Last part of the last real chapter - I'll have the epilogues up soon, and perhaps a pseudo-chapter leading up to them.

A/N 1: SilentPegasus: Sequel? No, no, no. Over my dead, decapitated body. *amused* I'll quit while I'm ahead, and while I still have some of my sanity left intact ^^

Italics indicates thoughts/telepathy

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Chapter Eighty-Seven: Memento Mori, part II

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Too many soldiers.

The thought appeared, unwanted, in Kyle's mind, nagging him and adding to the growing worry he felt. The car felt almost claustrophobic, and he was all too aware of how vulnerable they would be if something went wrong.

But it won't.

There were too many civilians around for the soldiers to just attack them - any fighting would leave a lot of casualties among the surrounding people, and hopefully that would be a risk the humans wouldn't take. And that helped a bit...at least this way, they would be likely to get a warning before everything blew up.

Suzuka was obviously thinking in the same lines, and her eyes slowly surveyed the area as Kyle pulled up to the rather long line waiting to cross the border, and stopped the car.

"I don't like this," she mumbled and leaned back into her seat. "It's too easy."

In the backseat, Daryn shifted slightly, restlessly, and Zahra kept looking out the window, eyeing their surroundings as carefully as Suzuka had. Clearly, Kyle wasn't the only one who didn't like this at all.

"Nothing's going to happen," Kyle replied, forcing himself to ignore his own nagging feeling of unease. "There are too many civilians around...they won't try anything, not here."

"She has a point..." Zahra added, almost reluctantly. "It *was* too easy. We haven't been stopped anywhere, we haven't been followed..."

"We're allowed to be lucky," Kyle replied, with a faint smile. "Relax. We'll get out of this."

Then why don't you believe that yourself?

* * *

"Sir?"

The captain looked up, just barely keeping his annoyance from showing. He wasn't going to use a rookie to vent on...it wasn't his fault they were in this situation, and seeing as the rookie and the other privates actually had to be outside, they undoubtedly felt a lot more uncomfortable than he himself did.

"What is it?" His voice was a calm as always, not letting his anger or his discomfort at the warm climate show.

"The patrol cars were right, sir. It's them," the boy reported, and the captain frowned.

"All of them?" he asked, and Christ, maybe they could get out of this hellhole after all - they were only here to catch the muties. Elite forces had nothing to do in some backwater place like this.

"Yes, sir."

Another nod, and he just barely kept the satisfaction from showing. "Good. Let's get to work."

* * *

Something was wrong.

He wasn't sure what, but *something* was nagging at the edge of his awareness, finely honed instincts warning him that something was most definitely not right.

But what? He frowned, pale eyes narrowing as he carefully surveyed their surroundings. Long lines of cars, people, noise, guards, the constant hum of engines, and-

-There hadn't been this many soldiers when they'd arrived.

A quick look around confirmed his dawning suspicions - the soldiers were slowly but steadily closing in on the cars, clearly trying not to be too obvious about it.

Shit.

"Blade?" Jordane looked at him, alarmed by his expression. "What's wrong?"

A quick check in the rearview mirror, and he cursed silently again as he saw that the line behind them had rapidly grown, all but blocking the road they came from. "They're surrounding us," he replied. "They know who we are."

"Surrounding us?" Pheonix repeated and looked around, dark eyes coming to rest on one of the soldiers. It took a moment for her to see what was going on, and for that brief moment she could almost delude herself into thinking that her leader was just being paranoid, and then several more soldiers appeared, all moving closer to the four cars.

"We have to warn the others," Aaron said with a frown, but Blade shook his head, his eyes resting on the car ahead. Kyle had turned the engine on again, and judging from the way he was looking over his shoulder, he was checking the amount of cars behind them, just like Blade had.

"They already know."

"Blade..." The word was low, warning, and Jordane motioned towards one of the buildings where a military jeep had appeared. Another one appeared behind it, and it became clear that all attempts to keep the ambush hidden had just been abandoned.

More soldiers followed, and it was obvious that if they wanted to get out, they had to act now.

He had deliberately kept a certain distance between his own car and Kyle's, earlier experiences having taught him that getting trapped in a line like this was never a good idea, and he was grateful for that now. It wasn't much room to maneuver in, but it was enough.

A last check of the surroundings, and he turned the key, feeling the engine spring to life again.

* * *

Kyle's head snapped up, alerted by the sudden motion behind him, and saw Blade turn the car sharply, quickly maneuvering it out of the line, and it took his mind less than a second to react.

Ryan!

Go! The reply came instantly, the strain from keeping the many emotions at bay clear even to Kyle, and he reacted as fast as Ryan had, not missing a heartbeat as he quickly backed out of the line and turned the car, tires screeching from the strain.

He was only vaguely aware of the two other cars doing the same thing, his attention solely on the area ahead of him. Some of the road was still clear, and he turned towards it, watching as the car ahead of him did the same.

Five-hundred feet, four-hundred feet, three-hundred feet-

-And the car ahead turned abruptly, tires screeching, barely avoiding a collision with the two military vehicles that appeared on the road, efficiently blocking their exit.

Damn!

A quick look around confirmed his fear - with the exception of the border itself, that *had* been the only way out for the cars. More jeeps appeared, soldiers as well, and Kyle looked around, frantically searching for some sort of cover, spotting the concrete building just seconds after Blade did. It wasn't big, but it was their best chance.

