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The abomination goes down in flames, weakened and dying but still fighting like hell.
In its last moments, it lashes out in an attempt to turn Aubrey’s own magic against her. The flames roar, but it’s far too much for the abomination’s fragile form to take. By trying to lash out, it’s sealed its own fate, and goes down with a hideous scream.
The sound alone is enough to shake Aubrey to her core, but the abomination does so much more than that. It couldn’t have possibly known how perfect its revenge was, how utterly it’d kneecap her on the way out of this world.
Her knees lock up, and she’s rendered unable to move. The exit is so near, just a few quick strides away, but Aubrey can’t find the will in her to move anymore. Even if she wanted to, her body isn’t cooperating.
“Not again. Not again. It can’t happen again.” She pulls in one shallow breath, then another, but the smoke is already strangling her. At first, it’s the only thing she can smell, but it quickly overtakes every other sense, until all that she’s aware of is the heat and smoke.
It burns.
It burns and burns and burns.
Ned and Duck get there as soon as they can.
The three of them split up to track down the abomination, and when they see a tower of flame erupt from one of the communal showers, they know Aubrey’s found it.
They pound the pavement, going as fast as their legs will take them, but by the time they make it, everything’s already said and done. All that’s left is a pile of ash, flames slowly dying out against the wet concrete, and Aubrey collapsed against the back wall, staring wide-eyed into the flames like they hold the secrets to the universe.
“Aubrey?” Duck’s voice turns urgent as he puts away Beacon and goes for Aubrey instead. “Hey, can you hear me?”
He snaps his fingers in front of her face, but she doesn’t even register he’s there.
“Aubrey, come on and look at me.” Duck says. He holds her by the shoulders, and for a second, Ned is scared he’s going to shake her, but evidently he just needs something to do with his hands.
Ned approaches, the sound of his shoes against the concrete feeling so loud in such a closed, quiet space. “Is there anything I can—”
“Get the van ready.” Duck interrupts. “We need to get her back to Amnesty Lodge.”
“She’s in shock! Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital?”
“Ned, I appreciate the concern, but we’ve got some extreme circumstances right now and I’d appreciate it if you just got the van ready.”
When Aubrey sobs, a tiny, choked noise from the back of her throat, any attention Duck had been paying Ned evaporates.
“We just need to get her back to Amnesty Lodge.” Duck mutters, his gaze softening. He runs a thumb over her cheek, his worry only twisting itself in knots when she doesn’t react. “Hey, there, firefly.”
Aubrey doesn’t answer right away. Her eyes are locked with his, but she’s more looking through him than looking at him.
“That’s okay, firefly, you take your time coming back.” He takes her hands in his own, gently rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. “I know you’re probably feeling real tiny about now.”
Ned hangs a little behind, admittedly hovering. “I’ll be right back.” The handling on his van isn’t great, but the walkways of the waterpark are large enough he’s able to navigate them with minimal damage. And if anything’s broken…well, he didn’t see it, so it doesn’t count.
When he comes back, Aubrey and Duck are exactly where he left them. The only difference is that Aubrey looks a little more like herself. She still isn’t moving, and it barely looks like she’s breathing, but she is starting to respond to her environment. At the very least, she reacts when someone moves. It’s almost worse, especially seeing the way she looks at Ned when he enters. Like he’s an intruder.
Like he’s a threat.
“Are you sure we don’t need to take her to the hospital?” Ned asks.
“Nah. She just needs a little time getting back.” Duck offers him a backwards glance, but he’s still just as on-edge as he was when Ned left. “She’ll be fine. Won’t you, Aubrey?” He offers her a smile, which quickly fades when he gets no verbal response. She dares a glance up, but quickly drops her eyes to the ground after a brief moment of eye contact. With a sigh, he turns his tired eyes back on Ned. “Got any soft rock albums in that thing?”
“Well, how soft are we talking? Like Billy Joel’s ‘This Night’ soft rock or the Eagles ‘Hotel California’ soft rock?”
“Jesus, fuck, I don’t know. Whatever is gonna help her calm down.”
“‘This Night’ for sure.”
The opening lines of “This Night” tumble out of the van’s stereo. It’s not in the best shape, and it makes the sound quality a little tinny, but it gets the job done. The backup singers still come in loud and clear, and no amount of speaker damage could distort the slow, soothing pace of the song.
After a few minutes, Duck sighs again. “This Night” fades out, and Ned skips over the less calming songs on the album. He’ll probably have to switch albums again to keep up the mood.
