Raven's Rock, Camp Hannula, Pöyrisjärvi National Park, Finland
The Cameroonian deadpanned at the diagnosis,
”It’s not my first concussion. Not even the worst one.”“Clearly…” the Blue Sword medic Dr. Keller sent to get the prescribed medication muttered under his breath.
“That may be so, but while you are under my care I will entertain no such foolishness. You were shot at point blank-”
”I noticed that too.”“-and maintaining your regular daily routine is simply out of the question until the bruising heals.”
One of the first things Monday taught Ebrima was to pick his battles, and when it came to arguing about medical conditions with Sophie, one couldn’t fold their cards fast enough. Thus he eventually found himself released, with a long prescription and even longer list of things he wasn’t supposed to be doing for a few weeks to heal up properly.
”Since when is reading considered a tasking activity?” he muttered to himself incredulously on the way back to his quarters, bundled up in at least four layers despite the melting snow.
Skye peered in through the door, seeing the pale-faced, albino Cameroonian leave Sophie’s with a long prescription list, nothing she hadn’t done herself.
“Well, you finally got to meet our resident doctor. And spent an extended period of time annoying her. Welcome to the club.” Skye smiled, surprisingly, more upbeat after leaving behind Imran and the meeting she’d had earlier, and found that most of the team had packed up and gone in either to the queue to Sophie’s or the other Blue Sword medics that were now providing triage. It wasn’t uncommon for Raven to come back as walking wounded, but, with the best medics in the business, that was at least something that meant getting a patch up was quick.
“I thought to check in on you. I haven’t seen you since New Zealand. And then, I promptly left. So, thought you know, I’d reintroduce myself under better circumstances.” Skye added, the blue-fleece, cargo-trouser wearing redhead aware that well, there was some bridge to at least cover here. Maybe not as warmly dressed as Ebrima was, but well, Scots blood did keep that cold at bay. Following him, Skye did have to look up, one of the few people outside the giants that she did that with.
”Technically since Japan.” His shrug barely visible under two winter jackets and a scarf. And what better circumstances there could be than ‘Just saved the world.’?
”Must admit, you get points for style, chief.” Refuses to elaborate, jumps out of the plane. If nothing else it was a good example of what working with Raven would be like.
”Amazed Chuck walked in for his checkup on his own, his armor looked more like the surface of the moon than a man-made creation. Your team come back in one piece?”“Yeah, you could say that. Bit of wee bother. Sam’s heart couldn’t take it. And I mean, literally. So hence why she was first in.” Skye chuckled with the most British understatement ever, shrugging, Sam considering her heart had stopped pretty lucky to have lived, as she shrugged, the two walking towards the main building and quarters, away from the medical block. Skye’s charm seemed to not be dying out, if anything, the events of the past few days had almost kept her more connected to the team than before. Attachment was a weakness, but then again, she wanted that. Kept her human.
“I suppose you caught me on the worst day of my life. In one day, I went from being a normal human being to becoming some sack of flesh produced as part of some military programme. So I suppose falling out of a plane into Shibuya wasn’t the biggest shock to the system.” Skye retorted wittily, the redhead adjusting her laced boot quickly on a stump of wood, looking over to Ebrima, shrugging, remaining humble as she could considering it all.
“Still. I suppose you’re right. Raven isn’t like any other task force. I selected you knowing your capability. Your lethality. You are fucking relentless, you know that? And I suppose, it paid off if what I heard from Adam on the rig is true.” Skye retorted back, breaking that ice a little, laces tied, and walking on. She was direct when she needed to be, that was for sure.
The mention of Sam’s heart was news to Ebrima, he hadn’t been in much of a state to observe what was going on around him after they’d returned. He didn’t know
what the medic injected him with right at the start of his visit, but it was effective.
”Aren’t we all sacks of flesh when you look under the hood? How or what one or the other came to be matters little compared to what you choose to do with it. Who to become.”It was natural for any human being to take compliments well, but at the same time, he may have been good at what he was doing, but that didn’t necessarily make him proud of it. Maybe it was the feelgood juice in his system, but he had to wonder how some others would have perceived this ‘pay off’.
Monday would nod slightly. Maybe even crack a smile.
But that was where the good reactions ended. How would his mother have seen him? Worse, his sister?
