The next day arrived in a blur, Nicoleta's eyes were open the entire night, her ears remaking the screams she heard in westinsenson son.
When the morning alarm sounded, they were all told to get into their uniforms, and gear.
The bunker was full, voices were buzzing all around, from commands, to arguments, then to normal chatter.
Nicoleta followed Bianca, they were told an hour ago to report to General Lane's office, along with the others that went with her on their rescue mission to Bologna.
They passed through numerous people, avoiding clashes along the halls as some people even ran, mostly kids.
Nicoleta tried not to let it hurt so much when she saw a little girl reunite with her father. They all turned a corner, and descended the stairs that led into Lane's office.
The door was wide open when they arrived, and the other boys were already inside. Lane sat on her chair, hands clasped on her desk.
"Hurry up and close the door" she said, as she stood up on her feet, Nicoleta closed the door and locked it by habit.
"Some of you are being deployed to the front" the General said plainly, she held her hands behind her back with a solemn look on her face.
"How many?" Bianca asked nervously, the General's eyes darted across from Samson to Quinn, and finalized on Bianca, Nicoleta noticed that everyone else was waiting for an answer, having not seen that she was looking at the ones who would go.
"Samson, Lanark, and Quinn- you all be transferred to Commander De-Luca's shield" Bianca paled, her countenance fell.
"As for the rest of you, you all are still with me" Lane sat down, "you're all dismissed"
Everyone left, two bumping into Nicoleta as they walked by her, leaving the door open for her to follow. Nicoleta closed the door after them, and let out a breath.
"I want to join the front line" the General's gaze shot up to her, she looked angry, "on whose orders?" a shiver ran down Nicoleta's spine.
"Please, I have to- " Lane stopped her before she could continue. "You are a rescuer, your job is to get survivors here that is all"
Trembling, Nicoleta pleaded once more, holding onto some hope that Lane would heed to her, see how desperate she was and heed.
"I'm also a soldier" The General laughed, "you are dismissed" Nicoleta protested.
"I'm just as much a soldier as Samson and the others" Lane held up a hand to silence her, her eyes would have burned with fury if she had the abilities to support it.
"I said You are dismissed" Nicoleta blinked away tears, and left the office.
She walked past the father and daughter again. What stung more was that he spoke to her in Greek, she looked at both of them, her eyes blurred with tears.
Lips trembling as she fought to not cry, Nicoleta watched as the little girl hugged her father's head, kissing his cheek continuously.
She wiped away the tears that had fallen.
"We will be going to Boston in thirty minutes to get ready" the bud in her ear beeped once, and the General's voice sounded no more.
Nicoleta made her way to their station, where she wore her gear, placed the guns by the loops as she did before, and sat on the bench, waiting for any further commands.
Bianca joined her some time later, but she was alone. She had on the same uniform save for the new badge on her breast, her brown hair had been tied up into a ponytail, and her eyes were glassy, she was no longer trembling, but she didn't look any less scared.
"I came to say goodbye," Nicoleta nodded. Bianca gave her a brisk hug, and left without saying goodbye.
Five minutes left to go, people began pouring into the changing station, she was a bit dejected to not see Samson or anyone she was familiar with save for two, amongst the group.
Lane told them to meet her in the launch pad, and that's where they all huddled up and went.
When they arrived at the launch pad, beside the hover croft was not only General Lane, but a thin tall boy, who wore a blue suit, in his left hand was a med kit.
He, like Zylith, had yellow eyes. "Team" Lane acknowledged them with a nod before turning to the boy beside her. "This is Finnick- he's replacing Jason as the healer on our croft" Finnick smiled and extended a hand out for a handshake, the closest person to him being Nicoleta.
She shook his hand, and the others introduced themselves to him.
After introductions, they boarded the croft, and took off to Boston USA.
The flight to Boston from the nearby bunker in Italy took six hours. Along the way they faced some turbulence, the rain had started pouring, and it followed them all the way to Boston.
They landed in a puddle of water in the ruined city of Boston, though compared to Bologna, it seemed mostly untouched.
The doors to the croft gusted open upon a puddle of water, outside the rain had worsened, it was bashing the ground almost angrily, so loud that they couldn't hear the General's commands.
