Andy drove into town, stopping at the clinic to check on everything. When she was done, she started toward the store, but soon found traffic was stopped completely. She sighed, turning up the music in her car and setting it in park. Soon though, she got the feeling that something was wrong. She turned to look around, not seeing anything. When she turned back around she saw something from the corner of her eye before she felt a dart hit her. She cursed, trying to pick up her phone and call Tet or Kiba. She finally got it to start ringing but was passed out before anyone could answer.
Tet answered his phone, frowning as he heard no reply. Looking at the caller id, his blood ran cold as he saw it was from Andy. "Darlin? Please answer me." He growled as the line disconnected and ran for Boss' office.
Andy woke, unsure if what she saw was real or her nightmares. Scientists stood over her, like they had the multiple times she'd been taken by Branch. She felt herself be injected with something before being knocked out once again.
When she awoke the next time, she was surprised to find the room empty and that she wasn't restrained. She felt weak from whatever they drugged her with, but she managed to push herself up and make her way out of the room. She wandered down the halls looking for an exit, not seeing anyone. She finally spotted a person, but they weren't dressed like the scientists. "...Hey?" She said quietly, wondering what was going on.
He turned wary eyes on her. "Who are you? Where is everyone? Are we being released?"
"I'm Andy. I don't know.. Branch never just releases people unless they have something planned..."
He froze, wrapping his arms around himself. He addressed the ceiling. "I'm not playing your sick games! You might as well get it over with and kill me." He swayed, his pale skin growing even paler.
"Let's get out of here for now.. I know a safe place and can teleport us there. If you trust me."
He frowned, then sighed. "Please don't trick me. I can't take any more lies."
"I'm completely serious. Branch has screwed me up so much, I just want to get out of here."
"Why take me? You don't even know me.." His eyes began to flutter as he leaned against the wall.
"You look just as scared as I feel. And I'm a doctor, it's my job to help people and you look in need of help."
"Doctors never help…" He muttered before collapsing in her arms.
She shook her head, teleporting them to the infirmary. She swayed, feeling weird as she teleported.
"Darlin?" Tet looked up at her from where Akasa was stitching him up. "You okay?"
"What happened to you?" She said quietly as she moved the other man to a bed.
"Had a disagreement with a scientist."
Andy nodded slowly, "How long was I gone this time..?"
"A few hours. I was looking for you and ran into one of the bastards skulking around the clinic. I confronted him and he attacked." Tet's eyes strayed to the other bed. "Another stray?"
Andy nodded, "Found him at Branch. Seemed like they were letting us go..."
His eyes narrowed. "That doesn't sound right. What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know yet," she sighed and started looking him over.
Malnutrition, dehydration and healing fractures in his legs were revealed.
Andy said a few healing spells, pain suddenly shooting through her. She winced before scanning herself over and finding the same symptoms. She scanned the man over and found him to be alright. She quietly sat down, trying to figure out what Branch could have done to her to screw her up like this. She quietly went over to Tet to test her theory out, holding her hands up and saying a few healing spells. She tried to keep her face as neutral as possible before she left the infirmary and headed to her room and locking the door. She cursed as she found she now had an injury in the exact location Tet had. Somehow Branch had screwed her healing up so instead of just healing them, it passed the wounds onto her. She cursed, stitching the wound up quickly before changing and slowly moving back to the infirmary quietly. She sat next to the man she found, waiting for him to regain consciousness.
Tet moved to her side gingerly, looking at the man. "He looks almost as young as Ryu. Anything serious?"
She shook her head, "He's fine now, just needs rest."
"You look the same."
She nodded, "I should probably go get some rest, I just want to make sure he's going to be alright when he wakes."
The man groaned, his eyes opening. He scrambled off the bed and against the wall as he saw Tet. "Where am I?"
"Shh, calm down. You're in the safe place I told you about," Andy said softly.
He took a deep breath, then nodded. "Sorry. Been there so long I'm not used to being out."
"It's alright. Like I said before, I'm Andy. This is Tet. You're at a military base full of shifters, vamps, porters, and witches. And a lot of us have been affected by Branch."
His eyes widened. "You're the ones they're constantly cursing.." He gave a small smile. "I'm Yuki."
"Nice to meet you," Andy smiled softly.
