A/N: (Spoiler-y warnings ahead.) This chapter might well end up being the darkest in this fic as it involves what essentially boils down to attempted murder, with the associated stabbing and blood, so please skip it if you need to.
"Split up, find a good place to hide, and search in your street clothes. Meet back here in an hour in uniform."
The order might as well be a death sentence for Rose's time as Huntsgirl, but she doesn't have a choice. They're running out of rooftop, and if Jake was taken by hostiles, their uniforms would give them away in a heartbeat. Tucking away their masks would save them from being thought robbers, but she's afraid they're too memorable as they are. 89's spear doesn't help, and she hopes he has the sense to leave it behind.
88 and 89 exchange glances. She thinks it's because they know her decree directly contradicts her orders, but then 88 says, "We don't have street clothes."
Rose blinks at him. "You what?"
"We don't have street clothes," he repeats, and he pulls at his uniform. "This chafes really bad if you wear something underneath it, and it bunches up in a funny place. And it's hot."
"I'm only wearing underwear," agrees 89.
Rose closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, inhaling though her nose and exhaling through her mouth before she faces them again.
"Steal some clothes or, at the very least, take off your masks and use something to cover your insignias. Haven't you done a surveillance mission yet?"
She can't bring herself to be surprised when they shake their heads.
She spares the time to give them a rundown, but she deliberately starts pacing an unpredictable route as she does so. She doesn't like staying in one spot when she's exposed like this, especially when she's more worried about enemies from within than enemies from without.
She isn't convinced that the glimpse of brown she saw out of the corner of her eye three blocks ago is a figment of her imagination built upon a sparrow, a swallow, or her own paranoia.
If Rose hasn't missed her guess, 18 has been assigned to watch them. Or possibly to attack them. And she might not be the only one.
That's another reason it's so important for Rose to split up their team; she can't gain an advantage against an unknown number of enemies with these two, at least not easily, and she's keen to tip the odds in her favour as much as possible.
If it's only 18, Rose has a chance. If it's not, if 23 or one or more of the others has come, too, or if it's a challenge and not an assignment….
"Any more questions?" 89 shakes his head, but 88 raises a hand. "What?"
"I don't have a watch. How am I going to know when it's been an hour?"
She glances at 89. "Do you have a watch?" He nods. "Then stay together."
"What if we find something before it's been an hour?" 88 presses.
"You keep investigating. Use your judgement. Don't get closer to something than you absolutely need to. Not yet."
"What if it's nearly been an hour and we find something good?"
"Use your judgement," she repeats, wishing they had some in the first place.
"What if we get into trouble?"
"Fight or retreat. Again, judgement."
89 fidgets. "But isn't that why we're supposed to stick with you? So we can learn from your judgement?"
He isn't wrong, but she can't risk staying with them. Still, she softens her voice as she says, "If you're careful, there shouldn't be trouble." For them, at least. "Retrieval missions rarely go sideways before the actual retrieval begins if everyone keeps their wits about them, and this is just surveillance. You might not even find anything."
"But what are we supposed to be looking for?"
"Anything that doesn't seem to be quite right. You might not find 99, but you might find signs of magical creatures or activity. You might find something scrawled on a flyer. You might find a gold coin. You might find 99's shoe. I don't know. This isn't a scavenger hunt; we aren't looking for something specific. This is just going to be practice for you to pick out things that might be important, and if neither of us finds anything to check out after the first hour, we'll swap directions and see if a fresh pair of eyes can see anything. How's that?"
She doesn't need to see them exchange glances to know they aren't convinced, but they nod, and 89 insists they synchronize their watches.
It's one of the first clues she's had about why they're really here. Not here, on this mission, but here, as initiates, as part of the Huntsclan. They're seeking glory. They want excitement—or think they do, until faced with the prospect—and fame and prestige. They want to be the heroes they read about or watched on TV.
She doesn't know how to tell them that the reality of it isn't what they think.
She doesn't know how to tell them they're on the wrong side.
She doesn't know how to tell them they should renounce the Huntsclan and run while they still have a chance.
She doesn't think she can, not now, not from here, not as Huntsgirl.
"We will see you in fifty-nine minutes," 89 promises. He and 88 disappear down the fire escape, and she turns away as the metallic clangs of their clambering is replaced by scuffling in the alley below.
She cannot see any sign of anyone else.
She hadn't been sure that she'd be allowed to send away her distractions like this if she were being watched. Perhaps she isn't being watched. Or perhaps they're anticipating her movements or compensating for them. Or perhaps this had been someone's plan all along, and she's playing into their hands.
Rose takes a deep breath before sprinting in the opposite direction, gathering enough momentum to clear the leap to the next rooftop, roll back to her feet, and keep going. She only goes a few blocks before she stops, as much to catch her breath as to get to the street below. She'll change there and stash her uniform behind the dumpster. Whether or not she comes back for it in a little under an hour will depend on what she finds.
