Anything to Save You | Lauren, Nicholas, Nina, and Kara
Tagging: Lauren Lansing, Nicholas Carey, Nina Ryback, and Kara Lansing
Date: June 9, 2017
Location: The Admin Building
Notes: Lauren and Nicholas happen to bump into each other while fleeing the hunters. The closest building for shelter is the administrator building. They run all the way up to the Chancellor’s office, where the hunters eventually have them and the Chancellor surrounded. They barricade as best they can, but it’s not long until the hunters blast into the room. Injuring Nicholas, with a bullet to the side. Just before they go into a shooting spree, Nina and Kara surprise them from behind and knocks them all down together.
Lauren froze the moment she heard the gunshots. When this happened last time, it had been easier; she hadn’t been directly on campus and she’d been able to hide in the cover of the trees, but now she had kind of ended up in the middle of the chaos. She looked around for a moment before she lifted her crutches off the ground and started to run to the closest building she could see. If anyone saw her she would blame adrenaline. She only stopped when she noticed another student several feet away from her and was about to call out to them before she realized who the person was. While Nic was probably the last person she wanted to be in this situation with, she wasn’t going to leave him out there and secretly hoped, though the hope was filled with doubt, that he wouldn’t leave her either. Especially if she still had to pretend to be injured. “Nic,” she called, nodding her head towards the administrator building that was before them as she hastily approached him on her crutches. “I know no one’s a fan of the Chancellor right now, but that’s probably our best bet. We can see if she’s there and hopefully there are Paladins there even if she isn’t. Sound good?"
Nic hadn't realized the situation that was happening until he saw a few hunters run across campus. His immediate response was to hide and wait for them to pass before heading to the nearest building. Fortunately for him, he was right near the administration building which meant he could get in there and hole up before any hunters found them. He was so focused on the hunters that he didn't even realize that someone was near him. Of all the people he could have run into, it just had to be Lauren. However, if there was one thing he knew, it was that he was not letting anyone kill his sister. So, as she spoke, he nodded his head. "Yeah. Sounds pretty fucking good to me. Can you move? Because I really don't need to carry your ass while hunters are out here." He moved towards her and hoped nobody could see him when he did.
Lauren resisted the urge to sigh when he asked her if she could move. She briefly considered how mad Zoey would be at her if she revealed her leg was healed, but then realized she’d rather just deal with it than face Zoey’s wrath. “Yeah, I can move. I’ll be fine,” she told him, looking around after he moved towards her to see if she could see any movement. As much as she really didn’t want to risk being seen, it was more dangerous for them to stay outside. When she didn’t see anything, she turned back to him. “I think we’re good. Do you want to go ahead of me? I don’t want to slow you down.” She also figured if she was trailing behind him, she could get away with moving faster because he wouldn’t be watching her. “We just have to get in, then we can figure out what we want to do from there.”
"Alright," was all he said as he looked around. He scanned the area to see a few hunters, but they weren't looking in his direction. Maybe they'd be able to sneak in without being detected. However, Lauren being in the situation she was in, Nic felt like he had to protect her. "No you're going first and don't fight me on it either. I would rather you get in there than me right now." He moved to a position where he was behind her so that she could start moving first. "You're not going to slow me down. We just have to make it to the building and we'll be good. Well, as good as we can be." Nic looked behind him and saw the hunters still looking around. "We can get to the Chancellor's Office and see if her and the Paladins are there. Come on, let's move," he said as he waited for her to move first.
Lauren was so caught off guard by Nic’s insistence on keeping her safe that she couldn’t form a response. She couldn’t even be annoyed that she had to keep up the act or that he knew she’d planned on fighting for him to go first because of how surprised she was that he was this set on keeping her alive. She just nodded along with what he said to show she agreed to the plan. “Stay with me,” she said before she took one last look around to make sure the hunters weren’t looking in their direction. She got up immediately as he said to start moving, her gaze straight ahead on the building before them as she moved as quickly as she could with the crutches. Thankfully she’d gotten very used to them after having them for a month, so she was going quicker than she had expected to. She grabbed the door handle once they made it and swung it open before rushing in and holding it open with a crutch for Nic. Once they were both in, she shut it as quickly as she could and locked it. It may not have been much, but it’d at least slow down anyone that came after them.
