Lin collapsed onto the bunk, rolling over just as Fuse's body landed beside her. After picking out new outfits at a high end retailer, Fuse hid her hair in a knit cap and donned sunglasses so they could walk around the city without being recognized. He'd explained it that the less they tried to hide, the more invisible they'd become. Even carrying while carrying a weapon.
While nervous at first, she was soon absorbed in the activity around her as they took a circuitous route to the transport station. It served the dual purpose of giving Peter's contacts time to acquire and deliver their tickets as well as giving them much needed time to decompress.
"So much." She said hoarsely, looking out the window back into the city.
"So much what?"
She rolled to face him. "Everything."
There was a hum beneath them as the magnet train's generators began warming up. She wanted to roll over and look back one more time at the city, but Fuse had fallen asleep and she knew that any movement from her would wake him. So she studied the lines on his face until her eyelids began drooping and as she drifted off, she wondered if the tightness in her chest was what being safe was supposed to feel like.
~
With an annoyed sigh, Veronica read the memo for a third time while Rebecca and Clint waited nervously. Peter had reached out via their operative inside D-Corp and informed them of Fuse's request and the payment demanded for it.
"Well, at least they're finally on their way." Clint offered, breaking the silence.
Her sharp glare made him cower slightly and she thrust the sheet of paper back to him. "It was extortion. And Fuse let himself be extorted without any resistance."
"He was desperate." Rebecca said quietly. "It even says here that he just wanted twenty-four hours of peace before Peter sells the information. He's not at his best and I can only imagine how Lin's mental state is."
Veronica scowled. "I hate not having enough reach. Feels like fumbling around in the dark half the time whenever we deal with the western coast. And I put it all on him."
"We did what we could." Clint said bluntly, reading the memo before tossing it onto his desk.
Veronica scoffed and walked back to her office, slamming the door. Rebecca sighed and gathered her things. "There goes mother/daughter bonding for the night."
"You and I could go out." Clint offered.
She gave him a look. "Aren't you the one who bailed on my first proper date? No, Roberts, I'm not going to play this little game with you."
"I've got the dress in my car." He called as she walked past him. "I think you'll like it."
She stopped and sighed. "What color is it?"
~
"'Hamburger' is the only thing I recognize on this menu." Fuse muttered.
Lin smiled. "Okay."
He tapped on the screen and slid the tablet back into the dock before joining her in looking around at the dining car. It was fairly spartan, but there were points of interest. He followed Lin's eye line to a large picture of a groundbreaking ceremony.
"Probably the only time B and C-Corp worked together." He said. She tilted her head in confusion and he chuckled quietly. "They didn't let you out much, did they?"
"Nobody did." She said sullenly. "Until you."
"You know about The Five, though, right?" She shook her head, earning a sigh of annoyance which Lin answered with a sheepish smiled. "A-Corp was the military leader. They're known as HQ now since the Liberation. They're the only one with two self-sustaining branches. HQ makes the plans and the GA, the Grand Army, executes them."
"You were in the GA?"
"I was on permanent loan from HQ. Technically, I'm an A-Corp product." He explained, then continued on. "B-Corp handles transportation. The Mag lines were co-developed with C-Corp, who primarily does research and development projects. But you knew that one already. The Markets were the last to join, but they got the designation of D. You pretty much know their story already. And then there's E-Corp."
"Echelon." She murmured. "They're the ones who want me."
Fuse nodded slowly, letting the waiter set their plates down and wander off. He picked up a knife and cut his in half before resting on his elbows. "We'll find out what exactly they want with you when we get there."
"I don't want to be trapped in a room again." She said firmly.
"I won't let that happen." He replied. "We're a package deal now. They don't get you without me. Now, let's eat."
She watched him pick up half a burger and take a bite, then looked down at her whole one. "Why did you cut yours?"
He stopped chewing and thought about it. "I'm not really sure. It's just something I've always done."
"I see." She mumbled thoughtfully, then picked up her knife and clumsily worked it down the middle of hers, grinning at him when she was done.
He couldn't stop the smile that pulled his mouth upward. "Alright." He said with a nod of approval.
They ate in silence with Fuse finishing what she couldn't, which was significantly less than the last time they'd eaten together. He mentioned his relief about this and she hunched her shoulders, trying to hide her face. They stopped at the bathrooms to clean up before returning to their cabin.
Lin sat down on the plush bench seat while Fuse collapsed back onto the bunk. He watched her stare out the window for several minutes before doing the same. The line they were on had no stops and ran coast to coast, so they were cruising near the train's top speed. Passing through a city took seconds and the lights were like blurs.
One city was particularly bright and took twice as long to pass through. Lin made a noise of awe and pressed her face to the rear window to watch it fade in the distance.
