[b]Halimae-In the “Medic Bay”[/b]

Halimae sat beside the unmoving Iktomi, her hands pressed grasped together and her head lowered. Her mind still found itself unable to wrap around the fact that Iktomi was dancing along the edge of death. While thinking about the circumstances that lead to his current predicament, her lips twitched into a brief smile. [i]’It figures that only you could force yourself into this situation Iktomi, you would never allow someone else to damage you enough. No, only you could cause this kind of damage. If you hadn’t brought an entire platform you wouldn’t be like this, but no you have an image to keep. Wouldn’t want anyone seeing you behaving like the rest of us.’[/i] Hali’s thoughts slowly dwindled away, instead she just stared blankly at the man that had rescued her, no the man that had created her. 

[b]Flashback-Halimae’s first meeting with Iktomi.[/b]

[i]”Please stop...Just kill me already.” A teenage Halimae pressed herself up against the wall of the alley, her soft face covered in bruises, both fresh and old, and blood seeping from her mouth as she spoke. Her knuckles were white as she clenched the hem of her dress. She focused her icy eyes on the boots of the man standing in front of her, flinching at the slightest of movements. “Why keep doing this? End it...I beg y…” She was cut off as the man’s fist smashed into her stomach, causing her to spit up even more blood as well as buckle over. As his fist moved her arms moved to cradle her abdomen, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

A surprisingly soft hand gripped Hali’s chin, forcing her head up to look into the eyes of her attacker. He wasn’t very imposing, standing around an average height and being of average build, but his eyes terrified her. Swirling within the dark green irises was a mixture of lust and rage that chilled the poor girl to the bone. “This will never end you little bitch. Unless you want me to tell your family how you’ve been earning money? Does that sound acceptable to you? I wonder how they would react to their precious little daughter selling herself.” His words were followed by venomous laughter, as Hali’s eyes widened in a new type of fear. 

“It’s not like that George and you know it!” Her voice reached a higher pitch as she struggled to remove her head from his grasp. This motion ceased quickly, as George used his free hand to smack her cheek leaving a burning red mark. 

His laughter continued as he lowered his head closer to hers. “You are right, but it doesn’t matter what I know now does it? Who do you think your parents will believe, their child or the son of their boss? I don’t think it is that difficult to figure out. Now stand up, it’s time for us to go.” The fingers of his free hand dug roughly into her shoulder as he forced her to stand upright again, causing a yelp of pain to escape her lips. Any hope she had of escaping this nightmare flickered out as she began stumbling down the alley. 

She did not walk far however, as a boy around her age stepped into the alley right in front of her and George. The boy was surrounded by an aura of confidence and danger that seemed out of place due to his slender frame. At first her fear grew further, thinking that this boy was friends with George, but then the ebony eyes of the boy swept over hers, and she saw no lust, no rage, just nothing. Despite the eeriness that it should have caused the blankness within his eyes brought hope to her. Just before she began moving, George’s hand placed itself upon her shoulder once more. A shiver rolled down her spine as his lips neared her ear. 

“I will deal with this boy and then we will be on our way. If you move an inch I will destroy your life, understand?” Without waiting for her response George released Hali’s shoulder and quickly closed the distance between himself and the newcomer. “I advise you to move on kid. This is none of your concern.”

Hali watched the young boy intently, as he swung his eyes away from her to finally acknowledge George’s presence. “I am afraid that is where you are wrong. You see this girl is precisely the type of person I have been looking for.” In a movement that Hali barely saw, and George didn’t even get a chance to see, the boy slid a small dart out of his sleeve and sunk its tip into George’s chest. The boy didn’t even spare the collapsing body of George a glance as he approached Hali. 

The fear that had vanished reemerged as Hali watched George falling. “You...You.” Once more her back bumped into the wall of the alley as she tried retreating from the approaching teen. 

A soft chuckle parted his lips as he shook his head. “No, he is very much alive. I simply knocked him out. I am Iktomi, now I believe we should vacate the area before he wakes up.” Iktomi held his hand out to Hali, a ghost of a smile on his lips.[/i]
[b]End Flashback[/b]

[b]Halimae-Still with Iktomi.[/b]

Halimae’s thoughts were cut off, as the voice of one Victor Esteves rang out from speakers that had been silent for the past year. The smile that had appeared for a moment earlier, reappeared as she listened to the words. It was exactly as Iktomi had told her it would be. Months ago, when Iktomi had first discovered that the Golden Mercs had a presence in the city he had told her that this day would come. Back then he had not known Victor or Hector in person, but he had gathered quite a bit of intel about the two and their group. He had trusted her with his plan in the event that he was out of commission for whatever reason. It involved getting someone with the Mercs in the city, which would have been more difficult if they didn’t happen to have one of their members currently staying with them. 

Hali wiped the smile off of her lips, before darting out of the room. She raced through the halls at a breakneck pace, twisting and twirling around any obstacles that got in her way. It was quite the spectacle for the rest of the staff, as they rarely saw Hali putting her training to use, typically she saved that for the outside world. As she neared the door to the dining room, she slowed down to her regular walking pace not even remotely winded. Brushing past the door she made a beeline for Kisheto. Stopping by his side she removed a piece of parchment from her pocket. 

“It is time for you to return to the Golden Mercenaries Kisheto. On this paper is the frequency of my headset. I need you to give this to Hector and tell him to contact me immediately upon delivery. You may conclude any business that you have here, but you must leave as soon as possible.” She placed the paper right in front of Kisheto, her voice crisp and as cold as ever.