As soon as Nic saw her nod, he looked around again. He was surprised that she didn't fight him on it, but he wasn't going to pay it any mind right now. "Already on it, captain." He did a quick salute and then kept up pace behind her as she ran with her crutches. Once they made it to building, he watched as as she closed the door behind them. Nic was basically trying to come up with a plan as quickly as he could. After all, with the lies he had to keep up with, he was a master at improvising at this point. "Alright, when we get to the Chancellor's Office, whether she's there or not, we need to barricade the door so we can at least slow them down. We can come up with how to take them down when we're in there." He turned to look at Lauren as he kept walking. Stopping, he turned so that he was facing her. "Not letting you die today, Lansing," he said with a very platonic wink. With that, he kept moving so they could head up to the Chancellor's Office.
Lauren turned to face Nic once she finished locking the door. The building seemed fairly quiet, so she didn’t think there was much of a chance that the Chancellor had loads of Paladins surrounding her office to protect her. She nodded along when Nic told her his plan. “Sounds good to me,” she said, although she was dreading taking the stairs with the crutches. She quirked an eyebrow when he winked at her. “Glad to hear it,” she said as a slight grin spread across her face. “Gonna save that for another day then?” She kind of hoped he wouldn’t answer that. Once they reached the stairs, she took a deep breath because she knew these stairs were really going to test her patience. Yet she followed Nic up them as quickly as she could before she decided that it seriously wasn’t worth it. So she removed the crutches from under her arms, holding onto them with one hand while she placed the other one on the railing so she could use it for support. This way she could walk almost normally, just with a slight limp as she put less weight on her left foot. But it was at least quicker than the crutches. “It’s freaking me out how quiet it is in this building."
It was extremely quiet in the building. At least that was a sign that the hunters weren't inside yet. As far as he could tell at least. He was holding out hope he didn't die today. "It has to. It's kind of the only plan we have." At her question, he chuckled and shrugged. "I'd tell you if I wanted to kill you. But you're Kara's sister. She's already lost too much. Can't take you away from her, too." Nic went up the stairs making sure he was moving at a pace that Lauren could keep up with. "Well, the Chancellor is probably in here. I'm sure she's already holed up in her office not worrying about anyone but herself. Lovely person 'taking care' of us." He couldn't stop the roll of his eyes as they finally got up to the floor they needed to be at. "Now don't say anything about us being lucky because RIAP is the kind of place to believe in superstitions," he stated as he headed towards the door to the Chancellor's Office. Nobody else was at the desks near it so he kept moving.
Lauren wasn’t sure if she should take the fact that he’d never said he wanted to kill her as a compliment, especially as it was barely a compliment at all. Her stomach dropped at the mention of her sister, and she promised herself to text Kara as soon as they reached the office and they were safe. “We’ll be in for a hell of a treat if we end up with the Chancellor. It’s too bad she couldn’t have kept any Paladins around.” Once they reached the top, she got back on her crutches as they headed towards the Chancellor’s Office. She was getting a bad feeling when she saw there was no one there, but maybe that meant the hunters wouldn’t even think to look in this building. “Here goes nothing,” she said once they reached the closed door of the office they had been looking for. “Should we knock first? I don’t want her to think we’re hunters if we just burst in. Although maybe we’d get free tuition or something if she attacked us."
At the mention of Paladins, he shook his head. "Nah, that would be too easy." He listened to Lauren as she spoke about knocking when they finally got to the door of the Chancellor's office. "Fuck knocking," he said as he went to open the door. "It's locked. She's definitely in there." Nic held the door handle and burned it off before he flung the door open. Nobody was in there from what he saw immediately. Maybe she was hiding somewhere. "Close the door behind you and we'll move the desk. Or I'll move the desk." Moving towards the desk, he went behind it and kicked the chair out of the way. However, what he found was a very scared Chancellor underneath her desk. "Well, well, well. Look who it is, Lauren," he said as Altman got out from under the desk and went to straighten her pantsuit. "I have to make sure I'm protected so that I can protect the rest of you." Nic couldn't help but roll his eyes at the woman's words. "Sure. Can I borrow your desk?" He asked the question as a courtesy, but he was still going to use it anyway. Pushing the desk towards the door, he started to hear some commotion outside. "I really fucking hope they're not in the building."
