- The Facility, Continued -
Lucy looks at the wound on Amy's shoulder. "What happened to you?"
"Nerve pellet." Amy answers plainly. "...From an old friend."
Lucy pauses for a moment, then decides to let her elaborate on that later. She turns around and takes a look at the fallen guards. Eyeing something useful, she gets up and walks to the first victim of the chair, reaches to the side holster, and pulls out a handgun. She feels the weight of it in her hands, and then pulls out the magazine to check for rounds. She turns back to Amy, but is greeted by a disapproving look on Amy's face.
"It's just for our protection." Lucy reassures as though reading Amy's mind. "I promise."
Amy gives a weak nod back.
Lucy slips the gun into her pants pocket then leans back down towards Amy. "Think you'll be able to stand?" Lucy asks, while retightening her hold on Amy's hands.
"...Yeah." Amy whispers.
Lucy helps Amy up and props the blonde's arm across her own shoulder. With her near arm, she wraps it across Amy's back and around to her side, steadying her as she strained to move. Lucy is dressed in prison overalls, thoughtfully made with loud-orange fabric. The only other item she's wearing save for dark slip-on shoes are a pair of garish-looking metal bracelets.
"So... something tells me you're not exactly here by invitation." Lucy states playfully.
"...Not quite."
"I see. What are your bosses going to think about that, Ms. Perfect Score?"
Amy stayed silent. At this moment, she didn't really know how to tell Lucy that in her absence, she has stepped out of her goody-two-shoes and has replaced Lucy as one of the worlds most feared and successful criminals. She couldn't tell her right away how things have changed, how she has changed. All in good time, as they say. But ultimately, Amy was uncertain and nervous as to how Lucy would respond.
"We have to get to the elevator..." Amy seems to be straining as she tries to speak, while trying to keep her mind focused on continuing with the plan. "...Then to the second floor, then across the building to the main entrance."
"Yes ma'am!" Lucy says gleefully, eliciting a smile back from Amy. They both slowly make their way towards the elevator. Not wanting to let go of the weakened blonde, Lucy raised her leg and kicked at the up call button.
"How... did you get out?" Amy asks curiously as they both step into the elevator as soon as the door opened.
"One of the things I do to pass time in there was to flick a bar of soap bottle against the repel field, and watch it bounce back to me." Lucy recounts with a smile after kicking the button to floor 2. "You can imagine my surprise when for the first time ever, the soap didn't come back."
As the elevator door closes and they feel the movement upwards, Amy continues in a muted voice, "The field was down for only two minutes... You just happened to be doing that? ...Just coincidence?"
"Well, not exactly coincidence," Lucy answers playfully, "...I had been doing that for the last 3 hours."
Amy looks at Lucy with half-opened eyes and a sheepish smile.
Lucy looks back at her, slightly blushing. "Hey! It's not like they gave me a video game to occupy myself with in there, you know?"
Amy smiles warmly at her. Lucy gives a short chuckle back. Amy presses the side of her face onto Lucy's neck, reveling in the feeling of Lucy's skin on her own. Lucy notices this, and gives Amy an understanding squeeze with her supporting hand draped over to Amy's hip.
As the schematics of the building come back to Amy's thoughts, her face turns serious again. "There are more guards posted on the second floor."
Lucy didn't flinch. She continues to clutch onto the weak girl firmly, and states simply, "Leave them to me."
- Floor 2 -
A guard makes his pass to the corner of the hall, and then takes a look down the corridor. As with the last hundred or so times he's done this today, he sees nothing, and so turns around and walks back to the center foyer, knowing he will return to check this corner in less than a minute. This job can certainly get to the point of being excruciatingly boring, but it pays well, and he gets full dental.
About halfway down the hall before the foyer, he hears something roll on the floor behind him. He turns quickly, suddenly alert, and draws ready his rifle. A can of Sprite rolls down from the corridor, casually hitting the near wall before finally resting to a stop. He steps cautiously into the direction of the corner he had just checked; ready for anything that might come out to surprise him.
He leans to his right onto the wall, and peers his head into the corner, but sees nothing. He knows there is a room close by used to store various drinks and snacks for the staff, and figures the can might have come from there. He steps forward to investigate. After a last check down the corridor to make sure no one is coming from there, he juts his leg forward, pushing in the slightly open door to the dark storage room. With his rifle held forward with his right hand, he reaches with his left to flip on the light switch.
