Lin felt weird letting someone else touch her, but the doctor had been on her side since they arrived and seemed interested in helping her. Besides, if he could fix her, then she could actually talk to Fuse when he woke up instead of having to rely on notes.
"Hm." He intoned as he palpated her throat. "Try to make an 'ah' sound for me. As hard as you can."
She opened her mouth but only managed to make a squeaky wheeze before he nodded for her to stop and rolled away to his computer. "Best guess is that you suffered some kind of trauma to your throat when you were younger. Before your long term memory developed since you don't remember anything happening. And since it probably hurt to make noise, you stopped trying which led to your vocal cords never really developing."
She sighed and slid off the exam table as he typed, feeling stupid for getting her hopes up that it'd be something simple. But James caught her arm as she passed by him and pulled her back into the room.
"We're not done yet." He said, sitting her in his chair. "I've got an idea we can try. Something to maybe jump start your voice a little bit."
He walked over to a cabinet and returned with an injector and loaded a cartridge into it. "This is what we had before those pods. Not sure if it'll work, but it can't hurt." He touched a few spots on her neck before pressing the injector to a spot and there was a loss of sensation for several seconds. "Alright, give it a shot."
She repeated the exercise and felt something different in her throat than before, but could only produce an exhale. Less than she had earlier. She looked up at James, expecting to see disappointment on his face, but he was nodding with a small smile on his lips. "Keep going."
She took a breath and tried again, at the apex of her breath a short, but steady sound emerged. It was barely audible, but it was enough to surprise her. She covered her mouth and looked up at him again.
"Very good." He said. "I don't think you'll be singing opera anytime soon, but maybe in a few days you'll be able to say a word or two. The vocal cords are muscles, so they need to be worked out to get stronger. Just don't push too hard or you'll end up going backwards. Keep up with that exercise until you can produce a strong, steady sound, okay?"
She nodded and he jerked his head to the door. "Alright, get back to him. They ought to be done cleaning him up now."
She grinned at him and jogged across the hall where Fuse's room was. Sure enough, it was empty and he was wearing different clothing than twenty minutes ago. She sat back down in the chair and took a breath, trying to replicate the success she just had. Her chest tightening with every noise she produced. Two hours later, her throat was sore and she remembered the doctor's warning and decided to stop for the day.
She watched Fuse as he lay on the bed, praying that he'd wake up soon and hear her say his name. But she'd heard one of the nurses say that the longer he was out, the less likely it was that he'd ever wake up. And it'd already been a few days since they pulled him out of the pod. He'd lost more blood than they initially believed and had been in a state of hypoxia for nearly an hour before they could get the pod operational. Brain damage wasn't just possible, it was expected at this point.
But Lin didn't care, so long as he opened his eyes. She didn't understand what friends were until recently when James explained it to her. But now that she did, it was clear that Fuse was her friend. Her first and most precious one. He saved her and looked after her, and she'd spend her life giving that back to him.
~
"Ahhhhhh."
"Not bad." The orderly said, clapping politely a few times before pulling a sheet off his cart and shaking it out.
Lin beamed. Carson was the only one there besides James that didn't mind her presence as he worked in Fuse's room. He always had a few minutes for her, whether it was to tell her a quick story or ask her a few questions about something completely random. And he was always careful with Fuse as he cleaned him up and changed out the bedding.
Currently, the teen was leaning against her as Carson quickly swapped out the sheets. Something that the nurses scowled about every time it was his turn on the rotation to do Fuse's room. But he didn't care and Lin didn't mind as it was the only time she'd gotten to hold more than his hand over the last few weeks.
"Carson?" A woman said from the door. "James needs you in three."
Lin watched him give the woman a confused look. "Alright, let him know I'll be there in just a minute."
"Now, Carson." She snapped.
Lin could feel the atmosphere shift in the room as he straightened. "Didn't know you were on today, Yvonne."
"Rich never showed, so I'm covering." She replied curtly. Even Lin could tell that this felt off and looked up at Carson.
"Hope he's alright. You said four?"
"Three, Carson. I'll finish up in here."
Lin felt a familiar fear build in her stomach as Carson was obviously suspicious. He glanced at Lin, then back up at Yvonne and moved away from the bed. "Yeah, alright. Just... give me a shout when you need to move him back into the bed. He's heavier than he looks."
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you."
Lin heard to cracks and watched red bloom on Carson's chest. He looked down, shocked, then cried out as he lunged forward. There were more cracks as she heard him grapple with the woman, but she couldn't turn properly to look with Fuse's weight pressing on her. She whimpered as there was more shouting and more, louder noises that followed.
"She's in here!" Yvonne shouted in response to someone. "Fuck!"
