Chapter 27 – 50% Is Enough

Ajay opened her eyes. The room she was in didn't look familiar. She was covered up, in a bed but it wasn't the bed she had been staying in. She tried to move but her chest was on fire. She just laid there for a moment. She touched her fingers to the sore part of her chest and then her shoulder. It wasn't soft and it felt different and something smelt odd. She reached down to pull the covers back and felt someone's arm wrapped around her stomach. She realized she was laying on her left side and that she couldn't turn over. The arm around her was small and delicate but she didn't know who it belonged to. Ajay lifted the covers a little and groaned at how heavy everything felt. The unknown arm pulled her closer. The thought of not knowing or remembering where she was or who she was with made her body tense and her skin crawl. She tried to remember what had happened. She was walking with Elliot after the prowlers attacked them and nothing. Everything was blank.

She reached down under the blanket and gently removed the hand that was holding her. She slid her lower body out of the bed and her upper body soon followed. She was just in her panties. "What the hell..." She whispered to herself. She used the bed as leverage with her good arm, stood up and turned around. She looked down in shock and saw Natalie. It was her little arm around her. Behind Natalie was Elliot. Natalie was wearing one of Elliot's shirts, at least that's all Ajay could see with the blankets around her. Of course Elliot had no blankets on but to her surprise, Elliot had on some damn underwear. "That's new."

Ajay looked around for a bathroom, she just need to see what was going on with her chest and be by herself for a moment. She found the bathroom and closed the door softly. She stood almost naked in front of the mirror, with a huge dressing cover her right shoulder and down just above her right breast. She started peeling the dressing back and she figured out quiet quickly where the odd smell was coming from. The smell was charred flesh and it was coming from her. She cringed as she pulled more of the dressing back. Her shoulder and chest looked like something out of a horror movie. She managed to get the whole dressing off and just stood there is shock. She didn't know what to think or how to react.

After a few minutes Ajay got her shit together and walked out of the bathroom. She nearly jumped as Natalie hugged her. "Ajay! You're okay!" Ajay patted Natalie's back, "Yah, I told ya I was fine." Natalie stepped back a little confused, "Non. After you saved me from that prrrowler, you lost a lot of blood and then you tried to walk it off. Then you collapsed. Elliot and I saved you. It will make for a good story" Elliot sat up, "Ajay, what are you doing up?" It was Ajay's turn to look confused, "It has been maybe a day. You really need to rest." She made her way towards her backpack as everything was starting to make sense now. She started digging through her bag. Elliot almost looked sad, "Come back to bed with us Ajay." She felt a little awkward with Natalie right there but Natalie jumped right in, "Oh yes Ajay! Come back to bed! Let's have a sleep over!" Ajay smiled at Natalie and gave Elliot a stern look. "Sorry Natalie. I have ta get back home." Natalie started pouting as she jumped back into bed, "But I don't want you to go." She was staring at Elliot. Ajay stared at them for a moment, "I think Elliot should stay here until this place is secured. I also think he should let me borrow a shirt, all of mine are too tight." Natalie looked at Elliot, "Give her a shirt." She stood up and made her way to the bathroom, "I am going to take a shower and get dressed before Ajay and MRVN have to leave."

Natalie closed the bathroom door. Elliot got up and pulled a black shirt out of one of the drawers, "I didn't argue with Natalie when she wanted you to sleep with us." He winked at her, "I can't argue with that sweet face. Especially the one that save you." He pointed at her wound, "That prowler got you good. But..." He gripped the shirt really tight before setting it down 'on the bed. "If you didn't. It would have been her. She would have been..." Ajay touched his arm. "She's fine Elliot." He helped Ajay into her pants. He stood up and looked away. She thought for a moment that he was crying. "Elliot..?" He turned around with his shirt in his hands and helped her get it on. He grazed her hard nipples with his fingers, purposely, adjusting her shirt in places that it didn't need to be adjusted. "Ajay, I just can't look at you when you're naked and hold a conversation."

Ajay sighed a little and thought maybe he was projecting but she brushed it off and changed the subject, "Well I'm dressed and I need a jacket or something. Elliot opened up a small closet and pulled a long white coat with some bright green accents. He gave it a weird look and then helped Ajay get into it. Natalie walked out of the bathroom fully clothed. Natalie gave Ajay a strange look, or maybe the jacket that she was wearing, a strange look as she put on her own jacket. Elliot helped Ajay get her boots on and laced them up. Natalie made sure that all of Ajay's belongings we packed up. Elliot went to grab Ajay's backpack but she gently pushed him away, "I got it." She picked up her backpack and put in on her non-injured shoulder. It felt like it weighed over a hundred pounds but she didn't let it show on her face.

