XIII

Chapter One

Rosch was buried eyeballs deep in a ledger when a confident, curt knock came upon his office door. He bid his visitor enter, only looking up when they had clicked the door shut behind them.

"Ah, commander, how prompt of you."

"You wanted to speak with me?" she inquired validation with a slightly lifted eyebrow.

"Yes. Have a seat. I wanted to chat with you about the incident the other night."

Lightning appeared puzzled as she tucked the chair beneath her, now settled across from him. "Did you not get my report?"

"Oh I did, read it through, was pleased with what I saw, although I often prefer to get some personal insight that might not be so proper on paper."

"I understand."

"So what would you make of it?"

"It was a stupid mistake on behalf of your staff, for starters." and her tone was level, almost flat even. She was telling things as she saw them. "With that being said, I think it never should have happened. I thought your people were better trained."

"As did I, and believe me, I feel very much the same about what lead up to the...confrontation." Rosch nodded slowly, his fingers laced in front of him. "And you handled the situation very well."

"Someone had to. I'll admit I had higher expectations of your security team. You'd think they'd never worked under pressure before."

"Most of them are young, fresh out of the military."

"It shows. It's going to get them all killed."

"Well, they're expendable, so I suppose that's why we don't put much into the hiring process. You'll have to forgive my apathy."

"No, no, I understand. It's not good to get attached in this...business."

"Too true." he nodded again. "But would you happen to have any other thoughts on the matter?"

"I think XIII should be put down, sir. If you want my honest opinion. Something like that stands to be a massive problem should it escape."

"It won't."

"It could, especially if you take your lackluster staff into consideration. It's a real possibility."

"I see your point. What would you propose be done about it?"

"They need better procedural training, that's for certain. You'd think they would have the common sense not to be around that thing by themselves."

"Indeed."

"And we're going to need something stouter in those tranq darts if you want to keep it quiet."

"How so?"

"It took four to put XIII on the floor, and that was after more than a minute, more than enough time for it to gut two more of your officers."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"I'm not a chemist, that's your job. I'm just telling you what I need. Besides, I'm sure everyone here would work a little better if they knew they were safer."

"Again, good point. I knew there was a reason we hired you." and he chuckled a bit. "I've actually been contemplating the same issue, I suppose I was more so probing for a second opinion."

"I'd rather voice a shared concern than be the only one concerned about it."

"Indeed. Though, I have a question for you."

"And?"

"What do you think of them, L'Cie that is?"

"As little as possible."

"Considering your previous contracts, I would imagine so." he knew her background, all of PSICOM did. They wouldn't have hired her otherwise.

"The more I see, however, the more I find myself concerned at times."

"Oh? How so?"

"Just makes me wonder...what they're capable of. You never know."

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

She gave him a look, a single brow lifting sharply.

"Most of them are rather useless, if you think about it," he continued. "I've read a file about one that had a prehensile tongue. That was it. What on earth do you suppose he could do with that?"

"I'd rather not entertain the idea."

Another chuckle. "But then there are those chosen few that seem to be so...perfect. You've met Caius, I assume?"

"Yeah. Guy bothers me."

"He bothers a lot of us, believe me. Still, he is one of those...perfect ones. A mutation that is rather easily concealed, but useful. Enhanced senses, healing abilities, incredible strength...those like him make me believe the gods made L'Cie for a reason."

Lightning would admit, she was a little spooked now. This guy was sounding just shy of loony. "And that would be?"

"Why, to serve humans, for our betterment. What else could they be good for? Although I also believe that the gods were playing a joke when they chose to make them appear so human. Make it more difficult for us to see their true purpose."

"But what good could XIII possible do? You've burned the damn thing's mind right out of its head. It's an animal now."

"True," Rosch leaned back in his chair, legs crossing, his laced hands against his stomach. "But animals can be made to behave."

Lightning felt herself shudder at the word, maybe the way he said it, but in all the idea didn't sound too pleasant by any means. "Did Caius have to go to obedience school too?"

"Oh no, not at all. He actually came to us. Contrary to his appearance, he's incredibly intelligent. Almost scary to be honest."

Both of her brows lifted, eyes widening. She didn't expect to hear that. More so the prior explanation than the latter. She couldn't imagine anyone willingly coming into this sort of...thing. With that being said, she wasn't all too keen to ask for any details. "And there's thirteen of these things now?"

