Drone

XXVI

XXVI

A mere foot from clasping his hands around Wasp's neck, Ratel felt the rock smack into the back of his head. He whipped around with a surprised, furious glare while Wasp blinked in surprise. He hadn't yet broken the bonds, but he was just about to.

Phoebe was standing there at the tree line. Her breathing was hard, her clothing was mussed, and all of her jewelry but for her amber pendant had been lost in the trees.

“Phoebe? How did you-?” Wasp looked confused

“Phoebe!” Ratel snarled, unprepared for her.

Phoebe took in a deep breath, clenching her hands tight into fists as she snapped at Ratel, “If you want him, you have to get through me!”

The dumbfounded looks on their faces would have been comical had the situation not been so serious.

Ratel looked back at Wasp then to Phoebe again. The thought was clear on his face: she wasn't standing between him and Wasp.

“You know what I mean! Don't you touch him!” Phoebe took a few steps forward and hesitated. What exactly was she going to do? She hadn't thought that far.

“How did you get back here?” Wasp asked as Ratel stepped away from him slightly.

Ratel wasn't afraid of Phoebe but her interruption in his moment of victory startled him. Wasp took full advantage of Ratel's hesitation to put more energy into healing his arm so that he could stand and fight again.

Wasp didn't know if Phoebe could sense that he needed time or was just so scared that she began babbling, but she started speaking and he used the moments that Ratel was watching her, entranced, to heal himself.

“I still had that key you gave me and Dorone spoke the password for me and Jean is freaking out back at her place because that jerk screwed with her memories! Also, everyone from Second Point is losing their minds and I really tried to call to order but I'm not sure how well that worked and you can't die out here Wasp because everyone needs you! I need you! I really tried to keep everyone calm but really I just wanted to freak out myself but I can't freak out when everyone else is freaking out so when we get back to Nest and you've had a chance to calm everyone down properly I am going to freak out so hard on you so you can't die!”

Phoebe finished loudly then took a deep breath like all of that had just rushed out from her like steam escaping a tea pot.

Ratel blinked, still startled by her appearance. He wasn't exactly sure what to do about her. Did he attack her or did he turn back to continued draining Wasp? And if he did the latter would Phoebe be able to stop him?

Behind him, Wasp couldn't stop his outcry of agony as his healing finally restored his burned nerves and pain from all the way down his arm started shooting up to his brain like fire.

“Wasp!”

Phoebe started to run forward. Ratel reacted automatically and threw a blast of energy at her. Phoebe jumped back and landed on her butt, avoiding the energy only slightly as it made a small smoking crater right at her feet.

“Hey! You tried to hit me!” Phoebe glared at him as she climbed back to her feet.

“You asked for it!” Ratel drew back his hand and threw another blast.

Phoebe cried out and jumped to the side. She didn't fall this time but she almost did. She scrambled back up just in time to feel the energy bash into the ground, incinerating the dirt there.

“Phoebe!” Wasp forced himself up.

His left shoulder was bleeding from the delicate skin being torn, his right arm was burning because the skin was still so raw and exposed. He wouldn't have time to finish healing them completely. He only needed to be able to fight with them. The pain was secondary, he would just have to endure and overcome it until later.