The next two weeks consisted of the much needed recovery of the entire first faction. All the wounded soldiers were given priority, and Ethan's soldiers seemed to double their security and work load in order to compensate and aid their war beaten military, even though they'd never met Kailas' men before now. The second faction was definitely much different when compared to the first, but they seemed generous and kind, happy to help any way they could, much like their leader, who seemed to throw himself head first into work the moment Kailas said okay.
I hadn't had much conversation with either he or Sean, but whenever we did bump into each other, the words we shared were pleasant. I liked them, and I liked Sean's military dog, Bear. She was sweet, it was almost hard to remember she was a war dog. Although when I vocalized that, Sean had just laughed.
"Bear has actually never been in real combat," he'd explained, "I was discharged from the army before I got her as a puppy."
That explained how sweet she was I suppose, as well as raised a few more questions. Sean was young, so why was he discharged so soon? Did he have a military dog before Bear? How did he know Ethan? How did he end up joining the second faction? Okay, most of those questions had been cycling in my head longer than I would admit, but of course I was too shy to ask. It wasn't my business after all, especially if discussing it made him feel uneasy. Sean seemed like a nice, good natured person, but I didn't want to see him angry or upset.
He was more talkative than Ethan was, I discovered. Ethan was definitely a decent person, even disregarded his work to hold conversations with the people who came up to him, smiled brightly and laughed, but whenever they left and he was alone, his expression would get heavy, and he'd throw himself into his work like he was hiding from something. More than once I'd seen a lit cigarette between his lips, seeming to not care about how rare a product they were. Sean more than once plucked it from his mouth and crushed it in his hand, burning embers and all, and Ethan would scold him for wasting material and possibly hurting himself.
Sean was tougher than he looked, though, dusting his hands and telling Ethan there were better ways to deal with stress. Something told me Ethan disagreed, as he would wait for Sean to disappear before pulling out another cigarette, muttering as he lit it, and looking back at the stack of papers he was leafing through. He probably wasn't used to this kind of work.
Or maybe something else was bothering him, and he was using the work to run from it. That was certainly something I would, and have, done.
I didn't see much of Kailas, so I assumed, and hoped, he was taking advantage of the two week reprieve and resting. I saw a bit more of Demi, normally out back training with Isagani, or spending time with the rest of his family. It was nice seeing him bond and grow closer with Mahalia and Isagani. Efren was absent, but he was probably still recovering from whatever injuries he'd sustained.
Severe lacerations to his back, that's what Arthur had said when I asked. I could sympathize with him, trying not to remember the pain from getting whipped and having to heal from it all, scars still marring my back like an ugly road map of my torture.
Everyone seemed pretty happy about the time off, and I was pleased that even Tobias was taking this time to recover, only arguing a little bit when Adalwolf insisted he wear a sling. I didn't even have to intervene and scold him before he agreed to use it. Good thing, too. His shoulder seemed to hurt less after a long day when he kept his arm cradled.
It took Ross Duncan even longer to even wake up and start showing improvement. I tried to stop by the room as much as I could, if only to check on he and Jasper and help how I could for Emyr's sake. These two were his friends, he'd want them safe and happy. Safe, fine, but Jasper was definitely not happy, and Duncan seemed to be drugged up every time I visited, so I didn't know if he was really happy or just high.
He'd lost a lot of blood from the wound in his gut, and it had taken three separate mini surgeries to remove all the foreign objects and repair the damage. Adalard was the only one who matched his blood type, so he'd been donating blood every other day, which was way too often on a medical standpoint, but we had no choice. In the end Duncan was bedridden and so was Ada, though he argued it, saying he could still help before standing and instantly falling on his face.
It took a while for us to realize how bad he was doing, stumbling around and fainting before Adalwolf decided to confine him to his bed. That made three people in our group bedridden and recovering from bad injury or sickness. I figured it wasn't even worth adding myself into that list, since it was pretty likely I'd always be on that list if I did.
My therapy with Adalwolf continued, speaking with him whenever I needed to. Sometimes once a day, sometimes twice a day or more. Tobias sat with us sometimes, eager to learn everything he could about my condition to see if he could help in any way. Always too good to me, always taking care of me.
It was a peaceful two weeks, though I did have moments where I was losing my mind. It was just a taste of how damaged I was, and Adalwolf said it would probably get worse before it started to get better, so I was worried. There was still so much that needed to be done, and that meant putting myself in a dangerous position again. More damage to my mind. Tobias hated it, but there was nothing we could do about it. I had to pull through it.
Even if I had moments where I was panicking so badly for no reason that I couldn't breathe, even if I started crying with no feasible cause, even if there were times that even Tobias couldn't touch me, I had to deal with it. I was the only one who could end this after all, for everyone's sake. To atone for my sins and look after the innocent people I'd helped hurt.
When it was finally time to leave and regroup with the Syndicate soldiers at the campus across town, we had to decide who would be going and who would be staying. In the end, Adalard, Duncan, Jasper, and Diego were chosen to stay put. Diego didn't seem too pleased with that decision, but he just pouted about it.
"Don't you think it would be easier to manipulate the Asper if I tag along?" he asked, leaning over the back of the couch like he'd melted into the upholstery.
"We don't manipulate allies," Tobias scolded, and Diego rolled his eyes as Bryn actually answered him.
"Considering your actual position with them, you'll likely just end up being used against us. Safer to keep you here."
