Chapter 25

Case came to full wakefulness in an instant. Her heart raced a little as she tried to remember where she was and who she was with. The answers came quickly and her pulse slowed to a more normal pace, as she realized there was no immediate threat.

She gently eased herself out of the bed and stood up. The act of removing the blanket and pushing herself off the mattress reminded Case of the abuse she'd put her hands through the night before. Even the sheet brushing over her knuckles made Case wince, and she carefully flexed her hands several times to try to loosen up the stiff flesh.

Case looked down at Rain, who was still asleep, and decided she wanted some time alone before she had to deal with the FBI agent again. The intensity of her emotions had dulled considerably since last night, but her feelings were still closer to the surface than she preferred.

Case gingerly picked up the jeans and bra she'd discarded the night before and grabbed a clean tank top from her bag on her way to the bathroom. She tried to brush her teeth first, but it didn't work very well. Her damaged hands were incapable of making a fist, and she couldn't hold onto the toothbrush enough to apply the amount of pressure she needed. Finally, she gave up on the activity and decided to just take her shower. She set the temperature as hot as she could stand it and then stepped into the spray.

The hot water felt good on her tortured hands, but she gritted her teeth as she worked the shampoo into her hair. In her attempts to block out the pain, however, her thoughts inevitably went to the events that had caused it.

The thing she couldn't, or didn't want to, understand was why Rain had stayed. Case had been actively trying to kill the woman and yet Rain had held her when she'd cried and then made love to her afterward. If Rain had any kind of sense, she should have shot Case while she was passed out. But she hadn't, and Case was having a hard time accepting the most likely reason why.

It was one thing for Case to admit she loved Rain. She'd also been aware that Rain was in love with her ever since she'd found out that Rain was FBI. But to accept Rain's love... That was something else altogether.

How was she supposed to do what she needed to do with that kind of knowledge hanging over her? She couldn't start caring what Rain thought of her. There were things she needed to do, and she couldn't let Rain's love for her get in the way. She couldn't be soft, not yet. If she survived and managed to get Rain out too, then maybe she could give into the need she felt for Rain, but not right now.

Distance. I need distance, Case thought to herself.

She rinsed her hair and picked up the little bottle of conditioner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rain slowly opened her eyes and squinted at the bright light coming from behind the curtains. The sun had obviously been up for a while, and Rain confirmed the late morning hour with a glance at the clock.

She looked around the room and finally noticed she was alone. Her heart started beating a little faster with the subconscious fear that Case had left, but then she heard the shower and realized Case was just in the bathroom. Then she felt stupid for panicking so easily. Wasn't she supposed to be a hardened Federal Agent? Not that any of her training could help her when it came to Case.

Rain shook her head and dismissed the stray thoughts. She sat up and flipped the covers back, and then stood and walked over to their bags to rummage for clean clothes. She found an unopened package of boxer shorts that she'd purchased shortly after meeting Case in L.A. She grabbed another unopened package of gray T-shirts, and then put on the pajama-like ensemble. If she had it her way, they weren't going anywhere today.

Of course, it was quite possible that the people in charge had other ideas, so she quickly pulled out her cell phone and checked her voice mail. She grinned when she heard the lack of messages. Since she and Case were still supposed to be working together, and Doc had said that any new jobs would be sent directly to Rain, it was a good bet that Case didn't have any commitments either.

Rain turned off the phone and walked back to the bed to get the phone book from the nightstand. She checked under food delivery. There were only a few places listed, but it looked like there was enough variety that they wouldn't be eating the same thing twice, so she closed the book and set it back on the bedside table.

Rain heard the water turn off, so she reached for the remote control and watched TV while she waited for Case to finish. Case took longer than Rain had thought she would, and Rain was just starting to get into the movie she'd found when Case came out of the bathroom.

"Morning," Case greeted her.

"Good morning," Rain replied with a smile and scooted over to offer space for Case to sit next to her.

Case took the hint and climbed onto the bed. She needed emotional distance, not physical distance. Of course, then Rain noticed her hands and Case started to wonder if physical distance might not have been a good idea, too.

"Jesus, Case," Rain exclaimed.

Rain attempted to grab at Case's nearest hand for a closer inspection, but Case was quick to move the limb out of reach before Rain could touch the tender appendage.

"Don't," Case said shortly.

"Let me see," Rain ordered, though she did try to gentle her voice as she realized Case was actually afraid.

Case looked at her for several moments and then sighed as she slowly brought her hands back over so that Rain could get a better look at the injuries. As Rain reached out again, Case couldn't keep her fear from making her speak again.