A case of Sprite had been tipped over from one of the shelves: The likely source of the can. As he steps into the room, he peers around to check for anybody present, but he was too slow...
In quick motion, his rifle was grabbed from the side and wrestled off his hand. All he could see from the onslaught was a pair of tanned hands, large silver bracelets, and orange-clad arms taking hold of his gun, before seeing the butt of the handle at the last second before it approached his forehead at high velocity...
- Center Foyer -
The two guards panicked as they tried in vain to ready their rifles before they were attacked. It took a single second to realize the person who just walked in wearing their uniform wasn't one of their own, but a second delay was all Lucy needed to surprise them. Lucy dropkicked one in the kneecap before planting a heavy knee into the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him instantly. The second one didn't fare much better, feeling the blunt end of a rifle shatter his nose before seeing the rifle held backwards swung hard onto the side of this head. The man tumbled to the floor, out cold. Instantly, Lucy returned to the first guard who was kneeling on the floor gasping for breath, and swung the rifle onto the back of his head, taking away his consciousness for the time being.
After she scanned the vicinity for any more immediate obstacles, she darted back in the direction she came from, down the corridor, and back to her ailing girlfriend, who sat on the floor against the wall, barely keeping her eyes open.
"C'mon baby, stay with me!" Lucy encouraged the sedated blonde as she helped pry her off the floor. A weak mumble was all the response she got, but she can feel that Amy is trying to exert some energy to pull herself up.
Lucy guided her down the corridor and into the foyer, trying hard to keep her balance while supporting as much of Amy's weight as possible with her shoulder. Amy seems to be gaining strength as they go, as Lucy feels their speed picking up and Amy shifting less weight onto her. Hopefully this means the nerve pellet is wearing off. They're halfway to the main entrance at least, but still, Lucy didn't like at the thought of needing to let Amy down to take out more guards.
At the moment though, Lucy's dread suddenly deepened as she hears light footsteps behind her, as well as the sound of a hammer being pulled back on a revolver.
"Going somewhere, inmate?" The woman's commanding voice echoes between the narrow walls.
Amy's eyes suddenly dart open in a chill. It was Max's voice.
Lucy begins to turn around, her heartbeat racing as she finds herself caught off-guard.
"Eh - eh - eh..." Max warns, freezing Lucy at her position. "Slowly take out the weapon in your pants, because I know for sure you're not just happy to see me."
If she were alone, Lucy would have about ten different plans already in mind on how to get out of this. But this time, she has the love of her life weakened in her arms and she will not do anything to risk her. Lucy sighs, then slowly reaches into her pocket, pulls out the gun delicately, and drops it to the floor. Lucy knew the drill and knew what Max would say next, and so she kicks the gun lightly to make it slide backwards to the wall next to Max.
As Lucy turns around fully and finally sees the one threatening their freedom, she is surprised to find this girl in a complete mess: She has fragments of plastic and glass in her untidy hair, dirt and rips decorate her DEBS uniform, as well as several recent cuts to her arms and legs.
"Perfect," Max gleams, "it looks like now I can add three counts of Assault with a deadly weapon to your list of charges, Ms. Diamond." She then focuses her eyes on her former teammate. "Was it worth it Amy? Was it worth the 100 million dollars you stole? What a shame you won't get to enjoy any of it."
Lucy gazes at Max, her expression a mixture of surprise and confusion.
Max's mouth crept up and chuckled. "Oh I guess she neglected to mention, but your girlfriend here took over your job and now has more warrants out for her arrest than even you had in your glory days. She's become a greedy little thief, just like you were."
A bewildered Lucy turned to look at Amy, but Amy just let her eyes fall and her face drop. She was going to explain it all, but never wanted to do so here.
As much as Lucy's curiosity wanted to know more about these new revelations, she had more pressing matters. She turned to Max. "Listen, I'll make you a deal." Lucy asks sternly while trying to be calm. "I'll stay locked up here and tell you all you want to know about my old associates, but just let Amy go."
"You are in no position to make a deal with me, Diamond." Max balks back. "And I couldn't give a shit about your old associates. This is about justice."
"No Max." Amy cuts in, catching both Lucy and Max's attention immediately. Amy raises her head slightly to face her former squad leader. "This is about your pride. It's always been. You couldn't care about my happiness as long as I continued to help your career."
