Infected - ALL - OPEN

[karen2]

Taking a deep breath on Will's count of two, Ben steeled himself and tapped the panel once more on three. Everything went dark and silent--almost frighteningly so. And then he waited. For one instant he thought he felt the electromagnetic pulse as it move passed him, and he hoped that it had reached the four people that lay ill in med bay.

After a moment of pure and utter silence had gone by, Ben heard Will telling him to turn the ship back on. He obliged hastily, and a few seconds later the lights flickered back on and he could hear the distant whir as the engines started back up. Taking a moment to heave a hefty sigh, he then stepped out into the hall with his comm at his ear as he waited anxiously for Ally to respond to Will's question.

Quite abruptly the scene before Natalie changed. One moment she was crying over her father's dead body, and the next she was drifting in a strange, unconnected emptiness. And then she was in her body again. She felt drained, like she'd just run a marathon. Accompanying this, she was suffering from the world's worst headache and an uncomfortable pain in her chest.

Where am I? What's going on? The first question, she found she could answer by what she could hear and feel. She could tell that she was lying on something, and there were beeping noises from nearby that sounded like medical machinery. So she was in med bay, then. The second question, however, remained open.

"Will?" she asked groggily. Had that been his voice? She was fairly sure she'd heard him. He was asking someone something, that much was clear just by the tone he was using. She'd open her eyes to check, but even through her tightly shut eye-lids she could tell that there were bright lights above her, and they wouldn't do anything for the pounding in her head.

Ben heard Natalie's voice in the background when he opened the frequency to Alliana's comm, and he felt mild hope rise in his chest. So she'd woken up. While she wasn't the one he was really waiting on, it was good that at least one of them had come around already. It meant that the others would, too. At least, they damn well better. "That's one. How are the others?"

[William Blake]

Coming back to reality had never been such a relief. Anna knew that she was no longer dreaming because of the severe pain in her hands, the feeling of complete exhaustion, and the sounds around her. With a rasping cough that felt like she was choking up her own lungs, her back arched on the bed, and she wheezed, coughing more to clear her throat. Her back touched the mattress again, and her eyes fluttered open, blinking against the bright light.

She let out a groan, her body was in pain, but at least her mind was her own again. They must have figured out what was wrong and come up with a cure. Another relief. "My throat feels like its been through a combined harvester," she croaked, her accent still detectable. At least she hadn't lost her sense of self along the way, similes and all.

Ally wandering near her bed, she'd been crying and looked sick with worry. Anna mustered a smile for her, and a, "hey," before casting her eyes further around the infirmary. Penn seemed to be coming round, he was lying on another bed, and Luke was just across from her on the other side of Ally, his eyes fluttered open too. Natalie said something about Will, and that prompted Anna to ask, "where's Ben?" He'd been able to knock her out before she'd hurt him, she was sure of it. So, where was he?

The sight of his Dad faded into darkness, and instead of continuing to relive the memory, he got a cracking headache instead. "Shit a brick," he muttered, reaching up to press his hand to his forehead, only to wince and yank it away again. The console had beaten his head up good and proper. Stupid piece of technology.

Forcing his eyes open, everything came into focus. His other hand was still warm from someone's touch, and quickly, everything came back to him. "Ally," he said urgently, looking for her. He hadn't been able to see what damage he'd caused when he'd hulked out back on the flightdeck, tossing that damn chair across the room. Had he hurt her? Was she okay?

Will didn't need to wait for a reply. He heard Natalie's voice loud and clear over Alliana's comms. And no sooner had the word left her lips, he was sprinting back towards the medical bay to see her. His plan had worked, thank the Lord. All he wanted now was to see her awake and hold her.

He slowed as he reached the door, wrenching it open in order to get inside. Everyone was coming round and beginning to feel the after effects of the virus. At least, as far as he could see, the nanobots weren't in control any more, and they were safe. He immediately made his way over to Natalie's bed, crouching down beside her. "I'm here," he said, taking her hand in his, planting a fervent kiss against her skin, "you have no idea how happy I am that you're awake." If his plan hadn't worked, then he probably would have fallen to pieces.

[Natalie Blake]

The sound of Anna's voice, even rough and sore, could have rivaled an angelic choir. She was awake. Thank whatever god answered my prayers, Ben thought fervently, picking up his pace. He stepped into med bay just after Will and instantly rushed over to Anna's bedside. "Hey there, beautiful," he said, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Don't do that again, all right?"

