Update: Tweaked/rewritten October 2020

Assassins, Sins, and Druggies

"Gluttony, how in the hell could you lose Sloth?" Wrath yelled from the front seat, twisting briefly to glance at the chef behind him. He wiped a nervous palm on his jeans as he grabbed the flap on his jacket to keep it from flapping in the wind.

"It's Jaeger when we're in public, Logan," Stray hissed, secretly kicking his own ass for letting the lazy Sin fall behind. The codenames were just something latched figuratively onto the SIN-ED board members, who knew some people took them seriously? Given, "Gluttony" was the perfect choice for this particular silver-haired boy, but some individuals needed to think before they decided to be the bane of humanity. C'mon, taking a catnap in a tree? And on a mission? Alright, we shouldn't have left him, but—honestly—that's ridiculous. Sighing, Stray did much the same as Wrath and wiped both hands nervously against his jeans before zipping up his own sweatshirt against the cool wind. "You're at as much fault as me."

"He probably just wanted to see this famous Lexi Rymyr all by himself. Y'know, waited until we left then jumped down and started exploring. You shouldn't have let slip LE's transfer," Wrath whined, shifting uncomfortably in the driver's seat of the convertible. Stray had no idea where his teammate had gotten such a fancy vehicle, but he wasn't about to complain. Honestly, he just wanted to drive the thing. Too bad the hotheaded Logan would never let him no matter how hard he pestered him. Besides, they were both worried about their missing comrade. The Sins rarely traveled alone—since Greed's mishap in space—and with two assassins running around, SIN-ED just couldn't afford any more messy mishaps.

Which is probably what would end up happening.

Damnit! Wrath thought, forgetting his whiny mood and skipping right back to anger. Where is that son of a bitch? Stepping on the gas, he blew through a red light and made a quick right at the next intersection. Stray squealed in the backseat—more out of excitement than sheer fright—and grabbed onto Wrath's headrest in order to keep him from flying out of the car. If only he had buckled his seatbelt.

"Woah, Logan, relax!"

"He couldn't have gotten far, and I'm not about to calm down until his bony ass is strapped to the passenger's seat. What the hell is he thinking?" Making another sharp turn to the left, he narrowly missed a crossing squirrel—well, and a handful of innocent bystanders.

Aw, shucks, Stray thought, watching the animal scurry up the nearest tree and out of harm's way. I've always wanted to try roadkill.

"Well, look what we have here. Who knew someone so lost could end up being so lucky?"

"I'm thinking you're the lost one, but how the hell do you see that as lucky?" Namarra asked, slipping her fingers further into the back of her boot and grabbing hold of her throwing knife. "As a regular pedestrian in this park, I really don't appreciate a gun pointed at me."

"A 'regular pedestrian?' Hah, don't make me laugh," Sloth chided, lifting one gun up to glance at a cuticle. It was a cocky gesture to be sure, and one that pissed off the girls a few feet from his position. Why was it when a person had full control of a situation, he or she had a tendency to flaunt it?

Ah, egos.

"I know who you are," the Sin pointed Eclipse's way once his inspection was over, "so that means you must be the other one."

"'Other one?'" Namarra girl echoed. Glancing sidelong at her Coordinator counterpart, Namarra was happy to see a return look. It was subtle—more of an eye roll than actual contact—but it seemed to mean a lot more to the Natural than to Sloth standing casually across from them. Perhaps if he was paying attention, he may have noticed it as well. So, Eclipse is armed—or at least not helpless. That's good to know 'cause I really don't like this situation at the moment.

"You're not very bright, are you?" the Sin continued. "We know there's two of you after us, Lunar Eclipse and someone else. That's Lunar Eclipse so you must be the 'someone else,' especially since you haven't totally freaked out yet."

"I'm sure Eclipse here has plenty of friends who don't 'freak out' when there's a gun pointed his or her way."

"You being one of those friends?"

"Precisely," Namarra replied, wondering why the redhead hadn't bothered to make a move, verbal or otherwise. Either the girl was biding her time or she just had no idea what to do. Her combat record suggested the former, but her personal record was leaning towards the latter.

How the Natural hoped she knew what she was doing.

"While that is tempting to believe, your little fight earlier proved my assumptions. You, my dear, are, in fact, the other assassin," Sloth cooed, taking a step—more like a strut—towards the two. One gun he began twirling absently, slipping his finger in the crook near the trigger and spinning it near his forehead. If the gun happened to go off, there'd be a messy crime scene for the local authorities to investigate, but knowing the level of ability the Sins had, neither girl was about to bet on that happening. So, they just stared and planned, looking for ins and outs of the situation. They had at least one throwing knife each. Not much of a comfort when the enemy had two guns, but it was better than fists and feet. He was cocky—that was obvious—but skilled, so even if he missed the first shot, he wouldn't miss the second.

