Within Pressed Hands

The sky was lighting up with all the red and purple as the engyure was starting to grow even larger with the darkness slowly turning brighter which allowed for the colors to become more vibrant. Felicity bit down on her lips in worry as she looked out the window to see the sinister storm start to come closer to where they were.

Medina stood up and pressed her in-ear. "Get ready to open the door now."

Felicity gripped Leo's leg, and he leaned over to her. "The weapons will make all the difference."

She nodded. "I know. For better or for worse."

He didn't respond, and she glanced over at him. He was looking straight at her with his frosty blues seeming to see the uneasiness she felt at the situation, and her eyes dipped down when she broke eye contact with him.

As there was a ruckus around them that would wake anyone up, Melissa was still asleep with her eyes blissfully closed and her facial expression frozen into a smile as she slumped over. Felicity frowned and whispered over to Leo the inner thoughts she had.

"Isn't Melissa out cold?"

"Yes," he answered. "She was like this when I came back to the chopper."

Felicity shook her head. "But it doesn't look natural."

"I think Melissa is on something."

"What?" she exclaimed as the realization dawned on her. "Why would they drug her?"

Leo gripped Felicity's thigh to try and calm her down. "Don't start something now when Medina is about to open the door."

Felicity's mouth dropped open. "Are you just going to accept that they treated Melissa like that? We're all in this together. We have to look out for another."

"And I'm looking out for you because if you say the wrong thing, it wouldn't surprise me if Medina tossed you overboard."

Felicity breathed out a long breath. "I get it. I really do. But there's no change Medina would get rid of us when we are the key to what they need."

"Yes, but whenever that changes, they'll get rid of us with no hesitation."

She sighed. "There's no point in prospecting the future when it's best to stay in the present. We should at least strengthen whatever we have in our hands first, and that starts with our affinity weapons."

Medina latched the door and turned back to look at them. "Are you two ready?"

Felicity nodded, and Leo got up before he helped her up. She rolled her shoulders once more and took a few steps to be closer to Medina as she was about to unlatch the door that was about to wreak havoc inside the inner cabin.

Melissa still hadn't made a sound, and Felicity took a closer look at her. Melissa was definitely not sleeping. She didn't know why she didn't catch it earlier. The uneasiness crystalized in her gut, and Felicity couldn't help but voice her concerns. "Did you drug Melissa?"

Medina turned to Felicity and gave her a stern look. "She lost feeling in her spine because of a metal thorn from the raure that got her there. The thorn paralyzed her for a few minutes. She was hysterical, but don't worry. Melissa is fine since it was only a little scratch that I had treated. I administered the drug to her a few hours ago, so she should be waking up any time now."

Felicity sighed. "She's fine right?"

"Yes," Medina replied. "You will be able to speak with her soon. The messenger is here now."

Felicity tightened her lips but said nothing. Melissa was in their care. She and Leo would have to be in Medina's hands since they were the ones taking care of Melissa's safety. It would be best to not do anything that would make Medina and her crew turn back on them since they still needed to get back home.

There was no way they would be able to do so on their own, so they would have to the most of the opportunity that was given to them and gather as much information as they could.

"Once we have the package, is that the secret to closing the engyure?" Felicity asked.

"You are thinking too highly of yourself," Medina said slowly. "It is a job that I can do myself."

Felicity cocked her head to the side. "You say that, but we are here to help anyway. Despite it being classified knowledge, we are going to be able to see it. Will that be fine in your books?"

"You all will be able to choose what you want to do with that information for yourselves. Please brace yourselves."

Medina slid the door open with a heavy breath, and the door crashed to the side as the wind came inside strongly. The air gushed around her ears as the wind made her hair go haywire knowing that they were quite close to the engyure.

Felicity held onto the side of the door that had a handlebar with Leo next to her, and she watched as the helicopter from the other side also slid open their doors to cast over a rope.

Medina bent down to grab the rope and clip it onto a hook above which made it easier for the wooden crates to be pushed across. Felicity peeked over to see that the people on the other side had their helmets on along side their armor suits, so she wasn't able to see their faces clearly.

Their guns were aimed right at them ready to shoot if Felicity or Leo decided to do any funny business, and she sent a look over to Leo to see how he felt about it. Leo shrugged, and Felicity shook her head lightly before turning her attention back to the matter at hand to help Medina put the crates down.

Leo passed Medina a crowbar, and Medina cracked the boxes open to see what was inside. Felicity and Leo weren't able to get a long look since Medina immediately shut the top of the box before nodding over at the people at the other end to let them know that their work was done.