Chapter 13: Magic Man
Aylin pushed the door of the restroom open, a slight stagger in her step as she exited. Breathing deeply, she willed the lingering nausea to pass, mentally cursing the Inner Circle for sending her on this assignment. They had probably known all along exactly what she and Rocinante would be walking into. Was this whole thing just some twisted sort of test?
She paused before returning to the ballroom. Her hand clutched the doorframe, jaw tensing as she overheard Maurice call out a name. The crowd erupted into equal parts cheering and jeering. Aylin peered around the doorway to watch as a jubilant, mustached man strutted his way to the stage. She swallowed back the bile that rose up in her throat when he approached his prize, who trembled and shrunk back a few steps only to be shoved forward by Maurice.
A little girl. She looked to be no more than six years old. Condemned to a life of servitude or possibly worse. Likely ripped away from her family and everything she'd ever known. The black and blue bruising around one of the girl's eyes told the tale of a child who was beaten when she protested and mocked when she cried.
The wooden frame splintered slightly under Aylin's tightening grip. Maurice ushered the winner away and the girl was left on stage to be claimed after the raffle had finished.
Aylin's eyes searched the crowd for her companion, hoping that he had fared alright after her sudden departure. She caught sight of Denise, clapping animatedly with her head thrown back in delight and surrounded by yet another group of admirers, unsurprisingly. But as her eyes swept the room, she realized that Rocinante was not by the bar where she had left him.
"Damn it," she cursed silently, feeling a jolt of worry. Where had he gone off to? Had he been looking for her and ended up lost somewhere?
She pursed her lips, pushing herself off the doorframe and heading back into the ballroom.
Wading through the crowd, Aylin tried to keep her focus on finding her partner and certainly not on the bits of conversation that teased at her ears, or Maurice's jovial tone as he prepared to announce the next winner. She no longer cared about the mission or the consequences. She was prepared to walk out, with or without Denise.
She was making her way back toward the bar where she and Rocinante had been standing for most of the evening, hoping that he would reappear shortly, when all of a sudden the lights flickered.
Then the entire room went dark.
There came a collective gasp as some people expressed anger upon the festivities being interrupted while others looked around in the blackness as if they would be able to find the cause of it. Bodies began bumping into each other.
"What the hell is happening?"
"This is bullshit! I can't see a thing!"
"Hey! What about the auction?"
"Everyone, please," Maurice shouted from the stage over the uproarious crowd, "let's all remain calm! I have our security team looking into the issue and I assure you, this will be resolved in short order!"
Aylin weaved around people in her path as best she could, not wanting to be stuck in the middle of the ballroom if a mass panic were to ensue.
She had to find Rocinante.
oOo
Amidst the darkness, the shouts and the beginnings of chaos, a man who would usually stand out in any crowd went unseen. He purposefully made his wa wo up to the front of the ballroom by sidling along the walls so as to remain undetected, and, despite being bumped into a few times, nobody noticed him at all. Thankfully, they were far too concerned about their own wellbeing to pay any mind to a suspicious stranger.
Without any light to guide him, he finally reached the group of frightened slaves. He could see them a bit better as he drew closer and his eyes gradually adjusted to the dark. The children were whimpering, huddled together in a small group while the women and men wore terrified expressions on their faces as they looked around frantically.
Rocinante knew that whatever he did, he had to do it quickly—the light could return at any moment and put an end to his effort to change the fates of these innocent people.
Stepping up to the stage, the unwieldy man stumbled once before regaining his footing. He released the Calm spell in favor of creating a soundless bubble around himself and the slaves.
Maurice, who was still fruitlessly shouting from behind the podium for everyone to settle down, never noticed what was happening just behind him.
Reaching behind his back, Rocinante withdrew the flintlock pistol he had hidden in the band of his jeans and snuck closer to the podium. In one swift motion, he used the butt of his gun to bash the blathering Maurice over the head. The man immediately crumpled to the ground without another sound, and Rocinante quickly squatted beside him to search his pockets, feeling rather triumphant when he retrieved a handful of keys.
The tall man turned toward the group of frightened people behind him. He held the key ring up, jingling it with a smile.
