Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a standard day. Or as standard it could get for the Magic Misfits. The usual, which would be of course chasing some lead they’ve mysteriously been given. Despite that, Ridley couldn’t lie that the thrill it gave her to do action with her friends would never bore her. 

So there the six of them were now, entering an empty building quite a long way away from Mineral Wells. They weren’t even in Mineral Wells anymore. As they got older, Mr. Vernon and the other adults allowed them to venture out of town on their own. Not so far, though. Although right now they were only at the closest nearby town. In a secluded area with a lone building and no one else around.

Fun.

Ridley scanned the little note they were given suspiciously in her hands. It was light but made her heart feel heavy. She’s been having a weird hunch since the start and something akin to dread seemed to float in the atmosphere.

“This place looks ugly,” Izzy remarked and Ridley snorted. 

“Not as ugly as your face I hope,” Olly joked as he nudged Izzy’s shoulder. His sister swatted him away.

The twins had long learnt how to handle a situation and understand mood, and their perfectly timed humour would never not bring amusement to the rest of the Misfits. Ridley remembered a time where they would grate on her nerves a bit but now she wondered how she could have ever lived without them. 

“Well let’s not waste time dilly dallying.” Ridley lightly chided. 

“This place is really big though,” Leila pointed out.

“Then we’ll just do it the regular old fashioned way.” 

‘Regular old fashioned way’ meaning the cliche trope of splitting up. As per usual, Ridley went with the twins and the group split into two to explore the different wings. Ridley made sure the other group knew exactly what protocol to follow before letting them go, of course.

With that settled, the Goldens and Ridley ventured into the left wing. It was dark and dust particles were everywhere. Nothing seemed out of place and things looked like no one had entered the building in years. 

Nevertheless, the Magic Misfits would not be named as such if they couldn’t tell illusion from reality. Ridley examined the walls intensely, fingers tracing the grooves. They were warm. 

“This was recent,” she concluded.

Strategically placing her fingers on some of the grooves of the wall, Ridley pushed. A low whirring sound echoed around the room and the wall opened up with a grinding noise that reverberated in her ears. When the mechanism finally completed its task, the twins let out noises of astonishment. Ridley hummed in satisfaction, pleased with herself for figuring out the clues much faster than last time. She had started a game with herself as a challenge for her to see how long she could discover the solution. So far she’s been beating her previous records all the time.

“What’re we waiting for then? Let’s go!” Izzy exclaimed and she peered into the darkness with an endearing excitement.

Olly nodded by her side, just as animated. 

Ridley rolled her eyes with exasperation and produced a flame at her fingertips before wheeling into the dark hallway. The twins were right behind her. 

The hallway wasn’t much of a long hall. Instead, it opened up to another hidden room that was thrice the size of Ridley’s little workshop at home. It looked unkempt, and Ridley wrinkled her nose at how tools were hazardously scattered all around. She may not be the most organised person, but she knew the importance of keeping important tools and devices neatly.

The small flame in her hands barely illuminated the room. It wasn’t a problem for too long because Ridley clapped her hands and the large white light at the centre of the room lit up. The whole room was bathed with a dim glow. Only a far side of the room was blanketed in complete darkness that even the ceiling light couldn’t reach. It was eery, but not the worst they’ve been in.

Cracking her knuckles, Ridley straightened in her seat with a determined grin. “Okay, let’s do this. You two know what to do. Search every corner and leave no surface unturned.”

“But!” Ridley added fiercely, “any suspicious object should be reported back to me. Do not and I repeat, do not at all tamper with whatever unfamiliar thing you see.” The redhead spoke with the authority of the leader she was, giving the twins a glare to emphasise her point.

“Okay boss,” Olly saluted with a goofy smile and Ridley scoffed halfheartedly.

The three of them got to work quickly. They were used to doing tasks like these. They had enough experience to know where secrets may be hidden. Enough knowledge to accurately guess where tricks are placed to deter them. Watching them work was like looking at a bunch of professional young detectives. Ridley was so proud of how far they’ve all come.

Fifteen minutes later, they’ve looked through every inch of the room twice except for the dark section. Ridley knew she’d have to look in there eventually but she wanted to cover the easiest bases first. Now that she was finished with that part, the girl moved towards the dark area when she heard a shout of surprise from Olly.

Twisting her head to look back at him, she saw the boy vibrating with elation and pointing at something on a shelf. 

“I found it, I found it first.” Olly sang and smiled smugly at his sister.

Izzy feigned a look of annoyance.

Ridley’s face lit up. “You actually did! I’m impressed. You found it before I did.”

“I did,” Olly echoed, “maybe I should be the new Ridley.”

“You have to know how to solve riddles first,” Izzy poked his cheek.

Shrugging, Olly reached forward and grabbed the rectangular object that the Misfits had been looking for. Ridley wanted to scold him about how he should be more gentle when a creaking noise interrupted them all. 

The room stilled. Ridley gaped at the hidden wire attached to the object. Like a domino effect, the pieces of a complex system fell into place. Books were toppled over one by one, and then a discarded wrench was flung off the shelf to land on a bucket hanging on a string, which led to a strange black block to fall on a plank and so on. There were too many things for Ridley to list, but she knew she was impressed by how everything seemed to still work in top shape despite its apparent age. 

At last, the system spreaded to the dark section of the room. Ridley could hear a bunch of thunks, thuds, and other sound effects that would get a ton of laughter in a comedic show. It was unnerving and alarm bells rang in her head when the noises suddenly came to a stop. 

Then like a ball dropping from the sky, a tiny object rolled out slowly. It was small and round. Its black surface was reflecting off the little light the room was bathed in. The speed it was moving was highly suspicious.

Ridley observed with an eyebrow raised. As much as she knew how odd this was, something akin to curiosity sparked within her. Her mind was tempted to go stop the device in its tracks but she also knew that would probably be a very bad decision. Behind her, Ridley could hear the twins shuffling closer to each other.

The round object seemed to roll on forever. Ridley didn’t know why, but her brain was itching to examine it while her stomach swirled with uncertainty. It was confusing. 

Despite all of that, Ridley wasn’t feeling completely wary. Perhaps it was all their experience getting to her head. Perhaps it was the fact that she thought they’ve been through enough to face almost everything in the world. Maybe it was that after years of adventures and facing the bad guys, Ridley thought they had everything in the bag. That nothing would really, fully take them by surprise.

It was their ignorance that would be their downfall.

Everyone paused, bated breaths as they all warily watched the small item roll on the ground and still to a stop a few distance away from Ridley.

A few moments of silence passed by before they all exhaled, shoulders relaxing when nothing happened. Ridley wanted to laugh at how slightly paranoid she had been. 

“It’s fine guys,” Ridley said, rolling her wheels and moving towards the item, “it’s just nothing-”

Her words died out as the small item exploded.

Chapter Text

From the moment Ridley discovered the small round thing, Izzy felt something bad nagging at her gut. She chose to push it aside, however, trusting her genius friend over some feeling that usually meant bad news. Watching the thing roll out from the shrouded darkness towards them raised her concerns, but nothing had happened. Relief trickled in and she figured it was fine as Ridley approached the device.

Then said device exploded violently without warning.

Izzy threw herself over her brother without thinking, her back faced with the explosion as she clutched onto Olly tight. The instinct to protect was strong and she didn’t budge despite Olly’s muffled yelp. She grimaced as she felt strong blasts of air crashing into her back along with other things swept up that she hoped wasn’t going to leave much injuries on her back. The noise accompanying was deafening, straining Izzy’s ears and leaving them ringing.

A flash of pain that came so suddenly caused her to hiss harshly. Olly whined and she held him closer. Their hair and clothes thrashed in the harsh shockwave. Never once did Izzy let go. 

While the explosion only took seconds, it felt like hours before it was all over. Finally, everything seemed to die down. Izzy had squeezed her eyes shut during the entire ordeal and blinked them open slowly. Only when she was a hundred percent certain they were safe did she relax her hold on her brother, looking down at him with worry.

The concern grew when she noticed his face.

“Are you okay?” She asked. Her voice sounded like it was underwater. Her ears were definitely recovering from the loud blast. The realisation of that sparked Izzy to fret over her brother even more, considering his hearing had already been damaged before.

“Are your ears okay?” Izzy questioned worriedly, hands cupping at Olly’s ears as if she could miraculously cure him of his tinnitus and prevent him from any more hearing loss.

Olly quietly pulled her hands off and she stared at him, bewildered.

He was looking up at her, eyes wide with distress. His face contorted to one of disbelief and fear, “am I okay? Izzy, you threw yourself in front of me. You could’ve been hurt!”

“It’s alright, Olly. I’m fine,” Izzy reassured coolly.

Her twin stared at her with an expression that screamed upset but before he could get a word in, Izzy had already gotten up from their crouched position from when she had practically tackled him to the floor.

As Izzy got up to her feet, shamefully feeling a bit weak in her knees, she remembered something extremely important.

Or rather, someone important.

“Ridley-” Izzy gasped out, recalling the moment before the explosion. In the midst of protecting her younger brother she had entirely forgotten that there was another in the room. Someone who was affected by the explosion even more.

The older twin whirled to look at her friend before cutting herself off with a choked noise. The explosion must have knocked Ridley out of her chair because the object was a burnt twisted mess and Ridley laid a distance away from it. Her body was dreadfully still. 

Izzy stumbled towards her friend with haste, trying to ignore the sudden pounding in her head as she did so. Behind her, she could hear Olly suck in a breath and follow her not too long after.

