The guards stopped them before they reached the examination room and the unpleasant one jerked a thumb towards the second-to-last door. Theo and Marcy glanced at each other then opened the door. The room was smaller than the one they had been in before, the lighting not as sharp. There was an empty table in the middle surrounded by six chairs.
Theo glanced at the glass panel on the right side of the wall, unused to being able to see through it. There were two monitors mounted on either side of it, as well as a large screen in the furthest corner of the room. Dr. Kiggins was seated in front of it, completely absorbed by whatever it was displaying. Theo supposed it had to do with him.
There were two other men inside, one garbed as an Intervention Squad member, the other in the blue coat of CS researchers.
The second doctor was the youngest person in the room, probably only a couple of years older than Theo himself. Dark-haired with a receding hairline, he had small gray eyes, a large, flat nose and thick lips. He was rounder around the waist, with limbs that were long, thin and moved awkwardly as he shuffled abound the room.
The third person - a man seemingly in his early forties - was tall, with broad shoulders and the typically muscular build of the CS's elite. The lack of the black helmet was a surprising sight for the pair. He had cropped, dark hair, thick eyebrows, an aquiline nose and a square jaw.
Piercing black eyes landed on them as they entered and their steps faltered under the weight of his gaze. The man stood straight, hands behind his back, carefully observing them.
"Doctor," he rumbled in a low voice, seemingly satisfied with his perusal.
The woman's gaze snapped over to the man, warming fractionally when it landed on the duo. She quickly stood and motioned for the two of them to sit down at the table. The other doctor shuffled backward and avoided their eyes as they passed him.
"I'm glad you're back," she said pleasantly. "Allow me to introduce you. This is Dr. Lucas Frazer, my assistant and fellow scientist. And this is Sgt Griffin Welsch from the Intervention Squad, as you may have guessed."
Dr. Frazer ignored them altogether as he took the seat his colleague had just vacated. Sgt Welsch gave them a stiff nod of acknowledgment, facing them from the other side of the table. Dr. Kiggins occupied one of the free chairs.
"I trust you have managed to process today's events?" she asked, continuing before they could answer her. "Obviously, we will have to change your wrist band. Before that, we would like to make you an offer."
Here it was. Theo swallowed down his nerves and opened his mouth to make his case, but Dr. Kiggins interrupted him with a raise of her hand. He shut his mouth with an audible click. So they weren't going to give him a choice in the matter...
"From your behavior, I suppose you've realized that we wish to recruit you and that displeases you. I would, however, like to make our case before you shut us down completely," she said, the look in her eyes earnest.
"I-, we realize how this must look from your perspective: the CS nabbing wielders and forcing them to turn on their comrades. I also understand that we must not look like the friendliest and most reliable group of people to you. I'll admit that we don't have a stellar record, far from it, but we are not thoroughly evil. Our main goal has always been the protection of the people and that includes ability-wielders."
Marcy, who had been uncharacteristically still by his side, couldn't remain silent anymore.
"The way you protected the Obsidians? Or that Jade kid last week?" she venomously asked.
She was referring to a fourteen year-old boy with hydrokinetic abilities, whose powers had gone out of control at a public swimming pool, causing massive structural damage and injuring two people.
What the media hadn't relayed and Marcy had discovered on her own had been the circumstances of the incident: the injured had been the boy's childhood bullies and the loss of control occurred when the two had taken the tormenting one step too far.
The boy had been taken into custody by the CS and had yet to be released, while the bullies had gotten away without any form of punishment. Marcy had been in a terrible mood for days after the news. Apparently, she still was.
"You mark them like criminals that need to be constantly supervised, effectively alienating them from the rest of the population," she was on a roll. "And if that's not bad enough, every time they slip up, you cart them off who knows where, never to be seen again. How exactly are you protecting them?"
"Then what would you have us do?" the sergeant's voice boomed, commanding everyone's attention.
