It seemed like an insane idea, but she certainly didn’t have a better option. Bain was already climbing the vine up the wall, his eyes fixed on a specific place. Lina didn’t see what he did, but she followed, already piecing together his plan.
“This one should do,” he said, casually brushing off a huge leaf. It was thick enough to be fairly rigid, with a fat, sturdy vein down the center that supported Lina’s weight when she stepped onto it.
“You should sit,” Bain said, taking a seat himself, cross-legged on the leaf.
Lina drew in a breath and looked down from their vantage point. It wasn’t terribly far, only a few feet, but the distance loomed in front of her and her vision swam. It wasn’t the height that bothered her but the falling that was terrifying. And riding a leaf, unrestrained, was pretty high on the list of crazy ideas. Almost up there with testing an experimental matter transporter without any supervision…
Still, her back was up against a wall — literally — and she didn’t have any better option. She sat down with Bain. “Are you sure this is safe?”
Bain grinned and took her hand in his. “Do you trust me?”
“Well… yeah, but isn’t this different than Mabnoa? Couldn’t this go wrong?”
He chuckled and Lina frowned at him, thinking he was making fun of her. But he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into him, kissing the top of her head. “That certainly didn’t stop you from building a spaceship without training and flying across the galaxy.”
“Yeah but that was…” She wanted to say different, but why? Because she was in charge of it? He was right. He’d trusted her through her crazy schemes, it was time to return the favor.
“Or from initiating negotiations with a race known to be violent and dangerous.”
Her face warmed and she opened her mouth to say something.
“Or from any of the other thousand crazy things you’ve done since I’ve met you and probably even before that.”
“Alright, alright,” she sighed, shaking her head before he tried to say anything else or she tried to talk herself out of it. “Let’s go.”
Bain kept one arm around her — which she appreciated more than she could say — and rested his free hand on the flat of the leaf, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply.
With a little jolt, the leaf moved forward, then came to a stop again.
Bain opened his eyes and frowned at it.
“What’s wrong?” Lina asked.
He shook his head. “That’s never happened before.”
“What?”
“Well… It’s responding to me, but maybe the plant is too large for me to control on my own? Or maybe because it’s an Earth plant… I don’t know. It’s requiring more coaxing than it should.”
The way he talked about it made it sound like he was talking to a stubborn child that didn’t want to do its chores, not a plant that refused to move with his mysterious alien plant powers.
“So it’s not going to work?” she asked, already feeling the weight of defeat crushing her. There weren’t other answers. Even this one had been hard to find and kind of a long shot. If this didn’t work, what would they do?
“I didn’t say that,” Bain answered, his expression getting a bit more serious. “You can’t give up so easily. I’m not the only one with the gift, here.”
Her eyes narrowed at him and Lina frowned, trying to suss out his meaning.
“Wait… You mean me?”
“Who else?” he said with a low chuckle that rumbled through his chest. Even when she thought he was a crazy person he made her feel giddy and light-hearted. Even in the face of failure or death, he made her grin like a loon. How could she say no to him?
But she tried anyway.
“No… Bain, I don’t know the first thing about controlling plants. I did it once and it was a fluke! I can’t just make the ivy go where I want it to. I don’t know how to… talk to it?” When she’d made the tree branch grow, it hadn’t been a conversation like Bain seemed to be describing. Instead it was more of a feeling. Something deep down inside of her that became part of the tree. That maybe had always been a part of the tree. She didn’t know. It just felt like the branch had been an extension of herself. Like the veins in her arms also ran through the tree and when the sun shone on her, she was able to feed that light back into the branch.
But what Bain was talking about was way different. She didn’t have the first idea how to manage or control this so-called “gift.” She didn’t have any idea how to make this work.
“You do know. It’s a part of you the same it is a part of me. Maybe you’re not very in touch with that part of yourself, but together, we can do this.”
Together. There was that word again. The one that filled her with so much hope.
“Here, just put your hand here,” he said, taking her wrist and laying her hand on the leaf before covering it with his own. Already, at just his touch, she felt energy flowing between them, that same spark she’d felt the very first day in Mabnoa. His fingers laced with hers and curled under her palm, holding her hand right there.
“Okay, now take a deep breath and close your eyes,” he said softly, his face close enough that his breath tickled her hair as its warmth swept over the shell of her ear.
She did as he instructed, letting her eyelids drift closed and breathing in deeply. But as she blew out the breath she shook her head, opening her eyes again. “I can’t, this is silly.”
Bain’s brows pushed together, his expression darkening like a stormy sky. “Since when is there anything you can’t do? You’re not even trying.”
All at once, she felt chastised and buoyed. All at once, he filled her with pride and guilt. He was right of course. She’d never give up so easily if it was something she was convinced she could do, but when someone else told her she could do it, her immediate reaction was skepticism. She still needed to trust him.
So she tried again, her eyes sliding closed, her lungs expanding.
“And now, focus on this leaf. Focus on how it feels under your palm. The energy flowing through it. Can you feel it?”
“It’s…” She stopped, frowning. “Vibrating?”
“Good. That’s the energy flowing through the veins. The light and water and nutrients being converted into new plant life and food. It’s got a lot of energy, I’m sure you can tell. But it’s chaotic and wild energy. We have to guide it and corral it in the direction we want.”
