I would like to shift a lot more between the character perspective instead of only relying on Nathan's point of view. So in this chapter, I want it to be Sniper focused. It will allow me to expand on his character a bit more and perhaps show more of the man behind the scope.
Even after all these years, Lawrence is still befuddled about how he and Dell became close friends. Yeah, that mission sure gave them a good kickstart, but he has been on many traumatic missions throughout the years, and Dell joining them for the ride wasn't unusual either. Such a thing is mostly how he and Spook picked up new members, so it was more of a surprise that Dell decided to stick to the sidelines in this battle. Lawrence understands, though, unlike him, Dell will be recognized by a lot of people inside the Magisterium and the moment he throws his ass out on the battlefield (if he ever does), then he got one hell of a target on his back. If Dell ever does take on the uniform, Lawrence will keep his back safe; that what friends do, after all. Stepping inside his Texan friend's home, "At least your house has changed." Lawrence remarks after have done a quick scan of his new environment. The furniture is the same, but they have changed location to give space to... whatever that honk of metal is supposed to be. Lawrence has never been good at machines, he knows how to use his gun and control an airship, but that's it. Figures Dell has the same when it comes to his passion for hunting out in the wilds, and Lawrence figures his friend most likely wouldn't survive a day in the bush.
"Don't get used to it. I will return the couch to its old place when I'm done." Dell replies in the same way he always does when Lawrence teases him for his stagnate tendencies, which is the opposite for this hunter. He does not thrive
if staying in the same place for too long.
Their natures clash hard and yet, somehow, they click. "Might think a stranger lived here otherwise." Lawrence grins, and with the jacket off, he plums onto the couch. Here he notices something that wasn't here the last he was in Boston. A piece of art, out of special clay, waving around itself as if the creator has managed to freeze a small whirlpool. Lawrence recognizes the style straight away. "Has Lena been in town?" He asks, for he does not recall her telling him she has shown off her art here in Boston.
"Yeah," Dell's voice replies from his open kitchen. "only a quick visit , though. Figure they were simply going through Boston."
Probably, Lena prefers sleeping in a hotel than the crap trailer her producer proclaims is good enough for her. Just thinking about it pisses Lawrence off. 'He better have heard my warning. Otherwise, I might have to punch his teeth out.' But that man is a wuss, and a good threat always get that type of people moving. Especially when that man knows Lawrence doesn't bluff. Never been good at it, so why bother? "What was the occasion she gave you this?" Lawrence asks, gesturing at the art.
"Birthday."
Ah, that makes sense. Lena has always been generous to those close to them. More so when she knows that giving birthday presents has never really been his thing. Lawrence prefers giving gifts when he finds something of use to said person, instead of waiting for the right day and get them something bogus. But even with this style, finding a gift to Dell has always been challenging. So Lawrence mostly tracks down stuff that links to Texan, well aware his friend is proud of his home country. "Lena's always one step ahead of me." He grins, but since he's here and found something Dell might like. "On my way here, I saw some fine cows on–"
"No, don't even think about it!" Dell stops him but soon laughs, so much that he starts coughing. At least he didn't drop any of the food. "I don't want you to haul a cow head inside my house." Lawrence sends him a look, and his friend begrudgingly admits. "...No matter how much it would fit the esthetic."
He chuckles at that last sentence; a cow head would fit, but Dell still got a weak stomach when it
comes to hunting trophies and Lawrence doubts he can drag a cow on his own. "You could get a lot of nice steaks out of it." Man's daemon remarks and now exasperated, the Texan exclaims. "I said no, dammit!"
Lawrence can't stop himself from laughing. It's always fun to hear Dell argue against his much more mischievous side. Dell's daemon indeed reveals that this Texan is not as innocent as he leads people to believe. Composing himself, he tells the currently glaring man. "Alright, I drop it."
"Good." A moment of silence between them. "Do you got enough food on the ship?"
His daemon, Laraine, shift position on his shoulder and with a voice just as sharp as her eyes. "We ran out of spices, and the water tank could use some cleaning." She states out, direct like always. Spices he could live without, Lawrence does not mind eating the canned food just as it is. Antoine on the other hand... yeah, best to get that unless he wants to listen to the guy's constant whining. "If you have some spices to spare," but water is by far the most important. They can't rely on getting rainwater right as they need it. That tank has to be clean. "and the water tank needs cleaning."
"You can check the cabin," Dell points at said spot. "for spices you want. As for the tank," he turns around the meat, "I reckon I still got a bottle of disinfectant. Check my storage."
