Rachel cradled the quivering operative against her, waiting for help to arrive from the moonbase.
"It's alright Mani; we're out of that hell hole now. Just hold on, they'll be here soon." Rachel says.
Mani buried her face into Rachel's shoulder, Rachel cradled Mani against her, not wanting to let go.
"Chad'll pay for this, one way or another." Rachel says.
An airship lands before them, two operatives rush out as Rachel stands up, Mani in her arms.
"Be gentle with her," Rachel says, handing Mani to one of the operatives.
Rachel follows them on board as the other operative follows behind. The door closes and the ship takes off. On the ship, Rachel was sitting beside Mani, who was quivering in the operative's arms.
I could've stopped him, I could've saved her. Why didn't I? Why'd I let it happen and not do anything?
"You okay Supreme Commander?" The operative asks.
Rachel was silent; she wasn't who they needed to worry about right now. Mani was the one who needed attention. She scoots over and tries to settle Mani down,
"It's alright Mani, we're almost there." Rachel says.
For the first time just then, Mani opened her eyes and looks up at Rachel.
"You're gonna be fine," Rachel says.
Mani felt tears come up again; she closes her eyes to hold them back. Rachel bit her lip, why was it taking so long to get to the Moon Base?
After what seemed like hours, the airship lands inside the Moon Base.
"Get her to the KND hospital center," Rachel says.
The operative carrying Mani follows Rachel's orders and takes off with Mani, Rachel unboards the airship, seeing Numbuh 86 waiting for her.
"Are you alright Numbuh 362?" Numbuh 86 asks.
"My condition doesn't matter right now Frances," Rachel says, walking past Numbuh 86.
Fanny turns, shocked by how Rachel was somewhat unemotional.
"Right now, Mani needs more attention than I do." Rachel says.
Fanny takes off, catching up with Rachel.
"Why should she matter more than you? You're the Supreme Commander; you matter more than any other-"
"Mani was hurt by a teenager, that's why!" Rachels snaps at Fanny.
Fanny was a bit taken back, but regains her stature.
"What do you mean? I didn't see any injuries on her when she was being carried out." Fanny says.
"I can't explain it to you Fanny," Rachel says.
"But Numbuh 362, what injury would she have that makes her more important than you?" Fanny asks.
Rachel stops and looks at Fanny with the most vemonous glare she ever gave anyone.
"N-Numbuh 362?" Fanny asks, a bit frightened by the glare.
"It was Chad," Rachel says. She turns away from Fanny and continues on, Fanny stayed in her place.
"What did Chad do to her to make her like this?" Fanny asks.
Rachel stops again before entering the hospital center, she looks over her shoulder, the same vemonous glare in her eye.
"He raped her," Rachel says.
She turns back and walks into the hospital center, but Fanny was shocked, almost frozen into her place.
Raped? T-that isn't like Chad. Why would he do such a thing to someone like Mani?
Fanny shock faded to anger and fury. She stampedes back to the cargo bay.
"Call Sector V and tell all experienced operatives to the cargo bay at once!" Fanny yells as she storms into the cargo bay.
"Yes ma'am," The operatives say.
They disperse to do their assigned tasks, a few almost bumping into Numbuh 60, who was walking up to Fanny.
"Fanny, what's going on here?" Numbuh 60 asks.
Fanny turns to face Numbuh 60,
"It's Chad; he did something unforgivable and must be punished." Fanny says.
"What? What did he do?" Numbuh 60 asks.
"You wouldn't understand Numbuh 60; you're not a female operative." Fanny says.
Numbuh 60 was confused.
"All I can say; is that he hurt a fellow operative. So bad...that it could scar her for the rest of her life." Fanny says, turning away from Numbuh 60, feeling tears come up in her eyes.
"Then count me in," Numbuh 60 says.
"Of course, but we'll have to wait til' the other operatives get here. We need all the help we can get." Fanny says.
...
Sector V lands in the cargo bay and rushes out of their airship and to the hospital center. Numbuh 113 was waiting at the door for them.
