Black Tusk D.C. Operations H.Q.
Location: REDACTED
Two Days Later…
"Maybe they'll tell us to go home-ome-ome…."
"...can't believe it's finally happening-ing-ing…"
"...are you doing here-here-her- None of your concern-ern-ern…"
"...love her so much-uch-uch..."
"SARAAAAAHHHHH!"
I awaken with a start, eyes darting around a pristine white room that I don't recognise. Trying to get my breathing under control, I glance down to see a hospital bed beneath me. The rapid beeping of a heart monitor slowly begins to slow down as I continue to look around. Trying to get up, I'm stopped by something metal tugging on my wrist. A pair of handcuffs secure my right arm to the bed, immobilizing it for the pair of needles in the crook, one leading to an IV bag, the other likely once led to a nearby transfusion machine, but has been disconnected. I reach over with the left, but as it passes my eyes, I notice something.
My left arm somehow looks and feels different. My tattoos are in their normal places, but the colors and details are sharper than I remember. The color of the arm itself seems a bit off as well, as well as small spaces in between the joints of my knuckles. Out of curiosity, I ball my hand into a fist, which closes normally, but the feeling of my nails touching the palm feels almost muted. Dull. As if my gloves were still on. I reach to the right again cautiously, touching it with my other hand. To my shock and confusion, my left hand and arm have no skin. In place of it is a material I can't quite place. Metal? Plastic? Maybe ceramic? Then it hits me.
"This is a prosthetic."
A feeling of terror follows afterwards.
"Where the fuck is my arm?!"
My mind attempts to process where I am and how I got here.
"I remember seeing Ellis and those other people in the lab, then getting shot. Repeatedly. Jay was shouting at the people wearing all black. I nearly blacked out a few times, then I must have completely. Where am I? This isn't the White House...Those men...their group...what the hell is the name?!"
I tug on the handcuffs again, this time inadvertently getting the attention of someone outside; the man standing guard at my door. He looks in the window for a moment, then activates his radio.
"Alert Gold Eagle. Subject is awake."
Meanwhile…
*Click*
*PLAYBACK STOPPED*
I look down, then around at the group that has gathered around the monitor. Kelly appears devastated at the grim discovery, her eyes wide and hands covering her mouth. Manny shoots a sympathetic glance towards the clinic where Jay and others from the recent Black Tusk attacks are recovering. Dima and Thomas are glued to a different monitor, absorbing every detail ISAC could find on the organization. Alani tries to comfort Kelly by rubbing her shoulder. Roxwell appears genuinely furious at the thought of this monstrous betrayal. He angrily paces the room, mumbling incoherently to himself and repeatedly looking at the coordinator office where President Ellis had been staying.
"You were right, Faye." Alani says, breaking the silence. "About Ellis. It doesn't feel like much of a victory though, does it?"
I look back at the monitor, frozen at the moment Sarah fell to the floor. Her hat had fallen off, exposing a gut-wrenching mix of confusion, surprise, pain and terror on her face. The type of expression that's difficult to describe and isn't often seen, one that I had only seen once on Sarah. Back in New York, while waiting for word on Jay, and that was barely a fraction of what all of us were seeing.
"I should've told them." I say glumly, shaking my head. "I could have warned them about him, and to be careful around him...fuck!" I slam two balled up fists on the table, infuriated at my own inaction. "Fuck, fuck, Sarah…"
"Faye, my dear." A familiar Russian voice nearby says. I look up to see that Dima has taken Alani's place and she has retreated to a safer distance. "All this anger, it will solve nothing."
"I could've been a descent fucking human being around her for longer that five damn minutes on this trip." I shout at and to my companion, who can only look on sympathetically.
"Finally work that stick out of yer ass, Faye?" Thomas jeers from the other side of the room. "Betteh late than neveh."
Angered, this time by the painful truth of his words, I pick up the first object I see, a sharpie marker, and throw it at him. The marker bounces harmlessly off of his backpack, only adding insult to injury.