A nod, and Lawrence gets up from the couch and heads to the small storage room Dell has in the house. He has been here several times and knows more or less where everything should be. Besides, if he has trouble finding something inside this filled up the room, Laraine is most likely to spot it. No need for her sharp gaze this time around, Lawrence finds the bottle in a basket on the floor. Shaking it lightly, it feels like about half of the content is left. More than enough for the tank. "You got a half bottle, mate." He calls over to Dell.
"Go ahead and take it. I can always get another one." His friend calls back. Lawrence puts the bottle in the bag, something all members quickly figure out to have. One never knows if they find something of use when on a mission. Granted, Lawrence isn't on a mission but still useful to have a bag. The sound of a smaller basket getting placed on the wooded half-wall makes Lawrence turn around. Dell has put his basket of spices, an invitation to rummage through it. Lawrence does, and not wanting to rob the Texan for all his spices, he takes those he knows Antoine likes on his food. With those in the bag as well, "Need any help with the food Truckie?" He asks out of politeness.
"I got it."
In that case, Lawrence slumps back down on the couch and takes a power nap. A habit he got after have been both the hunter and the hunted in the line of work he started. A full night sleep is a luxury for someone like him. So Lawrence learned to get some Z's whenever he can, never know when it's time for action and in his line of work, a tired mind and body can very well be a death sentence. It took some training, but Laraine is able to stay awake during these power naps, making it harder for any threat to get the jump on him; which has come in handy several times during his career. But since he's in Dell's home, a place for safety, his nankeen kestrel daemon dowses off as well.
It only took Lawrence a moment to get himself moving when Dell woke him about an hour later. He gets a plate, and both take a seat at the table, and most people would probably have been overjoyed to get a nicely cooked steak, but Lawrence has never been picky with what he eats. So it rarely mattered if it was canned food, some animal he hunted or a homecooked meal; it is all food for him. The only difference is how he got it, this time; by a friend's hand. "Thanks, mate." Lawrence smiles at Dell and starts digging in. His friend does the same and they eat in silence, something Lawrence does not mind one bit. It does not mean he likes utter silence, which makes him uneasy, but this kind of silence, able to hear one's surroundings. That's what Lawrence prefers, it makes it harder to
get snuck up on. While eating, Laraine preens herself, which she only does when he feels safe and when done, his little sharp daemon goes back to napping.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" Dell breaks the silence, which snaps Laraine back awake. The Texan's voice had low as if afraid someone might be eavesdropping on them, which is unlikely. Lawrence eyes the shorter man and even with his scarce people reading ability, it's clear Dell is troubled about what is going on with the resistance. "I might have something in storage that can help the remaining teams."
Man got the heart the right place, and Lawrence is thankful Dell is no longer the complacent man he and Antoine met all those years ago. But he thinks most people would've made that choice of action if they saw what they witness inside that building. Lawrence knows Dell is wary, perhaps a little afraid to fully commit to the resistance, considering his family is strong loyalists to the Church. "Maybe." He replies Dell, carefully with his next words. It's not that he does not trust Dell, but Lawrence has been with Team Fortress for so long that the rules have been drilled into his mind so hard that it's hard to ignore them. One of these rules is to be constantly vigilant in how much one should share information with civilians– people like Dell. That rule is in constant conflict with his sense of loyalty to those close to him. "If you got something you want to share with the rest, I will gladly take them with me." He decides to say, figuring it will be a decent compromise between the two loyalist views of both sides.
Dell nods, "I got a few." silence. "Do you think the team in Mexico is still alive?"
"I like to think so." Lawrence replies. Antoine has gone to warn them of this danger, but if it worked or not. Lawrence would only know when he resumes the pursuit for his partner. And speaking of partnership, "Wasn't it that team's Engineer who helped you construct the signals in our uniforms?" Dell nods that he indeed got it correct. In the resistance eyes, that was a new invention, but for Lawrence, that signal has become such a big part of the resistance that he can barely believe he lived without it for such a long time. He does not really know how it fully works, only that the portable sentry guns Dell gave the resistance won't shoot at them. It has been incredibly useful and blessed them– especially the Engineers— a much needed edge on the battlefield.
Dell plays a bit with his food; then while cutting a piece off the meat. "If she's still alive, can you set us up again?" Lawrence raises a brow at this request, though it's not unusual. He has created a radio connection between the two in the past. "I got a few ideas but could use her input." He nods he will do that. The Engineer stationed with the team in Mexico might not be as smart as Dell, but she sure knows how to work with radio waves and it's clear Dell greatly respects her for that.
