Some Fantastic, Chapter Fifteen

By GirlX2

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All he wanted to do was hold her hand. Her fingers twitched occasionally, nails sliding through the dirt; ghosting through the dirt, actually. Her eyes were closed. She hadn't spoken since telling him he'd wrecked everything they'd worked for.

He'd just have to hope the game was down for repairs, or that nobody was playing it. If someone saw that he and Ralph were gone, no amount of emails would save them.

He laid a hand on the arm of her suit, the battle gear still solid. He hoped she could feel that.

"I'm sorry. But if it comes to my game or you, I'll always pick you, Darlin'. The others can hate me, but it won't change a thing." He restrained himself from gripping his hammer and trying to bring her out of it.

He'd tried so many times already.

She was going to die. The only question was whether or not she'd come back.

Her skin was still blue, ears still pointed. Her clothing had changed back to normal, but that was all. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Felix noted his appearance was back to normal as well, sink flesh toned, clothing simple work duds. He hoped Ralph and Vanellope were home already. He wouldn't be able to go check until this was over.

Calhoun groaned, and her body fuzzed beneath her clothes, almost like when Vanellope glitched. It was nearly over.

Felix swallowed hard. "Tamora Jean, if I can come back from being swallowed whole, you can beat this. Try for me, Darlin'. Please."

She gave no sign that she'd heard.

"Incoming quarters!" One of her men shouted. "We need Sarge NOW!"

"She's still…she's not…" Felix floundered, and tried to think of what Tammy would do. "Martinez! Take Sarge's spot, and set the difficulty to high!"

"I'm not cleared to-"

"Just do it!"

The harried soldier took Calhoun's spot as the game began. Felix wondered if he could drag her to a safer spot before the bugs started flying. He had no attack power now.

He reached out to take her blaster away; he'd shot it before, and had gotten pretty good at knocking those things out of the air.

As he touched it, she vanished, clothes, blaster, and all.

Tammy had died.

Somewhere in the distance, soldiers were yelling and blasting at things. If she'd been alive, he would have tried to find some better cover than the uneven, rocky ground.

How long did it take her to respawn? They'd never discussed it. When he died it took less than five seconds for him to spring back, even when it was GAME OVER.

There was no sign of her.

Felix's throat was tight. What if they were wrong? What if she couldn't respawn because her death began in another game?

No. No, he couldn't think like that. This game would end, and she would reappear.

Everything was going to be fine.

The beacon went off in the distance. Cy-bugs flew towards it, mighty wings droning.

Calhoun was nowhere to be seen.

Felix got to his feet as Martinez approached. "Where does she respawn?"

"In the bunker." He looked unhappily towards the massing men. "Sir, I don't see her. What happened?"

"Something...something in Magic Quest made her lose health..." Felix swallowed thickly. "She was saving my game."

The man said nothing.

"Do...do you know where the entrance to the code is?"

"Wha-no. No, I cannot let a civilian barge into our programming and-"

"DO YOU WANT HER ALIVE?!"

The bellow caught Martinez off guard. He'd never heard Sarge's husband speak like that. "Of course I do."

"Then you'll show me the way in."

"What are you going to do?"

Felix tugged his cap down low. "I'm gonna fix it."

0o0o0o0o0

Ralph felt the pain and fatigue slide away as he and Vanellope emerged into the bright, deserted, game central station.

"Oh man, we're late."

"My game'll be fine. We've gotta get you to yours." She pushed him towards the enterance.

"I've gotta find Felix!"

"He'll be in hero's duty. We've gotta get back before someone tries to play-" Vanellope trailed off as she caught sight of a line of Nicelanders and Q*Bert refugees streaming from the entrance to Fix-It Felix, muttering to themselves.

Gene spotted Ralph and frowned. "Ralph, where were you? And where's Felix?"

"What's going on?" Ralph tried to look past him, making sure everyone was out. "We're not out of order again, are we?"

"No, just down for repairs." Gene huffed. "We could have used you two during the evacuation, though! Where-"

The man trailed off as Ralph and Vanellope sprinted towards Hero's duty.

"You can all stay in the caaaaaastle!' Vanellope hollered as they vanished into the war-game.

Gene shook his head. Whatever was going on, he was sure those two hadn't helped matters any.

