He heard a low whistle crackle over the comm as he let go of his power and flickered back into view. “Damn, kid, it’s always scary as fuck to watch you do that,” Hax breathed, but Enzo’s focus was already on the unconscious girl laying in the street.

The ends of her lilac hair were soaking up some of the blood he’d spilled, and she looked significantly paler than she had when he’d been watching her through his specs. He pushed his index finger just under her ear so that his suit could tap into her system. “Exo, do a vitals scan on the girl.”

The screen on his visor flickered and began scrolling through a species list, words flashing across his screen too fast for him to follow until it eventually found the correct file and set to work. He watched the readings popping up, though they were species specific and he had no damn clue what they meant. All he knew was that after every check his display blinked green, and he could breathe a little easier. When the scans finished a line of green text scrolled across his sight.

Vitals scan complete. Subject is suffering from a low grade concussion, multiple contusions and lacerations, but is otherwise in no danger. Recommend medical attention at earliest convenience.

Enzo let out a relieved breath and pulled his finger back from her skin. “Hey, Terrance. Scans came back normal. She’s banged up but alright. I’m going to pick her up and – fuck!”

He barely dodged the shot aimed at his head, rolling to the side and nearly landing in a giant puddle of blood. The comm crackled with Terrance’s sharp voice. “Guys, move in. Zo’s got a shit ton of unfriendlies coming his way. Cover him while he gets the girl out.”

“On it!” Farris snapped, and as Enzo dodged another blast he saw the man dropping down from the fire escape and aiming his blaster rifle at one of the people steadily spilling out onto the street.

Hax was already barreling in from the alleyway he’d been stationed in, ramming people over with his massive shoulder. “Rodger!”

“If we must,” Varick sighed, peeling himself away from the wall and pulling out his two quad blasters from where they rested in a holster at his waist.

Enzo yelped as a woman came flying out of nowhere, checking him in the stomach with her bony shoulder. He grabbed one of her arms and used it to lay her out on the ground, grimacing as her fleshy skull connected with the pavement with a wet crack. Standing guard over the girl was becoming increasingly difficult as the others were forced to spread out more to deal with the onslaught of assailants. “Where the hell are all these guys coming from?”

“Zo, on your six!” Farris snapped, and Enzo ducked so the other man could aim a shot at the person who had been about to stab him right between his shoulders. “What, you thought I was joking when I said this whole damn district belongs to Dorian?”

Their comms crackled again with an incoming message and Enzo strained to listen while he dodged blaster fire, stabs, kicks, and punches. “Guys, you’re about to be overrun. I’m coming in for you. We’ll just have to come back to nab Dorian another day.”

Enzo shot down a man aiming for Hax, huffing. “No fucking way! You guys get the girl and get out. Once you’re gone I can go dark and slip out of here. I’ve got enough power left to get to him and take him out before it runs out. You can swing back around for me when shit calms down.”

“Are you crazy? Kid, Kade would jettison me out the airlock if I let that happen,” Terrance snarled. Enzo could already hear his ship approaching, a clear sign that his window to convince the man his plan was a good one was rapidly closing. 

Varick sidled up to him to stand on the other side of the girls’ unconscious body, mowing people down with a shot precision Enzo had always secretly admired. “Kid’s got a point.”

“What?” Three sets of voices snapped over the comm and Enzo winced at the volume of it.

“You know if he were on our crew you wouldn’t hesitate, Captain. He’s quick, he’s smart, and that Gift he’s got is dead fucking useful.” Varick paused to kick an approaching man square in the chest, and Enzo watched out of the corner of his eye as the shot he aimed hit home directly between his eyes. “He clearly doesn’t wanna be coddled, so I say don’t.”

Varick hadn’t said a kind word about Enzo since he was eleven years old – that just wasn’t his way – and so the praise felt doubly rewarding. He waited with bated breath to see what Terrance would say, hoping that Varick’s opinion of him would change the captain’s mind.

After far too long of a pause, when Enzo could see Terrance’s red S-Class ship breaking through the clouds above them, he heard a heavy exhale over the comm. “Alright.”

