A/N Greetings fellow Mirror lovers. This is my first and only fanfic for this section of Mirror's Edge. I can't tell you just how much I love this game. I just can't seem to tire of it. And the story is so open that it allows writers like me and readers like you to explore the possibilities. I've read one, which did get me laughing, in which Faith became half cyborg! Ha! Good one, man.

This fic takes place during and after the game, but focuses on some other runners and how thier fates will be intertwined with Faith's and her sister Kate. Please read, enjoy and review!

Mirror's Edge: The Shattering

Part I

Ghost Runner

Lon had been a good runner in his day. The CPF called him 'Ghost Runner', since they were never able to get even a glance of him. He'd often gets calls from Drake or Merc, doing high stakes jobs for clients with deep and shady pockets. He loved the thrill, the sensation of flying through the air for those fews seconds his feet left the safety of solid ground. It wasn't like being free. It was something bigger than that.

It was like being God.

It was to point at death and laugh at it, teasing and flirting with it like most guys did with pretty girls. It didn't take long for his friends, other Runners, to understand that Lon had a gift, to be able to see paths and jumps the first time he was on new terrain, knowing where to land and how far to jump. His young body gave him all the stamina he needed to go flat out for whatever amount of time necassary. Once Lon got going, nothing was going to stop him.

Then something happened. Lon found Faith.

Unlike the other Runners, Faith had strong reasons for joining, for fighting the system. Others had their reasons too, but not as intense as hers. Lon helped with her training, teaching her tricks, like how to run along a wall as long as possible. They were close in age, so naturally the assumtion was that they would get along just fine. They couldn't stand each other. But Merc insisted on making them do jobs together. The tension mounted continuously, their opposing wills mixing like fire and ice.

"We're not doing this for kicks, Ghost!" She'd yell at him after he'd purposefully get the cops attention during a get away. "Dammit, you almost got me killed!"

"Those bullets came nowhere near you." He'd shrug her off. "You're simply nervous. After a while you'll get to enjoy it."

That was the day she punched him for the first time. The ensuing fight ended whatever relationship they had. Faith had a long talk with Merc, and afterwards Lon and her never did another job together. Jacknife joined soon afterwards and Lon moved to another part of the city. He began another group of Runners called 'The South Siders' handling assignments in the more ghetto areas, or at least as ghetto as the government allowed. Bums were a thing of the past now, seeing how anyone found living on the street was arrested for "disturbing the view". Now older and a little wiser, Lon found himself doing a lot of the same work Merc was doing back in the downtown district. He'd handle the really challenging assignements from time to time, but didn't mind leaving a youngster handling some tricky ones.

"Faith had a bad fall." Merc told him over their secure comm one day. "She's not going to be running for a while."

"What hospital is she in?" Lon asked into his headset.

"No hospital. Doctors ask too many questions for an injury this bad. One of ours is caring for her. She'll be at Celeste's place until she can care for herself again. You should go say hi."

"Come on. You know how we don't get along. I'll just send her flowers." Lon said.

"Flowers? Have you even met Faith? She wouldn't know what to do with them." Merc was laughing so hard on the other end in hurt listening to him. "Catch you later, Ghost."

Lon never went to see Faith the whole time she was recovering. Truth be told he was busy, but every now and then as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, when it was late at night and the stars were out with the moon rising high above the Shard building, he wondered if Faith would mind it if he dropped by. But he never took that thought into action. He'd always ended up going home, taking a shower, eat something with a lot of protein and then go to sleep.

One day Lon was waiting for a recruit to arrive at the new training grounds. The grounds were different from the ones he trained on. It was a lot wider, with more options like in door running and cable sliding. He prefered the old grounds. It was so nerve racking falling from legs breaking hights and leaping over fifteen story building that those who showed up not yet sure whether they really wanted to go through with this new life style quickly made up their minds. Faith had been one of the few not to shake with terror.