The relief in his voice instantly removed any accusation behind his teasing words, and he only just held back from pull her into a hug. Beaten up as she was, she probably wouldn't appreciate it much. Instead he made to with just touching her--her face, her hair, her arms--to reassure himself that she was really there, safe. It took him a moment to register that she was still topless.

Glancing around himself, Ben located her wayward shirt on the floor not to far off and hastily picked it up. "As gorgeous as you are, I think it's time we cover you back up."

When she heard Will's voice again, closer this time, Natalie eased her eyes open to look at him. Aside from looking a little harried, he appeared to be okay, and she felt a little better knowing that she hadn't hurt him, at least. She pulled her hand from his after he'd kissed it, reaching up to touch his cheek and smiling at him softly.

After a moment she tried to sit up, but the movement made pain lance through her chest and she fell back with a cut-off moan, grimacing. "Christ, what happened?" she grumbled, bringing her hand to rest over her heart, "I feel like I went a round with a professional boxer who nailed me one in the chest." Not the best analogy, perhaps, but it was true.

[William Blake]

There were mere moments between Anna enquiring as to Ben's whereabouts and him walking in through the door. It was like he'd heard her, maybe he had. Ally's comms could have been on or something. But, whether he had heard or not, it didn't really matter, he was here, and that was all that mattered. She chuckled, and coughed again. "Don't worry," she said, "I don't have any plans for a repeat performance in the near future."

Ben seemed to be giving her a once over, confirming to himself that she was okay. Those that had been ill had obviously gone through a lot, but she could only begin to imagine what Ben, Will, and Ally had gone through. She knew that if their positions had been reversed, she would have been a wreck. It hadn't been long since their last terrible incident, so to go through this right after was so painful.

Anna hadn't even realised that she was topless, her body was so warm. "Well, I certainly don't remember doing that," she said, taking the top from him, pulling it back over her body. "I didn't do a drunken table dance as well, did I?" Oddly enough, having Ben seeing her without her top on didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. It was a good sign. She reached for Ben's hand, taking it in both of her own red and damaged hands, bearing the pain. They'd been apart too long. If this experience had taught her anything, it was that she didn't want him to go anywhere.

Will smiled at Natalie in return, glad to see her open her eyes and look at him properly. With every passing moment he was more and more sure that she was going to be okay. He reached out with one of her hands to stop her from sitting up properly, that wasn't the best idea right now. "Not a boxer exactly," he said, "but the defibrillator packs quite a punch." He could imagine taking that shock four times to the chest would hurt.

That statement was probably only going to cause confusion. Natalie didn't know that she had actually been dead for a moment back there. Anna didn't know either. They had torn the men's nerves to shreds in the process. "I'll explain everything later," he promised, taking a hold of her hand again, "for now, just rest," then he added, "please."

[Natalie Blake]

"Good, good," Ben said, chuckling. This giddy relief was odd, but at least it was because Anna was okay. She seemed honestly surprised when he handed her the shirt, as if she hadn't even noticed its absence, and her conclusion, while not very serious to begin with, made him smirk a little. "No, no, there was no drunken table dances," he assured her.

But he held back from telling her what had actually happened, glancing over at Will to see if it looked as though he'd told Natalie. It didn't, at least, not as of yet, and so when he turned back to Anna and she took his hand, holding it tightly, he said nothing. "We still need to bandage these, don't we?" he noted, bringing his other hand up so he could examine knuckles. But he made no move to leave her side; he didn't want to.

Natalie's brow furrowed, and she blinked at Will couple of times in confusion. "A defibrillator? Why would you--" she cut off, shaking her head slowly. "Wait, no, you're not saying... I didn't... I wasn't... was I?" Even she barely understood what she was saying, but hopefully Will would understand what she meant.

He asked her to rest then, and for a brief second she considered arguing with him. She wanted to know what had happened, she didn't want to have to wait until later. But the almost worried-sounding "please" he tacked on made her still, and she abandoned all thought of contending with him. "Okay," she murmured, gently squeezing the hand he had wrapped around her own. Trying to joke with him, she added, "But only because you asked nicely."

[Alliana Porter]

Suddenly the lights flickered off and the ship grew eerily silent. Her breath was the only sound reverberating in her ears, that and the constant thump of her nervous heart. She heard Will's voice break through her commlink and it momentarily caught her off guard. "Huh.. Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Everyones still alive." Alliana felt so small in the darkness. It began go grow cold, and goosebumps found there way before long. After pacing to keep warm she sat back down in between Luke and Penn, huddling in a fetal position for warmth.

