Stalemate

They wanted to blindfold them.

„She can't walk." Raffe's voice sounded hard in the echoing tunnels.

The guy who'd done all the talking and appeared to be the leader of the troop shrugged. "I'll carry her."

„No." Penryn startled at the sharpness in Raffe's voice.

The leader paused and threw him a gauging look, having to tilt his head back to look him in the eyes. "You're not making the rules here."

"You're not touching her."

"You're either coming with us blindfolded or not at all. It looks like she could use our help, though." When Raffe's stony expression didn't change, he added, "I won't do anything inappropriate to your girl."

"Fine." Both men turned to Penryn at the sound of her voice. She pressed a hand to the wall and struggled to hoist herself up. "It looks like we have no other option."

She met Raffe's eyes and saw his disdain. She held his gaze for a moment, and whatever he must've seen in her face made him release a terse sigh and nod almost imperceptible. His body was tense as someone stepped behind him and put a rag of cloth over his eyes, but he made no move to stop them. The leader stepped closer to Penryn. "Turn around."

She bit her lower lip and slowly did what she was told. She had agreed to let them blindfold her, but she didn't feel good about this at all. They were completely helpless against these people and they had no idea who they were. Though, she supposed, if they didn't have their best interest in mind, it wouldn't matter anyway. Raffe and she were helplessly outnumbered and unarmed. And she couldn't run.

A rolled piece of cloth was put over her eyes and tied at the back of her head. A second later, masculine arms wrapped around her and she was lifted up. She did her best not to stiffen up, but feeling a stranger's hands on her, her body pressed into his hard chest, without being able to even see him, made alarm bells go off in her head. She breathed deeply to calm down.

"Don't worry." His voice was closer than she'd expected and she flinched in spite of herself. "I meant what I said to your friend. We're not the bad guys here."

The words echoed in her head as the group began moving. If these guys were really part of the Resistance, then they might be ruthless and violent, but they were indeed not the bad guys. It was the only movement that dared to strike back, the only instance of hope that the people of Jonum still had. Which was why the Guardians would never acknowledge them by mentioning them in news broadcasts or public announcements. According to the government, there was no threat.

But here they were, sabotaging government operations and spreading their signs all over the city, planting a seed of rebellion into the hearts of Jonum's citizens.

They were determined. Ruthless. And they'd kill them on the spot if they found out who Raffe was.

They walked for a long time. At first, Penryn tried to memorize the way, but soon she gave up, having lost all orientation. She began to suspect that they took so many turns and delays to throw Raffe and her off. It didn't help her dizziness. The tension had long drained out of her. At this point, she was fighting to stay awake. Her head felt light, in stark contrast to the leaden heaviness of her limbs. She knew that the air must be crisp cold down here, but she didn't feel the sting of it against her overheated skin.

By the time the group stopped, she had lost all sense of time and was barely conscious. Far away, she heard the muffled sound of stone scraping over stone and had the strange sense of being lifted into the air, and then she was floating, floating, and the weightlessness took her into the dark.


"…found them near the port in the canalization…"

"…was half dead… gave her an antibiotic…"

"… shouldn't have brought them in…"

Scraps of conversation pierced through the numbness, pulling at the delicious fog in her head until it slipped away and revealed the hard, hot pain underneath. The pulsing pain brought her back to her senses, and she opened her eyes with a groan. The voices fell silent. She blinked against the heaviness in her eyelids, grateful for her dimly lit surroundings. She had a feeling that bright light would feel like taking a knife to the head right now. She was lying on a small cot, looking up at a low ceiling, cables and wires hanging bare. She sat up gingerly, glad to be spared another roll of nausea. A small tube led from the crook of her arm to an infusion that languorously dripped a clear liquid.

Three people were standing around her. One of them was the guy who'd carried her, the other two – a man and a woman – she didn't recognize. The man was tall and lean, with military short hair and sharp eyes. Those eyes pierced through her and Penryn looked away, finding it much easier to meet the woman's thoughtful gaze.

