Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters from Dark Angel the belong to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox. But, Mercy and Amora are ours, as well as any other characters you are not familiar with.
Mercy looked up at the stars in the sky, pulling the blanket she had around her tighter. The air was cold, and forewarning. It gave Mercy a strong sense of uneasiness. Something was going to happen tonight, something bad. She could feel it, and she wished Alec or Biggs were with her. She'd actually even settle for Six, Max, or Ben to keep her company. But of course it would never happen, because Manticore was cruel that way.
She'd never been on a mission with those she trusted. It was almost like Manticore had fun torturing her with taking her away from them. Then again it was a good thing that they'd never been on a mission with her, because they had yet to see her other side. The task oriented, get the mission done side. A side Mercy despised. When she was given a mission that side of her would take over until she had completed the mission. Afterwards she was always left with a sense of regret and guilt.
"It's been a week and all you and any of the others, including me, have talked about is the mission." A male voice mused from behind her. "You can't be that obedient to Manticore. Hell I know you're not that obedient to Manticore, Mercy."
Mercy froze and slowly turned around to see 289, her second in command, standing there. "How did you know my name?"
289 grinned at her- a grin that reminded her of Alec- and sat down beside her. "You know this is a first for me. Manticore actually putting me in a nice hotel, with a balcony. Usually I'm stuck in some dingy motel, or out in the forest camping out. It's great to have a change."
"You didn't answer my question 289." Mercy replied with a monotone voice. "How did you know my name?"
"Wow, I'm amazed. You aren't denying the fact that you have a name." 289 mused, glancing back into the hotel room, where the other's were settling down for the night.
"And your sarcasm amazes me." Mercy replied, tilting her head back and looking at the stars again.
289 sighed, "Me and the others aren't stupid, we use that rec room too. We know you and the others have names. I have to admit I'm jealous, I'm pretty sure the others are too."
Mercy snorted, "Jealous of moi? I'm flattered, but I don't see the point of this conversation."
"We want names too." 289 stated.
"Then give yourselves names." Mercy replied. "Not that hard. You're in your twenties now, I'm sure you can do things yourself."
289 shook his head and looked over at Mercy who was still looking up at the stars. "I've been on plenty of missions with you Mercy, and I know you wouldn't of picked out the name Mercy for yourself. Plus, it has so much more meaning if someone else picks out a name for you. After all everyone outside of Manticore don't pick their own names. Their parents give it to them as soon as they're born. We were given numbers instead of names."
"So I'm guessing you want me to give you a name?"
"Yea," 289 replied quietly looking down at his feet, "If you don't mind."
Mercy glanced over at 289 and smiled, "How about Bryant?"
"Bryant?" he questioned glancing up at Mercy.
"Yea." Mercy replied. "I think it has a nice ring to it. It was the name of the little boy we passed in the lobby last week. The name kinda stuck."
"I like it."
Mercy nodded, before saying, "Now get to bed. We head out four hours before dawn, which gives you three hours of sleep. Can't afford to screw up this mission."
Bryant stood up, "You have a split personality."
"What are you talking about?" Mercy questioned, glancing at Bryant with a raised eyebrow.
"Back at Manticore, with the others, you're different. More laid back. Out here, on a mission, you're more task oriented, with a stick up your ass."
"Go to bed Bryant. I'm leaving it up to you to give the other's names, if they want one." Mercy commanded, ignoring Bryant's comment.
"Fine." Bryant replied disappearing back into the hotel room.
Mercy closed her eyes, and let her head fall back. She wanted this mission to be over with already. She wanted to get the information Manticore wanted, and get back to Manticore. All she wanted was to be with Biggs, Alec, Ben, Max, and even Six. Her and the others had already figured out how they were going to go about things. Mercy was going to go in with 309, and Bryant, 754, and 441, were going to be back-up.
Opening her eyes Mercy looked at the stars once again. A few more hours and this would all be over. A few more hours and she'd be back at Manticore with the others. Maybe this time she wouldn't feel so much guilt about what she was about to do. Taking a deep breath Mercy found herself going into complete soldier mode.
Logan leaned forward in his chair and stared at the screen. He took off his glasses and ran a hand down his face. How long had he been sitting here starring at his computer screen? It had to have been almost eight months now. Eight months, and he had yet to get the information he needed. Maybe he was never going to get it. No. He was going to get it. He had to.
Sitting back in his seat, Logan sighed and put his glasses back on. He was going to get the information he needed to bring down Manticore. Bringing down Manticore was the only thing he could think of to bring back Max. If Max was still alive. The last time Logan had heard from Max was the whole Ben incident. He only came to the conclusion that she was back at Manticore after Zack had shown up.