"Well, not exactly. There have been thirteen conscripted to the program. Sad to say some simply didn't have what it took to continue working for us. They had showed promise in the beginning."

"You mean they're dead."

"I was trying to be gentle."

"Don't bother."

"I gathered." his brow waved once.

"So who's left?"

"One and VI are deployed at the moment, then you have IX, XII, and XIII here."

"What's the little girl's story?"

"She came in with Caius, I think he's taken her in as some surrogate child. I've never asked. But she's a very powerful telepath."

"How powerful are we talking?"

"Say there's a scale from one to ten. Even at her young age, she's rated as a seven."

Lightning only nodded, making a very plain mental note to keep her distance from that kid at all times. "And they just came out of nowhere?"

"Not entirely, though Caius did." and that admission seemed to genuinely bother Rosch a little. "Most of them we found out about one way or another."

"And XIII?"

Rosch cleared his throat, sitting up and leaning over the desk again, his elbows holding his weight. "Since the bonding process had been developed we had been looking for some time for a L'Cie with Caius' similar mutations. We wanted to test it, see if it was even feasible before putting him at risk. PSICOM had several potential candidates on file already, and we investigated each of them respectively. Though XIII was the only one that turned out valid."

"The others?"

"Weren't even L'Cie. Almost all of PSICOM's files on L'Cie are either proof positive or based on suspicion. A way has yet to be developed for identifying them otherwise. But, to make a long story short, we tracked XIII down, acquired her, and brought her here for the experiments."

"Acquired? You mean she didn't volunteer?"

"No. But who would miss a homeless wanderer? And a L'Cie no less."

"Good point." for a split second her eyes drew away from him, blinking once, and then returned.

"Sometimes these creatures need to be made aware of their purpose. I'm just doing my part. Naturally it's difficult at this time, but it will get easier. XIII will come around, given the chance."

"It'll have to be a hell of margin." Lightning laughed a little, the sound skeptical.

"Well, I'll admit, some of her behavioral problems might lie on my team's head. But we're working diligently to rectify them."

"You'll have to forgive my surprise." Although said shock didn't go far. She had the distinct feeling that if there wasn't the slightest chance of XIII becoming more complacent, they wouldn't trouble themselves with the effort.

"I do. I'm willing to guess you take me as a very egotistical, unfeeling man?"

"You'd be right."

"Not uncommon, believe me." he nodded. "I get that very often, and I'll confess that it is partially true. Do you think it's because I enjoy my work too much?"

"I wouldn't know." Hell of a personal question from someone she barely knew from Adam.

"No, I don't suppose you would." and his eyes went down, to the top of the desk and lingering there as if he was distantly in thought. Then they came back. "I'm to understand you'll be off base come the weekend?"

"Oh, yes, you heard right." the question came as a bit of a surprise. "I'll be back by Monday."

"Very well, I just wanted confirmation. Rumors tend to fly about a place as small as this. You're taking measures to leave us in capable hands, aren't you?"

"The best I can do at the moment."

"That's all I can ask for. Speaking of which, we should be a getting replacements on Tuesday. I would imagine you'll be left with the task of training them."

"Considering the disaster we had to sift through, I'll gladly take it." any opportunity to avoid another "confrontation" was one welcomed. "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss with me, sir? I should be getting to my rounds."

"Oh, of course, don't let me keep you any longer. Unfortunately I have work to do myself. Good afternoon, commander."

"Afternoon," and she felt a slight urge to gag as she left his office, though you wouldn't guess it by her stone cast features.

(–)

Duress. Physical and mental strain.

They wanted, needed to know just how much XIII could take. How much could this L'Cie stand before it cracked? How many hits could it take before it stayed down? Well, there are only so many ways to find that out. By now XIII was bugged up like a Christmas tree, and that was just on the inside, wires lacing just beneath the first few layers of skin from head to toe. Then take into account all of the flickering sensors and kibble pocking her skin on the outside, you'd think she had enough hardware in her body to pick up radio waves from across the country. She could, that is, if you switched a wire or two.

