Perfect Sacrifice (67 page)

"When will the spinning stop?" she questioned as she closed her eyes again, feeling another migraine approaching her already throbbing head.

"By tomorrow morning, you should be completely healed," he told her.  He watched as her breathing slowed, her body finally relaxing again.  The antidote was probably kicking in.

"Good," she told him with a smile.  "I can go home then."  With that last statement, she fell asleep, leaving the doctor alone with his confusion.  After all, she had had the strength left to talk to him before the antidote had kicked in.  Something told him that she would have recovered without it. 
The ace knight really is something.
  As he marveled at his patient, he made his way out of the room, leaving Ray to get at least one good night's sleep.

CHAPTER 33

One Moment in Paradise

Ray's eyes slowly opened, only to be greeted by the light of the morning sun shining through her window.  She groaned in protest and turned away, curling up under the sheets of her bed.  She opened them again, however, when a soft knocking came at her door.  She waited to see if the sound would come again.  If it didn't, she'd just go back to sleep, but whoever was there sure was persistent, because the gentle knocking came once again.

Reluctantly she sat up in her bed, stretching her arms.  A large yawn escaped her mouth, followed by a shiver that ran up her spine.  She quickly ran a hand through her hair, making sure it fell in the right places.  She also didn't need it to look like a ratty mess if she was going to have company.

"Come in," she finally said, and the door slowly opened, gliding along the tiled floor.  She was greeted with the welcoming sight of her friends.  The six of them walked over to her, all looking rather relieved to see that she was doing well.  Then again, they expected nothing less from Ray.

"You're looking better this morning," pointed out Brian with a soft smile.  "It's good to see you're alright."  Ray just gave a small laugh as she mockingly flexed and arm.

"It'll take more than poison to kill me," she stated confidently.  "If Nathan thinks he can get rid of me so easily, then he's mistaken.  I'll get him back next time."

"Well, it seems like you've made a full recovery," stated Gordan, a lopsided smirk present across his face.  "You're always shooting your mouth off, Ray.  You shouldn't underestimate him."

"Please, he's nothing but a second rate commander," she said arrogantly as she crossed her arms in front of her.  "I could beat him, no problem."  Everyone just sighed mentally.  She really was better if she was this cocky so early in the morning.  Everything was back to normal again.

"It's a good thing you're feeling better," said Dr. Solaris.  "You can leave this afternoon if you'd like.  We'll go now though and let you rest for a little longer if you want."

"Thanks," she said sweetly, happy that at least someone understood her need for sleep.  The antidote for scarlet poison doubled as a sleeping aid.  It could knock anyone out for an entire day, and she was currently still tired from it.  The amount of sleep she had gotten hadn't nearly been enough to last her the whole day.

The six of them began to walk out the door.  Ray managed to catch Leon's eye before he walked out, and she flashed him a soft smile.  He returned it, understanding the silent message she was giving him.  He'd talk to her about what had happened later, but right now she really wanted to get some sleep.  However, Abby was just about to walk out the door when she stopped and turned towards Ray.  There was a bright smile on her face as she walked back over to the bed that Ray was sitting on.

"Let's talk for a while, okay?" she said to Ray as she sat down.  The ace knight didn't seem to mind at all.  She hadn't really gotten to see the other knights recently, so catching up would be a good thing.

"Hey Abby?" began Ray.  "I was just wondering.  When I blew up that base, did I take out Ramirez?"  Sadly, Abby shook her head.  She wished that Ray had gotten rid of the silver haired devil in her attack on the prison base, but it just hadn't happened.  Ramirez had already gotten out long before the explosion.  They had received word of a raid on one of the parts shops in Torran, and it had been noted that Ramirez was responsible.  Besides, he wouldn't let himself die so easily.  He was insane, not stupid.

It wasn't fair though.  The evil general seemed just as hard to kill as Ray was.  Neither of them would give up their life so easily.  She had been so close to finally killing him.  It really wasn't fair.

"So he survived, huh?" said Ray rather sadly as she sat there on her hospital bed, her legs hanging over the side.

"Yeah," said Abby in the same tone of voice.  "It's a shame really.  If you had killed him off, you wouldn't have to keep living at the Solaris base."  Ray gave Abby a confused stare at that comment.  She hadn't even considered that before.  If Ramirez were to be killed, then there would be no reason to remain with the Solaris family.  She'd end up going back to headquarters.

"Honestly, that thought never crossed my mind," she told her.

"What?" the knight questioned, seeming a little confused by the sudden change.  "I thought you wanted to go back to headquarters."

"Well, I…" she began, seeming a little embarrassed about the answer she was going to give.  "I guess it hasn't been so bad." 
That's an understatement.
  She blushed a little, trying to avoid Abby's steady gaze.  Unfortunately, the other woman knew her far too well, and she caught on rather quickly to the shade of pink across her face.  She only smirked as Ray turned away even more, trying to hide the steadily increasing color on her cheeks.

"You like Leon," stated Abby, earning her a very interesting response from Ray.

"I-I do not," she stated.  "We're just friends."  However, the claim didn't seem to help the red on her face.  If anything, it got much worse.  But she wasn't lying, was she?  She didn't like him as anything more than a friend.  He was just a really cute guy who she happened to be living with.  Nothing more, right?  For some reason, that just didn't seem quite right, even to her.  Besides, even if he was more than just a friend, she'd deny it till no end.

"Okay R.C," said Abby as she stood up and began to leave the room.  "Whatever you say."  Abby only smirked as she left Ray alone to perhaps get a bit more sleep.  Besides, she had someone else to talk to right now, and she would enjoy every second of it.

