New Hope COG Research Facility
Present Time
No, he wasn't a monster. He was sure of that. He knew what monsters looked like now. They were gray, and they came in many hideous forms, and they delighted in the suffering of humans. And they had to die, or all of humanity would be wiped out.
-Chairman Prescott's thoughts on using the Hammer Of Dawn
Lives were such simple, fragile things. One bullet, one snapped neck and your existence could be snuffed out forever. Death could come quickly, so quickly you never had time to embrace it or prepare yourself for it. It could come slowly, taking its sweet time and allowing you your final goodbyes. Or it could stare you right in the face, taunting you, laughing at you. Even after years of wondering how I would finally die, in a mission, in my sleep, in a locust attack…I never knew death would have such angry, blue eyes.
Baird glared at me while waiting for Cole's response. Cole said nothing. "Alright then. Guess it's up to me." My eyes widened when he yanked his sidearm out of it's holster.
Before I could react -before any of us could react- the bushes rustled and there was a flying mass of black and tan fur lunging out at us. As Baird turned the gun to aim at the new threat, I used my other hand to knock his firing arm upward, causing the shot to go wide. While he was off balance I yanked my other arm free from his grasp, but the slight victory came at a cost. The swift movement combined with my injuries caused me to lose my balance, stumbling backwards to keep from falling on my ass.
I backed into something huge, hard, and warm. I turned my head to see the massive wall of bulk that was Cole. I swallowed hard. I am so screwed…
I tensed, waiting for the blow that was sure to end my life. Cole was so big that he could probably end my life using one hand. He raised his arm over my head and I let out a small squeak of fear.
The massive weight landed around my shoulders and stayed there, my knees buckling slightly from the weight. I peeked up at him, and saw he had his arm around me. "Aw shit, c'mon Baird. She's just a little thing. Ain't gonna hurt us none."
Baird was still struggling with Sam. She had a firm grasp on the material covering his backside. Every time he tried to turn around to land a blow on her, she would turn with him, staying right on his ass. The picture would have been amusing if I wasn't scared shitless for Sam.
"Get this thing off of me!" he shouted, twisting around again to try and capture Sam. She growled, not letting go of her teeth-hold on his uniform.
I whistled slightly. "Sam," I called, the weakness in my voice scaring me slightly. I hoped I wasn't going to pass out again. The adrenalin from the brief fight had dulled the pain, but now it was coming back with a vengeance. I was leaning on Cole more than I cared to admit. "C'mere Sam."
Her eyes flicked over to me, and she gave one last tug on Baird's backside before letting go and slouching over to me. She kept her eyes trained on Baird as if daring him to draw his sidearm again.
Baird glared at us, but he seemed reluctant to pull anything. I saw his eyes flick over to Sam, who was growling low in her throat. His eyes wandered over to my rifle as he deliberated. "Give me your weapons."
I hesitated a split second before reaching down and undoing the ties that held my sidearm around my leg. I threw it over to him. I reached up, slowly, and pulled my sniper's strap from around my shoulder. Cole had to move his arm to do so, and he took my gun from me.
"Anything else?" Baird asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously when I shook my head. "Check her," he said to Cole. Cole tossed the sniper over to Baird before patting me down.
I hissed in a breath when his hand patted over my injury. He looked down at my face, a worried expression on his. "What's the matter with you, baby?" he asked.
I shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes. "Well, I don't steal suture packs for nothing." He watched me for a second before a decision passed over his eyes. Before I could stop him, he reached down and untied my jacket from around my waist. My jaw clenched in pain as the cool night air flowed over my fresh wound.
"Damn, baby. You don't play nice, do ya'?" he asked me, probing the gash gently with his fingers. He pulled out the suture pack Baird had tossed him earlier, before motioning for me to have a seat on the Centaur's rear fender. He yanked open the pack; the needle's small size almost comical in his massive hands. "This will sting a bit," he warned before beginning the first stitch. I clenched my fist against the sting of the needle, but refused to show any more discomfort than that. My head was spinning from the way things had changed so fast. At first I was certain I was a goner, now they were wasting a kit to clean me up. The irony was not lost on me.