Every female fighting for the resistance earns a lot of respect; unlike the males, the women have to deal with a lot more of the Church's bigotry. For so long, it has been custom that women should stick to small jobs such as being a clerk or assistance, but mostly be a housewife, the caretaker of children, and an unconditional supporter of whoever decided to marry her. Women's opinion in the Church's
world matters little and those who wanted to change that through Team Fortress are putting themselves in more danger than any of the men. In Lawrence's eyes,
women such as that Engineer and Kreel, are/were incredibly brave. "I'll be sure doing that when I find them." Lawrence promises and can't help but wonder how Lena's life would've been if he hadn't become her partner. Perhaps her parents would've gotten their way and made Lena believe she was as fragile as they thought. But he knew better, Lena is one strong sheila. She knows what she wants and that's why he loves her.
"Thanks, partner." Dell smiles and after a moment of silence between them. "What's your take about his kid?"
It's his daemon that voices these thoughts. "The meeting with him was too short." andLawrence will honestly admit, "I didn't get a proper impression." but what he did learn through this short meeting. "You haven't told him." It was clear Antoine's boy didn't know who he was nor what his job really was about. Otherwise, Nathan would've known that he didn't spend all his working hours hunting animals, well, those not walking on four legs.
Dell hesitates but after have put down his fork, he admits slowly. "I agree with Antoine on that one. Nathan should know as little as possible."
He can understand, partly because neither of them knows if Nathan support Team Fortress, but also if the kid can keep his mouth shut about it. Yet parts of Lawrence has trouble accepting how Spook is intentionally shunning his family away, it's so contrasting to— A loud buzzing cuts off Lawrence's thoughts, and it came so suddenly that it startled him enough to make him jump. Laraine lets out a
screech and starts flapping around the room, trying desperately to spot the source of this perceived danger.
"What the bloody hell is that for?" Lawrence asks, turning to Dell for information on why that alarm is blaring. He fears the worst from the expression of horror on the Texan's face has.
"Someone is in the factory," Dell replies and abandons his food, running over to where the jackets are. "It's where I have all the weapons to the resistance."
"Ah, bugger..." Lawrence swears under his breath and leaves the food as well; his daemon flies over and returns onto his shoulder. Lawrence reaches out for his jacket as well, and with it on, check the ammunition of his submachine gun. He got a full magazine, but Lawrence always got his kukri with him in case he runs out. "I'm coming with you."
"'Predicate it, cus Dell doesn't know how to aim." Naira remarks up to him and runs out from the open the moment Dell opens for it. Before following her, the Texan takes a simple gun from the nearby shelf.
Hearing that, "You're lucky, I decided to pay you a visit." Lawrence remarks, not sure how this would've turned out if Dell had to protect his workshop on his
own. Dell nods in agreement, and as ready as they now can be on such short notice, they jump into Dell's truck and the Texan drives them both towards the factory. Approaching the spot, Lawrence tells Dell, "Turn off the lights." the man does and when noticing a truck with the Magisterium logo outside the factory. "Piss... okay, we're getting off here." Barely have Dell turned off the truck before this hunter jumps out. Sniper is not going to take any chances now that he knows they are against Magiserium soldiers. The moment Dell is at his side, "Follow my lead and don't get reckless." Sniper tells the man quietly. The last thing he's going to need is Dell thinking he can scare these intruders out with some fancy machine. When sure Dell got it, he starts sneaking closer to the truck; Laraine takes to the sky, scouting the path ahead. They reach the small factory, and it's close enough to see that this truck is meant to transport supplies, not soldiers. 'Hopefully we only got five men in there.' and when Laraine returns to him, she reports: "They are all inside. Four men, one of them down from sentry gun." Good to know, that gives them a better chance of survival.
"They must've triggered the mini sentry." Dell whispers, Sniper eyes him and the engineer explains in a worried tone. "It's located near the stash."
This brings the question: "How many people know about your alliance to Team Fortress?" The worst-case in Sniper's mind, they have a traitor among them. One they have to take care of as quickly as possible.
It's hard thanks to the darkness, but there's no need, "Only you and Antoine knows. I haven't told anyone else." Dell's voice reveals he is greatly troubled by what is going on.
What if they don't know about the stash? "Didn't you mention the Magisterium has been trying to hire you?" Sniper asks and with the history of Dell's outstanding expertise in mechanics. "What if they want to take your inventions after your relentless declines?"
"Might be..." Dell muses, but he does not sound so sure.