When Izzy reached Ridley's side, she knelt beside the girl’s head. Or, well, she kind of collapsed, considering how her legs struggled to hold her up. Heart hammering in her chest, Izzy pulled the limp redhead onto her lap. She cradled Ridley’s head, feeling dizzy herself as she noted down the full extent of the damage fallen onto the young inventor.

Izzy felt sick to the stomach.

Ridley had burns all over herself from the explosion, bits of her clothing charred black. Her usually wild hair laid flat on her face and Izzy frowned as she saw the cuts on the other’s face. Terrified, Izzy checked Ridley’s vitals and only partially let herself breathe when she confirmed the girl was still alive. The small comfort faded as fast as it came when she caught sight of a gash running deep at Ridley’s side. Blood poured out of the wound and Izzy panicked, wondering how she had missed that earlier.

“Olly,” she barked, face uncharacteristically serious. Her twin startled at her tone. “Get help. Find the others. Hurry.”

Thankfully, he didn't need to be told twice because Olly left without question. With just the two of them left, albeit one was unresponsive, Izzy basked uncomfortably in the silence. With care, she adjusted Ridley on her lap, biting her lip when the genius’s head lolled back. 

Her main issue as of the moment was the glaringly obvious injury at Ridley’s side. Taking off her purple blazer, Izzy tried her best to staunch the blood. She pressed her blazer to the wound with as much pressure as she could. A quick flitting feeling of regret washed over her for ruining her favourite blazer but Izzy knew better than to dwell over something less important. It was frightening how Ridley didn’t even stir from Izzy’s actions.

The sound of hurried footsteps and a shocked exclamations from behind Izzy told her that the other Misfits had arrived. Olly rejoined his position beside his sister while the other three newcomers crowded around Ridley. 

“You were fast, thanks.” Izzy mumbled to her brothers as their friends gasped and cried over Ridley’s state.

“I met them halfway. They had heard the explosion and were on their way here.” Olly whispered back, his hand grasped her arm.

Leila’s face was stricken, “oh no, oh no, oh no.” The brunette burst into tears.

Her cousin was pale, blue eyes unseeing. Carter’s hands hovered over Ridley anxiously. Theo’s brown eyes were fearful, brows furrowed and lips pursed. The violinist placed a hand on Olly’s shoulder and looked down at his best friend with an expression Izzy couldn’t describe.

“Izzy, report. Make it quick. Theo, Olly, go call for medical help. Or any adult in the area nearby.” Carter finally found his voice, eyes now clear and focused. Even after a few years since they’ve established the Magic Misfits, Izzy marvelled at how Carter would take charge second after Ridley. The boy could be extremely professional when he needed to be and the group had found earlier that he took control almost as well as Ridley did. As he temporarily took the place of the leader now, Izzy felt grateful for his ability to do so.

Said girl numbly responded to Carter’s demand and briefed the others on what had happened when they split up. While she did so, Izzy felt her mood considerably sour at the memory. Carter knelt beside Izzy, and to her surprise, he took gauze out of his satchel. He unrolled it and started tending to Ridley’s wound.

“You sure are well prepared,” Izzy commented as he did so.

“Well, after our hundredth adventure and injuries that I’d like to forget, you learn to be ready for the need of medical care.”

“It’s not enough to help her completely.” Leila suddenly spoke up. Izzy jolted at the voice, forgetting she was there. It was jarring to hear the always optimist say something negative.

Carter did not seem offended by Leila’s blunt remark, though his shoulders slumped further. “I know, but it’ll do her a lot better until actual help arrives.”

The brunette simply pursed her lips and looked away at that. Izzy spared her a sympathetic glance. She too felt the same hopelessness and misery at seeing a friend of theirs hurt. They all stayed silent, watching Carter get to work in helping secure the wound better than Izzy’s poor job with her blazer. They shuddered at the squelch sound as Carter pressed the gauze to the injury. The white colour soaked scarlet at an alarming rate.

“Guys,” Leila called out, voice wavering, “Ridley’s getting paler.”

“Where are the others?!” Izzy’s voice rose.

As if on cue, Theo came bursting into the place. Right at his heels, a tall adult man with a funny moustache and bright orange turtleneck followed. Behind him were paramedics with a stretcher. Olly was the last to enter behind them.

Wasting no time, the professionals got to work. Izzy, Carter, and Leila reluctantly let themselves get pushed away. The three of them moved to stand at the side together with Theo and Olly. Their eyes never left Ridley’s awful state and Izzy knew that the image of the redhead lying completely still and bleeding out would sear into her mind for months to come. She already felt the start of a powerful migraine coming on.

“I’m sorry we took so long,” Theo apologised quietly as the paramedics moved the stretcher with Ridley out of the place.

“There were practically no adults or anyone out there. We had to go a bit further for help.” Olly explained. His voice sounded tired and hoarse like he had been screaming plenty the past few minutes. He probably had done so to attract attention for aid.

Carter hummed. “It’s okay,” His eyes said otherwise, however, and Izzy could see the storm brewing inside the magnificent blues that had always showed determination.

Ridley had long been taken out of the room to be given medical help but the remaining five friends couldn’t find themselves to move and follow just yet. Izzy’s gaze went to the floor and she wanted to throw up at the large puddle and smears of blood on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Leila gave a small warning before shs rushed to a corner of the room to empty the contents of her stomach. The escapist heaved in exhaustion and looked so sick that Izzy would have rushed to give her a hug immediately if it wasn’t for her feeling so sick as well.

Carter had appeared by Leila’s side without them noticing. He was rubbing the latter’s back. “I’m going to bring Leila outside real quick. It smells awful here.”

The blond was not wrong. There was a clear stench of burnt stuff but the metallic sniff of the blood spilled could make Izzy gag. 

Theo turned to survey the surroundings and the result of the damaging explosion. His eyes landed on the crumpled and burnt wheelchair at the side. If they could even still call it a chair. The entire thing was blackened and broken in some pieces in many areas. Izzy knew Ridley would be devastated that her most prized device was ruined to near indescribable.

“Think Ridley would be able to fix this?” Theo poked at a metal rod sticking out from the pile with his magical bow. 

“Ridley can fix anything,” Olly claimed with a weak smile.

He turned to look at Izzy for a supporting line or following quip but his face softened when he saw her. Izzy stared blankly at the floor. The blood on her hands and on the floor had dried. It felt uncomfortable, stiff, and sticky and she hated it. Her mind felt fuzzy and dull but it hurt at the same time and she didn’t know what to feel. She didn’t know what to think. 

“Izzy, are you good?” Olly approached her cautiously.

She didn’t realise her hands were trembling until Olly carefully took her hands in his. When he did so, Izzy looked down at their connected hands with surprise. It was a stark contrast to be seen with her hands stained with dry blood and his clean. 

Choosing not to reply verbally to Olly’s question, she simply nodded and turned her head away to look at the mess in the room. She pulled her hands away from her brother and went to grab her blazer that had been discarded by the paramedics when they were treating Ridley. As she stepped forward to retrieve the blazer, Izzy found herself almost tripping over her foot when her head throbbed.

Olly opened his mouth to speak but then stopped himself as he looked horrified instead. “Your head’s bleeding!”

Blinking, Izzy tenderly touched the back of her head. A burning sensation immediately filled her senses. The girl winced and let out a squeak of pain. Pulling her fingers away, she spotted a fresh layer of red coating it.

Oh.

That must have been the sudden pain she felt earlier. It explained the splitting headache that seemed to grow stronger every minute. Now that the adrenaline and panic was half dealt with, Izzy felt tired. The full effects of everything crashing onto her at once. She swayed on her feet, her head spinning.

“Oh, I didn’t realise,” Izzy said, a bit disoriented. 

The world felt like it was tilting. Or perhaps she was the one tilting because the next thing she knew she was on the floor in Olly’s arms. Her brother had a dismayed expression on his face and Izzy thought it did not suit him at all. He was mouthing words that appeared vaguely to be her name but Izzy’s head felt like it was bursting and her ears were practically stuffed with cotton. Her vision darkened.

Chapter Text

Olly wanted to scream. He knew something was wrong with his sister but of course there were other pressing matters at the hand. Such as the Magic Misfits’ leader bleeding out and half dead from an explosion. He honestly thought those events would never occur to them in real life. 

So yes, they were preoccupied at first but he had noticed how Izzy’s movements and reactions seemed a bit sluggish. She was still swifter than an average person thanks to their multiple skills and training to have more endurance but a head wound would still slow someone down regardless. Olly’s pretty sure Izzy would have been able to pass off as completely fine if she hadn’t literally passed out in his arms. 

Which was really rude, by the way.

So now Olly was sitting on the grimy floor cradling an unconscious stupid sister. And Theo was across from him with hands flying. The violinist looked extra stressed. Olly couldn’t blame him. They had just seen a friend of theirs heavily injured and now another was unresponsive. The only relief was that Izzy wasn’t losing as much blood as Ridley was. The bleeding from the head was still heavily concerning though.

“You know most people would think me the dumb one of us both.” Olly muttered to no one in particular. Theo eyebrows scrunched up in confusion but it went unnoticed. “But nooo, she just had to one up me and get herself in front of the line of fire and get hurt. Of course she did.”

“Olly-” Theo started, but the boy was barely listening. He shifted Izzy in his arms to pick her up carefully.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar action, picking his sister up. The twins have had to pick each other up thousands of times for performances and stunts. Olly was grateful for that. He adjusted his hold to make it comfortable and safe for them both. Then he turned to give Theo a pleading look.