"Sector V, you're here for Numbuh 982." Numbuh 113 says.
"Yes, where is she?" Numbuh 1 asks.
"Follow me," Numbuh 113 says.
The team follows Numbuh 113 to the only curtained off bed.
"I must warn you, she's pretty unstable from what happened. She came in all shook up so she might not be all that social." Numbuh 113 says.
"Of course," Numbuh 1 says.
Numbuh 113 pulls the curtain back, revealing Mani curled up in bed, still quivering and Rachel by the bed, trying to comfort Mani. Numbuh 113 walks away as the others gather around Mani.
"I guess you guys heard," Rachel says.
"Yes, they contacted us and said they found her. But they didn't say she was like this." Numbuh 5 says.
"Poor Mani, what happened to her?" Numbuh 3 asks.
Rachel sadly looked back at Mani, then up at Numbuh 3 then at Numbuh 1.
"Numbuh 1, can I speak to you for a second?" Rachel says, standing up.
"Of course," Numbuh 1 says.
The two walk far enough away that they were out of earshot from the others.
"Listen, I know you don't want to hear this. But since you're the leader of Mani's sector, I think you of all people need to know this." Rachel says.
"What is it?" Numbuh 1 says.
Rachel looks back at Mani, lets out a sadden sigh, then looks back at Numbuh 1.
"It was Chad, he..."
But Rachel couldn't find the words. She had told Fanny before, but she couldn't find the words to tell Numbuh 1.
"What? What did Chad to do Mani?" Numbuh 1 asks.
Rachel takes a deep breath, finally finding the words.
"This might make you mad, and I feel as guilty as I shouldn't be, cause I let it happen...but Chad...Chad raped her Nigel." Rachel says.
Numbuh 1 was shocked.
"H-he what?" Numbuh 1 asks, hoping he didn't hear that right.
"She told me herself, after a few days of being silent. She's in pain Nigel and I let it happen. He dragged her away and I let him do it. I thought it was nothing but interrogation...I was wrong." Rachel says.
"Rachel, it wasn't your fault. You thought what you thought. I didn't even except Chad to do something like this. I'm not even sure how to explain it to the others." Numbuh 1 says.
"Just give it to them straight when you guys get back to the base." Rachel says.
"Back? No, we need to stay with her," Numbuh 1 says.
"She needs me Nigel; I'm the only one she'll talk to. I understand her pain, I'm staying with her." Rachel says.
"Surely we can just-"
"No Nigel, I let this happen, I have to suffer for it. I have to help her through this. You guys just get back to your sector, you have to protect it." Rachel says.
"Of course," Numbuh 1 says.
"You guys can stay for 5 more minutes then you head back to your sector." Rachel says.
"Yes ma'am," Numbuh 1 says.
Numbuh 1 walks back to Mani's bedside, Rachel could only stand there and watch Mani from a distance, feeling a knot in her stomach.
"It was my fault Nigel; I let Chad drag her away. I should've reached for her. She knew what he was thinking." Rachel says, closing her eyes and remembering the moment.
*flashback*
Chad enters the room; Rachel and Mani were stuck in a cage.
"You two ladies enjoying yourselves," Chad asks.
"Oh, shut it Chad, you forced us in here. Do you think we like it in here?" Rachel says, trying to stay as far away from Chad as she could.
"Well, not to speak for you guys. But I'd like it in here," Chad says.
"What do you want?" Mani asks.
"I just wanna talk to you Mani," Chad says. He eyes Rachel out of the corner of his eye then he looks back at Mani. "Alone,"
Just that word spooked Mani enough to make her scoot all the way over to Rachel.
"Mani, what's wrong?" Rachel asks as Chad opens the cage door.
"I don't think he wants to talk." Mani says.
"Relax Mani, he's just gonna interrogate you." Rachel says, calm as ever.
"No Rachel, you don't understand, he's-" Chad drags
Mani out by her ankle before she could finish but Mani grabs one of the cage bars.
"C'mon you lil' brat, don't fight me." Chad says, trying to pull her off the bars.
