Chapter 36 – Always Bring A Gun To Apex Parties

Ajay's morning came too early when she got a knock on her door. She maybe slept two hours the previous night. It was already Saturday morning. Ajay opened the door and Anita pushed past her with Renee, and then Natalie skipping behind the two. They all had their dresses in hand. Ajay just stood there and held the door open for them, what choice did she have at this point as they were already her room. "Hair and makeup kid." Anita told her as she sat down on the bed. Ajay shrugged. "Okay... Who be goin first?" Natalie skipped over and sat down on the bed in front of Ajay ready for her 'makeover.' Ajay got the flat iron and make up ready.

"I am so excited Ajay!" She smiled. Ajay pinned some up of Natalie's almost platinum blonde, shoulder length hair. Natalie's skin was so fair. Ajay used a combination of blue and turquoise eye shadow along with black eyeliner and mascara to intensify Natalie's already fierce blue eyes. She brushed on some light pink blush and then added the same tone of lipstick. After that Ajay used the flat iron to style Natalie's hair into cute waves. She then helped Natalie get into a sleeveless white dress that came up to her neck. The top part, that covered her torso, was made of lace. The bottom part was fluffy with layers of white silk and a layer of black in between; cut at her knees in the front and dropped to the floor in the back. She wore a pair of opened toe, strappy heels that were black and sparkly.

Next up was Renee, who didn't want anything done with her hair. After much fuss she let Ajay put a headband in her hair. The headband had a few swirling designs that sparkled with diamonds. Renee's eyes were a light blue, almost like the sky. Ajay decided that she would use a combination of light and dark purples with black eyeliner and mascara. Renee's complexion wasn't as fair as Natalie's so Ajay gave her a more bronzed blush and lipstick. Renee got into her own dress. It was a black dress with long, see-through sleeves. The front of the dress came to a v shape down below her breasts. The dress itself stopped at her knees. She wore thigh high leggings and some black platform heel boots with black laces and straps; they seemed to fit her style.

Anita sat down. Ajay didn't really picture her as the dress up type. She noticed that Anita had two distinct lines cut into her hair on both sides of her head; they were symmetrical and they looked nice. Ajay used some red and orange eye shadow with some black eyeliner for the outer edges of her eyes followed by some white eyeliner for the inner edges of her eyes and then she topped it off with some red mascara. Her eyes were a dark brown, he skin was also richly pigmented. She glossed her lips with a clear gloss so they looked natural. Anita changed into her dress which was almost like a suit top with a collar, and long sleeves. It was long in the back and cut to the knees in the front. The front had a slit in the middle to make it easier to walk. The dress was black and there was a wide black accent belt around her waist. Anita topped it off with some red peep toe heels that were accented with some gold chains on them.

Natalie waited patiently for Ajay to get ready but instead Ajay asked them all to leave. She just wanted to sit alone for a moment. She was starting to come to the realization that Octavio might not make it to the event tonight. The other ladies left. Her right side was aching. She didn't know if it was from the anxiety, the stress, or from the torn muscle from a few weeks ago. She grabbed her bag and took her pill bottle out. She took three pills this time. She would have to get ready soon and would be leaving her bag behind. She laid back on the bed for a moment and tried to calm down. She hated these fucking events and they never got any easier. This was the past that she left behind and now it was here and she was reliving it all of it again. She sighed and started getting ready.

The party was exactly how she expected it to be with the exception that most of it was outside. Some of the buildings were opened up but the main event seemed to be happening outside. She really didn't feel like speaking with anyone, in fact she was avoiding people so that she could keep an eye out for anything suspicious; whatever that might be. She noticed Bloodhound lurking in the shadows. They were dressed in some sort of Plague Doctor outfit, like from the arena. At least they could stay hidden. Makoa was wearing some black slacks and a black Hawaiian shirt. He didn't seem to mind mingling with any and everyone. He was always very friendly and ready to have a conversation. Alexander was wearing some sort of in depth multiple piece suit that was black, with a white dress shirt, and a red bowtie. He looked like he was ready to lead some type of orchestra. He still wore his gas mask; that was no surprise. MRVN didn't really need to wear anything. He was a robot, however it looked someone had given him a nice buff and shine, maybe Natalie? Elliot was wearing a black suit with a black shirt underneath and a black tie. It was purely black on black on black.

Ajay walked alone, away from everyone. She would do the 'meet and greet' portion of the party later, if she needed to. Eventually she found herself in a rather tall building. It was empty and it was a few buildings away from the main event. She climbed the stairs all the way to the top level. There was some railing along the sides, probably just for this event. There was never any safety railing in the arena. She leaned her arms against the railing and looked down. She could see just about everyone below, they weren't too far away. It was a great vantage point just in case things got dicey. She took a moment and looked up into the sky. The stars pierced through sky like little holes in black construction paper with a light shining through the other side.

