-Priapus Fortier, Capitolite-
He was questioning everything that got him to this point. He looked to the Agent who was driving, a permanent look of concern furrowing his brows along with the redhead sitting in the passenger seat, then to the blonde that was sitting next to him, and finally to the glove compartment where, stashed behind piles of random shit, sat the holo that was sitting underneath the piano bench right under his nose.
To say the past few months were an emotional roller coaster was an understatement. Just when things seemed to be getting back to a somewhat normal rhythm, something else would happen that would send another ripple through his emotions. Not that things were ever going to be normal without Phil. Over a year later and that much was never going to change. After meeting a man like him it would be impossible for anything to feel normal again once he was gone. He was at peace with that at least, not tearing up every time he thought about it anymore like he used to. Probably because he just had much more to live for, and knew that was what Phil would have wanted. He had Phil's family back in District Three, and his own sister who was putting herself on the line.
He just had to try to avoid the thought of what could have possibly happened if she wasn't so close to a bomb shelter when they started dropping. She was fine, so he was trying to not dwell on it. But he knew that she was really lucky in that case, and many others weren't. The fear when he heard the news still made him feel cold, even if he knew she was alright now. He wasn't ready to grieve again.
It seemed that he got a job at just the right time. Even if he was just brought along because they had no choice. He was the only one that could unlock the holo that Phil left behind. Filled up with top secret information about the Capitol's biological weapons. Philander. Smuggling classified files. Apparently Phil wasn't as interested in sitting around and watching as they all thought.
Despite himself, there was just a little prickle of hurt in Pri that such a secret would have been kept from him, even if he understood why. This holo on its own would have gotten Phil imprisoned or worse, and Pri was a Capitolite, on the outside more than the inside, but his privilege was still evident. It opened up some wounds that lived deep in Pri, and made him face a difficult truth – that even if Phil wasn't killed that night… He couldn't have sidestepped that fate forever. And living on what-ifs wasn't going to help anyone now, the only thing that was going to help now was getting this information that Phil risked his skin smuggling to the people that actually knew anything about how to use it.
Pri was snapped out of his thoughts by a particularly big bump in the road that made him grab the door a little bit tighter. Sure, he rode in cars back home, but never through the woods without a paved road like this.
Alvis – or Jun – was not phased at all by doing this which was good because Pri was stressed. The girls didn't at all look stressed though. Lizzie was living for the bumps and had a big smile on her face, even providing a "whee" or two on the way.
Meanwhile, the girl in the other side was sitting up on a holo of her own, tapping her acrylic nails on the window a few times before she went back to playing with it.
"How are you not carsick?" Pri asked her, shaking his head in disbelief. But the more he thought about it, the more carsick he felt and he tried to focus on the road. She was the notorious hacker for the rebels in District 3, he didn't imagine she rode in vehicles much.
"Oh I never get carsick," Lili responded, putting down the holo to look over at him. "But VR? For some reason that drives me crazy."
"Oh, One Man Circus got to do a VR experience one time on a charity stream, where we all had to face big fears," Lizzie said, smiling at the memory. "Freddy did the heights simulator and it was so funny how he actually thought he was going to fall. Meanwhile, Bonnie's screaming like a bitch about a virtual centipede!"
Jun looked like he was going to protest until she finished her sentence, and then let out a hearty, "HA!"
"You guys did a lot of charity work together," Pri commented, thinking about a few times he'd seen the band getting publicity for something like that.
"We wanted to help people," Lizzie said with a sigh. "And I mean, we did. And now…" she made an explosion by her head and made a sound effect with her mouth. "Who knows who we're helping or hurting at this point. I'm just glad that they're safe."
"You're helping people," Jun said, and Pri gave a slightly pained smile at that. It was kind of hard to see who any of them were helping when everyone around them was dying. "The ones that need it the most, like you were." He gave her the quickest look over, and she just grinned and blushed.
Lili just raised an eyebrow at the two of them and looked at Pri. Pri just looked at the two of them and gave a smile. Because even though he was older now, and sadder now, he still saw a little of himself in Lizzie's face. That smile just looked like how he felt when he got paired with Phil for a project in college, or passed him hanging with Wolf in the courtyard. It hurt, but at the same time it made him happy that all hope wasn't totally lost.
Lili typed a little into her holo and showed it to Pri behind the seat.
Too bad, she's hot.
Pri immediately reached over to lightly smack her arm. But it did make him laugh a little bit. At this point, he had to find all of the little things to make him laugh because the dark reality of what they were tied up in appeared in every corner.
But when Lizzie turned back around, Pri and Lili both looked out the window, making themselves busy. Not that there was much to see out the windows except for trees and bushes. They were going the long way around District Eight.
"So who exactly are we going not meet anyways? I've heard there are some batshit crazy rebels out there, I hope this isn't one of them," Pri said, coming back down to earth before he felt like this was just some fun roadtrip.
"Hopefully they don't partake in any waifu wars," Lili said. "Rebels that have waifu wars!" she said, shaking her head. "Love them."
