Chapter 21

"Can we please, blow this popsicle stand now." I say to the three men standing around, I know I sound somewhat irritated. I am tired and Gwen hurts. "I really want to go home and take a shower."

"Yeah." Gwen adds. "And burn these clothes."

"Let move out, then." Gunga say in agreement.

Seattle moves as if to take Gwen's other shoulder,

"No." I tell him. "I have her. You just keep you weapons trained on anything that moves." I am not sure how well she will react to the touch of a man right now, so I keep her propped against me.

Now we move even faster. The three men put us in the center of the triangle. They move at a fast walk, I think they would have liked to go at fast jog or run, but Gwen is not up to that. They are good enough to understand that, and let us set the pace.

We do not encounter anyone else on our trip toward the so called service entrance. We can still hear sporadic gun fire around us, but none of it near us...

Gwen hisses another breath of pain in my ear.

"Do you need to stop?" I whisper in concern for her.

"Need maybe, want, no way." she says back to me. She is starting to sound hysterical to my ears.

"Hang in there," I tired to bolster her sagging spirits. "I bet they found that transportation that Melville was talking about. We could get a ride back." I add that thought brightly.

Gwen just grunts at me. I can tell she is not looking forward to seeing the rest of her Kin. I was hoping to get her away from here, before she started to put herself through a guilt trip.

"You are going home." I growl back at her. "don't make me push you, Gwen. You have family and Kin, so far that is coming out ahead in my book." Perhaps my tone was too harsh. She started to cry again.

"They'll hate me." she whimpers.

"Never happen." I tell her.

One of the Protectors, joins us, it is Seattle.

"You ladies doing alright?" He is concerned about Gwen. I can hear it in his tone. That and we have been weaving around a bit.

I smile back at him. "Some bruising. And I think Gwen needs some place quiet to sit."

He frowns at me. I guess I am not as good at hiding my feelings with regular human beings.

"We will be at the vehicle shortly." he lets us know, I was right in my guess of vehicular transport. Camulus gives a sharp whistle, Seattle wheels around guns out. I pull Gwen tighter to me. She gives another hiss of pain.

Two more men come out of hiding. One is really big. I sigh, it is Saber. The other of course is Holiday. Gwen whimpers more. She ducks her head into my shoulder, as if to hide her love.

Oh dear, I think I have just put the pieces together. She was a virgin. This is going to be twice as hard on her. I am not really the person to deal with this kind of trauma. I don't even deal with my own trauma.

"Heh, out of the fry pan and into the fire," I give a little laugh. "That is my motto. Or would be if I had one."

She gives a small chuckle onto my shoulder and looks down at me. "I know what you are trying to do."

"Oh good." I try for the wise man look. "someone needs to keep me in check."