Some Things Are Hard

== Chapter 1 ==
Emmarie walked up to Jones Industries. She was finally going to see her brother! And hopefully, he'd help her get revenge for their parents.
Clara Anderson was sitting on a bench outside, playing her guitar, her light brown hair falling in front of her face like a curtain. She looked up and saw a woman walking up to the industry. She almost let her pass, but she also knew the woman could be a solicitor, so she stopped the woman and asked who she was.
Emmarie looked her over a couple of times. "Oh, do you work here? I'm Emmarie Jones," She paused to hand Clara an ID and business card, "and I'm here to see my brother."
"Hi, I'm Clara. Did you say you were Emmarie Jones? As in Richard Jones? He's your brother?"
"Yeah, I mean, can't you see the family resemblance? Has he never mentioned me? Typical older brother..."
Clara studied her for a second. "Yeah, I guess you look alike." Clara started walking towards the entrance of Jones Industries. "Come follow me. I'll show you where he is. Is there any chance he is expecting you?"
"Probably not. I haven't seen him since I was a toddler. Well, I've seen him since then, but not in person..." Emmarie followed her.
"Okay.....How did you get separated? How come you have never reached out until now?" Clara stopped her for a second so she could answer the questions.
“We got separated by our parents' death. I was two when they were murdered. I couldn't find my way back home, but I was adopted. They didn't tell me anything about my past until I turned-" She paused to count. "Thirty. I've been looking for him ever since. I just found him about a year ago. I lived halfway across the world and it took a while to save up enough money to travel. Happy now?"
Clara looked sympathetic. "Yes, sorry for asking so many questions. My parents passed away too. It's good you still have your brother. I'll show you where he is."
"Thanks, I'm used to being an only child. It's a little overwhelming thinking about seeing Richard again. I barely remember him."
"Yeah, I bet." Clara then walked onto the voice-activated elevator and said, 'Tech Lab'. She looked at Emmarie. "He is usually in the lab. If he isn't here, he may be outside testing his inventions."
Emmarie glanced at the words. "Hm, looks like tech runs in the family."
They both stepped out of the elevator and into the lab. "Jones!? Are you in here?" Clara looked around. 
"Just a minute!" Richard yelled from across the room.
Emmarie reached into her pocket and pulled out a recording. She played it and on the tape was a recording of a teenage Richard and a toddler Emmarie talking. 
He was walking towards them. He froze when he heard the recording. "Where did you get that?"
"It was the only thing I had with me beside the clothes on my back since I was two years old. I wasn't killed with mom and dad, Richard." Emmarie looked at her brother.
"But the reports said you were dead." Answered Richard, shocked. Clara watched them, feeling like she was intruding on a family reunion.
"Well then clearly both you and Clara are hallucinating, then," Emmarie replied, plopping down into a chair and picking up a snack someone left out for him. "Or I'm a ghost coming back to haunt you after over thirty-two years."
"I'm not hallucinating," Clara started. "I didn't even know Mr. Jones had a sister until she came up to the building and told me." 
The billionaire was still speechless. 
Emmarie just watched him, amused. 
"B-b-but how?" He gaped. 
She ignored his shock. "Anyway, I didn't just come to meet up with dear older brother," Emmarie continued, tinkering with a little gadget. "I don't suppose you've gotten revenge for mom and dad yet? No, you haven't. That's what I want: to kill the assassin who killed them."
Richard sighed. "I wanted to get revenge, too. But the assassin is long gone. I looked for them for years. Nothing and nobody turned up.” He paused for a moment. “Come on, Em, let's go meet the rest of the team." He led her away and turned to Clara. 
“Something that bothers me is that she was two years old when your parents were killed. Her brain wasn't formed enough to remember things or sounds. Most people don't remember things until after they turn three years old," She said.
Richard Jones looked at her quizzically while she continued. "Another thing, she tells us now that she remembers your parents were murdered, but she didn't know they were her parents until she was thirty years old? What is up with that?" 
He pulled her aside. "Are you calling my sister a liar?" 
Clara slowly answered, "No, but she needs to get her facts straight."
"Well, she's a Jones. I remember things from when I was two. She was almost three that day of the crash..."
Clara thought about that. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. But,--" 
Richard interrupted her. "You're making my sister wait, Anderson. Come on.”
== Chapter 2 ==
Emmarie walked in to see the rest of the team. Everyone was either talking, combatting, or eating lunch. When she entered everyone stopped and looked at her.
"Who's she?" Oliver Johnson asked. 
"I didn't know you had a sister, Richard," Natalia Sullivan said at the same time.
Clara stepped off the elevator last after Richard and Emmarie. It looked like someone threw a time bomb into the room. Everyone was super still and staring back and forth at Emmarie and Richard he broke the silence. "Hi team, this is my long-lost sister Emmarie."
"Told you," Natalia said, getting an extra hit in with Oliver. "Of course, you were thirteen when your parents died, you would most likely have a sibling. I can't believe I didn't piece that together."  
