#crestlen

Bret and Terry were chatting to one another about a new firewall the government had installed after their last one had been torn to shreds by independent hackers, and were trying to decide if they would get in trouble for having a go at it themselves. It seemed like she wasn't the only one distracted from their task.

"Penny? You alright?" Kolt asked, twitching his leg against her back.

"Yeah," she said, tilting her head back to smile at him.

He smiled and nodded, but she knew that he was telling her to talk to him when she was ready.

She looked ahead again, slowly sinking into her feeds and pulling up her research threads again.

The Ruby Coalition was simply dust in the wind, now. Phoenix had made sure of that. The guards had been scattered and rehired where they wanted to apply, the higher level technicians were snapped up by villains and whoever else wanted skilled hands hiding their work. The manor had been leveled and the underground tunnels filled in.

Her mother's body had been cremated and disposed of without a memorial or burial.

No, not her mother. Maybe her mother? Penelope was glad the woman was gone and that she couldn't hold Penelope's leash anymore. But then there were those nagging memories of the days where Gigi would carefully ask Penelope's opinions on the bodies she was commissioning from Harry and Co Labs. Getting things exactly right where they could and apologizing when the labs replied that they couldn't make certain changes.

Penelope remembered that first night when she woke up. Gigi was there and she was smiling, tears running down her cheeks as she stroked Penelope's forehead, smoothing back her artificial hair.

"Welcome back, my dear," she had whispered. "However much of you there is left. I love you."

Penelope clenched her hand in her sweatpants. She hated remembering the good moments. The times where she could almost convince herself that Gigi did love her. It was.... hard.

Penelope turned her attention to a topic that wasn't so difficult. Pier. He had not gotten out of this unscathed. He had been found unconscious in the aftermath and was currently in a holding cell as people worked out what he had and hadn't done. They wanted to try him for as many of Gigi's crimes as they could manage.

Penelope huffed. He didn't really deserve as much as they were trying to heap on his head, but she would be glad to see the annoying young man tucked away where money couldn't get him out. She really disliked him. The way he looked at her, like she couldn't really understand him. Like she was just a computer program who, for some reason, wouldn't follow his every instruction, always really got to her despite how often Gigi assured her that Penelope was just reading the situation wrong or that he should just be ignored where possible.

She took some comfort in the fact that since the Ruby Coalition had fallen, he wouldn't have access to any of the funds to bail him out. He would be sitting in prison for a long time.

She put that thought away. Maybe not forever. She would love the chance to get to say some things to him that Gigi never would have allowed her to, but Penelope doubted she would ever actually go through with that. Maybe sending an anonymous message would be enough. She wasn't sure.

Penelope turned her thoughts back to Gigi, hoping that this time she could untangle the emotions there and put it to rest. Though if she still felt so strongly about Pier, she doubted she would be able to change anything about the way she felt about Gigi.

Gigi had been her mother in a sense. She had helped Penelope relearn how to walk, had given her a name when she realized she didn't have one or just couldn't remember it. She built a room for Penelope and gave her everything she could have asked for.

Except, perhaps, freedom.

Penelope had asked once.

"Am I supposed to be here forever?"

Gigi had looked up from the notes she had been making on her computer and gave her a tight smile. "Maybe not forever. But you're not ready yet, sweetheart."

"When will I be ready? When will you tell me where my body is?"

Gigi sighed. "That is hard to know, dear. Please be patient with an old woman. When the time comes it will be a difficult conversation for us both."

They would never have that conversation. Penelope would never know what Gigi wanted to tell her. What would have been hard for the old woman to explain. Penelope didn't even know who her body used to be before she existed in this form. Was that person a good person? Someone tormented by Gigi before being used in an experiment? Someone Gigi loved?

It had to have been someone she loved in some way or another.

Penelope might never know because she may never find that body. She may never find any messages Gigi left behind if she did leave anything behind, because Penelope had practically cosigned the woman's death. There was no more information to be had. Just ashes on the breeze somewhere. Or in the ocean. Or more likely in the trash. Penelope didn't know what the government did with the ashes of villains. She doubted that they were sent to family members. Not that Pier would probably want them. He'd felt just as suffocated under Gigi as Penelope did despite how little he had hanging over his head to keep him there.

It was all just so unfair.

Penelope missed her.

She put her arms around herself, wishing she could swallow with a throat she could not remember. She missed that horrible woman who kept her around under a heavily veiled threat about what might happen to what remained of her body if she didn't do as she was told. And she missed that woman!?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned her head to look at Kolt as Gale watched her curiously. Perhaps a little nervously.

She was grinding her fake teeth. It was horrible sound. And it was probably ruining the paint job.

"Sorry," she murmured out of a fake throat. She felt so unreal at the moment.

Kolt leaned toward her, putting an arm around her shoulders in an awkward hug. "You're alright. What do you need?"

"I need.... I need everything to make sense. I need my body back. I need these feelings to go away," she said, shaking her head.

Kolt thought for a moment. "We'll get your body back. I'll start calling some old allies and see what I can't hear about what Gigi was up to when they were putting you together. After the trainee facility is dealt with we will go find it."

Penelope sighed a soft breath. "What if it's not enough?"

"You have us," Bret said. He'd come to sit next to her on the floor and put a hand on hers. "It's okay."

Penelope slowly nodded, taking another deep breath. She was glad she asked for that function to be added, even if it was unnecessary. It helped alleviate her emotions better than she could have even imagined.

"I think I just need a distraction," she said. She had been silly to think that sending herself into another spiral about all of this was going to fix the emotional mess Gigi had created to stand in her place now that she was dead.

