Traitors

The static coming from my pocket fades out and I can hear Hunter's voice shouting my name. My hand fumbles trying to grip onto my ear piece. I clip it back on my ear and answer him, struggling to block out the screaming from down the hall. Hunter informs me he is in the building and on his way to get us out of here. I hesitantly ask about Fierce, but he avoids my question by turning off his mic. I release a frustrated groan kicking the door and crushing my toes in my shoe. I fight off the pain focusing back on the lock. I fidget with it until the door suddenly opens, not because I successfully unlocked it, but because someone else has opened it. I stare up at the odious man who had me sentenced in here.

"You're quite clever, Miss Detope." Mayor Fierce painted on smile shines down on me. "But not clever enough." He swipes my bobby pins from me as we hear more screaming coming from his office.

"What are you doing to him?" I try to push past him, but he shoves me backward.

"I'm not doing anything." He chuckles. "But my Russian associate is having a blast with him." More yelling echoes into the hallway.

"Stop her." I demand. "He's your son."

"Not anymore." He huffs slamming the door on me.

I stare blindly ahead allowing the dark consume me again. I can only hope Hunter is almost here to let me out so we can get Fierce out of here. I press my call button on my ear pierce hoping someone will answer and tell me what's going on. Hunter answers and instructs me to bang on the door so he can locate where I am. I follow his order and pound profusely on the back of the door. It isn't long until the door swings open once again, only this time I'm greeted by familiar face. I wrap my arms around Hunter which he somewhat returns the action by simple taps on my back. I jump back remembering we have to collect Fierce.

I peer down the hall as I throw myself out of the closet sized room and notice the door to the Mayor's office is slightly ajar. Hunter follows behind me as I race towards it. I almost reach the door when an arm shoots out in front of me stopping me from moving any further. I scowl at the person attached to the arm.

"Hey there, Red." He slithers closer so he's directly in front of me. "Haven't seen you in awhile." He looks away from me for a second. "I don't know you." He hisses at Hunter. "I'm Aaron, Logan's older brother. You must be one of his homeless friends." I can hear Hunter growl softly. "You must be the mute." He scoffs. "Logan has the strangest friends: the mute, the ginger, the narcissist, and the blind." He moves away from me and closer to Hunter. "Speaking of the blind, I saw her a few weeks ago. She's a fascinating creature, that one." I see Hunter shift slightly in my peripheral vision. "Must have been tough knowing she was the reason Logan got that nasty wound on his back. Maybe if she had a better trainer, none of that would have happened." He says playfully. Hunter balls his hand into a tight fist.

"Where's Logan?" I intervene shoving Aaron away from Hunter. He smirks pushing me back.

"C'mon Red, you can do better than that." I take a step towards him.

"Hand him over or I'll choke you out." I growl at him. He gives me a questionable look, but laughs in my face.

I roll my eyes glancing over at Hunter as he nods allowing me to follow through with my threat. In one swift motion, I swing my arm around his throat turning him away from me. I squeeze my arm tightly cutting off his air supply. Choking noises spew from his mouth as he tries to pry my arm off his throat. Hunter folds his arms across his chest enjoying the view.

"I would stop if I were you." A thick Russian accent blurts out from behind me. I look over my shoulder and see the blonde holding Fierce's head back with a knife to his throat. "You looking for him, no?" I scan Fierce checking for any serious injuries. He looks worn down and incapable of standing on his own. "You let him go," she motions to Aaron, "and I'll let him go." She goes to give him a peck on the cheek, but Fierce yanks his face away. I crush Aaron's neck harder which the Russian doesn't find funny. "Two can play that game." She makes a small incision on his neck until blood starts to slowly drip down.

We stare at each other waiting to see if the other will do something. I know Aaron won't last much longer if I push harder on his trachea. He starts to claw at my skin hoping it will loosen my grip, but I don't ease up. She keeps the steel dangerously close to the oozing cut ready to slice the whole way across. I begin to worry for him as he struggles to stay on his feet. He's only standing because the Russian is holding him up with her arm wrapped around his head. Aaron suddenly stops clawing as his body starts to go limp in my arm. The Russian scowls at me pushing the blade back into the cut making it deeper and bigger.

"Phoenix!" Fierce screams desperately.

I shove Aaron from my grasp, forcing him onto the floor. Violent coughs explode from him as he rolls from side to side on the ground. I fold my arms across my chest keeping a watchful eye on the Russian in case she tries to pull something on me. She rolls her eyes as she throws the knife toward me and shoves Fierce forward. He stumbles collapsing face first into the tiles as I evade her knife. She struts toward me looking ready to fight. I quickly look back at Hunter making hand signals to get Fierce out of here. He understandingly nods waiting for a good opportunity to go grab him.

