26 - Nothing to lose, except for family

~Brooks~

As she was finishing up paperwork, Brooks couldn’t shake this feeling that something was going to happen. Her suspicions were confirmed when the sound of an alarm began to blare throughout the site, and with a sigh Brooks poked her out into the hall and saw West and Michael heading towards her.

“What is it this time, a containment breach?” Brooks asked as the pair stopped “Nope, the Insurgency again” West replied with a huff “Come on, we gotta find where they got in”  However before they could even move, the sounds of footsteps grew louder and they turned to see a large raid heading towards them.

~West~

At the sight of the approaching raid, West lifted herself off the ground and drew her knife. “Will these idiots never learn?” She asked, turning towards Michael. “Don’t know, but it’s getting annoying” He replied as a door on the other side of the hall opened to reveal Stone and Willow, both looking annoyed.

“This is the second time this week and it's only Wednesday” West heard Willow groan as the two teens stepped out into the hall, watching the raid that was now standing in front of them. “We’re here as revenge for HA Stone” one of the agent’s suddenly spoke up, gun aimed towards them. “Oh my god, get over it all ready” West snapped in response, Stone nodding in agreement “Yeah, that bitch has been dead for months now, so just fuck off”

~Stone~

The agents didn’t seem to like Stone and West telling them to leave, but it really wasn’t any of their problems and nor did any of them care. Stone decided to taunt the raid and broke away from the group, moving to stand about two feet away from the one of the agents. “Stone, what the hell are you doing?..”  Stone turned as she heard West tiredly ask, but before Stone could answer she felt a rough blow to the back of her head and the hallway went black.

~West~

“Stone, what the hell are you doing?..” West saw the fey turn towards her, when out of nowhere one of the agents raised their gun and brought the butt of it down onto the back of Stone’s head. As she saw the teen crumple to the ground, West let out an angry yell: charging at the raid.

West collided with an agent and with her pocket knife, slitting the throat of said agent. “One of you get Stone out of here!” West called out as she saw the others also fighting the raid, when suddenly she was grabbed roughly with an arm wrapped around her neck. West struggled to break the grasp of the agent, but froze as she felt something pressing against her head.

~Willow~

“All of you, fucking freeze” Willow looked up from the agent she had pinned, only to see West being held at gunpoint. “If even one of you makes the slightest movement, so help me I’ll pull the trigger” Willow looked around and made eye contact with Michael and Brooks, both of them shaking their heads.

“You, with the white hair, get back with the others” Willow turned sharply as the agent currently holding West hostage snapped an order at her, and when she didn’t move, the agent pressed the gun closer to West’s head “I said move” Willow not wanting to press their luck, defeatedly walked back to Michael and Brooks.

“Good, now someone grab the unconscious one, and we’ll get out of here” the agent said, nodding to the others in the raid. “NO! FUCKING GET BACK HERE!” As the raid began to walk away from the group -West and Stone in hand- Willow went to run after them but was held back by Michael.

~Michael~

As he held back the writhing teen, Michael starred in the direction of the now gone raid. He sighed as he turned Willow around, tightening his grip on her shoulders “Willow, calm down get angry won’t help”  Willow expression was a mix of anger, fear and panic, tears glittering in the teen’s eyes.

“No Michael, you don’t fucking get it” fustration laced the young researcher’s voice  “but how could you, its not like you’ve been since the beginning” Michael glanced to his side as he felt a hand on his shoulder “Let her go” Brooks stated quietly and as he did,  she pulled Willow into a hug.

“We need to go after them, Michael, where would they have gone?” Brooks asked, clearly trying to fill the role West often would when it came to situations like this “only place I could think is Base Echo” Michael tapped his foot as he thought.

~West~

The feeling of chains wrapped around her wings made West want to break someone’s jaw, the pressure of them beginning to become painful. Thanks to the blindfold, she could only guess as to where the CI agents had taken her and Stone, but West knew that wherever they were it wasn’t a good thing.  She took a sharp breath as she was roughly shoved to the ground, and as her blindfold was removed West saw that she was now in a cell.

The agent who had shoved her, untied the ropes around her wrist, before shutting the door with a slam. West stood and glared at the agent “Where the hell is Stone?” the agent laughed “Oh you mean the goat? She’s currently being asked a few questions”  The agent tilted their head in mock kindness “I’m sure she’ll be fine” West’s stomach fell as the agent walked away, still laughing.

After what felt like hours, West glanced up as she heard footsteps approaching. Her stomach did flips as she saw who was coming down the hall: there in the middle of the hall was an agent dragging a bloodied and barely conscious Stone across the floor. “Stone! What did you do to her?!” West called out as the agent rough chucked the teen into the cell next to hers.

