6
Midnight's Shadow moved toward the aircraft which had landed securely upon the grass, its engines still roaring. Her black hair whipped wildly around her face, stinging her skin when it smacked into it. She felt trapped. She was definitely no better off staying and hiding in the woods, but she couldn't help but wonder if she could even trust these people. Sure they were more willing to offer a kind word than the other people, but they were just as battle hardened and secretive. That didn't exactly inspire trust in Midnight's Shadow's eyes.
As she was striding towards the waiting plane, Midnight's Shadow felt Scarlett walk up beside her. She extended her hand and grabbed her arm to lead her to the plane. The dark haired woman jerked her arm away from Scarlett roughly. "I can walk myself," she stated bluntly.
Scarlett nodded stiffly in response but didn't leave her side.
Suddenly, Midnight's Shadow jumped when she felt a hand firmly grasp her arm. But it wasn't Scarlett. The dark haired woman shifted her gaze to her other side and saw Snake Eyes walking silently beside her, his black gloved hand gripping her left arm strongly. The ninja either didn't notice her gaze or chose not to care, as he continued looking straight ahead.
As before, the dark haired woman jerked her arm away. This time, though, her arm wasn't released. Snake Eyes kept a steadily firm grip on her arm and even tightened it when she sought to jerk it away. Midnight's Shadow scowled furiously. "I said I can walk myself," she said icily. Still he didn't release her. "Let me go," she demanded.
In response, the black clad ninja lengthened his already long strides, making her struggle to keep pace. He practically dragged her to the plane. Just before they stepped inside, she saw Scarlett smiling and trying not to laugh.
Then, she was gone and Snake Eyes brought her into the plane. The interior of the plane was windowless, the lights on the ceiling the only light provided. Seats with light harnesses lined both sides of the plane. In the far back, Midnight's Shadow could see a sort of back area with storage lockers.
She didn't have time to look for long before Snake Eyes pushed her forward. She threw a scowl over her shoulder at him, but once again the ninja either chose to ignore her or didn't even notice. He forced her to walk down the aisle a small distance before he roughly pushed her down into one of the seats. Without even offering her another glance, Snake Eyes walked past her towards the storage lockers. One by one, the rest of the team filed onto the plane and claimed their seats. Breaker took one on the end, near the cockpit while Scarlett elected to sit next to Midnight's Shadow.
Snake Eyes, after finishing with whatever he had done in the storage lockers, chose to sit across from her. He smoothly unsheathed his sword with the high pitched ringing of steel and began to sharpen it on something he held in his hand. For a moment, the ninja paused and glanced up at her, but Midnight's Shadow quickly looked away in the direction of the cockpit. A second later, she heard Snake Eyes begin sharpening his katana once again.
Midnight's Shadow just kept looking towards the cockpit, unsure of where else to look. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Breaker and Scarlett peeling off their black armor. Underneath, Scarlett wore a simple green tank top and camo pants, while Breaker wore a long sleeved beige shirt and dark green army pants. Once they had finished, the two of them both pulled duffel bags out from under their seats and proceeded to stuff their armor inside. When they had finished, they zipped them up and shoved them back under their seats.
Scarlett kept her handheld crossbow belted to her thigh, but Breaker headed to the back of the plane to the storage lockers to put away his gun. He returned a moment later and sat down in his seat once more.
Movement at the front of the plane caught Midnight's Shadow's attention. She looked and saw a large, heavily built man emerge from the cockpit. He was dressed similar to Scarlett and Breaker, wearing a tight fitting beige, no sleeve shirt, clearly meant to show off his muscles, and army green pants. Midnight's Shadow noticed something dangling from his ear and realized that it was a long silver earring. The man crossed his arms over his broad chest as he looked at the young woman. Midnight's Shadow stared back, refusing to be the first to look away.
"So you're the package that we went through all the trouble of getting," he said with a heavy accent that she quickly identified as British.
She shrugged in response. "I guess so."