Elijah Smith, the team scientist, and doctor went muttering about biology while Liam, the team leader, shook her hand and started introducing her to everybody.
"I'm Liam Williams," he said. He then introduced Emmarie to everyone. He pointed to everyone in the room. He pointed to Natalia and Oliver first. "The brunette over there is Natalia. The guy sparring with her is Oliver." He pointed at Elijah. "The guy over there muttering to himself is Elijah Moore." He pointed at a guy with dark skin making a sandwich in the kitchen. “That’s John Emerson.” He pointed behind him at Clara, "That's Clara Anderson; I'm pretty sure you met her already." 
James then came walking up to them. He extended his hand for her to shake. "And I'm James Hammond."
Emmarie glanced at him and shook his hand. "I don't remember you being a part of the team. Are you new?"
Clara jumped into the conversation. "He is sort of new. He has been Liam's best friend since they were kids." 
Clara walked over to the kitchen. "Anyone want smoothies?" 
"Oh, do you have mango peach? That's my favorite," Emmarie asked. 
Clara handed everyone their smoothies. She turned to Emmarie. "So, Emmarie, how did you find out you were related to Mr. Jones?"
"Well, I kept having these dreams of memories when I was a toddler. I thought they were just dreams and nightmares at first until my adopted parents told me everything about how I'm related to the Jones.
Emmarie continued drinking her smoothie in the awkward silence. She finally decided to speak. "So, Richard, I heard you're married with two daughters now?" 
Richard looked up in the awkward silence. "Yeah, my wife's name is Sophia, and my daughter's names are Ava and Evelyn. Tonight you can meet them." The awkward silence was back. 
Natalia broke it. "So, Em, do you have any hobbies? Do you have a profession?" 
"Well, I work on cars, but I'm usually working at- well, I did work before I got laid off after I said I was going on vacation to go find my brother." She admitted.
"How long ago was that?"
"Maybe a couple of weeks ago?"
"I'm sorry you lost your job," Natalia said, but Richard butted in. 
"I have tons of cars that you can tinker with if you want, Emmarie."
"Eh, it was more of a hobby for me anyway..."
"Okay, but the offer still stands." 
The common room had an awkward silence once again. 
Emmarie turned to James. "So, James, what's your job? How did you get into the team?"
"Umm, I got into Jones Industries because I knew Liam. I was also a self-defense teacher."
"Really? Where did you teach?"
"Some gym, you probably wouldn't know it."
"Probably not.” She turned back to Richard. “I saved up enough money to stay in a hotel for a few days, buy some food, and then hopefully I'll either get a job or I'll buy tickets back home."
"A hotel? No. You are going to stay at my house for as long as you want."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude..."
He scoffed. "Of course! You're my little sister! Sophia is going to love meeting you, and if you try to leave and go to a hotel, she'll insist you stay, too."
"Alright, I'll stay at your house, then."
"Great! Case settled." Richard grinned.
"Okay, with that solved," Natalia started, "We should get back to working." She started to turn away.
Emmarie just sat around, watching everyone.
Suddenly there was a massive explosion.
== Chapter 3 ==
Everyone dove to the floor and covered their heads. The explosion shattered all of the glass windows in the common room and disabled the elevator. 
"Is everyone okay?" Liam asked everyone. 
"What was that?" Clara wondered. 
Meanwhile, Emmarie was freaking out. "What the heck was that? Is this a normal occurrence? Why is everyone so calm? Something just blew up outside and shattered all of the windows!" 
Richard walked over to her. "Em, stay calm. It will all be fine."
"Is it the assassin?" Emmarie demanded, looking a little scared. "Has he come back?"
"No, I can tell you 100% it is not the assassin." He glanced at the team.
"But since the elevator is out, I’ll lead you to the stairs. 
"Okay, sorry, I'm just a little paranoid." Emmarie still had a look of shock and fear on her face. 
Richard gave her a glance like 'I can tell.’ He then pointed her in the right direction and quickly walked with her down to the first floor. 
Emmarie paced around the floor and mumbled her thanks, worrying about things out of her control.
Up in the common room, the rest of the team were just about to check what the cause of the explosion was.
Natalia scanned the area. "Nothing to report in the west wing."
John walked towards the monitor. "I'm going to do a surveillance check."
Liam nodded and reviewed the damage.
Clara was kind of standing in one place. "What can I do?"
"You can-" Liam started.
"You should go check the comms for any new signals. They're on the ground floor with Emmarie," Richard interrupted. 
"On it." Clara quickly ran down the stairs to the ground floor.
"Oh, hey," A calmer Emmarie said, seeing Clara.
She looked at Emmarie, then said, "Hi. Liam and Mr. Jones sent me down here to check the comms. Want to help? It has got to be less boring than sitting in a chair waiting." She then walked over to the comms control center.
"Sure!" Emmarie popped up, eager to help and get her mind off the explosion.
"So, all you do is press the green button, then twist this knob. It'll then show you all of the recent comms. Once you have done that, you pick the one you want to see according to the date." Clara then demonstrated what she had just told Emmarie.
