To Fill the Sky with Tears

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

10/17/98:

As the transport tube came to a slow stop, I was quite
surprised to find Rachel entering the car.

"Fox, I'm glad I found you." She said, taking a seat next to
me.

"Why, were you looking for me?" I asked with a slight
chuckle.

She twitched her ears a bit, but made no comment. "Took a
bit of work to track were you had run off to. Why are you on
the transport tube though? You usual take the folds around
Prid."

I nodded, as the tube car jerked slightly as it started up
again. "Yes, but I was at the new hanger we've gotten for
the shipyards. There's no folds around it, and with the
smaller sun flaring up, I some times come out in strange
places."

She laughed softly, patting my knee. "I see, have you meet
the lady you have running the office?"

"Her name is Moriya," I said, grinning softly, remembering
our first meeting. "She's a great lady, and can do half a
dozen things at once."

"I would love to have a secretary like that," Rachel said
with a soft sigh.

I smiled, "It would make for an interesting office. You see,
when I say she can do six things at once, I mean it. She's a
morphic hydra, she actually has six heads."

She started to say something, then stopped before getting
out of the first word. She paused for a few seconds, then
finally made something resembling words. "A hydra-morph?
I've never knew that was possible."

"Yes," I said, "and she's quite cute too. If I didn't have
Oria I would be tempted to ask her out."

Rachel patting my knee again. "Keep with Oria, she's good
for you."

I rested my hand on top of her paw. "I'm sorry that it's
prevent you being with me anymore, I know you enjoyed it."

She giggled softly. "Very much, but I understand how it is
to be with someone, and she's just starting to show. It
looks so good on her."

I nodded vigorously in agreement.

She pulled her paw away, folding both on her lap. "Lets not
get too diverted, I tracked you down because I wanted to
talk to you."

"What about?" I asked.

"First, you need to understand that this is officially
unofficial."

I raised an eyebrow. "This sounds like it should be
interesting."

She nodded. "A few of the representatives in the Consortium
have been talking about the need to act swiftly, and
deniable. In the past the Hammerheads provided this, but the
new origination is shaping up to be more of a multi-verse
police force, it can't do much."

"Ah, I see," I said, leaning back in my seat a bit. "Sense
I've done a few of those mission myself for the Council your
here to ask me to do more?"

"Not as such," she answered. "More of create a position
inside the Consortium that would have that power. You will
be the first to fill it of course."

I shook me head. "Not 'of course', no way 'of course'. In
fact, my only response is a flat out no."

Rachel looked stunned, leaning back a bit, her ears raised
high. "No... you've never said no to this kind of thing
before."

"Yes, but I've never had a family before." I explained.

She nodded slowly, leaning forward just a bit. "Could you at
least set up the office? Maybe manage it?"

I shook my head.

"Please Fox, they want you in this job. There's no one else
they know well enough to let them do it."

"Once again no," I answered. "I don't need to go running off
through the multi-verse, hoping I don't get killed, and if I
do, no one would be allowed to know about it. It's a bad
risk Rachel, I can't afford it."

She sighed. "Is there anything you can do?"

I scratched my chin slowly, thinking about it. "This is not
a one man job your looking at," I said, working an idea over
in my head. "I've always had a team of some sort when I've
done this kind of thing. It's better then going alone. What
you need is a team, a group," I smiled slowly.

"A group made of the very best of the very best. The kind of
people that make everyone around them look like there in
slow motion. They would 'officially' be moved into back room
desk jobs, but really be a member of a team that can be sent
into a hostile place, fast, and deniable."

She laughed softly. "Would you be willing to run a team like
this?"

I smiled a bit wider. "Not just a team, a half a dozen
teams. Each one specializing in a different mission, but all
of them trained in the same fashion."

"I know you," She said, smiling just as wide as I was. "You
already have a name for this little group of yours."

"Yep, IMF, and I will be running it of course."

"Of course," she responded, like this was what she wanted me
to do in the first place.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked after a few minutes.
"This doesn't go anywhere near your home."

"Oh, the hospital. There going to release Naomi today."

She looked slightly puzzled. "Today? It's been over a week,
why so long?"

I sighed. "Things haven't been healing up as well as they
would like. She's been fine for the bast few days though, so
there ready to let her go."

Reaching over, she patting my on the shoulder. "She'll be
fine. She's a strong lady, how's her child?"

"Beca," I said, that seemed to be the natural nickname,
since none of us were comfortable calling her Becky. "She's
doing fine, strong as an ox, eating well, and even willing
to take the extra vitamins she needs until Naomi can feed
her."

