resist smiling around Isaiah.

They've gone on a few runs for Raider injections since then but the Raiders were catching on. They've increased security on all the labs so Christine and Damien were going scouting to see what they were dealing with. The closest lab was two days' travel but she didn't mind. It would be nice to get away from a while and clear her head.

She was leaving her cabin to meet up with Damien when Silvia jogged up to her.

"Hey," she smiled and noticed her bag. "Going somewhere?"

Bane, who was trailing behind her, went up to Silvia and she petted him.

"Damien and I are going on a recon mission to check out the security at a nearby lab."

"Just the two of you?"

Christine nodded and furrowed her brow at Silvia's coy smirk. "What?"

Silvia shrugged. "Oh, nothing. How do you feel about Damien?"

She was taken aback by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Do you like him?"

"Yeah, I mean, he can be a pain in the ass sometimes but I trust him to have my back which I can't say about anyone else."

She snorted. "Sounds about right. He said a similar thing about you."

"Did he?"

"Yeah, it's obvious that he really likes you. I just wondered if you liked him too."

Christine blushed, thinking about the time when Damien almost kissed her. "I don't know. There's just too much happening for me to even think about that."

"I get that. But you should be happy. Whatever that might entail."

She nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

Silvia smiled. "'Course. Be safe. I'll see you when you get back."

Christine waved as Silvia headed toward the training area. Damien was waiting for her by the exit, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He smiled when he saw her.

"You ready?" He asked.

She nodded and they headed up the stairs. The rain was pouring down so she pulled up her hood as they sloshed through the mud. Damien held a compass in his hand and looked at it from time to time to make sure they were going the right direction. Christine wished she had brought a thicker jacket. She was soaked to the bone and Bane wasn't much of a heat source. He was giving off a little heat but not enough. She tried to distract herself from the cold by taking stock of her surroundings. Between their footsteps and the heavy rain, it was hard to hear anything else. The fog was pretty thick too. She could only see a few feet in front of her. About eight hours in and the conditions didn't seem to be letting up and they were making slow progress.

Damien turned around to look at Christine and noticed her shivering. "Are you doing all right? We can find some shelter and dry off."

"We haven't made that much progress, though," she said, trying to stop her teeth from chattering.

"We've made enough and we won't make much more in this storm," he said. "Come on, I think I see a bridge up ahead."

They walked a little farther until they made it to an old, broken bridge over a dried up river. It was small, barely enough room for the three of them to sit under. Using a few pieces of discarded wood nearby, Christine lit them on fire. Damien and Christine leaned against Bane's back and put their hands near the fire.

"Are you sure we won't attract attention like this?" She asked, not liking how easy it was to spot their flame in this storm. "Maybe I can just put the fire out."

"Don't worry. I'm more worried about the poor sucker who finds us."

She snorted. "Yeah, okay."

She took off her jacket and folded it next to her, keeping her arms close to the fire. She hated the feeling of wet clothes on her skin. She wished she could switch into some dry ones.

"You know, I was thinking, have you ever tried pulling water out of something?" Damien asked.

"What?"

"Like your jacket. You pull out those particles, so it would stand to reason that you could pull the water particles out of our clothes and make them dry."

Christine held her hands over her pants and felt for the water. Like a magnet, she pulled at it until the water rose from her pants and formed a huge ball that she shot into the storm. She grinned at her dry pants.

"I knew I kept you around for a reason," she said and he laughed.

She repeated the process on the rest of her clothes and his, even getting the water out of Bane's fur. She slipped on her dry jacket and put out the fire.

"Just because we're dry, doesn't mean it's not going to be cold," Damien pointed out.

"We've got a six-hundred-pound dog to keep us warm," she said. "I think we'll be fine."

He shrugged and started rummaging through his pack, pulling out two sandwiches. He handed one to her. She thanked him and started eating. She laid back against Bane's stomach and looked up at the rotting wood. Damien laid down next to her, his arm brushing hers.

"What do you think about Oliver?" She asked, suddenly.

He shrugged. "Hard to say. My gut says to keep an eye on him but Isaiah seems to trust him. I trust Isaiah so I haven't decided yet."

Christine nodded. "Yeah. I don't understand how he trusted him so quickly and I don't like the fact that he's staying with us."

"If his theory's right, we don't want the dictators' to get a hold of him."

"I suppose," she mused. "I just hope that Isaiah knows what he's doing."

"That's the thing about gaining feelings for someone. You usually don't."

Christine turned to look at him. He was staring up at the bridge, his blue eyes thoughtful. He looked down at her and gave her a small knowing smile and she felt her insides turn to liquid.