Who is Magpie?

Ezekiel nearly took the stairs two at a time for the speed he descended at, opening the door slowly only because he expected her to be sleeping. He could hear the robot vacuum someone had released into her cell to clean up the glass shards bouncing off the walls and then something that made a *ting* sound. As he approached he saw it was her untouched dinner someone must have brought down later.

He felt terrible immediately, having not even asked if she was hungry. The guard he had asked to clean her cell and brought the roomba must have talked to her or realized she hadn’t eaten when there was no plate to collect.

He picked up the cold food and placed it on the table, opening the still unlocked door to retrieve the roomba before it could loudly hit another wall. He looked over at Magpie, huddled beneath all the blankets she had, near to the wall. Before he could move to adjust the blanket around her shoulder he remembered the mattresses against the wall, and how she couldn’t seem to stay on the bed before.

As he approached he could see her body quietly trembling, her forehead pressed against the cool wall and her fingers gripping the blankets so firmly from the inside of her cocoon that he could pick out each finger from the outside.

“Magpie?” He whispered.

Despite his soft tone she still jumped at hearing him speak, but didn’t roll over. She clenched her eyes shut tighter, hoping he would believe she was asleep and leave. That wasn’t about to work as he could see her face squinting up.

“Magpie, please look at me.” He begged, and it was that pleading tone and her strange desire to please him that made her finally roll over.

Her face was flushed, making her cheeks look like they took up her entire face, but there was also that one area of pink skin on her forehead where it had been stuck against the wall. The blanket parted in the middle, and she struggled to close the gap and regain her heat. Ezekiel couldn’t help it, he rushed to scoop her in his arms and sit on the bed with her bundled body pressed against his.

“Ezekiel what are you doing!?” She gasped, but leant her face in to rest against his chest anyway.

“You are unwell.” He told her, leaning over just slightly to smell her hair but stopping abruptly.

She nodded against him. “They told me if I ever failed I would not be welcome back, and then I would die a slow and painful death.” She chuckled lightly without any humour. “It’s been so long since I felt real pain, I didn’t believe them. Serves me right.”

“You’re in pain?” Ezekiel worried, petting the hair from her face to try and get a better glimpse of her.

She nodded again. “Almost incessantly since your alpha prime left the cells earlier.”

His mind raced through the rest of that interaction and couldn’t remember her changing at all. Not a wince or a whimper; she hadn’t even made out that she was hurt. He racked his brain, looking for any signs that he could have caught this sooner and prevented her current state, when he remembered… she had asked for an extra blanket.

She sighed and Ezekiel thought it sounded.. almost happy. “You smell like a garden.”

A heat rose through Ezekiel, starting somewhere at the base of his neck and warming up through his face. His heart began pounding and he took several slow breaths before even attempting to speak. He wanted to avoid anything he said from coming out shakily or in a way that could be misconstrued as a lie due to his nervousness.

“You’re not going to die.” He assured. “They lied to you. Your body isn’t failing you because you didn’t kill me, you don’t feel well because the tea they had you on was full of body and mind altering drugs.”

She turned and looked to him then, regarding his face thoroughly, seemingly inspecting every crease and movement his expression made. Then, Magpie sighed, this time more sadly, and buried her face against him further as a violent shiver slithered slowly down her spine. She nodded against his chest, and, reaching out from between the blankets , gripped his shirt tightly..

“I am inclined to believe you. Not because I think you have no reason to lie, but because I am very good at reading people, and you read like only one other person I have ever met.” Magpie told him, catching his gaze for only a moment before she felt uncomfortable and turned away.

He appreciated what he could only assume was a compliment but wanted to confirm. “Is this a good friend of yours?”

She didn’t nod as she said firmly. “I have trusted this person with my life.” Ezekiel absorbed this tidbit of information venerably. “I’ve nearly died in their arms before… it felt differently bad than this. Then I couldn’t breathe, and now…” She looked up at him, blush only noticeable as it spread over her nose. “I suppose that’s the same.”

Her eyes seem to cross as her head drooped back against his arms. “Magpie, don’t pass out on me, stay with me.” He encouraged, worried if she fell asleep that she’d never wake.

She shook her head slightly, picking it up again. “I couldn’t stay awake for her.” Magpie mused. “When I woke she was gone, and I was sent here…” she trailed off, looking at him and wheezing slightly.

He touched his forehead to hers. “You’re burning up.” He discovered terribly. “This has gone on fucking long enough.”

He stood up with her in his grasp but she scarcely noticed he was moving with how the room swayed back and forth. Every limb felt like it was tingling in sleep, like thousands of needles pricking her again and again. She half expected to look at herself and see blood covering her raw skin and soaking into the blanket, but her hand looked fine so she assumed the rest did too. It wasn’t until she realized Ezekiel was climbing the stairs that she realized she was not having a seizure.

“What are you doing?” She gaped, flopping her head to hide the dizzying movement from her eyes.

He huffed as he shifted her to open the door. “Taking you - to the doctor.” He got the door open and both guards there looked reasonably confused at him. “Get the doctor, tell him it’s urgent. I’ll meet him in the medical bay.” They both continued to look at him. “There is no one down there now, so one of you might as well get Bronx…. - GO!”

“Yes Alpha!” They both returned, startled into action.

Magpie was trying desperately not to throw up and avoided talking during they whole walk. Closing her eyes tightly only focused her attention on the swaying of her body in his firm grasp. Instead she focused on long and slow breaths, thinking entirely of all the plants in the garden he smelt like.

Ezekiel’s grandmother caught sight of him walking passed the window of the kitchen door, with Magpie curled tightly against him. Her glee and worry were at odds with each other as she saw them, together, but heading towards the medical bay. She crossed her fingers hoping for her recovery as much as she hoped for Ezekiel’s happiness.