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fruit-teeth · 3 years ago

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Matters of Time and Fate (Chapter 22)

Over the bathroom sink, Zhanna washed some dirt off her hand and watched as it disappeared down the drain. She and Soldier had spent some time attempting to relocate the raccoons into a small shelter, and while they had succeeded, it had not been clean work in the least. As she managed to dry off her hand on a nearby towel, Lar-Nah entered the bathroom, kneeling down to open one of the bottom cabinets.

“What you looking for, old lady?’ Zhanna wanted to know, turning back to the mirror to fix her hair.

“I spilled some water on the floor,” Lar-Nah responded, ignoring the title Zhanna had graciously bestowed upon her. “I’m going to dry it off before I slip in it.”

“Oh. That is fine.” Zhanna nodded, and she undid the bandage around the stump of her other wrist to replace it with a new one.

Zhanna proceeded to apply the clean bandage to her wrist while Lar-Nah returned to her room. Once the bandage was on, she secured it with a clip and held it up to the light, pursing her lips together. Engineer had promised to make her a robotic hand, but he hadn’t said when he was going to get to work on doing that. She considered asking him about it, but everyone was so on edge lately that it did not seem –

From the room across the hall came a crash, and then an outraged shout. Zhanna froze, peeking through the doorway. “Old lady?” she called, but Lar-Nah did not answer.

Zhanna dashed into the bedroom, arriving just in time to see a frightening sight: a weird man with bug-like eyes had broken into the room. He'd come in through the ripped window screen, and he was currently standing over Lar-Nah, holding a gun to her head. Lar-Nah crouched on the floor, holding her arms up in a defensive position.

“Yell one more goddamn time and I'll blow your brains out, you damn hag!” the man said to Lar-Nah. He clearly hadn’t noticed Zhanna’s presence.

In an instant, Zhanna sprang into action, leaping across the room and punching the man square in the jaw. He fell to the floor with a yell, the gun falling out of his hand. Zhanna kicked it further away, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up.

“Who are you!?” she demanded to know, getting right in his face. “Why you here!?”

The man only stared blankly at her, before reaching down and pressing a button on his belt. Zhanna noticed, and she growled, flinging him across the room. He slammed against the nightstand, knocking it over and shattering the bedside lamp on the floor.

“What was noise!?” Heavy’s voice boomed from downstairs, and within moments, he came rushing up the stairs and into the room. Behind him came Pyro and Engineer, and right away, they noticed the intruder.

Heavy helped Zhanna to restrain the man, and Engineer took it upon himself to confront him. “Did Sage send you!?” Engie demanded, looking the man up and down. He then noticed the button on his belt, squinting at it. “The hell is that…?”

“He press that button!” Zhanna explained. “Is it bomb!?”

Despite the man’s thrashing and protests, Engineer yanked the belt off of him, getting a good look at it. “It’s a tracking device!” he realized. “That button must signal someone!” he glared back at the man. “All right, bug-eyes: who’d you call just now?”

The man glared back, before answering, “The name’s Grudge. And why don’t you just wait and see, old man?”

A grappling hook zipped over the window sill and through the cut screen, lodging itself into the wall. Pyro dashed to the window just in time to see yet another man, this one muscular but short, ascending a rope towards the house. Pyro swiftly pulled the hook and tossed it back, forcing the man to fall to the ground with a shout.

“Good work, Py!” Engineer praised, but it was far from over.

Olivia was in the study, and she hadn’t heard much of what had happened. She'd been too preoccupied with looking through newspapers for a new crossword puzzle to notice the commotion, when the door behind her banged open. She turned around, seeing Scout standing there, a bewildered look on his face.

“There you are!” he exclaimed, dashing towards her. “You gotta go, Liv!”

“Why? What is it?” Olivia sensed something was wrong, but the door behind them burst open again before Scout could respond to her questions.

A broad-shouldered woman stood there, a machete in her hand. Her eyes locked on Olivia, and she made a move towards her.

Scout yelled, “Oh, no you don’t!” he then grabbed the edge of one of the bookcases, yanking it down in her path to block her from Olivia. The bookshelf landed right on the woman’s foot, and she screamed in alarm, trying to free herself.

