#complicated feeling

Frustrated at being stopped from going inside the Dream Ward, Morpheus pulled his communicator out from the inside pocket of his jacket and tried to get ahold of Melinoe.  There was no answer.  He did not leave a message.  He tried sending her a text communication, and kept his communicator in his hand as he paced the hallway waiting for an answer.  The only issue was, there was no answer coming.  After what felt like too long to Morpheus, he tried calling her again.  When he once more got her voicemail, this time he left a message asking her to call him immediately.  Then once more sent her a text communication.  The longer it went without hearing from her, the more he was convinced she was on the Dream Ward, and that the only way he was going to get answers was to get past that guard, one way or another.  He just had to figure out how.

One hour, two, three…the time stretched on with messages left for Melinoe, Krios, and Andromeda.  None of them were returned.  This only served to cause Morpheus’ anger level to rise and his teeth to grind.  The guard at the door seemed to be keeping his hand on his weapon more when Morpheus was on the leg of his pacing where he was stalking down towards that end of the hallway.  Morpheus couldn’t really blame him, he really did want to bounce him off the walls and strangle him until he got answers.

Sometime in hour four, Morpheus had an idea.  Slapping his badge against the pad outside the elevator, he called one and went to the Medical Ward.  If he couldn’t get an answer from the Dream Ward, there was one other person who might have an idea what was going on with Melinoe on the Dream Ward.  While the Dream Assassin that they had on the gurney had been badly injured, nothing had looked fatal.  Hopefully she would be awake and able to give him some answers.  His rank and years on in should get him some answers before anyone started answering questions.

*****

“Agent Morpheus,” he flashed his badge, “I need to speak to the young female agent who was brought up here from the Dream Ward, where is she?”  The look he was giving the nurse was making her shift uncomfortably as she looked up the information.  This was not a friendly request, he was certainly making it look like business.  Good, she wouldn’t feel the need to inform anyone he’d been here either.

“She’s down in room six, sir.  She should be awake now.”  The nurse gave him a nervous smile after conveying the information.  He nodded and headed down the hall.  Hopefully he could at least get some kind of answer now.  If not, things down on the Dream Ward were about to get very damn ugly.

Taking a deep breath, Morpheus rapped his knuckles against the door to the room.  There was a small female voice from inside that told him to enter.  Here went nothing.

The female agent in the bed looked even smaller than when she had been wheeled by.  There were dark circles under her eyes, multiple IV lines, and monitors were hooked up.  She couldn’t have been more than a year out of the Academy, and something had worked her over hard.  She had an angelic face, and looked far too innocent to face some of the things he’d seen over the years.  Morpheus was thankful to the gods that he had not been paired up with an agent like her.  

“Ma’am, I’m Agent Morpheus.  I came to check on you, and see what you could remember about what happened on the Dream Ward that landed you here.  Do you feel well enough to talk?”  He instantly saw the signs of recognition at his name, that was positive.  At least he didn’t have to explain that, which meant his name alone would get him somewhere with her.  This at least was a positive step.

“Yes, sir.  I’m Agent Rua.  I assume my partner, Agent Lorien, is still down on the Ward?  I remember them saying something about Agent Melinoe was going to have to go help him?”  Her eyes scrunched up, brows coming together as she tried to remember.  Everything after coming out of the realm of dreams was hazy.  “I don’t remember much from being on the Ward before they brought me up here, I’m sorry.”  She sighed heavily.

“Ma’am, please relax.  Do not stress yourself out.  There is no need to remember everything at once.”  She’d already told him enough, he now knew where his partner was, but he wanted just a little more information. The poor girl had been through enough, he wasn’t there to put her through more.  He kept being struck how with her big grey eyes and angelic face she looked more like a doll than an agent who should be fighting Nightmares. “Do you remember what happened in the dream where you got hurt?  You came out of the dream, but Lorien didn’t.”  That was the only thing that he could figure out for why Melinoe would have to go in and help him.  That was an unusual case, something he’d only heard murmurings of.  It didn’t give Morpheus a good feeling.

“Yes,sir.  There had been a warning that the pair of Nightmare Assassins that Agent Melinoe had faced on her last mission, the ones that so badly injured her, those…one of them was thought to have survived.  I don’t know how she ever took on two by herself, let alone did enough damage they thought both were dead, but they had. We were told what to look for, Lorien and I even trained for it.  We went through the Academy together and were even friends before that.”  There was a smile and a blush that told Morpheus that at least on Rua’s side there was more than a friendly attraction to Lorien.  It wasn’t his business, but he hoped it didn’t get one of them killed.  Romance was risky in their profession, especially if you were teamed up together.  “But what we faced, sir, it was so intense.  There were demons and dragons all around us.  It was like some fairytale dungeon coming to life and attacking all at once.  Lorien and I were doing good at fending them off, but we weren’t making any headway.  I thought we were going to die.  Then, all of a sudden, I could tell I was out of the dream and there was yelling and screaming,” Rua started to get upset, tears forming in her eyes as she spoke. It was clear that whatever they had faced was terrifying.  Then a sort of calm came over her, “then I felt this comforting presence next to me and heard this calm female voice telling me to relax, that my part of the battle was done.  She would finish the fight.”  She looked up at him, a different type oe tears brimming in her eyes, “she was so calm, sir.  It made me feel relaxed and like it would all work out alright.  She took charge, said she was going to go help Lorien. Then it all got confusing and they wheeled me out.” 

“Thank you, Agent Rua.”  Morpheus inclined his head.  “Please rest and do not worry about your partner.  He is in the very best hands he could be.”  With that he exited the room and headed back to the elevator.  He was going back down to the Dream Ward and he was getting in there if he had to shoot the guard and kick Krios’ ass personally.  What kind of monstrosity were Melinoe and some rookie up against?  He had to agree with Rua, if that is what one of them was like, how in the bloody hell did she come close to defeating two of them on her own?  Her illusions must be damn powerful in dreams.  Hopefully they’d keep her alive till he could get to her.