Luna sat on the floor, back to the room, rapier resting across her knees. Cass was sitting next to her, wordlessly rubbing her back in small, comforting circles. Normally she would be sobbing - the hiccups and running nose a standard part of how wide her emotions stretched. It would go until she'd wrung herself out, the last of the sadness falling with the last tear.
This was different. Cass didn't know what to do, just knew that she needed him more than she'd ever needed anyone in her life. He knew what it was to be in the place she was right now, but not how to be there for someone else going through it. He gave her the comfort she gave him, wishing he knew if it was enough or the right type.
Not that it would have mattered, or even registered. Luna's mind was blank, her conscious thought sitting deep below the surface of an underground ocean that she hadn't known existed before this. She knew she was drowning, but to come to the surface - to break past that oily sheen that was knowing - would kill her just as much, it would just take longer. A part of her knew that she would have to come out of this at some point. That she would have to turn around and know and most likely even see, but that was for someone else. Not her. Not now.
She floated through the darkness a little longer, knowing that she was slowly rising to the surface even now.
Tess supported Zavier's arm across her shoulders as he limped alongside her. She'd given him two pills immediately and his ribs had popped back into place, his health jumping to a bit over 50%. It had been a close one and she shuddered to think what would have happened if he'd been thrown head-first.
The couple slowed as they came around the last barrier, both of them staring wide-eyed at the two halves of the young girl in front of them. They shared an incredulous look that spoke to sadness, fear for their children, and guilty happiness that it wasn't. Tess wished that they had something to cover the girl with, but a scan around the room showed only metal, plastic, and jutting flesh and bone. He and Tess shared another look and moved to pick up the pieces of the girl and move her behind one of the barriers.
It was an experience they both knew would cause nightmares for the rest of their lives.
They moved to sit in front of Luna, each reaching out to take hold of a hand. Tess ran her fingers through Luna's hair and Zavier cupped the side of her face in one palm.
"Mija. Mi corazon. My heart is broken for you in this moment. I'm so sorry." He leaned his forehead against hers.
Tess joined them. "It's a cruel thing you had to witness, Sweetie. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Cass leaned in, his head resting against theirs, arms stretched around Luna's shoulders. He didn't say anything, but he was saying the most of any of them.
A hitch broke the long silence, then another. The trickle of emotion soon became a torrent and Luna was bent at the waist, head buried in her knees, back spasming violently with the force of her sobs. The cries soon ended - far sooner than any of them felt they should have. Her head came up unexpectedly and the tears just… stopped. With a final sniffle and a wipe at her eyes she climbed to her feet in silence.
She took a deep breath, then surprised them all by spinning to face the room, knuckles white over the grip of her rapier. Her eyes went straight to the spot where Fara's body had been, determination turning to confusion, then to understanding when she saw the trail of blood leading behind the closest barrier. The family watched her with anticipation, not sure what to expect. This wasn't the Luna they were used to seeing.
But her jaw only set and hardness entered her eyes. She nodded to herself once, then stalked away.
"Where are you going?" Zavier asked.
"To get its fucking head."
She was back a moment later, dropping the head at the door. "This looks like one of those vision scanners. I think we need to scan its eyes."
They all turned to the tablet buried in the door and saw she was right. The screen had icons that looked like eyes on it.
"Wait," Zavier said as Luna started hefting the huge head. "We need to take a beat first. Come back over here for a sec."
The tension in her shoulders said that she wanted to be out of this room as soon as possible but, after a moment, she turned to sit with them.
"Okay, first off - we only have one of these left," he held out the last of their healing pills. "How's everyone doing?" It was half-rhetorical, with Tactical Synergy they could all see that they were all above 50%, with Luna being the highest at almost 100%. But being technically healthy didn't mean you were in good shape.
"I'll go first," he continued. "My ribs were cracked back there and I think I fractured my elbow. The ribs are back in place thanks to the pills you gave me, Tess, but I'm still a little… creaky. I feel like a solid hit to the chest would crack them all over again. As for the elbow - it hurts but I'm good. I can swing the chain and, ever since The System, I've pretty much become ambidextrous anyway. I'm in pain if I breathe too heavily but can walk fine." He looked at Tess as he finished.
"I popped my shoulder back into place. It still hurts, but nothing I can't push through. I won't be at 100% with that arm for a while, though, probably at least a few days without healing. Other than that I'm fine."
"My knee is jacked up and these still hurt like crazy," Cass pulled off his Carapace Chestplate to show the bullet holes that stitched across his body.
"WHAT?" Tess was forward, pill snatched out of Zavier's hand and held to Cass's face. "Take this!"
Cass laughed, coughed, then chuckled, pushing her hand away. "Mom, my healing is getting better. It might take a few days to heal but they close up pretty quick. I'm not going to die of blood loss at least."
"I don't care, young man. You have been shot by a damned wall gun and have bullet holes in your actual body! Take the damned medicine!"
Even Luna was stunned into disbelief at the outburst. Tess looked over her shoulder at Zavier and Luna with wild eyes. "What? He's been shot! Look at this!" She ran her finger down the stitch of holes in his clothing. "You could have… you should have…" her voice broke and she shook her head, wiping an angry hand across her eye.
"This damned System. I hate what it's doing to you two." Tess reached behind her to pull Luna into the hug with her and Cass. "I can't believe my baby was shot. And I can't believe…" she squeezed Luna.
The moments passed but Zavier didn't interrupt. He knew what Tess was feeling, and the shock of seeing how close their children had come to dying was a blow. He felt it too, he just couldn't move.
Externally he was the picture of calm, but inside... Rage, fear, helplessness - it all boiled back to the surface. I was good, he thought. I was FUCKING GOOD. I was the best I could have been - hell, we all were. We had no weak links and even I pulled my weight this time.
And it wasn't enough. That girl died. Luna and Cass almost died. Cass came closer than any other time, and we're not even a year into this fucking apocalypse! It doesn't matter how strong I am, it hasn't been enough. It ISN'T ENOUGH.
Today I was better than I've ever been, and yet I'M not enough.
"...dad! Dad!"
Zavier snapped out of his reverie, realizing someone had been calling his name.
"Mom made me take the last pill. Hope that's okay."
Zavier nodded at Cass. "If your mom says it's okay you don't have to run it past me."
Cass looked at Tess, chagrined. "I know, but I feel bad. I'm healing pretty quickly and you took a pretty bad hit when you got thrown."
"Your father is in good enough shape to walk. You weren't. Yeah, you're healing, but your knee wasn't going to be back to normal for at least a day or two and we might need to run. None of us is in great shape to fight so we all need to be ready to run."
Zavier nodded at her reasoning. "Solid plan, T. Thank you." He climbed gingerly to his feet. "Okay, here's where we're at: No more healing. I'm close to leveling up and…" he focused on the screen for a moment. "Luna! You leveled up! Great job honey! Looks like you're almost to the next level too. Taking down the boss was big points for you."
She nodded somberly, her usual excitement absent.
"Looks like you two," he indicated Tess and Cass, "aren't too far behind but you're not likely going to get there in the next few fights. So if we get into any more fights, I'm on point, then Luna, then you two injured folk in the back. Got it?"
Nods all around.
"Okay, now let's scavenge for what we can before moving on."