"Alright, uh," Kolt said, thinking, and Bret got his mouth open to ask something, but Gale beat them to it.

"Dr. LeAnne," she said in a voice that shook with something like grief. He sounded exactly the way that Penelope felt. "What happened to her?"

Penelope actually knew that off the top of her head.

"They moved her before we got there," she said. "She was being sent out to be killed. I don't think they were ever going to tell you and hope that you just kept obeying them despite her being gone."

Gale shuddered and there was something deeply conflicted in his eyes. "Is she dead?"

"No. She was shot in the head, but they hadn't finished her off properly. She's in the hospital in a coma. I don't think she's ever supposed to wake up, though. There was a lot of damage."

Gale licked his lips, his eyes wet. He was clearly trying very hard not to cry. "Right," he whispered.

"Do... you wants us to send someone to, I don't know, deal with her?" Terry asked as she scooted his rolling chair closer to the group.

"No!"

The answer burst out of Gale and he looked just as surprised by it as they felt. "No," he murmured. "She can just... stay there."

"Gale, if she wakes up-" Kolt started, but Gale shook his head.

"I'm not in a place where I can... where I can think about her. Not safely. Not yet."

Kolt nodded and patted his friend's shoulder. "Alright, man. We will wait for you, then."

Gale nodded, relieved as he leaned back.

Penelope found herself speaking before she knew what was happening. "I know how you feel."

He looked at her, confusion and skepticism in his eyes,

"I know what it's like to love and hate someone so much... like that," she murmured.

Understanding dawned on Gale's face, in those beautiful micro expressions Penelope would never have again.

He gave her a weak smile before looking away.

She looked between her friends. Bret, Kolt, Terry, and Gale, and she let herself believe that it would be alright. That these guys would have her back.

"I had better go help get things ready," she said. "I've been procrastinating."

"Ugh, us too," Bret said, rolling his eyes.

"Not us," Kolt said smugly, because of course. His part in all of this was to monitor as much as he could through Beater and try not to be a distraction to the hallucination. His job was mainly helping Gale, at the moment, the two were clearly very satisfied with that.

"Enjoy the free time for me," Penelope said, getting to her feet. She headed for the door and paused there, looking back. "Thanks, guys."

"Of course," Bret said as the others nodded, not a lick of embarrassment in any of their expressions.

Penelope turned and went to find Phoenix and Lynx. There was work to do.

The End

A.N. - AHHHHH HERE WE ARE!!! Guys, this is actually insane to me. We made it to the end. Well, for now. I hope you liked it and I think you guys for reading. Eldest Daughter and Sunrise Lemon Bar especially. I cannot express how much I love you two!!

My next story is going to a short story about dealing with that trainee facility focusing on Beater and Cedar with a side focus on Phoenix and Lynx. I'm very excited! I will take you guys in that first chapter and you will be able to let me know if you would like to be in that tag list or not. I'm hoping to make more art for these stories as I go forward, so there will be that to look forward to.

But, I might take a week or two off. My notes need to be worked out and I need to build a plan for this next story so I don't just fling myself wildly into the void like I did with this story. That can be fun, but it can also be very annoying at times. I doubt I will make y'all wait too long before I get the next one started though. I'm extremely excited for all of it!

Again, thank you so much for reading. It means the world to me! Leave me a comment if you are so inclined and let me know what you thought/what you are excited to see next. I am highly suggestible, I will admit. :3

Crestlen taglist: @looptheloup @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @snakebites-and-ink @starsick1979 @antlerfish 

Kolt sighed softly to himself. Penelope would be alright. She was honestly lucky she didn't have any squishy bits. She was effectively immortal in a way because of it, though if whatever part of her that connects her to her body remotely were destroyed, that would be the end of her until they could find her real body.

He hated to think it, but it was honestly a very lucky thing that Penelope had been the one who had been shot. Anyone else would have been very, very dead.

But Gale had hurt her. Had tried very hard to kill her, even. Gale likely didn't know that Penelope wasn't human. What if she had been and Kolt had lost a new friend to his old friend? This was serious. Gale might still be in there somewhere. Kolt could still draw him back out, but could Kolt risk the lives of his new friends and allies for that? He didn't know the answer to that yet.

Kolt let his mind drift away from that to memories of Gale when they had first met. That scrawny young man who had swaggered up to him in a night club, declared he knew who Kolt was, and demanded to work with him. Kolt had scoffed at him in his stretched out clothing and blood drying on his knuckles, but Gale had been so persistent. Kolt had to say yes, eventually, because Gale was really good at looking out for Kolt. He had been a fantastic body guard, then a fantastic henchman, and then a fantastic friend.

He had risked everything for Kolt, putting everything aside to put together a new identity to sneak into that lab and rescue Kolt, only to be taken and put in Kolt's place on Dr. LeAnne's operating table.

Kolt missed him. He missed Gale so much that his throat and chest hurt with it.

Still, there was comfort in such memories, in a way. It was the same feeling as pressing a bruise. It hurt, but it reminded you what it was like to be alive.

Morning came eventually, though Kolt didn't sleep. He wasn't sure he would be able to until everyone he cared about was safe or someone put him out of misery and drugged him.

Perhaps he could just settle for Penelope being safe.

Indigo got up, seemingly after a very good four hours of sleep and packed everything up, tidying the area and writing down what supplies they used in the clipboard on the counter. Kolt forgot how well organized the Dragon Gang's safe houses were.

Eventually, dressed in civilian clothing they had found in the closet and walked out into the morning sunlight. It was still cool, though it was starting to get quite hot during the days, and today was looking to be one of those days.