"What now? I mean you must want something for rescuing me right?"
She shook her head, "Not at all. You're probably free to stay here if you'd like, or we can help you find your way home if you do have somewhere to go."
"Home? I don't have a home.. Unless you count that lab." He sat down in a chair. "No doubt I was declared dead years ago. The Agency doesn't like to wait around for missing agents."
She nodded slowly, "Well, this can be your home now. We can get you a room to stay in."
"Don't you have a boss? I doubt he'll appreciate a freeloader."
Andy rolled her eyes and looked at Tet, "Go get Tsukasa?"
He grinned and left the infirmary, returning with the dragon a few moments later.
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow as he saw Yuki. "Agent Ota. It's been a while."
Yuki's eyes went wide. "Kadoya? You're her boss?"
Andy chuckled, "I told Yuki he could stay but he didn't think my boss would allow it."
"Idiot. I've been looking for you for years. You sure as hell aren't leaving now." Tsukasa looked at her. "Tie him down if necessary. And start feeding him, he's skinnier than the porters."
The dragon left as Yuki stared in disbelief.
Andy looked at Tet, "Can you show him to a room and get him some food? I'm not sure I'm up for it right now.."
He nodded and gave her a soft kiss. "Go rest before you end up in here." He waved his hand in front of Yuki's face. "Come on, I'll give you the $1.50 tour."
The agent blinked, then followed Tet out.
Andy made her way to her room, laying down and soon falling to sleep.
When she got up a few hours later, she was still sore from the healing wounds but felt a bit better overall. She headed out of her room and down toward the kitchen.
"So Kadoya, like an idiot, tries to grab the drive and promptly ends up in the canal. I however grabbed it right before an ornery gull flew off with it. He was less than pleased, as was his superiors as he told me later. He ended up sending me a bill for cold medicine. I sent it back with a box of tissue." Yuki's voice was struggling not to laugh.
Andy chuckled, going to the fridge and grabbing a blood bag before sitting down and biting into it.
"So you've known him for years? You don't look that old." Tet was stirring something as he talked.
"Prodigy. Graduated high school at twelve, college at eighteen. The Agency snapped me up and I spent most of my career annoying your boss when he worked military intelligence. I was taken ten years ago. He'd long since made colonel and moved to running this outfit."
Andy frowned, "They had you ten years and just let you go...?"
He sighed. "I know. I have the same worries." He watched her draining the bag intently, then paled.
She raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"
"You tell me.." He opened his mouth, exposing fangs. "What did they do to me?"
"Probably turned you. They turned me a while ago, along with quite a bit of other stuff." She went and got him a bag and tossed it to him.
He gingerly bit into it, then drained it in a matter of seconds. He looked at her quietly. "How do you deal with it all?"
"Not the best.." she sighed. "I was born a witch and a necromancer. Then they made me a shifter, with three different shifts, and a vampire. They've controlled me, messed with my head, made me attack my friends... It's not really easy to deal with. But my friends help me through it the best they can."
Tet moved to her side and kissed her. "It helps we know a little about being guinea pigs. We'll help you too."
Yuki nodded as a large cheetah bounded into the room.
Tet chuckled, going back to the stove. "It's almost done. Get decent unless you want to eat like that."
Andy glanced at the cheetah, "What's up?"
It shifted into Kei. "Finally perfected the potion."
"Good job," she smiled. "Kei, meet Yuki. Yuki, this is one of our witches, Kei."
Yuki gave him a smile. "I take it you felt left out?"
Kei laughed. "Only a little. You the newest member of this asylum?"
"I ended up at Branch again and found him," Andy admitted.
The witch scowled. "Point me at them. I need the red meat." He paused, then shook his head. "On second thought, don't want food poisoning."
Andy gave a small chuckle, "At least I was only there a few hours instead of wasting more months of my life there."
Yuki winced at her comment, his eyes staring at the floor. He excused himself, leaving the kitchen hurriedly.
Andy sighed, shaking her head.
"Something I said?" Kei looked confused.
She shook her head, "No.. Probably what I said. He spent ten years there apparently."
"Ten years? Shit..and he's still sane?"
She shrugged, "Seems like."
"He's a vamp? He didn't seem too happy the way he was staring at that bag." Kei sat in the vacated seat as Tet began serving the food.