Damn.

"Hah, how does it feel to be in our position for once? Well, we have more guts at least; we don't just sit back and snipe you guys in the back of the head. But wait," he paused, catching his twirling gun and bringing it to his lips. Tapping it lightly on his chin, he smiled and nodded. "A shot to the head would be very entertaining."

"You won't do it," Eclipse spat, finally getting into the conversation. "I know FS has ordered you not to."

"Hm? Now isn't that cute. You're assuming I listen to everything he says? We have no one leader, y'know, and even if Pride sets up most of our operations, it's mainly because no one else wants to. I can put on a pretty face when he's around, but right now I could shoot you and merely say it was self-defense. After all, you two are notorious for making the first move."

First move or no, fate—or even luck in this case—had a tendency to mix things up. Yes, both Namarra and Eclipse were about to do something drastic in order to save their asses, but two unfortunate bystanders happened to walk by. It was the most cliché thing that could've happened and even though the redhead was in the middle of it, she still didn't believe it.

They were an elderly couple, and even though they didn't notice the trio at first, the second Sloth leveled his guns back at the girls, the woman screamed.

Some might call that perfect timing.

The Sin—purely on instinct—spun and shot twice, hitting the lady in the cheekbone and the guy in his right ear. If the man hadn't turned his head at the last second, he may have evaded the hasty fire, but his survival instincts weren't as honed as the others. Sloth's precise aim—obviously—wasn't a myth and that thought alone brought on a few shivers. Before the woman had a chance to get her lover's attention, the bullet had cracked through the cheekbone and splintered off into her brain, leaving her to twitch away her last moments and wonder how a late anniversary dinner could turn so tragic. The man—wondering much the same thing—fell on top of her when the bullet passed, literally, through one ear and out the other. His mouth open in a dying scream, his head rested awkwardly against his wife's shoulder.

Or at least what was left of it.

It was a sickening sight to see a late prom king and queen fall headlong into a pool of their own blood and brain matter, but the two girls had to take advantage of the massacre or they, too, would lose a valuable appendage. Eclipse reacted first, drawing her throwing knife and lunging forward and to the left. The move put about 10 feet between the Sin and redhead, a decent enough distance for an accurate kill. Pulling her arm in close, Eclipse waited until she had her footing before sending the knife chest high towards Sloth. The redhead's aim was perfect—not even Namarra would contradict that—but the Sin proved to have the quicker reflexes.

Relying on instinct once again, Sloth dropped into a forward roll, bridging the gap between him and Eclipse while escaping death at the same time. The knife sailed over his head, landing with a soft "thump" in a pile of loose dirt, most likely left over from the mud slinging escapade the girls had participated in a while earlier. Losing a firm grip on the gun in his left hand, the Sin flipped it around, grasping the barrel and bringing the handle across in an attempt to connect with the redhead's temple.

Not a bad plan, but Eclipse had had too much time to see it coming. Ducking into a sidelong roll to her right, she managed to evade the first strike, but not the second karate chop. Sloth—despite his codename—was quick and used the momentum of his first attack to do a follow up with his other hand. The tip of the barrel pointed down, the boy stabbed, only grazing Eclipse's back as she tumbled by, but still left a fair-sized scrape as a present.

The gun dug into the earth, burying itself up to the trigger. Sloth managed an interesting array of curses and even more when he accidentally fired the weapon in an attempt to pull it out. "Damn it all!"

"Yeah, something like that," Namarra mocked, having gotten behind the Sin and tackled him away from the gun. They both rolled on the ground for a few feet, each trying to gain the advantage as well as keep the weaponry away from anything vital. Namarra had a bit harder of a time trying to keep the last gun from firing in her direction. It managed some shots as the wrestling continued and even the Natural's knife nicked Sloth a few times. Nothing major, but at least she was getting some kind of attack in, given the difference in strength. The Sin may have looked like a little twig, but he could sure hold his own.

Not a pleasant revelation.

"Hm, feisty are we?" Sloth teased when they finally stopped rolling around. Straddling his waist, Namarra looked defeated despite her advantage. Hair falling in knotted clumps around her face, a small gash extended across her left cheekbone, proving the boy's shots weren't going as wide as she originally anticipated. Her left hand pinning Sloth's wrist to the ground—the one still holding the gun—the Natural's knife hand was being held up by the Sin's free one.

Panting, Namarra spat on his forehead. "Keep your brain in that head, asshole," she breathed, slowly losing her strength from trying to struggle against Sloth's grip. Damnit. We really shouldn't have had that catfight, Eclipse.

"You're going to give in here pretty quick; all I have to do is wait."