“We found the thing earlier. Before the explosion. I think the blast blew it out of my hands somewhere. Could you help me look?”

Fortunately, Theo was very helpful and understanding. He found the thing beside a bunch of ruined crates at the side. Olly had no idea how it ended up there but he wasn’t complaining since Theo managed to retrieve it in a short time. The latter pocketed it in his tuxedo and frowned at the weight.

“This thing’s heavier than I thought for something that small in size.”

“I know right?” Olly grinned but it was more of a pathetic attempt to do so with how the situation wasn't the best.

Theo’s eyes softened, “I’m sure she’ll be fine, but we should hurry and get her a check up.”

“You know this reminds me of the time I passed out after I tried to flip off a stairway and landed badly.”

“I remembered that. Try not to do it again.”

“No promises,”

When they were both finally out of the building, Olly breathed in the fresh air. He forgot how there was barely any circulation of air inside the building at all. When he craned his neck to look back behind him, the exterior looked unchanged. As though there hadn’t been an explosion that nearly killed a member of their small group. 

He frowned in annoyance at the low ringing in his ear. The ringing had long dulled into something that he could at least tolerate after months since the cause of it but the loud aftershock of the explosion brought it back to focus. It was digging into his mind and really aggravated him. He especially did not need it to be clear and obviously present at the moment.

“What happened now?!” 

Olly turned his attention back towards the shrill voice, wincing slightly, and was faced with the scene of Leila and Carter stomping their way over to him. They both had looks of puzzlement and stress. 

“Oh she’s just sleeping on the job.” Olly answered with a wry grin.

At the two’s blank looks, he sighed. 

“Izzy passed out,” Theo said bluntly but not unkindly.

“What? How?” Carter interrogated. His tone sounded like Ridley’s when she was serious and Olly was fascinated by how similar they could be sometimes.

“Oh you know, she got hit in the head.” He meant it as a light teasing, but his tone betrayed his feelings. His friends exchanged glances but Olly didn’t think too much about it. Not wanting to linger outside a gloomy building any longer, Olly started making his way towards the town where he suspected a hospital would be. The remaining Magic Misfits fell into step alongside him.

“So why aren’t you guys with Ridley right now?” He tried to change the topic as they trudged down the long deserted road to the town. Trying his best to not jostle Izzy too much, he vaguely thought about how much more lively Mineral Wells was and how much prettier the scenery was.

“Well when you guys came out, Leila was just recovering from another of her puking.” The blond explained and Leila huffed. 

“Believe me, I wanted to run to Ridley right away but I couldn’t without feeling like I had to stop or I’d be sick.” Leila looked downcast at that.

“It’s not your fault. The scene was very…unsettling.”

“Stop making it sound like a crime scene. No one got murdered.” Olly bit out a bit bitterly. The buzzing in his ears seemed more prominent in the silence that ensued.

Theo broke it, “I mean, you guys almost did.”

Olly opened his mouth to retort with a light hearted joke but paused when Leila reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “Two of you guys are clearly hurt, and something worse could have happened so you guys almost did die.”

“What we’re trying to say,” Carter snapped but then deflated, “is that we’re glad you guys are still alive. And we’re glad you’re okay.”

Olly gave them a subdued smile at that. He couldn’t help but feel responsible, however, considering the fact that Izzy had idiotically decided to be a shield for him and get herself in the way of harm. Sometimes he wondered if she had a proper brain in that mind of hers because how could she be so foolish. Then again, he knew exactly why, because he would have done the same for her and for the others.

It was probably that reason that made him frustrated at his twin’s decision. Simply because he understood it but wished she didn’t.

The five of them reached the hospital of the town in record time and impatiently called for access to visit their friend. Leila almost used her rope as a threatening weapon if Theo hadn’t pulled her away in time. Olly was abruptly escorted to the side by a passing nurse who inquired over Izzy’s state. A burst of panic erupted in his chest when the nurse nagged at him for allowing Izzy to lose consciousness when she clearly had a head injury. It wasn’t a good thing apparently. Begrudgingly, he handed her over to the medics and they left to treat her.

“You can come follow us, if you’d like.” The kind nurse who had noticed them first held out a hand for Olly to follow. He perked up at that, face full of gratitude. The remaining Misfits who overheard yelled in outrage.

“Wait, what about my friends?”

“We can’t accept all four of you kids at once, maybe just another one.”

“Well, what about Ridley? The girl who was brought here way earlier? Fiery red hair? Bleeding from a huge gash and almost dead?” 

The nurse shrugged and sent a look to the receptionist. The receptionist looked up and continued doing some of her work before addressing the Magic Misfits. “She’s still being tended to in surgery I fear. You won’t be able to visit her yet.” And then she went back to her paperwork.

The Magic Misfits shared a dejected scowl. The nurse coughed gently, “young boy, do you still want to follow your sister?”

Olly stared at her, “how did you know she’s my sister?”

“You’re practically clones,”

“Ah.”

“Besides we’ll need someone to fill us in on personal details so…”

Olly hesitated. He needed to check up on Izzy but he also knew better than to just abandon his friends who were definitely feeling the worst. “I’m not sure I can just-” 

“You can go, Olly. We’ll be fine.” Leila butted in with a kind smile.

Said boy nodded but then asked, “you said I could bring one other person right?”

Nurse took in a breath and then agreed.

“Leila, come with me please.” Olly politely requested. Leila seemed baffled that he chose her and stuttered out a response which sounded like a positive one so Olly took her hand and pulled her along to follow the nurse.

“Why me?” Leila finally found the ability to speak.

Why her? Olly pondered his choice for a second before finding the best answer he could give. 

“Well, Theo is Ridley’s best and closest friend,” he flashed a nervous glance at Leila as he said so, “so I figured he should be there should Ridley need him.”

“Carter should stay cause he’s the most capable to provide any helpful instructions or information honestly.”

Leila appeared a bit disgruntled at his reply but then Olly continued. “And also, I think you’re the best person I need right now. You’re really supportive and you give the greatest hugs. Plus, if Izzy gets better fast then she’d love to have your Leila-ness as company.”

Leila smiled warmly at that albeit she still had a bewildered expression. “Leila-ness?”

“You know, that sweet, warm, kind, awesome, just everything that makes you a great friend, part of you?” Then with some uncharacteristically shyness, Olly mumbled, “I’d be extremely grateful if you’d stay with me please.”

Leila was a lot like his sister sometimes in the fun parts. She joined in on the twins’ antics plenty of times because she knew the value of silliness and fun it brought the most compared to the rest of the Magic Misfits. Alongside Ridley, as a super encouraging and loving friend, she was somebody Olly could consider an honorary sister as well. And with Ridley and Izzy out of commission, he’d really appreciate having Leila by his side just for a moment.

The nurse finally ushered them quietly into another smaller waiting room and told them to wait quietly at the seats lined up by the wall since Izzy was still being tended to. She mentioned something about a small head stitch but Olly’s ear started bothering him again so he couldn’t catch the full details. It irritated him so much. 

Leila noticed. “Is your ear bothering you again?”

“Yes.” Olly gritted out. He wasn’t mad at her but he was so sick of having to go through an issue that he was dealing with so well for the past months only for it all to come biting him back again.

Leila rubbed his back with sympathy and he relaxed at her touch. Her other hand held his and she intertwined their fingers together. The sweet moment was broken by a soft sniffle and Olly was horrified to realise it came from him. While Leila didn’t seem to react drastically to his quiet sobs, she did tighten her hold on him. 

“I’m sorry,” Olly gasped out when he could finally breathe in between broken sobs.

“For what? It’s not your fault.” Leila reassured him.

Except it was because Izzy wouldn’t have gotten hurt if Olly hadn’t just pulled that rectangular thing. Izzy wouldn’t have gotten hurt if she hadn’t felt the urge to protect him. Izzy would have been fine if he reacted in time to protect her as well. Ridley wouldn’t have been hurt if he just waited patiently for the redhead to take the device on her own instead of activating the cursed trap that almost killed them all.

So no, Leila did not know that it was actually his fault and hence Olly assumed he might as well just humour her for her attempt to comfort.“Thanks Leila.” 

Despite that, Olly really appreciated the hug Leila suddenly pulled him into. He burst into giggles that sounded more like a cry and held on tight. When he felt something wet on his shoulder, he knew Leila was crying too. Sure enough, the brunette’s bright hazel eyes were sparkling and tears were falling down her cheeks.

“I was so worried for the three of you,” Leila whispered harshly, “I still am. You guys mean so much to me.”

“Same here, Leila. You guys mean the world to me too.” There it was. The full truth with no shoddy meaning. No silly ‘buts’ and underlying jokes. Olly meant it. In fact, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t said a single joke for a long while now. And for once he didn’t mind. Almost losing his friends, and he technically could still lose them, since they weren’t in the safe zone yet, really made him appreciate the Magic Misfits a thousand times more.

Time was a finicky thing because it felt like days had gone by when the nice nurse from before came back and told them that they could check in on Izzy now. Olly was disheartened to hear that his sister was still unconscious but he did feel better knowing that she was recovering swiftly. Leila cheered beside him when the nurse told them that she was completely fine and would just be dealing with some concussion for a week or so.

“The stitches should stay on for at least a week, and then you can go to your doctor and remove it. The wound should heal pretty nicely on its own. It wasn’t a major cut but it still hurts quite a bit.”

“Can we see her now?”

“Oh, yes of course.”

