free as a bird (complete)

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

Glass. Shattering. Blood. EVERYWHERE. Some if it's his, but most of it's Lin's. And then her 'plan'.

"GOD DAMMIT LIN THAT'S NOT A (something that I will not write here, but starts with the sixth letter of the alphabet) PLAN!" He briefly considers reaching out and grabbing his friend, forcing her back to the caves, making her see sense. But, hey, she'd never forgive him and all. Instead, he slams a punch into the closest commando's nose, watching the blood spatter everywhere with strange enjoyment.

The mirror. Which mirror? There are like six of them!

Without waiting another second on this pointless argument, he turns, spreads his arms out, and fires two long blasts. Which promptly shatter the mirrors he was aiming at into a million pieces. Well, that didn't work. Maybe a different type of shot? Closing his eyes, he fires another few bolts toward the next two shiny pieces of glass. And it rebounds. Booyah!

Grinning, he keeps shooting, almost losing himself in the sheer thrill of it for a minute.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Hopefully he would see the mirror. Check!
Hopefully he wouldn't literally hit it with his fist. Check!
Hopefully the mirror wouldn't shatter. Fail.
Hopefully Rick could react faster than this man could pull a trigger. Fail.
Hopefully it would work. Check!

So, what? That was like a 70% percent passage? That was still passing though, so-- that was good, right? Plus on the shattering and trigger thing, that was only like half points-- 'cause Rick got the hang of the glass thing and the beams of light started to bounce off the mirrors and glass in the room, and the bullet-- well, the narrator will get back to that one later.

Okay: Back to the Story.

When Rick started shouting, Lin pretty much thought it was over. For once could he just listen to her instead of questioning her motives first? It wasn't like she would intentionally hurt him with this plan-- though Lin could hardly blame him in the current situation. She dropped to her knees and felt the bullet barely stick in the very top of her shoulder as the adrenaline spiked, but what came next--- changed everything.

BOOM!

Lin smiled in satisfaction as she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her closed lids with her glass stained arm to protect it even further. She hoped that Rick would have listened to her and covered his eyes too-- as the beams of light grew into one huge flash as they merged off the pieces of glass and all reflective surfaces. Her ears pricked. Though her memory with the light testing back inside the 'barrel' was still fuzzy-- she had already guessed what had happened when the bright light came on. And the twenty some thumps that followed the extreme flash of light confirmed her suspicion as someone fell ontop of her.

Lin pushed the body away and groggily stood up as she yanked out the tranquilizer dart. "I'm no animal," the girl muttered blearily, in contempt, the glass container holding the juice still about a 1/4 of the way full.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

The adrenaline's back, pumping through his veins, so strong he can almost forget about the blood still staining his shoulder red, and the bullet that exploded twice in his arm. Almost, but not quite.

The light keeps building, but he knows if he stops shooting for even a second, it'll go back to square one, and he'll have to start over again. So when the giant flash of light comes, he does the next best thing to closing his eyes and covering them with his hands-- he cancels all light around his head, leaving him completely in the dark. When the twenty-some-odd muffled thumps of dropping bodies meet his ears, he stops firing the red light from his hands and lets everything go back to normal. He sways slightly, exhausted beyond belief, but mentally slaps himself awake. No sleeping on the job! (The job being keeping Lin alive.)

He takes the few steps over to Lin, who's clearly just been hit by a tranq, from the way she's talking to the way she's standing. Not to mention the glass tube she's holding.

Knowing he's going to regret it later, he presses his palm against her shoulder and directs some of his own energy into her. He's done it before, but not to Lin, so he knows that it'll feel like a shot at first. Hopefully he can keep feeding her energy to keep the effects of the tranquilizer at bay.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Lin probably would've done fine for a while without Rick's little burst of energy-- but it helped for the moment, considerbly. Like as in, she could finally think sensibly enough to form an actual plan without dropping to the floor in sheer exhaustion. The freedom fighter didn't actually get what Rick was doing when he first came over, she was more concentrated on the fact that he was covered in blood, and that he wasn't dead (or unconscious yet). So, when he reached over to press his hand on her shoulder-- Lin only half-reacted, only half-guessing what he was doing.

"Wait--" She jerked back her shoulder, but with the speed of a half-drunk turtle-- aka, too slow. Like Rick's narrator mentioned, it was like a shot. But which kind of shot? A painful shot, or a drunken shot? Both, really-- becuase it hurt like crazy at first, Lin stumbling backwards and biting back a yelp. But then... it was like a shot of andrealine, which Lin reeeeeeeally needed at the moment.