"You're forgetting there's two of us," Eclipse muttered off to Namarra's right. Somehow, she managed to free the buried gun while the other two were wrestling, aiming the barrel down at the sliding saliva on the Sin's forehead. "You're one egotistical bastard to think you could just waltz up to us and figure a shot to the head would finish us off. We're not as weak as you first anticipated."

"The barrel's plugged, dumbass." Twisting, Sloth put all his remaining strength into his right arm and pushed Namarra over to his left. However, such a move didn't come without consequences. Having focused everything onto his gun hand, the Natural won on the other side and drove the knife downward into his side before getting tackled to the ground.

Since the Sin had obviously planned ahead—Eclipse too, for that matter, having already unclogged the gun—the redhead was forced to keep her hand steady on the trigger instead of firing, seeing as the bullet would've passed directly through Namarra instead of Sloth. When he turned, he pulled the Natural's body in front of his, shielding him from Eclipse's shot and giving him time to draw his gun at the same time. Now straddling Namarra—his left leg digging into the Natural's stomach—he aimed and fired point blank at the redhead.

Or at least where she was.

The tackling had taken longer than Sloth thought and by the time he realized his folly, Namarra had grabbed the knife in his side and pulled upward. Thanks to an obsessive sharpening schedule, the blade cut smoothly up his flesh, sliding through muscle and fat alike in a hushed, scrapping sound; almost like too much butter being layered on toast. The blade went straight through his lowermost rib, but got stuck on the one right above it, forcing a scream to escape his lips as the Natural tried two times to jerk it through the bone. A third time proved futile when the amount of blood on her hands caused the blade to slip through her fingers, sending the Sin tumbling to the ground at the same time.

The girls watched him fall, offering a silent thank you when he didn't get back up. Judging by the growing pool of blood under the wounded side, he wouldn't be up for a while. "What the hell was that?" Eclipse breathed, helping pull Namarra away from Sloth. She tumbled off to the side, still on her knees. "One Sin against two Berserkers and he almost won? Then again, neither of us snapped—" Eclipse stopped, staring down into Namarra's Berserker eyes and realizing her folly.

Eclipse was the cool head that time.

Bang.

Bang.

Scream.

Eclipse froze again. The first shot came from Namarra kneeling down in front of her. When the Berserker grabbed the gun, Eclipse wasn't sure, but having her aim and fire through the small gap between the redhead's body and arm made even Eclipse fear Berserkers. What—or who—she shot at managed the second shot—a counterattack.

Or at least his partner did.

"Logan, you all right?"

"Yeah, Gluttony, just a graze. You assassins are growing soft. Aiming for the foot?"

After motioning Wrath to Sloth's prone figure, he saw him rush over to their comrade and pull off his jacket. Stray took a quick look around. His eyes passed the dead couple a few yards away to land on the two relatively living ones in front of him. Eclipse had crouched down in front of Namarra, both hands at her sides and her fingers arched on the grass. She was looking at him dangerously, but Stray was staring behind them at Wrath and Sloth. Perhaps Stray hadn't registered what had really happened, or even whom he shot. Not surprising considering his instincts. His bullet had grazed the inside of Eclipse's right knee and went straight into Namarra's right calf. The Natural's pupils had returned, the gun still in her hand and aiming it at Stray. She bit down on her bottom lip as the pain began numbing her lower leg and cursed.

They stayed in their positions for another breath, Namarra on the ground with her gun pointing around Lexi's back at Stray and Eclipse crouched in front of her, the redhead's eyes darting between Wrath, her old friend, and the knife 10 feet away.

"Lexi?" Stray asked, the tone in his voice surprising her. It was as if he had just registered what had happened. Had he done all of that on instinct? "Lexi!" he squealed then, breaking the showdown with Namarra and rushing towards them. Namarra fired once, but missed and Stray got in close enough to knock the gun from Namarra's hand and grab Eclipse's shirt to pull her away from the Natural. She fell to the ground hard, his left hand bracing his crouching self near her as his right hand aimed his gun at Namarra again who held up her hands in surrender.

"Stray," Eclipse breathed. "You shouldn't be—"

"Are you hurt?" he cut in, taking his eye off Namarra to look her over. His gaze caught sight of the open gash on her leg and he jumped to his feet. "Y-you are!"

"Of course she's hurt, dimwit." The phrase must have sounded better in Namarra's head because as soon as she spit it out, she had to bite her tongue. However, Stray didn't even turn to acknowledge her, too concerned about Eclipse's "new" injury. He was looking around, but for what Namarra wasn't sure. Eclipse was still on the ground, slowly moving into a sitting position and her face a mixture of horror and worry.