The bud beeped loudly, the volume having been increased. "Groups of six just like before" said Lane, as she rushed outside pulling up the hood of her gear.
Nicoleta followed the general's actions along with her new group, before they stepped outside into the storm.
Nicoleta and her group went around a ruined plaza, and ventured inside, they split up into twos, Nicoleta going with a girl named Lana.
With one boy walking behind them, they entered one of the game rooms, searching behind control boxes, and looking under destroyed ticket machines.
Nicoleta walked through the aisle, eyes on a door in the far corner. She opened it.
She gagged, her stomach churning from the stench inside that she dry heaved on the side.
"What is that smell?" The boy said, pinching his nose in disgust, Lana walked up from behind Nicoleta looking inside the room.
She fell back to the floor, hand over her mouth in utter shock. The boy crouched down to help her up when he saw inside as well.
Nicoleta couldn't look for more than a second, it was putrid.
The three ran outside the plaza, Lana emptying her stomach on the pavement, whilst the boy looked around at nothing, trying to put himself together.
Nicoleta dry heaved on the side of the building, attempting to erase the image of bodies stacked against each other in her mind.
They hardly recovered, when the others returned from their own searching.
They all later journeyed into a house, hardly touched save for the roof that had caved in.
Nicoleta separated herself from the rest of the group, into a small room, painted with rose pink, flowers all around the walls. Near the broken window was a covered crib.
She walked closer hoping to find nothing inside.
Her eyes landed on a baby girl, she reached out for Nicoleta, her eyes beaming a small smile on her face.
She looked to be about just two years old, the same age Nicoleta was when she no longer felt the embrace of her mother.
Nicoleta frowned, her eyes blurring from tears.
The baby's mother was probably dead, she would never be able to see her again, feel the warmth of her again.
Nicoleta opened the covering, making shards of glass fall on the floors, and reached inside picking up the baby.
She giggled in Nicoleta's arms, grabbing her nose with her small hands.
Nicoleta smiled, gently took the baby's hand in her own, shaking it a little.
"Hi" she whispered, the baby smiled, her stormy blue eyes sparkling.
Nicoleta wrapped the baby's swaddle around her "You're safe now" she told her.
"General?" Lane responded with a huff on the other side, Nicoleta hissed at how loud it was in her ear, "I've found a baby."
General Lane sent one more protective person to guide Nicoleta to the croft.
When she arrived inside, she refused to let go of the baby. Lane decided to let Nicoleta retire her search and look after the baby, providing her with a warm blanket, and baby food.
Nicoleta fed the small girl, singing her a nursery rhyme she remembered her father singing to her many times when she was about the same age. His voice wasn't immaculate but it was filled with love and care, and that was all Nicoleta needed.
The little girl ate every bite of her food. She must have been hungry for hours, or even days. Her face was thin, and so was her body.
Though she had a gleam in her eyes, she looked more sad than happy.
When Nicoleta finished feeding her, she wiped her lips, and placed the small bowl down.
She leaned back, rubbing the little girl's back, in hopes of putting her to sleep.
Nicoleta's mind wandered to when she was two, when her mother held her for the last time, placed her in the crib kissed her forehead, and left, she remembered crying, so hard that her eyes stung her head ached, and two days later she had developed a fever.
Her father did everything in his own sadness to make her happy, but she wouldn't be cheered, she wouldn't consoled, her mother was who she needed, who she wanted, but she was gone as if she was never there in the first place.
She remembered the warmth that came from her mother, her voice, low and gentle, soft, and soothing. She remembered everything about her mother, and she hated her the more each time.
She hated hearing about May talk about her mother whenever she did because she never got to experience any of that, her mother never braided her hair, never went shopping with her, her mother didn't stay, she abandoned her the first chance she got and never looked back. Not against Nicoleta's cries, not against her screaming, not against her pain.
She looked down at the little girl on her lap finally sleeping. She rubbed her head, letting the heat of her flame warm the blanket around her, which in turn made the little girl lean into her more.
