Once again Grace, Marie, and Miles analyzed the fight with Jeff. Grace caught several new things and stored them away in her memory. A week passed, and she noticed that Marie seemed concerned and frustrated about something. When she asked about it, Marie would say it was nothing and walk off. Then another group was spotted. Miles had increased the quality of the Pidgey-cams and they were able to identify the morph as a Raichu-morph named Martin. This time Grace could definitely tell that Marie was worried. She quietly hid in the undergrowth as the group marched past.
"Jeff's behind you. Try to cut down on the number of bruises."
Slowly and deliberately, Grace turned to face Jeff, whose face was as emotionless as ever.
"You lied. They don't beat anyone."
"You asked?"
Jeff nodded as he launched himself at her. Grace dodged him, and they began fighting.
"Have you ever considered the possibility that they lied to you about that?"
"They said they've never lied to me."
Grace ducked under his fist and skillfully tripped him. "Have you ever thought that maybe they lied about lying to you?"
Jeff jumped up, but Grace knocked him down again, then proceeded to knock him out.
"How many bruises this time?" Marie asked as Grace went after the group.
"Two or three, I think. Not near as many as last time."
"Good."
Once again Grace found a tree with several low leafy branches and hid in it. Martin was last in line, his short legs giving him a disadvantage. Grace swung down, grabbed him, and swung back up. He gave a little squeak before Grace could cover his mouth.
"The morph's gone!"
"I heard something back there!"
"Spread out!"
"He could be in that tree!"
Rather than looking, one of the grunts pulled a gun from his shoulder and fired into the leaves of the tree. Grace let out a little gasp as a bullet tore through her shoulder. Martin likewise gasped as the bullet went through Grace and lodged in his arm.
"What is it? What's going on?" Marie all but yelled. Grace looked at her shoulder and heard Marie gasp. "That's not good. You need to get back right now."
"Can't. They're still shooting." Grace breathed into the mike as she bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut to try to block out the pain. She could hear someone yelling something about it being against orders to shoot. A couple of seconds later Marie gave her the all-clear, and Grace climbed down.
"Can you run?" she asked Martin.
"Of course. It's my arm that's hurt, not my leg."
They took off. After a while Martin started lagging, so after a long argument Grace convinced him to get on her back. They made it back without incidence, and Grace led Martin to the exam room. Julia had everything already laid out.
"Miles said you got shot." she explained as she pulled on latex gloves, "Which one of you has the bullet?"
Grace pointed to Martin and sat down as Julia expertly pulled it out and stitched up his wound. As Julia was finishing up her's Miles came in with a tray.
"Bart says your timing's horrible today, but he'll forgive you this once." he said as he set the tray down in front of Martin, who promptly began devouring it.
"Where's Marie?"
Mile frowned. "In the computer room. She refuses to come out."
"Do you know what's wrong?"
"No, but I have a feeling it has something to do with you getting hurt."
Grace frowned. What was going on with Marie? "I'd better talk with her."
Julia nodded and stuck her head out the door.
"Hi, Seth. Are you doing anything?"
"Nope." Seth stopped outside the room.
"Would you mind giving Martin the grand tour when he's finished eating?"
"Sure."
Martin quickly finished the food and followed Seth. Grace sighed as she adjusted the sling around her neck. She knew what was going to happen when she talked to Marie and she wasn't looking forward to it, but putting it off wouldn't help any. She and Miles went to the lab. Marie was sitting with her back to them, her shoulders shaking as she cried quietly.
"What's wrong?"
Marie turned around and stood, her tear-stained face stormy. "What's wrong? You almost get yourself killed, and you're asking me what's wrong?"
Miles opened his mouth to say something, but Grace gave him a tiny shake of her head. Marie needed to let it all out.
"From the first time you went out, you've put yourself in danger. Every time I've been scared that you wouldn't make it back, that the one time you needed help it wouldn't be there. Ever since Jeff started appearing I've been afraid that there'd be one time where you were too slow, where you'd trip or something like that, and I'd never see you again. When you come back covered in bruises, I can't help but think about when we were in the compound and you'd come back bleeding and I didn't know if you'd even live through the night. Then I start thinking about Tori, and what would happen if you died. And now you go off and get yourself shot..."
Marie sat down and began sobbing. Grace knelt in front of her and gently embraced her with her good arm while Marie cried into her shoulder. After a while Marie's sobs subsided.
"Marie, I know it's hard. I know there's a chance that I won't come back. But this is something I have to do. How would you feel if you knew that there was someone out there that could help you but wouldn't because she was scared of getting hurt or killed? I can't let them down like that. Try to understand."
Marie sniffed and sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I know. It's just so hard when you're getting hurt and all I can do is watch. Could you at least just promise me that you won't get shot again?"
"I promise I'll try."
Marie sniffed again and gave her a little smile. "I guess I'll have to settle for that. Thanks."
"It's the least I could have done."
Marie left to get herself cleaned up, and Grace followed Miles out.
"I've heard you mention Tori a couple of times. Who is he?"
Grace looked at him in surprise. "Marie never talked about him?"
"She said he was a close friend, but she wouldn't say any more."
Grace sighed and looked away, sadness tinging her voice. "Tori was a Gallade-morph, and the only other one that was ever in our hut. We were all pretty close, but Marie was much, much closer to him than I was. One time they pitted me against him and Marie in a fight to the death. Tori refused to fight me point blank, then attacked one of the guards. They...they beat him to death. Marie's never really gotten over it."
Miles put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks. That's all I needed to know."
Grace left, and Miles went to find Seth. Seth was introducing Martin to some other morphs, but came over when Miles caught his eye.
"Could I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure."
"What do you know about Tori?"
Seth looked sad, but nowhere near as sad as Grace had been. "He was in the same hut as Grace and Marie. They were all pretty close, but Marie was closer to him than Grace. Everyone liked him. No matter how hard they beat him, he'd still find something to joke about, and he was more loyal than anyone thought possible. We were all sad when he got killed, but Marie and Grace took it the hardest. In fact, I think they're still taking it hard."
"What do you mean?"
"I know Marie's still grieving a little, and Grace blames herself for his death."
"Why would she blame herself?"
Seth sighed. "She still believes that she could have done something, even though there was nothing that she could have possibly done. Everyone's tried to convince her of that, and for the most part she's appeared to accept it, but deep down, she still thinks there must have been something."
"Thank you. That helps me a lot."
"Any time." Seth went back to the group.

Happy early St. Patrick's Day, everyone! By the way, this is chapter ten and there still haven't been any reviews. Just thought I'd point that out. Have a fantastic day!