Tension Among Allies

Leon waited quietly while Dextera ran her hands over his back, frowning as she checked for bullets to dig out.

“You’re lucky,” she said quietly. “At least, I think you are. Kate didn’t hit any organic tissues- aside from that one in your arm muscle, the rest is all machinery.” She sighed. “The thing is, we left all of your spare parts and repair tools back in the car. It’s going to be a while before we can replace some of these things, especially without access to Agency resources.”

Leon gritted his teeth as she moved the tweezers under his left shoulder blade, trying to dislodge one of the last bullets. “Geez, that girl can hit a target. I was moving as fast as I could, and she still got me- what, six, seven times?”

“Nine, I think.” The last of the bullets clinked onto the small pile beside the little girl’s knee.

Leon whistled, shaking his head. “She’s talented. Too talented for her own good.”

Dextera frowned, sitting back. “I don’t know why she was acting like that. She was fine until you got there, and then… suddenly she was so angry.”

“Yeah…” Leon rubbed the back of his neck, the motion awkward with one of his arm muscles damaged. “I don’t know what I did to tick her off. She was like this even before I went renegade- for some reason, she just… snapped.” Then again… He had always guessed that she would, some day. That she had put up with him for this long was incredible in itself. He stared at the trees surrounding them dully. It figured...

He felt his arm being taken from him, Dextera turning it over to look at it. She didn’t say everything, like the way Kate had felt to her- tampered with, off-kilter, something wrong. Instead, she examined the wound, trying to think of the best way to treat it without any supplies, and also…

“Mister Leon?”

“Yeah?”

“…Why did you save me? You even had to fight Kate to do it.”

He scoffed. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re the one fixing me up right now, and the one keeping a lock on Shan’s watch. You’re a valuable tool- it’s worthwhile to keep you around.”

She nodded, staring at the bullets as she thought. “You don’t like Gifteds, right?”

“Of course not!”

“But you’re currently trying to find them, and get their help.”

“…”

“And your sister-“

“Look,” Leon said hotly. “There is only one reason I’m doing this right now. I can’t go back to the Agency- not knowing they’ve been lying to me all these years. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the same way about your kind!” He glared at her. “We’re here to make sure that one particular Gifted is destroyed forever. That’s the only thing that matters to me right now!”

She flinched away from his look. “…And what about after that? Once the Venus Flytrap is destroyed, what will you do then?”

His face darkened. He jerked his arm away from her, rolling onto his side, back away from her. “Nothing after that matters. I might get destroyed, trying to take her down. Either by her, or the Gifteds, or even the other Agents. If that happens… so be it, as long as she’s gone.” Hands clenched painfully tight. “This is the only thing that can keep me moving, though. The only thing that makes sense. Anything that comes after that…”

She watched him, then smiled. “Alright. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m your tool, right? Nothing more. If that’s the case, then knowing what I’m supposed to be doing makes my job easier!”