She perked up, sorta-- her eyes did at least. She perked up enough to know that they maybe had twenty seconds before reinforcements arrived, and they were down for the count forever. Lin also had a flash and realized that by the way Rick was covered in blood-- they didn't have much time to fall over.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

"Alright, Lin." he half-snarls, half-sighs, staring at her with blood-shot eyes. "Now what?"

He walks away from her without waiting for an answer and starts to dig through the pockets of the fallen commandos, feeling very much like a grave robber, even though they're not dead or buried. First guy-- no dice. Second-- only a wallet (which he briefly considers looting, but drops it instead). Third-- some sort of communicator. Fourth-- jackpot.

He tugs the keycard from the man's pocket and glances at his rank. Ooh, perfect. He's an officer. This should get them everywhere, and open every door in the whole stinking place. Except maybe the Big Boss's room, but who'd want to get in there anyway?

Rick slides the plastic card halfway under the waistband of his pants near his right hip, wishing he had his own pants back, and therefore pockets.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Lin wasn’t really listening at that point—instead walking over about twelve or thirteen commandos (all feebly clutching their eyes in unconsciousness) and making a slowly ascent towards one man in particular. She vaguely noticed Rick shifting through some of the men’s clothes, assumedly trying to get an access card so they can head… pretty much everywhere.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Already he was up, the man she was looking for. He must have noticed what was happening and half-covered his eyes. Lin stopped a few feet in front of him, crossing her arms (even though it hurt like a word that this narrator prefers not to say) and tried to look intimidating. For a girl in bare feet, and in a dress splattered in blood—Lin thought she did a pretty good job, as the man slid into a technically upright position.

Lin said nothing.

M.C. jeered. “Come back for more have you, darling?”

Lin raised an arm threateningly in front of her, fingers tensed and hand quivering with anticipation.

He laughed. “You can’t hurt me. Even if you could—you wouldn’t.”

“Are you so sure?”

M.C. paused, a smirk still arrogantly plastered on his face. Then, without missing a beat, came, “Yes.”

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He turns toward the sound of voices and watches Lin talking to that scientist guy for a second before resuming his pocket-robbery. Who knows? One of these guys might have something useful on them.

Two wallets, a wrench, and a double-A battery later, he pulls up abruptly. Long blonde hair and a lab coat. Stilettos. Do those two go anywhere without each other? The bridge of his nose wrinkles in disgust as he nudges her onto her back with his sock-covered toes. To his surprise, she she's still awake.

"Rick. Baby." the woman coos, smiling up at him and pushing herself into a sitting position. She pats the ground beside her. "I knew you'd come back. I knew you'd never leave."

"You don't know me." he snarls, backing up. "You've never known me."

"Sweetheart, I don't have to. I'll always know where you are. A mother always knows. Especially when that mother has this." Melissa raises her hand (with some difficulty, by the looks of it) and tilts her GPS locator toward her son.

His eyes widen in shock and he hastily steps back away from her, stumbling over a commando in the process and falling heavily.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

A loud bang. Lin whirled around, jumping at the sudden noise—only to see Rick sprawled on the ground behind the unconscious form of a rather large commando. Then a flash of blond hair a small giggle. Half in shock, a blur of ideas flooded Lin’s brain—why did Rick fall? Did he trip? What did his mother say—

Lin snapped back around toward M.C. voice crackling with undermined anger, “You take this thing out of me right now, or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” He interjected grinning evilly in that way that made Lin’s eyes narrow into bare slits. “Kill me? Torture me? Report me to the police?” He laughed, a long and hollow sound. “Darling—I couldn’t care less what you do.”

No.

“You will take it out!” Lin whispered in a fury, fists balled up so hard they were pure white. “I’ll make you!”

M.C. sighed mockingly, eyes laughing, “Even if I wanted to, Subject 2950, I couldn’t. I would have to take off your entire arm. And why would I do that?” His smile grew, obviously pleased by the shocked-stone face Lin now possessed. “My work is already done. I’ve rid the world of one more mutant.” He stood up shakily, one arm against the wall. “And that, my dear,” he bowed slightly, eyes always on her, “was my goal since I began my work. Well,” M.C. paused—eyes flickering slightly behind her, “that, and that boy behind you who I know oh, so well.”