Terrified and understandably distrustful, the slaves shrank back in horror, some of them still crying.
"It's okay," Rocinante assured them as gently as he could manage, "I'm a friend."
To prove his point, he then fired his gun several more times, aiming at one of the chandeliers on the ceiling. The chain broke and the enormous crystal fixture came crashing down amid the sound of metal bending, glass tinkling, and more screaming as patrons rushed to clear the area.
Inside the bubble, of course, the slaves didn't hear any of the commotion. They all stared back at him with wide, cautious eyes.
Carefully, Rocinante squatted down beside the children. They initially shrank back, but he held out his hand to them in a gesture of peace.
"Hey," he said softly, "it's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here, I promise."
A little boy was the first to respond, blinking up at the tall man in wonder as he tentatively reached forward to shake hands. "Mister, how did you make all the noise go away?"
Rocinante grinned at the boy and squeezed his tiny hand. "I'm a Magic Man!" He proclaimed while wearing a goofy smile on his face. "Say, let me see those cuffs. We need to get them off."
The boy acquiesced to the request and Rocinante set to work. He had to try almost every key on the ring until he found the one that opened the boy's cuffs. Once they had fallen to the floor, the other slaves were quick to gather around and await their turns.
Everyone was freed in short order, and then Rocinante motioned for them to follow him along the wall that lead to the outer hall.
"We're looking for a really pretty woman with red hair," he instructed as his eyes swept over the darkened room in vain, "though I don't know if we'll be able to see her in the dark… Ah, well. Everyone hold hands and stick close!"
Some of the children were clinging to his arms and legs by the time the group had made it out into the main hall. Rocinante urged them faster, and they continued the trek toward the exit.
"Everyone's doing great," he encouraged when the children whimpered in fear. "Don't worry, we're almost there!"
oOo
The Society's security guards were on the case now. Aylin could tell by the number of people being diverted from entering the hallways and escaping the ballroom.
"They're blocking our exits!" A panicked woman shouted right before she tripped over Aylin's crouched form, sprawling onto the floor several feet away.
"This is absurd!" A man yelled from nearby. "How dare they treat us this way!"
"Won't someone just tell us what's going on?!" Came the cry of another.
Aylin rolled the last few feet until she bumped into the wall, where she remained for a moment while regaining her bearings.
She had a good guess as to what was happening; it was not uncommon for the gatherings of these organizations to be interrupted by rivals. So many of the underground's most valuable people together in one place? It was an assassin's dream come true.
Her eyes darted about the dark room, watching shadowy figures dash past in every direction.
Who was responsible? Who—or what—were they after? If she had to guess, her money was on one of the Society members. They had a list about a mile long of people they'd double-crossed or wronged in the past.
She inched along the wall, making her way toward the nearest exit. There were several loud pops from somewhere within the crowd, indicating that things had just taken a violent turn. People would be fighting blindly, desperately trying to escape their underground prison. Reaching the doorway, Aylin grabbed a throwing knife from her pouch and flung it into the thigh of the armed security guard who was blocking it. He cried out and doubled over, giving her just enough time to dive past him and into the empty hallway ahead.
Rolling to her feet, the redhead sprinted to the end of the hall, leaving the cacophony of the ballroom behind. Her mind was racing. She couldn't care less about the Society or anyone else affiliated with them for that matter. If they were under attack, then she would simply chalk it up to just desserts for all their selfish misdeeds. But Rocinante was still in the building somewhere and she couldn't leave without him. She felt a flash of frustration. Where the hell could he have gone? Couldn't he have just stayed in the spot she'd left him? For crying out loud, she had been gone for less than ten minutes!
Aylin had to remind herself that he was no fool, though. Surely he'd found a way out of the chaos. Surely he hadn't tripped and fallen onto the blade of a security guard. Surely he was not lying dead on the ballroom floor with a bullet in his skull.
Turning the corner, she descended upon another security guard and kicked his legs from under him, then quickly knocking him unconscious. She'd barely straightened up when a voice called out from behind.
"Lin!"