"I think he just found out," Andy admitted.
"Damn. That sucks. He gonna be okay?" The witch watched her as he started eating.
"I don't know. I better go check on him." She got up and headed out of the kitchen and headed to find his room.
She could hear his sobs before she reached his door.
She knocked slowly, hoping he'd answer.
"It's open."
Andy opened it before entering, "Hey.. How are you doing? Do you want to talk about anything or need a hug?"
He gave her a small smile as he wiped his eyes. "I think it just hit me. I've been gone ten years. Everyone I knew has moved on believing I was dead." He flipped something metal at her.
She caught it, glancing down at it.
A silver wedding band lay in her palm.
"It had only been six months when I was taken." His voice was soft.
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must have been," she tossed it gently back to him.
He gave a bitter laugh. "I can only hope she's happy now. I guess I should be grateful they didn't kill me, huh?"
She sighed, "Sometimes I wonder if it'd be easier if they did just kill us than making us deal with everything they've done to us."
"That would entail having a heart." Yuki dropped the ring into the bedside drawer and closed it. "I could use that hug now."
She gave a small smile and approached him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm here if you ever need anything. Even if it's just a hug and you don't want to talk. If I'm not in my room, I'm in the kitchen or infirmary."
He nodded as he clung to her. "Does it get easier?"
"Dealing with what happened? Yeah a bit. It's just hard when they keep taking me over and over and bringing all the memories back up."
He sighed as he released her. "I'm sorry. Maybe you should have left me there."
She shook her head, "You don't belong there. You belong with friends."
He chuckled. "Yes ma'am."
There was a sudden pounding at the door. "Andy? You in there?" Tet's voice was strained.
She sighed and opened the door, "What's wrong?"
"Ryusei's team was ambushed."
Andy cursed, "Alright, I'll be right there." She glanced back at Yuki, "Remember, I'm always here if you need it." She went to the infirmary and looked around to see who all was injured.
Zal and Ryon were being treated by Akasa and Yamae. There was a sheet over one of the beds and Yamae was blinking back tears.
Andy went to the bed, taking a deep breath before pulling the sheet back and looking at the damage.
A single bullet had hit Ryusei at point blank range in the chest. There was a large hole in his back and it had no doubt killed him instantly.
Andy took a deep breath, praying that her necromancer abilities wouldn't affect her like her spells. She covered him in gold light, healing the injury and bringing him to life. She felt pain in her chest, clutching at it before collapsing bonelessly to the ground.
Akasa yelled for Jun as he knelt beside her. His mind blanked as he saw the wound. How the hell had she acquired Ryusei's exact injury? He shelved the question as the other necromancer entered the infirmary at a run.
Jun helped get Andy on a bed, then he focused his power on her. Blue light covered and healed her as he waited anxiously for her to breathe.
She sucked in air, her eyes shooting open in a panic.
"Take it easy." Akasa laid a hand on her arm. "Everything's alright now."
She shook her head, "Branch... they screwed up my healing..."
The nurse cursed, sending Jun to tell Tsukasa. He looked at Andy. "Just calm down. We'll fix this somehow."
She pushed herself into a sitting position, trying not to hyperventilate.
"Breathe. In,out." Akasa commanded, his eyes locked on her face.
She tried to do as instructed, slowly calming down a bit. "Sorry.."
He shook his head. "It's understandable."
Tsukasa arrived, gently laying his hands on her shoulders. "What happened?"
"Well, today I was taken by Branch again, but it was weird that they let me go.. I found out when doing healing spells on Yuki and Tet that somehow they made it so instead of just healing them, it transfers the wounds to me. Then they came in and I hoped my necro powers would be different, but.." she trailed off.
"Alright," Tsukasa took a deep breath. "You're on stand down for now. We'll wait and see if it fixes itself. If it doesn't, we'll figure out what to do then."
She nodded slowly, trying to push herself up off the bed.
"You need to rest." Jun said softly.
She looked up at him, her expression slightly lost.
"You took Ryusei's injury. You need to let your body adjust to the shock." Akasa frowned.
She nodded again, laying back and staring at the ceiling.
The three moved away as Tet ran in. "Darlin, are you okay?"
She glanced at him, tears in her eyes, "Branch screwed me up even more.."
He wrapped his arms around her, silently vowing vengeance as she cried.