"What's this one that's just numbers and no name?" Emmarie clicked on it and it was just static.
Clara looked at it, puzzled. "I'm not sure. I've never seen that one before. Press it again. I want to see what happens."
Emmarie hit the button once more. "Clara.....get....out......save....yourself...danger." The voice of a young man came from it. It sounded familiar, but Emmarie couldn't put her finger on it.
"Emmarie...come....you...help...." Emmarie jumped. "Mom?" She widened her eyes. "Em....I....come...." Another voice said. "Dad?"  Emmarie couldn't believe it. "But.... they're dead?"
Clara stood still.  She turned to Emmarie, who also had a look of shock on her face. "Em, Mr. Jones wants you to stay here because it is safe. We don't know who sent this message." Clara took a deep breath. "I am puzzled too, but since I don't know who sent it, I am going to check it out." 
== Chapter 4 ==
Clara led Emmarie to the bulletproof safe-room. "Emmarie, please stay here while I check it out. I’ve been in situations like this before, but you haven’t. I don't want you to get hurt and I am sure Mr. Jones would be devastated if you did. So please stay here." Clara shut the safe room door and walked out of the building. When she walked out, she looked up and a look of absolute shock crossed her face.
Back in the safe room Emmarie stayed put despite her instincts, listening to the voices of her parents, which were so familiar from her dreams.
Clara was outside, still frozen in shock. She looked up once more to see a chunk of the top floor of the building missing. That was the floor above the common room. Worried thoughts flew through her mind, 'What if everyone was still up there? What if they are all dead now?' She got a hold of herself and ran up the stairs once more to the common room. When she got up there, she couldn’t get in because of all the destruction and debris, so she yelled and waved her hands in a feeble attempt to clear the dust. "Is there anyone in here?! Anyone?" She heard a sound and carefully made her way over to the sound moving debris out of her way. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Clara looked around, clearing the dust again.
Emmarie, restless from hearing the message, made her way upstairs, desperate to tell her brother.
Clara looked around the common room, careful not to set off a chain reaction that would crumble the entire floor. "Hello!?" She yelled once more. "I thought I heard someone." She said to herself. She then heard some ominous creaking and decided to make her way out of the building. But when she was carefully moving a beam that was in her way, it fell on top of her and knocked her out.
Deciding to walk out of the safe room, Emmarie heard something. "Hello? Clara? Richard?"
"Em? I thought you were in the controls with Clara," Richard said, running over to her.
“Yes, I was, but we messed with the controls and heard a strange transmission.”
Richard looked concerned. “Strange how?”
Back on the top floor of the building, Clara groggily woke up with a pain in her head. She tried to free herself but she was pinned under the beam. "Is anyone there!?" She called for help. 
== Chapter 5 ==
James was going around the perimeter of the building. He made it to the common room and thought he heard a voice. He ignored it, thinking it was the wind blowing through the hole in the wall. He was about to leave and walk down the stairs when he heard the voice again. There was someone there.
He walked around the common room carefully. He knew there were a lot of rickety beams and unstable posts and debris. He made it to where he had heard the voice and turned the corner. “Clara!” He exclaimed. He knelt down immediately and tried to free her from the beam trapping her against the ground. 
“James! I’m so glad you’re here. I thought no one would hear me and I would be trapped until the building crumbled down.” 
“I heard you. I thought it was the wind at first. I’m glad I turned around,” He replied. 
James lifted the beam for her to try to crawl out from under it. She did and let out a cry of pain. He lowered the beam and went over to her. “What is it? Did it injure you?” 
Clara blinked back tears. “It’s my leg; it got hurt when the beam fell on it.” She reached up and touched a tender part of her head. She winced when her fingers came in contact. 
“Does your head hurt too?” He asked, looking at her with concern. 
“Yeah, I think the beam fell on me and knocked me out. How much time had passed since everyone had me go down to help Emmarie?”
“About an hour. How long were you actually down there?” He asked with a smirk. He knew she would do anything to help where help was needed.
“Ugh, about 15 minutes,” She answered and looked down at her leg, which had a big bruise that was a mix of colors. It was purple, blue, and yellowish-green on the edges. There was a cut on the side that was bleeding. “Ouch,” She said, sucking in a breath. “I didn’t know it was that bad.”
James nodded and looked at her leg. “Yeah, and it’s definitely broken, if not splintered.” After he had said it a massive rumble came from the building. “The building- It’s falling apart!” He yelled over the crashing. Clara froze and whimpered, some of her worst memories coming back to her. 
She had just finished eating her chicken. Her eleven-year-old self smiled at her parents. She was about to reach for another piece of bread when a ginormous boom-crash shook the apartment building. She screamed and didn’t even have time to think. A second explosion blew her out of her chair and into the nearby bedroom across from the dining room. She screamed once more as a third explosion went off. She scrambled under a nearby bed. But the explosion went off by her parents. They were killed instantly. She was stuck there for two days.
