https://archiveofourown.org/works/21485929
It takes them two weeks to rescue the others, Nico doesn’t think she slept more than a total of 24hrs the whole time, too worried about Karolina, too worried about losing her like she lost Amy. She honestly doesn’t remember much of the rescue, the plan had been simple at best, Molly and Alex would go out into a highly populated area with plenty of CCTV, let PRIDE’s system find them and notify the parents, while Nico and Xavin would wait outside Chase’s house. Nico didn’t think it would actually work, but within 20 minutes of Alex letting her know Molly and himself where at their location Xavin and her watched all of them pile into cars and speed off.
The last thing she remembers from the mission is seeing Karolina suspended in a weird looking tank, her eyes closed, unmoving, not even a twitch at the loud explosion she made to get into the room, then the anger took over her, and everything went dark.
When she comes too, it’s to the feeling of fingers trailing down her cheek, the faintest whisper of her name reaching her ears. She tries to open her eyes but they refuse to move, her whole bodying feeling like its being weighed down by lead. She feels those soft fingers blazing a trail down her neck, over her shoulder then slowly down her arm, its isn’t until those fingers slowly run over her hand that she realises she has the Staff of One in a death grip. Soft fingers caress over her hand, she feels a warm puff of air near her neck before she feels it against her ear, the smell of wildflowers taking over her senses as words are whispered into her ear, ‘it’s okay, take down the barrier Nico’. She would recognise that smell anywhere, that voice, Karolina, the second the name pops into her mind Nico releases her hold on the Staff, as soon as her fingers have left the pole she feels the weight lift itself from her body, her eyes no longer feeling like they are sealed shut. Slowly, she forces her eyes open, blinking in an attempt to clear here vision. The second her vision clears her breath catches in her throat.
Karolina is leaning over her, supporting herself on her arms as she looks down at the smaller girl, her blues eyes are shinning with unshed tears as she give Nico a shy smile, ‘Hey’ the word leaves Karolina’s lips in a soft whisper, the sound of her voice washing over Nico, making her body relax even further into the soft bed beneath her, ‘we’re safe Nico’ A feeling of warmth erupts from Nico’s chest and spreads throughout her body – she can hear Karolina talking to her but none of the words are actually registering in her brain, she doesn’t even realise her arms are moving on she sees her hands making their way to Karolina’s, her left palm cups Karolina’s cheek while her right hands curls itself around her neck, her fingers scratching across soft skin. Karolina was here, she was alive.
She can’t process any of the thoughts shooting through her head, it feels like she has no control over anything as this warmth seems to engulph her, a tingling sensation now making its way down her arms to join in the sensation. The feel of Karolina’s skin under her hands, the warmth, spreading throughout her body, the feeling of soft lips meeting hers as she pulls Karolina towards her. Nico isn’t soft with her, she knows she should be, she knows that Karolina is probably weak and needs time to heal but she just can’t stop herself. Karolina is here, she’s alive, Nico needs to feel her, feel the sharp gasp that pushes across her face as she bites on Karolina’s lower lip, feel the tremble running through the blonde girl as she licks her way into her mouth.
A moan escapes Nico as she feels Karolina relax into her, her arms no longer holding her above the shorter girl, one tangling into dark hair while the other finds a slim waist, pulling them closer together. Nico moves her left-hand down Karolina’s body, tugging and pulling at the girl as she continues to explore her mouth, her right hand still gently tugging at the blonde’s girls’ neck, attempting to move the other girl closer, as if she wanted them to become one. Nico feels Karolina pulling away, a soft whine leaving her throat and her hand tightening around the taller girl’s neck as she tries to bring her back towards her.
‘Nico…’ the softness of Karolina’s voice makes Nico open her eyes to look at the other girl, Karolina is looking at her with a soft smile on her face, her eyes shining brightly behind hooded lashes, ‘someone’s knocking’. The words still leave Karolina in a soft whisper as Nico finally registers the banging sound coming from the door to the room. The loud interruption now registering in Nico’s ears she takes a moment to actually assess where she is, with Karolina still laying on top of her she recognises the ceiling of their tree room in the hostel. Breathing out heavily through her nose she readjusts her eyes to focus on Karolina, who is looking at her with a shy smile, happiness shinning in her eyes as she looks down at the smaller girl.
Groaning softly at another pounding to the door, Nico gives Karolina an annoyed look before calling out loud enough for whoever it is to hear, ‘What do you want?!’ the knocking instantly stops. Karolina rolls off, of Nico suddenly as they both hear the door to their room opening.