"That was Satan City." Fuse said, rolling onto his back. "Home of C-Corp. Second most advanced and developed city on Rodinia Proxima."
He heard her breath catch and looked over at her. She was biting her lip with her fists shaking in her lap, brow wrinkled as she tried not to cry. There was no need to ask what was wrong. She'd spent her entire life cooped up and hadn't been allowed to see anything other than what people allowed her to see. It had to be infuriating to know that there was an entire world of things out there that she never got to experience. Things Fuse himself took for granted.
"I'll show it to you." He said.
She nodded and pulled her hood over her face before crawling over him and curling up into a tight ball. He didn't want to pity her, but there was no helping it. Lin had a pitiful existence and there was no changing the last nineteen years of her life. With a sigh, he rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, listening to the quiet whimpers that occasionally broke the monotonous hum of the train.
~
Eve stared down at the sleeping teens and tried to put painful memories out of her mind. Lin had fingers on one hand stuck in her mouth while the other was hooked around Fuse's arm. The image the pair cut didn't help that it looked like a parent and child despite Lin being a supposed two years older than the killing machine she clung to.
Gritting her teeth so hard her jaw hurt, she reached for her knife and started to pull it free when there was a click from the catch as it released. Fuse's eyes shot open and she froze, but he didn't move immediately. Instead, a rumble from ahead shook the train.
"DOWN!" He shouted, pulling Lin close to him and diving into her.
Despite the armor and the awkwardness of the leap, Eve was taken down just as the train rolled off its track and crashed to the ground. Lin shrieked and clung to Fuse for dear life while he tried to grab his sword, which was rolling freely around the cabin.
When he finally managed to catch it, the train had stopped moving and he pressed the sheathed weapon into her neck. "There's civilians on here!"
"This wasn't us!" She croaked desperately.
He grunted and pulled the sword away, getting to his feet and steadying Lin before buttoning her coat. "Stay close without getting in my way, understand? I won't let anything happen to you."
Lin nodded, her eyes still wide with fear. "Okay."
"I find it hard to believe this isn't just a convenient ruse." He said, Eve understood it was directed at her.
"If it is, I have no information about it. Comms have been dead from all sides." She said. "As far as coincidences go, it's far from ideal for my mission. I already failed the moment you woke up."
"You should've had the knife ready before you entered the room." He replied, pulling his coat out of the debris and pulling it on. "You need to do your job as Vanguard and secure as many civilians as you can. I'll take care of the ones responsible. After that, you can have your turn."
He grabbed Lin's hand and pulled her along as they exited the cabin and disappeared into the chaos beyond.
~
Rebecca watched her mom visibly shake, but couldn't tell if it was from anger or fear. Clint sighed and dropped back into his chair. "This is going to blow up in all the worst ways imaginable."
"It already is." Rebecca muttered, pulling up a document. "They're calling it the actions of a few unstable soldiers under Fuse's command. They're also questioning whether the employees of the hospital under James' supervision were working with Fuse when he abducted Lin from C-Corp."
She pulled up another document. "And C-Corp's calling for Fuse's arrest by the GA. They've made him public enemy number one."
"Fuck." Clint sighed. "It was hard for them before, now it's going to be impossible. Especially when those passengers start misremembering who Fuse is fighting."
"Go get him." Veronica said sharply.
"Boss?" Clint said, looking up at her.
"You heard me." She said, walking into her office and slamming the door behind her.
Clint spun his chair and stared at it for a few seconds before sighing and turning back to look at Rebecca, who was typing rapidly on the keyboard. "Some first date, huh?"
"What? Oh." She looked down at the dress she was wearing and gave him a weak smile. "Yeah. Sorry."
He waved dismissively. "Another time."
She nodded, already typing again. "Alright, I've got air transpo leaving in twenty. Should I flag for evac?"
"Hold off on that. The GA will be on us once we're in the air. Let's not give them a head start. It'll take forty minutes to get there as is and we know they have people in the vicinity already. Go get changed and get up to the roof. I'll meet you there in five." He said, getting up from his desk and taking one final look at her, grinned. "That's a nice dress."
"You picked it out." She said, feeling her cheeks burn. "See you in five."
They split up, with Clint heading for the elevators and her heading toward the bathroom carrying the bag with her spare clothes in it. After making sure nobody was in it, she locked the door and stared in the mirror. She'd never been one for getting dressed up, but she figured she owed it to Clint to make an effort.
When she saw the dress, she was taken aback slightly as it was the sort of thing she'd buy for herself and the furthest thing she'd expected from him. It made her feel guilty for her harsh treatment of him over the last seven months, especially when it came to light that he had stuck his neck out for her numerous times when Veronica and those above her were disappointed with her performance and wanted her to get more field experience. Shaking her head to refocus, she turned on the tap then unzipped the dress.