He doesn't either, but Sniper prays that's the case. If the Magisterium finds out Dell has supported the resistance, they will either take him capture or kill him on sight. Either way, it would be bad. He signs Dell to follow, and like any other time when sneaking up on his prey, Sniper makes each of his steps as light as possible. Dell is not as stealthy as him, but hopefully, the soldiers won't hear him. Inside the shop, they use the showcased zeppelins for cover and reaching the door, Sniper removes the safety of his submachine and quickly learns his back to the wall. Voices make him stop right at the entrance.
"Holy shit, I hadn't expected a sentry gun as security." One of the soldiers speaks, he sounds close to the door.
The one who got shot by the sentry gun is still alive, the breathing is ragged, but if they tend the wounds and get the guy to a hospital, he might survive. "Thing came out of nowhere. I thought you said he only built zeppelins."
He smirks that people might think Dell harmless, but if they listen to Naira long enough, people would know he can be dangerous and creatively deadly when he wants to hurt someone. He tenses up by the sound of a gun, and the smirk is instantly gone. The whimpering of the wounded has stopped. 'Sounds like they rather want to rid the weak link than waste time saving him' Sniper thinks to himself and can't say he's surprised by this lack of interest in their fellow soldiers.
"He was dead anyway." The shooter says like shooting someone is like throwing out worthless trash. Their apathy for the fellow soldier is one of the things that makes a Magisterium soldier dangerous. "Keep an eye out. I don't want to waste any more bullets."
"...Never thought he had it in him." The one at the door muses, but by the sound of it; he is leaving his spot.
"I have shot a lot of people." The shooter retorts.
"Not you fool." The former doorman replies. "I mean this guy; Conagher. I always thought he was a wuss. He always declined the Captain's offers, gave some lousy excuse that he build zeppelin for personal transport, not war machines."
"I call that bullshit." One further away spoke, he got a gruff voice as if he got sand down the throat. "He clearly knows how to make weapons from that sentry gun that just shot Elias. Of someone who can make ships out of scrap metal, he's no genius. Only a fool would turn the Magisterium down."
Lawrence did not like the sound of that. Dell must've gotten a bigger backlash by leaving the Chuch than he ever revealed, and it seems that his family name– one well known among the Church– can't him safe anymore. It looks like the Magisterium took Dell's leaving personal and has finally reached the end of their patience. Sniper might not have personal experience with how the Church's inner working operates, but he has seen enough horrid actions from them to know that everything not following their law will be removed.
"Hey! Less talking and more searching!" The shooter shouts.
"Alright, alright... what are we looking for anyway?" The doorman asks.
"Blueprints, prototypes, anything we can use against the terrorists."
They sound further away. "Hey! Don't bother with that. Get over here and help me with this." It sounds like they all are gathering in the storage room. Perhaps he can use that to their advantage.
Sniper signs Dell to follow and he sneaks inside the workshop, swiftly using the nearby zeppelin frame as cover. Dell is close behind, and he is sweaty from expectancy for a fight. Sniper puts a hand on his shoulder, their eyes meet, and when sure Dell is not going to shoot before he does. Sniper sneaks closer to where the soldiers are; Laraine flies up to the top of the frame where she can watch every soldier. He cannot see through her eyes, but their link does allow her to "message" him that the soldiers are busier rummage through the storage.
"How much chance is that they find the stash?" Sniper asks Dell quietly, the soldiers are too far away and busy to hear them if they keep their voices down.
"I'm not sure." Dell muses back, "If they look closely, they will find the extra room."
"Locked?"
"Of course."
Good, that means that even if they find the door, getting the stuff will be difficult. He can use that. "Alright, get ready." Dell prepares his gun, "Wait for my signal, aim for the chest." The Texan nods and Sniper leaves to find a better spot. He finds it behind some metal bars, it gives him a nice view into the storage room. Two are searching the room, the third is watching. 'Must be the higher officer.' Sniper muses to himself and knows that taking him out first is a priority.
"Can't we just take him instead?" The gruff sounding man asks, along with another, rummaging through the room.
"No, the boss was very specific about what should happen to Mr. Conagher." The higher officer replies. The voice reveals it was the one who shot the one that got caught by the sentry. He looks quite annoyed, probably because he considers this below his rank. The dog daemon, black and muscular, is impatiently pacing back and forward. It didn't take long before that impatience showed. "Hurry up! We don't have all night!"
Sniper aims at the man's head, but right as he's about to pull the trigger.
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" The doorman calls and makes the higher officer move right the second he made the shoot. The bullet meant for the head misses and alarms them in the progress.