Indigo and Kolt walked side by side down the sidewalk, watching casually for anyone that might be following them.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kolt asked.

"Sure," Indigo said.

"Are you related to Lynx? You, Player, and Orion look a lot like him."

Indigo chuckled. "No, we're not related, but we look like him on purpose. Phoenix decided that Lynx needed some extra protection as his right hand man while he was out and about. He built Shadow Six, our team, as a gift for Lynx, actually. Some of us look like Lynx so it's harder to pick him out and kill him right away in our group."

Kolt whistled softly. "Now that is a tactic."

"Yes. Though... there has been some talk about the Resource program possibly using some sort of genetic manipulation. We all came from the same batch of Resources, Lynx included. Kind of weird so may of us would look so similar."

Kolt nodded thoughtfully. "I think I would have to agree with you."

Indigo shrugged. "Anyway. We don't mind it... Lynx is a good leader."

"So he is," Kolt murmured.

They are quiet for another block or so before Indigo cleared his throat. "Could I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"That was Gale?"

"Yes," Kolt said.

"How did you escape?"

Kolt sighed. "One of my hallucinations got me out of his hands but he was fairly receptive to me after that. It looks like the scientists attempted to brainwash him. He was confused but he seemed to remember a couple of things. I thought I had almost convinced him to come with me, but then he bolted."

Indigo nodded. "Do you think he is receptive enough to be saved?"

"I think so," Kolt said. "After last night, I don't think the scientists will be able to fully quell the doubts I put in his head, but it will be difficult to get to him again. And I have no idea how long it will be before we see him out in the open again. I get the feeling he is going to be severely punished for how things played out last night."

Indigo winced faintly, though he didn't ask anything else for the rest of the trip, leaving Kolt to think about his interaction with Gale, trying to recall as much detail as he could from the encounter.

.....................................................................................................

Penelope already disliked her existence, in most ways. It wasn't natural, and somewhere, deep down or far away, she knew that. It hurt when she thought about it too long. Like she was trying to think in a format that wasn't supported. Like she had her her flesh crystallized and it was cutting into itself with it's new found sharp angles.

Existing was, understandably, worse than normal. She was scattered across the room in pieces. She could feel where the anchor pieces that kept her within the body were still intact. A hand here, which twitched a little among the remnant pieces of fingers. Her thigh, which was still laying among the pieces yet to be sorted. Her right shoulder, which she didn't think had actually made it all the way here and was laying in a forgotten street corner somewhere. And, of course, her head. Everything else was just an empty ache, occasionally flaring with incomprehensible pain as her systems sent out another set of signals to figure out what was still functioning.

Her head was gently propped up in layers of cushions, what remained of her hair pulled back in a tail to keep it out of her face.

She was trying very hard not to have a meltdown as she watched Terry and Bret sort through the pieces, identifying things and marking them as salvageable or not. The two were holding a conversation, cheerful and gossipy to take Penelope's mind off of what was happening. Off of how ugly and unnatural she felt.

"Say, Penny, have you heard about the drama that Krissy has been involved in?" Bret asked.

Penelope blinked quickly, trying to reach into her storage to find the memory of who Krissy even was. She had a lot of her short term memory storage and bits and pieces of long term storage here and there, but it seemed Krissy was in the missing portions.

"Remind me who Krissy is?" Penelope said, trying to keep her tone light, hoping that it was alright she didn't remember Krissy.

There was a flash of worry on Bret's face and Penelope had to fight off a fresh wave of misery. He covered his slip up with a smile and said, "She works in the cafeteria. She's the one that gives me extra applesauce on the sly and sometimes comes up to chat with us when we're working."

Penny really should have known Krissy, then. She didn't have records of even a single conversation with the woman. Was it all gone? Would she be starting over from scratch with everyone here? What if she had forgotten something important? Why didn't she back up her memory storage when she had the chance? She was going to be useless around here if she had forgotten half of what she knew about criminal organizations. She could only hope she had already sent a large chunk of her memories to Phoenix's servers.

Maybe she had made a backup and she had just forgotten about it?

"So, Krissy has this thing for Chet, right? And a few weeks ago he actually asked her on a date, so they've been going out," Bret said.

"Wait, isn't Chet married?" Terry asked, looking up from the mangled remains of Penny's chest plate.

"Yes! Yes he is," Bret said. "He didn't tell Krissy that, and Krissy had no idea. So they were going out on dates and they got pretty far along. And then Krissy finds out about Chet's wife."

Terry hissed through his teeth and Penelope searched through the memory she had access to desperately for any mention of Krissy. She wanted to be involved like she was supposed to be!

"Exactly! Krissy was telling me her plans for how she's going to deal with him. Full scorched earth. She's getting Phoenix involved at some point."

Penelope felt Bret's words fade as panic set in. She couldn't hyperventilate, she couldn't try and catch her breath as she didn't even have lungs. She felt something whir unhappily in her head as she struggled to control her emotions. She was fine. She was going to be fine.

She was just a singed head among a pile of scraps. She couldn't help herself. She could only sit there and hope that everyone would be gentle with her parts.

She was drawn back into the present as the door opened and Kolt entered wearing civilian clothing and his regular glasses.

Penelope had been told Kolt was fine and would just take a while to reach base, but she was more relieved than she could express upon actually laying eyes on him.

"Kolt," she said.

"Penny!" Kolt gasped, making his way to her and hovering his hand just over her cheek. "Heralines, Penny, I'm so sorry!"

Penelope felt the shame and horror crash into her fully and openly sobbed as he cupped her face, pressing his forehead to hers. She barely paid attention to the reassurances he offered her as she cried herself into shutdown.

