Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sasha and Marcy stepped through, hand in hand, to a damaged Los Angelous. They turned back, looking for Anne to come through.

Anne came through a moment later. Tears were rolling rapidly down her cheeks. Her eyes were watery, as she cried harder. “Oh Anne,” Sasha rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around her shoulder.
Marcy quickly joined the hug.

*Insert Amphibia Theme Song*

“What now?” Marcy asked quietly.
“We go home.” Anne replied quietly, as their embrace ended.

“Sash, can I borrow your phone?” Anne asked in the most morose tone they’d ever heard from her.

“Ye… yeah” Sasha replied with a slight stutter. She slid her hands into her pocket. Marcy saw the panicked look on Sashas face. “I must’ve lost it some time between our sneak invasion of the castle and that insane sword fight.” Sasha responded, turning her pockets inside out.

“Marcy?” Anne asked. Marcy knew exactly what she meant. “Sorry, Darcy kind of dissected my phone a few weeks ago.” Marcy replied. “I was gonna tell my parents we were back, but I guess they’ll find when I get home.” Anne said, wiping her eye with her hand.

“Anne,” Sasha began, but stopped for a second.
“Yeah Sasha?” Anne mumbled, tears still flowing down her cheeks.
“I… I wanna go home with you. My parents could pick me up. I just… don’t know which house to go to.” Sasha’s tone shifted as she spoke, slowly sounding more melancholy.

“Of course,” Anne replied, trying to cover the sadness in her tone. “Anne,” Anne looked toward Marcy. “Can I come to?” Marcy asked. “Yes!” Anne answered, laughing through the tears. That was the best feeling – laughing through tears.
It was a short break from sadness. A glimmer of happiness within a sea of despair.

Anne grabbed Sasha’s hand, then Marcy’s. They’d reappeared on the side of the freeway, luckily not on top of a car this time.
A few cars were passing by. One of the drivers heads turned toward them, and their car screeched to a halt. The driver began to exit the car walk over to them. Several others followed Anne froze in place, without taking a step. She quickly realized what was going on.

“we need to run.” Anne whispered. “Agreed.” Sasha replied. She took off into a sprint, pulling Anne behind her, and Marcy being pulled along with them from holding on to Anne. Anne let go of Sasha’s hand, but continued to pull Marcy’s along with her.

Sasha could feel a stinging pain in her leg as she ran. She gasped for breath as she sprinted, her back had a beating pain on it.
Marcy felt a stinging pulling pain through her chest, worse with the rapid rise and fall of her lungs. She held tightly to Anne’s hand, refusing to let go. It was almost as if she was afraid of falling behind.

More people seemed to notice the girls running down the side of the freeway. Anne didn’t intend on letting go of Marcy. Sasha was a few feet ahead of them, but slowing down. Marcy was about a foot behind Anne, but still linked. Anne was breathing heavily, but wouldn’t stop.
She didn’t want all these people to be noticing them, she honestly didn’t even know where they were running to, or how running was going to help them escape the press.

Sasha almost came to a stop, but forced herself to keep going, now side by side with Anne. An FBI van rapidly pulled up beside them, squealing to a sudden and uneven stop. Mr. X popped out from the passenger side window.

“Get in.” He said quickly and firmly.

Anne tore open the back door, stepping in and holding the door opened for Sasha and Marcy. Both climbed in without hesitation. Anne found the door shut and leaned against the wall. Sasha did the same on the opposite side, as did Marcy.

“We were looking for you three to pop back up again.” Mr. X said from the passengers seat. Jenny was driving.
“Sorry Mr. X, none of us have our phones and we didn’t really know what to do. It happened pretty fast.” Anne explained.

“Don’t worry Anne, we’ve got it all figured out. Jenny and I are taking you back to our facility, where your parents are waiting. From there we’ll do some basic examinations and hopefully get you girls home as soon as possible.” Mr. X informed them.
“Thanks Mr.X” Anne replied.

There was silence for a moment. The only thing that could be heard was the girls heavy breathing and the subtle sound of tires.

“Hi, I’m Marcy. I don’t believe we’ve been formerly introduced.” Marcy said, breaking the quiet.
“Yes, I know all about you.” Mr. X responded. “I’m Sasha. Thought I should introduce myself more than just as Anne’s friend. Cuz that’s what you called me when you told us to do recon yesterday – before the real madness started.” Sasha introduced herself.

“Yeah, sorry about that. There wasn’t time for formal introductions then.” Mr. X began. “I’m Mr. X, a government agent specializing in extraterrestrials, that’s how I wound up in this case. We’d found a picture of Anne and…” Mr. X hesitated. “The Plantars.” Anne finished, knowing Mr. X had forgotten their last name.

“Thanks for saving us back there.” Anne continued. “Yeah, we can’t let all these people find out about what happened, nor do we want anything to happen to you three.” Mr. X replied.

There was another minute of awkward silence.

“We’re here.” Mr. X said, watching as the van passed through the security gates. “Ready for a reunion?” He asked. Sasha, Anne, and Marcy didn’t answer. Once the van had come to a complete stop, Anne stood up.