"Oh, wait until you get passed a story about District Seven. And Trap thinks that this District One guy is nutso, and that's saying something," Jun said matter-of-factly.
"Trap," Lizzie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Can't believe that big teddy bear has been an extremely violent Career this whole time and we didn't even know it."
"Yeah, and your best friend was also a snake," Jun said, making a stink face thinking about it.
Lizzie just sighed hearing that and shook her head. "Still processing that. Wonder what he'll say for himself when I see him again."
Jun blew a raspberry at that. "He ain't gonna get out very many words before my fist meets his face," he said with a shrug.
"The question," Pri said, not wanting to upset Jun or Lizzie. But he definitely noticed Jun's protective nature, especially with Lizzie. After all, he was just begging Pri to take her in even if they turned him away. He wasn't a super obvious dummy, but… He obviously cared deeply for her.
"Right," Jun said, glad for the topic change. "Well, our contact in District Eleven is called Inkalamu. His main business right now is collecting, copying, and circulating banned books, but he's also got a degree in muttation studies and apparently is quite gifted. And apparently we're getting picked up by his sister."
"Is she cute?" Lili asked and Jun's eyes narrowed as he hit the gas. "I will turn this car around," he said.
"Oh, please," Lizzie said with a laugh.
"Panya is the name," Jun said. "And I guess she's the brawn of the operation."
"Oh I can only hope she's a butch," Lili said.
"You remind me of Phil's friends," Pri said with a head shake at her. "Thirsty."
"If your only friends were awkward nerds, you'd be anxious to get out in the world too," Lili told him, and she sounded like such an old soul.
"Do you think you can stop the holo from destructing if something happened?" Jun asked, looking nervously at the glove compartment. "It's pretty sensitive."
"Honestly? Depends on what kind of security programs are on it and how well I know the software," she said. "I have a few go-tos that work most of the time but I can't make any guarantees. I'll do my best though," she promised.
"Better than nothing," Jun said under his breath. "Alright, I think I'm going to pull off a little deeper into the woods and we can all get a little rest. Then we'll knock out the rest of the plan tomorrow." He turned a little bit and the road only got bumpier.
"Whee, this is like a roller coaster!" Lizzie said loudly, her positive attitude keeping anyone from getting mean.
"Oop," Lili said, putting the holo down for once and looking out the window. Pri grabbed his stomach and groaned a little bit, trying to not blow chunks in that moment, they were getting jostled and bounced all over the place. It couldn't end soon enough for Pri and when the car slowed down he could have cried in relief.
Pri just was not made for this stuff. He wasn't tough, knowledgeable, or even that brave. He didn't have balls of steel and was still a little terrified for what they were going into. He was afraid for his sister and his friends, his family. He wasn't the type that should be out on the front lines and was still worried about slowing down the group of people that were with him.
And yet, fate loved to play games with him and here he was, with a small group of practical strangers who he still related to and wanted to protect. War made families real fast and he already had one here. A group that would cuddle for warmth and stand right in front of each other while they pissed, or worse, pass around clothes to those that got chilly, or to use as pillows, there were no boundaries here which Pri wasn't used to. But there really wasn't another choice.
And, well, they gave a gift to Pri – happiness for his family, and hope. Even Az wanted to hang around and ask questions. And seeing how Henryk lit up when Lizzie played him Piano Man… That was a gift that Pri would never be able to give back to them, it was so precious to him.
In return he would root for them and be there for them in a pinch as much as he could. Even if he wasn't fit for this or super smart, he still had a role to play and he would do his very best at it for their sakes. He owed it to the people that loved and supported him, and that had his back in return. To his sister who was protecting and caring for a small little group of her own across the country.
And, of course, he owed it to Phil.
~.~.
-Kat Valentine, Capitol-
She hated that Trap was going off on his own. For a couple of different reasons of course, but… Well, he just reminded her too much of herself. Willing to put her neck out for anyone she cared about.
The old Kat didn't trust a soul, and was focused on herself. She had to get herself from day to day safely, she shut everyone out so that she couldn't get hurt. It was what she felt like she had to do be happy and protect herself. And deep down, she had that nagging feeling that she didn't deserve to have anyone that cared about her, after what happened. She viewed herself as damaged goods because she was innocent once and she couldn't fight off the man that violated her in the worst possible way…
But then… Everything changed. She tried so hard to push away her feelings for Stellan because she didn't want him to hurt her. He did everything he could to avoid her which, at the time, felt even worse. But no, that dumbass was just in the center of a coup, not looking at her as damaged goods like she thought. Since then she had more people to look after than she could count. But now, those scared little rescued tributes were strong, and looking after themselves in ways that she just couldn't follow. They were putting on brave faces like she did with them back then, to take care of what needed to get done. She couldn't be prouder – or more terrified.