She took a deep breath, wiping at her eyes, "Sorry.. I'll be alright.."
"Nothing to be sorry about, darlin. Just rest and don't worry."
She nodded slowly, going back to staring at the ceiling.
Tet silently cursed as he left the infirmary, trying to think of how to fix the problem. He sat in the conference room for a while before standing and reciting the teleportation spell.
Andy continued to stare at the ceiling until she finally passed out.
Akasa sighed as he sat down watching her. How much more could she take before she broke? Either she would need serious counseling and rest or she'd run away. He almost wished for the second option, but that had its own set of issues. He shook his head and settled in to wait.
Andy eventually woke again, blinking her eyes open and glancing around before staring blankly at the wall.
"Andy? I hate to ask, but do you know where Tet went?" Kiba gently brushed her hair back, his eyes soft.
She shook her head, "He left here a while ago.."
He nodded. "Alright. You just rest. I'll find him." Kiba left, his mind checking off possible places.
She sighed, looking down at her hands.
Yuki came in, sitting down beside her silently. He took one of her hands and squeezed softly.
She looked up at him for a moment before sighing, "Guess everyone's heard that I'm screwed up, huh?"
He gave her a small smile. "Everyone's worried about you. You've got quite the cheering section here."
"Probably because I keep them all alive. But I can't do that now.."
"You know, they don't seem to care about that. All I've heard is how their heart is hurting and they don't know how to help. The young man you healed is worried he'll be the cause of more nightmares for you. Your other necromancer and that witch are combing their books for something to help. They mentioned if you leave, they will they didn't use the word leave." He cocked his head as he watched her face. "They care about you, not your gifts."
"I don't get it.. I'm just a doctor who helps take care of them. I'm just a tool used by Branch. I'm nothing special.." She looked away.
"You sure are dense. I've been here less than one day and I can tell you're the one they follow. Not Kadoya. You. They have told me stories that make me stand in awe of you. You've given yourself up to Branch to save them, you were ready to turn yourself over to the military police to save Kadoya. That makes you undeniably special in my book. But I'm just the newbie here. I don't know anything." He stood and began to walk away.
"Thank you.."
He stopped and turned. "For what?"
"Helping me."
He raised an eyebrow. "You helped me first. Only right I return the favor."
She gave a small smile in response.
A sudden light appeared, coalescing into a small box. It landed in Andy's hand.
She looked at it in confusion.
Akasa came over and frowned. "What is it?"
She opened it slowly.
A syringe lay tied with a ribbon. A promise ring was tied into the ribbon's bow and there was a folded note.
She stared at it confused and unfolded the note.
"Darlin, warrior goddess, love of my life
This will fix your problem. I have their word. I have made a deal with them. You don't have to fear losing your life anymore. Tell Kiba not to be too hard on the squad, okay? And keep putting the anti depressants in Boss' food- the calm suits him. Try not to prank the guys too much and make sure Ryu and Shouma don't forget to eat occasional healthy stuff. Don't blame yourself, this was my decision.
I love you beyond life itself. Tet"
Her eyes filled with tears and she pushed herself out of the bed. She ran out of the infirmary to find Kiba. When she spotted him, she grabbed onto his arm, "You have to help me get him back.."
He gave her a confused look. "Who? You're not making any sense."
She handed him the box and note.
His eyes went gold and he snarled in fury. "I'm going to kill him!"
She took the box back, grabbing the syringe and sticking it in her arm before slipping the ring on her finger. She grabbed onto Kiba, focusing on Tet and teleporting them to his location.
A white coated man shook his head as he saw her. "You aren't very smart. That guy convinced us to leave you alone and you show up?"
"I'm not letting him give himself up," Andy growled. "I'll fight Branch forever if it means I can keep him with me."
Kiba snarled and shifted. He stood shaking next to her and waited.
She shifted, attacking the scientist before looking around for Tet.
Kiba ran ahead, then stopped in front of a room and howled.
She followed, looking into the room.
Tet lay on a table, his eyes closed as several scientists spoke above him. They began to ready surgical instruments and looked at medical scans.
Andy raced in, biting into them and quickly draining them. When she got through them, she reverted back to human form and gently lifted Tet up. She went back to Kiba and grabbed onto him before teleporting to the infirmary. She laid Tet in a bed, checking him over for any injuries.