Clara semi-snapped out of that horrible nightmare of a memory to James calling her name and shaking her shoulders. “Clara! Snap out of it. We need to get out.” 
She didn’t respond; she was paralyzed at the memory. She began breathing faster and her heart raced. She was having a panic attack, terrified that she and James would be trapped in here just like her all of those years ago. Only this time, she was scared they wouldn’t survive. 
He couldn’t snap her out of it, and she wouldn’t be able to walk anyways, so he picked her up and started carrying her through the collapsing building floor. He could feel her uneven breathing and knew she was having a panic attack. He had one of them himself. He wanted to help her, but he had to get them out of the building first.  
He quickly but carefully navigated the common room and located the stairs. They were shaking, but they were the only way out. He tested out the first stair and when it held steady, he cautiously walked down. 
== Chapter 6 ==
When he arrived at the bottom floor, he pushed open the door and rushed outside. Nobody was there because all of the other team members were trying to find out who bombed the building and see if there were any civilians left.
Clara was still breathing heavily and her eyes had a glazed-over look. James set her down on the ground and knelt by her. “Clara, I need you to listen to me. I know that building triggered a panic attack. You have to fight through it. We’re out of the building,” He said this hoping it would work. 
Clara bit her lip and stared at him, trying to pull herself together. Despite her best efforts, she could not stop the cycle of memories and fear from playing through her mind. They were trapped. The building would cave in. The ceiling would fall and they’d die just like her parents had.
“Hey, Clara.” James drew her attention back to him with the sternness in his voice. He lowered his tone but held her gaze with an intensity that forced her to focus. “It’s alright. We’re out. You’re okay.”
Clara looked down at her trembling hands and tucked her knees into her chest as best she could without jarring her leg. She shut her eyes against the onslaught of panic, but visions of memories met her in the darkness, so she opened them again. Trying and failing to believe James, she took a deep breath.
James leaned closer and put his hand on her arm, “What did you do yesterday?”
The randomness of the question caught her off guard and she looked up at him. “What?”
“What did you do yesterday? Tell me.” He said it with the lightness of a typical colloquial conversation like she wasn’t falling apart after almost being crushed by a collapsing building. 
“I-I…” Clara thought hard to push through the confusion and fear back to something so far away from her mind as yesterday. “I trained?”
James kept the gentleness in his tone and the concern in his eyes was masked behind a facade of normalcy. “Yeah? Who did you train with?”
Forcing herself to move past her shaking hands and panicked thoughts, she answered, “Natalia. I-I trained with Natalia.”
“What else did you do?” 
“I got coffee.” The terror was subsiding ever so slightly, but Clara didn’t allow herself to think about it for fear that it might come back if she acknowledged it.
“What kind?”
“The usual.”
“Did you go with anyone? You know Elijah’s been looking for an excuse to get out of the building.” There was a joking hint in his tone and Clara was surprised at his ability to joke right then.
Her dry laugh surprised her as she responded, “Yeah. He keeps saying he needs a break from all these ‘strange people’ He says we’re ‘unsettling.’”
James laughs at that. “He’s not wrong.”
After a few more minutes of light conversation, Clara's breathing slowed. 
James gave her a little half-smile as the worry left his expression. “You good?”
Her eyes became unglazed and they filled with tears. She looked at him. “I thought I was going to be trapped there forever and the building crumbling just set it off,” She said, “Last time I was in a situation like that...my parents--" Clara paused. "It didn't end well.” Her voice cracked at the end and tears started running down her cheeks. 
He leaned over and hugged her. When he pulled away she said, “Thank you.”
Clara wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She focused on her leg. “Ouch, it looks even worse in the daylight,” She observed. She used her finger to lightly touch the edge of the bruise and winced. “I haven’t even felt the full pain of it yet because of the adrenaline rush I’m having, but the bruise hurts like heck already.”
James studied the bruise and the cut on the side of her leg which was still bleeding. “Yeah, we need to get you to a doctor soon.” 
“Preferably before the pain sets in,” She interrupted. 
“I’ll try,” He answered.
“Where is everyone else?” Clara asked, looking around and seeing nobody. 
“I’m not sure, but we have to make our way over to where they should be. I’m going to need to carry you again, though, because of your leg,” He said, looking at her. 
“Got it,” Clara responded. “Just don’t drop me,” She said, teasing. 
“I didn’t drop you the first time,” He said back with a smirk. 
James bent down and placed one arm under her knees and one arm on her back. When he picked her up, she winced when his fingers brushed her bruise.
“I’m sorry,” He apologized. 
Clara wrapped one of her arms around his neck and he started walking towards the other side of the building.
Once they got there, nobody was there except Elijah and Emmarie. 
“What happened to her?” He exclaimed at the same time as Emmarie said, “Clara, you were gone for an hour!”
Clara waited for them to stop talking, then she explained what happened. She pointed at her leg. 
They both rushed over and Elijah touched it to see if it was broken and Clara winced, sucking in a breath. “Yes, it’s broken.” 
Elijah thought for a moment before saying, “So, you have a concussion and a severely broken leg.”  