She whirled around. "Rocinante! Where the hell have you-" The question died on her lips when she laid eyes on him. In the darkness she could make out the forms of several people hiding behind him...and two children clinging to his legs. Her eyes widened as she put two and two together in an instant. "You...are they...?" Aylin suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth in her chest despite the situation.
Rocinante nodded as he drew closer, patting one of the children that was latched onto him on the head. "I'm getting them out of here. We can't let these assholes raffle them off. They're people, not objects!"
Aylin nodded, momentarily struck by admiration for her partner. The lights having been cut out and the ensuing chaos in the ballroom...had it all been Rocinante's doing?
"I agree," she finally managed to say.
"I want my mommy…" The little girl attached to his leg began to wail and Rocinante picked her up, bringing her closer to his face.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie! Don't worry, I will make sure that you get back to your mommy safe and sound. You all come with me for now, okay?" He smiled and the little girl wiped her tears with the palms of her hands and nodded. "Good! Alright everyone, this is my partner, Miss Lin. She'll help you, too!" Rocinante grinned.
"That's right," Aylin gave them a reassuring smile. "We're all getting out of here safely." Her eyes traveled from the children surrounding the tall blonde to the men and women gathered nervously behind him. "But we need to get moving. Things are getting serious in here."
The walls of the underground building began to shake. They couldn't hear the noise from inside Rocinante's soundless bubble, but they could definitely feel it.
"Shit," Rocinante cursed under his breath. "They must be trying to do crowd control with weapons…either that or someone panicked. Who knows how many weapons they have hidden down here?"
"It's both," Aylin replied as the group continued on down the hall. "People think they're being attacked by a rival who snuck into the gathering. Security is everywhere...they're trying to make sure no potential culprit escapes...which means getting violent with their own guests..."
Up ahead, they approached a group of heavily armed guards making their way down the hall. Aylin took one of them out with a well-aimed throwing knife, while several silent shots from Rocinante's pistol took the others out of commission. They fell to the floor without a single sound, never getting the chance to turn their weapons onto the other group or even shout for help.
Aylin quickly bent to grab up one of their handguns as they passed, instructing the other adults to do the same. Some were hesitant, while others were more than eager to take up arms and defend themselves and the children against attackers.
They navigated the darkness in silence, searching for the stairs that would lead them to the exit. Aylin worried that the passage may be unusable at this point, either due to immense crowding or accidental demolition. But it was the only exit they knew of, so they would have to try it.
When they finally reached the opening, Rocinante breathed a sigh of relief. The walls shuddered again, this time bits of the ceiling and what looked like dirt falling down on top of them.
Rocinante's eyes widened as he gestured for everyone to come forward so he could guide them outside quickly.
Suddenly, a little girl's panicked voice rose up from the group. "Mr. Magic Man! CLARA'S MISSING!"
"Wh-what!? Missing?!"
Aylin did a quick head count from where she stood toward the back of the group. "She's right," she affirmed after a moment. "There's someone missing."
Rocinante's eyes darted around the room and then he nodded to the group. "Okay, don't worry, we won't leave her!"
He turned around, and everyone followed closely at his heels. They were all in this together now, and moved as if they were one entity. Rocinante dispelled the soundless bubble and everyone immediately all began calling out for the young girl.
It wasn't long before a whimper caught his attention. It was coming from the right, leading into one of the many rooms in the underground facility. He followed the noise, dashing inside while Aylin held back the rest of the group, keeping them out of harm's way.
"Clara!" Rocinante called out. "Clara, come out! We want to help you!"
The walls shook again, and this time they could hear the noise very clearly.
"I'm scared…" The little girl's voice came from underneath the large mahogany desk that was in the center of the room.
The tall blond approached the desk carefully, kneeling down so he could see the girl. He frowned, noting the black eye and tearstained face. No little girl should ever have to go through something like this…
He extended his hand to her. "It's okay…I'm going to help you, Clara."
She looked up at him, still weeping as she hesitated. A loud rumble from above caused her to shrink back in fear.
"Shhhh it's okay," he said, holding out his hand encouragingly. "Come on, let's get out of he—"
"HEY! YOU!"
"He's with one of the slaves!"
Rocinante's eyes snapped up to see several guards standing in the doorway opposite the one from which he'd entered, heavy weapons aimed at him.