Diego just pointed at Logan, who was standing just behind Bryn's right arm, bag hanging over his shoulder, "Why's he going then? Isn't he dangerous?"
"Safer to bring him with us," I admitted, "Who knows what trouble he could get into if we left him without supervision?"
Logan cast a glare towards me, but I just smiled in response as Diego muttered, "I'm dangerous too..."
"We'll join you as soon as we can," Adalard said, balancing a few pill bottles in one hand, "Ross' condition is slowly improving, but it'll still take a bit before we can leave him alone. He still needs someone looking over him."
"I'm right here you know," the voice had me glancing towards the couch where Duncan was sitting, leaning back heavily with his bad leg lifted and propped against the coffee table.
It was cushioned with a few pillows, and the sweatpants he was wearing hid all the thick bandaging wrapped from his thigh down to the middle of his shin. The loose muscle shirt hid all the bandages around his stomach while showing off the tattoos on his arms and shoulders, but there was a hand pressed against his side, just reminding me he was still hurt. His face was still incredibly pale, though he didn't need anymore blood transfusions. He was still physically weak, easily exhausted and got dizzy and faint when he moved too fast, and he couldn't sleep without the aid of medicine.
He needed constant supervision just in case his condition took a turn for the worse, but luckily Jasper was almost always beside him. I don't think I'd heard them arguing once since arriving at the estate, though Jasper did look annoyed half the time. Then the other half he just looked worried. Currently he was glued to the couch sitting between Duncan and where Adalard was standing, like he was waiting to be handed medicine to force down the Scot's throat. I wouldn't put it past Jasper to force feed him pills.
"And you're lucky to be alive," Adalwolf scolded, and Duncan seemed to sink into the couch more, pouting and glaring down, "Honestly, and I thought Tobias was reckless."
"Hey."
"We'll radio once we've settled in with the soldiers," Bryn promised Adalard, "As soon as you can move, meet us there, I'll give you the quickest route once we've secured it."
"Right," Adalard handed Jasper a few small pills before looking back at Bryn and the rest of us, "Just be safe."
"You too!" Sasha slung an arm around the doctor, who narrowed his eyes in seeming suspicion, "Remember to concentrate, alright? There are basically no soldiers watching your back, you're on your own till we meet again," he lifted a finger at Ada, "So no more daydreaming, if you know what I mean."
"I don't daydream," Ada snapped, shouldering Sasha away, "Unlike someone."
"Who, me?" Sasha pointed to himself, "I'm wounded."
"If there are any problems just head to the main house for help," Bryn instructed, and Ada nodded firmly.
"I know how to take care of myself and my patients," he said, and Bryn arched an eyebrow like he didn't believe him.
"Maybe it would be best if I stayed," Hans offered out of nowhere, and Adalard's posture seemed to tighten and harden like a rock, face pale though his eyes were steely, and Bryn glared at Hans.
"No, I trust Adalard can take care of things for now, he doesn't need anyone else staying behind."
Hans just turned to face Bryn, "So you don't trust me?"
"Since you asked-?"
"Alright," Adalard snapped between them to stop the clear animosity, "Get going already or you'll be left behind, don't you have to walk all the way to the university?"
"Driving there would draw too much attention," Marlisa answered, looking down, "I can already feel my blisters beginning to form."
Logan kept to Bryn's side as we left the guest house, meeting the group of soldiers waiting at the gate. Ethan and Sean had been sending out smaller groups of soldiers every few hours, since moving in a giant caravan would have just drawn attention and rogues to our location and likely lead to a high casualty rate.
The group we'd be leaving in consisted of what Syndicate that would be coming along, as well as members from the Rebellion. Kailas, Demi, Cass, Carina, Isagani, Efren, who was finally up and moving, Sean, Ethan, and a few more soldiers from the second faction. They'd been waiting for us it seemed, and turned to greet us once we'd gotten to the gate.
"Your names have already been signed out," Sean informed, "We'll all sign back in when we return," the smile he gave was somewhat forced, "You know, if we make it back."
"We will," Ethan said over to him, one hand on his hip as he stared at the gate, "Sooner we get going, sooner we can come back."
"Sorry for the delay," Tobias apologized, "We needed to leave a few people behind for the time being, they'll join us when they can."
"Duncan?" Kailas guessed, and Tobias hummed.
"Still recovering. Jasper and Adalard are staying with him."
"The rest of us are ready," Bryn offered, and Kailas gave a tired smile.
He looked better than he had, I decided in relief, hopefully he'd finally gotten some sleep. Now it seemed he just wanted to get this done with, turning back to Demi and Cass, leaning towards them to say something to Demi in a hushed voice. Something that had him rolling his eyes.
Sean was spinning a key around his finger, tossing it to Ethan as soon as the other man was done scribbling something down onto the clipboard one of his men handed to him, catching the key ring and turning to open the gate before dropping it into the awaiting hand of the gate keeper.
"Lock it behind us, don't let anyone in if you don't recognize them."
"Right. Stay safe."
It suddenly became very clear we were about to leave, and I felt my heart jump into my throat, prompting me to look over my shoulder back at the house. I don't know why. Suddenly I was remembering all those years ago when I was just a teenager, slumped in the backseat of a panel van with Vinet, Rupert, and Bay, who held binoculars up to his eyes as we all stalked the Inou estate. The three of them had seemed eager, but I just curled up, I remembered leaning against the door with my feet pulled onto the seat, head against the window, cheek against the cold glass, wondering what the hell we were doing. Wanting to go home.