All of it was meant to keep track of the nerve activity during the experiment, to document it as well as perpetuate it. XIII was rigged up in such a fashion that if a sensor was stimulated with enough force, it would remain active, continuously stimulating the nerve endings in its range and giving off the sensation of pain. This would bypass XIII's healing factor, making her -in theory- just as vulnerable as a normal human being.

From an observation booth, Rosch and a small detachment of his team looked down into an open, arena like space, a chamber of perhaps forty feet by forty feet with wall to wall steel panels. Fingers flew across keyboards and monitors flashed, commands and status reports went back and forth between the lot of them.

Lightning was on duty, having positioned herself near the door, arms crossed and face unreadable. And XII was here, his massive, muscled form propped against the wall near the observation window. He was curious, she'd heard him say it when one of the technician's gave him a funny look, and the explanation had been a low growl. It left Lightning wondering just what exactly he was. L'Cie, yes, but it couldn't have been just that. It couldn't be that simple. You didn't mutate a presence like his.

"Put the wranglers on standby." Rosch told his assistant who nodded, before straightening and turning. "Commander? Why not come over and have a look. Maybe watching XIII in action will give you some insight."

Lightning flinched, though the gesture went unnoticed. At least she hoped it did. And while she motioned with ease away from the wall, she felt it to have been more like ripping velcro apart, with all the noise to go with it. But it was quiet, hardly anyone noticing she moved at all less they were looking at her. Caius noticed, his pricked ears twitching, though he didn't react.

"So what's going on here exactly?"

"Just a stress test."

"You need all this just for that?" Lightning lifted one rosy eyebrow in his direction.

"We wanted to simulate actual field conditions as much as possible without having to leave the compound. It's almost ten below out there. So, yes, space is imperative."

Without a noticeable response, Lightning turned her attention away from him, and down into the expanse below her. Her eyes settled on XIII, kneeling in the floor, seemingly motionless as two wranglers stood on either side. They held man-catcher like harnesses about her neck, keeping her compliant. She heard Rosch speak, but didn't catch the sentence clearly, and her curiosity piqued at the wranglers suddenly taking leave.

"Send in the first wave."

A wall slid upward, opening into a pitch black space. Out of it leaped a Ugallu, a very large one, and its sizable pack of seven more came stalking out after it. Barking, snarling, hungry. XIII was still.

"When were they last fed?" Rosch asked his assistant.

"I think a week ago. Something like that."

Lightning felt a tightening tremor go up her back. This was going to get ugly. And fast.

The Ugallu wasted no time, forming a semi-circle and closing in towards the only other living thing in the room. Still XIII didn't react. The mutant dogs barked, snapped and snarled, pausing only momentarily before descending on their prey. They fell on the L'Cie in a teeming pile.

Everyone in the observation booth tensed, nobody breathed.

Three seconds passed before XIII would respond. Three seconds before the Ugallu Alpha's neck exploded with blood. Its paws thrashed, the animal yelping once as it was pushed back, pound for pound, all six adamantium claws stuck into it.

A technician gasped. "Fuck me."

"How much did that brute weigh?" Rosch pondered.

"Almost nine-hundred pounds. It was the biggest one we could find."

"And XIII just pushed it back." his tone was one of stricken awe. "How's the receptor graph?"

"All lit up."

"And she just keeps going. Etro's grace..."

Lightning watched, jaw tight, as the L'Cie in the room below ripped the wild animals to shreds. No hesitation, no mercy, every movement coming fluid as if second nature. But she could see the pain. The heavy lines around the eyes, the tightness of them, hidden in the shadow of a savage brow spattered with blood, it was there, and there was a lot of it. How XIII was still standing she simply couldn't fathom. Lightning couldn't hear it, but XIII was screaming, howling in fury and agony as her claws sliced the air in search of flesh. Lightning didn't even need to be aware of the sensors under the L'Cie's skin, the little nodes forcing the nerves to fire ceaselessly, to know the torment she was feeling.

It was almost too much to look at.

"What do you see?"

Lightning felt her body tense, slightly jumping, her head jerking to see XII standing in her shadow. Though she could only see the middle of his chest, as Caius stood easily two heads taller than her. "You always sneak up on people like that?"

"Not typically."

"It'll get you shot."

And he only chuckled. "Still...humor me. What do you see?"

"A sorry son of a bitch that needs to be put out of its misery...the dog too."

"Hmm, true enough. But what else? I can tell more is going through your mind."

