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///

The door opened again, a hand on his shoulder rousing him from sleep.

Tai gave a groan... He felt like shit. Between the last 48 or so hours he'd been tortured, rescued, captured right after, imprisoned, and now...

Worst fucking week of his life.

...

Probably not, honestly...

"You may resume recording."

"W- the list, you were going to give me another name!"

"We never agreed on that. We never even discussed"-

As Tai's fist reflexively banged on the table it stopped not an inch from it, Jabari's eyes glowing green as it did.

"You are in no position to make demands. Speaker or not."

As she let him go he almost collapsed forward, not realizing the full-body hold she'd just had on him.

It wasn't enough to make him breathe as heavy as was, but it felt like the damn air got sucked out of him. She watched on, he could feel her disappointment.

"How... How long are you keeping me in here?"

"You will stay until I am content."

"And how fucking long is"-

"Alsamt! Continue the recording, cat."

He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing still heavy.

After a minute he grabbed the recording device, eyes still closed in sheer exhaustion.

"Tai, before you begin, one question."

Oh, fuck...

Something cryptic that would just open up another void to chase, to throw himself down in until it finally killed-

"Do you believe in demons?"

He hadn't expected...

For a moment he reopened his eyes, looking into hers curiously. What was perhaps malevolent before had become understanding.

These others, the other afflicts here, they were like the Jinnrai. Not real afflicts, but not clones like they were.

Jabari was real though, he could tell that much.

"...I believe in what I see."

"But you believe in Operation Alcatraz?"

The connection changed, reverting to as before. And the malevolence came back.

"Continue the recording, cat."

He did so.

///

When we came back from the movies, I forgot to mention, Lio and Mari were heading out. On mission in Peru.

Oh, and we were also losing Reyna, Alvin, and Isaac.

Not for good, of course, they were just going to be off for a good week or so doing something in the middle east. Hunting down a rogue squadron or something, from what I heard.

One thing I hadn't caught onto was G201 had been upgraded to a Tier 4 squadron. It didn't really mean all that much besides we'd been around long enough to individually send off members and split the group when needed.

Tier 3 meant Marshall would leave us, so I wasn't too eager to get to that but Isaac was already slating us to meet the qualifications.

It wasn't Jake- Isaac's decision to send them off, though. I learned that Lio and Mari were just around for a short amount of time here, a sort of buffer for our squad while it grew. They'd probably leave when Marshall did.

Ultimately they answered to Tomas Vasquez, Brasilia Esquadrao's lead. But that comes later.

I'd been waking up to fight the AI thing every morning. It wasn't really that obsession I'd felt with Reyna, that was just going through it to be close to her, but every time it beat me, I couldn't understand why. It should be evenly matched, I was fighting a mirror.

It was fucking terrifying though, once you actually started it up. I'd found most of the simulated combatants gave you a moment to get back from the console to the ring, but there had been a running joke between my peers ever since mine tried to hit Jake outside of it.

Evidently it wasn't that bad in comparison to the others; most people would beat on Alvin for a warmup and then get to me, I wasn't the only one trying to overcome myself.

But it was about 8 and I was still in bed. Isaac had gone to Vervous to do something with the police there early in the morning before they left, so everyone was getting as much shuteye as possible.

I couldn't take my mind off of what happened yesterday, though... Especially that one thought about Lynx I'd had.

Never thought I'd somehow grow attached, but I hadn't seen the faceless assassin since before Thailand. I still had pills from the ones I hadn't taken but I assumed she'd be in again soon.

It was just the 11th, though. She wouldn't come in this soon after last time.

I'd even got to thinking about Ariya, how much I'd been neglecting training myself. Nowadays my focus was on just being a normal soldier, not whatever she wanted out of me.

Then again, if I was normal I wouldn't have even gotten onto G201...

I was getting better at it, though.

After a while my thoughts got too heavy and I decided to go make myself breakfast.

By make myself breakfast I mean eat a poptart. I wasn't doing jack shit after Alvin made toast one morning and I saw what it actually looked like.

Without the ice... And ketchup... and...