“She also had a panic attack,” James spoke up. 
Clara lightly slapped him with her free hand and muttered, “You weren’t supposed to tell him that. I left it out on purpose.” 
James shrugged. “He should know.”
“So, a concussion, a panic attack, and a broken leg. Clara, you have had quite a day,” Elijah summarized. 
“I know,” Clara said exasperated, “I should have just stayed with Emmarie.” 
Emmarie hadn’t said anything yet at this point; she just watched the three people. 
Elijah started walking and he motioned for everyone to follow him. “Well, Clara, we should probably get you to a clinic as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they haven’t said the lab is okay to go into yet.”
“So what do I do? The adrenaline is starting to wear off and it’s starting to really hurt.” 
“I think the makeshift lab in the far building was approved. Let’s go there.”
== Chapter 7 ==
All four of them started walking towards the small building. They all walked in and Elijah pointed to a small gurney-like table in the corner. “Put her on that. I’ll get the supplies.”
James walked over to the table and gently set her down. She sat up and looked at her leg again, but it was swelling. Elijah walked over to her and looked at her leg. “Hmm. That’s not good,” He observed. He gently prodded it with two fingers and Clara sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. 
“Yeah, and I feel the full force of the pain now, so can we do this quickly?” She looked at Elijah, who was getting things out of the med pack he found on the ship. 
“Это чертовски больно,” (It hurts like hell) Clara muttered, expecting no one to understand her. 
“Я знаю, как ты себя чувствуешь,” (I know how you feel) James replied, looking at her. 
Clara looked at him, shocked he understood her. “Как ты меня понял? Вы говорите по-соковски?” (You can understand me? You speak Russian?) 
“Когда меня взяла в плен Гидра, они научили меня многим языкам.” (When I was little, my mother made me learn two foreign languages. It’s a habit I picked up on into adulthood) He explained. 
“Мне жаль,” (That’s cool) Clara said back with a smile. 
Elijah and Emmarie were watching them go back and forth in a language they didn’t understand. “Hey guys, wanna fill us in on your secret conversation?” Emmarie asked. 
Clara looked up at them and blushed, having forgotten they were there. How inconsiderate that must have been. “Oh, I just said something in my second language and James understood because he knows that language, too.” 
“Uh-huh,” Emmarie said. 
“It’s true!” Clara said. 
“Okay,” She said back. 
“Clara, this break is worse than I thought,” Elijah said. "The bone isn't just fractured or bruised, it's...shattered. I'm sorry Clara." He had glasses on and had just placed an icepack on the bruise to take down the swelling. He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. He looked at Clara. “So, with a break this bad, there are two options. You can do a cast after a surgery--”
“How long will the cast be on?” Clara interrupted. 
“Six months, minimum,” Elijah answered. 
“Six months?!” She exclaimed. Clara groaned and flopped back onto the bed, before wincing because it jarred her leg. “Shoot, that hurt so bad.” She took in a sharp breath, then asked, “When do I have to have the surgery? Is it soon? Is it far away?”
“It should be as soon as possible,” Elijah said gravely. “Clara, after a concussion, a panic attack, and now this severely broken leg, you are going to have to rest.” Then he restated his answer. “Just not right now because you have had a concussion. You are going to have to stay up for the next 24 hours so I can make sure your brain didn’t take any damage.” 
“I have to stay up for 24 hours without sleep? How am I going to be able to do that? Can I drink caffeine?” She asked.
“No, you can’t. No caffeinated soda, tea, or coffee, until you are 100% recovered. Caffeine will mess with your concussion recovery and set you back.”
Clara was so sick and tired of bad news. “So remind me, how am I supposed to stay up for 24 hours without caffeine and a busted leg. Can I at least have some pain meds? My leg is killing me.”
He nodded and looked through the red first aid bag before pulling a small white bottle out. “That, I can give you.” When Clara reached for it, Elijah pulled it back and said, “With moderation.”
She agreed with him. “Of course. I’m not going to drug myself. I’m not stupid.” 
"В самом деле? Потому что входить в полуразрушенное здание для меня звучит довольно глупо.” (Really? Because entering a dilapidated building seems stupid to me.) James said under his breath. Clara heard him.  
“Молчи.” (Shut up.) She snapped back. 
“What did he say?” Emmarie asked. 
“Nothing of any importance,” Clara said, glaring at James. 
“Well, there is some good news and some bad news,” Elijah said as he handed Clara a couple of pain relievers. She looked up at him and tilted her head back and swallowed the pills, with a swish of water. “More bad news. I’ve had enough of it.”
Elijah smiled sympathetically. “I know, but this is the least of the bad news. So what do you want to hear first? Good or bad?”
“Good,” Clara answered. 
“Okay, the good news is that you can pick one or two people to keep you company while you stay up for a day.” 
“And the bad news?” Clara asked. 
“After the surgery, you’ll have to go to therapy for two months.” 
“Two months! Why? I thought you said this was the least of the bad news,” She said, surprised. 
