Page 32 of Omega's Flight
"Not in the least," Cas joked. "You saved me from going back for fourths."
"Did you leave us anything at all to eat?" Holland asked, amused.
"Nope. You snooze, you lose. You really should pay attention to your elders. Ow!" Cas rubbed his shoulder where Holland had punched him and pretended his packbrother had actually hurt him.
"Cas," Bax said quietly, and flicked his eyes in Raleigh's direction.
Raleigh's face had gone two shades whiter in the time it took for Cas to rile his packbrother up again.
Cas nodded briskly and then glanced over at Bax. "Downstairs, then?"
"Downstairs," Bax confirmed, picking up the case that Cas had carried into the apartment.
They didn't get far, though, before Raleigh began to sway on his feet. Cas moved in and got an arm around the omega's waist to help keep him upright, and Holland pulled Raleigh's arm over his shoulder.
"Maybe we should set up the stretcher," Adelaide suggested.
Cas shook his head. "It won't go in the elevator."
Raleigh took a deep breath, like he was getting ready to yawn. "I'm fine. I just got a little light-headed. Let's go."
Adelaide stepped in front of them and peered at Raleigh's face. "How much fluid have you managed to keep down in the past couple of days?"
"Uh, I don't know?" Raleigh licked his lips as if they'd gone suddenly dry. "Not a lot."
She nodded sharply. "I thought you'd said you kept the tea down today."
"I did!"
"But nothing before that?" Cas said quietly and let a little of his alpha power seep out into it.
Raleigh's head snapped around and he frowned just before his face turned dead white. "Don't do th..." His voice trailed off and he took a couple of deep, gasping breaths. "Maybe...could I sit down for a minute?"
Cas looked at Holland, the unspoken message passing between them in the blink of an eye. He needs to get to the clinic. This isn't just a sick stomach. Without asking, and ignoring Raleigh's feeble protest entirely, he bent down, got an arm under Raleigh's knees and picked him up. "Watch his head for me?" he asked Holland. "Just to make sure I don't smack it going through the doors."
"No, really," Raleigh protested. "I can walk. I just need to sit for a minute."
"Bullshit," Cas told him in an even tone.
Raleigh's eyes widened in startlement.
"You're sick," Cas told him in his courtroom voice. What he had of one. "Don't deny it. I'm going to carry you down and then Adelaide's going to work her magic on you before you fall over." He suited actions to words and headed for the door of the apartment.
The rest of the group stood frozen in awkward silence for a moment, then Holland rushed for the door and held it open. "Thanks," he mouthed at Cas and stepped out of the way to let him and his burden go through.
Raleigh relaxed in his arms, his head coming to rest on Cas's shoulder. When Cas glanced down, the omega's eyes were closed and the furrows that had come up on his forehead had faded somewhat, though his unease was still evident. To be honest, Cas supposed he had a point—here he was, a strange alpha, walking down the hallway with someone else's mate in his arms.
It was almost funny, until he realized how comfortable the new omega felt. Then it got spooky and he tried to tell Holland with his eyes that they needed to have a talk. Soon.
Whether his packbrother got the message or not was hard to tell. Holland was focused on calling up the elevator and managing the folded up stretcher. Cas shifted his weight as his arms started to tire and he began to wish he hadn't decided to play the hero back there. As light as he was, Raleigh was still a full-grown man and Cas was definitely going to have to start working out with the security team in the very near future.
Adelaide bustled up beside them, her other bag swinging heavily from one hand. "Thank you," she said to Cas, and he nodded.
They had to wait longer than they'd expected for the elevator, but when the doors opened, the reason for the delay was perfectly plain.
"Hey," Bram said. He waved casually to everyone and looked at the new omega with interest. "This is Raleigh?"
Raleigh raised his head. "I am."