He lay pale against the sheets and Kiba reverted, reaching a hand to touch him. He recoiled, tears beginning to streak his cheeks. "Andy.. he's ice cold. We were too late.."
She shook her head, focusing on him, covering him in gold light and praying.
Nothing happened and Kiba turned away, stumbling to a chair and putting his head in his hands.
Andy checked him over again, looking for anything she could have missed. She went back to pushing gold light into him, using all her strength.
Kei slowly entered, his eyes widening at the scene. After watching for ten minutes, he gently took Andy in his arms. "It's time to stop, Andy. They used a glove."
She took a deep breath before heading into the lab. She looked up the potion recipe and began working, pouring her energy into it as she put the ingredients in. After a long while, she came out, bottle in hand. She moved slowly to Tet, pouring some down his throat before focusing her energy on him again. The gold light surrounded him, and even though she felt like passing out, she continued.
Tet arched his back suddenly, sucking in air before letting out a cry of pain.
She continued pushing energy into him to try to help with pain until she finally collapsed.
Kei caught her, gently lifting and putting her on the bed next to Tet. He exchanged looks with Kiba as they saw the low life signs of both shifters. "I'll see if I can help." He disappeared into the lab.
Ten minutes later, he emerged. He went to Andy's side and poured a potion down her throat.
Andy woke slowly, still feeling pretty weak. She looked over at Tet and scanned him over.
His heartbeat was slow, but steady as was his blood pressure. Everything checked out until she got to his brain. Whole parts were dark and unresponsive, others working at the minimum needed to sustain his life.
She said multiple spells before pushing silver light into him. She felt herself growing tired but continued anyway, not wanting to give up on him.
His brain began responding, slowly at first, then rapidly gaining strength. Soon, every reading showed perfectly normal.
She let out a relieved sigh before releasing the light and laying back.
Akasa rolled his eyes. "You'll never learn, will you?"
She looked at him and shrugged.
Tsukasa walked in, his eyes stormy and smoke trailing behind. "Damn idiot really got us in trouble this time."
Andy glanced at him, "Why? What's up?"
"Branch is raising objections. Said Tet signed himself over of his own free will and that your attack was illegal. They're pushing for his return and your dismissal."
"I'm not letting him get taken back.." she looked down, her mind racing for ideas.
"Katshiro is being pressured on the legality. If Branch has their way in court, we won't have a choice. You'll be forced to leave the squad and Tet.. I told him I'll resign and the squad will quit. But then we'll have no recourse aside from going rogue to get him back." The smoke thickened as he watched Tet sleep. "He wasn't thinking straight, was he?"
She sighed, pushing herself up to a sitting position. She stayed quiet, contemplating what to do. She could make her own deal with Branch to free Tet.. or she could go destroy Branch once again and erase all records of their deal.. but destroying them, they always keep coming back.. She shook her head, unsure what the best course was.
"Boss..sorry about this." Tet's voice was groggy but strong. "Tell the General I'll go back."
Andy growled before saying the spell to freeze them. She continued to think for a few more minutes before moving to kiss Tet's forehead. She then said the teleportation spell and found herself outside of Branch. She slowly approached, hoping this would work.
"What is your purpose here?" A man emerged from the building warily.
"I want to make a deal to void out the one Tet signed. I know I'm a bigger target than he is, you guys keep coming after me and I cause you plenty of problems.."
"How do we know this isn't a trick?"
Andy sighed, "I don't know. I just want to save him and keep him safe.."
A pair of arms wrapped around her and yanked her into the bushes surrounding the building.
She growled, looking back to see who it was.
Tet glared at her, his eyes flickering. "What do you think you're doing?" He hissed under his breath.
"I can't live knowing you gave yourself up for me, so I'm doing what I can to save you and hopefully protect the whole team," she answered quickly. "I don't care what they do to me, I just want you safe. I didn't bring you back just for you to walk into their arms again," she growled.
"You don't trust my judgement." He sighed heavily. "I had a plan to dismantle Branch once and for all.." He stared into the distance as he spoke. "Part of it is already done. But you obviously don't believe I can take care of myself, so what's the damn point?"
"Yes, you being dead totally gives me the idea that you know what you're doing," she rolled her eyes angrily.
