Bleed, Patch, And Keep Moving - An Apex Legends Story

Chapter 79 - Everyone Needs A Little Space

As they entered the small restaurant Octavio and Makoa sat down at a table in the back while Ajay found the bathroom. She got into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it behind her. Luckily the bathroom was only meant for one occupant at a time. She flipped the light on and tossed her backpack on the floor. She went to the sink and ran the water. She began scrubbing the blood from her hand, which was a chore as it had dried onto her skin.

After she finished cleaning her hand she rinsed her mouth out until the water was clear. She retrieve two pills from the bottle in backpack and took them. She felt terrible and just wanted to go home and sleep for a week. She didn't recall her body feeling this weak from the prowler situation. Her head pounded as she thought about herself in shadow form. During the match she didn't have time to process everything. Returning back to herself made her want to throw up but she held back during the match. At this point she didn't know if she could stomach any food.

Ajay finally emerged from the bathroom and sat down at the table next to Octavio. Makoa was sipping on a glass of water. Everyone sat quietly until Makoa finally broke the silence, "Well that was a weird match, huh Ajay?" He laughed uncomfortably. Ajay nodded, "Sure?" Whatcha mean?" Makoa looked at her a little confused, "You jumped on top of Revenant and pulled your gun on him over a mag that you didn't even need, it was for me. I guess I really didn't understand." Octavio laughed, "Whoa chica I must have missed a good battle." Ajay shrugged and was more or less annoyed with being called chica, "He was bein rude." Makoa frowned at her, "Ajay I had to pull you off of him and hold you well after he walked away. I feel like there is something more going on than just a mag."

Ajay gripped her own hands under the table, almost fidgeting in her chair. She was worried about dragging Makoa into this mess with The Syndicate. She was also hurting all over and it wasn't helping the situation. Makoa looked at her and then looked down, "Ajay I understand if you don't want to tell me what is really going on but I thought that we were like family. We all left our old lives to pursue this one. We are all each other has now." Ajay felt bad when she listened to him. She glanced over to Octavio for a moment, who was expressionless and wasn't helping her at this point. "Makoa.... It ain't like that." Makoa looked at her, "Then what is it like Ajay?" She sighed, "That monster works for The Syndicate." She left it at that, the truth. She carefully examined Makoa's face after she told him.

Makoa nodded, "Yeah. The Syndicate runs a lot of Apex. They protect us and they built this city. They also employ us, feed us, and house us." Ajay listened as Makoa went over all of The Syndicate's positive achievements and attributes. It was like a list that he had memorized in his head. She was getting a little frustrated with him like she had been with Anita. Makoa paused, "But I have heard that they been involved in some pretty bad stuff. I am pretty sure they are behind Forge's murder. I didn't want to mention anything because Blisk works for them. He used to be an Apex Predator." Ajay nodded, she knew quite a bit about Blisk just because of her time with The Frontier Corps. "I don't know Ajay." Makoa continued, "It's hard to trust them sometimes. Why would you hear about all of these bad things if they didn't really happen? And then the prowler attack at the party." He trailed off.

Ajay nodded again as she slid the right shoulder of her shirt and her bra strap down. Makoa looked at the scars on her shoulder that worked their way down to her chest. He looked stunned and was almost speechless, "What's that from?" Ajay continued to hold the fabric of her shirt and bra down while she closed her eyes, "First the prowlers, before the party. It was a job that Apex sent me on before World's Edge was up and functioning. The prowlers attacked us. Natalie, Elliot, MRVN, and myself. I later found out that the prowlers had been eradicated from that planet. Then Revenant attacked me. In my apartment." Her voice was just above a whisper as she spoke. Makoa gently touched her scars, "All of this by The Syndicate and Apex?" Ajay could only whisper, "Yah." Ajay sat there for a moment in silence. She opened her eyes and looked over to Makoa. She watched as tears lined his cheeks. She placed her bra strap and shirt back over her shoulder, "I'm sorry..." She trailed off.

"You could have died Ajay." Makoa was still tearful. Octavio chimed in, "Well technically she did, once." Ajay gave Octavio a stern look. Octavio threw his hands up into the air. She really didn't know how to react to Makoa crying or anyone crying for that matter. She wasn't good with other people's emotions; she wasn't even good with her own emotions. She just sat there in silence and gave him his space. Makoa wiped the tears from his face and looked at Ajay, "Why do they want you dead?"

She thought about it for moment. She really didn't have a good reason why. "I don know." She paused for a moment to think, "Maybe the prowler attack wasn't meant for me. Maybe it was meant for someone else." Octavio touched her leg underneath the table, "Then why would they have you go there?" Ajay coughed into her hand and pushed her hand into her lap before she spoke, "Maybe to cover it up?" She sighed and looked at Makoa. Disbelief and grief set into Makoa's face. "Makoa when I found out about the possibility of Apex bein involved I felt betrayed." Makoa nodded, "I have some thinking to do." His voice was sad and uneven as he spoke.

Before Ajay could answer Makoa got up and left. She felt bad for telling Makoa all of this but she didn't want to lie to him. Octavio stood up and grabbed Ajay by the hand, "Let's go Che." His voice was no longer playful, it was serious. After they got outside Ajay pulled away from him, standing there for a moment. She really didn't like being pushed around and this was the second time tonight that he had done this to her, "What's got ya behavin this way Silva?"

Octavio crossed his arms over his chest, "What's in your hand Che? More blood?" She looked away from him, "What does it matter Silva?" Octavio was becoming frustrated with her, "It matters because you're my wife and I thought that we were going to do this together. But you're in the arena trying to kill other Legends." She looked down into her hand and it was no surprise to either of them that it was lined with blood. "Let just go home Silva." He nodded, "We're going back to the apartment. I'm too tired for the drive tonight. And you're in no condition to drive."

Ajay knew he was right but she just didn't want to stay at the apartment. She clenched her hand closed and walked with Octavio back to their apartment. They entered the apartment together just in case someone was waiting but no one was waiting, not since the night of the attack. Ajay headed towards the bathroom to take a shower and Octavio went straight to bed. She really didn't understand why he was giving her the cold shoulder. She pulled off all of her clothes and stare at her naked body in the mirror.

She was finally able to examine her body in the mirror. She was riddled with scars. She turned around and looked at her back as best as she could. Marks from where the peacekeeper had struck her earlier in the night ran up and down her backside. Her back was a shade of bright red from the blast of the shotgun. "No wonder I am so sore." She got into the shower and sat down, she just felt drained. She didn't know if it was from the match or if it was from going into shadow form. She started to feel sick to her stomach and began to cough up blood. She didn't bother to cover her mouth, she just let the blood hit the shower floor.

When the hot water in the shower turned cold Ajay turned off the water and got out. She didn't bother with clothes. She got to the bedroom but Octavio wasn't there. She felt bad because she knew she wasn't the greatest at sharing everything, even with him. She hoped that she hadn't scared him off. She reached into her dresser drawer and pulled out her pill bottle. She pulled out two pills and swallowed them before climbing into bed and wrapping herself up in the blankets. She didn't want to spend the night alone but she didn't want to bother Octavio if he needed some space. She pushed a tear away as she buried her face into her pillow.