Authors Note: Lot's of POV changes this chapter so be prepared.
*Noella's POV*
Flashes. Each memory was broken, pieces of the whole picture.
I saw a child smiling up at me.
A woman in a hijab, guiding me towards something.
I felt the ground crunching beneath my boots as gunfire rang through my mind.
I ran towards a dying man.
I saw the knife, pulling away from my body.
Then I felt it.
Terror. That's the first thing. I choked on my own blood as it escaped from my neck. A woman's hands pressing firmly on me.
More flashes, a name tag, more pain.
I watched fear overtaking her eyes as her please fought their way into my ears. The last thing was the life bleeding out of my neck.
I jumped up, effectively waking myself from the nightmare. The scary part was everyone else did too.
I looked around in shock as I took everything in. Only Booker and I shared dreams, always about Quynh. This was different, and that could only mean one thing.
-Afghanistan-
*Third person POV*
Nile shot out of bed, gasping for air.
The dream keeps playing over and over again in her mind. A train, a man drinking, chains rattling, two men cuddling with a girl snuggled beside them and a woman watching. That woman's face was the clearest part of the whole thing.
She looked around the room, finding it completely empty, with the exception of a few nurses. She was completely alone.
She slowly reached up to touch her neck, only to find no pain. She had no explanation for that, and she was not going to find one. Not yet.
-The Train-
*Noella's POV*
Andy was panicking, repeating "What the Fuck?" over and over again. So I rushed to her first. I pulled her tightly into a hug that she leaned into.
I whispered to her softly, stroking her head as I did. Booker drank from his flask, hands shaking slightly. He was also in bad shape. Joe and Nicky weren't much better, however Joe was able to pull out his notebook and start drawing everything he could remember.
Andy finally spoke. "No, not another one. Not now." She brushed me off of her and put her hands to her head. I started unconsciously rubbing my necklace, fingers brushing the old charm.
Nicky started recalling details as Joe furiously drew.
"I saw an older woman in a hijab." Joe looked around before turning to Booker. "What did you see?"
He struggled "I saw part of a name tag."
I spoke next, quietly. "Uh yeah. Free... free something."
Nicky went again. "Dirt floor, clay walls."
"And a Medevac." Booker said.
"Military." I spoke confidently.
Joe thought. "Yeah, so maybe a, uh... a coalition... medical team."
"The knife was a pesh-kabz. Pashtun." Nicky spoke. I nodded, semi-confidently.
Booker was still in bad shape. "I felt her die."
Andy finally spoke up, causing me to sigh in relief. It was weird to see her panicked. "She's a Marine." The boys all looked up. "Combat. Or near combat duty." She thought for a moment. "Afghanistan."
I leaned against the wall, thinking.
Andy continued. "It's only been thirty years. Why now?"
Nicky spoke. "Everything happens for a reason, boss."
She scoffed.
"We have to find her." Joe spoke.
"No, we stick to the plan. We find Copley." Booker protested.
I went next. "No Book, these dreams are going to haunt her till we meet." I looked at him. "She needs us as much as we need her."
Joe agreed. "So we just leave her out in the open?"
"No we're in the open." Booker spoke. "We're the ones who are exposed now."
"Not like her, Booker."
"Nicky-"
"Not like her." He repeated. "You can't tell me you don't remember what it was like. Whoever she is, she's confused, and she's scared, and she's more alone than she has ever been in her entire life." He looked at Andy. "We all remember what it was like."
I spoke with pleading eyes. "She needs us."
Andy kicked the ground before standing up. "Noella and I will handle the retrieval."
Booker spoke loudly. "You're taking her?"
I jumped up and grabbed my bag, briefly checking that everything was in it, before slinging it over my shoulder. Andy was doing the same with hers.
"We need to infiltrate a military base in a hostile environment. Security will be extra tight. I need someone who can do that without being seen." I smiled slightly. She looked over at me. "Plus I need someone nice."
"Hey, boss, come on." Booker tried.
I grabbed my swords and put them by Joe and Nicky's, they better not forget them.
"If we're dreaming about her, she's dreaming about us. That makes her a beacon straight to us."