Most of them were on their way to safety today. The Capitol, as far as they knew, still wasn't aware that District Thirteen still existed, even as abandoned and run-down ruins. Even if they did know, it wouldn't be worth attacking at that point because they were so deep underground, protected from bombs. Kat just had to hope they hadn't come up with something that could grant them access easily. So many terrifying options flashed before her eyes, ways that their plan of getting everyone together in one safe space could go terribly wrong.
She just had to practice what she preached to Stellan, and not get so bogged down by the negatives that she failed to see the hope that they were bringing down to people.
But with the lives of the ones she loved most on the line… That was much easier said than done.
She always counted them on her fingers when she was worried like this. Malloy, Camellia, and Jo would be together again soon. Camellia was flying out with the small group of tributes soon, while Malloy, Jo, and Coda were safely there already with the nutjob from Seven. Molly was in charge of seeing Jace and Tessa back there, and Kat knew that she would do a good job. Any friend of Stellan's was a friend of hers now – even the fangirls.
Speaking of… She turned to look at the two that insisted on coming with her on this mission. Waverly, from the nerd coalition, messy pink hair tied up in a bun and trying to rest. And, of course, Jill, who stubbornly had her hair up in the strongest braided space buns Kat had ever seen, and was somehow actually sleeping despite sitting up. When Stellan said that she could sleep anywhere, he really wasn't kidding. Kat pulled up her holo to make sure she knew the direction she needed to start out in, but wanted to give the others a few more minutes to sleep before she started driving again. She was anxious to make it to Six and get connections and intel so that she could be on her way back home.
Kat anxiously looked at her fingernails for a few seconds, tapping them on her wrists. She was so distracted worrying about the tributes just to try and keep from worrying about him. It was his ass on the line for all of them and he had to juggle different Districts and factions on top of trying to protect everyone. The Capitol never took it out on the one in charge so she wasn't scared for his life, but… She was scared for his brain. He just… Took everything so hard, because he cared, he cared too much. Kat was finding that so did she. She just liked it better when she could be there to take care of him. Hopefully in her absence, the others had been stepping up. But they probably weren't doing much better. And they were blindsided by Numi, Kat knew it was coming but it was his request that they not tell the others, so she didn't. She almost wished she did, now.
But she couldn't change the past, she could only look onto the future. So she pulled out a small energy drink they were gifted from Ricky for his 24-hour gaming campaigns and sipped it while looking at the other two girls and just hoping that this would go well for them. But a group of train bandits have proven to not be easy to find, despite how close 3 and 6 are. Who knew if they were even in District Six anymore, surely they were well-travelled. All she had was a possible address for their hub in the District. And for all she knew, all they would find there would be supplies and if they were lucky, notes. It might require a few days of camping out there to see anyone.
Alright, she couldn't keep putting this off. She had to buckle down and now was the time. So Kat just rolled her shoulders, and tried to turn the car on as quietly as possible. Waverly sat up right away when she heard the car start up and rubbed her eyes.
"You can go back to sleep," she said, looking over at Jill to see if that woke her up and not sure if she was sleeping or just pretending to sleep.
"Are we going to get there soon?" Waverly asked, as if she didn't look dreadfully tired. "I'm from District Seven and I've realized that I love traveling! I wonder what District Six looks like. Maybe like Three."
"It's a smoggy mess," Kat confessed. She always hated going back to District Six, it was just so… Bleak there. Druggies on the streets and a smoky haze in the air. She understood why Stellan would want to get out of there just seeing it, let alone with his family circumstances. "I have masks for when we get out and travel, both for anonymity and for protection."
"It's pointless," Jill said, her jaw tight and her eyes coming open as she just stared at the glove compartment rather than looking out the window. "It's shit there. Can go two steps without stepping on a needle and the urban areas smell like sewage and shit. Not even rats infest it between the chemicals in the water and the smoke."
Kat looked over for a second as she felt concern wash over her. She was worried about bringing Jill back here, but she was stubborn about wanting to come. "I never would have imagined people would live in conditions like this," she said. "The Victor's Village and the richer suburbs of the District isn't as bad, but…" Most people didn't live there. "It's pretty bleak, and we're going to the heart of the industrial area by the train stations."
"Pretty bleak sounds like something Stellan would say to justify leaving me and Tuck behind there," she said bitterly. "Just add a dude on the end."
Waverly also looked concerned about her. "Who's Tuck again?"
Jill sighed and shook her head. "My other brother, the one that didn't choose to leave," she said finally, sniffing a little bit thinking about Tuck, and Elliot despite herself. Kat could recognize that faraway look in her eyes and suddenly wished she'd brought Tessa with her. Those two just got each other and helped each other out. But she needed Tessa to stay with Jace. "He was killed by Peacekeepers for being stupid about doing graffiti."
"He was well-adored," Kat said, feeling a pang and wishing that she could have met him, she felt like she was missing so much and visiting a grave wasn't the same.
"Yeah," Jill said, and Kat could tell she was really trying to not take it out on Stellan still, but she was young and he still wasn't there for her. And his own fear of being hurt caused him to push her away, just like Kat's fears when she was younger. She never got those relationships back like he did, though. "I hate this place. But I know the good, the bad, and the ugly about it from my days of floating around for parties and –" she choked on the word, "drugs."
