P.O.V: Jacob Wills.
The months that followed Elizabeth and Tommy’s talk mainly consisted of training, good hearted jokes, and some more training. Elizabeth had a new look in her eyes, a look I’ve seen in far too many people in this place. A look that you only get after you’ve been through something terrible. We all tried to convince Liz that she should wait, to think more on it, but there was no talking her out of it. Donny made jokes of Liz being trigger happy, but then she would flick her wrist at him and something heavy would get thrown into the side of his head. Not that it stopped him any, but it still made the rest of us laugh. Donny had even taken to helping with her training, to all of our surprise. Though I suspect that it was mostly because he thinks he still owes Brannon and is trying to pay him back in a way, by training Liz. What happened between the two was years ago, but is something I know Donny feels he’ll never be able to repay. We were right in the middle of training- we being myself and Logan- while the others watched. Thomas and Liz were making small talk and laughing at us while Donny made fun of them for a bit, his usual commentary.
“Awww, got yourself a new girlfriend there, Tommy?” he taunted, jabbing Tommy in the ribs playfully. They both rolled their eyes at his childishness, but to their own disadvantages, said not a word to defend that statement.
“Ut- oh, I think he might, then we’ll have two sets of love birds around here. The horror!” I played along, smirking at the annoyed look on both their faces. Renae and Donny were used to my jokes about them, but we were just getting started on Thomas and Liz.
Liz opened her mouth, probably to contradict us, when Kaylee walked in, a gun that was barely visible strapped to her side, something small bundled in her right hand, and a look of steel in her eyes. Something was up. Me and Logan stopped training, Donny and Renae shared a look before Donny walked up beside me, and Thomas and Liz stared intently at us- waiting for what she had to say.
“We got an emergency mission. Here,” she said, throwing a tiny black earpiece to me, and I caught it easily. She thew other an earpiece to each of the others, not pausing to throw one in Liz’s direction.
“Elizabeth, Logan, Donny, you stay here. Jake make sure the coast is clear, then tell them to come- but not before then. Renae, you’re at the computer, Thomas- you’re teleporting, Jake and yourself, then the others. I’m staying at the base.” she added, seeing the questing look on my face before walking back out the building, motioning for us to follow. I knew why she didn’t want to come- with all the bases that’ve been taken down lately, we need at last one commander here twenty-four seven. I shoved in the earpiece before looking at Liz.
“You think you’re ready, Elizabeth?” I wasn’t going to send her in if she wasn’t, I don’t care what Kaylee said.
She nodded, stuffing her own earpiece in her left ear. “Let’s to it.” she said simply.
We all walked out into the lawn, while Renae went into the House to go to her own station in a room most people wouldn’t look twice at. I looked back at Donny, who now had his knife at in one hand a ball of swirling ice in the other, prepared to throw it at a moment’s notice. Logan had an array of throwing knifes, a couple pistals and magazines. and small buttonized bombs strapped to his sides. Somebody had given Liz a gun and magazine is to to to put strap to her belt, and Thomas had two small spears strapped to his back.
“I got a hint from a little bird about a bunch of Blood Order getting into an FBI building, my little birdie also told me that they have captives.”
“No offense, but what does that have to do with us, Kaylee?” Donny asked before I could.
We only ever get involved with things if they involve mutants or humans that the Order were after. The FBI had no interest for us, even if the Order was taking captives, that’s the police’s job- and I have no interest in possibly getting shot by the police if we do try to help. Though most police officers may not try to kill you if they know you’re a Keeper, we’re technically as much war criminals as the Order is. So we can be shot and taken into custody just as much as them, because what we do on a daily bases is extremely illegal.
“Because, that building has been investigating Gate Keeper bases for the past year. And apparently, they’ve been investigating ours, and the Order wants the information. Whatever you do, don’t let the Order get it- or we’ll have more than a little problem on our hands.” she mutters.
We nodded and she turned toward the House, probably to help Renae. Thomas gave me a small grin and held his palm out in front of him. A large green portal appeared in front of us, sizzling and hissing as it grew. Thomas gave me a nod toward the portal and without hesitating, I ran toward the green spiral and jumped into it head-first, landing on cold hard tile, using my hands to soften the bow. I felt the feel of lightning burst through my body and effectively shock all my senses. The feeling of fire and ice making a scolding combination ran across my skin for a few moments before I found myself on the other side of the portal. I never liked using Thomas’s portals, but he always said he never minded the way it felt. Thomas jumped into it, and it closed as soon as he was on the other side. He laughed at me, and I probably would’ve too. I mean, really, what had I been expecting? To land in lava? Thomas had portaled us inside room that could’ve been an office. It had a large desk with cabinets full of books a large window demanding half the room and a sleek, black computer. Thomas went over to the computer and turned it on, Renae giving him orders on how to hack into it. Could the information be in there, could it honestly be that easy? By the way he punched the computer screen a few moments later, I’m going to guess the answer is no. Go figure.
