I'm back!

And you can now read this over on AO3! Same title, but my penname there is CasGetYourShotgun.

The procession was stopped by a dumpy-looking young woman in a blood-splattered, sunshine-yellow shirt with 'DBRI' printed across it along with a symbol that resembled a sun, only with a C-shape in the center.

"Look what Khoschekh dragged in," she sneered. "The Voice's Pet returns."

"Nice to see you too, Maureen," Han spat back, pointing her gun at the woman.

"And look," she continued, "you've brought some friends with you. How sweet!"

"Shut up," Han scowled as Shelton wondered if it was too late to make a break for it and take his chances in the disgusting catacombs and gore-streaked city.

"You won't like us when we're angry," Ben warned. (Hi muttered 'Avengers assemble' under his breath, but no-one listened except Ella, who just rolled her eyes.)

"Relax, Probie," Maureen said. "And Probie's friends," she added as an obvious afterthought. "I'm not with Strex."

"You're wearing their shirt," Tory pointed out reasonably.

"It's a cover, dumbass," the intern barked.

"For what?"

"Intern Damien and I have...kind of a resistance movement." Maureen lowered her voice as though fearful of being overheard. "It's mainly escaped prisoners. We're giving them shelter down here. There's Tamika and the remnants of her book club, former Mayor Cardinal, Carlos - they found him when they went to get Kevin back - Marina who supplied bloodstone for bloodstone circles until Strex banned them, Cecil-"

"Cecil's alive?" Han asked. "I knew it!"

"Yes, he's alive. You know city ordinance forbids ghosts and the undead from joining resistance movements, Probie."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Okay, VP." VP stood for 'Voice's Pet'. Damien had coined it when Haneet had first decided she wanted a real career in radio and 'made him look bad' (although any effort at all from someone else would make Damien look bad, given that all he did was eat Big Rico's pizza in the break room).

"...I'm cool with Probie, actually."

"Whatever. Now come with me. This place isn't safe."

In spite of Maureen's abrasive attitude, the Virals and Haneet actually enjoyed being a part of what Hi immediately dubbed the Rebel Alliance. Aside from the two interns, who - fortunately for the pack - had to spend most of their time working above ground in the radio station in order to maintain their cover, everyone was accepting of the new blood. Ordinarily, Cecil (who was humanoid, with three eyes, tentacles and a creepily deep voice, but no other features that could easily be described) had explained, the Virals would have been run out of town accompanied by bloodcurdling screams and chanting of the word 'interlopers', but under the circumstances all help was good help. Marina was kind enough to make them feel hopeful, Dana Cardinal was a more than capable leader, and Carlos, being a scientist and non-native, was perhaps the only sane person in the entire city. Tamika and the militia - intelligent badasses that they were - became practically family to Tory and her pack over the next few days.

In actual fact, it was a combination of the two forces that were responsible for the ambush and kidnap of Kevin L'Heureux. It had been a difficult undertaking, make no mistake, dear listeners, but suffice it to say that by the time our story picks up again Kevin was tied to a chair in the corridor that had been designated the official laboratory of the rebellion. Carlos had enlisted the assistance of Hi, Shelton and some of the more scientifically-adept book-clubbers to find a way to reverse the brainwashing Strex had inflicted upon its subjects, with limited success. (The other Virals were just relieved they hadn't been chosen; just one glimpse of the gaping, empty hole in Kevin's forehead where a third eye had once resided had been enough for them.)

With Kevin gone, of course, Cecil was in charge of DBRI's radio, ably assisted by Han, who was in her element. This in itself was, although at this time no-one but Dana and Cecil knew it, a remarkable thing. This could change the course of the revolution forever.

Now, however? Now, listeners, things were already changing.

Since the Virals had entered the catacombs, there had been no other entrants to the catacombs, save for a man whose face none of them could remember (and who couldn't possibly have been wearing the same coat as the Erika Tory had seen at Old Woman Josie's place) who had been turned away with screams of terror. On this particular day, however, a stranger entered.

Her dark hair was pulled back in a severe bun, and her clothes were immaculate. She didn't look like an escaped prisoner, but she was too clean and too sane to be from the Greater Desert Bluffs Metropolitan Area. She was an outsider in every sense, it seemed.

And yet there was something in her voice that commanded respect from the small band of revolutionaries.

She said her name was Rachel, and that her arrival would be their salvation.