How Zack had found out Max was back at Manticore was beyond Logan. Zack had even mentioned to Logan that Ben had been brought back there too.
To be brutally honest, Logan was losing hope in ever saving Max. But he wasn't ready to give up quite yet. He needed to find her. He needed her.
Logan was about to get up and get a well needed drink, when his computer started to beep. "What the hell?" he said aloud, staring at the screen. A grin spread across his face, he had it. He had the information he need.
Picking up the phone sitting beside him, he pressed speed dial seven, and waited for someone to answer.
"Yea?"
"Zack, I have it. I have the information we need to bring Manticore down."
Amora lay on her bunk with her head propped up by her arms. Staring at the ceiling, she bit her lip. This wasn't good, not at all. She had been thinking about it all week. It was all happening again, and she didn't think she could handle it. Why did Manticore have to screw with her DNA so much? Why did they have to do this to her?
Rolling onto her side Amora stared at the wall. What was she suppose to do now? Tell Ben what was going on? 'Hey Ben how are you? I feel your pain.' Yea, that would go over real well. He'd probably look at her like she was insane.
Mercy's adrenaline was pumping, she loved the thrill of her missions, but hated the guilt she felt afterwards. "Teams in place?" Mercy questioned through her comm.
"Yes ma'am." she heard Bryant reply.
"Ok, Team Alpha's moving in." Mercy said, glancing over at 309, who had been named Alan by Bryant.
Mercy made a few hand signals, informing Alan that they only had five minutes, while the guards traded shifts. She quickly bolted to the other side of the door and pasted herself against the wall.
First objective, get in the base. Then get the information however necessary and get out. A slight breeze ruffled through her dirty blonde hair, blowing a strand across her lips. She turned to Alan and signaled for him to move with her. Mercy took the knife from its holder on her belt and slid it through the door crack, unlocking it. She opened the door and stealthily moved in.
Mercy glanced around the dimly lit hallway, this was going to be a piece of cake. She was about to take a step forward when a shadow appeared at the end of the hallway. Biting her lip, she pressed her back against the wall, pushing Alan back as well, trying to hide in the darkness. That was one thing they forgot to take into consideration, other people wandering the hallways.
Mercy watched as the shadow moved closer, and closer. This wasn't good. If they were seen, the whole mission was going to be blown. That would lead to another visit to Psy Ops, and Mercy didn't think she could handle that. Watching the shadow, and listening to the footsteps get closer, Mercy thought to herself, 'Go away. Please just go away.'
"I've set the plans in motion." Renfro sat back in her chair, with the phone against her ear. "I have a team retrieving the information as we speak."
"Are you sure that was a good idea Director?" A male voice questioned on the other end. "They have no clue what they're up against."
"I have one of my best soldiers out there." Was Renfro's reply. "She's a fast thinker, and can handle almost anything that's thrown at her. She'll get out of any trouble they find themselves getting into."
"But is it worth putting them up against something they may not be able to defeat, to get the information we need? How many did you even send out?"
"I sent a team of five."
There was a cold laugh on the other end, before the voice said, "Five? You sent five into a place where there's at least fifty familiars? That was a smart move Director. You'll be lucky if they get out of there alive with the information we need."
"They'll get out perfectly fine." Renfro replied with a cold voice. "As far as I'm concerned this conversation is over."
Renfro hung up the phone. She knew what she was doing. She didn't need to be questioned about her actions and motives, there was no need for it. There was a reason she was Director and there was a reason many were below her in the chain of command.
Mercy breathed a sigh of relief as the shadow began to disappear, and the sound of footsteps faded. "That was a close one," she whispered to Alan, who nodded in reply.
"Everything alright?" Braden's voice filled her ears.
"Everything's fine." Mercy replied quietly. "We just had a minor scare. Someone was in the hallway, but we're heading to the office now. Should be out there within the next five minutes."
Mercy said nothing else, instead she signaled Alan to follow her down the halls. They should be able to get into the office they needed to, and out, in no time. As they continued down the hall, Mercy listened for footsteps, and watched for shadows. If it happened once, it could happen again. She had to stay on her toes.
Turning a corner, she spotted the office they needed to get into. She was glad Manticore had blueprints for this building, it made things easier on her. How Manticore got the blueprints, though, was a mystery to Mercy. As they crossed the hallway to the office, Mercy pulled a small lock pick from her pocket.
Mercy quickly picked the lock and opened the door, letting Alan into the office. Following Alan in she quietly closed the door, and looked out the small frosted window. They had decided at the hotel that Alan was going to get the information, while Mercy watched for any trouble on the inside. Braden and the other two were watching for trouble on the outside.
