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

Chapter 84 - Just Fight Without Me

As they walked through the hanger towards the transport ship Ajay could feel the tension pouring from Octavio. He was usually talkative and playful but now he was silent as they walked. Ajay reached for his hand, "Silva?" Her voice was almost a whisper. Octavio lifted his gaze from the ground and pretended to smile, "What's up Che?" She was now the one looking at the ground as they walked, "Is there something ya wanna talk about?"

Octavio gripped her hand, "Nah." Ajay sighed internally, "Coulda fooled me Silva." He didn't even protest; in fact he didn't even say anything. Ajay dropped the subject, she didn't want to drag anything out of him, especially before a match. She gently rubbed his hand as they walked into the ship. She sat in her usual spot but Octavio didn't sit down, he just stood next to her.

Ajay needed something to occupy her time during their flight since Octavio's silence was weighing heavily on her. She slid her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages to review the teams once more. The text message read:

Tonight's teams:

Bloodhound, Gibraltar, and Wraith

Bangalore, Crypto, and Octane

Revenant, Pathfinder, and Wattson

Caustic, Lifeline, and Mirage

She watched the screen of her phone until the light faded and went to black. Her body felt heavy with grief and guilt as she stared at the blank screen. She wanted so desperately to share with Octavio what had happened between her and Blisk but she didn't want to tell him about Renee. She also didn't want him to get hurt again. Her fingers grasped the phone in her hand as she tucked it back into her pocket. Ajay closed her eyes tightly as she forced back tears of frustration. She pressed her chin into chest and tried to concentrate on the match.

The flight was short which meant they would be competing in King's Canyon. The 30 second countdown clock began and Ajay quickly stood up and moved towards Alexander. Once she reached him mid-way through the ship she tapped him on the shoulder. When he didn't turn around right away she used force to pull him around to face her.

"Hey Alexander. We're not droppin Bunker. I don care whatcha have to say. We're a fucking team and the other members on this team don wanna be stuck in there. You're gonna drop where I tell ya to." Before Alexander could answer she took him by the hand towards the exit ramp. She grabbed Elliot with her other free hand, pulling him with her. Elliot laughed as he stumbled along with Ajay, happy to hold her hand.

The countdown clock hit zero and ramp opened. Lifeline pointed to Slums and pinged it onto their mini map. Mirage nodded and hopped out. Lifeline pushed Caustic out and followed right behind him. To make sure that Caustic was following the team, Lifeline took his hand all the way to the landing zone. When they landed Caustic sneered at her, "You and I are not equals. Remember this." Lifeline raised a hand up and brushed him away, "Get ya lootin done." Caustic walked away as Mirage came up behind her. "Are you as excited as I am to be here?" She gave him a stern look, "I don got time for this. Get ya lootin done too." Mirage laughed as they began to loot.

Lifeline picked up a level one backpack, level two evo armor, and some shield cells. She also found a Flatline and an RE-45. She was able to find a level two magazine for the Flatline but attachments were scarce. Mirage was decked out in level four (gold) armor, a level one helmet, a level two backpack, a wingman, and an R301. "Oh yeah, gold is my color." Mirage flashed Lifeline a smile as they waited for Caustic to join them. Lifeline nodded as she made sure both of her weapons were loaded and ready. Caustic met them at the entrance of The Pit. Caustic had on level one evo armor, a level two helmet, a level two backpack, a Pacekeeper, and a Prowler.

Surprised was understatement when Lifeline entered The Pit. All of the other teams were engaged and fighting. "What da fuck is going on?" Mirage laughed, "It looks like we're late to the rave." Lifeline was almost at loss of what to do. She pulled out her Flatline and began to fire it at Wraith, who was the closest to them.

Wraith went down in no time. Mirage sent in a decoy into battle which caught the attention of Gibraltar who was trying to pick up Wraith. Gibraltar stopped mid pickup to shoot the decoy just in time for the real Mirage to nail him pointblank in the skull with the Wingman. Down Gibraltar went. Shortly after Bloodhound must have been taken down by a different team because both Wraith and Gibraltar turned into death boxes.

By the time Crypto used his EMP, Wattson's inception pylon was destroyed by Mirage's R301. Lifeline pointed to Pathfinder, pinging him for the team, as he grappled toward them. Caustic aimed his prowler and shot Pathfinder down in a matter of a few burst fires. Caustic set out a few traps near them. Revenant appeared in his shadow form in front of Lifeline. She froze at the site of him. He used the opportunity to grab her by the shoulder. It was the same shoulder that he tormented only months ago. Revenant squeezed her shoulder as hard as he could, pulling her up off of the ground. Mirage unloaded his R301 into Revenant, sending him back to his totem. Lifeline fell to the ground as Revenant vanished.

Mirage was at her side almost instantly. "Are you okay?" Lifeline nodded as the gas traps began to go off around them. She pulled out her D.O.C. drone to heal herself but once again Caustic's gas blocked her attempts. She stood up with the help of Mirage and began firing her Flatline in the gas until it was empty. She heard enemy shields crack but she knew it wasn't enough as bullets cracked her shield. With her health already depleted she watched the world spin around her as she fell backwards into the dirt.

Mirage was at her side again and she pushed him away, "Just fight without me." She closed her eyes as heard Caustic's Nox grenade time out and go off. She could hear all of the other remaining Legends begin to cough and choke on his gas. Caustic stood next to her and laughed as one by one the Legends began turning into death boxes and then the announcer's voice chimed in, "We have our Apex Champions."