Soldiers Of Fortune (For Crim)

Normal. This small underground city was far from it, but really, how could you define the word 'normal' anyway? Is it the way you see the world? The way you were taught, the way you grew up and anything different was considered weird? Then the case of all the people, the teens and young adults hanging around the seating area, chatting, talking and having a good time was all an illusion, a false state of mind to what they really were.

Judging by Jordan's reaction to his asking about their second fight, he figured that even though she was going to be around, she won't be awake for any sort of contact or talk, not that she really talked anyway. So he was on his own to roam around more, even is she was there.

Grabbing a basket upon entering the supermarket, Alexis headed right for the fruit and veggie aisle, picking out some mangos and strawberries. "Hey, what do you think would help me sleep?" He asked.

Jordan had already passed and fished a box of "All-Natural Sleepers", a herbal concoction devised by the Aufstand medical team to aid sleep without any chemical effects. At his question, she dropped the box in his basket from over his shoulder, dropping back a few steps to grab an apple, sinking her teeth into the crisp peel without a second thought. As long as she showed the apple core and paid for it, she saw no problem with what she was doing.

"I'm sure you can go see Rache again." Jordan suggested through mouthfuls of apple, glancing around the fruit and vegetable section absently; she didn't exactly know what she felt like eating. Maybe pasta. Actually, pasta sounded perfect. Backing up a few steps to the end of the aisle she turned and headed toward the opposite end of the store, munching away on the fruit in her hand casually.

The arm reaching over his shoulder to dump a small box into his basket made him jump a little, turning to Jordan as she devoured an apple, crunching down on it before speaking and heading off. Alexis was halfway through reading the ingredients before dropping the box into the basket again and turning quickly to follow her.

"What? I didn't say anything about Rache, where did that come from?" He asked quickly, slightly pink in his pale cheeks, picking up a tin of tuna along the way. "He's busy anyway, so I'm not gonna bother him just cause I have a day off. I'll find something to do, like maybe work out at the gym. It's not that big a deal, I don't need anyone to hold my hand."

Why was he so defensive about this?

Turning down one of the aisles, she paused at the first few shelves, running her eyes over the array of pastas before grabbing a small packet of shells and tossing them into her basket before continuing, his question only catching part of her interest. He was so defensive, it was almost amusing. Almost.

"You're not used to being around people are you?" Jordan asked over her shoulder, feeling lazy and just reaching up and grabbing a small jar of pasta sauce from the shelf. She didn't really want to make the sauce from scratch.

"It was only a suggestion. Don't get your knickers in a twist." Finishing off her apple, tossing the core into the basket, Jordan turned about face and walked back past Alexis, heading toward the check-out.

"Really, when would have I been around people to talk like this? If I was near people, I would have been out to kill one of them," He huffed in defense, nearly waving his arms about as he talked, Jordan still in front of him. "The last time I was around people of my own free will... they were much, much taller then I..."

Stopping suddenly as Jordan turned about face to walk for the check out, Alexis decided that experimenting with food tonight would be an idea, turning down the cake aisle to grab some cooking chocolate to melt and cover over the fruit if just plain fruit wasn't enough.

He caught up with Jordan at the check out, dumping the basket onto the bench and sighing.

Jordan showed the sticker of the apple to the cashier, who nodded and took the core, tossing it in the bin. The woman seemed used to this sort of thing, and Jordan spoke to her like they were close friends. Scanning her keycard once everything was scanned through, the Soldier gave the cashier a warm smile, a thanks, grabbed her grocery bag and continued through the checkout, giving pause to wait for Alexis, the smile gone as quick as it had appeared.

"Everyone's like that when they first come here." She admitted; why she hadn't just kept her mouth shut she didn't know.

It was a funny day. Up at sunrise, despite taking one of the sleeping tablets Jordan had put into his basket at the supermarket the night before, going about normal training before hitting the gym, clocking in about five hours before coming back for a shower, changing clothes and being careful not to wake Jordan as he moved about, grabbing a book and some snacks to hunt around for somewhere he could call his own little safe haven, a little space for himself.

He found it, tucked away at the very far end of the shopping complex, around a small hallway that the cleaners used once a day to store products and the floor cleaning machinery, setting up on the floor and leaning against the wall until he finished one book.