I was pulled from my memories by a hand encompassing mine, head turning to catch the worried look on Tobias' face, hesitating before deciding not to lie, "I'm just remembering."
"I know," he assured, tugging my hand once to pull me closer, fingers slotting between mine and squeezing, his other hand coming up to cup my cheek, "Stay close to me, alright? It's going to take a while to walk all the way across the city to the campus."
"I know how long it'll take," I said, touching the back of his hand with my own, "I've been here before, remember?"
The concern didn't fade even a little, and I suppose that was my fault for talking in such a bitter tone. He seemed to understand, though, pulling me closer to kiss my forehead. When he turned I caught sight of Sean standing at the gate, holding it open as our little group filed out. He was watching us, smiling at the exchange between Tobias and I. He probably wouldn't be smiling if he'd heard us, but all he probably saw was my husband acting tender towards me. He definitely seemed like the kind of soft guy to smile at any sort of romance, so I just looked away awkwardly as my face burned.
"How long is this gonna take?" Isagani was the one to ask, ensuring his gun was loaded before stowing it into the holster at his thigh.
"About a day," Ethan was the one to answer, watching the gate close before looking at the other man, "Normally we could take the main road, but we can't risk getting caught up by rogue groups who frequent that path. We'll have to go the long way. It's safer."
"Don't worry about anything though," Sean said with a smile, hands on his hips, "Bear will scent danger before we do, she'll be our point."
"That seems safe," Isagani said monotonously as Sean leaned down to pet between his war dog's ears.
Tobias and Bryn settled into walking on either side of me once we'd started to move, Logan trailing Bryn and Klaus watching our backs with Sasha, Marlisa, Reiner, and Hans. I wasn't entirely happy with those two being behind me, but I felt a bit better when I remembered Logan was between us. If they tried anything on me, or Bryn, they wouldn't get very far. Ethan and Sean were at the front of our group, Bear trotting dutifully ahead by a few yards, clearly knowing exactly where she was going.
She did stop now and then to look back, like she was making sure we were all still there, but it didn't seem like she'd sensed anything malicious yet, which was a good sign. Kailas, Demi, and the others were behind Ethan and Sean, just in front of the Syndicate, and the only sound came from boots scuffing the street. No one spoke, I couldn't even hear breathing, the sun beat down hot enough that I rolled my sleeves up above my elbows before reaching back to Tobias' hand.
We'd been walking only fifteen minutes before I realized what direction we were walking in, and felt immediately concerned as I glanced at the back of Demi's head. We'd been there just two weeks earlier, at where his old bike had been leaned against a tree and surrounded with dead bouquets and decomposing teddy bears. He didn't seem to be very effected the closer we got, but Kailas' back was tense, and Cass was definitely uncomfortable.
"Hey, do we really have to walk this way?" he asked, "There are other back roads we could take."
"No can do," Ethan called over his shoulder as Sean spun on his heel to walk backwards.
"We swept through all possible routes yesterday and this one was the clearest. There's a bit of a road block we'll have to climb over once we reach the main city, collapsed building and all that fun stuff, but aside from that this path was the least traveled and the safest."
"I get walking this far is tough, but you were in the marines, I'm sure you can handle it," Ethan chided, and Cass mumbled.
"I just hate this street."
Carina swayed sideways and bumped his shoulder against Cass', his hand dropping down to take his, as if attempting to comfort him, and Demi reached over to squeeze his arm. Of course, I wasn't surprised. They were adults now, but it's no wonder what happened had stayed with them this long. Even Cass. Even Arthur. Especially Kailas. The scene of where Demi had been kidnapped and Kailas had been shot was a painful place to all of them for different reasons.
Back then, there was definitely nothing Cass could have done, small and overweight enough he couldn't even protect himself. From what I recalled of Arthur's explanation, Cass had been the one to stay by Kailas' side while Arthur ran for help, because Cass wasn't fast enough. I could only imagine what that must have been like, kneeling beside his friend, hands pressed to his chest as he bled out, unconscious, no way of knowing if he was still alive.
Cass must have been thinking of the same thing, because he rubbed his hands together, then against his shirt. I couldn't see his face since I was walking behind them, but I could imagine it was pale and pained.
Arthur had already gone ahead to the campus with Malachi and a few others earlier that morning, so it was just Cass, Kailas, and Demi, but they all stopped in their tracks once we'd gotten to Demi's old bike. They just stared down at it for a minute, moving to the side of the road and standing there staring at the dead flowers scattered around.
Demi crouched down to pick up one of the smaller ones, the petals flat and entirely stiff, colored pale pink, eleven years old by now. Kailas was clutching his chest, a wince on his face, and Cass was still rubbing his hands together. It took me half a moment to realize I'd stopped walking to watch them, which had prompted Bryn, Tobias, Logan, and everyone else behind us into stopping with me.
Bryn was looking down at the bike, seeming to understand before glancing at me, "This is the place...?"
I nodded.
"Hey, what did you all stop for?" Sean called back, and Demi tipped his head back to stare over at he and Ethan, whose eyes were glued to Kailas, "We need to keep moving."
Demi kept the little flower between his fingers as he stood back up and turned to Kailas, reaching out to his shoulder and leading him back to the middle of the road with Cass shuffling after, hands in his pockets.
"You guys noticed that old thing, weird," Sean said, head tilted as he stared at the bike, "No one has any idea what it is or how long it's been there."