"On the contrary, Dima." Roxwell growls from somewhere behind me. "I think anger will solve something. Like this Black Tusk dilemma. Ellis at the head of it all?" He steps towards Dima and I. "His goon squad shot up Sarah and Jay. Jay made it, sure. But Sarah? She's not here. They might have killed her. Nobody shoots a fellow Agent on my watch and gets away with it."
"I don't think Sarah is dead." Manny pipes up. "Ellis said, 'She may be useful.' As long as she plays along, they might keep her alive long enough for us to find her."
"And we all know how good she is at that." Alani mutters. Manny ignores the comment, looking to one of the JTF people in the room. "Get me the latest recon reports on Black Tusk movements." He orders. The man hurries off to another room, returning a few moments later with a clipboard.
"BTSU has taken over the Capitol Building, Potomac Event Center and Roosevelt Island, as well as several of the Control Points around the city." The JTF officer reads.
"Where are they coming from?" Manny asks.
"The Tidal Basin."
Roxwell claps his hands. "Fuckin' beautiful." He says. "There we go. We bust in, grab Sarah, kill Ellis and Schaeffer, walk out."
"If only it were that simple." Manny says, looking at the clipboard. "If I'm reading this right, it makes the Capitol Building look like an elementary school playground."
"Saving an Agent and killing those traitor motherfuckers is worth the risk." The irate Agent argues.
"And what if Sarah isn't there?" Alani asks. "Or she gets moved? Or Ellis escapes? It'll have been for nothing."
Roxwell slightly deflates at that idea.
"So what are our options?" Kelly speaks finally, still in her same stance.
I look back at the distraught guardsman. Her friendship with Jay and Sarah is special compared to other typical ones. They saved her life, and she saved theirs. She must feel so helpless, likely more than the rest of us do. She suddenly returns my stare, looking to me for an answer as everyone has always done.
"Well." I begin. "I would say to go with the same approach as last time; small, surgical strikes, taking back territory one block at a time, but-"
"Sarah doesn't have time for that." Everyone jumps in surprise at the sound of Jay's voice stepping over mine. She stumbles into the room, adorned with bandages and leaning on her crutch heavily. A clinic nurse follows her with an expression of confusion and frustration, but the injured Agent ignores him.
"Hit the Strongholds hard and fast." Jay says, limping towards a map of the city. "Go with the Event Center or the Island. I'd save the best for last." She points to the Tidal Basin.
"I'm coming with you when you go there." The weary Agent declares. "Ellis did this to me, and now he's got Sarah. MY Sarah. When we find him...I want his head."
My eyes lock on the door as it opens, revealing a doctor and a pair of soldiers flanking none other than President Ellis. He places his hands behind his back, quietly dismissing one of the soldiers, who closes the door behind him. The doctor moves to the IV stand and fiddles with the small hose, disconnecting the empty bag and replacing it with a new one. I, however, ignore her, watching Ellis. His other bodyguard steps back and stays next to the door while the President takes a few paces forward, stopping near the foot of the bed.
"Good." He finally says with a nod. "You're alive. And awake. I was starting to have doubts…"
"Shut up." I hiss at him, the doctor flinching slightly, then continuing with her work. "Where am I?" Is the first of many things on my list of questions.
"Does it really matter in the grand scheme?"
I pause for a moment, my angry, pain-killer-hazed mind trying to turn thoughts into words.
"Well, since I'm alive." I begin. "I'd guess you want me for something. If you want my cooperation, I suggest you answer."
Ellis simply smiles.
"Smart girl." He says. "Alright. I'll bite. You are in the Black Tusk's Base of Operations, the Tidal Basin. You and your partner were gunned down by my men in a highly classified, top secret laboratory. You survived and were brought here."
"What happened to Jay?" I demand next.
The President doesn't reply, turning away and looking at a clipboard on a nearby table.
"Where is she?"
Still no response. I get the sense that Ellis is trying to wind me up, but I persist anyway.
"WHERE?!"
"Likely still in the lab." He says finally. "Dead or dying, unless she escaped. If that's the case, she was likely killed by more Black Tusk operatives."
My first reaction: Anger. How casually he speaks. About Jay, no less. He likely knows how close we are. Following shortly after is fear. What if he speaks true? What if Jay, the love of my life, is dead? For real, this time. My brain demands to know the truth, so it comes up with a bargain.
