Even In The Grave, All Is Not Lost

Take My Hand

A/N: and finally, we have some flirtation meditation.

...

Raven's eyes snapped open, her face screwing up at the sudden attack of light that overwhelmed her senses - fuck. Something touched her shoulder. She startled, yanking away, preparing for the coming attack.

Did she have a gun or a knife nearby? She couldn't remember.

Raven sensed the presence close by immediately retract, the space around her growing.

That was good, that was. . .

"Raven, it's okay."

That voice. She knew that voice.

Even as she tried to puzzle it out, her pulse slowed, body relaxing slightly against her will.

That voice felt safe.

"It's me, Luna. You're in your room, in Becca's lab."

Raven opened her eyes again, prepared for the rush of light this time, forcing herself to endure it. A blurry shape hovering over her gradually came into focus, the halo of thick curly hair causing the rest of her anxiety to evaporate.

Right. Luna. Her room. Becca's lab.

An earthy scent clouded Raven's senses a moment - a direct contrast to the sterility of the room - and she wrinkled her nose, squinting as she better tried to take the other woman in.

Luna was gazing down at her in clear concern, though she kept a good portion of distance between them - probably because of how Raven had freaked out when she'd dared to touch her earlier.

Well, that was embarrassing.

She sighed, trying to take stock of her surroundings and piece together what had happened. She'd succeeded in landing the rocket. She could remember that much. The euphoria that came with triumph, the relief.

Then the crashing wave of dismay and despair.

The fall.

They'd lost a barrel.

"We lost a barrel."

She couldn't believe it.

Luna nodded. "Yes."

Raven sighed, massaging her head, which still throbbed. She was so sick of this fucking headache. Sick of a lot of things. "Damn it!"

A tentative hand reached out, landed on her shoulder. When she didn't flinch away, it clamped down, giving her a light squeeze.

She involuntarily leaned into the touch.

"I'm sorry."

Raven shook her head but lowered her hands from her face, the headache having faded slightly. "Not like it's your fault."

Luna smiled at her sadly. "Still. I'm sorry."

She sighed, glancing around her once more. "What happened?"

"You had a. . . Abby called it a 'seizure'? Passed out." Luna's shoulder lifted in a half-shrug, conveying she probably hadn't understood half of what the doctor had rattled on about. Considering Raven could struggle with the medical terminology herself sometimes, and she actually grew up in the culture which used those terms regularly, that was hardly surprising. "It looked like what one of the other novitiates used to suffer from. They got progressively worse as he got older. And then one night he went to sleep after having one and never woke up. I was worried. . ." She shook her head, dispelling that train of thought, hand gripping Raven's shoulder a little tighter. "How are you feeling?"