Sunday: February/15/09
Who: Charlie and McKenna When: early Sunday morning (probably 2am-ish?) Where: her apartment What: room service medicine!
Once Charlie was convinced Ana would be fine, he left her in Adam’s capable hands to look after as she continued to recover from the virus. It took time for the cure to fully kick in. Now Charlie had a whole school full of people who needed his help. He wanted to rush to the people he knew and cared for the most, but logic told him that he’d need help. Cure a few more staff members, and then have them spread out with more of the cure, helping everyone they could. It would be disorganized at first, but they would get to everyone as quickly as possible.
With all this in mind, he knocked on the first door he found. It was directly to the right as he exited Adam’s apartment. 5C. “Hello?” he called out, “Anyone home? It’s Charlie Burghard.. I’ve got a cure for the virus.” He didn’t know who lived in this apartment.
---
There was no immediate answer from within; McKenna hadn’t exactly been in her right mind since the sickness had started. She wasn’t even really aware how badly it had affected the school overall; it felt like flames were burning her from the inside out; when it had first hit she had crawled to her shower and turned it to as cold as it could get before sitting down and simply... melting against the tile. There she stayed, even when people had come to check on her; other than dropping her in a snowdrift no one had had much more clue what to do with her.
Peeling open one eye, she looked towards the doorway to her bathroom. A cure. That... would be a miracle if it was true, but she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating now or not.
Outside, the sound of running water was the only clue that there was someone in the apartment--or that there had been, at least.
---
Charlie banged on the door again then put his ear up against it. Thank fuck for vampire senses. He could hear quite well. Water was running. That could mean a few things. One: someone had died in the shower and simply left it running. Two: a gifted human was inside and simply getting cleaned up. Three: it was a supernatural tied to water and/or cold and trying to get relief. He’d seen it back home. All the water and/or cold related people suffered terrible fevers. Thinking that was a safe bet, and hoping that he wasn’t assaulted if not (and was breaking in on someone showering), he broke open the door when no response came.
“Hello?” he called out cautiously as he made his way to the bathroom. Charlie peeked his head inside and saw a woman who looked close to death was sprawled out in the tub. Charlie rushed over to her and dropped to his knees. “It’s okay.. I’ve got a shot.. It’ll make you better.”
---
Had she been a little more coherent McKenna would have laughed at the statement, which seemed so bizarrely... simple, after all of this. A shot? That was it? This felt like she’d been sent to hell and needed divine intervention. Now here she was, sitting in her shower in water soaked clothes--she hadn’t had the energy to bother changing out of them--getting rescued by... someone. His name would come back to her later.
“Please... Thank you...” She croaked, closing her eyes again. If it actually worked she’d give him a real thank you later. For now... she just wanted the heat to go away. Anything to make that stop.
---
Charlie nodded and worked on getting her sleeve up. It was clinging to her. Despite how cold the water was, her skin felt like it was burning. He rather liked the heat, actually, since he had none of his own, but it wasn’t natural for her. “Are you a water nymph?” It was the first thing that came to mind because of his friendship with Starbuck. Which made Charlie remember he needed to get to their apartment next. Kamea was aging just as fast as Maggie had been.
He got out a syringe and filled it with the cure. He’d gotten a few quick lessons from a healer at Maggie’s new school, but he wasn’t all that good at it. The stick in her arm was far from gentle, but it didn’t much matter, and in her state, he doubted she’d notice. “It takes time to kick in fully, but you should start to feel a little better soon.” He tossed the needle, because supernaturals or not, it was nasty to share those things. “I’m Charlie,” he told her again with a small smile.
---
“Elemental,” she breathed, sucking in another mouthful of air a moment later. She hadn’t made any effort to move and face him yet, but the sting of the shot did get her to open both eyes again. Slowly she turned her head to look first at her arm, and then up at him. His hand had felt amazingly cool against her skin.
