Recap:

At the sight, Bruce began weakly scrambling away from me, although the beating I gave him must've taken all his energy. Aiming carefully, I drove the weapon downwards.

Through his 3DMG and into the wooden trap door he sat on. Bruce breathed a sigh of relief while I raised an eyebrow at the action.

"Oh? Looks like you missed, sweetheart." And with a dramatic flair, he attempted a roll out of my reach. Unfortunately, it took him too long to realise that with my blade embedded just so between the 3DMG mechanics, he was effectively pinned in place.

"No I didn't." My emotions took over briefly, as I quickly pulled out another blade and rammed it through his right arm. The following ear-piercing scream lasted about a second before common sense regained itself and smoothly drew the blade out again. Blood dripped from the end and I scrapped it off against a nearby barrel.

"Now I missed."

As I kept a close eye on the writhing man, there was a crash and sudden shriek from the left of us. Tensing, I swiftly armed myself with another blade.

"Easy Leader, we want them alive."

Turning my head, I sighed in relief when I saw Jack shoving the second shooter out from behind a wooden door, wrists tied together. Another push and the shooter tumbled onto his knees next to the other, also empty of his gun.

"Really?" I sent Bruce a sharp look, sheathing a blade. "Debatable."

"Alive is preferred." Another voice joined our conversation. Perking up at the unfamiliar tone, I glanced up to now notice 4 Garrison guards joining Jack and myself on the rooftops. It looks like the calvary had arrived. I narrowed my eyes at the mere thought of leaving Twinkle Toes breathing. The Garrison officer who spoke took one look at my expression and smiled, saluting. His comrades did the same.

"Although, we are willing to make an exception for you, Special Operations leader Hazura."

At this, I smiled back. "Smart man."

"Squadron Leader Hazura." Warned Jack, shaking his head at me. I sighed, knowing he was right. It was moments like this when I really hated having responsible team members. I turned back to the Garrison, a slight pout on my face, no doubt.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to take your generous offer but thank you for the thought. They're all yours." I stepped away, surrendering Bruce and his foes to the Garrison. Jack swapped places with 2 guards and walked over to me as we watched them be taken away. Getting Bruce to his feet was an easy task, with his right arm keeping him docile but his mouth was constantly streaming curses at me.

"I swear, when Liam finds you Hazura-"

"Then I'll make sure to give him a matching scar that you and John both have." I assured him and waved him off brightly.

"Scar?" Jack questioned. I lifted up my right arm and pointed to it. A quick glance at Bruce's arm and Jack flinched at the blood painting the limb.

"Right."

"So, where's Soph? Weren't you two supposed to be at the rendezvous house?" I began jogging to the edge of the roof, planning to finally head back and catch up to the Doc.

"We made sure Brian, Linda and Steve made it before heading out to help you. Speaking of that, weren't you supposed to be protecting the Doc?"

We leapt off the edge and spun our way to the market, still lit from activity.

"Protecting the Doc and fending off the musketeers proved a little-"

"-difficult?" he teased. I chuckled.

"-a little more of a challenge than I expected." I nudged him off his flight path in retaliation.

"Touchy touchy."

We soon arrived over the night market, still in full swing, oblivious to what had occurred above their heads. Music played faintly on the breeze, people milled between each other, stalls lined the streets and lanterns illuminated the place. A sudden whistle caught out ears and both Jack and I glanced down simultaneously at the familiar tune. Soph waved madly from a stall, her bright smile instantly recognizable. Rolling my eyes in amusement, Jack and I both safely landed nearby and wandered over.

"I thought it was a given to keep a low profile." I scolded Soph gently once she was in earshot. She made a face and waved a dismissive hand.

"While Jack went to save you like the shining knight in armour that he is-"

Jack and I swapped amusing looks at this.

"-I made some new friends with the Garrison guards roaming around here. They're aware of the situation we're in and have upped their numbers around the market. Probably more due to the risk of an innocent casualty, should anything happen here."

Jack nodded thoughtfully, taking a discrete glance around at the crowd. I took more interest in the stall that she was standing in. Plenty of herbs and spices were out for the display, bundles of them stored further in the back.

"This looks familiar…"

"Looking for more information, soldier?"

Looking up at the voice, my jaw dropped open when a familiar face indeed graced my sight. The herb lady which Steve and I had questioned some days earlier smiled at me.

"No information but I would like to thank you again for helping my team members out then-" I spied Doc as he came in from the back of the stall, "-and now."

The lady laughed loudly, shaking her head.

"No no, no trouble at all! Besides, if I knew you had such a trusty doctor by your side, I would have given you soldiers more!" she slapped Doc hard on the back, chuckling when he spluttered in shock.

"Trusty…?" I teased quietly, grinning at the Doc as he mockingly raised a hand at me.

"From what I've seen, the two seem to be old friends." Soph filled us in, jumping over the table and joining us on the other side. "Good thing though, we've been stocked up with enough medicinal materials to last us a while!"

"Sophia." Jack berated, frowning at her. My energetic friend clasped a hand over her mouth too late.

"No, please, it's the least I can do to help. From what Doc tells me, the lady has quite an injury and quite a journey ahead of her so anything I can do to help ease that pain is of service." The lady slapped our Doc on the back again. I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thank you again, ma'am."

"So, heading back?" Doc shook his friend's hand one more time before leaning out to talk to us. I paused.

"Jack and I will head back first with these goods. Doc, I reckon you and Soph filter around and grab the team some food and any other supplies you need. Now we're out of immediate danger, we'll stay put for a while to let everyone catch up and heal. After a bit, depending on our situation, I'll make a call later of when we begin heading into Wall Sina."

"Roger."