Scout then scooped Olivia up, opening one of the windows and escaping with her. Olivia’s mind reeled, desperately trying to process what was happening. As she looked back at the house, she could see a man trying to climb up into the house through a different window. The intruder was immediately besieged by angry raccoons as Soldier yanked him back down.

Scout led Olivia to the shed, which she had helped Demo, Zhanna, and Soldier convert into a shelter just days earlier. Once Scout set Olivia on the ground, he opened the door and pushed her into the structure.

“Hide in here,” he told her breathlessly. “It’s gonna be okay!”

“But…” Olivia had little time to protest though, as Scout slammed the door. She pushed up a crate, using it to stand on so she could look into the direction he’d disappeared into. He ran back towards the house, grabbing his baseball bat on the way in. An explosion rocked the air, and she could hear Demoman shouting insults at someone.

So this was what fighting was like. Despite her father's constant exaggeration of the battles as if they were some incredible event, she'd never been present for one. The idea of being on a war field, battling and taking down the enemy piqued her interest every time he mentioned it.

But…now that she was here, she felt sick. The pit in her stomach returned, though it was darker this time, so much so that she had to sit down. She drew up her knees to her chest, staring up at the window, her young heart pounding against her chest.

She didn't know how much time had passed as she sat on the shed floor, shivering and mournfully contemplating how weak she was. Had she always been weak? Or had the men her father pitted her against only been too kindhearted to fight a child? Or…

The handle to the shed jiggled. Olivia froze, her eyes going wide as she stared at the handle, realizing with horror she hadn’t locked the door. Leaping up, she quickly locked it, before pressing herself against the door in attempt to hold it shut.

The handle twitched again, and someone banged on the door. “Come on, kid!” an unfamiliar man’s voice called. “We’re not gonna hurt you, we just need you to come with us!”

Olivia’s whole body tensed, her skin covered in a cold sweat. She looked all around the shed, spotting a shovel Soldier had left behind. She grabbed it, preparing to defend herself.

Outside, Rust tried the handle again, eventually settling on reaching for his gun. Jaws had told him this was where she’d seen the girl go, just after a bookshelf had crushed her foot. He wasn’t aiming to hurt this child, but he knew it was going to be inevitable.

The pop of the gun echoed through the air, and the doorhandle fell to the ground. Rust swung the door open, but right when he did, a steel shovel smacked him right in the abdomen. He doubled over with a yell. “God! Fuck! What the hell!?”

Hands trembling, Olivia wacked him again, this time in the head. Rust stumbled back, his eyes filled with palpable rage. He yanked the shovel out of her hand, throwing it back into the grass and grabbing her by the shoulders. “Come here!”

Olivia shrieked, and she began to claw at his wrists with her fingernails, drawing blood. He didn’t let go, though, just squeezing her tighter. Her heart pounding, she kicked her feet in desperation, trying whatever she could to get away.

Rust suddenly let out a pained yell, dropping Olivia and stumbling around in confusion. Olivia wondered if she had triggered that reaction, but as Spy uncloaked behind him, she realized it wasn't her.

Spy caught Rust by the collar of his shirt, twisting him around to confront him, still clutching the bloodied knife. “Such a man you are, going after a small girl!” Spy barked in his face, before looking back at Olivia. “Run! Run into the woods, go hide!”

Olivia struggled to her feet, and without thinking, she escaped into the woods like Spy had said. She dashed into the bushes till she came upon a stump and hid behind it, her whole body trembling with fear at what had transpired.

“Let me go!” being significantly bigger than Spy, Rust managed to shake him away, but Spy tackled him again and held the knife to his throat.

“Just tell me one thing,” Spy began with a snarl. “Is she the target!? Is that why you went after her!?”

Rust grit his teeth. “Like I’d tell you, you masked rat!”

Spy slashed his knife across Rust’s face, making him yell out again. “Talk or I’ll cut your throat!”

Rust shoved him off, cocking his gun and pointing it in Spy’s face. “Look, man,” Rust began. “I got a job to do! And if that means snatching a child up for a billionaire, I’ll do it!”

