Battles lost and won

"Don't move."

The Lotus' words were almost inaudible in the sudden din of gunfire but were clear and Kate Bishop didn't move even as both of the warframes that had ranged weapons opened fire on her. It went very much against the grain, but she realized quickly that not moving was a very good thing. She was a good fencer, but far better with her bow.

The Lotus was not a 'good' fencer. She was incredible!

Every single one of the odd projectiles flying from the equally odd skeletal looking golden weapons carried by the warframes hit blades that danced around Kate like blue butterflies. Each and every one of the flying projectiles were deflected to fall harmlessly to the floor. The Lotus hadn't moved her feet! That had all been blade work! Incredibly precise swordswomanship to knock flying projectiles out of the air. Skull headed golden things fell all around the pair of mismatched females, stopped short! It looked like something out of Star Wars, honestly. However the armored woman did it, it was damned impressive! They were not going to touch her with those. Or Kate, it seemed.

"Like I said, this is my fight, Kate." The Lotus said as she spun again, this time sending some of the bolts flying back at the four warframes who stood as if astonished. The bolts him them and bounced off. "Move the humans, if you would? Back, just a bit while I argue manners with these fools."

"As you wish." Kate said with a nod as she moved back a step but held her aim. Neither of the warframes with melee weapons had moved. She lowered her bow and removed the arrow. It vanished form her hand and she felt weight in the quiver on her back. She was too busy watching the four enemies who suddenly realized how outclassed they were. She pulled the boy with the pistol back to the doorway she had come through and moved to grasp another. She covered the human with her own body as the warframe with the odd three bladed saw pulled back as if to throw at Kate. The warframe stopped short when the Lotus spoke again.

"If you throw that in here, I will destroy all of those warframes and then I will likely get mean." The Lotus was calm, cool and utterly without emotion. "I am sure you can flee if I break those, but if you do? I will find you and when I do? I will hurt you very badly and leave you alive. These humans have done nothing to you and you would kill them for daring to defend themselves from a home invasion? Whoever the hell you are, you are honorless scum!"

You call us honorless, you who hide your self under a cloaking screen like an Orokin? Was that from the largest warframe? If so, he was a fool. Kate barely knew the Lotus, but she knew the blue armored being had an impressive temper.

"You walk in and attack people who look to me for protection without even a 'by your leave'?" The Lotus sneered. "I don't care what you wear! You are no Tenno! They at least have a Code."

At that, everything seemed to stop. Then all four warframes moved to engage the Lotus! The ones with rifles slung them and drew blades. One held a pair of short, curved daggers. The other hefted a long, curved sword. They moved as if they knew what to do with them as they formed up with the saw wielder and the two handed sword carrier. Four to one, they would attack in concert.

"Ma'am?" Kate asked as she pulled two more people out of the way of what was coming. She rushed to grab the others, but no one was paying her any attention after she had lowered her bow. Probably wise as good as the Lotus seemed to be with her blades.

"Stay there, Kate. I have got this."

Then, the blue armored woman moved and it was pure beauty to see. It looked like water flowing down a mountainside. Never stopping, never slowing. Pooling now and again but then raging on past any blockages. Diverting here and there, but never stopping entirely. The Lotus clearly attacked just before the other four were ready to attack her and thus, they were off balance, just a little. Just enough. Armored as they were, she was as well. Kate's eyes went huge as the Lotus took the fight to all four warframes at once! Kate was a swords-woman, a fairly good one all things considered. She and Clint used swords and she had faced enemies who used swords, but this was way beyond anything that Kate had ever seen. Maybe Thor with his Odinforce could have managed to block the whisper thin and thought quick blades that danced in and out of engagement range as the Lotus all but flew through the ranks of her enemies. None of the other Avengers would have had a chance. Most would have gone totally defensive, changed the rules or traded off their opponent to someone who could take them out without hand to hand combat. These golden warframes could not run, could not change the rules and Kate could tell as soon as she saw the Lotus move that these invaders were not going to win.

Only one of the warframes managed to hit the Lotus in her deadly dance and that was a glancing strike by the one with the massive sword, more flat than edge. Her own blades were much lighter than that one, but the two sliced with surgical precision at the speed of thought. Whatever warframes were made of were not proof from that. One down, two down, three down, four down. Almost as quick as it took to say such, the battle was over! It had been a fight since they had fought back. That said? The Lotus had been prepared to fight them and they hadn't had a clue what they were fighting. Even such powerful and durable machines as warframes hadn't stood a chance!

"I will be right back." The Lotus said with a growl and all four fallen warframes vanished a haze of blue along with the Lotus.

