Of course, the medical people wanted to check on them and required them to check in the following day after being released. Alicia had just finished her check up where she’d said maybe 5 words the whole time, mostly ‘good’, ‘doesn’t hurt’ and ‘yup’. She was heading out when she caught sight of Clarke heading out of a room too.
“I was thinking about chips, lots and lots of chips,” she said as a way of greeting. “Want in?” She really could use some fried potato almost anything about right now.
“God, yes,” Clarke answered. Not only did real food sound really good, but she wanted to spend some time with someone who wouldn’t look at her like she might break any second. What they’d been through hadn’t been fun and maybe it was going to stay with her for a while, but she really just wanted to put it behind her and move on.
“Lightning Brew?” she asked.
Alicia smiled, one of the real unhindered smiles she’d had since they got back, or were rescued. She reached up and rubbed her left shoulder, the tattoo that’d been placed there itched. “Yes.” She said.
As they started to head towards the Brew she couldn’t help but notice some people giving them worried looks. “How long do you think it’ll last this time?”
“It’s hard to say.” Clarke sighed. “I’m actually surprise Oliver’s let either of us out of his sight,” she admitted. She knew her boyfriend had been worried about both of them and he wasn’t the only one. Even if she had managed some time to herself, there had been plenty of looks like the ones they were getting now.
Smirking, she nodded. “Me too,” she didn’t add that she was worried that Oliver would blame himself. “It almost feels like we’ve walked into a slightly different Atlantis.” Things were similar but she felt like everyone was more on edge than normal, or maybe it was her.
Clarke had the same feeling and she nodded her head. Things seemed tense in Atlantis, more than just the natural kind of tense after a mission. She’d thought maybe it had just been in her imagination until Alicia said something. “I know what you mean,” she said. “Things feel kind of tense. More than they did last time.”
“Did you hear much about what happened to the people who got knocked out?” She was still worried about Callie regardless if everyone was worried about her.
“Some.” Clarke shrugged. The truth was that she hadn’t really gotten much out of people. They’d all been too busy fussing over her to catch her up on much and most of what she knew about what had happened came from just overhearing people talk about it since no one really close to her had been affected. “They were trapped in some kind of simulation, right?” she asked, remember a part of what she’d overheard.
“From what I could get out,” Alicia shrugged. “That’s what it sounded like.” She paused in her step for half a beat and picked up. “Sounded like fear, and familiar.” Alicia managed to get some information because Callie was one of them but she still felt like no one wanted to tell her the facts.
“You think it was related to what happened to us?” It did seem familiar. A lot of what went on in Atlantis was pretty whimsical, but this felt like something different. It felt too familiar to just be a coincidence.
Alicia shrugged, she wasn’t really sure if she knew the answer to that. She opened her mouth and shut it again. “It might,” she admitted looking down. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t really believe in coincidences,” Clarke said, shaking her head. “It feels way too familiar for there to not be a connection, doesn’t it?” She paused, remembering that Alicia’s niece had been one of the victims. “How’s Callie doing?” she asked a little more softly.
“From what I’m told, Callie’s fine,” her tone made it clear she didn’t believe it and that she’d been kept in the dark. “It doesn’t make sense for us, and them at about the same time…” Alicia let her words trail off as they got to the Brew.
Callie was probably fine in the same way they were, which was to say not at all. No one could go through that kind of think and come back actually fine, but Callie was a Spinnet. She was probably as likely to admit to not being okay as Alicia was. “I wonder where she got that stubborn refusal to admit anything’s wrong from,” she teased as they moved through the door.
Alicia smirked. “Couldn’t imagine.” Alicia nodded to a table. “Come on, let’s eat.”
“Let’s eat,” Clarke agreed. After the last several days, she couldn’t wait to taste some real food.