Relief was relief; she wouldn’t complain about it being a little slow. “McKenna. Wish... I could say hi under better circumstances.” The talking, which was more than she’d done for a few days, got a coughing fit out of her and she immediately turned her head to the side again.
---
Charlie nodded in understanding. He knew what she was going through, well, mostly. From what he’d seen at Maggie’s school, elementals were as bad off as demons. They suffered more than anyone else. For some reason, the virus struck them the hardest. But it hadn’t exactly been a cake walk for Charlie. He’d been miserable and felt weaker than he had in his whole life. “I was sick too. And my niece. She goes to school in San Francisco. Everyone there got sick just like this. Some of their witches and healers came up with the cure though. It’s some sort of engineered virus from what I was told.” He didn’t really know a whole lot about it other than it was dangerous and they were lucky no one had died, though a few had come close.
He put the back of his hand to her forehead to see if the fever was starting to ease up at all. If it was, he couldn’t tell. They just had to be patient. “Do you want me to get you anything?”
---
The last time McKenna had felt like this was... well, never. She’d never been sick before. The closest she could relate to it was when she’d been accidentally burned during her first year, when she was still learning from the other elementals in Michael’s home. That had been sheer misery, and she had avoided the kitchen for a month before they convinced her to give cooking a try again.
But... it was a relief to feel the first tapering of the heat. She was by no means ready to crawl out of the cold water, but something was dampening the fever. Her sigh was a relieved one. “S’working...”
His question got a small shake of her head. “No... no, thank you.” It would just all get soaked still at this point. She tried to focus though, and frowned as she mulled over his words. “Engineered. That’s... why are they trying to kill us?” She had no clue who “they” were but it had to be someone. Otherwise there’d be no engineering to be done.
---
Charlie had been sick before. Many times. But he’d never been as sick as he was the past few weeks. He really was starting to wish he’d die. The only thing that had kept him going was the thought that Maggie having to watch him die would probably be the final nail in the coffin for her. She was going to snap eventually from all she’d been put through.
Shrugging, Charlie simply replied, “I don’t know. But they didn’t. Their plan failed.” Then again, maybe the goal wasn’t to kill supernaturals, but simply making them all as weak as possible. Warfare. Total bitch. “A friend of mine was attacked by a group a few weeks back. They actually hunted her down because she’s a lycan. I bet there are more groups like that. People who know about us and don’t like us.”
He looked her over carefully. “How long have you been here? I don’t remember you, and it wasn’t all that long ago that I left.”
---
McKenna was just too stubborn to die, really. She had told herself that she would get through this, somehow, and though she might look like a pile of death warmed over on the other side, she’d still be alright. It was probably the only reason she’d struggled through it.
“That... is awful.” It really was. Normally she was a little more articulate than this, sadly. And she knew there were people who disliked the supernatural; it was why she was thankful that she wasn’t a blatantly obvious one.
“I’ve been here for a month.” As the fever was slowly dropping, she was gaining back some of her energy. It showed in her voice more than anything. “Roughly, anyway. New Water Control professor.” Then she frowned a little and looked at him. “How’d you end up here?” He said he’d been on the west coast. This was a bit of a jump.
---
It was more than awful. Charlie was worried about his family and friends now that he knew there were actual hunters of supernaturals out there. Thankfully, Maggie was easily able to hide the fact that she was a shifter. She could live an otherwise normal life, well, once they had some of her documents altered. This whole teenager overnight thing had made a mess.
“Well.. welcome. Sorry this shit happened so soon after your arrival.” He hoped it wouldn’t scare her away, but he wouldn’t blame her if it did. This school seemed to attract trouble. How many times had his life been fucked over? “I was the head of security here for a little over a year. I left in December. This school has a lot of older students, and my niece.. a shifter.. needed to be with kids her own age. She’s been studying in San Francisco.” He paused, “I’m a vampire, by the way.” He didn’t know if she could tell. As an elemental, she could be thousands of years old, and at that age, she’d probably be able to pick up on things quickly. Well, and he had smiled at her, so the fangs were a dead giveaway.