Part 37

A.N. - Hello everyone! I'm trying out a new format for posts. I thought this would be more satisfying, I suppose. And I like doing notes at the bottom now so that I can talk about things I liked writing about in the chapter. i was deeply excited about Kolt and Penny meeting up again at the end of this chapter. Their friendship is so cute to me! Thank you for reading and please leave me a comment or reblog if you are so inclined. <3

Crestlen taglist: @looptheloup @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @snakebites-and-ink @starsick1979 @antlerfish 

"I am," Kolt said. "I suppose you want to know what happened."

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Wassail said, just a little apologetically.

Kolt simply shrugged. "I was grabbed by Harry and Co Labs a while back. That's why I disappeared from the field for a bit. My... my friend, Gale, found me and rescued me partially. They were trying to turn me into a brainwashed weapon."

"Glad to see it didn't work," Vista said with a smile.

Kolt simply nodded. "And they are going to pay through the nose for it."

"Gale... Gale Archer, right?" Wassail asked. "I think I saw him around a couple of times. We came to the vigilante events sometimes. What is he up these days?"

Kolt took a breath. "Filling my spot at Harry and Co Labs."

"Oh.... I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"That's alright," Kolt said. "He won't be there for much longer. Now that I'm back on my feet it shouldn't be much longer before he's out too."

"Even faster, considering you don't have to do it alone," Penelope said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded and smiled at her.

Player cleared her throat from where she was driving and then they heard her over their respective comms. "Radio check."

They each sounded off, making sure their radios worked. Penelope had to help Vista with his, but that was sorted out quickly enough.

"Sorry," Vista said, now sounding within the comms as well as in person. "This type is new to me."

"That's alright," Player said. "We are approaching our stop. Remember, we are just supposed to hang back. Not much is known about the hostile that might come out of the woodwork to stop us except that they are good at getting into buildings, skilled with a variety of weapons, and may have some sort of Power that aids in stealth or breaking in. Keep an eye on the shadows. If we don't spot the hostile before the hostile figures out what's going on, we will likely lose our asset."

"Understood," Penny said. "I have several filters I can apply to my visions so it shouldn't be a problem to spot the hostile."

"Good. We're almost there."

They sat in tense silence as the drove until Vista broke it. "So, you're a cyborg?"

"Yes," Penny said.

"And your name was Penelope?"

"Yes."

He gave her a bit of a look and she sighed. "Yes, I used to be with the Ruby Coalition. Yes, I was there when Gigi died. No, I don't want to talk about how I became a cyborg."

"Understood," Vista said with a laugh. "Sorry."

She smiled at him, something playful in her eyes. "No, that's alright, actually."

"What a strange group we make," Wassail laughed. "And I hear that Player and Indigo are ex Resources too. Who would have thought we would have a group made up like this?"

"Who would have thought," Kolt murmured. Gale would have loved it.

The van came to a stop and they climbed out, making sure their gear was in place. Player gave each person individual instructions. Wassail and Vista clambered off to a building to get up onto the roofs together, Vista activating his Power so he and Wassail could push off the ground and make it to the top of the building to watch from above.

"Penelope, I want you with me," Player said. "And Kolt, you need to make sure you stay with someone as much as possible. You're going to stick with Indigo for now."

Kolt nodded, glancing at Indigo. Indigo looked a lot like Lynx, if a bit more slim and slightly shorter. Kolt didn't know him very well beyond the little that Watcher had given him once. "Tough outer shell. Enjoys video games and movies. Scared of being known."

Kolt nodded and he and Indigo took up a position in an alley way across the street. Kolt didn't see where Penelope had gone, but wasn't too worried about it.

He called to Watcher, who appeared by his side, invisible to everyone besides himself. Watcher gave a short nod, pulled his hood farther over his head and walked across the street to take another position with a better view.

Silence fell across the group as they waited. They had timed it so they would get there just before Lynx's team. They didn't have to wait long as there was movement up the alley and around to the front.

Lynx was dressed in plain clothes rather than any gear, though Kolt knew he was wearing some kind of high tech armor beneath his clothing. Kolt was convinced he probably always wore armor.

Lynx, walking beside either Icky or Lego (despite being different genders they were built very similarly), entered the building.

Kolt nudged Watcher to go with them and half closed his eyes so he could see what Watcher saw.

Watcher walked just behind the two members of Shadow Six into an apartment complex that had seen better days but wasn't quite run down. They walked past an elevator and up a flight of stairs.

"Room 213," Lynx said softly.

"Right," said a male voice. Lego, then.

The two prowled up to the door and Lynx knocked very softly in a complicated pattern. He waited and tried one more time.

Then he tried the door handle. The door opened easily.

"Uh oh," Kolt murmured.

"What?" Indigo asked.

"Door's unlocked," Kolt said, still watching through Watcher's eyes as Lynx and Lego stepped into the apartment.

Lynx came on over the radio. "Door's unlocked. I do not think Depletion is here."

"The place is trashed," Kolt said over the radio. "Looks like someone packing and then a struggle. No blood, though."

"Did Kolt go in there?" Vista asked, confused.

"No," Kolt said. "I have a Power activated."

"Ah."

"Do you think it was the hostile or something else?" Player asked.

"I'm not sure. Whatever was here was quick. There are burns on the wall."

Watcher turned to look at what Lynx was looking at and felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Those are my burns," Kolt said. "Heralines curse and irradiate it! They gave someone my Power!"

"It could be a laser weapon," Lynx said.

"No. There are splash burns around the initial burn. The beads splash on activation. Those are my burns."

