Jason sat on the floor, back against the wall. He was breathing slowly, one hand gripping the front of his shirt. The other was trembling, the bandages already a bit dirty. Exhaustion made it hard to stay awake, but if he gave in now, they would be in a lot of trouble.
Luca and Damlic.
"Just who are you working for?" Damlic asked as he looked at Jason "Because you're not with any of the agencies that I know of"
Jason looked over at him. "Why the fuck are you still asking stupid questions?" he asked, eyes narrowed at the man.
Damlic just stared at him, looking confused.
"Stop staring at me like that" Jason growled, before resting his head back against the wall.
"Then what the hell do you want me to do?" Damlic snapped, moving on the seat at he was tied to "Can't you untie me?"
Jason rolled his eyes, a pained expression flashed over his face, but did not say anything. There was now a pounding in his head, that also made him feel like if he was going to move, he'd throw up.
His chest hurt so badly.
"Stop talking" he groaned.
Damlic frowned. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Jason narrowed his eyes at Damlic, but did not say anything.
Banging sounded from the door.
"Hey Luca!" Malcom's voice said "Sir... are you alright?"
"FUCK OFF, MALCOM" Jason snarled.
"Halo is looking for you, Sir" Malcom said again.
Breathing out, Jason slowly got to his feet. He walked slowly towards Damlic.
"Sorry about this" he said, before punching Damlic a few times, with more force than anyone in his condition should have been able to.
Damlic gasped, eyes going wide as he started coughing, blood running down his face. "What the fuck....?" he started, but Jason punched him three more times again.
Jason turned back to the door, pressing his hand against his chest. He hit the door with a fist, before stepping back.
"Keep your mouth shut" he said, without looking at Damlic.
The door opened, showing both Malcom and Henry. He had to be Luca again. So he took a breath and slipped into the Luca persona. It wouldn't be good if he slipped up now.
"Sir" the two said immediately.
"Are you alright?" Henry asked.
Jason swayed slightly on his feet, before his legs buckled beneath him. Malcom and Henry caught him, so that he wouldn't hit the floor.
Both of them look over at Damlic, before they carried Jason out of the cell. The door slammed shut and locked immediately.
***
Luca slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't even remember when he passed out. Halo was probably going to take his head off.
With a groan he slowly sat up, almost crumbling again as pain shot through his hand. He’s forgotten about that injury.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" an angry voice snapped at him from the door.
Luca looked over at the door, squinting at the figure at the door. "Sitting up" he said, already out of breath again.
"The hell you are" Halo said and with two quick steps, he was next to the bed "If you don't lay down, I'm going make sure that you cannot get up again"
With that he pushed Luca back down. The other guy just collapsed beneath him. He gasped softly, struggling to keep his breathing even. It hurt again. Enough that he did what Halo said, just closing his eyes.
"Good" Halo said "Now... I actually know how bad you are, because you're listening to me"
"Fuck off, Halo" Luca said between gasps.
Halo rolled his eyes as he pulled a mask over Luca's face. "Now take it easy" he said "Just breathe, until I let you get up"
Pain flashed over Luca's face, before his eyes started flickering close.
Halo breathed out as he stepped back. Luca should not be moving around. He should be in a hospital, where someone can keep a constant eye on him.
A figure stepped into the room.
"Halo" Malcom said "How is he?"
Halo looked up. "He's sleeping" he said "You need to keep him from doing anything of his usual stupid"
Malcom smiled and shrugged. "I will try, but he's already involved with the mole" he said.
That made Halo sigh. "So he's going to get up the moment wakes up" he said "I swear I'm going to lock him in the room"
"We'll help keeping an eye on him" Malcom said.
Halo nodded. "I'm going out for a while" he said "Don't let him get up"
"I'll call if anything happens"
With that Halo left and Malcom looked over at Luca. The young lieutenant looked so pale, the cuts and bruises looked even worse now that he was cleaned up.
With a sigh, he pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down. He took out his phone and started playing on it as he kept on eye on Luca.
After an hour or so, Luca's eyes flickered open.
He groaned as he looked around. Immediately he noticed the oxygen mask over his face. No wonder he was breathing much easier. His chest did not hurt as much.
"You're awake" a voice said and Luca's eyes flickered towards it.
Malcom.
"Mal...." Luca groaned, winching at the pain that was still in his body.