He was sure that the cameras picked up where he had hidden himself, looking around the corner and waving to the camera before going back around the corner to read some more, figuring he'd find Rache later for find out how his training would go about.

Jordan had come in late that morning, slumping into the room after a quick visit to the wards, dumping her bag at the foot of her bed and half crawling half falling into bed, exhausted. New, fresh bruises riddled her arms, her legs and her neck, running all the way up one side of her face, and a fresh bandage was wrapped tight around her throat, blood already staining the white gauze, but she slept quite solidly, undisturbed by Alexis' moving about at one stage or another.

The day went by silently. No one disturbed Alexis, though he did get a few strange glances from the civiliand roaming the place, like drowsy cattle. The cameras seemed to be condensed on him for a few long hours, as if the people behind the lenses were waiting to see if he was troule, but they soon moved on, returning to their routine monitoring over the plaza.

After hours, late into the afternoon, Rache's familiar figure appeared at the base of the stairs, heading straight for Alexis' quiet little space.
"You look very suspicipus hiding back here." Te man stated with an amused smile, glancing over the area in which the teen sat. "I assum Jordan's sleeping to explain why you're by youelrself?" He crouched down in front of him, glancing at the title of his current book before looking back to his face. "You should have come found me. Save me from my paperwork."

As if on cue, the looming shadow of the enemy appeared as it did in the book over the young hero, causing the teen to glance up quickly, snorting with amusement at Rache before finishing off the page as he inspected the book's title, shutting it and raising an eyebrow at the crouching man in front of him.

"I'm sorry fair maiden, I didn't know I had to rescue you from such horrors," He replied, shaking his head. "I didn't want to bother you since you had so much to do, and you don't want to be seen as having a favourite, do you?"

That last bit was curious for him to say, quickly getting up and brushing down his trousers before packing up his books and wrappers from the snacks he ate while reading, pointing to the cameras that were watching him. "I signed to the people behind the cameras that I was only going to read, but I guess they don't sign."

Rache shook his head. "I give everyone the offer of friendship." He stated, standing with Alexis. "Most just don't seem to take it. They find their own friends. Which is good. But it's almost like I'm not allowed to enjoy the company of anyone else." He ran a hand through his hair and glanced toward the cameras with a small smirk.

"They're not trained to sign. They're trained to be vigilant." He looked back to the teenager and stepped back out of the opening of the small corridor as not to block his path. He didn't want to seem like he was cornering the kid.

Sliding his hands into his pockets, the young leader scanned the civilian area, a rather complacent expression plastered over his features.
"Have you made any friends yet?" He asked curiously, glancing back to Alexis.

His attention was however deterred away from the teenager's reaction, a sharp, enraged scream followed by the clatter of cans against the ground erupting from across the room. When he finally turned and located the source, one teenager had launched himself at another, both bodies colliding and hitting the ground with brute force.

Almost as quickly as the fight had started, armed Soldiers were racing down the stairs, making their way over to the tumble and tearing them apart, the enraged teenagers shouting like ballistic animals and fighting to get back at each other's throats.

Rache's expression darked, his features tightening slightly at the scene. This didn't happen often, the sudden snap in a Soldier's mind, the strain of all they'd been through just crashing down on them. It rarely happened to Civilians, but it was even rarer in those Soldier's that remained in training.

After a moment, watching the two be hauled off by the armed Soldiers, he finally turned his attention back to Alexis, his body language rigid, but his expression softening slightly.

"As I was saying.. Friends?" He asked, though his thoughts were almost painfully obviously somewhere else.

The fight broke out just as Alexis opened his mouth, lips lightly parted as he watched the bickering pair throw punches at each other, blankly staring as the Soldiers carted the two away and the rest of the group and by standers shuffled off to continue about their business.

He didn't note Rache's darkened stance until he blinked, looking up at the older male before tilting his head to the side. "What? Oh, friends? Well, I..." He thought for a moment, a small smile on his lips. "I count Jordan as a friend, even though she'd strangle me if she ever heard me as it, but apart from her and you, no, no other friends."

"Maybe... you should go tend to those who got into the fight? You seem... elsewhere."