"Shit..."
A split second later, the room erupted into a war zone as shots were fired left and right, the noise extinguishing every other sound in the vicinity. Rocinante hit the floor, flipping the desk onto its side to shield the child from harm while he returned fire.
From the doorway, Aylin and the other adults worked together, peering around the wall to take shots at the enemy. They had to duck suddenly as an explosion rattled the whole area. A hot cloud of flames burst from the doorway, nearly sizzling their skin.
Aylin rounded the corner the moment it passed. "Rocinante!"
Bullets riddled the walls and the ceiling practically trembled with effort, several support beams having been blown out of place. Most of the room was now charred and one wall had been completely knocked in. There was a scuffling from behind the blackened desk and then Rocinante emerged, looking a bit beaten up but otherwise no worse for wear.
"I'm okay," he assured her as she ran up to join him. He glanced around for the child he'd been protecting, and upon no sign of her, his eyes went wide. "No... Where'd she go?! Clara!"
Aylin's brow creased in worry. "She must have run off during the fighting..."
He nodded in agreement. "We have to find her!"
Just then, the entire building shook again. The floor vibrated so hard that it sent the furniture every which way. The large bookcase in the corner fell forward, spilling its contents all over the floor.
"Rocinante, this place is going to collapse. Whatever we do, we have to be quick."
Aylin's voice sounded firm and authoritative. He could tell that she was keeping her panic in check in order to keep the group together and calm. She was such a strong woman; it was one of the many things he admired about her.
"Right. So then, I'll—"
Before he could get another word out, large pieces of debris began raining down from above. There came a loud groan as the ceiling gave way. A support beam came crashing down and would have taken Aylin out if Rocinante hadn't thought to shove her out of its path.
"Go!" He shouted over the noise as more debris effectively trapped him within the room. "Take the others to safety!"
Aylin balked. "What?! I'm not leaving you here, are you crazy?!"
"I'll find another way out!" He assured her as the room continued to cave in around him, sending dust billowing into the air. She hesitated, prompting him to add, "Trust me! Just take them and go! There's no time!"
He was right, but she still didn't like it. Aylin gave a short nod, looking conflicted as she took a few halting steps backward before wrenching her eyes from his and turning to the group of people awaiting orders.
She gave them a nod. "Let's go. We're heading for the stairs!"
One of the kids let out a whimper. "But...but what about the Magic Man? He saved us... I don't want him to die!"
Aylin took his hand as they all began to sprint for the exit. "He won't. He's very strong. He'll be right behind us!"
At least she hoped he would…
oOo
Rocinante coughed; the ceiling caving in had kicked up a large cloud of dust, and he vigorously waved his hand in front of his face to clear it away. He momentarily thought about how funny it was that he would voluntarily inhale smoke all the time, but this bothered him.
Picking his way through the rubble, he stumbled over a downed beam and what looked like the remains of an expensive vase.
"Clara!" He called out, cupping a hand around his mouth. "ClaraaaaaAAAAA!" Rocinante flailed in an effort to keep his balance when his foot became tangled up in something.
He bent down to extricate himself and noticed it was the receiver to a den den mushi. He pulled on the cord, following it to its source. The small snail had been tipped over onto its side in all the destruction but appeared otherwise unharmed.
Thinking to take advantage of this finding, Rocinante quickly began dialing a familiar number.
He had to send aid for these slaves. If he and Aylin brought them back to the Syndicate, they'd just stay on the market. He couldn't let that happen.
The den den mushi rang several times and Rocinante was beginning to worry when no one picked up. Finally he heard the familiar voice on the other end, and he nearly screamed into the receiver with relief.
"BAGELS! YOU'RE THERE!" He laughed semi-hysterically. In the background he could hear yelling and noise as well.
There was slight surprise in Sengoku's voice. "Muffins? What's happening? It sounds as if you're in the middle of a warzone!"
"Yeah about that…I need your help. My partner and I went to a Society meeting…" He paused while Sengoku took this information in. "They had eleven slaves that they were raffling off and I kind of…shut the party down to save them. I can't bring them back to the Syndicate. Can you send a ship for pickup?"
