"Who the fuck designs a city like this!?" Rebecca moaned as she tried to find a way to circle around and catch up to Clint and Eve.
Readying her weapon, she pushed through a door and exited out onto an empty street that ended in another dead end. With a sigh, she turned to enter the building again and saw a glint in the reflection over her shoulder.
"Get down!" There was a crack in the same instant she was tackled into the ground. Her gun was out of her hands and there were two cracks right next to her.
A teen got off her as a body fell and held her gun out to her. "Sorry about that. Didn't hurt you did I?"
She took it back and accepted his hand to pull herself vertical again. "Just rattled." She muttered.
"Better than dead." He said, walking over to a large rifle on the ground several feet away. He slung it over his shoulder as a woman emerged from a door.
Rebecca's jaw fell open. "Mom!?"
"Mom?" He asked, looking over at the older woman, a smirk forming on his face.
"Let's put a pin in that for now, Rebecca. Where's everyone else?" She asked.
Rebecca shook her head, unable to form words from the shock of seeing a dead woman. Veronica sighed and holstered her weapon.
"She's alone. Must've gotten separated." Tim said.
"Let's hope that's all it is." She replied. "Rebecca! Snap out of it!"
The young woman blinked, then shook her head. "What? Wait, how are you alive!?"
"There's more important things to worry about right now, dear." She said. "We need to regroup with everyone and find a way out of this place. We heard from some of the ground troops that the Echelon satellite's been taken."
Rebecca's eyes widened and she hurriedly looked up. "Before the dock was destroyed, we'd sent a shuttle up to it. Fuse, Lin, and Yolanda were aboard."
Veronica looked over at Tim, who shook his head. "It's not exactly good news, boss."
"It's all we've got." She said. "Rebecca, we saw that shuttle take off. It disappeared when the explosion hit it. The way it shot off like that, I don't think it was heading to the satellite."
"Then where-"
Veronica made a sharp gesture. "Enough questions for now. Who all is left that we need to find?"
"Clint, Alice, Eve, and Erik. Clint's trying to find aid for Eve, Alice and Erik disappeared in the crash."
"If by Alice, you mean Halo, then no she didn't. She's right there." Tim said, pointing at the reflective glass.
Rebecca ran over and flung open the door, pulling the teen into her arms. "I'm so glad you're alright! Are you hurt anywhere? Where were you?"
Alice pushed Rebecca away and signed that she was fine and it took her a while to climb up from the sub-level she'd fallen into. Her eyes sharpened and she pointed at Tim, signing rapidly.
"I ran away, thank you very much. And you weren't even awake yet, so what do you know?" He stammered, tilting his head. "Wait, why aren't you attacking everyone like a wild animal? Isn't that your thing?"
Alice made a sharp gesture that made Tim laugh before pointing to Rebecca and explaining quickly.
"I knew things were bad, but fuck." He said, walking over to her and holding out his hand. "Sorry, Halo."
She gripped it and nodded.
"If everyone's done, I'd like to find the other members of your team. We've got four hours to get off the Spire and far enough away before they fire the ORG." Veronica snapped.
"There's a hole splitting the area in half. I've been trying to find a way around to the other side." Rebecca explained quickly. "Eve was already injured before the attack then got injured in the explosion. Meaning Clint'll stop at the first place that can patch her up."
"How far ahead?" Tim asked.
"Quarter mile that way will put us on the other side of the hole." She said, pointing behind her.
"Copy. I'll scout ahead, you hold the line inside that building. Find an office on the first floor and hang tight until I find you. Halo, you handle perimeter clearing, but do not leave the building until I return. Clear?"
She nodded and gestured for Rebecca to follow her as Veronica walked into the building.
"How'd you end up with my mother?" She asked.
Tim smirked. "Very short story that I'm still struggling to believe half of. Inside now, please."
~
"I'm not going to tell the story six times. Wait until we've reconnected with Roberts." She said as Rebecca entered the small room where Veronica was seated.
"I won't, but..." She darted forward and hugged the older woman fiercely. "I've missed you so much!"
"I missed you too. I just wish it wasn't the in the middle of a war." Veronica murmured, returning her daughter's hug. "How's Kurokawa?"
Rebecca backed away and sunk down against a wall. "He's... recovering." She said, struggling for the words. "Things got so much more complicated than I was prepared to deal with."
"Always the case in our line of work. You'll have solved fifty mysteries before you've even broken the surface of the truth." The older woman said tiredly. "Tell me about the girl."
"They sent her to hunt us down, but we managed to stop and help free her from the control they had her under."
"So she's a part of the team you've assembled?"
Rebecca shook her head. "That's... a much harder question to answer."
"I'll just ask her myself then." Veronica said, looking at the teen as she entered the room. "What will you do?"
Alice looked down at Rebecca, then at Veronica and sighed.