0o0o0o0o0

Felix stood in front of the open portal, rope tied around his waist, one hand on his hammer. "Unless I yell to be pulled up, don't pull. You got that, soldier? No matter what else you hear or see."

"Yes, sir." Martinez looked into the tangle of code doubtfully. "Sir, if her code's been warped, you won't be able to-"

Felix dove into the void, losing the rest of Martinez's words. The codeing around him was less complex than Magic Quest; there was less of it anyway. In the center he saw a huge box with many other wires streaming from it. 'Sargent Tamora Jean Calhoun'.

It was blinking intermittently. Several wires were twisted, a few pulled from their sockets.

Well. He was a handyman, and no stranger to wiring.

Felix set about his task, hammer firmly in his belt. This was one thing he'd fix himself.

0o0o0o0o0

"I don't see her!" Vanellope peered about the barren landscape. "Stinkbrain, anything?"

"Nada." Ralph saw no sign of Calhoun or his partner. "We could ask one of her men."

"They barely tolerate Felix, they're not gonna talk to us." Vanellope snorted.

"Then let's keep looking, Boogerface." Ralph hoped he sounded calmer than he was. He didn't want to freak Vanellope out by losing his cool now.

Something on the edge of his vision flickered. He focused on it. A crumpled form in black armor lay in the dirt where nobody had been a second ago.

"Calhoun!" He raced for the form. She was already on her feet when they reached her. "Are you alright?"

"Where's Felix?" She demanded.

"She's alright." Vanellope grinned. "We don't know where Felix is, he-"

"Sarge!" One of her men waved at her from a small nearby structure.

"I'm gonna kill him!" She snarled and charged for the outpost.

"Think we should do something?" Vanellope asked.

"Kid, they're both alive, and my game is saved. What happens now is strictly a married couple thing." Ralph shook his head, "Besides, We've got some explaining to do for the Nicelanders."

"Joy." Vanellope grumbled.

0o0o0o0o0

She'd been dead plenty of times before. This had been different. She'd felt torn, pulled between the two game worlds, unable to shake off the blue Nymph mantle and respawn. She'd felt something inside her click, and then she was home in the barren waste lands. Felix had messed with her code. He'd come here to save her, instead of going home and saving his own game. He'd nearly died to save his game, and he'd risked it all again for her.

If he was okay, she was gonna drag him back to the apartments, drop him off the roof, and watch him respawn until he promised never to do something so idiotically noble again.

"Martinez, get my idiot husband out of our programing this instant!" She ordered as she crossed the hut's threshold.

"Already done, Sarge." Martinez hurried out of the hut and back to his assigned post. He didn't want to be anywhere near the Sarge right now.

Felix stood in front of the closed portal doors, eyes wide. "Tammy."

"Don't you Tammy me, Short St-"

Her words ended on a whoof of breath as Felix latched onto her in a bone-crushing hug.

"I know you're gonna tan my hide for what I did. Just give me a minute." His whole body was trembling. "I thought I lost you."

She slowly raised her arms and wrapped him in a hug. "Idiot. You're never gonna get rid of me that easy."

She was still pissed. But she was also alive. So she'd let it slide. This time.

0o0o0o0o0

It took a few days to install the new tech in their old cabinet. The nicelanders were given 'minimum intel', as directed by Calhoun. Ralph agreed that they didn't need to know how close they'd come to being unplugged. They were all fairly amiable to Vanellope while staying in the castle, so Ralph had no real complaints.

The night they were fixed, Felix and Ralph headed to Tappers to celebrate. Something was a little off about Felix. Ralph hoped some guy time would be the cure.

He suspected something else was bothering his partner, though.

"So, Calhoun forgave you for being a dope?" Ralph kidded gently after they got their drinks.

Felix didn't smile. "Yes, Tammy has."

"So what's the problem?"

"Ralph...It's your game too. You almost died trying to save it, and I might have wrecked everything by fixing Tammy instead of coming home."

"Felix, I won't forgive you for that." Ralph laid a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing to forgive, brother. I would have done the same thing. We're good."

At this, Felix finally smiled. "Thanks, brother."

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The End

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A/N Wow, that turned out waaaay longer than I anticipated. Thank you to everyone who read/faved/commented/DREW FREAKIN' FANART for it. That stuff makes my ever-lovin' day. Will there be more WIR fic from me in the future? I don't know. I have a few ideas cooking away...