"I see you're awake," the man said.

Penryn lifted one shoulder, as if to say 'obviously'. The guy's hard gaze didn't change.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated, then said, "Penryn."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leant back against the naked concrete wall. There was a rifle slung over his shoulder casually, but something about his demeanor told her that he was no stranger to weapons and wouldn't hesitate to use his. "How did you end up in the canalization with a second stage sepsis and a bullet wound in the thigh?"

Ah, getting straight to the point. Penryn decided to stick with the truth for now. "I was shot by a Guardian." This wasn't too uncommon. Civilians could get harmed easily enough if they were caught in the crossfire.

"When was this?"

"I… I don't know. 15 hours ago? Maybe more. How long have I been unconscious?"

Now the woman spoke up. In the dim electric light, her dark skin looked almost black. "About five hours. We put you on heavy antibiotics and intravenous drip. You were short of a renal failure. You don't happen to have the bullet that hit you, do you?"

Penryn snorted and leaned back on her hands. "I had more important things to do at that time."

"Like running from your persecutors?" The man was unrelenting.

Penryn sighed. "I got shot. We ran. Is that so hard to believe?"

She looked around. The room she was in appeared to be no more than a narrow crook, barely wide enough for one cot and her three visitors to stand in. A faint hum was in the air. Raffe was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is my friend?"

"He's fine. He has been interrogated in a separate room."

"I want to see him."

The guy pushed off the wall and watched the woman check the catheter in Penryn's arm.

"He's been saying the same thing for the last five hours." He shot the woman a look "Fitzroy?" She nodded. The light caught on a row of piercings that lined her right earlobe. Another ring adorned her nose.

"We'll bring you to him."

The woman, who was apparently Fitzroy, disconnected the I.V. tube and helped Penryn stand up. Only now did she realize that her clothes had been replaced by a long, shapeless shirt, the color a washed out grey. The dirty gauze around her thigh had been replaced by clean bandages. Her feet were bare.

Penryn was relieved to find that she could put weight on her left leg again without shaking from pain. Fitzroy put an arm under her shoulder and helped her hobble after the two men, who walked to the door. It swung open, and Penryn's jaw dropped.

The door opened up into a massive hall, the floor and wall made off the same naked concrete as her small room. Massive light bulbs hung under the high ceiling, shining pale white light down on at least a hundred people that were going about their business. A platform lined the walls above their heads, narrow bridges pulling through the width of the room to the other side of the wall. Penryn couldn't count all the doors that went off from the hall into other tunnels or rooms, but there were at least two dozen.

Now Penryn knew where the faint hum had come from before. In the far wall, a massive ventilator was embedded in the concrete, its huge blades spinning slowly behind a metal grid.

"What is this place?" she breathed disbelievingly.

Fitzroy snorted. "Telling you would defeat the purpose of blindfolding you on the way here."

They marched her to a door on the left side of the hall into a narrow corridor. The man with the sharp eyes, whose name she still didn't know, led the way to a door on the right and nodded to an armed guy that was standing in front of it like a guard. The guy opened the door and stepped aside to let them in.

The room was slightly bigger than her own had been, but Raffe's towering frame made it look cramped. There wasn't much space for him to pace the floor, but he seemed to have managed it anyway and stilled in his tracks now as he saw them approach. His gaze slipped over Mr. Sharp-Eye briefly before landing on Penryn with an intensity that made her want to squirm. His eyes raked over her, lingering on every bruise and scratch as if he was gauging the severity of every single one.

Penryn, not knowing what else to do with herself, stepped into the room to stand next to him. Raffe shifted, his arm brushing hers. She didn't understand why some of the tension seeped out of her muscles at his closeness, why the knot of anxiety lessened slightly as she felt the warmth radiating from him, but she knew that she had to suppress the inexplicable urge to lean closer to him and steal some more of his strength. It didn't make sense. He should be the enemy here. These guys were the good ones, the ones who were on her side and the side of her people, and yet, something inside her yearned to seek shelter from them by the side of this Guardian.