~
She sprinted out of the elevator and took Clint's hand and was pulled into the small carrier just as it was lifting off. Seated and buckled in, she tapped her comm to open the channel.
"That was longer than five minutes." His voice said immediately.
"I didn't realize the makeup was waterproof." She replied sullenly.
He laughed and she glared at him, but shifted to simply pouting after a few seconds. "Thanks for tonight." She said.
"Maybe next time we'll actually get to order before we get called back to the office."
"If there is a next time." She countered.
He laughed again. "So that's how it is, huh?"
"That's how it is." She smiled. "You've got to earn the next one."
"Guess I better get to work, then."
"If you two are done flirting.." Veronica's voice cut in. "Maybe you'd like to focus on the mission for a few minutes?"
Rebecca's face instantly turned red, but Clint just continued laughing. "We are focused, boss. Just the calm before the storm, is all."
"HQ's already tracking that carrier and tracing its route. Expect resistance when you touch down."
"Simple extraction. In and out."
"Have Rebecca handle contact. Fuse might recognize her, which'll make things easier convincing him that you're not the enemy."
"Copy." Clint said.
There was a brief silence before Veronica spoke again. "Be careful. Both of you."
"We will, boss." He replied.
Rebecca stared at the weapons rack next to Clint. "Think she'll be there?"
"She's been a ghost since taking out Ray. But if I had to guess..."
~
Fuse forced his breathing to slow as he and the woman he left at the Tully farm stared each other down. Her artificial arm seemed to clench as she closed her hand into a fist. "You've looked better, Sergeant."
"Stay close to me." He said to Lin.
She shifted as he readied his sword and dug his heel in, preparing to intercept her attack. Alex smirked and pulled her pistol, firing two shots. Fuse was able to deflect one with his sword, but the other caught him in the chest.
Before he could gasp for breath, Alex was on him, her artificial hand clenched around the sword. "The pursuit's over, Wolf." She sneered, snapping the blade in half and shoving it up through his stomach.
Out of reflex, he swiped for her neck and stumbled back, knocking Lin out of the way as he collapsed. "Run." He wheezed.
Alex's HUD told her that she had an open wound on her throat, but it wasn't life threatening. With a sigh, she stared down at him. "So this is all your amount to."
She raised her gun again, but Lin dove in front of him, trying to shield his body with hers. "Stop!"
Alex laughed. "I have orders to kill you, you idiot! You really think this is going to stop me from pulling the trigger?"
"This might." Another voice said just as bullets peppered her armor.
Her HUD told her that she was in danger from the explosive tipped projectiles and she growled in frustration, aiming her gun at the teens again, but a ping from above forced her to stop and look. A 30mm Gatling was spinning up and she knew that would shred her armor without issue.
"This isn't over!" She screamed, turning to run. "I'll never stop coming for you, Fuse!"
"So long, take care, bye-bye." The man who spoke said dully as the transport landed behind him.
A woman leapt from the hold and ran over to where Lin and Fuse were, shoving the girl out of the way. "Clint, he's not breathing!"
Lin felt her panic spike as Clint reached into the transport and sprinted over, sliding on the ground to Fuse's side, shoving a tube into his mouth. The woman barked orders into a headset and two more men emerged with a sled and loaded his body onto it.
"We're with Echelon! You and Kurokawa are coming with us, understand!?" She called back to Lin, following the men.
She started to follow, but her knees gave out and she slammed hard onto the ground. The large man who'd saved them, held his hand out. "He'll be alright. C'mon."
Hesitantly, she reached out and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet and guide her over to the transport. Once he hefted her inside, he helped her get buckled into a seat as they took off. Her eyes stayed glued to the grisly sight of her only friend being treated with an emergency kit. Blood poured onto the floor and more than once, they used a device to deliver a powerful shock to him.
Something was set on her head and covered her ears and she almost ripped it off, but a calm voice spoke to her as she reached up for it. "I know it looks bad, but I don't think he's going to leave us just yet."
She looked at the large man who sat down across from her, then back to Fuse. "I need him."
"And those guys are doing everything they can to keep him alive until we get home." Clint said, keeping his tone even and calm. "Once we're there, the best doctors on the continent will be looking after him."
"Do you have the pods?" She asked, keeping her eyes glued to him.
Clint narrowed his eyes. "We do, but he's too critical for-"
"Put him in one. I'll make it work." She said firmly.
"Are you sure you can?" He asked.
Her eyes sharpened for the first time as she looked at him. "I made them. I can do it."