The agent simply laughed as he locked the cell door, walking away.

~Willow~

As the three made their way to the parking lot, Willow stopped dead in her tracks “The trackers” Both Michael and Brooks turned around, confused “What?”  Willow pulled out her phone “we can use the trackers” She passed her phone to Brooks “Me, West and Stone each have a tracker that activates the second we go off site”

Michael raised an eyebrow, clearly unsurprised “And let me guess, this was recent?”  Willow nodded as they stole borrowed one of the cars, managing to find the trackers on the phone.

~Stone~

Her head was pounding as she laid on the cement floor, and Stone had zero clue where the hell she was. those fucking agents had ‘questoned’ her the second she regained consciousness before throwing her in a cell. Stone’s ears perked as she heard a familiar voice, and she glanced towards the side of the cell to see West standing on the other side.

“Stone? Stone, what did they do?”  West asked as she knelt, and Stone inched herself closer to the bars that separated the two cells “I’m fine, it’s nothing I can’t deal with” she noticed the chains that held West’s wings in a folded position “What’d they do to you?”  West glanced at her wings “Nothing yet, but who knows what they might have planned”

Stone sighed as she rubbed a hand over her face, her head feeling like it was hit with a jackhammer “The others are likely already on their way to bust us out, so we just have to hold out ‘till then” Stone saw West nodded, and she decided to try to get some sleep.

~Brooks~

She sighed as she stared out the passenger window, hoping that they got to wherever West and Stone were in time. She peaked into the back seat  and saw Willow passed out, the teen’s head resting against the window. “Brooks glanced down at the app showing where Stone’s and West’s trackers were, when suddenly one of them went offline.

“Michael, we have an issue” Michael tilted his head towards Brooks, not taking his eyes off the road “Why? What happened?” Brooks held up the phone “they must have found one of the trackers, not sure who’s though” Michael looked at the screen briefly, before focusing back on the road “Keep an eye on the one still active, because if that one goes out we’re screwed”

~West~

As she paced around the cell, footsteps were heard once again. West’s breath hitched as an agent stopped right in front of her cell, a surgical tool in hand. “Get over here” When West made no effort to move closer to the bars, the agent drew the pistol at their hip “I said get over here, or the goat gets shot” West gave a defeated sigh and made her way over to the cell door.

She let out a yelp as the agent grabbed ahold of her arm, digging the surgical tool into it. The noise must have woken Stone since the teen got up and made her way over to the bars between the two cells “Fucking let go of her, or I swear you’ll fucking pay for it”  The agent laughed as they pulled the tracker from West’s arm, tossing it on the floor: crushing it under foot.

West felt blood trickle down her arm, and a stinging pain. “West, here”  she turned to see Stone holding out a torn piece of her lab coat, West took it with a nod and tied it around the wound. The sound of a cell door opening made both of them jump, and West watched as the same agent came up behind Stone and pulled her away from the bars, shoving the teen to the floor. “I’d say you’re the brat of HA Stone, right?”

West heard the teen snarl as the agent loomed over her “Now, that’s not polite, is it?” the agent stepped closer, a mocking tone lacing their voice “no wonder HA Stone got rid of you, you're nothing but a feral disappointment” Stone laughed darkly at the agent’s words “Oh trust me pal, I know I’m the feral disappointment and I hold that title with pride”

~Stone~

Her remark must have royally pissed off the agent since he stormed right up to her. The agent grabbed Stone by the collar of her shirt and as they did, his hand brushed against Stone’s neck sending a wave of both panic and nausea crashing over her. Before she had even realized she had been hit, the agent’s fist struck again, over and over again.

Stone felt blood trickle down the side of her head and along her upper lip, she also could faintly hear the sound of West trying to tell off the agent. The faun’s head was pounding harder as the agent finally let go, but as she struggled to stay conscious Stone saw the agent exit her cell and open West’s.

She noticed that in the agent’s anger, he forgot to lock the cell door. Stone stood weakly and used the agent’s mistake to her advantage, sneaking in behind the agent. “Fucking leaving West alone!” Stone roared as she flung herself at the agent, knocking them away from West. “you fucking brat,we should’ve just killed you back at that stupid site” As Stone clung to the back of the agent, she saw West stand -now slightly bloodied and bruise- and charge towards them.