Malcom smiled relieved. "Sir... it's good to see you awake..... again" he said "You really need to take it easy and stop passing out. Me and Henry can't take the stress anymore"
Luca frowned. "What happened.... with Damlic?" he asked, slowly pushing himself up.
Quickly Malcom stepped closer helping Luca to sit up.
"Damlic is still below" Malcom said "Some of the other lieutenants interrogated him, but they couldn't get anything"
Luca nodded, pain flashing over his face as he press his hand over his chest. His eyes closed for a moment.
"Sir... do I need to call Halo?" Malcom asked.
It took a moment before Luca shook his head. "No... it's fine..." he muttered.
Malcom nodded. "Sir.... what are you going to do with Damlic?" he asked.
Luca opened his eyes before looking over at Malcom. "We're gonna kill him" he said "We can't have him... running around... talking about.... us"
"Oh...." Malcom said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"You've got a.... fucking.... problem with that?" Luca asked, before he started coughing.
Malcom quickly caught Luca's shoulders, holding him steady.
When the coughing finally stopped, Luca's breathing wheezed through his chest. There was small blood stains in the corners of his mouth.
"Take is easy, Sir..." Malcom said softly.
"I'm fine..." Luca growled, before laying back down.
"Sir" Malcom said as he stepped back.
"Answer... my fucking... question, Malcom" Luca snapped out of breath.
Malcom looked away. "I... Don't have a problem with that, Sir" he said quietly.
Luca breathed out. "Good.... I know he.... used to.... be your old.... partner..." he said.
"Yes, Sir...." Malcom said, a bit surprised.
Luca nodded and closed his eyes. He was just to exhausted to do anything else now.
***
Luca closed the cell door behind him before turning back to Damlic.
"You look better" Damlic said, slowly lifting his head. He looked much worse than when Luca saw him before.
"I see you made friends...." Luca said, slowly walking over "Surprised to see you're still alive"
Damlic narrowed his eyes at Luca. "Well... You've been out for a few days" he said "I had to keep busy somehow"
The corner of Luca's mouth pulled into a smirk.
"Don't sound so sour about it" he said with a snort, before winching. His chest hurting a bit. He couldn't move much, and Halo swore him to death if he did anything more than just walk around.
"You said you'll get me out of here" Damlic said "Do you have a plan?"
Luca sneered as he looked at Damlic. "Yeah... I'm going to fucking kill you" he said.
Damlic stared at him with a shocked expression.
"Don't be so fucking dramatic" Luca said, as he slowly sat down on the floor again "It wouldn't be permanent"
"You want to fake my death?" Damlic asked, blinking at Luca.
Luca nodded. "Something in that line" he said, one hand rubbing his chest.
"Are you sure that you're up for doing this?" Damlic asked, looking worried.
"You don't need to worry about me" Luca said, dropping his hand to his side "Just focus on doing what I tell you to"
Damlic tisked. "Fine... how do you want to do this?" he asked.
The slow smirk that formed on Luca's face, send a shiver down Damlic's spine. He did not like that look at all.
"You've got a name other than Luca?" he asked, just to distract himself from that look on Luca's face.
"None that I can tell you" Luca said as he got to his feet again, moving slowly "I'll be leaving again.... when I get back, you're going to die"
"Sounds like fun" Damlic said "How do I know that you're not just going to kill me?"
"You'll just have to trust me" Luca said.
Damlic shook his head. "I don't know if I can trust you" he said.
Luca snorted. "You don't have a fucking choice, buddy" he said, with a grin. Then he left the cell, before Damlic could say anything else.
He had work to do. A lot of work, by the looks of things.
"Sir..." Malcom said as he fell into step behind Luca "What is going on?"
"We've got work to do" Luca said "I'm got something special planned for Damlic"
Henry stepped up next to Malcom, glancing at the other guy.
"So.... what do you need, Sir?" he asked.
Luca stopped abruptly, turning to the two. The same smirk he had on his face while talking to Damlic.
The two quickly stepped back, their eyes wide as they looked at Luca's face.
"I'm going to give you a shopping list" Luca said slowly "And you two better find every fucking thing on the list or else I'll shoot both of you.... Cause I'm in a fucking bad mood"
Malcom and Henry swallowed.
"Yes, Sir" they said at the same time.
Luca turned and started walking to his office again.
"Don't forget your medicine" Malcom said, almost laughing when he saw the look on Luca's face.