Lightning found herself fretting a little. Was he telepathic too and no one knew it? That could land her in a steaming pile, sure enough. "What do you care?"

"Humans are...peculiar when they're confronted with something they don't fully understand. I'm just curious."

Lightning crossed her arms once again after a moment, her body tightening, hiding any body language that might belie something unintended. "Honest truth? I see a lot of hate. A lot of pain...rage."

"Indeed." Caius nodded once and then crept away from her, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

When her focus was no longer on him, her eyes slid back to look through the observation window. All of the Ugallu were dead now, in pieces or shreds. XIII crouched among the mounds of blood and bones, features still hard twisted and wild.

"Amazing." Rosch breathed. "Vitals?"

"Blood pressure is low but stable. She lost a lot of it."

"I'd imagine so. Is the next wave ready?"

"By your order, sir."

Gods, there was more?

Oh yes, much more. There were many trials yet to come for weapon XIII, starting with a very angry male behemoth in heat. In the end, after nearly two dozen total assailants, XIII was still standing. Albeit somewhat pitifully. Covered in blood from head to toe, claws dripping, body shaking with fatigue, but still she remained on her feet, willing to take as much as they would throw at her. Hell or high water.

"Is the next wave ready?"

"No."

"Well why not?" Rosch's tone became snippy.

"There are no more, sir. You're looking at what's left of our entire inventory."

His eyes got big. He had no reply at first. "Vitals?"

"Blood pressure is bottoming now, but her heart rate is still high. She's gonna hit the floor. You wanna call it a night?"

"I think it best. Switch off the receptors and call the wranglers in."

"You got it."

Lightning felt a shiver go up her back. To think such a...mess could've been made by one person. She couldn't look away from it, and her heart flinched as she heard the click of the power switch for the receptors, and then XIII collapsed, the claws retreating slowly. She was more than done, exhausted, and the only thing keeping her up, keeping her moving, was pain. Gods. What were they doing? And how could she stomach just letting it happen?

It was about time for another coffee break.

She left the booth and focused on the sound of her own boots walking down the corridor. She never noticed the other set of feet walking along her own.

"What did you think, commander? You learn anything?" and Rosch laughed.

"Plenty." was her curt response, emotionless, though firm.

"XIII is really something,"

"You could say that."

"Is something wrong?"

"Got a lot on my mind right now."

"I understand."

No, you don't.

"So will you be leaving tonight for your weekend?"

"Tomorrow morning." she checked her mental calender briefly, remembering it was still Thursday.

"I see. Well, I had a sample of the new tranquilizer formula sent to your quarters, thought you would want a look at them, see if they were up to your standards."

"Appreciate it. Have you tested them yet?"

"I thought you would enjoy doing that yourself. We'll be moving XIII to another sector of the compound later this evening. Prime opportunity to give it a shot, so to speak. Not to mention that I would like to, upon your approval, outfit the men with it before you leave."

"Fine with me."

"You'll be paged when the time comes about."

And Lightning nodded, taking the next bend in the passage just to get away from him. She suddenly felt like her skin was being rubbed the wrong way. Felt the need to disappear, which she wouldn't feel like she truly had until she reached the seclusion of her quarters.

The bedside lamp came on, bathing the small room in a dull amber glow. First she systematically unhitched all of her weapon holsters, setting them on the bed beside each other. It was just the two, but it felt like fifty when you were tired like this. Then she pushed off her boots, tucking them beneath the bed, all the while beginning to unbutton the heavy fatigue top. Flop was the sound it made hitting the bed, the creaseless blanket fluttering down to the hospital tucked corners.

She looked to her desk, spying what had to have been the samples sitting out in plain sight, in a container that looked almost identical to a cigarette box. Her feet felt heavy still as she went to her desk, rolling the chair back that she might have a seat, and then scooting forward. There was a smaller lamp next to the desktop computer, and she switched it on in a habitual movement, the other hand taking hold of the small container. Lifting the lid she would find a single glass tube full of the stuff, comfortably nestled in the padding of soft foam. She picked it up, held it to the light, and found the consistency of it to be of some concern. It was thick, like syrup. How this would pass through a dart syringe was anyone's guess. Then again, the company chemists had to know what they were doing. At least she hoped so. She rolled it in her fingers, finding a label stuck to the side of it, written up like a table of contents on a soda can. Lightning recognized some parts of the terms; morphine being the most prominent one. Dihydrodesoxymorphine was a mouthful, unfamiliar, and whoever wrote it was kind enough to give a nickname. Desomorphine. And Vecuronium. With words like these she needed to consult the ever-knowing entity that was the internet to fully understand what all this actually meant.