"Shut up, traitor." Max hissed.
"Ever since our first meeting with Lucy, and when you found out about us, then in all the time they made us believe she was dead, have you ever once asked me what I wanted?"
"You couldn't have known what was best for you in your state of mind," Max's voice gets louder in defense. "I knew what was best for you, but you wouldn't listen to me."
"I didn't listen to you because I was sick of everybody telling me how I should lead my life. I didn't want to be somebody else's poster child anymore. I wanted my life back. If you were truly my friend you should have seen that and supported me through it."
"Supported YOU?" Max amused. "What? Was I supposed to applaud you while you took over a criminal organization? Were you expecting me to break out the pom-poms for every million you pocketed?"
"No. I expected a friend. Do you realize after I thought Lucy had died, it felt as though I've lost the only person who truly understood me? And do you have any idea how completely alone I felt everyday since? Everybody wanted me to be this perfect being. I can't be perfect, Max. And I can't keep pretending I am for you or anybody else. With Lucy, I don't need to be perfect. I can just be me. I couldn't bear the thought that she was taken from me. You have no idea what it was like, to feel as though you have this huge empty space where your heart should be. Please Max, let us be together finally."
A brief flicker of dark memories flash before Max's eyes as Amy speaks those words. She quickly shook them off, but the emotional echo of those images lingered. In all her training, Max always knew what to do, what to say, in any situation. Now, with her gun pointed at two of the most wanted criminals in the world, she knew exactly the lines she is supposed to speak. Max aims right for the brunette, and speaks. "Lucy Diamond..." But suddenly, the voice escapes her.
After a moment, Max regains her focus, her eyes sharpen, and her face shows determination. "...You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..."
Amy closes her eyes and sighs tiredly. Lucy's mouth clenches in frustration. But out from the corner of her eye, she sees a figure approaching.
Max stops her speech when she hears the footsteps beside her as well as the sound of a gun raised to her head.
"Max." The figure says sheepishly.
Max quickly turns her face to the direction of the gun pointed at her, while keeping her own aim still. Her face becomes exasperated and angry at the voice she recognized right away.
Janet says once again. "Max." Then continues with the most sincere voice, "Let them go."
"Janet!" Max hissed. "What the HELL do you think you are doing?"
"What I think is right." Janet simply answers. "I'm helping a friend."
Max's seething gaze returns to the 2 fugitives, but keeps the gun pointed at them. "I am also your friend, Janet." Max says with a slightly resentful tone.
"And I would do the same for you if you were in the same position." Janet answers quickly, her voice far from the squeaky tone the team had gotten used to hearing from her. "But this time, I'm trying to help you out as much as her. If you do this Max, you will regret it forever. And no number of promotions or awards will make it easier for you."
"Shut up." Max mumbles in a low breath. "I know what I'm doing. And I know, you don't have the guts to shoot me here. Not for this."
Janet blinks, sighs, and lowers her gun. "No, you're right, I don't." She then walks around in front of Max and stops, and stands with her chest right in the trajectory of the gun in Max's hand.
"JANET!" Max screams at her, with emotion in her voice filled with anguish and shock.
"Amy, Lucy." Janet says, keeping her face towards Max. "You two better get going."
Amy had tears in her eyes. She breathlessly utters Janet's name before being pulled back by Lucy. After a short moment of resistance, Amy lets herself be pulled away. Despite the agonizing sight of her two closest friends in conflict, she knows she can't help the situation by staying.
As the two girls shuffle down the hall, both Janet and Max were still playing the staring game with each other. Max still hasn't moved her gun's aim from Janet's body.
"How can you do this?" Max whispers, her face was flushed, her words were filled with hurt.
"She loves her, Max... whether we understand it or not. Imagine what she had to go through at Endgame."
Max stayed silent.
"I know, you were in love once, madly in love... and it ended sadly." Janet continues sympathetically, "...Don't deny it, I've known for a long time."
Max's concentration begins to falter with the returning memories, but tries not to show it in her face.
"...What would you do to get that feeling back?"
Suddenly, Max exhales, she blinks a few times as drops of tears begin to fall down her face. Her breaths become shallow gasps.
"...Anything." Max whispers, and then allows her arms to relax and let the gun lower out of harm's way.
- to be continued -