Spy reached for his own gun, but as it turned out, he did not have to shoot. A bullet whizzed through the air, shredding Rust’s throat and painting the grass red. From the direction of the house, Miss Pauling came running, her shotgun in her hand. When she came closer, she slowed, taking a moment to examine Rust.

“He’s quite dead, Miss Pauling.” Spy assured, trying to keep himself composed. “Thank you…”

“No problem,” Pauling panted. “God, I think they bit off more than they could chew with us,” she laughed breathlessly. “It seems almost too easy! I think—”

Spy cut her off. “Olivia is their target.”

Pauling trailed off. “I…huh? Wait, how do you know!?”

“He said so,” Spy replied, gesturing to Rust’s body. “Sage must be after Olivia, for some reason.”

“Oh, God…” Pauling ran a hand through her hair. “Where is she now?”

“In the woods, hiding.” Spy dusted himself up, looking towards the cluster of trees. “That coward attacked her – she’s terrified…”

Miss Pauling nodded sympathetically. “I imagine, damn…I’ll go check on her, you get back in there!” she gestured to the house.

Spy nodded, putting his gun back at his side and heading back. “Of course, Miss Pauling!”

Grudge believed it was best to escape as soon as it became evident that the mercenaries had the upper hand. Zhanna had locked him in the bedroom, but he'd escaped, running through the fighting and trying to flee through the kitchen window.

Sniper, on the other hand, had noticed him and was standing behind him with his rifle, muzzle aimed at the back of his head.

“I’d get away from there if I were you, mate,” Sniper warned, his voice low. Grudge paused, turning his head to meet Sniper’s eyes.

“Why?” Grudge snarked. “Are you gonna be mad at me? Huh? Is that it?”

Before Sniper could respond, Grudge tackled him to the floor, knocking the gun away from him. Sniper let out a shout, kneeing him in the stomach and tossing him across the kitchen.

Sniper lunged for his rifle as Grudge attempted to recover, but Grudge produced a gun without notice and fired one shot. The bullet only grazed Sniper’s shoulder, but it was enough to knock him back against the cabinets.

Groaning, Sniper struggled to get back up, but Grudge stood over him, pointing the gun right in his face. “Any last words, ‘mate’?” Grudge seethed, mocking Sniper’s accent.

The unexpected happened in what felt like a single second: Sniper observed Lar-Nah standing behind Grudge, but before he could figure out what she was up to, she lifted the microwave from the cabinet and slammed it down.

It fell directly onto Grudge’s head, the glass door shattering around his skull and sending him into stunned shock. He dropped his gun and gasped for breath within the kitchen appliance as he staggered backwards, dropping to the ground. Sniper watched in disbelief as Lar-Nah stood calmly over Grudge, his body twitching two more times before stopping.

“Old hag, my ass,” Lar-Nah spat. She then turned to Sniper, looking at his shoulder. “He shot you, didn’t he?”

“Oh,” Sniper checked his wound. “It’s not serious, he only nicked me. I…” he rose to his feet, blinking. “You…you just…you saved my life!”

Lar-Nah glanced back down at Grudge’s body, and then up at Sniper. “I did,” she scratched at her shoulder. “The microwave was a gamble, but I knew it would work if I angled it just right and—”

“Hey,” Sniper reached out, placing a hand on her arm. “Thank you.” he looked in her eyes, showing her his gratitude was genuine.

There was a brief pause, and Lar-Nah smiled back a little. “You’re welcome.”

Sniper's attention was drawn away by the pop of another gun from the living room, and he dashed to the doorway to see what was going on. Much to his surprise, Helen was standing over one of the intruders, holding a revolver in her hand.

“Took her long enough to show up,” Sniper muttered, realizing that this was the first time he’d seen her since the attack began.

Helen lowered her gun, staring at the woman she’d cornered and glaring down at her.

“I assume Sage sent you,” Helen began, her voice low and menacing. “And if he did, I’d like you to take back a message for him.”

Shell staggered to her feet, wiping blood from her mouth. “Fuck you,” she snarled. “I’m not taking back any message for you, bitch!”

