Home Again, Home Again - Part 1

Posted on Thu May 6th, 2021 @ 4:56pm by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Captain Jonathon Harrison & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)
Edited on on Thu May 6th, 2021 @ 5:01pm

Mission: The Factions
Location: Mutant Underground Main Base
Timeline: Present Day

“Seriously,” Bethany said, trying to squirm away from the medics working on her. “It’s just scratches, some broken ribs,” she grumbled, slapping away one of the hands poking at those tender ribs. “I’m fine, everything is fine!”

Then she hissed in pain as she turned wrong, and slumped on the gurney. “Don’t you dare,” she said, glaring at a new nurse that was pulling out a syringe.

“Oh, no. We do not try to sedate Fractal,” the older head nurse said, shaking her head, taking the syringe, and redirecting the confused young woman out of the room.

Dyami smiled while looking through the bulletproof window that allowed visitors to watch what was going on in the room beyond. “It seems I may have created a monster.” Turning smiling eyes on Jon he continued, “Her birthday is coming up. Any ideas?”

“For her birthday?” Jon asked. “Besides getting a healer in here so she’ll stop complaining and making my head hurt?” He smiled at Bethany.

Bethany shot a brief, cranky look Jon’s way, but that melted into a bit of a smile. She gave in and let the healers do what they needed to do. He was tired, too, and she didn’t want to keep him there any longer than she had to. “Fine. Get this over with. I just want to go home,” she said with a heavy sigh.

The Indian man tapped on the glass, and mouthed to Beth, “We will be back.”

“Yeah, fine, abandon me,” Bethany teased grumpily, though she really didn’t like being left alone. At least they had learned over the years that she dealt better with women than she did with men, even if she wasn’t a particularly cooperative patient.

“Walk with me, Jon. We have a few things to discuss,” Dyami said, and motioned for the British man to follow him.

Jon raised an eyebrow, but followed Dyami through the medical ward. “So what the hell happened with Garrett?” Jon asked with annoyance. “I need to be able to trust the team on my six, Dyami.”

There was a touch of a growl in Dyami’s voice as he said darkly, “I will have all the answers in a few nights' time. But I suspect that it was greed. Pure and simple greed.” As they rounded one of the many corners in the hospital ward, the shaman motioned to one of the windows, drawing Jon’s attention to what lay inside.

Inside the darkened room, hooked to various medical and diagnostic equipment, was Garrett, moving fitfully in his sleep, obviously in the throes of a nightmare. Dyami’s eyes darkened as he stared at the traitor through the thick wire-hatched glass. “I have a,” he paused and made air quotes, “friend getting the information for me.” At that moment, Garrett let out a stifled scream, short but high pitched, grasping at the air as if reaching to hold onto something. Dyami smiled grimly.

“Sounds bad,” Jon said, watching Garrett. “You going to get that new girl we picked up last month in there with him?” he asked, looking over at Dyami. “Beth did a number on him.”

Dyami sighed. “I suppose that would be the right thing to do.” The look on the tall Indian man’s face showed that he did not seem to relish the idea of having the traitor's wounds healed, almost as if he thought the man's suffering was a price he should pay for hurting Beth.

The shaman moved a few steps down the hall to the doorway and touched a small device on the wall. “This is Dyami,” he spoke out loud. “Please send Sanguine to room 1004 for patient treatment.” The little box replied, “Yes, sir,” and Dyami turned from it, back to Jon. “I don’t like using her for this, but I do need him in good shape for the tribunal.”

“Might make him more cooperative,” Jon said. “A little mercy before he goes away.” Jon didn’t seem overly enthused over it, either.

Jon looked up as the lift door opened and a girl walked out. She looked to be about twenty, old enough to drink, not old enough to rent a car. She was thin, almost anorexically so, tall, with black hair. She wore long black lace gloves, torn black fishnets disappearing into heavy black combat boots under a short black skirt, and a black t-shirt for the Victorian orchestral metal band Steampunk Zombies that stretched tightly over her breasts. Eyes with too much black eyeliner set in pale skin looked at the two men as she came over. “Vampire time?” she asked, scratching at her wrist.