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He scuttles backwards like a crab. If he had gone back to the caves, the entire MCA would know where he was, and find him, and find all the Freedom Fighters, and that would be not good, so not good.

"How many others?" he rasps. "How many others do you have on there?!"

The woman just laughs.

Rick stops moving and places a hand on his bleeding shoulder, suddenly remembering the exploding bullet… The bullet-that-wasn't-a-bullet. It was the GPS chip.

At least she didn't know where he was since the last time he was in this building. Then the whole place would definitely know of the caves and the fifty-some mutants living there. But if they did, then they would all be locked up in the holding bin, right?

He rips the makeshift bandage from his arm and starts none-too-gently to poke around the wound with his fingers, ignoring the stabbing pain it causes.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Lin was simply frozen solid. Her arms wouldn't move, her face was frozen into one of sheer shock-- the words that came to her mind were lost on her tongue. Vaguely, Lin could hear someone laughing-- and the sound of Rick's voice-- but it was all so far away and fuzzy.

"My dear, this is the real world. The good guys don't always win."

Then... then something about mutants. About... about the mutants inside-- how she was so naive to believe that anything that happened inside that building was real. How... how she was foolish to believe that they really could escape, even for a moment-- how there was no hope for the mutant race when mutants themselves turn onside each other. How she couldn't believe anything that was happening around her, really.

"Telekinetics, mind-readers, people who could control what you see and think-- elementals, many of them see the truth. Mutants are a disease, they know that-- they know that mutants need to be wiped from the planet-- and they are willing to help us. They are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to rid the world of themselves."

Stop. Lin squeezed her eyes tightly shut, arms clenched to her sides-- head meekly leaned forward, feeling her hair grow once again at impossible speeds. There it was, there it wasn't. What was real? Had it even been cut at all? Stop... stop these mind... games... Is this what they do? Drive the mutants they capture to the brink of insanity? Leave them frozen like statues, petrified as they stand over bloodied corpses?

Her eyes weren't open, but the girl could see the dead commandos-- slaughtered with terrified looks on their face. Did I kill them? Is this what happened? Am I a monster that needs to be destroyed? "A race that isn't united will perish. One girl cannot save a race that has doomed itself to oblivion-- she simply fades to the black with the rest of them... or nobly takes her on life for a greater cause."

Mind games with the Master of the Mind. The Czar of Minds-- the Mind Captain. M.C. This was a battle of the minds, that no one could win.

"Take my life-- take this life."

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

His fingers, now stained red with his own blood, drop from his shoulder. The sound of feet, marching in military-like precision, reaches his ears. Rick gets to his feet, no hint of his ever-present smile on his face, only a façade carved from stone.

He's done with this. Done with all of it. Done being Fearless Leader, done being Mommy's Little Boy, done being Subject 2100, done being Answer Man, done, done, done. He can't take it anymore. He's only twenty-two, for Christ's sake!

It's time for a new Rick Freedom-- one that's action, not just talk. One that takes a stand for what he believes in. One who's not afraid to get a little blood on his hands (both literally and figuratively). One who's going to be the savior of countless mutants.

He walks across the room, stepping neatly over the bodies littering the ground without looking down. His hands hang still at his sides, fingers glowing with red light. When he gets to the elevator, the new squadron of commandos rounds the corner.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

“You naïve, little pest,” M.C. hissed, voice low and hypnotic like a snake’s. He was standing tall now, circling and pacing like a shark around its prey. “You are worthless—mosquitoes flowering the air and spreading diseases that ruin this world. You have no idea how long I’ve been trying to get rid of you, you are your species—how you are destroying this place. A disease. A disease.”

Lin didn’t respond, nor move—simply standing there, trying so desperately to stop listening, to stop—not even noticing the growing sound of boots tramping in unison on the floor. To her, it was nothing. It was the roll of thunder that no one heard—even M.C. didn’t seem to notice—only growing in contempt with his smile. The world was getting fuzzy now, probably the tranquilizers kicking in, and Lin blinked several times as if to clear her head.

It didn’t work.

“A disease: that’s what you are. You’ll destroy us all one day—you will, you will!”

Lin flinched.