"That confirms that we're dealing with something from Harry and Co Labs," Player said.

Penelope broke her silence on the comms. "Gotcha! Disturbance three blocks west of here. Reports of orange beams of light and fighting."

No order had to be given, everyone moved. It was like watching the shadows come to life as everyone left their hiding places. Vista and Wassail drifted down from above before sprinting right alongside the group.

They heard the fight before they got there. The sound of Kolt's Power going off without Kolt actually lifting his hand made him feel a little off kilter. It was even stranger to hear it coming from somewhere else. Like hearing a recording of your voice for the first time.

He saw the flash of orange and felt rage boil inside of him, glowing red beads pooling in his palm and dripping from his fingers. How dare they give someone else his power? Was it one of the scientists taking the power for themselves? Didn't they understand how much heartbreak his Power had caused him!? How much of his life had been dictated by it? He would tear that institute up at its roots and obliterate anyone who had ever been proud to work for Harry and Co Labs.

But when he skidded around the corner and actually saw the figure attacking a lithe shadow he had to grab onto something to stay upright.

The person in the body armor was familiar, but in all of the wrong ways. The same frame, but the wrong aggression. The right gait, but the wrong footwork. The right swing of his arms, but the wrong weapon in his hands.

"Gale!" Kolt practically wailed.

The figure turned and seemed to freeze for a half second. Kolt couldn't see through Gale's helmet, but he knew that it was Gale anyway.

Gale abandoned the fight with the shadow, charging toward Kolt.

Was Gale their asset? Was that shadow the hostile? Had Gale escaped?

Kolt's mind tried to assess the situation, to break through the emotion and find the right answer, but it didn't get there.

Watcher did, though.

"Kolt!" Watcher cried, becoming visible and physical to grab Kolt and wrench him out of the way.

Gale's hand closed over where Kolt's throat had been, and then Kolt's teammates body slammed Gale in turn.

Kolt gasped as a sickly red orange color pooled in the palm of Gale's hand and Kolt grabbed and shoved Penelope down as a beam of light split the air above them.

The world was a racket of gun fire, shouting, and the sound of Kolt's, no, Gale's power going off over and over again.

Kolt rolled onto his back and got to his feet, crouching. He needed something. They had to subdue Gale but they couldn't hurt him.

People were speaking over the radio, but Kolt couldn't hear them as he reached into his bag, grabbing the extra jacket.

"Now," Watcher whispered, his voice cutting through the din despite the fact that Kolt had no idea where he was.

Kolt snapped the jacket into the tangle and saw the armored figure topple.

The Shadow Six members got on top of Gale, attempting to restrain him.

He roared like a wild animal and threw them all off.

Either Player of Lynx went down as Gale snapped his elbow into their chin and then Gale was coming for Kolt.

Penelope put herself in between the charging man weapon ready.

She let off two shots, and while they clearly made their mark, Gale barely reacted. He grabbed her gun, tearing it from her hands and turned the weapon on her.

She dodged around it as Kolt lifted his hand on instinct, his Power whining as it went off through the air.

He regretted the beam as soon as it left his hand, but Gale lifted his palm, the huge glob of red Power catching there like an incredibly dangerous soap bubble.

Gale turned to Penelope, raised his hand, and smashed the bead into her side.

The explosion rocked the street and sent Kolt to the ground with a cry. His ears rung, vaguely blinded by the flash, and horror flooded his system.

Penelope!

Kolt yelled as, presumably, Gale wrenched his arms behind his back, cuffing him and picked him up. Kolt's breath was forced from him as he was thrown over Gale's shoulder, and he could do nothing but try and catch it as Gale ran past what remained of Penelope. Kolt caught a glimpse of her head, a few feet from her body and stared in horror as she opened her mouth and screamed, "KOLT!!"

Gale took him around a corner and broke into a full out sprint across the pavement, faster than Kolt thought the others could keep up with.

Part 34

Crestlen taglist: @looptheloup @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @snakebites-and-ink @starsick1979 @antlerfish 

Kolt shoved through his own Power, wading to that place that Beater came from. It was all so clear, now. He has been blinded by terror and the certainty that, in some way, he would be eternally broken and helpless. And while he might always be broken, damaged goods, he was the master of his own mind. Not Dr. LeAnne, not the men who came to hurt him while he was locked in a cell, and certainly not Beater.

He forced Beater into view and lifted his hand, power beading there.

He blew off Beater's leg, which disappeared in a spray of blood that vanished before it could touch the walls.

"I can handle this from here," Kolt said, his voice sounding distant from himself. It sounded like Kolt from before. The one who knew what he was doing and would claim that he was all alone in the world despite all of the people that had helped him to get as far as he did.

"Kolt," Lynx said.

Kolt ignored him, crouching beside Beater with a frankly embarrassing knee crack. "We're not doing this anymore."

Beater glowered at him, face tight with pain. Kolt could feel Beater trying to shove that pain down into Kolt's own leg. He could feel Watcher writhing somewhere within himself, trying to keep the pain from his own wound from escaping into Kolt.

"What do you want?" Kolt asked.

Beater bared his teeth. "To not be a part of you, anymore. You're weak! You're broken! You're a coward! I am better than you in every way."

"Really?" Kolt asked, raising an eyebrow. "Looks to me like I have the upper hand this time."

He reached out, grabbing Beater's jaw. Kolt forced Beater's his head back, power beading in his palm and burning along Beater's jaw and across his face.

Beater tried to fight Kolt off, but Kolt blasted away his arm with his other hand, leaving the hallucination grasping at Kolt's wrist for support.