"I never wanted to fight when they took me from my home, but they forced me to. I still don't want to fight, but I finally have a choice. These people gave my choice back to me. So I'll do everything I can to help them because Caspar and the others have to be stopped."
"Alice..." Rebecca murmured.
"You understand what the choice you've made entails, right?"
The teen nodded.
"Works for me." She said. "Tim should be back any minute. Let's be ready to move when he gets here."
~
Clint set Eve down and adjusted the jacket. She was even more pale than she'd been before and his shoulder was soaked with blood. Everywhere he'd checked over the last three hours had either been looted or had zero medical supplies.
"Just hang in there a little while longer." He murmured, getting ready to pick her up again when rubble fell behind him. He spun, weapon in hand, the barrel inches from a familiar face.
"Doc!?" He shouted, shoving the gun into the holster. "God, I almost shot you. Why the fuck are you out here?"
"Good to see you too. Thanks for not shooting me." He said dully, pushing past Clint and kneeling down next to Eve. "The building came under siege. Myself a few others managed to escape. Since Miss Eve is still wearing the monitor Lin built, I decided I was likely safest with you. And considering what I brought with me, it appears I made the right choice."
"Brought?"
"Steel case."
Clint jogged over to it and brought it back to him. "Weighs a ton, doc. What do you have in there?"
"The prototype armor Lin was working on. Inside is the undersuit, pull it out, please. Then help me undress her." He said, reaching down and unclasping the woman's boots.
"Not sure how much good armor's going to do in this situation. And I can't carry the combined weight."
"The undersuit compresses when it's placed on the wearer. It'll help staunch her bleeding."
Clint pulled out the black gel-filled suit and set it aside, helping Sebastian pull off the rest of her clothes before undertaking the task of getting the lithe woman into the form fitting suit. When they were done, several lights blinked at them and the suit shrank to a snug fit.
Sebastian rummaged through the case and pulled out an injector, then reached into his suit's inner pocket to retrieve a small case. Pulling one of the canisters out from it and loading it into the injector, he pressed it to Eve's neck and her eye shot open.
"Welcome back, Miss Tunney." Sebastian sighed. "Do you know where you are?"
"Hell." She murmured.
"Close enough to it." Clint grunted.
She looked down and ran her hand across the suit. "This is-"
"Yes, and it's currently the only thing keeping you from bleeding out. The drug I gave you will fully kick in soon and you'll feel better. Listen to me, Miss Tunney, you'll feel better. You are still in critical condition, exasperated by the fact that I don't know the extent of damage your newest injury caused. You'll be able to walk, but not fight. Am I clear?"
"Did you bring the rest of it?" She asked.
"Did I bri- Did you not listen to a word I just said?"
She scowled. "Did you?"
They glared at one another before he finally sighed. "I did. But only the parts that looked complete. I'm not sure of their compatibility with that suit."
"That's fine. Help me up." She said and the two men pulled her to her feet. "Start with the boots. It has to go on in a specific order for the debug mode to unlock so it can be used freely."
"Bless that girl for thinking of everything." Clint said.
It took half an hour before the mismatched parts were attached and the armor lit up. She cried out as it connected to the undersuit and cinched down on her.
"You good?" Clint asked as she doubled over. "I mean... well, you know."
"I don't think I can wear this for long." She groaned, grabbing onto Clint to steady herself. "But we'll move faster if we don't have to carry it."
Sebastian picked up the mostly empty case and snapped it shut. "Then we'll keep this with us."
She nodded and wiped her face before letting Clint go. "Let's move before I pass out."
~
"They've been through here. Less than an hour ago." Tim said, pointing at a bloody bootprint.
"Looks like they scavenged some supplies. Whoever's bleeding is barely moving, though."
"So they're nearby?" Rebecca asked.
"Unless they've found some transportation like we did." He affirmed. "I'll follow the trail a bit. Rest here for now."
"We're fine." Veronica quipped.
"True, but Halo isn't." He said, pointing at the teen who hadn't left the vehicle yet. "She's wiped. I'll be back in fifteen."
"Make it ten, we're running dangerously low on time to get clear."
"Copy." He said, jogging away from the building.
Rebecca walked over to the jeep where the girl sat and climbed in beside her. Alice was clearly exhausted and her breathing hadn't leveled out, despite having been in the vehicle for the last hour.
"Tim thinks they may be close. Then we just gotta get to the freighter. After that you can rest."
Alice nodded, a pained expression on her face.
"You never had the opportunity to adjust, did you? Back then or now." She said, reaching over and rubbing the teen's back. "And you've been run ragged since they woke you up. I'm so sorry, sweetie."
Alice gave her a weak smile, her hands shaking slightly as she signed.
"I knew what I was getting into. I just thought I could keep up better."
"You're doing just fine. A year ago, I wouldn't have been able to keep up with any of you."
Alice leaned over the seat and rested her head in Rebecca's lap. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but caught Veronica smiling at her from the hood of the car and relaxed.