She noticed Mr. Sharp-Eyes scrutinizing gaze on them and straightened.

"As we told you, we haven't harmed her." It took Penryn a second to realize that the guy was talking to Raffe. Raffe didn't respond. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to your little reunion and get you something to eat. And then we'll talk."

He turned around and left the room, motioning for Fitzroy to follow him. They were left with the guard, who looked unsure what to do.

"He's charming," Penryn murmured dryly. The guard chuckled. "Who, Obi? I think he's as nice as can be expected to two complete strangers that have been brought into base."

"We didn't ask for it."

The guard didn't respond, apparently coming to the conclusion that it wasn't in his authority to give any further explanation. "I'll be outside." He closed the door with a warning look. Penryn caught Raffe roll his eyes when she turned to him.

"They've been like this the entire time. Playing soldier, acting tough." He sounded as if he was talking about children playing dress-up.

"You don't think they are tough? Those guns looked pretty tough to me."

At that, Raffe's gaze, which had lingered on the closed door, snapped to her. "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head wordlessly, surprised by the fierceness of his words. "I hate to admit it, but I think they saved my life. Said I was close to a renal failure. Apparently you were right about the poison. I had a severe sepsis."

A muscle in his jaw was working, but his voice was unexpectedly gentle as he asked "How are you feeling?"

She cleared her throat. "Better." The silence that followed felt awkward. "So what did they do to you?" Penryn asked.

Raffe shrugged. "Asked questions. Who we are, where we're from, the usual."

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing."

She snorted. "You think they'll let us go soon?"

He turned to her. "I don't even know why they took us in. Seems mighty stupid for a secret, illegal organization to take two strangers into their base, show them their faces, insight on their operation. After all, you never know," a wry smile lifted the corners of his lips, "you could be talking to the enemy."

His words made Penryn feel cold all over. His tone had been ironical, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was a real threat in his words. Why wouldn't there be? He owes my people nothing, she thought bitterly. She felt like slamming her fist through a wall. Or better, through him.

Before she could dwell on that thought any further, the door opened and Mr. Sharp-Eye – Obi, as the guard had called him – reappeared, two loafs of bread in his hands. He handed the bread to them and Penryn all but tore into the food, only now realizing how starved she was.

Obi leaned against the wall and watched them wolf down their meager meal in silence. Only when Penryn had gulped down the last bite did she realize that Raffe was holding out half of his share to her. She looked up at him in surprise to find him look at her with a stony expression. "Eat it," he said roughly. She hesitated, then took it from him, her hunger winning over her guilt. "Thank you," she murmured gratefully. He looked away abruptly.

Alright. Weird.

Obi was still watching them. Penryn wanted to break the uncomfortable silence but settled for nibbling on her bread instead, waiting for someone to say something. When nobody did, she heaved a sigh and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Alright, what's this about? Giving us the silent treatment? If you got something to say, say it."

Obi seemed unfazed. "I was just watching you. You are quite strange, the pair of you. Found deep in the canalization, one with a life threatening blood infection, having escaped a patrol. And claiming to have jumped off a train at that. Either you are bold liars, or you're much more skilled than the average citizen."

Penryn shrugged. "We'd never lie." Which was a total lie.

"Are you from the Southern District?" They nodded in union.

Obi turned to Raffe. "As I suspected. You look like a dock worker with those muscles and tan."

Only now did Penryn realize that Raffe spoke as little as possible in front of the Resistance members, and she realized why. As subtle as his accent was, he was already looking foreign with his tanned skin and impressive build. Any slip of an accent and they'd know who he was. And then they were screwed.

"He's not the smartest," she hastened to say, ignoring the annoyed glare she received from the side. "And not very good with words. You know," she tried for a cheeky smile, "like most men."

That got a grin out of Obi. "Prefer to let your woman do the talking, eh?"

Great, Penryn thought. Now they have some male bonding ground.

"Well, maybe you'll warm up a little while I accompany you to your room."