They both had that in common, motherless, though Nicoleta knew deep in her heart, that the little girl's mother would have stayed with her if she could, because nobody else could have secured her crib so perfectly if it weren't for a parent.
She let out a heavy breath, taking in quick breaths whilst trying to hold back a cry.
Her flame bubbled within her, angry on her behalf.
When the little girl squirmed uncomfortably in her arms, blinking ever so lightly, she pushed her flame back, only letting the heat of it warm the girl.
Her eyes reminded Nicoleta of the figure she saw on the TV in Base Nine, and how she had seen the figure's eyes many months ago in a dream, and once seeing herself inside of them.
Her head lulled back, what could that mean?
The others joined her later after some time, coming inside with a group of fifty people.
They all settled down, got warmed up, and fed.
With the down pour General Lane made them depart early.
At the bunkers, Nicoleta was forced to give up the little girl to an official, where she was registered with a temporary name.
Like always Nicoleta sought after her friends and family, no such people had been registered, after that disappointment, she went into the room assigned to her, which she shared with four other girls.
During the night she didn't sleep a wink, she kept on tossing and turning, groaning, and hissing every time she peeled away skin on her fingertips.
Her stomach growled loudly, the needle pain of hunger stabbing at her.
Nicoleta groaned and sat up in her bed. She peered into the darkness, silence had befallen over the bunkers, it seemed as though a soul wasn't inside.
She climbed down her bunk, and opened the door, gladly she found an officer by the door. She swallowed her saliva in anticipation, "please take me to the canteen" seeing as it was dark, and she hardly went in there if ever, she would have lost her way.
Instead of responding to her however, the female officer glanced at her, and walked away. Nicoleta stood by her door unsure whether to follow her or not.
After fifteen minutes passed, she regretted not following her, and assumed she wasn't coming back. Nicoleta moved to go inside when the officer returned an apple, and a plastic wrapped bowl of bread and some stew.
Nicoleta took it, lit the small of her pinky finger on fire for light, and devoured the food.
She hadn't eaten since Base Nine, she hadn't felt hungry since, the only thing she could feel in the pit of her stomach was anxiety, fear, worry. And atop her head was stress, so much that she walked around with a constant headache.
When she finished her meal, she used her scarlet flame to burn the remains completely, and climbed back into bed. Settling on her semi soft pillow and falling instantly asleep.
Blackness materialised all around Nicoleta, she stood amongst not fire, nor did she stare into the eyes of the figure, instead it was cold.
It was almost quiet except for the faint noise in the background. Amidst the darkness a soft voice echoed into her ears, inside her person, all about her surroundings.
Someone breathed into her ears, and as the breathing grew heavier and heavier, a picture of herself appeared before her eyes.
Then her eyes shot open, and instead of breathing in her ears a loud Alarm rang through the bunkers all around them, the lights were switching between red and dim yellow, and the other four girls were already rushing around.
"Wake her up!" One of them screamed, Iris, one of the girls lifted her gaze to Nicoleta, when she saw that she was awake, she beckoned for her to come down.
Nicoleta jumped down letting her telekinesis help her land softly, before rushing to where they kept their Elite uniforms, and gear.
They all wore their buds. Nicoleta's ears were blasted with commands.
"To the launch pad immediately, to the launch pad immediately, all rescue units to the Launch pad immediately!!" Lane's voice was too loud, had she forgotten about the volume increasing yesterday?
Nicoleta rushed outside into the crowd of panicking people.
An attack plunged through the roof making a good portion of it fall on the people below.
Nicoleta ran, heart drumming against her chest.
An officer seized her arm, and told her some words in a rush, Nicoleta heard, "help- and "Evacuate" so she, despite her own fear, and trembling, led a group of people down to the launch pad along with some other kids.
She moved through the crowd in a haste to find Lane when they made it to the launch pad.
The bunker shook with each attack. Knocking her off her balance.
Nicoleta was pulled amidst the crowd, breathing heavily she looked up, and was relieved to see Lane staring down at her.
She practically swung Nicoleta inside the hover croft with her fellow elites, and civilians alike.
Lane rushed inside herself, bashing into the captain's quarters. Nicoleta could hear everything through the bud. "Send reinforcement to Bunker Sixty Eight immediately"
"We are under attack" she said, as the doors to the full croft closed.
