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I had no clue where I wanted to go with last chapter, and I think it turned out good.

I actually didn't have anything planned but Caine vs Lynx and then Tai meeting Lynx.

Ross dying was just a whatever thing because I had no plans for the character and Lio's theme is trauma and rehabilitation

But that comes later on :)

Everything else was just me thinking up whatever and then putting it on page, and that's what I usually do

I may or may not give Lynx a different name. It's like calling Tai cat or Marshall wolf or Riddick hyena, etc

Plus her face is kind of supposed to be an enigma for a long while and that gives everyone a basic glimpse of how she looks like (her species, that is)

It'll take heavy editing and if your notif box blows up sorry

Also SORRY for the hiatus I could say I was leaving off the first major chapter in silence but really it's just laziness :P

///

"Your friend is in here, sir."

Marshall followed the nurse through the wintergreen hall, hospital smells invading his sensitive wolf nose.

The nurse waited outside the door without indication it was Caine's room, so Marshall looked in just a moment.

As expected, the dingo was there, machines hooked up to him, in his gown, a tube in his throat...

It was disgusting.

Marshall walked in anyways, hearing Caine's breathing amplified through the machine.

"You alright...?"

Caine shook his head.

"I'm assuming the, er... Lynx, whatever she calls herself, did this to you."

He nodded, and Marshall couldn't tear his eyes away from Caine's throat.

Whatever was between them had evaporated after the years, blown away by fear and professionalism.

Caine picked up a notepad and pen on his bedside table and began writing something.

He handed it to Marshall when he was done.

I want you to kill her

Marshall was slightly unnerved, but she was the enemy, after all... The eerie message was just that, and seeing what she'd done to him made it all the worse.

"We'll get her. Don't worry about it. But... Can't you talk?"

Caine grabbed the notepad again and scribbled something else down, this time showing it to Marshall and not giving it to him.

She cut my tongue

Marshall's heart jumped.

He'd previously believed it to be the delicate nature of Caine's neck and chest that stopped him from speaking, but...

No, it couldn't have been....

"The stab wound I saw was nowhere near your tongue, it was meant to kill, not disable."

Caine shook his head wildly, in anger, and tore off the page they'd been using, tossing it to the side.

Marshall watched the haunting messages flutter to the ground.

Maybe if they weren't on there it wouldn't have weighed as much.

Furiously scratching out his next message, Caine's chest began to rise and fall, his teeth clenched, protecting nothing else in that cavity.

He shoved it at Marshall, the wolf taking in the dingo's ferocious look before what he'd written.

Not the Jinn operative. Opera

///

Tai...

It was a gentle voice, in the back of my head.

More the breeze of the mist of dreams, the neverending fog, the...

No, we'll be here forever if I start...

Tai...

Louder this time, what was-

"Tai!"

I jolted to my other side, eyes wide, staring up at my squad leader.

"It's 11:00, Tai."

"I-is it?"

We both looked over to the digital and what was already true was confirmed.

"Well?"

I looked back over to Jake, stark blue eyes staring back at me.

He was wearing what I would and maybe I'd subconsciously modeled myself for him; a polyester tank top and gym shorts.

"We've been running sims the past hour and... I get it if you want to sleep but..."

He sat down on the edge of my bed. Jake wasn't the yelling type, after all.

Compassion was odd... off, really, for me.

I understood it but it was odd to experience it.

Part of me wanted to tear up a little, haha...

"You usually get up at 4 in the morning."

I avoided his gaze, sitting up in bed to occupy myself.

Maybe it was eyes in general that I was attracted to.

Not the organ but, they really were windows to the soul for me.

You can glance at the eyes and see what someone's intentions are, or what they're about.

But I still couldn't tell with Trojan, could I...

"I was just... Tired. That's all."

Jake looked out my window, the thin layer of snow and frost creeping on it.

"Anything happen last mission that I need to know about?"

First mission, more like...

He stared me in the eyes this time, and I had no will to let go.

Yes, there was something I needed to tell him.

Something very important-

"I don't care what it is, I'm here. I was in China for 3 years, I've seen it and done it. If you want to talk..."

"I understand."

He nodded and reached over, ruffling my tuft of hair.

Why was I so damn short next to them all...?

Watching him exit, it wasn't a nobrainer that I wasn't supposed to...

Tell about the girl with the mask.

I'd almost forgotten it in my sleep, but it and the fear and complexity of the thoughts returned, much to my discomfort.

I could have died at any moment there... And all she wanted to do was talk.

She'd killed the coyote in front of me, I couldn't even remember his fucking name...

And she just wanted to talk.

But from her little exit... It appeared she was going to come back at some point.