M.C. paused, looking at her—studying her with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, they widened, as if begging—pleading, full on—“but,” he countered, voice smooth, “you alone posses the cure to the madness. You alone can stop this disease.” Somewhere in the back of Lin’s mind went off a warning bell—this didn’t make any sense. She was a mutant—and there were thousands of mutants in this world, something told Lin that he told this speech to every single mutant he encountered.

Yet why was she still listening?

“Destroy yourself, and this world will be freed.”

What?

“Destroy yourself—and you will go down in history as a hero, not a monster.”

Why me? Why not you?

“Sure, I could kill you right now—a shock high enough should do the trick—but then, the death will loose its point. Just another death to destroy the disease.”

…

“You know it to work. You know that it will change everything.”

I know.

“Do it. It’s simple. Just bend the water. Bend the water and it’ll be over.”

Dimly, far away—Lin could hear the faint electrical hum of the device in her hand grow louder, and in a second—she knew the power had gone up. That it would kill her instantly. She knew that M.C was lying. That he was an evil man—and that she didn’t want to die. But why was her hand twitching? Why was…

Okay.

Lin’s hand rose.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

This new voice jolted her back to reality. The real world. It was an angry voice—a powerful voice. Lin stumbled backwards over herself, like invisible puppet strings had been cut and she was now free to control her own limbs. Her hands screamed from the impact—glass driven into her flesh. She didn’t cry out, tears springing to her eyes (which she stubbornly bit back)—but instead Lin tumbled onto her back, hair falling into her eyes.

Wait, hair?

Mustering all the strength she could, Lin swayed back up into a sitting position—patting the top of her head with numb, bleeding, hands. Hair. I have hair, again. Not three inches—but hair that actually goes below my shoulders. Bewildered, Lin glanced down at herself. No. No hospital dress—but her jacket, and jeans. No backpack—and her clothes were littered in glass, dirt, and blood—but it was her clothes!

Slowly increasing in total confusion and a sleepy grogginess—Lin whipped her head around from one end of the room to the other. The commandos—where were the commandos? They couldn’t have simply walked out! What about Rick’s mom? (Well, she could’ve just walked out—but Lin couldn’t tell). Plus, all this glass—and the empty tranq lying in the broken revolving door.

“Lord Masoud,” M.C. gave a mock bow, voice low in a pleasing hiss. Lin studied the man she had gotten to hate so much in the past three weeks with wide eyes. No longer was he a tall, snake-like look of a man—intimidating—but instead a scrawny old man with graying hair.

His opposition was an old man with icy blue eyes and graying hair—but no doubt he was powerful and feared—by the slightly unnerved expression in M.C’s eyes. “I let you join the M.C.A with the condition that you would use your abilities to persuade captured and weak mutants to self-destruct. Not a powerful and wide in the open!” The man who had spoken first responded in obvious anger—eyes flashing. ‘Lord Masoud’ gave Lin a sweeping glance over, Lin herself freezing up like a deer caught-in-headlights—before loftily glancing away. “I told you that if this happened again I would kill you.”

“My lord…” M.C. whined pleasingly, giving Lin another glance and gesturing towards her. “I didn’t hurt her too badly.”

“She’s covered in glass, her hand is almost completely ruined, you’ve injected massive amounts of tranquilizer into her blood—not to mention the fact that she was about to kill herself!” The older man responded, half roaring at the moment. “Even if she was perfectly fine I wouldn’t approve—I just saw some teenager run by and knock out half-my-guards—how many others do you have under your influence?”

Rick.

Lin, knees wobbling—stood almost instantly. “That’s Rick and he’s twenty-two,” she interjected, half-fearfully, half-defensive—voice hardly above a croaked whisper. “And I’m not ‘she’—I’m Lin, and I’m nineteen. I also want to know what’s going on.”

M.C. shot a dirty look at her, and Lord Masoud gave her another sweeping glance—before he turned back.

M.C’s eyes flickered back towards the commanding man, smiling pitifully. “My Lord—you can’t kill me. I’m an excellent addition to your league, and am one of your most powerful illusionists!”

Illusions?

“I’m afraid your luck has run out,” The older man replied stonily, eyes cold.

And he raised his arm.

Lin turned around just in time—squeezing her eyes shut and half-covering her face with one hand, managing to fall over again in the process. She wasn’t fast enough to avoid the wave of blood that spattered over her jacket from M.C’s remains—but fast enough to not see his death happen. You can’t unsee someone exploding from the inside.

But she got the gist.