People screamed, and gasped, as the bunker shook more and more, the croft took off, the moment the roof opened up.
No windows occupied the hover croft, but Nicoleta could hear every scream, and explosion.
She was sure the bunker had been desecrated by then, and calling for reinforcement was just sending more kids to their deaths.
She shut her eyes tightly and removed the bud, squishing her ears in with her hands to block as much of the horrible sounds as possible.
Their hover croft was saved from any attacks, but the others around them were targets of fire, and one croft was nearly taken down if it wasn't for some of the Phoenixes on board.
Everyone was dead in the bunker, some even facing the same fate in the crofts, what if her father was dead also? What if he died long ago? Because the fight was mainly in Greece, her father was in Greece, what were the chances of him surviving such strong forces?
Her heart skipped a beat, she clutched her chest, leaning her head back, as the weight of the world fell over her shoulders.
She wanted to tug at her hair, scratch her fingertips so hard she would bleed, scream, cry, but fear had crippled her in place.
Only allowing her to shudder every few seconds whenever something was hit outside.
The boy that had wrapped their croft inside his forcefield, looked pained. They must have been facing attacks, and he was bearing it all.
And to think she assumed they were saved from those beings.
Numerous hours passed by, the attacks had died down, they stayed in the air for five more hours, before announcing a new destination.
"Our next Destination is Base Twelve"
Base twelve was jammed packed, so they only let the civilians inside and the children camped outside under the forcefield of four kids with the power, some who got booted from the base, and some from the other crofts they flew with.
Ten officers plus one commander stayed with them outside, and helped them set up their tents, and even start a fire with the reassurance from the kids who made the forcefield that no one would be able to see through many forcefields.
According to them, they were all practically invisible.
Nicoleta could only be happy about that for a second before fear settled back in.
She shared a tent with twelve other kids, the tent was large, enough to accommodate all of them plus one more.
During the night, all of them were too scared to sleep, instead they talked amongst themselves.
Nicoleta was curled up into a ball inside her sleeping bag, facing away from them, listening to their conversation, and trying to soothe herself into even thirty minutes of sleep.
"being a rescuer is horrible" said a girl, her voice shaking, "being anything at all in this war is horrible," a boy replied.
"It is worse to be at the front," said another boy, the girl whose voice was still trembling spoke again, "gosh it must be devastating for them"
"Do you know anyone at the front?" Nicoleta asked, her voice low, they all turned to her. "my brother's fighting" said a girl curled up in the corner.
"I only know that Leonardo Alexander is there" they all nodded to that, a shiver ran down Nicoleta's spine.
Were the others fighting too? Evan? Issacher. She asked the group about them too.
"every sector had their seven representatives deploy immediately so probably"
"I think Levi De-Luca is there too" Nicoleta's heart skipped a beat, she laid back down, unable to bear it anymore.
Neither of them slept a wink that night.
The next morning more hover crofts landed in Base Nine. The kids that came out were all wounded, and most of them had no General or any officer, just the captain.
They were received inside the Base, as more and more flew in.
As some were flying in, some were taking off, the civilians were being transferred to the civilian bunkers.
When another hover croft landed, the doors gusted open. Nicoleta felt a rush of relief when she saw Levi's face along with his brothers in tow.
She ran into Evan's arms engulfing him in a tight hug which he immediately resisted.
When she pulled away she realised that he was sporting a broken arm.
"It's great to see you too" he groaned, clutching his arm, "sorry" Nicoleta muttered. Hugged Issacher, and Levi, who rested his head on her shoulder, pulling her into him.
"I'm so glad you're okay" she hugged him just as tight, "me too"
Issacher held an uncomfortable look on his face when they pulled away, he took Evan's good arm, and pulled him closer, "come on let's get you fixed up in the infirmary. You guys can catch up" he told Levi and Nicoleta.
They both left the two of them.
"Is it true that Leonardo Alexander is fighting?" Nicoleta asked, Levi glanced at the camp they had made for them the night prior.