"Okay." Kate swallowed hard and then started triaging the wounded. None of them seemed hurt, just unconscious. That was good. She put the bow back where she had found it with a last caress. It was beautiful, but not for her. Other people approached her carefully as she worked and started doing the same without a word. If Kate was any judge of these people, they were survivors of horror, so trust was unlikely to happen. None seemed armed, but that meant nothing. She kept her movements slow and visible as she worked to aid the unconscious beings.

"They wanted me." The Lotus said quietly as she appeared nearby and bent down to check the boy. "Not these, thank whatever deity you care to. Thank you for your help, Kate."

"Not that you needed it." Kate smiled, but it fell as the boy woke up screaming silently. The Lotus was there holding him as he screamed without a sound! Kate spun to the closest conscious person and mouthed 'Water!' The other human, a young man, nodded and took off at a run. Kate spun back to her own patients as a young woman her age gave a groan and opened her eyes. "Easy." Kate crooned as the girl sat up, staring around wildly. "They are gone. You are safe."

"We can never be safe." The woman said weakly, tears falling. "Tenno kill. It is what they do!"

"Not here. Not now. I phase shifted the entrance." The Lotus said softly. "It's a Void field, so they cannot get past it. Even if they find the new location, they cannot get past it without the right key, which I am not going to give them."

The boy Kate had sent for water came running back, juggling a pitcher of water and several cups. Kate was quick to grab two before he dropped any and the Lotus did as well. Somehow, she was handling four cups to Kate's two. The blue armored woman motioned for the young man to pour and he did, his hands only trembling a little. Once Kate had two glasses filled, she handed one to the still crying girl and knelt down by an unconscious young man to see if she could help him. No, he was awake and staring at her, so she just smiled and handed him the cup which he took in trembling hands.

"No one seems to be hurt." Kate offered after a quick look at the one drinking slowly and carefully. "So, whatever that was knocked them out?"

"It is easier to kill people who are not running away or fighting." The Lotus said flatly. "But I can and will fight for my people. You are my people." An arm swept the room to encompass everyone. Over a dozen humans were crowded in the room now, most kneeling to help the ones who had been knocked out. She turned to Kate and smiled. "My friends? This is Kate Bishop. I am still not sure how she got here, but she is not an invalid now. I will see about getting you something a bit more durable to wear than that gown, Kate."

"I am glad I could help." Kate smiled at the boy again who returned it hesitantly. "And frankly? Do you what you wish. I hope never to make you that angry with me."

"Smart girl." The Lotus sighed deeply as she rose and hefted the still silently screaming boy in her hands. "Now, we try to clean up the mess."

"What do you need me to do?" Kate asked. She looked around and the only residue or the attack were golden projectiles stuck in various places or littering the floor. She looked and yes, some were stuck in the ceiling, too. "Wow, they fired a lot of those at me."

"Yeah." The Lotus shook her head. "That doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. You had the ranged weapon, but I was the more dangerous to them."

"I don't think any of them knew that until you moved." Kate snickered. "I do wonder how far a jaw can drop in that armor." Her wry tone had everyone looking at her. The humans all stared at her in shock and she shrugged with a small, self conscious laugh. "It is laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh, honestly."

"I had almost forgotten what laughter was." The girl she had helped was shaking her head in wonder. "So much bad. So many dead and for what?"

"Greed." The Lotus said sadly as she held the boy who had apparently fallen asleep in her arms, worn out by all this madness. "The Orokin wanted everything and when they tried to enslave the Tenno, the Tenno reacted badly. I don't think they would have killed you. They were after me."

"And how long would we survive without you?" The girl asked weakly.

"Let's not find out any time soon, okay?" The Lotus inquired gently. She nodded to her burden with a small smile. "This one needs bath and a bed. You?" She asked the girl who made a face and nodded. "Okay, let's…" She paused as Kate started looking around. "Kate?"

"Take care of your people. I'll take care of the mess." The Avenger said firmly as she reached up to one of the embedded projectiles and then drew her hand back as it burned her. "Dang! Um… I will need pliers or something. A broom. Maybe a mop."

"You know how to use a mop?" The Lotus asked, stunned.

"Duh." Kate's reply was pure teenager as she kicked several of the glistening projectiles into a pile.

"What is a 'mop'?" The girl asked and shook her head as both the Lotus and Kate laughed. "What?"

"Long, funny story." The Lotus offered as she started form the room, but a flash of blue showed a locker nearby that Kate went to. Inside were a set of cleaning tools that Kate took without enthusiasm. Bucket, mop, broom, dustpan and even long nosed pliers. She looked around and started.

Cleaning up afterwards was always less fun.