It hurt. This was hurting Kolt as much as it was hurting Beater and Kolt would suffer for this later, but, at the moment, he really didn't care. He needed to get his point across as clearly as he possibly could.

"No more of this. No more fighting me or the others," Kolt growled. "I am recovering; newly injured. You will not like what I can do to you when I have fully recovered. Understand me?"

Beater opened his eyes. There was still hatred there, but now there was respect as well. He looked significantly cowed, and Kolt let go of his face, half melted flesh tearing from Beater's jaw and sticking to Kolt's fingers before vanishing again.

Beater clasped a hand over the wound, face scrunched up in pain.

"I will kill you one day, you know that?" Beater gasped.

"I dare you to try," Kolt replied sharply before disappearing Beater with a blast to the chest that scorched the floor behind Beater.

Kolt turned, refusing to look at the others as he climbed back into bed. This was the second time he had killed someone or something while wearing a hospital gown, and the idea made him want to giggle madly, but he locked it down before the noise could go anywhere.

"I need painkillers," Kolt said.

"I'll get Dalley," Lynx said after a moment.

Penelope simply walked to the sink, filled a glass with water, and brought it back to Kolt who sipped it shakily.

He stayed awake long enough to receive the pain killers before he slid under the covers and passed back out under Penelope's watch where she settled back into the chair beside his bed.

............................................................

Penelope paused her show as Kait stepped into the room.

"Hey," Kait said. She looked exhausted and angry, but not at Penelope.

"Hello," Penelope said.

"I.... You look alright."

Penelope shrugged.

Kait lifted the box she was holding a little higher and said, "Bret said you asked him to order this. He said the rest would be coming in after a few days."

"Thanks," Penelope said, reaching for the box, standing to shift things on a table so she had room to set out her tools and supplies.

Bret had done a good job finding everything she needed fast. Some of the parts she still needed were more complicated and had to be ordered and made on demand, so it would likely be a few weeks before she saw them, but they were all just meant to be upgrades to her body rather than something she needed. Everything she needed was here.

"I'm sorry," Kait said. "I'm in charge of Jennie and her getting to you was my fault. I should have known she wouldn't listen to me and would go after you. She is so one track minded and she doesn't care who she hurts as long as she can work on the projects she wants to."

"Not your fault. I blame her."

"Please don't blame her."

Penelope turned, eyebrow raised. "Don't blame her!? You have to be kidding me!"

Kait had a truly pained expression on her face. Penelope got the sense that she was being let into an emotional secret that no one else would ever believe.

"Please, you need to understand. Her Power torments her. She dreams of machines so detailed she wakes up and has to write their designs down before the ideas are gone. She has had so many ideas, so many inventions. She will never get to build them all and some would destroy the world if they ever got out. The invention that made you possible was one that Phoenix specifically banned her from working on. He gets touchy about anything that could make someone a slave or turn someone into something they couldn't live with. And it's grated on her. She's a genius! She can't stand the idea that her thoughts will one day die with her."

Penelope listened with growing disgust. She didn't want Jennie anywhere near her. She didn't want Kait trying to keep the blame off of this so called genius.

"So, it's my fault. Jennie is a force of nature and I am in charge of her. If you need someone to blame, blame me," Kait said, nearly breathless now.

Penelope scoffed. "Alright, I'll blame the both of you, happy?"

Kait was clearly not happy, but Penelope cut her off before she continue. "I understand you feel bad, or whatever, but I refuse to indulge her. She's probably the way she is because people like you keep stepping in to take the blame. And there is nothing you probably could have done to stop her, anyway, so that is not really your fault. What is your fault is the way you are enabling her and trying to convince me that I shouldn't be mad at her."

Kait looked like Penelope had slapped her in the face with a wet fish.

"Sorry, was that too therapy speak for you?" Penelope asked, turning to Kait fully and folding her arms. "She is a grown *** woman, and she needs to act like it or handle the consequences herself. Now, unless you need anything from me, you should go."

Kait snapped her mouth closed and glared at Penelope before turning and leaving without another word.

Penelope rolled her eyes and turned to pull off her shirt so she could work on her self. She was going to have a terrible time of it. The scratches on her chest plate were going to be a hassle to fix herself and Jennie had messed up the way the Penelope had her wires sorted so it would take a while to get it all fixed.

With a sigh, she reached up and popped out one of her eyes, sticking it in one of the sockets in her chest to give her a better view of what she was working with.

There was the soft ping of a message in her mind and she looked at it without pausing in her work.

Bret: Don't take this as my peeping, but do you want me to turn off the camera to the med room for a bit?

Penelope hummed, surprised. She needed to meet Bret in person soon.

Penelope: No need, but thank you. Did you see the interaction with Kait, then?

Bret: Yeah, I was kind of spying, sorry. You really read her the riot act.

Penelope: Hope I don't get in too much trouble for it.

Bret: Nah, I think you're good. Everyone has been wanting to tell her that for ages, I think. Been driving us all a bit batty the way she picks up after Jennie. Not really giving Jennie a fair chance at life, IMO.

Penelope: I'm glad that I'm not the only one then.

Bret: Yeah. Hey, I'm almost off my watch shift. IDK if this is too personal, but I'm handy with electronics if you could use some help.

Penelope thought about it for a moment. She reached into her mind to the file she had compiled on Bret and his life, pulled from the internet and Phoenix's own servers.