"Did you sleep outside?" Nicoleta wanted to laugh at his question. She was outside, as for sleep, that skipped past her and everyone else there.
She shook her head, only registering the part where she slept, "the base was full" is all she said.
Levi nodded, eyes still locked on where they had set up camp, as if he knew his eyes lingered more around the tent she slept in, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly before he turned to her.
"I haven't seen him since a week ago" he answered her latter question. Nicoleta deflated.
"How about Isabella Gonzales and Charlotte Aboagye? Did you meet anyone at the front by those names" Levi's brows knitted together, he seemed to be in thought, perhaps going back on all the faces he had seen, and all the names he'd heard.
"No I don't think so" he met her eyes, "what happened to your hands?" He asked, she glanced at her red fingertips.
Then he ran a thumb over the wound on her bottom lip, "and your lip?" She brushed his hand away gently, "I'm fine"
He didn't believe her, but wasn't allowed the chance to call out her lie when he was called in. Nicoleta blinked repeatedly, twisting her head around.
"De-Luca report to my office immediately" she heard what came through his bud, she wasn't supposed to hear the small voice of his commander.
"I have to go," he said, Nicoleta nodded hastily, still blinking over and over, her ears were blazing, she heard too much, too many voices, too many beeps, needle piercing through skin.
"I will see you later?" Through all the noise Levi's voice still managed to be loud enough, to be discerned.
"Y- Yeah" he left, and as he went he glanced at her over his shoulder, worry clouding his face.
Nicoleta covered her ears, she could hear herself breathing so loudly, as though she were hovering over the planet.
When she got close to her sleeping bag, Nicoleta collapsed upon it, groaning in agony.
The rescuers didn't get another mission for days, General Lane made them do the civilians some service every now and then, but apart from that they didn't go on any other missions.
Her hearing dulled some hours after the burst, and it returned to normal over the next three days, all throughout the days Nicoleta failed to close her eyes for more than five seconds.
She thought about her friends, about her father, and only found relief when she saw Evan's face, whole though he had some cuts around his nose and cheeks.
She grew curious about his still injured arm one morning during breakfast.
He had joined her table with his brothers, "why haven't they healed you?" Issacher answered for him. "Many healers have been displaced, we only have a few with us here so they've decided to make them heal major injuries" Evan waved his arm like it didn't hurt.
"So you aren't going to be at the front for a while then?" Nicoleta asked, "I won't but they will in a week or so" Evan answered.
"Being at the front must be hard" said a girl beside Nicoleta, the boys didn't disagree. "What do they look like- those aliens?"
Levi looked up from his food, face solemn, "like us"
The table grew tame, "they look like us?" The girl questioned, everyone else posed a question.
"they aren't red?- I saw some of them and they were red" Nicoleta remembered the first time she encountered one of them, the one she killed, he was mostly covered by the clothes he wore, but she saw his skin fairly behind the mask, and beneath it was skin no different from hers.
She shuddered at the thought, what did that even mean for them?
"Have you ever encountered one of them?" One of the boys at the table asked, Peter was his name.
Iris a new recruit on their team nodded, "when I was with Commander Zhou, I met one of them a man, he was really tall, but… " she struggled for a moment, leaning in, "he saw me too, and he did nothing he just stood there staring- " Peter cut her off, "what did he look like?"
Iris sat back, crossing her arm underneath her breast, "he could have been any one of us- the only reason I knew he was one of them was because of what he wore"
That night Nicoleta managed to sleep, and when she did, she was taken to that same blackness.
In the darkness she stood unmoving waiting, she turned about when a whisper echoed, then another whisper.
Breathing sounded in her ears, again like before, and inside her person.
Nicoleta looked up and down, left and right, not a soul stood with her.
Before she opened her eyes a red string appeared from far away, and attached itself to her belly button.
Nicoleta's eyes shot wide open, she placed her hand on her belly button, lighting her hand on fire to see if the string followed her to the real world.
She laid her head back on the pillow, sighing heavily, right on cue with the alarm that sounded followed by the bunker shaking.
She jumped from her bed along with the girls she was with, they got into uniform and gear in record time, and went outside.
The crowd as expected was panicking, but the civilians were minimal due to the most of them being transferred earlier that week.