There was the sound of a blow landing, then footsteps circling around her. The slender, tan woman sneered down at Lin as she reloaded the gun in her left hand. "I could tell you it's nothing personal, that I'm just doing my job. But that'd be a lie."
She pulled the slide back on the weapon and let it go, pressing the warm barrel to the teen's head. "If Alex didn't want him so bad, I'd do him first. Just to see how you'd react. But..." She shrugged. "I have my orders."
Lin glared up at the woman, determined not to show the overwhelming fear she felt. But just as Yvonne's finger started to squeeze the trigger, a scarred hand latched onto her wrist, thrusting the gun upward a split-second before it fired. Lin froze completely as Fuse growled, getting slowly to his feet using the woman's arm as a fulcrum.
"I could tell you it's nothing personal." His voice was hoarse and weak, but that only added to the fear both women felt in that moment. "But that'd be a lie."
She wailed as Fuse's hand tightened around her wrist, crushing the bones in it. The gun clattered to the floor and quick as a flash, he held her head in both his hands. "Please, please." She pleaded.
Lin squeezed her eyes shut as her head spun around on her shoulders. She heard the body drop and could feel Fuse's breath on her face as he panted. "Keep them closed." He whispered.
She nodded and heard him pick up the gun and walk from the room. The sound of weapons firing made her jump and cover her ears, but it was over almost as soon as it started. A minute later, she heard someone in the room with her.
"Lin." Fuse's voice said.
Instantly, she leapt over the chair and ran into him, holding onto him as tightly as she could. He dropped the gun and held onto her as well. The second his hands touched her, she lost all control over herself. Sobs ripped themselves from her throat and she shook violently. Warmth crept down her legs as they gave out.
The pair slid down to the floor together holding onto one another. He stroked her hair as she cried, ignoring the growing volume of the noise in the building.
"Foooz." She whimpered weakly, looking up at him.
He smiled tiredly at her. "Yeah, that's me." He said quietly.
She returned the smile and buried her face in his chest until she heard James talking.
"Time to go." She looked up as the doctor hooked Fuse under the arms and helped him back to his feet, draping one of his arms over his shoulder. "Knew it was only a matter of time before someone came looking. If you hadn't come to when you did..."
"Should've been sooner." Fuse wheezed, looking at Carson's body. "They'd still be alive."
"Maybe. We'll never know." James replied.
Lin felt a painful spike of guilt as she looked over at Carson. He was the second person she considered to be her friend. And he died trying to protect her, just like Fuse had nearly done. But he wasn't a soldier with training, he wasn't even a doctor. He was just a guy who cleaned the rooms and made her smile.
"Lin." Fuse's voice cut through the buzzing noise in her head and she looked up. "Come on."
Nodding, she got to her feet and followed the doctor and Fuse as they awkwardly walked down the hall and exited into the street where two people in dark grey armor stood. One held a rifle up and took aim at him while the other had his abandoned sword resting on his shoulder.
There was a crack and James dropped, a neat hole through his head. "Nowhere to go, Sergeant!"
Lin shrieked and hid behind Fuse while he glared forward. "That wasn't necessary, Yolanda."
"Unlike you, I follow my orders, Sergeant."
"Uh, technically he's not a Sergeant anymore." Ray said, then took a step back when she turned her head to look at him. "I'm just sayin'."
"Surrender peacefully and I'll let you stay with the girl until HQ collects her. That's more than what Alex will give you when she gets here." Yolanda continued. "Or if you do anything but put your hands up and do what you're told."
"You're in rough shape still, Wolf." Ray added, tapping his helmet with his free hand. "Do the smart thing, man."
He felt Lin's grip tighten on the back of his shirt and grunted. "The smart thing, huh?"
"Besides, where are you gonna go? You're wearing scrubs, she's got on a t-shirt and overalls? You guys aren't dressed for winter." Ray said, spreading his arms and stepping forward.
Yolanda saw it a split second before Ray did. Fuse's eyes hadn't left his sword since exiting the building and when Ray moved the weapon away and moved into his partner's line of sight, the seventeen year old made his move.
Lin was thrown out of the way as Yolanda pulled the trigger and the projectile narrowly missed both teens as Fuse practically disappeared from view. The blade left the scabbard behind in Ray's hand at the same time Fuse's foot connected with the Lieutenant's chest, knocking him off balance long enough for him to slid the thin blade through the small gap and sever the main power cable in the undersuit, sending Ray helplessly careening into Yolanda.
She shoved him out of the way, but Fuse cut through her rifle and she froze as the blade continued its trajectory into her helmet. "PLEASE, NO!" She screamed, clenching her eyes shut.
Fuse withdrew the weapon and she sunk to her knees. She watched his eyes appear in the slit opened in her helmet, her heart raced as he glared at her. Then she felt the armor disengage and fall to the ground. "Run. Don't stop running. Get away from the GA, HQ, C-Corp, all of them. And if you won't, tell them that next time they try to come after us, there won't be a time after that for whoever they send."
