THE ENHANCED

Chapter 7.1; The battle against Strucker

*Author's note*

Hello to all those who even read this story (if there are any) I'd just like you all to know I've made some adjustments and there will be a total of 10 chapters instead of 9 so yay! Now I'm starting back to school tomorrow but it's only Spanish and it's only a night class so updates may be on the side when I get the chance to do so.  So I hope everyone is at least liking this story and are happy that there's another update. Now be warned of EXTREME Fluffiness, some mild swearing and references to other movies that I just had to put in here. Enjoy everybody :)

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Back at the underground hideout, Jackie was being cleaned by some of the female animals in the bathing area. Once she was cleaned and given new clothes, she decided it would be best to be isolated for a while because now that her mind was free from Pitch's control, she couldn't look Quinn or anyone else in the eye.

As Jackie sat there in silence on the small bed, she heard Quinn's footsteps coming towards her and could feel his presence behind her. She allowed Quinn to just remain there letting him think she couldn't hear him when she finally stated softly.

"You're staring," she hummed a chuckle and continued, "let me guess, you want to know why I never told you?"

"You know as I do that I don't give a shit why you didn't, what I do care about is why didn't you let me help you?"

"You know the truth, I'm sure Tauriel and Thranduil told you what happened to me when I was cursed, the pain I went through in my exile from the Guardians, what else do you need to know?"

"What I had just asked you. I wanna hear it from you this time, the real reason why you didn't want me to help you through this". Quinn then sat down beside his Sora Mea and waited patiently for her to give her confession.

"All my life—ever since I was first marked, everyone has looked at me with pity or fear. They all knew what my mark meant, it symbolized that I had accepted Pitch Black as a part of me, and I could never be rid of it. Not even when I was free of Ravenna's curse and living my life as a normal human. But.....the day I met you," she turned to face Quinn and continued this time her voice broke out with such happiness but at the same time sorrowful. "You looked at me, with such adoration. You looked at me like I was a hero to your people, you accepted me because you weren't there to see all the pain I had lived through, what I had done. You treated me like any younger brother would to his sister," she placed her hand on his cheek stroking it lovingly with her thumb before finishing, "you are the one person in this world that never knew the horrifying truth about me. If I ever had to face you knowing that your heroic sister was forever tainted by the black sand of her past I—I feared that you would treat me like everyone else. Pity me because of all that I've been through, or look at me with fear as you did when you saw me in that warehouse". Jackie turned away and looked down with her hands calmly at her lap.

Quinn knelt down in front of her gently taking her hands in his as he said.

"That could never happen".

"Oh how would you know that?!"

"You know my story better than anyone. My uncle poisoned my father and murdered my mother at the steps of the cathedral. He had abused me and threw me out of the castle for death. I lost my whole pack to the humans in their own warfare, yet who was there to pick me up? Tell me Jackie who never gave up on trying to find me alive? Who protected me when my uncle was trying to kill me as well as all the rest of my gypsy family? Who went to all the trouble trying to rehabilitate me even after I nearly tried to kill her? Who was that Jackie? Who?"