She hits the ground again, feeling the hard dampened surface of the stone ground. Her sight returns, and she hears voices approaching her. When she lifts her head, she sees that she's in broad daylight and surrounded by shipping crates and a massive storage compound is to her right. But she also sees the more important thing, armed soldiers coming her way.
Edith tries to get up quickly, but the pain covering her body stings and makes her drop to her knees, just as the soldiers reach her and grab her by her bicep, pulling her to her feet and she winces against the pain from the fast motion.
"Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? This area is off limits to... Wait," the man who grabbed her examines her face more closely. She tries to pull her arm back, but another soldier grabs her other arm. "Damn... Must be our lucky day," he chuckles and looks to another soldier who isn't holding her as she struggles to break free, but also trying to not reopen her wounds or worsen the pain in her chest.
"Officer 253, cuff it," one soldier says. Her arms are pulled behind her back roughly, making her bite her tongue to not yelp against the sharp pain the movement brings. Once her wrists are fastened together by thick, black metal cuffs, the soldier who put them on her rushes over to the compound and begins pushing the massive metal door open.
Edith feels as the two soldiers holding her start forcing her towards the compound, but she tries digging her heels into the cracked stone pavement, but one of them kicks the back of her heel and the pain makes her legs buckle again, letting the soldiers successfully shove her through the door and into the main area of the compound.
She shakes her head to pull her mind back into the moment, and she sees that in the center of the room is Colin, sitting in a chair with his head down and metal cuffs around his wrists, fastened around the chair and behind his back. Standing over him is a woman who currently has her back turned to Edith and the soldiers, but her attention is grabbed once the soldier who initially grabbed her speaks.
"Commander Harvey. We brought you a gift. We think you'll really like this one," he snides.
Edith's EPC burns a bit as she realizes who she's staring at. Jane looks away from Colin and back over her shoulder to lock eyes with Edith, and her predatory scowl that was just directed at Colin shifts into a smirk and a threatening glare.
Colin looks up as well and sees Edith fighting to get away from the soldiers, and judging by the fury in her eyes as she looks at Jane, she doesn't plan on running. His eyes widen and his breathing hitches. "Edith..." he shudders and shakes his head.
Edith growls and rams her shoulder against the soldier on her right, but the action seems to have hurt her more than him. She never lets her eyes fall from Jane and it only makes the burning increase, which worsens the sharpness in her chest.
Jane strides towards her, making Edith fight more, but she freezes once Jane is directly in front of her and she grabs her throat, forcing her to stop moving. She chuckles. "Now, if only that annoying emo kid was here too. What was his name again... Cree? Oh, and of course the irritating dykes, can't forget them. Then we could all have a nice big reunion where I make your lives a living hell for ruining the one good thing I had going. Wouldn't that be fun, Princess?" she hisses and nods to the soldiers. They let her go, just in time for Jane to grab her instead, then throw her to the ground.
Edith lands on her side and coughs weakly, feeling her body throb in pain from her stitched wounds from her recent surgery, but the worst pain is still the crack in her EPC.
"Leave her alone!" Colin barks and fights against the restraints keeping him bound to the chair. Jane ignores him and watches Edith feebly try to stand up, but just as she gets to her knees, Jane walks over and kicks her in the side, knocking her back down.
"Stop!" Colin cries.
Jane whips her glare to him and storms over, just to punch him across his cheek. He doesn't even flinch thanks to his pain receptors still being deactivated. "Shut up, Sovereign. I don't have to take orders from you anymore," she growls.
Colin growls and deepens his glare. "You know you can't hurt me, so don't even bother trying," he snaps.
She smiles. "You're right. But I can hurt her," she instantly turns back towards Edith just in time for her to almost rise to her knees again, but Jane knocks her back to her side by kicking her in the stomach.