They spot him, "Kill him!" the higher officer yells and begins to shoot at him. Sniper quickly goes for cover. Dell sounds to take a shot, but all that got him was the soldiers shooting at him too.
Sniper got a message from his daemon and like instinct, he reacts. The doorman got several bullets into the chest, and right as he hit the floor, his dog daemon disappears like a flame blown out. The two others shoot at him again, only a few times going for Dell. It's clear they have figured out that he's the biggest threat, but thanks to Dell, the soldiers are afraid to leave the storage room's cover, which allows this sharpshooter safety at his current spot. Sniper checks the magazine and with a finger on the trigger, waits for Laraine to message him again. He got one, but not to shoot. Instead, it's Dell being reckless. "Don't bloody move!" He calls/commands the Texan. If he does, not only will it give the soldiers a perfect chance to bag him, but it will remove the safety Sniper currently has from his location at the zeppelin. Laraine messages him that Dell heard and stays at his spot. He waits for the opening, and when she messaged him, Sniper leaves cover, though he only gets the higher officer in the arm. That guy sure got someone looking out for him, but it won't last.
A bulldog daemon is out in the open, barking furiously at Laraine. Sniper ignores the daemon, the Magisterium soldiers might be scum and has pushed his morals a lot over the years. But Sniper refuses to break the taboo of harming someone else's daemon. He will harm the body, but never the soul. The man shoots a few times at him, to then look up to where Laraine is sitting, watching the whole area. Sniper thought the men wouldn't go past that line, but clearly he was wrong for the higher officer turns his gun at Laraine, and when realizing this fucker is going to shoot his daemon. He screams through their link, 'Get outta there!' She takes flight right as the soldier shoots and dives down to him. "You bloody bogan!" Sniper shouts, enraged the soldier had tried to harm his soul.
"Scum like you don't deserve mercy!" The soldier retorts back at him. A few shots and he yells again. "Come out, or are you too afraid now your bird isn't there to help you?"
Sniper growls but refuses to fall for the taunt; he's pissed but not that stupid. He waits for a pause between the bullets, it's a small window but one he has learned to spot. The second it arrives, Sniper starts shooting. He got the higher officer in the leg, forcing the remaining soldier to drag him back into the storage room and precisely a spot where he cannot see them. So he waits for them to peak their heads out. While doing so, Laraine flies over to where Dell is and will tell him it's safe to move in closer.
The soldier appears, holding a shotgun, right as Laraine flies over to him, but before she can reach his location, the soldier fires and she gets hit by an electro ball. Sniper cries in pain from how much that hurt his daemon. She drops to the floor, unmoving and Sniper struggles to not do the same. The man's bulldog daemon speeds over and grabs Laraine in her mouth. The sense of teeth against his back and Sniper knows if he is not careful. That mutt will seriously hurt his daemon.
Dell must've seen that, for he starts shooting at the soldier, who returns fire with that electricity shooting shotgun. The electro ball hits Dell, he froze up from the shot before dropping to the ground. His moaning from the pain does, fortunately, indicate that he's still alive. Sniper wants to help him, but with Laraine in that dog's mouth, he can't do much. 'I hate when that happens...' It is one of the disadvantages of having a small daemon.
The soldier sends him one look but trusting his daemon to keep him in check. The man approaches Dell, who is trying to get back up on his feet. The guy shoots Dell again with the shotgun, making him cry from the pain and drop back to the floor. The soldier lifts his weapon slightly. "I'm in love right now." Wait, does that mean this weapon is one of Dell's? Shit... they got the door open. The soldier from the Magisterium points the shotgun at its creator. "I'll think I keep it, though I should've known you can't make a gun do a proper kill."
The dog daemon approaches the barely conscious Dell, but Naira charges and scares the smaller dog away the moment she got too close. With bared teeth, the beaver sneers; "You're too stupid to use it." which took the soldier greatly off guard. It's kinda an unspoken rule that daemon never speaks other than to their human. Good thing Dell's daemon does not care about that rule. Sniper uses this dumbfounded reaction to his advantage, he shoots at the soldier, getting him in the stomach. It will kill but slowly, for that's what he deserves from mistreating his daemon and friend like that. The pain made the dog drop Laraine, and she is quick to get away.
Holding over his wound, the soldier at first stands in shock, probably knowing he does not have long, Sniper did hit the stomach and the acid will melt his inside. It will be a slow and agonizing death. The man must already feel it happening from how his daemon is whimpering. Then a cold, enraged expression appears on the man's face, one Sniper has seen many times before. He turns the shotgun at the roof and before Sniper can realize what the man is doing, the soldier shoots several electro balls at the wires that held the under construction zeppelin up, and Sniper can only watch the whole thing coming down.