“Get the others in here, tell ’em the coast is clear.” I order him, just as voices erupt from outside the door. We both froze, not daring to move a muscle. A moment later, after barely being able to breath, the voices subside. Thomas doesn’t hesitate to open up another portal and the others immediately jumped in it. Though the others didn’t try to do a head dive, Elizabeth looked startled. Then I have to remind myself that she’s never been through one of his portals. I bit the inside of my cheek to hide my laugh, but Donny didn’t bother. He laughed quietly at her and his voice carried through the earpiece, making Liz glare at him.
“Shut it, Don,” I snapped at him, motioning to the door, and he immediately stopped laughing. “Spread out and search, if you find the information be quick with it, and if you run into any of the Order, don’t attack. We don’t know how many of them there are.”
I opened the door and made sure there was nobody there before I let the others through. Liz and Thomas went left, crouching and running down the long hall to the left. Donny gave me a nod and headed for the stairs- knife in hand- and crouching low as well. I ran right and made sure to shut the door softly to make sure that nobody saw the broken computer. Now, if I were an FBI personnel, where would I put important information? Surely they wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave it in a random computer? No, then the Order could merely hack it and get the files from somewhere safe and they’d never even have to get close. It could be in some kind of safe maybe, but if you have the right kind of mutant, I’m sure they could crack that thing open like an egg- and they would surely know that. Something about this whole thing made me nervous, like I just knew that something was off. I opened one of the office doors and froze. It was exactly like the other one, down to every last detail. From the wallpaper of the computer screen, to the things on the desk. There was something truly wrong with this whole thing. But I ignored it, and continued searching, now more for a safe than bothering with the computer.
“Anything, guys?” I only whisper, not wanting to chance the possibility of anyone overhearing, but I know they can hear me.
“No, nothing. Anyone else getting the creeps, or is it just me?” Thomas asked, sounding as nervous as I felt.
“Yeah, just keep looking.” I mutter, getting annoyed. If we keep searching we’re bound to get caught by one of the Order, then we’re really in trouble.
“Getting anything, Renae? We could really use some help here.” Donny whispered, knowing she could hear through the earpiece.
“Yeah, but it’s too confusing. I’m trying to find out what I can about the building, trying to find blueprints- but it’ll take time. There’s at least ten soldiers, one’s hurt though.” She sounded both exasperated and tired at the same time.
“Keep trying Nae, I don’t like the look of this place.” Donny told her, and we all fell silent.
“Don’t go in there!” Renae suddenly yelled, her voice filling my eardrums with worry.
There was a startled shout from Liz and a yelp from Thomas, and I jumped as their voices pierced my eardrums. I could hear Donny running up the stairs as I hurried out of the office and down the hall they went to and froze in my tracks. Kaylee had been wrong, they had no prisoners- not anymore at least. The bodies of more than thirty workers were laid across the floor, all dead in ways I didn’t even want to describe. Some looked as if they were lucky enough to have their throats slashed, others suffered much worse deaths. If they were dead, then that means they already have the information on us. The others were coming to the same conclusion just as the Order soldiers were understanding who we must’ve been. Liz waved her hand at the wall to the right and it blew apart, pieces scattering and launching themselves at the soldiers. Renae had been right: ten soldiers, though one had taken a bullet to the chest and was breathing shallowly while leaning on a far wall. One of the soldiers laid her hand on the floor and it started to shake beneath us and began to actually bubble. The cold tile beneath our feet began to heat up like it was water on a stove. None of us seemed to be in much of a mood to get cooked at the moment, and dove out of the way as that part of the floor broke and crumbled into a heap of smoldering metal and steel. I looked at Donny, who was already pushing himself up and looked ready for round two, Thomas had barely escaped his insides becoming tomato soup, and his left pant leg had a large crispy hole and his skin was blistering beneath it. Elizabeth looked to be in better conduction, if not even more mad than before. Logan unhooked one of the small rectangular bombs from his waist, but didn’t throw it. Because if he had, the floor would’ve collapsed, with all of us on it. They ran at us- with the exception of the wounded one- their eyes changing various colors from their auras. Thomas was carefully trying to fling portals at them, but also trying to be careful not to accidentally hit one of us with them. Elizabeth was focused on one soldier in particular who seemed to be able to control metal, attempting to deflect the weapons and random objects he threw at her. Logan was firing his gun at two soldiers, but one of them seemed to be able to deflect anything that comes close to her skin, and the other was able to burn the bullets before they hit her. Donny was busy with multiple soldiers with his knife, Thomas at his back, fighting more. But I was looking for the information, whatever it might be. Then I noticed one of the soldiers was trying to edge away from the fight- with something small clasped in his hand, something that looked like a hardrive. I went for him, letting my Water Bending seep into my fingers. The soldier looked to be about my age, possible a few years older, with dark skin and a buzz cut and a menacing look on his face. I turned to him, ready to attack, when I heard Elizabeth scream in my ear.
