-Jake Aylesbury-
The sound of machines beeping next to my head, the sting of light shining through my eyelids, reverberating pain rolling through my body as it tingled and stung. My lungs had struggled to recycle air, my heart was slow to beat. When I woke to a hospital room as a Nocturnal I was not so lucky as the others had been with their serums.
We each had a unique version of it pumping through our veins. Mine was not simply faulty, but my body had apparently tried to reject it. Instead of perfecting some cells and enhancing others, it had started out like a cancer eating me away from the inside out. Once it had settled in and started to make repairs on the damage done from the chemical warfare it had waged within, I was left vulnerable in comparison to the others.
I was not as fast or as strong. Although I was more resilient than the average human, the flaws in the serum I'd been injected with meant I was much easier to kill than other Nocturnals.
I remember hearing about Mead's treachery. Reaching out to Rin. Then all our eyes turned towards the doorway of the ward where Amy Norton stood. She had her hands folded behind her back, her eyes were bright and optimistic. Her hair was short even then, her fringe just a little too long as she brushed it out of the way of her vision.
She crossed the sterile white floor tiles and walked round to the other side of my bed and perched on it, exchanging a glance with Rin who sat across from her.
"Good to see you pulled through the change, we were worried about you." Amy smiled sweetly at me, innocent despite the blood on her hands.
I nodded my head, my eyes squinted past the burning light to see she was about to take leave. It was evident as she always wore summer dresses when she wasn't on duty. She liked to shed death at the door if she could help it. She hadn't had leave in six months.
"Nicodemus was most concerned, in case the serum was a deliberate plant. You know, sabotaged." She leant forward, brushing my hair aside, it had stuck damply to my sweaty forehead and my skin prickled to the cool air of her breath across it.
I frowned. "You mean... this isn't normal." The room shook with my every word, at least it felt as if it did. Electric coursing through my brain like a turbulent rip-tide against rocks.
Amy shook her head, amused. The vibration from the quick movement making my whole body sting. Rin leant back, her movements were slow and sure, unlike Amy's they were completely smooth. I felt the ache, but not the throb in my head. She rested her head on Norton's shoulder.
"Evidently not." Takeichi had answered softly, closing her eyes.
"I feel so loved." King muttered whilst puling his pillow over his head. I could just about see it out of the side of my vision. He was alone on his side of the hospital room cringing at the light levels more so than I was.
"You took your serum on easily enough, it didn't almost kill you... a second time." Amy's voice was light, jovial. But still rang through my ears like clashing symbols. I flinched.
"What Norton means," the cold, smooth voice of our resident femme fatal rung from the doorway where a tall, at the time, blurry blonde stood. Her arms crossed, her lips pert. "Is that you're really not worth the fuss." Swan was turned towards him as far as I could tell. She wasn't a Nocturnal then.
"Ah, so the viper returns." King grumbled.
I think she sent him a daggered look. Only she was still a blur to me in the bright light. She was pallid even then and reflected the florescence over head.
Something wet and warm dribbled down over my lips. I felt soft tissue pressed to my nose. I brought my eyes back to Amy who drew away with bright red staining the Kleenex she'd dabbed it with. "Jake," she sighed. "Looks like you're still riding this out."
I blinked, ignoring the concern in her voice. "You're going on leave?"
"Suspended until further notice." She grimaced. "I've also been assured I will never have a position in command and I'll be lucky to come back to work, let alone as part of Unit Zero. I've only been permitted on site by Nicodemus's insistence that I should be here to see you wake."
Rin's eyes opened and she lifted her head from off of Amy's shoulder. "I won't allow them to move you out of Unit Zero."
"Yes, we do need someone at least slightly sane to ground us." Swan rolled her eyes, I could tell by the glow of blue moving rapidly amid a sea of white. "But if you will break rules for noble reasons, you haven't a hope in hell."
"All the same. She shouldn't be punished for doing her job, keeping the rest of us alive." I croaked hoarsely.