Rose doffs her uniform to reveal her street clothes underneath. They're innocuous, stretchy pink jeans and a white tee, though she's keeping her boots instead of switching to sandals as she has in the past. She strips off her gloves, too; she has makeup in one of the interior pockets of her uniform to cover her mark.
She starts twining her fishtail braid into a bun as she decides which weapons to carry with her and which to leave behind. Her knives will come, of course; they're easy to hide. She can stick a few throwing needles into her bun, and—
Instinct has Rose spinning to the side before she can identify that it was a knife thrown her way.
She drops from the path of the second knife just before it strikes the brick wall behind where she'd stood.
A roll brings her close enough to grab the first knife, but she can't get back to retrieve the second before its owner joins her in the alley.
"Is this your task?" she asks as 18 retrieves the second knife with her free hand; the other holds a longer dagger that Rose knows could easily be slipped back into its sheath and replaced with another, more suitable weapon if the fight doesn't go the way 18 expects.
She doesn't need to be able to see 18's face to know her smirk is there, hiding beneath her mask. "We all do what we must. And if you feel you must betray us, you can't expect that there won't be repercussions."
Rose adjusts the grip on her stolen knife and rises slowly, ready to move if 18 decides to attack instead of talk. She doesn't know how much the Huntsclan knows. She doesn't know how much of that 18 was told. She doesn't know what 18 was promised, though she can guess.
She does know that 18 can be coaxed into talking if Rose is careful about how she does it, and she can use every additional second to figure out the best way out of this that she can get.
"This is a retrieval mission," Rose says carefully. "I am doing what I can to ensure the mission's success. If 99 has been captured by someone in the magical community, it's best to move about in plain clothes."
"99 has defected."
Rose lifts her chin. "I was not given evidence of that."
"You don't need it," sneers 18. "You already knew. I've seen the footage."
What footage?
Shock roots Rose to the ground for too long, and she can't quite avoid 18's knife despite jerking to the side. It bites into her upper right arm as it sails past, and Rose hisses. She's moving again before 18 can throw another, holding 18's knife out before her so that she can defend if 18 decides to advance. Her own knives are still with her uniform; she hadn't had a chance to transfer them before 18 attacked, and now 18 stands between her and them.
Intentionally, no doubt.
Luckily, Rose doesn't need weapons to be able to fight.
18 is one of the most skilled close combat fighters in their division. Regardless of her opponent's size or reputation, she's usually able to drop them in under a minute. She's ruthless. There are no fair fights in the Huntsclan to begin with, but she'll take every advantage she can give herself, and she is very good at doing just that. She varies her pattern and her timing, and she uses whatever environment she's in to get the upper hand. She can punch, block, kick, feint, dodge, and strike almost as well as Rose can.
Almost.
But Rose is Huntsgirl for a reason.
She swaps the knife for a broken glass bottle—namely, for a weapon she can afford to part with. When she's knocked down, crumbling cement becomes the perfect thing to throw at 18's face to buy her enough time to get on her feet. When they circle back to where she'd first entered the alley, swinging off the fire escape gives her leverage.
It's a dance that, despite the different setting, feels too familiar to their sparring sessions for Rose's comfort. This is far from the first time they've fought, though before, it was always under heavy supervision by one of the elders. People have killed in such training matches before, but the smart always fight to incapacitate. Those who succeed in killing a comrade in combat in such a way always claim that it was a mistake even if everyone knows it was intentional, but they are not rewarded for their show of what they are willing to do; they are deemed untrustworthy and unable to control themselves in battle. They are deemed a risk.
They are compromised.
Like Rose is compromised, though not for the same reasons.
Rose's foot takes 18 in the stomach, and the impact is enough to loosen her grip on her knife as she's knocked down. It hits the concrete and skitters, just out of easily lunging distance for 18 but not for Rose. She picks it up before 18 can move in. 18's on her feet already, and Rose is forced to dodge and weave 18's attacks in turn as she tries to maintain her modicum of control in this fight and drive 18 away from her uniform, away from her stash of weapons.
18 isn't a fool. Whenever Rose tries to break the familiar pattern 18 seems to be setting up, 18 draws them back into it.
Why?
It's not like Rose is going to forget what's really at stake this time. There's too much for her to simply forget it. It's not just Jake; it's her, too, and she can't pretend otherwise.
This is the first time Rose has fought 18 where the other girl is aiming to kill, not incapacitate. The Huntsclan doesn't want information. They feel they have enough. Rose is a threat that 18 has been tasked with eliminating.
Maybe.
If 18 isn't lying, anyway.
She'd say anything to unnerve Rose.