A loud buzzing sound coming from his ears, next, the pain and about there, Sniper opens his eyes.
Metal is all around him.
One is sticking through his arm. 'That better be all I got' He carefully moves his body, and he does not get the sense of being skewed. That's good. Sniper pulls his arm up from the small pole that skewed his arm, gritting his teeth from the pain. He does his best to ignore it and dig himself free from the zeppelin that fell over him. Sniper manages to create enough space to crawl out from and getting back on his feet, which hurt like hell, but his legs aren't broken, so he takes that as a win.
'Where are you?' He calls mentally after his daemon; she wasn't with him when the whole thing collapsed, and the pain he's feeling around the shoulder seems to come from her.
He hears her high pinched kestrel call and limps over to the spot where he removes the parts burying her.
Laraine shakes herself back up, and with; "That was bloody embarrassing..." she flies up and takes her spot on his shoulder. Sniper eyes her, quietly agreeing with her, and sort of wish he predicted that soldier's action. Speaking of which; he scans the destruction this collapse caused and indeed finds the soldier dead. Looks like he got killed by one of the larger metal frames from how his head is bleeding. Sniper doesn't feel anything seeing that, only noting that a blood trail is leaving the building. "The higher officer must've dragged himself out." He muses and that might mean there will come more.
"Are you alive?!" Sniper calls out to Dell and already fears that his friend squashed like the soldier.
Sniper hears a weak call from Dell, but it's too low for him to pinpoint the man. Fortunately, Naria appears from where the zeppelin mainly collapsed. "We're over here!" She calls and turns halfway to where her human is located. "But it isn't good. Dell's stuck."
Sniper approaches and starts removing the parts to reach his friend, ignoring the sharp stinging pain he got from his many cuts.
"Careful." The beaver warns him and looks up to a large frame that bends dangerously over them.
Sniper scans this spot and realizes that if he removes the wrong parts, that frame will crash right down on them. "Help me out here, Naria." He tells the beaver, not sure his sense for detail is enough for this situation. With the beaver's help, he removes the part of the zeppelin that has crashed down on his friend and when Dell appears under the metal. Sniper quickly realizes what Naira meant. Half of Dell's right arm is trapped under the large metal frame and it's clear that lifting it off him is out of the option. "Bloody hell..." Sniper swears under his breath and cannot see any other option. At least the Texan is conscience, although only barely. "There's only one way I can get you free."
"I know." Dell wheezes, and from his whole demeanor of intense focus, it seems the man has already come to the same conclusion. "How sharp–" he sneers in pain, but that focus does not wane for a second. "how sharp is your knife?"
Not even going to bother correcting the man that his "knife" is called a kukri. That's something he should save for later. Sheathing his weapon, "Sharp enough for this." Lawrence replies and is not sure how to feel that this won't be the first nor last time he has cut a limp off with this weapon.
"Dell no..." Naira whispers and climbs on her human's chest. "There must be some other way." Lawrence can see why the beaver is against the idea, Dell needs both hands to do his job; to do what he loves to spend his time on. Dell shoos her gently away, telling her softly. "...It has to be done..." Blue meets brown. "Do me a favor... and clean it."
Lawrence nods and from his bag takes out some disinfection he always carries in case he or someone else (in this case, Dell) needs some quick first aid. He pours the whole bottle on his kukri and his own hands. The content stings like hell on his cut hands, but Lawrence ignores it and when sure it won't cause an infection on his friend. Lawrence tears off his sleeve and binds it as hard as he can around Dell's upper arm so he won't bleed out after this.
He spots a pencil among the destroyed zeppelin frame and hands it to Dell, and as prepared he can make them both. "You ready?"
Naira learns up against his chest in sign of support, Dell puts the pencil in his mouth, ensuring he won't break teeth during this gnarly procedure, and with his left arm wrapped tightly around his daemon. He nods to Lawrence, body tense in preparation for what soon has to happen.
Returning the nod and not wanting to waste any time, Lawrence chops the blade into the arm with as much might he can put behind his swing. Dell bites hard into the pencil and clearly struggles from not trashing around from the sheer pain. Lawrence didn't think much about it, more about finishing his task and get Dell to a hospital. He keeps chopping into the arm, causing a muffled scream from his friend. Blood splatters out, but thanks to the torn sleeves, most of it stops flossing out. Getting through the bone is a bit harder, but he gets through it and with the hand completely severed off, Lawrence tightens the sleeve before dragging the passed out man from the workshop and towards the truck, well aware he does not have much time.
