Chapter 14.

"Dude, don't use the rocket launcher. It doesn't work on them remember," Draco hissed. He was sweating, his tied back dreads had come loose. The game pad was squeezed between strong fingers.

"But we tried using the katana last time and we lost even faster," I complained. I was also sweating. My t-shirt stuck to my back, the jeans I was wearing stuck to the back of my knees. I had to stop myself from breaking the game pad with my right arm.

"You guys are still going to get your asses handed to you," Saia shouted. She was standing up, hopping from foot to foot.

"Saia." Mei pulled her back down to the beanbags we were sharing. "Focus. We might lose if you don't."

"Exactly, Saia," Draco yelled, he sprung up to his feet. "We're going to – FUCK."

"YES," Saia screamed right into my ear. "Five in a freaking row. Suck it." She was jumping around the cushioned room and pouring water over a sweaty head.

"They're probably just cheating," I sighed, tossing the game pad away. I blinked away the haze, my eyes stung as I collapsed onto the cloud of pillows.

"True that. You know if Mei's playing then she definitely did her computer magic on the game," Draco thoughtfully added. He tied back his dreads, arms blanketed by tattoos.

"You guys just suck," Mei grinned, sweat plastering her short hair. She had dyed it purple recently, the small stud on her cheek was a star now. She'd been walking around with a robotic cast – easier to move around, but more exhausting.

We'd been playing for hours now. I'd found my way to Hera's mansion in the center of the Rogue territory to try and find Tick. Long story short I ended up getting my butt handed to me over and over again. We were in a common room sort of place, red beanbags dropped in front of a massive TV, large black speakers behind it. It was a massive place, just like every other room in here, meaning that people occasionally stopped by and watched us. A few of the younger kids would gawk at me and ask me for a picture. Imagine that, someone asking me for a picture because of what they'd heard about the Stray. I really needed to put some of these myths in check.

One of the kids even asked me if I could breathe underwater. Her older sister dragged her away from us.

"What do you two losers say?" Saia grinned, sucking down a bottle of water. "'Nother round?"

"What you say, Stray? One more shot?" Draco chuckled, he already had his pad in his hands.

"Mum didn't raise a quitter." I smiled. "But we're using the pistols this time."

"You guys could use every weapon in the game and you'd lose every time," Mei giggled.

"STRAY?!" a voice boomed, it echoed through the cavernous hallways.

"And here comes the fun police," Saia muttered.

Jin stormed into the room. For once he wasn't wearing a leather jacket, his red t-shirt showed off a tattooed dragon curving around his normal arm. He stared me down like I was something bad he'd just stepped on. I got that look a lot from him. Well, every time he looked at me I got that look from him.

"Hey, Jin." I grinned at him. "Wanna join in? We have another pad here somewhere."

"I'm not gonna play a freaking video game right now. With you no less," he spat.

"You really ruin the vibe, man," Draco grumbled. He put down his pad and stood up, pushing past Jin. "I'll see you guys later. We better win next time, Stray."

Mei and Saia followed suit, both of them mumbling swear words. Jin glared at them and they kept walking, heading up the curved stairs. That's where Hera's closest people stayed, I still didn't know where she did. If anything Hera didn't sleep. She was always working or playing chess by herself. That and drinking. She drank a lot, but she never got drunk. I was a little too intimidated to ask her how she managed to function.

He kicked the beanbag I was sprawled out on, his foot coming close to my shoulder. "Kira. Where is she?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. She woke up early and told me something about getting a hit. Said she'd be back in a couple hours."

"And how many hours ago were a couple hours?"

I shrugged again. "Like five, six maybe?"

"Fuck," he muttered, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well I needed to see you anyway. Since we found something that might be important to you."

My drooping eyelids shot open. I sprung up onto my feet, he glared at me. "Is it, you know, my Mum?"

He looked me up and down like I was some sort of rotting bean pole. He grumbled, "Something like that."

I followed him out of the mansion. The sunlight blinding my momentarily. The streets over here were always busy and erratic, always something happening. Cheers coming from apartments, advertising coloring old and new buildings. I couldn't think straight, sticking to Jin was hard enough through the scrum of people, but with my Mum's face racing through my mind it was near impossible.