Blood drips from 18's recently-broken nose, and she snarls with bloody teeth from an earlier punch. The former was a hit she hadn't been able to avoid as she'd come in close enough to take a swing at Rose's temple, and Rose hadn't reacted fast enough to effectively block the punch. She'd staggered, just as 18 surely had when the heel of Rose's hand had busted cartilage and bone. She doesn't know when 18 stripped off her mask, but she does know that instinct and muscle memory had carried her through her disorientation. If they hadn't, 18 would have succeeded in cutting Rose's throat. She'd recovered first, and she'd used that to her advantage. If Rose had been a split second slower, this would have been over.
Now, Rose ducks the kick aimed at her head and drops to try to sweep 18's remaining foot out from under her, but the other girl pushes off before Rose can connect and lands on her other foot. She pivots, trying to bring her elbow down on Rose's skull. Rose rolls sideways and throws the bloodied knife, catching 18 in the hip instead of the stomach. The pain slows 18 long enough for Rose spring to her feet and aim an uppercut at 18's jaw.
18 evades her, grabbing her arm and using Rose's momentum against her, flipping her back to the ground. She lands against the cement hard enough to steal her breath and nearly doesn't roll away from 18's dagger quickly enough. It carves a bloody line along her left shoulder towards her spine, burning despite the adrenaline rushing through her body, but this time she is able to kick 18's feet out from beneath her. The other girl rolls, but Rose is on her feet first.
Instead of sprinting for her weapons, as she'd tried to do every time before, as 18 is no doubt expecting her to do now, Rose leaps for 18. She collides with the girl before she's on her feet, planting her knee on 18's back and wrenching her arm back until it pops from its socket. 18 screams and her knife drops, but her free hand is clawing at Rose's face, trying to dig at her eyes. Rose jerks away, moving just enough that 18 is able to buck beneath her and roll away as Rose tumbles in the other direction.
18's dagger is held in her left hand now, but Rose knows that won't slow 18 down, and she's moving to the side even as 18 runs for her. She dodges the first swing and retaliates with a jab at 18's exposed side.
She wants to keep 18 too busy to reset her shoulder, to wear her down until she drops if she can't knock her out first.
18, clearly set on taking Rose down first, bares her teeth and fights through whatever pain she's feeling. Rose isn't quick enough to avoid the dagger, but it slices into her right forearm instead of her stomach. Rose moves in before 18 can strike again, spinning towards 18 and grabbing her hand. She twists the dagger free and tosses it towards the mouth of the alley. It lands with a ring of metal on concrete, as far away from the fight as every knife that had been thrown before it.
Rose has been counting 18's knives.
That should have been the last of them.
18's not without weapons—she's too good at improvising and hand-to-hand for Rose to think that—but she's without her preferred weapons, and she's injured. They both are. It's taking a toll.
18 pushes her away, and Rose lets her, though she blocks the other girl's path so she can't go for the dagger without continuing the fight. "We don't have to do this," Rose says as she tries to catch her breath. Everything throbs, and she's starting to feel light-headed. She wants this to be over. "We can both walk away."
She doesn't think it's true, not really, and 18 only confirms that suspicion when she lets out a derisive snort. "You don't deserve to be Huntsgirl, 93."
It's not a new sentiment from 18, but this time, Rose knows she isn't alone in it. 18's friends in the Huntsclan won't be the only ones to side with her now, and if the elders didn't forbid this challenge—or, worse, if they encouraged this challenge….
Rose doesn't register the knife until the pain in her right thigh lets her know the cost of her distraction.
Either Rose miscounted or 18 had another knife.
How many others is she carrying that Rose doesn't know about?
18's next attack comes without knives. It's a kick Rose is able to avoid, but 18 blocks her combination and kicks at the knife still embedded in Rose's leg. Her leg buckles beneath her, and 18 is on top of her before she can recover. 18 plants one knee on Rose's sternum and leans in, putting her full weight on it and making it difficult for Rose to breathe. Rose shifts her head slightly, and the uncomfortable pull at her scalp tells her that 18's other foot is trapping the braid that had long since flown loose of its bun.
"Stay down," hisses 18.
She isn't reaching for another knife.
She doesn't have one.
Of course, that doesn't mean she would be above using the knife in Rose's thigh to slice her throat.
When 18 reaches back to twist the knife, Rose can't stifle her scream.
It makes sense to her now, of course. 18 hadn't missed. This is going to slow Rose down more than anything else, and 18 knows it.
The other girl releases the knife and laughs, saying something else that Rose can't quite catch.
Rose waits to speak until she's confident she can get the words out clearly. "I'm on a mission," she says, interrupting 18's gloating. The other girl's sharp glare is focused on Rose's face, and Rose is fairly sure 18 doesn't see Rose's left hand creeping towards her pocket.
18's pockets might be empty, but Rose's are not.
"And you think I'm not?"
"We both know you're not."
