[cl] 75. Swimming picture
[Set in whatyou_wanted. likedollclothes, sitherequietly and imnot_likeyou are all mine and therefore all used with permission. maybenext_time is not mine, and I don’t have permission, but I use her with lots of love. Set when Bela first got rescued from prison.]
She spent seven years in the dark.
She didn’t realize how long it had been until they took her out, and even then there wasn’t much warning. In fact, there was none at all. They handed her the communicator, claiming that it had a message she didn’t want from a person she never wanted to see again. The idea that her father had decided to reach out to her while she was in prison was a laughable one at best, never mind the fact that she didn’t want to hear from him at all. She should have refused it. But there was something about the way Castiel said it that made it seem like there was something more to it. So she took it.
“How long has it been? Since they shoved me down here?”
Castiel swallowed. “Seven years.”
She nodded, studying the communicator in her hand before looking back at him. “I’m surprised Dean didn’t want to make this delivery. Usually he’s the only one who deals with me.”
“Dean Winchester’s dead.”
“What?” That fact stunned her more than anything her father could have said to her. “What?” she said, leaning back against the filth covered wall of the prison. “When?”
“About five years ago. He was fired with extreme prejudice.” Bela was silent for a long time, before Castiel looked over at her with a glare. “Can we move this along, please? I have things to do.”
“Of course,” she replied softly, before going to open up the communicator. As she did, however, the world fell out from under her.
Bela was a time traveler. She had been in and out of different time periods so many times, she could do most of it in her sleep, but the sudden shock of her moving was enough to scare the living daylights out of her. She was falling, and feeling the rough winds of time whipping around her, and she tried scrambling for purchase, reaching out for anything she could hold on to, but none of it stopped until there was the crash of her hitting water. And then she was drowning.
She could swim, of course-it was one of the few skills she learned as a child that were actually useful. Her brain wasn’t processing that now, though. All it was thinking about how there was water everywhere, and she couldn’t breathe. She flailed, her arms and legs kicking to get to the surface, and eventually she was able to break through to the top, taking in a breath of air and water that left her coughing and sputtering, and she still couldn’t breathe.
“Sam? I think someone just-landed in the pool.”
“What-Jesus Christ.”
There was another splash somewhere near her, one that wasn’t her own, and suddenly she was being hauled up into the air, enough that she could breathe. The person, whoever it was, pressed her up against some kind of wall.
“Easy, sweetheart. Just breathe. I got you.”
Eventually her head started to clear, and she realized that she recognized that voice. “Sam?”
The man pulled back, looking just about as stunned as she felt. “Bela?”
She had never been so bloody happy to see Sam Axe in her life. She threw her arms around his shoulders, clinging to him for dear life because she wasn’t sure what loophole had been worked to get her out of there, but she was never ever going back.
“Okay, alright-I’m happy to see you too.”
“Friend of yours?”
Bela tipped her head back, meeting the eyes of the woman standing above her, training a shotgun on her. “Girlfriend, Sam?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Sam sighed as he pulled back from her once she had a firm grip on the side of the pool. “Fiona Glenanne, Bela Talbot. She’s from my time period.”
“A time agent?”
“God, no,” she sighed, pushing herself up on the side of the pool, taking state of what was left of the clothing she was wearing. “I wouldn’t work for those monsters if they offered me the world.”
“I think I like her already.”
Sam smirked as he helped her up, before looking her over. “Bela’s a thief. A thief, who if things look about right, hasn’t seen the light of day in almost a decade.”
“Seven years,” Bela supplied. “And my apologies to your pool but I haven’t seen a decent bath in that long either.”
“Lemme guess-fourteenth century?”
“Thereabout.”
“No offense, kiddo, but you smell it,” he sighed, before looking over at Fiona. “Fi, if you don’t mind taking her upstairs and getting her cleaned up so that she feels more like a human again? I’m-gonna go call Sam.”
“Sam?” Bela frowned. “Sam who?”
“Sam Winchester,” Fiona replied, taking her arm and guiding her back towards the house. Bela wasn’t sure if that was the Sam Winchester “Do you know what year it is?”
“Haven’t a clue.”
“Early 2009,” she sighed. “Lawrence, Kansas.”
“Kansas?” Bela frowned. “Why on earth would the agency send me to Kansas in the early twenty-first century?”