A bit later

"Well, that happened." The Lotus had calmed her people, fed them and gotten the most traumatized of them to sleep. Kate didn't ask how, she probably didn't want to know. Kate had managed to get all but the most lodged projectiles out of the walls and into the bucket the Lotus provided. The Lotus had come in to find Kate trying to get a few out of the ceiling and they had worked together to get rid of the last. "They know I exist now. They won't stop looking. Even if they cannot track those projectiles since I dropped them off in Jupiter's gravity well, they will not stop."

"They think you are Orokin." Kate took a final sip and set down her cup of water. The human shook her head. Now, she wore a gray suit that hugged her body, but didn't show it off, as odd as that sounded. It worked and it was very comfortable. "The truth would only make things worse."

"Far worse." The Lotus didn't eat or drink. She faked it for her people's sake, but she didn't really need the sustenance that they did. "Well… My own problems aside, I have no idea how to get you back to where you belong."

"I bet if I came unstuck once, I will again." Kate heaved a sigh. "I hope I don't land as hard next time."

"Me too." The Lotus jerked up and scowled under her mask. "You have got to be kidding me!" Kate stared at her and the Lotus snarled. But not at her. "Go away, you lying filth!" A flash of blue blinded Kate for a moment and the Lotus was calm again. "This is not going to end well."

"What was that?" Kate asked, not sure she wanted an answer.

"Force didn't work. So now they are trying subterfuge." The Lotus scoffed. "They are knocking instead of barging in. But it is still those four idiots and I am not letting them in. I moved the entrance again."

"Are there people inside those things?" Kate asked carefully. "Those warframes?"

"That is a question with a very long, very disturbing answer." The Lotus's mouth was set in a grim line now. "The short answer is 'Yes', but not like you. Not physical forms. Energy." Kate thought about that and nodded. The Lotus stared at her and then snorted. "You have seen that too?"

"And far stranger things." Kate sipped her water and smiled a bit ruefully. "After a while, you just learn to roll with it. Everyone has a story. Even the worst of the worst have a story." She thought about her own mom and dad, the conflicts she had gone through with them and shook her head. "That doesn't make what they do right, but it can explain some of the stuff. I don't have a problem stopping them. I hope I didn't cause problems grabbing that bow."

"Yes, that bow." The Lotus looked at Kate. "Where did you get that?"

"From the rack of weapons… right… outside…" Kate trailed off as the Lotus went utterly still. Kate went still as well as her mind flashed. That bow hadn't been anything like any of the other weapons in the area. More like the golden warframe weapons than anything the Lotus or her people had carried. That did not bode well. "You don't know what I am talking about, do you?"

"Show me!" The Lotus was on her feet and Kate was right behind her. Both were quiet, neither wanted to wake the humans in the area. Kate led the way back towards the entrance and stopped at the rack of weapons. She turned to see the Lotus staring at her.

"This rack." Kate waved at it, at the beautiful bow that still called her. "It is right here." She fought the desire to pick up the bow again. To touch it, to heft it, try the draw. It wouldn't be polite to do so in front of her hostess. She turned to the Lotus and stopped short as she realized the other was staring at the wall as if in shock or wonder.

"I don't see a weapon rack there." The Lotus said softly, her hands coming up as if to ward.

"What do you see?" Kate backed up a step, still eyeing the bow. Was it calling to her? No. But it was gorgeous.

"A blank wall." The Lotus said slowly. "I was going to expand this sanctuary eventually. If, when, I find more survivors. This was where I was going to do it. But I don't sense anything there."

"Some kind of trap?" Kate swallowed hard. "I mean… That bow is awesome! It feels..." She gasped as the Lotus grabbed her and pulled her back. Kate had taken a step towards the rack! "No! Is it pulling me?"

"Look away!" The Lotus commanded and Kate did as instructed, focusing on the armored form. A flash of blue blinded Kate and then the girl felt whatever had been pulling her abate. The Lotus was clearly worried as she laid a hand on Kate's brow as Kate trembled, not daring to look. "Do you hear music?"

"No." Kate said weakly. "Is that good or bad?"

"Potentially, very bad. The Orokin often used music to pull people in and enslave them." The Lotus said softly, her mouth set in a worried line now. "You don't feel like I remember such. So maybe, it wasn't Orokin?"

"Or maybe it was. Or maybe I am just going crazy and this is all a delusion?" Kate said sadly. "I can't tell!"

"I know." The Lotus said gently. "It is all right. You need sleep too, Kate. Non-medicated sleep. You may not be human like mine, but you are still human and you are tired. I have set up a place for you to sleep. Come on."

The non-human woman held out a hand that Kate took. They walked away from the rack that only Kate could see, never hearing the soft 'damn' that came from the rack in a male voice.

Did you really think it would be that easy? Came a snide female voice from nowhere.

A growl from the other and then the rack vanished in a haze of gray. Not Orokin energy. Tenno.