My body tensed and I sat up at the sound of keys fumbling at the lock. Marshal hadn't given the signal. I vaulted out of bed, grabbing the handheld as I went. I dived around the door of the bathroom just as the door opened. I pressed myself against the wall to the left of the bathroom door as I accessed the emergency e-mail option.
'Cover blown.'
Then I stuffed the handheld in the back part of the small linen closet. I released a slow breath as I waited, listening to the steps - three pairs, men - and readying myself for the fight. I heard whispers and then steps approaching the bathroom. I balled my hands into fists.
A man dressed in black stepped into the doorway. I punched him hard in the face and kicked him against the sink counter, knocking the air out of his lungs. He collapsed onto the floor and I kicked him again, in the head. His body went limp.
I turned, fists and feet ready as the other two men came at me. I blocked and punched; dodged and retaliated with fists in the face and chest, kicking and forcing them back into the main room. But I had to let myself get taken. I couldn't find their location if I didn't. I couldn't get Marshal out...
I pressed my lips together and continued to fight, showing weaknesses that weren't there and allowing fists and feet to make contact-- pain in the back of the head--
And the world went black...
I groaned, pulling myself through the blackness as I tried to move.
"Ahndra! Thank god..."
I forced my eyes open, but the light gave me a sharp pain in my head. When I tried to cover my face with my hands, I couldn't move them from behind me. I again forced my eyes open, blinking away the pain and seeing-- I sat up, ignoring the blinding pain in the back of my head. "Marshal!"
Marshal had been tied to the far wall of the shed, arms hanging above his head. Blood dripped from his nose and lips, one eye had swelled shut, and the skin on one cheek had been broken to ooze blood. "I'm fine."
I tested the binding at my wrists as I also examined that of my ankles. It would take some work, but I could get out. SeeD were trained to get out of almost everything.
"Are you all right? You've been out cold for an hour."
"...fine..."
There sounded voices outside the door of the shed.
"Dammit," Marshal hissed. He looked back to me. "Can you get out?"
I had only just discovered what knot they'd used. "...wait."
"Shit." Marshal returned his focus to the shed door. "I recognize almost all of them from Katie's attack. There's only three I don't remember seeing before, and two of those are the 'landowners'. Big surprise."
"Questions?" I released a deep breath and relaxed. Then I carefully and slowly tucked my knees to my chin and pulled my hands under my body and in front of me. I started work on the knot on my feet.
"The usual. Who am I. Who am I working for. Blah-blah-blah. Not very imaginative."
I smirked.
"I don't understand why they don't believe me when I say I'm just a photographer. What. Do I have 'spy' written on my forehead?"
I undid the knot and then started work on the strap holding my hands.
"It must be my rugged good looks."
I scoffed.
"Hey. I resent that." Marshal's chains rattled with his slight movement. "Dammit. My arms are going to sleep. I hate it when that happens."
"Wimp."
Marshal chuckled. "Come over here and say that to my face."
I pulled free the final portion of the knot and shook the strap loose as I stood. I hurried over to Marshal while freeing the lockpick from beside my teeth on the right side of my mouth. I pulled it out and set to work on his hands.
"Wimp," I said again.
Marshal softly laughed while shaking his head. "Sure. Say it when I can't retaliate."
"Later."
"Promises, promises."
My brow furrowed with concentration as I fought with the locking mechanism.
"Damn. Do you have any idea how gorgeous you look when you're all intense like that?"
My lips twitched upward--
The shed door creaked open. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
I stealthily slipped the lockpick into Marshal's care, slipping it between his wrist and the chain cuff before turning to face the person who entered.
Who I supposed to be the leader entered first. He was of average height, not much bigger than Marshal, and build with mid-length caramel hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a type of uniform - black with red trim - that had a symbol of a fist on the lower left quadrant. Those men that entered with him - four of them - wore the same uniform but without the red stripe.
Radicals. I hated them.
"Now we can ask you some questions." The leader made a motion with his hand. One of the men hurried forward with a chair, which he set in front of me, and then went to stand beside Marshal. "Sit."
I forced a terrified expression and looked to Marshal. "B-Blake?"
"Ahndra, it's going to be okay. Just do what they say."
The leader adjusted his crossed arms as I 'timidly' made my way to the chair and sat down. I gripped the seat of the chair as I stared at the ground with what I hoped was--
"You fought off three of my men, 'Ahndra'. You can drop the act."
"It's not an act!" Marshal shouted. "She took martial arts for self-defense after--"
The man standing beside Marshal cuffed him hard in the face.
"I wasn't talking to you. Keep it shut."