“I don’t think that they are the ones who let you out,” Fiona replied, guiding her into the bathroom and opening the door for her. “I think you’ve just been recruited into Torchwood.”
879 words
She spent seven years in the dark.
She didn’t realize how long it had been until they took her out, and even then there wasn’t much warning. In fact, there was none at all. They handed her the communicator, claiming that it had a message she didn’t want from a person she never wanted to see again. The idea that her father had decided to reach out to her while she was in prison was a laughable one at best, never mind the fact that she didn’t want to hear from him at all. She should have refused it. But there was something about the way Castiel said it that made it seem like there was something more to it. So she took it.
“How long has it been? Since they shoved me down here?”
Castiel swallowed. “Seven years.”
She nodded, studying the communicator in her hand before looking back at him. “I’m surprised Dean didn’t want to make this delivery. Usually he’s the only one who deals with me.”
“Dean Winchester’s dead.”
“What?” That fact stunned her more than anything her father could have said to her. “What?” she said, leaning back against the filth covered wall of the prison. “When?”
“About five years ago. He was fired with extreme prejudice.” Bela was silent for a long time, before Castiel looked over at her with a glare. “Can we move this along, please? I have things to do.”
“Of course,” she replied softly, before going to open up the communicator. As she did, however, the world fell out from under her.
Bela was a time traveler. She had been in and out of different time periods so many times, she could do most of it in her sleep, but the sudden shock of her moving was enough to scare the living daylights out of her. She was falling, and feeling the rough winds of time whipping around her, and she tried scrambling for purchase, reaching out for anything she could hold on to, but none of it stopped until there was the crash of her hitting water. And then she was drowning.
She could swim, of course-it was one of the few skills she learned as a child that were actually useful. Her brain wasn’t processing that now, though. All it was thinking about how there was water everywhere, and she couldn’t breathe. She flailed, her arms and legs kicking to get to the surface, and eventually she was able to break through to the top, taking in a breath of air and water that left her coughing and sputtering, and she still couldn’t breathe.
“Sam? I think someone just-landed in the pool.”
“What-Jesus Christ.”
There was another splash somewhere near her, one that wasn’t her own, and suddenly she was being hauled up into the air, enough that she could breathe. The person, whoever it was, pressed her up against some kind of wall.
“Easy, sweetheart. Just breathe. I got you.”
Eventually her head started to clear, and she realized that she recognized that voice. “Sam?”
The man pulled back, looking just about as stunned as she felt. “Bela?”
She had never been so bloody happy to see Sam Axe in her life. She threw her arms around his shoulders, clinging to him for dear life because she wasn’t sure what loophole had been worked to get her out of there, but she was never ever going back.
“Okay, alright-I’m happy to see you too.”
“Friend of yours?”
Bela tipped her head back, meeting the eyes of the woman standing above her, training a shotgun on her. “Girlfriend, Sam?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Sam sighed as he pulled back from her once she had a firm grip on the side of the pool. “Fiona Glenanne, Bela Talbot. She’s from my time period.”
“A time agent?”
“God, no,” she sighed, pushing herself up on the side of the pool, taking state of what was left of the clothing she was wearing. “I wouldn’t work for those monsters if they offered me the world.”
“I think I like her already.”
Sam smirked as he helped her up, before looking her over. “Bela’s a thief. A thief, who if things look about right, hasn’t seen the light of day in almost a decade.”
“Seven years,” Bela supplied. “And my apologies to your pool but I haven’t seen a decent bath in that long either.”
“Lemme guess-fourteenth century?”
“Thereabout.”
“No offense, kiddo, but you smell it,” he sighed, before looking over at Fiona. “Fi, if you don’t mind taking her upstairs and getting her cleaned up so that she feels more like a human again? I’m-gonna go call Sam.”
“Sam?” Bela frowned. “Sam who?”
“Sam Winchester,” Fiona replied, taking her arm and guiding her back towards the house. Bela wasn’t sure if that was the Sam Winchester “Do you know what year it is?”
“Haven’t a clue.”
“Early 2009,” she sighed. “Lawrence, Kansas.”
“Kansas?” Bela frowned. “Why on earth would the agency send me to Kansas in the early twenty-first century?”
“I don’t think that they are the ones who let you out,” Fiona replied, guiding her into the bathroom and opening the door for her. “I think you’ve just been recruited into Torchwood.”
879 words