Safe Ground

"How did you find me?" asked Ren.

Ms. Croft coughed violently and then breathed in deeply. "After we returned to Burtgundy Facility and saw it was shambles, we went to another facility. I learned that they had received word at some point that a certain soldier named Ren Lennon went crazy and destroyed Burtgundy facility. They nicknamed you the 'Core Soldier'. They sent out a bunch of their own soldiers to find out where you went. They knew that you wanted to join the military, so they sent someone to each military academy in the western part of America. However, they didn't know what you looked like, just your name. I knew what you looked like. So I just went to a military academy and looked for you. If I didn't find you, I moved on to the next one."

"When did you find me?"

"I found you only yesterday. After you fought and escaped the Association, I followed you here."

Ren's expression darkened. "You mean you just sat by and watched me? Why didn't you step in then. My friends could have escaped!"

"Think about it Ren. If I jumped down there, they would eventually find out who I am and bring me in too. However, they don't know me."

"What are you saying?"

"Since they don't know me, I can infiltrate the association to look for your friends."

Ren thought about it, then understood, but still had one more question, "Why do you want to help me?"

"Well, I was in that place for a long time, never allowed to really leave. I used to date one of the high ranks there, but I broke up with him when I learned that he was involved in this, but I knew too much. They ended up forcing me to leave my life behind and work there. I had no choice, they threatened to kill everyone I knew."

"They probably already did." Ren remarked.

"No. I made sure that they were still alive. I was allowed to visit them every once in a while, but now that you killed everyone in that facility, everyone who knew me and knew about what I knew is dead. Well, all except for those I went to the front lines with me. They all went their separate ways though. Those at the other facility thinks I went to find and eliminate you. Look, I know what you went through too. I don't want anyone else to experience what we experienced. Not to mention, that if they continue to get away with this, they will have a massive army that will follow any order. They would be unstoppable."

Ren was convinced, but he had to know, "Do you know where Lorraine and Eric are?"

"Yes, I watched from afar and they were restrained and taken to the AAA. I'm assuming they're being held there right now."

Ren relaxed, now that he knew that they were at least still alive. "Well, we need a plan."

"Yes, but first we need to establish a safe ground."

"What do you mean?" asked Ren.

"I mean we need to rent something out. Maybe an apartment, a house, somewhere that we can establish as a home base for the time being," Ms. Croft explained.

"I understand. Oh, and I'm sorry about choking you."

"It's alright, it's good to be cautious. Well, let's get to it."

Ren went out with Ms. Croft to a clothing store first. Ren needed to get some clothes that weren't torn and bloody. They also went to a bank and made a withdrawal of all of Ren's money before the Association could shut his account down. He then gave it to Ms. Croft and she went to another bank and deposited the money into Ms. Croft's account. With this done they were able to go and rent a house with four bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen all on one floor.

After this was done and they settled into the house Ren stepped back out.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Ms. Croft.

"I need to retrieve something important." Ren replied. I wasn't able to before, but now I have some free time."

"Hold on, I'll come with you."

"No, stay here. The less we are seen together the better. I'll be quick." After this statement, Ren turned and closed the door behind him. He pulled a hood over his head to help conceal his face and began to walk out of the suburbs back into the city.

Ren decided it was taking too long, so he decided to 'borrow' a bike. He broke the rope of that was holding a bike to the bike rack and began to ride to his destination. Ren was grateful the rope was only resistant against magic and not pure strength.

He turned into the entrance driveway of a public storage building. After he leaned the bike against the building, he walked towards the sliding doors of the building. Once in, he walked towards the room that had lockers all along the walls. Ren pulled out a key from his pocket and inserted it into one of the lockers and turned it, unlocking the locker door. Inside was the mask.

"You're going to be very useful, very soon." Ren stated while staring at the mask. He grabbed it and hid it in his jacket while walking out. Thankfully, the bike was still there, so he got back on it and rode back to the house.

"Is that the mask Mr. Sandler gave you?" questioned Ms. Croft.

"Yeah. I made some modifications to it so I can actually wear it," Ren answered.

"Are you going to wear it when we try to break your friends out?"

"No. If they see a masked man trying to break those two out, they will make the connection that it's me. It would be better if they see that it's me trying to rescue them. That way, I can wear this later down the road when we go after the other facilities."

Ms. Croft was impressed that Ren thought that far ahead. "Well, let's start planning how we are going to pull this off."