"It's probably nothing," Ethan said with a roll of his eyes, "The world ended, there are broken and rusted bikes lying around everywhere."
"But it's not just lying around, it's propped up and there are flowers like it's a memorial," Sean pointed out, waving a hand, "My theory is that someone on a bike got hit by a car. That makes sense. Communities would always set up little crosses where people died in car crashes, maybe this time they set up a bike in memorial of someone who died on a bike."
"It's a pretty small bike, probably a child," Isagani noted, staring at the bike, and I noticed how his eyes widened as if in realization as Demi spoke.
"It wasn't a car crash and no one died."
Of course his statement made everyone hush, Sean and Ethan both just stared at him with blank expressions, as if trying to comprehend how some guy they'd never met would even know. I was holding my breath, not ready for this situation at all, grateful when Kailas intervened.
"Let's just go," he said, voice somewhat quiet, "We need to be gone from the area before the next group of soldiers heads towards campus. We don't want to accumulate too many people and attract too much attention, right?"
"Yea," Sean agreed, turning to smile at Kailas, "You're right. Let's get going then," he hooked his arm around Ethan to drag him forward when he turned around, prompting Ethan to flail in surprise, quickly righting himself and punching Sean as they both returned to the path, leading the rest of us forward.
I let out the breath I'd been holding and looked back at Demi, who was spinning the stem of the little flower between his fingers, watching after the two second faction soldiers with a curious glint in his eyes.
"You okay?" Cass asked in a low voice, and Demi shut his eyes, head tilting with a hum.
"Fine," he decided, "Do you know them? Did they live here before the war?"
"Ethan did," Cass answered, hands folded behind his neck, "I think. Kailas?"
Kailas flinched, "Uh, yes. Went to high school here. Arthur knows him too."
"And he doesn't know about me?" Demi asked, brows furrowed, "Wouldn't something like this be talked about a lot?"
"It was, for a little," Kailas admitted, shoes scuffing the ground as he walked, clearly uneasy.
I almost felt bad for eavesdropping, but I was right behind them, it wasn't like I could help it.
"But?" Demi urged Kailas to continued.
"I guess it tapered off after six months...," Kailas admitted, "By the time Ethan moved here, it wasn't really something people discussed. I still heard kids whisper about it, especially from our class, the people who knew you from school, but Ethan never would have known unless he looked it up online or something. He didn't have internet access at his foster home, and at school he didn't really have time to look anything up, he never asked me, so..."
"Then you knew him?" Demi asked, and Kailas took a moment longer to answer.
"I guess..."
"You guys can talk about it later," Cass recommended, "It's not really a travelling topic, and we should be quiet anyway."
"You're not wrong," Demi muttered, staring at the flower a moment longer before flicking it over his shoulder, bumping his shoulder against Kailas', "Don't worry about it. It's over and done with and doesn't matter any more."
".... yea... okay..."
I didn't want to step on the flower, and I didn't want anyone else too, so I quickly leaned down to grab it as we passed it, blushing when Tobias' squeezed my hand but not looking up at him as I tucked the dead flower into the chest pocket of my shirt. I did it instinctively without really thinking, it wasn't like I needed the stupid thing, but somehow having it made me feel calmer.
It didn't take us much longer to reach the city, freezing when we all got to the road block that Ethan and Sean had warned us about. The city buildings were so dense, it was no wonder so many had been destroyed when the bombs hit. Skyscrapers had collapsed, filling the street with mountain sized wreckage like a fallen tree blocking a country road. Fiberglass, steel bars and wires, sheets of metal and blocks of concrete the size of small hills all stood in our path, and by the looks of it there was no way around.
"You're fucking kidding me," Carina was the one to state, and Ethan shook his head.
"It's the only way. The bombs really tore through the place, alleys are blocked, it's too dangerous to try and find a way around."
"We've climbed it before, it's not too bad," Sean offered, "Even Bear can do it."
"Bear's a dog," Efren reminded, and Sean beamed.
"Yea, she is!"
His enthusiastic response had the middle Andrada pinching the bridge of his nose as Isa kicked one of the boulders, staring at the expanse of debris with a hum, "We might be able to manage. How sturdy is it?"
"The only danger is the sheets of metal and glass," Ethan answered, jumping up onto the first block of concrete, pointing up, "They're pretty slippery. There's a path worn down that we've carved out from going back and forth, leading through the safer spots, and it's only about ten feet above the ground."
"Yea, any normal person would die from a ten foot fall," Efren revealed.
"Or they'd break their neck at least," Carina helped, "but I'm sure a paralyzed person could still be of use."
"As bait," Demi decided, and Carina, Efren, and Logan all nodded in agreement as Ethan glared down at them.
"You all need to lighten up, it's not like we're scaling rooftops."
"Hey I've done parkour before," Sasha piped, "This might be fun! Think you can keep up Mar?"
Marlisa laughed, "You're going to be eating my dust soon."
Ethan stepped back as the two of them just bolted past him, turning to watch them before looking at Tobias, who shrugged, "Kids."
"Keep an eye on your feet while you're going," Sean warned, jumping up with Ethan and holding a hand out to help people up, "Watch each other's backs. It's still dangerous, but it should be pretty easy to maneuver through. Just follow Bear, she knows the best route."
"Trust the dog, seems safe," Isagani said under his breath, ignoring the hand offered to him and jumping up by himself.