It's a lie, but 18's answering snarl tells Rose her guess is right.
18 wouldn't be alone on an elimination mission. If she is on assignment to do anything more than observe, she took matters into her own hands when she decided to confront Rose on her own.
It's a small mercy, but at least 18 hasn't painted her blades with poison to make it look like Rose had been attacked by the Huntsclan's enemies. If she had, Rose would have felt it by now.
Rose's fingers close around their target, and she tugs it free as she says, "Do you really think you challenging me when I'm on a retrieval mission is the best choice?"
"Stopping a traitor is always the best choice," 18 snaps. "I'm going to be Huntsgirl, and I'll retrieve 99 befo—"
The rest of her sentence is lost as she splutters.
Rose's stolen knife—the first one 18 had thrown at her—is in her gut.
Rose doesn't have the strength or the leverage to drive it all the way to 18's heart, but right now, she doesn't need to.
The damage is done.
18 clutches at the knife and reels back.
Rose pushes herself up as 18 stumbles into the brick wall behind her. She can't recover her own footing before Rose is there. 18's head snaps to the side as Rose's fist connects, and this time, she stays down.
Rose stands over her for a few precious seconds, panting and watching for any sign of consciousness.
18 was never her friend, not even in the manner that she would call their rivalry friendly, but until now, 18 hadn't been a true enemy, either.
She might not be as ignorant as 88 and 89, but she's still misled. She's ignorant in her own way.
Just like Rose is.
There's still so much Rose doesn't know, and she isn't sure if she'll be able to find the answers now. If she can find Jake, then maybe, together—
Rose empties 18's pockets before limping towards her own uniform. Between the two of them, she has a modicum of first aid supplies, including an invaluable suture kit and some extra-strength pain medication, but she can't afford to do anything here except swallow two pills dry. If 18's alone, Rose knows she can make it out of this. She's bought herself time enough for that.
If 18 isn't alone, then it's over.
She can't get through another fight like this.
If there really is incriminating footage out there, then it's over anyway.
18's backup, if it exists, doesn't materialize before Rose realizes the sirens she's hearing are headed in this direction. She rolls her uniform and all its contents (including what she pilfered from 18) into a bundle and heads past 18 for the fire escape. It's more of a struggle than it should be to get up and climb it, and she's regretting her choice by the time she finds refuge on the roof.
Everything hurts. 18's knife is still in her thigh, and Rose knows she's bleeding from too many cuts even if none of them hit anything important. She should rest, but she can't afford to stay here longer than necessary. She's too close to where she split off with 88 and 89, too close to where she fought 18, to think she wouldn't be found entirely too soon. She has to figure out where she can go to patch herself up, do that, and keep moving.
Rose is still trying to convince herself of that as she lies panting on the roof, trying to gather the strength to sit up as she waits for the pain medication to kick in.
The rooftop isn't safe.
The Huntsclan knows to look up.
They know to look down, too, but they'd sooner have the advantage of the high ground. Rose will need to take the risk of being blocked in to stand a chance. She'd rather take tunnels than the sewers, and she desperately tries to remember how close she is to an abandoned subway line, an access tunnel, anything. Maybe she could make it to Doyers Street? That's hardly ideal, but it's not like any of the other tunnels she knows about would only be known to her.
The Huntsclan and the creatures they hunt aren't the only ones who haunt these streets.
Everything she does now is going to carry a higher risk than she is normally comfortable with, but she doesn't have a choice. She needs to hide long enough to clean up so that she could pass someone on the street and not be remembered by her disaster of an appearance—or have someone call 911 on her.
Maybe she should just sneak into a bodega. She knows how to avoid cameras and showing her face in mirrors and is confident she can steal the key to the bathroom without being caught if she takes ten seconds to survey the place. Assuming she'd have ten seconds when she's looking as much of a mess as she is.
If only it weren't broad daylight. This would be so much easier if it were dark.
Rose groans, but she can't lie here any longer. Her shirt is torn, so she pulls the jacket of her uniform back on. She doesn't want to sew the wound on her thigh shut without so much as cleaning it—the saline solution she has will only do so much—but she can't walk around with a knife in her leg, either. She'll have to pull the knife, sew the wound closed, and tie the leggings of her uniform around it as tightly as she can for now. The knife can be cleaned and stowed with her other weapons. It's not like she'll need her uniform in the future.
She's compromised, and the Huntsclan knows it.
If 18 survives, there's a good chance that she'll have what she's always wanted. At least, there is if their fight came about as a result of a challenge and not foolish insubordination. If 18 was right about the footage—if anyone else knows about Rose's betrayal—then 18 will be lauded for her quick thinking in battle, even if that battle didn't end in Rose's death. 18 will be Huntsgirl.
And Rose will be hunted.
Just like Jake.
She must find him before they do.