Aubrey blinks twice, her brow furrowed like she’s been jolted out of a terrible dream. She looks around, her eyes skipping over Ned, as she takes in her surroundings like she’s seeing them for the first time. “Ducky…” she whimpers. There’s a shine in her eyes that reflects how dangerously close she is to tears.
Duck grins, the tension falling out of his shoulders. “There you are, firefly.” He still looks terribly nervous, but it’s a step in the right direction. “Do you know where you are?”
Aubrey takes another cursory glance around the area. “A building.”
Duck snorts. “Yeah, well, you got me there. Can you be a little more specific?”
“H2Whoa That Was Fun, right? We took out the bad guys.”
“Hit the nail on the head. Why don’t you tell me the rest on the way back home, alright?”
“Okay.” She holds fast to his hands, allowing him to pull her upright in a single tug. Her footsteps drag against the concrete, sounding like she wouldn’t be upright if Duck wasn’t holding onto her.
Aubrey still isn’t all there, even as Ned starts the car. He gets the feeling it wasn’t the point to wait until she was all good, just until she was fine enough to get her somewhere else. She sits stiffly in the center seat, barely even acknowledging the arm Duck has around her shoulders.
Ned starts the car, switching Billy Joel for the Eagles. He has his other 8-tracks on hand, just to make switching easier.
Duck clears his throat as they start their path of destruction out of the already-suffering water park. Honestly, how many abomination attacks is this place going to have to take? “Ned, I’m gonna have to ask you to…be a little more understanding that I normally see from you, ya feel me?”
Ned nods. If Aubrey is listening to their conversation, she doesn’t show it. She’s more than happy to zone out staring at her feet. “Does this, uhh, happen often?”
“Often enough for us to have a backup plan. Mind driving a little slower? I don’t mean to be pushy, but Aubrey here doesn’t like being jostled right now.”
“Sure, sure.” Ned eases off the gas and just for good measure, turns the music down until it’s just a soft hum.
They turn onto the main road, and Duck switches tactics. He shifts, turning his body to Aubrey. She has her chin dipped, her gaze locked on her shoes. “Hey, firefly, wanna play a game?”
Aubrey whimpers in response.
“I’m gonna pretend that’s a yes, so how about we name five things you can see, yeah?” He chucks her chin, and while that doesn’t get a smile, it does get her to look up.
It’s a while before she answers. She takes multiple deep breaths, pulling them in through her nose. Her chest hiccups, like the air gets caught in her throat, like her body doesn’t want to breathe, but she manages to get a steady exhale.
“Okay…” She looks around the front seat like she’s seeing the area for the first time too. Her eyes linger on Ned, but she refuses to make eye contact. “Um, trees?”
“Hell yeah there are trees. Good job.”
“Ned…some old music thingies…an old Pizza Hut box…”
Ned really needs to get in the habit of cleaning out the van before missions.
“Wait, how many is that?” Aubrey asks.
“Four. Just one more.”
“And uh…” She looks around, her gaze accidentally snagging against Ned’s again. She jerks her head in the opposite direction, looking to Duck as a form of safety. There, she spots her fifth item. “And Beacon!”
“Good job, firefly.” Duck pats her shoulder, which surprisingly makes her preen. “Let’s be glad we can’t hear him, huh? Now, what are four things you can feel?”
Aubrey hums in thought. “Ducky’s jacket,” she mutters, running her finger down his sleeve. Bit by bit, she’s been leaning in closer, so her head is on Duck’s shoulder. “My jacket. Whatever’s wet on these seats…”
Ned grimaces. He really needs to start cleaning out the van before these missions.
“…and the heat!”
Technically it’s the air conditioning, but the old van can only spit out warm air. Ned doesn’t feel it appropriate to bring up right now.
“Three things you can hear?”
“Ned’s music.” She pauses, listening carefully. “Ducky’s heartbeat. The way the van rumbles.”
“What about two things you can smell?”
Aubrey giggles at that one. Ned can’t help but grinning, because he can feel her coming back, piece by piece. “Old pizza and chlorine.”
“And one thing you can taste.” Duck concludes. He reaches into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulls out a strip of gum.
Aubrey gladly takes it and pops it into her mouth. The scent of artificial blueberry fills the cramped front seat.
For the first time since they started this hunt, Duck relaxes. Ned’s getting a strong sense of ritual from the two of them, so giving her gum must mean that the worst of it is finally over. Ned switches albums again, this time going for classic Sam Cooke.
Aubrey puffs out her lower lip. “I’m tired, Ducky. Can we go home?”