Running his fingers through his hair, Lon wondered why he kept thinking about her so much. They had hated each other with a passion. So why was she on his mind so much? She had hooked up with Jacknife, a guy Lon could clearly tell was a jerk the first time they met, so she obviously had bad taste.

Then again, why would he care who she went out with? It was none of his buisness.

"But she is a Runner." He told himself. "We're all we have."

The came a small cry from behind him, causing him to turn around. There was a girl hanging by her fingertips on the railing of a fire escape, dangling some five feet off the ground. She had obviously wanted to clear the railing and land non-chalantly on her feet to show off, but built-in instinct made her tense up at the last second and grab on to anything she could.

"Artemis, I presume?" Lon said with a grin.

The young woman before him clearly had very little know how on being a runner. Her jeans were way too tight, her shoes couldn't find traction on sandpaper, and all that loose hair was just waiting to blind her eyes at a moment's notice. She dropped to the ground, landing on her butt.

"Y-yes." She said nervously, getting up. "Are you Ghost?"

"Yep." Lon replied. His reputation was well known, but he wasn't the type to parade it around. "What gave it away? My good looks?"

"No." The girl said, smiling shyly. "I heard you had silver colored hair. I can see now that it's true Is…is that natural?"

Talking the blow to his young ego in stride, Lon calmly explained that it was his personal way to stick it to the man. Tatooes and dyed hair were going on the way of the dodo bird thanks to the new 'modern' society. Most runners wore high tech designed tatoos on their arms and face. Lon merely dyed his hair silver.

"I'm thinking of getting a tattoo over my eye, like some other Runners." Artemis explained. "I'm just worried it will look silly."

Lon began warming up for the upcoming training, doing stretches and jumps. "Don't go radical too soon, Artemis. First thing is to find you some appropriate clothing. In this line of work, you have to at least be able to bring one leg over your head."

"But I-"

"Don't worry." Lon reached down to pick up a backpack he had brought along with him, tossing it to Artemis. "I had one of my girls to get you the right size of everything you'll need. Go change around the corner. I'll wait."

Slightly abashed, the young woman did as she was told, leaving Lon 'Ghost Runner' alone once more. He didn't mind. It afford him to think about what he was going to teach her. The first thing was her fitness. It would have to improve. As slim as this new girl was, she needed muscle. He wasn't expecting the body builder look, but more gymnist, so that she could lift her own weight without losing momentum. As Lon contemplated various excersie techniques, his eyes wandered over to the training grounds. Two people had shown up, one teacher and a student. Lon recognized Celeste immediately. But the other girl…

"Ready!" Artemis chimed as she came around the corner, dressed in jean shorts, strudy red running shoes and a black t-shirt. She was putting on black excersise gloves so that she didn't scrape her palms off.

Lon was focused on the two people down below. He could see that they were both pros, so why was the other girl training at all? Unless…

"Faith." Lon whispered. "You're back."

"Sorry?" Artemis asked, leaning over the edge of the rooftop see get a glimpse at whatever Lon was seeing. "Wow! They are good! Am I going to be able to do that?"

"If you train hard enough." Lon answered, still looking on. She's alright. Great. I'm happy for you, Faith.

He didn't realize, but Artemis was already stepping back to get a running start to leap on over to the next building. By the time he noticed, she blurred by, jumping weakly into the air, barely landing on the other side.

"Help!" She screamed, half her body dangling over oblivion, her hands trying to grab hold of anything she could as she began to slide off.

From where he was standing Lon launched his body well unto the opposing roof, turning quickly to grab Artemis' wrists before she slipped away. She was crying by the time he hauled her to safety, frantically apologizing as she sobbed into his white shirt.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok, it's ok." He said as comfortingy as he could.

After getting herself under control, Artemis looked up at him with red, swollen eyes, her elbows bleeding and her belly bruised. "Does this mean I can't be a runner because I couldn't make it unto this stupide roof?"