///

Walking down the steps into the weight room, I guessed my grace period was over.

My body was screaming for exhaustion, yesterday's adrenaline not holding it over.

Feeling the readiness, I wondered what the hell happened...?

I figured someone would be in here to train with, Reyna usually got it all done around 6 or so, and then worked with me whenever I woke up.

To my surprise, she was here, and destroying the punching bag... One of the few we hadn't had to patch up already.

She didn't notice me and I didn't think the jackal was omniscient for once.

I was a little less scared of her.

Watching her, the blur of black, I'd nearly forgotten in the few days of break I had what was so terrifying about her.

She noticed me standing still on the stairs and tripped up, catching the bag to stop herself from falling.

It was the first break in grace I'd seen from Reyna, and I would take care to remember it.

"I... Figured we could get in a bit of training. It's been about 3 days."

She carefully nodded and motioned for me to join her.

I walked over to the center of the weight room, and felt the tension and nervousness from her this time.

Which meant the pain could be less or worse.

She took a deep breath and exhaled but it was hardly audible.

I avoided her eyes, and put up my guard, and the two of us began to circle.

I bridged the gap almost immediately with a jab, and it was lost by a swipe that came without hesitation.

She started off her own attacks with a kick for once, getting straight to the point without battering me.

I was forced to block the roundhouse and the force made me stagger to the side, then the other leg swept mine, I'd forgotten I wasn't standing right either...

I fell to the ground and this time one black furred hand was around my throat, the other drawn back to pummel me.

I winced, expecting fully for the poised piece of hell to smash my face in, but instead, it withdrew.

Our eyes met and I tore away quickly.

Her fist lowered slower than I would have liked, and she got up.

No hand was offered.

Whatever we'd built... Whatever I'd like to think we built was broken by a moment I still knew nothing about...

"I want you, for once, to take me down."

"W-... Take you down?"

"Do to me what I have just done to you. Put me in an unfavorable position."

I got to my feet, still unsure of what to do.

"When I appear off balance, sweep me and use your weight to push me down. Your hands can be anywhere but I personally use the wrists and throat."

I nodded slowly, looking at her deft feet.

It seemed a little impossible but little impossibilities happened every day here in Global 201...

"...Alright." We resumed our stances... No, it was only me. She was standing with her hands by her side.

"You aren't going to..." "This is simply technique. You can apply this at a later date."

I gave a slow nod, and suddenly felt self-conscious.

I didn't want to punch her, or really do anything to harm her...

I mean, who the hell wants to punch their crush in the face?

Awkward emotions swarmed in my head like a disturbed wasp's nest.

Bringing my leg behind hers, I nearly fell over, and we stood shoulder to shoulder, me trying to get the right angle, under a silent observer.

"...Am I using the right leg?"

"The one closest me, yes. But you'll get nowhere unless you do something with your hands."

"Right..."

Bracing the side of my shin against hers, I'd noticed she'd been sweeping me sideways sometimes and simply changed directions to pin me.

My hands quivered and I forced myself to stop as I grabbed her shoulders, pushing with my leg and pulling her towards...

No, nothing was happening.

She was standing still, unfazed.

"You're going for something Muay Thai, it looks like, but that's going to require your hands to..." She went on and I listened in relative distraction.

///

His phone rang, and the giant wolf hand forced its way into his pocket, clearly not made for an animal like him.

Marshall answered it, looking at the moon overhead.

He was in his Vevous apartment, one of many the GRA had set up for him, but this one was his home for now, at least until he was reassigned.

He'd thought about it and if things calmed down, just maybe...

Maybe he could switch squadrons. There was no chemistry for his, some of them already hated each other-

"It's James."

Marshall looked at the cell's screen again in confusion, but this wasn't the shiba's cell.

"You're home, I take it?"

"Yeah. I figured I'd call you."

"Good to know you're safe. You know about Caine I trust?"

"Of course..."

There was a pause, neither of them knowing how to feel about the grievous injuries.

After all, they were hardly even acquaintances with him anymore.

Just used-to-be's.

"Well, I just wanted to know you're alright. Go spend time with your family"-

"I'm sorry about what happened at the airport, Marshall."

"Not like you would have known."

"I... It was dumb of me to take your squadron, I should have picked someone more experienced..."

"Well, Tai is our only... fresh Janus member. All of the others are dead or dying, last I checked."

"Beggars can't be choosers... You didn't happen to take any casualties, did you?"

"We were lucky."

A sigh of relief from the other side of the phone.

"I was praying..." James cut off and was speaking to someone else for a moment.

Marshall realized he'd been standing in the doorway and dumbly staring out of the window.

Sitting down on his bed, he waited for James to come back.