When in doubt, Moogle it.

And what she found made her feel a duality of guilt and comfort. Comfort at knowing her team would indeed be much safer, and guilt at having to pump that poor thing full of this shit. And in a concentration like this, any normal person could OD on just one dose, or go into cardiac arrest. Although, with XIII's metabolism like it was, it might make the L'Cie dizzy after a few seconds. Lightning found herself hoping it did a hell of a lot more than that, and quickly.

The head of security started to dwell on the living weapon, more so than she thought she should.

Maybe I shouldn't have taken this job. Maybe I should just quit now and call it a day.

Then she shook her head, quiet, contemplative. No. She had to do it. There was no other choice. It was her only chance to-

Her pager began to buzz, her head tucking against her chest to look down and see the number flashing on the small screen of the device hooked to her belt. It was Rosch's office number. What the hell did he want now?

There was a closed circuit phone on the desk that she reached for with a slight huff, hitting the number combination for the doctor's extension. It buzzed twice before she heard an inquisitive "hello?" come over the line.

"You rang?"

"I buzzed, actually."

Lightning frowned. "What did you want?"

"I'm sorry, commander, bad time?" a little chuckle.

"No. Just a bad joke. What did you need?"

"Well, I know I said we wouldn't be moving XIII until later, but,"

"It needs to be done now."

"More or less."

"Is there a problem?"

"A little one. Though it doesn't stand to stay little. I'm going to assume you've had a chance to look at the sample?"

"I have. We'll just have to see how it works before I give my verdict."

"I would imagine so. I have a few prototype rounds for your compression pistol with me. Care to meet me in C-Block?"

"Give me five minutes."

"Very well." and then there was a click.

Lightning took just enough time to slip her boots and holsters back on, tucking in the laces, as well and smack her forehead to the top of the desk once. Just a little venting. Never hurt anyone.

Unless, of course, the one venting was XIII, and that appeared to be the case when Lightning arrived at the designated area and met up with her superior. Lightning could hear thumping, the whine of steel on steel, and horrible growling noises even from the corridor.

"So what's this little problem?"

Rosch had a clipboard in one hand and lifted his eyes away from it at the sound of her inquiry. "Well, turns out my suspicion, as usual, was correct."

"What suspicion?"

But before he answered, he reached into his pocket, presenting her with a magazine for her pistol. "Here."

She took it with a quiet nod of thanks and replaced the near empty magazine with the new one.

"Remember my mentioning our fault in XIII's little tantrums?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, I was right. During a preliminary scan of the results of the bonding process, we thought we found what looked to be raised deposits of adamantium from the injectors. We took another one to be sure, and lo and behold, there they were."

"Basically speaking?"

"XIII feels like her skeleton is made out of barbed wire."

"I'd imagine that would piss off anybody." it made her think back to a time when she'd kicked a man in the business so hard it only made him mad. Got a broken nose for that one.

"To be sure, and the only way she can really express that is through fits of rage. Which, as you can plainly hear, she is having right now. The adrenaline flushed all of the thorazine out of her system."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Another session of radiation therapy should rectify it, soften the metal enough to where the deposits will resolve on their own. So we'll have to move her to D-Block, nearer the reactor. Just need you to make her more agreeable to the idea. If you would be so kind."

"Understood." another nod, and then she chambered a round.

The commotion suddenly stopped. In fact, everyone in the corridor went still, including the two wranglers and one other security officer.

"You don't...did she hear that?" Rosch seemed to ask himself after a long, tense moment.

"I thought you did your homework, sir." Lightning grimaced. She didn't like where this was going. It was one thing to try and take a crazed monster by surprise, but this was a whole new game. It was expecting them.

"Thought I did too."

"What do we do?" asked one the wranglers, sounding very wary.

"Continue as ordered." was Rosch's only answer.

"Fuck me." it was a reluctant shrug. The two wranglers tucked behind the other security officer, the young man appearing flawlessly confident that his reinforced plexi-glass riot shield would be sufficient protection against the horror on the other side of the door.