"Gluttony, what the hell are you doing?" Wrath hissed. "Leave it be for now! She'll be easier to apprehend this way." He was holding his jacket over Sloth's wounded side. The bleeding had slowed somewhat, but the cut was still serious. Hopefully—for his own sake—Sloth had learned his lesson and knew the next time a knife was stuck in his side he should just pull it out right away instead of waiting for some pissed females to do it for him.

"No, we're just taking the black-haired one. Revelin and I decided a long time ago we will never take Lexi by force, no matter what the circumstances are."

"You're insane," Wrath breathed, not able to comprehend what Stray was muttering about. Letting Eclipse just go? "We have her; this is our chance—"

"To what, make her do what we want?" The gun traversed from Namarra to Wrath, surprising everyone. "No, I don't work like that and since I outrank you, you'll do as I say and leave her alone. Take Trevor back to the car now, Logan, and I better not hear you complain." The threat was genuine—not even Wrath was that oblivious. So, even though Wrath may not have agreed with everything going on, he wasn't about to get killed over it. He cursed and flicked his head over at Namarra.

"What about the other chick? There's no way we're letting them both go."

"As I said before, we're only taking her." The gun's aim returned to Namarra and she tensed. "But I'll watch them until you get back. Make sure Trevor's comfortable, bring the car around, and then we'll worry about how to handle the girls."

Wrath stared hard at his partner, debating whether or not he should actually follow Stray's orders. Yes, the chef was ranked higher than he was but what he was saying was on the verge of insanity—that he was sure. This was their chance to get rid of their greatest competition. If these two girls were out of the picture, they could really do whatever they wanted because, after all, they were the only ones stopping them at every turn. "Gluttony, I really don't think—"

"Logan, now." No choice that time. Offering one more, quick glance at Eclipse and Namarra, he gathered up Sloth and walked out of sight. "Now, for you two—"

"You're an idiot," the Natural spat, cutting off Stray with a burning glare of her own. "You have the perfect opportunity to take us both and you're just going to let Eclipse leave? Neither of us have the energy—or working appendages for that matter—to put up a decent fight."

"I already gave my reasoning, and don't feel the need to explain it again to you, girl. Now," he began, standing and walking over to grab the gun he had knocked out of Namarra's hand. It was lying in the grass a ways away from them. "Lexi, you stand over there and don't move. I really don't want to hurt you."

"I'm not leaving her," Eclipse stated, taking the opportunity to scramble across the grass and put herself between Namarra and Stray's gun. "I refuse to leave her here."

"But you're not leaving her; I'm taking her."

"I refuse to leave her with you, Stray." Now the chef was hurt, the instant watering of eyes and quivering lips making him look on the verge of tears. Quite impressive if he was trying to win some contest, but since Eclipse was of the stubborn sort, she just stared at her old friend, even if the barrel of a gun was blocking her view. "You know I mean it."

"Yes, but you have to know I'm taking her no matter what."

"Why? What good would capturing her do?" Eclipse asked.

"It'd make you come back to us."

Namarra watched the whole ordeal from the ground, neither liking the view nor how they were talking about her as if she was some item on the black market. Sure, she could barely move at the moment, but she could at least talk. "I'd appreciate it if—"

"Why do you think I'd come back?" Eclipse interrupted.

"Whether it was to rescue her, or team up with her, you'd have to come and see us, then we could talk at least. I know you're still thinking about joining us. Just by looking at you now I can tell they don't accept you back there."

"Whether they accept me or not is none of your business."

"But it is my business. Lexi, I care about you—a lot—and, for some reason, that doesn't mean anything to you anymore. What happened to our trio?"

"It died the moment I knew you planned on destroying humanity. Did you honestly think I'd agree with that?" The words fell out of her mouth before she had the chance to take them back. Perhaps her subconscious had made up her mind for her, either that or the guilt of choosing them over Waltfeld and Aisha had been too much. Namarra had been right.

She had chosen the wrong side.

Stray sighed and lowered the gun, shaking his head at the same time. "Perhaps you shouldn't pin everything on us. You weren't there to change our minds, remember?"

"What? Are you kidding, placing all the blame on me? You can—"

Interruptions seemed to be a common occurrence when it came to conversations between Eclipse and her friends, this time being no different. Wrath pulled a risky move and tried a little off-roading experiment, driving the car up the park sidewalk and onto the grass next to Stray. Sprawling out, the Sin pushed open the passenger door. "Gluttony, trouble. Cops are coming. I'm thinking someone heard all the excitement and got anxious. We can't stay here so hop in."

"I'll grab the girl," Stray said, turning back to his captives, but only saw the tail end of Eclipse as she and Namarra made a break for it. The chef instinctively fired at where they were supposed to be and received a flying knife as a reward. Damnit, Lexi.