“Sure thing. You want to go back to Amnesty Lodge or my place?”
“Am’sty Lodge.” She’s basically slumped over his shoulder at this point, her chewing slowed to almost nothing.
“I thought so. Can’t leave Dr. Harris Bonkers, PhD all by his lonesome, can we?”
“Uh-uh.” She wraps her arms around Duck’s waist and clings. The two of them are silent for the rest of the ride. Ned’s pretty sure Duck almost fell asleep partway through “You Send Me.”
When he parks in Amnesty Lodge’s parking lot, the hard lines are back in Duck’s face. “I mean it, Ned,” he warns as he drapes Aubrey’s arm over his shoulder. She looks loads better. “Not a word. Not even to the people in there. The hunt went fine but Aubrey got hurt. That’s all we need to say, if that.”
Thankfully, no one stops them. Barclay starts to, but upon seeing Aubrey, convincingly slumped over Duck’s shoulders, he just nods and returns to his dinner.
“What now?” Ned asks. Duck takes Aubrey’s keys to unlock the door to her room, so Aubrey dramatically flops in his direction instead.
He fumbles, but manages to catch her, they lock eyes and upon seeing how wide and frightened Ned’s eyes are, Aubrey bursts into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. “You should see your face, Ned!”
“Yeah, you’re fine.” Duck teases. “Now we just have to get her to bed before she gets too riled.”
Aubrey pouts. “But Ned’s here! I’m not even sad anymore and you promised you’d play hide and seek with me next time I regressed!”
“Yeah, but that was before I found you dissociating in a water park.” Duck retorts. He points to the bed, trying his best parent voice. “Now sit.”
Aubrey grumbles but does as she’s told, though Ned gets the feeling it’s more because she’s tired and just doesn’t want to admit it more than anything else. She straightens out her legs, and only know does Ned realize the combat boots that lace up to her shins might pose a problem.
Duck gets to work, but has minimal progress. “We just have to—” He fumbles with the knots, his fingers tripping over the laces. “We just have to—” He tries again, to no avail. “Just have to—” When the laces end up more knotted than when he began, he gives up. “You any good with knots, Ned?”
“Uh, I can certainly try.” Ned crouches by Aubrey’s bedside, taking her left foot first. The laces are small and unyielding, but it isn’t hard to start undoing some of the mess. All it takes is a little bit of finesse, and it’s just like picking locks.
He glances up to see Aubrey watching him curiously.
For a moment, he’s at a loss for words. “How ya holding up, Aubrey?”
“Good.” She wiggles her toes once he pulls off her shoes.
“Is that a fib?”
“Yeah.” She kicks her feet.
“Firefly?” Duck is lingering by a suitcase on the other side of the bed. “How old are you right now?”
Aubrey thinks for a second. “Five.”
“Five?” Ned echoes. He may be getting on in years, but he’s pretty sure Aubrey isn’t that young. Then again, she and Duck had been throwing around terms he hadn’t heard of before. Aubrey referred to herself as regressed. Did that have something to do with it.
“And three quarters.”
“Wow.” He gives Ned and inquisitive look, one that goes over Aubrey’s head as she crawls to the head of her bed and shuffles in under the covers.
Duck lifts Dr. Harris Bonkers, PhD onto the bed, where the rabbit immediately jumps onto Aubrey’s chest. He pokes his nose against Aubrey, eliciting a tiny giggle out of her. “What kind of story do you want tonight?” he asks. “We never did finish that Percy Jackson book ya like.”
But before she can answer, Ned’s struck with an idea. “Aubrey, how about I do you one better?”
Aubrey blinks at him, confused, but obviously curious.
“How about I tell you a story tonight? An absolutely, one hundred percent true story about your old Uncle Ned?”
Judging by the way Aubrey’s eyes light up, he’s right on the money.
“Whoa, you sure about that, Ned?” Duck asks. “I wouldn’t ask you to stick around if you didn’t want to. I’ve got it all under control here.”
Ned waves him off. “It’s the least I can do. After all, I’m sure neither of you wanted me to find out about…this.” He gestures vaguely between them.
Duck shrugs. “Ain’t my secret to tell, Ned. You’d have to ask her.”
“I was gonna tell you eventually.” Aubrey says, looking more than a little chagrined. “Just ran out of braves for a while.”
“Bet you’re out of braves for tonight too.”
Aubrey nods. She sure does have that pout of hers down pat.
“That’s fine. I never know what’s going on anyway.” Ned jokes. “So. How about I tell you about the time I stole George Clooney’s Oscar?”