And So We Die Another Day

[Gena Martin]

cherry1

---

The codes. They had the codes. They had the guy. Gena could barely move through the pain, but she had to. Funny how she told Bellamy he shouldn’t be stupidly heroic, but she was pretty sure this qualified as stupidly heroic as well. Gena pressed the buttone. “Listening.” Was all she could press out. She wasn’t capable of saying more, not wanting to use more energy on speaking when she needed it for the numbers. Maybe she was using her last breath for this, but she needed to do it. She needed to disable the self destruct, otherwise so many more would die.

As Raven told her the numbers, she pushed one after the other in, finally confirming it. With the peep announcing the system was down, Gena allowed herself to release the tension she held in her limbs. It caused gravity to take over, pulling her down . She landed on the floor, but to her surprise didn’t pass out yet. Maybe there was a chance. Maybe she misjudged it. Maybe… Gena pulled the radio to her lips again, trying to collect herself, trying to breathe through the pain as she pushed the button weakly. “Self destruct disabled… I… I need help.” It was kind of hard saying that. She was good at holding herself up usually, but with Raven on the other end, she could say that. She trusted Raven. What other choice did she have? She was here, her stomach was basically resembling swiss cheese. “He stabbed me.” She pressed out again, not even knowing if she still had her finger on the button, but she had to try. If only she could hold onto consciousness for longer. 

[cherry1]

Raven could hear each of her heartbeats thumping in her ear, with every second that passed, a second closer to their destruction. Her breaths slowed as she waited eagerly for Gena to answer on the radio, fearing the worst. “Listening.” Raven couldn’t even describe the relief she felt at the sound of her voice. It threatened to overwhelm her. The prospect of her death was one she never wanted to contemplate. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. Quickly Raven rushed out the numbers, relaying them to Gena, wishing this to work. As soon as the she confirmed the self-destruct sequence was disabled a smile spread across Raven’s face. The first smile she’d had since this entire ordeal began. Flashes of the crisis that they had just barely avoided flashed through her mind. This was too close.

Her relief however was short lived with Gena’s next words. Oh god. So much for avoiding the prospect of Gena’s death. No she couldn’t think like that. Raven would fix this. She would save her. “Hang in there Gena. I’m coming.” The fear of losing her friend, one of her only friends in this godforsaken place, pushed Raven up. “Send for Abby, get help,” she immediately told Sinclair who nodded, before running as fast as she could to the President’s office. There was no time now to think of anything else but getting to her in time to stop the bleeding. As soon as she arrived Raven paused for a fraction of a second taking in the scene before her. The place was a mess, showing obvious signs of a struggle, and then there she was, the girl that had saved them all, bleeding out on the floor. Raven quickly leaped into action, ripping her own shirt and using it to apply pressure to the wounds and stop the flow of blood. “You’re gonna be okay, I got you,” she quickly reassured her. “Stay with me okay? Help is on it’s way.” It had to be. Gena had to live.

[Gena Martin]

She had trouble keeping her eyes open. They felt heavy. Darkness felt very inviting to her in that moment. Darkness and hopefully painless numbness. It sounded so very, very tempting just to close her eyes and sleep for however long she could. But she faintly remembered a voice telling her it was a bad idea to sleep while bleeding heavily. She had to avoid sleep otherwise sleep would be permanent, otherwise her life would end, but was that such a bad thing when living meant unimaginable pain? But living also meant to be with people she loved. And so Gena struggled, however much it took, to keep her eyes open. Her struggle was rewarded by Raven arriving. At the very least, if she would have to close her eyes now, she was with a friend. At least she could say her goodbyes and make sure neither Raven, nor Bellamy would blame themselves, because really, they were the type to do so.

