Lucretia's halfway back to base when she runs into Barry again. Or rather, Barry approaches her.
"Lucretia, we need to- holy shit."
As if her day couldn't get any worse.
Lucretia takes the time to lean up against the nearest tree, which leads her to sliding down onto the ground, her feet throbbing. Gaining twenty years in two seconds wasn't the best when you needed to walk for miles afterward. She sighed, burying her face in her hands. She half wishes she had taken the staff with her, but bringing a new relic into Wonderland wasn't the brightest idea.
"Good morning Barry," she says as politely and collected as she can. "What can I do for you?"
"Fuck, Luce," he says. "What happened to you?"
There are a million snaky things Lucretia could say right now. She crosses each of them off the list one by one until she's taken far too long to answer and ends up just saying,
She hears Barry's sharp breath. He staggers back a few feet from her and when she looks up, his form is visibly shaking. Lucretia blinks, hard, and in that time, Barry has calmed himself down.
"Why would you go there?" he starts.
"I already told you what I'm doing, Barry," Lucretia says quietly. She can't afford to break down about it today. She needs the energy to get back to the base, to Davenport.
"No," Barry says. "No, I know that- why would you go there alone?"
"I didn't," is all Lucretia replies.
Barry didn't respond. He's looking at her with a mixture of horror and betrayal and concern. After a few seconds, he slinks back a few more feet, away from her, and asks,
"Nothing's going to stop you, is it?"
"No," Lucretia says, determined. She struggles to her few. She sees Barry twitch in the corner of her vision as if wanting to help but not knowing if he should. She waves him off.
"You didn't get the bell," he says quietly, more a statement than a question. She leans against the tree, catching her breath.
"No," Lucretia says again. "They..."
She thinks of the flashing lights. Edward and Lydia's matching, bright smiles. She thinks about Cam, and where she left him, and the mess she had made of the life he had ahead of him. She thinks about Barry in front of her now, who had indirectly caused this whole mess. She doesn't stay on that last thought very long.
"I know," Barry whispers.
He doesn't stop her when she pushes herself off the tree and keeps going. Lucretia's not sure she would have objected if he did.