Romancing the Pain - Part 21
Title: Romancing the Pain
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pepa/Silvia
Summary: Post episode 104 as well as my last fic, Come Back to Me. It’s basically its sequel; the events that occur after Silvia was released from the hospital.
A/N: Here’s the next chapter; get it while it’s hot, children. *snickers* Special shout out to my wife, juney, who had to read my drunken comment on her latest smut story. *shy smile* Sorry again, honey. To the rest of my readers, I just wanna let y’all know that I really appreciate your continued support and for leaving such fantastic comments. Y’all all totally rock. *throws out cookies* Happy reading!
ROMANCING THE PAIN - Part 21
“Tita?!” Sara’s voice was a step away from a high-pitched panicked squeak. Her eyes widened in horror as she heard disembodied sounds of scuffling and grunts coming through the phone. “PEPA!”
Silvia jumped in reaction to her niece’s scream. She pivoted wildly in her chair, reaching up with one hand to grab the phone. Pressing it to her ear, she winced, hearing the obvious sounds of a fight. Her eyes slammed shut upon hearing Pepa cry out in pain and she shuddered against the tendril of fear that slid down her back. Pepa’s cry reverberated in her head; she could practically taste her wife’s pain and it made her sick to her stomach.
Sara’s frantic shaking of her shoulders forced her eyes to open and she turned confused chocolate eyes to her niece, unable to comprehend Sara’s widely gesturing arms or understand the words spewing out of her mouth in an almost unintelligible babble. It was the beeping from the computer that finally tore away the veil of mental paralysis and Silvia swiveled back around to face the screen.
“Sara, mira! We have Pepa’s location!” Silvia’s critical eyes scanned the image on the screen, the joy in her eyes faltering slightly when her vision soaked up the image of...nothing. “It’s an empty plot of land,” she said, confusion coloring her voice.
Sara, who moments ago were choking up with renewed hope, suddenly felt the dark curtain of despair drape itself over her shoulders again. She shivered against its cold presence and lunged forward for a better view of the map, her face almost hitting the monitor screen in her haste. “What do you mean there’s nothing there?” the younger woman shrieked, hysteria so very clear in her voice. “There has to be something!” Sara’s hands shot out, grabbing either side of the computer screen and giving it a firm shake.
Silvia wrestled Sara’s arms away, making shushing noises towards her distressed niece. “Tranquila, sobrina,” she soothed, trying to convince the younger woman as much as herself. The redhead’s nerves were frazzled but she refused to agitate her niece any further than she already was. She forced Sara to sit onto a stool next to her and picked up the cell phone that was lying open and momentarily forgotten on the tabletop. Hand trembling, she absorbed the sounds of the still ongoing fight that flitted through the device, caressed the side of the phone and brought it up to quivering lips to bestow a kiss onto it. She hoped her action would somehow convey strength to her wife on the other end; strength to hold on. “I love you,” Silvia whispered, her voice cracking under the pressure of her fear and trepidation. Then with a resolve she didn’t know she possessed, she cut off the connection.
Sara went rigid upon Silvia’s closing of the cell phone. Closing their one and only connection to Pepa. Mouth agape, she stared at her aunt in patent disbelief. Silvia caught the penetrating stare, loaded with shock and incredulity. She reached over and caressed, Sara’s cheek, lips quirking in affection when Sara leaned into her touch unconsciously. “She’s strong,” Silvia assured softly. Her lower lip was trembling and she was fighting back tears but she pushed it all down in favor of turning back to the screen to figure out the new mystery in front of them.
Tense minutes ticked by in silence, save for the intermitted clicking of keyboard keys, the muscle in Silvia’s cheek jumping a mile a minute as Silvia’s jaw worked out the woman’s budding frustration and Sara’s ragged breathing.
Silvia refused to let this strand of hope go. She would stare at this image, combing over every detail until she found something that would lead her to her wife. But after what seemed like forever, she still hadn’t come up with a conclusion. Empty plot of land, shrubbery, a rotting, half-torn shed...wait a minute. Silvia’s hand moved the mouse so that the cursor hovered over the satellite image of the shed. She frowned, thinking the structure to be out of place with its surroundings.
“Sara,” Silvia began slowly. She tapped at the image on the screen. “Does that look odd to you?”
Sara fought to control the panic that was bubbling dangerously closer to the surface. She forced herself to concentrate on the screen, eyes scrutinizing the image with a critical eye. “Why would there be a shed in the middle of nowhere?” Sara mumbled, more to herself than to her aunt. She looked to the bottom left of the screen, noting the co-ordinates of the area then glanced at the map of the general area on the top right hand corner. Suddenly she gasped. “Tita! This land used to be used for some military experiment!”
She got up, nudged her aunt aside, and took over the keyboard, using the mouse to click on an icon to pull up the web browser. She typed in something and a page opened up. “Mira!” She pointed excitedly to an article that appeared. “Experimental underground bunkers and tunnels connecting one base to the next. Project abandoned.” Sara turned gleaming eyes to her aunt, who looked back with a mixture of pride and joy simmering in her eyes. “Underground, Silvia! The shed must be a cover up to the entrance!”
Silvia nodded. She bent down and kissed Sara’s cheek, pulling her into a fierce hug afterward. “I’m so proud of you,” she whispered. Then she pulled back and reached for her cell phone, flipping it back open and hitting a speed dial button. She waited for her father’s irritated greeting to burr from the other end. “Papa? I know where Pepa is.”