"Sorry about that, Sam was"-

"No, James, you need to be with your family right now."

There was a pause, the shiba perhaps surprised that he was being called 'James' for the first time in...

"Well.. Nice speaking to you I guess. Night."

The wolf's finger hovered over the button-

"Oh! One more thing. You still there?

"...Yes?"

A pause from James.

"I wanted to inform you before anyone else did, there's a new recruit due to your squadron in a week."

"...What?"

"Yeah, I know it's early"-

"Kyle was early, what the hell is this? We're about a month in, one live mission, and you're adding"-

"I don't make the rules... Okay, maybe I do, but this was a request from Opera."

Opera...

Marshall recalled what Caine had told him in the hospital, and opened his mouth to speak but closed it.

It would be him next if he said anything.

"You still there?"

"...Yeah."

"I got a dossier coming your way, they didn't want me to discuss him over the phone."

"Let me guess, he's some 18 year old that could shoot a damn gun and so they promoted him to fucking GSS, and then because I hate kids on my squad they sent him straight to"-

"He's 25, actually. And he's a veteran."

"Veteran? At 25?"

"He was at Glasglow."

"...Oh."

There was another excruciating pause and Marshall decided to hang up before anything more was said.

///

Everyone was crowded around the terminal in the server room, and I stood on my tiptoes to see over Rochelle's head.

Jake was scrolling sideways through the list, and I assumed he had been for at least a minute because that was how long everyone had been staring at the screen.

"So they're all listed according to difficulty?"

"Yeah," he said. "Hellsberg was first, Vervous was somewhere in the middle... Damn, how many of these are there?"

The pictures and previews and stingy words began to fade out of view and into blur as the wolf pawed at the touchpad faster.

It was another ten seconds before the screen finally hit the end and it almost scared me. Everyone leaned in to see better and Alvin unintentionally blocked my view, so I moved to Reyna.

"What's it called?"

"...Operation Alcatraz."

Jake raised his eyebrows at Alvin and something passed between them.

"Won't be doing that anytime soon."

"Christ, it looks like a hellscape..."

I still couldn't see well over Kyle, and gave up, joining the short club with Rochelle.

Maybe I was just tall in Gibraltar, then.

"Digital recreation of Jinn-controlled Kauai... During the 2129 hurricane that battered both sides in the decade old battle. Solo. Recommended stealth. Kill all Jinn operatives, including specialists."

As Jake read the description I got a glimpse of a dark gray sky that was fading into night even, debris flying in what had once been an urban street, trees down on houses and armed men on porches.

Your regular hellscape... For sure.

"Alcatraz is code for something, right?" Rochelle asked impatiently, and I moved to let her see as much as she could.

"Anything designated Operation Alcatraz is a suicide mission. In places like Hawaii, in this simulation, soldiers would island hop atom bombs because the planes would be shot down."

Reyna spoke up to my surprise, and we all grew silent.

"Let's try it!"

"Solo only."

"...Oh."

"Damn, if we could just throw Tai and Reyna at it we'd have it done in the hour."

I didn't know who said that last bit, but it was probably the most memorable bit of praise I ever received.

///

Rubbing my eyes, I leaned over in bed, one hand on the snow colored sheets, careful not to expose myself to the air, and cut out the lights.

Rolling back over, I put one hand under my pillow, giving it some measure of prop.

What measure of comfort I had was overshadowed... I couldn't get over what happened yesterday.

Was I...

Was I supposed to feel bad?

I'd shot someone. Several people. I mean, they were going to kill me and Rochelle and Harper, but... Those were souls and souls had weight on your own.

I wondered if any of my teammates was religious.

I could see Alvin going to church, maybe Kyle, but everyone else seemed too into themselves.

I never got an education in God or anything, but I never got one in science and I think about so much that the latter can't explain.

And magic's bullshit.

There's gotta be someone that made things how they are...

Even without worshipping or learning or anything I felt limited, bound by it. It came to me that I might have to abandon the prospect of religion if I was going to kill... And not be miserable later.

"Tai."

I fell out of bed in shock, my pillow and sheets coming with me, banging my head on the floor. Again.

Standing up too quick and backing into the wall, nearly banging it again, I saw a cloaked... Kabuki mask.

It was silent, I had nothing to say. Fear coursed through my veins.

"I said expect me."

"T-this early?"

"GRA wouldn't expect me just one day after all that happened. Some douche is trying to kill me so we'll have to make this quick."

"What do you want?"

I surprised myself. I hadn't stuttered.

"Well you don't have to be rude about it," she said, falling onto my bed and making me jump.

I couldn't remember her name...

She looked over at me, the mask terrifying and paralyzing at the same time.