And Olly and Leila jumped up to rush into the room.

Chapter Text

Theo examined his bow while Carter paced back and forth meaninglessly. The blond twisted the cuffs on his sleeves and Theo tuned the strings for the hundredth time that hour. The two of them had kept quiet for the entire time they’ve been waiting together but Theo wasn’t complaining. There was something comforting about the silence between the two of them and it was nice to not have someone try to break it awkwardly for once.

Carter paced one last round before swivelling to face the double doors with a groan. The two of them were still at the lobby of the hotel and the receptionist wouldn’t let them visit Ridley at all since she was still undergoing surgery or whatever. It irked him to not know what’s going on in the operating room.

“I wish we knew how she’s doing right now,” Carter sank down onto a seat beside Theo.

“I feel the same anguish of not knowing as you do,” Theo carefully folded his bow and tucked it into his sleeve.

As Carter looked down at his lap and fiddled with his cuffs, something registered in his mind and he gasped. “Oh my goodness. We need to inform Mr. Vernon.”

Theo stared at him before he took in what the blond was saying and copied Carter’s expression. Carter went to the receptionist and sought a telephone he could use, to which she pointed to a table at the side with one small telephone for the public to use. It was an old model, but everything in this town was old based on what the Misfits had seen so far so he really wasn’t surprised. At least it did the job.

He dialled the home telephone number for the Vernons’ Magic Mansion and tapped his foot while waiting for someone on the other end to pick up. It was picked up by the third ring.

“Hello?” Mr. Vernon’s voice filtered through the telephone pressed to Carter’s ear and the boy wanted to cry at hearing a comforting voice.

“Hey Dante…” Carter began. He could already tell the ensuing conversation would not be a pleasant one for the older man to hear. 

While Carter discussed on the telephone with Mr. Vernon, Theo occupied himself by checking out the rectangular item he had retrieved from the building. In all honesty, the Magic Misfits don't really know the purpose of the item in his hands. The only one with the full details was Ridley, and she had promised to fill them in after it was safely found. 

Obviously she couldn’t now. Theo mentally added a note to have Ridley tell them important things beforehand in case another situation like this happened in the near future. Of course, they should all try their absolute best to ensure there would be no repeats in the first place.

The object had weird markings around it and Theo wondered what was so special about the thing that a dangerous security system had to be put up. Why was it so heavy anyway? Questions swirled in his mind but he struggled to find an answer to at least one of them. It irritated him to no end. Two of his friends were injured because of some device that no one even knew the importance of until Ridley would awaken. Theo hated the thought of his cherished ones hurt. Except this time, it wasn’t a thought. It was a reality. And that made him angrily stuff the device back into his tuxedo.

His anger diminished as fast as it came, however, when Carter sat down back beside him. Theo was surprised he was done with the call already but looking at the other’s face brought on more feelings of worry. The blond looked troubled.

“What’s the matter? Did it not go well?” Theo could only suspect that Mr. Vernon had an awful reaction to the news. That was to be expected.

“Oh uh, Dante was worried immensely that’s for sure. I think he’ll be coming over to check on all of us soon. Besides, we can't really pay the bills on our own.” 

Theo frowned. He hadn’t thought about how they’d have to deal with the extra charges for medical help. “Seems a bit unfair doesn't it? Having to pay a hefty price to keep our friends alive and well.”

“Yeah, that’s how it goes I guess. You either have money or you die.” Carter sounded a bit resentful at that and Theo remembered how Carter had a terrible time out on the streets years ago before he met Mr. Vernon.

“…How do you think the others are doing?”

Carter sighed miserably, “probably waiting too. I don’t think Izzy can miraculously get in top shape in a matter of minutes.”

“You sure? This is a Golden twin we’re talking about. They’ve always been ones to achieve things we never thought we could.”

Carter chucked at that, “perhaps. If so, then it’s a miracle I won’t be upset about.”

They stayed in silence once more and this time it seemed to stretch for an impossibly long time. Theo could have sworn it took maybe hours before any of them chose to speak again. They were given the opportunity to do so when the receptionist called for them and told them that Ridley had successfully been tended to and was resting in a room. She gave them the room number and the two were off to see their friend.

Theo’s heart beat rapidly against his chest as he raced through the endless white halls. Having his best friend be on the brink of death was an experience he would wish on no other. Knowing that she was fine felt like everything in the world wasn’t all that bad and that things could be fixed again. It helped that he had Carter by his side as support when he almost slammed open the door leading to Ridley’s room.

Almost. He wasn’t that uneducated to not know basic decency in a medical facility.

“Ridley,” Theo breathed. The sight of his closest friends attached to medical equipment and a gown that she seemed to drown in brought in feelings of horror.

“Is she-” Carter gasped out beside him, an underlying tone of fright barely noticeable.

“She’s fine,” a male doctor walked past them to check on Ridley’s vitals and the working conditions of the machines and wire. 

Theo and Carter sagged in relief at that. Their friend was fine. Sure, she looked absolutely terrible and too still for their liking, but colour was slowly coming back to her cheeks and her breathing looked steady. Theo was just glad that she had the help she needed in time. He had read too many books to know what would have happened should someone not receive proper aid in time when they’re bleeding out. At least the major issue had been dealt with. 

“Thank you,” Theo uttered. The doctor turned his head towards him and nodded once.

“It is my job. I assume there should be an adult in charge of this patient here?”

Theo blinked, “oh-”

Carter cut in for him, “yes, there’s an adult. He’s on his way here but it’ll take a while.”

The doctor gave a stiff nod at that and then called for a nearby nurse. The two Misfits watched as the doctor relayed some information about Ridley to the nurse so that the girl could be taken care of and then left. Theo didn’t really catch what the doctor had been saying but Carter apparently had, the latter already scribbling out some notes on his notepad that he started to carry around. They’ve all started to carry notepads and pens with them a few months into the Magic Misfits formation. It was extremely useful to have on hand especially since they’ve started encountering more codes to decode as time went on.

“Will Ridley be alright?” Theo decided to ask.

Carter stared at him in confusion, “the doctor just said she’ll be fine.”

“Well, yes in terms of health. Though I wonder what state she’ll be in once she awakens.”

The blond bit his lip, “oh yeah, nearly dying from an explosion right at your face isn’t something someone just shakes off is it.”

“No. And I hope it isn’t. It’s not good for someone to just ignore glaring issues.”

“Well in terms of glaring, her injuries are definitely glaring enough.”

Theo sighed, “well we can only hope it gets better from here on out.”

“Of course it will,” Carter said with every confidence of their second in command. Theo admired the boy’s growth in confidence over the time he had known him. “I’m certain of it.”

Theo offered the smaller boy a thankful smile and gripped his shoulder with care. “You did very well taking charge earlier.”

Carter lit up and then averted his eyes, looking almost bashful. “You think so?”

“Of course. With all sincerity.”

And like a switch was flipped, Carter exhaled for a long few seconds. It was as though the weight of his burdens were released in one long exhalation of air. Theo watched him do so with amusement and Carter rubbed at his tired blue eyes.

“I’m so glad. Did you have any idea how stressful it was earlier? I’ve had to take charge when Ridley was unable to a bunch of times but I’ve never had to deal with her being so physically hurt. I know I said I’ve prepared well in case of injuries, since I know we’ve all had our fair share from our past adventures, but we’ve never really had to deal with something this major.”

“I can imagine,”

“I was trying so hard to keep my cool, Theo. It was an appalling sight.” Carter shuddered.

“It was, but you handled it efficiently and responsibly. We’re all extremely proud of you.”

“…Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

Olly gently poked Izzy’s cheek. He watched her eyebrows twitch slightly and then go back to its neutral position and sighed in response. His sister wasn’t stirring anytime soon and it was more demoralising than he thought. How he wished for her to at least show some sign of waking up completely. Other than the nurse’s words, he really had no proper indication that Izzy would be completely fine and that worried him.

Nevertheless, he appreciated Leila’s presence in the room. The brunette was a supporting rock he could lean on for a while. After their short emotional crying session, the two found themselves fond of each other’s company. Leila’s eyes were still a bit red from her tears and Olly reckoned his were the same. He honestly felt a bit drained from it, but he supposed it was better than being confined to a hospital bed.

His ears were humming again and Olly groaned, aggravated. Without thinking, he brought up a hand to his forehead and started knocking against it harshly. The brief burst of pain that resulted from his actions distracted him shortly from the noise in his ears. The action was halted when a hand reached out to grab his mid-action and was pulled away briskly.

“Hey don’t do that,” Leila chided softly, her eyes were narrowed but showed clear concern.

Olly opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He flushed red from embarrassment instead.

“What, are you trying to copy your sister and get a head injury?” Leila continued, firm but not mean. 

“Sorry,” Olly mumbled, “it distracts me from the noise.”

Leila made a tsk sound like she was a mother lecturing a child. Olly let her pull his hand towards her and turn it palm facing upwards. He watched as she traced the creases on his palm before interlocking their fingers together. Olly just stared at her, a bit confused. Without offering any explanation, she carried on.

“It’s not healthy for you to go hurting yourself over this. Izzy wouldn’t want that, would she?”

“Izzy can’t really say anything right now.” Olly rolled his eyes, but he knew what Leila was saying was right. His sister had disapproved of his actions to deal with his hearing problems lots of times. The amount of times she would scold him, out of worry, for doing so had reached more than the number of fingers he had on one hand. It’s not like he wanted to keep doing it, it was just a habit to divert his focus to something else. 

