Friendly Fire

(31) - Confliction and Denial

The journey back to the Guild Hall was bumpy and rocky. Despite the transport truck dipping and jumping over the terrain I remain silent and allowed myself to process it all.

I hissed as we took a sharp turn which made me push up against Felix, making me quick to hold my right shoulder.

"Looks like you've dislocated your shoulder." Leo spoke.

"No shit." I replied, finally breaking my silence and stared right into the eyes of a man who left everything behind for this damned place. "Don't you dare offer me your sympathy or help."

Leonard opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself when his eyes drifted to Felix who is looking between me and Leonard, unsure of what to say to break the awkwardness.

Silence started again.

I wish I could sit up front with the girls and be able to watch the scenery pass by instead of spending this family road trip in the trailer of a truck.

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The truck soon came to a stop and I was quick to lift the door open from the inside and storm off to our inffirmary.

If I can even call it that.

The nurse who saw me was able to pop my shoulder back into place. Yes, it hurt badly. But I will not go into war already banged up and bruised. My recovery won't take long.

Raphael

I sprinted to his recovery bed expecting the worse.

Instead I found him sat upright with a bloody bandage around his stomach that is indeed in need of changing soon.

His gaze finally drifted to mine and I couldn't help but smile softly at him.

He's safe and sound. All he needs is a big time out.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

He smiled back at me as he spoke. "Yea well... you wouldn't believe this but, Leo hatched a crazy plan to take down The Elite Strike Force which backfired and me being the guy that I am tried to get ourselves out of trouble but failed and ended up getting shot by a son of a bitch which lead to us retreating like cowards and forced to leave you behind. Which I apologize for by the way, if I had it my way I'd come to your rescue in an instant. I promise you The Resistance has a strict 'no man left behind policy' well... in your case... 'no woman left behind' but you get the idea. How are you?"

I chuckled softly at his little summary of the events that had happened but that joy quickly died.

". . . I'd rather not talk about it."

He playfully nudged me with his elbow. "Come onnn, lay it on me, what happened?"

I sighed and gave into his playfulness. "Colonel Hitchen caught me. Abused me. Managed to capture Leonard and forced us to sit face to face as Colonel Hitchen revealed the truth about Leonard being my biological father who I thought was dead for nearly a decade along with other mindgames that were played on me to make me lose my spirit. Apart from that, I'm just peachy."

Raphael slowly reached up to take my hand and he ran a thumb over my knuckles. "I'm sorry... we should've told you sooner but Leonard forced our mouths to remain shut... I know you must be feeling so betrayed right now... but believe me when I say that not one day passed without him thinking about you and your mother... he only stayed behind in this place to create a better world for you and your mother to live in... a world with peace... no more wars... no more worries... just pure happiness and a new life to live... a fresh start... away from all this... he has your best interest in heart, Rin... as do I..."

My eyes widened as I watched him raise our hands to his lips, from there he planted a kiss on the back of my palm and looked up at me with puppy love filled eyes.

I only pulled away. "No. You mean to tell me that you all knew this whole time that 'Leo' was my dad and you all chose to say nothing! I doubt he has anything on you to keep your mouths shut! Secondly, my mother died from a broken heart knowing the love of her life was DEAD and never coming home again! Thirdly, world peace is unobtainable! No such thing exists! There will always be wars! Always be violence! You can't run from it or prevent it! It is inevitable! You can slow it down, take all the precautions you can! But that won't stop the violence!" I paused, took a deep breath and calmed down enough to accept the facts laid out infront of me. "Leonard made his choice. He chose to leave me and my mother behind. That is something I'll never forgive him for. Fourthly. Do that again and I'll fire a bullet through your heart."

Raphael tossed his head side to side. "He has dirt on us that we'd rather not have people know... and I'm sorry about your mother, but you can't let the past define you, Rin... find a way to move past it... I've seen how strong you are first hand... I know you can do this... and we are all here for you... and you may be right, world peace is unobtainable... but we can stop our humble village from turning into ruin... that I'm sure of..." He snorts then continued. "If it weren't for Leonard you'd still be in Colonel Hitchen's hands. He did'nt leave you behind a second time... that has to count for something. You will learn to forgive him. And fine, fine... but you need to learn to let people love you again... and I'm not talking about romantically... you have friends here... good ones... let them in once in a while... just like how you've let me into those thick mental walls of yours... you're not alone... and I'll remind you that every day until you accept the fact that you are not what you think you are here. Instead I'll make you see who you really are deep down that tough girl exterior. And before you ask, this isn't just the antibiotics talking."

I just sat there and listened to his words, he is right, if Leonard or Felix didn't come to my rescue then I may be dead.

But that doesn't mean that all trust that we once shared is magically restored in the blink of an eye.

"No. You ALL knew. You kept this from me. I have EVERY right to have known from day one. If you all really were my friend, you would've told me. Friends. REAL friends don't hide things from one another. I will not make the mistake of letting people like you and The Resistance into my walls again. As for this DAMNED village, let it burn. I'm done here."

I didn't allow him to give me his reply and went to the exit only to bump into Felix's chest. I shoved him off me and kept heading towards my little residence here and I started packing my things. I don't know where to go. This village is the reason Leonard stayed and turned my life to ruins. I can't go back to The Elite Strike Force, they'll only kill me and make sure I'm dead after breaking me more until I give them all there is to know about The Resistance. That doesn't sound so bad at first, both parties will fight, both parties will lose their men, both parties have the chance to meet a gruesome end before joining me in the pits of Hell.

It doesn't matter where I go, just not here and not near The Elite Strike Force base.

We will all meet again one way or another.

Alive or dead.