Shaking his head again, he allowed a small smile to glance across his lips. "Nah. I'll deal with them later." It was only really one he had to worry about; the one that had snapped. They lost at least one Soldier every two months to this sort of thing. Once they snapped, they were broken. They couldn't be fixed, and became a liability.

That was something he should have explained to Alexis when he was first admitted to the dorms. Even if he kept training, the strain on the mind, even unnoticed, was at a dangerous level after the Obedience was broken, and even Alexis was at a risk of doing just what the kid had done. Even Rache was at the same risk. But he had trusted companions that he knew would take him down if he became a threat.

As they would anyone else.

"You should get to know some of the other Soldiers." He stated, his tone friendly, though concerned for the teen. "Friends are a good thing to have in a place like this." He had to admit that he was surprised that Alexis considered Jordan his friend-- that was definitely a first-- but he knew how much trouble she had getting on in the Aufstand on her own, and he couldn't help but feel the need to urge Alexis to expand his friendship circle, if even a little.

Alexis stubbed the ground with his shoe, not looking at the other guy as he suggested that he make other friends. And how exactly would the kid go about doing that? He'd never been in a situation where he made friends without using them as bait, to get information from or get close enough to murder.

"I'm not that good at making friends, obviously. I wouldn't know the first thing about trying to make friends," The teen replied, finally looking up at Rache before gathering up his bag of books and snacks. "I should go put these away first before you insist on showing me off to everyone else to see who will take me under their wing."

He couldn't help but feel that Alexis was a little.. Upset that he'd suggested such a thing. Rache watched as the teenager picked up his things, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"It was just a suggestion." He replied flatly. Obviously, he'd been ruffled by the scuffle just moments ago, his friendly, almost happy-go-lucky attitude no longer present, replaced with this almost depressed figure. "It's not my problem if you have no friends. Probably better that way." Which, really, it was. Friends just meant bonds. It meant connections; ones that would be severed at the drop of a hat, in the blink of an eye. It was all a little over-dramatic, really, but that was the life of the Soldier. Even the civilians that lived here couldn't truly get away from it all.

"In any case, you start training tomorrow." Rache stated, handing him a card with a room number and name scrawled across the front of it. "Name of your trainer for the first few weeks, to get you into the swing of things. We do things differently around here to what Scriosta does. You're expected there at 0600 hours."

Alexis frowned at the tone, sighing and moving past the depressed mess. Patting himself down for his card, he grabbed Rache's hand and started dragging him along. "Come on you, we will buy you an ice cream to cheer up. I don't know why those guys fighting got you so upset, it was just a fight, right?"

Well, he hoped it was just a fight, and not some sort of horrible plague of the mind that he was going to have to deal with at some point down the track. Not that he wanted to have the worry him anyway, he'd rather just be ignorant about the whole thing until it happened.

Rache kept his eyes on Alexis' back as he was lead away, remaining silent for a few long moments. Perhaps it was better he didn't know. Some people couldn't handle the idea that eventually their mind would break, like how some people couldn't fathom the idea of death. But at least, when it happened, he wouldn't know it. People were known to 'phase' out of this broken state, for a mere few minutes, and described the experience like suddenly falling asleep.

Sounded pleasant enough.

"Right." He finally replied, his fingers curling slightly against Alexis' palm. He honestly felt guilty for all those that fell pray to their own mind. But.. It had to be done, right?

The teen turned the card over in his hand as he dragged Rache to the ice cream parlour, ordering a double sundae tub of chocolate for the miserable sap he was holding hands with, ordering a small sherbet cone for himself before pushing the man into a booth. "Wait here, and if you're not smiling before I get back, I will tip your ice cream on your head."

Slumping into the booth, Rache watched Alexis walk off, his eyes soon diverting to the table top, resting his chin in his palm. He felt like such a child, acting this way-- but really, sometimes it was just a little difficult to remain his happy self.

--

Kicking, screaming, flailing, the armed Soldiers dragged the obstinate recruit down the halls, the veins in his neck seeming to pop with the amount of rage fuelling his actions. The victim of his actions had been carted off to the hospital with severe head trauma after they'd been pulled apart.