"Oh fuck off" Luca growled as he left them behind.
"Damn...." Henry said "He can walk pretty fast for someone with a hole in his chest"
Malcom laughed. "You're right about that" he said.
"Move it you two fucking morons!" Luca voice snapped.
"Let's go, before he burst an artery" Henry said.
***
Luca opened the cell door, hands folded behind his head as he walked in.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, looking at Damlic.
Damlic just glared at him through eyes half swollen shut. "What the fuck do you want?" he snapped, eyes flickering to Malcom and Henry that stood in the door.
"I'm here to give you one last chance" Luca said "One fucking chance, Damlic and then I'm going to kill you"
"I'm not telling you anything" Damlic snapped, spitting on the ground.
Luca laughed. "Alright" he said, pulling out a syringe "This is for your then"
"A poison?" Damlic said "That's not like you, Luca"
"This one is for fun" Luca said "Made it myself, so I wanna see what it does.... and the Boss wouldn't allow me to test it on anyone else"
"Bastard...." Damlic hissed "You're sick...."
Luca nodded. "Pretty much" he said walking up to Damlic "Let's see what happens"
As Luca brought the needle closer, Damlic started fighting against his restraints.
"Fuck you!" he yelled just as Luca pressed the needle into his arm.
Luca stepped back, tilting his head slightly as he watched Damlic. The man stared at him for a moment, before his eyes widened and flickered closed.
"Well..." he said as Damlic went limp "That was very anticlimactic..."
Henry and Malcom just stared at Luca.
Using poison was unusual for him. On the other hand he could barely walk to his office and back without gasping for breath. He couldn't do much else.
So he used poison.
"Go tell the Boss, it's taken care off" Luca said "The mole is dead"
Henry and Malcom nodded and left the cell.
Luca took a deep breath and leaned over Damlic. "I know you can hear me" he said quietly "The serum will wear off in six hours. At the moment you are basically dead, they wouldn't be able to feel your pulse, your temperature will drop. When the serum wears off, you need to take it easy for a few days. One of my contacts will pick you up.... His name is Michael, don't piss him off"
With that Luca stepped back and waited for the others to return.
Nova leaned back against his bike, ignoring the stares and whispers around him. He was used to it. There was a cold wind blowing, slicing through everything. His eyes flickered to the students that walked through the gate. He was sure that the news about him being there will quickly reach Amilia.
After a few minutes he noticed Amilia’s red hair moving through the crowd towards him.
She’s been avoiding him and his brother for the last two days. Normally that wouldn’t worry him at all, but they had an arrangement for the time being. They all just wanted to make sure that she was alright. Since she just got her memories back, everyone was still a bit cautious.
Amilia walked towards him, her hands on her hips as she stopped in front of him.
“Nova” she said “What are you doing here?”
Nova studied her for a moment, his eyes finding the bruises hidden beneath the make-up. A frown formed on his face.
“I came to check up on you” he said “You’ve been avoiding us, Princess. What did you think will happen?”
Amilia rolled her eyes at him. “You are being dramatic, Nova” she said.
Nova lifted his hand, brushing his thumb over the hidden bruises, causing her to flinch.
“What happened?” he asked, ignoring the looks of the other students.
“Nothing that you need to worry about”
“That’s not nothing, Princess” Nova said “You flinched...”
“It’s a bruise, of course it’s going to hurt” Amilia said annoyed, looking away from him “Especially if you press against it”
“I barely touched you” Nova said his voice going cold “Now tell me what happened”
“Dammit Nova” Amilia snapped at him “It has nothing to do with you”
Nova’s bichrome eyes narrowed, going cold. “Who did this to you?” he asked slowly, with a dangerous tone in his voice.
Amilia looked away. “Let it go, Nova”
“I’m not...” he said “You should know that I’m not going to drop this”
“Please.... Nova don’t” Amilia said quietly.
Nova clenched his jaw, his thumb lightly brushing the bruise on her face again. “No” he said as he stepped back “I will find out what happened... And who ever did that, will pay”
Before Amilia could say anything, Nova got onto the bike and drove away.
***
Nova slowly opened his eyes. His head felt like it was going to explode. With a groaned he opened his eyes. This was not one of his best ideas, but when it comes it Amilia, he normally went a bit off.
His shoulders felt strained as his wrists were tied above his head, with his feet barely touching the ground.