”I’m hardly one to judge what any other task force is like. You only get glimpses when they’re coming after you.”Skye chuckled, smirking at his comment, knowing that it was a reality. They had captured him, but it had taken a significant amount of resources. His boss, of course was one thing, but his right hand man, that was another. Quite something, and Skye would not have wanted to go toe to toe to find him.
“Well, this one’s rather special then. Who knew, take a bunch of misfits who are just really good at what they do, and let them stew. Raven has some of the best.” Skye opened the door on that note, getting inside of the Raven’s Rock building, heading through towards the small common room, grabbing a couple of mugs.
“
“You are right I suppose, we are what we make ourselves. Whether that’s genocidal monsters or whatever this is. I’m not so different from you, I don’t think. Meaning comes from service, just different ways. The money doesn’t really seem to color much in. But this work does. Skye mused, immediately heading to the kettle.
“Tea?” Skye asked, inquisitively, letting Ebrima crash on the couch inside the insulated, wooden complex.
”I suppose that is one keystone of success. Let the professionals work without interference. The world would be in trouble if more people realized that.” quickly shedding the layers in the heated building.
”It’s not the whole truth, though. Motivations, meaning as you call it… Sometimes people are made what they are by circumstance. You don’t even need to look at the extremes such as Rose or Luisa. Even after the pumps and toxin were destroyed and the platform was falling apart around us, some Artemis troops still continued to fight. Do you ever stop to think what compels someone to act in spite of any self preservation like that?””Do we have any cocoa powder stashed away somewhere?” Given the way they relocated to the Finnish camp, he hasn’t had much time to investigate the supplies available to them.
Skye raised her eyebrows at it, looking through a cupboard. And right he was.
“We might just do.” Skye seemed friendly in spite of what she perhaps sometimes hid, behind the fleece the lists of cuts, bruises, and most recently, the scar that now sat on her side seemed to illustrate someone who probably had seen some serious shit, that particular scar from getting shanked by an actual sword back in Tokyo. Lucky it hadn’t really penetrated any organs, or she would not be here now, but the bleeding had been horrid. Pulling the top of the sealed container off for the Horlicks, she poured a spoon of it into a cup, and as the kettle hit boil, Skye poured both her own brew and his. She then took the mugs across, facing Ebrima again.
“Money is a motivator, and even more so when it’s a guaranteed spot in a bunker to survive the end of the world. And you were probably in their way of an escape route. But, they had what was coming. Realistically, so does anyone in this game, if you spend enough time in it. ” Skye replied, sitting down on the sofa herself, mixing her tea, a classic Earl Grey. Tahlia had resourced the cupboards well, even within merely being here a couple of days, then helping out in Greenland. She continued to mix away, sighing, as she then leaned back on the sofa.
“I suppose it means I could have just been like you, and you like me. Yet we’re still here. Still doing what we do.” Skye seemed to have a certain resoluteness about her, as if she was in this moment, letting the barriers in. Gone was the warface, the lioness that seemed to roar, as if she was just in this never-ending attack of violence, here was someone else. The part of her that stayed human because it helped a good spy work when under pressure, but then again, also be a normal fucking person understanding motives, beliefs and getting things over the line.
“What gives you reason, Ebrima? The thing that you said….what compels you? Because I know your file. It’s not family. It’s not money. It isn’t glory. If it’s survival, then there must be something worth surviving for.” Skye changed the tone gently even in spite of her slight husk, direct, and understanding how he was as a person, knowing this wasn’t some therapy session, but, she wanted to get to know him in the face to face more than just an interview, actually get inside, and she knew there was an angle to take. She wasn’t quite like this with Sam, maybe even Freya, and Freya was the nerd that could squish anyone into fine particle matter. It was going to be difficult to penetrate, but she was careful, if not almost keen eyed to set this up.
”Some would argue I got a lot better than I had coming. Thank you.” He gestured at the rec room around them as he accepted the cup of steaming taste of home. Chiefly among them a certain Japanese someone last seen digging through some captured files, more as mental white noise as her brain worked overtime to process the most recent traumatic experiences.
‘What gives you reason?’ Wasn’t that a question for the ages. One he hadn’t asked himself in a very long time. Too long. The nasty glare at whoever even suggested knowing about his family was a subconscious reflex by this point in time. Fame, or rather infamy? Not good in the merc line of work. And yet he failed to avoid it. Money? That had been a motivator indirectly, but now everything and everyone he needed it for was either dead or incarcerated in Tel Aviv. Thanks, Raph. And survival? Yes, but.