Snarls echoed down the hall, but no one was gutsy enough to stick their head around the corner or out the door to snoop.
Once tossed into the confinement room, the Soldier merely had to strike at the right moment. Launching at the two heavily armed Soldiers, it only took him a split second to take them out, the adrenaline coursing through his veins enough to give him the strength of at least seven men.

--

By the time Alexis returned to the booth, a small smile was riddling Rache's expression as he fiddled with his fingers, eyes on his thumbs as they chased each other about the small space between them.

He didn't like feeling sad, or like shit, but sometimes it was hard to avoid.

Sitting down at the booth on the other side, Alexis couldn't help but let out a quick laugh at the smile Rache managed to put on, setting down the tub of chocolate ice cream on the table top, scarfing down half of his own cone. "That is the worse fake smile I have ever seen, just letting you know. How you pass lie detectors, I will never know," The teen said, jumping at the sudden appearance of a olived skinned guy about his own age, standing silently behind Rache's seat for a moment.

"Rache, forgive me," The black haired guy said, standing almost to attention. "We have a situation..."

Rache's smile brightened at Alexis' words, and he lowered his face, almost laughing at himself; it was a pretty pathetic smile.
For the split second before the familiar voice caught his attention, Rache had seemed like his normal, happy self, his face falling almost instantly at the boy's words.

"What is it, Soldier?" He asked, his tone low as he glanced over his shoulder at the Soldier. This was probably the first time since his first few days here that Alexis would have seen Rache acting military. He didn't often act this way unless something was wrong, such as this 'situation'.

Alexis tensed at the other teen's words, his own smile fading quickly as Rache addressed him, fingers twitching around the cone in his hand. Something big was going down, and he was totally pissed off with it happening now. After all, he just got Rache to smile.


"Sir, Section B has been completely sealed off, one of the offenders has escaped and we are struggling to slow him down," The boy replied, blinking as the earpiece he was wearing crackled with an update. "His abilities are making it difficult for us..."

Contemplating the situation a moment, Rache stood from the booth, abandoning his ice-cream.
"I'm sorry, Alexis. I have to attend to this." He stated flatly, turning toward the Soldier and walking past him, having decided on what needed to be done. He'd have to go in himself-- he wouldn't risk other's lives for something he was guilty for.

"How long has he been running amok?" He asked, not looking back to see if the boy was following; he merely assumed these things, as it was protocol.

Sighing as the pair left, Alexis looked at the tub of ice cream Rache left behind and stuck his cone on top, gathering his things and making for his room to put everything away, turning the card over in his hands, wondering if he should offer Rache his help, but he would probably be sent away anyway, so he didn't bother.

"Five, maybe six minutes," The tanned teen, Natal, replied, walking briskly next to Rache as they hurried for the sealed off section. "He's taken down three armed Soldiers, everyone in their cells are safe, but it's a matter of time before he does something drastic. Sir, if I may offer before you go racing in there, that we try a gas grenade to subdue him?"

Jordan had some how managed to do a complete 360 flip in her bed, her head now where her feet had been that morning. She was still asleep, a book now under her face, and didn't even stir when Alexis arrived back in the room.

--

Rache gave a quick side glance toward Natal, his expression hard. "I doubt it will do much-- time is a factor here, Soldier." He replied firmly, hesitating a moment in his reply. "But do as you wish-- you need to learn these things for yourself."

They made it to the sealed area rather quickly, their pace strong and urgent. If the Soldier got out into the dorms all Hell would inevitably break loose.

Natal nodded, listening to the updates on location as they gained access to the sealed area, stepping through the door and hearing it hiss shut and lock, easing their way around to the waiting assult team, heavily decked out and ready for their next set of orders.

"I want slug pellets loaded, two gas grenades and a back up of live fire," the teen gave out orders, looking to Rache for approval before turning back to the team. If Rache wanted to see how he could handle a situation like this on his own, then he will show their leader what he could do.

"Form two rows, corner the target at the end of the corridor to the east. Only state once to surrender quietly, then open fire with the pellets." Standard procedures for this, but his brain was already racing with other ideas for this, some fatal, but if force other then what he was doing had to be used, then they would loose a brave soldier this day.