Danev

Now, I had been awake for say, 4 hours. New record. I didn't know what time of the day it was, much less what day it was. I would try posing the same questions to the doctor and nurse that would pass every now and then, but would get no answers. The Doctor would tell me to stay quiet, but the Nurse would plain out refuse to talk. Don't know if it was a dislike for me or a reluctance to form any sort of attachment before I was killed or dumped back out on the streets, but even I didn't think I was getting that lucky.

The first time I even heard her voice was when she softly opened the door to my hospital room which just so happened to be a cell and said to somebody outside that I was awake. It was a nice soft voice. Kind too, but that left my mind when I saw Zar'un walk in, clad in full ranking uniform. The memories came back to that day at the Hive when he killed Genji. No. Anyone but him. But it was a child's wish. Of course, it would be him. Who else?

"Danev." He said softly, but sternly, pulling up a chair next to my bed, sitting down on it facing the door rather than facing me. "It's good to see that you're awake. You have my condolences for your friend."

My friend? You mean the same friends I had been asking about every 5 minutes when I was lucky enough to be awake and conscious? "Why? What happened?"

"I'm afraid Meeko Therik was killed in combat while Aden Korun sustained heavy injuries."

I had never heard their last name before. Hell. I'm surprised those were their real names. Danev was mine, but even I couldn't remember my last name. It got me wondering how the Fire Nation knew their names. Maybe old records from a more organized age. Who knew? But Meeko was dead. It wasn't easy to here. He wasn't my friend by any means. We didn't get along great, but he was still one of us. Still family. Zar'un had mentioned 2 friends. There was no mention of Goni. And I wouldn't dare speak his name.

"However," he said next. "I'm afraid we have no news on your supply runner."

He knows there as a fourth, but he doesn't know who. If all had gone slightly according to plan, the Hornets had already gathered the supplies that Goni stashed in the wall. Hopefully Goni was smart enough to dump the cart too. Roll it somewhere else, burn it, sink it, I don't know, but at least get rid of it.

"Sucks to be you, then."

He smiled for a second, then frowned. "No. As a matter of fact, I think this doesn't have to 'suck' for either of us. We both lost something. You lost people. I lost people. This exchange of violence has gone to serve neither of us."

"I wouldn't say that."

"I would. Your whole raid was reliant on 2 things: stealth and stupidity. Luckily, I'm not as stupid as those idiots up at the camp you raided. Morons let you literally trample all over them."

I remembered those Komodo Rhinos charging through the camp, trampling soldiers, tents, and anything else in their path. The memory of that short-lived success put a nice warm smile on my face.

"It was impressive, but you failed on 2 aspects. Stealth. We found your men including yourself and you suffered for it. And maybe the Hornets would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for the fact that I'm not as stupid as all of my men. I know you. I know your faces. And I know where you live. What were you thinking? Even if you got the supplies away like you did, I would be coming for your ass."

"With what soldiers? You don't have enough to even guard your walls. How do you think we got out and back in?"

"How about the 50 soldiers I have camped outside these walls. The tunnel's built. The rest of the supplies is within the inner walls and these soldiers are staying for the time being. As long as they're here, they're under my command. I can have them march on the Hive tomorrow to slaughter the lot of you."

I sat up from my spot on the bed, lurching forward. I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe If I killed him I could spare the Hornets, but the ginger tea was still going through my head from this morning. My vison became a haze once again and I fell back down onto my back.

"So why don't you? How do I know that you haven't already done so, and all my friends haven't been reduced to corpses and ash?"

"Because then I would've tied up all loose ends and you'd be dead too. No. I mentioned a way to make this not a disaster for both of us. Clearly, you know that the Rats have become a problem out on the streets."

"It's that obvious, huh? Guess that's what you called getting your asses kicked by street urchins." The comment didn't faze him. Or at least he didn't let it show.

"I have a proposition that I would like you to bring back to Riu once your leg is healed enough to allow you to walk back on your own. I am willing to offer you, Riu, and the rest of the Hornets safe passage and lodging in the military district where you will be enlisted into the Fire Nation military. You will be provided with clean food, water, medical assistance, and shelter."

That. That was not what I had expected to hear when he came in. That's what the dream was in the slums, right? Safety? It was in front of not just me, but all of us, right now. But we a deal with Zar'un before and it ended with 3 of us dead, but in all fairness, it was us who had broken that arrangement. And we suffered for it. However, I didn't think it would be a problem this time. For once, The Fire Nation and the Hornets shared a common interest. I knew what we had to do in return, but I had to hear him say it.

"In exchange for what?"

Finally, he looked towards me to tell us the condition for The Hornets' survival. "We need you to kill the Rats."