Enzo whooped, excitement lacing through him. Finally he was going to get another chance to really prove himself! Maybe if he got this right he could start going on missions for Kade again, stop feeling like a massive disappointment to his guardian. As one of Kade's six captains, Terrance had been Enzo's teacher, his babysitter, his friend his whole life. Kade was a busy man who refused to bring young Enzo along on missions, and so when he was away the other captains had taken turns watching him. Enzo loved Terrance, and working with him and his men was awesome, but he always strove to be good enough that he could pass for Kade's actual son. He needed to be able to take on the more weighty missions to do that.

Terrnace groaned. “Gods, Kade is going to kill me for this. Okay guys, here’s the plan. Varick, grab the girl. Farris and Hax, you guys draw fire away so Zo can go dark and get out of the way. Then I’ll beam you guys up, alright?

“You got it, boss,” Enzo said, stepping in front of Varick as he stowed his weapons and picked up the girl’s unconscious body.

“On it,” Farris snapped, and Enzo caught a glimpse of orange skin as the man darted away.

His idea of a distraction was, apparently, blowing up a goddamn building. Enzo fell to one knee as the explosion wracked the ground, grateful that he had his helmet on because it muffled what he was sure was an ear-splitting noise.

“Goddamnit, Farris, warn a man next time!” Enzo hissed into his comm, quickly glancing around to make sure the people around him were looking in the other direction before pulling on his power and slipping into the shadows.

Farris laughed, and Enzo dashed towards him so that as he passed he could land one bruising punch to the jackass’ arm. “Hey! No using your Gift to beat up the crew.”

“You deserved it,” Enzo snickered, still moving, dodging people and rubble as he careened away from the scene.

“I’m locked onto you guys. Ready to beam up in five seconds,” Terrance said over the comm, words interspersed with the ship’s steady countdown.

Enzo skidded into an alleyway, barely missing running over a metal trash can, and gave his surroundings a quick once over before letting go of his power and flickering back into view. He needed to conserve his power if he was going to be using it to take out Dorian. “You guys make it alright?”

“Yeah, we’re out and the girl seems fine. We gotta get to the nearest jump before they send ships after us, so you’re going to be on your own if shit hits the fan.” Terrance paused, and Enzo could hear the others babbling excitedly in the background. “I’m gonna keep an eye on you through the surveillance cams as long as I can, but obviously once you go dark again I’m going to lose you. Lay low for an hour or so while things settle down before you make your move.”

“You got it, Cap,” Enzo quipped, releasing his helmet so as to look less conspicuous. He regretted it instantly as his lungs filled with the hot muggy air. Nothing for it, though, he couldn’t be seen running around in a mercenary helmet if he wanted to remain inconspicuous. He glanced down at the bloodstained grey t-shirt he was wearing over his exosuit and wondered idly if taking it off or leaving it on would be worse.

“There’s a clothing store across the street, idiot. Go steal something and get your ass out of the open,” Varick snapped over his comm and Enzo glanced up to see that, yeah, he was right.

Twenty minutes later he walked into the nearest bar (because, hey, if he was going to have to sit around for a while he might as well have a good time while he did it), sporting a pair of clean black pants and some kind of black and red tunic. He breathed a sigh of relief at the dim lighting and the markedly less humid air conditioned quality of the air.

He ordered one of whatever was on the specials board – a weird black drink that came in a tall thin glass and smelled faintly of apples – before settling down to wait. He hadn’t been there twenty minutes before he felt someone settle in the seat right next to him, forgoing the other ten empty seats. Enzo felt a thick thigh press up against his and raised an eyebrow, smirking at this person’s forwardness. 

 Did he have time for a quick go in the alley before he had to go hunt Dorian down?

“Fancy seeing you here, Hagen.”

Enzo jerked, nearly falling out of his seat in his haste to turn around and see whether that familiar voice really did belong to who he thought it did. Sure enough, when he whipped around he saw a familiar smirk, vibrant yellow eyes and brilliant white skin. His heart leaped, and he wasn't sure whether it was from fear or excitement, honestly. 

"Cando!"