She sighed.

"Long day. Sorry. Like I said, some douche is trying to kill me."

"But... What do you want?"

"This is for your benefit, kid."

She sat back up and opened up her cloak to fetch something from an inside pocket.

It covered her head to toe and then some with the hood, the mask, gloves, and tail sleeve doing what the rest wouldn't.

It was burgundy, a shade of rust or stale blood, maybe. Underneath she was wearing a black polyester shirt. If it were any lighter I might have been able to see a bit of fur from my angle in the moonlight.

She realized this and jerked away violently, turning her back.

It came to me there was so much padding in the cloak, obviously it was her only armor besides the mask which itself was porcelain maybe, probably some weird steel factors in it, but...

She was thin underneath, it added most of her mass. Surprisingly thin.

Not malnourished Gibraltar thin, nowhere near where I was, but it didn't even look like she had much muscle.

After what seemed like an eternity in silence and fear, she pulled something out of her cloak.

Shaking it, it made a rattling sound and I recognized it as a pill bottle. I inwardly groaned, I'd had so many weird drugs since I got here. I got an inkling of a headache and an entire bottle got shoved down my throat by Marshall...

"I know what you're thinking. You'll thank me for this someday."

Would I?

I reluctantly took the transparent container, looking at the contents. It was packed to the brim. "What are these for?"

"Take them once a day and you won't die."

"...What?"

She gave a huff.

"Please tell me Marshall told you about the downsides of Janus, I don't want to break it to"-

"That I'll die?"

She stopped talking a moment and looked out the window.

For a moment the mask had no meaning, it was just a piece of porcelain.

Remorse from a killer.

"Yeah. It'll prolong your lifespan, we stole them from GRA and made them better a year or so ago."

I looked down into the bottle, she'd handed me the cap separate.

"Go ahead and take one."

I downed one, noticing it was identical to the ones Marshall gave me, metallic and red/blue.

The red seemed a bit more prominent.

"Damn, I thought you'd give a fight."

"What?"

"I mean, yesterday I killed a guy in front of you, which incidentally is when we met. I'm from Jinn. I break into your room and give you some weird pills. And you just take them, no problem."

I stared into her... Well, her eyeholes. I couldn't see her real eyes, just a reddish tint that was eye shaped.

"What's your name?"

I screwed the bottle back on, and realized she'd sat back down on my bed again.

"...What do you mean?"

"What do you go by?"

"Lynx."

"Your real name, I meant."

She shrugged.

"I don't have one. Same as you."

"But Lynx isn't a name, it's a species."

"Tai..."

"Tai is a name."

Lynx looked for a moment like she was going to lay down but stopped.

I could understand her exhaustion but for someone in enemy territory she was very comfortable.

It reminded me oddly of Riddick.

The odd sense of calm, not the enemy territory part.

At least not until later.

I didn't want to ask her why she was still here, that sounded incredibly rude.

"Can I... Uh... Get you anything?"

"Don't worry about it, kid."

We remained silent again, and I looked at my pale fur in the moonlight, straight-backed.

"Can you take off your mask, please?"

"Why?"

"It's making me uncomfortable."

"...It takes a lot not to go off on people like you."

I looked over at her and my heart jumped as the mask tilted its head to look at me, distorted grin hiding something vaguely alive.

"I know you don't understand why I have this piece of shit on my face. No one does. But don't ask me to take this off. Don't ask me what I look like. Don't ask me my name. Don't ask me anything pertaining to that."

Lynx stood back up and walked over to the window.

"Or I'll rip your fucking guts out."

Turning to see my expression, she laughed.

"I know you're tired of people messing with your innocence. I'll stop."

My clutch on the pill bottle faltered and it fell onto the bed, scattering the capsules across the spread.

I heard the window open but didn't look up, heart still pounding.

It closed very quickly.

I breathed a sigh of relief and began putting the capsules back, putting one hand over my heart to feel the steady but quick throb.

Finally getting them up, I screwed the cap on.

"I was being serious, by the way."

I nearly fell off my bed again, and the window was closed.

My breathing was audible now, and I childishly pulled the covers up to my chin, not daring to put the pill bottle on my bedside.

Please, just let it be a nightmare...

All of it...

///

I had to actually start using OneDrive and Word Online (which I recommend because it's pretty much the latest version of MOW for free) because apparently my license on my office applications needs to be renewed.

I didn't buy them in the first place they came with my laptop

But in the newest version, for whatever reason there's no webpage view. Which means I have to break syntax and trust I don't go over one line when it displays 2 most of the time.

It's whatever I guess but sorry to the OCD people haha

I would ask you to check out the Alcatraz playlist in the journal above this chapter, if you would.