Nina had put her phone away as soon as she peered over the roof and she saw hunters from a ways off. She knew that she couldn’t stay on the roof forever. She didn’t know if there were any hunters in the building but she did know that getting inside would be smart. She perched on the ledge, making sure it was all clear, and jumped off, floating downward to land on her feet. Stealthily, she walked around the front of the building. That was when she saw Kara. “Kara,” she called out to her. Not yelling, but manipulating the air so that the sound bounced around Kara alone. “They’re coming this way. I’ve been on the roof. We’ve got to get inside, but cautiously. I don’t know how many are inside, but Nic’s in there somewhere.” She knew she had to find him. Make sure he was okay.
Kara wasn't sure what the hell was going on when she heard Nina's voice seemingly in her head before realizing that Nina was manipulating the air to talk to her. She grinned then in Nina's direction. "You brilliant asshole." She replied back, waiting until the Hunters went inside before making her way to Nina's side, remaining low. "Lauren's in there too. Nina, I swear to God.. If they hurt her or Nic..." Kara didn't really know how to continue, the lump in her throat feeling larger than before until she swallowed thickly. "We need to have a plan. Like maybe we can tail them and then... I don't know. I don't want to text either of them in case they forgot to turn their ringers off."
Lauren figured Nic would end up being against knocking, but she wanted to give it a shot anyway. Soon enough he burned the door handle off and swung it open. She shut the door behind them, holding back a remark about how they could’ve locked it if he hadn’t burned the handle off. She turned around when Nic said her name, shocked to see the Chancellor standing up from behind her desk. Dumbfounded, she looked between the two of them before Nic began pushing the desk across the room. She moved out of the way, gesturing to the chairs that were also in the room. “Can you help him and move those against the door?” she asked the Chancellor, who had seemed just as shocked as Lauren was when she saw them. Altman nodded and began moving the chairs, probably feeling guilty that it took a request from a girl on crutches to get her into action. “Do you hear something?” she asked Nic when he spoke. “Come back.” She started to speak quietly just in case anyone was around. “We’ll wait back here.” She looked around the room for any source of water, feeling relief when she saw vases filled with flowers and water on some of the side tables. Though she still hoped she wouldn’t have to use her new magic, she would if it would save them.
Nic wasn't paying attention to the conversation going on near him. All he noticed was that Altman started to help him move stuff in front of the door. Swiping all of the stuff off of her desk, he grabbed started grabbing chairs and placing them on the desk. He looked at Lauren as she asked him a question, but he kept silent as he stopped moving and just listened. Times like these, he really wished he was an air witch. Nevertheless, he tried his best to focus. Placing a finger to his mouth, it was a silent plea for Altman and Lauren to stay quiet. That was when the loud thump hit the door. "Shit," he aggressively whispered as he moved back away from the door. "Please tell me you came up with a plan, Lauren." He sincerely hoped she had because the Chancellor probably didn't.
Nina watched as one of the hunters went inside. Already her mind was traveling to worst case scenarios because when it came to people she cared about, they all seemed to just drop like flies. She gave herself that one pitiful moment, and then she just shut it off. She put the emotion at the back of her mind, and she thought like a Ryback. “Nothing’s going to happen. They’ve got us. We’ll get to them,” she assured Kara. “If you had something of Lauren’s I could track her. I’ve never been in their minds so it’d be hard for me to try finding either of them that way.” She tried to think of a plan. A good one. “Trailing them is good, but we need to stay high. They think like common folk, so they never look up. I was on the roof for a long time and they never saw me. While we’re trailing, listen to the sound waves, try to pinpoint Lauren or Nic’s voices. You have to concentrate hard to pick up something like a whisper.”
Kara wished she could say that she had something of Lauren's but she didn't, not on her. They'd never been the type to share clothes or buy each other matching bracelets. With a sigh, Kara shook her head. "I don't have anything. But I... I don't really know how to put it, Nina, but I feel like something really bad is going to happen. I've never felt this before... I can't explain it." Kara looked down and nodded at Nina's plan of staying high before heading towards the front doors to the building. Opening one quietly, Kara poked her head inside and saw that they were already heading up the stairs and were now out of view. "We can go in.. They headed upstairs. I think they might be headed for the Chancellor. Is she even here?"