Cole finished the last stitch with a flourish, examining his work proudly. He was about to say something when a sharp, anxious bark startled us both. My gaze immediately went to Baird, and my heart sank when I saw he had his gun trained on me again.
"C'mon, Baird. I thought we were over this shit," Cole said, slightly exasperated. That was fine for him. I, on the other hand, was having trouble breathing as fear caused my throat to seize up. He knows…
"Uh-huh. That was before I knew her Longshot was COG issued. Tell me, how'd you manage to get close enough to Ace to kill him and take his rifle?" he asked, face contorted in a rage.
"Say what? Ace was killed years ago, in that Locust attack," Cole said, a bit of doubt coloring his booming voice.
Baird snorted, keeping his eyes and gun trained on me. "Yeah, that's what the official reports say. Doesn't explain how she got a hold of his sniper, though." He tossed the gun over to Cole who caught it automatically. "Check the butt stock."
I didn't have to check. I knew what Cole would find there. A pair of aces, painstakingly carved into the paint. I heard Cole's sigh and immediately knew he had seen them. "Damn, baby. Just when I was starting to like you…"
I knew I had one chance to talk myself out of this. "Wait. It's not what it looks like. I knew Ace, back before he died. He gave me this rifle." Baird snorted disbelievingly, and my next words had a taint of desperation in them. "I can prove it. His partner was named Rick, nicknamed 'the Dragon' because he smoked a lot. Rick was killed on E-day, and Ace was never assigned another partner. He was twenty-two when he died, had black hair, and he was a huge Thrashball fan." I searched for something else, anything that would prove I knew Ace. "He was an excellent soldier, and an even better friend. I was there when he died."
Baird was watching me suspiciously, but he dropped the barrel of his gun fractionally. Something hardened in his eyes, and he sneered at me angrily. "Yeah, right. Ace wouldn't hang around with a piece of Stranded shit like you."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Now that the fear had abated -somewhat - irritation was quickly taking it's place. "I wasn't Stranded. Not back then. I was there when Ace died, and he gave his gun to me. End of story."
"Why would he give his gun to you?" I understood his reason for asking his question. A gun was a gear's lifeline, his sense of security. Giving that away was a huge gesture, even when one knew he was dying.
I thought about how to answer his question. It was a mistake that I was there when Ace died, one that had been left out of the 'official statements'. Should I tell him why I was there? And betray my only mentor's trust? Ace had been so much more than a teacher though. He had been a friend. Someone I trusted, and I didn't trust easily.
I sighed. "Look, nothing I say is going to convince you. You either believe me, or you don't. Shoot me, or let me go. Your choice." It was a gamble, and a risky one at that. The tension increased, and Sam let out a low growl as if warning Baird to make the right decision.
"C'mon, Baird. Women are the future, not cannon fodder. She had to know Ace to know all that stuff about him," Cole said, coming to my rescue. I tried to ignore the 'women are the future' political lie that had to have been fed to him by Prescott.
Baird gave me one last, distrustful look. "Whatever…" he groused, before holstering his sidearm. His Lancer still dangled ominously from one hand.
I looked between them awkwardly. "So…I guess I'll go then." I stood up, wobbling on my feet. After sitting so long the sudden rush of blood to my brain, combined with my concussion, caused me to lose my balance.
"Whoa there, baby. You ain't going anywhere." Cole caught me with one hand and eased me back to a sitting position.
I blew out a breath while waiting for the world to stop spinning. Cole watched me anxiously for a moment before turning his attention to Sam. "Who's this?" he asked, holding out a hand for her to sniff. Sam snapped at him, and he withdrew his hand. "Damn…" he said, eying her bared teeth.
"That's Sam. She doesn't like strangers much." I told him, slightly pleased at Sam's protection. "It's okay Sam. Shake."
She eyed him cautiously before lifting her paw for Cole to grasp. Cole's booming laughter filled the air. "Now that's more like it!" he exclaimed, reaching down to pat Sam's side. Sam wagged her tail and licked his hand fervently. I cracked a smile in spite of myself. That's what I loved about her; that she was willing to tear someone's head off in my name, and in the next second she was best friends with them.