He turned to help Efren, who just turned away from his older brother and instead grabbed Sean's hand. Isa's brow twitched, but no words were spoken. It took a bit of time for everyone to reach the top of the mess, the majority either struggling or tripping every few steps. I was one of them, wincing at the bizarre sensation coming from the scars on my back pulling and aching. Adalwolf had warned me before that moving would be difficult, but I had forgotten his warning until now.
It didn't exactly hurt that badly, but it felt weird enough that my stomach was jumping, sweat beading along my brow and hands shaking. The feeling was just bordering on pain, and it stayed on that border, which is probably why I felt so strange. By the time we reached the top of the ruins I just wanted it to hurt, to get it over with.
Out of everyone, I was probably having the worst of it, while Demi and Logan seemed to be moving the easiest, as light footed as Bear was, jumping from block to slab like it was the easiest task they'd ever been given. Which I suppose it was, considering what the two of them were capable of in the worst of circumstances.
What really frustrated me was how easy Adalwolf was moving. He was the oldest out of everyone in our group, yet he was ahead of us, not even a little breathless as he paused to wait for us. Kailas was struggling a little it seemed, but not as much as me. It was likely due to his chest, but Cass stayed close to his side to help him if he needed, and Demi continuously moved from the front of the group and back to where Kailas was to check on him, constantly on edge and watching the area for danger.
I could definitely tell how annoyed Ethan was growing as he watched Demi and Logan skirting along the debris like they were still on solid ground, weightlessly testing the boulders and squares of concrete, standing on the smallest pieces and not even swaying, at least a yard ahead of the rest of us.
"What the fuck kind of hybrids are those two?" he hissed, and Hans snorted from the side.
"Assassins. You didn't know?" Ethan seemed to freeze before looking over at him, "I'm not entirely sure why they're not handcuffed, to be honest."
"I'm not entirely sure why you're still talking," Bryn said as he held a hand out for me to help me climb over a block of sheet metal, eyes narrowed, and Hans just offered him a crude smile.
"What the hell do you mean assassins? Are you an idiot?" Ethan asked, and Hans snickered as Kailas pushed pass Cass.
"It doesn't matter Ethan, they're not threats to us."
"I kind of think it does matter actually," Ethan argued, "I feel like there's a lot I don't know about the rebellion's first faction. Where did you even find these so called assassins?"
"What do you mean where?" Hans asked, "Where else would you find an assassin?"
"Gee, good question," Ethan held his chin, "but you know, I don't think there's an assassin section in the Yellow Pages, so pardon my confusion."
"It doesn't matter, and we shouldn't be discussing it anyway," Kailas said, clearly growing distressed.
"Yea what happened to staying quiet?" Cass asked, one hand on Kailas' shoulder, but Hans just ignored them as he set his hands on his hips and smiled.
"They're both former assassins of the Con Rồng," he revealed, and Ethan's eyes widened as Kailas winced.
"Sorry, let me just," Ethan held up a hand, "The Con Rồng is the new government we're fighting against," he turned to Kailas, "yet we're harboring their soldiers?"
"It's not like that," Kailas said stiffly, "Look, it's a complicated situation-."
"Oh right, that sounds familiar," Ethan rolled his eyes, "Just roll over and stop asking questions, that's me."
"Calm down, Ethan," Sean scolded, one hand on his hip and head tilted, "I don't know about the Con Rồng, and I don't know about that Logan guy, but Demitri is from a family of fighters."
"How would you know?" Cass asked, and Efren answered.
"I told him."
Isagani paused in his maneuvering over the collapsed slabs of concrete, "I thought I said I didn't want you talking to that guy?" he pointed at Sean.
Efren just gave his brother a bored look, "Think you can stop me?"
"I was the one who asked him first," Sean defended, looking apologetic for some reason as Isagani slid down the rock to stand between he and Efren, "I was curious about your family is all."
"Don't ask my brother questions about our family," Isagani said, and Efren sighed, head tilting back to look at the sky.
"Christ."
"Can we stop talking about this? We're wasting time," Cass said, and Hans scoffed at him.
"How is this wasting time? Those two are dangerous, this is definitely something that should be discussed."
"Logan isn't a threat unless you make him a threat," I warned, clinging to Tobias' hand as I struggled over the uneven ground to join the group that had formed in the midst of the argument, "and neither is Demi. I can guarantee they would never turn on us unless we threatened the people closest to them."
"Yea? Right," Hans chuckled, "How would you know, exactly?"
"I'm the one who trained them," I said simply, and Tobias squeezed my hand as if to calm me down.
"Re-asses your position, Franke, you're stepping out of line," he warned, and Hans tensed up as his smile fell, gaze lowering to the ground as he took a step back, "This argument ends here, we're wasting daylight and making too much noise; while we've been standing here complaining about two ex-assassins, note my usage of the prefix ex, as in former, rogue groups could have flanked us, and I'm not putting my group in danger just because some of you don't know enough about Demitri and Logan to trust them. Like it or not they're the best fighters we have, and we're lucky they're on our side."
"Sorry," Ethan apologized, "but that's my concern. Are they on our side?"
"Yes," everyone, even Sean, answered at the same time, and Ethan glanced at the former army officer before turning around.
"Fine. Let's just keep going."
The tension didn't let up despite the argument ending, in fact the air just felt even heavier, and I could swear I could smell gunpowder, which just heightened my anxiety. It wasn't until I looked up, however, that I really started to get nervous, stopping in my tracks and furrowing my brow.