He hadn't grown up in any of the three cities that now made up Crestlen, coming from a town called Hatchet Creek. He had come to the cities to work while going through college, working as a techie at a repair store and hacking into places he shouldn't. Phoenix had met up with him after he had hacked the Dragon Gang and offered him a job and to pay him the rest of the way through college. Bret was about 35 now, turning 36 in a couple of weeks. He was unmarried, though he'd had relationships with both men and women in the past. Penelope had been in shocked awe over how many of those relationships had ended on good terms, and Bret was still apparently friends with a lot of his exes. Phoenix deemed him as trustworthy, friendly, and a genuinely good guy to be around. Plus, it seemed that he had been downplaying his abilities with mechanics.

Penelope: Yeah, I could use the help. Do you know where we can go? Don't want to disturb Kolt when we get talking.

Bret: :D yeah, I have an office. I'll send you directions.

Penelope packed up her things and put her eye back, left a note for Kolt on his bedside table as he slept, put a shirt back on and headed off down the halls in search of Bret's office.

She found it before he got off of his shift, though it was locked. She started watching the show he had recommended to her as she waited. It really was a good show.

Bret came around the corner with a smile. He wasn't overweight, necessarily, but it was clear he worked a desk job and likely had good taste in food. His facial hair was neatly trimmed and his hair pulled back in a tail. He was due for a new hairstyle, though, as balding was starting to kick in.

He held out a hand to shake hers and she took it with a smile. "Good to finally meet you."

"You too!" Bret said brightly. "Here, come on in. Make yourself comfortable and tell me what you need help with."

Penelope followed him into the office and did just that.

Part 31

Crestlen taglist: @looptheloup @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @snakebites-and-ink @starsick1979 @antlerfish 

"They're getting more solid," Penelope said, only barely distracted from the work she was doing in her head and in the systems. Kolt could hear something humming to life the region of her upper back as her cooling systems kicked in.

"They are," Kolt said. "I'm not really sure if that's a good or bad thing."

They both ducked as gunfire echoed through the warehouse and both Kolt and Penelope lifted their arms. Kolt sent a blast of red light into the warehouse as Penelope fired her gun in the direction of the shots.

There was a small explosion in that corner of the warehouse and Kolt watched it carefully as Penelope got back to what she was doing.

There was a commotion on the ramp behind them and a group of five came down to meet with them.

Vista nodded to Kolt and Penelope and said, "The others are still organizing but we wanted to make the first push into the labs."

"It's not really safe yet," Kolt said as Watcher alerted him to the guard units and their movements in the halls he and Beater were heading down. Kolt couldn't watch through Beater's eyes, but he could see through Watcher's as the tougher hallucination gestured that he was going to follow one particularly thick group of men down a hall to see what there was to see.

"We can handle ourselves," an unfamiliar person dressed in loose clothing said. They were likely an assassin, if Kolt had his guess.

"I'll keep an eye on them," the tall woman with the vigilantes and assassin said. "I'm Jade. I'm with the EVU."

Kolt hummed and looked around the warehouse before he reached up to the band around his throat. "Entry 1 to Phoenix 1, do you copy?"

"Entry 1 this is Phoenix 2," Lynx's voice said in his ear. "Phoenix 1 is busy. What do you need?"

"We have Wassail, Vista, Seren, an assassin, and Jade from the EVU here asking for permission to make the first push into the labs to look for the assets."

"Negative, Entry 1. We can't flush out the rats until we have the extra holes plugged."

"I have Watcher and Beater in the halls right now. If I find the assets before we are ready to go, could I send one of them in?"

"Yes, Entry 1."

"Understood, Phoenix 2. Entry 1 out."

Kolt released the radio button and said, "Pick which one of you is going in when we find Gale or Powell."

"If it's Powell I'm going in," the assassin said, and the others nodded, clearly satisfied with that.

Kolt nodded and went back to scanning the warehouse.

Penelope laughed. "Got you, you rat!"

"What happened?"

"I managed to close a door on a guy," she said, pleased. "It was one of the exits from this place. I think I've found most of them but-"

Kolt had to stop listening as Watcher signaled him. The hallucination had found a familiar symbol beside one door and phased through it to a hall that ended in an all too familiar slab of stone.

Kolt felt his stomach drop and acid rise in his throat. It wasn't the Box that Kolt had spent so much time in, but it was a pretty faithful replica.

He shivered a little and urged Watcher to look closer. Watcher moved to do so, but there was a pained shout from a side room, and Watcher moved to check it out before Kolt could ask him to do anything.

Watcher pushed through the door and Kolt stumbled into Penelope when he saw what was going on.

Gale was strung up from a chain in the ceiling, bleeding and shaking as he was being hauled down and a man with badly cut blonde hair was dragged up from the floor.

"I have eyes on Gale and Powell," he said. "In a room beside the Box."

Penelope shoved a screen in front of his face and said, "Here?"

He looked at the map, checking it against what Watcher had seen and nodded.

Penelope sent the directions to the small comms on the assassin's wrist and they took off like a shot without another word.

Wassail whistled. "I always forget how fast Obsidian goes."

"Should someone go with them?" Vista asked. "If there are two hostages they might need help getting them both out."

Kolt turned on his radio again and called, "Entry 1 to Phoenix Team, do you copy?"

"Phoenix 1 here," Phoenix replied. "What is it Entry 1?"

"We have eyes on both major assets. The assassin, Obsidian, has gone to get them as per orders from Phoenix 2. Since both assets have been located in the same spot, should we send another person down with the assassin?"

"Yes," Phoenix said. "Have the vigilantes take your place and you go, Entry 1."

Penelope grinned at him. "Don't have too much fun."

Kolt snorted and said, "Copy that, Phoenix 1. Entry 1 is going in."

With that, Kolt ran across the warehouse and up the stairs, following the path that Watcher and then Obsidian had taken.