Nicoleta and Iris helped some folk down to the Launch pad, the general barked in her ears, "the pad is full go outside and get on Board the ones up there" Nicoleta panicked, her heart was drumming as she ran.
Going outside was the worst thing to do in such a time, but the launch pad inside the bases were small and could only take a few crofts as opposed to the bunkers.
Nicoleta ran with the crowd, fear a shadow over them as they rushed towards the crofts, avoiding every attack that came their way.
Nicoleta held up a hand swishing it around with her flame hoping it would at least stop a pebble from getting into her eye.
The crowd surrounded from every part, she could no longer see the crofts from afar, just heads, and bodies running, screaming.
A phoenix flew over head, and for a second Nicoleta believed it was one of the elite soldiers until it started spitting fire upon the first half of the crowd.
She ducked but it wouldn't help against a the attack. And ran through. She didn't get far until someone pulled her arm.
"Come on" Levi said, swinging her into the croft as the phoenix came toward him.
He spit fire at the enemy transforming right in that moment and launching into the air for a fetal attack on the much bigger, much more experienced phoenix.
He managed to take a chunk of the other phoenixe's feathers grazing the skin with his sharp teeth and drawing blood.
Nicoleta watched in horror, as the older phoenix slashed Levi's side breaking off a huge chunk of flesh.
She thought her heart stopped the moment Levi began to fall.
Another phoenix came from behind the older one and blasted him with fire, two more joined in, and another caught Levi as he fell.
Kids passed by her into the croft, all running from other threats, The phoenix that caught Levi placed him down on the door of the croft, he was no longer in his phoenix form.
Nicoleta fell by his side. "Levi- " she panted tears welling up in her eyes.
A familiar face came and carried Levi inside, Nicoleta followed Zelen inside as the doors began to close.
"I will heal him- you sit down" he told Nicoleta as he carried Levi's unmoving form to the infirmary.
Nicoleta fell on an empty chair, and unconsciously buckled herself up.
The hover croft took off.
The flight lasted for hours with no specific destination being announced.
Nicoleta's eyes couldn't close, not after the gash she saw on Levi's side, no after the look of nothingness in his eyes.
Whilst some drifted in and out of sleep, or slept, she looked into the darkness, staring at nothing hoping for many things.
Holding unto her aching heart, trying to control her whirling mind.
She leaned her head back, and sniffed.
Life would never be the same would it? Life was never going to be normal, not for any of them, and now not even for powerless humans.
Lost in her thoughts, she at first didn't hear the moans of pain coming from the far corner.
When she did, she immediately made torch with her hand, and on the floor next to Zelen's medicine bag was Levi, clutching the wound that was still bleeding with his arm, and roamaging through Zelen's bag with the other.
Nicoleta gasped when she saw the blood trail he had left behind him.
She unbuckled her belt, and made her way to him her fire dying on her way there.
"What are you doing?" She asked, crouching down to his level, Levi's head lulled to the side, they met eyes for a moment, he was sweating, and panting for breath.
He pulled out a small container of pain killers, and poured it all in his bloodied hand, "you can't take that much you'll die" she said reaching for his hand, Levi didn't listen, he made to pour it all in his mouth, before Nicoleta slapped out of his hand panicking.
Levi groaned, "I'll be fine, go back to sleep" he slurred words almost unreadable.
He tried to pick up the pills that had fallen but Nicoleta stopped him, pinning his hand down and the other as well to stop any further suicidal attempts.
She trembled, tears falling from her eyes as she watched him struggle beneath her, sweat dripping from his forehead, pain drawn on his face.
"Wh- what can I do?" She asked knowing she would get no answer. Levi's head lulled to the side, his breathing slowed down, his eyes were locked on the pills.
Her tears fell on his bare bloodied wounded chest, she couldn't bear the sight before her, Nicoleta wished it wasn't real.
She was watching him die, how come Zelen didn't heal him? Could he not do it? Did he faint like his sister?
Her flame burned within her, but it was neither the yellow or scarlet flame, this one felr different, it felt soft, like a gentle massage through her veins.