When only Altman listened to her plea to get away from the door, Lauren opened her mouth to speak again but then Nic was telling them to be quiet so she listened. She jumped slightly when the thump hit the door and took a step forward because there was no way in hell she wasn’t going to stand by Nic’s side if hunters came in. She shrugged when he asked if she had a plan because there only seemed to be one option now. “We just have to fight,” she whispered back before more thumping came to the door. She grabbed Nic’s arm and forced him to step back with her as her gaze moved to the ceiling where she saw the fire sprinkler system. “Can you start a fire to get those going?” she whispered, then carefully placed her crutches on the ground and pushed them away from where they stood. They would only slow her down. “There isn’t enough water in the room alone for me to be much help, so that’s the best bet. You’ve got a lighter, right?” She turned to Altman and beckoned her over. “Can you help him with your air so the water doesn’t put out his fires? It’ll be better if we all work together.” When she nodded, Lauren nodded back and turned to look at Nic. “We’re not dying today.”
Nic was grateful that Lauren had some sort of plan working. They clearly were going to have to fight, but she at least had a game plan. He looked up at the sprinkler system as the door started to crack under the pressure of the hunters clearly trying to get into the room. Nobody else was going to be that determined to get through that door. Nic looked in his pockets for a lighter and pulled one out of his pocket. "I knew this would come in handy." Flicking the lighter until a flame came up from it, he manipulated the fire until it was a medium sized ball in his hands and then lifted it until it was right under the fire detection system on the ceiling. He looked back at Altman. "It would be great if you did something before the sprinkler actually starts sprinkling." When she finally started to move, he noticed a crack that had formed in the door start to expand. Maybe they were making a hole in the door so that they could assess the situation. "Let's make this quick, Lauren. They're about to get through the-" That was when he felt the sharp pain in his side right when the sprinklers turned on. His fire stopped and all he could see was the hunters through the door. Looking down, he noticed what had been the cause of the pain in his side. A gunshot. "Ah, fuck."
Nina nodded. “I feel like something will happen every time something shitty happens. At this point, I just expect it.” Most times she expects death to happen, but not to her. Life was cruel and she always survived everything. “Is the Chancellor ever here when things happen?” she wondered. Knowing the answer was probably no. As they entered, she was just about to lift up to stick to the corners when she heard the sound that made her heart drop into her stomach. The same sound she heard when Hayden died. She didn’t even look back for Kara, she flew towards the stairs, because it would be her luck that Nic and Lauren were dead by now. She was on a mission to head toward the shot. It didn’t even phase her when she saw a hunter on the staircase. She gathered the air around her, using it to push him into a wall, knocking him out. Her feet touched down just around the corner from the office. She stayed hidden. “Hunters are here,” she whispered to Kara.
Kara knew at this point she should have guessed that things were just all sorts of fucked up in this damned building. One moment they were going to have a plan to go rescue their friends and family and the next Kara was hearing a gunshot and Nina was nowhere to be fucking seen. As she took a step forward, pain emanated in her torso, Kara's brow furrowing in confusion. She looked up the stairs before back down to her stomach. What the hell.... It wasn't strong but it was a faint throb and it was... Unusual to say the least. Maybe it was just a charley-horse. It was then that she heard Nina talk to her using her air magic once more, green eyes rolling as she flew up into the air and scanned her surroundings. A Hunter was slowly sliding down the staircase, unconscious. Letting out a 'you've got to be kidding me' under her breath, Kara flew past him and finally found Nina, softly landing next to her. "I get you want to save Nic and I want to save my sister but you can't just freaking go and get yourself killed because you hear gunshots." She whispered to the other girl before biting her lip as she saw the two hunters around the corner trying to get into an office. "What's the plan, boss?"
There was a part of Lauren that was worried about how rude Nic was being to the Chancellor, but the other part couldn’t care less and was set on getting them all out of there safely. She could feel her heart pounding as the crack in the door grew; she wanted the sprinklers to turn on so she could freeze the wall or something. She barely heard what Nic said once the sprinklers were working because she’d never been so relieved to feel her element, until a gun shot rang out through the room. She saw the fire stop and suddenly rage filled within her because hell no, she wasn’t letting anyone else die if she could help it. She raised her hands and focused on creating a thick wall of ice between the three of them and the door, enough to give her time to rip off her sweatshirt and roll it up as she leaned down to put it on Nic’s wound. “Keep that on there and put pressure on it. I’m not letting you die.” She could hear the bullets and blade projectiles hitting the ice wall and she knew it wouldn’t last much longer, especially with the hole in their barricade still growing. She stood back up and melted the ice wall, before pushing all of the water towards the door with a little too much force. It successfully knocked the hunters off their feet and backward into the hallway, but it also destroyed parts of their barricade. She cursed under her breath, readying herself and hoping the Chancellor was right beside her because it was going to be the two of them against however many hunters were on the other side of that door.