"Gluttony, now!" Wrath yelled, taking a quick glance at Sloth in the back seat. He was stable—for now—with the seat belt providing enough compression on his wounded side to maybe save his life. But all that work on Wrath's part to get the belt just right would be for nothing if Stray didn't get in the car. Sure, the chef could take care of himself, but if Wrath had to be the one talking to FS about Stray's disappearance, he'd have a mortal wound of his own. "Damnit, Gluttony!"

After another pause, the chef bent down to grab the knife and then jumped in the car. Eclipse would join them sooner or later—he knew—but until that time, he couldn't let her get caught by the police. Her fingerprints on that knife and the gun in his left hand would be the only evidence needed to pin her for the old timers' murders.

Even though breaking her out of jail would be a blast, no one could afford such a setback.

"You said your friends were going to meet us here," Eclipse muttered, shifting her weight to the left leg. Not only was supporting Namarra beginning to get tiring, but a real pain as well. The wound on her leg hadn't started hurting until they were about half a mile away from where they met Stray and the other Sins—she could thank adrenaline for that one—but now she felt like her calf was on fire. The Natural's friends had said they would be there in about 10 minutes and the clock had ticked far beyond that. If only she wasn't so stubborn, the redhead would've just dumped the girl on the ground and walked away, but—for some reason—Eclipse was sticking around.

Perhaps it was because she had the unnerving feeling SIN-ED was still out looking for them.

"It's only been 20 minutes. Wait a bit longer, would ya?" Namarra grumbled, honestly getting a bit worried herself. The duo had narrowly escaped death a few times that night and getting caught by the cops didn't sound appealing either. Damnit, guys... For a second, she forgot about her wounded calf and stood on it. Ideally, it was supposed to ease the cramp in her good leg, but all it ended up doing was shooting an uncomfortable sensation up her thigh all the way to her hip. "Damnit," she hissed.

"Forgive me for saying this, but I have to say, it's about time you got hurt."

"What, you think I'm invincible?"

"Goodness, no, but I've never seen you with a scratch on you," Eclipse explained. A small smile graced her lips, but when Namarra put her wounded leg down once more, they both nearly crumpled with the unexpected movement.

"I probably get hurt just as much as you do, and seem to heal just as well too. Must have something to do with these damn genes of ours."

"Well, that's comforting to hear. Did you want me to bandage it?"

"Nah, I'll look at it when I get back. Besides, I think I tied my shoelaces tight enough to cut off some circulation." A pair of headlights rounded a corner roughly a mile down the road. Seeing as no other civilian seemed to be out that late, the vehicle could only be hosting the Natural's friends, but still, neither assassin wanted to take a chance. They had narrowly escaped SIN-ED that time, but somehow they didn't think they would get so lucky again. Both taking a few steps back, they edged from the side of the road to remain out of obvious sight. If a person was really looking for them, they'd be spotted, but as for a random passerby, they'd be nearly invisible.

"Chicibo!" yelled someone from the car. Even if it didn't reach their immediate position, the voice still carried easily down the road. Since the cops were snooping around, Eclipse physically cringed and dreaded the loud sound of a police whistle. If that happened, she would personally find Stray and hand her over. However, when nothing sounded other than another call, something else caught the redhead's attention.

Who the hell was "Chicibo"?

"Orga!" Namarra replied, pulling the redhead towards the roadside once more. "Orga, slow down!"

The vehicle—corvette convertible to be exact—slowed to a stop as the young driver put it into park. Actually, there were three in the car. Given the time of night, it was hard to see what the individuals looked like, but based on the sudden blurting of questions, complaints, and curses, the voices were obviously guys.

Interesting.

"Chicibo, what the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?" the boy in the backseat asked. He was lying down, legs resting comfortably across from him on the side of the car with his head bent back to stare at the girls. In his hands he held a game—which one Eclipse couldn't tell—and thanks to the light from the screen, she could make out some minor details of his physical appearance. With such a coarse voice, the redhead expected someone older, but actually who she saw looked to be a young, teenage boy. Bright, red hair brushed against his scalp, falling no further than his earlobes, but his bangs were swept aside carelessly to dangle on one side of his face. Staring upside down most likely had something to do with the style, but glancing at his visage one more time, Eclipse found the look matched him. A "boyish" face was really the only way she could think to describe him. With rounder cheeks and an oval-like shape to his head, the kid looked to be no older than twelve years old. At least until he spoke. "You got yourself hurt again?"

"Shut up, Clotho; it's not like you do anything around here," Namarra muttered, still not making a move to getting into the car. For some reason the redhead expected her to just jump in as soon as they arrived.

Why the hesitation?

"So, Shani, you gonna move over, or what? Obviously, 'no-life-boy' in the back here isn't going to let me sit down."