"Elliot, "Natalie motioned towards the door, "I want to talk to Ajay. We'll be there soon." Elliot walked out without a word. Natalie took Ajay's hand, "Thank you for saving me. I am sorry about your wounds." Ajay thought she sounded sad when she talked. "It's electrocauterization." Natalie delicately touched Ajay's wound. "It will heal with time. But I am afraid your muscles might take longer." Ajay reached up and held Natalie's hand against her chest, "Natalie. What happened this morning..." She paused and dropped the whole thought. "I would have done the same thing if it meant saving your life." She paused again squeezing her hand, "It must have been hard, what you had to do for me. Thank you Natalie, for everything."

Natalie smiled leading Ajay to door, "You will miss your flight." They left Natalie's place and made the short trip to the hanger. Ajay and Natalie embraced and Elliot joined, calling it a Natalie sandwich. MRVN even joined in and crushed Elliot which Elliot was not happy about. "I will miss you friends!" MRVN finally released them and walked up the ramp to the ship. "Come on Ajay. We have a big match tonight." Ajay nodded but Natalie was still hugging her. Elliot gently tapped Natalie on the shoulder, "Nat. It's time." Natalie reluctantly let go with a pout and waved at Ajay. Elliot gave Natalie a hug as Ajay walked into the transport ship with MRVN.

Ajay sat set her backpack down and took a seat as the ship took off. She looked over at MRVN who was just standing there. "Do ya want to sit down MRVN? Plenty of space." MRVN pointed at himself, "Robots don't sit." Ajay shrugged. It was silent for a moment. "50%." MRVN was looking at her. Ajay pointed at herself, mocking MRVN, "Me?" MRVN pointed at her, "You're at 50%. You should not compete tonight." Ajay stuck her tongue out at MRVN and then closed her eyes. "I don't know what that means friend." MRVN said to her. Ajay chuckled at him. "Nothin' MRVN. But keep that 50% to ya self, ya hear?" MRVN gave Ajay a thumbs up. They didn't speak much more after that. After they landed they both went for debriefing on their recent job detail. Ajay was questioned about her ability to compete in the event but she kept her cool and told them she was fine. She imagined that MRVN didn't say anything either because they let her compete.

Ajay medicated before setting her backpack down in the loading room. MRVN and Ajay were a bit early, so she used this time to select an outfit for the match. She wanted something tight to compress her injury. She knew it would make it easier for her in the long run. She flipped through the outfits until she came across Vital Signs. She selected the outfit and sat on the sofa for a bit. MRVN decided that he wanted to select and outfit too, or a paintjob in his case. MRVN selected The Aviator and we quite happy was his selection.

Ajay was happy when she saw Anita step in. She got up from the sofa and greeted her. "Hey kid. It's been a while. What have you been up to?" Ajay smirked at her, "Killing prowlers with prowlers." Anita's eyes widen a bit. "Are those in the arena now?" Ajay knew that Anita meant the gun, not the monster. Ajay shrugged, "I didn't use it in the arena." She motioned with her finger or Anita to come down to her level. When Anita came down to a reasonable level Ajay whispered in her ear, "I used it on Talos." Anita stood up and nodded. She had a new found respect for Ajay. "It's me and you tonight kid." Anita chose an outfit as well, Apex Overdrive. Ajay smiled and used her best Anita voice, "Kid, what the fuck are ya wearin?" Anita smirked at her and punched her in the arm, "Nice one kid." They talked and walked out to the transport ship. MRVN followed them.

Eventually other Legends flooded into the ship. The only person missing was Elliot. No one asked any questions. Makoa was overjoyed to see MRVN; they were paired together tonight. Renee was paired with Bloodhound. Poor Octavio was paired with Alexander; though it didn't seem to bother him. In fact it took a lot to bother Octavio. Everyone stood up as the 30 second countdown timer started. The ship hovered over Skull Town and once the timer hit zero Octane pushed Caustic out of the ship into Skull Town. Pathfinder and Gibraltar jumped right afterward. Wraith and Bloodhound joined. Ajay and Anita looked at one another and bumped forearms before running and jumping out of the drop ship.