“It’s that long because you can’t walk for two weeks after the surgery. And then you have to go through a month of physical therapy for your leg because the nerves are probably damaged as well.”
Clara just scowled, thinking this over. James nudged her arm. “Эй, могло быть и хуже.” (Hey, it could be worse) He said. 
When Clara heard this, she glared at him. Emmarie saw this. “Woah, James, what did you say to her? She seems mad.” 
“I am mad.” Clara clarified, looking at Emmarie. Then she switched to Russian and turned towards James. “Значит, могло быть и хуже. Мне еще хуже! У меня было сотрясение мозга, и теперь я вынужден целый день не спать без кофеина. У меня сломана нога, если вы не заметили, и мне нужен постельный режим, операция и терапия. Так что никогда не говорите мне, что может стать хуже, потому что не может.” (It could be worse!? It’s worse right now! I had a concussion and now I have to stay up for a day without caffeine. I have a broken leg, in case you haven't noticed, and it needs bed rest, surgery, and therapy. So don't ever tell me it can get worse because it can't.) She practically yelled at him. 
James looked at her with a slightly bored look. “Вы закончили? Потому что во-первых, я знаю, что у тебя сломана нога. Как вы думаете, зачем вас сюда занесло? А? Во-вторых, я знаю все, что ты на меня кричал. Я был здесь весь разговор!” (Are you done? Because first of all, I know that your leg is broken. Who do you think carried you here? And, secondly, I know everything that you just shouted at me. I've been here for the whole conversation!)  He said back, exasperated. 
Elijah and Emmarie just watched them. They had no way to translate the conversation. They could only tell how it was going by their facial expressions and their tone of voice. Judging by those two things, it was not going well. 
Clara sighed angrily. “Ты так разочарование!” (You are so frustrating!)
	“Не так сильно, как ты!” (Not as much as you!) James shot back.
Emmarie observed them both. They were looking anywhere except each other. “That went well,” She said. 
== Chapter 8 ==
Elijah was watching them go back and forth with an amused look. “Well, if this is how you act around each other for a couple of hours, I’d hate to see how you’ll act around each other for the next twenty-four hours.  
“The what?” Clara and James both asked at the same time. 
Elijah explained it, “James, you’ll be the one keeping  Clara company for the next 24 hours.” 
“Why me?” He complained. 
“Yeah, why him?” Clara asked as well. 
“Well, James is the only one not on vacation or an assignment tonight or tomorrow.” 
“Well, what about you?” Clara asked. 
“Yeah, you’re right, I could....but I want to see how this plays out,” Elijah said with a rare-seen smirk. “The good news, though, James, is that you can have caffeine to keep you up. Clara can’t.” 
“Yes!” James exclaimed. 
“Ugh, that’s not fair,” Clara complained. 
As they argued once more back-and-forth childishly, Emmarie leaned over to Elijah and whispered, “But seriously, how are these two apart of the team here? My two fifteen-year-old cousins are more mature than that. How old are they again?”
“Clara here is twenty-two years old. And James is twenty-four,” Elijah said, pointing at them when he said their name. Of course, caught up in their argument once more, they didn’t notice.
“Well, it’s obvious they like each other,” Emmarie observed.
“Where did you get that notion? I mean, if you said that an hour ago when he rescued her, I’d maybe see it, but they're at each other's throats right now. How does that say, ‘I like you?’” Elijah asked, trying to understand why she’d make such a ridiculous assumption. 
“I don’t know, I can just tell,” Emmarie said, looking at them. She walked a few feet and stepped right into the middle of their argument. “Okay guys, time to stop fighting and find the others.” She turned to Elijah once more. “Elijah, do you have any crutches for Clara?” 
Elijah looked around for a minute before saying, “No, sorry. We don’t stock up on wheelchairs or crutches here. They are usually in the med lab.” 
When he said this, Emmarie got a meddling smile on her face. She turned back to James and Clara, who were both scowling at each other. “Well then, I guess James will just have to carry Clara out like on the way in.” 
“Або ми могли б залишити її тут.” (Or we could just leave her here.) James mumbled. 
Clara leaned over and slapped him. “Я теж можу говорити українською!” (Hey! Remember, I speak Russian!) She said. 
Emmarie, exasperated, exclaimed, “Why are you even arguing? And for heaven's sake, Speak. English.” She looked out the door of the makeshift lab. “We need to leave and find the others.” She pointed at the first aid bag. “Elijah, bring some practical First Aid things in case anyone else is hurt.” Then she turned to James. “James, pick up Clara.” 
“Fine.” He said as he stepped closer to Clara. “Sit up more,” He told her. 
“Stop being so commanding,” She snapped. 
“Well, do you want to get out or not?” He snapped back. She didn’t say anything else. James leaned over and picked her up bridal style, but a little rougher than before. 
“Hey, be gentler!” Clara chided. 
“Oui votre Altesse.” (Yes, your Highness) James mocked her. 
