Scarred
Dominic Santiago was unable to wait for the King Raven to even land before jumping down onto the apartments' rooftops. From the moment he'd seen Muse collapse, the Latino Gear couldn't have reached her fast enough, and while the chopper was still slowly descending, he sprung down; displaying impressive agility for his size.
He landed in a crouch, and ignoring the biting dust and sand thrown up by the chopper's rotors, was beside Muse in an instant. Carmine had described how she had been pushing herself to her limits for the past several days; not sleeping, hardly eating, not to mention that festering bite on her shoulder… But even his detailed report could not have prepared Dom for the sight before him.
She'd hacked off her hair; it was the first thing he noticed. The dark strands were short now, but rough and uneven, only serving to accentuate how gaunt she had become. Hollow cheeks and sunken eyes; she looked starved and ill, already half dead. The left side of her face was rent with cruel slashes, and blood poured from the wounds.
"Muse…" Dom dropped to one knee and went to gather the girl's limp body into his arms.
As soon as he touched her however, every muscle in her body went rigid, her back arched, and Muse howled as the agony slammed into her like a brick wall until there was no breath left in her lungs. Dom almost expected her to begin thrashing, but she'd exhausted her body so profoundly that she only violently shook, uttering tiny whimpers of pain like a wounded animal. To Dom, the sounds were worse than screaming.
"Marcus!" he bellowed, not knowing what else to do other then turn to his friend, "MARCUS!" The older man was beside the distressed Latino in a moment; helping him restrain the shuddering woman while simultaneously propping her up as he tore off the makeshift bandage around her shoulder.
It took a moment for even the seasoned veteran to get past the nauseating smell and appearance of the bite wound before he could examine it. The surrounding flesh was swollen and inflamed while yellow pus oozed from the punctures.
"Septicaemia?" Dom whispered. He glanced at Marcus who was scowling darkly at the injury, worry and annoyance warring across his features; visible only to those who knew him best. He shook his head minutely.
"Worse," he growled, "Menoticaemia…"
Dom paled. Menoticaemia was a vicious infection caused by the bacteria in a Wretch's saliva. Like some warped strain of septicaemia that had mutated with rabies it caused symptoms of fever, lethargy, nausea, and dizziness, and if not treated with Antitoxin within twenty-eight days of the actual bite, ended with increasingly serious seizures until the body went into cardiac arrest.
Antitoxin was not something Gears carried around in their first-aid kits. All they could do was dope her up with painkillers and a sedative until they got back to the COG's new base of operations.
Dom watched as Marcus ripped open the Velcro strips of his first-aid kit and selected one of the prepared hypodermics. The Stranded may have only had the old-fashioned needle-and-plunger hypos, but this one looked more like a ballpoint pen. It was a simple matter of placing the nib in the crook of Muse's elbow and depressing the clicker at the top, to inject the drug.
Muse's trembling eased and finally stopped. She seemed to sag into Dom's arms.
"Oh Muse…"
Though he only murmured her name in a softly exhaled sigh, something about his tone succeeded in traversing through the layers of pain and drug-induced fog to reach her.
The world was drenched in blood and full of noise and pain. She couldn't see, she could hardly breathe. All she could hear was incomprehensible noise, and feel the agony, which was already unbearable, as it seemed to reach new heights of torture.
Muse screamed.
It was like being submerged in a fiery lake, falling back into unimaginable pain, screaming, screaming. She just wanted it to stop, just wanted it all to end, to slip away into the forgiving dark and silence of death's embrace…
But someone was calling her. Through the clamour that assaulted her, she heard the voice calling her back from the brink of oblivion and keeping her anchored in that world of blood and torture.
"Muse…"
The voice sounded desperate, pleading, and though the word itself was but a meaningless syllable to a mind so consumed with incessant hurting, Muse could not ignore the voice that spoke it. She knew that voice, loved that voice, and finally she was able to force through the red mist of pain to put a name and face to it.
Dom…
Muse wrenched herself away from the precipice and its whispered promises of blissful dark and an end to her suffering, and willingly plunged back into overwhelming agony. Even when her mind could hardly focus on coherent thought, Muse knew that she would suffer any torment to get back to the only family she had left.
How far will you go for them? The enticing darkness of the abyss seemed to hiss at her. Are they truly worth enduring this anguish?
They are worth that and more…
"Dom…" Muse could only mumble the name in a burbled slur, but Dom obviously heard her.
"I've got you sweetheart," his voice sounded hoarse with relief, "It's alright, the painkillers should be working." Even as he said it Muse realised that her mind had become a little clearer - though still muzzy with the exhaustion of her bruised and battered body - and she slowly became more aware of her surroundings.
She was propped up between the two men; Dom holding her up while Marcus was on one knee on her other side, for some unfathomable reason pulling off the black do-rag he was always wearing. He looked rather odd without it, Muse thought distantly. She watched as he soaked the bandana with water from his canteen, but only when he went to clean the side of her face that had been shredded by the stinking Locust, did she realise what he was up to.
"Aw, Marcus…" she muttered in protest, "You love that thing…" He paused and looked at her, then grunted and told Dom to hold her still while he dabbed at the streaming blood. It stung, but Muse braced herself against the instinct to flinch. She heard Marcus mutter something about 'damn Kantus'.