As instantly as they had shut off, they hummed back on. The sound of Anna's deep breath and gasp for air brought her mind back to safety. "Oh thank heavens you're alive!" she squealed in a rather high pitched tone. Her voice rose so high it would probably never happen again. As Anna breathed her greeting, Ben tore down the hallway and flung himself though the doorway. She chuckled lightly to herself watching the two of them blissfully thankful. She had saved Anna's life yet again, and expected nothing in return. Will and John returned as well. Natalie came round and Will was to her side. She waited....silently.

And then she heard it. A curse of sorts but it was such a perfect moment. He was alive. He called her name, and she responded with heavy tears in her eyes, taking his hands in hers. Ally pushed onto his chest, fervently kissing him as the tears of happiness fell down her face. "I thought I'd lost you forever darling. I...I was so scared for you. I thought I'd never see you alive again." She could barely even speak through her wet mess, but she was sure he'd understand. Ally cupped his face, applying another kiss. "My beloved is alive."

His face still looked a mess. He would need stitches for the cut on his forehead and there was dried blood and bruises covering most of it. That would be her next goal, but for now...now she just needed to hear his voice. He had been to hell and back, but all he really needed now was to feel appreciated and know that he was loved.

[~ ADMIN]

Luke didn't really get much of a chance to react before Ally was all over him, peppering his face with wet kisses. He felt a little disorientated for a moment, but didn't complain. "Hey, hey, hey," he said, cupping his hands around hers to get her to stop for a moment, that's when he saw the scabs all up and down her arms and sucked in a breath. Damn, those had been his fault. "I'm so sorry," he said, "so, so sorry." His apology was for a mixture of hurting her and scaring the life out of her with all this, even if it hadn't been his fault. "I never meant to hurt you."

It was only then that he really realised that he was in the infirmary, and that there were other people around them as well; it seemed like it wasn't just him that had come down with this. Before oh so gracefully incapcitated himself, he remember having a brief inkling as to what this was. He had studied engineering at college after all. "It was a nanovirus, wasn't it?" he asked Ally, remembering the itching sensation at the back of his neck. He was pretty sure, but he wanted her to confirm it. If so, then this was probably a deliberate attack on the crew.

"Phew," Anna said with an overexaggerated sigh, "I'd never done it in the past, I wasn't going to start now." She was glad she'd kept some dignity through all this, mostly through pleading with Ben to knock her out. If he hadn't, she didn't know what she would have done. Having the chief tactical officer running round completely off her nut had not been a good idea.

Ben cast his eyes over to the others and Anna did the same, there were happy reunions all around, Ally with Luke especially. The men had been able to keep it together somewhat, but Ally had crumpled into a tearful mess all over Luke. Anna couldn't blame her really. As she soon as she could get up off this bed, she would go over and give the woman a hug. She needed it.

Ben caught her attention again. "Yes," she said, "anything with numbing effects would be great too. Painkillers, alcohol, both." Maybe not both, they didn't want her to be comatose again. She was glad that he was there with her now. Usually, he wasn't really one for emotional stuff, it made him take to the hills, but this time he was staying. "Thank you," she said, giving him a small smile.

Will cleared his throat and nodded in reply to her broken question. "The most painful moment of my life, believe me," he said, and he'd had a lot of them, "and one that I don't wish to repeat." Ever. Going through all this had been hard enough. It was like life kept throwing crap at him, and he had to just take it in his stride. At least there had been a positive end to this one, in that Natalie had survived.

He let out a small laugh at her joke. "Good." Even though she'd been unconscious for the last couple of hours, she would need sleep. Her body had gone through one hell of a lot, and Will needed the time to check over everyone and make sure that the nanobots were truly dead now. They'd have to find a way to remove the remnants from their bodies, but that could wait.

[karen2]

A smirk crawled onto Ben's face at Anna's comment about numbing agents. "Painkillers I can do, but I think we'll take a rain-check on the alcohol," he joked, mussing her hair playfully. He then leaned in to plant a quick kiss on her forehead before before going to grab the things he'd need to tend to her hands.

"For what?" he asked nonchalantly as he returned, brushing off her gratitude effortlessly. "You know me, I'm not one to sit around and twiddle my thumbs. Always have to be right smack in the middle of all the drama." In truth, there was no way he could have left her like that, without knowing if she was going to pull through or not. Now that he knew she would, though, it was easy enough for him to joke around.