”Does ‘spite’ count?” He looked up from his cup. Technically speaking it was survival, but not for having much to keep going for as much as simply being too stubborn to simply lie down and wait for the end.
”Spite counts.” Skye giggled, shaking her head, sitting up, realising she was definitely poking at something here.
”Merely existing and knowing you do what you do best is sometimes enough. Just means you need something to point it at. And perhaps that’s all you know. I get how you feel….I mean, I found escapes. Ran from home when given an opportunity, and didn’t stop till I got here. Then all of the adrenaline. Makes you feel alive, you know? And then I’d have been the one hunting you though, so, I guess together, we’re going to have to figure something out when this whole mess is done. Because it is going to get us killed.” Skye chirped back with a light chuckle, perhaps her wisdom stemming not so much from any formal qualification, but more just her intuition, and her insight into someone that did what she did. Almost like she wanted the words to say to herself more, because she felt like she almost stared at half a black mirror of herself.
”Maybe one day we get some simunitions and see how that would have turned out.” Ebrime laughed heartily,
”I’ll take those odds. Chuck or Freya, eeehh…” He made a so-so gesture with his hand. Spite would probably not be enough there.
”The trick is, never go direct for a giant. They can’t move as fast as you can, so you just stay out of the line of getting punched. And go for limbs, weak points. Then, if you can get them in the neck, don’t stop because you only get one shot at it.” Skye almost seemed deadpan, giggling, as she broke with laughter.
”I thought similar, except achilles tendons and behind the knees.” He replied in the same tone. Just two coworkers talking shop. That just so happened to entail how to kill their other coworkers.
”Purna might be fifty-fifty, depending if he catches you cloaked or not.””See, I thought that. But it’s hard to get a good hit in. I dropped one two years ago. Mean fucker. Beat him to death with a….well, he had a sex toy, and I tell you, that’s a story to tell after a lot more whisky.” Skye broke with that awkward turn, giggling, nodding on his comment about Purna. Not that she’d uhh….told that story to the team prior without him knowing about it.
“Yeah, cloaked operatives are more just, lay fire into an indiscriminate area. I caught one once. Tiny bit of blur. But no armor means you get one round on target….you get a few more for free.” Skye seemed almost as if she was reeling this off like another Tuesday, of course, this was all among friends, as she sat up.
“Maybe we will. VR sims are pretty good. You gave me a good chuckle, Ebrima. I think after this is done, I need to show you some parts of the world you might not have seen. A part I haven’t, to be honest. Haven’t seen my mum in years, and after all of this, I wonder if she half knows all of what went down. Being a pisshead, and all.” Skye turned the topic as she mused on home, at first a distraction, then slowly a reminder, the commander of the team reflecting on roots.
”Legally speaking, what I do after this is in your, or I suppose Oracle’s hands.” He hurried to turn the conversation away from family,
”This is all my… what is the expression? A golden cage.” He shrugged, not quite getting it right but getting the point across.
”But it’s not all bad. Saving the world. It’s been a while since I’ve done something that felt like it mattered.” That was definitely Sophie’s feelgood juice and bruised brain talking.
“That’s the funny thing, Ebrima. This isn’t a prison sentence. This isn’t the suicide squad. Being here required some sort of will. And while you are useful to us fighting, you still decided to do the right thing rather than run as far away as you could when shit got real.” Skye retorted, realizing it might take him a little by surprise, as she sipped down some tea.
”It was this or an actual prison sentence, that’s not a choice to most people.” He countered.
”Yet still a choice you made when being lucky enough to get it, because if you think you’re existing out of spite, you’d do well in prison, Ebrima, not getting laced by people carrying gear more advanced than most special forces. The chance you might do some good. Maybe you’ve needed a little of that. Raven has made sure that people go to sleep without knowing what horrors might happen to them and that the lights stay on, because of all the horrible, fucked up stuff we do, and as insufferable as it seems, at least we all agree it’s better this way. If it wasn’t Rose, it was another insane motherfucker that hijacked a pair of nuclear station in Idaho and Kerala to set the world in nuclear hellfire, before that, someone wanted a DNA-based virus that would fall through humanity like a hot knife in butter. So, irrespective of what you were before. What you’ve done. I suppose that may be the start to offset that life. And whatever you want in it after, is yours. You’re not an instrument, you’re the bad motherfucker you are because you decided this is what you like. I suppose you go from here, deciding what that is. Purna’s maybe a model for you, if you want. Ironically. Just keep doing what you do best.” Skye sipped more tea down, completely in contrast, her Scots tones having that ability to warm, and yet chill at the same time.
