Hey guys, I hope you're all doing well today. Here's another chapter for you, so enjoy.

Chapter Summary: Armed with a potential lead, the group must decide who to send to investigate it. Not everybody will be happy with the choice, however.

Chapter Twelve: Data

When Max entered the main part of the warehouse, she could see everyone gathered in their usual planning area. Lynn was the only one not present, presumably still in Kate's room. A pang of sympathy and anger gripped at her heart as she remembered the close call. Pushing back on her emotions, she walked towards the rest of the motley crew. She needed to focus on her mission. Rachel glanced at her knowingly as she approached. The young mercenary tried her best to ignore the smug look as she made her way across the room and sat down beside Chloe on the couch. It suddenly felt a lot smaller than before and she noticed every time their legs briefly brushed together. She tried to focus on the task at hand and not the warmth radiating from the woman sat beside her.

Now that all those concerned were here, Rachel stood before them ready to present her findings. "So, as you all probably know Victoria and I have been working on the info Max procured earlier."

The group nodded solemnly, casting sideways glances at Kate to see how she would react to the reminder. She was surprisingly calm and unperturbed, at least externally. It took a lot to break Kate Marsh as Max already knew. Thanks to her voluntary work, she had seen the human effect of PresCorp's reign of terror and had hardened because of it. All she was focused on now was taking them down as soon as possible to prevent anyone else suffering.

Rachel cleared her throat to return the attention back to their mission briefing. "Well, we've managed to track down some of the meeting places. No prizes for guessing which district we need to look in."

"Let me guess, it's the one where all the shady shit happens, right?" Chloe asked, already knowing the answer. There was only one district where human trafficking, or whatever the hell PresCorp was doing with these kidnapped people, could be overlooked so casually.

"Bingo. Right here in District Nine," Rachel confirmed with a hint of solemnness. They had all been expecting it, of course. It didn't take a genius to figure it out.

Kate nodded slowly, her expression hardening a fraction. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Of course it does," Victoria added as she crossed her arms and sat back in her chair looking all the part of the Queen she believed she was.

With this out of the way, Rachel pressed on to the important discussion. She held up the small device for them all to see. "So, the next order of business is figuring out what to do with this information. Considering our position, it's not like we can do anything too drastic. We could risk our entire plan and much worse."

Chloe frowned as she stared at the data storage device, murderous intent in her eyes. "You have no idea how tempting it is to just blow those areas up right now…"

Noticing the malice radiating from her friend, Rachel turned to her with a sympathetic look. "I agree, but it won't help us. It'll draw unwanted attention and we might hurt people we don't mean to."

"The only thing we can do is observe," Max concluded. That was their only logical option right now.

There was a soft sigh of relief from Kate's direction. "That sounds much less dangerous."

As far as Victoria was concerned, she seemed to agree with the plan. Or at least, she wasn't against it. "You'd be surprised what you can pick up from 'private' conversations between lackeys."

Now that a tactic of stealthy recon had been decided, it was time to talk details. Rachel was prepared with a potential plan, as usual. "We have possible locations for the next few days or so. There are some other potential leads we can follow up on while we're looking into it. This one does seem the most promising, though. There are two locations of particular interest. The nearest is about an hour away from here while the second is about two hours in the other direction."

"So, who's going?" Chloe asked tentatively. That question had been on all of their minds.

For some reason, Rachel seemed reluctant to answer. She took her time, twirling a strand of her long blonde hair around her finger before replying. "The fewer people, the better and I think picking the stealthier members of our group would be a wise move. One person covering each base should be enough for what we need to do. For that reason, I would suggest sending Victoria and Max. Now-"

She didn't have the chance to continue as Chloe was quick to interrupt and voice her protests. "Wait, you plan on sending them in alone? What if something goes wrong?"

Clearly, Rachel had been anticipating some resistance from Chloe given her expression of weary acceptance. "They are more than capable of defending themselves or hauling ass. Don't you guys agree?"

Instead of answering simply with yes, Victoria voted for her usual haughty response. "You should already know my extensive skills."

That got the impish blonde grinning. "Oh, I do. Very well."

Although it seemed redundant now, Max weighed in with her opinion. "I've been involved in tougher and more dangerous missions before."

Unfortunately for the group, Chloe wasn't prepared to let her objection go. "We don't even know how many people will be out there. Maybe you guys can deal with ten enforcers on your own if things go wrong, maybe fifteen at a push, but what if there are way more than that? None of us are superheroes."