"No, I believe her job is about ending life to preserve the greater populace. Not maintaining your pitiful existence and thus endangering the rest of our infrastructure with your Nocturnal status." Swan hissed, coldly. It was hard to believe that Amy was one of her closest friends. I liked to think I was the reason she was a bitch. We'd never got along. Alas, that was not the reason.
"Swan," Rin grumbled, turning to look at her.
"Fine. You did a good deed for the team, Norton. The loss of Takeichi and King would have been crippling and I'm sure Jake would have been missed also." Natalia Swan's words sounded somewhat contrived, but I could sense something genuine in them.
"I suppose that will have to do." Rin sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Why do I get the sense if Swan was asked to, she'd shoot us all because of 'orders' and protocol?" King grumbled, shifting in his bed like he had a hangover.
"Of course. Duty first." Swan's voice didn't waver.
I shivered, glancing towards Rin who nodded. "Yes, duty first." A tear rolled down her cheek.
* * *
When my eyes opened in the waking world, I was slumped up against that damned lamp post I'd landed against before my former Captain, Takeichi Rin, put me out.
I didn't wake to seeing Rin, unfortunately, but my current superior was frowning down at me in the early hours of dawn. I squinted in the low light levels as my eyes adjusted against the suns slight glare. My head was stinging, regardless of being a Nocturnal, Rin's kick could knock anyone senseless. Me especially.
Natalia Swan's arms were crossed, her pale lavender eyes narrowed, her plump pink lips pert and her paler than platinum blonde hair pulled up into a neat and tidy bun on her head. Everything about her was polished and frigid. She tapped her navy blue heeled shoe against the concrete impatiently, every tap a sharp noise resonating in my ears.
I pushed myself up to my feet, looking aside at the headless Scavenger being pawed over by Jennings and Tryst, as well as two lab-coats. I sighed, wiping dried blood away from my nose, old and crusty now. It could have been worse, Rin didn't have to let me live. I closed my eyes for a second, pinching the bridge of my nose between my finger and thumb whilst the sounds around me were static and echoing.
Swan had remained silent, but I could feel the coldness of her stare searing through me. She'd never really needed words for someone to feel the knife of her hate being twisted in their gut. She didn't need a knife either. As I withdrew my finger and thumb, I looked up at her, one of her dark eyebrows raised, unimpressed and questioning.
Her silvery lavender eyes narrowed at me. Her snow skin glowing in the dawn light as if she were some kind of angel. In truth, she was akin to the fallen and simply gave off the impression of purity to those who didn't know her.
"Agent Swan," I mumbled, glancing down towards her shoes, taking in the sight of her skin tight dark purple dress and long black cardigan on the way. She wasn't interested in blending in with the rest of us. Instead, she wore her superiority the same way she displayed her curves, every contour defined blatantly for all to gawp at.
"Aylesbury," her crossed arms separated and her thin, long, claw like hands rested down at her sides. Her immaculately manicured nails tapping against the curve of her hipbones. She didn't smell too dissimilar to that girl Griffin had with him. Only Natalia's scent was far more like the juniper flavour of Gin, and as alcoholic. As she breathed out warm breath that turned to mist in the chilly morning air, it was simply a sweeter version of that alcoholic vapour. To others it was intoxicating. To me it was simply irritating.
"I should have brought my sword." I admitted grimly, flicking my eyes back up to hers.
Her eyes rolled heavenward, tired of the obvious statement and having to be wasting her time on 'screw ups' like myself. "A team member may have been advantageous also. Especially after it became apparent there were Scavengers involved." Her every word spoken with ease and disdain.
Both of my hands balled tightly down by my sides. My back completely straight in her presence. "You know it wasn't that simple. Time was..."
"I don't care for excuses, Aylesbury." Her now monotone voice cut through my words, raising towards the end. If hellfire could be called down from the heavens, her voice would be the one to command it. "Six Agents," Her head lifted a little, tilted back so that she was literally looking down her perfect nose at me.
"I know," I glanced aside at Tryst and Jennings, one of whom was trying not to snicker, whilst the other zipped up a body bag. Those two were ill replacements for Takeichi and King, young and ignorant of the way things used to be. I'd have rather one of them had died in place of Norton... Norton, I felt my heart twinge. I lifted my hand up to it, still in a fist.