"No! I'm not going with you!" Mani says; struggling to keep hold on the bar she was clinging to.
"C'mon on you, I just wanna talk to ya." Chad says.
"Rachel, help! Don't let him take me away." Mani begs.
"Mani, I just said don't worry, he's only gonna interrogate you." Rachel says.
"No he isn't, he's gonna-"
Mani's cut off again well she's pulled away from the cage finally and thrown over Chad's shoulder.
"No! Let me go!" Mani says, pounding at Chad's shoulder.
"Ha, that isn't gonna help ya shrimp." Chad says.
Mani tries to pulls herself out of Chad's grip, but she can't.
"Rachel, please," Mani begs.
"Just relax; it'll be over before ya know it." Rachel says.
Chad walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. Rachel leans back and just relaxes.
She'll be fine, what's she so scared of? It's just interrogation,
*flashback over*
Rachel opens her eyes again, looking back at the bed, seeing Sector V had left, Mani was still curled up in her bed. Rachel returns to her spot by Mani's bed, tears burned her eyes as she looked down on the once innocent face of her best friend, now scarred because she was too careless to help her friend in need. Her hand clasps over her heart, feeling a tugging pain in her chest. Feeling lightheaded, she sits down in the chair beside Mani's bed. She looks back up at Mani, feeling tears spill from her eyes.
"I'm sorry Mani; I should've tried to help you." Rachel says.
She sobbed quietly in the now deserted hospital center, her tears spilling onto the floor, doubled over in painful grief.
"I'm sorry," Rachel whispered.
She tugged at her shirt, trying to stop the pain. But she knew she couldn't stop the pain, the grief in her heart would never go way...not after today.
The next morning, Rachel woke with a stretch and a yawn. She had fallen asleep in the chair in the hospital center; she looks at her watch, seeing it was 5 in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and looked up, seeing Mani was still asleep, the pain came back to her chest; Rachel quickly looked away, her hand clasped over her heart again.
I can't even look at her without feeling that pain, the guilt and grief.
She looked back at Mani, seeing her stir slightly.
But I have to stay here, she needs me. No matter how much it hurts me, I have to stay.
Rachel takes a few deep breaths then sits back up in the chair. After about an hour or so, Rachel hears the doors open, but she paid no mind. She was focused on Mani,
She's been asleep for a while; she should've woken up by now.
She spots someone out of the corner of her eye; she turns and sees it was Numbuh 60 with two sodas in hand.
"Hey Numbuh 362, I thought you'd be here." Numbuh 60 says.
"I haven't left her side since I got here." Rachel says.
"Here, you look like you need one." Numbuh 60 says, offering Rachel a soda.
"Thanks," Rachel says, taking the soda, opening it and taking a sip of it
Numbuh 60 pulls up a chair and sits beside Rachel.
"Numbuh 86 told me what happened; I didn't think Chad could do that kinda thing." Numbuh 60 says.
"Well Patton, some people aren't what they seem." Rachel says glumly.
"What's wrong?" Patton says.
"Nothing, I just woke up is all." Rachel says, taking another sip of her soda.
Her sights went to Mani, who stirred yet again.
"I'm just worried about her, after what she went through; she probably won't be the same again." Rachel says.
"That's what Numbuh 86 says. She was so upset about it; she nearly broke down in front of me. I can only imagine how it affects you. She is your best friend after all." Patton says.
"I know Patton; I could hardly sleep last night." Rachel says.
Patton lays a hand on Rachel's shoulder; Rachel turns her head, looking at Patton.
"Maybe you should go and rest, I'm sure she'll be fine." Patton says.
"I can't, I promised Nigel that I'd stay with her." Rachel says, taking a glup or two from her soda. "And I'm not about to break it,"
"Alright, but if you need to tag out, just let me know," Patton says.
"Okay," Rachel says.
Patton stands up and walks away from the two, Rachel sets her soda down then looks up at Mani again, whose eyes finally flutter open.
"Mani?" Rachel says nervously.
Mani sits up, rubbing her eyes.
"W-where are we?" Mani asks quietly.