I got dressed and went downstairs, no one was up but I heard far off noises from the weight room. Someone was down there.

My fists clenched somewhat; just about the only place I felt safe in alone was my room. I'd never shake that habit.

Might as well go get a work out, not like I had anything else to do.

///

Riddick

December 13th, 1400 Hours

G201 House, Norway

Usually it was the drunkenness or lack thereof that caused the sharp throbbing in his head but this time around it was like something else.

The hyena was used to something either burning or throbbing or bleeding but this wasn't some alcohol induced headache.

He gave a groan as he nearly ran into Jake, the wolf asking him something but he shook his hands off.

Riddick slammed his bedroom door behind him, immediately fumbling for his smokes.

A cry of rage nearly escaped him as his clumsy hands battered them across the room, his phone caught by the return.

His ears were ringing, he felt dizzy, he lurched...

Fuck, was he dying? Was this what it felt like? Maybe he'd stopped with all the pills and shit but somehow managed to... To OD?

No, that wasn't how it worked, so... What the hell?

Before he even knew it, even felt it, his muzzle banged off the dresser and onto the ground, the bedpost generously scraping an ear as he went down.

Fuck, the door was open too... Maybe that was a good thing? Seeing the strung-out fuck no one liked laying on the floor?

God above, it was-

"Glasglow."

"What?"

"He was involved in the siege of Glasglow."

He was going to fucking die here, wasn't he?

Should he scream?

"Glasglow was a massacre. I recall reading there were no survivors."

"I'd think your Russian is a bit outdated, Kyle."

That... Was from the day he went into the database with Kyle, looking for Isaac...

That day wasn't real. That day never... Never happened...?

It was ramming into his head like a hammer to a nail, boring in all that was already there to make room.

And it fucking felt like that too...

"Thank you. I'll look more into Isaac if I can."

"What more is there to see? It's top access, we can't get into that."

"If I can get to his dossier"-

"I wouldn't try. And that's coming from me."

He was on the verge of unconsciousness now. Fear of death was about the only thing keeping him from.

And he thought he'd thrown that out when... When Roger died...

Heh, you can think you're all that... But... When it happens...

"I just wanted to know... Why is it you were trained by Jinn for two years?"

Kyle didn't tell anyone. He didn't even tell Tai. That was false, it was borne of a... A dream, an illness... What the hell was happening to him?

"...I lost my brother to your kind. Mercenaries. With no respect for locals, the customs of things, the goings on. They just want more for themselves. Money. Turf. Women."

Roger... Mercs... All incoherent now...

But it was coming back, the conversation, turning an empty gun on the wolf, he'd never wanted to do anything but intimidate him...

"...So don't ask me to like a Jinn merc with ASPD."

The database, he'd searched up Kyle... He remembered that too now. The only way he'd known Kyle was like that. What erased all that? And why did everyone else go along with it...?

"You get that fucking dossier. And watch your ass, Marshall won't appreciate anything we've done."

It was gone.

As it stopped the hyena's eyes snapped open, taking in his bedpost and the feel of fluid dripping down his muzzle.

Everything was silent, not even the usual chatter outside.

He didn't groan standing up for once, he didn't feel any pain. That... Was something else.

And he'd been in about every state you could be.

Wiping the blood off his muzzle, he took a few breaths.

Bloody hell, that was what happened, wasn't it? Everything was different until... After Thailand.

Reyna. And Kyle... And Isaac! Bloody hell, they were being experimented on.

Bloody-

The door slammed open and Kyle stood there, gasping.

They stared at each other, something too tacit for tacitness' sake passing.

"...Hey, you... You having headaches?"

"Da..."

They paused for a moment, both catching their breath.

"Tomorrow.... We tell them. Isaac will be gone."

///

Tai

December 14th, 1700 Hours

Woods behind G201 House

I'd never been back here much before, except shooting guns with Kyle.

Sometimes we would play American football, but I sucked at that. I was an alright kicker though.

I liked when we did things like that, seeing everyone's faces happy instead of serious and...

GSS.

There wasn't much wildlife around, it was a pretty deserted area apart from a few birds. They mostly hung out around the house though.