______________________________________
P.O.V: Elizabeth Harmon.
I tried to fling the large computer that the soldier sent flying at me back at him or toward another soldier, but suddenly one of the other soldiers came barreling at me with full force, throwing both of us at the window. I heard the cracking and shattering of glass as we both hit it and I screamed, feeling myself going over the side. I grabbed onto the edge, barely able to keep my fingers from slipping.
“Thomas- get Elizabeth!” I was so terrified I barely heard him.
The next second, Thomas was there, trying to grab my hand, but he couldn’t do it lest he risk me falling. He managed to grab my right hand and held onto it tightly.
“Don’t let go!” I don’t know why I said it, maybe heat instinct
He leaned back to look behind me and then turned to me, looking apologetic.
“I’m gonna let go!” He yelled back at me. “I’m going to make a portal under you, and let you fall into it, okay?”
“No, not okay! Not okay!” I scream but his eyes were already turning green and I could hear hissing and sizzling beneath me.
I reached out in my mind and tried to find something to hold onto, anything, but my concentration was all over the place and that immediately sent things flying. Suddenly, I couldn’t move, it was like I was frozen. My fingers became locked in Thomas’s and I noticed there was something wrong with his eyes. One of his eyes were starting to turn lighter and lighter until one was yellow. My arura. If my fingers weren’t glued to Thomas, I might’ve lost my grip from shock. His eyes were wide with surprise, obviously feeling the same thing. Then I notice the new chaos: portals were wipping out of the walls and slashing out at not just the soldiers, but at Jake, Donny, and Logan too. The portals were now not only slicing apart the walls and floors, but sending brick, glass and metal through them send at people- slicing apart whatever it touches.
The others were shouting at both Thomas and I, not knowing which one of us was doing it- and frankly, I didn’t either. Jacob was cursing, saying the soldier got away, and knelt beside Thomas. He locked onto my wrist and pried Thomas’s fingers off. As soon as my skin lost contact with his, the feeling of being frozen stopped immediately. Jacob pulled me up with both hands and have me measuring look. He went off to see if the others were okay and I noticed the bodies littering the floor belonging to the soldiers. We did that, Thomas and I. Though I had zero clue as to how we did it exactly. Logan had a deep cut on his thigh but Donny looked fine, if not tired. He kept glancing at me like he expected me to go crazy. Thomas was limping, trying to keep his weight of his burnt foot as he leaned on Logan, his eyes were back to their normal brown color. The soldier with the information had gotten away, along with the metal mutant- or as the others called him, a Metalane- but Renae was already assuring us that she could see where they were going.
“Jake and I will go after them, you guys get yourselves to the Hospital.” Donny sighed and turned to Jacob. “We better get-”
But before Donny could even finish his sentence, a shot rang through the air so sudden it made us all shout out in surprise. At first, I thought that maybe mine or Logan’s gun had accidentally gone off, but I was terribly mistaken. The soldier that had been injured was leaning against the wall, a small pistol in his hands. Jacob’s face lost it’s color in the same second that Donny screamed his name. Two more gun shots rang out before I had enough common sense to reach out and snap the gun in half, my blood boiling with rage. Jake’s hand moved numbly to his wounds, two shots to the stomach, one to the upper chest. His body slumped to the ground but Logan and Thomas were there, trying to keep the blood from flowing too fast. Renae was speaking in a calm, fast voice, telling them what to do. Logan ripped off his jacket and tried to staunch the blood, but it was moving too quickly to stop now. Then I noticed Donny. His eyes weren’t on Jake like the rest of us, they were on the wounded soldier, and they were filed with hate. His eyes began to turn a violent shade of red, as red as the blood flowing from Jacob’s wounds. Donny raised his hand toward the soldier, and what happened next couldn’t have shocked me more. The man’s hands went to his own throat and he began to make a gurgling sound, his eyes wide with pain. The veins in his body began to turn white and he started to shake violently. That’s when I realized what Donny was doing to him: he was freezing the man’s blood. A thin layer of ice began to form on the man’s skin and started getting thicker until the man looked nearly frozen. The others had noticed now and were yelling at him to stop, Renae included.
“Donnatello Keeney!” Jacob’s hoarse voice rose above all of ours, cracked with pain.
Not because he was louder, but because the anger in his voice was so blunt that Donny actually stopped. His hand fell to his side and his eyes turned back to a watery blue, looking like a little kid that got caught stealing from the store.
“Stop, now.” He hissed and winced, groaning in pain.