Lon almost laughed. "No, of course not. It just means you learned lesson one the hard way."

"Lesson one?"

" 'Know your limits'. Trust me, you're not the first to have nearly kissed the pavement down below. The question is, do you still want to be a Runner? Because this might happen many, many times." Lon felt suddenly very protective of this new girl. She wasn't bitter like the others before her. He wondered what had prompted such an innocent, sweet girl to choose a life of danger.

"Is everything alright?" Cried a voice.

Lon turned his head and spotted Celeste making her way over to them.

"Everything's fine." Lon answered. "Just training."

"Oh really? And since when did that include getting a squeeze from the new girl?" The blonde asked, smiling mischeviously.

"Go jump off a bridge." Lon shot back playfully.

"Been there, survived that."

Artemis quickly pulled herself away from Lon, turning more crimson than a red Edage+ energy drink. She looked like a school girl, wringing her hands while shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The sight made both Lon and Celeste laugh. That's when Faith showed up.

"Ghost." She said.

"Faith." He answered.

Silence hung in the air like thick smoke.

"Brrr!" Celeste exclaimed. "It's freezing here. Come on, newbie. Let's leave these two lovers some space."

With those words the experienced Runner left with Artemis back to the training grounds, leaving Lon and Faith staring at each other. Lon didn't want a confrontation, but they had so many over the years and nearly ever time they met it was hard not to start a conversation without it turning sour in seconds. But he was going to try.

"I like the new hair cut." He commented.

"I never changed it." Faith said.

Ouch. New record, Mr. Smooth.

"Getting back to work?" He decided the best way to recover was to change the subject. "Be careful. Cops are getting antsy these days."

"Still against carrying a gun?" She asked, her tone more relaxed than it was a moment ago.

"Yeah. Figure they won't shoot as quickly if they know you ain't packin'. But I still have my bokken."

Faith gave a slight chuckle. "You mean that fake wooden samurai sword of yours?"

"Hey. It's a training weapon that they use in Japan in place of the katana. And it's not wood. It made of black polypropylene plastic and is virtually indestructable." Lon replied defensively.

"It's a fake samurai toy." Faith repeated. Her gaze then shifted to the new recruit, watching as Celeste began showing her basic excersie routines. "She looks young."

"Older than you or I were when we joined up." Lon informed her. "Don't worry. I'm not going to set her up with any high risk jobs. I just want her to learn how to look after herself in case of a chase. She's a computer whiz, she'll be my eyes and ears while I'm on the jobs."

"What's her name?"

"Her real name? Not a clue. She goes by Artemis. I think I'm going to call her Art."

"The same way you called me Faithy? It stuck, you know. That jerk Jacknife never stopped calling me that, even while we were going out."

Lon grinned. "Aww. That's too bad."

"Oh, shut up." Faith growled. Suddenly her eyes shifted to her left, her left hand rising up to her ear. "Okay, Merc. I'm on my way to make the drop off now."

"Date?" Lon teased.

"Take care of the new kid, Lon. I'd hate to see anything happen to her." Faith said as she made her way to wherever Merc had sent her, her words more of a warning than a plea.

Returning back to his student and dismissing Celeste, The Ghost busied himself the rest of that afternoon on his new computer analyst, showing her tricks of the trade and vital lessons that he had learned along the way. But the time the sun was dipping over the horizon and the sky was orange and red above the white city, both were tired and sweaty. Lon escorted Artemis back home, using the bus as opposed to running. He said it was because he was worried that she'd slip and fall due to how her body wasn't yet used to the workout. Afterwards he headed for his own place, this time soaring from building to building, keeping a constant pace as he slid, rolled, jumped, climbed, and ran. Before he knew it he was home. It was a small shack he had built for himself on some random building in the southern district of the city. The place was all but abandoned, so he was always alone. It had decent furnishings and plumbing, all done my himself. It was far better than Merc's Lair. Just because they were outlaws didn't mean Lon liked living like one.