Marcy's eyes narrowed, unwilling to bend, even in front of so intimidating a man.
"Certainly not gag and bound them like rabid animals! Scratch that, I've seen rabid animals treated better than some of those people!"
"I repeat: what would you have us do? Faced with an out of control teenager who can set you on fire with a look, what would you do? How would you immobilize a ten-year-old that turns everything she touches into dust, including her own mother?" the sergeant continued, his eyes piercing through her. "You criticize but you offer no alternative. What would you do?"
Marcy broke eye contact, cheeks flushed in anger but unable to come up with a suitable retort. Though the man raised an interesting point and Theo mostly agreed with him, he definitely didn't like the patronizing tone he used with her.
"It's your job to figure that out, not hers," he said in an even voice. "You're sitting here telling me how you want to protect everyone including me, but it's all bullshit. Just a couple of days ago, some of your people were rallying against us in the streets. You don't care about us, so don't get all high and mighty when she calls you out on your hypocrisy."
Marcy turned to him in surprise, but he was too busy glaring at the sergeant to acknowledge her. He wasn't the type of person to blow up at others so he could understand she was taken aback.
Then again, she was his best friend and he would never allow some beefed-up moron to talk down to her. Not even a high-ranking, heavily armed combat specialist who just so happened to be his natural predator.
Sgt Welsch held his glare, his steely black eyes betraying no emotion. Dr. Kiggins was the one to break the tension in the room by loudly clearing her throat.
"Well, that went well," she said with a feeble attempt at humor. "Listen. You're both right and wrong. It's true that we might have handled some of the pick-ups better, but at the time, we weren't well enough equipped. That's why we decided to rely on abilities such as yours."
"Too little, too late," Marcy grumbled.
The doctor's eyes zeroed in on her, her stare intense enough to force Marcy to avert her own.
"It's never too late," she sighed, tiredly rubbing at her temples. "I believe we've gone about this the wrong way. A lot has happened today and you clearly need time to digest today's events. I propose we stop here for now. I would like to see you both again in... let's say three days. You will have had time to gather your bearings and I will have better arguments as well. How does that sound?"
Marcy leaned back in her chair, defiantly crossing her arms. Theo took it upon himself to answer.
"Fine."
Not like it mattered anyway, they wouldn't change their minds, regardless of her "better arguments".
"One more thing," the doctor said, grabbing their attention again. "It's about the rally. Those people were not part of our organization. The Civilian Security does not participate in hate protests."
Apparently finished, Dr. Kiggins shot them both a small smile and stood, prompting them to do the same. She shook their hands and walked them to the door, her assistant too immersed in his work to notice them leave, while Sgt Welsch addressed them another stiff nod. The pair left the infirmary in silence, both lost in thought.
Theo glanced at the building over his shoulder, a chill running down his spine. He was still very much certain that he didn't want to have anything to do with the CS, but he wasn't sure they would allow him to do as he pleased. Dr. Kiggins let them leave with ease, but would she continue to be so understanding in the face of his continued refusal?
His fingers instinctively found the edge of his wristband and he glanced down at it, stricken by the unfamiliar sight of the red strap against his bronzed skin.
* * * * *
The man stumbled and his form sagged slightly before he landed heavily on the ground, dust billowing around his prone figure. The soldier came to a halt a few steps away from the trio, just out of their reach.
The two young fugitives snapped distrustful gazes to her, which she answered with a wry smile. She picked up the abandoned collar, twirling it around her finger as she addressed the young boy.
"You can take that off, kid. It's a fake," when he made no move to comply, she breezily added, "Activate your ability if you don't believe me."
The boy vigorously shook his head, fingers flying up to the back of his neck instead, fumbling to get the collar open. He watched in amazement as it opened and fell.
The look in his eyes as he stared back up at her had lost some of its mistrust, replaced by a spark of curiosity. The girl's posture, however, still radiated aggression, which did not go unnoticed by the soldier.
