Team SHDW Information

Short Story: Picking Up What Remains

Fair warning: In order for context, go read H20FLAME's "A Tale of Remnant" story and go to the chapter "EBNE: Caged and Withered". Trust me, it's a great story and I highly recommend checking it out.
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After the events of Team SHDW Volume 2

To say that Caitlin Allen has had a very rough day would be putting it in the mildest way possible.

After Team ASTC was assigned this fairly easy, yet not enjoyable, job, she wasn't expecting anything big to go down. But as she looked upon the remains of the prison room turned battlefield, she knew better. Her leader with a hole in his head, a dying teammate with a missing right arm, and, personally the most painful for her, a partner turned traitor.

During this moment, she fully realized the situation around her. The stench of death and blood began to flood her senses and she felt like she wanted to vomit, which she did seconds later. For much longer than she felt comfortable admitting, she was huddled in the corner of the room, experiencing a panic attack. She was crying, injured, scared out of her mind, sickened, and alone.

Then her ears caught the sound of slight, pained breathing. She shifted her focus from the floor, as hard as that was to do, and her eyes set on the unconscious body of Selena Rustin. Caitlin saw her teammate's chest moving up and down, indicating the girl was still breathing. Desperation clogging any kind of logic she had, Caitlin rushed over to her fallen teammate.

She wasn't exactly sure what to do. Basic instincts and training were telling her to find a way to stop the bleeding, but she wasn't sure what to use for such a thing. Then Caitlin eyed her own shirt. Seeing no other option, she ripped off the bottom of it, giving herself a midriff, and pressed it against Selena's stump.

Caitlin's thought process during all of this was purely selfish, as hard as that was to admit. She didn't want to feel alone in this struggle, and she was hellbent on saving at least someone for her own sake. She pressed her shirt piece harder into what was left of Selena's arm, not even sure if that was doing anything to stop the bleeding.

But suddenly, an orange light shone from the palms of her hands. Caitlin gasped at the sudden sensation and accidentally dropped the piece of her shirt to reveal that the stump had stopped bleeding completely. The girl then took a closer look and saw that wasn't the only thing going on. As the light soaked into the stump, the wound actually started to close, skin beginning to cover it.

Selena's breathing began to relax along with Caitlin's mood. Once the wound had completely shut, the girl slumped to the ground in exhaustion and closed her eyes just as Atlesian troops and paramedics rushed into the room.
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Caitlin woke up later in an airship that was heading back to the academy. Unfortunately, being awake did not make her forget the previous nightmares. It only reminded her of the real nightmare that had happened not an hour ago. But General Ironwood was also there, sitting next to her, waiting to ask questions.

She surprised herself with how calm she was answering said questions. If she had the same attitude she had just hours earlier, she would've stumbled over her own words simply due to the fact that she was talking to Ironwood, never mind the interrogation aspect. But she nevertheless answered his questions and, with a gracious mood, he began to leave. It was then that she spoke up.

"Sir?"

Ironwood turned to her, "Yes, what is it, Caitlin?"

Caitlin hesitated, "Is... is Selena alright? I... I don't know if-"

"Yes, Ms. Allen, she's fine," Ironwood softly smiled, "If you hadn't done what you did, we might not have been able to save her."

"So... what happens now?"