"That's really valuable," Kat said, but she was just worried about her and hoped that this wouldn't be too triggering for her. As a sister it was just her job to worry, especially when Stellan was too obtuse to know that he should be worrying. "I just…" She sighed a little bit.
"I can deal with trauma, I'm a big girl," Jill said, but she was scared to go back here and see things she hadn't seen for such a long time. "We all gotta be big girls."
"I suppose," Waverly said, but she was still frowning. "Well, this time you're not going in alone. You have us to be with you the whole time and get the job done. Sisters." Kat could hear the small excited noise that Waverly was trying to hold back at the prospect that she was sisters with Kat Valentine of Midnight's Muse. The fangirling was weird, yet endearing at the same time.
"You're right, we're going to have your back Jill," Kat said firmly and gave a nod, practically feeling the air going past a train in the distance and knowing they were going to have to do the rest of the travel on foot to sneak around any security and fences. She took a deep breath, knowing that this was the point where things got much more dangerous. She pulled up the directions, committing them to memory before she put the holo away safely on her person, taking her gun and holstering it right by her hand. The other girls got their belongings and rations loaded up and put on masks before the voyage continued.
Kat was on-edge the entire time, her hand constantly ready to snap up and just start shooting if anyone gave them an issue. She gave Stellan a promise to get Jill back to him and she was going to do it no matter what it took.
She squinted, trying to find an in to the District, but they were still pretty far out from civilization. Another train darted by and Kat grabbed Jill's arm as the force threw them all backwards and the sound made their ears ring as they were on the ground. Those things were no fucking joke.
"Hey! Yinz're gonna die if you try to get in that way!" said a loud voice, and Kat turned around to see a dirty looking person with a cloth over the bottom half of their face with a mullet coming toward them, maneuvering the area like it was just second nature, stopping in front of them and barely even out of breath as they were taking in the group. "Don't be stupid now. Oh, you all look like straight-up delinquents!"
"Delinquents isn't the word I would use," Waverly said.
"A transfemme!" the mysterious person said, putting a hand on their chest. "Oh, we love a good transfemme. Oh, and the navy hair gives you away right away, Kat Valentine!"
"I'm going to guess that you're on our side if you haven't put up a gun yet," Kat said, but she was still very ready to get hers if she needed to.
"I was wondering when you folks were going to need some supplies," they said. "Hi, I'm Hollis, and I'm number three. We were just out on a stakeout planning our next heist, but when I saw you guys stumbling about I knew I had to come getcha before you went to our red herring. But oh the fake stories you would have read if you made it there! Little cis boy ain't much to look at, but he's a great creative writer!"
"Little cis boy?" Jill asked before she laughed a little bit. "Who are you people?"
"Oh we're the best in the business of ransacking trains," Three said, gesturing for them to follow but only after triple checking that the ways were clear. "Our biggest dream is to steal one someday. But we're still workin' on how to do it without dying."
"Only one cis boy?" Waverly asked as they went away from the tracks and toward a more overgrown part of the woods.
"We don't need cis men!" Hollis said proudly, bringing them in toward an abandoned boxcar where a small group was waiting for their approach. "Told you I'd go get 'em before they got run over by a train."
"Well I'm glad you did," said an older person with dark skin and bleached blonde hair. "Were you on the way to our dummy base? I knew it was good to get everyone talking!"
"Yeah, that was a great idea Five," said a very femme-looking person with brown hair. "Nice work on that. Hi, I'm Mere, or One."
"Wait, you're one?!" asked Jill, clapping her hands. "I love it!"
"More like number one simp," said the one that was quite obviously the cis boy from earlier.
"Can't hear you!" said One in a sing-song voice, turning away from him.
Kat squinted, but now that she mentioned it, the way she had her head turned a little and leaned in toward whoever was talking made more sense. "Are you hard of hearing?" she asked, giving the sign too.
"Can't get hearing damage from the loud trains if your ears already don't work! Right Hayden?" One said, elbowing Two a few times who just got red in the face.
"Cut that out."
"Well, his name is gender neutral," Jill commented.
"He fits in so well," Five said with a smile. "I'm Lennox. And over on the end is Nat, the baby. They don't talk much though." Lennox leaned over to whisper. "They're having an awkward phase right now."
"Well thanks for not letting us cut through the tracks to your dummy base," Kat said, shaking her head in disbelief and wondering what kind of intel they were getting. That was the part of this that was so hard, trying to organize people from so far away. "This is Jill and Waverly. I'm Kat –" but obviously she didn't need to introduce herself, she just felt weird not doing it! "And we need your help."
"Oh I love feeling important!" Hollis said happily, before looking to the others who had an unspoken agreement of affirmation between them as they led the way into the little overgrown boxcar.
"Alright," Mere said, grinning and cracking their knuckles. "Let's see what we can do."
