If she had wings she would fly away,
And another day God will give her some.
Trouble is the only way is down.
As strong as you were, tender you go.
I'm watching you breathing for the last time.
A song for your heart, but when it is quiet,
I know what it means and I'll carry you home.
I'll carry you home.
=============================
All it takes is for them to have a good night, loves. Or for you to be off your game. So don't. Don't make it easy for them. Don't give 'em an off day. Make the bastards work for it.She's heard Spike say it innumerable times, but she keeps the urge to roll her eyes and make faces behind his back firmly, very firmly, in check. Because it's the truth. Because they need to hear it. Over and over again, they need to be reminded that they are not as invincible as it seems they are. They're quick to spot and knock out the overconfidence in all of them. They can't let them get cocky. Strong and deadly as they are, all it takes is one mistake. Because the other side, they things they fight, they're just as strong, they're just as deadly.
They can't let them forget it, but sometimes the best lessons come at a terrible price.
=============================
Only eight girls went in. It was cramped and dark in the mines and it was decided that a smaller group would be more efficient. Polgara demons aren't terribly bright, but they're violent and strong and fast and extremely hard to kill, and the dark isn't a handicap to them. There were only four of them; four against eight, the advantage should've been theirs.
Baileigh didn't see it happen. Jessie never cried out--couldn't , most likely, with one razor-sharp shard of bone running her through and the other cutting across her chest. She didn't see her fall, and it was probably better that way. She would've stopped, she would've hesitated and wanted to go to her and most likely would've gotten herself killed as well. It wasn't until Faye screamed that she realized something had gone wrong.
She'd slipped in the blood and all but fallen right on top of her. That was how she'd found her, and she'd wailed and called for Baileigh in a panic as the last Polgara tried to flee. Valkyrie, Beth Ann and Ruby moved to chase after it, and Baileigh pressed a hand to the cut on her own shoulder to slow the bleeding, followed the sound of Faye's voice.
"What happened," she asked, but the moment the question left her mouth, it was answered. She heard the wet rattle as Jessie struggled for her lasts breaths, she saw the faint outline of her body and felt blood soak into the legs of her jeans as she knelt down. "
No," she half-snarled, her own injury forgotten as she tossed her weapon aside and fumbled around in the dark to find Jessie's wounds, to stop the bleeding even though part of her knew it was useless. "No no no,
NO, Jess, hang on, it's gonna be okay--"
But it wouldn't be okay. Too much blood on the ground and she could feel...feel things beneath her fingers that shouldn't be outside the body. There was no light or life in Jessie's eyes...or maybe she just couldn't see them. Maybe she was looking beyond them. They'd never know for sure. Jessie exhaled another breath, and didn't draw in another, and 17 years of life ended in an old, forgotten mine, no last words, no messages, no prayers. She died.
No one said anything...no one knew what to say. They'd never lost one of their own before. A friend, a comrade, a sister-in-arms. The first casualty.
Another pilot down, Baileigh thought dully, reached down to slide Jessie's eyes closed and, because old habits die hard, touched her fingers to her forehead, her chest and both shoulders. She heard the pound of six feet against rock and knew Valkyrie, Beth Ann and Ruby were all right, heard their steps slow as they approached. "
Fuck," she heard Beth Ann swear, soft and low, almost as though she hadn't meant to say it at all. Ruby knelt down on the other side of Jessie's body, eyes wide and sparkling strangely. "
She's dead? But...no. Demon, not man. Men come back...vampires. Vampires kill like demons, but demons are dead..."
I'm not gonna fall apart, Baileigh thought, biting down hard on her lower lip, Ruby's quiet confusion threatening to make her do just that.
I'm not gonna cry. She slipped her uninjured arm beneath Jessie's back, intending to pick her up, but Valkyrie stopped her, a firm hand pressing down on her shoulder before the other Slayer knelt down and effortlessly lifted the body from the ground. "
I got her, Solis." She couldn't see Valkyrie's expression. She wondered what she was thinking. She wondered what she should say to the six remaining faces she knew were looking at her. Waiting for words. Waiting to be comforted. Waiting for her to say something that would make sense of the things they were feeling. Some eloquent phrase that would make it all better.
She didn't have the words. She wondered if they existed at all.
"Go," she murmured to Valkyrie as Beth Ann clicked on a slender flashlight to guide their path. "Let's get her home."
Eight went in. Only seven walked back out.
And someone's little girl was taken from the world tonight.
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Word Count: 855
OOC note: Valkyrie is ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
not_noble. Ruby is rubymason. Beth Ann is morsus_mihi. Spike is follow_my_blood. Used with permission because their mun owns my soul. :P Also, this is a bit future jumpy--didn't happen 'today' or really anytime soon, probably, but the muse didn't want to wait to write it. 