Nicoleta didn't allow doubt to cloud her mind when she pulled the flame out, letting flow through her hands into Levi's skin.
His eyes shot open, his whole body jerking beneath her.
Nicoleta didn't let the flame stop despite his reaction. She closed her eyes.
But that didn't last long until an immense pain never felt before shot through her side, as if the older phoenix had clawed her in the side.
Nicoleta wanted to scream but she couldn't. Her eyes opened wide, the pain unbearable.
Her grip on his wrists loosened as the seconds passed, the pain weakened her limbs, she began to sweat, her breath didn't seem enough.
After fifteen minutes Nicoleta fell beside him, weak, unable to move a muscle. Every small movement was torture, like fire burning through her again and again.
She forced herself to turn and face him, black dots filled her vision.
She could barely see Levi's unblemished chest before passing out.
The morning greeted them with turbulence, the rain started pouring again, and it wasn't soft anymore, it had become loud, it had become a storm.
Nicoleta was woken up by Peter, and Levi was shaken awake by his brother, everyone was gearing up, but it didn't stop them from being surprised about Levi's nonexistent injury.
Issacher moved his had around the part that was once bleeding, Nicoleta's gaze fell on the trail of blood that had dried up coming from the infirmary, Zelen stared at her from the front of the door.
He looked shocked, a look of both confusion and worry strapped on his face.
Nicoleta pushed herself into a sitting position, her arms shaking as she did, her head whirled for a moment, and everything grew stable.
She turned to look at Levi but he was already standing, and extending a hand out for her to take.
She took his hand, and he helped her on her feet. The croft shook, nearly knocking her back down, but Levi caught her.
"Thanks" she muttered, pulling away from his grip. Her hand unconsciously massaged her temple as she stumbled to her chair to get into gear.
The croft shook more and more, as they all hastily got into their gear. Nicoleta was pulled away when she zipped up her top, into the infirmary.
On the table was Levi, and next to him was Zelen.
"How did you do this?" She shrugged, her shoulders aching a little at the action. The pain from the night prior was excruciating, how did Levi bear it so well? He was a mess but the picture he showed wasn't anywhere near how he must have been feeling.
"I don't know- " Zelen butted in, "you are a healer- why didn't you care to share that?" She gulped, "I didn't know"
"Can I leave now?" Levi asked Zelen, he nodded, "of course" Levi grabbed his shirt and wore it before stepping off the table. He passed by Nicoleta with a small smile on his face.
"Thanks" he whispered on his way out, she blushed a little, glancing over her shoulder.
She was glad to see him alive, Nicoleta didn't believe she would be okay if he died, he saved her life, he saved all of those people from that phoenix, if he died, it would be a crime to humanity.
Zelen brought her attention back to him, "how did it feel?" remembering the pain wasn't something she wanted to do, Nicoleta tried not to think about it too much when she told Zelen.
"It was horrible- " he sighed heavily, "yeah- when I tried. I couldn't take it" Nicoleta sat by the foot of the bed table.
"How does this work?- this whole healing thing?" Zelen sat down as well.
"It's an energy exchange, when we heal someone we give them our healthy energy, and we take their injuries not physically of course" he chuckled, as the croft shook again.
"So when Zylith healed me she gave me her energy?" He nodded, "that's why we get tired. Like a phone battery, we are at one hundred percent right now but the more we transfer some of it to others we will need to recharge"
"How do you recharge?" He shrugged turning on the chair, "eat, drink water plenty of it, and rest, sleep or take a short nap" the croft shook again, and as it did the captain announced their next destination.
"Next destination- Base Ten, in Spain."
They arrived in Spain in two hours, and gladly by then the rain had calmed.
Nicoleta gathered some things by her chair, and gave them over to the officers that were stepping out, civilians were walking out first, they would be transferred immediately, into a croft that had more gas to travel long distance.
Levi joined her later after he was freed from Issacher. "Thank you again- you saved my life" she didn't know how to respond, she had never been good with interactions like these.
Nicoleta exhaled a heavy breath, looking at his still lively face.
"you save countless people every day" she wanted to say how he saved her too, but Levi didn't allow her the chance when he hugged her, with one arm in a half bear hug.