"I certainly can," came the man's reply. "Where are you?"
Rocinante rattled off the coordinates they'd used to navigate to the island. "I'll make sure this place goes down for good. I just have one straggler I need to find."
"Alright, Muffins. I'll send word to the nearest base and have them dispatch a warship immediately. Give me an update when you make it out of there, will you?"
"Roger that," the blonde replied. "Thanks, Bagels!" With no more time to spare, he hung up and returned to his search, dodging falling chunks of ceiling as he moved on to another room.
oOo
The group of eleven waited, crouching behind the brush and trees as they watched hundreds of people fleeing the underground building like rats off a burning ship. Smoke spewed into the air from the opening of the basement as more and more panicked people squeezed their way through the exit, trampling each other in their haste to escape.
Aylin felt it was by sheer stroke of luck that she and all the prisoners managed to make it outside, although hiding within the throngs of people had been easier than she'd thought; nobody cared about another dozen bodies amidst the commotion and hysteria. She was still grasping the hand of the small boy who had protested leaving Rocinante behind, and although her words had instilled confidence in him that her partner would return to the group, Aylin was having some difficulty believing it herself.
Her eyes scanned each person who came sprinting from the ruined pile of wood and each time they weren't who she was searching for, worry twisted her insides into tighter knots.
She knew she shouldn't have left him. But what else could she have done? It was the right thing to do to save the ten people gathered around her. It just wasn't logical for an entire group of people to all die while trying to save one child. He'd been right to do what he had done. Aylin surmised she would have handled things the exact same way.
She felt a gentle tug on her hand and was hesitant to look away from the scene, but when the gesture became more persistent she reluctantly glanced down at the little boy by her side.
"Are you worried about him?" The boy asked innocently. When she didn't reply, he continued, "He'll come back. You said he's really strong. And he's really nice. He made us feel better when we were scared. He said he's a Magic Man, so he'll definitely be okay," he stated in the matter-of-fact way that only a child can manage.
Aylin couldn't help but smile softly. Rocinante's actions had certainly had an impact on these kids. She knelt down beside the boy, nodding back at him and gently ruffling his hair. "You're absolutely right, honey."
They continued to watch as the crowd gradually began to thin. Most of the people sported serious injuries and a great deal of them had to be supported by others in order to walk.
Aylin felt her anxiety spike once more. It had been too long. He should have returned already.
Just then, a thunderous 'boom' shook the ground, knocking several of the group over as they attempted to cover their ears from the sound. Seconds later, a ball of flames exploded from the site of the entrance. It burned so bright and so hot that everyone flinched away from it as their skin seared, shielding their eyes while the night lit up like a fireworks festival.
The children cried out in terror and all four of them clutched Aylin's legs, while the adults gripped each other for support close by. Flames rose up to lick the sky, reaching for the stars as the smoke swelled upward. The blaze burned on, some stragglers catching fire as they ran screaming for safety.
Aylin's eyes were trained on the flames, watching them in abject horror as her imagination conjured up an outcome she'd been dreading the most.
He couldn't be...
She gulped, fighting back the sudden tears that sprang to her eyes as she watched the fire spread to some of the other buildings.
They needed to get out of there, away from the fire, but she was frozen to her spot. Rooted to the ground. She couldn't feel her legs.
"Hey, look! Look!" A child's voice broke through her state of emotional compromise just then. "Look! There he is!"
"The Magic Man!"
Aylin's gaze snapped back to the site that once was the entrance to the Society's gathering grounds. Her eyes went wide as saucers when she saw him.
Rocinante's tall figure strode away from the inferno and toward the forest. The burning ball of flames behind him illuminated his form, shading him in hues of orange and red as he made his way past the wreckage. Looking a bit worse for wear, his shirt was torn to shreds and hung from his large frame, showing several cuts and gashes that he'd endured during his search for the child...which, as they could plainly see, had been a success; the little girl, Clara, was cradled gently in the crook of one of his arms. She appeared scared, but unharmed.
Aylin hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath until she suddenly exhaled, gasping as relief hit her like a tidal wave. She stood up straight so that he would see her, waving an arm to catch his attention.