~.~.
-Camellia Gallen, Rescued Tribute-
She was equal parts excited and terrified for this day. But mostly excited. After so long of needing to be the strong one, it would be nothing short of a relief to finally be able to relax a little bit, in the safety of the underground. She knew that it wasn't a glamourous life – but after disguising as a Capitolite for so long, she was so fucking done with glitz and glamor. She wanted her partners, no more disguises. And most importantly, she wanted Malloy's beard back!
Camellia never asked to be in her position. None of them truly ever did. If she hadn't lost her brother years ago, she wouldn't be here. She was happy to take the helm after being rescued, but it wasn't a pretty life. She would sleep well tonight, and she was practically guaranteed to be in the middle of the pile since she was the one that was separated from those two for so long. She rubbed her hands together with a grin on her face as she went to make a lot of coffee for those that were going on the journey today. It would be a bit of a hike to get into the wilderness where they would get picked up so they had to start before the sun rose. But she was trying to let them sleep as long as possible. Knowing that the other group arrived safely in District Two was such a relief that many of them finally got to sleep a little deeper.
When she walked to the kitchen area, she noticed Bonnie, still on the couch with his shirt riding up and pants kicked off as he was sprawled out and snoring a little bit. There were more than enough beds for him to take one, but he insisted on sleeping on the tiny futon and that shit was not comfortable. Ugh, this was going to be a long day with Freddy and Bonnie in the same place. That was the ultimate root of the problem. Mari and Ryder elected to travel with Mino and Miss Bella to District Five, mostly to get away from Bonnie. Good, one less headache.
Freddy wouldn't even stay in the same room as his former bandmate. Which was going to be annoying in a little cargo hovercraft. As long as those two didn't kill each other, Camellia would count the day as a success. At least Lis didn't feel the same way and could placate Freddy, even if only a little bit. She couldn't blame Freddy, though. Lis hadn't let go of him long enough to get a moment alone with Camellia, but she was sure when she did, she would hear about everything that happened to them under the watch of the Capitol. And she wasn't looking forward to that at all, with how unwell they both looked upon arriving.
But on the other hand, Bonnie was trying to stay out of trouble. He wasn't bound, but he acted like a prisoner. He didn't even make eye contact with any of them. It was a little hard to hate him when he acted like that, and after what Camellia heard from Trap… She didn't believe he was acting or pretending anymore. This was a markedly different person than he was when they left him.
Camellia let the coffee machine do its job, sighing a little bit as she walked over to Bonnie on the couch and shook his shoulder a little bit to wake him up. "Wakey wakey," she said lamely. "Up and at 'em."
Bonnie yawned and rubbed his eyes a little bit as he pushed up his arms to stretch them and Camellia quickly caught a lamp before it was pushed off the side table. This boy was taller than Stellan, he was definitely not made for this couch. "Okay," he said, his voice deeper from sleep as he yawned again.
Camellia turned on the lamp for him and then threw his pants at his face. "Get these on before the others get out here and are blinded by your pasty-ass thighs." The rescued tributes all got treatments to take the pigment from their skin unlike Bonnie, so he was still vaguely blue, but it was obvious he didn't color anywhere near his balls. Poor Malloy.
"Wha-" he said, just then realizing he had no pants on and blushing deeply, quickly pulling them on. "Sorry!"
Camellia still wasn't totally sure if she wanted to be good cop or bad cop with him, but she couldn't not laugh at that. "Malloy's our hot sleeper. Especially now that he's stopped shaving to be Oliver. Ee, I want my hairy man back!" She clapped her hands in excitement, going to get the airhorn quickly in her excitement to finally see him and Jo again. Last time for this. Here, anyway. She had to make this count. She blared the horn in the middle of the hallway and clapped her hands. "RISE AND SHINE MOTHERFUCKERS, I WANNA SEE MY PARNTERS!" She opened the door to the room where Freddy and Lis were staying and screamed, quickly turning away when she saw that they were both naked, quickly slamming it again.
Ember opened the door to her and Mary's room, sporting an epic bedhead and dark bags beneath her eyes. "We're up." She squinted. "What?"
Camellia still had a horrified look on her face. "I've seen things and require caffeine." She shuffled out to the kitchen, getting a mug of coffee and taking it out to Bonnie, shuddering a little.
"Come on, Rose," he said when he took it from her, blinking blearily at her through his glasses. "That can't be the first time you've seen Freddy naked. I've seen him naked more times than I can count." Camellia laughed at that despite herself as he took a sip of coffee with a small, "Thanks."
"It's weird, huh?" she asked him as she watched him over her own mug. "Being told that you're saving the world, when all you're doing is chasing down nitwits and trying to keep them from getting in too much trouble and being exposed to their tiny peckers."
Bonnie bit his lip to keep from smiling at that. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Guess it is."
"Yeah, don't I know it," Camellia said with a laugh. "Well, my man's pecker ain't tiny," she said under her breath with a laugh.