Edith yelps and curls in on herself, trying to cover her stomach with her knees and turning her gaze up to Jane to burn a furious glare into her eyes, which gets Jane to simply nod with a patronizing smile. "Oh sorry, did I hurt your baby? What are you going to—"
Edith throws herself off the ground and slams her shoulder into Jane's throat, causing her to cough and gasp as she stumbles back a bit. Edith utilizes the moment to jump towards her, knocking her down with her legs and pinning her down with her knees.
Jane growls and punches Edith across her cheek just as she had done to Colin, only Edith is able to feel it and she goes down, Jane rolling over and pinning Edith down with both hands tightly gripping her throat, watching Edith thrash and kick, trying to break out but can't with her restraints.
"EDITH!" Colin tries pulling his restraints apart, but the metal is too thick and he only ends up denting his arm. "Let her go!" he demands, but Jane focuses only on Edith and smiles sadistically as her face starts turning purple as she struggles to find a moment to catch a breath.
Even without her Hex ability, Jane has always been stronger than most people. She was easily able to overpower John, Peace, and Cree without even breaking a sweat. Edith knows she can't take her on in her current condition, even if she wasn't restrained. She just had surgery, her EPC is apparently damaged and she's pregnant, making her sore, nauseous, and feeling a burning and sharp pain in her chest.
Jane sees her fighting lessen a small bit and she grins, loosening her grip on her throat enough to let her breathe a little. But it's not long before her grin turns downward, deepening into a glowering frown backed by eyes laced with spite and hatred and some semblance of pain. "It's your fault I lost everything. They took my ability and left me with nothing. I was knocked down from Val'Guard, cast out of Validity, and now look at where I am," she scoffs and looks around the compound. "Overseeing shipments while Kylen and Fritz have the honor of leading missions that will change the world," she shakes her head and looks back down at Edith. "While I do nothing but try crawling my way back up to the top. I lost the one thing I cared about, because of you," she hisses, tightening her grip on her throat again.
Colin huffs and pulls against his restraints, never looking away from Jane and Edith. "What? Power? Is that what you love most?" he spats.
Jane's scowl returns and she looks back at him while keeping her hands around Edith's neck. "Respect. My dignity. When I lost my ability, I was laughed at and Fritz Covett of all people was given my place at Corbin's—" she snickers spitefully. "At The Director's side. But if I give her what she's been having both Fritz and Kylen hunt down, then she'll have to give it back... She will," she looks down at Edith again as she keeps gasping and thrashing around.
"There are so many things I could do to an SRL that would normally kill a person. I can choke you out, take off your head, tear you to fucking pieces and it wouldn't matter so long as your core is fine. Maybe I should do that. Maybe I should rip your EPC out of your chest and send that to The Director, while I'm free to subject you to the hell you deserve, you little bitch," she pushes more of her weight onto Edith's neck, seeing her eyes close but she keeps fighting.
Jane chuckles and loosens her grip once again, giving Edith a moment to breathe, coughing and rasping for as much air as she can get before she loses her chance. Edith fights to keep burning eye contact with her and grits her teeth. "...You are the one who went against your own orders! You did this to yourself for the things you did in Mortal!—"
"Shut up!" Jane punches her across her face again and Edith is unable to hold back her yelp as she accidentally bit her tongue to the point of drawing blood. "You did this to me! I lost the one thing I loved most because you just couldn't stay out of my fucking way!"
"And you took one of the people that I loved most!" Edith bellows, bashing the top of her head into Jane's face as hard as she can, making Jane fall back and hold her face and her bleeding nose, but she doesn't wince or grunt against the pain. Instead, she smiles and wipes the blood with her thumb, licking it clean.
Colin can see past Jane's shoulder that Edith has tears streaming down her face. He can't imagine what she must be feeling being face to face with Jane again. He personally feels nothing but guilt when he looks at her because he knows that it was his fault she killed John. No one, especially not himself, can convince him it wasn't his fault. All of it was.
Jane sighs and stands up. She moves back over to Edith and stands over her. She smiles as she kicks her in the side again, getting Edith to lay on her back atop her bound arms. Jane places her foot on the center of her chest, pressing down with a little force. Edith can feel the sharp pain worsen a bit and she gasps, trying to wiggle her way out from under her foot which makes Jane add a little more pressure. The sharp pain spikes and another layer is added onto it and Edith thinks she hears the sound of glass cracking.
