Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 17: Trying to Make Friends

The relief in the lair is palpable when Casey tells everyone that Raphael is going to be okay. While his brothers and Destiny hurry in to see him, Casey makes his way back to the main part of the lair. The laboratory door has been left partially open and, peering in, he can see Sarina sitting at her table, hunched forward with her fingers in her hair.

"Flash?"

She startles, swivelling in the chair as her hands fly to her lap. She looks...frazzled, her eyes red-rimmed, and he's never known her to cry real tears. She gives him a smile that barely lifts at the corners.

"Oh, Casey. Hello. I heard the news about Raphael. It's wonderful that he is alright. Truly."

He stares at her for another second. There are a few things he's come to be an expert in, especially in recent months, and one of those is the art of bullshit: the elite skill of acting like everything is fine when you're really falling apart inside.

He sucks at it. It's a good thing Sarina does too.

"You did a good job," he says. "You figured out the new mutagen."

Her hands form into tight fists against her knees and her soft smile wobbles. "While I...appreciate it, you do not have to flatter me. If it had not been for you and your ghostly friend, we would have lost Raphael."

"No one knows everything. Hell, most of the time, most people don't even know what they're doing from day to day."

"Yes, but I am not most people." She sucks in a sharp breath as her voice threatens to crack and she turns in her chair, sliding it closer to her computer. "Think about getting some sleep, Casey. It has been a long day and an even longer night."

He walks up to her as she types away at her computer, updating some sort of document with notes about "inanimation mutagen." A new name for a new mutagen, he supposes, but he focuses on her.

He leans down and wraps his arms around her, tucking his chin against her shoulder as he gives her a gentle hug. He feels her stiffen for a second, another sharp, held breath that quivers as she lets it back out.

"I'm gonna go and get Donnie if you don't stop," he says. "You need sleep."

"Do not disturb him. He is exhausted," she retorts.

Casey gives her a sideways glance. How can someone so intelligent be so dense?

"You do not understand," Sarina sighs in response to his silence. "I am missing something. If I just spend a little more time combing over every detail—"

Casey pulls away from the hug, shrugging as he throws his hands up. "Alright, I'm getting Donnie."

She rockets to her feet, eyes flashing. "I said do not! Casey!" Casey picks up the pace and he hears her harried footsteps behind him. "Casey, please, he does not need to worry. I will rest! Just not right at this very moment in time." He doesn't stop, turning down the hall to the bedrooms. "Fine! I will stop!"

He turns and aims finger guns at her. "Goongala."

She purses her lips in a pout as she crosses her arms over her chest. "You force my hand."

Despite that, her attention flickers to the bedrooms, and he catches her stifling a yawn into her hand as she moves past him to hers and Destiny's shared room. Casey sighs and heads back to the living room, stretching his arms to the ceiling. He wasn't sure if that would work, but he's glad it did.

"That was interesting to witness."

He jumps, heart skipping a beat. Shadow lays on the swirling platform above the living room, arms draping over the edge as she stares down at him. He presses one hand to his chest even as he collapses onto the bench.