"Che." She nearly jumped when she heard her named. She turned around to see Octavio. He smiled when he saw her. Her hair was long and it fell in loose curls across her bare back. She wore a black dress that was v cut down to her lower back and left very little to hide. The front of the dress had a similar cut but dipped just below her breasts. The straps on her shoulders were thin and left her scars and tattoo exposed. The dress split up the front of her right leg, all the way to her upper thigh; it gave the dress some room to flow as it kissed the ground below her. Her eyes were surrounded by gold shadow and black eye liner, nothing spectacular. She also wore her favorite lace up wedge boots. She wasn't wearing any fucking heels just in case there was a gun fight.

She smiled when she saw him. Octavio was dressed in a black button up jacket and black button up shirt underneath. The jacket wasn't buttoned all the way up and the shirt had a few loose buttons as well. The pants he wore were black and only covered his actual legs and some of his prosthetics. His green hued goggles sat against his forehead and his jet black hair was a little messy; just the way Ajay liked it.

He made his way to her and they hugged. He ran his hands along the bare skin of her back. Ajay hugged him around his neck and played with his hair as they kissed. They didn't need to speak to tell each other how much they missed on another. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and took in his scent, it washed away all of her fears for the moment. She whispered to him, "I didn't think ya were comin Silva." Octavio ran his fingers through her hair, "Don't be stupid." They both laughed. "It's a nice view up here, huh?" He said as they slowly let go of one another. Ajay turned around, she had almost forgot what she was doing. "Ya. Not only that but..." She stopped as he interrupted her, "Che." She turned around to find Octavio down on one knee he was holding a pear cut diamond on a bright gold band; the diamond had small emeralds surrounding it. She froze in place until she heard Anita and Natalie yelling followed by gun fire. Octavio quickly shoved the ring back into his pocket and followed Ajay as she rushed down the stairs of the building.

As Ajay reached the bottom of the stairs she stopped and made her way towards the empty elevator shaft near the stairwell. She reached into the elevator shaft; taped between the first and second floor was a volt SMG. She ripped it down and gave it to Octavio. "Che?" Ajay motioned for him to follow her as they made their way outside of to the front of the building. "It's an SMG Silva. An energy weapon." They made it half way down the street before Ajay pulled another weapon from underneath a stairwell that was still under construction. Octavio could only stare as the weapon was as big as Ajay's torso. Ajay looked through the scope of the charge rifle and zoomed in. Her face was pale as she saw multiple prowlers. "What the fuck." She lowered the gun. "What's wrong Che?" She looked to Octavio. "It's only Legends and prowlers. No benefactors or staff." He nodded, "Let's clean up the mess and figure the rest out later."

She swallowed hard and felt her right arm twitch and ache. "You're right. We need ta help the others." Octavio nodded, "On it!" He started to take off but he felt her hand on his shoulder, "Silva. Some of your powers might work here. I really can't explain it." Octavio nodded and took off for the others. Ajay looked into the scope again and steadied the gun against her right shoulder. She focused on one of the prowlers and pulled the trigger. The gun charged for a brief moment and a beam of light shot out of the gun towards the prowler, knocking it down in one hit. She took a step closer to the action, still looking down the scope she beamed another prowler. As she moved closer she took down two more prowlers before the charge rifle was empty.

Ajay stopped in her tracks as she heard a familiar growl behind her. She saw Natalie waving at her the distance. Ajay threw down the empty gun and spirited towards Natalie with a prowler right behind her. As she got closer, Bloodhound and Makoa began shooting the prowler. Ajay ran past Natalie and then she heard a zap. She turned around to see the prowler go head first in some sort of electric fence that Natalie had set up. Ajay put her hands on her knees as she bent over to catch her breath. After a few moments she looked around to see Natalie walking towards her. Natalie patted her on the back, "We did it Ajay!"

It took a few more moments for Ajay to catch her breath before she spoke, "Is everyone okay?" Natalie smiled, "Yes, all of the Legends are fine." Natalie then frowned for a moment, "Ajay it was weird. Everyone picked up and suddenly left. Then the prowlers came." Ajay stood up as Octavio and Bloodhound came over to them. "What do we do now?" Ajay managed to get out. Bloodhound's hands were clenched in tense fists, "I will take care of this." Bloodhound, Makoa, Anita, Elliot, Renee, Alexander, and Natalie took off for Capitol City with weapons in hand. MRVN seemed a little confused, "Wait for me friends!" He ran off after them waving his arms around for the others to wait.