Sighing Mercy listened to the sounds of Alan going through the drawers of the desk and cabinets. "Find anything yet?" Mercy questioned.
"Not yet," Alan replied, "There's quite a few things here. Are we sure we have the right office?"
"Positive. Look faster, we gotta get going."
"I'm going as fast as I can." Alan replied.
"Well go faster." Mercy said through gritted teeth. She just wanted to get the hell out of this place. Everything had been great, but it was all going way to well. Mercy was used to something getting in her way. She was use to having a challenge. Her patience was beginning to run out. Mumbling something to herself, she pushed Alan out of the way, and looked through the papers scattered all around. "Go watch the door."
"Yes, ma'am." Alan moved obediently to the door.
Mercy sighed and began scanning every page she came across. What were they looking for again? Older looking papers, with symbols instead of words. Wasn't that what Renfro said?
Mercy grinned to herself as she spotted a folder, at the bottom of one of the drawers. There were papers, with a slight yellow tinge to them. That had to be it. They were the oldest looking papers there. Picking up the folder and stuffing it inside the protective compartment in her jacket, she smiled at Alan, "Let's get out of here."
Biggs sat on his bunk with his back leaning against the wall. He missed Mercy. He always missed Mercy when she was away on a mission, or if he was. The others were in the rec room hanging out. No, they were probably in some dark corner making out.
Sighing Biggs banged his head a couple of times against the wall. Boredom was taking over, he wished he had someone to talk to. Closing his eyes, the day Mercy and him became more then just friends played in his head.
Flashback
"Hey 510," Mercy said as she walked into the cell.
Biggs glanced up at her, "494's already left on his mission."
"I know," Mercy shrugged, and sat down beside Biggs. "I came to hang out with you. You don't mind do you? 640's getting on my nerves again."
"I don't mind at all." Biggs replied.
"Good. So..."
"So."
"How are you?"
"As good as I can be. What about you?"
"I'm fine." Mercy shrugged, looking at Biggs. "If I did something...drastic...what would you do?"
"Depends on how drastic that something is." Biggs replied, his eyes locking with Mercy's.
In reply Mercy leaned forward and kissed Biggs. Biggs deepened the kiss, raising one of his hands to Mercy's cheek.
Pulling back Mercy smiled at him, "I...should...uh... I have to go."
Before Biggs got the chance to protest, Mercy was up and out of the room.
End Flashback
Biggs smiled at the memory. Mercy had always been so quiet, and unpredictable. It was what Biggs loved about her. That and lied down on his bunk, and closed his eyes. He might as well try to get some sleep, he had a long day of training on his hands.
Mercy grinned at the others as Alan and herself, met up with them. "We are officially done this mission. I say we go celebrate our victory before heading back to Manticore."
"And she finally shows her fun side." Bryant grinned as Mercy and Alan got into the van.
"I can easily go back to Bitchy McBitch if it would make you feel more comfortable." Mercy smiled at Bryant sweetly.
"No, that's ok." Bryant replied. "Wait... how'd you know I call you that?"
"I have my ways Bryant, after all I am the CO."
"Would you two quit bickering?" Claire, X5-754, asked from the drivers seat, where she sat. She buckled her safety belt and flicked her blonde hair behind her ears. Clearing her throat, she placed two shaky hands across from each other on the wheel.
"What's wrong with you?" Alan asked from the passengers seat.
"Nothing." Claire said quietly. "Why?"
"Usually you use the gas to go."
"Oh. Sorry." Claire turned the key in the ignition. Mercy leaned forward in her seat.
"Claire, seriously. What's wrong?" She questioned.
"I just have a bad feeling about this, like something's going to happen." She smiled nervously. "I'm probably just tired."
"So let's just get home," Eddie, or so X5-441 had been named, smiled too. Claire pulled the van out of the small concealed clearing they had hidden the van in and maneuvered her way around bushes and trees, glancing frequently in the different mirrors. She pulled off the main road leading to the building they had searched and turned onto a narrow dirt road. The van jumped and shook as they went through worn through pot holes and small hills.
Bryant started humming.
"Dude." Mercy laughed, turning to Bryant who was beside her.
"What?" He raised his eyebrow and abruptly stopped his cheery tune.
"You're singing."
"I was not."
"Oh really? Cause I heard noise. Musical noise. Coming from your not so musical noisy mouth."
"I haven't opened my mouth in like five minutes!"
"Then you were humming."
"I said I wasn't singing. I don't sing." Bryant now furrowed his brow and sounded childish.
"Exactly. You were humming." Mercy smiled innocently as Eddie laughed from the back seat and Alan rolled his eyes.
"Just- whatever! You're so... Ugh."