* * * *

Leon walked down the hallway, having no real destination.  He had decided to wander the hospital for a while, since he had nothing better to do with his time.  He wasn't going to leave until Ray was ready, but then again, it's not like he had much of a choice in the matter.  The only car they had now was his dad's.  Then again, Ray's Geno was currently stationed at the repair shop.  She would just have to go home in that anyway.  There was no other way to get it back to the base.

"Hey Leon," greeted a cheerful voice from behind him.  He didn't even need to turn to know who it was.

"Hey Abby," he greeted as she walked up to him, now proceeding to follow him down the hallway. 

"I have a question to ask you," she told him.

"What is it?" he asked, not seeming to care all that much.

"Even after Ramirez is gone, you wouldn't mind if R.C stayed at your base, would you?" she asked.

"No," he said rather quickly, as if the answer was obvious.  However, when he saw the smirk on her face, he quickly began to regret the answer.  "Wait, I mean yes…no, wait…"  He began to fumble with his words, and Abby just laughed.  She began laughing harder when she saw the small blush spread across his face.  "It's not like that," he defended.

"Not like what?" she asked him.  "I haven't implied anything." 

Leon only hung his head out of pure embarrassment.  Why did everyone have to pick on him, and why was Ray always involved somehow?  Exactly what were they all implying?

"You do know," began Abby, a little more serious than before, "that once Ramirez is dead, R.C won't have a reason to stay at your base anymore."  Leon seemed a little disappointed as she pointed that out, and it didn't go unnoticed.  "That is…unless you can give her one."

"What?" he asked, but Abby just sped up and began walking away from him.

"All I'm saying is that it's up to you to make the first move, because there's no way she will," Abby called back as she disappeared around the corner, leaving a very embarrassed and confused Leon in her wake.

* * * *

Everyone was sitting around in the cafeteria at the hospital, having nothing better to do with their time.  After all, they had to wait for Ray.  It wouldn't be fair to leave her at the hospital alone.  Sure, she was fully capable of taking care of things by herself, but it was just lonely in Torran and in the desert when you didn't have at least one other person with you.

They were all currently in the middle of laughing at a good joke, but a soft beeping sound soon broke through their fun.  It was coming from Brian's communicator.  He quickly flipped up the screen and hit one of the small buttons.  On his screen appeared Jace, who looked just a little panicked.

"Jace?" questioned Brian, wondering why the other knight would even bother calling.  He also began to wonder why Jace had insisted on staying at the base.  Wasn't Ray his best friend?  Why wouldn't he want to go see her?

"I don't have a lot of time to explain, okay, so listen up," Jace began.  "It's Aaron.  He went out earlier this morning, said he had something to look for, but his signal went dead just a second ago."  Everyone was dead quiet as Jace spoke.  He was interrupted, however, when Abby came through the door, shouting a "hey" to all of them.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked them.  Brian quickly stood up, his communicator still on.

"We're leaving," he stated as he began to head for the door.

"Why the rush?" she asked him curiously.  Brian wasn't usually so serious.  He only acted this way when something important was going on.

"Jace can't locate Aaron," he began.  "He went off earlier this morning, but his signal went dead.  We're going to check it out, alright?"  Abby didn't say anything to that.  For once she just shut up and followed Brian out of the cafeteria.  They had an ex-commander to save.

At the table they had been sitting at, Gordan stood up and began to follow them.  The members of the Solaris family followed him with their eyes, all curious as to why he was leaving with his knights.

"Gordan, where are you going?" asked Dr. Solaris.  Ray would be fine now, but he had thought that the general would at least be there to see her off when she left the hospital.

"I'm going with Abby and Brian," he told them as he kept walking.  "It's true that Aaron once worked for Ramirez, but he's a part of the GRC now, and I would never forgive myself if something happened to him.  After all, we did promise to keep him hidden from Ramirez."  He suddenly scowled, but they couldn't see.  He was already out the door. 
That idiot.  Just what was he thinking?  Just wait until they bring you back, Aaron.  You'll get one long lecture, that's for sure.

* * * *

By the time noon rolled around, Gordan and his knights had arrived back at the GRC headquarters.  Currently they were standing around in the main room, all staring down at Aaron who sat in one of the computer chairs.  He was looking down at the ground, avoiding their heavy stares.

"Aaron, what were you thinking?" asked Gordan harshly as he crossed his arms.  "You could have been killed out there."

"I know," Aaron whispered in response.  He had so many bruises and cuts from the battle he had gotten himself into.  If Abby and Brian hadn't come just in time, he probably would have gotten killed.  He was a good pilot, there was no doubt about that, but against thirty Genos, no one really stood much of a chance alone.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the battle that had him so shaken up.  It was what had happened before it.

"Then why did you leave?" Gordan asked Aaron, watching as the ex-commander lowered his head further.

"I wanted to help you," he told them.  "I went to see if Ramirez's base was still in the same location, and it was, but…they were preparing to move it again."  This drew a shocked expression from the group, and he was hoping that they'd forget about his punishment for a while.  He really had been trying to help them, even if he had gotten himself in trouble.

"His base can move?" questioned Brian.

"Yes," he responded.  "He moves it every few months to make sure that you guys don't find it.  I knew the location, but now…"

"It's alright," began Gordan.  "You tried.  However, you should have said something sooner.  We could have sent the knights out with you."

"Sorry," he whispered, his eyes flooding with remembrance of the battle.  Actually, he was recalling what had happened before the battle.  He had made the ultimate mistake.  He had allowed them to see his face.  It's not like he had wanted them to, but they had hacked into his communication system before he could pull out.  There was no doubt in his mind that Ramirez now knew about him.  He was now a target for the silver haired general.

"Aaron, is something wrong?" asked Abby, noticing the way he was clenching his fists.   He would break the skin at this rate.