Donny raced to Jacob’s side and began to try to freeze the blood leaking from the bullet holes- despite the warnings from Renae about it being dangerous for Jacob, in case the blood starts to clot and there wouldn’t be a thing Donny would be able to do.
“Do you see another way, Renae?” His voice was cutting, but not cruel or hateful. More stressed than anything.
“At this rate, Jacob’s going to bleed out before we get out of the damn building - it’s the only thing I can think of.” He sighed and began to run his hand over the three bullet wounds.
After a few moments the blood stopped and the wounds looked almost frozen, and I couldn’t help being reminded of the soldier suffering only a few feet away. Donny gave Thomas and Logan a look before Logan and Donny grabbed Jacob while Thomas made a portal on the street before the wall leading to the base. Donny grabbed Jacob under his arms and Logan grabbed his feet. He gave a scream of pain when they lifted him, but they didn’t stop. Donny looked like he would rather be at the wrong end of a pistol than here, his face filled with pain as he continuously glanced down at Jacob with worry. Thomas had portaled us to the front to The House and as soon as other Keepers noticed us, they ran to help. Two Keepers with white scrubs ran out of The House, a stretcher between them. They pushed all of us aside as they rolled Jake onto the stretcher. As soon as he was secure, they ran back into The House, Jacob strapped to the stretcher between them. We all took off at a run after them, Logan leading the way as we ran down hallways I’ve never explored, curves, and raced down steep stairs at the end of one of the hallways. At the end of the stairs was a hospital, or at least, their closest version of one. There was white hospital beds seating the wounded in varias states of injuries, laid in rows, Keepers in blue and white scrubs, like the ones that had grabbed Jacob wore ran from bed to bed and through multiple doors at the end of the hallways, going from the worst injuries, to mere broken bones. The walls and floors smelled intensely of cleaning products. Logan grabbed one of the passing Keepers in white scrubs and asked if she knew where Jacob would be. For an answer, she merely nodded at two double doors to the right. A silver plaque on the door read:
Surgical Operating Room. Do not enter.
I knew that we all wanted to bust down the doors, but we all agreed that there was nothing we could do but leave the Keepers to their work. So we sat down in a corner of the hospital, out of the ‘doctors’ way, as others waiting on loved ones were doing. It didn’t take long before Renae found us and sat down next to Donny, intertwining her fingers with his. We sat there for a long time, some of us even falling asleep- except Donny, who was wide eyed and anxious- before a Keeper in blue scrubs walked up to us.
“Jacob’s out of surgery, we’ve moved him to one of the beds. I thought you might want to see him?”
We followed her down the hallway of beds and to one of the last beds, the white curtains drawed. Donny threw back the curtains and there Jacob was, looking worn but alive, though he looked heavily sedated. The Keeper left us alone and we all sat in the uncomfortable grey chairs. Donny eventually drifted off as time passed, but this time he was the only one. Logan had to talk to Kaylee and Renae said she wanted to find the two that ran away, saying she had her ways of finding people. That left just Thomas, Donny, myself, and an unconscious Jacob. I found myself edging away from Donny workout realising, the memory of what he did all too vivid in my mind. But I didn’t want to think about that, instead I thought about what Jacob had called Don. Donnatello Keeney. Such an odd name, yet it seemed to for him perfectly.
“Back on the mission, ” I start and Tommy’s eyes narrow at me, already expecting my question. “Jake called Donny ‘Donnatello’, is that his actual name? ”
He seemed surprised to hear that coming from my mouth, but answered anyway.
“Well, Donnatello is his legal name- but he hates it. Nobody calls him that, except Jake, and he only says it to get Donny’s attention.” He paused, obviously thinking about the same thing I was. About the man, how white his veins were, how Donny never showed any sympathy for the soldier that he was so brutally torturing. I felt myself shudder at the memory, and the realization that Donny was far more dangerous than he formally let on.
“Donny,” Thomas sighs, shaking his head. “has a bad temper, and his powers react to his emotions more than the rest of us. Most Bender’s powers run on their emotions. That’s one of the reasons they’re dangerous. So their control is based on how well you can control yourself, and controlling Don has never been an easy thing to do.”
“But Jacob’s a Bender too and he doesn’t loose control like that.” I counter, unwilling to give Donny a pass for doing something so horrible to another human being.
“Yes, but Jacob has an unusual amount of control over his powers- he always has, even before he came here, I’ve never seen anyone have that much control. I’m not saying Donny isn’t at fault, I mean, Jacob is going to tear off on him when he wakes up, I’m sure.” Tommy chuckles, glancing at Jacob’s sleeping form.
“But he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing sometimes, his powers and anger just take over.”
He said it with such finality that I didn’t argue, even if I wanted to. I still thought that he had no right to do what he did, but arguing with Tommy over it was going to do nothing. Now all we could do was wait, and that’s exactly what we did.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
