Hey guys, and welcome to the other half of my SR fic! For anyone who doesn't know this is a sequal to Birth of a Saint, and might reference some stuff that happened in it. The SR2 part of the fic just sort of kept growing and growing, so I decided to put it into a story of its own.
A caution, it is written a little weirdly - It flicks between first and third person (and in this chapter, a little bit of second person). Sorry if it's confusing. Anyway. Enjoy!
Officer Bradshaw ran a hand through his hair and took a desperate drag of his cigarette.
Christ. What have they done?
He watched as corpse after corpse was pulled out of the water and laid out on the closed off promenade, many of them charred beyond recognition, clothes melted onto their skin. Around him, lights flashed belonging to police cars, fire trucks, ambulances; not that it mattered. There was no reviving them. He glanced down to the end of the macabre line of bodies, feeling his insides go cold when he saw two officers carefully laying another down onto the pavement, covering her with a tarp.
"Wait!" he said quickly, striding fast to the end of the line. The two officers took a step back. One of them went to speak, eyes full of concern.
"Troy, d-"
Troy didn't listen. He leant down and ripped back the tarp, breathing in sharply to hold back a strangled noise. It was her. The 'girl', the nameless Saint and Julius' right hand. His mind swam with confusion and he knelt forward, breathing slowly.
"...Hey, Bradshaw," one of the officers tried. Troy just shook his head sharply.
"She was just a kid," He tried to stress. His colleagues balked at this.
"Just a kid? Troy, she was the most dangerous person in the city; you should know what she was capable of," The officer snapped, "Just a kid? Yeah, and Hell is just a sauna."
Troy wanted to smack his colleague, but he knew he had to hold back. Everyone on the force was starting to question his loyalty and here was no place to be getting torn up over his friend.
A small sigh escaped him. His Friend. Other double agents had warned him about becoming sympathetic to the enemy when you're masquerading in their ranks. But this girl had fought alongside him. It was fair enough to call her dangerous but he'd seen how she was around her gang. She was protective, fearlessly loyal and she'd saved his ass on more than one occasion. He'd seen the gentle way she looked at her gang and the whores and the everyday people living in the Row. He was sure that in her own twisted way, she loved them. She tended them and guarded them. He sighed. She'd have made a damn good cop had her life guided her that way.
Troy looked down at the young woman. Half her clothes had been blown off her body, parts of fabric melted to the back of her legs and a little over the shoulders. But her front was clear; she hadn't been facing the explosion when it took place.
'Did you run, girl?' he wondered, resting a hand over the pale forehead. With the jet black hair framing her pretty features, skin ghostly pale, and lips smeared with bright red blood that must have spilled from her mouth, she reminded him of Snow White. Only instead of a glass coffin, it was a filthy boardwalk in the middle of a crime scene.
"Not dead, just sleepin'," he murmured, "if only." He pushed a lock of hair from her closed eyes. Troy blinked, looking closer at her eyelids. They moved… rather, the eyes beneath them flickered like someone deep in REM sleep. Quickly he pressed two fingers up under her jaw, searching for a pulse, pressing another hand over her heart. A weak, sluggish beat responded.
"Shit- Hey! HEY!" he shouted, waving desperately to a paramedic, "She's still alive!"
The paramedics came jogging over and they weren't the only ones. Next thing Troy knew he was surrounded by police and fire fighters, all craning their necks to get a look at her. The paramedics pushed him out of their way to apply their trade to the weak body. Eventually he just stepped back watching them strap the young woman down to a gurney and slide her into the back of a waiting ambulance. They'd take her to the ER at the nearest hospital, he knew. If she was ever stabilized, she'd be moved to an infirmary at some high-security prison, hopefully the old Stillwater penitentiary on Cook Island- Something in him wanted her to stay close. A heavy breath beat itself out of his chest and he took out another cigarette, a shaking hand lighting it as he drew in the smoke gratefully.
"Christ girl," he muttered, smoke spilling from between his lips. "You're like a damn cockroach."
You gotta wake up boss. We need you… Julius is gone. The gang's fallin apart without you. The boys are tryin to hold it together but there aint no one to lead them. I did my best but… I guess that shit just aint my forte. Though getting my ass locked up in here cos of what I tried to do to that asshole Troy aint helping none… he was a goddamn cop, y'know that? Huh. Not that you can hear me...
Dex left. Sold out to Ultor for fucks sake. Eesh has been keeping me up to speed; There's other gangs movin in, pushing us back. We're losing, Boss. Eesh says the north island's already gone, some assholes called the Ronin.
Argh, fuck this hurts. Startin to think the guards got a pool goin on how long I'll last in here. Don't you worry bout me though, this aint nothing but a flesh wound. Some asshole shanked me… he'll get his, trust me. Then we'll find out who did this to you and they'll get the same. Don't worry, you' safe in here. Plenty of Saints watchin your back, aint no one getting in here to finish you.
Christ.
Wish I knew your name right now.
Hey. You um, you… probably don't remember me. But I rolled with you once. Heard you were in here so I faked bein sick to see if I could get in to see you. Wow… don't know why I'm talking to you, you might be brain dead for all I know...
You saved my life once, you know that? The Carnales were tryin to take back the docks, I was there fightin them off. One of them got me pinned and you just showed up outta nowhere and took them out like they were nothin. You reached down, grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet… You were awesome. Bein a girl on the Row aint easy… you probably know what it's like. But I had you to look up to.