"I should have been aware of the third party. I was," I paused, a knot in my throat, "admittedly distracted."
"Not good enough, Aylesbury." Swan's eyes locked sharply on my fisted hand, narrowing again. "This mission was given to you out of courtesy. Do not allow our kindness to be a waste."
Natalia's young looks did not match her sternness. She should have seemed every bit the kitten, instead she was an intimidating superior with claws. When I was quiet a little too long she continued lowering her voice to a menacing whisper. "Because if I have to go after King and Takeichi myself, I will bring back both their heads."
"Understood," I dipped my head for a second, glancing back up to see her face soften for a moment. She was staring off towards a lamplight that had just flickered out.
She sighed gently, her eyes misting up a little at the edges. But she blinked a couple times to push back the threat of tears, stood straighter and made her expression cold and stern again. "Well, you have a lot of paperwork to do when we get back to HQ." Swan's voice was forcefully even as she brushed off any emotion she had felt a second ago.
Her mind was on Norton.
There was a van parked on the street behind me with all the bodies piled up, each in their own labelled bag, inside it. Norton's was among them, her stale blood was tickling up my nose unmistakably. The irony is that had Amy not chosen to save three people by using the ReGenisis serum on them, she may have been given a restart. Nowadays for some special agents it is awarded for various reasons. Including to ensure we have an equal fighting chance with those who are not so sparing in their use of the serum. She would also have been head of Unit Zero instead of me.
My teeth ground together in my mouth. Norton wasn't allowed to live because she broke a rule to allow three people to live. "How is that just?" I muttered aloud, scowling down at my shoes.
"Life isn't just, Jake, it never has been." Natalia snapped quietly, glancing back towards the van.
I sighed before frowning up at Swan as something dawned on me. "What are you doing here anyway?"
She rolled her eyes, "Babysitting, it would appear. I much preferred it when King was the one hauling you out of these predicaments." Her voice rang out a quiet half truth, her eyes not coming back to look at me. Avoiding something.
My own eyes narrowed on her face, watching the twitch in her plump downturned lip. "The obvious answer is you were going to try and pick up a trace of our targets scents?"
"Of course," She agreed, hesitation in her voice.
"You're frustrated that you can't find anything." I smirked, "I believe Rin may have covered their tracks pretty well."
Swan scowled at me, "Yes, and unfortunately she didn't kill you as a part of her cleanup."
I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking back to the way Rin had stared down at me with blacked out eyes, it was rare they weren't covered in an icy film. It was subtle but I could recall the smell of confliction coming off of her skin. She wasn't the merciful type when it came to protecting her interests, but she spared me.
I looked up at Swan, unshaken by her cold manner.
"What's the other reason you're gracing this part of town with your presence?" I cocked my head to one side, a challenge in my gesture that she returned by mirroring my movement. "You don't trust me?"
She blew air out of her nose, containing the quietest of laughter. "I don't trust anyone, especially in situations when judgment and duty are compromised by past ties." Swan then looked back over her shoulder. "Also, the others mentioned there being an unidentified girl with King that was obviously only recently made a Nocturnal." She breathed.
"All the same, you don't trouble yourself with anything you don't believe is worth your while. So excuse me if I don't believe it's as simple as all that."
A smirk appeared on her face. "Very well, Jake. Believe as you will..." She paused, "oh, you shot and took down a scavenger in the woods. Tell me, can you smell its blood here?"
I lifted my head, assuming he'd been bagged up and put in the van. His stench was enough to have alerted Swan to his presence in the park. But there was not a trace of him. I shook my head, my eyes narrowing on her face.
"He got up and dragged himself away. He was non-responsive to your gun." Natalia's foot tapped again, just once, slowly.
"That's impossible..." My mind was in a whirr. He shouldn't have been able to heal, the bullets were in his body still, one in his heart, which had stopped.
"No Jake, it's very possible. Their methods for upgrade are working, they are adapting." She leant forward to whisper, "Next time, bring your sword and make sure they can't get up."