((Sorry for the long hiatus, and even now, this post is a lot shorter than I'd planned. -_- It was originally going to be more than twice as long, but I'm so tired, and still have a paper to write before I go to bed...
School has been kicking me around something fierce. But I should be back now- I’m going to try for a Wednesday update, and we should be back in schedule pretty evenly now! There should be no excuse for me missing another update before the beginning of 2011- I’ve got the Elora arc pretty well mapped out now.
Sami, a few questions: I know Kate likes firearms. Does she have any particular kind that she likes to carry? Also, if you have any more details on her backstory, I could really use them!
Ironic, a few questions: Could I get Aden’s backstory and powers? (Okay, so that’s like one question.)
Also, a question for everyone- how should I do shipping in here? Or should I even do shipping at all? (Aside from Kateon- that’s a given. :3)
Just shoot me a NM or email and let me know. ^_^ See you soon!))
Dextera stepped back, watching as the Agents stepped through the whole they had just blasted in the wall, eyes locking on her immediately. She shivered, watching one of them reach to his side- for a weapon? No… Just for a communication device. She wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.
Behind her back, she gripped the eight different flash drives containing the information she had just hacked out of the Agency’s systems- having the former Captain’s passwords had helped a lot more than she had thought it would. It was all the information Leon had thought to ask for, and even more things he would need, that he hadn’t even thought of yet. Not just for the short term, either… Long-term, things he would need to survive if he couldn’t access the Agency’s resources. Leon needed these files and information!
She had to make sure they got to him. But with this situation…
Kate stepped through the gaping hole in the empty parking level, beneath an old, abandoned mall, Leon had chosen to set up camp in, two agents flanking her on either side. It had been frustrating, getting in here- layers of steel-enforced concrete, combined with all of the weapons and traps whoever was in there kept sending out at them- Leon must have hijacked a small armory along with whatever car he had stolen!
So she was surprised to find not Leon when she entered the large, empty room, but a little girl in a worn, faded Catholic school uniform, looking nervous as she backed up against the single, sleek silver vehicle in the concrete room.
Kate frowned, taking off her tinted glasses. “Dextera?”
Dextera’s dark eyes locked on Kate. She said nothing, taking another uncertain step back towards the car.
Kate pushed past the guards at her sides, in disbelief. “You’re okay? Where were you?! After Leon disappeared, I thought he’d-“
Dextera shook her head, lifting the single pistol she had managed to grab. Kate picked up on the posture immediately- not willing to shoot, just terrified. “He didn’t kidnap me. I went with him.”
Kate stopped, watching the girl in disbelief. “You…what? Why?!”
“Because I need her.”
The voice, male, irritated, low and husky, was unmistakable. The Agents around her stiffened, half turning immediately to face the man who had appeared behind them, the others staying trained on Dextera.
Kate turned more slowly, the voice sending odd prickles down the back of her neck. That odd feeling was back again… “Leon,” she muttered. “I was wondering why you weren’t in there yourself. I thought you’d gotten away.” She lifted her own pistols, one in each hand, definitely postured to fire. “Coming back like this, it’s just stupid.”
The former Agent watched her thoughtfully from his dark brown eyes, the mechanical part of his mind making calculations to track her weapons before they ever fired, the human part… Was that frustration in his eyes? Sadness? She couldn’t tell.
“I’m not so full of myself that I think I can do this on my own,” Leon said, before slowly raising his own handgun. “You have a tool I need in there, Kate. I’d like it if you gave it back.”
“Leon!” Dextera yelled, voice overjoyed. “I’m in here! I’m so glad you’re here- you got here just in time!”
Kate shot a scowl over her shoulder. “It isn’t enough that you had to turn traitor? You had to take her with you too?!”
“What do you care?” Leon asked, slowly walking, at an angle. Mechanical part of his mind trying to find a way around her, to dissect some sort of weakness. Human side brooding, still unreadable… “She’s only a Gifted. You’re in the business of exterminating rats. If your friend’s pet rat starts biting people, you have no business showing it favoritism just because it grew up in a soft cage.”
“The Captain was more than a friend,” Kate spat back. A father figure, a mentor, a hero… “And you… You are not my friend, traitor!”
“Then why haven’t you ordered them to fire yet?” Leon asked softly.
She started, realizing that she hadn’t yet. There was no real reason not to- it was thirteen Agents to one, and he was cut off from his weapons, all still stashed in the car and computer set up in the room behind them. Glaring at Leon, she opened her mouth to issue the command-
Leon moved in the blink of an eye, suddenly hurling his handgun at her. She gasped, unprepared for that, and stepped back, two other Agents stepping forward slightly in front of her in defense-
And then Leon was kicking out hard as the Agents swarmed him, clipping an Agent in the chest, stabbing his electric wand at a second one.
She kicked at the thrown handgun, getting it out of the way. A fake, nothing more than a toy- how hadn’t she seen it before! She had gotten distracted, by what he was saying, and his eyes, and the… Rrgh! “Stop it!” she yelled, jerking a pistol back up again. “Get away from him! I can’t get a clear shot in!”
The Agents glanced at her, confused. Two had grabbed one of Leon’s arms somehow and were trying to lift him off his feet, but he hadn’t stopped fighting, waving the electric wand at anyone who got too close, kicking, biting, moving with a blurred speed that even the three enhanced Agents in their group (who ideally should have been just as fast and strong as he was) were having trouble keeping up with. The wild light was back in his eyes, and he was yelling, laughing, turning and striking like a snake, never letting them keep a hold on him for more than a few seconds. She shifted, right, left, up, trying to get a lock that wouldn’t take out one of her Agents with it-
The starting of the car ignition behind her sent a plummeting feeling in her stomach.
Still deep in the haze of anger, Leon managed a smirk, watching as Dextera floored the gas. He wasn’t going to last more than a few seconds fighting all of these Agents off- he knew it. But Dextera, Gifted or not- was no idiot- she had taken the hint. He watched in satisfaction as the car sped towards them, jumping at the last minute.
Dextera gasped as she stomped on the gas pedal. “That was close!”
“You could have hit me, you know,” Leon muttered, perched on the hood of the car, aiming a kick at one of the Agents that hadn’t either been run over or darted out of the way.
She smiled, shaking her head. “I knew you would dodge! Just like you knew I would take the car, right?”
He glanced at her, about to answer, then stiffened at the sound of a gun firing.
But it wasn’t aimed at either him or Dextera. The air went out of his front tires with an ominous shhhhhh, and he felt the hood of the car sinking beneath him.
Kate stepped towards them, looking angry herself. She hadn’t expected them to work together like this, not after so short a time! Working in tandem, not having to talk, just knowing what the other one was going to do-
Just like she and Leon had been only a little while ag-
Her mind shot the thought down before it could even take full form, Elora’s tampering suppressing all thoughts that hinted at liking Leon. So she only knew that she was frustrated, without really understanding why. “You’re not going anywhere!” she yelled. “Not without your car, your supplies, your weapons. Just give it up already, you worthless worm!”
Leon turned, regarding her for one more moment, with surprisingly calm eyes.
Dextera squeaked as she was suddenly yanked up, slung across Leon’s back. Leon was crouching, then springing the next second, clambering up the side of the building with superhuman speed, leaving the car behind. After all, while the rest of the supplies was a loss, he wasn’t going to get out alive without them.
And his most valuable tool was clinging to his back, holding on for dear life as he climbed.
Kate gritted her teeth. She wasn’t going to lose like this! Not while risking being exiled from the Agency- her very life- as well! She raised her weapon, mind filling with the loathing Elora had given her, pointed it just slightly below Dextera, and pulled the trigger.
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