He moved across the plane and took a seat between Breaker and Snake Eyes, his hard brown eyes never leaving her face. "Well then, I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us who those men back there were?" he asked.
Midnight's Shadow scoffed. "You attacked them, but you don't even know who they are?" she asked with mild surprise.
"We received intel that said a group of well-funded terrorists was moving a high priority and high risk package to another facility," Scarlett told her, chiming in.
"So tell us: What makes you such high priority?" the British man asked.
Midnight's Shadow could do nothing but stare. Terrorists? That was who was holding her prisoner? And a high priority package? Her? Sure she knew how to fight, so that accounted for the high risk part, but what about her was high priority? Perhaps, it was for the very same reason that they had been holding her prisoner. She could tell that they wanted something from her, but she didn't know what. Maybe, it was something that she had forgotten…
Quickly, the dark haired woman forced away her thought and shrugged once again. "I honestly have no idea," she replied, her gaze never straying from his face.
The man regarded her silently for a moment, trying to discern if she was lying or hiding anything from him. Midnight's Shadow looked him squarely in the eye as he did so. She had nothing to hide.
After a few seconds, he seemed satisfied and leaned back in his seat. Reaching behind him, he began to strap himself into the harness. After looking around, Midnight's Shadow quickly realized that everyone else was similarly secured. Hurriedly, she reached behind her as well and began to fasten the harness around her.
Midnight's Shadow turned to Scarlett. "Who's Mr. Chipper?" she asked.
Scarlett smiled. "Heavy Duty," the red haired woman replied.
No sooner had she finished than the British man called out to the pilot of the plane. "Alright! Take us home," he commanded.
"Yes, sir," came the answer. A second later, the engines picked up. Within moments, the plane was airborne and carrying them "home."
Midnight's Shadow clasped her hands in her lap. She looked down, her eyes straying to her sleeves. The adrenaline from her escape and the fights with the soldiers was wearing off. As it wore off, the dark haired woman became more and more aware of a slowly growing pain in her wrists. She wondered if she had reopened the slashes in her wrists during her escape. She dared not look now, though. She didn't exactly want to draw the attention of the others in the plane. So instead, the young woman moved her hand and let it rest casually on her wrist as she gingerly began to massage it, attempting to discreetly soothe the pain.
After a few minutes of flight, everyone unbuckled their harnesses and moved freely about the plane. Scarlett rose from her seat and headed into the back area of the plane. Midnight's Shadow unbuckled herself as well as she eyed the red haired woman warily. She still wasn't entirely sure how well she could trust these people. Scarlett opened one of the lockers and pulled out a small medical kit. Shutting the locker once more, she headed back down the aisle and retook her seat beside Midnight's Shadow.
She offered a small smile to the other woman. "Don't worry. I just need to check you over to make sure you're not hurt or anything," Scarlett said, opening the med kit.
"Can't I just tell you that I'm fine?" Midnight's Shadow asked dryly.
"Afraid not. Can you take off your jacket, please?" she asked.
The dark haired woman frowned, but did as she was told. She supposed there was no harm in letting Scarlett examine her. They were probably bound to find out eventually. Unzipping her jacket, Midnight's Shadow easily slid out of it and set it on the empty seat beside her.
Reaching towards her, Scarlett slowly began to roll up Midnight's Shadow's sleeve. The red haired woman pulled it up to just above her elbow and froze. Her blue eyes moved from her bandaged wrist to Midnight's Shadow and back again. Swiftly, she reached over and pulled back the sleeve of her other arm to reveal an identical bandage around her wrist. Scarlett looked over her shoulder at the large British man. "Hey, Heavy. Look at this."
Heavy Duty leaned forward in his seat to get a closer look at her arm, his brow furrowing. "The hell?"
This caught the others attention. Breaker stood up from his seat and came over to see what was going on. Likewise, Midnight's Shadow heard the metal ringing of Snake Eyes sharpening his blade stop as the ninja paused to look as well.