Okay, now that he thought about it, it wasn’t exactly a healthy habit.

“I’m sorry, it’s just really getting on my nerves.” 

Leila rubbed his hand, still interlocked with hers, with her thumb sympathetically, “I can’t imagine. It must be terrible to always be bothered by such noises.”

“Yeah.” It was extremely annoying. He already had a hard time focusing before he had gotten that issue and his damaged hearing impacted him more negatively.

Deciding not to think too much on it lest his head would start hurting, Olly went to observe his sister again. She didn’t move an inch and Olly hated the lack of expression on her face. As performers, they were always expressive. It was kind of their job. The twins spent hours practising different faces for their acts that it sort of came naturally to them. That was probably why seeing one of them so inexpressive was ultimately jarring. Olly, for a second, was tempted to slap her to see if it would bring forth any emotion at all.

Of course he didn’t in the end, because that would be cruel.

But it would help if Izzy would just wake up already.

“I’m kinda thirsty. Do you want anything?” Leila asked out of the blue. 

“I- what?”

“Well we can’t just sit around and starve. Besides, you look like you could use a drink. And maybe some snacks. Hospitals have a cafeteria for food right?”

“I think so?” Olly didn’t really know what to say. He was still reeling from everything and the change in topic was throwing him off.

“Okay,” Leila nodded, like his answer had solved every world issue, “okay, then I’ll get you something.”

And then to his disappointment, Leila pulled her hand away. Though before she left, she enveloped him a warm hug and gave him a few pats on the back. She did it all in such a quick motion that Olly was left giggling. He appreciated her movements to provide comfort no matter big or small. As Leila turned to exit out the door to go hunting for food and drinks, she bid him a temporary goodbye since she’d be back later. Olly waved back and Leila grinned before disappearing completely from his view as she turned the corner.

And he was now all alone.

Olly rubbed his arm awkwardly, the ever present buzzing in his ears thriving in the silence. He wanted badly to get rid of it but he figured getting himself a concussion would not help anyone. In addition to that, Izzy and Leila would chastise him even more if they knew. So Olly was left to deal with the infuriating buzz and tried his best to distract himself with his surroundings. As best as he could, he supposed. The room was barren aside from the bed, machines, and some chairs for visitors. Not a single picture frame or poster was stuck onto the wall either. The lack of colour was honestly hurting his eyes a bit.

“Geez, this town is so boring and old.” Olly voiced out loud to himself. He was glad there was no other staff in the room otherwise they’d probably not take his words too kindly.

A soft groan startled him. The boy watched with wide eyes as Izzy shifted just a bit. He didn’t realise he was holding his breath, as though a single noise would disturb the process of what he hoped was his sister finally arousing. A part of him felt excited and another felt panicked because if Izzy was actually waking up, he was the only other one in the room and he had no idea what to do. Why did Leila have to leave so soon? The timing was unfortunate. Olly stayed uncharacteristically silent, eyes wide as he awaited for any huge movements that would signal Izzy’s consciousness returning. The noise in his ears grew to an almost intolerable volume.

His waiting paid off when Izzy’s eyes flew open. 

The girl took note of her surroundings with bleary eyes. She seemed exhausted, and Olly felt tired too with the way his legs must have been shaking. Or perhaps it was the sudden crushing relief he felt causing his limbs to tremble. Izzy sat up, grumbling, and brought a hand up to massage her temples. Even though her eyes were wide open she appeared oblivious to her surroundings. Olly figured she probably hadn’t even noticed him at all. Well that simply cannot do. He did not wait for ages for her to just ignore him.

Willing himself to stop the shaking in his knees, Olly gave a lopsided grin. “Finally back in the land of the living aren’t you?”

Izzy jerked at his teasing. At last, she was aware of his presence. The two twins stared at each other intensely for a moment. It was like staring into a mirror and seeing the exact shade of eye colour except instead of a mirror it was their twin, a carbon copy. Olly didn’t move an inch from his spot, gaze strong. Izzy didn’t flinch either, her gaze just as powerful for someone who had just woken up and was facing exhaustion. After a minute ticked by, Izzy’s scrutinising look melted into one of content.

“You’re okay,” she stated, a relieved smile on her face.

Olly spluttered in shock, “you know, I should be saying that to you!”

His sister merely shrugged, “okay.”

Olly got over his shock quickly and shook his head. He was dealing with an onslaught of emotions that made his head hurt. One emotion clawed its way to the front. Olly huffed, anger brewing in his eyes. 

“Okay? Izzy, you just woke up from getting hit in the head. Which caused you to bleed by the way. You had to get stitches.”

The girl grimaced at that. “Is that why my head is itching?” She raised her hand to the back of her head where Olly assumed she would have started scratching if it wasn’t for the way he leapt towards her to pin her arm back down.

“Don’t do that.” Reopening stitches was something he did not want to deal with and he frankly didn’t know how. “I had to haul you all the way here, you know. You weren’t helping.”

“Oh no, what a tragedy,” Izzy replied with mocking exaggeration. 

“It’s not funny.” Olly hissed, and he was surprised at how upset he actually was feeling. Izzy leaned back, caught off guard as well.

“Woah, what’s the matter with you?”

“You got hurt,” he snapped and Izzy raised an eyebrow at that.

“C’mon, Olly. This isn’t the first time one of us got hurt. Remember all our stunts and mishaps?”

“This is different. You got hurt, for me.” And wasn’t that the revelation that shook him to the core. The realisation that made his heart squeeze tightly in his chest. The fact that made tears start brimming in his eyes. His sister had gotten injured to protect him, and while they had always protected each other, she had done so in a way that he couldn’t protect her. Izzy had put herself in harm's way to protect him, but Olly couldn’t do the same for her.

When Izzy didn’t say anything again, Olly decided it was the perfect opportunity for him to tell her everything that had been unfortunately circling in his mind. 

“It’s just- it’s not pleasant, you know, to see your twin jump in front of you to shelter from a blast that could have clearly killed them. Did you have any idea how terrifying it was to know that you were facing the danger while I was hidden behind you? And not to mention you passed out- I think you may as well have given me a heart attack- that was awful. You’re not supposed to be the stupid one, what were you thinking? I would never expect- that was so reckless-”

“Olly.” Izzy interrupted him in the middle of his rant. She had a firm tone but her face was soft. “It’s my job to protect you. As the oldest-”

“Oh please,” Olly snarled, “don’t start with that. You’re only a few minutes older, you have no right.”

Izzy shut her mouth but she glared back, expression just as fierce.

“We’re supposed to protect each other,” Olly said quietly and his eyes narrowed, “how am I supposed to do that if you won’t let me protect you?”

He hadn’t known what changed over the years but he hated how it went from the two of them covering each other’s backs to Izzy covering his back. They were a team and that meant they had to be there for each other. He didn’t want his sister to develop some sort of complex that she had to risk herself for him all the time. And yet, Olly knew that if the roles were swapped, he would be in the same position. And that angered him even more. 

Izzy had not said anything since he said those words and Olly wondered if she was going to say anything at all when she suddenly cleared her throat. “You’re right. We’re supposed to take care of each other. Yet that doesn’t mean I’ll ever regret what I did, because I don’t. I’d do it all over again if it meant keeping you safe. I couldn’t last time, I won’t let it happen again.”

“What?” Olly tensed. He racked through his memories for what she could have possibly meant. The ringing in his ears had faded away slightly during his rant but as he acknowledged it once more, he realised what incident Izzy was talking about. Feeling a bit self conscious, Olly cupped his ears and gawked at her.

“You mean the incident that ruined my ears? Izzy that happened years ago. You’re still pressed about that?”

His sister could be burning holes into his head at how hard she was glaring. “I failed and now you have to suffer forever.”

“Izzy it’s okay,” and he meant it sincerely, “I’ve made peace with the fact that this was how it’s supposed to go long ago. Yes, it still sucks and it still bothers me sometimes but I don’t dwell on it too much. You shouldn’t either.”

To his horror, Izzy started furiously scrubbing at her eyes and he recognised the telltale sign of the start of crying. He didn’t really know what to do since he himself was feeling under the weather so he did what he could do at the moment. He circled his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her shoulder. Instinctively, Izzy wound her arms around his back and the two simply held on to each other. They didn’t have to say anything, messages and meanings, secret apologies and forgiveness, passing between them without a single word uttered. It was one of Olly’s favourite parts of being a twin, the fact that they could understand each other so deeply that they sometimes never had to voice their true thoughts or feelings out loud.

Twin telepathy may or may not exist, but whatever Olly and Izzy Golden had was just as special and unique and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Eventually, Olly started carding his fingers through Izzy’s hair, being mindful of the stitches. Izzy had always done it for him and it felt really nice so he wanted to do the same for her. It worked because Izzy sighed and melted in his arms. She hummed a simple tune that Olly recognised as a lullaby their mother would sing for them. The fury and frustration that Olly had seemed to possess earlier had long dissipated. Their current position was doing wonders placating him more than he’d ever admit. It was pleasant. 

Now that he wasn’t so mad anymore, Olly could focus more on the consolation that Izzy was physically fine for the time being. That she was doing better than Ridley, as cruel as that sounded, and that she was with him. If she wasn’t, Olly wasn’t quite sure what he would have done. 

Their rare moment of tranquillity was barged in on when Leila strolled back into the room with her hands busy carrying snacks on one hand and the other holding a carrier for drinks. She came to a standstill midstep when she took in the scene in front of her fully. Then without any notice, she dumped the food and drinks on a nearby table and rushed forward towards the two of them. 