"Confirm that she's alive, and you'll get my help."
"Well, that would be a shame, because if she is alive, my first order to you would be to kill her."
"And what makes you think I would?"
"Because if you refuse, number one: It would be a great disappointment. And number two: I would simply kill you and order someone else to do it."
"In that case, why keep me alive at all? Information?"
The doctor politely takes the clipboard Ellis is holding and begins writing notes on it.
"No. I've been to the White House already, remember? I know everything there is to know about your personnel statuses and future operations."
Ellis comes closer to me, pulling up a stool and sitting at my side. He produces a small key ring from his pocket and unlocks my cuffs.
"While you're here, care to explain this?" I ask, holding up my fake arm for him to see.
"I'm sure you remember our little...altercation last night?" Ellis asks.
"That's one way to put it." I mutter.
"Well, you were shot several times, and more than a few rounds found a home in your arm. It was a mess. The bones were in pieces, muscles shredded. It was our decision to replace it, rather than attempt to repair. How does it feel?"
"Weird." I say after a moment, flexing the fingers.
"You'll get used to it. Besides, that type of injury? The Division likely would've kicked you to the curb, like they did with Agent Sawyer."
"Odessa left willingly." I reply. "By her own choice."
"But the Division made no attempt to keep her. That is precisely the point. But back to your previous question, you're here because you know about those JTF operations, too. And you will be countering them at every opportunity. You have potential, Ms. Green. And I have given you a second chance to find it.". He gestures to my new arm, which I look down at with a troubled feeling.
I can't find the words to respond, only looking up into his eyes. Searching.
After a moment, he waves the door guard over. The man arrives at his side and Ellis takes the soldier's sidearm out of its holster, clicking off the safety and aiming it at my head.
"I could just kill you now, if you'd prefer."
Something about the situation keeps me from even flinching at the notion of being killed at this very moment. Perhaps, some part of me knows he won't do it.
After a long pause, Ellis clicks the safety on again and twirls the pistol in his hand, offering the handle to me.
"Or...we can work together." He offers. "You can stay alive a little longer, and personally find out the fate of your friends."
I look down at the gun, then back up at him. In my head, I weigh my options.
Option one: Take the gun. Shoot Ellis, then immediately be killed by his guards.
Option two: Refuse entirely, and likely be killed.
Option three: Take the gun. Go Rogue, disavowing the Division and becoming a target for them, the JTF, and the Militia. All the while prolonging my life hopefully long enough to find out if my companion is even alive.
At first, the third option seems the best, but further thought opens yet another can of worms. I could be shot on sight by them, likely by Roxwell. They may refuse to accept my side of the story. Faye and Alani immediately come to mind at that. My cover could be blown, definitely by Kelly, and I, as well as all of them, would be killed by any Black Tusk people with me. Or, everything goes to plan, only I find out that Jay has been dead the whole time, and my efforts have been for nothing.
"I have to know, whatever the circumstances."
With a slow, shaky hand, I reluctantly take hold of the pistol. Ellis lets go of it with a smile.
"Welcome to the Black Tusk, Agent Green."
My Smart Watch suddenly flashes to red, causing me to look at it with a clear expression of worry."
*WARNING* ISAC says on queue. *YOUR ACTIONS HAVE DISAVOWED THE DIVISION. YOU ARE NOW MARKED AS 'ROGUE'*
"Here goes nothing, Jay." I think to myself.
A/N: So...that happened. I did ask quite a serious question in this fic's description.
The 'prosthetic arm for Sarah' idea is one that I've been throwing around for a while, and I finally found a place for it. Black Tusk has some quite insane technology and futuristic stuff at their disposal, so I figure prosthetic limbs aren't too far fetched.
I describe the arm as looking like Mitchell's from CoD Advanced Warfare. Just picture that, but with tattoos all over it. Awesome!
The plot thickens...
If you read this far, thank you! I'm really looking forward to writing the next few chapters, especially when Sarah's former teammates find out what's happened to her.
See you next time, Agents!