“Damn...” he muttered “I feel sick now...”
For a moment Nova just blinked at everything around him. It took him a few minutes before his eyes focused on the figures that was with him in the room.
“Who the hell are you?” he growled “Cause unless you are who I’m looking for.... It might be a good idea to let me go”
There was silence for a while before one of the figures walked over to him.
“if it isn’t the all power Nova” a man said as he stopped in front of Nova “Just look at you now. Stuck... It was much easier to catch you than everyone made it sound”
“Fuck you” Nova growled.
The punch made stars dance behind his eyes. He tasted blood.
“You little piece of shit” the man snapped, his hand grabbing Nova throat.
“Is that all you can come up with?” Nova asked, spitting out some blood “I’ve met brats that can come up with better insults than you. I’m seriously... disappointed in you”
His voice were being strangled, breaking off after every second word. With a bloody grin, he grabbed the rope, lifted himself slightly before kneeing the man in the stomach.
“You...” The man gasped, stumbling away from Nova.
Nova winked at the man. “Wanna try insulting me again?” he asked “Maybe you can try something better this time?”
“You really like annoying people, don’t you?” the man asked coldly.
“And you don’t?” Nova asked “Oh wait... You kind of suck at it”
“Nova, Nova, Nova...” the man said, shaking his head “Do you really think that you are so good, that you don’t have to worry about getting captured?”
A sneer formed on Nova’s face. “Oh... You have no idea” he said “just tell me one thing... Then I promise to be out of your hair, Vorin”
Vorin looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You know Amilia, right?” Nova asked “Sweet girl with red hair and liquid gold eyes”
“She’s one of the heroes” Vorin said.
Nova smirked. “That’s right, that’s her” he said slowly, eyes flashing dangerously.
“So you actually do care out that little missy” Vorin said and Nova had to bite back a snarl.
A fist slammed into Nova’s side and he would have doubled over if he weren’t chained to the ceiling. The pain made his vision go blurred. His breathing wheezed through his throat.
After a moment Nova lifted his head. “Come on...” he wheezed “That the best... you can do?”
“Please...” Vorin said “Are you so worried about that little missy that you wouldn’t fight back?”
“Fuck you...” Nova groaned.
Vorin laughed. “You know... She screamed when the torture started” he said “Such a lovely voice”
Nova struggled to keep his breathing even. It felt like someone were squeezing his chest as he remembered the bruise on Amilia’s cheek and his fury burned through him like fire.
“Don’t dig yourself in deeper than you already are...” he growled.
“Did I hit a nerve?” Vorin asked with a sneer.
“You need to fucking shut up” Nova said coldly.
“Is that so?” Vorin asked “You are so weak... This thing you have going with that little missy...”
Nova let out a snarl, pulling on the chains that his wrists.
Vorin laughed, his fingers closing around Nova’s throat. “You shouldn’t have done this” he said “And you know that”
“Touch her again...” Nova started, but his voice got cut of.
“And what?” Vorin asked “What are you going to do, Nova? Kill me? Torture me? Just look at how scared I am”
Nova’s vision went white as fury rushed through him. His eyes turned feline, the colours slowly melting together. Chaos erupted around him. Everything that was not bolted to the ground, lifted into the air.
A scream sounded through the room.
The chains snapped and Nova landed lightly on his feet. He stepped forward as the power tore around him. For a moment Vorin just stared at him before being thrown into the wall.
“Tell your people” Nova said slowly “If they touch her... I will kill them”
Nova rocked back on his feet, casting a quick glance at Amilia. The two of them were alone on this mission. It were going to take them some time to finish the mission. Not that he wanted to take the mission, but Gale and Max forced him into it.
According to the two of them, he needed to get out and work with some other people.
Annoyingly as it was, they were right, but that did not mean that he was going to admit it to the two of them. There was no way that he’d give the two of them the satisfaction of being right.
“Nova?”
He flinched slightly before looking over at Amilia. “What do you want?” he asked, folding his hands behind his head “It’s dark outside, there’s nothing that we can do at the moment”
Amilia sighed as she sat up. “I know that” she said calmly “I just wanted to know if you’re alright?”