"What do we do in the meantime?" He asked.
I moved over towards Joe and Nicky who were still sitting down.
"Get to France. Use the Charlie safe house." She looked at me. "We'll meet you there."
I kneeled next to the boys, who pulled me into a hug.
"Find Copley."
Joe ripped out the picture and handed it to me. I took a peak, before passing it to Andy. He drew her exactly like we saw her, dying. It was unnerving.
"Jesus. She's so young." Andy choked out.
Everyone took a quick look at me which I ignored. Despite her being so young, she was still older looking than me.
Andy shoved the door open, looking around before jumping. I followed less gracefully and soon we were walking towards our newest member.
-Afghanistan-
*Third-person POV*
Nile was left alone for what felt like hours, and maybe she was. Nothing felt real and everything felt different. She also felt completely alone.
She didn't even notice when part of her unit walked in. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that all she could do was hold her necklace.
The soft voice of Jay woke her up. "Nile?"
She finally looked up. "What's up Jay? What's us Dizzy?"
Jay walked around and sat on the bed across from her. Dizzy kept standing.
"So let's see the trophy."
Nile looked down, unsurely and Dizzy slowly moved forward, her eyes trained on Nile's neck.
"Fuck me." Dizzy whispered in disbelief.
"Nile, there's not even a scratch." Jay spoke with confusion lacing her voice.
"Yeah, they, uh... They used this new skin graft or something." She lied. Only, she didn't know what she was lying about. There was no explanation for her to grasp onto.
"That what the doctor said?" accusation clear in Dizzy's voice.
Nile reached down to tie her boot. "Yeah. That's what they said."
They knew she was different, they just didn't know how. Nile didn't either, that's why it hurt her so much when they looked at her like she was a monster. She had fought beside them and protected them like she would any sister. Now they were withdrawing from her.
Nile needed someone, she was on the verge of losing it, and everyone could tell. No matter how hard she tried she was not able to escape the stares and rumors that followed her. Her entire unit was no different, taking away the only place she had to feel safe.
She was completely alone.
*Noella's POV*
We were currently leaning against a wall between two buildings; we had made it inside the camp with very little difficulty, leaving me to question how everyone inside is still alive. However, I kept that thought to myself.
"Why didn't you answer?"
Andy looked up. "What?"
"My texts, I know you saw them" I pushed.
"I needed space to think, and I know if you asked me to come back I would have." She looked back down.
"Did it help? The space?" I glanced around the corner again.
"Maybe... Not really." She sighed. "Do you know what it's like to watch a world burn? I grew up in simple times, then I died." She took a deep breath. "I dedicated my entire existence to helping people, to making the world a better place, only to watch humanity light more matches. I can't watch it anymore."
I considered that quietly, before peaking around the corner slightly. She was still attempting to kill herself at the gym. We needed to get to her quickly, or she was going to expose herself.
"Were you okay? I know I left you with the boys but..." She paused. "Were you okay?"
"Okay enough." I considered telling her everything. "I missed you."
She pulled me into a hug that we held for a while before she snuck a peak around the corner.
"She's moving."
I pushed myself off the wall and pulled Andy back from the corner, pushing her slightly down. She looked at me angrily, but I just pointed.
An armed patrol walked by seconds later. She nodded and stood up again, looking for the girl again. I joined her and spotted her exiting a tent quickly. I could see people staring at her, and whispering. I could also see that she hated all of it.
I suddenly felt very lucky to have woken up with no one around.
She started heading our way, and we tucked ourselves back in the gap. We watched her pass and turn. I nodded at Andy, and we began to move through the camp quickly. It was much harder now that everyone was out, meaning we had to stop more often.
As luck would have it, she planted herself in a quiet place not too far from a humvee. She was sitting against the wall with her earbuds in, for the first time since we saw her, she looked calm.
We were about to approach when two soldiers beat us to her. I looked at Andy and she matched my gaze. I nodded my head at them, and she nodded back before holding up two fingers. Roger that.
"Corporal Freeman. Been looking for you."
We moved forward. Andy taking the man closest and me moving to the back. Unlike Andy's man he saw that attack coming.