Lightning didn't like these circumstances. They were total shit from where she was looking, but there was no other option. She stepped in between them, between the wranglers and behind the shield-bearer. She had the pistol at the ready.

"Open it."

"Y-yes, ma'am."

They expected all hell to come tearing its way out of the darkness behind the cell door, but found nothing, just a gut wrenching stillness. No sound, no evidence of life within save for the roughened edges of claw marks around the opening. Rosch had ducked out of sight completely.

Lightning silently encouraged the young man forward, a hard nudge to the shoulder, and he took three steps. Then he was dead.

XIII seemed to have come down from the ceiling, at least that's how it appeared, and dropped from above, claws out and cutting downward. The L'Cie crashed onto him, the adamantium blades sinking into his neck, crossing, just enough to sever the spinal cord and snuff him out. He hit the floor like a sack of stones. No resistance, no sound.

Lightning felt the jerk of someone's hand on her arm, a wrangler pulling her back just as she raised the pistol to level on the L'Cie. She lost balance, falling, crashing into the wall behind her. Barely phased, she leveled the sights again, tracking XIII as she began to tussle with the wranglers that tried to get their man-catchers around her neck.

Hold still...just one second...gimme one second...

She pulled the trigger. The dart missed, ricocheting off a wall.

XIII had ducked at the last possible second, bending low to take a wrangler's leg clean off at the knee. The man hit the floor, writhing and screaming, blood gushing madly from the wound as he clutched at it. The other wrangler took advantage of a split second pause in the L'Cie's movements, lunging forward and closing the man-catcher around her neck. It did him little good. Claws reduced the tool to pieces and brought XIII's primal wrath onto his head. Literally. His face was split three ways and he was slow to expire, sputtering and choking on his own blood.

Lightning had managed to blink as all this happened, hardly two seconds elapsing, and then she blinked again, opening her eyes to meet savage emeralds only inches away from her. A set of claws embedded, screeching into the wall, and she felt the sting of a paper thin cut on her cheek. She found herself unable to move as she felt XIII's heated breath on her face. Her body froze, finger on the trigger but unable to flex enough to pull it. She wasn't sure if she was still breathing. Her wide eyes fell on the other set of claws, watched how they shimmered in the halogen shine, rising, poised to kill.

The corridor rang, almost shook, with a deep bellowing sort of sound. The walls vibrated with it. And a split second after it ebbed, XIII was ripped away from the commander, tossed down the passage by a heavy blow. Lightning blinked again, her senses working once more, and she looked up to see Caius, to see that she was in his heavy shadow. Then she looked down the corridor, to where XIII had settled on her hands and knees. The L'Cie stood partially, still hunching, and noticed a gash in her shoulder, a fresh wound that was already starting to knit itself back together. But that only seemed to renew her fury, as her face twisted that much harder into a snarl that heralded a wild cry.

Caius had done her harm, and now she would repay the favor. It didn't matter that he was so much bigger. She came at him all the same, and he would meet her in the middle.

XII had a set of his own claws, natural talons that could retract like a cat's. And they were sharp, battle hardened, and ready as XIII came at him. And he earned his call sign honestly, Tusk, as his canines could change in length and size, becoming larger, almost like a saber-toothed lion. He could sound like one too.

Caius jumped to one side, bouncing off the wall of the corridor in a feint to take XIII off guard. It only partially worked, as XIII was very quick to react even in her feral state. Her claws sank into his belly and she stood against his weight, but he didn't flinch. A pained snarl erupted from him, but he still took a strong hold of XIII in retaliation. She squirmed out of his arms, blood slickened, and renewed her attack, thrusting upwards into his chest. She forced him against the wall, screaming in a sort of triumphant fury. XII retaliated with a hard swipe to her face, THWACK, and XIII reeled. He took her forearms in his massive hands, holding her still though she tried to back away.

Lightning took what she thought was her only chance. That one second she had been praying for, and fired the pistol again. Direct hit.

