Jackie POV

My body was sore from the landing, but it was nothing compared to what I had experienced in training. I’m not sure how badly Jax was hurt, but I could feel a good steady heartbeat against my back so I knew he was alive at least. I burst through the trees and saw Lyra immediately. She ran over to me and said, “you really scared me! I thought you were hurt when you rolled after landing.”

I sighed, and said, “My legs absorbed most of the impact, thanks to the carbon fiber and titanium design. I was just a little off balance when I landed because of Jax.”

She grunted and then reached up and cut the tape off Jax, releasing him from me. I was afraid to let go of him completely until I was sure she had him. I could feel her start to lift him down and I released my grip. 

When I turned around Lyra was already checking his injuries. “ How does he look?” I asked. I was a little worried about his injuries considering when I rolled I kinda crushed him. “Oh god, Bren is going to kill me.”

Lyra didn’t answer me, instead she leaned forward and appeared to be listening to his chest. She raised back up and looked at me and said, “he is really red around his ribs, they might be broken and he might have a collapsed lung. Some minor cuts and scrapes; other than that he is ok.”

I wanted to be able to tell Bren the truth when I returned. My palms felt sweaty and I nervously started to adjust my jacket as I asked, “a collapsed lung? Do you think his regenerative ability will resolve that?” 

Lyra stood up and walked over to me. She placed her arms around me and gave me a reassuring hug. “He is going to be ok. I’m not sure to what extent his regenerative ability has but I know he will be ok, it isn’t life threatening, if that is what you are worried about.”

Lyra’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight as she leaned forward and kissed me. I ran my hand over her head and down her back feeling her long black braid. “Are you going to move him or try to keep him here?” I asked. 

She looked back at him before saying, “I am going to wait about ten minutes and move him to the car. It will be safer there and I will be ready when you all need me.”

She walked away from me and went back to Jax. I looked back at her, we didn’t ever say goodbye or anything similar to it. It was a promise we made to each other a long time ago. I walked back towards the treeline to see if I saw anyone. It was mostly dark, except for a few light poles. Not that I could see that well but still nobody was in sight. I noticed a gutter that traveled up the building close to the window. If it was strong enough I could climb back up the building.

I sent a text message to Bren, letting him know I was headed back.  I raced across the hospital grounds back towards the building. When I reached the building I felt like an easy target. If anyone was out here I was going to be easily spotted especially when I started to ascend the building. I pulled at the gutter and decided it was sturdy enough to hold my weight. I grabbed the gutter and began pulling myself up as quickly as I could. I had made it about halfway up when I felt something hit my leg. Although my legs were made of titanium they still could sense touch and certainly felt the vibrations move up my body. It was gunfire, I tried to move more quickly up the gutter but, another shot hit my shoulder. Luckily it felt like it just grazed it. In a matter of seconds Bren had taken out the men. When I reached the top Bren pulled me the rest of the way in and I fell on to the floor with a heavy thud. I turned back around and looked down at the ground and said, “thanks for taking those two out.”

Bren looked out the window and said, “I only took one out.” 

I chewed on my bottom lip nervously while staring out towards the treeline. I said under my breath, “Lyra.”

I felt a pat on my back as Bren said, “I’m sure no one saw where the other bullet came from. Let’s go!”

Bren reached out towards me and said, “your shoulder is bleeding. Let me look at it.”

“It only grazed me, don’t worry about it.” I said.

Bren raised an eyebrow and said, “I need to make sure we all make it out of here. Now show me!”

I gave in and took my arm out of my jacket and let him look. It was a little worse than I thought. The bullet had entered my skin and it was starting to hurt really bad. He tore part of his shirt off and tied it up. Then he put duct tape over the wound. 

“Hopefully that will decrease the bleeding,” he said.

I carefully put my arm back into my jacket. 

Just as I was about to stand up. The entire floor shook. I yelled, “what the hell was that?”

Bren ran toward the door, “I don’t know, let's go find Fuchsia and Sina and get out of here.”

We ran down the last two floors. It was so loud when we got to the first floor we fully expected to enter the chaos immediately. We both had our guns ready and Bren cracked the door. There was a thick layer of smoke and lots of yelling. 

Bren slowly shut the door back and said, “it looks like most of the action is to the right. The smoke is going to limit our visibility but according to Fuchsia I have thermal vision. Luckily, my new eye auto detects and adjusts to the environment. When I open the door I am going to move quickly along the wall until I find cover. I want you to stay close and cover my back.”  

He reached down and unfastened the gas mask off of his pants. I reached down to get mine but noticed it was missing. “Shit, I must have lost my mask when I jumped.”

Bren tapped his mask and said, “we will have to share this one. I will give it to you when you feel like you need it.”

I laughed and said, “nah, you need it old man. I see how much you smoke.” 

Bren frowned at me. I knew he wasn’t old but it was too funny to see his reaction.

I checked to make sure my gear was all secure and then said, “alright let’s do this!”

Bren pushed the door open and started moving against the wall. The smoke was thick and I wasn’t doing as well as Bren maneuvering. I was starting to feel the effects of the smoke. I let out a couple of coughs and started to feel a little disoriented.  I looked up and saw Bren facing me. He slid the mask over my face and motioned for me to follow. We found our way to what looked like a bathroom. Bren kicked the heavy door open, the bathroom was surprisingly clear. He pulled me in and shut the door quickly. I pulled the mask off and took a couple of good breaths of air. Bren had pulled out his phone and flipped it around so I could see it. There were a couple of neon dots moving on the screen and then two stationary dots.

Bren pointed at the two stationary dots and said, “these dots are us.” He moved his finger across the screen. “These two dots are Fuchsia and Sina. Once we leave this room we are going to move fast so we need to stay together. Once we regroup, you will message Lyra to be ready. That should give us enough time to get out of the building and reach her.”

I started to say something but we heard footsteps outside the bathroom. We both slid to the wall beside the door. The door opened and a man stepped in unaware of the gun pointed at his temple. He held a gun in his left hand and motioned with it for someone behind him to follow. 

I didn’t want to make a shot this close but it was the best chance we had. I fired and the man went down. Fire erupted from outside of the door into the bathroom. Pieces of metal, plastic, and bright sparks flew all around us. We were trapped. When the fire ceased Bren leaned forward and said, “it's now or never. Rapid fire. Don’t stop. Let’s go!”