"Our room? You're keeping us here?"

Obi shrugged. "You didn't think we'd just let you walk out here, right? Tomorrow, the council will discuss what to do what to do with you."

He must've misunderstood the shock in Penryn's face, because he said, "Don't worry, we're not going to kill you. Most likely, you'll both get a good shot of Prop-4 and be dropped off somewhere a good distance from here. No harm done."

Penryn sucked in an audible breath. Prop-4 was a Propanolol-based substance that, in the right dosage, induced temporal retrograde amnesia, powerful enough to easily wipe out the last 48 hours of their life. And if there was anything that she couldn't afford right now, it was losing her memories of the last two days. She threw a look at Raffe, but apart from the tension in his whole body, he hadn't visibly reacted.

"Alright, follow me." Obi turned around and walked out of the door. After another second of shock, Penryn made to follow him. Raffe was closely behind her, so close that she didn't notice the other armed soldier at the rear until they stopped in front of another small room, barely large enough to fit the two cots that had been crammed inside.

"You'll understand that we will put you under guard for the night. If you have to use the bathroom during the night, knock on the door and you will be escorted to the bathroom and back again." Obi stepped aside to let them walk into the room. Penryn reluctantly did, sitting down on one of the hard cots. Raffe walked into the room after her but remained standing.

"I advice you not to try anything stupid," Obi said. "It would make the whole situation entirely more uncomfortable for all of us."

She nodded numbly and Obi gave her a small smile. "You'll be alright. Try to sleep. You're still weak from the infection." She nodded again, more out of reflex than actual agreement, and saw Raffe bristle from the corner of her eye. When the door closed, leaving them in darkness but for a small rectangle of light falling through a window in the door, she turned to him. "We're screwed."

Raffe was still looking at the door, his face dark. "Are we?"

"If they give us Prop-4, we are. We can't afford to lose the last 48 hours. Two days ago my life was a lot different from now."

"And here I thought you were doing these kinds of things all the time." Raffe's voice was dry.

I certainly don't make a habit out of traveling with Guardians. Or sharing a bed with one… She blushed at the thought and was suddenly thankful for their dim surroundings.

"So, should we, like, try to escape?"

It was just light enough for her to catch him shake his head. "There's a guard stationed outside our door. He might not be a problem, but his rifle certainly is. And the whole place is swarming with wannabe soldiers. We'd never make it out." He laid down on his cot. "It's probably best to try and get some sleep."

She looked incredulous at the vague dark shape that was his head. "I don't think I can. I'm too anxious."

He sighed. "Obi was right, you're still weak. You've been half dead a few hours ago. Sleep will do you some good."

"What will do me some good is getting out of here and finding out about my sister's whereabouts as soon as possible. And I thought you had no time to lose in finding your rifle and setting things straight with your people?"

There was a beat of silence and then another sigh and then his silhouette seemed to be sitting up and leaning toward her. She gasped in surprise when his hand suddenly touched her cheek.

"You're still feverish," he said quietly. His voice was slightly hoarse and for some reason, it sent shivers down her back. His hand was cold on her cheek, which might be due to the fact that she was still feverish, but it didn't feel unpleasant. His fingers were calloused and rough, but his touch was had the sudden urge to lean into his touch. She pulled away abruptly. "I'm fine."

He was still for a moment, almost hesitant, and then he pulled back and laid back down, rolling onto his side. "There's nothing we can do right now, Penryn. So sleep. Or at least, let me sleep."

She glared at his dark form, but he was oblivious to it, his breathing quickly turning deep and even. With a sigh, she laid down as well, her bones heavy with sleep, despite her anxiety. She listened to Raffe's breaths, strangely aware of his body only half a foot next to hers. The last thought that she had before she fell asleep was that she would only have to reach out her arm to touch him.


She was still asleep when Raffe woke up. Like most times, transitioning from sleep to alertness didn't take him a long time, so he threw the thin covers off and sat up. It couldn't have been later than six in the morning, but there was bustle on the other side of the door that told him that the people here were already up and working.