After he'd finished disinfecting and bandaging Anna's fingers, Ben got up to go and get her a glass of water and some painkillers. Handing her the pills, he slipped a hand under her neck to help support her head while she downed them and helped her take a few sips of water. No doubt she wasn't enjoying him babying her like this, but he'd done it so many times for his sister that it was almost second nature.

"How about you get some sleep now?" he chided, setting the glass down on a nearby counter. "I've got nowhere to go, I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise."

Will understood what Natalie had been trying to say immediately, and when he nodded she fell back on the mattress listlessly. So she'd almost died. His words made her remember her dream, and she shuddered a little. Her father's death had seemed so real, so vivid... "I know what you mean," she mumbled quietly. After a moment she pulled herself out of the memory and shook her head a little, looking back up at Will and flashing him a half-hearted smile.

"Hey, when I wake up, remind me to call my parents, okay? I... haven't heard from them in a while, and it would probably be a good idea to tell them about what happened. You know, so they hear it from me and know that I'm okay and all that." Truthfully, she just wanted to make sure that her father was all right. It may have just been a dream, but she was still worried.

But she could think about that later. Right then, all that Natalie wanted was to sleep for as long as she possibly could. Squeezing Will's hand again, she shifted a little so that she was more comfortable and let her eyes fall shut.

[Alliana Porter]

Ally choked back another wave, slowly coming back to sanity. Luke took hold her of and she stopped, reeling back the fact that she had probably overwhelmed him. He began to apologize and she wouldn't have any of it. "It...it's fine. It's nothing. " She looked away from his piercing blue eyes, unable to face him. "You weren't yourself. It...doesn't even hurt." She lied. In fact, her arms still felt like a million and one needles driving into her arm, but the heart ache of losing him would've been much worse.

She sniffled again, and swallowed down the sadness that was no more. "Yes....Anna...Anna and Natalie flatlined. But we brought them back. It was probably an attack, yes." she caught his thought, and replied. "I Don't, don't know who would do something like that. Or get such close access to us." Ally reached around as shie finished, grabbing an ice pack for his, probably throbbing head, and laid it against his skin. 'How are you feeling?" As concerned as she was for who attacked them, there were more important things right now, such as taking care of her loved ones.

Anna had Ben, Natalie had Will. Penn, would have Kiri, except that he wasn't as heavily affected it seemed. That left Luke in Ally's hands, and she wouldn't leave his side. She wouldn't overwhelm him of course, not too much nurturing, or mothering, more or less just...company, and there to make tea every once in a while. She hadn't even asked if he liked tea it was sort of just her own habit. "Sorry If I overwhelm you..I'm just glad you're alive."

[~ ADMIN]

"Bah, shucks," Anna joked when Ben said that she should take a rain-check on the alcohol. She hadn't been completely serious, she just needed something to numb the pain, then preferably knock her out for a while; something that meant she would have a dreamless sleep. The dreams she'd had before were enough to last someone a life time.

She didn't even bother to retort to him messing with her hair, she didn't have the energy; she'd tickle him later or something. "Of course, dear," she replied, smiling at him. There he was, waving off her thanks. It didn't make her any less thankful, but she knew it was typical of him. He bandaged her hands and made her take her tablets rather effortlessly, like he'd had a fair amount of practice. With his sister maybe? Of course, she didn't like it, but she didn't complain either, she just let him take the reigns for now.

"Now there's a suggestion I'm willing to take you up on," she said, her eyelids already heavy. Slowly, she let her eyes close, mumbling, "I'm holding you to that." And she was out.

Will wasn't exactly sure what Natalie was thinking about, but when she mentioned her parents, he nodded, "of course," he said, making a mental note. It didn't really matter what the reasons were behind it, at least she had her parents to talk to and tell these things to. He knew he would have appreciated it.

He watched her as she drifted off to sleep, smoothing over her hair before planting a light kiss on her nose. Now he could get to work figuring out if they really were okay now, and how this all happened in the first place.

It certainly didn't look like nothing, and her telling him that she was okay wasn't going to stop him from feeling guilty about it, whether he'd been in control of his body or not. "Liar," he muttered, reaching up to push a strand of hair from her face. He knew she was only trying to make him feel better.