"Not a word." Mercy smiled and mumbled, turning to look out her window. "Look at the river guys!" She got a closer look with her X5 heightened vision.
"Gorgeous." Eddie smiled and laughed.
"A real looker." Bryant joked.
"Not bad." Alan smiled. "There a bar nearby?" The group laughed.
"I don't think it's pretty." Claire stared straight ahead and gripped the wheel firmly. "It's creepy- sort of haunted looking, like it's about to attack someone."
Before anyone could respond, they heard the rev of an old engine. They all looked out the front window to see an old black van heading towards them. Claire's wide eyes darted from the van the was gaining speed to the road directly in front of their silver van. The road was narrow, and there was no way both vehicles would fit on the road. The black van's noisy engine revved again as it gained speed and kicked up dust behind it.
"What is that moron on?" Eddie complained.
"Something's not right," Mercy shook her head. "We've got to maneuver. Turn left."
"There's a ditch there, remember? And the river?" Alan said without looking away from the speeding van. "And the right's even worse. Some old forest thing. The trees are packed so tight together we'd never get through, not to mention the roots torn up everywhere."
"Turn left." Mercy said again, firmly. Her mind was racing, and shifting into the way of thinking she always used on her serious missions. Fast, alert, no nonsense.
"Oh great, look who's back, bi-" Bryant smiled and tried to joke.
"Not now Bryant." Mercy didn't face him. She instead cranked open her window and stuck half of her torso out. The wind and dirt burned her eyes, but she couldn't worry about that now. She looked back and forth from the van, to the road, and then to the ditch and river. Maybe If they turned down the ditch with the ignition off, and swerved in time to stop before the river- Mercy blinked hard. She couldn't concentrate. She pulled herself back in the van.
"Claire. Turn left." Mercy looked at the terrified girl. "Claire!"
The van was about ten feet away. She jumped forward and grabbed the shift stick. She pulled towards herself as hard as she could and the van jerked and started in reverse.
"Mercy!" Eddie yelled, his voice filled with panic. She turned around to see what he was upset about. His eyes were wide and scared- and staring at an identical black van coming at the from behind. Without haste or a thought, Mercy forced the van back into drive, and jerked the wheel left out of Claire's hands. The vehicle jerked violently again and swerved. Mercy was flung back against her seat and she grasped the handle near the roof of her door.
"Bryant call base! Now!" She barked.
Bryant nodded shakily and got out his comm. As he sent the message the van went off the road and into the ditch. It was deeper than they all expected and soon the van flipped and tumbled. Bryant had just finished giving their location to the base the com went flying out of his hand and hit Eddie in the head.
"Hey!" He yelled.
"Suck it up till later!" Bryant yelled back.
Claire screamed as the vehicle went off the edge of the ditch and into the river. Mercy's ears filled with an even louder scream, and it took her a few seconds to realize it came from her own throat. The group got thrown forward as the water forced their van to stop moving. Mercy's small body got thrown forward and she grunted as her head smashed against the driver's seat. Her shoulder was cold. She looked down at it, shivering. Her window was still open.
Running on instinct, Mercy grabbed the handle of the window and yanked it shut. It got stuck about an inch away from the door. She cursed under her breath. Something fell against her leg before hitting the dashboard with a stream of water. Mercy looked back. A rock had smashed through the back window and water was pouring into the van. That wasn't what worried her, however. It was Eddie, and the stream of blood flowing from the back of his head across his unconscious face.She felt the blood drain from her face. Using all of her rage she grabbed Eddie's belt and ripped it. She flung his body over her shoulder and signaled to the others to get out.
Mercy held her breath and thrust her weight forward to propel the two of them out the broken window. She winced as she felt broken glass cut her arms and back. Out of the van, she blinked furiously as she tried to look around. She got over to the cascade of dirt and rock coming down from the edge of the ditch. Everything was going well enough, until her body was jerked downwards. She looked downwards, only to see her boot stuck in a crevice. Her big, dumb, clunky, ugly stinking Manticore issued boot.She turned at the tap on her shoulder and handed Eddie's body over to Bryant. They went upwards, and Mercy went back to her problem. She tried to get her foot out of the boot, but it wouldn't budge, she had tied it too tight. She decided she should just untie her boot, or loosen it.
Mercy blinked, trying to get the murky water out of her eyes. Cursing to herself, She worked her numb fingers, fumbling with the laces. No luck, her fingers were too cold to work, her joints were stiff and her skin turning blue. How long had she been under? She felt weak. Slowly, she relaxed all her muscles.