---
McKenna had no family; it was a sad state of affairs, but true. The closest thing to it were a few scattered water elementals that were spread out over the continental United States; however, they had all failed at keeping in touch as their lives went separate ways. She had no idea where to find them.
“Happens now, happens later...” It finally dawned on McKenna that she was sprawled in a tub, with her wet clothes plastered to her body, in front of a stranger. With concentrated effort, she peeled herself away from the wall and sat upright. “When you concentrate this much ‘other’ in one set radius it’s bound to attract drama. I knew that.”
Listening, she nodded quietly and then smiled, lifting a hand to tap one of her canine teeth with a nail. “I saw.” Old she was not; but she wasn’t unobservant. “She’s alright, your niece?” She assumed Maggie was; otherwise Charlie didn’t seem the type to have left her. Especially not after mentioning her more than once already. It was a devoted uncle who talked about a niece like that.
---
Charlie was happy to see that McKenna was capable of a bit more movement. A good sign, especially combined with the fever starting to fade. “You want out of the tub?” he asked her, then added, “I can carry you if you’re feeling too weak.” He was more than willing to help. That was his reason for coming back to TJS, well, not to help her specifically, but to help everyone, especially Ana and his close friends.
“Maggie’s... well, healthy. The virus makes children age extremely fast. She was seven years old just a few days ago.. now... they estimate she’s developed into what appears to be a fifteen year old. She’s not actually fifteen, in terms of the number of years alive, but she looks it. Acts it too.” It was weird how a teenage attitude had developed instantly. And, unfortunately, Maggie had picked up Charlie’s sarcasm and snark. It was clear they would be butting heads a lot more, even though she still adored him. Damn hormones. “Anyway, my next stop is Starbuck’s place, because I’m guessing Kamea is aging the same way Maggie did. Plus, Starbuck’s gotta be miserable. Nymphs took it just as hard as elementals and demons back home.”
---
McKenna had started to nod; there was pride and there was stubbornness, and she was a little bit of both--but in the end she just didn’t feel well enough for either. But then he had continued, and the elemental froze and stared up at him.
Then she reached out and pushed at his arm weakly. “Go. Help them--I think I can manage crawling out of a tub now, at least.” The idea of sweet little Kamea going through this kind of hell upset her to no end; heck, even the sniffles might have worried her.” Her lips quirked a bit in amusement. “As for your niece, I’m glad she’s alright but I feel a little sorry for you now.”
---
Charlie was a bit pigheaded too. Okay, he was more than a bit. Right now, that meant staying put until he was sure McKenna was going to be alright. “No, five minutes won’t make a huge difference for them. But if you fall and bust your head open because I left you here alone, then that will make a big difference, and Starbuck won’t be strong enough yet to heal you. Come on.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer. He leaned over and grabbed her arm, draping it around the back of his neck. “You need to curl up in bed for a few hours and rest.” Charlie lifted her out of the tub and carried her into her bedroom. Her clothes were soaked, but as a water elemental, he doubted she’d mind all that much. Still, it was polite to ask. “Where you keep your pajamas?” He could at least get them out for her.
---
“That’s assuming I ever actually got onto my feet to fall and crack my head,” she mumbled. It seemed a little ridiculous for him to focus on her when there were others who were sick--still sick, even. Actually... it was a lot ridiculous, and it was only manners that still clung from her youth that made her accept his help.
She hadn’t been carried... wow, in a long time. Not since her ex-husband had carried her over the threshold. The memory was unbidden, and she mentally scrubbed it away; illness had made her nostalgic, apparently. “I have no intention of moving for a while. I’d have been fine in the shower still, even.” The cold water still felt good against her skin; while her body temperature was still dropping, it was still warmer than she liked.
“Top drawer.” Amidst all of her other unmentionables, which gave her pause. “... I don’t need pajamas though. Not right now.”