"We're at the Moon Base, Mani; you've been out for a while." Rachel says.
Mani looked at Rachel.
"What's wrong? You look as if you just fought an adult." Mani says.
"No, I got up a few minutes ago. Want me to go and freshen up or something?" Rachel says.
"That's up to you," Mani says. There were a few silently akward moment between the two.
"A-are you feeling alright?" Rachel asks, wanting to break the silence.
Mani looked away for a second, searching for the right words to say. She couldn't just blurt out what she wanted to, she didn't want to hurt Rachel's feelings.
"Well, not entirely," Mani says.
Closing her eyes for a second, seeing a scene from before flash for a second.
*flashback*
Chad throws Mani onto a bed in the room he had carried her in. Mani scrambled back til' she hit the headboard as Chad crawled across the bed to her.
"Don't try and fight me-it'll hurt less." Chad says.
Mani kicks Chad back, she tries to break for the door, but Chad grabs her braided ponytail and drags her back onto the bed.
"Please Chad, don't do it, please!" Mani begs.
Chad pins Mani's hands over her head and her legs down with his shins, spreading them slightly. Mani could see the lusty smile on Chad's face and the lust that shined in his eyes. Some of it gets blurry and then she finds herself tied to the bed, Chad on top of her. She felt his fingers run down her bare chest. Chad licked his lips as his fingers traveled down farther, going along her hip bone until; Mani breathes a lusty moan, feeling Chad stroking her.
"Please, stop this," Mani begs.
Chad only smirked, his finger traveling up her side the circling around one of her nipples. She whines slightly as Chad pinches it.
"S-stop it," Mani begs, her back arching, trying to break free from her bonds.
The pinching stops, Chad grabs Mani hips. Mani looks up, seeing Chad's lusty blue eyes.
"Please, d-don't," Mani begs, shaking her head, tears in her eyes.
Chad smirks yet again, the next moment; Mani feels a sudden pain shoot through her body, she screams out in pain. Everything becomes fuzzy after that.
The next thing Mani remembered was being carried back to the cage by Chad. She's set down in the middle of the cage, the door closes and locks. Mani finally sat up, though her movements caused pain to shoot through her body. She could only crawl into the corner of the cage before breaking down into tears. And yet, as Rachel rested peacefully, Mani couldn't even close her eyes with the moments of what had just happened flashing before her.
*flashback ends*
Mani's eyes snap back open.
"R-right," Rachel says.
Yeah, great questions to ask your friend who was raped but your enemy.
"D-do my teammates already know?" Mani asks.
"I told Nigel, he said he'd tell the team when the time was right." Rachel says.
Rachel looks up, meeting Mani's eyes. She quickly looks away, the pain in her chest coming back. Mani looks up, noticing Rachel's hand on her chest.
"Are you okay Rachel?" Mani asks.
Rachel look up, feeling tears build up in her eyes.
"I-I'm fine," Rachel says, looking away.
She's lying, just to protect me. But why? I don't have to be the only one who suffers. She can't take that kind of pain, it isn't like her.
Rachel looks up, meeting Mani's unmoved gaze.
"I'll be alright, you just rest. You've been through a lot," Rachel says.
Not wanting to argue with her, Mani lies back down.
A week later, one night, Rachel was on the verge of breaking.
I can't take it anymore; the pain is eating me alive. I can't make it better; there's must be some way to stop it.
Rachel's eyes dart across the room, soon seeing an empty beaker on a counter, just opposite of Mani's bed. Rachel looks at Mani, making sure she was asleep. She quietly stands up and walks across the room to the counter. She gets across and the pain comes back, she collapses at the counter, holding herself up with one arm while her opposite hand was clenching at her chest. Rachel's eyes quickly land on the beaker; she grabs it by the neck and smashes it on the counter. And crash echoes throughout the hospital center. She stood there for a second, staring at the jagged end of the neck of the beaker.
I'm sorry Mani, but I can't take this anymore.
Rachel holds the jagged glass against her neck.
"Forgive me," Rachel says, tears streaming down her face.
She attempts to move her hand, only to feel something stop her.