"LIN!" Rocinante yelled over the din as he jogged over to the woman, still carefully holding Clara. He was happy to see that she'd kept the group together and everyone was unharmed. He wanted to hug her so badly, but instead he smiled broadly and clamped his free hand down on her shoulder for a moment.
"We need to get out of here…." Rocinante placed the little girl down and she ran to the other children who chattered excitedly about the explosion they had seen just now. "Before everything went to hell, I heard a broadcast in the building. One of those Society assholes used an emergency frequency to call in the marines…"
They exchanged understanding glances. They would need to leave the freed people behind and make their own escape. After all, the group would be safe with the marines, and with their help they'd undoubtedly be able to return home to their families.
The older man of the group hobbled towards the two of them. "Thank you..so much…"
Rocinante reached down to shake his hand firmly. "It was the right thing to do," he said quietly. "Listen, can you keep these people together and safe? There's a marine ship coming and they can help you, but we can't go with you…"
The man looked thoughtful but only momentarily. "Of course. I understand. But even if the marines consider the two of you to be criminals, know that I think of you as nothing less than heroes." He gave them a gap-toothed smile as he began rounding up the children, explaining that they needed to go somewhere safer and near the shore and promising them maybe they'd get to splash around in the water and collect some shiny rocks.
The children agreed readily, but not before they all dog-piled on Rocinante to give him hugs. Once he knelt down for better access, the little girl Clara gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"BYE, MAGIC MAN!" The young boy waved over his shoulder as the older gentleman began leading the group to safety.
Rocinante smiled after them, waving his hand over his head until he remembered something and his eyes widened. "SHIT!"
Aylin became alarmed. "What? What is it?"
A pained look crossed the tall man's face. "Denise," he squeaked out.
As if on cue, a woman covered in ash, her once immaculate dress now in tatters, sauntered over to them. That walk was unmistakable. One hand held a pair of high heels by their straps.
"Darlings…" She coughed, a high-pitched sound that almost sounded fake. Her hair was wild, sticking up in every which direction and her cigarette holder was empty, though she still held it as if she were using it. "What a terrible party. Rocinante, you look like death warmed over. These Society affairs have really gone downhill in recent years." She tossed her head, coughing again.
Rocinante leaned forward. "Are you okay, Miss De LaCroix?"
"Me? Oh I live for danger. To be honest with you, darling, I'm more scared of getting back on that blasted ship for another four days than this tiny bonfire."
Aylin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's been a long night. We should get back to the ship and hightail it out of here before the marines show up. With a smoke signal as big as this one, it probably won't take long," she said as she gestured toward the mass of flames behind them.
"Very well, darling," Denise replied as she swaggered past them toward the path that would lead to the ship they had sailed in on. "I do hope the Society chooses a nicer location next year..."
Aylin and Rocinante exchanged looks and shrugged slightly before following after her.
oOo
They managed to get on board the ship and set sail before the marine warship arrived; in fact, Aylin was just able to see it approach the island from a pair of binoculars as they sailed further and further out to sea, thanks to the fire that still lit up much of the night.
She put the binoculars away and pushed back from the railing, giving her partner a nod. "They're safe now. I just saw it."
Rocinante breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Erm...now that I think about it, isn't it strange that one of those people would send an emergency signal to the marines? I mean, you'd think they wouldn't want to be caught..."
"Oh, not really. It might surprise you how many apparently 'squeaky clean' folks are secretly up to no good. They probably figured they could easily get away with it," Aylin answered, never suspecting that it was the man beside her who had been the one to alert the marines. She looked up at him, taking note of all his injuries. Most of them were minor cuts and scrapes, although he had a sizeable gash on his side and a large burn on one of his bare shoulders. "That looks like it hurts...come on, let's go inside and get you some bandages. And...a shirt," she added, thankful for the darkness that masked the sudden flush in her cheeks.
Rocinante smiled at her. "Oh, I'm okay! Maybe we should take care of Denise first…"
But for once the woman was absent from the deck, having immediately retired to her quarters inside the ship. She was probably preening and primping as they spoke, he surmised.