"Obviously," Clotho echoed and turned back to his game, avoiding the Natural's glare. "There's no room for your bleeding ass back here."

"What was that?"

"Would you two just relax?" Orga asked, scratching the back of his head. The boy in the back sat up quickly, seemingly offended by the comment and thanks to some handheld game waving, Eclipse could catch sight of a longer face and some short, light green hair; however, the antics didn't help with any precise details. But there was something interesting she saw.

An Earth Forces emblem.

Shit, Eclipse thought, glad she had decided to change out of her own uniform earlier. This meeting would be going even worse if she had opted to adorn her ZAFT colors. Being an elite wouldn't have helped either.

"And you, Shani, scooch. Nam's gotta sit down," the driver ordered, but the teen in the passenger's seat seemed deaf. "Hey, Shani!" Still no movement. Frustrated, Orga snatched Clotho's video game and—while ignoring the pleas from the back seat—used the little light to pull out an ear bud from the deaf boy's left ear. "Shani, I said scoot."

This time he moved; the slow turn of his head proving he was, in fact, pissed off about the ordeal. Longer, pale green hair covered the right side of his face—so Eclipse didn't get a good glance at his expression—but judging by the surprised looks on his comrades' faces, he had to be pretty angry. Grabbing his ear bud, Shani put it back in and turned up the volume on his music player.

"Fine then, I'll sit in between you two," Namarra announced, unperturbed about the situation. Perhaps she was just used to it. Finally releasing Eclipse's shoulder, she hobbled over to the driver's side of the car, waited for Orga to get out, slid onto the seat, and then punched Shani hard on the shoulder.

He didn't seem to care.

"Chicibo, you gonna say goodbye to your friend?" Clotho asked, having already returned to his previous position in the back of the car.

"Oh—yeah—I'll see you later, Eclipse. We'll be in touch."

Dare I ask about the nickname? the redhead thought, but kept her mouth shut. After all, she might be able to use it to blackmail the Natural later on. "I'm sure we will be."

"Hey, Orga," Namarra began a moment later as the other teen slid in behind the wheel. "Can I drive?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Your leg's injured, dumbass," Clotho explained.

"But I can drive with my left."

"No, and that's final." Namarra was about to complain again when Orga put the car in drive and stepped on the gas.

Eclipse couldn't help but smile as they drove away, hearing more arguing from the front seat, some interesting inputs from Clotho in the back, and the silent soldier in the passenger seat shouting a final, "Nam, shut the hell up! And give me back my earphones!" to end the dispute.

They seem close, the redhead decided, turning and walking in the opposite direction. I wonder if FS, MR, Stray and I could've ever been like that. Or even me and the other guys. Pausing, she couldn't help but laugh, knowing the first scenario was the most likely.

Even if one of the prime candidates she personally killed.

Eclipse's return to the base was slow, but uneventful. At least until she made it to the gate. "Please, it's fine, I'll go straight to the infirmary. There's no need to inform anyone."

"Sorry, soldier, you know the rules. ID or no, we have to contact your superior," the guard said, standing in front of her as his partner returned to their small hut to call onto base. She cursed and wrapped the jacket tight around her chest, keeping her weight off her right leg. It was in pain, but she couldn't see how much it was bleeding. She hadn't seemed to be leaving a trail as she hobbled back to base, but it had also been dark. The rest of her body throbbed and despite the pain, she denied any assistance or offer to sit.

It was another 10 minutes or so before a jeep pulled up to the gate, the lights making her cringe away and put her arm up to protect her eyes. It disorientated her for a moment, but she caught herself before falling to the side, hopping once on her left leg to reclaim her balance.

"Eclipse?" Athrun asked, stepping out from behind the wheel and walking in front of the headlights.

Oh yeah, she thought and cursed. Athrun's in charge now.

"Sorry to bother you, sir." One of the guards saluted as he walked up to meet him. "It's protocol to alert her commanding officer if it's after curfew and in such a state—"

"I know the rules," he said with a sigh. "Thank you for letting me know." He saluted and turned to Eclipse. She couldn't see his face entirely because of his angle and the shadows from the headlights, but—somehow—she doubted he was happy to see her.

She saluted as best she could, still keeping her weight off her right leg. "Sorry, sir."

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, sir," she replied and hobbled over to the car, offering a partial salute and thanks to the guards as she passed. Wincing, she slid into the passenger seat as Athrun did some final salutes and took his place behind the wheel. His sidelong glance wasn't a pretty one and Eclipse chose to ignore it for just that reason. He started the engine and the jeep jerked into motion, the two sitting in an award silence for only a few moments.

"Is it worth me asking?" Athrun began.

"Depends," she said with a wince when she shifted uncomfortably. "Are you asking as my new, commanding officer or as yourself?"