"Carter?" Tobias squeezed my hand again, and I hesitated before opening my mouth.
"Something's wrong," I whispered the words, and Tobias tensed from beside me, following my gaze to where Demi was standing a good yard ahead of us, completely frozen as he stared to the side.
It seemed like he hadn't even heard the argument from before, and appeared entirely focused on something to the left. Logan was just as still as he was, so was Bear, and they were all staring in the same direction.
It made my stomach turn for some reason, seeing them as still as a well trained dog, as if they'd been broken down so severely that only their most basic of instincts were the only ones present in a tense situation. They were basically just animals, and I was the one who made them that way.
Maybe that was why I pushed myself forward, slipping my hand out of Tobias' grasp and passing the others in our group who were still arguing quietly, not noticing me when I passed them. I struggled to ignore the ache in my shoulders from the scars on my back, walking until I was closer to the two assassins before calling out to them, ensuring they'd be able to hear me.
"We're being followed?"
Neither man responded to me or showed they'd heard, and I finally turned to look in the same direction Demi and Logan were staring. My heart jumped to lodge into my throat at what I saw, a black cloth tied to a metal bar stuck in a concrete block at the very edge of the ruins. Bear was sniffing at the air, turning in a half circle before looking back at the cloth. It didn't make sense at first, until she gave a low whine. Then it hit me, both Logan and Demi were staring at the flag in confusion.
Distracted. Not looking where they should have been.
"Demi, behind you!"
I saw his eyes widen in realization, shifting on his feet and slipping back as the stone he was standing on shattered where he'd been just an instant before. He almost fell, but managed to keep himself standing as he staggered away from where the bullet had hit, dust clouding the air before settling, Kailas yelling for him from behind me.
My body moved without me telling it to, pacing closer to the two fighters before turning in the direction of the gunshot to see Roy perched on top of a huge slab of glass and sheet metal, smoking gun in hand and eyes narrowed, flashing to me after a moment of glaring at Demi.
"You had to speak up, didn't you?" he asked, lowering the gun, "I wouldn't have killed him, the boss wants him alive."
"Bullshit," I snarled at him, and his eyes were the ones to widen in surprise at that, before narrowing again, focusing back at Demi when he'd finally gotten his footing back, focusing in on Roy.
"Been a long time, Puppet," Roy said, sliding down the glass to stand on equal ground with Demi, "You've gotten slow it seems."
"You really wanna bet on that?" Demi asked, and Roy scoffed, taking a step forward but pausing when he heard the collective sound of guns cocking.
I looked over my shoulder to see everyone from our small caravan had lifted their guns and aimed them at Roy, standing at least half a yard from where I was. Tobias didn't look at all happy about the distance, his eyes flashing between Roy and I rapidly. He didn't even need to speak for me to read his body language, that he wanted me to walk back over to him, but he wasn't the only one with a gun. If I moved, Roy could try to shoot me. It was my own fault for putting myself in this position, so it wasn't like I could complain.
"This is because we were being too loud," Ethan said, "I told you all to be quiet."
"I don't mean to be that guy, but you were the one who started the argument in the first place," Sean noted from beside him, and Ethan narrowed his eyes at him while Roy scoffed.
"Quiet? You think that would have helped you any?" he asked, "Please. Returning to this town wasn't exactly the rebellion's best move. Vinet knew where you were. I've been waiting here for a while."
"Sorry to waste your time," Demi apologized, flicking his wrist and holding a knife up when it slipped into his hand from his sleeve, "Allow me to make it up to you."
"Who the hell is this guy?" Efren demanded, and I tensed up as I quickly turned to search for Logan, eyes growing wide when I couldn't find him.
"I'll make this easy for you," Roy offered, gun pointed at Demi, "Give yourself up, and I won't kill everyone here."
"You're not gonna kill anyone," I said, striding forward, clumsily pacing over the crooked ground as Roy turned his head to glare at me, "You're clearly outnumbered here, and do you really think you have a chance at beating Demi in a fight?" Roy peered at Demi from the corner of his eyes, and movement to the right attracted my attention.
I turned my head subtly to look, finding Logan pacing quietly along the same slab of concrete where Roy had been moments before. He met my eye wordlessly and I pressed my lips into a thin line as I looked back at Roy, who had lowered his gun half an inch and was simply glaring at Demi now.
"You trained differently than Demi did, and frankly sending you here to apprehend us was cruel of Bay to do. This is a suicide mission, you get that, right?"
"I think you're underestimating me," Roy said, but I ignored him as I looked over my shoulder.
"It's just him, you can lower your guns."
"Are you insane?" Ethan asked, though Sean, Cass, and Carina lowered their guns.
"We don't have to fight him," I promised, looking back at Roy, "Let Demi take care of it."
My eyes flashed up to Logan again, to where he was crouching down, realizing that he was watching me with this patient look in his eyes. Like he was waiting for something. It hit me a little late that he was waiting for a signal. It was a nod to how I used to train he and Demi, but the fact he was actually wanting me to give him a signal from back when he was basically a slave, confused me. Why would he even trust me that much? Or... maybe this was his way of showing everyone he was on our side? He was on the Syndicate's side?
I didn't want to. I didn't want to control him, or Demi, like I did when I trained them, but...
"Demi... do you remember where that scar on your lip came from?" I asked out of nowhere, and Demi glanced at me as his tongue rubbed over the scar on his top lip, then looked back at Roy.