W-what?
Rachel looks over her right shoulder, seeing Mani had stopped her arm from moving, applying pressure to a point on her shoulder.
"Mani, please leave me be. I just can't live with this pain anymore." Rachel says.
"What do you mean?" Mani asks.
"You wouldn't understand," Rachel says.
"I'm your friend Rachel, I only want to help." Mani says.
Rachel was just silent.
"What pain are you talking about?" Mani asks.
Rachel's hand clasps over her heart.
"The pain in my heart; the grief...the guilt," Rachel says.
"But you never did anything Rachel," Mani says.
"Exactly," Rachel says.
Mani was confused.
"When Chad was dragging you away, I was carefree; I didn't even try to help you. You were begging me to help you, but I was just careless. I allowed him to drag you away, I allowed him to hurt you." Rachel says.
Mani slowly moves around Rachel, removing the pressure on her shoulder and grabbing Rachel's wrist.
"Rachel, you aren't to blame. Looking back on the situation myself, from your point of view, it did look like he was taking me to interrogation. You just had mistaken judgment. Don't blame yourself, you're actually my hero." Mani says.
Rachel was confused;
"After I told you what happened, you did everything you could to get me out of there. You saved me from going through that again." Mani says.
That was true; Rachel did get her out of there. She got them both out of there safely; she was a hero.
"Please, don't do this," Mani begged.
Rachel pulls the jagged glass away from her throat then lets it drop to the floor. Tears spilled from her eyes again, in stronger streams. Rachel falls to her knees, her face in her hands, crying. Mani gets down on her knees beside Rachel, holding onto her and never letting go. After a few minutes, Rachel finally settles down.
"I-I'm sorry, I just couldn't take the pain anymore. But you need more attention than I do." Rachel says.
"No I don't," Mani says.
Rachel looks at Mani, confused.
"You only need to worry about yourself Rachel," Mani says.
Mani helps Rachel to her feet then gets back into her bed.
"You just go to your room and rest; I'll still be here in the morning." Mani says.
"A-alright," Rachel says with a sniffle.
She walks out of the hospital center, all the way to her room. She collapses onto her bed and falls asleep almost instantly.
The next morning, Rachel wakes refreshed as ever. She looks on her desk and sees her helmet with a sticky note on it. She walks over to her desk and pulls the sticky note off her helmet. It read:
Numbuh 362,
Meet me down at the hospital center.
Numbuh 86
Rachel smiled; she slips her helmet on and heads down to the hospital center. She enters and sees Fanny waiting beside Mani's bed. Mani was awake, sitting up in bed.
"Fanny, why'd you call me down here?" Rachel asks.
"Mani told me about last night Rachel," Fanny says.
Rachel looks away, just remembering the night before gave her chills.
"You holding up alright?" Fanny asks.
"Yeah, I am now. Thanks to Mani," Rachel says.
"Anything for a friend," Mani says.
That's when Rachel noticed Mani's mask was off; it was the first time she saw her with her mask off. Her face had a tannish tone to it; she had the cutest nose and the simplest smile on her face. She actually reminded Rachel of herself, when she became an operative.
"Well, I also called you down here to let you both know something." Fanny says.
Both girls had their full attention on Fanny.
"Chad won't be coming near you two anytime soon," Fanny says. The two girls were confused.
"I and a few other operatives showed him what happens when you mess with a fellow operative." Fanny says, her cheeks reddening a bit.
Rachel and Mani giggled a bit, knowing what Fanny meant by a few. But the two were also happy, with Chad no longer a problem, the two had nothing to worry about.
After another month in the hospital center, Mani finally emerges, having physically recovered from the incident. But truth be told, both Rachel and Mani learned a lil' something through the whole thing. That friendship isn't something to overlook; that friendships are made because people care about each other. And it's that care that saved these two from the bleak future they thought they had-until they helped each other. And Rachel, she learned what it really meant to have a friendship, and a friend that liked you for you, not your position, and one that would do anything for you.
Without friends, no one would choose to live, though she had all other goods.
-Aristotle