They landed together in the middle Skull Town. Bangalore immediately smoked, giving them time to loot. Bangalore found a P2020 and Lifeline picked up a Mozambique and a level one backpack. It was only a matter of moments and the kill feed lit up with deaths: Caustic, Octane, Bloodhound, Pathfinder. Before they could make a move Wraith came at them with an R99. Lifeline was down in seconds. Bangalore fired twice and Wraith void jumped then switched to her other R99, using it to shoot Bangalore in the back. In matter of five minutes the match was over and Wraith had taken down everyone except for her own teammate.

For the first time ever, everyone on the transport ship was laughing when they finally came too. Ajay looked over to Anita who gave her a smile and a nod; Ajay reciprocated. Renee was sitting in front of her with a sly smile on her lips, her black hair was thrown into a bun, with loose strands that framed her porcelain white skin. Renee was wearing a white bodysuit. Ajay was amazed that Renee could pull off any color she wore. "She must have been training really hard. A well deserved win." Ajay reached out to Renee with her fist. Renee's face twitched as she reach out and gave Ajay's fist a bump. "Great work Renee. Ya were amazing." Renee's smile grew as she sat back, "Drinks?" Renee looked at Ajay and then Anita as she said it. Ajay nodded yes and Anita replied, "I'm in." MRVN overheard the conversation, "Friends! We're going out for drinks!" Makoa cheered. Alexander didn't seem interested and Bloodhound kept silent.

As they exited the ship Ajay mentioned she needed to stop by her place and change real quick. She hadn't been back since she returned. Everyone agreed to meet at the bar in an hour. Ajay and Octavio were the last to debrief, everyone else had left. Ajay got back into her civilian clothing. Octavio waitied for her outside the loading room. "Che, did you get a new jacket?" He took her backpack and threw it over his shoulders. Ajay laughed, "It's a long story." Octavio didn't pry. They walked back to her apartment. Ajay punched her pass code into the pin pad. "Well I guess I will see you at the bar." Ajay opened the door as she listened to Octavio and then turned around, "Don you wanna stay and go together?" Octavio smiled, "Of course I do. You seemed kind of quiet. I didn't know if you needed to be alone."

They walked into her apartment. Ajay flipped the light on while Octavio set her backpack down and released D.O.C. to roam. Ajay walked to her bedroom while Octavio made them some drinks, red bull and vodka, and joined her in her room. He was excited to see her topless as he walked in but as she turned around he noticed the new wound burnt into her right shoulder and part of her right chest. He handed Ajay her drink and they both downed their drinks, like old times. Ajay flipped through the shirts in her closet but was interrupt by Octavio who pulled her over to the bed. She sat down in his lap, straddling him, her arms around his neck. "Silva?" She gently stroked his gorgeous hair.

Octavio placed a hand on her back and used to other hand to trace the burnt wound on her chest. He met her eyes with a look of concern. "What happened Che?" She hated seeing him so worried. "My job. It was ta help an electrical engineer fix MRVN. Memba I told ya my work partner and I went on a little trip?" He nodded running his fingers along her arm. "Well after we got off da phone I woke up later that night and finished fixing MRVN. We finished around 3am in the morning. And then we got attacked by prowlers. One of them almost killed my electrical engineer. I had control of the situation but they were strong and I just didn't have enough ammo in da gun ta finish da last prowler before it got ta me. Luckily MRVN did. But da prowler clawed through my chest." She felt Octavio grip her arm tightly. She looked away from him as she spoke. "I don't really remember much after that. Elliot said I got up and collapsed and that there was a lot of blood. My electrical engineer friend said it was really bad but she cauterized my wound to ta stop the bleeding."

He was gripping her arm really tight. He was tense when he heard Elliot's name. He composed himself as he looked at her body. Besides the wound she had bruises everywhere. Octavio kissed along her wound. He released her arm and used his hand to turn her head to face him, "I know you're a fighter Che, but leave the daredevil shit to me." He kissed her and pulled her tightly into him. She placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him hard. She found his tongue with her own. She felt his hands move to her ass. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as she kissed him. She began moving her hips into him. Octavio gently picked her up and laid her on the bed as they continued to lock lips. He placed a hand of the bed as she placed a leg on his back. His other hand found her breast, squeezing hard. She moaned into his mouth, digging her nails into his back. He finally broke away, "We should get ready to go."

She was a little disappointed but she understood. He helped her to stand. Octavio also helped her to get a bra on, which was little more tolerable to wear now. She picked out a black tank top and covered herself with a black hoodie. She wore her leggings and her black, lace up wedge heels. Octavio wore his usual black tank top and running shorts. They had another round of drinks and some pills before leaving her apartment to heading to the bar.