Izzy separated herself from Olly, who pouted in response, and held her hands open for Leila who immediately jumped into her arms. The brunette was laughing happy tears as she murmured a bunch of incomprehensible words that Olly couldn’t make out.

Izzy seemed to understand her, though, “I missed you too Leila!”

“I’m so, so, so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Izzy booped Leila’s nose while Olly left to get the snacks and drinks on the table.

“I cannot believe you woke up while I was gone!” 

The sound of laughing echoed around the room and Olly smiled to himself as the two girls jumped into another conversation. He brought the food and drinks over to them and passed Leila a cup and took the other cup.

“Drink this,” he instructed Izzy. In all honesty, Olly wasn’t feeling all that parched and Izzy had just woken up so he didn’t mind passing her his drink.

Leila made a face, “if I had known you’d be awake already I would have gotten three drinks.”

“It’s alright Leila,” Izzy soothed and then proceeded to gulp Olly’s drink down like she was a thirsty dying man. Not that the imagery would be too far off.

After quenching her thirst, Izzy yawned and then suddenly sobered up. She gave the room a once over and then in a serious tone she asked.

“How’s Ridley doing?”

Olly and Leila shared a passing glance with each other. It was Leila who broke the awkward silence and told Izzy sadly that they had no news so far and that they wouldn’t know because they’ve been by her side the entire time. When Izzy looked like she thought she was at fault, Olly slapped Leila’s arm gently and told her that he was certain Ridley would be getting better like her too. After all, nothing could ever knock down the genius leader of the Magic Misfits. 

“I suppose not,” Izzy agreed after some thought and then allowed herself to scarf down the peanuts in the little packaging that Leila had bought. Olly watched her, feeling extra lucky that she was doing better already.

Despite that, “we should probably call a nurse to check on you.”

Izzy groaned, “do we have to?”

“Just to be safe.” Leila supplied happily and Izzy launched a peanut at her. 

Chapter Text

Leila had been super overjoyed upon seeing Izzy was totally alive and well. She was so glad that her friend wasn’t dying and was doing much better. The girl watched the nice nurse from earlier checking Izzy’s important vitals and health just to be cautious. Olly was hovering near his sister, watching the nurse do her job and giving Izzy a once over every few seconds. 

After the checkup, the nurse transitioned to last minute information and details that needed to be filled out if they weren’t already. When Leila was certain that they'd written down every information they could possibly give, the nurse handed Izzy over to them both and strictly told them what they should or shouldn’t do. Peering at the twins, Leila could tell that Olly was taking the nurse’s advice very seriously.

Afterwards they headed out of the room and back to where Leila recalled the lobby was. She hoped her cousin and Theo were still there but she also hoped that they had good news about Ridley. On their way down, Izzy stretched and bounded down the hallways. Olly matched her energy and was right by her side. Yet even with the high energy they had, Leila could tell it wasn’t as high as it usually would be. The two of them were obviously worn out. Frankly, Leila felt the same.

To her disappointment, the lobby was devoid of Carter and Theo when they arrived. Leila tried to scan her surroundings for a mop of blond hair, or a tall figure with an out of place overly fancy tuxedo, but there really was nothing to scan when there were only three other people in the lobby. Two of which are elderly and one being a random scruffy looking man. And of course, there was that same receptionist.

The woman’s eyes flitted upwards at Leila as she went nearer and then went back to her work. When Leila called for her attention, the woman glared at her. Undeterred, Leila rocked on her heels and asked for two friends’ presence. For one moment, the lady looked confused over who Leila was talking about but then she seemed to remember and scowled instead. Leila couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit bad, she supposed their group had been the most pushy when it came to asking things from the receptionist. It was for a valid cause though. 

“Your two friends? Those boys are gone.”

“Gone?” Leila squeaked. Where could they have possibly gone? Were the boys really that incapable of waiting in the lobby alone? Before she could ask for clarification, the woman continued.

“They went to check in on that other friend of theirs.”

Leila’s heart stuttered to a stop. The girl’s jaw had dropped widely and she blinked in disbelief. Could it be who she was talking about? 

“…Ridley?” Leila begged for clarification. When the receptionist shrugged with a positive hum, Leila felt like she was about to explode herself. Immediately she asked for the room number. The receptionist only handed it over to her reluctantly after Leila pressed harder for the knowledge. She handed it over in record time to, because Leila was pretty sure that had she held on any second later, the girl would have whipped out her rope to do unspeakable things. 

Renewed with the fact that they could go visit Ridley now, Leila skipped towards the twins. As she crossed the distance, Leila could clearly make out the twins talking to someone much taller than them. Her question of who was answered when Izzy turned to wave at her with a bright grin. 

“Leila! Mr. Vernon’s here!”

Leila goggled at the obvious figure of none other than her dad. “Dad?!” 

The brunette crashed into her father’s arms, a bubbly laugh escaping her throat before she could control it. No matter how much older she got, her dad’s hugs were something that she could never grow bored of. How could she? It was warm, fuzzy, and it felt like she was protected from the harsh tragedies of the world. It was also something she desperately needed after the earlier events of the day.

“Hello you,” Dad said fondly and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Then he greeted the other two in the lobby as well. “Izzy, Olly. I’m relieved that you guys are safe and sound.”

Olly coughed loudly at that and Leila could make out a rushed, “not entirely.”

Izzy shook her head sheepishly.

Dad only gave them a sad smile in response, and Leila wrapped her arms around herself. That was when she remembered why she had been so excited from talking to the receptionist earlier. She flapped her arms wildly, not waiting for everyone else to stare at her before the words came tumbling out of her lips.

“Carter and Theo are in Ridley’s room. We can visit her now, I have her room number.” Without waiting for an answer, Leila pivoted and ran. She didn’t get so far before Olly grabbed at her arm and pulled her back.

“Slow down,” he pointed behind him using his head, “Izzy’s head is still a bit woozy and Mr. Vernon can’t run as fast as us. Ah, the price of being old.”

Leila snickered at that and then sent him an apologetic look. 

Izzy caught up with them a second later and they waited patiently for the older magician to match up with their speed. Finally, they headed towards Ridley’s room together. Leila wondered if they would all be permitted to visit Ridley at once but then she figured it was a problem she didn’t want to deal with. It would be fine. If it wasn’t, the Magic Misfits all had some tricks up their sleeves.

When they arrived at the room number, Leila pushed open the door almost shyly. She had to admit she was slightly anxious about what would lie ahead. The thing that gave her the confidence to swing the door wide open fully was the people at her back giving her encouraging smiles. They were all most likely feeling the same nerves as Leila was, but they would be facing it together.

Entering the door, Leila saw Theo and Carter calmly discussing something by themselves. They immediately detected the sound of the three other people entering and brightened when they took note of who the people were. Theo reached them in a couple long strides and Carter scurried behind him. 

Leila gave Carter a crushing hug to which he chortled at. When they parted, Carter’s eyes shone even more when they landed on Mr. Vernon. Leila stood by and cooed as her dad bent down to speak to Carter affectionately. Even though the latter had grown he was still the shortest of them all. She couldn’t hear what they were saying with their hushed tones but Leila didn’t really feel the urgency to know. At the end of Carter and her dad’s conversation, Mr. Vernon got back up to his full height and ruffled the hair atop Carter’s head. 

While Mr. Vernon and Carter had been discussing secretly, Leila also had a full view of Theo embracing the twins separately. The violinist gave each of the twins hugs that lasted for a minute and then gave them words that Leila could assume were wise ones. Her heart swelled when she saw Theo lay a hand on Izzy’s shoulder and pass the girl words of concern, to which Izzy waved off. Despite that, Leila could see how pleased and touched Izzy was. Olly nudged Theo’s elbow and whispered something to the violinist which had the two of them cackling and Izzy slapping her forehead.

All in all, it was a beautiful scene that made Leila’s heart full of joy. The only downside was that someone was missing. 

Ridley.

The young inventor was on the bed as expected but Leila hadn’t tried to turn around fully and take in the poor sight of her friend. From the moment she had entered, Leila’s eyes had unconsciously avoided looking at the one place where Ridley was lying dreadfully still. If she could, Leila would like to stay in the unknown of how Ridley looked in bed right now. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her friend, because Leila very much did. It was just that finally looking at Ridley pathetically sad in bed would force Leila to accept the fact that her friend had been gravely injured. Seeing the poor girl bleeding out had been enough to bring Leila nightmares for nights to come. Leila wasn’t sure if she could face it again this time.

Alas, she couldn’t avoid the issue forever. Especially when it was right in front of them all. Mustering up every bit of courage she had, Leila finally faced her friend. What greeted her made her stomach churn. She tripped over herself as she made her way closer to Ridley.

Ridley wasn’t as pale as before, and she thankfully wasn’t bleeding out. However, she still looked sickly in a way that Leila couldn’t describe. There was a wire attached to an IV bag presumably for blood and other fluids. Leila was not well educated on what was needed to treat her friend and on what a hospital did entirely, but she supposed that as long as it did its job she wouldn’t say anything. Ridley looked absolutely small in the big hospital gown they’ve put her in. Out of everything that was off, Leila figured that the most unsettling thing about all of this was how it made Ridley look. 

Ridley was always a bold, confident, and witty person. She was the Magic Misfit’s leader. An ever present, fundamental pillar of their group. The girl was an essential part of their team. She took up her role in a way no one else could, commanded a room with every force and conviction she had. Ridley was a constant. And she was so striking and proud that Leila never considered how weird it was when she suddenly wasn’t there. 