Arms trembling slightly, (half from fatigued, half from sheer terror about what had just happened) and on her knees—Lin let her eyes close and waited for her own turn to explode from the inside out.

A moment of silence, then, “I also said that not only would I kill him, but let go the mutants he manipulated—no matter how strong they were.”

Too good to be true. Slowly, Lin opened her eyes and turned her head—looking the man who just committed murder once over. His gray suit didn’t have a speck of blood on it—instead the floor around him covered in skin, guts, and the like in a perfect semi-circle around him. A few more seconds past where Lin said nothing, simply staring at him, before the man again spoke with slightly kinder eyes, “I speak the truth.”

Slowly, Lin stood, one arm on the wall—eyes on him all the way. Two thoughts struck her. “My hand.”

“It was all an illusion. You felt the pain, the wounds are there—but anyone you saw, everything you saw was not real.”

Lin glanced down at her hand. It was raw, bleeding—and marked by lines of pressure—trembling—but Lin saw not one gleam of metal. “Rick’s mom?”

“I said anyone you saw, not anyone your friend there saw,” The man rolled his eyes—such a casual thing for a murderer.

“What about Rick?”

The ‘Lord’ sighed. “I damn mutant here,” the man kicked an arm that had rolled close to his feet, “for allowing this to happen in the first place—but I feel that despite my men’s attempts—your friend will escape.”

Lin stared a second more, trying to see if the man was lying to her face like everyone else had. To her disappointment, his face grew quickly annoyed (but telling the truth) and he snapped, “I’m letting you go with the promise of your friend’s escape—that’s your cue to get out of here!”

Lin scurried over backwards, intimidated by the man to no end. She slipped through the broken glass revolving doors—and put a hand on the final door before turning around to find the man still watching her.

“Good, God, what more can you want?” He called exasperatedly, the guards behind him shifting uncomfortably in their boots.

“Who are you?”

He paused—before a grin broke out upon his face. “I am Lord Masoud—leader and ‘CEO’ of the MCA and one of the most powerful mutants in the world.”

And so, Lin fled.

OCC: 1507 words. Now you see why this post took half-the-afternoon?

[Rick Freedom]

((OOC: Not quite as long as yours, but still-- 800-some words ))

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

The third line stops. Just… Stops. They look back at a man, a man who seems to be important, a man who nods at Rick, and then they all turn and press against the walls. The Important Man stays in the middle of the hallway, staring at the younger boy like looking away would mean certain death. Rick stares back, head level, gaze even.

Who are you? Who are you really? A boy with a little lightshow? Or something more, something much, much more? Do you have the power to end this all right now, or are you going to walk away like the coward I know you are?

The words come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, ringing in the boy’s ears, bouncing around his scull like a cartoon character’s brain. He says nothing, his staring unblinkingly into the Important Man’s dark eyes.

Are you just a little boy with a friend who left you here in this mess? That’s right, boy. She’s gone. The pretty little girl left you. She didn’t even check to see if you were all right.

“You’re clever. I get that. You don’t need to prove it to me. So you think you can see through my ‘act’. That’s great. But are you so smart that you need to taunt someone half your age just to feel accomplished? Are you so brave that you need to hide behind your fancy words and your soldiers just to confront me, a boy with a little lightshow?”

Rick steps forward. The Important Man stays still. Not dropping his gaze, the younger boy bends and grabs a pistol from a fallen soldier. He nestles the gun into the palm of his right hand and, in one smooth move, he stands and aims the gun at the Important Man’s head.

“Am I the coward here, or does that honor belong to you?”

The gunshot rings around loudly in the silent room as the man falls to the ground, blood seeping from a hole in his head. To Rick’s surprise, none of the commandos step forward.

Head held high, the boy walks forward, side-stepping the dead man’s body, and steps into the waiting elevator. He presses the button marked seventeen as the doors slide shut.

How could she leave? She promised they’d stick together. Maybe not in words, but since the day Lin joined the Freedom Fighters as his second in command, he knew he could trust her with his life. And where did that get him? Stuck in the MCA with a tracking chip in his shoulder and a hole in his heart. How could she just abandon him like this? He was perfectly effing happy to leave the building the first time, but no, she just had to go back inside and cause a scene. And now he’s left to pick up the pieces and do the logical thing. That’s her job, god dammit! He’s supposed to be the one running off and doing stupid things, and she’s supposed to be his anchor to the real world, the one that keeps him from doing the stupid things!