"But it was all a lie," Bonnie said, his glasses misting a little bit – and Camellia wasn't so sure that it was because of the steam. "We didn't saving anyone."
Camellia's heart broke when she saw the expression on his face and she could relate to it. But before she could say anything, she heard someone in the kitchen and looked over to see Mary with a cup of straight-up black coffee. She maintained eye contact with Camellia as she put the coffee up to her lips and took a long sip.
"Deal with it."
Camellia was going to say she was too young for that, but she didn't waste her air. "Looks like the rest of the crew's getting up. But I'm not done with you," she told him, squeezing his shoulder, getting an obedient "Yes'm."
Ember was out soon after Mary, putting some sugar and cream in her coffee and stirring it around a little bit as they talked quietly and occasionally looked over at Bonnie. So that just left the two lovebirds. Camellia sighed as she looked toward the door again. She didn't want to go in there and get a better view of them, but at the same time she just knew they weren't awake. She opened the door a little bit and just put the airhorn in, blasting it again and grinning when she heard a high-pitched scream from Freddy and a thump when he fell on the floor.
"Get up ya hoes!"
"Ughhh we were working on it!" Lis whined. "It's so fucking early!"
"I got it I got it," Freddy said from the floor. "Jeebies."
Camellia was satisfied with that, but reached in to turn the light on anyway, just to make sure they were moving. They couldn't waste time by diddling around, they had a job here! And Camellia wanted to be with her partners diddling around! She went back out to the other two girls, looking more relaxed since Bonnie was in the bathroom.
"Thanks for being the good eggs," she said to them, trying a smile. But it was hard when she knew that Ember had a boyfriend that she was missing and was probably jealous that Camellia got hers back today. "We're going to get you somewhere safe today."
"I wish we could just put everyone there," Ember said with a sigh and a frown. She was still a soft heart, despite how much she'd grown.
"Me too," Camellia told her honestly, frowning and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hopefully we can provide solace for your loved ones soon." That was all she could say because she had no idea what was coming next. Ember put on a brave face and nodded.
"My friends back home can fight for themselves, and so can I," Mary said, but her worry for the others was thinly disguised.
"The only fighting we have to do today is the fight to keep Dumb and Dumber from slapping each other," Camellia told them, laughing at their faces. "See, I told you I would miss the others!"
"Yeah, we were petty but not like these two," Mary said, shaking her head. "I've seen many a catfight in my day. White girl with too many Sangrias trying to rip out another bitch's earrings. Those two are all bark and no bite, they'll be fine."
"What kind of life did you live?" Ember asked her, shaking her head in disbelief while Camellia just laughed.
"Some crazy shit happens when you're an entertainer, whether just in a bar like her or pop sensations like Rose," she said with a laugh just thinking about some of the stuff they'd witnessed. "My favorite? Still when Stellan got hit with a purse over bingo."
"What?!" Freddy asked, whining when he could see he was missing out on fun. "Wait, start again!"
"I mean, that's basically the story," Camellia said, sipping on hers as Lis came out, looking a little dismayed that she still couldn't do her full skincare routine. "It happened when we did our District tour."
"Oh I was so jealous of you guys getting to go to the Districts!" Freddy said as he sipped his coffee once before starting to prepare Lis's just how she liked.
"And I wanted to follow you around but Daddy couldn't make it happen," Lis said as she smiled at Freddy. "Thanks Babe."
Ember sighed again and Camellia frowned. She felt so bad for her. Unlike Camellia, Ember's boyfriend didn't know where she was. And… Well, Ember wasn't the only one with a partner she was terrified for in this group…
"It was fun. Less fun when we saw friends and family and had to pretend we didn't know them, but they were right there. I still can't believe my parents know now, and so does Mr. Malloy. He passed out when Jack told him, or so I've been told." Thinking about how her parents reacted – to know that at least one of their children was alive still… It still made her tear up a little bit.
"I still can't believe I know!" Freddy said with a grin. "And we thought Bonnie was crazy." His smile quickly faded. "Turns out he's just a backstabber."
"Yes, but, he also freed us," Lis told him, but when she saw he was just pouting she just hugged him instead and put her head on his shoulder.
"Please tell me he's going to be bound for the trip," Freddy said. "You just never know."
"I will handle him," Camellia said. Stellan said it was up to her whether or not to cuff him, and she was still torn. Not like he would fight either way… And he would be much more likely to help them if she showed a little trust in him first. "You just focus on you."
"She sounds like my primary school teacher," Ember said quietly with a giggle. "Now tell him to keep his hands to him-self, young man."
Camellia laughed a little at that and gave Freddy a look. "Please do keep your hands to yourself," she said. "For all of our sakes."
"Whatever," Freddy grumbled. "I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him after what he did!"
Camellia heard the bathroom door closed and quickly put a finger over her lips but by the look he wore, she could tell it was too late. "Well, everyone should try for the bathroom one last time because we have a couple-hour hike ahead of us. Only take what you absolutely need – that means no hair or skin products, those will be too heavy for you and we all know Freddy's not going to be able to carry them." Lis didn't argue, but she looked sad. Camellia knew her hair was important to her, but so was living. "I'm sorry," she said, and she did mean it.