Baird reached past us into the Centaur, taking care not to come too close to me. He pulled out some equipment, and, sending a disgusted look my way, wandered over to start work on his project. I watched him warily for a moment, but after a while he seemed to forget about us.
Cole interrupted my thoughts. "Don't believe you told me your name, sweetheart."
"Call me Bri," I said automatically. "So you're Cole, and he's Baird?"
He nodded. "Yep. Don't mind Baird. He's always a little jumpy around strangers." He winked at me, "'Specially attractive ones."
I froze, my hand unconsciously reaching for my sidearm that was no longer there. He followed my reach with his eyes, and gave a slight chuckle. "Guess you'll be wanting your guns back now." He trained his eyes on Baird, and ever so obviously handed me back my sniper. Baird ignored us, but I knew instinctively that he was still watching. Cole cleared his throat, loudly, and Baird sighed. He tossed over my pistol and holster without looking at us. "He does know how to treat a woman!" Cole exclaimed, still in that booming voice. "Whatcha doing over there anyway? Need help?"
Baird sighed, and I could see him deliberate over whether or not to answer, and finally he sighed. "Nope. Creating a blast charge is high school chemistry. Creating a blasting cap to go off on time, however, is high art." He paused, meddling with a pair of wires. "Good thing I'm excellent at both."
I gave him a curious look, wondering if he was serious or not. I figured it didn't matter, because if he screwed it up, I wouldn't be around to care. However, Cole seemed to trust him, and he wasn't worried about the bomb blowing up in our face. Rather, he was patting Sam's side absentmindedly. She wasn't paying attention to him, choosing instead to watch Baird with cool, untrusting eyes.
Cole sat on the rear of the Centaur with me, making the tires deflate some. I watched him cautiously, uneasy about the superfluous way he treated me. Of course, he probably wasn't afraid of anything. Well…maybe that wasn't true. Everyone was afraid of the Locust, at least on some level. "So," he said, watching me out of the corner of his eyes. "Got anything you wanna talk about?"
I shook my head once. I stayed silent, wondering where he was planning on taking this. He paused, waiting for me to say something. When it became apparent that I wasn't, he continued talking as if nothing had happened. "That's alright. Mamma always said I talked to much. You got any family, someone who's gonna be expecting you home tonight?"
I shook my head again. The camp wasn't exactly family, and nobody would care if I didn't show. Well, maybe Momma, but she was different. She cared about everyone. "Shame," Cole murmured, the quietest I've heard him. "Damn shame."
Baird interrupted us unintentionally. "Marcus, it's Baird. I got your blast charge ready."
The reply crackled through the tank's radio system, making me jump slightly. "Roger that. We'll be out in a few."
I heard Baird sigh before looking at me. "Yeah…there's been a slight change in plans."
"Whaddya mean?" came the reply, but I knew exactly what he meant.
"Cole picked up a stray dog. Seems harmless, but I wanna know what you think, boss." Cole shot me a wink before pressing his finger to his ear. "Yep, there's a dog here all right. But Baird also forgot to mention the Stranded girl."
I gulped in the crackling silence that ensued. Finally, the gruff voice said "Stranded girl?" His tone was different now, quieter, more menacing.
There was a crackle, then a different voice said, "Cole? Is it-"
He drifted off, and Cole examined my face sadly. "Nah, sorry Dom. It's not Maria."
I heard someone sigh, then the same voice said, "That's alright. Too much to hope for."
"We'll see you in a minute," Marcus repeated, then cut the line. I was left wondering who in the world Maria was.
Cole nudged me with his elbow, causing a fresh wave of pain to shoot through my body. He didn't seem to notice. "Don't worry, baby. Dom's always jumping at straws. He won't hold it against you."
I nodded, only slightly relieved. He might not hold the fact that I wasn't Maria against me, but there was still the slight problem of me being Stranded.
