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Chapter 6: The Gift

Gina groggily felt consciousness return to her. There were voices floating in her head.

"Gina! Gina come on! Wake up! You can do it!"

"Get up, drama queen. We don't have all day."

"Gina it's ok. You're safe. Come back to us."

That sounded like... her eyes sprung open and she jumped up wildly. There was a fire. She had to help Quill!

Then Gina swayed and fell down again. Strong arms caught her before she hit anything. Then there was a yelp and she fell the rest of the way to the floor

"I can't touch her!" Someone said in alarm.

She tried to get up again, shouting frantically, "You have to help Quill! He's trapped! Fire! Fire everywhere! Help him! Please!"

It was Vienn's voice that finally brought her out of her panicked state.

"There is no fire, Gina. Quill is here."

"But, there was..."

"The fire was all in you. The change that the nanogenes made in your body were so intense and powerful that we believe that they started to get hot, which is something they should never have done, inside you. You panicked. There seemed to be fire engulfing you from the inside. Then Quill called for help and here we are."

"Thanks," she whispered hoarsely to Quill.

"You're welcome. Teammates, remember? No matter what happened."

His demeanor seemed to suggest a joking attitude like before, but his breathing continually hitched, and he seemed to be just beyond absolute fear.

He certainly is good at controlling what he shows to others, Gina thought to herself. If it was me and he had passed out to the floor while screaming about the fire I would have been in a frenzy right now.

"Alright, everyone. This has given us a good scare. We hadn't anticipated something like this happening. Gina, I am so sorry. We truly had no idea.

Vienn's grim look and the other's apologetic faces made Gina realize that they thought she would be mad. Maybe Ro would be, there wasn't much that didn't make her mad, but not Gina.

"I'm not mad, Vienn. The process was one you weren't even sure would work with our different DNA. You did everything you could to plan for the emergency eventualities."

She added as a reminder, "And I was warned that it would hurt. I chose to go through with this. I told you that this was what I wanted. I'm not angry. I'm just happy that it's done and now I can hopefully help you all with what needs to be done."

Vienn looked relieved. "Maybe we should call it a day now. Teach you two what to do. I don't want anyone else-"

Ro promptly interrupted. "No way Vienn. You signed us up for this thing today, we do it today. The problems will still be there tomorrow. Do it. I'm still on board."

"Me too." Amryn agreed, looking back and forth between Ro and Vienn.

"You understand the dangers?"

"Noted and put aside. Inject me." At least Ro was to the point.

"Follow me, then," the man with the crinkled eyes said, bewildered. The whole scene had switched so fast that it was hard for Gina to keep up. And she was a part of the main situation.

"Do you think we should try experimenting with the-" she tensed as her hands flared in pain again. "Owwww. Owww. That hurts. Stop it hands, stop it."