"Would you mind if I come with you? I haven't seen Naomi for
a while, I would like to talk to her."

I smiled. "Sure, I have no problem with that."

We made small talk for the next minutes or so until the tub
car came to a stop. Standing up I walked out onto the
platform and up to the street. It was only a few minutes
walk to the hospital. We took the elevator up, with me
clamping onto the hand rail through every second of it.

Walking over to Naomi's room, I knocked on the door, opening
it up a crack. "Hey, you decent in there?" I called.

Soft laughter came from inside, "Yes dad."

I opened the door all the way. Naomi was laying down, her
bed propped up, and working in her sketch book. She was
already smiling when I came in, but the size of it double
once she saw Rachel.

Setting her sketch book to the side, she keep smiling as we
both found seats. "Rachel, how are you?"

She laughed. "I'm doing well, been busy with the Consortium,
but it's all been very good."

Naomi nodded, sitting up a bit, adjusting the blankets over
her chest. "Almost time for me to go home."

"Yep," I said, moving my chair closer to her, and brushing
some hair from her eyes.

She laughed softly in response. "I can't wait to get home
and sleep in my own bed. This one is always either to hot or
to cold."

"We can leave any time you want."

"Good," she said, shifting under the sheets again, Tugging
at them gently. "I can't wait to get dressed."

I nodded as she keep fussing with the sheets "Is something
wrong?"

She shrugged, "Oh, they feel kind of sticky on my legs. I'm
trying to get rid of the feeling."

I nodded again, but my attention was draw away from here,
and to a small drop of color on the normally white sheets. I
frowned softly, looking closer at it. It was slightly pink,
and looked damp.

Reaching down, I grabbed the edge of the heavier top sheet
and throw it back over the side of the bed. Naomi let out a
yelp and scrambled back in the bed, Rachel gasped softly.
The center of the thinner sheet that Naomi had been under
was covered in blood. Not red though, a thin, diluted,
pinkish color.

"I'll get a nurse," Rachel said, moving out of the room.
Naomi lifted up the sheet, and looked down at herself.

"I'm all bloody," she whispered softly.

A pair of nurses arrived, running into the room, a doctor
close behind. Rachel slipped in after them, moving next to
me as the nurses pushed me away.

They were all over here, pulling away the sheet and her
gown, probing at the stitches on her belly. They talked
amongst themselves for a few seconds before one of the
nurses ran out. He came back with a stretcher, the moved
Naomi to it and took off out of the room.

The doctor paused for a second, then started after them in a
brisk walk, motioning me to follow.

"What exactly is wrong?" I asked keeping up to his swift
pace.

"We're not sure," He answered, "She's bleeding around her
stitches. We're taking her in for a full imaging scan of her
body."

I nodded, understanding mostly, "why does it look so
watery?"

"Because it is," he answered. "It seems to be mixed with
something else, but we don't know what. A sample is being
sent down to the lab to be analyzed so we can find out
exactly what's diluting it."

I nodded again. "Where do you want me at then? I can't image
I'll be anything but in the way as you check her out."

"The closet waiting area to the imaging room. I'm taking you
there right now."

"Good," I answered, suddenly feeling very nervous.

He dropped me off in a small waiting room in a corner of the
hospital, taking off down on hallway marked 'authorized
personal only'.

I sat down and starting waiting.

Rachel showed up a few minutes later, sitting down next to
me. "I called Jadith," she said.

I let out a soft sigh. "Good, great, when will she be here?"

She frowned. "Five hours, she's doing some work on another
world, and is away from the fold. She'll be here as quick as
she can though."

I sighed, deeper this time. "I hope we don't need her."

She nodded, taking my hand in her paw.

We said quietly until the doctor came back a few minutes
later. "Would you like to come with me?" he asked.

I stood up, following him down the hallways. Rachel just
behind me.

"She's not good," he said as we walked, "it's like her vains
have becomes a sieve. She's leaking blood all over
internally. Luckily though, not in her brain yet. Most of
her other fluids are leaking as well, it's all mingling,
that's why the blood is so washed out."

I exchanged a glance with Rachel. "Do you know why?"

"We think it has something to do with her accelerated aging.
There were spells attached to keep her healthy, and now
they've faded away. We think that her circulatory systems
were so stressed that once that spell was absent the normal
pressures split them open."

I sighed softly. "What can you do?"

"Right now we're draining the internal bleeding, and have
her attached to an IV of fresh blood. It's not going to help
for very long though. We're trying to get some nanites
programmed to go in and patch things up, but it will be an
two hours or more until there ready. We also have a mage
working to re-create the spell, or make a new one, but the
chances of that working are very slim."