He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders to shake of the tension in his muscles. His gaze fell on the cot beside him. The girl was still sleeping, curled on her side with her knees pulled to her chest, facing him. Her lips were slightly parted, softly sloped, her face slack. He was relieved to see that the sickly grayish tone to her skin had disappeared and some color had returned to her cheeks. Although he didn't like the thought of these people putting her on any meds, whatever they'd given her seemed to be working.

He let out a deep breath, annoyed with himself for his wandering thoughts. He wasn't supposed to care and it irritated him to no end that he didn't seem to be able to stop her from getting under his skin. What was it about her that constantly caught his attention? He supposed that she was a remarkably resourceful girl, and he could've ended up with a far worse companion, but that didn't explain the unexpected concern he had felt when she'd been shot.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. He wasn't used to caring and it was certainly frustrating.

Someone was talking in front of their door. Raffe jumped off of the cot, tension returning to his muscles as he readied to face whoever would greet them behind the door. He doubted that they were in any immediate danger, but in an unknown environment, more or less trapped in a situation that could turn very hostile very fast, it was a natural reaction of his body to prepare himself for a fight. He reached a hand out softly touch Penryn's shoulder to wake her. She startled out of her slumber as soon as he touched her.

"Wha-"

"Shh." He hushed her with a stern look. His eyes wandered from her to the door and she followed his gaze, sitting up as she heard the voices outside. She slid from her cot to stand beside him, and he could feel that she, too, was full of tension. Good for her.

"What do we do if they try to give us the Prop-shots?" she murmured under her breath.

"We won't let them."

"And if they won't bother to ask for permission first?" Her voice was drier than dry. He was pleasantly surprised by her ability to resort to sarcasm even in a situation like this. Almost as much as he was annoyed by it.

"Then we'll improvise."

As if on cue, the door swung open and they were greeted by the sight of a very unintimidating, very bored-looking guard. "Follow me," he muttered. "I'll show you the dining hall." Without waiting for a response he spun around and marched down the hall. Penryn and Raffe exchanged a look before following the guy. It was clear by his careless attitude that he thought that escorting them around was beneath him. They followed him through a little maze of corridors, and Raffe once again wondered how a once small group of resistance fighters could have bloomed into such a well-equipped organization under the regime.

"There we are." The guard stepped aside to reveal a wide hall with low ceilings, crammed with tables and chairs that were almost all occupied. "You can get in line for breakfast over there." He pointed to a quickly growing queue on the right side of the room. When neither of them responded, he shrugged and turned around, walking away without another word.

Penryn gave a more or less helpless shrug. "Should we, you know, get in line?"

Raffe didn't like the idea of either of them eating anything that this people gave them, but they both needed the energy and there was no telling when would be the next time they'd get something to eat.

"Alright."

The eyes that followed them through the hall didn't go unnoticed by either of them. Penryn crossed her arms in front of her chest and drummed her fingers anxiously against her forearm. She was still wearing the long, gray shirt that these people had put her in, and though the hem skimmed just below her knee, he didn't like the way that it exposed her legs in a place like this. These guys could claim that they were the good ones all they wanted, but they were still a bunch of lawless men and he didn't want any of their attention on Penryn.

There you go again with the caring, he scolded himself. Stop fretting over the girl, she's not yours to protect.

Though, he supposed, as long as they travelled together, they could watch each other's back. That was all.

"So you guys are the two renegades that were freshly picked up from the canalization." A redhead in front of them had turned around and grinned at them. His freckled face was slightly sunburnt, the tips of his ginger hair paler than the roots, which gave him a sort of boyish look. Like most people here, he was dressed in dark, robust looking clothes. Raffe guessed that he was around Penryn's age, maybe a bit older.

"Looks like we are," Penryn said, looking the boy up and down. "And you are?"

"Dee. Pleasure to meet you. Unfortunately, new recruits are rarely pretty girls, so I'm more than happy to welcome you here."