But for now Gena groaned in pain as Raven pressed her shirt against her wounds. She nodded as Raven assured her that help was on the way. Maybe there was hope. Maybe help would get here in time. Maybe… Farm station had people with basic medicinal knowledge. Some could help. “Raven – the people.” Gena began. It took a lot out of her to speak, but she had to. “They okay?” She asked. She knew of the abilities of some farm people, because she was originally from Farm herself, so other helpers were close. “The others… could… help, too.” Gena placed her bloody hands on Raven. She couldn’t help with the pressure, but at least she could give her a sign to keep doing what she did. 

cherry1

[cherry1]

Blood freely poured from her wounds, despite Raven’s efforts. Oh god there was so much blood. And yet even in unimaginable pain, and under the prospect of certain death, Gena still asked about the others. She was so selfless, one of things Raven loved about her. She would've even laughed if she wasn’t so goddamn terrified. “You…you saved them Gena, you saved all of us.” Her voice shook with every word, filled with unshed tears. Because dammit Raven would not cry in front of Gena right now. She hadn’t been the one stabbed multiple times in the abdomen. “Just don’t close your eyes okay?” Raven slowly used a hand to clear the hair out of Gena’s face, making sure she had a clear view of her. So she could anchor herself to this world. “Promise me you won’t close your eyes.” A single tear finally escaped her eye as the possibility of Gena not making grew with each passing second.

Raven didn’t know what she would do. She could not lose another person she cared about. Dammit, she refused. “Can you hear that? They’re coming.” Footsteps finally approached the room. Raven turned to find some of the people from farm station with medical supplies in hand. The moments after their arrival were a blur. Someone pried her arms away from Gena’s body. Others carried her out in a makeshift gurney using real bandages now to stop the bleeding as they rushed her to the medical bay in the mountain. Raven could hardly move in the chaos around her. A sob ripped out of her as she finally allowed herself to feel. Please let her live. Just this once, let someone live. Her legs felt numb, everything felt numb, as she followed the others. If Gena didn’t make it, how was she supposed to feel again?

[Gena Martin]

“Got it… b..boss.” It wasn’t easy. In fact this was easier said than done. She was tired, but she knew where Raven was coming from. She might easily slip away if she closed her eyes and that was something neither of them really wanted. It hurt, she just wanted to close her eyes, sleep and forget about the pain, but in that case she might even forget about life as she knew it. Gena knew she had to hold on as she just told Raven she would. And it was not for long that apparently Raven heart footsteps. They were followed by help approaching them. Everything happened quickly after that. Raven was out of her line of sight, she was lifted, other hands pressed down, harder, getting a pained cry out of her again. It was harder to stay awake, but she was in good hands now.

Gena didn’t feel a lot from then on, just the pain, unimaginable pain for her. They were doing something on her, people changed. She couldn’t tell. Everything was out of focus. Everything was hard until, until something changed. The pain numbed slowly and the world came back to focus. She felt nowhere strong, but it was easier to breathe and think. Gena looked around, finding herself in the infirmary, finding Raven close. “Happy now?” She asked her with a slight grin. “I listened to your orders, Raven.” Gena tried to sit up, but her arms were shaky, not able to hold herself up.

cherry1

[cherry1]

Terror filled her. Raven couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this terrified in her life. All she could do now was watch as they tried to save her, taking her in and out of the operating room to fix the internal damage. But they could only do so much. It was touch and go for so long, that Raven’s nerves were fried, unsure of how much more she could take. At one point her heart stopped for 3 mintues. Gena had died for 3 whole minutes. Raven could have sworn her own heart had stopped at the exact same time. She refused to leave her side after that.

Gena couldn’t die, Raven wasn’t about to let that happen, not after what she just did for everyone in the mountain. Not after what she’d done for Raven herself. She was her best friend, one of the only people she had left in this world. If she lost her…it would shatter her. Truly destroy her. And it would be all Raven’s fault. She was already filled with guilt every time she looked towards the stab wounds on her abdomen, Raven couldn’t imagine having to deal with the guilt of her death. She kept a hand tightly around Gena’s as if that would keep her from slipping away. As if Raven could actually do anything to stop that from happening.