Nova just watched her for a moment before dropping his hands to his sides. “Are you kidding me?” he asked “I know I’ve been out of action for a while, but I’m completely capable of doing my job”
“I know that, Nova” she said, folding her hands in her lap “I am not your enemy. We might not enjoy working together, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot be civil towards each other. I asked because it looks like you are tired”
For a moment Nova just stared at her. His bio-chrome eyes studied her for a moment before he looked away. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his hand through his hair, making it stand up in seven different directions.
“Sorry” he muttered, looking away from her “It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about me”
“Why don’t you get some rest?” Amilia asked softly “There’s still a lot of time before we need to get started”
Nova pulled back a bit, almost as if he was not sure what to say.
“I know you don’t trust me” the girl continued “But please, if you’re not at your best. Then I wouldn’t be able to do my best. So please, get some rest before we get started”
This time, Nova just closed his eyes for a moment before walking over and sitting down. “Sorry” he said again “You’re right”
Amilia blinked at him before she nodded.
***
Amilia watched as Nova lay down next to their little fire. For their entire mission, she’d only seen him taking some few catnaps as he needed them, but for the rest of this mission, she needed him to be at full strength.
He seemed pale since the first moment they started. Gale told her before she left that Nova’s not been himself.
She watched him as he closed his eyes. It did not take very long before she could hear in his breathing that he was asleep and she breathed out. For a moment she was afraid that he wasn’t going to sleep, but he was much more agreeable than she would have thought.
After a few minutes, she heard Nova muttering something. The first few times she could not make out what he was saying.
“...don’t...”
Amilia flinched when she realised what Nova was muttering.
“...please...”
“...hurts...”
“....I’m sorry...”
The words make her go cold. She glanced away from Nova, the expression on his face, made her worry even more. It almost looked like he was in pain.
It took her a moment before she realised that it might be the reason that he didn’t want to sleep while being out on a mission. After what happened with him and his brothers, being caught and him almost dying, she was not surprised that he was having nightmares about the event and what followed after it.
Hopefully the nightmares were to bad.
Without warning, Nova started thrashing around where he lay. His breathing hitched, becoming fast and shallow.
Amilia hesitated only for a second before crawling over to him. Just as she reached him, he shot up with a scream.
She caught his shoulders. For a moment it almost looked like he was going to fight her. The bio-chrome eyes were wild and unfocused, they just flickered over her, searching for something else.
“Nova!” Amilia said, catching his jaw with one hand, forcing him to look at her “Nova, look at me! It’s alright”
For a moment he fought against her. She could feel him trembling under her touch. When his eyes finally focused on her, his breathing were still coming in short gasps.
“Hey” Amilia said, rubbing with her thumb over his jaw.
The bio-chrome eyes were still wide, barely focusing on her as if he was still in the nightmare.
“Nova, it’s alright” she continued speaking softly “You were having a nightmare. Everything is alright. You’re with me”
Slowly, almost as if afraid that she might scare him again, Amilia pulled him towards her, into a hug. She never thought that she’d feel the leader of the most dangerous mercenary group, trembling like a child.
Although everyone had a trigger for something that they were terrified of, even a deadly mercenary.
“Amilia...” Nova’s voice whispered into her shoulder and she smiled.
“Yeah, it’s me” she said, softly playing the tips of his hair in his neck “Are you alright?”
She could feel him taking a trembling breath, but not moving his head from her shoulder.
“I... I don’t know...” he muttered “I can still see it”
Amilia frowned. “See what?”
“Gale and Max...” he took another trembling breath “....dying... Over and over again. I can’t.... I can’t stop them...”
“They are alright. Gale and Max are fine” Amilia said, resting her cheek on his dark blond hair “It was just a nightmare. You know it was just nightmare...Nova?”
Nova stopped trembling. “Amilia?” his voice whispered.
“Is this why you don’t want to sleep?” she aske carefully.
Silence followed for a few seconds and all she could hear was Nova’s breathing, which became steady again.
“Yes...”
She almost missed his answer.
“I’m sorry...” she said, still playing with his hair “I wouldn’t ask anything else, I’m sorry if I caused it...”
When she did not receive any reply, she realised for the first time, that Nova’s breathing has become deep and even.
He was sleeping again.
Slowly and carefully, Amilia lowered him back onto the ground. His expression looked so peaceful as he lay there.
This time she did not let go of him, just lightly holding on to his wrist with one hand, just to make sure that he did not wake up with the terror of being alone after a nightmare.
She knew what that felt like and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
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