Chapter Twelve:

Choice

A few weeks later, I was finally out of the sickbed and fighting the Militia. The Rebels had allowed me to, so I wasn't gonna waste my chance. I would slice, punch, and burn any Militia in my path on whatever mission I would go in. Soon, we were gaining ground against the Militia, and the Ice People decided to side with us. They had only a few conditions; they would keep Flood Town, we would try our best to stop them from going insane, and during the time that they were fighting with us and finding their "cure", Lucy, Cole and I would perform mercy killings to the ones who were lost to them.

We did as they asked, and they knew they could trust us. So, we fought. Day in, day out we were beating the shit outta the Militia and the remaining Corrupted.

Cole, Lucy and Lance failed to get Alec. While escaping, Lance had been caught. I couldn't bear to think of all the things that those friggin' Militia were doing to him. If I had to enter the cathedral myself, I would, just so that I could get Lance and Alec outta there.

But I couldn't. I spent my time training, and getting stronger for my last fight. I knew that I wouldn't be able to save Lance or Alec unless I was stronger, and I wasn't gonna stop until I was the strongest. Finally, we got a message.

"From Kayce," Zeke said. "She gave it durin' one of our orientations for new recruits into the Militia."

"What is it?" I asked, along with Cole and Lucy.

"Summin' it up, it's askin' you to come alone to the entrance of the cathedral," Zeke explained, gesturing to me. "Kayce's sayin' that the lives of Alec and Lance are dependin' on ya."

I clenched my fists. "Alone, huh?"

"I'm sure this is just another ruse to get Joan," Cole said. "Remember that ambush a few days back? That message asked nearly the same thing, and there was no trace of Lance or Alec."

"Regardless, I'm going," I told them. "I'm not risking their lives because I'm not sure if she's tellin' the truth."

Cole sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. "Fine, but I'm sure this is nothing. You go. If you need any help, call me or Lucy, and we'll be there quicker than lightning."

I smiled. "That's just you, Cole."

So I went alone. I stood in front of the cathedral and waited for hours, passing the time by cloud watching. When evening finally fell on the city, I heard the cathedral doors open. I looked, and saw Bertrand. My eyes automatically narrowed.

"Bertrand," I greeted dryly.

"Joan MacGrath," he replied. "So nice of you to come to this little party."

"Cut to the chase, Bertrand," I said. "Where the hell's Lance Grey and Alec Chance?"

"Why, they're with us," Bertrand said, and pointed to the sky.

I looked up, and then back to Bertrand. "You… you killed them?"

"No," he said. "Look again."

The spotlights turned on, and there I saw, hanging from the towers opposite the centre of the cathedral, were two Militia with paper bags on their heads.

"What're you playing at, Bertrand?" I growled. "Those're Militia!"

He smiled. "Ah, it may appear that way, my dear, but those are your friends hanging from those towers. I don't even know which are which; Kayce never told me. But I do know that you have ten seconds to rescue them."

I grinned. "Ten seconds? Piece o' cake!"

I upped my flames—or, tried to. They weren't coming.

"As soon as you passed that barrier," Bertrand said, pointing to two boxes, "your powers became nothing. You're mortal now, like the rest of us." Bertrand held up a watch. "As soon as I press this button, the timer will start, and you'll have ten seconds to save them. Or, rather, one of them. You won't have time to save the second."

I took a step towards him. "You… You sick bastard!"

"One more step, Miss MacGrath," Bertrand said, holding a finger up, "and I'll call for my men to drop them both right now."

I glared at him. "How could you do this? How?"

Bertrand smiled. "You have ten seconds."

He pushed the button on his watch. I leaped forward and started climbing up the left tower. Oh God, oh God! I thought frantically. I have to save them!

I finally reached the top and tugged on the rope that one hung from. When he was safely on the rooftop, I untied him as quickly as possible and ran over to the second tower.

Too late.

As I watched, horror-stricken, I became aware of too many things. One: I wasn't strong at all. I couldn't even help them both. Two: I was leaping off of the building in a desperate effort to grab him. Three: I was going to be too late.

I reached as far as I could, but to no avail. He hit the ground hard, the blood already welling up beneath him. I landed gracefully on the ground and untied him, then ripped off the paper bag.

I turned him over onto his back. I had already known who it was—I'd known it in my gut and in my heart.

I quickly tried CPR, practically pounding his chest fifteen times before I did mouth-to-mouth. All my powers, and I couldn't do a thing. He was breathing, but very faintly, and I already knew I wouldn't be able to help.

Lance's hand grabbed hold of mine as I continued with the CPR. "Joan…" he whispered hoarsely. "Stop…"

I shook my head and continued. "No way," I said, quickly giving him mouth-to-mouth. "I'm not gonna let you die!" I flipped my cell out and speed-dialled Cole's number. "Cole? Get here now! ASAP!"

"On it," Cole replied.

I shut my phone and hurried with the CPR. "Listen to me very carefully, Lance," I said. "Don't you friggin' die on me. Not when it's my fault for bringing you into this shit. And if you tell me to stop, I'll never forgive you!"

He smiled. "But—."

"Another word, and I'm cutting your tongue off," I threatened. "You've stayed alive this long! How 'bout you try to stay alive until Cole comes and works his healing magic? Please?"

After a few seconds, Lance nodded. "I… will try."

"Good, because you had no choice either way."

Cole landed beside us gently and looked at Lance in disbelief, and then used his powers on him a few times in succession. "Is Alec around?" Cole asked.

I nodded. "He's on the roof. I managed to save him, but… I didn't have enough time to get to Lance."

"Why not? I thought you were a fast flyer."

I bit my lip. "I am, but Bertrand put up some kinda barrier so I couldn't use any of my powers. Hell, I don't even know what kind of barrier he put up! I just couldn't use my powers, and I wasn't fast enough."

I could tell Cole was thinking about Trish. "Well, Lance… he's gonna survive."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God…"

"My brain hurts…" Lance whined. "I… I think… I wanna go to sleep…"

"Well, if you're gonna live, then go to sleep and I'm takin' ya home." I slipped Lance's arm around my shoulder. He was surprisingly light, and then I realized that Alec was on his other side.

"Hey," he said, smiling. "Thanks."

I smiled. "Any time, bro."