She stared straight up at the wall of shimmering glass between her and the sun. The other world, it seemed. Here she was, surrounded by sandy blonde hair, staring at something so simple. No one was yelling at her, telling her to be more of this or that. No one expected her to be cheery or to look for the silver lining. There was no one else, just her and her thoughts. Time seemed to slow, as she watched the colors of the water's surface swirl and churn. They mixed and ran together, until they started to fade, and everything went black.
Mercy lost her sense of direction.Black. There was nothing but black. Was she being dragged upwards? Or down? She didn't even know if she was breathing or not, or whether her heart was beating. Nothing mattered, or seemed to exist. Suddenly, she felt as if she was hit by something huge. She was blinded by a bright light, and her head was spinning. Her body was shivering violently, and she was coughing so hard she was sure she would make her throat raw. Her body was laying down, propped up against something. Her vision blurred and changed until slowly a black form appeared above her. It spun and became clearer, and she saw it was a face. Bryant. She was propped against his knees, her head in his lap.
"Mercy! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" He asked frantically, leaning over her with his hands placed on her cold cheeks. She blinked and stared into his deep brown eyes. They had a red tint to them. She smiled at the contrast between them and his black hair.
"Hi." She said with a frog in her throat. He immediately smiled down at her.
"You were unconscious down there- I went down, I was scared. You looked- Are you ok?" He obviously struggled with what he was trying to say to her.
"I am now."
"I had to, um, that is- you weren't breathing. Hope you aren't mad, but I didn't know what to do, so I kinda used the CPR we learned back at base." He blushed warmly. Mercy smiled.
"My knight in shining armor." As soon as the words left her mouth, she froze, dropping her smile. Biggs.
"You guys ok?" Claire asked, coming towards them. "Sorry about the van, I just froze,"
"Eddie's out. His head got banged up pretty bad." Alan said walking up to the group. "And I think we kinda got a problem." He turned. The two black vans had parked, and six figures were getting out of them.
Mercy glanced up. Three men had gotten out of one van, and three had gotten out of another. 'Can things get any worse?' she asked herself.
Mercy looked the six men over, her and the others could so take them on. She found her gaze wonder over to Eddie's lifeless body. They had to get back to Manticore, and soon. Turning to Claire she used hand signals to tell her to commandeer one of the black vans as soon as possible. Using more hand signals she informed Bryant, Claire and Alan of the plans formulating in her head. Bryant and herself were going to take on the three guys on the right. Claire and Alan were going to take on the three guys on the left.
Mercy gave the six men before them a cocky but evil grin. "What are you boys waiting for? Why don't you bring it already?"
She watched their movements as they advanced towards them. They had weapons. She could tell by the look in their eyes, and their stiffened movements. Little did they know she had her own weapon, unless the water affected it.
She could feel her 'soldier mode' completely taking over once again. Mercy kicked out at one of the guys who had advanced towards her. Her kick was blocked and a punch was thrown at her in response. She barely managed to block it, which surprised her because she was the one who was suppose to be stronger here. The moment of surprise let her opponent get in a hit. Mercy groaned as a fist came in contact with her abdomen. As she doubled over, she felt an elbow dig into her back forcing her to fall further towards the ground. Was she getting her ass handed to her on a golden platter by an ordinary person? Something was seriously wrong with this picture.
Before her opponent could deliver any more hits Mercy quickly got up. Getting back into a fighting stance she looked the guy before her over again. Mercy faked a punch, as her opponent went to block it, she kneed him. It was his turn to double over, and receive an elbow in the back. As her opponent fell further forward, Mercy brought her knee up again. She felt her knee make contact with the guy's nose, and then heard the sickening crack of his nose breaking. Grabbing him by the collar she pulled him up and looked at him before using most of her strength to throw him into one of the guys Bryant was trying to fight.
Glancing over at Claire and Alan, Mercy noticed they weren't doing to good. Something was obviously up with these guys who had tried to run them off the road. As her gaze lingered for a moment on Claire and Alan's problems she heard a gun shot. Her head snapped in Bryant's direction in time to see him fall to the ground. Mercy felt her heart stop, "No..." she whispered, pulling her own gun out from the waistband of her pants. She lifted and cocked the gun. Pulling the trigger she watched as the guy who shot Bryant fell to the ground a bullet hole between his eyes. The two other guys who had been on the ground-the one Mercy had thrown and they guy Mercy had thrown guy into-got up. Without really thinking she shot both of them as well before they had the chance to pull out their ownweapons.
"Mercy!" She heard Claire's voice yell. Turning she saw a gun aimed in her direction, and the trigger of the gun being pulled. Everything slowed down as the bullet came hurtling towards her. The next thing she knew she was on the ground, a searing pain in her chest. Groaning she sat up, the pain blinding her. She couldn't let it bring her down, she needed to help Claire and Alan, and then get to Bryant. She needed to make sure he was ok, and she had to make sure Eddie was ok. Mercy didn't have time to think about her problems. She had to think of the others first right now.