**Next day, unknown hospital**
Leaving the room he got put inside, Lawrence heads to the wall where several phones are located. He gives the nurse a quick nod and picks the phone furthest away. Lawrence finds the number to the hotel Lena would be in these next weeks but hesitates to call her. 'Bad news is all I have given her lately.' and it has been affecting her. Laraine lands on the box making up most of the phone. "She will worry more if you don't call." She states out. He knows they will fear the worst if he does not call in the agreed time scale. Letting out a sigh, he taps the number and a moment of waiting.
"Brass Rail Hotel, what can I do for you?" A young male clerk answers the call.
When he was still a wee lad, speaking with the clerks always made him nervous; he never liked talking with strangers. But now, after countless similar calls, Lawrence has gotten so used to it that he replies without missing a beat. "I would like to speak with Lena Shasta. She's expecting a call from me."
"Are you Lawrence Mundy, sir?"
"Yes."
"One moment." The call gets transferred to her room. Again something he has done many times before. A change of tone and her voice comes through the phone "Hello dear, I was starting to worry."
Understandable, but he had to prioritize Dell's health first. "Sorry hon, but I had to get Dallas to the hospital."
"But he's not part of your hunting party." Lena replies, sounding confused, and he hates to hear her worried, but keeping her in the loop was part of their agreement. "How bad is it? Will he survive?"
At least he got good news there. "He will survive." Lawrence assures her, but he is not so sure if Dell will be fine. "The cougar got the jump on us, chased the bastard away, but I was forced to amputate parts of the right arm."
She's silent for a little while, most likely digesting what he has told her. "He will be frustrated and feeling worthless, so be sure to be there for him."
"Sure, but I can't leave the rest in the dust. Anton left to finish the beast." Lawrence explains, trusting she will know what he meant by that.
"He knows what he's doing. Right now, Dallas needs you more." The message is clear, Lena thinks Antoine can do the mission solo just fine and he should focus more on Dell.
"Alright," Lawrence sighs. He wants to say more but noticing the doctor that tended Dell is approaching. "I have to go, send my regards to Dan."
"Of course, hear you soon." and she ends the call.
Lawrence steps over to the doctor that tells him; "You can see him now if you like." he nods and heads to the room where Dell is.
Right as he steps into the room, "Dangit!" Dell cry and Lawrence knows his friend had hoped the amputation has been a fever dream, but it is a sad reality. Didn't take long before the Texan noticed him and grimacing a smile (most likely still in a lot of pain), Dell speaks. "Could've been worse, would've been dead if not for you."
Most likely, but Lawrence doesn't want to dwell on the 'what if's.'
He wants to focus on what happens in the present and the future. He eyes what remains of Dell's right arm, the reminder of what happened in the workshop. "It was only the first attack. Whatever you did to piss them off, they won't leave you alone."
A sigh and Dell puts his left on the stump that once has been his right hand. "Yeah... I don't think they will." He quietly agrees.
Laraine flies down to where Naira is lying. Lawrence does not bother what the two daemons are doing. "I don't want to leave you in this shit-storm." Crossing his arms, Lawrence voices the only solution he can see at the moment. "Come with me, at least until your wounds are healed." After that, he will try and get a hold of Headquarters, see if they can offer Dell some protection. His friend looks as if he wants to argue, so he tells the Texan. "Don't pick a fight you can't win. Live and fight for another day, mate."
That seems to do the trick, Dell drops his head in defeat, "You're right..." his hand over the stump again. "but I won't be much use for you anymore."
"It doesn't change anything," Lawrence tells him. Clearly, Dell should know that they have long gone past that. "You're much more than an asset–"
"Wait a minute!" He blinks at the sudden outburst from the Texan, taken aback by how excited his friend suddenly looks. "Of course, how could I have forgotten about that!" Dell turns to him, grinning in a manner he has only seen on Naira's face. "Before his death, my grandfather invented artificial limbs." Wait what? Is he serious? "If those sons of bitches haven't taken them as well..." Dell's excitement drops, and that makes up his mind.