“Or, have a terrible coping mechanism for orphaned operators, or operators that can’t work anywhere else, and look after them day to day. I suppose I know what I picked….” Skye smirked, sipping more of it down, sighing a little.
”I had a plan like that once. Something resembling retirement, even. Of course the joke is that the reason that’s dust and the reason I am here are one and the same. But the sad thing is: I know this. The fighting, the sleepless nights and trying to ignore your compatriot bleeding out at your feet because you both know he’s already gone - between this and prison, this was the easy choice.” He knew he was a mess, going through the motions because that was what he knew like some office rat trapped in a mortgage, but fuck was it sad to hear out loud. Yet at the same time if uncle Monday taught him nothing but one single thing, it was the fight, to not just lie down and let life take its course.
”You say I am who I am because I decided I like this.” He shook his head with a chuckle in respectful disagreement.
”None of this comes even close to that. As you most likely know, despite my wishes and best efforts. But sometimes… people are made who they are by circumstance, not choice.” He circled back to his earlier sentiment.
“Like you’re trapped. Addicted even. The thing that made you is what you keep coming back for.” Skye replied, providing an honest assessment, a brutal one perhaps, but cutting straight to the chase.
”It’s not something that’s escaped me, that me and Rose are perhaps polar opposites, yet she was sort of right. We are similar, I mean, how many lives did I end in cold blood as well. Less, but methods were the same. Perhaps subconsciously because it’s what we want, just….different outcomes. I can’t imagine living in what you did. But, you still keep going, and that’s enough. And you always have choices about what comes next.” Skye replied, perhaps knowing it wasn’t the full answer, but it was the start of one.
‘Addicted’ wasn’t the right word. Now, ‘trapped’, that was it. Not knowing how to get out, not knowing if it was possible at all. Perhaps even just unwilling to take the leap of faith and face the uncertainty. Even the phrase ‘coming back to’ was out of place, as that implied he ever left it behind. There was comfort in familiarity, however awful its reality was. And the things - the people, many only barely making the definition of the word in his mind - made him who he is? At least he could consider that a success - he outlived them all.
”Should I be worried about any subconscious desire to bring about armageddon?”Skye laughed, shrugging her shoulders as she sipped down more tea, shaking her head.
”I mean, you don’t hate people in general that much, even you, Ebrima. You might think that. But I think you know right and wrong. Even when it isn’t that easy to spot.” Skye chuckled, gently giving him a nudge on that note, a shit-stirring smirk on her face, as she sighed, looking back outside.
”So somehow, we need to both figure this out. Both our souls I guess are looking pretty bleak.” Skye exhaled, finishing up her tea, unfolding her legs, looking out the window.
“Perhaps there are no good answers. Just keep going.” Skye mused, looking to Ebrima, trying to get a read.
Bold to assume he cared enough to hate.
”That would take a special person. Luisa was one such case. Though I suppose there are plenty more where she came from.” The conversation had surprised him, or rather he had surprised himself. Perhaps the similarities between the two made it easier to share. He’d call them both right and proper fuckups if his mother hadn’t taught her children not to curse.
”Keep going, for now. Maybe when the dust has fully settled tomorrow, I should take Raph aside to explain how many people who would have joined up if given the facts he indirectly led to their death.” He flashed a toothy grin, technically being justified in holding a grudge against the Israeli, but frankly? He’d only been doing his job on the correct side of the barricade… and Ebrima didn’t care enough to hate.
”If I may though: How did you find Enri?” He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
”It was like seeing a ghost.”Skye shrugged, knowing the response was not going to be one that felt convenient to him. It had left a mark on him, certainly a dent in even his unflappable personality.
”She happened to work for Ban’s people. And I needed a voice changer, on short notice….so, there she was. Pure chance, literally could not make it up, but more improbable things have happened. And was the reason we could do what we did in Nagoya. Meaning this all happened.” Skye replied, cooly at least, almost with a little detachment.
“She probably would appreciate the same chat from you as well, Ebrima that Raph probably should have with you. We’re all the heroes in our own story, and the villain in someone else. I know, it’s bullshit. Revenge being this whole thing which never stops, a slight here, a slight there. Not unless you kill everyone. Yet, for these little things, that wound’s gonna have to heal, or it’ll rot and eat you whole. It isn’t really hate. It’s just…..that part of us that never lets go. Wants to find something to make it all feel like what we do is right.” Skye responded, knowing it might not touch Ebrima, as she turned, putting the mug back down.