Rocinante followed Aylin inside the ship to the common room that as adjoined to the galley, flopping himself down on the hard wooden bench at the table where everyone ate dinner. Except Denise, who had a soft cushy armchair with a table big enough for her tea set in the corner.
The man studied Aylin's back as she went for the med kit. She seemed a bit tense, but he supposed that was only natural after what they'd been through. It seemed like they were always getting into these terrible scrapes. Rocinante smiled wider. This certainly hadn't been the kind of life he expected to live in the Blackburn Syndicate. Sure, he had expected danger and life threatening situations on the regular, but he never expected to get to go through those things with a wonderful woman that he had ended up falling in love with.
Love was something Rocinante thought he'd never have—and technically he still didn't—and that blossoming feeling in his chest, the quickening of his heart whenever he saw her…it was as wonderful as it was torturous.
Rocinante peeled off what was left of his shirt, frowning. "Man, I really liked this shirt, do you know how hard it is to find good shirts that I actually LIKE in my size?!" He chuckled, trying to lighten the atmosphere now that they were in the clear.
Aylin smirked as she returned with the med kit as well as a bowl of clean water and a cloth. "Pretty difficult, I'm guessing..." She set the kit and the bowl down onto the table and dipped the cloth into the bowl of water, eyeing him for a moment as if she had suddenly become hesitant. "This'll be cold, but it should help that burn," she finally said as she gently pressed the cool cloth onto his shoulder where the skin there looked angry and red. It would likely blister and peel. It was a stark contrast to his normal pale color.
She felt the muscles beneath her hands tense ever so slightly, but he didn't complain. A silence settled around them as Aylin busied herself with cleaning up his wounds, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. After several minutes, she paused.
Her voice dropped low. "Hey...put up that sound barrier, will you?"
"Hmm? Oh sure…" He raised a hand, snapping his fingers once. "Silent." Immediately the sound of the water against the ship and the wind hitting the sails disappeared. There was only the two of them. "What's on your mind, Lin? In the mood to tell some secrets?" Rocinante smiled at her over his shoulder but saw the serious look in her eyes and immediately schooled his face. "Is everything alright? My wounds aren't that bad…even though it seems like I'm constantly getting beat up."
She shook her head. "No, it's...not that." She let the cloth plop back into the bowl of water, staring at it for a moment before looking back at him. A conflicted look was in her eyes, and something else that he couldn't quite identify. She swallowed before continuing. "What you did back there...creating that distraction and saving those people... That was a very reckless thing to do. So many things could have gone wrong. Denise could have seen you. If anyone but me had been there with you... Rocinante, I can't emphasize enough how absolutely stupid and dangerous that was, and I just wanted to tell you how glad I am that you did it." A smile pulled at the corners of her lips as those last few words left her mouth.
Rocinante's jaw dropped open, having not expected the praise at the end of her lecture.
"Hah, you really had me going there for a minute there!" He smiled at her for a moment longer. "There's no way I was going to let something happen to those innocent people. Like I told that old man, it was the right thing to do. I might work in the underworld, but I'm not a MONSTER. People aren't property."
"No...no, they aren't," Aylin replied with utmost conviction. She glanced to the table to reach over and flip the lid of the med kit open, retrieving a tube of antiseptic ointment to apply to his burn wound. She poured a decent amount onto the palm of her hand and then carefully began applying it to his damaged skin.
After a moment, she said, "I know the Syndicate deals in human trafficking now and then. It's unavoidable in the black market. I've...always hated it. More than the other dirty jobs we end up taking on. They have lives. They have families." Her tone indicated that she would have liked to say far more on the matter, but she stopped herself right there. She paused to take a breath, counting back from ten in her head before continuing. "I've always tried to avoid becoming involved in those jobs. I guess I've been here for so long that I've started to convince myself there was nothing I could do about it. And today, you went and did what I couldn't. I...I'm grateful for that."
Rocinante waited until she was finished rubbing the ointment in and turned to face her, grabbing her hand in one of his. "Lin…you don't have to feel guilty about that. Anybody would've done the same thing in your position. I had an opportunity here partially due to my devil fruit ability, so I took it. We can't save everyone. We may want to, but we can't." He squeezed her hand another second before dropping it, gazing into her eyes with his warm brown ones, wanting to show her his understanding, that she had nothing to be sad or guilty about.