Lina frowned. “But how?”
Bain squeezed her hand and his chin came to rest on her shoulder, his strong arms around her from behind as he leaned forward. “Stop thinking about it and just feel,” he whispered, his lips brushing her earlobe ever-so-softly.
“Feel the power come from me, from you, and into the vine.”
She didn’t know what he was talking about, but she wanted to, so she tried. She focused as hard as she could on the plant, but her mind kept drifting to the way Bain’s arms felt around her, how his breath kept tickling her neck, how his warmth soaked into her back and his heart beat steady against her spine.
She didn't pay attention to anything else but the feeling of Bain surrounding her, the warmth of the sun, and the energy that flowed through them all.
"Don't look now, but you're doing it," Bain whispered, his voice husky and warm in her ear.
Lina's eyes shot open and she gaped at the world whizzing by in a blur. "Holy crap, I'm really doing it."
Bain's chuckle rumbled through her and her stomach did a somersault, her heart practically leaping out of her with the pure joy radiating from them both. It was working! They were going to find Mom and then everything would be all better. They'd find a way to deal with everything else. It all seemed so much simpler than the task of navigating to and around Earth.
"You sound surprised," he said.
"I am," she laughed. "But we need to pay attention."
The vine stretched and climbed around the building, wrapping around corners and snaking through bricks. None of the humans seemed to notice the sudden burst of growth, but that was just as well. Mom really didn't need more inquiries.
"Do you hear that?" It was faint over the rush of wind and rustling of leaves, but it was there. The droning buzz of bees.
"I think so?" Bain answered, leaning forward, stretching toward the sound.
"Go towards it!"
"You mean, go towards the scary giant insects full of poison?" he teased.
She rolled her eyes, laughing at him. Nothing seemed so serious now. Not when she was back in her element, back on her planet, where things were familiar and understandable.
"Toward them, not to them. The hives weren't that close to the lab."
The ivy vine lurched forward again, going so fast now that she had to grip the edges of the leaf to not go flying off. Of course, Bain's arms were still around her, holding her close, so she knew she was safe. She'd always be safe with him there.
They whizzed through the air, vines and leaves sprouting all around them as bricks flew by in a blur, Lina watching closely for anything recognizable.
"Stop!" she said. The command was to Bain, but the ivy obeyed immediately, shuddering to a quick stop, sending them both tumbling forward. Lina skidded right off the edge of the leaf, grabbing quickly onto a curly tendril of the vine. Bain managed to stay on the leaf and reached a hand down to her, pulling her back up.
"Alright?" he asked.
Her feet had been dangling so many feet off the ground, but in that moment, she hadn't been afraid at all. Bain was there.
"Alright," she said, nodding and dusting herself off. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to be so... sudden."
"What did you see?"
"Down there." She pointed to an open window that was level with the ground. It was cleaner than she remembered, with only hints of the grime around the edges that she'd grown so used to. And the fact that it was open was unusual.
What if Mom wasn't in that lab anymore? What if they'd given her somewhere else to work? Or worse, what if she didn't work for the University at all anymore?
Suddenly, everything that had seemed so easy didn't seem to be so carefree anymore. Suddenly, Lina's hands when damp and cold and a knot of worry formed in her chest.
But then there was a sound, a soft humming, and she knew instantly that her worries were unfounded.
"Come on, let's go!" Again, the vine obeyed her instantly and she had to grab hold of the leaf as they shot forward, Bain clinging to her wrist for dear life.
As they got closer to the window, Lina willed the vine to slow gradually, then stop, turning to give Bain a sheepish look. "I think maybe you should drive in the future."
He grinned, nodding. "I think I can manage that."
The ivy set them down gently in the grass near the window and Lina took a big breath. She couldn't wait to see Mom again, but there was so much to tell her! So many new things in her life. And then there was Bain...
"Nervous?" he asked, his hand on the small of her back as they both hesitated at the window sill.
"Um... No," she said resolutely, finally. "You?"
He laughed, and the sound made her turn to him with a brow arched. That was not his normal laugh at all. "Nervous about meeting my future wife's giant mother? Why would I be?"
Anxiety squirmed in Lina's gut, twisting and slipping through her intestines all the way up to her throat, leaving a slimy uneasy feeling all inside. But she shook her head, not willing to give purchase to those kinds of thoughts. "No, it'll be fine. She'll love you just like I love you."
"Well, hopefully not just like you do," he said, squeezing her hip.
She just shook her head at him, smiling, and took his hand. "Come on, let's do it." She tugged, stepping over the frame of the window onto the ledge high up in the basement lab.
And for just a moment, Lina froze there. Everything looked just how she remembered it. Everything was in the same place, the same messes scattered about, pieces and parts haphazardly placed with little to no organization... It was like she'd never left.
Except for the matter transporter. It sat on the main workbench, a place of pride among the other experiments, in complete disarray. It looked like it had been disassembled and there were at least three copies of the whole device, also in various states of assembly.
"Stay here," Lina said firmly. She'd introduce them soon enough, but she couldn't just pop up with Bain at her side. Mom would have a cow.