Nic couldn't focus on anything other than the searing pain that he felt in his side. He tried his best to focus on the situation at hand, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to do anything. Feeling Lauren put something on the wound, he took a deep breath. It wouldn't help anything though. His magic was gone and he was pretty much useless. All he could do was keep the compress there so he wouldn't bleed out in the Chancellor's office. Not saying anything, he just moved on the floor until he was leaning against a wall. Closing his eyes would probably be a bad idea, but he was so tired. He tried to stay aware of what was going on, but all he could see was a blur. "You can't let her die, Nic. Not now." He was mumbling under his breath, but his efforts to get up were futile. Blinking a few times, his hand accidentally let go of what he realized was a sweater. "Please don't die, Lauren." The words were barely a whisper as he tried to stay coherent. But his efforts were futile.
Nina knew that Kara wouldn’t understand her reasoning for acting quickly. You can’t get that until someone gets shot and you hold them while they bleed out. If Nic or Lauren bleed out…so help her everyone was dying. It’d be a rage like no one had ever seen before. “Not just Nic. Lauren too. I never die, Kara. It’s fine. We blast them out of the way, knock them out while their backs are turned. If they shoot, manipulate the airflow around the bullet so that it doesn’t make contact. Don’t die. Get into the room and save whoever’s in there.” She slid off her heels because she knew they’d make a sound on the floor. She’d be grossed out by walking barefoot on this floor later. She looked at Kara, giving her a nod as they walked out from around the corner, but the hunters clattered to the floor, as the doors flew open, and hunters were heading toward the commotion. “New plan, blast them back and get into the room quickly!” With all her might, pushed the few on her side against a wall hard. Just to give them some time to get into the room. When she did, she instantly went to Nic’s side. “I told you to stay safe!” But her hands went to grab the bloody sweatshirt trying to help keep pressure on his wound. “You’re not dying today, or any day damn it. Open your fucking eyes.” She looked at everyone then, her hand still firmly in place. “We need an exit strategy, he’s not dying today.” Or she would literally murder everyone in the building, but she figured that wouldn’t motivate anyone to help.
Kara felt her jaw drop slightly, not at all ready for the door to fly open and hunters to fall flat on their asses. "New plan--what?" Kara spluttered before watching as Nina headed straight for the room. Hunters were closing in on either side, two on one side down at the end of the corridor and a single one close to her, smirking. "Fuck you." The air witch managed to get out before rushing towards the door. Stepping in front of the door, she turned to the lone hunter as the pair that had been coming down the hall began walking quicker towards her, drawing their weapons. Using her air magic, Kara blasted the one hunter to the ground, before lifting her up and slamming her into the wall, watching as her head connected to it and she went down, unconscious. Grabbing her gun, Kara quickly headed for the office, flying over what was left of the barricade. Her eyes landed on the Chancellor, shoving the gun in her hands. "Protect us." She ordered without even thinking of exactly who she was talking to before moving another file cabinet with her magic to place in front of the door. It was then that she turned to see Nina on the floor holding a sweater on Nic who was... Bleeding. That sweater though... Kara turned just in time to look at Lauren, instantly moving to her and engulfing her in a tight hug, holding the back of her head tenderly. "You're safe. Oh my god, you're safe." She choked out before pulling back, hands cupping either side of Lauren's face as she scanned her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. She then looked over at Nina, finally registering that she needed to find a way out. Her mind was racing as she gripped at Lauren's shoulders, an 'I'll be right back' escaping her lips as she went into the Chancellor's sideroom and saw the giant bay window. "Nina! If I can break this window, we can fly them out."