I had showered and washed my clothes. I'd brushed my teeth. Hell, Kira had even forced me to cut my hair. But I was still nervous. I hadn't seen her since I had been framed by that … thing. She had begged and cried that day, she had shouted promises, and she had wrapped me up in her arms. All of it still so clear.

And now I was going to see her again. Looks like listening to my gut was the better option. A talent. That's what it was.

We'd reached the hospital. It was a large campus that I had become close friends with after the apartment fire. It had two wings, connected by a large central building. All of it red brick, contrasting the surrounding whites and blacks. Technically everything in Rogue territory was contrasting, not one building matched the other. All of them were different in some way. So different they were the same.

Jin led me through the large sliding doors. He didn't bother waving at the graying lady at the reception, I flashed her a grin to pay up for it. We brushed past doctors and nurses, many of them giving me quick nods. Some doors going down the corridor were shut, others were open. Some had colorful posters on them, others didn't have anything. A fury of different smells ran through the hallways, not all of them pleasant. The sour milk smell of dried blood was a jarring constant every few steps, harsh cleaning products battling against it.

A lot of the Rogues had been caught in the massacre, a lot of them wouldn't be themselves ever again. Some were learning how to walk again on robotic legs, others were nearly mummified and lying motionless on white beds. But they all had one thing with them: another person. Someone to hold their hand, someone reading them a story or gossiping. None of them were alone.

We reached the end of the corridor, a silver metal door with thick hinges clung to a wall. Two girls stood outside the door, assault rifles cradled in their arms. It was quieter down here, hidden away from the rest of the rooms by a corner in the corridor.

Jin spun round and punched me.

Blood exploded in my mouth. He'd hit me with his bionic arm, the metal grabbing my collar and slamming me against the wall. The two girls stood stoically as they watched on.

"What the hell is this?" he hissed, spittle plastering my face. He pulled out a picture from his pocket, it was small and faded. But there was a woman on it. Black hair. Blue eyes. That wonderful smile.

"How…how do you have that?" I croaked, his grip around my neck tightened.

"So it is true," he spat. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you. Haven't trusted you since Young Haven." The last sentence a mumble, so quiet that I thought I didn't hear him right.

Jin was in Young Haven? I would have remembered someone like him, then again, a lot of stuff happened in there that I couldn't remember.

He let go of my throat and I crumbled to the floor. "How did you get that?" I wheezed.

He jerked his chin towards the two girls, one of them opened the door, and the other helped me onto my feet. We stumbled into the room, a man was in its center. He was chained to a hospital bed, his heart monitor erratic. An IV was stuck into his arm, another yellow bag next to it. It was the man with the green eyes. The man with the minigun. The man who laughed when he slaughtered hundreds of people.

And there he was, asleep. In a world of ignorant bliss, unknowing of the people clinging to loved ones a few rooms down.

"I got this thing from him." Jin stuffed the crumpled picture in my hand. "So, Stray. Care to explain what the fuck is going on? Because isn't it such an amazing coincidence that the Stray comes into the Gray and a week later a massacre happens. No less by a man who has your mother picture?"

I stared at the picture in my hand. It was her. Smiling, blue eyes stunning, black hair flowing around her shoulders. But it was the exact same picture I have. A complete copy. Just more worn down and faded. But exactly the same.

My heart slammed against my chest, Jin's questions fading into the background. I stumbled towards the man in the bed. Someone had cut his beard and his mane of hair. His jaw was slack, dark circles running around his eyes. It couldn't be. He shot himself. I saw him shoot himself. Four years ago, in front of me and Mum.

The smell of bubblegum cut through my haze. "Sorry I'm late. Some hits are harder to finish off … what's going on?"

"Stray had a breakdown. Been staring at that guy for a couple minutes now," Jin sighed.

I gripped onto the bed's railing. Gripped onto it until it creased my hand and bit into my palm. He was asleep. Snoring. Like this was some sort of deserved vacation? I could strangle him right here. I could smash the flower vase near the window over him. Over and over until he was blind. Until the white room was red. Until all he could feel was the vase digging into his skull.

A hand pulled me away from the bed, the smell of bubblegum stronger. "You know this guy?"

I would hurt him. Hurt him until he wouldn't ever be able to walk. But not kill him. He didn't deserve the easy way out.

