So Much for My Happy Ending – Chapter 3

Everyone has an angel, a guardian who watches over us.

Silence fell over the room as Rocket was left alone with Babydoll. Rocket circled her slowly, looking for any signs of recognition. She stepped back.

"Babydoll."

Nothing.

"Hey Baby, you did it, you tricked them all, they think you're gone, that there's nobody home." She grinned at her, letting her know the coast was clear. "It's okay. You're safe now. You can come back. It's over."

The silence thickened, settling over Rocket's soul like a dark cloud. Her smile faded.

A sigh fell from Babydoll's lips, breaking the tension. She knelt down in the middle of the floor, seemingly oblivious to everything. Rocket crouched down with her, albeit much slower without the aid of her arms for balance.

"C'mon Baby, you're a fighter, you can beat this, I know you can." She waited, hoping.

Baby's eyelids shut, blocking out her hundred yard stare. A faint rustle as she curled up on the floor, her limbs collapsing into the fetal position. She began to whimper, the words faint and almost indistinguishable. Rocket leaned in closer, straining to hear the whispered monologue.

"S'not…s'posed…to be…like…this…" A gasped intake of breath as she shuddered and curled into a tighter ball still. She backed away, scooting across the floor as if from an unseen foe. "No…No!"

Rocket moved quickly, she sat on the floor behind Babydoll, putting her body directly into her escape path, and waited. A few moments and Babydoll backed into her, a shiver rippled across her skin but she didn't shy away. Her breathing became less erratic and started to slow back to normal.

Rocket let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Whatever had happened between their mission to get the knife and this moment, it had been bad. It was something horrific enough to shatter Babydoll's ironclad will and defiance.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor, it was Charlie coming back with the bandages. Steel rasped as a key slid into the lock and the door opened. Both men walked in on the tableau, Rocket's legs spread on the floor, bracketing Baby, who was curled up tight against them.

Frank cleared his throat, unsure of how to proceed.

We can't know what form they'll take: One day, old man, next day, little girl. But don't let appearances fool you.

It was Rocket who spoke first, her voice thick with emotion. "It's okay, just come over here and undo the straps, I won't-I won't do anything, just please don't move her."

"Yes'm." He nodded gruffly and knelt next to her, his hands steady but gentle as he undid the leather strapping. He looked away in embarrassment as the canvas fell back, revealing large expanses of her skin underneath.

Rocket laughed once, mirthlessly. "Why Frank, I didn't know you were such a gentleman." He blushed, flustered, and started to explain himself.

She cut him off. "It's fine, I would have warned you but I didn't know what I had on under here either, and you would have had to strip me down to change the dressings anyway."

"S'right." Charlie chimed in as he handed the roll of gauze to Frank. Frank muttered to himself as he unrolled the gauze.

"Charlie, you got that antisepsi-whatever stuff too?" Charlie nodded. "Good, you put that on 'er while I get this dressing ready."

Charlie knelt down next to her, his eyes seeking hers for permission. "It's all right, go ahead." Rocket took a breath and held it. She winced as he pressed the soaked cloth pad to her wound. The chemicals hissed against the angry red flesh swollen around the stitching.

Air hissed out between her clenched teeth. "You got that bandage ready, Frank?"

"Right 'ere." The sharp sting of the antiseptic was replaced by a dull throb as he pressed the gauze pad to her wound and began to wrap the length of it around her midsection. "I do believe that'll teach you not to injure yerself so severely in the future."

Now finished with the job at hand, Frank pulled the rough cotton of the jacket back over her shoulders and started to redo the buckles. That task completed, he nodded and both men stood up, they stood that way for a few moments, as if silently conversing with each other about something.

Charlie looked at the other man, asking an unspoken question. Frank shrugged and began to walk towards the door. "S'not my business what happens after our shift is over, and I do believe it's quitting time. Charlie, what d'you think?"

Charlie thought for a moment. "I do think that I uh-con-ce, no, con-ci, nu uh, oh! I do con-cede with your superior authority on this matter." The key ring jangled once more, and the men's footsteps echoed as they walked down the tiled hallway, the sounds muffling as they gained distance.

They can be as fierce as any dragon. Yet they're not here to fight our battles, but to whisper from our heart.

"Baaaaby." Rocket set herself to waking her, believing that it would be just like the days when Sweetpea would nudge her out of bed, half dreaming and not ready for school.

"C'mon Babydoll, wake up, you can do it, I know you're in there still."

Another whimper from the ball latched to her leg, Babydoll's breathing became erratic, faint struggles twitched through her body. Whatever thing had happened to her, it was happening again, and Rocket was helpless to stop it.

At least helpless in this world.

Reminding that it's us, it's every one of us who holds the power over the worlds we create.

Rocket blinked. When she opened her eyes she was no longer trapped, imprisoned by cotton and thick walls. Here in the brothel she had power.

The King was dead.

Long live the Queen.

She put her arms above her head and stretched, something she'd been dying to do all day, her shoulders loosened, she bent to the side a little, feeling the stretch go all the way up her leg and-

"Ahhh!" She dropped her hands immediately, "I forgot I was twice stabbed." She moved much more gingerly after that.

The Queen of the brothel had some power, anyway…

She moved through the rooms, she stopped and stared into the green room. She took in the carnage left over from Blue's executions and Babydoll's last desperate stand against him, spilt blood had stained the hardwood floor a deep mahogany.

She noticed long stiletto heels peeking out from behind the shared vanities. The heels were attached to legs.

Rocket felt sick. "No…nonononono." She looked away and covered her eyes, shielding herself from the staring eyes and lifeless bodies of what had once been Blondie and Amber.