As for what we were doing out here, Kyle and Riddick had an 'announcement'.

The first thing I thought was dear god, Kyle's gay.

Rochelle wouldn't stop laughing while they were trying to get some stuff together.

The fact they said it's best to do it while Isaac's not there put a dampener on everything.

And the fact they took us into the woods...

...

We'd been walking, me, Rochelle, Jake, and of course Kyle and Riddick.

They wanted the whole squad without Isaac but that couldn't happen until everyone else was back.

"Anyone given any thought to our traitor?"

Rochelle said, with a grin.

I'd actually forgotten about that. The message... All I focused on was I'd woken up outside facedown in the snow that morning.

"Don't joke about that, Rochelle. It's serious."

She gave a dry laugh.

And then turned into someone I didn't know.

"You know, it's fucking eating me up. No one says anything because they're afraid to, because they're so afraid to get stabbed in the fucking back that they deny it. But me? I know what it's like. And I've seen it, I know who it is. I know which one of you is the traitor."

The five of us stopped, woods ever so quiet.

"What do you mean?" Jake's voice was dead serious.

Kyle and Riddick shared a look.

Rochelle wouldn't joke about this.

I had no idea what happened to Rochelle to... At least for a minute or two make her this way but it must have eaten her up. Worse.

Her hand twitched, and balled into a fist.

"None of you saw him?"

Kyle was my first thought, and we turned on him.

I was too much of an idiot to suspect myself.

"Who, Rochelle?" He asked.

She turned, storm and fury on her face, teeth bared.

"The fucking cat."

She was staring straight at me and Jake and Riddick were too now.

And so was the timber.

"W-what do you mean?" This was the worst time to stutter.

She'd seen Lynx. She'd had to have fucking seen Lynx, god...

It was over... It was all fucking over...

I was dead.

I could plead.

I was dead one way or another.

Jake put a hand on my shoulder. "Elaborate."

"I WATCHED him go outside the night that shit was spraypainted. None of you saw him?"

Jake's hand was off my shoulder now.

"...Tai?"

I looked between the three, remembering how I'd just warmed up to Rochelle.

How me and Riddick hung out when we had time to kill.

How Jacques- Jake was protective of me.

How Kyle was my bratja.

They looked betrayed.

"I..."

Think.

Think, or your life is over. You will fucking die, understand?

"It's... It's kind of embarrassing..."

"DAMN RIGHT IT IS!" Rochelle raised her voice now, and I was reminded I wasn't the only one from a rough background.

I was the only one who couldn't weaponize it, though.

"Tai..." Riddick was staring at me, now further away.

I was shocked, and reached a hand out for him. He moved away from it, shocked.

"Tai. Where did you go?"

Jake sounded interrogative, no shield here.

"I..."

My brain went overdrive and I felt Janus take over.

"I... I get homesick." My face turned red as if to convince them, and I had no clue how I was doing what I was doing, or voluntarily making myself flushed.

I wasn't even really speaking, things were just coming out of my mouth.

My mind was preserving my own life.

Their expressions were as expected...

How do you get homesick of hell?

"I just start walking... I was always moving in Gibraltar... And you have to move, constantly... I can't sit still for too long, especially at night. It's torture. It's why I wake up between 4 and 6..."

I was appealing to Rochelle who grazed this life.

And knew the truths.

Looking over to Riddick, he was pitiful now, of me, coming back.

Jake was still a wall of steel. I had to break him.

"I had friends back in Gibraltar, you know... I miss them... I can't..." Tears started falling.

I was doing nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I felt my mouth move.

I didn't speak. I didn't think.

"I don't know if they're still alive or not..."

Jake's wall melted, Kyle was openmouthed, Riddick's hand was on my shoulder.

Rochelle was unchanged.

I looked up at her, pleadingly, Janus receding but I knew it was my ticket to freedom, so I picked up where it left off.

"Bullshit..."

I heard it ever so slightly, a breeze on the wind.

A flake in the mass surrounding us.

A voice on earth in its entirety.

"BULLSHIT!"