~Willow~

As the car hit a pothole, Willow jolted awake and glanced around. “Any luck with finding them yet?” She asked peaking into the front “no, but I think we’re getting close” Michael stated as he checked the phone again “I hope their alright” Willow glanced towards Brooks  “Come on, this is West and Stone we’re talking about, if anything we should be worried about how much blood they’re gonna spill”  Willow wished that she could say that she believed her own words.

~West~

As she charged towards the agent, West balled her hands and swung. With a crack that seemed to have shocked all three of them, each of them paused. “Well, never thought I’d see the day where West of all people decks someone” She heard Stone laugh despite the grim conditions.

The brief glimpse of hope was nothing but a fleeting moment as the agent suddenly and aggressively flung himself backwards: Slamming Stone into the wall. Despite how hard West attempted to pull Stone from out between the hall and the agent, they just refused to stop. Seconds later there was a grunt from Stone, and out of nowhere the agent crumpled to the floor: Neck twisted in an odd angle.

“Fucking jerk, nearly broke my hand” the teen stated, shaking said hand. She glanced up at West, panting slightly “You good?” She nodded, gently rubbing where her tracker had been. Both of them froze as there was a chuckle from behind them “Well, well, still as brutal as ever, eh Rose?”  West watched as Stone’s expression quickly turned sour.

~Michael~

As he went to check the trackers, Michael realized they were finally getting close to wherever the fuck the CI had taken Stone and West. His feeling of confidence faded as he watched the second tracker flicker, blinking in and out for a split second. “We’re almost there, so get ready” Michael stated over his shoulder, pressing his foot down on the gas harder: No longer obeying street laws as the car sped down the highway.

~Stone~

They turned around to see another agent standing in the doorway of the cell, a smirk plastered on her face “The fuck do you want, Asha?” Stone’s words were laced with venom as she glared at the women standing in front of her “I heard that they had taken you into custody, so naturally I had to see if it was true” West stepped closer to Stone, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I see they also got ahold of one of your little friends, hm?” Asha mocked, stepping closer to Stone, roughly grabbing her chin. Yet again the feeling of skin on skin made Stone gag, much to the amusement of the woman “Seems you're still weak as anything, not even able to handle being touched” suddenly Asha’s hand moved from her chin to the side of her head.

“How pathetic” was all Asha said as she roughly slammed Stone’s head against the wall, the sounds of her skull hitting brick repeatedly echoing in the cell.  “Stop it, she’s just a kid!” Stone heard West cry out as the winged researcher attempted to pull Asha away, but it was to no success.

With one final slam Asha let go and Stone slid to the floor, blood running down her face. She could barely understand what was happening, when red lights started flashing throughout the hall. Stone’s vision was blurry as she suddenly was pulled into a standing position, being held steady as her legs failed to hold her weight.

~Brooks~

As the car finally stopped, Brooks stared at the massive building looming over them. “I should have fucking known” She heard Michael groan while placing his forehead on the steering wheel “Known what?” Willow questioned as the three stepped out of the car.

“That they’d take West and Stone to a training base, probably to be used as well.. training”  Brooks felt her heart sink, they needed to hurry. “So what’s the easiest way to get in?” Brooks asked, her heart hammering in her chest. “Seeing as we don't have West and Stone, trying to sneaking in will be the best choice”

She nodded and glanced at the phone one last time, before turning it off and chucking in the car. As the three slowly made their way towards the training base, Brooks could tell that Michael was growing anxious and stressed: it became clear he must have had trauma that stemmed from this place..

As the three finally reached what was likely the back door of the training site, Michael made an odd noise. “Guys..” Brooks and Willow turned around only to see an agent standing about two feet away.

~Willow~

“The fuck are you three doing? And who even are you?” the agent questioned drawing her pistol, aiming at the three. Willow slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a smoke bomb, lighting it and chucking it at the agent.

“Let’s go” She exclaimed as she grabbed the arms of Michael and Brooks. Seconds after they made their break, an alarm started blaring throughout the grounds of the site, flashing lights accompanying the shrill shrieking of the alarm.

Willow managed to kick open a door and pulled the others inside, all three of them racing down the hallway: Cells blurring past them. The sound of a distressed voice caused her to skid to a halt as Willow darted past a cell. “Stop it, she’s just a kid!”

It was West, and the three peaked into the open cell just in time to watch as an agent slammed someone else's head into the wall before letting go and only then did Willow realize that it was Stone who was now semi conscious on the floor.

Willow jumped as out of nowhere Brooks charged towards the agent, dragging Willow with her. “Willow grab the keys, we need to stall her” Willow nodded only seconds before tripping over something, she glanced at what had caught her foot: It was what appeared to be an agent, their neck twisted at an odd angle.