When the bleeding had finally been staunched and the cuts had been thoroughly cleaned of any dirt from the Locust's claws, Marcus washed out the do-rag, wrung it so that it was only damp, and then tied it across Muse's torn face. Dom scooped her up to carry her to the waiting chopper, and she sagged against the cool metal of his chestplate, eyes closing.
"What happened?" She could only remember bits and pieces since reaching the apartment rooftop.
"It doesn't matter." Dom said quietly, "It's over, you're fine." He paused, then added, "Try not to talk, you'll exhaust yourself."
Muse nodded vaguely, then realised that while she had been so intent on focusing her wandering mind on Dom, he'd actually boarded the King Raven and it had taken off. Now she registered the gentle swaying of a chopper in flight and slowly her brain filtered in other information.
Dom held her firmly against his chest and was looking down at her with a complicated expression that seemed to be equal parts concern, relief, and fear. Muse tried to smile, but it hurt the entire shredded side of her face and so she stopped, turning her attention to the rest of the chopper's passengers to take her mind off the ache that the painkillers couldn't completely erase.
Baird was sitting beside Dom, leaning on his own Longshot. He kept glancing over at them the looking away quickly, his expression halfway between thinking Muse was insane, and sickened by her mutilated face. Clay was beside him, also throwing concerned looks in her direction while compulsively fiddling with his Lancer. Hoffman had his back to everyone in the King Raven as he stood and looked out at the scenery rolling beneath the 'copter.
Prescott was in the opposite corner, as far away from Dom and Muse as possible and not looking at anyone. Cole was beside him looking strained and as if he just wanted to get off the helicopter as soon as humanly possible. Between him and Marcus sat Anya. She seemed transfixed by Muse's torn and bloody face and shoulder, and was unable to look away. She pressed close to Marcus and just stared with horrified fascination.
Marcus however, seemed to be thinking too hard about something to even notice the pretty blonde that was practically clinging to him. His eyes were distant and released from the confines of his do-rag, his dark hair was scruffy and in desperate need of a cut. The light coming in through the open side of the chopper gleamed over the scars on his face; wounds that must have sliced open his cheek. Muse idly wondered what she'd look like when her own face healed. Would she ever see out of her left eye again?
No one was talking.
As exhaustion gradually crept over her again, Muse wondered if there'd been a mild sedative in the painkillers. It made sense really; a good sleep was probably what she needed most, and she allowed her eyes to close. Lulled by the rocking chopper and the rise and fall of Dom's steady breathing, Muse eventually drifted into a deep slumber.
For the first time in weeks, she was untroubled by dreams.
* * *
Dom kept a firm grip on the girl the entire flight. It seemed that every time he let her out of his sight, she got neck deep into trouble and ended up either in mortal peril or beaten to a pulp. He vowed that he wouldn't let it happen again. Not after everything she'd already been through. Not after he had so recently lost Maria…
Carmine had told them how he'd found Muse in a sensory deprivation chamber in the Locust tunnels. He'd told them how her only thoughts had been to rescue Maria Santiago and how single-mindedly she'd tracked the woman until it was impossible to follow. Dom felt an ache in his chest at the thought. Maria's death was still a raw place inside him; to know that Muse had fought so hard to save his wife, caused a bittersweet stir in the pit of his gut.
Dom wondered how he'd tell her that he'd had to shoot Maria himself…
"What will she need?" Dom looked up as Hoffman suddenly spoke. All eyes turned to the Colonel in the silent chopper. He however, had all his attention focused on Dom.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Hoffman looked a little impatient. "The girl, what will she need?" He repeated.
"Antitoxin." Marcus suddenly growled, and the Colonel switched his gaze to the grizzled Sergeant. "She has advanced stage menoticaemia, she'll need antitoxin as soon as possible." Hoffman nodded.
"She'll get it." He turned away again, looking at the landscape racing by.
Dom meanwhile felt a mixture of confusion and immense relief. Only now that he had a solution did he even acknowledge the other worry that had been gnawing at him. With Muse being a Stranded and not a recognised, registered citizen of the COG, she wouldn't be the first priority for treatment. With the shortage of everything - including medication - being so serious, the COG were more interested in looking after their own; Gears first, then its civilians. Stranded were considered by most to be cowards and deserters and as a result, were bumped down to the lowest priority.
Muse had obviously impressed Hoffman enough for him to pull some strings.
Dom let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Muse was going to be alright.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note
Horribly short, horribly boring, and horribly late. I apologise thrice for this my dear readers, and thank you for your patience. Never forget that I want to hear your opinions, suggestions and thoughts, so leave a review.
Ps. Dog of War won Fanon of the Month (April) on the Gears Fanon Wiki. E-Cake for all. XD
Anonymous Reviewers
venus - I take it as a real compliment that you check for updates so regularly, and I'm only sorry I haven't updated before now. Thank you for sticking with me and leaving such lovely reviews. ^_^
Danilacus - Don't you worry, I'm much too fond of this story and these characters to quit before the story is told, even if it takes me forever and I have to claw my way over that The End line. ^_^
Smoky - No worries about that matie! I will finish this story even if my brain runs out of my ears and my fingers bleed. XD
Gowfann - Wait no longer and enjoy the update. ^_^