Gently, Scarlett gripped one of her wrists in her hand, turning it over as she examined it. "Did they do this to you or did you do it to yourself?" she asked carefully, not taking her eyes off her wrists. She appeared to be checking the bandage to make sure it wasn't bleeding through, but she didn't unwrap it.
Midnight's Shadow hesitated. "I don't know," she said.
"What do you mean 'you don't know?'" Heavy Duty asked, sounding slightly impatient.
The dark haired woman's face turned into a deep frown as she glared at him. "Exactly what you think it means. I…do not….know," she said, enunciating every word with perfect clarity.
"How can you not know?" Breaker asked, chiming in. "Wouldn't you remember something like that?"
You'd think she would, but she didn't. "I just woke up, locked in a room, and found that I had them. Once again, I don't remember how I got them," Midnight's Shadow said, growing a little irritated at having to repeat herself. As she looked at their faces, she knew they were doubting her. "I'm telling the truth." Midnight's Shadow took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "My first memories are from about a few days ago when I woke up in a room, alone. I have no memory of anything prior to waking up in that room."
"You have amnesia?" Scarlett asked, surprise evident in her voice when she spoke.
Midnight's Shadow nodded. "Yes. So, like I said, I don't remember how I got the cuts on my wrists. I don't know if the people holding me captive did it or if I did it to myself. When I first woke up, they were already bandaged and in the process of healing," she told them.
"Then how do you have a name?" Heavy Duty asked.
She gaze shifted to him. "One of the men who was watching me told me it was what he knew me as."
"I see. Did this man tell you why they were holding you prisoner?" the British man asked.
She shook her head. "No."
"What's this?" Scarlett asked. Midnight's Shadow looked down at her arm and saw the red haired woman gesture to the interior of her elbow where several injections marks were.
"I'm not sure. Most of those were there when I woke up. The others were shots to put me under for when they moved me…or for other things." Midnight's Shadow suppressed a shudder as an image of the Doctor flashed through her mind.
"What other things?" Breaker questioned.
The dark haired woman pursed her lips, playing with her fingers nervously. She glanced down at her lap before returning to the expectant faces before her as they awaited her answer. "There…there was this guy at the facility where I was being kept. They only called him the Doctor. I only met him once, that I remember, and that was enough."
Heavy Duty shifted his gaze to Breaker. "You ever heard of this Doctor guy?"
The Moroccan man shook his head. "No, but I'll check once we get back to the Pit."
Midnight's Shadow looked from face to face in confusion. "The Pit?"
"It's our base. It's where we're heading now," the other woman answered. She began to reach into the med kit and pulled out a roll of bandages and some wound cleaner. "I'm just going to change the bandage, okay?"
The dark haired woman nodded. She watched as the red head gingerly began to unwrap both of the white bandages around her wrists until they were laid bare. Luckily, the slashes hadn't reopened in her escape, but they were still irritated by movement. Midnight's Shadow gritted her teeth as the air came into contact with each wound as they were uncovered. Dabbing some of the disinfectant onto a cloth, Scarlett began to clean the angry looking slits. Midnight's Shadow flinched away the second the cloth touched her, the disinfectant stinging and irritating her wound more, causing pain to ratchet up her arm.
Scarlett's blue eyes flicked up, an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry." She returned the cloth to the dark haired woman's wrist, using gentle strokes. This time, Midnight's Shadow didn't flinch, and merely gritted her teeth until it was over. Once Scarlett finished, she put the cloth and cleaner back into the kit and began to carefully wrap her wrists.
Midnight's Shadow looked around the plane once again. Heavy Duty and Breaker were talking quietly, their heads bent over a small device in the Moroccan's hand. She wondered if they were trying to find out information about the Doctor. Snake Eyes had sheathed his katana across his back and simply sat in silent meditation, his gaze directed downward.
Midnight's Shadow leaned her head back until it rested on the back of her seat. She still wasn't sure how much she could trust these people, but for now she had no choice. At least they didn't seem to be as bad as the terrorists who had held her prisoner before. That was a plus. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the dark haired woman closed her eyes, content to know that for the moment she was safe.