Jenny hung limp in Dom's arms, somehow sleeping through the pain. She stirred lightly and Dom stopped in his tracks.
"She's waking up." He whispered, gently putting her down.
She opened her eyes suddenly, standing on her own two feet as though nothing had happened. She felt on her back and chest for her gun, and was shocked that she couldn't find either…or even her armor for that matter.
"What the hell happened?" She asked, panicking.
"You were shot, remember?" Marcus growled, throwing his Lancer over his shoulder.
She looked confused and lifted her shirt to see there was only dried blood, no bullet wound to speak of. She poked and prodded at her abdomen to try and find some kind of wound, but miraculously there was none to be found.
"What the fuck? You were just shot not even three hours ago, and you're magically healed? Are you some kind of mutant or something?"
Then it hit her. She looked at the curious faces around her, then back down to her own sweaty palms.
"I'd rather not talk about it, because it's really personal and extremely painful." She mumbled.
"That may be, but we deserve an explanation." Marcus stated, getting close to her. "So start talking."
Jenny shifted slightly and began to wring her hands. She took a deep breath and began to share her troubled, painful childhood.
"Well…I don't really know how to say it, but I was subjected to a lot of tests when I was growing up."
"What kind of tests?" Baird asked, crossing his arms.
"Like…experiments. It started when I was five. I don't know who was doing them, but I remember my dad pushing for it, saying that it would be for good of the world. We surely would've ended the Pendulum wars."
"What was it like?" Dom asked curiously.
"Worse than any hell you could imagine." She replied dismally. "I sat in a bed all day with needles in me; I have scars from the surgeries they would perform. The Union of Independent Republics (UIR) thought they could create some kind of super soldier. There were hundreds of kids there, and I was the only one who survived. They shut down the facility sometime before the surrender, and they ordered me to be executed to cover up their war crimes. The man who was supposed to took me out back in the woods for miles. When we finally got there, he let me go."
"Wow…did anyone even know about this?" Dom seethed.
Marcus had an air of rage and pity about him. No one had deserved something like that, but at the same time it wasn't surprising that they would do something horrible. But of that magnitude? Ridiculous. Marcus pressed on his ear.
"Control, this is Delta…I need you to look into something for me."
"NO!" Jenny screamed, slapping his hand away from the earpiece. "Please, no one can know about this. I'm begging you, don't tell them. It isn't worth it."
"Don't you want to see them brought to justice? They would be executed for something like that!" Marcus shouted.
"Death is too good for him. Besides, he's probably long gone now!"
Marcus kicked the dirt hard and glared at her, but he knew she was right. He retracted his favor from control and stared at her. Suddenly, he slapped her across the face.
"What the fuck Marcus?" She screamed, holding her cheek.
"Grow up, I didn't hit you that hard. You're a soldier first and a woman second."
She shoved him as hard as she could, but Marcus wouldn't even budge. Desperate to discharge a fight, Baird pitched in.
"So how long did those bastards keep you? Is there anything useful you can do?"
She stopped shoving Marcus for a moment and thought hard.
"It started when I was five, and ended when I was…eleven I think. The only thing I gained from years of torture is the ability to heal considerably faster, and…" She trailed off.
Baird nodded sarcastically and motioned for her to continue.
"Sometime I glow when I'm feeling extreme emotions." She murmured, embarrassed by the stupid ability she was stuck with.
Baird let out a thunderous roar of laughter.
"Wait, wait…you glow? Oh my God, that's hilarious! What, are you going to turn into a little ball of sunshine if you get too happy?"
His laugh was interrupted when Jenny punched him right in the jaw. Baird stopped, and spit out blood. He gritted his teeth at her and she stood her ground. He looked at his commanding officer who did nothing. He threw his arms in the air and began to walk away.
"Jesus Baird, you had it coming. If anything, I should thank her." Marcus shouted at him.
Baird merely flipped him off and kept walking.
"We should probably follow him." Dom sighed and walked on.
Everyone silently agreed and followed suit. Jenny stayed behind the group, staring at the ground her feet walked on. She almost felt sorry for it, the way it was destroyed during the Pendulum Wars. She felt sorrier for herself however, and she felt sorry for her father whenever she would see him again. Well, if she ever saw him again. He disappeared on E-day, and she hadn't heard from him since. Good riddance, if she ever saw him again it would be too soon. Her dismal thoughts were interrupted as Marcus slammed himself into cover, shouting about Locust ahead. Jenny dived into cover next to Marcus and carefully watched for Locust. Marcus was too busy looking over her shoulder for enemies to notice a Locust had been standing over him, the chainsaw on his Lancer revving up.
"Look out!" The young private shrieked.
Without thinking, She jumped from her cover and revved her own Lancer bayonet, starting at the Locust Drone's shoulder and cutting diagonally through the heart and major internal organs. She was showered with blood, screaming with joy as the Drone fell to her feet in two large pieces. She wiped blood away from her eyes and laughed wildly as she charged ahead, shooting at what was left of the Locust. Marcus quickly followed and revved his bayonet, cutting through the last Locust. He didn't realize Jenny was on the other side of him, cutting his legs off. After the Locust was in pieces at their feet, Marcus genuinely smiled at the young woman who was wiping blood off her face.
"You did good Private." He remarked. "Keep doing crazy shit like that and you might actually survive."
"Crazy shit like chain sawing through Locust, and not diving in front of a Troika?" She asked sarcastically.
"Yeah yeah…and considering you saved my life, I believe I owe you an apology for earlier. Don't get used to it."
He lightly slapped the back of her head as he heard a transmission from Control. He nodded and sighed heavily, slinging his Lancer over his shoulder.
"Control is picking us up for some much needed R&R and they want to debrief us on our next mission."
"Oh good." Jenny moaned, cracking her neck. "Lord knows I need to wash all this dirt and blood off."
Delta Squad sat in the dirt for an hour, exchanging stories of heroism, heartache and even some funny ones. Cole was about to share a story about when he was a thrashball player, but the whirring of the King Raven cut him off. Everyone loaded up and buckled in, and Marcus lent a hand to Jenny who was having trouble climbing in. He tugged too hard however, and she ended up very close to his chest. She tried backing away out of embarrassment, but Marcus wrapped his hand around her waist.
"Another step and you would have fallen right out. There aren't enough seats, so just stand here with me." He roared over the sound of the helicopter.
She hung on for dear life as the helicopter lifted off the ground and into the air, but it was somehow comfortable in the Sergeant's arms.