We sat there in silence; even Cole had given up the pretense of conversation. Baird stayed by the bomb, throwing caustic glares my way every few moments. A clap of thunder sounded, and I stifled a groan. I hated rain; it made regular shots almost impossible and reduced visibility to almost zero. I didn't dare move, even when the rain started and drenched us with what seemed like buckets of cold water. Sam whined, also miserable. The two gears didn't seem to mind much, after all, they had full body armor to protect them. I was soon soaked to the skin, even with the small amount of shelter the Centaur provided.
About ten minutes later, I heard footsteps approach from behind us. Loath to let a potential enemy sneak up on me, I stood with Cole.
"Yo, what's the word?" Cole asked, holding his arms out wide. I stayed hidden behind the Centaur, watching the squad with careful, observing eyes. Sam stayed next to me, crouched and ready to attack if the need arose.
"Some kind of security door we need to bypass," a man said, and I recognized his black do-rag from earlier. His voice was low and gravelly, like scraping metal boots against pavement.
"Bypass?" Cole said, humor evident in his loud tone, "You mean blow that shit up!" He laughed, motioning towards the bomb Baird had made.
"Exactly," Do-rag said, before nodding towards Baird in an unspoken question.
"It's all ready, Marcus," Baird said. "Just make sure you get your ass outside the blast radius, and whatever you do, don't drop the thing," he added in a stark tone.
"Hey man," the Latino man said, speaking up for the first time. "Where's this 'stray dog' of yours?"
I took a breath and wandered out to where they could see me. "Right here."
The man apparently named Dom wandered closer. "Sup?" he said to me in greeting, giving me a courtesy glance before turning to Cole. "How'd she get here?"
Cole shrugged his massive shoulders. "Not sure how she got here. Found her coming out of the Centaur with a suture pack. Checked her out and she was injured." He paused, "She seems to be a little out of it. I'd hate to have it on my conscience if she died when we could have helped her."
Wow. Guilt trip much? Baird snorted then turned to Marcus. "Cole's fascinated with her dog. I for one ain't much for taking on freeloaders in the middle of the mission. What do you think, Marcus? Marcus?"
But Marcus didn't appear to be listening. He was staring at me, eyes opened wide. His eyebrows were knitted together and he had a stupefied look on his face. I cocked an eyebrow his way, wondering what was up. I had the spooky feeling he knew me from somewhere, although his scarred face triggered nothing in my memory. I cleared my throat awkwardly when the staring became uncomfortable.
He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. "Huh?" he said to Baird, not taking his eyes off of me. He blinked a couple times in rapid succession, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"This weather's not getting any better, boss man," Cole said, although he had a perplexed look on his face. He looked at me, as if I had any answers on why Marcus had taken such an interest in me. "Yeah…" Marcus said, letting the word trail off into nothingness. He gazed at me one more time before mentally shaking himself from the stupor he was in. He looked at Cole. "Gotcha," he said, grabbing one side of the bomb and motioning for Dom to grab the other. "We'll let you know how it goes," he said to Baird.
"Oh, we'll know," Baird said, backing away from the bomb.
Dom grabbed the other side of the bomb after throwing one last curious look my way. His glance reminded Baird of something.
"Hey, wait! What do you want us to do with Miss Freeloader here?" he called over to Marcus.
Marcus called his answer over her shoulder. "Make sure you keep her around. We could always use an extra gun, and the less people she can tell about this place, the better. Remember, this is still a top-secret mission."
"Yeah, extra guns are always nice…until they shoot you in the back," Baird grumbled, just loud enough for me to hear it. I paid him no mind, focusing instead on the retreating form of the two gears. Marcus's behavior still puzzled me.
I wonder what he saw in me…
A/N- And so the plot thickens! As always, special shoutouts to my beta's, rockforthecross74 and Kade Riggs. Check their stuff out, I'm betaing it also and it's crazy good! :D
So...What did you think? Will Baird ever come around? Who's this mysterious 'Ace'? Will Dom hold the fact that Bri is Stranded against her? And how does Marcus recognize her? Review and tell me what you think!
As always, reviewers get a preview of the next chapter, and get on Sam's good side! (Seriously, do you want a huge, protective, German Sheppard out to get you?)