There was a slight pause as Rachel gathered her thoughts, trying to make Chloe understand that this was the only viable option, "I would love to give them unlimited backup, but our hands are tied." Before Chloe could interrupt again, Rachel beat her to it. "And if you had the idea of going along too then you can forget it. I need you here to look into something else. Something important."

That wasn't enough to satisfy the blue-haired rebel. "Screw that! You can't just send Max and Victoria out there when we don't even know what we're up against."

Fortunately for Rachel, Victoria came in to act as her backup. "It's not like we'll be totally alone or be completely blind. The Chase Network will be on call and monitoring both our movements. Same with Watchdog. If we get stuck, they'll provide back up. Do you really think I would go on a suicide mission? I sent word ahead and they're already looking into the sites in question. We'll find out what we're up against and when to move in no time."

Rachel offered her an appreciative smile before turning back to Chloe. "See, nothing to worry about. They're in good hands."

Instead of helping the situation, this new information only seemed to make her more distrustful of the plan. "If we can trust our backup."

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" Victoria snapped as she glared at the infamous Punk Pirate with disdain.

Chloe stood her ground, not showing even a hint of weakness. "All I'm saying is that we're putting a lot of stock in groups we don't know much about. Groups who have done a lot of questionable things for money."

That accusation was too much for Victoria. She stood up and paced over to the couch with a vengeance. "Fuck you, Price. Don't you dare give me any of that bullshit. You know what we've all been through because of those bastards at PresCorp… what we've all had to lose. Do you really think we'd sell ourselves out?"

Almost instantly Chloe jumped up from the couch and matched her aggressive behavior, getting right up in her face. "I don't know, would you?"

Before things could get more out of hand than they already were, Rachel got in the middle and pushed them away from one another. "That's enough. From both of you."

There was a brief second where Victoria seemed shocked at the sudden separation. It didn't last long. "Um… excuse you. This conversation doesn't even concern you, so keep out of it."

"Oh, I think it does concern me and you know it does. It concerns all of us," Rachel turned to Chloe, looking stern and completely done with all this. "Chloe, I know you are worried but that does not mean that you can take your frustration out on other people. Especially people helping us." She seamlessly swiveled around to stare Victoria down, not even pausing for a second. "And Victoria, you can't keep acting like a spoiled brat, kicking off when someone challenges you. We all have to stick together and unite against our common enemy. If we don't… we won't even make it another day. We all know what's at stake here, so get your head in the game and put aside petty squabbles. Stupid distractions can and will get you killed."

The atmosphere was so tense you could cut it with a knife. For a moment, both Max and Kate worried that there would be blood. They exchanged tentative glances, just waiting to see who would strike first in this standoff.

"Whatever," Victoria suddenly huffed as she stormed off towards her room. When she had gone, Chloe began muttering to herself and headed off outside.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Kate finally spoke up. "It's a bit… tense."

Rachel turned to her with a sad smile. "Now that's an understatement if I ever heard one."

"Are they like this all the time?" She asked sympathetically.

The concern was enough to get Rachel to relax a bit. Not much, but anything was better than nothing. "When they see each other, yes. This is the longest they have spent around one another in years. I don't know, it's like they know exactly which buttons to press to piss each other off. Even I can't get Victoria as angry as Chloe does. I would call it a special skill, but…"

Such explosive hostility like that didn't just come from nowhere. There had to be a reason and Max began to wonder if that reason had something to do with Rachel. "Did something happen between them?"

As with every other time she had tried to push for information, Rachel kept her answer cryptic. "You could say that, I guess. Well, not really between them as such. It's… complicated for a lot of reasons, like everything nowadays. I know you all must be bored of hearing that line but… that's the only answer I can give right now."

"It's okay, we understand," Kate reassured, just thankful that the room had cleared of anger. She didn't like confrontation, even if she wasn't directly involved.

For a brief second, it seemed like Rachel was going to tell them something but quickly decided against it. "Now, I should probably go and clean up this mess by checking in on Victoria and Chloe. I need them focused for later. You guys should get ready too, especially you, Max."

With that, she left the room to go and find Victoria leaving Max and Kate alone in the warehouse. When she had left, Kate turned to the young mercenary. "You sure know how to pick them, Max."

Max rubbed the back of her neck with her hand, hoping that Rachel would be able to sort them out. "Yeah, tell me about it…"

Despite her initial comment, Kate didn't hold it against them. Everybody had their quarrels and they only escalated in situations like this. "At least they seem like nice people so far, if a little stressed out."