She stood, and decided to search the dead agent’s pockets, and to her luck Will found a set of keys “Brooks, I found them come one!” She darted out of the cell and watched as Michael yanked Stone to her feet, holding on to the other teen’s shoulders tightly. As West and Brooks followed suit, the agent let out an enraged yell.

~West~

“No time to try locking her in, let’s just go” West stated as she darted down the hall, heading in the direction she had seen the others come. As they reached the outside three five stopped for a split second to catch their breaths, Willow using one of the keys to unlock the chains wrapped around West’s wings. She let out a sigh of relief as she stretched her wings, enjoying the release of pressure.

West turned to Michael and Stone as she heard a groan, and she watched as Stone gently pushed Michael’s hands off her and leant against a wall. “The fuck just happened?” Stone asked, rubbing a hand over her face, unintentionally smearing silver across it. “Just like you predicted earlier, the others showed up” West explained.

Suddenly they all jumped as Stone let out a yelp, while being roughly pulled away from them.

~Stone~

Her head was pounding harder than before as she felt someone aggressively pull her away from the wall. Stone let out a snarl as she recognized the voice of Asha once again, only to freeze as she felt a pistol press against the back of her skull “Now, all of you fucking listen to me” Asha snapped as she forced Stone to her knees, all while still having the pistol trained on her head.

“If any single one of you makes a fucking move, I’m pulling the trigger” the woman snarled, anger clear in her voice. Stone let out a soft chuckled, crossing her arms “What’s so fucking funny hmm?” Asha demanded pressing the pistol harder into her skull.

“oh nothing” Stone replied, glancing up at the others, confusion clear in their expressions. “What’s. So. Funny?”  Asha repeated, her voice raspy as usual “It’s just that I’ve got nothing to do with this place, where as you do and  I don’t think the higher ups are gonna like it if you shoot me” Asha snarled and pushed her down slightly using her foot.

“You think I care about what the higher ups like or don’t like?” Asha taunted “No, this is about revenge, no longer will I have to deal with the fact you're still alive” Stone glanced up the other once again before staring at the ground and responding “I’ve got nothing to lose, so fire away” She refused to look up as she heard West “Stone, what are you doing?!”

Everything that happened in the last year came rushing back to Stone, as she knelt there staring at the ground. For the first time in a while, Stone felt the mask she always wore slip away. “Just fucking do it, not like it’d matter anyways”  yet again Stone refused to look up as this time she heard Brooks “Stone, no! Don’t let her do this”

Stone felt the pistol move slightly before she took a sharp breath, and the last thing she remembered was the feeling of falling forward.

~~

As the agent suddenly moved the pistol- aiming it now at Stone’s back- a sickening crack rang out, and the teen fell forward, her face now resting on the ground.

~~

~West~

West stared at the sight in front of her, ‘Asha’ standing over the crumbled form of Stone. She saw the woman look down at the teen in disgust before simply walking away.

“Stone? get up” West pleaded as her legs gave out, Michael catching her before she could hit the floor. “Stone! Fucking get up” West heard Willow curse as she slid to the floor, dragging Michael down with her.

“Stone please.. get up” West felt tears running down her face as she continued to watch the teen, refusing to acknowledge the ever growing silver blotch staining the younger researcher’s shirt.

‘Got nothing to lose, so fire away’ Stone’s words echoed in West’s mind, as the teen lay on the ground in front of her ‘Just fucking do it, not like it’d matter’

the unmistakable and genuine mix of pain and certainty when Stone said that had shown a side of the faun that was always buried deep under masks of false confidence and of broken thoughts.

Suddenly another agent appeared, and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the group. “What the fuck?” the agent stated as they walked over to Stone, headed tilted as they crouched checking the faun over “Did uh, did you guys do this?..”  West glared at the agent “Of fu-fucking c..course not” West saw the agent jump back as out of nowhere Stone stirred, weakly pushing herself up.

“Stone?! You're alright?!” West heard Brooks exclaim as the teen sat up “I.. I think so?” West rushed forwards, completely forgetting the agent was there “how the hell are you still alive?!” Stone coughed, wincing slightly as she did so “not gonna lie, I don’t know” She watched as the teen turned towards the agent, eyes narrowed “I suggest you keep your mouth shut about seeing us, because if you don’t I personally hunt you down”

The agent, clearly having gotten the message, nodded before walking away. West helped Stone up, letting her put her weight on West’s shoulder “Come on, we should get back to the site” Willow nodded “We’ll take you to where the car is” Stone glanced up “You stole a car?” Brooks raised a finger “Borrowed a car, but yeah”