“I suppose I could be better too. But hey. There we are. I’m not your therapist. Just a thought for your question from earlier.” Skye replied, dusting herself off, standing up and taking Ebrima’s empty mug, turning the tap on, and then running water through it.
”I’ll be sure to let the doctor know before I do, just so she knows why in case I turn up with another head injury.” He chuckled, the technicolor-haired and unexpectedly loud-mouthed hacker now completely unknown waters. But at the same time he couldn’t help but envy the woman. She didn’t just roll with life’s punches, she carved something out of them. Maybe getting shot in the head and living to tell the tale was a good omen?
”You could batter the shit out of her, and yet you’re scared of her. That’s funny.” Skye giggled, wondering how on earth he was scared of such a little timid operative, that looked totally, if not completely out of form in military fatigues, Skye more sarcastic than usual. Even for how brave Enri was, and lacking in fucks, in the moments where sword mattered more than keyboard, Skye knew where she sat, but, was more to the point, poking a little fun there.
“But yeah. Maybe you should talk to her. World nearly ended early today.” Skye added, realising Ebrima had seen it another way.
”I am a gun for hire. I shoot whoever I am told to shoot when I have ammunition, and stab them when I don’t.” Ebrima explained his situation with complete seriousness,
”Someone else always handled the talking. Besides there are some people - doctors and engineers - that you do not anger.” Hitting him with it wasn’t the worst thing Enri could do to someone with a keyboard.
“Then find another way to solve your problems that isn’t either of those things. After all, like you said, you have nothing to lose. Maybe some pride, and Enri’ll just burn up and get shitty, then it’ll move on, because she’s got the same rights as you have to be here. So tell her that, and get to the bottom of whatever it is you both have, if it helps you at least out of the hole you’re in. And if I need to be a counselor between the two of you because it keeps going, I’ll just drag you both on a quad bike, roofied out of your asses, into the middle of the Finnish wilderness till one, or both of you come back, and deal with it because unless you want to keep on living the rest of your lives wondering about some shit comms, you both need something. And more to the point, because if we have more work, I need all the cohesion I can get.” Skye seemed almost understated in the way she described that process, as she put the cups away, almost as if this was still small chat.
“Please tell me you can talk to someone when your head is better rather than me doing that, because it’s a lot of work and a lot of paperwork after. I’d really appreciate it, because while I appreciate the distraction, having genocidal evil fucking clones to go and kill are kinda enough of a conflict to deal with in one week.” Skye simply retorted, just at this point, her voice bubbling into almost a disappointed schoolteacher, the reminder of course, that whilst Skye was a team leader, she was also not going to give therapy here, she was just going to lay it on straight to someone she knew she could.
Ebrima’s reaction perhaps wasn’t what Skye expected, as he hadn’t laughed this hard in the last three or four weeks.
”No, it’s fine. I will get some earplugs from the range and get to it tomorrow.” Skye was definitely right in one instance: He had fuck all to lose. Even reputation didn’t matter much to a merc who was officially serving what was functionally a life sentence somewhere in Israel.
Skye chuckled, a smirk breaking from the moment of her, as she pulled her puffy coat off the hangar, amused by his reaction, knowing she’d gotten through.
“Good. Speaking of paperwork, I have some post-mission work to do. And medicals to look at. And requisitions. Javi is over in the garage repairing the hovercraft if you’re bored, and whilst he is a chatty bastard that might make you want ear defenders, he might appreciate the company. There may be a few others around too. ” Skye seemed to have that aura of business, as she looked over, holding the door open.
”I would offer to help with the clerical work, but I’m not supposed to tax my brain by reading or writing. Doctor’s orders.” He shrugged with as close to an innocent expression as he could muster.
“Then don’t consider a career in management where you work with whatever concussion you have. Sophie’s advice ends up being.really ignorable at that level. On that note, I’ll see you later at the campfire. Later.” Skye smirked, not hinting at her own assessment, the injuries, cuts and bruises played down a little more, as she always seemed to. Too fucking stubborn. And on that reply, she headed out, off towards the Blue Sword barracks to grab some spare ammunition to refill her M31’s spent mags, and get to work on the rest of the admin she had planned before meeting Ebrima.
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