He drew his gun as Andy hit her guy.
I grabbed his arm with both hands and redirected it from us. I then pushed him around before slamming his head down on the hard metal. Knocking him out.
When I looked over, Andy had already disarmed the girl, pointing the gun at her head.
I leisurely walked over before placing myself slightly behind Andy, keeping watch for any others who come this way.
The girl was looking at us with a mix of confusion and fear, but when she spoke I heard no trace of that. "Who are you?"
"Andromache the Scythian." She hit her right on the temple, knocking the girl out. "But you can call me Andy."
I laughed before leaning down to check on the girl. When I was assured she was only knocked out, not dead and waiting to surprise us, I looked up at Andy.
"Dibs on shotgun."
She chuckled.
"No but seriously, I've got aux."
The music was blasting as we sped through the dessert, in our new ride. I had purposely put on highway to hell, causing Andy to smirk. She was driving like a maniac, while I was halfway out the window, enjoying the ride.
I pulled myself in the car again before looking over at her. She was in a black tank top and shades, basically the exact thing I was wearing. We both shed our other layers due to the heat. She had leather braces on her arms, whereas I opted for fingerless gloves. What can I say, I was a teenager in the eighties, somethings stick with you.
She reached up to pick on the food sitting on the dash. I considered grabbing some, but I knew Andy was territorial over food and it was not a hill I wanted to die on.
I glanced back at our passenger, making sure she was still sleeping before turning the music up and looking out the window.
I heard a bang and turned just in time to watch her kick the latch and push herself out the back. She reminds me so much of me in my early days.
Andy calmly looked back, food still in her mouth before pulling the humvee to a stop. We looked at each other before climbing out and walking towards her.
The girl got up to run and I prepared myself to follow her.
A shot rang out, causing me to jump. I looked at Andy in disbelief.
"What the hell Andy?"
She shrugged before putting the gun back and walking towards her.
"We want her to trust us, and you can believe that if you shot me upon first encounter, I would have been in the wind ages ago." I followed her angrily.
"Why does it have to be so goddam slow the first couple of times?"
I rolled my eyes and kneeled at the girl's side. All we can do is wait.
It was only a few seconds later she was waking up. She groaned as she rolled over, laying on her back.
I kept quiet, watching her. She looked up, first at Andy, then at me who was only a foot beside her.
I smiled at her kindly, tilting my head in curiosity.
She started scooting away from us causing me to frown slightly. Damn it Andy.
"You shot me." She looked at me.
I looked at Andy. "No, she shot you." I pointed.
Andy just rolled her eyes. "I did. I need you to get back in the car, please."
Nile started panting. "This isn't real. No, none of this is real."
I gently moved towards her, "Yes it is, I'm sorry, but we really need you to get back in the car."
Andy took a harsher approach. "You haven't figured this out yet? You can't die." She pulled the girl off of her feet.
I stood up in disbelief. Andy never acted this was towards me when I was new.
I barely blinked when I saw the girl stab Andy. My eyes widened in shock and slight amusement. She's going to fit in nicely.
Andy yelled out. "Argh! Fuck!"
She just watched as Andy pulled the knife out and threw it to the side. I moved closer to Andy chuckling slightly. This girl was brave.
"Can you please not do that again?"
The girl gagged, and I stepped back out of the splash zone. She turned to the side and puked on the ground. I scrunched my nose up before moving back behind Andy.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I lead a group of immortals. An army, I guess. Soldiers. Fighters like you. Look..." Andy took a step forward. "You've got questions, kid. I get it. You want answers, get back in the car." Andy turned and walked away. Leaving me with the girl.
I looked her up and down curiously before speaking. "She's much nicer once you get to know her." I turned and followed Andy.
I jumped into the back, pulling it closed as I went. I did not want a repeat of last time.
Andy looked at me tiredly and I returned the look. Neither of us has slept properly in a while. I dropped my head on her shoulder, and she leaned hers on mine, closing her eyes slightly.
The girl got in shortly after us taking the passenger seat, causing us both to look up tiredly. I smiled at her before holding out my hand.
"Welcome to the family."