He listened and nodded as Ally told him what happened. They must have been through complete and utter hell, especially with Natalie and Anna flatlining. The ladies were two of the most well loved on the ship, if either of them hadn't have made it, it probably would have affected most of the crew.

"Well," she applied the ice to his head, like she'd read his mind, "my head feels like it was walloped with a hammer, and my body aches, but otherwise..." he would be fine. "I know," he said, "I know. I'm glad you're okay too." If he faced up to reality, the cuts on her arms would heal and she would be fine, he just wished she hadn't been injured in the first place. He stifled a yawn, rubbing his eyes. "Ugh," he said, closing his eyes, "stupid virus." Yes, he was acting like five year old, but he had a feeling Ally would forgive him.

[Alliana Porter]

Ally breathed a small chuckle as he brushed the hair away from her face. The stress had made her sweat, and she was sure she looked a damn bloody mess. "Well, if you need me...I guess you know I'll be there for you. Always." She reached down and lightly stroked his cheek with her finger and kissed the very tip of his nose with a smirk.

"I didn't even ask you if you liked tea. Luke, do you like tea?" She scoffed a small laugh, trying to lighten his mood a little. "You know....I'm probably gonna love taking care of you just a little too much."

[Luke Martin]

"Good to know," Luke said with a smile. It didn't matter how much of a mess Ally looked, she was always perfect to him, no question about it. When she kissed him on the nose, he smirked. "How about you try a little bit further down?" he suggested, patting his lips with his finger. Just because he was tired and sore, didn't mean he couldn't be cheeky. That boyish behaviour of his was always lurking just beneath the surface.

Luke chuckled, it was a bit late to be asking him if he liked tea, considering he'd sent the last cup smashing to the floor. "I'm okay with tea," he said. He wasn't really a hot drinks person. "You know I don't need taking care of," he said. He was used to doing everything himself, and taking care of other people, not the other way around. But, he wasn't going to stop her.

[Alliana Porter]

'You're a mess. At least you're cute" she teased back, slowly hovering her lips down to kiss his own, waiting in anxious anticipation. It probably wasn't what he expected, short and sweet, but it would keep him going for a while. Her hair was already a oily mess, so she tugged at the band, and let her curls tumble to her shoulder.

Folding her arms on the side of the bed, she rested her chin on her hands. "It doesn't always have to come hot if you don't like it.." she whispered, raising her eyebrow slightly. From the corner of her eye, she watched Anna, and Natalie drift off to rest. Luke would probably be there soon, he needed it, or looked like he did at least. "You need some taking care of Mr. Ego. You were just on death's door and you're gonna need stitches, and lots of rest. That and I sort of just want to spoil you." she replied with a cheeky grin.

[Luke Martin]

Luke snorted with laughter, "thanks," he said in a slightly sarcastic tone, before she actually did as he suggested. The kiss wasn't anything gallant, but then, it probably wasn't wise in the infirmary in front of everyone else, it would keep him ticking over either way. He watched her hair tumble down against her shoulder and smiled. It was beautiful hair.

"Mr. Ego," he chortled, "well, as long as you don't dress me in a hospital gown, I'll let you do pretty much whatever you want." Most people had a problem with those things, they weren't exactly dignifying. "Speaking of rest..." he shifted slightly so he was more comfortable. He closed his eyes, then thought of something, opening one eye again. "Do you have to do the stitches before I sleep?" He had this image of her trying to stitch his head while he was unconscious and grimaced.

[Alliana Porter]

"I don't need you in a hospital gown. Not that I haven't seen that fine rear of yours before." she leaned in to whisper quietly with a smirk. She stood up from her chair, picking up a bottle from a shelf. "Clearly you've never been stitched up by this before. " Ally twisted at the lid and winced at it's scent as it filled the air. "Smells like death, I know, but here." She used the small foam brush enclosed in the lid, and applied a thin layer of the thick liquid to his forehead. "Sorry if it stings. It should dry fairly quickly, and they won't need to be pulled out. " She capped the bottle and slid it back into it's nook.

"I...I guess I should let you rest. I'm gonna head off for a shower and some rest. But..please, let me know if I can do anything for you. I'll check back in a bit, but you'll probably be asleep. " She sucked her bottom lip for a moment, hating to leave his side. "I love you." she whispered softly, leaning down to give him the passionate kiss he was expecting. "Don't ever scare me like that again." she smiled, after letting go. "Rest darling, you need it more than you know."