"Be careful," Case said, and felt a wave of shame wash over her, as she heard the pleading tone in her voice.

As a child, Case had been very good at taking her father's beatings. Most of the time, she'd barely even cried from the violent blows. But the day after had always seemed to be more difficult. Every muscle in her body would be sore from tensing up all night from the pain. Then her mother would try to clean up the wounds, and she was never gentle about it. She always found a way to make Case feel even worse, either with her rough ministrations or her harsh words intended to guilt Case into being 'a better daughter.'

Rain watched Case's eyes dart around the room to look everywhere but at Rain. She made a guess as to the source of Case's fear and waited until the skittish woman finally glanced her way before speaking.

"I won't hurt you," Rain said gently, and reached to hold Case's forearms instead of her hands. Then she looked down at the bruised limbs. "Damn, Case, this looks really bad. I think you should get checked ou..."

"No," Case said, and pulled her arms away again. When she saw Rain getting ready to protest, she continued. "They'll be fine by tomorrow. You won't even know they've been hurt. I swear," Case insisted.

Rain thought it over.

"If they still look like that tomorrow, will you go to a doctor?" Rain bargained.

"If they still hurt, I'll go. But I'm serious. You won't even be able to see a bruise tomorrow," Case promised.

Rain wasn't convinced, but Case had said she would see a doctor if she was wrong about her body's healing abilities, so Rain decided she'd won this little argument.

Case took Rain's almost satisfied expression as a sign that she wasn't going to be pestered anymore and relaxed a little. She noticed the TV and decided to change the subject.

"So, whatcha watchin'?" Case asked amiably.

Rain accepted the new topic and leaned back against the headboard to find a more comfortable position. She focused on the TV again and tried to remember what had been so interesting before she'd been reminded of Case's injuries.

"I don't know. It's got Christina Ricci, and Demi Moore is doing the narration. It's about these four girls and..."

"Oh, it's Now and Then," Case interrupted, as she recognized the scene that was playing. "It's a good movie."

"Yeah, I like it so far anyway," Rain commented. "So, do we have anything we have to do today?" Rain asked expectantly, as she remembered her goals of doing nothing for the day.

Case frowned in thought.

"I don't think so. Let me just check my voicemail real quick," she said, as she got up and used her phone to do just that. After a few moments, she cut the connection and set the phone back on the table. "Nope, nothing. Why, did you have something in mind?"

"Yeah. This past week has been insane. I would like to request a day off, Teach, if you don't mind. I think you could use a bit of a vacation, too," Rain said, gesturing at Case's hands.

Case shrugged off the final dig about her hands, but then she smiled as she contemplated taking a break.

"I think I could be persuaded. Why don't you get dressed and we can go out for breakfast, and then maybe..."

"No. I don't want to go anywhere. I just want to stay here and watch TV or something else that's just as stress-free and doesn't involve other people," Rain declared, and reached for the phone book. She quickly found the page she'd marked earlier and looked up at Case. "We can have pizza, Chinese, burgers, or sandwiches. Since we had pizza for breakfast yesterday, I'm thinking sandwiches."

Case grinned at Rain's sudden take-charge attitude. But then she took a moment to wonder at Rain's actions. It crossed her mind that last night might finally be catching up to Rain, and she was trying to hide from the reality of their situation. Or maybe it was the reality of who Case was that she was trying to ignore. Considering Case was attempting a similar retreat, she decided that indulging the woman in a little denial was very acceptable. On the other hand, Rain might be planning to talk to her about 'things' and that was not okay. Case decided she would just have to be careful not to let the conversation get too deep.

Then Case remembered she'd been given a list of food options and realized a reply was in order.

"Okay. I guess I could go for a turkey club," Case said.

Case climbed back onto the bed and laid back as Rain called the local deli and ordered what everyone else would call lunch at that time of day. It only took a few minutes and then Rain hung up the phone.

"He said it'll be here in half an hour."

"Good, I'm really hungry. Oh, hey, you have to watch this part, it's hilarious," Case said, as the young actresses on the TV found their male counterparts in a rather vulnerable state.

The food arrived in short order and they sat and watched the rest of the movie while they ate. Once the food was gone and the entertainment had ended, Rain started searching her mind for things to do that wouldn't require getting dressed or leaving the room. Several ideas popped into her head, but Case was already up and dragging out her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Rain asked curiously.

"This is one of the things I do to relax. I play computer games. I think I've got some that you'd like," Case said, as she booted up the computer.