A moment later, he continued, "From now on, I'll include you in my plans from the start. And if we come across these situations again, we'll take care of them together. We're a team after all, right?"
Aylin gave him a nod at that. "Of course." She turned away for several seconds to gather bandage materials from the kit, dropping the roll once from fumbling fingers.
She had never seen him quite like this...never known him to act on his own to such a degree. Until that night, he had always seemed content to follow her lead. She had been convinced that the chaos in the Society's gathering was caused by a rival out for revenge; the last person she would have suspected was her own partner, and it had her reconsidering how well she really thought she knew him.
And it wasn't just that. When she approached him with the bandage roll, stretching out a long piece to begin wrapping his shoulder, there was something slightly different about the interaction. As she passed the roll under his arm so that he could wrap it around his front, she found herself ready to apologize when their fingers brushed together. Aylin thought it was bizarre; why would she think to do such a thing? Why was she suddenly looking at him as though she'd never seen him before?
She found herself discreetly studying all of his old scars, some nearly faded and others freshly formed, wondering what sort of incident had caused each one. She surmised that many of them were due to his own clumsiness, although after the stunt he had pulled earlier that night, she was inclined to believe that some of them were also souvenirs from similar heroic acts.
Aylin began to wrap the bandage around his upper arm and happened to catch his eye, realizing with a start that he'd been watching her work, and she nearly dropped the roll once more.
She sighed. "Sorry. I think I've had enough action for tonight. Must be more tired than I thought," she hurriedly explained. "Okay, let's take a look at that gash on your side."
"Hey…I'm fine...it's not that bad. I can get this one myself, since I can actually see it. I'm pretty shit at getting ones on my back, though, so thanks…"
Rocinante smiled at her, noticing the difference in her demeanor. She seemed nervous and out of sorts; distracted, not at all like the usual Aylin. He thought she probably had something quite heavy on her mind, and while he wished she would share her burdens more often, he wasn't one to pry.
Rocinante sighed softly as he tended to the gash on his side. "I really miss our coffee house right now! The stuff they have in the galley here is absolute swill."
She didn't seem to have heard him and he noticed that she was staring at him with a sort of absent look on her face.
He chuckled. "You look so cute right now, Lin! But yeah, really tired. I think I ought to just take you to bed."
Aylin nearly dropped the medical kit as she began to pack up the supplies, and it took her a moment to realize that he hadn't intended the phrase the way she'd inadvertently interpreted it.
She cursed herself for even thinking such things. Why was her mind going there all of a sudden?
Meanwhile, Rocinante continued, "Want me to tuck you in?" He stood up out of his chair, stretching carefully before patting her shoulder gently. "I'm pretty tired myself. What do you say, want to cuddle for warmth?" He made a teasing face at her, though she didn't seem too receptive to his light-hearted flirting at the moment, leading him to believe that she must be quite shaken up by the mission's events.
Aylin swallowed, turning to shut the lid of the medical kit. "I'm going to put this away," she stated rather flatly before picking it up with both hands and walking off somewhat stiffly.
Rocinante watched her go, quirking one eyebrow in slight confusion before shrugging. "Well...okay."
oOo
Aylin lay awake in the top bunk for what seemed like hours that night while Rocinante slept peacefully on the bottom bunk below. She couldn't seem to turn her brain off. Flashes of the mission kept reentering her mind; the people she'd met, the slaves offered as prizes, the ensuing chaos as the building caved with the pressure of all the fighting and then the explosion...Rocinante's act of bravery that had saved all those lives...
He'd really surprised her that night. She wasn't sure what it was exactly that had impressed her so much. Surely it was something many others would have done. But in the black market such kindness was a rarity...as well as the strength to do those good deeds while knowing the risks.
She found herself wondering as she had many times before about how a man like him had ended up in the Blackburn Syndicate. He said once that he was after someone. Aylin wondered who that could be. Someone within the Syndicate? Someone who had wronged him? She supposed she would find out sooner or later.
Aylin rolled onto her side, a heavy sigh escaping her lips, and eventually she drifted off into a fitful sleep.