"I'll go and check for any artificial limbs in your workshop." Lawrence tells Dell and with those words, leaves to do just that.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The men who took him away from his home have brought him to an old decayed school and thrown him into a classroom where four kids at the age of ten are kept. They all turn in response to the door opening and back away when the man throws him inside. The man leaves right after, Nathan is quickly up on his feet and about to reopen the door but stops himself when he can clearly see the guard is armed. Going that way is a deathwish. He turns to the children, three girls and a boy, and all staring at him with the same scared look. Maybe they think he's one of the kidnappers, who tore them all away from their loved ones. "It's okay, I'm not one of them." He assures the children and walks over to the windows. They aren't boarded up, so maybe... but checking each, Nathan can see why the men haven't bothered boarding the windows; the room they are trapped inside is on the third floor and there isn't anything between him and the ground. Jumping will be suicide and if he survives, he wouldn't be running anywhere from such a fall.
Nathan leaves the windows, his hand on the swallow shaped Nalini for some much needed self-comfort. 'I've heard rumors about the Cathers, but I never thought they would be real.' He stops and turns to the four kids, like him, they are seeking comfort from their daemon. Two of them are hugging each other, meaning they must already know one another.
'Poor kids,' Nathan thinks. He is a bit luckier being older and has enough experience dealing with sticky situations to keep himself from panicking like they look ready to. These kids don't have that small luxury. All they know that some scary people have removed them from everything they know. To be honest, Nathan is scared too.
"One thing we have in common with them." Nalini whispers to him.
He nods and asks the four children. "How long have you been here?"
At first, none of them answers him, then one of them, the oldest it seems. Her daemon takes a terrier form. "I've been for here three days... Lucy and Ben came yesterday." She points at the girl and boy hugging one another. Nathan realizes that those two might be siblings. The girl speaking then points at a girl hiding in a corner, her daemon in the shape of a firefly, most likely trying to cheer her up. "She came this morning, has just stopped crying... Are you one of the Cathers?" She asks him, trying but fails to sound brave.
"No," Nathan shakes his head. "got taken just like you. I'm Nathan." He adds, thinking that them knowing his name will ease up their fear just a bit.
"I'm Heather." The girl with the terrier daemon introduces herself, and after some hesitating, she walks over to him, asking: "Do you know where they will take us?" She sounds hopeful, maybe thinking an adult will have some answers.
But unfortunately, Nathan has no idea, nor what these people will do to them. All he knows for sure that he won't let them succeed and since he doubts no one will come to his aid; he has to use his own wits to get out from this. Nathan has to do something, not only for his own sake but for these children as well. "No, but I'm not going to stick around to find out."
"You going to escape?" The boy asks, he and his sister carefully approach him. Both of their daemons are in the shape of rabbits, though in different colors.
He nods to them. "Yeah, will you help?"
The girl nods and turns to the three others. The two siblings eye one another, then to Nathan with a united nod. The girl in the corner hesitates but leaves her spot with a weak; "I-I try..."
Nathan is glad his presence can ease up a little of their fear, and he wishes a plan about overpowering their captures would be an option, but none of them has the strength for such a plan.
He has to figure out something else.
However, barely ten minutes after his arrival, the men who took them away from their homes return. "Time to move." The disgruntled man calls and his hawk daemon starts stalking the other daemon, scaring them to move and the man also pushes them out of the door.
The kids obey, too afraid to do anything else, but when the hawk gets over to Nalini, the bird gets one hell of a surprise when the rabbit turns into a cat and gets a face-full of claws. The man lets out a loud curse of the pain, Nathan moves for a tackle, but right as he does it, the man recovers and wallops him in the stomach with that gun of his. It not only punches all the air out from him, but it hurts so much that Nathan drops to the floor.
"I hate the feisty ones." The man grumbles, cuff his hands and starts dragging him out.
Nearing the stairs, the man pulls him back on his feet. "Pull another stunt and I'll break your fingers."
Nathan is not sure if that's a real threat, but he does not take his chances with so many around. Instead follows the children back outside. Their kidnappers push them into the back of a truck and when slamming the door, leaves them in complete darkness. The kids start crying, overwhelmed by fear of this suffocating darkness now surrounding them. He cannot give them any light but knows that one thing might help. "Daemons, turn into night animals!" Nathan calls and as hoped, the nocturnal shapes help the children just a little, now their souls can see in the darkness. Not sure what form Nalini took, but he figures it will be a nocturnal animal as well from how he got a better sense of his surroundings. He feels the children move closer to him, and he allows them the comfort of close contact.
He will not deny that he's scared, but Nathan has to stay strong, for these kids' sake.
Okay, making this chapter mostly from Lawrence's perspective was a lot of fun. he has quite the laidback view on things, yet has one hell of a strict moral. Not sure if he will become OC like, for this version of Sniper does not have the same issues as canon Sniper deals with