Mercy stood and darted in the direction of the guy who had shot her, tackling him down in the process. "Son of a bitch," she said through gritted teeth. "Didn't your mother ever teach you shooting at girls is never a nice thing."
Mercy brought her fist back and punched the guy in the face. Once again she heard a sickening crunch. Why did she keep breaking guys' noses? Hitting her opponent in the head a couple more times she grinned at his unconscious face. 'Four down. Two more to go.' she thought to herself as she felt a rush of air go past her. Glancing over she made a mental note, 'Only one to go.'
She looked up to see Claire running towards one of the two black vans. Mercy couldn't help but smile to herself as Claire jumped into one of the vans and started it. They were almost done here. At the sound of a snap she looked to see Alan withering in pain, clutching at his obviously broken left arm. Wincing Mercy jumped up, she could feel her energy beginning to drain, getting shot took a lot out of a girl. Racing over to aid Alan she spotted Bryant forcing himself to get up at the corner of her eye. 'He's alright. Thank god,' she thought to herself.
"Hey dork wad!" Mercy called trying to get the attention of Alan's opponent. As soon as the guy turned around, she punched him in the face, once again breaking a nose. But before she could hit him again, he grabbed her by the shoulders, and head butted her. Mercy clutched her head in pain. She found her world slightly beginning to spin.
Mercy blinked a couple times to clear her vision before delivering a kick to the guys head. As her big, dumb, clunky, ugly, stinking Manticore issued boot connected with the guys head, a smile formed on her face. This guy was going to be out for a bit. "Alan you ok?" She called out taking a step forward only to have her world start spinning again. Suddenly she felt ready to pass out.
"I should be asking you that," Alan replied as he watched Mercy sway back and forth. "You're the one with a hole through your chest." Mercy looked down to see the hole from the bullet.
Alan was about to help her when Bryant wrapped an arm around Mercy's waist. "You don't look to good Mercy," Bryant stated simply.
"I'm perfectly fine," she muttered, as the van Claire had commandeered pulled up to them. "Eddie, we need to get Eddie and make sure he's ok. Then we gotta fix you up Bryant, and set Alan's arm. Claire are you ok?"
Bryant found himself shaking his head. He was surprised Mercy could care less about the state she was in, and more about the state the others and himself were in. But then again, she always seemed to be that way. Bryant felt Mercy pull away from him, and he watched as she stumbled towards Eddie's lifeless body.
Bryant went to go help Mercy with Eddie, but Alan stopped him. "I'll help her. Let Claire fix you up."
"You're the one with the broken arm."
"Well at least I don't have a hole in my gut from a bullet, I'm surprised you're even standing."
"I'm fine." Bryant stated.
"Let Claire fix you up," Alan demanded as he ran off to help Mercy.
Max lay on her bunk. She could be in Amora's cell, but she opted not to. Tonight she needed time to think about everything that had happened in the past few months. If Manticore hadn't managed to erase her memory of Logan would she still be with Alec right now? Would she be confiding in him. Max thought for a moment, well getting her memory back hadn't really stopped her, now had it?
She'd developed a new life within the walls of Manticore. She had made new friends, that she couldn't just leave behind if she tried to escape. Even though Max had this new life, she missed her old one. All she wanted to do was escape this hell hole with her new found friends and let them live lives that Manticore would frown upon.
Sitting up slightly on her bunk, Max thought about Alec, he was cocky and arrogant, definitely different from Logan. He didn't have Logan's 'save the world' attitude. No, Alec was more of a 'live lifeto the fullest' type of guy. That was what Max admired about Alec, he was definitely different.
"All set?" Alan asked from the driver's seat. Claire had set his broken arm, and after a long argument let him drive the rest of the way to Manticore. After all Alan was the one with the lead foot, and it was important that they got to Manticore fast. How far away were they? A couple hours?
Mercy found herself praying that they'd be able to get a hold of Manticore again soon. They needed fast transportation before Bryant lost too much blood, before Eddie was completely gone, before she, herself, lost too much blood. Sure Claire had patched them up as best as she could but it wasn't going to do very good. They needed someone with medical background. Eddie was the one who had gone completely through field med. It was his area of expertise, like escape and evade was Alan's, and diagnostics and repair was Bryant's. But seeing as how Eddie was currently unconscious they were kind of screwed.