“Bien essayé. J'ai fait un voyage en France.” (Nice try. I lived in France for two years when I was little.) Clara said. “Mais c'est bien que tu me considères comme une reine.” (But, it's nice that you think of me as a Queen.) 
James rolled his eyes and Emmarie walked over to them.
“N'oubliez pas, parle anglais. Elijah n'a aucune idée de quoi tu parles.” (Remember, speak English. Elijah has no idea what you're talking about.) Emmarie cut in, showing she was fluent in French as well. 
“Tu parles français?” (You speak French!?) Both Clara and James said at the same time. “Attendez, quelles autres langues connaissez-vous?” (Wait, what other languages do you know?) Clara asked Emmarie. 
“Oui, je connais le français. La vie n'est-elle pas pleine de surprises.” (Yes, I know French. Isn't life full of surprises?) Emmarie answered, teasing. Then she turned to Clara. “Eh bien, vous le saurez bien assez tôt.” (Well, you'll find out soon enough.) 
Then in English, she said, “Okay, everyone! Time to go! The rest of the team probably thinks we’re dead because we’ve been gone an hour.” When she saw Elijah, James, and Clara’s faces, she said, “I’m only joking, guys. Loosen up.” 
“Look who you’re talking to,” Elijah muttered. “We are probably the three people who have a right to be tight-strung. 
“A martial arts teacher, a doctor, and no offense, but whatever Clara is?” Emmarie asked.
“There is more to our pasts. A lot more,” Elijah said. “Don’t tease.” 
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Emmarie said with her hands raised. “So, are we leaving or not?” 
“Yes, we are,” Elijah said, picking up the medical bag he had gathered.” “Let’s go.”
The four of them walked out of the building. 
== Chapter 9 ==
They looked for a few minutes, walking the perimeter of the building. They soon found a few other members of the team. There was Richard, who was on the phone about his Industries' damage. He smiled when he saw his sister, but looked confused when he saw James carrying Clara. 
Natalia and Oliver were there as well. Looking over some blueprints of the building to see what structural beams had been damaged and which ones had not been. 
“What the heck happened to you?” Natalia said to Clara. 
As soon as she said it, Richard and Oliver noticed her leg. 
“Yeah, what happened to your leg, Clara?” Oliver asked, looking up from the building’s structural prints. 
“I was in the common room- the one that we were in when the explosion went off. I thought I heard something, so I went to check it out. But, while I was in there, a beam fell on me, knocking me out and breaking my leg.” 
“How did you get out of the common room if you were knocked out and trapped?” Richard asked, ending his call. 
Clara then told him about how James had found her and took her to Elijah to check her broken leg. 
Elijah hopped into the conversation at this part. “Yeah, it’s really bad. I wasn’t able to check it out fully because we were in the makeshift lab, but it looks like it’ll need surgery and physical therapy.” 
Clara winced at that part. Not because of her leg- the pain medicine had dulled the injury, but because of just the sound of surgery and therapy. It sounded horrible. 
She visibly shuddered. 
James had placed her down on a makeshift camping chair, and she hadn’t been listening to the conversation when a few words caught her ear. 
“--building--bombed--everyone’s alive--place not safe--” She looked over to the person saying this. It was Natalia, and she was quietly speaking to Mr. Jones. 
Richard Jones nodded in understanding, though his visible disappointment was shown. 
Mr. Jones turned to the team. Over the last ten minutes, every member had slowly made their way over to the place where they were standing. “The bad news is it’s going to take at least two weeks for the construction guys to patch this up. The good news is that almost every single team member will be on assignment, vacation, or leave, so nobody will need another place to stay.” 
Clara groaned and looked at the ground in defeat and started muttering in Russian. “Ну, это здорово. Я думал, что из-за того, что в здание взорвали бомбу, никто не пойдет по своим заданиям, но они все еще продолжают выполнять их, что оставляет меня с Джеймсом.” (Well, that's great. I thought that due to the bombing of the building, no one would go on their assignments, but they still continue to carry them out, which leaves me with James...still.) 
She looked up and saw a few people looking at her with looks of confusion on their faces. The only person that showed any amount of understanding was...James. Ugh, he heard her. 
Everyone went back to what they were doing, and he walked over to her. “Для протокола, я не хочу присматривать за тобой столько, сколько ты не хочешь, чтобы я.” (For the record, I don't want to babysit you as much as you don't want me to.)
	“Присмотр за детьми !? Вы не присматриваете за мной -” (Babysitting!? You aren't babysitting me--) 
James cut her off though. “Тогда что я делаю? Я должен нести тебя повсюду, потому что ты не можешь ходить, и я должен наблюдать за тобой, чтобы ты не заснул. Для меня это звучит как присмотр за детьми.” (Then what am I doing? I have to carry you everywhere because you can't walk, and I have to watch you to make sure you don't fall asleep. That sounds like babysitting to me.)
Clara huffed in annoyance and just ignored him. James, glad he didn’t have to talk to her, gladly walked the other way. 
Emmarie walked up to her, she had been watching the whole conversation. “How was that delightful conversation you just had?” 
“Horrible.” She grumbled. 