He was aware of Ryan and Ben behind him, was aware of the jeeps and soldiers that followed closely after, and even through the chaos and confusion he felt, he was still aware of one thing - things did not look good.

Partially hidden by the building, he brought the car to a sharp stop close to Blade's, and heard the two other cars do the same thing as he quickly got out, followed by Suzuka, Zahra, and Daryn.

He could already hear the sound of shouting, of cars approaching, and knew they didn't have long to find a way out.

"Ryan!" The telepath looked up, brief relief in his eyes as he saw that Kyle was unhurt, then switched back to the leader he was supposed to be.

"We need a diversion. Something to distract them for long enough to get us past that border." A pause, then- "Zach?"

The boy shook his head and sighed, almost apologetic. "Can't. My head still hurts too much. Couldn't even blow up a lock."

"And it's limited how many of them I can knock unconscious," Ryan admitted. "'Dre..." The girl looked up at his words. "After I knock the closest ones out, blind as many of them as you can - that way, we might get past them before they can recover, and-"

"-They'll kill you before you get half-way," Blade snapped. "They're professionals, not the normal border patrols."

"And what do you suggest, then?" Ryan snapped back. "I don't see you come up with a better idea."

Blade sent him a dark glare, then turned to Hal. "Get them out of here," he ordered, motioning towards Zach and the others. "I'll create a distraction, you just get the hell out of here, now."

"Blade-" Hal tried, something in his voice making her frown, but he cut her off before she could start.

"No. Get them out of here, now. That's not a suggestion, that's an order."

She nodded, knowing better than to argue in a situation like this. "All right," she agreed. She looked briefly at Jordane, but the girl didn't move from Blade's side. Not that she had expected it, anyway - they were partners, and they rarely worked alone.

Not needing to be told what to do, she moved to the other end of the building with the others, the part closest to the border, and looked at Blade, silently letting him know that they were ready. With a good enough distraction, they could make it...cross the border by foot, then steal a few cars on the others side. It would be impossible to get their cars through the lines that blocked the border, but stealing one afterwards would be easy.

"Blade..." Jordane looked at him, worry clear in her eyes, and he smiled faintly.

"Trust me, Queen."

She nodded, his words chasing away some of the worry she felt, and he let his eyes rest on her for a moment longer, then turned his attention to the chaos around them. Most of the civilian cars were blocked from sight by the building, but a few of them were still visible from where he stood. They weren't close, but with his aim, they didn't have to be.

His gun snapped up and fired twice, bullets piercing the heavy afternoon heat, chasing their targets, and hit the fuel tanks within a heartbeat of each other.

The force from the two explosions shook the earth beneath their feet, two thick columns of smoke rising in their air, mixing with the dust and heat, and the roar of the blasts followed instantly, drowning out the scream, the shouts, the sound of cars speeding up, trying to get away.

Another gunshot, and a third car blew up, and Hal pushed aside her shock for long enough to check that the soldiers' complete attention was on Blade, and not her.

"Go!"

The word was all but drowned out as another car exploded, this one triggered by the fierce fires from the others, but it was all that was needed to get them moving, and get away before the humans would realize what had happened.

No far away, Kyle's eyes widened in fear as the flames and the smoke and the screaming brought back terrifying memories of his homes, flames licking the walls, the floor, the ceiling, leaving black scorch-marks behinds, thick smoke burning his throat, making his eyes burn, and-

"Kyle!"

Ryan's voice cut through the memories, snapping him back into the present. The telepath had more or less managed to hide his shock at Blade's actions and focused on getting his team safely out of there instead. He didn't agree with cold-blooded murder, but he couldn't stop the other, and this was the best diversion they'd get.

Kyle forced the fear aside the best he could and followed Ryan and the others away from the building, trying to look away from the fires, and still finding himself morbidly fascinated by them.

The feeling of a hand on his shoulder, and he somehow managed to look away from the burning wrecks of the cars and focus on Ryan instead, but just barely, his mind still numb from the shock.

Using the confusion as a cover, Blade and Jordane moved away from the building and took cover behind a large truck instead, deliberately picking a spot where they'd be able to keep an eye on the others.

"When they're clear of the border, tell me," Blade ordered, and Jordane nodded, her eyes already following her teammates through the chaos that surrounded them. She was only vaguely aware of another explosion, her attention completely on the others, trusting in Blade's skills to keep them both safe. For an endless moment time seemed to have stopped, then she saw Hal shoot away the lock of one of the closed gates, and then kick it open.

"They're clear!"

Blade looked briefly at the border, then focused on their surroundings instead. He wasn't stupid - he knew the large truck had protected them from bullets so far, but it was only a matter of time before the soldiers turned their attention from the wounded humans to him and Jordane instead. When that happened, it would take more than just a truck to keep them safe.

His eyes slowly surveyed the area, his eyes finally coming to rest on a fuel truck next to one of the nearby buildings, undoubtedly used by the military vehicles. It safe to assume that it was almost full, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he watched it. How large would the blast radius be?

Big enough.

For a moment he didn't move, then raised his gun slowly, the chaos around him fading away as he concentrated on the weapon instead. His aim was flawless, long hours of training had seen to that, but still he took a moment to focus on the target, aiming carefully. For a moment he waited, listening for the sound of soldiers approaching, then heard the soft sound of a bullet striking the ground close to him.

A faint, grim smile crossed his lips, and he pulled the trigger, feeling the sharp recoil from the gun.

Unlike the soldiers, he didn't miss.

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