One of the soldiers who had brought Edith in clears his throat and takes a small step towards Jane. "Um... Commander Harvey. I thought we're supposed to bring it in alive... What are you—"
Jane cuts him off by drawing a gun and aiming it at him with a warning glare, immediately getting him to stand down. She sighs and looks down at Edith again, seeing her gritting her teeth and trying to stifle her whimpering against the pain. She returns the gun to its holster on her waist. She removes her foot from Edith's chest and kneels down beside her, seeing that the fight has started leaving her and she grows weaker.
"You took away the one thing I loved most," she repeats herself. "So I think it's only fair I do the same to you," she hisses and draws a combat knife she had clipped to her boot.
Edith slowly shakes her head. "What are you—"
"They say there's nothing a mother loves more than her child. Let's see if that's true," she swiftly takes the knife and stabs it down at Edith's stomach, but just as the blade sinks deep enough to draw the first drops of blood, someone grabs her wrist and stops her from going any deeper.
Edith is too paralyzed by her fear and desperation to comprehend what's happening. All she felt was a blade pierce her stomach, but then it stopped. Her mind doesn't register anything as her body trembles. She recalls screaming but can't tell when or what she said, if anything at all.
Jane growls and looks up to see Kylen holding her wrist back, feeling as she keeps fighting to sink the blade deeper into Edith's stomach but Kylen seems to be holding their own against Jane's strength.
"Jane, that's enough," they snap and glare at her.
Jane keeps fighting to push the knife down, seeing Edith so traumatized that she doesn't even move out of fear that she'll only push herself into the blade. Her face is pale and her tears flow from her eyes in streams as fiercely as they would if she were sobbing, but she just cries in frozen silence.
Colin watches, desperately fighting to break free but fails to get the cuffs to snap. No matter how badly he wishes he was strong enough, he knows that these cuffs aren't weak like the rusted chains on the automotive warehouse. He was able to break those, but not these. He once again wishes he has literally any other type of magic than his, which is useless while he's restrained.
Kylen doesn't wait for Jane to respond to them before grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet, letting the knife leave Edith's stomach but she stays frozen with her head to the side, trembling and crying in complete silence.
Jane growls and tries yanking her arm out of their grip, but they don't budge. "What the fuck are you doing, Kye?" she barks.
"I'm trying to save your ass from facing a greater punishment than you've already gotten," they state. Jane scoffs and shakes her head.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Kylen hesitates before releasing her arm and the knife. They keep a stern glare on her. "I know that you're not as informed as Fritz and I are, so let me fill you in on something," they point at Edith without looking away from Jane. "The Director wants Edith alive for the baby," they state. "If you kill it, you can only imagine what she would do to you. Dropping rank would be the least of your worries," they slightly move to block Edith from Jane and as they do so, they briefly check Edith's eyes to see if she's starting to snap out of her terror yet, and they only see as she starts breathing again as she slips onto the verge of sobbing.
Jane's face hardens and she takes a deep, fuming breath. "...Why the fuck are you even here, Kye? I thought Fritz was going to be sent to ensure their transport to the Bastion, so why are you here?" she crosses her arms.
"Because Fritz is currently facing punishment of his own for almost killing Edith, which caused Colin to plant excruciating mental trauma into the minds of the entire unit, sentencing them to execution to put them out of their misery. So The Director sent me in his place. From now on, I will be overseeing any and all tasks regarding the sanctity of Eutria and her rifts," they explain and stand tall. "In other words, Fritz is in time-out, and I'm here to make sure you don't do anything stupid like kill the child The Director is looking for."
Jane glares back at Edith but she's still far to out of it to notice or care. She shakes her head and huffs, looking away from everyone, especially Kylen. They sigh and rest a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her to look at them. "Jane, go get some rest. You got yourself too worked up and you need to let your mind calm down. You're still recovering, remember," they advise in a softer voice than they had previously been using.
