mutated

chapter forty four: learn from deadpool - you can't see the blood on red

I stumbled. Now that I was in a safe environment, well, physically safer environment, my body seemed to assess that I was in no immediate fight-or-flight situation, and allowed the adrenaline running through my blood to fade. Ruby, her hair slightly frazzled with soot smudging her rosy cheeks, rushed to my side, scrunching a nose at the blood coating me and now her, but supported me nonetheless.

"Do you mind if I-" I coughed, clutching my chest, and Ruby held me steady as I swayed. "Could I clean off the blood and sterilize my wounds before dealing with this amazing pile of shït that has become our mission?"

"Jadie!" Ruby hissed softly in my ear. "Watch your language around Starling."

"Sorry, mom," I muttered, averting my eyes from said person's piercing glare. When I did look up, her eyes remained as hard as ever.

"Get cleaned up. Fox will assist you, and then bring you back for your debrief. After your debrief, you have to meet with Mercy to make sure you are in a fit condition. Dismissed." Her voice remained sharp, and I nodded, allowing Ruby to steer me towards the elevator shaft. She glanced at my wounds, clucking as she took in all the cuts.

"I thought you were on sniper duty. Shouldn't you be the safest out of your team?" Ruby helped me click my apartment floor, and we waited as the lift began to make its way down the building.

I frowned. "Didn't you hear?"

"Hear about what? I just got back and finished our debrief."

"Is that why you're covered in ashes? Did you blow up the house in Yuen Long?"

She laughed, and the sound dulled the aching pain in me. "Nah. I did set fire to a couple of crates, and a marijuana farm, but I didn't get to be that extreme. Would've gotten on the news and 'drawn too much attention to ourselves'." She imitated Starling's tone of voice in her last phrase, and even I deigned to chuckle slightly.

"I'm surprised you aren't high."

"Pretty sure Martin got the worst of it. He's pretty high right now."

"Seriously? Martini is high?"

"Yup. Now, stop changing the topic. What happened?"

"Sophia's dead."

She stopped abruptly, and I nearly tripped face-first into a wall. Instinct had me bracing an arm in front of me, and my shoulder roared in pain as it hit the wall. Better than eating concrete, I guess.

Ruby was silent, and I shook her slightly. "Rubes, you there?"

"She's - she's dead." She repeated, her eyes glassy. "Dead as a doorknob."

"A Christmas Carol?" I tried to make light of the situation, but my usual tone was off. "But yes. Remember when I first got attacked?"

"The guy who disappeared." Her gaze was still unsteady, and we hobbled towards my apartment door. "And the dog grunts."

"It seems that the disappearing guy was a teleporter, and he's Lily's brother. He killed Sophia and gave us back her head as a warning. He's the person who did this," I gestured to my wounds, "to me."

"Did you kill him?"

"I couldn't. I had to get back because Alpha and Abby were already on their way back with the package, and Yippy was bringing Lottie and Adrian back."

"And?"

"And if I killed him, I'd be just as bad at him. Just like what Nico said in that textpost-"

 "If you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world stays the same." She quoted, giving me a knowing smile. I returned it as I unlocked the door, and she gently lowered me onto the sofa. She wrinkled her nose at the unmade bed and random socks littered on the floor and sighed. "Your room is just as messy as I imagined."