Max had seen this kind of in-fighting among groups before, even among Verge's members. Although, Ash was scarily good at stopping fights. That was why she was the leader. Well, one of the reasons. "We've only just started this and we're already falling apart."

"From what Rachel told us, this is an ongoing thing. She seemed fairly confident that she could sort things out," Kate mentioned, hoping that her trust had been well placed in Rachel's negotiating abilities.

"When doesn't she seem confident?" Max pointed out smugly.

There wasn't really anything Kate could refute in that statement. "Fair point."

There wasn't much they could do beyond talking about the tense situation more, so Max decided to change the topic. "Enough about that for now. How's Lynn doing?"

"Better, thanks for asking," something shifted in her eyes then as if she had just remembered something important. "Which reminds me, she asked for you. I was going to come find you, but then Rachel came and gathered us all together."

Max had wanted to talk to Lynn anyway, both to check she was doing okay and to make sure she understood what she had done was very dangerous. "I guess I'd better go to her, then."

Kate nodded in agreement and glanced back over to the door leading through to the bedrooms. "Good idea. It appears that Chloe and Victoria need some time to wind down anyway. Come and find me when you're done with Lynn. I'll be in the medical bay area. I feel more at home there, to be honest."

"I bet. See you soon." With this new plan in mind, she made her way over to Kate's room. She knocked on the door to let Lynn know she was coming in before stepping inside. Lynn was sat on the bed reading a dog-eared comic that Max had sworn she'd seen in Chloe's room before.

At the sound of the door opening, Lynn looked up from the comic in her lap. "Max…"

"Hey, Lynn," Max gently greeted as she strode across the room and sat down beside the young girl.

There was a brief silence as Lynn put the comic to one side and re-positioned herself on the bed. "Thank you for saving me."

Noticing the slight quiver in her voice, Max shuffled closer to her and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Don't sweat it, okay? Just… promise me that you won't do something like that again."

"I won't, ever. That was… really scary. I knew it was dangerous outside but…" she hesitated, unable to continue what she was saying. Instead, she changed the subject slightly. "What happened to that guy? Did you…?"

Max realized where she was going and swiftly reassured her. "He was just sleeping, Lynn. When he wakes up, he won't remember anything."

"Oh… good. I'm glad you didn't kill him. He must have had his reasons for…" Lynn's voice trailed off into silence as she remembered the moment she had almost been kidnapped. She wanted to see the best in people, just like Kate, but… it was hard to find a reason sometimes.

Max noticed the hesitation and placed a gentle hand on Lynn's shoulder, "Sometimes, people don't have much of a choice. They do what they have to do to survive. It might not always be the morally correct thing to do, but it's all they know how to do." That statement could describe her as much as it could that PresCorp enforcer or anybody else struggling to survive.

Lynn's eyes flickered with sadness as she listened. "That's… so sad."

"Yeah, it is," the young mercenary agreed, feeling the burden of her own death tolls weighing down on her. She'd killed so many people already. Just how many more lives would it take?

Silence filled the room as they sat there, contemplating what had happened and what was to come. Max felt a light tug on her arm and looked over to see Lynn with renewed determination in her eyes. "Max, can I ask you something?"

Shaking any self-doubt from her mind, Max nodded. "Sure you can."

Clearly, whatever it was that Lynn wanted to talk about was difficult for her. She looked a little nervous actually. "Can you… teach me how to defend myself?"

The question caught Max completely off guard. "Uh… y-yeah, if you want."

She didn't even have to push for an explanation. Lynn seemed prepared to give one without prompting. "I don't want to be helpless anymore. Even if I don't go running off on my own, I might get in trouble. Or maybe my sister will. We can't keep relying on you to help us. That's not fair."

While Lynn's determination was admirable, Max wanted her to realize that she could rely on her and that she should. "I will always be there to help you for as long as I possibly can."

"But that might not be forever, right?" Lynn asked, looking sad as she said it.

There was nothing Max could say to that. She didn't want to start making promises she couldn't keep or hide the truth. "Right. I might be away or… something."

"Kate tells me to rely on people I trust, but to also have a backup plan. Just in case," the young girl revealed.

As expected, Kate was totally on top of everything. "She's always been smart. People don't give her enough credit."

Lynn nodded slowly. "That's how she's kept us safe for so long, I think. Everybody underestimates her."

Just like Kate, she was very perceptive. Max was glad that this trait had passed onto her as well. "I think you're right."

After a few seconds Lynn looked up at her, a question clear in her eyes. "You're going out again, aren't you? Everybody was shouting about it."