"It was planned! I knew what was going to happen! I'm not a fucking idiot. I just believed getting rid of the target on your back was more important than my life. That's what it means to be in the military. You believe the freedom, safety and happiness of everyone is more important than your own. But it goes into the stratosphere when it comes to your safety for me. I want you to be able to sleep, to live without the specter of these bastards in your head. To someday possibly have children that will grow up safe and happy without the worry that someone will come to dissect you or them." He was shaking, his eyes tear filled. "You are so much more important to me than my life. I'm sorry I can't change that. I will always pick you over myself.."
"You ever stop to think that I feel the same about you? And you expect me to not come save you and to just move on with my life?" She now had tears streaming down her face.
"I.." He shook his head, then kissed her hard. It was rough, full of need and pain and love. It was like he was trying to transmit all his feelings into her.
She kissed back just as hard, never wanting to let go.
He finally pulled back, breathing hard. "Darlin, I love you so much it terrifies me. The idea of you in there is a nightmare I can't stand. I can't live without you and they are determined to make me try. I will not allow that. I'm sorry." He suddenly plunged a syringe in her arm and injected the contents.
She felt herself growing dizzy, sleep trying to take over. She muttered, "can't.. live without you.." before the darkness took over.
Tet cradled her close, a soft sad smile on his face. "My beautiful darlin. I don't deserve you." He gently kissed her lips before reciting the teleport spell.
They materialized in their room and he laid her on the bed. "Live well. I'll always love you." With a final look, he vanished.
He reappeared at Branch and walked into the building without looking back.
Andy woke slowly, feeling groggy from the injection. Her heart dropped when she realized what happened. She wasn't thinking straight, knowing anything she did, Tet would keep trying to save her. She teleported herself out of the room, finding herself outside in the forest. She walked slowly, feeling numb as she approached the cliff.
"Andy, don't you dare! You need to come back. He needs you." Jun appeared in front of her.
She looked up at him, her eyes blank.
"Dammit Andy!" The witch slapped her hard. "He needs you! I have my hands full with the others. Help me!"
Her hand went to her face as her eyes began registering what was around her. "Jun..?"
He gave a small sigh of relief. "Yeah. Now will you please get to the infirmary? We have a serious situation." He vanished in a flash of light.
Andy took a deep breath and teleported to the infirmary.
Jun was hunched over several beds, his blue light covering the badly injured men there.
Akasa was doing surgery on Kiba, his eyes desperate.
Tsukasa looked up from his seat beside a still Tet. "Andy.."
Andy went to Tet, still feeling pretty numb. She scanned him over to see if anything was physically wrong.
The remnants of a slow poison revealed itself in his blood.
"His plan worked. Branch has been disavowed. We went in to arrest them all and it turned into a firefight. They're all dead. I found him after." Tsukasa took a deep breath, then winced and held one shoulder.
Andy took a blood sample and went to create an antidote for the poison. She injected it before focusing on him, covering him in gold light.
He sucked in a shaky breath, then his eyes opened. He looked at her in relief. "It's over. We're finally free.."
She sat down beside him, trying to push away the numbness.
He looked at her face and his eyes dropped. "I'm sorry, darlin. I know I went too far. I'll go now." He began the teleport spell, his voice shaky.
She grabbed his hand, holding it tight.
He stopped, searching her face. "Darlin?"
"Don't go.." she whispered.
He stared in confusion. "I hurt you too badly this time.. I don't deserve to be here.."
"Don't go," she repeated, a little louder. After a deep breath she added, "Need you.."
His eyes grew hopeful. "You still want me?" He was fighting sleep, his body heavy.
"Of course. Just rest." She said softly, her eyes becoming more focused.
He gave her hand a squeeze as his eyes closed.
Andy sat there a bit longer, watching him. She then got up and went to check with Akasa about Kiba.
The nurse was taking deep breaths where he sat. "Damn wolf. He always has to make things difficult."
"Is he okay?"
"He will be, hopefully. He lost a lot of blood and I had to hold the hole in his heart closed while I healed other things. I just hope he wasn't deprived of oxygen too long."
She nodded slowly, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I don't know. Your gift is stronger than mine."
Andy checked Kiba over, reciting a few spells before kissing his forehead. She then went back to sitting beside Tet.