"Yea."
"You get what I'm saying, right?"
His eyes narrowed, shoulders tensing, "Yea."
"One thing... don't kill him," Roy gaped at me like I'd just offended him, and Demi exhaled through his nose before stowing his knife away.
"Fine."
"Good," I took a half step back, feeling suddenly heavy, reaching up to hold my shoulder and nodding, "Both of you play nice."
Roy snarled at me, bristling like a cat, "You're starting to really piss me off-."
"I wasn't talking to you," I interrupted, watching his eyes widen at my next words, "You seem to have forgotten I trained two assassins."
The meaning of that statement seemed to hit Roy about as hard as Logan did an instant later. I was actually impressed at the speed he slid down the slab of concrete, kicking himself off at the last second and dropping his heel straight into Roy's chest. It didn't seem to matter that they were brother's at that moment, Logan didn't hold back any amount of power as he kicked Roy, who stumbled back with wide eyes, arms flailing.
He grabbed his chest with a hand, opening his mouth, cut off before he could say anything when Demi took advantage of the distraction and shot forward, grabbing the gun from Roy's hand and holding it by the barrel, swinging the butt into the back of Roy's head before chucking the weapon as far as he could to keep it away from Roy, who coiled forward and grabbed his head.
He was clearly taken by surprise by Demi, even more so by Logan, but showed his experience as a front-line assassin by quickly recovering and spinning on Demi.
I'd expected him to go at Demi, because as manic as Roy was, I don't think he would ever hurt his brother, but it was a mistake to willingly turn his back on Logan. Roy grabbed a palm sized block of concrete from the ground, utilizing what was around him as a weapon, and ran at Demi, but honestly he didn't stand a chance.
Roy was trained by Vinet, Bay, and the other soldiers of the new government. I won't argue that he was a good fighter, but he wasn't Demi, and he wasn't Logan; because I trained them differently, and I regretted what I put them through, and it made me sick to my stomach to acknowledge that what I did to them, actually gave them skills that could save their lives.
Roy fighting against Demi was hopeless, but Roy fighting against Demi and Logan was iniquitous.
Logan threw a single jab into Roy's shoulder, numbing it through the pressure point to force his hand into slacking and dropping the concrete, then lunged and wrapped an arm around his neck and throat, one hand burying into the fringe of his dark hair.
Roy was incapacitated simply because it was Logan who caught him in a headlock, but it didn't really seem like Logan had any intention of harming him, especially when he dragged Roy backwards to pull him away from Demi's strike. The knife broke against the concrete where it would have gone into Roy's chest, and Demi snarled up at Logan.
"Hold him still, damn it!"
"I said don't kill him!" I yelled, and Demi threw the handle of the knife aside as he stood straight and looked at me.
"Isn't he the one who tortured you for four months?!"
"This isn't about me, Demi, he has information on Bay's movements and battle strategies that I don't!" I scolded him, "We need to interrogate him and get what information we can about the government! If Vinet already knew we were here, Bay does too, they knew where we were headed, so we don't have as much time as we thought we did to organize our military!"
"Even less time than you think," Roy spat, "Not that any of you will be there to help when Vinet and her contacts come to wipe out the rebellion."
He kicked off against the ground, using the uneven ruins to help propel him backwards with Logan, slamming the former assassin against a massive block of concrete and pinning him their with his shoulders as he knocked the arms around his neck aside and fished a small black remote from his pocket, lifting it up and hitting the red button on the side.
I recognized the device from my time at the Con Rồng, mostly thanks to my position as the groups weapons expert, but I barely had enough time to warn the people behind me that there was a bomb before it went off between where we stood, and where our group stood. Concrete, sheet metal, fiber glass, and shards of iron from industrial bars blew up into the air, creating a wall of white cloud and dust separating us.
The explosion had the entire area shaking and collapsing, my left foot broke through the glass I'd been standing hazardously on, and a cry fell from my lips as I fell, throwing my arms over my head as the loud noise broke the sound barriers, making my ears ring as glass cut into my badly twisted ankle. Through the pain all I could think of was Demi and Tobias, peering out through the dust clouds to see if I could find anyone.
I glanced over to where Roy had been, noting that somewhere in the chaos he'd turned around and had his arms wrapped around Logan, one hand on top of his head, shielding him as debris fell around them. Part of me actually admired him for trying to protect his brother, though Logan didn't seem very grateful as he punched a fist into Roy's stomach to get him off, shoving him hard enough to trip him onto his back before running past him and pausing, arm lifted and eyes squinted against the cloud of dust blocking the rest of our group.
I could hear concrete scraping and dropped my arms to watch as Demi stumbled over to me, putting a hand on my back, cursing when he noticed my ankle and telling me to lie still as he broke the glass away and grabbed me under my arms, dragging me back and leaning me against a somewhat sturdy slab of concrete. I kept my teeth clenched against the pain as he moved me, then knelt at my feet and pulled the same knife from before out to cut the fabric of my jeans away from my ankle to check the damage.
I turned my head away so I didn't have to look at the glass stuck in my leg, watching as Roy groaned and rolled onto his stomach, struggling to his knees and spitting a mouthful of blood before yelling for his brother.
"Logan! Get away from the explosion!" he scolded, standing up and striding closer, grabbing Logan's arm and turning him around, "We need to grab Demi and Carter so we can leave before the rest of them get through!"
