Chapter Six:

Recollection

I paced in my room, unable to comprehend what had happened. Not only had I found out I may have a sister, but I ran away, too afraid to face her. If she was my sister, what would she think about me? That I was a freak? Did she even know about my powers? Most people in the Warren did now.

I heard a knock on the door. "Joan?" I recognized Cole's voice almost immediately.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"I brought someone for you," he said, opening the door. "I explained your… situation to her."

"Which one?" I asked, giving a wry smile.

Dana came in. "The part where you have amnesia," she explained. "I'm sorry, Kayce. I didn't know. I-I thought you were dead, for gosh sakes!"

My eyebrow raised. "Why would you think that?"

Cole motioned for both of us to sit down, and then he sat as well. "I've got to listen to this." I gave him a questioning look. "Don't worry, Joan. I destroyed three major bases against the First Sons and the Dust Men, plus now that Sasha's incapacitated again, the Reapers won't make a move for another few days. I have time."

I shrugged, and looked at Dana. "Well?"

She hesitated. "Um… You see, you saved my life when we were escaping. I thought you'd died when you saved me!"

"What did I save you from?" I asked. "Who were we escaping?"

She gulped. "Kessler."

Several Weeks Earlier…

I opened the door to Dana's cage, quickly discarding my broken lockpick. "Dana! Hurry, we gotta get out of here!"

"Kayce!" Dana hurried out of her cage, large enough for a Great Dane just like mine, and ran ahead. "Let's go!"

I followed her, matching her steps perfectly. A plus about being captured is that we knew our way around, and after being forced to run in that God-awful maze for days on end, we were both pretty fit. We could run for miles without needing a single drop of water.

Dana veered right, and I followed. We could practically taste freedom. It was on the tip of our tongues…!

We found the ladder that Kessler used to get in and out of the lab. I went forward, but the grate wouldn't budge.

"Gimme a sec!" I told Dana. She nodded and climbed down the ladder, waiting anxiously. I propelled my legs upwards and kicked the grate as hard as I could, creating one hell of a sound. "C'mon!" I said, righting myself. "We have to get out of here now!"

I helped Dana up into the fresh air. It wasn't stale like we were used to, and there was so much of it that I was feeling woozy. I wasn't so sure about Dana though. She just looked happy to be out.

I replaced the grate when I heard footsteps coming from below, then I found a car and used all of my strength to push it over. It was lucky we were in this garage, or else it would've been weird to come up just on the street.

Dana looked at the entrance and saw something. She ushered me over, and as I looked, all hell broke loose. An explosion ripped through everything, and was barrelling towards Dana and I.

"KAYCE!" Dana screamed.

I stood in front of her and threw my hands in front of my face. When the explosion hit me, I realized that nothing Kessler had done to me had hurt me so much. Not when he drained my blood and filled my body with that glowing red stuff, and definitely not as much as when he beat me to within an inch of my life with his cyber-arm. I watched in horror as my skin burned and prickled, becoming black in front of my very eyes, like an over-done chicken in an oven, really.

Dana… As long as I stood in front of her, she wouldn't be harmed. I planted my feet firmly into the ground as more of my body turned black from the blast. I gritted my teeth and then screamed, unable to be strong for one more second.

But I was blasted off of my feet. The same went for Dana, however I didn't see where she went. I slammed into the concrete wall and fell flat on my face, the rubble falling around me, luckily.

My eyes started to blur, and it felt like I couldn't keep them open for one more second. But it was over; the blast had subsided. Every muscle and bone in my body was burning, and I could tell that somewhere on my body I was on fire. I didn't move to put it out; if I did, I was sure my arm would have snapped off.

"D-Dana…!" I called hoarsely as I slipped into unconsciousness. "Dana…!"

And somewhere, far away from me, I heard the estranged calls of: "Kayce!"

Present Day…

I stared at my hands. "But… But I woke up in the hospital a few days after the blast! If what you're saying is true, I should still be in a hospital bed!"

"I don't know what Kessler did to you, Kayce, but your healing must have been augmented somehow." She looked at the floor. "Kayce… I was thrown into the water just as the blast reached its climax. I survived because I was protected underwater, but when I surfaced I heard you. I wondered if it was just me, because I searched the hospital and there was no sign of you. I checked the garage, but whatever bodies should have been there were incinerated."

"Lovely," I murmured. "So, Kessler was the one behind all of… this?"

Cole put his hands up in defence. "Hey, don't look at me. I was being used by that bastard too."

I frowned. "Well, whatever the case, he's dead now." I stood up and paced. "So, it's good to know I have good healing. Now I don't have to worry about putting up a shield to defend myself. And that's help with my offence, and I can work more on dodging…"

"What the hell is she rambling about?" Dana asked Cole.

He smirked. "You haven't seen the papers lately?"

She shook her head. "I've been too pre-occupied trying to find a safe place to live, thanks."

"You can stay here," I offered. "Safest place there is."

"Yeah, says the walking lighter," Cole muttered.

"Hey, at least I don't live on a roof." I countered. "And I'm not a light bulb that could short-circuit at any second."

"Touché." Cole's phone suddenly went off. He answered it quickly. "Yeah?"

"Hey, man! It's Zeke!"

"I know," Cole replied, annoyed. "There's caller ID."

I heard Zeke laugh at the other end. "Well, whatever man! I heard a few rumours goin' around that Alden's back! And he's lookin' for revenge, Cole! He's gonna take it out on Joan first, so you guys'd better get outta there!"

"On it." Cole looked up at us. "Let's go."

I pushed Dana in front of me and we exited the apartment building. Not a second too soon, either. The building exploded.

"Man!" I huffed. "All of my stuff!"

"At least it wasn't you!" Dana said. "Hey, Cole, I have something that could help you out against Alden!"

Cole nodded. "Show me."

A few blocks later, Dana opened a locker in an alley and showed us one gigantic katana.

"It's called a nodachi," she explained, handing it to Cole, scabbard and all. "I think it'll help a bit."

"I don't need a weapon right now," Cole said, and handed it to me. "You, however, need to defend yourself a bit better, since you've decided you're not using your shield."

I shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? I need to know my limits!"

"Wait, why're you giving it to Kayce?" Dana asked frantically.

"I'm fighting, obviously," I told her, re-adjusting my messenger's bag to fit the scabbard underneath it. It fit perfectly. "No one explodes my apartment unless it's me!"

"You should leave it to the ones with the powers," Dana cautioned, following us out of the alley and onto the street. "If you get in the way, Cole could get hurt!"

"Do you have a crush on him or something?" I asked bluntly, shutting her up. "Chill out and don't worry. I have this handled!"

She frowned as we walked towards the incoming assault of Reapers and Dust Men. "That's what I'm afraid of."