Bring The Heat

5. Recovery Period

Wren woke up. She was right back in the arena where she had fallen. She sat upright, and noticed she had no more pains. There was no blood, no tears. She was still sitting in a large crater, though...

Cece burst into the arena, yelping and screaming unintelligibly, overflowing with pure energy. BM followed behind, and walked calmly over to Wren. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Very impressive! You're shaping up to be quite something, Wren. And I've gathered a lot of data on your abil-"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" Cece shrieked, shaking Wren by the shoulders. She then ran over to a very queasy-looking Rebound, who shuffled right out the door with a still wild Cece in tow.

"He's not really used to losing to anyone with, uh, your level of experience." BM explained to Wren, rubbing the back of his head in second-hand embarrassment. He noticed Wren was still a little out of it, and staring at her previously messed up hand that was now perfectly fine. "I did actually explain this to you already, but, uh, that's what we were calibrating. In those black clothes is a complete technological vacuum. It simulated your injuries until we deactivated it. You'll still be tired, though - you were still fighting hard! Do you wanna go rest?"

Wren nodded. BM escorted her back to her room. The second he left her, she plopped straight down on her bed and slept like a rock.

Wren woke up much later. She didn't have a clock, but the lights in the room seemed to dim based on the time of day, so she guessed it was late evening. She laid there, and thought about what a crazy day it had been. Shit! She forgot to go back to the apartment and wait for that Chelsea girl! But she was so... tired... she decided to ask BM about it tomorrow. She was just ready to go back to sleep when she heard a knock on her door. She sighed.

"Come in!"

The door slid open. Rebound leaned against the doorway. He was back in his leather jacket outfit, and Wren wondered why he would wear sunglasses when the lights were so dim.

"Hey." she said. She thought it might be easier for him to speak if she started.

"Hey. Look, I'm not a sore loser, okay? I was just... surprised."

Wren sighed.

"Yeah. I get that."

Rebound still stood in the doorway, clicking his tongue awkwardly. After a short while, he paused.

"You... you did good, rookie. Pretty damn good. Mega."

"I just did one smart thing. Not much."

"Whatever. Just... well played, kid."

Rebound walked up to her bed and reached out for a handshake. Drowsily, she gave him a high five instead. He tensed up a bit, then turned and walked out of the room. In the hallway, Wren heard Cece say "What you doin, rat? Bothering the new champion? Guess you still gotta get used to the new food chain around here." She cackled evilly.

Hearing Cece's approach, Wren shot up. She realized she was still in her sweaty fight clothes. Shit.

"Hey new kid! Impressive stuff out there." Cece said, leaning against Wren's doorframe. She was wearing an oversized shirt and a pair of shorts, and was loosely holding her bottle of vodka from earlier.

"I see you've brought me a present of celebration?" Wren said, smoothly. Cece laughed.

"In your dreams, new kid. You're what, like... well, you're underage."

"What? Come onnnnn. Hey, how old are YOU?"

"That's not the point. The negative effects of this stuff," Cece took a swig, "doesn't affect me. Probably to do with my power or something."

"OK... but how old are you anyway?" Wren asked. Cece giggled.

"What's it to you?"

"How old?"

"Old enough!" Cece answered. There was a brief silence, and Wren gave her a 'seriously?' look. Cece went and crouched down next to her bed. "Ugh... I'm 18. Happy?" said, reluctantly. Wren looked at the ceiling and grinned widely.

"I'm 16."

Cece looked down at the ground and bit her lip, chuckling.

"Yeah. Ok, whatever, new kid. I'll see ya tomorrow." she said, ruffling Wren's hair and getting up to leave. She stopped before she reached the door, and turned to look back at Wren.

"And take a shower in the morning. You reek." With that, she left.

"It's the clooooooooooooothes!" Wren yelled.

"I'm not in the room anymore! I can't hear your excuses!" Cece yelled back, mockingly.

Wren rolled over onto her back and looked at the ceiling again. She let out a long sigh, and felt a huge, irremovable smile on her face. She could also still feel the butterflies in her stomach. She liked it here, she decided. Wren closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.