"She can put it in my bag," Bonnie said with a shrug as he produced his backpack from where it sat close to him on the couch. "I don't have much."
"Thank you!" Lis said, almost in tears as she hurried to the bathroom to collect what she wanted. Freddy gave him an ice-cold glare.
"If you think you're going to steal my girl, then fuck right off."
"Alright, Freddy, that's enough," Camellia said. She knew who Bonnie loved, truly loved, and it wasn't her. "Go pack. Let's go, we don't have time."
"Yes ma'am," Freddy said, too afraid of her to not listen as Ember and Mary went to get some of the very few things they had here.
"You going to be able to carry a lot of heavy bottles?" Camellia asked Bonnie as she already had her bag packed with rations of food and water, a few emergency blankets, first aid, and a few small memories of this place.
"Yeah, it's no biggie," Bonnie said. "All I got is a pair of underwear, pair of socks, a few bandages, and a teddy- I mean, a pair of pants or something."
Camellia gave a slow grin at that, but she couldn't say anything because others were coming back with their things packed and ready to go. Lis had an armful of bottles that she put in Bonnie's bag while Freddy was the last to come out with some poorly timed coffee shits.
"Alright, everyone packed?" she asked, passing around scarves for them to cover their faces with, just in case. Once they were all suited up and each had a granola bar in hand, Camellia sighed. Just a couple hours and she would be getting all the titty squeezes and cheek kisses she wanted.
The hike was fairly inconsequential. Besides the occasional piss stop, they made good time. She was able to give a proud I-told-you-so to Ember and Mary when they were keeping up with Camellia and Bonnie and Freddy and Lis were falling behind. Even though they were sneaking and wanted fugitives, Freddy and Lis insisted on holding hands pretty much the entire way through the hike.
Camellia could have cried with relief when she saw the little hovercraft full of crates that was just waiting for them at the coordinates they agreed on. She could see the relief in the faces of the others. She stood by the entrance and helped Ember and Mary up the ramp first. When Bonnie went, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back. "You're with me, kid."
"Oh, right," Bonnie said, readjusting the backpack on his shoulders and rolling his neck a little bit. She could tell he was struggling a little bit, and felt bad for him. Freddy glared at him the whole way into the hovercraft and Lis just pulled on his hand gently. It was a tight squeeze for them all with all of the crates of supplies. Camellia wedged herself in a pile toward the entryway and Bonnie obediently sat by her there. The others were more toward the back and she knew she probably wouldn't get another moment with him again and she just… She had to say something.
Once they were safely locked in and in the sky again, she looked at Bonnie. She had so many questions for him and wasn't totally sure where to start. So she just had to start from the very basic beginning. "You know," she said quietly, just barely over the hum of the hovercraft. She swallowed a lump in her throat. It never got easier to say out loud. "I know what it's like. Losing your little brother," she said a little quieter.
Bonnie looked up at her and his glasses got misty when his eyes filled with tears. "What?"
"It's a pain that never really gets better." She sighed a little bit as her heart felt so heavy. "It's a wound that doesn't ever fully heal. Sometimes you can forget it's not there but when you remember, it's right back to hurting."
Bonnie looked away from her, sniffing stubbornly. "Oh." He spoke in a voice completely devoid of emotion, holding it all back. Of course.
"You see things in the world and… It brings back a random memory. Or I see a person like you, who is basically his age if he were still alive, and wonder things about how it could have been. Then give up, because it's not like I can change it." She just looked at him with a frown on her face, seeing her own pain from years ago reflected in a mirror. "I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone and I'm so sorry you're feeling it now because I understand. Nobody should have to go through it alone."
Bonnie sniffed and wiped his eyes a little bit and just gave a small shrug.
Camellia frowned and leaned over to just give him a nice warm hug, just like her Mom gave her that night that she lost her little brother, her best friend. She sometimes pushed them away while she was grieving, but she needed her parents through the process. "You've been through a lot these past few days, Bonnie," she said. Regardless of what he did before. "But now you can breathe. Grieve. It's okay."
Bonnie put his glasses up as a few tears slipped out of his eyes. "It's all my fault."
Camellia shook her head. "It's not," she said softly. "You had nothing to do with that, and the things you did have a part in, you fixed now." Hopefully, anyways. "Right?"
Bonnie swallowed and nodded a few times in response, reaching up to wipe his nose.
"I know, it hurts," she said, rubbing his back a little bit. "Trust me. It's a special kind of pain that can't be rivalled and it's okay to feel."
Bonnie sniffed a little and shrugged.
"We're not going to hurt you," she promised him and looked at his bag. "Is that his teddy in there?" she asked, giving him a small sad smile.
Bonnie looked to his backpack and his cheeks blushed. "No…" he said, taking a breath and his voice indicated the littlest shake. "Lester's."