A solid fist connected with my face, and I fell back into the snow, my cold nose weakened and blood spurting from it.

Jake held Rochelle back, Riddick falling to my side, Kyle not sure of what to do.

"I'm not going to get killed on account of you fucking idiots! You're a fucking Jinn rat! I hope you try to kill me, you're going to be a fucking sponge of bulletholes!"

She broke free from Jake and the wolf raised his hands to seize her, but Rochelle made no move, just stood still.

Wiping the blood from my nose with the back of my hand, the snow and the snow fur turned red.

"You can all pretend otherwise... You can all act ignorant..." She said, looking around at us.

"But I won't. I'm going to let Marshall know about this... And he's going to do something about it."

Riddick closed his eyes in frustration, knowing something he would probably regret was coming out of his mouth.

I realized whatever him and Kyle were trying to tell us had been lost.

"You know, it's usually the accuser that starts things that's the traitor, Roch."

The mutt's eyes widened and she snarled.

"ANZU's had its fair share of criminals through their own ranks, I'm sorry, it might just be you."

"Preposterous." Kyle spoke up, finally. "There's no spy among us. There is only unrest and those weak of mind enough to carry it."

As much as we respected Kyle for saying something, we wished he hadn't... After all, we knew about his Jinn training now...

Rochelle let out her fury on him, the new guy, the Ruskie, the merc, the one who spent two years with Jinn...

"Rochelle, that's enough. Go back inside."

She turned on Jake.

"I wouldn't put you above anything either. In fact, I'll be watching all of you."

"Fuck you, Rochelle!" The argument was over but Riddick wasn't done.

He stood up from down at my side, fists curled.

"How many times has Tai and Kyle busted their asses trying to help you?"

He pointed at me. "He took a fucking bullet for Trojan! You think he's a spy? What have you done? When have you taken a bullet for anyone?"

Rochelle slowly turned around.

"Trojan might be his accomplice. Maybe... Maybe you are."

Jake approached her once more, but she shook him off when he got close.

"You know what, Riddick? You're an absolute fucking twat! You've done nothing for anyone on this squad but yell at us, and I can't count the amount of times you've left for Vervous without even logging out!"

If Riddick could get any worse...

Jake approached the hyena now, steadying him, making sure he wasn't going to pull anything...

"And in addition to that, all you do is bitch about things! You never help out, you never join in, all you want to do is those damn simulations!"

Riddick softened somehow, kneeling down beside me again, and I'd been on the ground watching dumbly. I got to one knee, and he stood back up.

"That is off topic. We were discussing the supposed traitor, not your personal contempt for anyone, Welsh. And I would like to get around to what we were saying." Kyle stood beside Riddick now.

"Shut up, Kyle..." Rochelle looked away for a moment, as if she knew she was going to regret something later.

Maybe she already was.

"Tai's rooted himself in you deep enough. You'll believe anything he tells you, you're all gone..."

She gritted her teeth and any regret that was there was gone.

"But you, Roland White, you're worse than anyone."

"Rochelle..."

"All you do is hang out with him, you're on some sort of high when you do, you buy into his bullshit, you isolate yourself from everyone else, you're a twat to everyone else..."

Riddick stared at her, openmouthed.

I remembered they were friends.

Were.

"In fact, all you want to do is talk about him. And you follow him around and do what he does like some sort of... sick puppy. And we all know you and Tai"-

"SHUT UP!"

He broke free from Jake, and the wolf pulled him back.

"YOU'RE GOING TOO FAR!"

"I can go further. You're some faggot that would be better off to the world dead than anywhere else because he gives nothing and wants everything... And Tai isn't. And you can't get that through your fucking"-

Riddick turned around and stormed off into the woods, punching a tree on his way out, the snow falling just where he had been.

We watched him go, us remaining four, wondering what the world had come to.

I shouldn't have said anything.

I didn't meet eyes, with Rochelle.

With anyone.

Did the team just fracture?

"You didn't mean that..." Jake started.

She said nothing, just turned and walked away, Jake and Kyle following her, the first beginning to go off on her, shouting.

"Didn't you have something to tell us?"