“Happy now?”…..those two words brought tears to Raven’s eyes. And she’d thought she was all out of tears. But these were different; these were tears of joy. Oh god, she was alive. The possibility that Raven would have to live without her and instead with the guilt of getting her killed, finally started to fade away. Replaced by the growing reality that she would make it through this. Raven would help her make it through this. Without a word she buried her head in Gena’s chest and just sobbed. Out and out sobbed at the revelations. “I’m so glad….you’re…okay,” she mumbled into the blankets. Knowing Gena was the last person to judge her for this. Finally lifting her head she took a pillow from behind her and lifted it up on the head board, helping Gena with sitting up. Using the hand that wasn’t desperately holding Gena’s, she cleared the hair from her face. “You had me worried for a second there.” Understatement of the century. Her voice was clearer but still lined with tears.

[Gena Martin]

“I was worried for a second, too.” Gena admitted. Well she was still worried. Wounds like those, they were not easy to heal, she knew that. She was aware that it would take a long time to heal. She would probably be out of it for weeks, which was a time she could not afford. But better she was injured than everyone dead. That was a relatively good outcome. Though there could have been a better one. Raven didn’t lose a friend or those people here. She could be proud. No more weight was put on her friends mind. They were okay. They would be okay. At least she hoped so. So much was happening. 

“Do you think it was a trap?” That they tried to get their most capable warriors away from Mount Weather to attack them? And then in Polis… had they contacted their people in Polis yet? Did they know there was an assassin here as well? What was going on there? “Did you check in with Pike and the others?” She asked, partially clearly worried about the two Blakes that went with them, more so than Pike, naturally. She wanted to know that everyone was okay. She wanted out of here, most importantly. “Have we contacted Arkadia? They need to know about the attack.”

cherry1

[cherry1]

She was doing it again. Concern filling her voice and words for everybody else, when she should only be taking care of herself. Raven couldn’t help but smile at her selflessness. A quality in a person she thought she’d lose forever. Wiping any remaining tears from her face, she sat up. “Shhh stop, everyone’s going to be okay.” She said her hand squeezing Gena’s to reassure her. “Bellamy’s on his way back now, the assassin that…hurt you was sent by the ice nation.” They were the orchestrators behind the whole attack, ready to blow them all up for a crime they didn't commit. It was ruthless and cowardly. And they had almost succeeded. Raven shuddered at the thoughts of 'what if.' “Without you, we’d all probably be dead.” Herself included.

“You don’t need to worry about that stuff now okay? I’ll take care of everything.” It’s what friends were for after all. All Gena should be concentrating on was getting better. Her injuries were…extensive to say the least. And if she wanted to make a full recovery she needed to avoid anything that could bring her stress. Which, knowing Gena, may be a problem. “You’re all that matters right now,” Raven said with a small smile hoping to remind Gena that at this moment, she held all of Raven’s concern. “How are you feeling?” Slowly, with one hand in hers, Raven used her other hand to grab a small cup of water on the table next to her, bringing it to Gena’s lips, remembering the doctor’s orders to keep her hydrated now that they were in the clear after the surgeries.

[Gena Martin]

Bellamy was on the way. That was good, but the information of the ice nation. That didn’t sound good. He was one to worry, to overreact if people he loved got hurt. He would go full on wild board in greek myths on people if someone hurt his sister and a handful of other people. He’d do so much for their people. “You didn’t tell him what happened to me, right? Please tell me you didn’t tell him.” It wasn’t like she wanted people to lie to him, she just knew him. He could get so stupidly reckless and certainly stupidly heroic. Telling him was a bad idea, but how else would they know what clan this assassin was from?

“I’m not all that matters, Raven.” Gena pointed out. “But I get what you mean.” She really did. She didn’t have to worry. She shouldn’t worry. Someone else could, someone who had not just been stabbed in the abdomen multiple times. Arkadia had a lot of people like that. She should focus her energy on letting her body fix the damaged inflicted on it. Gena sighed. That would be such a hard task. She was good at worrying about her loved ones, did that constantly, especially after Bellamy came home injured. She just wanted to move into Ravens touch, sigh and be over with the day and world that day.

“I think I’m high.” Gena pointed out, drinking very slowly from the offered glass. “How much painkillers did they actually pump into me?” She didn’t actually want to know. “Can you… you’re not opposed to cuddling, are you? I want to cuddle.”

cherry1