Lauren heard Nic muttering under his breath and wanted desperately to help him, but knew the best thing to do was fight off the hunters. Especially since it was just her and Altman left and she wasn’t sure what the woman’s fighting skills were. But suddenly Nina and Kara burst into the room, leaving Lauren in shock. There they were, and guilt began flooding through her because she’d helplessly watched another one of Nina’s friends get shot. “Nina I—” She stopped as she felt someone hug her and immediately knew it was her sister. She turned and hugged Kara back as tightly as she could. “I’m so happy you’re okay.” She gave her a small smile, watching Kara as she ran off before her gaze fell back down to Nic and Nina. She was about to reach down and say they should move him into the other room, but another gun shot sprang her back into action. Only this time it had come from the gun in Altman’s hands because, unfortunately for them, the hunters were regaining consciousness. She watched as the hunter fell and others rose from behind him. “Nina, get Nic out of here.” She turned her back on them because she’d be damned if she let any of them get hurt. Not Nic again, not Nina, and definitely not Kara. Altman’s aim wasn’t great, but they weren’t dead yet so she wasn’t complaining. Lauren put up another ice shield, a bit too big, around herself and those behind her to block bullets and blades. She didn’t know what was happening behind her, but she was going to protect them at all costs. She heard Kara say something and when a hunter turned their head in that direction, her heart dropped into her stomach. She felt the water around her as it continued to fall from the sprinklers and prepared to send another wave their way. But the ice forming in her stomach transferred into her magic, turning the water into large icicles that flew towards the hunter and pierced his flesh. Her eyes widened when she saw his blood and watched him fall to the ground. Dead.
It wasn't long before Nic heard Nina's voice near him. He tried to let out a chuckle, but it only ended up being a cough. "You know...I don't...listen." He said the words between deep breaths as he kept his eyes closed. When she all but yelled at him to open his eyes, he blinked them open slowly. Then he noticed Kara there as well. "No, no, no. You have to get out of here." He abruptly tried to get up, but he ended up falling right back down. Kara was already on her way to Lauren so he turned his head to Nina. His voice was a whisper as he spoke to her. "You have to make sure they're okay. Okay? You have to." He maneuvered himself so that he was leaning against the wall again and closed his eyes as the pain shot through him again. "Promise...me." That was all he could say as the room around him started to fade away and he passed out.
Nina felt like her life was eternally a bad movie. The Chancellor was shooting someone, Kara was telling her that she could break the window and they could fly out and then there was Nic. Trying to deliver his dying words, and she was not about this life. Not again. A frown creased her brows. Make sure Lauren and Kara were okay? She didn’t know he cared that much. She was sure that he was going to say save him. That was the plot twist of the century. “Okay. I promise, but I’m going to make sure you are too.” She kept pressure on his wound, using the air to lift him. She waited as Kara broke the window. “Guys…we need to go now! All of us!” Nina didn’t want to leave anyone, but she would to save Nic. “The Healing Center,” she threw over her shoulder as she lifted into the air, flying out the window, keeping Nic steady as she did so. She flew high and out of sight of the hunters. She didn’t need anyone shooting at her while she tried to navigate them there.
Kara broke the window with something she found on the Chancellor's desk, ignoring the way the glass shattered around her skin. She'd focus on that later. Before she knew what was happening, Nina was flying out of the window with Nic and Kara was left with her sister who had done something that she would totally talk about later with her, because really Lauren you're supposed to be the good one in this family, and the Chancellor. Before she could say anything, like try to talk about how she couldn't carry them both out at the same time, the Chancellor held up her hand. "There is a fire-escape out that window. I will be going down it on my own, without your help." Kara opened her mouth to say something but the woman was already pushing past her and heading out the window. Looking at Lauren in exasperation, Kara went over to her and scooped her up into her arms. "I've got you, Laurie." She said before lifting off the ground and heading out of the window, flying up high just in time for the hunters to break down the barricade. She watched as the Chancellor fled to God knows where before looking at her sister. As they flew towards the Healing Center, Kara shook her head. "You're not hurt right? I need to take you somewhere safe... I don't think the healing center is it. I know of a place... A place where they won't go looking for you. Do you trust me?"
Lauren was so surprised at herself by what she’d done that she just froze in that spot. The Chancellor had run out of the room and that’s when Lauren started to back up, her eyes on the broken barricade and creating a thick ice wall once she was in the side room, completely forgetting about her crutches that lay discarded on the floor of the office. The ice wall would give them time to get out the window safely if more hunters got into the room. She gasped when her sister lifted her up, but she just wrapped her arms around her tightly as Kara flew them out of the building. Lauren didn’t look back—or down for that matter—and was really trying to focus on keeping her eyes shut as they flew. She shook her head and looked at Kara when she said she wouldn’t go to the Healing Center. “Of course I trust you, but we have to go there. We can’t leave Nic and Nina. I’m fine, but I won’t leave everybody here. Trust me, I know Nina can handle herself, but I’m not gonna let her be by herself. Especially if—“ She stopped there because no, Nic would not be dying today. She didn’t know how to easily contact that ancestors, but she’d literally beg them to keep him alive if she had to. She wouldn’t watch anyone else die. “We have to be with them."