---
Charlie would leave once she was settled, but he couldn’t bail while she sat in a cold shower. She was still weak, and she needed some real rest. The fever would drop fast enough, and then she’d want to get under the covers and sleep. He set her on her bed and went to the dresser as she mentioned where to find the pajamas. Charlie was already opening it when she told him she didn’t need her PJs. He noticed the bras and underwear and smirked. “I’m no stranger to lacy, skimpy things. It’s no big deal.” He grabbed what looked to be a comfortable tanktop and shorts and brought them over to her. “Get changed. I’ll get you a glass of water.”
---
“You may not be a stranger to them in general, but you were a stranger to mine before a few seconds ago.” Torn between amusement, irritation, and falling face down into her pillow to pass out, McKenna reached out to take her pajamas and sat them beside her hip as she pushed her hair back from her face. She then gathered the length of it at the back of her neck to tie in a temporary knot, keeping it out of the way as she gathered the hemline of her thoroughly soaked top and dragged it upwards.
The way she figured it, with some resignation, was that he’d already seen half of what she was wearing--or not wearing--while she was in the shower anyway; the clothes had been plastered against her body and leaving no room for imagination. “Thank you...” The top was dropped beside the bed, and when he left the room her bra followed before the dry tank top was tugged on. The shorts took more effort, but soon enough she was in dry clothes; collapsed on her bed and unwilling to move again, but still dry.
---
Charlie just chuckled, “Not entirely true. Your shirt’s a bit see through.” Well, it was! And Charlie was divorced now. Even though he was still in love with Ava, he was a guy, and he wasn’t getting any. He couldn’t help but glance.
He left to get her some water, taking his time so he didn’t come back in while she was still getting changed. He even called out before reaching the doorway. “All decent?” When McKenna gave him the go ahead, he walked back into her room and set the glass of water on her night stand. “I need to get over to Starbuck’s, but I’ll come check on you later if you want.”
---
“Har har...” She muttered at him, before he left.
When he returned she was on her back, limbs outstretched; she might have said she was fine in the shower but being in her bed--her comfy, wonderful bed--was another step towards making her feel alive again, and not death warmed over. Opening an eye as he approached, she turned her head to see where he sat the glass and then seemed to waver between telling him to worry about everyone else and asking him to peek in.
“... If you have time for it. Later?” She hadn’t been here long enough to know for certain that someone else would come look to see if she was alright; Starbuck perhaps, but he was sick too and it was more likely--since she was helped out first--that she would come check on him.
---
Charlie couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She really did look disastrous. Granted, it was obvious she was hot when healthy, but sickness of this extreme didn’t look good on anyone. He was sure Kim would be equally wretched. And given he’d just visited Ana, he knew Ava would have looked horrible as well if she’d actually gotten sick. He didn’t understand why she was healthy and off campus, and really, he didn’t want to. Probably off fucking someone else. As the thought flashed through his mind, a troubled look overcame his features, but he pushed it away a second later.
“I’ll make time for it.” And with that, he pulled a cover up so it was easy for her to grab should she get cold. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk more when you’re feeling better. I’ll probably be around a few days to make sure everyone gets better.”
---
“Alright. Thank you, Charlie.” She wouldn’t let him take off without at least saying that; she knew that she probably wouldn’t have had much more life left in her if he’d found her later on. Fingers curling in the edge of the blanket, she tugged it closer and then offered a faint smile before he took off.
---
“You’re welcome,” he said softly with a nod. It felt good to help. Charlie had felt pretty fucking useless lately. It seemed there was nothing he could do right in the past few months. But now he was here, helping friends and strangers alike, making an actual difference. He left before he did something to screw it all up. It was time to find Starbuck, Kim and Kamea. After that, he’d track down Wesley for some help distributing the rest of cure to the sickest people. He didn’t have enough for everyone, so it would probably be up to Wes and some witches to make more with the instructions Charlie had brought along.