The long haired Indian turned as the elevator door opened and his face beamed as Sanguine approached. “Well if it is not the prettiest little vampire on my staff.” He gave a very Victorian-esque bow to her, even mimicking the flourish of a hat.

“You guys are the vampires,” the girl pointed out. “I’m the damsel losing blood.” She glanced through the window. “Damn. Did he get hit by a truck?” she asked.

Dyami continued, smiling, “Lets just say that if one was going to turn traitor, it would be best if you did not try to do it at Fractal's expense.” He motioned to the man in the bed. “He is sedated, he cannot harm you.”

“Says you,” Ophelia Dane said, tugging off the black gloves she wore, revealing the insides of her forearms marked by healing scars from old cuts and track marks.

While Ophilia’s cuts and track marks may have looked to others to be signs of self harm and drug abuse, Dyami knew that nothing could be further from the truth. Each scar marked a person healed, or a life saved, each track the mark of a donation of her life-giving, body-regenerating blood.
“How much do you want?” Ophelia asked, glancing at the man on the bed beneath all the tubes. “Because that looks like he will need a lot. Going to need to set up a transfusion.”

Dyami frowned at the man in the bed. Turning to Ophelia, he said, “Just enough to stabilize him. Do not go overboard on his account. He tried to collect a bounty on Fractal. Not the wisest move.” Dyami patted her on the shoulder.

“Damn,” Ophelia said. “She scares me.”

“You need help?” Jon asked. “We can call a nurse.”

Ophelia shrugged. “I’m not technically a nurse yet,” she reminded him. “Depends on how easy it is to get a vein.”

“I will send a nurse in to assist you.” Dyami motioned for Jon to follow. “Thank you again for your help, Ophelia. Let me know if you need anything.” He paused long enough to tell one of the nurses to help the healer with Garrett.

Once in the hallway, Dyami asked the man following him, “What do you know about the dark web?”

“Not much,” Jon admitted. “Not a hacker. You can buy just about anything there, though, I hear. We used to arrange weapon sales when Bethany and I were in Reno.”

“I spoke with Garrett when he came in. He was still awake. Apparently there are some contracts out on Beth. From what my people told me, two on Fractal, one alive, and one for her dead, and one for Bethany Davies alive. Garrett planned on auctioning her off to the highest bidder.” Dyami looked very serious when he added, “Mind you, two by her codename, and one by her real name. Any thoughts?”

“Any idea who put them out?” Jon asked with a scowl. “How was he supposed to get paid, provide proof of death?”

”There are still a lot of questions we need answers to. I have my best people working on it.” Dyami sighed. “I think we should focus on the one who wants her dead. I think the one who knows her name might be family. But that remains to be corroborated.”

“What family does she have left?” Jon asked. “Unless you mean...the Ice Queen?”

“Well, honestly, it could be a member of her mother’s side of the family, or the Ice Queen. Although, if it is Eva she could just want her alive to kill her herself.” Dyami shrugged. “There are too many variables to know right now.” He was leading them back to Bethany’s room. “What is your best guess before we speak with Beth?” the shaman questioned.

“Lorde would want her alive,” Jon mused. “Might be some folks in Reno, but we left that place such a mess, the sharks would have had a frenzy in establishing their new pecking order. Whoever ended up on top could only thank Bethany.”

Dyami thought about it for a moment before responding, “So do we assume Lorde is the one who is wanting her alive by the Fractal name, trying to outbid the one who wants her dead? He has the money to do that and he would not use her real name, not wanting to expose her. As far as the people in Reno, I think you are right, she was the best thing that happened to the one who took over.”

The Indian man paused in the hall. “So Lorde wants Fractal alive, someone unknown, probably the Ice Queen or Hydra, wants her dead, so who wants Beth? Her mom’s side of the family?” Dyami still looked unsure.

“I don’t even know if they know about her,” Jon said. “We don’t talk about Beth’s past much,” he admitted.

The shaman paused at the door to Bethany’s room, one hand resting on the jam, looking back at Jon he suggested, “Maybe you should ask her. I think you are one of only a few that she might talk about it with.” Dyami motioned Jon into the room. “You can fill her in on anything you feel like. Good luck,” he added.

Jon nodded. “I’ll look into it,” he promised, going to sit beside Bethany.

TBC

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