“Although, part of his conversation was right. It does seem like watching you would be similar to watching a child.” She continued. 
Clara, who had been previously looking at the ground, looked up at Emmarie. “You speak Russian?” 
Emmarie sat in the empty chair by her. “Ukrainian actually. The two languages are similar, I could only understand part of what you were saying.” 
“Well,  how many languages do you know, Ukrainian, French, and English of course.” Clara listed counting on her fingers. 
“That’s about it.” Emmerie said, “I don’t know any more languages.”
“That’s still a lot. Why do you know so many?”
“My adopted parents moved quite a few times. They found me in the US, and then they moved to France, then Ukraine. I picked up the languages as we moved.” Emmarie answered. “Why do you know so many.” 
“Well, my grandparents are immigrants from Russia. They taught the language to my parents, and my parents taught it to me. I know French because my parents moved to France for my dad's job and we lived there for two and a half years when I was younger.” Clara said. Absentmindedly, she swung one leg over the other. She winced and sucked in a sharp breath as the movement jarred her leg. She shut her eyes trying to black out the pain. 
“Are you okay?” Emmarie asked. 
Clara opened her eyes, slowly. “Yeah, I’m fine, That just really hurt.”
Emmarie glanced at Clara’s leg which had been cleaned up. “Shouldn’t you be at the doctor getting a cast?” 
Clara glanced at her leg as well. “The break is so bad, that I need surgery. It’s scheduled for Tuesday.”
Emmarie had a puzzled and concerned look on her face. “But that’s in two days. Shouldn’t you be having it now?” 
Clara nodded. “Yeah, but I guess a severely splintered leg is not crucial to the ER because it’s not life-threatening.” She rolled her eyes. “But, it hurts so bad, I want a splint, a cast, something!”
Emmarie nodded in understanding. “I would feel exactly as you do if I had a leg as broken as yours. Why can't Elijah do it?”
“The surgery?” Clara asked. Then she answered her rhetorical question. “No, he said he can’t because he isn’t a surgeon. He said he would be able to do it if it was a hairline fracture, but then he went on and on about how bad the break was and I kind of tuned him out. I already know how bad my leg is, it’s bad!” She slumped in her seat. 
Emmarie sat up in her seat and touched Clara's arm. “I’m sorry that happened to you--” She started, but was interrupted. 
“Hey!” Natalia called from a little ways away. “I think we have figured out what happened to the building.” 
Emmarie looked over there and back at Clara. 
“Go over there and tell me what they say,” Clara told her. 
Emmarie smiled and stood up. “I will.” Then she walked over to where everyone else was gathered. 
Clara looked towards the group, craning her ears to hear what the team was saying. But, for once, they weren’t loud. After a few minutes of straining to hear, Clara gave up on trying and decided to wait for someone to come to her with the news.
After a few more minutes of waiting impatiently, Emmarie came back to relay the meeting to her.
Clara could see her long face and disappointed eyes. She knew instantly something was wrong. “What!? What is it? What happened at the meeting? What's wrong?” 
Emmarie didn’t answer at first, just kind of looking at her sadly. Then she sat down in the camo chair by her. 
“Emmarie! Please answer me! Who bombed it? What info did I miss?” Clara asked. 
Emmarie still hesitated. 
Clara's face got more serious. “Emmarie, if you don't tell me right now, I swear to God, I will walk down there to find out myself regardless of my leg.” Emmarie cracked at this point. “Fine!” She held up her hands in defeat. “I’ll tell you.” She took a deep breath. “Richard and everyone think that the person who bombed it was--” Emmarie hesitated for a moment, causing Clara to demand. 
“Who?!” 
“They think it was the person who killed my parents,” Emmarie finished. 
Clara looked at her, then at the team, a few members still talking about the newly foundout news. “Are they sure?”
“Pretty sure.” Emmarie confirmed. “But the real question is why they would come back now of all times. They waited so many years just to do this. Why not earlier?” 
Clara thought about this for a second. “Maybe it’s because of a few reasons.” She paused before continuing. “Maybe they have something to settle with Jones. Or maybe this is just a big noticeable expensive building and they wanted someone to notice them, for them to be on the news or something.”
“And the last reason?” Emmarie asked. 
“Well, it is the first time you and your brother have been together since your parents were murdered. Maybe, as violent and gruesome as it is, the person or people that killed your parents wanted to,” Clara struggled for a second to put the last part of her sentence into words that weren’t as harsh as the ones she had been thinking. “finish off your family.” 
Emmarie looked at her for a second. “You're telling me that the people who did this, who bombed the industry, did it just so he could kill me and Richard?” 
Clara shrugged. “It’s just a theory. But a liable one. Your brother, Mr. Jones, he is an influential man. That alone could make someone want to kill him.”
Emmarie thought these over before standing up. “Thanks, Clara. I’ll tell Richard this.”
Then Emmarie left, in search of her brother. She left Clara alone. 
Category:Short Story
Category:Fanfics and Stories Wiki
Category:Fanfiction
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