Eli didn't mind blood. Getting her hands dirty was never an issue, it was the part after that sucked. The stuff was thick and sticky - if it got on her clothes, she had to deal with until she could go home for a change of clothes. Today, it would be a while. She'd been sitting in the bosses office for thirty minutes, just waiting for him to show up.
Second-in-command wasn't all that great when she still had to wait for him like she was level one with no worthwhile information.
If she had been the one late, he would have chewed her out for it. But it was him instead and so she had to sit in an uncomfortable chair with sticky clothes with the reek of piss and iron sticking to her.
Honestly. If you were going to pee yourself, the least you could do was warn a girl. Salvage some ounce of dignity. But when you were being tortured, that sort of went down the drain.
So, maybe it's understandable, Eli mused. Her eyes wandered around the office. It was dull - white walls, a desk with a pile of folders and laptop resting on top, and a chair behind it that appeared far more comfortable than the one she was sitting in. There was a file cabinet in one corner - locked. Surprisingly low-tech for a place that held so much sensitive information, but the old man worked that way.
Maybe she should smear blood around the walls. Revenge for making her wait so long. It would make the place look more interesting anyway. The day had been long and the desire to go home and get clean was wearing on her patience.
The door swung open and the old man came in, dressed in one of his usual suits. It seemed like a habit that carried over from his agency days before he went rogue.
The Elites were no CIA, but under his lead they were functioning as if they were. It kept things efficient, but it also kept people like Klaus uneasy at times. The way the Enhanced followed him so blindly, whether it was out of self-preservation or a desire for vengeance or whatever else. Though it wasn't like Eli questioned him either - not out loud anyway. Klaus was the vocal one, much to Eli and Alex's dismay. It was like he wanted to get himself into some awful sort of trouble.
Knox sat down. "Did he talk?"
Eli nodded. "Of course."
"You're a miracle worker."
"I'm also punctual," she said. "He gave names. The feds know about two of our plants inside of their facilities. They plan on grabbing them tomorrow night. And they have no eyes in here just yet."
"You believe him?"
They never lied to Eli. At first, maybe. But then the truth would come out and she could always tell when it was. "He wasn't lying."
Knox let her off after that, but told her exactly how to proceed tomorrow. Their two plants would find a bullet in each of their heads bright and early, and it won't have come from the gun of a fed.
Eli put it out of her head once she was in her car. There was no need to dwell over what was to be done just yet. Over the next few hours there was no need for her to think.
Her mind stayed quiet the drive home, but something in her still felt off.
Eli didn't mind blood. She didn't mind torturing. She didn't mind much of anything as long as it was for a good reason.
But sometimes, something wouldn't feel right. It made her insides turn to acid and the fire in her blood would turn her veins to ash. On nights like that she would take a bottle of Alex's beer from the fridge and drink it in the tub, sitting in there until her insides felt right and she could feel her blood pumping the way it should.
Tonight the house was empty when Eli got back. It was dark and quiet and Eli was grateful because the throbbing in her head was already getting the better of her.
Halfway through her beer and long after the water in the tub had lost its warmth, Eli's phone began to ring.
She let it ring for a moment, taking one last swig from her bottle before answering. "Is this about your beer, Alex?"
"Are you home yet?"
There was a scream in the background.
Eli straightened up. "Who was that?"
"A stray. Have you left HQ or not? I need a ride."
Eli pulled herself out the tub, water sloshing as she moved.
"Send the address."
This stray better not get any blood on her seats. She still hadn't been able to get out the one's from the last.
✘
"Oh, fuck no."
The stray was sitting up on a metal table, slumped against their last stray. This one's eyes were big and dark. Messy raven hair framed a small face, chapped lips bitten raw. There was an unhealthy pallor to her brown skin - almost sickly. Which, considering the amount of blood on the floor and her clothes, was fair.
The girl's eyes moved around the room, fixing on a table across the room. There was something off about them - like they were clouded with sleep. Painkillers or sedatives. Her eyelids drooped shut often, but she'd force them back open.
Aria Iqbal. Aria fucking Iqbal. Of all the other Enhanced Alex could have come across, it had to be the one that the government wanted most.
Alex scowled. There was a dog beside him, big and cheerful, wagging his tail everytime Alex pet his head. He looked near death despite how warm he seemed. Maybe he was one of the veterinarian's patients.
"No," Eli said. "No way, Alex. Not this one."
Eli had a file with Aria's face in it sitting on her desk. Knox wanted her as bad as the government did, maybe even more. She was a Siren - most of them had been killed off. Somebody like her on their side could turn the tide, but when nothing had come up on the Elites radars, they assumed she was dead.
The next words were out of Eli's mouth fast. "We need to call HQ."
That made Alex frown. "Why?"
Eli glanced Aria's way again. Her eyes were shut this time and they didn't open again. "Don't you know who she is?"
"I know she's a Siren. That's reason enough to hide her from HQ."
"She's a w-"
"Knox will throw that kid into the hands of somebody like you until he finds a way to use her," Alex hissed. "I don't think she can even control it yet."
Alex had his own issues with the Elites, but he wasn't usually vocal about them the way Klaus was. Eli had expected to argue about Knox or the organization a million times since the two of them fell into their laps, but this was the first time it had happened.
"She's dangerous," Eli snapped. "She's the kid who escaped from the facility six months ago."
"She's scared." Alex tipped his head in Klaus' direction. "And I think he knows her. From before."
"So what?"
"You want to deal with him if we ditch her?"
It was a bad idea. Everything in Eli screamed to phone Knox there and then and drive the girl straight to HQ. The girl was powerful, dangerous, and had God-knew how much valuable information about their enemies stored in her head.
Alex raised a brow at Eli. "At least until she heals, alright? We can think about what to do after later. Nobody but Fray knows she's with us and he's not going to tell anyone. I bet the government thinks she's dead anyway. All we have to do is keep quiet."
The dog beside Alex barked.
He hesitated.
"What?"
"Foster's coming too."
Eli wanted to throttle him.