"Yea, all set." Bryant replied clearing his throat. Alan smiled weakly at Mercy and Bryant before turning, to look out at the road in front of him. He started the engine and put a comm in his ear, hoping he'd be able to get a hold of someone back at Manticore. Claire and Eddie were in the far back. Claire had passed out after helping fix the others up. Alan had suggested that she tried to sleep, after all she was still traumatized by the whole event. Eddie was still unconscious, and Mercy was beginning to worry he'd never wake up.
Mercy was lying across Bryant's lap. Bryant held a wad of cloth against Mercy's wound, applying pressure. His own bullet wound had a cloth against it, but no pressure was being applied.
"How you holding up?" Mercy asked weakly. Her body was so sore, so tired. Just exhausted, plain and simple.
"Great. You?" Mercy couldn't help but smile at his energy. He wasn't acting like a guy who'd just been shot.
"Alright. Thanks."
"No problem." Bryant laughed.
"Now, about you saving me. I got stuck, and just- gave up I guess."
"After I got Eddie up, you were all I could think about. You were under for a good ten minutes. The Manticore record was twelve." His face grew serious. "I was scared. When I got you up you looked so- so- gone. So I did what my instincts told me to." He smiled jokingly. "You have very soft lips."
Mercy smiled up at him again. "You know that record is mine right?" She asked, ignoring the comment about having soft lips. Hadn't Biggs said something like that to her once?
"You're record?" Bryant grinned at her. "Remind me that I have to beat it when we're back at Manticore."
"I don't see anyone beating it anytime soon," Mercy mused.
"A little cocky are we?"
"I can't help it, have you seen who I share the same DNA as?"
"494...Alec... he is pretty cocky sometimes." Bryant smiled at Mercy, who nodded in reply.
"It hurts Bryant," Mercy said after a short silence. Her hazel eyes filled with tears that burned.
"I know. But try not to think about it." He said softly, running a hand threw Mercy's hair.
"I'm so tired and cold. I feel like I haven't slept in years." Mercy's eyes slid closed. Her body tingled with the anticipation of sleep.
"No, you can't go to sleep. You gotta stay awake." He sounded stern. "Talk to me. Tell me a good memory."
Mercy smiled and forced her eyes open. "Remember that mission in New York?"
"Yeah."
"427 was so in love with that red head chick. He followed her around for weeks before he found out she was engaged." Mercy was speaking softly. "Then he egged her car."
"He pouted for a week."
"Yea." Mercy turned her head to look at Bryant. "I'm sorry I used to treat you so horribly. I shouldn't have. I was just scared to let anyone near me other then Biggs and Alec... and well 640."
"I know. I never took it offensively. You just seemed strong- but scared. Just- beautiful." Mercy blushed. Before she knew what was happening, Bryant leaned down and kissed Mercy warmly and deeply. Mercy closed her eyes. Then it hit her. What was she doing? What about Biggs? After he lifted his head, Bryant leaned back and closed his eyes.
Mercy lay still, frozen. What had happened scared her. Not the van going into the river, the fight, or her injuries. It was the kiss that terrified her. Not because Bryant had been so forward, but because she hadn't stopped him, or the kiss- she enjoyed it. She hated herself for it, but she had loved every moment- until she remembered Biggs.
She felt the pressure being applied against her wound fall slack. Looking up she saw Bryant's face, his eyes weren't just closed, he'd passed out. Mercy felt something warm running against her arm. Glancing at her arm she saw blood, but it wasn't her blood it was Bryant's. Mercy only now realized how pale he looked, this wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. "Speed up Alan!" she yelled. "I don't know how much longer Bryant's going to last!"
Mercy didn't hear a reply, she just felt the van pick up speed. "Don't die on me Bryant," she whispered. "You can't die on me now." She moved slightly so that she was able to apply pressure to Bryant's wound. This wasn't good. "I can't loose you, not yet."
The morning had just started and the 'gang' found themselves sitting in the mess hall. None of them were looking forward to training. "Mercy is so lucky." Amora mumbled.
"Why do you say that?" Biggs questioned.
"She doesn't have to go to training, and she gets to eat actual food." Amora stated, as she moved her food around on her plate.
"Jealous?" Alec looked at Amora with an arched eyebrow.
"Just a little." Amora replied, with a shrug.
Max opened her mouth to say something when I siren began to blaze. "What the hell is that?" She questioned looking at the others at the table.
"All medical personal please report to the infirmary. All medical personal please report to the infirmary." A voice boomed over the speakers.
The mess hall fell uneasily quiet, except for the siren.
Mercy felt dizzy...and cold. She found her memory fuzzy now. It had been an ambush hadn't it? Where was she now? Manticore? Where was Bryant? Eddie? Claire? Alan? Within seconds a bright light was making her vision even blurrier.
"We're losing her!" She heard a voice yell over beeping and other random noises.