Kyle turned around and for a moment I thought I saw suspicion run through his eyes.

No, it couldn't have been. If I trusted anyone it was him.

I was... sure that was returned.

I hoped.

Jake hadn't heard, he was still yelling.

"Riddick needs his space right now... We'll have to tell everyone later. It's somewhat upsetting news."

We both cast a look at the set of footprints leading further into the woods.

"I am sure the Welsh didn't mean that. But you have a better judge of her character."

"She can be worse than Riddick when she gets angry. Things just... Happen."

Kyle nodded and walked back towards the house, nowhere else to really go.

I supposed I should go back too but something was keeping me rooted.

Rochelle didn't mean that, but she and Riddick would never be friends again.

She was a good person, I was sure.

I hoped.

I heard Riddick do worse but never in front of other...

Cutting myself off, I gave a sigh.

It was quiet once Jake was out of range.

I was left standing there, and it was kind of peaceful. I'd stay there longer but I had the back of my hand pressed to my nose and even then the snow and fur alike were bloodied.

Rochelle could punch like a... a female dog, I guess.

Turning around, I followed the hyena into the woods, watching his snowprints.

///

I could have sworn I'd trekked a mile into the woods before I found him.

It had given time for my nose to stop bleeding and I supposed I needed to clear my head anyways.

Your nose really doesn't stop when it's cold or anything, blood just doesn't work like that.

Unless... You're like me.

Something deep inside of me said if they thought I was the traitor...

I'd kill them all.

I knew I wasn't. Ariya wouldn't have tried to tell me that I was a traitor.

Even though I...

Kind of was.

Was I even doing anything wrong? I hadn't given Lynx anything, not at all. I'd just been taking the life-saving supplements she'd been giving me. Who could fault me for that?

Ariya didn't know anyways, nothing she tried to pull out of me ever seemed to come out. I could keep the important parts in.

And when we'd first met, she couldn't do it then either.

Riddick was sitting on a pile of snow by a frozen over pond I hadn't seen before, tucked away in the middle of the woods.

I didn't think a pond would be here, but I didn't know how snow or Norway worked.

I didn't immediately approach him, knowing he wanted time to himself.

Maybe I was violating his personal time... But it was the...

Was it the right thing to do? He just wanted to be alone.

Riddick didn't look for attention, he was literal, unless he was speaking and then being sarcastic.

I watched him throw stones at the ice, cracking it, and contemplated my approach.

I had no clue what Rochelle meant by him following me around, and talking about me, or anything, but the mutt and I rarely hung out together.

In fact, I was clueless in that entire area.

I still am, damn it.

It was a good five minutes before I worked up the courage to walk over to Riddick.

I watched the frustration and annoyance form on his visage as he turned to face me.

"What?"

I stood, unsure of what to say.

Remembering that conversation, a long time ago...

"Are you... ok?"

He bit his lip for a moment.

"If you want to start a conversation about what's happening right now, don't ask me the obvious. No, I'm not fine, and we both know that."

I wiped my nose and a bit of red came off this time.

"I'm... sorry, Riddick."

He gave a quiet sigh.

"You're fine, Tai. Just... I hate it when people ask me that."

"You find yourself in this situation a lot?"

He finally looked up to me, in my consciousness I was finally acknowledged.

"More than I'll admit to."

I contemplated what to say next, Riddick was unstable as the frozen over pond.

Looking back out, a double take... No, it wasn't just a pond.

It was a lake.

There was a huge clearing in the woods, and everything was shades of white, the ice, the trees, the sky...

I was captivated, moved. How I hadn't noticed it was amazing to me.

What I was looking for in the snow was finally here. The sun was at our backs going down, casting everything in an illuminated blue glow.

I imagined telling my past self that I'd be here someday. He'd laugh at me. Probably tell me to grab my things because I'd been in that same alleyway for a few months.

"You know Rochelle didn't mean any of that."

He harshly laughed.

It caught me off guard, but then again, this was Riddick.

If I could describe him, maybe in just two words...

Scar tissue.

"I know. But it doesn't make it any less..."

He stopped, and his grin faded.