"You were all going to make it." Nausea welled up, her head spinning. "Everyone was going to go home, except for me." She glanced back once and fled the room, escaping from her fallen comrades.

Rocket ran out into the hallway, her vision cloudy and unfocused as she tried to erase the charnel house images from her mind. She crashed into walls and reeled like a drunkard. Small wonder Babydoll didn't want to come back. She had seen her friends callously murdered in cold blood, killed because of her plan. Rocket wondered if that was all Baby had seen.

Something caught her attention, it was a small sound, and Rocket thought she had just imagined it at first. She stopped and waited, realizing that she had wandered into the back rooms where the girls usually entertained the clientele. The sound came again, a faint whimpering, like a puppy in distress. It was coming from the room at the end of the hall, where the really important clients usually played out their fantasies. Blue had always jokingly referred to as the Honeymoon Suite. She pushed open the heavy oak door, eyes welling with tears as she took in the scene before her.

Babydoll lay curled up on the floor next to the bed. Someone had beaten her within an inch of her life. Her eyes were swollen shut and the lashes caked with dried blood. The schoolgirl outfit draped her form in shreds, rust colored smudges along the shoulders where it looked like she had tried to protect herself from oncoming blows.

Rocket was down on the floor with her in an instant, wrapping her arms around her wounded friend.

"Oh Babydoll, what did they do to you?" Tears began to fall as she clutched Babydoll to her, leaving tracks of pale skin visible underneath the layers of dried blood. "I need to get you out of here."

Her first instinct was to go deeper, to escape the horrors of this world and fight in the next. She almost did.

Almost.

And then she remembered the brilliant searing kiss of the flames as they engulfed her, the sizzling sound of her own flesh as the bomb decimated the city.

"I guess we need to work with what we have then." She tightened her hold on Babydoll, gritted her teeth and stood up. The pain in her side was almost unbearable.

Almost.

Step by excruciating step, Rocket made her way back to the common dormitories. She laid Babydoll down in the bed she usually slept in and went over to the sink to fetch a basin of water and some rags.

Finding no towels handy, she took a threadbare sheet from another bed and tore it into strips. That task completed, she took the basin and her rags and went back to Babydoll's side.

The skin of Baby's face was so pulverized and covered in blood Rocket hardly knew where to start. She soaked a strip, folded it over and placed it over her eyes, hoping the water would loosen everything, that maybe she could open her eyes better that way. While she waited for that to work, Rocket set to finding something for Baby to wear other than that atrocious outfit, its skimpy cut and glitzy gems now a seeming mockery of Babydoll's injuries. After a bit of searching she found the shift Babydoll usually slept in. Except the shift pulled on over the head, and that was the last thing Rocket wanted to do in that moment.

She thought awhile longer, and then remembered the top she usually wore buttoned up the front. A few long strides across the room and back and she had it in hand. She approached Babydoll and laid a palm on her shoulder, no response. She pulled off the remnants of the costume, relieved to find that her most traumatic physical injuries were the ones she had already seen. Placing a hand on her back, she tilted Babydoll up so she could slide the fabric underneath her. She set her back down, placed an arm through the sleeve and gently buttoned up the front.

She looked up at Babydoll's face, her most difficult task was about to start. For what seemed like hours, she carefully wiped the blood and grime off of Baby. Discarding the towels when they became too blood soaked. When she was left with only a few rags and the basin was almost empty, Rocket could finally make out the injuries that caused all the bleeding. There were a few cuts and scrapes near her hairline, and her skin had split across one cheekbone. Luckily the injuries around her eyes were all caused by whatever had hit her, and Rockets ministrations with the cool water had eased the swelling.

Not knowing what else to do, Rocket moved Babydoll up into a sitting position and slid in behind her. She hugged Baby too her chest and began to rock her. She closed her eyes and began to hum with the slow tempo, wishing she could remember songs, or even carry a tune.

She decided to talk to her instead.

"Baaaaby, c'mon Babydoll, open them pretty eyes for me, I know you can do it."

A small noise as the bundle tucked up against her shifted ever so slightly. Rocket leaned back so she could get a better look at her friend.

"Baaaaaabydoll, wake up, just give me a wink, c'mon, just one and I'll let you go back to sleep, I promise."

She almost fainted when Babydoll fulfilled her request, eyelids squinting against the blood engorged flesh. Rocket reminded herself to breathe, and to try not to freak Babydoll out, who had been through more than she could possibly imagine.

"Hey tough guy, good to see you made it." Having Baby back with her made her feel so light headed and elated she could do nothing but grin stupidly in disbelief.

"R-Rocket? But you were- and they said that-"

"Shhhh, it's okay, I'm okay, I promise." A twinge in her side. "Well, not entirely okay, I have a bunch of stitches in me, so don't move around too much wouldja?"

She felt Babydoll nod, and pulled her closer, tucking her head under her chin.

"I'll explain everything later, but right now you need to rest, I just needed to know that when you woke up you'd be here and not-" Rocket's façade of composure almost cracked, faced with the reality of how close she was to losing Babydoll forever. "Not someplace else. But you're here now, and that's what matters. You're safe here with me, so rest, I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

Rocket watched her eyes close once more, willing herself not to panic, that everything would be okay this time, and that Baby would come back when she awoke.

She unconsciously starts to match Babydoll's breathing, the slower tempo calming her down.

Rocket blinked.

She looked down across the brass buckled straps at her charge; the steel willed warrior now seemed so incredibly fragile. She ached for the loss of Babydoll's sight. Rocket vowed to herself that she wouldn't leave her again, whatever greeted them with the dawn, and beyond, they would both face it.

Together.