"Like what?"

Case brought out a thick CD wallet filled with game CD-ROM disks that she tossed to Rain. Rain unzipped the case and started looking at the titles on the disks as Case explained what was available.

"There's a few shoot 'em up games, some strategy games, and then there's the adventure games, which are pretty cool and are probably more your style. The graphics are amazing, and you don't have to worry about dying most of the time. I think you'd like the puzzles, too."

Plus, the adventure games didn't require intensive use of the keyboard the way the first-person shooter games did, which would bother her hands, but Case didn't mention that part.

"Let's try one of those then," Rain suggested, as she held out the CD holder to Case.

Case took it and flipped through the disks until she came to one she thought might entertain them both.

"Well, we could do Riddle of the Sphinx, but it's a really long game. It took me fourteen hours the first time I played it. The graphics kind of suck during the three-sixty-degree parts, but the rest of it's incredible. They actually recreated the chambers inside the Great Pyramid. They added on a bunch of new stuff for the game of course, but the beginning part is like taking a tour of the real thing."

"We could just do that part. It sounds interesting," Rain allowed.

"Okay," Case agreed easily, and inserted the disk into her CD-ROM drive.

The game loaded quickly and Rain sat next to Case at the table, as she watched the intro movie. It didn't take long for Rain to get caught up in the game and they were well into the fictional chambers of the pyramid before Case mentioned food again. Rain was surprised when she looked at the clock and then noticed the artificial light of the streetlamps had replaced the natural light from the windows.

"Let me get the lights," Case said, after saving the game.

She stood up and stretched a little before walking to the switch and turning on the lights.

"Ow," Rain said, as her eyes started to ache from the suddenly bright surroundings.

"Sorry," Case apologized, and returned to her seat. "So, dinner?"

"Chinese?" Rain replied in the same tone.

"Sounds good. You wanna call? I need to use the bathroom."

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Chicken chow mein, egg roll, pork fried rice, and some sweet and sour chicken," Case rattled off.

"Got it," Rain said, and went to the phone.

Case returned quickly and then it was Rain's turn to relieve herself. A few minutes later, they were back in front of the computer and playing the game. The arrival of their food was only a minor interruption and then it was back to the game again.

"You know, this is addictive," Rain commented, as she scooped up her low mein noodles with the wooden chopsticks that had come with their meals. "It's just one puzzle after another, but they keep adding on top of each other.

"

"Yeah, Riven and Exile are like that, too. Though, they've got better graphics," Case said, and Rain didn't miss the note of hopefulness in her voice.

"You want to play one of those instead?" Rain asked innocently.

"You don't mind? The graphics are just unbelievable. It's like you're really there, but none of it's real," Case said, even as she closed out the game and removed the CD from the drive to replace it with a new one. "You have to see the plesiosaurs. They're not really plesiosaurs, but they look like them. You even have to sneak up on them to keep them from running away before you get too close. It's neat."

Rain smiled at the enthusiasm she heard in Case's voice. It gave her a glimpse of the person Case might have been if she'd grown up under different circumstances. She could just see Case working with a team of programmers to create a new adventure game. She thought Case would really enjoy something like that.

As the game's intro movie began playing, Rain could see why Case was so hyped up about the 'graphics.' Live actors were placed into computer-generated environments and those environments were as realistic as anything Rain had ever seen.

"Myst was the first one. This is the second one, and Exile's the third one," Case explained. "Let me show you the plesiosaurs," she continued, and took Rain through the game as though they were on a virtual nature hike.

As the evening progressed, Case had to admit that she enjoyed showing off her favorite computer worlds to Rain. They were like her secret places and getting to share them with another person felt good.

Case also admitted it was a way to feel close to Rain without actually sharing any personal information. Case was still worried that Rain intended to have them talk about last night, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. So, she made sure to keep Rain occupied until it was obvious that Rain was ready to go to sleep.

As Rain curled around Case underneath the covers, Case pushed back into Rain's body to increase the contact. There was something that felt so right when Rain was wrapped around her body. The warmth that spread over her back from Rain's front did more than just heat her skin. It made her feel safe. It wasn't in the physical sense. Not even Case's own martial arts training ever made Case feel physically safe. But Case could feel a kind of protection around her heart. Rain loved her and cared about her and even though there were weaknesses in that for Case, she wasn't blind to the strengths that could be gained from it as well.

Case closed her eyes. She pulled Rain's arms around her a little tighter. Tomorrow, it would all be over. One way or another.