"Painful?"

"...Among other things."

I sighed and sat down on the pile beside him, barely enough room.

He shifted uncomfortably, but it was too late, I was already here.

"Tai?"

I looked over to him and he stared at me, leaning back as we were too close to really look at each other.

"Yes?"

"You aren't... Uncomfortable, are you?"

"We've been over this, I don't care if"-

"No, Tai... No."

He stared back down at the snow.

I waited for him to speak but he didn't.

"Riddick, we can still be friends. I told you this so many times..."

"Weren't you listening to Rochelle?"

"No, what she says wasn't true"-

"Before that."

He looked back up, some sort of fear in him.

"She was talking about our friendship. How we aren't alike."

"No, Tai."

He closed his eyes and winced, though the rest of his face didn't move.

He wasn't in any real pain but I knew just about everything was coursing through him.

Putting his face in his hands, muzzle sticking out.

"No, it's..."

A sigh.

"I think you're a good person... But..."

"Riddick, I won't hurt you."

A cackle.

Riddick only laughed when he was frustrated, but he wasn't even smiling now.

"Can I tell you something?"

He looked up at me.

It sounded childish in a way I hadn't heard from Riddick before, innocent.

"Anything."

"...You'll hate me."

"No I"-

"Yeah, Tai. Trust me."

"Well, go ahead. Get it off your chest, or you'll regret it until you do."

You couldn't be in a bad mood if you were talking to Riddick or you'd get worse than nowhere.

"Alright, Tai. You know what? Rochelle wasn't talking about friends."

"...What?"

"She was talking about me and you."

"...I already know"-

"No, Tai."

Again, the same words repeated. As if I was a child not understanding.

I wasn't childish in the end, it was always him...

"Whenever I see Reyna, I... I get mad." He began shakily.

"Of course."

"Not because she's arrogant and disrespectful... And narcissistic and..."

Stopping before he started.

"Or because she beats you up. I mean, that's a part of it, but like..."

A wince, again.

"It's because I... I..."

He looked back at me to see my face, then looked away again, hurriedly.

I hoped he'd seen what he wanted to.

"I'm jealous."

"Of her talents?"

"Of her."

"...There's really so much more you can do than her, you can hack, you can"-

"No, Tai!"

He interrupted me loudly, shouting in my face, and he was looking at me again.

This time I was leaning away.

"This is torture..."

"Please, go on."

He thought for a moment and the breath sort of left him, as if he knew this was the time I was going to get it.

He didn't want me to get it.

He didn't even want to speak to me now.

"...I'm jealous of her... position in your eyes."

It was vague and took me a moment, but realization flooded me and chills went down my spine.

The music stopped.

"You want to know the truth?"

We locked eyes and it was a battle, who would give up first.

Who dared to look away?

All I saw was that bit of scar tissue, peeking out of his collar.

"I'm in love with you, Tai. There's your fucking answer."

I closed my eyes.

For the hundredth time my life became more complicated than anyone would dare approach.

///

Damien

Somewhere in the Scandinavian Union

December 17th, 0300 Hours

He felt something hot, wet pressed to his forehead, and withdrawn.

"Thought I'd lost you for good then."

Who was that? That voice?

One from his childhood... He'd trained with this one. Grew to hate him, but it wasn't his main trainer, it was...

He opened his eyes, the white tiger with one eye looking down at him.

"Well well. Damien... Choi. That's Gyn's last name, right?"

"...His only real name."

Damien rubbed his eyes, sitting up. "Where... What... Alright, pick up where I left off."

Ajax went to the other side of a fire, stoking it a moment.

He took a look around... Looked like they were on some... cliff or something.

...

He wasn't bound or anything so that was always a plus...

"Well, after you pissed off the Jinnrai I finished them off and carried you out. All the way to Norway, I was going there initially."

"...Ajax."

"What?"

Damien blinked a few times.

The one that trained Lynx, that was where he knew him from. And the one that gave him the biggest scar he had in their one training session.

He was... Maybe 14 or 13 when that happened.

"Drink some of this, I know your head's got to be throbbing about now."