XIII jerked as the dart sank into her hip, and that's when Caius gave the L'Cie a hard shove. It put her into the adjacent wall with a hard POW, her head bouncing off of it. She slid to the the floor, naked skin squeaking slightly. Panting, she sat still for a moment, then jerked trying to stand again. Something wasn't right, muscles had refused to work for some reason. She couldn't lift her arms but was clearly attempting to. A snarl of frustration, a third effort to stand without purchase, and then a unintended slump forward. The tranq was taking effect, and it had been perhaps a minute. If even that.

Lightning found herself able to breathe again as the L'Cie flattened against the floor, only mildly struggling now. She knew XIII would still be fighting if she could, and that realization kept her wary. Her still widened eyes rose to Caius, watching him walk almost casually towards her, his hand over the bloody holes in his belly. She managed to stand, steady though parts of her still shook.

"Thank you." she said as he drew close enough.

"Don't." he grunted.

Lightning said nothing, not entirely certain what she would say if she had. She just shook her head, letting him go by without further attention. There were more important things to focus on, like the man on the floor bleeding out. She went to him, not caring to get personal enough to tear the belt from his fatigues to cinch around the still weeping wound. The wrangler was delirious by now from the loss of blood, but had enough mind to mutter "tank ya" as she knelt beside him.

"I'd say that went well."

Lightning snapped her head to the side, seeing Rosch's ugly khaki slacks and brown loafers. "The hell did you disappear to?"

"I called for Caius. Also a medic team is on its way."

Lightning felt her jaw tightening as she stood up, her fingers rubbing together against the stick of blood. "You've got to stop underestimating this thing, Rosch."

"Noted."

"I'm not kidding. You're going to need more men than this, and if you think that number is enough, you'd better double it." And she couldn't deny the fact that, even if for a second, XIII had been hunting them.

"Also noted. So what do you think of the new formula?"

Anger spiked, did this man just not understand how serious the situation was? "It'll do."

"Wonderful, I'll start production on ammunition for the entire detail. Should be fully armed by the time you get back from your weekend."

"Which I'm thinking on going ahead and leaving tonight. I need to get away from this for a while." and she grumbled to herself, too quiet for him to hear. "Are more officers coming to help move it?"

"Yes, about a dozen. Should that suffice, or would you like more?" and he smirked, she could hear it in his voice.

"A dozen should be enough."

"Very well. Good night, commander."

And she shot him the bird once his back was turned.

Now somewhat alone, Lightning took a deep breath, cleansing, calming, convinced the danger had passed for the time being. Then her attention slowly, almost reluctantly, drifted to XIII. She hadn't moved, though Lightning could see her body heaving with quick breaths, could hear them. Her boots rolled quietly through the blood, leaving tracks on the unsullied metal panels as she approached the prostrate L'Cie.

Once again cerulean met emerald as XIII's eye rolled in the socket behind half-parted lids, and settled on the hume that stood over her. And unlike before, Lightning could see something. She could see the person XIII had once been, could see the pain of a tortured soul in the verdant depths. It was a look that wept don't hurt me anymore. I'm begging you. I'll be good.

Lightning could feel it, her heart clenching hard. It showed on her face, her features darkening with genuine regret. She wanted so terribly just to say "sorry", but wasn't sure if XIII would even register the gesture.

Once everything was cleaned up, locked down, Lightning retreated back to her quarters, tossing an empty duffel bag on the bed and beginning to hurriedly shove a weekend's worth of necessities into it. Her features were tight with irritation as she dressed to leave, putting on a heavy coat as the temperatures were supposed to be horribly low tonight. The wind chill was in the negatives. Nothing could stop her as she made her way to the compound garage, flashing her ID at the guard station without the attendant even having to ask. She was promptly allowed through the checkpoint, the tires of the company SUV squealing a little as she pulled out onto the snowy road that was marked by a series of yellow reflectors. Otherwise you couldn't see it.

It would be a five hour drive to her destination. Just long enough to convince herself that she was still doing the right thing.

Author's Note: To be entirely honest, I have no idea where this is going to go plot wise. I only have a beginning, and an end, with very little detail in between. So please bare with me, and if the fic starts to suck, I'm apologize. I'm mostly doing this for fun, since it won't let me sleep at night. Might as well get it down. Hope you enjoy it all the same. And thanks for all the support. Be sure to check out my DA for news and illustrations! Also, if anyone might like to draw that scene with Fang and Light face to face a paragraph or so back, I'd love you forever. (I am a self serving ego stroker.)