Kira grabbed my hair and filled my vision. She wasn't wearing her eye patch, she hadn't for a few days now. But she still covered it with her hair. "Dan. Who is he?"

Other people were in the room now. Mia was tapping something on a pad, Saia and Draco against the far wall. The girl's with the rifles were rigid - Hera was close by. Not in the room, but somewhere in the hospital.

"He's my dad." My voice caught in my throat.

A stillness hung in the air. Draco and Saia straightened up, Mia stopped typing. Jin glared at me.

"I thought you said you killed him," Kira muttered. She was staring at the man now, and staring back at me. Trying to look for a resemblance, I turned away – I wasn't anything like him.

"He shot himself and pegged the murder on me." I gripped the railing again. I wanted to shake him awake, to shout and scream at him. Of course he was the one who killed all of those people. Of course he was the reason so many people are never going to be what they once were. And he was out cold, snoring and high on medicine.

Jin grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "So you are with him? I. Fucking. Knew it."

I pushed him away. My breaths coming out in uneven waves. "Why the hell would I be with him?"

"Dan-"

"Wake him up." A voice carried through the room. Hera was at the door, her arms crossed. The golden cross around her neck gleaming in the white light. "Saia. Now."

Saia pulled a white syringe from her jacket. She trudged towards the bed, eyeing me. Everyone in the room was eyeing me, just like the first day I was here. Like I was trash again. Rubbish brought in by a passing storm. The storm in front of me lay unconscious, the putrid smell of sweat and alcohol rolling off of it.

She jabbed the needle into his forearm. He woke up with a jolt, the straps running across his chest keeping him down. He looked around the room, his eyes eventually falling on me.

I felt Kira grip onto my arm. A restraining move. They wanted information from this thing in front of me. I wanted to cave his head in.

"You," he wheezed, his eyes locked on mine. I hated those eyes when I was growing up. I hated them even more right now. "Who the fuck are you?"

I lunged at him. Draco tackled me to the side, pushing me against the wall. "Who am I?!" I shouted. "After all this time and you don't remember?!"

"I'm sure I'd remember something as lousy looking as you," he spat. His eyes locked onto Hera. "Afternoon Lieutenant Colonel."

"General."

"Are you kidding me?" I roared. I pushed Draco off of me, the two girls with the guns gripped onto my wrists – tightly wrapping handcuffs around them. "You … BASTARD. All these years and you wake up like some sort of freaking damsel? They should have left you underneath that building."

He blinked several times and looked over me again. A wry smile crept over his flabby lips. "Ah. Now I remember. How could I forget your bitching? You sound just like that whore."

I kicked away from the girls and rushed towards the bed. Kira stepped in front of me, her gun drawn and pressing against my forehead.

"Move and I won't hesitate," she growled. "We need information from him and you're clearly not helping."

I laughed and looked around the room. They were all glaring at me, none of them paying attention to the turd in the hospital bed. "I don't give a damn about whatever the hell you guys want from him."

She snapped the safety off.

"Where. Is. She," I growled. I looked at the man, he was smiling. All of it a show to him.

"It isn't the time for you to try and find your mum, Stray," Jin cut in.

"TELL ME," I shouted. Tears were streaking down my face, i couldn't think straight. An orchestra of rage spun around my head, making blood rush in my ears.

"Wouldn't it be nice," he chuckled, "if you knew."

I stepped forward, Kira's gun slammed into my jaw. I fell to one knee and she pressed the barrel against my head. Her mouth was a thin line, eyes darting towards Hera and back at me. She was following orders. All of them were just following orders. Apart from me.

"Look at you," he barked. "Just as pathetic as the day you shot your old man. Dragged away from that witch, balling your eyes out. Nothing's changed in four years."

Tears were ripping down my cheeks now. I was gasping for air. Kira's gun barrel biting into my skull. "Where is she?" I choked on my words. I hadn't cried since Young Haven, but I needed to know. He was the only one who knew. He was the rotting piece of rope making sure the boat didn't drift into the sea.

He didn't respond for a while, his eyes running over me. Always looking up at him, from the first day I had seen him, to now. Kneeling on the hospital floor, eyes in the room locked on me.

"I put a gun to her forehead.."