"We're not recruits," Penryn said surprised. Dee waved a hand dismissively. "You're about to eat our amazing breakfast, right? And more importantly, you still remember what happened in the last 48 hours. Sounds like recruits to me."

He turned away from them to receive a bowl of what looked like gray slime from a guy behind the counter. Raffe and Penryn each received an equal bowl of slime.

"Lovely breakfast." Dee waved for them to follow him and together they sat down at one of the few empty tables.

"They said they'd be deciding what to do with us today," Penryn said, watching Dee dig into his meal. Raffe could see in the gauging look that she threw the redhead that she was hoping to gain some information about what was in store for them.

"Oh, I don't think they will," Dee said and motioned for them to eat their meal. Penryn and Raffe both hesitantly brought a spoon of the white slime to their mouth. It tasted like nothing, which was better than Raffe had hoped.

"What is that?" Penryn asked and watched the slime drop from her spoon back into her bowl.

"It's a mix of all nutrients that the human body needs," Dee answered with his mouth full. "It's not exactly delicious, but it keeps you alive and going."

"Right. And why do you not think that they will decide about our fate today?" Raffe asked.

Dee leaned back in his seat and grinned. "Because, Mr. Tough, you two are runaways that managed to escape a patrol despite a bullet wound and blood poisoning, and – if you were telling the truth – by jumping off a moving train at that. Also," he added with a look in Raffe's direction. "You look like you could break a guy's neck with a flick of the wrist. Sounds like a wet dream for any Resistance. You two are A+ recruiting material."

Raffe sighed and leaned back in his seat. Great. "Kind of careless to just keep two strangers around in your secret base," Raffe said. He could feel Penryn tense next to him.

Dee, however, didn't seem concerned. "Who said that this is our base?" With that, he let his spoon drop into his now empty bowl with a clang and pushed away from the table. "Well, enjoy your breakfast."

He winked at Penryn and turned around to go on his way, walking with a little bounce in his steps.

"What the hell."

Raffe turned to look at Penryn, who'd turned pale – if it was even possible to be paler than she already was. "Do you think he was telling the truth? That they're not planning on sending us on our way?"

He shoved his bowl away from him and sighed. "I think so. Sounds like they're trying to hold us here long enough to convince us of joining."

Penryn pulled her hands through her hair, letting it fall back onto her shoulder in a silky dark curtain. "Well, we can't stay here."

"Oh really?"

She threw him a dark look. "I'm serious, Raffe. This doesn't concern you at all?"

"I'm trying to think of a way to get out of here, but moping won't help. Right now, all we can do is play along until we come up with a plan. Or an opportunity presents itself."

Penryn's lips pressed together in a thin line, her dark eyes huge and filled with anxiety in her dainty face. He felt his annoyance melt into a sudden flare of protectiveness.

"Hey." He reached out and tugged on a strand of hair that had slipped away from behind her ear and now hung into her face. She glared at him and that was so much better than seeing that shimmer of fear in her eyes. "We're going to get out of here. Soon, okay? Right now, we have to play along." He was surprised to hear how soft his voice was, and even more surprised to see the tense lines in her face lessen slightly. "Just… trust me, okay?"

The moment the words escaped him, he wanted to take them back. She would never, could never, trust him, a Guardian, who was part of the regime that suppressed her people. It was a stupid thing to say, stupid and probably insulting, and he internally prepared for her to recoil and close up again, like he'd seen her do plenty of times now.

She didn't. Instead, she looked at him, still anxious but decidedly more determined. "Okay."


Well, hello there. I'm just peeking out from behind the tree I've decided to hide behind. I know it's been SO long, but then again, I think I've rarely ever written a chapter that breaks the 5k word limit, so well... at least you've got that, which is nice. Anyway, since my longest finals period (and my vacation) is now over, I have a few weeks off, which means that I can write a lot more. And hopefully update much quicker. If anyone's still there or still interested in this story, let me know. And let me know what you think of this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed.

~K.