He doesn’t even know if she even really left. He hadn’t stuck around to see, just took the Important Man’s word for it, trusted a nameless stranger with the word of his best friend. But that doesn’t matter now. He’s going to free the oppressed, and live up to his name-- Freedom. How? Who cares? But it’s going to happen. Nothing on the face of this planet could keep him from opening the cages and walking out a savior.

Maybe that was Lin’s plan all along, to let them all go. He neither knows nor cares.

The doors slide open with a pleasant chime, leaving Rick face-to-face with… The street? No, that can’t be right. This is supposed to be the seventeenth floor, not Main Street. A letter rests two inches from his sock-covered toes. It reads, in cut-and-paste letters (how cliché) LEAVE OR THEY ALL DIE. THE CHIP IS GONE.

He drops the letter and cranes his neck to look at his shoulder. Sure enough, the wound is neatly stitched and cleaned. How? When? Why? Bewildered, he steps out of the elevator and onto the sidewalk. A man veers out of the way, but doesn’t look surprised in the least.

Rick looks down at his clothes, expecting to see the uniform grey hospital scrubs he had grown accustomed to, only to see his worn jeans and black sweatshirt. Instead of socks, his feet are covered in his Converse. He’s still holding a gun, but other than that, everything seems the same as the day he had first suggested to Lin that they go out to the city to earn money as street performers.

“Lin?” he calls, hoping to see his friend lurking just around the corner.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Lin was now at the point of beyond worried. Sure, at the moment, she’d believed the man inside that room. He’d seemed sincere enough—and he had been sincere about killing M.C. before. But now, walking down the sidewalk and receiving strange looks from many people—Lin was just starting to realize that she had trusted a murderer that Rick would get out alive.

Lin veered around, nearly walking into several people at once—blearily blinking back a wave of exhaustion. Quickly, she scurried around crowds of people, one person even stopping her and asking if she needed help, before she reached the spot where Lin could’ve sworn she had exited the building.

Instead, the girl stood gaping at a brick wall with glass littered around the dumpster that replaced the revolving doors.

Oh no, oh no, oh no… Lin turned around, walking quickly back along the sidewalk. It made no sense. She had just walked out of those doors less than five minutes ago? …or had she? Another person bumped into the mute, setting her off balance for a moment—Lin letting off a little hiss of pain and lifted her jacket up her sleeve. If none of this was real—then why is there glass in her arm?

“Lin?”

Her head snapped up.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He rolls his shoulder, still in shock at his seamlessly the flesh had been sewn back together. When did they do this? And why? How? There wasn't any time since he stepped into the elevator with blood dripping down his arm and now when they could possibly have drugged him and stitched up the wound… And why? The MCA Rick knows would rather leave him to die.

He turns back around, preparing to go back into the elevator and demand some answers, but the elevator isn't there-- just a blank wall that leaves the boy even more confused.

Rick shakes his head furiously. No! This isn't right! Disappearing rooms, magically healing bullet holes, a man who talks without talking, and where is Lin?!

He whirls around, angry enough to kill but really just wanting his friend back at his side, and scans the bustling street for her.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Okay-- where did his voice come?

Lin paused, glancing around. She really didn't trust herself to speak at the moment, it's possible that she just imagined it and was either a.) going to make a fool out of herself, or b.) draw attention to herself-- neither she wanted.

Over there? Cautiously Lin peered around the brick corner wall, one hand on the wall and the other laid at her side. There! Facing in the opposite direction, but Lin would recognize him anywhere. Without even thinking, she darted across the street and wrapped her arms around his back-- hugging him from behind to make sure he was real. Lin was half-expecting the him to turn around and be some sort of illusion.

"I thought they killed you," she said in relief, voice muffled from his jacket.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He tenses for a moment as her arms wrap around him, not realizing at first who it is. Lin's not exactly the most touchy-feely a person can get, ya know.

And then her voice.

Lin. It's really Lin. She's okay. She's well enough to stand here and be alive and really, truly be here. It's her. His Lin. And they're free, and nothing can take that freedom away from them. Not again.

He rotates and wraps his arms around her shoulders, squeezing tight enough to crush bones. He's not trying to hurt her or anything-- he just couldn't bear having her away for any longer.

"They couldn't even if they tried." he says with a smile, resting his chin on the top of her head.