A quick shower, some old pizza, a bad habit he had picked up from his pal, and a TV remote later, Lon was settling down for the night. Nothing interesting was on that evening, and a very exhausted Lon gently drifted off to sleep. By the time he awoke, it was to some very troubling news. He had left the TV on and on the screen was a reporter breaking the story of her career.

"Police made an arrest today when a 911 call was made after gunshots were fired at the office of political leader Robert Pope. Pope was found dead, a single gunshot wound to the head. The suspect is CPF's Kate Connor, a young officer who was aledgedly going to the victim's office regardng a break earlier this week. Seen fleeing the crime is what believed to be a accomplice, a Runner whose identity has not been comfirmed, but authorities are doing everything they can to tract down the suspect. More details later today, on City Eye Channel News."

Lon had Merc on the line in a heartbeat.

"What the hell, man?" Lon said via their secure satalite connection. "What did Faith do?"

"Are you seriously thinking she had anything to do with this? You know Pope was the guy we were looking forward to straightening out this city." Merc sounded stressed, like he hadn't slept all night. And that meant he had been busy searching for escaped routes for his favorite Runner. "Damn, what a mess."

"Anything we can do?" Lon asked, his mind already firing on all pistons.

"Yeah. Tell your people to lay low for a while. The blues ain't gonna be hospitable for the forseeable future."

"What about Faith? How's she handling all this, you know, with her twin sister right in the eye of the storm."

Merc sighed heavily on the other end. "You know Faith. When it comes to her sis, God can't stop her."

"Yeah…I know. I'll stay in touch."

Lon put his homemade cell away, flopping down on his couch. This was bad. Already they were getting heat for carrying sensitive communication between government resisters, but know they were being connected to a murder of a very high profile man. It was all the excuse the blues needed to take this game to the next level; shoot first, don't bother asking questions.

Lon called his new analyst. "Hey Art, it's me. Call everyone. We have to talk."

Several hours later.

The South Siders all met at a small pizza joint not far from where Lon lived, but far away enough to lose a tail if he ever needed. There weren't too many of them, five in total, including him and Art. Drift, a streetwise, ex-con who decided to fight the system other than by robbing innocent people; Geo, a girl with long, light red hair and more tatoos on her body than a Micheal Angelo painting; and finaly scrawny Biggs, the go to guy for anything illegal. As per usual they ordered three pizzas to split, only this time they barely touched a pepperoni.

"Man, this is screwed up." Drift said, his deep voice like something out of a cheesy action movie. He had his large, dark skinned arms folded over his chest, staring out the window, keeping an eye out for blues just in case.

"Is Faith alright?" Biggs asked, adjusting the glasses on his face. As much as he looked the role of a nerd, the kid was fully capable of kicking anyone's butt, and ran better than most. "I mean, was she shot or anything?"

"Yes and no. Yes she's fine, but she's ticked that someone is trying to frame her sister." It had taken time for Lon to get used to the idea of being a leader, but circumstances didn't always give him the chance to learn the easy way. "Merc told me they're looking into it. At the moment, we're going to have to suspend all jobs until further notice. Blues are getting trigger happy."

"Got that right. Some fool took a shot at me just yesterday. But he ain't gonna shoot with that arm no more, I can tell ya that." Drift didn't smile when he said those words.

Geo spoke up. "Ghost, what about the jobs we have now? They're important clients and what we've got is really hot. I don't want it in at my place for any longer than it already has."

"I'll take care of it." Lon reassured. "Blues haven't caught me yet, and I promise they won't any time soon."

"Please be careful." Artemis added. "I've heard chatter on the radios. Their standing orders are to shoot on sight."

"Well then," Lon said with a smile, "I'll just have to make sure I'm never on sight."

For the next game, it would be neat if they allowed us to create our own runner. That is essentially the main idea behind this fic. Oh, and if any of you want to see some bokken action, check it out on youtube under Cold Steel bokken and be amazed!