There was little point in lying to her. Max wouldn't be surprised if everybody in a three-mile radius knew Chloe and Victoria had been fighting. "Yeah, I am. We found something important on that guy who tried to take you."

"So, I helped?" Lynn sounded hopeful that her mistake had actually yielded something useful. It was kind of cute to see her perk up.

"You did," Max agreed. She didn't want to encourage recklessness but she didn't want to deny when it turned out to be useful. Anything to get Lynn smiling again. "See, even if you're not strong or have a ton of weapons, you can help. Look, I have to get going now, but when I get back from my mission I can teach you some basic defense moves, okay?"

Looking considerably happier, Lynn let Max slide off the bed. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you."

Max offered her a warm smile before leaving her again. Now it was time to head on back to Kate. The medical bay was on the main floor near the back. It was much less crowded than the one back at Kate's shelter and much better stocked. There were all kinds of interesting bottles and pills sitting on the shelves. Max wouldn't even know where to begin. Kate was over by one of the cupboards, sorting out its contents. She always had been conscious of order.

Figuring that it would be weird to just stand there and watch her, Max cleared her throat. "Hey, Kate."

After placing something back in the cupboard, Kate stood up and walked over to her. "Max, perfect timing."

That answer made her feel a bit nervous for some reason. Maybe it was the way Kate had said it like she had finally cornered her prey. "Oh, and why's that?"

"I happen to know that a certain someone is due a potentially life-saving shot," she replied, clearly expecting some kind of resistance.

"Who's that?" Max asked, feigning ignorance.

Kate placed a hand on her hip, putting on her sternest expression. "You, of course. I know that's why you were avoiding the clinic like the plague until now."

All Max could offer in response was a sheepish grin. "Maybe…"

Realizing that she had won this battle, Kate motioned towards one of the beds in the room. "Well, whatever excuse you want to use it doesn't matter now. I can't let you go out on dangerous missions without it. There's no escape."

"Why does that sound so ominous?" Max mumbled as she sat down on the bed Kate had pointed to. She'd always been freaked out by needles but had never had a bad experience with them personally. Hopefully, she never would.

As Kate gathered together everything she needed from one of the cupboards, she glanced over her shoulder. "So, what did Lynn have to say?"

There was no point in lying to Kate about this, so Max told her the truth. "She wants me to teach her some self-defense."

"Really? That might be a good thing, actually. As much as I hate her having to learn, she has to eventually," it sounded as if Kate was trying to justify it to herself as she made her way back over to Max. "It's a dangerous world out there for anyone, let alone a young child. I think you would do a better job of teaching her that kind of thing than me."

"Oh, I don't know, I'm sure you have a solid right hook or two in you," Max joked as she eyed up the syringe sheepishly, watching the liquid being drawn up.

"Now you're just being silly." Kate chuckled softly as she carefully yet swiftly pushed the needle into Max's arm. The whole process only took a couple of seconds. "Not that I don't appreciate the vote of confidence."

"If the situation called for it, I bet you could kick ass," the young mercenary mentioned half-jokingly. She suspected that if Lynn was in danger, Kate would do anything to get her out of it. It was always the quiet ones you had to look out for.

"Hopefully, we'll never have to find out," she replied softly as she finished up. "I'm better at fixing people than breaking them."

"I wish I could say that…" Max sighed lightly as she stood up and rolled her shoulders.

"Sometimes, fixing requires some breaking first," Kate sounded a bit sad as she said that, a slight frown forming on her brow. "You just have to hope that the fixing justifies the breaking."

Before Max could respond, Rachel stuck her head around the door. "Ah, here you are. Victoria is ready when you are to head out. The sooner, the better."

"Be there in a minute," once she had disappeared back out of the room, Max turned back to Kate. "I guess I'd better get going."

A flicker of humor entered Kate's eyes then. "Try not to get too beat up out there. I've quite enjoyed not having much to do. It's almost like a holiday for me."

Max couldn't help but smile, even though she knew Kate was only half joking. "What and risk you getting bored?"

"I have enough to keep me busy without patching you up. Trust me," her expression softened slightly. "So, don't make more work for me. Got it?"

"Duly noted." Not wanting to keep Victoria waiting for too long, especially considering the foul mood she could be in, Max left the medical bay and headed back towards the main part of the warehouse. She had a mission to do and nothing would get in her way.

I'll cut it off there for now since the chapter is getting a bit long. Tune in next time to see what their investigation uncovers.