Mercy felt the need to hang on, but it hurt to much. She couldn't do it anymore, and at the moment she didn't know why she had been holding on for so long. She was getting really tired. So tired. So cold. Mercy couldn't fight it anymore, she let the darkness consume her.
"Mercy," she heard a familiar voice whisper into her ear. "Mercy, please wake up."
"Bryant?" was the first name that left her lips, when she opened her eyes and saw a blurry figure with black hair sitting beside her.
"What?" the person sitting there questioned.
As her vision became clearer she looked at the figure and said, "Biggs." A small smile came to her lips as soon as she felt Biggs' warm hand take hers.
Biggs returned Mercy's smile as he pushed a strand of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear. "You had all of us worried."
"Wh-what happened?" Mercy questioned turning her head slightly to get a better look at Biggs.
"All I know is what 309 told-"
"Alan." Mercy cut Biggs off. "His name is Alan."
Biggs paused and looked down at Mercy, "Alan told me you guys were leaving when you were run off the road, into the river. He said there was a fight between you guys and the people that ran you off the road, once you got out of the water."
"The guys we fought." Mercy paused. "They were strong. As strong as us. And it scared me."
Biggs didn't know what to say, Mercy had been scared? That seemed almost impossible. She was tough, nothing usually scared her. "But you guys got away. You guys got back here. That just prooves that you're better then them."
Mercy looked Biggs in the eye. "How are the others? Are they ok? Did they make it? Eddie was knocked out and Bryant lost so much blood."
Biggs swallowed the lump in his throat. Mercy looked so lost and afraid. What was he suppose to say? '289 and 441 died. I'm guessing you're talking about them'? No, that didn't work.
"Please tell me Biggs. I need to know what happened to them."
"They...um...they didn't make it." Biggs said quietly. He watched as tears filled Mercy's eyes. She looked so...broken.
"I should have done something." Mercy whispered. "I should have...gotten Eddie out of the van faster. I should have helped Bryant before he got shot. They're dead because of me Biggs."
Biggs wiped at the tears that were slipping out of Mercy's eyes. "You did everything you could Mercy. Alan told me that you got shot and you didn't back down until you knew the rest of them were ok for the most part."
"I just can't help but think that this is all my fault. I can't help but think that I could of prevented it somehow."
"Everything happens for a reason Mercy." Biggs sighed.
"I know." Mercy whispered in reply.
A silence fell between the two for a few minutes before Biggs said, "You almost died you know. The bullet just missed your heart. In fact your heart stopped beating for a few minutes. They thought you were a goner. Everyone was scared we weren't going to be seeing you again."
"You guys can't get rid of me that easily." Mercy whispered. Forcing a smile she asked, "So where is everyone?"
"They're in the rec room. You've been out for a few days now. Alec was in here last night, waiting for you to wake up. He's a bigger wreck then me."
"That's a shocker." Mercy laughed softly. "Wait a minute. Where's my party? And my cake? I told you that when I got back from my next mission I wanted a big party with cake."
Biggs laughed and shook his head, "How 'bout I give you that party when you're up and walking. When your one hundred percent."
"I don't know if I can wait that long. I want cake."
"The cake can wait a bit longer. I want to make sure you're okay first."
"I am okay." Mercy replied, her voice sounded as though she was trying to convince herself as well. There was a voice yelling in the back of her head, 'No you're not! Tell him the truth! You need to tell Biggs the truth.'
"You sure?"
"I'm positive Biggs. I'm getting kind of tired though. Do you think you could tell the others for me that they better get there butts down here and visit me sometime soon?"
"Of course." Biggs smiled down at Mercy.
"Good. You better be around when I wake up from my nap."
"What if I'm out training?"
"Then I guess I can give you some lee way." Mercy laughed.
"Good," Biggs laughed as well. "But you get some rest now. I'll be back later."
"I love you Biggs." Mercy whispered, the voice in her head started yelling at her. 'How do you know you love him? What about Bryant? Huh? You forgetting about him? You forgetting about the kiss already?'
"I love you too Mercy." Biggs replied, before kissing the top of her head.
Mercy watched as Biggs left her side, and then the room. Turning her head to look at the ceiling, she couldn't help but think back to the mission. She couldn't help but think back to the kiss. Mercy had liked the kiss, and that had scared her. Why did her life have to be so messed up? She had to tell Biggs about it all. Mercy had to tell Biggs that she had felt something when Bryant had kissed her. The same something that she had felt a year ago when she had kissed Biggs for the first time. She was afraid to though. She was afraid of what Biggs would say, do, or think.
AN: Hope you guys like this chapter! It's longer then most, but hey it's full of good stuff! Tell us what you thought, and share any ideas you might have.