Marcy and Sasha had remained seated. Mr. X and Jenny got out of the van, their doors slamming shut. Anne held out her hand to help Sasha up. Sasha took it and silently stood up. Anne turned to Marcy, extending her hand out to her. Marcy reluctantly took it.
“Hey, it’s gonna be ok.” Anne said, carefully pulling her up. Marcy silently nodded, taking a deep breath in and out.
Mr.X and Jenny opened the car doors. Anne stepped out first, examining the area. They were standing just outside the building. It was the same building Anne had broken the Plantars out of. They were surrounded by tall barbed wire fences.

Anne immediately noticed her parents standing just across from her by a few meters. Marcy parents stood to the left, and Sashas to the right. “Mom! Dad!” Anne ran froward toward them, immediately embracing them. “Anne!” They exclaimed. A few tears trickled down her cheeks, landing on their clothes. This was one of the tightest hugs shed ever been enclosed in, third to the day at the aquarium with the Plantars and the hug goodbye shed just given them only a little over an hour ago.

Marcy stumbled out of the back of the van, lightly stroking her hair. She gazed around, fascinated by the fact that she was standing in a secret government facility. Her eyes wandered down toward her parents. She nervously smiled and began to walk over.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered after coming to a stop. Marcy was trying her hardest not to cry again. Her mom immediately embraced her. Her dad rested his had on her shoulder. “No Marcy. We’re sorry.” Her mom replied, stroking her hand through Marcys short hair. It was longer than it had been six months ago, that was easily noticeable.

Sasha was last to exit the van. She didn’t pay much attention what so ever to their surroundings. She steadily walked over toward her parents. She stopped in front of them, looking down at her feet.
“Hey,” She said quietly and tensely. “Sasha,” Her mom pulled her tightly into a hug. Once her mom had let go her dad pulled her into a hug. “We missed you,” He said quietly. “Yeah, I missed you guys to.” Sasha mumbled.

“I hate to break this up, but we do have a few things we need to discuss, and its probably best that we get these three checked out sooner than later.” Mr. X said.
Anne turned in Mr. X’s direction, as did Marcy and Sasha. Mr. X gestured for them to follow him. The group went inside, multiple others meeting them at the doors.

“This is one of the best doctors in the city, Dr. Catrise Daniels.” Mr. X explained.
“Hi girls, I’m just here to give you a quick examination. After everything that I saw on the news yesterday, I’m sure you three need it.” She said with a smile. Dr. Daniels looked rather young for being one of the best doctors, but they weren’t going to judge.

***
They’d gone to a smaller room where each of the girls had sat down. Their parents waited outside, having there own discussion quietly. The main door was opened, so they could easily hear in and out.
Dr. Daniels was carefully sliding plastic gloves over her hands.

The girls were sitting just along the wall, but they couldn’t quite hear the conversation going on between the adults.

“Do you think they’re talking about us?” Marcy whispered. “Yeah.” Anne whispered back.

“Ok, lets start with Anne,” Dr. Daniels said motioning towards the examination table that sat against the other wall. Anne flashed a nervous smile towards Sasha and Marcy, then proceeded to hop up onto the examination table.

“Ok, look at my eyes ok, I’m gonna shine this in your eyes, it’s important that you just look at me though.” Dr. Daniels instructed. Anne nodded. She switched on the small light and shined it into Annes eyes.

“Ok, looks pretty normal.” Using the light, she then glanced into her ears. “Could you open your mouth, tongue down, please?” Dr. Daniels asked.
Anne opened her mouth as widely as possible. Dr. Daniels shined her her light into her mouth, examining it carefully.

“You did a lot of screaming the past few days huh?” She asked. “Yeah,” Anne responded quietly. “I can tell.” Dr. Daniels smiled. She took her stethoscope, “Can you lay down for me?” Dr. Daniels asked.

Anne laid down flat, she knew how this went. You were supposed to breath as steadily and normally as possible, so that’s what Anne did. Dr. Daniels held the step the scope to her chest, carefully moving it and listening in the silence. “Your heart rate seems normal, which is a good sign. I can tell you’ve overworked yourself and are exhausted though.” Dr. Daniels said. She managed to smile the whole time.

“Can you describe to me how you feel? If anything hurts or feels off?” Dr. Daniels asked. “Yeah, um. I’m kind of sore everywhere. Feels like I have a few pulled muscles.” Anne began. She paused for a moment to take a breath. “I’ve had off and on headaches since…” Anne trailed off. “Ok. Right now I’m going to guess it’s a concussion, but I can’t diagnose you for sure. I am going to go ahead and have you take an impact cognitive test while I examine your friends, ok?” Dr. Daniels explained.

Anne nodded and took a seat. Marcy was next. Marcy sat at the examination table, nervously looking back at Sasha and Anne who was taking an impact cognitive test.

“Alright, Marcy, I’m going to have you do the same things as Anne. I’ll start with eyes, then ears, then mouth.” Dr. Daniels continued. Marcy nodded.
“Eyes and Ears look fine so far,” Marcy opened her mouth, knowing that’s what came next. “You were yelling a lot to.” She said, somehow still smiling. As Dr. Daniels brought her stethoscope up to her ears Marcy laid down. “You’re really on top of it,” Dr. Daniels laughed, moving her stethoscope across Marcy’s chest.

