*internal screeching*

Epilogue: Hope

The medic on duty had given her some painkillers after confirming that the concussion was not serious enough to earn a visit to the hospital, but the pills did not do much for the dizziness.

Lisa leaned back against the wall outside the door, closing her eyes against the headache as she waited for her turn to speak with the boss. Ever since 'the incident' earlier that morning, Mr. Luthor had been calling people into his office, no doubt hushing up any knowledge they had of the Project and her escape with a few small bribes and threats. She had not seen him go in, but from the raised voices emerging from the room, she could tell that Mr. Wilson happened to be Alexander's current visitor - and neither of them seemed very happy.

"-was not in the contract," she heard Mr. Wilson growl, "I cannot be expected to go after her-"

Lex interrupted him, his tone dripping with withheld fury, "You explicitly specified that once paid, Deathstroke always completes the contract. I paid for Stormkrigeren's training for the next year in advance - you have the money, but you haven't trained the student, so bring her back and finish the damn contract!"

Silence reigned for a long moment and Dr. Schreyer could easily imagine the two men glaring daggers at each other, until Mr. Wilson finally replied in a low voice she could barely make out.

"Call it off."

"No," Lex replied simply, and Mr. Wilson snarled in response.

"Then call me when you find my damn student, Luthor."

Lisa warily backed away from the double oak doors as they were forcibly shoved open and Mr. Wilson emerged, barely glancing in her direction as he stormed away. Lex had obviously called him in at a bad time as the assassin was wearing the full black-and-orange armor that marked him as a hired killer.

Lisa let out a small sigh of relief once he had left and turned towards the door of the office to see Lex standing there, hands casually in his pockets as he stared after the man. He sighed after a moment, finally turning to her with a soft smile.

"Sorry you had to hear that, Lisa," he shrugged, turning to gently guide her into his office with a hand on her back, "I can promise you that we're going to get little Darcie back as soon as possible-"

Dr. Schreyer stopped suddenly, glaring at his back as Lex walked a step further before glancing back at her and shaking his head with a sigh. "You too? Okay, let me have it."

"You can't keep a trained assassin trapped and tortured underground for her entire life and still expect her to obey you," she declared in a low voice, raising her chin in defiance, "Wilson's right. I don't want to be a part of… whatever it is your planning - whatever you were trying to do to her."

Alexander's countenance darkened as he straightened up, opening his mouth to reply something equally harsh when the door opened behind them. Both turned to look at the intruder and Lex's frown instantly became a blinding smile as he addressed the man standing there.

"Alpha! Just the man I was expecting - I'm in need of some good news. So your men were able to follow the tracker?"

Alpha, being a tall, thin, well-dressed man whose build was not entirely suited to his codename, seemed especially averse to making eye contact with his employer as he nodded.

"Yes, sir. It was in a silver Ford F-150, heading south on the I-9 when we caught up to it," he replied simply, "We found the piece on the back seat. The driver required a little persuasion, but he claims he has no idea what it is or how it got there."

"Tt, it was obviously a decoy," Lex nodded, "This won't be a problem. Alpha, get your Hunters. You know what to do."

The man nodded sharply, promptly exiting the office as Lex turned back to the waiting Schreyer, pressing his fingertips together with a smirk.

"So… that's Alpha. Nice guy - real good with the moves."

"I'm resigning from my position," Dr. Schreyer said firmly, earning a low chuckle from him.

"You know, I was just thinking about how hard it is for criminals to get decent jobs these days. The illegal immigrants in particular, even though we all know how hard they work to stay in blessed America," Lex smiled thoughtfully. The subtle jab at her lack of citizenship and the overhanging threat was not lost on Schreyer as he continued.

"You just might want to stay on a little longer, Lisa. I can guarantee my Hunters will have disobedient little Darcie back within the fortnight."

V*V*V*V*V*V*V

It was much colder the farther north she went - not that it bothered her much. Still, getting a coat had been a good idea, mostly because it kept out the wind and rain. Stormkrigeren had known there would be rain, she had even felt something like it the few times the sprinklers had gone off in her Rooms, but this…

Rain was better than she had imagined.

She often found herself on the side of lonely highways, thumb out for a ride and face turned up to the heavens as the drops pelted her face. But the moment her keen ears picked up the sound of danger, she would have to wipe the water from her eyes and prepare for an imminent attack. The Outside had rain, and that was nice, but it also had people, who were rarely as pleasant.

Stormkrigeren had known the world was full of people - just over seven-billion in fact - but she hadn't expected to have to interact with so many. They were everywhere - always talking and moving and watching and trying to touch her. Seven-billion people, and yet not a single one of them could possibly understand how much pain they caused her, how much it hurt to look exactly like them but know that she was too different to ever be like them.

She almost cried one night. Curled up against the cold in some empty car in an overnight parking lot she had broken into, pent up and exhausted and furious and overwhelmed.

Almost.

But not quite.

She was too strong to cry, and part of her was afraid she couldn't even if she tried. She was too different.

She had already been followed on four separate occasions and attacked twice (luckily never by her Hunters), yet somehow she didn't mind as much when the assailants at least put up a decent fight. She bought herself a good knife not long after the first time it happened, having gotten a fake driver's license off a small-town dealer the same day.

The plan was to get to Yellowknife, where she would purchase multiple tickets heading to various airports in Canada before flying to Edmonton and repeating the process. Hopping between airports would eventually carry her across the Pacific and eventually to New Delhi. Mister Wilson rumoredly had a safehouse there, where she could hide until either Deathstroke found her or she figured out her next plan of action. That was what scared her the most - fighting to gain her freedom, but having no idea what to do with it.

Freedom was relative, she decided, a lot like times and names and the sharpness of blades. Despite being free from the Rooms and from Lex's immediate grasp, she was in no way free of the fear that trailed behind her like a shadow, forcing her to constantly look over her shoulder and watch for Hunters on every corner. She was always hiding - from cameras, from people, in the backs of trucks and behind dumpsters, gripping her knife harder every time someone walked past.

Her only comfort was the rain. Rain drowned out the voices and the noise, pattering on leaves, susurrating beneath wheels on the highway. Rain kept her awake and listening when she trekked alongside the empty highway. All she had was the rain, the pack on her back, and her knife. No, scratch that - she had herself. And she had hope.

aight.

I'ma go take a nap now, y'all have a happy new year!