"How long do you think she can last?"

He sighed, "Just barley two hours."

"Can you stretch it to five?" Rachel asked over my shoulder.

"We can hook her up to a dozen IVs of blood, and hope she
doesn't start bleeding in her brain. Then maybe, why?"

"A friend of ours is a healer, magical healer." I answered,
"but she won't be able to get here for five hours."

He nodded, "Yes, we'll do as much as we can then. Magic
maybe the only way to save her if the nanites take to long.
I just wish we had a healer like her on staff."

We entered into a small room. Naomi was laying in a bed in
the center, attached to a dozen tubes and wires. I ran to
her side and hugged her tight. She hugged back just as
tight.

"They've told me it's not good," she whispered in my ear.

"I know," I whispered back. "Jadith is on her way though.
She'll be here in time."

She smiled a bit, hugging me tighter for a second before
breaking away. "Do you have my sketch book?" she asked.

Rachel stepped forward and gave it to her.

She smiled, flipping it to a clean page and started to
sketch. Someone brought me a chair and I sat down next to
her, Rachel was right next to me.

I wanted Oria to be there with me, but she was currently
back on her world, and there was no way I could call her. I
just sat there and hopped this would all end well.

Time creped on slowly, first the hour mark passed, and then
the second. The doctors keep pumping more blood into her,
but it seemed to come out just as fast as they put it in.
The nanites were taking longer then expecting, and we had
maybe another hour to wait for them.

At about the two and a half hour mark Naomi let out a slight
gasp. I looked up from where I had been staring it. Her nose
was bloody, dripping slightly. A drop had landed on her
sketch book, which was how she noticed.

The whites of her eyes were slowing turning pink as well.

Quickly a dozen doctors were all over her, some checking the
IVs and her chest, two of them brought in some sort of
device they placed over her head.

A minute latter they had all left, all but the one who had
talked to me before.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke.
"She's started to bleed inside of her brain. There's nothing
we can do at all. She has about ten minutes."

I couldn't must up any words in response. Naomi though did,
she sat up slowly, looking at the doctor. "Get these things
out of me then, and leave me alone. I wish to be alone with
dad."

He nodded, walking over and slowly removing all the IVs, and
taking out the tube that was feed up inside of her to suck
out the blood that had been filling her insides.

After bandaging the holes, he left the room. Rachel gave me
a squeeze on the shoulder, and left as well.

Gulping gently I reached over and hugged my daughter as
tightly as I could. She returned the hug, but not as strong
as normally.

"Not enough time is there?" She asked softly.

"No," I answered, "there never is."

She nodded, her voice wavering, fighting off tears. "I love
you daddy."

"I love you too Newt," I responded, fighting off the same
tears.

"What was that you once said," she said, coughing slightly.
"The only thing I ever regret are the adventures I never
took."

"Ya," I said, starting to cry. "That's it."

"I wish I had seen more," she said, pressing close against
me. It was getting blood over me, but I didn't care. "I've
only lived a year."

I nodded, nuzzling her cheek softly, our tears mingling.

"I can see a unicorn," she said, her voice getting softer.

"You can?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, pulling me tight again. "Right at the end
of the bed. Pure white, almost glowing," she paused. "She
says not to worry about me."

I smiled, "I understand."

"Take good care of my daughter, please?" she asked in a
quite voice.

"Of course," I answered back, kissing her cheek. "I love her
just as much as I love you."

"Thank you," she said, her voice barley audible.

I held her close to me, listen to her breath. Once more,
then twice... then nothing at all.

* * *

We buried her three days latter, on Solitude. I had never
show her that quiet little world, but I knew she would have
loved it.

Only a few of us were there, just those closest to her. We
put her under the tree, adding her name to the plaque that
also held Becky's.

It was all very quiet, no could say very much at all. Once
she was buried most of them just sort of left, some saying
good-byes, others just hugging me.

I was left alone, crying over my daughter's grave with
Oriana at my side.

"Oria?" I asked softly, my voice raw from having spent the
last three days crying.

"Yes," she said, hugging me from behind.

"Lets get married," I said.

"What?" she asked, seeming shocked.

I turned to face her, brushing her own tears from her cheek.
"Lets get married. Don't worry about the details yet, let
just be engaged, betrothed, or whatever you want to call it.
I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

She nodded, kissing me gently on my lips, and holding me
close.

No more words were said for the next dozen hours, both of us
just sitting there, in each others arms, crying. Crying till
we could cry no more.

-----

This story is (c) 1999 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.