Camellia blinked in surprise at that. First of all, that Lester had a teddy, secondly that Bonnie was carrying it around. But that just confirmed what she already suspected. "You love him, huh?" she asked him, looking at how his features softened. "He didn't shut up about you any time I talked to him. And he stayed behind for you, right?"
Bonnie let out a little sob and nodded his head a few times for all of it.
Camellia nodded a little bit, and it was like looking into a mirror – though more vaguely blue. "Yeah. I thought that Malloy was dead for a whole year so I understand that pain too," she told him honestly. "Thankfully, we know that Lester's not dead." She frowned at him for a second before getting his bag and digging under the bottles to pull out the patchy, worn brown bear and moving it around as she talked out of the side of her mouth in a dumb voice. "Don't worry, the great Kodiak Chay is on the case!"
"Stop, that's not what the Count sounds like," Bonnie said, plucking the bear from her hands and hugging him tightly. "He promised to bring Lester back," he said. "I wanted to give this to him to take with him, but I couldn't do it. It was a gift from his Mother and is the last thing he has of her."
Camellia smiled at him. "Yeah, you're ten times more thoughtful with him than you were with Hosanna," she teased him with a laugh to show that it was a joke. Yes it did break her heart when she realized she was being used, but in hindsight now this whole situation was just funny. Thankfully, it wasn't tragic. "I'm teasing you, Bonnie," she said with a chuckle when he was blushing. "You'll have plenty a chance to apologize to and make it up to Tessa later," she teased him again before taking another deep breath.
"I will," Bonnie said seriously. "Really."
"I'm sure you will," Camellia said, looking at the bear in his hands. "The Count, eh?"
"Count Chocula," Bonnie said, looking at it. "But yeah, the Count."
"So, Bonnie…" Camellia said, rubbing her chin a little bit. "Is it not trusting Kodi or… Perhaps, feeling threatened at the thought that a beautiful hunky man saving Lester and then handing him the bear?"
Bonnie looked up at her with a laugh. "I mean, Kodi does have feelings for Lester so I guess you could say that," he confessed honestly. "Yeah, I felt real bad when he said that."
"That boy, he's pretty interesting," Camellia said, putting her feet up. She had his trust, and was interested in doing her own interrogation of him. Not at all related to war, but instead relating to the book of loooooove. "He's obvious, but he never outright told any of us that. The first and only time I've checked on that boy and seen him sleeping was the night he was laying with you. Seems to have taken a shine to you."
Bonnie gave her a funny look. "I mean…" he said, biting his lip and shrugging. "Yeah, we talked a little about Lester. I told him about the butterfly rule but he didn't do anything with it, just showed me everything bandaged up."
Oh he was so dumb! Camellia slapped her forehead. "Yeah, he never shows us his hip and Mari and I had to wrestle him for it sometimes."
Bonnie laughed at the mental image before he just got sad again. "What's the point?" he asked her.
Camellia just shrugged and bit back a grin. "I'm just letting you know that he likes you, he could use a… Friend."
"Okay, Rose – er, sorry, Camellia," he said, blushing calling her the wrong name, and was obviously thrown off when she just laughed at him and gently pat his arm. "You're not telling me the whole truth."
Camellia laughed at him being so perceptive. Oh, they could really use someone like him if he'll agree to help them – which why wouldn't he now that he was already a wanted fugitive? "Alright fine. What I'm sayin', is that you've had a lot of sadness in your life, especially right now. But maybe you can get yourself a little extra happy."
Bonnie narrowed his eyes at her, but his cheeks were blushing. "And…?"
"Oh, there's just something about the number three," Camellia said with a grin at him as she watched his cheeks slowly get redder and redder as he realized what she was saying. "Something a little more fun about watching your childhood sweetheart running around buck naked trying to find a guitar after accidentally slipping up and telling your partner-in-crime sweetheart that he loves her before he could do a big romantic gesture." She couldn't help the grin and laugh she got on her face thinking about that. "It's not for everyone, don't get me wrong, I could never imagine Freddy and Lis sharing each other. Stellan and Kat, forget about it. But, I'm looking into a blue-tinted, penis-wielding mirror right now and let me tell you… Best decision I ever made. And Kodi is a good boy you know. He's cute, he can sing, he's a total dreamboat, and Lester was raving about him in the bedroom."
"Oh trust me, I heard all about it," Bonnie said, but he was blushing and the fact that he didn't immediately get mad at Camellia for bringing that up was a good indication that she had planted a seed. Excellent.
"Speaking of three, I need to get back to my two partners!" she whined, but when her ears popped on the descent she just grinned at him, getting excited again.
"Oh yeah. I'm about to show you why having three is the best!"
~.~.
A/N: I forgot the POV order but this is a good one to upload on Dreamer's wisdom teeth day. Godspeed on recovery!
Next chapter: The Three Horny Musketeer reunion, Thalliope finally get a bed to fu- I mean, sleep in, and a Great Big Gay Prison Break™