"Thank you" he left after that, and Nicoleta took a minute to compose herself.
She thought about how she could heal people then, how she could also help others with injuries on their rescue missions.
For the first time since the war started, she smiled, knowing that she would do more than just bear the ruins around her and wonder If she could do more than just watch.
They settled into the base quickly, many injured soldiers, and survivors alike were being pushed to the healers center on a stretcher from every side.
From wounds too big for the victim to still be alive, and some so minor the victim was sitting on the stretcher having a conversation with the nurses.
Nicoleta was immediately taken to the healers center by Zelen receiving a badge that read Healer from him the moment she stepped foot into the center.
Wounded groaned, and moaned all around her, healers from left to right did all they could to heal them, but now that Nicoleta understood how it worked, she saw just how hard it was to manage even for them.
She spotted Zylith behind one of the curtains healing a girl who had a head injury. The look on Zylith's face was almost unbearable to look at.
"You are on Vivienne" said Zelen from beside her as he led her behind a curtain.
She tried not to panic when she heard that last name, not very surprisingly it was Jackson and as if the universe was punishing her, it was the same injury he had gotten when they got to base nine.
"You just do what you did with Levi" Zelen whispered, Nicoleta shivered as she placed her hands on the gash at his side, her hands getting mixed up in blood and flesh.
Her heart drummed. She took a deep breath, and nearly gagged at the stench, and allowed herself to calm even a little and reach for the flame.
When she brought it out, it wasn't white, it was yellow. Nicoleta pulled it back immediately, Jackson groaned.
She worsened his injury, the burn made blood pour out more.
Zelen pulled away the curtain eyes wide, "what did you do?" Nicoleta stammered, he pushed her out of the way, and placed his hands on Jackson, "leave" He said.
"I- I didn't mean- "
"Leave!" Nicoleta stumbled out of the infirmary, ripping the healer badge from her chest, and throwing it on the ground.
Tears streaked down her face. She sat down on one of the benches, covered her face in her hands, she trembled from guilt.
Her chest tightened, she fought to inhale air, her arms trembled, leaning back as pain erupted through her neck.
Nicoleta's eyes blurred. Her body shook.
She tugged at her hair, pulling out some when she restrained herself.
Nicoleta was pulled away from her thoughts by a gentle lowly voice. "Nicoleta" he took hold of her hands, and stopped her from tugging at her hair again.
"Are you okay?" The tightness in her chest dulled, she stared at Levi, his face becoming clearer and clearer.
"I'm fine" he placed her hands on the bench, and locked them with his claws before reaching for her bud.
"Didn't you hear Lane calling?" She shook her head and instantly regretted it.
"What's wrong?" Nicoleta tried to free her hands but couldn't, "it's my heart" she slurred, lips trembling.
Levi's face twisted into an unreadable expression, "your heart?" She nodded, "it hurts."
He tapped on his bud, and spoke to his commander, though Nicoleta couldn't understand a thing as they were speaking Italian.
He turned back to her, a frown on his face, "we don't have any healers on board, General Lane and Costa insist on you being there- can you walk?" Nicoleta didn't answer.
Levi's expression grew grim, he stood up, and scooped her up bridal style.
Nicoleta laid her head back on his chest, her eyes flattered closed, though sleep didn't follow.
She didn't know when, but she was placed on a chair some time later, and buckled in by Levi, across from her at the front of the seats where Evan and Issacher.
She blinked repeatedly, her breath coming back to her.
"What's going on?" She asked, her voice normal again, Levi buckled himself in beside her before answering.
"We are going on an emergency rescue"
"Where?"
"Greece" her heart skipped a beat, "at the front" he shook his head, "they moved their attack, nobody knows where their headed next" Issacher answered her question "we have people tailing them, but without Leonardo Laura, and Zamans it's going to be difficult to pursue them in secret"
The last thing we want is to be spotted" said Evan. The doors closed right at that moment.
Nicoleta tried to keep herself calm as the croft lifted off.
How would she be able to tell them that she didn't know how to control her new found power just correctly yet?
How would she be able to tell them she might worsen the situation, and that what happened to Levi was a miracle?