He wasn't nearly as fast as Obsidian, but he would get there in good time just for having already traveled the halls through Watcher.

....................................................................................................................................

Powell twisted out of the way as Obsidian barreled into the guard that had been holding onto him. The fight was four on one. It wasn't very fair to the poor guards.

Blood sprayed Powell's face from Obsidian's work as he twisted and shouldered into the ones that had been escorting Gale. They shouted and dropped the weapons they had been trying to grab for while Obsidian executed a second guard.

Powell was panting wildly now as he knelt on one guard, Gale rolling away before curling up on the floor and just waiting for it all to be over.

Obsidian was unfairly hot wearing their assassin's outfit. It left everything to the imagination, and Powell had a very good imagination. Plus, seeing someone you have a crush on covered in blood as they come to your rescue? Powell could not wait for the last guard to draw their last breath so Powell and Obsidian could have a moment.

Powell saw something out of the corner of his eye and shifted to the side quickly as the guard he wasn't pinning tried to grab for him, weapon in hand.

The gun was kicked into the air the moment it pointed at Powell's face and Obsidian fell on the guard, who screamed like a character from a horror movie right before Obsidian shoved a knife into their face.

Powell shuffled off the last guard as Obsidian turned and executed the winded man before he even had the chance to try and get up.

Then, it was just the three of them in that hall. Gale laying with his eyes closed as he trembled.

"Obsidian," Powell gasped as the assassin turned to him.

Obsidian took him by the shoulders, and several fantasies flashed through Powell’s head before Obsidian turned him around and worked to undo the cuffs around Powell's wrists.

Powell found that his mouth was very dry and he was just so tired. He had thousands of things he wanted to say to Obsidian, but he couldn't decide which one would actually express his feelings. He opened his mouth twice, coming up speechless each time.

Obsidian turned him again, hands staying on Powell's shoulders. Powell brought his trembling hands up to Obsidian's forearms, so tempted to pull them in close.

"Obsidian, I-"

Obsidian pulled down their mask, revealing lips that were deeply scarred and bleeding a little in places. Obsidian lurched forward and kissed Powell, bloody and gasping.

Powell kissed them back, wrapping one arm around Obsidian's waist to pull them closer while cupping their cheek with the other hand.

"Oi!"

The two separated from one another with an embarrassingly wet noise and looked over at Kolt, who was coming down the hall. "You're in enemy territory," he said, his deeply scarred face stern. "Pay attention to your surroundings."

"I was," Obsidian said grumpily as they pulled their mask up over their mouth.

Powell thought that this was an outright war crime. He had been enjoying their mouth just then.

"Gale," Kolt murmured, crouching beside the curled up man.

He opened glazed eyes and looked up. He gasped a little when he spotted Kolt and Kolt helped to undo the cuffs and get him sat up.

"Obsidian, get Powell back to the entrance, I'll take care of Gale."

Obsidian nodded and stood, offering a hand to Powell, who took it and didn't let go as they started off down the hall.

Powell glanced back to see Kolt talking quietly to Gale, who was shaking his head desperately, tears escaping down his face.

When he looked back at Obsidian, the assassin was undoing one of their many cloaks to take it off and give it to Powell.

Powell grinned, slowing just a little to put the cloak on, the comforting warmth surrounding him and making him even more giddy than he was before.

"My knight in camouflaged armor," Powell joked, taking Obsidian's hand again as they made their way through body strewn halls. It seemed the guards that had Powell and Gale were not the first ones Obsidian had killed on their way to free Powell.

Obsidian glanced at him with soft eyes. "Powell, I have something to ask you."

"Only if I get to ask first. Do you want to be my S.O.?"

Obsidian looked ahead again, and Powell knew it was to hide what little bit of blush could be seen behind their mask and hood.

"Yes."

Powell grinned so hard his cheeks hurt. "When I get you alone-"

"Powell, not now. You are distracting enough."

Powell laughed, something that came from deep inside of him. It made most of the pain fade away to the background, almost a pleasant underline to this moment he had waited so long for.

They came around another corner and out into the warehouse from before. The place was looking a little rough, with fire licking at the edges and assassins and vigilantes swarming the place.

"Heralines, is that Jade?"

"Yes," Obsidian said as they reached the bottom of the steps and vigilantes fell in around them to protect them as they made their way to the cluster of people at the ramp.

"Powell!" Wassail shouted despairingly. "Your hair!"

"In knooooow!" Powell shouted. "It is an actual travesty! I don't think I'll ever recover."

Seren looked at where Powell and Obsidian were holding hands and raised their eyebrow at them.

Powell grinned and lifted their hands, kissing Obsidian's knuckles.

"Not in front of others," Obsidian hissed, but Powell only laughed.

"Tough luck," he said. "Kolt should be coming out with Gale soon."

"Is Gale alright?" a (was that a cyborg?) asked.

Powell breathed in sharply through his teeth, tilting his head with a wince. "Uhhh, well, it's not good. Most of it is mental, but he's been pretty wrecked."

Penelope sighed. "Well, it wasn't going to be easy. You guys should get out of here. Medics are out past the line for you Powell."

Powell saluted her and went up the ramp surrounded by his friends who did, in fact, come after him.

Part 51

A.N. - YAY ESCAPE TIME LET'S GO!!! And Obsidian and Powell got together! Augh, they're so disgusting about each other. I don't write much romance because of what I am, but these two came in and said "We're getting together and making it your problem." Like, alright, gooses, I'm just the writer.

Crestlen taglist: @looptheloup @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @snakebites-and-ink @starsick1979 @antlerfish