Logan tensed up, brow furrowing as he looked back over his shoulder towards the blast. I was half expecting him to break his vow of selective muteness to start yelling for Bryn actually, but he just pressed his lips into a think line. He looked desperate, and I shook my head a little.
"He won't go with you, Roy," I said, and they both looked over at me at the same time.
Roy just scowled at me before tugging on Logan's arm, "He doesn't control you anymore, Logan," he snapped to his brother, "Just listen to me, if you help me bring them in, the boss will welcome you back into the military. I'll protect you from here on out, just come home!"
Logan didn't answer him, just continued to stare at me a moment before looking back at the wall of dust that was slowly beginning to settle. I could hear coughing now, curses from our small group, frustrated voices asking what the hell happened. Logan looked tired and anxious, his hands in fists as he pulled at his arm, I could tell he wanted to look for Bryn simply because he was likely as worried about him as I was for Tobias, and after another attempt from Roy at pulling Logan back, he seemed to snap, spinning on his brother and punching him once in the face, teeth grit and eyes wild.
Roy released his hold on Logan, blood poured from his nose as his eyes rolled, unconscious before he even hit the ground. Demi and I both were frozen, but Logan just panted and grabbed his now busted fist as he turned on his heel and started for the settling dust.
"Didn't... expect him to do that," Demi murmured, watching Logan before looking at me, "They're brothers..."
I hesitated at the look on his face, deciding to give him the vaguest answer I could, "There are more important things to Logan right now. I'm sure he's happy to see his brother again, but... Logan is like you. If your family attacked Kailas, you wouldn't be happy, right?"
Demi furrowed his brow, "Efren already tried, I broke his ankle and almost broke his neck."
"Well... you get it then," I nodded towards Roy, "Tie him up, use whatever you have."
"Your ankle is pretty messed up, Carter."
"I'll be fine, just grab him."
Demi didn't seem too happy about leaving me there, but reluctantly backed away and stood up before jogging over to Roy to tie him up before he could regain consciousness. I leaned back against the concrete he'd set me up against, watching as the dust finally settled and hoping no one else had gotten hurt. The first thing I saw was Tobias clambering over the rift cut into the ruins from the explosion, looking down at his feet as he moved so he wouldn't slip, lifting his head once he'd reached a more steady area and running towards me.
"Carter?"
"I'm okay," I tried to assure him as he knelt beside me, holding the hands I lifted up, "The sheet glass I was standing on broke and cut up my ankle, but I can't really feel it. Are you hurt?"
"No. Everyone is fine," he looked over his shoulder and I followed his gaze to see everyone from our group slowly lifting to their feet.
The explosion had cut a rift into the ruins, but there was enough sticking up still that it should be generally easy to climb across to join Demi and I. Already Logan had found Bryn and seemed to be fussing over him, helping him to his feet with Klaus as Sasha, Marlisa, and Adalwolf checked over themselves. I could even see Hans and Reiner close-by, helping Isagani, Cass, and Carina up.
Kailas was on his knees, hands still lifted as if his arms had been over his head, and Ethan was at his side, one arm wrapped around him as they both gaped at the rift, and Sean was dusting off his jeans, turning to where Efren was sitting, Bear nudging her nose into his neck, crouching down to wrap an arm around his shoulders, hooking one beneath his knees before lifting him up and standing.
Efren's eyes were wide in surprise and I could hear him cursing as he struggled in Sean's arms while Ethan helped Kailas to his feet, dusting off his jacket and asking if he was hurt anywhere, one hand still on the rebellion leader's back. From the short distance I could see some people had cuts and scratches and scrapes on their faces and hands, and when they'd all converged on this side of the small rift those small injuries were more noticeable, but none of them were too badly hurt, and none of them were dead.
"So do we just take him with us?" Sasha asked, staring down at Roy, hands on his hips, and Marlisa kicked the bottom of Roy's boot like she was poking a dead animal with a stick.
"Is he alive?"
"He's just knocked out," I answered, wincing and looking down at where Adalwolf was prying glass from my leg, "We have to take him with us. He has information we need," I furrowed my brow, staring down, "He... said something about Vinet's contacts, but I... as far as I know she doesn't really have any, so... something just isn't right. We need to interrogate him."
"Who's carrying him?" Sasha asked, holding his hands up, "I don't think I can."
"I'm carrying Efren," Sean revealed, though Efren was still struggling, face red.
"Would you put me the fuck down already, I didn't even get hurt!"
"Klaus, you carry him," Tobias said, "Don't hurt him though," he turned to me after Klaus nodded and started for where Roy was lying, "How's his leg?"
"He'll be fine," Adalwolf said, "Lacerations aren't as deep as I thought, I'll just wrap him up for now and stitch the cuts when we reach the hospital. We need to get going."
"How much further?" Bryn asked Ethan, who was scratching at a scrape on his jaw.
"Not much longer before we reach the end of this mess. Once we're on solid ground again it'll only be a few blocks to the academy," he turned and pointed, "You can see the hospital from here."
I turned to look, frowning at the sun reflecting off the windows of the hospital. It definitely seemed like a calling card, a perfect building to hide out in. If that were the only reason Vinet would have known where we were, I probably wouldn't be so uneasy, but somehow I got the feeling there was something more going on here. Not just a tall, noticeable building, and not just the fact that this was Demi's hometown. Something wasn't right, and I was almost too afraid to ask Roy what it was.