Saving the World - Awakening

Cuts, Bruises and Broken Ribs

Why did she do this to herself?  Ciara looked down at her stitched up and bandaged wrist and sighed. She failed her one job, to protect Eliot.  Who knew what that two-faced jerk was doing to him? She felt a pang of jealousy as she realized her lifelong rival had beaten her again.  She would have to go running back to Brachs, as always, licking her wounds pathetically.  Her pride had never been so damaged.

Along with a splitting headache, Czar security had given her Eliot's knife to defend herself with. She didn't know exactly where she was, so she assumed it was going to be a long, tedious trip to whichever safe house Brachs had fled to.  He was running out of those, after years of fleeing Czar he had used up many.  Regardless, she needed to contact him to find out where he and the rest of the Maples were.

The rest of the Maples. She remembered the terrifying creature with the booming voice at the Side Show.  Her fellow agents were either dead or captured by Czar, who knew what it could do. Bullets bounced off of its shiny, abnormal skin, the only thing they pierced were its clothes.  It seemed unbeatable.

The elevator finally dinged! and the door opened, revealing a large, extravagant lobby.  The building looked to be a hotel.  The floor was tiled with black marble, with gold flecks and white swirls throughout.  A fountain stood in the middle, a massive chandelier above it.  Fake plants flanked the fountain, four different islands making a fractured circle.  People bustled around, busy attending to their own cluttered lives.

Brachs had explained to her about how Czar had replaced the Maples after bombing their base on the Canadian-American border.  Czar was no longer a small upstart organization, it was the official peacekeeper for the world.  She was at Czar's public headquarters, located in London, England. She was in the heart of the enemy.

She quickly walked across the lobby to the revolving doors.  She slid into the exiting door and onto the streets of London.  With a sigh, she checked her pockets.  Czar had given her all of her belongings, including her wallet and her phone.  She withdrew her phone and began walking, hoping to find a quiet alley to speak with Brachs.  After walking for a few minutes, she found one and ducked into it.  She dialed Brachs and waited for him to answer.

"Ciara.  Are you okay?"

Brachs' voice was a relief to hear. No matter how independent she was, Brachs was like her father, and she would always go back to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  It's Jessica, she came for him herself!  Eliot went with her, and I don't know what she's gonna do to him.  I tried to escape, but they knocked me out."

The day's events came rushing out as she talked.  She wanted to cry, but she was still on mission. All she wanted was to curl up and never move again.  Every time Brachs made progress, Czar trampled them.  It never seemed to end.

"Don't panic.  Come back to the base, and we can figure out the next move."  Brachs said evenly, no trace of frustration in his voice. "We fled to Ireland, and are planning on going back to the ruins soon."

"B-but what about Eliot?  Shouldn't someone help him?" Ciara answered hesitantly.

"We can't do anything about him, he's on his own.  I've found a new lead at Riverview and I need your help." Brachs answered, "There's no time to talk now, I'll debrief you when you arrive."

With a click Brachs was gone.  Ciara stood in the alley, alone and in shock.  How could Brachs just give up on Eliot like that?  They had been searching for him for as long as Ciara could remember, and now Brachs just gave up.  He always played it safe, making sure not to get tangled up with Czar.  She never understood that, whenever something went bad she just wanted to stand up against Czar, but orders are orders.

To her right, a trash can lid clattered to the ground.  A man with a gun emerged from behind the can, holding a long knife.  He was smiling, his yellowed teeth bright in comparison to his filthy skin.

"Look what we got eere!  A lile girl!  Wif some fancy toys!" he exclaimed.

Ciara looked at him with disdain.  She didn't have time for this.  Not only did his hygiene (or lack of) repulse her, but his accent was unbearable. Straight faced, she faced him, waiting for him to shuffle over.

"Ah don't want no trouble, jus give me your val-ubles and you can go."

Ciara rolled her eyes and swiftly stepped forward.  The man tried to flash his knife at her chest, but she smacked it out of his hand with ease.  Having lost his weapon, he was defenseless, his chest wide open.  She reached for Eliot's knife, but stopped herself.  Angrily, she kicked him in the gut as hard as she could.  She could feel his ribs crunch beneath her foot.  Without a word, she walked away, him wheezing in pain behind her.

Wiping her hand on her shirt, she continued her wandering through the streets.  She would need to rest before venturing back to Brachs.  Though she was paranoid of being followed or watched by Czar, there was no way she could continue without cleaning her wound and catching up on sleep.  As she searched for a hotel, random things would pop out to her: a helicopter flying above, a child with a toy knife, even the police handcuffing a man.  She couldn't get her mind off of how she was just leaving Eliot behind.

Finally, she found a place to stay.  Fortunately, the Maples still had some money left after being overthrown.  She charged it to the credit card Brachs had given to her, only to use in emergencies.  As she found her room, she shut the door and locked it, laying down on the soft bed.

The hotel wasn't the fanciest she had even been in, she used to travel with her family before...she didn't want to think about it.  The room she had been given was small, but she wasn't picky.  It was clean, and that was all that mattered.  She laid down on the bed, examining the ceiling, trying to sleep.  She kept thinking back to Eliot, trying to figure out a way to infiltrate the hotel he was captive in. After all her years of training, she still couldn't figure out a plan.  Brachs had always thought up the plans, she never did much.

With a flash of inspiration, she sat straight up in her bed.  She knew exactly what she needed to get Eliot out of that hotel.  All she needed was some hair dye and a little makeup...