He closed his eyes, irritated and weary. “You’re so weird… Even for a freak, kid.”

~~~

Shan jerked as his pocket vibrated yet again, a hand slipping into it to grasp the watch. It had been useful until now, but this was getting ridiculous! He lifted it to confirm the identity of the sender, then quietly tossed it out the window.

He watched as it fell all three stories to the bottom , landing in the grass surrounding the cliff the house was built on. Shame it hadn’t fallen off the cliff into the sea below. At least now it would be quiet…

“Do you like the view?”

Shan turned away from the window, looking over the infirmary. “You’re awake?”

Null shrugged, slowly sitting up, wincing slightly as she moved around her wound. “Even I can only sleep for so long.”

He shrugged one shoulder noncommittally. “Certain birds keep squawking too loudly. But the scenery is nice, I guess.”

Akaru was gone, even though his arm was still injured- he had refused to lay around for so long when he was fully capable of moving, and had gone downstairs a long time ago to help the others do chores or something. Now it was just Elora, sleeping in one bed while surrounded by cats, and Null, watching him vaguely.

Something furry brushed against his leg. He looked down to see a calico looking up at him, wide green eyes questioning. “Mrr?”

“Where did you even find this place?” he asked Null, while the cat rubbed itself against his leg. “This random old lady, with… however many cats. You don’t seem like a cat person.” How many cats were there, anyways? Way too many for any one person, definitely.

Null smiled, shrugging. “It’s a long story.”

There she went again, avoiding talking about her past. He didn’t move. “I’ve got a long time.”

“There are better stories in books. Why don’t you go read one of those?”

Shan shook his head. “Not this time. You’re not going anywhere- it’s about time you answered my questions. I’ve talked to Konki. She told me what happened in Buma- that Leon is your… your…”

“My twin brother,” Null said, yawning slightly. “Did I ever say he wasn’t? Honestly, I’m a little surprised it took you this long to figure it out.”

“And not only that. But in that confrontation with the Captain. What did you mean, when you said that you worked willingly as an Agent? Did something change, or…?” She had said that she hadn’t regretted it, that she would do it again. How could she expect that to not bother anyone?

“I don’t see why it matters. That was a long time ago. I said I was on your side, didn’t I?”

“That’s not enough, and you know it. You can’t just say something like that and not expect us to question it. We’ve been honest with you. The least you could do is answer our questions, so the others don’t have to be suspicious.”

“Well, then.” Null shrugged again. “They’re Gifteds- it’ll be a valuable life lesson, learning to live with disappointment and suspicion.”

Shan met her eyes, serious for once. “So that’s it, then? You just refuse to answer any questions about your past?”

She offered him only a thin smile in return.

“…I see.”

The cat looked up, mewling curiously as Shan stepped over it, walking towards the door, even his blank face showing disgust. He knew that the expressions on the others, downstairs, would be much stronger. For him, there was only a firm decision, and the knowledge that he didn’t intend to come back here again.

Elora opened one eye as the door closed, smiling. “He doesn’t show it. But I can tell that he’s mad.”

Null sighed, leaning back, looking tired. “You were awake? You should have said something- it’s not nice to listen in on other people’s conversations.”

The girl- no, Elora looked more like a young woman now- pushed the blanket and several drowsy cats off of her, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “But I wanted to listen! I was curious, too, after all.”

Null’s eyes were closed, suppressing irritation. “I thought you were injured.” Though to be honest, the girl didn’t look injured at all. She had claimed to be, but Null had the nagging suspicion that she had just wanted to lie in bed cuddling with kittens more than she wanted to help with the chores downstairs. It wouldn’t surprise her…

“The others, they let me listen! They’re happy to let me listen! They’re happy to let me do anything.” Another laugh.

“Well, I guess I’m not like the others,” Null replied dryly.

Elora paused, taken aback at the subtle ice in Null’s voice. Subtly, she reached out for Null without moving, trying to reach the woman’s feelings, to shift the mood lighter. “Null… Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?”

She blinked her big blue eyes earnestly. “Do you like me?” You do. You do like me! You like me so much you can’t stand it!

“Honestly? Not really,” Null admitted.

A momentary pause, as Elora tried harder. “…Why not?”

“Don’t take it personally. You just kind… of… remind me of…”

Null’s eyes snapped open, jerking to look at Elora again. She had thought of her for so long as an unrecognizable little girl, she hadn’t even thought…!

Now, though, looking at the blond, violently beautiful woman in front of her, there was no question, no way to not see the face of the same person she had seen before. For a moment, she was years younger, so wide awake it was almost painful, standing in a dark, abandoned building watching that woman wrap her arms around her brother-

Realization dawned on her face as she half-rose. Elora’s eyes narrowed in response, telling Null that she had figured it out, too.

Elora’s sickly smile faded to a dangerous frown of displeasure, as she rose, walking over to the weakened woman.

~~~

Shan walked along the cliffside, conflicted. On one hand, he really didn’t need to stir up any more trouble right now. On the other, this was trouble- it wasn’t like he could just ignore it. Sooner or later, he was going to have to figure out what to do about this- they all were. But the others couldn’t right now- they were all too wrapped up in their own individual things, or couldn’t be trusted. There was no one he could talk to about this, no one he could reason this out with, no one to help him form a plan, or at least an idea…

A glint of metal caught his eye in the moonlight, half-buried in the grass. Frowning, he walked over to it, while the surf crashed deafeningly far below him. Had it really survived the fall, all the way down here? Sure, the Agents built durable things, but this…

Slowly, his hand reached for the watch, determined that if it was still working, that he would take it as a sign of fate that he needed to-

~~~

Brrrrrrrr! Brrrrrrrrr! Brrrrrrrrrr!

The sound yanked Leon from his dreams, the ones he had just barely been able to latch onto, despite the chip in his mind that constantly jerked him awake. Seeing red, he stabbed at his watch with a finger to shut it up, sitting up quickly in irritation.

Dextera was curled up at his feet, shivering there, but looking content in her sleep as she huddled close to him. She didn’t stir at his movement.

He looked at her for a moment, then pressed the button to accept the call, forcing himself to wake up, to choke down anger. “Hello?” he said gruffly.

“Hello.”

The voice- apathetic, dry. Leon recognized it immediately. He sat up a little straighter, making sure he really had woken up before he continued. “So. You finally decide to return my calls. Is the mighty freak so gracious as to deign to speak with me yet, or did you finally figure out that one of your group isn’t all you thought she was?”

“You can taunt me later,” Shan said, not amused. “I can’t talk for long. Not with the others possibly watching. We need to talk. Privately.”

Leon watched the dark trees around him for a moment, growing serious.

“Yeah… we really do.”