Truth was, he couldn't feel anything at all.

It was a bottle of unmarked liquid, Damien couldn't take a guess at it. It was a pale green so alcohol was out the window.

"This gonna kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, considering it's been just about two days since you went down, I would have done it."

"Fair."

Damien lurched as soon as a drop touched his lip, it burned like hell...

"Liquid wasabi. No, I'm kidding. The same guy sold me that was the one who fixed my brain."

"Did what, now?"

"That's how the Jinnrai couldn't get in my head. Go ahead and try."

Damien gave a look to his right arm. The glassy pattern was much more prominent, he traced it with one finger.

It'd turn to bone if he kept doing too much like that.

He weakly prodded Ajax's psyche- no, went right through him.

"You can't touch it, can you?"

A weak smile couldn't help but stretch Damien's tired face.

"It's like as soon as I get there it boosts me forward to the other side behind your head."

"Aye. Cost me a fortune but it's worth it."

"What's the side effects?"

Ajax shrugged. "I'll find out soon enough."

Damien tried again, Ajax giving a laugh at the tingling sensation of the panther grazing around his psyche. "It's possible to get in but... Might as well be impossible."

Damien gave a sigh, leaning back and trying another swig of the liquid.

Again, the same result... But it was actually kind of clearing him up somehow.

"So... Why'd you rescue me? Why not just leave me for dead?"

Ajax looked off into the woods nearby a moment before answering.

"Well, you're the son of Gynezis so there's got to be some sort of bounty I can claim on you. That's what I was thinking, but..." The tiger checked a bracer. "Nope, nothing. And then I figured I might get some sort of reward for pulling you out of there from the big man himself."

Damien shook his head. "That's not how he works. He'd probably give you a bit for offing me though."

"Don't tempt me, kid."

Damien gave another sigh. How many times was it now, he'd gotten in too deep, and some random stranger saved him?

This wasn't a total stranger albeit, but...

"So, Damien, what are you doing in the Scandinavian Union?"

"Heard they got good meatballs here."

Ajax didn't laugh.

"I was... Looking for a certain person."

"To kill?"

"To just... See. Speak to."

Ajax thought for a moment, looking off into the woods again. This time with a hand on his sword.

"This doesn't have anything to do with Lynx being here, does it?"

"It's the same person we're after."

"Tai from Gibraltar, right?"

Damien winced, saying nothing.

"What's so great about him? You know how many fuckin' assassins are snooping around Vervous?"

"He's a very strong afflict."

"So's Avital's little sister, but no one cares about her."

"That's because Avital's little sister is on ice in the GRA's Coast City facility. And that's a deathwish trying to get to her."

"Fair."

No, those were far from his reasons.

...

He knew Ajax had some idea of what was really going on. After all he knew about...

Ajax popped his knuckles, interrupting Damien's thoughts.

"I saw him in Thailand, took a bullet. An incendiary one. Spouted fire, locals started calling him dragon's breath but after that I didn't see him."

"He's kicking. Fire's actually good for him, he can't really be damaged while he's burning up."

"You know a lot about him."

"...I've done my research."

Ajax leaned forward over the fire, his face lit up shades of orange.

"Kid, I've worked with Gynezis before. I was forced to for almost a decade before I dug the bomb out of my stomach... And if this is the same Tai that I'm thinking about then I hope you're going to kill"-

Gunfire from the woods, snow kicking up next to Damien.

Ajax's armor expanded onto him, the plate metal deflecting them, sword coming to hand. He stepped in front of Damien.

"I picked up your other sword! We gonna fight them or run?"

"I'm tired of all this running."

Damien grabbed his swords and they sprinted towards Berg's men.

///

I CAN SPAM THE GAY TAGS NOW FUCK YES

VIEWS

I've been teasing this forever, wrote this scene waaaaay in advance.

This marks around the true halfway point of Alcatraz, I meant for this moment to literally be over 10 chapters ago when I started off.

Then again I meant for something I have slated in Alcatraz 2 to be set around chapter 19 here lmao

Anyways I'm not going to get my wordcount much further jabbering on like this. Hope you enjoyed