Hangovers Sux

Rena walked next to Jebediah, one hand tightly clutching the curve of his elbow, her head leaning lightly against his shoulder. On his opposite shoulder, Trolli squeaked at her in concern. Rena smiled just a bit, trying to stifle the wince as her headache roared to life.

She felt nauseous. The foreign substance she'd synthesized was now making her feel like crap. Rena swallowed, concentrating on walking one slow step at a time.

"Did I suggest mayhem of some sort a few minutes ago?" She asked Jebediah.

Jebediah slowly smiled. It even reached his eyes. She could virtually feel the amusement boiling up in him. It made her want to find a hole, crawl in and not come out for a few days.

"You did. Something about a mass poisoning and ransoming the survivors." Jebediah paused. "There might have been an inference of ransoming even the non-survivors."

Rena felt her gorge churn. She tightened her hold on Jebediah's arm.

"Still feeling it?" Jebediah asked. There wasn't a shred of compassion in his voice. Rather, it was full of unbridled curiosity.

"I'm not describing it for you," Rena snarled, giving him a sharp look that made her head feel as if it'd been stabbed by ice picks. "Ow!"

"Hangover," Jebediah explained. He stopped and looked around the small clearing. "This isn't a safe place to stop and huddle." He sighed. "If not for that little hillock, we'd be wide open and vulnerable."

Rena squinted her eyes and looked at the hill in question. The grass on it was scattered and not quite as green as other places around, even with the massive firefight and brawl going on.

"The creche," Rena said, pulling her hand free.

She staggered a bit as she tried to reorient herself. The headache was slowly subsiding as her body chemistry corrected itself. Rena had an inkling that if she needed to, she could probably replicate the stuff again on a much smaller scale. It just wasn't worth the aftermath.

"The creche is under the hill, but…" Rena's voice trailed away as she turned in a semicircle to examine the little basin-like area. "This is a trap. A sense of false security," she breathed.

Jebediah's head snapped up. He studied the hillock and then the walls of the creche. His eyes narrowed. Trolli squeaked on his shoulder, shrinking towards his nape and hiding underneath the hair there.

That alone made Rena furious enough that the last of the headache started burning away. How dare anyone scare Trolli!

"We need to talk to Lucy." Rena said, meeting Jebediah's nearly as angry gaze.

She glanced to the side as a loud buzzing noise started growing. A veritable horde of drones toting flat pieces of metal flew by.

"And we need to hurry. How are they going to distract Niles, anyways?" Rena complained, grabbing Jebediah's hand and tugging him back towards the hole into the creche.

"I'm sure they've thought of something," Jebediah replied. His voice had gone absentminded.

Rena stopped. She turned to see what had gotten his attention. Ella, Sabrina and Leilani were in a little huddle, whispering. Leilani looked up at them, smiling happily. Sabrina's head turned in their direction, and a feeling of unconcern assaulted Rena's senses. Rena felt the hairs on the back of her neck come to attention.

"Is it just me or does that seem particularly ominous?" Rena asked Jebediah, frowning as she shook off the strange feelings.

"One half-awakened, one almost completely awakened and one I have no clue of, all in the espionage branch? Of course, I think it's ominous," Jebediah replied. He shivered. "I also find that I don't want to know. Let Lucy deal with it."

"Such a sense of responsibility," Rena said with a shake of her head.

"I only have to care about you and Trolli. The rest can go rot," Jebediah replied as they approached the knot of people that contained Lucy.

"Seriously, man?" Court asked, looking up at them.

"I might make an exception for you." Jebediah grinned. "Though if it came down to a choice between you and Rena."

"He would choose Rena," Lucy interrupted as she snagged Rena's hand and tugged her into the little group that included Dawnie and Aarti. "Go be boys somewhere. The girls need to talk for a moment."

Rena shrugged and grinned at Jebediah. He and Court rolled their eyes and walked away.

"Are you really going to?" Rena asked, taking a final glance after Jebediah before turning her attention to Lucy. "Oh, and the munchkins are doing something suspicious outside."

"They're always doing something suspicious. Just how much damage can they do in a few minutes, anyway?" Dawnie said with a dismissive shrug. Then she paused, looking conflicted. "I'm now curious, but—"

They all looked in the direction of the new entrance to the creche. The quartet were standing just inside, outside of the bright beams of sunlight that were pouring in.

"It's Leilani, Sabrina and Ella," Lucy finally said. She shook her head. "We're going to just have to hope that nothing bad really happens."

Rena glanced around.

"Where's the baby?"

"Gave him to Morris for the moment," Lucy said. "Niles is currently being distracted by San and Don. Let's not waste the chance we've been given."

"The drones are in place," Cassidy's voice came from the communicators on their wrists.

"Court did it. Best not to wonder how," Dawnie advised Rena who nodded.

"We're leaving, and no one is getting left behind." Lucy promised. She turned to Aarti. "Punch me."

"Seriously? Can't we just give you an emetic or something?��� Aarti frowned and took a step backwards.

"I didn't want to take any chances, and you saw Niles. He pounced as soon as he saw me," Lucy shuddered. "We all know that while obsessed, he has more than one when it comes to us."

The girls fell silent. It was more true than any of them wanted to admit on a normal day.

"He's like a little cucaracha," Rena said disdainfully. "I was feeling all sorry and grateful, and look! He's not dead!"

"Exactly," the other two echoed.

Lucy laughed.

"You're all so mean, but truthful," Lucy said. She took a deep breath. "Not too hard. Don't want to break a rib."

Rena flinched as Aarti threw the punch. Lucy curled over, coughing. Finally, a small opaque bag emerged, slick with saliva.

"Let's get out of here," Lucy said, picking it up while wiping her mouth with her other hand.