"Sorry for scaring you, but I needed to get that idiot's guard down," she said amicably. "So? Where're you kids headed?"
Stony silence met her query. She forged on, undeterred.
"I know you've escaped from Bocholt," she said, indicating the general direction of the facility with a flick of her sharp chin. "Everyone round these parts heard of the massive break-out."
Silence.
"Most of the fugitives got caught since both the collars and wristbands are equipped with trackers. Though I hear some were rescued," she continued, unperturbed by their lack of contribution to the conversation. "You're the only ones I've met so far. And you have neither collars nor bands, which is quite interesting."
The girl's skin prickled at the way the woman had uttered the last word, her glare intensifying.
She had never been personally confronted with the wristbands and only had a vague recollection of a rule that said ability-wielders were required to wear them at all times. The negation collars, however, she was intimately familiar with and remembered how most of the fleeing inmates had been wearing one.
The reason neither she nor her companion had been required to have one was that both their cells had been powered with suppressor waves, as had been the case with her gauntlets and his mask. She hadn't known that they could be used to track the wearer, either.
The woman was watching her closely, taking note of every expression and gesture.
"It's a little known fact. The collar's basically a beacon constantly emitting a signal with the wearer's whereabouts. The wristbands only activate when someone uses their ability. Guess you're lucky to be rid of them, huh?" she asked with a smirk, obviously more aware of the situation than she pretended to be. "So, one more time. Where're you kids headed? I can give you a lift."
She chuckled at the disbelief etched across the younger woman's features, shaking her head as if she were dealing with a couple of stubborn children instead of two highly dangerous and volatile fugitives. Her brows furrowed minutely as she stared into the distance.
"Better decide quickly. Company's on its way," she said, indicating the cloud of dust rising in the distance.
The pair whipped their heads around, staring back towards where they had come from. They could see a row of four vehicles, still small in the distance, but growing steadily bigger as they approached the hilltop.
Four cars equaled a lot of Intervention Squad ops, which meant specialized tranq rifles and - worst of all - negation collars. Their recent altercation had proven that they couldn't even handle one prepared soldier, so what chances did they have against multiple units?
The young woman raked her brain for a solution, ignoring the way the road slowly disappeared beneath her hand as her fingers nervously scratched at the hard ground.
"Last chance to hitch a ride," the woman said and they both looked at her.
The girl glanced at her companion, noting the fear and hope in his eyes. She said she would protect him, that she wouldn't let those people imprison either of them again.
They were both weakened and exhausted, she barely knew anything of the outside world and they had no food, no water, no means of transportation. The only reason they had lasted so long was sheer luck. If they wanted to keep their freedom, they would have to rely on this woman to help them.
The girl crawled over to the dead man, her hand hovering above his head. Her eyes locked onto the woman's as her fingertips grazed the man. His whole body crumbled away under the soldier's surprised stare.
"If you betray us," she said, her voice hoarse but her warning no less clear.
"Duly noted," the woman answered, walking back to her vehicle.
She hoisted herself inside and leaned over to open the passenger seat for them. The boy hurried over, tightly clutching the pack slung over his chest, the girl following at a more sedate pace. He grabbed the handle on the side of the car and clambered inside it with some difficulty, the step separating him from the seat higher than he'd anticipated.
The girl glanced over her shoulder at the steadily rising cloud of dust, wishing their pursuers' vehicles would just blow up and leave the two of them in peace.
Climbing in the car proved difficult for her as well, since she couldn't use the handle to pull herself up. When she was finally seated, her companion leaned over her to pull the door shut, their benefactor's sharp gaze filing away every detail of their interaction.
"Seat belts," she said, speeding away before the boy could properly strap the two of them in.
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Hello people! How are you?
We're thirteen chapters into the story so you've had some time to get to know the characters a little.
Opinions? Are there any that you like more than the others, or some that you dislike?
Don't hesitate to share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!