“You’re heart rate is slightly elevated, can you do four square breathing for me?” She asked. Marcy clenched her fist out of nerves, but proceeded to count to four in her head and breath in, then do the same but breathe out. She continued to do that for a few minutes. “Ok, you can sit back up.” Dr. Daniels informed her, putting the stethoscope down.

“How are you feeling, physically? Sore? Pain anywhere?” Dr. Daniels asked. “Well, I have this scar from like a month and a half ago, it still stings pretty bad when I move around certain ways, and I get out of breath a lot faster because of it.” Marcy explained.
“Ok, where’s this scar?” Dr. Daniels asked.

Marcy drew a line with her fingers down her chest where Andrias had impaled her. “Oh, my goodness. How uh… how’d that happen?” Dr. Daniels asked.
“I got stabbed, well more like impaled. But, it’s ok. They did some stuff to fix me up back in Amphibia with like this magic rejuvenation tank thing, I was unconscious for it though.” Marcy answered quickly.
“As soon as I can, I am going to have you X-rayed just to check that out. Is there anything else?” Dr. Daniels questioned.

“No I don’t think…” Marcy began, but was interrupted. “Her blood was green.” Sasha said from across the room. Dr. Daniels turned toward Sasha. “She got a cut on her cheek and her blood was green.” Sasha repeated.
Marcy looked back and fourth between Sasha and the doctor.
“Ok, I’d have to do a blood test for sure, but I believe it’s Sulfhemoglobinemia. A rare condition caused by high sulfur levels. If whatever this other worldly treatment you had involved sulfur, that would explain the high sulfur levels causing blood to appear green.” She informed her.
“What… what would we do about it?” Marcy asked. She was clearly nervous about the whole situation. “We’d just have to get some fluids in you, make sure you don’t consume much sulfur. Maybe a diet for a while to avoid increase in sulfur intake. Nothing serious.” Dr. Daniels explained. Marcy nodded again, silently.

“And finally, Sasha’s turn.” Dr. Daniels said. Sasha took a deep breath and slowly walked over. Taking a seat at the examination table, as Marcy took a seat back next to Anne. Anne took a moment to smile at Marcy reassuringly. Marcy leaned her head against Annes shoulder, as Anne went back to her test.
Sasha didn’t say anything, nor did Dr. Daniels. She followed same procedure shed done with Anne and Marcy. Dr. Daniels seemed to listen to Sashas heart for longer than the others. “Ok, you can sit up now.” She said. Sasha sat up, and twisted her legs around in front of her. “Same question to you now, Anything hurt or feel off?” Dr. Daniels asked.

Sasha hesitated but did indeed answer. “My right ankle hurts, extending into my upper leg. My other leg feels bruised everywhere. My core area is sore. My arms feel heavy and achy. Iv’e been loosing my breath quicker and easier. When I run quickly I start to feel kind of light headed. Oh, and there’s a painful sharp feeling down my entire back, but it also feels hot like a burning sensation that constantly goes away and comes back.” She explained.
“Wow, that’s a lot. Ok, Can you take off your boots. I want to have a look at your ankle.” Dr. Daniels replied. Sasha fiddled with the boots for a moment before slowly taking them both off. “Let me know if this hurts.” Dr. Daniels instructed. She gently pressed on Sashas right ankle and moving up her leg. Sasha groaned, muscles tensing, she quickly reached for her leg. “I’ll take that as it does hurt.” Dr. Daniels replied.
“Your arms seem pretty scratched up and bruised, which is expected. Can I take a look at your back?” She added. “Yeah,” Sasha mumbled.

She glanced over at Anne and Marcy, hoping they weren’t looking, but they were. Sasha took a shaky breath in and slowly brought her hands up to her shoulders. She carefully undid the clasp, her cap falling to the ground. Sasha only looked toward the floor. That way she couldn’t see Anne and Marcys reaction, or the doctors for that matter.

“Ok, I’m going to go ahead and say the light headedness and slight shortness of breath is from blood loss. It’s not to serious as of now, but if it gets worse in the future wed be looking into a blood transplant. As for the hurt ankle I can tell there’s a mark there. The soreness and achy feeling is expected. You definitely need to drink lots to hopefully get your fluids back to normal, and eat enough food to help this heal and your muscles recover. I need all three of you to stay hydrated and eat well. Marcy, we’ll look at putting you two on a diet to get your sulfur levels down, and Sasha for a more steady recovery. I can also recommend you three to a physical therapist to help recovery from injuries and strengthen muscles.” Dr. Daniels explained.

Dr. Daniels contained “I know this isn’t exactly what any of you want to hear, but you all got pretty lucky considering the physical effects that could have come from this. I mean, all of you survived the impossible. You should be proud of that.”

Sasha sat back down on the other side of Anne. Anne grabbed Sashas hand, giving it a light squeeze. Sasha looked at Anne, unable to force a smile. After everything, she was still trying to process everything. All three of them were still trying to process everything. These past six months had been the craziest months of their lives. The craziest yet still some of the best.