"Well, I was only just briefed about your particular circumstances and, technically, I'm not really allowed to know very much, just the basics. You report to Commander Le Creuset about that, not to me."

"Oh?" That surprised her a bit and she finally looked at him.

"So, I guess I'm asking as me," he finished after a moment. They weren't that far from the infirmary and Athrun stopped the jeep nearby the entrance before she had decided what she had wanted to tell him. He turned off the lights and leaned back crossing his arms. "Nothing, huh?"

"Let's just say, it didn't go as planned."

He sighed. "Clearly." Stepping out, he walked around to her side and held out his hand to help her down. "C'mon," he prompted, "yet another evening in the infirmary, it seems."

She frowned, her arms dropping to her sides as she pivoted in her seat. She braced herself on the cushion and pushed off, landing on her left leg and steadying herself instead of taking his hand. She heard him sigh again and she looked at him. "You might know what I'm ordered to do now, but you're not obliged to worry about me. I can still take care of myself."

"Clearly," he repeated and grabbed her right arm, slinging it over his shoulders as he helped her through the doors.

A nurse directed them through an initial set of seats and down the hall to the first room on their right. "A doctor will be around in a moment," she said before she ran off, handing the clipboard and pen to Athrun.

The room was small, housing only a cot, a desk, and a chair. There was an IV stand in the corner and some instruments littering the top of the desk, but its use was meant for nothing more than examinations. It smelled like rubbing alcohol and Eclipse's nose wrinkled as she hobbled over to the cot, releasing a sigh when she finally sat. It felt nice to be sitting again.

Sighing, Athrun leaned back against the wall near the bed and clicked the pen. "Not exactly the first bit of paperwork I was expecting to deal with as your commanding officer…"

"Well, we all get dealt strange hands in life," Eclipse spat, just as unamused as him. She started tugging off her jacket and winced as she twisted.

"Bruised ribs," he muttered. "Check." She frowned and set the jacket down on the cot next to her. "Various abrasions on the hands and face, and I'm assuming one freshly opened leg wound." She followed his pointing pen to the blood droplet that just fell to the floor.

"Apparently so," she responded with a wince. Taking a moment, she looked around the room, pointing over at the desk and seeing a pair of scissors sticking up from a holder there. "Can you hand me the scissors?"

His eyes moved from the form to her, over to the scissors, and then back at her. "We should wait for the doctor," he said and went back to the clipboard.

"You're going to be one of those commanding officers, aren't you?"

Her tone brought his gaze back to her again and she wiggled her fingers. "Scissors, please, sir." He handed them to her with a sigh. "Thanks."

She set them down near her jacket and bent over. Her shoe was the first thing to go, untying the laces and having to take a deep breath through another wince as she twisted it off. It was caked in mud and blood, most of which fell onto the floor when she set it down. Leaning back, she lifted her right leg up at the knee with both hands. She let her foot rest on the edge of the cot and took another breath before angling the scissors to cut her pants up to her knee.

It looked worse than it felt, Athrun's audible wince adding fuel to the gruesome image. Dirt and gravel had mixed in with the wound and while most of the blood was dry, there was still a slow trickle teasing its way out of the bottom. Surprisingly, most of the stitches were still holding, but Eclipse had the feeling she would have to get it redone.

The doctor walked in as she was assessing the damage and his deep breath turned her to the dark-skinned man in the doorway. "Ah, should've expected it would be you." He turned to Athrun and saluted before offering his hand. "Doctor Pyle."

"Athrun Zala."

Turning, the doctor grabbed a towel and some gloves from the box on the desk. Sitting in the chair, he put the towel across his legs and put on the gloves. "Give it here."

Wincing, she put down the scissors and lifted the leg at the knee again, straightening it across his lap.

"I'm quite familiar with this particular wound, so I can let you know when I'm done with the examination," he said to Athrun, assessing the damaged area. "You can wait outside if you want."

"Nah, I'll stay. Seeing her in pain is making this paperwork a little bit easier to go through."

The doctor laughed and Eclipse would have been impressed be the remark if she didn't wince when he poked a sensitive area. "We'll need to clean it and restitch the wound, I'm afraid."

"How long will she be out?"

"A couple days, I think. It doesn't look worse, just reopened. I'll put her on antibiotics for possible infection, stich it back up, and rebandage it. You're also going back on crutches," he added, pointing a finger at her.

"Yes, sir," she muttered.

"Good." He picked up her leg and twisted it around to set it on the towel on the cot, Eclipse pivoting with the movement, her back to Athrun near the door. The doctor removed his gloves and threw them in the bin. "Right, I'll get what I need. Back in a moment."