“oh, thank god, I wasn’t sure when we were going to be able to come and finally check on you’ Leslie stands in the doorway, one eyebrow slightly raised as she appraises the two girls before her.
Coughing slightly, Nico sits up in the bed slowly as she looks at Leslie, she’s standing in the doorway in a light-yellow maternity dress, her belly protruding out in front of her.
‘how long have we been here’ the words don’t register in Nico’s head until Leslie has replied to Karolina, the clear relief in her voice, ‘nearly three days…’
‘what..?’ The words escape Nico’s mouth before she can help herself,
‘you sealed the room the second you got back with Karolina, no one’s been able to get in, Xavins been waiting outside since you got back, they just grabbed me, said they heard a noise…’ Leslie steps into the room, making her way around the bed to the side that Karolina is on, sitting on the edge of the bed she lifts her hand up to her daughters face, her fingers running along blonde hair, ‘how’re you feeling sweetie?”
Nico turns to face Karolina at the question too, her eyes roaming over the other girl, checking for anything untoward.
‘I’m… I actually feel fine?’ the words leave Karolina as a question, unsure as to why she’s feeling perfectly fine. Nico looks down at her staff, reaching for it slowly she picks it up, it takes her a minute to activate it, feeling drained, as if she had been using a lot more magic than that of a barrier spell. ‘Healing spell’
Leslie and Karolina both look over at Nico at her words, Karolina’s eyebrows scrunching together as she appraises the other girl, dark circles rest under Nico’s eyes and her skin is paler then it normally is.
‘Nico…’ Karolina says Nico’s name so softly as she moves to position herself so she’s facing the girl, her mother adjusting herself so she was looking at the smaller girl as well, ‘how do you feel?’ Karolina doesn’t remove her eyes from the other girl, silently waiting for a reply as she continues to appraise the girl’s appearance.
Nico licks her lips, they’re starting to dry out, beginning to chap, she slowly places the Staff of One on the bedside table beside her, her body feeling the relief of not having the staff activated the second the pole retracts into itself. ‘Weak…. Tired… I just need to rest, I must have cast both the boundary and healing spell while we were out’ the words leave her weakly, now that she’s actually paying attention to how she feels, Nico doesn’t even feel like she has the strength to pull herself down into the bed so she’s lying back down. Looking over at Karolina she gives the girl a small smile, trying to appease the look of worry that is shining through those blues eyes, ‘I’m fine Karolina, I just need to sleep some more’
Karolina only continues to look at her, watching as Nico slowly shuffles herself down further into the bed until she’s laying down again, ‘…just need a…. a litt… slee..’ Nico’s passed out before her head even fully hits the pillow, a hmph leaves Karolina’s throat as she moves closer to the small girl, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders, she slowly traces her finger down the sleeping girl’s cheek, moving a few stray stands of her on her way.
Karolina looks back towards her mother at the sounds of her name, making sure to keep her hand in contact with Nico as she gives her mother a small smile ‘I’m going to stay in here mum, make sure she’s okay ’ she looks back to the other girl, a smile gracing her lips as she looks down at Nico’s face, void of any worried lines the smaller girl looks peaceful in her sleep.
A short puff escapes Karolina at the mention of them, ‘Xavin can wait mum, for now though, I’d really love to make sure my girlfriend is okay’ Karolina’s tone leaves no room for arguments as she turns her head to face her mother again.
A small sigh leaves Leslies lips as she regards her daughter, ‘of course honey,’ her eyes flicker down to the hand still resting on Nico’s face and a small smile graces the older women’s lips, ‘I’ll come check on you two tomorrow ‘reaching out, Leslie gives Karolina’s arm a light squeeze before she stands from the bed, making her way to the bedroom door. Just as she’s about to leave, her hand on the door handle reading to pull the door closed behind her, Leslie turns back to the two younger girls.
‘Karolina….’
Leslie waits until her daughters’ eyes are on her again, her eyebrows raised in question at the older women.
‘I know it doesn’t mean much coming from me, but…. But I’m really glad you two have each other’
Leslie doesn’t wait for a reply, simply pulls the door closed quietly after her as she makes her way out of the room. Karolina looks back down at the sleeping girl beside her, a smile pulling at her lips as she drops a kiss to the girl’s forehead, ‘me too mum, me too’.