…Please… please wake up? They'd talk about how crazy you were, how strong you were. It's not right, seein you here like this. The Saints are… they're done. It's been an insane two years. Everyone's dropped their flags if they weren't busted like me.
… Please wake up.
So, Snow White, how are we feeling today? Huh. One of the benefits of caring for coma patients, no small talk. Maybe I should be working in a morgue, what do you think?
Christ, you should be in a morgue. Three years, lying here, breathing through a tube. We could use your organs, you know. Don't worry, I'm not looking to kill you, it's against my oath. That and I'm no judge.
Oh, speaking of which, your friend's trial is going… interestingly. Amazing, over three hundred counts for murder, but he was caught in attempted murder. Shame. Gat's a funny guy. But he's going to the chair, no judge or jury is going to let him slide. Court's in recess, but we'll be hearing the verdict in a few days…
BlipBlipBlipBlip
I shivered. That single sound has stained my mind. My mind… like a jigsaw puzzle you've just spilled from the box, pieces here and there, nothing fitting together.
I remember running over a deck, a loud noise, flying through the air.
I keep thinking of Snow White.
Hi ho, hi ho, off murderin we go…
I remember darkness… and water, a river filled with floating corpses and fire. I can hear voices but none of them make any sense.
I see white, for the first time. A face over my bed. She's shocked, she's yelling.
I remember someone saying something. I'm hearing them like I'm under water.
"Don't tell them, not yet."
Not yet.
BlipBlipBlipBlip. It's a heart monitor, I realise. I try to move, there are restraints over my arms that the nurse is loosening. My arms are bandaged, there are tubes coming out of me.
"Can you hear me?" "What's your name?"
Snow White.
I hated Snow White. I was more a Beauty and the Beast girl.
I was waking up again, there were voices around me that weren't there before. My mind was…
Clear. Jesus, how long was I out? There were hands on my arm, unwrapping bandages. I heard someone talking.
"Coming through!"
"What happened?"
"Shanking."
"Put him over there…"
Murmurs. I shifted, testing my strength. I felt weak compared to the last time I was conscious, but I could move, that was what mattered. I flickered by eyes open to the bright light, looking down at my arm, seeing a pair of hands sliding a catheter out of my vein and pressing a small dressing over it. Weakly I turned my head to look up through the blinding white light and glare at the faces above me, a doctor and two guards. One put their hand out when he saw me open my eyes.
"Careful doctor. The patient's dangerous."
"You got anything you wanna say to the judge, you better start thinking of it now," the other one said, giving me a smarmy look.
"You're wasting your time," the first guard grumbled with a shake of his head, "let's get a hold of Troy."
I rested my head back against the pillow and watched them leave. Troy… why would they be talking to Troy? Something niggled in my mind. Troy's a cop. I knew it but I didn't know how I knew it. But I didn't have long to ponder on this, a quiet noise from the bed beside me grabbed my attention as soon as the room was silent.
"Psst. Hey. Is it really you?"
A hand drew back the curtain between the beds – a young Hispanic guy in an orange jumpsuit (great, I'm in jail) was watching me, eyes wide. I blinked. He was… Cute. Like a labradoodle. I couldn't tell if he was actually young, or just had youthful features. He was looking at me like a long lost friend. Oh shit…
"Do I know you?" I asked tentatively. Was I supposed to know him?
"Oh uh, I'm Carlos. My brother was in the Saints and he told me all about you." Phew. "Listen, we gotta get you outta here."
I cocked an eyebrow at the kid, "Well I'm sure if we ask nicely," I said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I know a way out," He said quickly, his voice flooded with earnest.
"Yeah, then why are you still here?" I shot back darkly; the first instinct was mistrust, of course. Why would a stranger want to help me?
"I heard you were in here and I wanted to bust you out…" Carlos said, looking a little defeated. I only raised my eyebrow and he quietly continued, "Getting out is a two person job and no one else will give it a try."
I couldn't help but prop myself up indignantly then – though my arms shook a little as I did. Must've been out a while… "You really expect me to trust some guy I don't even know?"
"Come on," he begged, "I just got myself shanked so I could get a chance to talk to you. Doesn't that show I'm loyal?"
Yes, was the first thought. Not the words though, "It shows that you're dumb enough to let yourself get stabbed…" I mused and I could see his frustration starting to reach boiling point.
"I'm tryin to help you!"
Christ, I didn't need this right now. "You know what I got last time I trusted someone? Blown the fuck up," I growled. That night was starting to piece together in my mind and this kid was interrupting me.
"You need me," He pressed. I snapped him a dark look.
"Hell I do I got the Saints!"
His sardonic smile didn't help calm me down, "Heh, sure you do," he muttered dryly and I faltered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I growled quietly and he blinked back at me, the confidence returning to his eyes.
"How long you think you been out?"
"I dunno, two, maybe three weeks?"
The kid –Carlos- shook his head. I wasn't a fan of his evading my questions but I was increasingly aware of how little I knew and how dire my situation was. His words confirmed it.
"Look, I know you think you're a badass, but do you even know where you're at?" He started up, "Without me, you'll be wandering around the prison for hours, even if you managed to hide from the guards that long, and if you work out how to make it outside of these walls, you're gonna find your sitting on a goddamn island, and I'm pretty sure you can't outrun the coastguard."
Smarmy little… He wasn't as cute as he looked. "You got a boat stashed here somewhere?" I asked wryly. He just smiled and shrugged.
"No, but, I know where we're gonna steal one."
I breathed in deeply. Everything considered I couldn't see any better options; "…Alright. Let's get outta here."