They sighed at the same time, Eclipse falling onto her back, remembering only after she had fallen on the side of the scissors that they were on her jacket. Wincing, she reached around her back to pull them out and she turned to see Athrun's open palm. Thanking him, she put the handles in his hand and he put them flat on the desk to be cleaned.

"You know," she began as he retook his spot against the wall. "You don't seem overly concerned about my condition."

"Should I be? I was also warned about your general lack of personal well-being. I assumed this was a common occurrence."

She shrugged and they fell silent, Athrun returning to fill out the form as her attention returned to the ceiling. Her thoughts drifted back to the events of the evening and she suddenly saw the irony of it all. It was funny, she realized, her situation with SIN-ED actually wasn't that different from what she assumed Athrun was going through. While she didn't know all the details, she did know there was someone on the Archangel he didn't want hurt. She had her suspicions it was the Strike pilot, but without him ever outright saying it, she wasn't sure she would ever really know. The Le Creuset Team was tasked with chasing and destroying the Archangel. Eclipse was tasked with disposing of SIN-ED.

And, yet, they both wanted to save someone.

"You know, you and I aren't that different."

"How so?"

"We're both trying to save people who probably shouldn't be saved." She arched her head back, catching his gaze and seeing the surprise there. Even upside down she could tell she had taken him off guard.

Doctor Pyle returned in that moment and the irony continued that evening, Nicol walking by and catching the door before it closed. "Athrun?" he asked, seeing the redhead the next moment. "Eclipse? What's going on? You okay?"

Eclipse arched her head back again to answer, but she realized Nicol was looking at Athrun, not her, and the young commander was still looking at her. What was that in his eyes, fear? Guilt?

"Yeah, fine," Athrun responded, breaking the look and turning to Nicol. "Just filing in my first incident report as commander." He put on a smile and Nicol must have bought it because despite the worry before, a grin was now on his lips.

"Well, leave it to Eclipse to keep our jobs interesting."

The redhead almost made a remark, but Doctor Pyle had begun cleaning the wound and she cursed.

Loudly.

A/N: Well then, hey guys. Been a while, hasn't it? And here I left you on a cliffhanger. I was afraid I'd get a bit more hate mail then I did (especially after the long wait) but I'm glad I didn't. This chapter is a bit shorter than the last few, but that could be because school's started and I don't have that much free time to sit down and think/write. On that note, the next chapter may have a long wait. I'm so sorry... :( I'd rather be writing this story, but my livelihood is at stake, so that has to come first.

I felt a bit rushed with this chapter so if there are any mistakes-my Betas did a good job, but you never know-let me know and I'll fix them. Specific areas are better than saying "there were some", but thanks for pointing them out nonetheless. It's just easier on this end if I have a rough estimate of where the mess-ups are. The ending of the fight seemed half-assed in my estimation, but all my Betas said it was fine. Let me know what you think. Basically, I put Lexi and Namarra in this impossible situation and was getting mind blanks on how to get them out of it. O.o

Let's see... Oh yeah. I put up a poll on my profile. Yes, it's about love interests and I'm sorry if that's exhausting to some people, but I want to know what you think. I'm at a point in the story where Lexi could go with anyone and everyone, so I want to see where you all stand. Obviously, you don't have to participate, but it'd be nice to have some input.

Thanks for reading this story, by the way. I've become a lot more confident in it lately and I'm sure it's all because of your support. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think in a review, or even a personal message if you'd rather do that. Suggestions are always welcome as is criticism. Actually, I probably prefer the criticism to the praise and a special thanks to all the people doing that for me.

Lastly, a huge shoutout to my Betas Death-Scimitar, CSS Stravag, and Maderfole. I'd still be banging my head against my desk if it wasn't for them. This was a rough chapter at parts. O.o

Questions/Gripes:

Sorry about the cliff hanger, guys. Not only would the chapter have been ridiculously long, but I had no idea what I was going to do next and that was a good place to stop. Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait.

The ear bud thing in the last chapter was-yes-probably a bit on the "too painful" side, but Lathan likes to go overboard. The reason she kept it in was because even though her brother is eccentric, he knows what he's doing. Eclipse may not always admit it, but she both respects/trusts him and hates him at the same time. Well, she admits the hating part of their relationship... O.o

Rickrolled: Eclipse vs. the Strike will be coming up here soon. I'm thinking she'll have a few "kicking ass" moments just because that boy needs to be knocked off his "throne". (Sorry, Kira-loving readers). Haven't written that part up yet, but I think-to please both you and myself-I'll let Eclipse have a bit of fun.

Darkangelsonic: You'll have to wait for the next chapter for Eclipse's apology to Nicol, and I'm hoping you'll like it. Already written up some of it, actually, so it'll definitely be there.

Thanks again to all who have read and review! I'll see you the next chapter!

Strata