Jane scoffs. "You can't tell me what to do," she snaps.
"Actually, I can. I outrank you," Kylen states and points towards the exit. "Go."
Jane tenses and has to resist slapping them or stabbing them with the knife in her hand. Without another word, she shoves past them and storms out of the building. Kylen sighs and nods to themself, turning towards a soldier.
"Officer 523, grab another chair and set it up across from Colin," they order and look at another soldier. "And you, Officer 836, fetch a clean hand towel and some fresh water."
The soldiers both nod to them in unison. "Of course, sir. Right away," one says and they both hurry away to do as instructed.
Kylen pauses for a moment and glares at the soldier who responded, reminding themself to remain calm and take a deep breath so as to not accidentally correct him. They turn towards Edith and see that she is now on her side with her legs curled up to her stomach again, and she's still trembling and crying as silently as possible.
They lower to her side and her eyes snap to meet theirs before instantly fumbling to scoot back to get away from them, but they grab her shoulder to keep her in place. She tries shrinking away from their touch, but that goal becomes nearly impossible once they grab her by both shoulders and hold her steady. "Breathe and calm down Edith. Jane is just... emotional, at the moment. I was given no order to cause you harm, so I won't," they speak slowly and calmly, never breaking their eye contact.
Edith tries to wriggle out of their hands, but she doesn't have the strength to. The soldiers both return, one sets up a chair like Colin's across from him and Kylen guides Edith to stand on unsteady legs that fail to hold her up, so they wrap an arm around her waist and slightly lift her to bring her over and sit her down in front of Colin, fastening her cuffs to the chair.
She provides no protest to getting restrained to the chair, but she shifts and tries to move away when she feels the bottom buttons of her shirt coming undone. She growls at Kylen and kicks them back. "What the fuck are you doing?"
The other soldier hands Kylen the hand towel and bottle of water and they take them, holding them up for Edith to see. "I'm going to clean the blood off your stomach and check to make sure Jane didn't cause any serious harm to the child," they say and wet the towel, reaching towards her with it but she resists and raises her legs to cover her stomach.
Colin growls and tugs against his own restraints. "Back off..." he warns.
Kylen sighs and holds up their hands. "Fine. I won't force you to comply, and lucky for you, I'm rather fond of having both my eyes. But we still need to be sure the child is fine," they step away from Edith and move behind her. They grab a remote from their pocket and press a button. The left cuff on Edith's wrist opens and Kylen grabs her forearm, feeling her tug against them weakly. They move her arm to the front of her and carefully lowers it. "Check for a pulse and let me know if it's okay," they say, keeping their grip on her arm but loosening it enough for Edith to have a bit of control in moving it.
She swallows back her nerves as best she can and looks away from Kylen to meet Colin's eyes, only to see him watching her carefully with fear and worry in his eyes, as well as anger directed towards Kylen. She can see his concern and being linked with his emotions lets her feel just how badly he wants to be near her right now and honestly, at this point, she wouldn't mind that one bit.
She shakily presses her hand to her stomach and tries holding her breath and stifling her trembling so she can try to feel the tiny heartbeat inside her, and once she feels it that's enough to let her shaking lessen more.
She takes a deep breath and nods to Kylen. "...It's fine..." she chokes out.
Kylen smiles and nods, bringing her arm back around and re-fastening it to the open cuff. They step around her and stand between her and Colin with their arms crossed behind their back. "You'll both be transported to the Bastion in a couple hours along with the rest of the shipment once it's ready to depart. As for the rest of you," they turn towards the gathered soldiers. "Go prepare for any potential threats that might try attempting to rescue the subjects. In the meantime, I will personally take over watch of them. Now go, you are all dismissed until I give the order that we are ready to move on to phase two," they order and point to the door. The soldiers salute them before hurrying out the door.
Kylen stands in their place and watch the rest of the soldiers leave. Once they're gone, they walk over to the nearest wall and lean against it, staring at Edith and Colin as they wait.