The Russian growls punching her fist toward my face. I lift my hands up and block it. She jabs my stomach which I take with ease. I swing my foot up by her face which she sees coming and deflects it away. I scoop around and catch her jaw with both fists, one right after the other. I grab some of her hair by the nape of her neck and slam her face into the wall twice, keeping her pinned to there. I motion to Hunter who quickly runs by and grabs Fierce off the floor.

I hold her there for as long as I can giving Hunter enough time to get them out of here. Suddenly, she forces me off of her snarling with rage. I tumble over Aaron who is still lying on the floor. I lose my footing as I crash into the wall behind me. She gets the advantage as she plants her knee into my stomach to hold me on the ground. She strikes her fist into my cheek one, two, three, four times before she latches onto my neck. Blood pours from her nose and onto me. I kick my foot up hitting her in the back of her head. She yelps gripping onto her scalp. I shove her off of me rolling onto my feet. I retreat down the hall to the elevator.

"I'm not done with you." She yells.

I reach the elevator and rapidly press the button hoping it will somehow open the door faster. The Russian laughs rising to her feet still holding her head. She attempts to walk forward, but fails to get far. She latches onto the wall still laughing. The elevator doors opens and I hop in.

"You are now." I shout back blowing her a kiss.

The elevator door closes and begins to lower. I cup my cheek as I notice the throbbing. My pinkie rubs against my split lip and stains it red. I sigh as the door slowly opens and I fling myself out of it. I rush through the crowded lobby to the escape from the building.

The fresh air feels good going into my lungs. I stare straight ahead and see Hunter dragging Fierce beside him. I run up behind him, wrapping his other arm around my neck. He groans loudly which catches me off guard. Hunter, however, isn't phased by it. We struggle to get him in the car, but with Omelee's help we successfully get him in. I crawl in the back with him and study his injuries. Omelee passes back the medical kit and I begin to tear through the contents. Hunter starts up the car and speeds out of the area.

"Talk to me, Fierce." I order. "What did she do to you?" I don't look up at him because I know I won't be able to handle seeing him like this.

"A lot." He grunts. I bite my lip unwrapping a gauze pad to put on his bleeding neck. He stops my hands before I can put it on. He squeezes them tightly. I look up at his eyes which hold desperation. "My knee, Detope." I give him a questionable reaction. "My fucking knee!" He growls. "I can't put it back myself." I glance down at his knees and notice the left one is askew. "She dislocated it. Jesus fucking Christ, just put it back." He demands running his fingers through his short hair.

"Fierce, I don't think I should do that." I begin to panic looking at it. He grips onto my face which hurts slightly from the Russian.

"Shut the fuck up and put my knee back." He barks.

"Detope," Omelee turns around in the passenger's seat, "I can talk you through it. I know what to do." Both of us look at her with admiration. "Lean him against the door and lift his leg onto the seat." He shifts himself so he's up against the door and I slowly lift his leg up. I tenderly slide his pant leg up and over his knee. He swears at me, but I block him out. "Fierce, grab your thigh and move it toward you a little. Detope, gently guide his knee up with it. When he's ready, start to coax his knee back into place. Don't force it. You need to put slight pressure on the side until it goes back in." Fierce takes his time moving his leg up. I wait until he tells me that he's ready for me to try to realign it. "Take it slow." She commands. "We don't know how bad it really is. We don't want to make it worse."

I gently touch the side of his knee and he nods telling me to start. I press feeling his knee shift slightly. He grits his teeth as I continue to tease his knee back into place. With each soft press, I feel his knee moving until we hear a loud pop. Fierce shrieks grabbing onto his knee while leaning forward and then back again. I grab an ace bandage out of the medical kit and begin to wrap it tightly.

I thank Omelee for her help and she responds with a small smile. She turns back around as I look over at Fierce who is checking his pockets for his carton of cigarettes. He notices me staring at him and mouths the words thank you. I nod flashing a smile as he grips my hand and brings it up to meet his lips.

When we get back to The Tunnel, we set him up in my room for the night. We nab multiple ice packs from the training room and we ice his knee. Quela sneaks him one too many pain killers thinking he wouldn't tell me. I sit with him for awhile until Gabe asks to see me in his office. I toss a pack of cigarettes at Fierce and conveniently leave my lighter on the bed. His face lights up as he wedges a cigarette between his lips. I open the door and hear the familiar snicker of my lighter.

"Detope!" He calls after me. I turn back to him as he puffs smoke out. He tosses my lighter back to me. "I know you hate being separated from it." I smirk slipping it into my back pocket. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." He offers.

"I know." I grab onto the doorknob and close the door behind me.