"It's easy to forget they're just kids." The older woman said just loud enough for her daughter to hear.
Rebecca looked down and ran her hand through the blonde teen's hair. "When I think about it, I'm pretty sure Clint's the only one who had an actual childhood."
"It's why he's so level headed." She replied. "He would've been much better at my job than I was."
Tim slid to a stop, using the hood next to Veronica as a barricade. "Found them. They're just a few hundred meters ahead. The tall girl with the dark hair's in bad shape and they're trying to pull armor off her."
"Let's go." Veronica said sharply, climbing into the vehicle as Tim leapt into the driver's seat and pressed the pedal down to the floor.
The vehicle hadn't fully stopped when Rebecca leapt out, rolling as she hit the ground and sprinting over to Clint and Sebastian. Tim leapt out behind her, but grabbed the medkit out of the back before chasing after her.
"Eve!" She shouted, pushing past Clint and dropping to her knees next to the woman.
"She's going into shock." Sebastian said, taking the kit from Tim with a nod and ripping it open.
"Hopefully she isn't septic. Help Clint pull the undersuit down, please."
They did so and the doctor pressed a device into the wound, making Eve shriek in pain. Rebecca grabbed her hand, which was slick and frigid, and murmured reassurances while Tim knelt down.
"What do you need?"
"A medical suite would be nice, but I'll settle for some disinfectant, stim capsules, and a microstitcher."
"Copy. Halo!" He called, leaping to his feet and running to the vehicle.
Clint watched as the familiar blonde teen exited looking just as pale as Eve. "What's wrong with her?"
Sebastian glanced back before returning to his patient. "Low blood sugar and dehydration. She'll be fine."
Alice nodded, taking the rifle from him and lay down, scooting under the vehicle slightly and propped the rifle up. Once he was satisfied, he said something to Veronica before sprinting down the street. She walked over to them and knelt down.
"We have ninety minutes to get clear of the Spire. How long will you need once he gets back with what you need?" She asked.
Sebastian looked up from the screen and scrutinzed her. "I can have her ready to move in twenty, but she'll have to be carried."
"I can do that." Clint said firmly.
"Then you should get as much rest as you can. That thing's out of power." Veronica said dully. "And we need to make it to the southern coast."
Sebastian sighed. "Ninety minutes isn't enough time to get her patched up and get to the coast at Clint's reduced pace."
"I'll keep up." He said defiantly.
"Because we'll adjust our pace to yours, Mister Roberts. You won't be able to move at your full speed while carrying her. It's a matter of physics. Besides, the most expedient way to get to the southern coast from where we are is to hit the western coast and follow the shoreline. That's moving in sand."
Clint grunted in frustration, but didn't offer any argument. Rebecca sighed, but continued to hold Eve's hand. Rapid footsteps drew their attention and Tim came running into view, sliding on his knees with a bag in hand.
"Lucked out. Medical convoy from Rodinia was lightly guarded. Grabbed a few other things, too." He pulled out the things Sebastian asked for and sprawled out, panting heavily. "I think that's about all the top speed go I've got in me for a while."
"Do we have enough time now?" Clint asked angrily.
Sebastian shook his head. "It's a matter of strength, not willpower. You're simply not strong enough to keep the pace through sand for an extended period of time. And I'm also assuming Miss Chase would like to have a little breathing room just in case we run into any problems."
"You assume correctly. Sorry, dear. You're out."
"Halo could do it." Tim panted. "She's low on energy too, but give her a stim and she could get the job done."
"We can't do that to her." Rebecca said sharply.
"I'm not saying force her to do it. But if it's what needs to be done, she'll see it done."
"There's got to be some other way." She muttered. "She's been drugged enough for more than one lifetime."
"You're thinking about her like a human being." Tim said, sitting up. "And that's honorable of you. But right now, you need to start thinking like a soldier, okay? Coddle her all you want when the job's done. I'll even do some coddling myself. We have a tool that's not being used. Use it."
Rebecca opened her mouth to reply, but Clint grabbed her shoulder. "He's right. We're letting emotions override common sense. But it should still be up to her. You two are soldiers, but we aren't the military." He got to his feet and walked over to the teen and crouched down next to her.
Tim stared at the discarded armor pieces. "This thing... it boosts strength, right?"
"Among other things." Rebecca said. "Why?"
"Can anyone wear it?"
"The undersuit was designed specifically to fit Eve's body." Sebastian said. "And without it, the armor itself won't activate."
"Hm." Tim mumbled, getting to his feet and staring at Eve's body, then looking back at Clint and Alice. "Halo's breasts are bigger, but they're close enough in build. We've got time while you work, right doc? Worth a shot."
"What're you thinking?" Veronica asked as Tim picked up the undersuit.
"I'm thinking that instead of giving her a stim, we give her the armor. Probably more effective that way, anyway." He said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a bottle of water and a handful of bars. "Use what you got, right?"