So the way their leader now laid, senseless to the world, was so disturbing since it made her look small and vulnerable. Ridley hated being seen as vulnerable. Leila knew that it was one of the girl’s largest insecurities. Ridley strived and worked hard to ensure that no one would find a reason to place her as vulnerable. If she was awake and knew her state now, Leila was undoubtedly certain that Ridley would have hated how weak she looked. She would hate it so much that she wouldn’t see what Leila saw. Leila saw someone who survived a terrible incident, and someone just as persistent.

“Ridley would probably hate us staring at her like she was a pity case for too long,” Theo commented. 

Leila spared him a glance, “yeah. She would.” 

“But she’s not a pity case. She was very, very brave.” Izzy defended.

“Of course,” Carter assured, “she was. She is.”

“Then we should tell her that when she awakens, don’t you think?” Mr. Vernon pulled up a chair beside Ridley’s bed. Leila watched him brush Ridley’s hair away from her face. 

“Yes!” Olly exclaimed. “We need to tell her how brave and amazing she was to survive an explosion like that!”

Izzy nodded fervently. Theo had a thoughtful look on his face and Carter hummed, amused. Leila felt the telltale signs of a grin growing on her face. Her friends were so sweet and considerate. Seeing them all already plotting ways to tell Ridley how amazing she was warmed her heart.

“Absolutely. We need to definitely tell Ridley that.”

“Tell me what?” A voice croaked out.

Everyone jumped and gaped at the source of the voice. Ridley slowly sat up with a sceptical expression. 

“Tell me what?” She repeated.

And the room broke into chaos.

Chapter Text

When the small round object rolled ominously towards Ridley. She guessed that it was too suspicious to be ignored. And yet, her mind was aching to be used and her body moved on its own accord towards the thing. It was the wrong decision and Ridley wanted to smack herself for it because she fell for the easiest trick in the book. Who in their right mind would approach a suspicious device? She would. What was she thinking?

When the device suddenly exploded violently without warning, Ridley had a split second to herself where she recalled every stupid decision she had made in her life and categorised that moment as her number one. She had just a second to berate herself mentally for it before she felt sharp agony and then everything went dark. 

She wasn’t sure what had happened but she knew she was feeling pain, pain, pain. Ridley wanted to do something to stop it, anything to get rid of it. Nothing happened and the pain continued. It was actually more agonising than she thought it would be, but she couldn’t move and she couldn’t speak. Her body refused to cooperate with her and Ridley screeched in her mind. The pain built up, and kept building up and up and up until she couldn’t take it anymore and then it all faded away.

Ridley felt a flicker of consciousness, and through her eyelids she saw movement above her.

Izzy knelt over her, barking out some instructions to Olly. Ridley could hear her voice echoing in her empty mind. 

She couldn’t bring herself to respond, and her head lolled back instead.

And then Izzy pressed her blazer to Ridley’s side and white hot pain flashed but she couldn’t move or speak or anything- and she was gone.

When Ridley was much younger, she toyed with different mechanisms and objects. She fiddled with them and took them apart until her dad simply couldn’t ignore her interest for them any longer. And for her next birthday he bought her very first own toolbox. Her mother hadn’t been much pleased because Ridley started to take apart any item in the house more efficiently whenever she wanted.

Her dad got her a manual later on and a kit full of starter materials. He taught her a few tips he knew and left the rest for Ridley to figure out. She was extremely proud when she ditched the manual completely and reconstructed her own tiny mechanism with the use of the materials. Sure, it fell apart after a few hours, but it only made space for improvements. 

Oh and did Ridley improve.

“Guys, Ridley’s getting paler.”

“Where are the others?!”

Her first time leading the Magic Misfits as an official leader, which everyone had kindly elected her as, was a memorable one. The role fell naturally upon her, as she had been the one bossing them around since the start. Ridley felt a bit embarrassed and guilty about that, but she also knew that if it wasn’t for her then half of their plans would have fallen apart. Besides, she allowed the occasional input and suggestions from her friends. Sometimes even letting them take over when they knew the situation better than she did. 

That was the thing about leading and working as a team, Ridley learnt. They had to trust each other and build on each other’s strength. It was a bit hard to get used to three new people after Carter came crashing into their lives along with the twins, but she would never trade it for anything else in the world.

There was once a moment where they had let their guard down, and Leila had been placed in a threatening position. They gladly made it all out unscathed and laughed about it later, but Ridley vowed to herself that when it came to her friends, she wouldn’t let her guard down. It was her duty.

Evidently, she failed.

And it came down to her.

Ridley’s eyes squinted open. 

There were people above her. Adults. She was being carried somewhere. She couldn’t detect her friends. She could barely stay awake herself.

Her eyes went shut.

Ridley prided herself strongly for her intellectual knowledge. She was better than the regular kids in the town. She could create inventions that blew people’s minds. She was a force to be reckoned with. And she was smart enough to not be outsmarted. At least for most of the time.

It was something she used to heavily lecture the other Misfits on. Because if they were unable to catch tricks or know general knowledge, then how would they function? How would they stay safe? One of Ridley’s most important tips was to not experiment or fiddle with suspicious looking items. Unless they knew how to properly handle such things, they should stay clear. Of course that rule could be bent regarding whatever investigation or mission they were on. Nevertheless, it was something Ridley had told them to keep them safe.

She couldn’t even abide by her own rules.

“She’s not waking up.”

“It takes time.”

“I know. I’m worried. It’s not fun to keep waiting.”

“She’ll be fine. She has to be.”

She couldn’t remember how long she remained unresponsive and dead to the world. All she knew was that it took too long because she was getting tired. Ridley personally did not know where she was. She could hear her surroundings faintly, but other than that she couldn’t see anything but the all encompassing darkness. She couldn’t speak either. Her head was pounding, which was the first real stream of consciousness she had. It felt thick and heavy like someone had stuffed cotton into her skull and blocked her ears.

There were some muffled noises a distance away that Ridley couldn’t make out at all. It sounded like people talking. Talking about what, she didn’t know. 

What even happened ?

Her fingers twitched. 

She heard some rustling near her head and then the clear sound of a chair scraping against the floor. If she could control her facial expressions, Ridley would have grimaced at the awful sound. There was more talking again, one of which was extremely near her, and then Ridley faintly felt a hand pushing her hair out of her face gently. 

The darkness around her started to fade away to something lighter, awareness returning to her slowly. Ridley was starting to feel her limbs now. Her back was aching terribly from lying for so long and her brows furrowed. Her head felt fuzzy. She slowly blinked her eyes open, and they jumped around with no direction. Her eyelids felt extremely heavy. While her vision slowly cleared, she noticed the outline of a Mr. Vernon by her side. The man hadn’t realised she was awake and was focused on the direction ahead of them, where Ridley guessed the other Misfits were. Her ears started tuning into her surroundings more.

She could hear an enthusiastic voice, which she deduced was one of the twins exclaiming quite loudly about something. Ridley wondered what had made them so excited when she was feeling so tired and ugh pathetic. Nevertheless, she did relax a tad when she recognised that the voices belonged to her fellow friends. Whatever happened, she was definitely safe with them around.

The voices start to gain more clarity. 

A voice, a little closer to Ridley, spoke up. It was spoken in that stupidly soft voice that annoyed Ridley lots because now she couldn’t hear her clearly. In spite of that, Ridley managed to catch the tail end of the sentence.

“-tell Ridley that.” 

Hearing her name made her startle. She had no idea what they were talking about that she was involved in, but if Ridley knew her friends, it was probably something chaotic. She couldn’t blame them entirely, she herself was chaotic too. However, she would prefer it if they didn’t pull a prank on her while she’s unable to retaliate. She started to reevaluate her previous thought of being safe with them around. Was she going to wake up with some nasty prank written on her forehead? Ugh. She sure hoped not. At that point, Ridley could shockingly move her mouth and words were able to form fully so she decided it was about time she announced her presence.

“Tell me what?” She asked warily and winced at how dry and cracked her voice sounded. 

Hating the feeling of being bedridden, she hefted herself up into a sitting position with her elbows, pointedly ignoring the gawking stares she was receiving.

When no one answered her, she repeated her question with a bit of annoyance. “Tell me what?”

There was no warning before the room was thrown into chaos.

Chapter Text

“Ridley.” Leila mumbled. Then her eyes grew to the size of saucers and she exploded, “Ridley?!”

The brunette rushed forward to stand beside her father. However, on her way she actually tripped over herself and went tumbling down to the floor. Ridley watched her, flabbergasted, when suddenly Leila bounced right back up like she didn’t badly hit the ground and continued her way towards them.

“Oh my,” Mr. Vernon breathed. He held a hand to his forehead, looking quite pale and shocked himself. 

“She’s awake?!”

“She’s awake!”

The twins shook each other out and whooped in elation, Olly being more careful so as not to give Izzy a mighty headache. His sister had a gleeful expression on her face and Olly mirrored her exactly. The two of them hopped over to Ridley’s other unoccupied bedside and started bombarding her with quips and jokes that made the young inventor dizzy. 

Carter was wide-eyed. He traipsed forward with such a stupefied expression that Ridley wanted to poke and tease him for being so speechless. The blond joined his cousin, fingers gripping his satchel so tightly that his knuckles were white. Ridley reached out and placed her fingers over his. Instantaneously, Carter’s own fingers went loose. Even so, his blue eyes never strayed from Ridley and she coughed awkwardly.