"Got it, man!" Ray groaned. "Thanks for not killing us!"
Fuse's eyes lingered for a few more seconds before disappearing from her view and Yolanda let out the breath she'd been holding. She'd been one of the frontliners of the Vanguard, facing death frequently had made her immune to the idea of it. Or so she'd thought until she saw a teen recovering from fatal injuries swing a sword that weighed fifty kilos like it was nothing.
"He's a monster." She murmured.
"Alex said the same thing after he blew her and her squad halfway to kingdom come." Ray said. "Now help me out of this crap. I'm not exactly in a comfortable position here."
~
"Tristan died." Ray said, folding his arms across his chest. "Did he tell you anything that wasn't in the reports?"
Alex's artificial hand slowly closed into a fist.
"Didn't think so."
"You brought him his weapon then got in Yolanda's line of fire." She said carefully.
Rayd sighed. "So it's my turn on the guillotine because you think I know something."
"I don't think, I know."
He nodded. "Yeah, yeah, sure. That makes sense."
"It'll hurt less if you just tell me." She said, taking a step toward him.
"So it's going to hurt one way or the other, eh?" Her only response was to take another step. Shrugging his shoulders and dropping into a combat stance. "Well, let's just get to it."
Alex exploded forward and was slammed into the ground with enough force that her HUD flashed yellow. She tucked her legs up and kicked him in the chest, sending him sailing off her. He rolled and was back on his feet instantly while she flipped herself up.
"Just tell me what I want to know." She panted.
"Alright, what do you want to know? His favorite food? Book? Music preferences when we're in the transport?"
She growled and charged at him, catching his arm with the artificial one and snapping it in one motion. He cried out in pain, but slammed his helmet into hers with enough force that the display died. She released him to pull it off and threw it aside just as his fist connected with her jaw. She felt the bones shatter and screamed, but Ray stopped moving and slumped forward onto her.
Shoving him back, her right arm caught as it slid through his chest. She hadn't realized the force of the wild strike she threw when he punched her. She ripped her arm free and backed away, horrified at what she'd done. But a calm instantly washed over her as she realized that he was never going to tell her anything. His loyalty wasn't to the GA or to her, it was to Fuse.
Yolanda appeared in the doorway and covered her mouth, but Alex pushed past her, ignoring the looks from the other soldiers as she made her way to the medical building. Her jaw was numb for now, but she didn't want to wait until the pain started to get it taken care of. Once she was recovered, she'd interrogate Yolanda before deciding their next move. Reports of the stolen transport being spotted just outside of Edgeton had given her a direction to head.
~
"As I live and breathe! A-Corp's prodigal son!" a heavily scarred looking man cried, walking over to them. Lin slid behind Fuse and held onto his shirt tightly. "You've been causing all sorts of havoc the last month. I knew you had it in you."
"Peter." Fuse said curtly.
"And he remembers me! Hey, everyone, Kurokawa Fuse remembers me!" He shouted, though there was nobody around. The tone shifted a moment later as his sharp, artificial eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Wolf?"
"Clothes and money."
"And what'll you give me in return? Your in the heart of military country, boy. Your face and that sword have been seen by at least a couple thousand people heading straight in my direction. Gotta compensate, soldierboy."
"You can have the sword."
Peter laughed. "Without one of those fancy armors to swing it, it's just an unmovable decoration. And since you're still alive, it's not worth much. That pretty little bird behind you, though-"
"Not her." Fuse cut him off, reaching to draw the sword.
Peter sighed. "Then you got nothing, kid. And I got no reason to help for free."
"I'm taking her to Coast City. Echelon wants her. I'll have them compensate you when we arrive."
"Echelon, yeah, yeah, sure. Got a few of those working for me. Probably watching us right now."
Fuse sighed. "Do we have a deal or not?"
Peter scratched his chin and walked over to a plastic chair, sitting down and resting an ankle on his knee with a level of flamboyancy completely opposite his rough appearance. "Echelon's not the only group that deals in information gathering. The Markets, D-Corp if you want to be a prick about it, buy and sell as well. Let's say I help you, then sell that information. What would you have to say about that?"
"Takes three days by Mag to get from here to Coast City. Give me twenty-four hours to rest and you can sell the information to whoever you want." Fuse replied.
Peter had a genuine expression of thought on his face as he considered. "And if you make it to Echelon, you'll have them compensate me with thirty percent interest."
The teen nodded. "I'll sell them my services if that's what it takes to ensure you get paid."
"Your services. I like that." He said, pushing up from the chair. "You have a deal. Go pick out something nice. I'll let my Echelon toys know the plan. Might throw in a little... interference to ensure things run a little smoother for you."