“Oh? Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear,” Helen pointed the nozzle of the gun at Shell’s jaw, lightly tapping it. “When you see Phoenix Sage, tell him that he’s a fool if he thought he could take me down this easily.” She then gestured to the mess that was the battle’s aftermath. “You’ve lost a few of your teammates already, it’s in your best interest to leave before we kill the rest of you.”

“You…bitch,” Shell repeated, her eyes bearing a cold, steel glare of hatred. She backed off, however, knowing she and her remaining teammates were outnumbered. “I’m not gonna forget this, all of you are gonna pay for this shit!”

Helen could only stand there and watch as Shell gathered her live companions and walked out of the house, disappearing into the woods. Despite the fact that the mercenaries had plainly defeated the bounty hunters, they were certain to return: Helen was well aware that people like that didn't go down without a fight.

Sniper took that moment to approach Helen, clearing his throat. “You’re not gonna…kill all of them? They’re gonna tell someone.”

“Oh, please,” Helen scoffed. “They’re bounty hunters. They won’t go to the authorities, I know these kinds of people…” she smoothed her blouse out and took a breath. “Anyway…you and the others, clean this place up. I’ll be hosting another meeting to discuss what just happened here.”

As she walked away, Sniper couldn’t stop the glare that crossed his face. Once Helen was out of earshot, he muttered, “Yeah, sure, make us clean up after you did bloody nothing…”

Out in the woods, Miss Pauling searched high and low for Olivia. She hadn’t found her yet, and the panic had set in.

“Come on, Olivia, it’s okay!” Pauling assured. “That guy who grabbed you is gone, its okay!”

A twig snapped by the trees, and Pauling turned to look, going quiet. After a long, few seconds of silence, Olivia emerged from behind the stump.

Relieved, Pauling knelt down to examine her, fixing her hair. “Hey, hey! Are you okay?”

Olivia only nodded. She was still terrified, but she’d calmed down somewhat. Now she was just tired.

She rooted herself against Miss Pauling, murmuring, “I just wanna go inside…”

“Okay…yeah, I understand.” Pauling carefully picked her up, smoothing her hair back. “We’ll go inside, I’ll get you some juice and a snack, okay?”

Olivia nodded again, pressing her face into Pauling’s shoulder. She smelled like sweat and blood mixed with deodorant, but Olivia didn’t care.

Miss Pauling carried Olivia out of the woods and into the backyard, where Demoman immediately noticed them.

“Lasses!” he exclaimed, rushing up to examine Olivia. “Oh, wee thing, are you all right?”

Olivia sniffed, lifting her head. “Yeah,” she answered. “I hit a guy with a shovel.”

Demo smiled a bit at that. “Did you? Aye,” he ruffled her hair affectionately. “You look knackered!”

“I’m gonna take her to the kitchen for a snack,” Pauling explained. “She’s had a long day, and—”

“Oh, not the kitchen,” Demo grimaced. “Sniper’s mum took a lad out with the microwave in there.”

Pauling blinked, unsure if she’d heard that right. “A microwave!? Oh, wow…guess we’ll need a replacement. I can take care of that mess, though…” she sighed, handing Olivia to Demo. “Can you…I don’t know, keep her somewhere safe and quiet for a while?”

“Can do,” Demo nodded, accepting Olivia. “Come on, lass, let’s relax for a while…”

He took Olivia inside, situating her on the couch with a blanket and a glass of water. As Olivia sipped on the water, she watched while the mercs cleaned up the mess around them.

She couldn't decide how she felt...she felt much better now that the threat had vanished, but she couldn't stop thinking about the fight she'd been in. What had that man been planning to do? She didn’t even want to keep thinking about it, choosing to take another big sip of water instead.

Spy could see Olivia huddled up on the couch from the other room, and he could tell she was still terrified. A combined feeling of pity and anger burned within him, getting stronger as he glanced over his shoulder at Helen.

Perhaps Spy was not thinking straight after what had just occurred, but he blamed Helen. All of this happened because of Helen’s need for Australium, and now her own child was in danger. And did she care? That was a bit confusing...Helen was talking to Miss Pauling about something at the moment, but Spy couldn't tell what it was.

He sensed he couldn't keep what he knew about Helen a secret any longer as he went back to scooping up bullet fragments from the floor.

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