Nina flew so high and out of sight that she was well above the campus. She felt unshed tears stinging the backs of her eyes, but she wouldn’t cry, not yet. “You are going to be fine,” she told him. “And if you aren’t I won’t let your ghost rest because how dare you leave me too!” she accused. She spent most of the flight between heartfelt words and fussing at him because he was now the cause of the tears she’d shed and the fear she had that he would die. She didn’t know if Kara and Lauren were coming at this point, she was just glad that she’d gotten him there safely. As her feet touched down and she entered, she was glad there were no hunters around. “Help me!” she screamed, catching the attention of one of the healers, handing Nic off, and suddenly feeling at a loss for what to do next besides stand there and hope that she wasn’t about to lose another friend.
Kara sighed, knowing that Lauren was right. They couldn't leave them, and especially not Nina, alone. The need to protect her sister, damn the rest, was just a feeling she had in her gut but she pushed it down because she knew that there was a reason Lauren was the "Good Lansing". Flying towards the Healing Center, she got there just in time to see Nic being handed off to the Healers, having landed before entering but for some reason not having put down her baby sister until they got to Nina's side. Looking at Nina, she went to place a hand on her shoulder but soon decided better on it, not wanting to upset her. "He's going to be okay. They'll take care of him." It was as she was letting out some shallow breaths that she remembered the Chancellor. "Oh hell.... I have to go back. The Chancellor..." Kara shook her head, remembering the woman's stubbornness to not be helped but lifted into the air anyway. "Nina, please keep her safe. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Lauren was relieved when Kara brought them to the Healing Center and when she saw that Nic was getting help. She expected Kara to let her down immediately, but when she didn’t Lauren didn’t fight her. She understood that Kara wanted to hold onto her and she gave her one last squeeze when she put her down beside Nina. Lauren then turned to Nina and gave her a hug. “We’ve gotta find better ways to meet up than when these guys show up.” She pulled away and tried to give Nina a reassuring smile. “She’s right. He’ll be fine.” She hugged her again as if to say It won’t be like last time. She didn’t pull away again until Kara said she needed to go back. “No, you don’t,” she said, looking up to where Kara hovered. “You don’t get to leave me after all that.” She held her hand up to her sister. "The Chancellor can handle herself. Please just stay.”
Nina felt so lost. She didn't want to cry. She didn't want to break again but the sense of dread that overcame her had her biting down on the inside of her lip to keep her lip from quivering. She simply nodded at Kara's words. When Lauren hugged her, she gave her a squeeze. Truly hoping that Nic would pull through this, so she could punch him for putting her through this. "I'm glad you two are here. I don't...if he..." she shook her head. "He'll be fine. He has to be." When Lauren released her she looked down at her hands stained with yet another friend's blood. The only thing that brought her from her thoughts was Kara's words. "The Chancellor would use you as a human shield. Please don't waste your time. She's an air stronger than any of us. She can handle herself," she advised.
Kara floated above them, looking at Nina and then Lauren's outstretched hand. Swallowing thickly, she nodded in agreement before touching the ground once more. Her hand grasped at Lauren's, tugging the girl into her for a tight hug. Her mouth pressed to Lauren's ear as she embraced her, whispering to her. "I saw what happened... When this is all over we need to talk okay? You need to let me in, Laurie... Before one of us gets killed and we don't get the opportunity to do so." Kara knew, deep down, that Lauren probably didn't want to talk about it but she'd be damned if she let her sister handle everything alone like she thought she, herself, had to. "I love you. I love you so much and I'm so glad you're safe." Kara pressed a kiss to Lauren's temple before finally reaching out a hand to grab onto Nina's, squeezing it softly in comfort. Her gaze traveled to where the healer had taken Nic away to, lip gnawing between her teeth as something in her gut twisted. "Stay alive, you asshole... Stay alive."