In the meantime, Theo was clutching at his stomach, an unreadable expression on his face. When he straightened his posture, his brown eyes were unusually moist. Ridley was dumbfounded by the sheer emotion her best friend’s eyes held when he gazed at her. He stepped forward, one foot at a time. When he reached her bedside, the side with the twins, Theo’s eyes searched her face. Ridley allowed him to do so, for once letting everything she was feeling be shown truthfully on the surface. At last, Theo closed his eyes and when he opened them once more, it was filled with pure joy and affection. The boy held out a hand, and Ridley took it.

“You’re okay.”

Ridley gave a curt nod in response. She knew she had spoken already and that she was fully capable of doing so again, but it had taken out a lot more energy than she had expected and she was frankly fatigued. Everyone’s eyes were still on her and Ridley shifted, uncomfortable. 

“Hi…” she settled on saying, because the silence was starting to get too loud. It was the trigger to a huge reaction. 

Leila wailed, and Ridley winced at the volume the brunette held. 

“Oh my gosh, Ridley,” Leila cried, throwing her hands around the redhead, throwing her hands around the redhead. Her cries turned into full on bawling and she held onto her friend closer.

Like a domino effect, Izzy and Olly latched on to Ridley’s other side, Theo circled his arms around them all, and Carter joined in. Fortunately, they were mindful enough to not accidentally press into the dull ache at her side where Ridley concluded must be the cause for her predicament. The six of them held each other. Though for Ridley, she felt like they were squishing her between them more than she was used to. She wasn’t complaining, but it sure was unexpected. Realising that her friends were not going to let go anytime soon, Ridley accepted the hug and relaxed into it. Peeking over Leila’s shoulder, she saw Mr. Vernon was observing them fondly. 

After a couple of minutes, Ridley decided she couldn’t be engulfed in the crushing hug any longer lest she suffocate. She cleared her throat loudly, which was sort of a bad decision since her voice box was still pretty unused and sore, and then broke into a coughing fit. Her friends lurched back in alarm, but Ridley held out a hand to assure them that she was fine. She made a passing gesture towards her throat to signal that it was just a minor disruption and watched her friends’ shoulders slump minutely. Honestly their overly concern for her was touching but a bit much. She was fine. Whatever happened didn’t kill her so she didn’t see their justification for immense worry.

Wait, what exactly happened?

Ridley scrunched up her nose as she rifled through her memories. She was grateful that she had such an exceptional memory skill and was able to almost recall every little detail of her life. Granted, she forgot things sometimes, but who was ever perfect in this corrupt society? Alas, this time her ability seemed to fail her, because Ridley could see only blanks in the time before she ended up in the hospital. With a crossed expression, she ran her fingers through her red hair. Her friends eyed her warily.

“Whatever’s the matter?” Theo questioned. 

“Nothing,” Ridley rubbed circles into her templess, “say, could anyone tell me what happened?”

Her friends sent her befuddled looks. 

“You mean what the doctors reported or…?” Carter threaded unsurely.

Ridley scratched her palm and hummed thoughtfully, “I mean that would be nice, sure, but I meant what got me into the hospital in the first place.”

Silence greeted her but before Ridley could bite at them to break it, Olly bawled.

“Oh no, Ridley must have gotten her head hit from the blast too and now she has amnesia-” Olly blubbered uncontrollably.

Said girl’s neck snapped in his direction and she scowled, “I don’t have amnesia-” the nerve to even dare suggest it- “wait ‘too’? And ‘blast’?”

Her train of thought narrowed onto the details in Olly’s words. So there had been a blast? Was it an explosion maybe? Was someone else hurt? That would be the implication of Olly saying someone’s head got hit ‘too’. As far as Ridley’s concerned, her head had a twinge of pain but it was not the type of pain someone would get from getting hit in the head hard enough to cause amnesia. No one else had amnesia right? Right?!

“Did someone get hit in the head? Who has amnesia?” Ridley demanded.

Olly raised a finger timidly, “you?”

“I do not have amnesia-!”

Ridley cut herself off and bit her cheek. Alright, fine. So she’ll just assume that no one else had gotten hurt or memory loss, hopefully, unless told otherwise. She did not mean to be so brash towards Olly but her mind was fine, thank you very much. Yes she was forgetting a couple things but it’s not like she had forgotten her entire life story. She could remember everything that’s happened, other than the incident, with precise detail too so her brain wasn’t damaged. With that, she voiced these points to her friends out loud. Just so that they understood. Her memory would come back eventually. Besides, her brain was working just as fine in the short time she’s been awake. She could prove it with her excellent use of deduction skills.

From what she had observed mentally alone so far, Ridley knew a couple things. Firstly, she inferred that something had happened during one of their Magic Misfits escapades since that’s really the only times they’d all be out of Mineral Wells and the infirmary she was in was not their town’s local one. So the incident must have happened in their current location and the casualties were urgent enough that she had to be submitted into the nearest medical facility.

Secondly, she worked out that the incident that placed her there must have caused her a severe injury considering the fact that she was bandaged up pretty tightly and her side throbbed somewhat even with what she suspected was a generous dosage of painkillers. She had an inkling that something had pierced her side terribly. It must have been so serious that she could have died because her fellow peers had fretted all over her when she awoke. Although, that was something they would still do over a simple ankle sprain so Ridley decided it was a stretch.

Lastly, Ridley gathered that she was luckily only out of it for a few hours or more, give or take. Her friends were in varied stages of dishevelled, and they looked completely exhausted. She’s pretty sure she saw Olly hide a yawn just now too. However, they don’t have the deep eye bags that signified waiting for her for nights and the date on the calendar standing innocently on the table next to the bed showed her that the date hadn’t changed from when she last remembered.

Other than that, her mind drew blanks to the exact sequence of events that landed her there. She did remember them having a briefing before embarking on their trip but even the conversation then was blurry to her. Ridley squinted her eyes and used all her existing brainpower to fill in the gaps. It paid off when bits and pieces started flashing to the front of her mind. It came in flashes that left her mind spinning but she was starting to grasp onto them more each time.

The briefing. Ridley pulled out a chalkboard and pointed at the drawing and notes scribbled onto it. 

The image was grainy in her mind and Ridley growled.

The travel. The Misfits sat scattered across the train’s compartment, watching the scenery pass by while Ridley debriefed them one last time.

Oh. That was a calming moment. What was the full briefing though? Only a few words had filtered into clarity. Nothing really helpful.

The building. It was old and gloomy and Ridley had told them to split up. She told them to stay safe and remember the protocols before exploring her assigned wing with the twins.

So that was the place? Perhaps she could go investigate the area later on.

A secret entrance. A secret passage. An empty room.

Of course there were secrets. What else would she be expecting?

Searching. 

What was she searching for? 

Nothing, nothing, nothing. 

So they failed? Ridley couldn’t lie and say that she wasn’t disappointed about that even if she couldn’t remember.

Found, it was found.

Oh, nevermind. 

The object in her memory was still unfocused. What was it?

A yank, starting the chain effect of a mechanism falling into place. A perfectly crafted system that left her mesmerised.

Ah, so a trap. 

Something rolled out, her mind screamed danger but her chair moved closer.

She fell for the oldest trick in the book?!

A second and then-

Ridley buried her face in her hands without warning, the motion causing her friends around her to be uneasy. Meanwhile, Ridley’s mind was abuzz frantically with the revelations she had from the short glimpses. It wasn’t the full story, no, but it gave her enough to have an understanding of all the hows and whys. Yet knowing them was embarrassing in a way Ridley did not expect. After all, how could she? She approached a strange device that rolled out from the darkness towards her and ended up getting sliced by the resulting explosion. It was such a stupid way for the leader of the Magic Misfits to go down from. Ridley’s positive that if the blast hadn’t almost killed her, the others would hold her mistake over her head for a long time. 

“I can’t believe this,” she whined, voice coming out muffled through her fingers, “I got taken down by an explosion which I stupidly went towards?! That’s so dumb. ”

The people present around her shared surprised looks that went unnoticed since Ridley’s face was still hidden. 

“Don’t feel bad, Ridley,” Izzy started brightly, “we make dumb mistakes all the time.”

Ridley snorted sarcastically. Sure, people made mistakes. Have they made a mistake that led to them almost getting blown up though?

“Yeah,” Olly drawled, “I know some people who have made some pretty stupid mistakes.” He casted a strange expression to Izzy, who narrowed her eyes at him. Ridley thought it was a weird exchange, but she paid no attention to whatever twin complications they were having, as much as it irked her to lack context.

“It’s still such a ridiculous way to die,” Ridley huffed.

Leila smacked her arm, eliciting a yelp from the redhead, “you’re not dead.”

“Fortunately so. I don’t think my ego would ever recover if I was killed by such a blunder.” Ridley grumbled. When she looked up, she saw Theo was pinching the bridge of his nose, exasperated. She grinned.

“It would have been such a shame,” Carter droned sarcastically. Ridley leant forward to flick his forehead. 

“I still don’t remember what we were looking for, though.” 

The mood in the room considerably soured at the reminder that Ridley’s mind was still out of sorts, but it was broken into concentration when Theo reached into his tuxedo and pulled out a rectangular object. He held it out in his hands to allow the rest of the Misfits to examine it.

Ridley took one look and grimaced as everything came rushing back into her mind. Her momentary pain subsided and was pushed aside when she heard a breath stutter by her side.

Giving him a brief look, Ridley paled at Mr. Vernon’s white complexion.