The leader stepped toward me, but I kept my eyes focused on the ground, gauging his threat by the sound of his steps and the way he moved-- He wrenched my head up with a fistful of hair. Staring into his black-brown eyes was like staring into those of my father.
I heard the rattle of Marshal's chains. "Don't touch her!"
The leader regarded my face and my eye with calculating intensity. "Hm." Then he roughly pushed my head down and stepped toward Marshal. "So, you're just a simple photographer who brought his girlfriend for a little sex and a little house-hunting?"
Marshal released a deep breath. "As I've said before, my boss--"
I heard the impact as the leader hit Marshal across the face with the back of his hand. I clenched my jaw and tightened my hold on the chair seat. Then the leader's steps again approached my chair.
"I'd rethink my story, mister, or else your freaky little sex toy's liable to get roughed up and played with."
Tense silence. "Please," Marshal said in a firmly controlled tone. "Let her go. I'm telling you th--"
"The truth. That's what they all say." The leader came around to the front of my chair and reached out to lift my gaze. He pushed my hair from my eye. "It looks like you've been roughed up before. Then this won't be so scary, will it?"
I just stared mutely up at the man, much as I had learned to do with my father. Fear made these kind of men drunk with power. Tears enraged them. No emotion made them uncertain and robbed them of that which they wanted: a reaction of submission.
The leader smirked and roughly released me. "Just like I thought. This ought to be fun."
The leader snapped his fingers. The remaining three men immediately stepped forward to pull me from the chair. I heard Marshal's chains rattle yet again, but I was strangely calm and distant from what I knew was going to happen. Of course, it had happened before. I knew how to shut it off.
"Unless of course you've got something to say?" the leader asked.
I met Marshal's eyes and sent him a meaningful look. He clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists. He focused again on the leader. "I've told you all I can. I'm a photographer taking pictures for--"
The leader made a motion with his hand, and the man standing beside Marshal hit him hard. Marshal spat blood and sent the man a murderous glare.
In the center of the room the three men roughly turned me to face the leader. He approached, chuckling as he pulled his shirt from his pants. My insides twisted and cringed back, but I didn't look down from the leader's gaze. I just stared. Dead pan. Not even fighting the men that held me. That would have fed the lust.
"Wait." The leader regarded me with crossed arms. "Wait. We should do this right." He motioned to the far wall. "Hold her up against the wall."
They dragged me back and slammed me hard against the wall. I coughed and forced in a breath as the leader chuckled. But all I saw was the pain and misery in Marshal's expression.
It hurt to see it.
The leader motioned toward me. "Now rip part of her shirt." There was the sound of tearing material and buttons popping free. I didn't look away. "Hm. Something's not... That's right."
The leader stepped up to me and hit me hard across the face. Lights and spots sparked in my brain and I forced my head up, tasting and feeling the blood drip down my chin. I heard Marshal swear and fight against his chains.
The leader backed off with a nod of approval. He turned to face Marshal. "This should bring back memories, huh? Only I think that time it was your little sister." The leader stepped closer to Marshal and grabbed his shirt-front. "Your name isn't Blake Rankin. You aren't a photographer. Now tell me what I want to know, or." He made a motion with his free hand and one of the men holding me jerked my pajama bottoms and panties down around my ankles. "Or we have a history lesson."
Marshal didn't look away from my gaze, and I could again feel the caress of his fingers on the bruised skin of my face as a young woman of fourteen. With that same pained expression that pled with me to run away.
Marshal clenched his jaw. Don't tell them anything. I had survived rapes, beatings, broken bones, and more. I could take this and live. Garden's secrets were mine. I had to protect them. It was all I had left.
"Suit yourself."
The leader turned and approached. I numbed my brain and shut off everything. All I saw was Marshal's face and eyes. All I heard was the rattle of his chains and his voice calling my name...
--pain--
I coughed and groaned.
"Ahndra?"
Soft touch on my face, warmth surrounding me... I groaned again, dragging myself through the red pain and the misery.
"Oh god... Ahndra? Ahndra, can you hear me?"
"Marshal...?" My voice sounded ragged. I must have screamed. I struggled to open my eyes.
"I'm right here."
My vision slowly cleared, and I focused on his silver-charcoal eyes. "You... all right?"
"You're kidding." Marshal smoothed some hair from my face and pressed his lips gently against my forehead. "Can you stand?"
My head throbbed, and the world seemed to spin whenever I even thought of moving. "...what... what happened?"
"I hoped you could tell me." Marshal carefully adjusted his arms around me.
I tried to force thoughts through the pain. "What...?"
"Forget it. I need to get you out of here." He adjusted his hold on me and stood, lifting me in his arms.
I groaned, and my eyes rolled back at the pain in my head.
"Just rest," he whispered as he stepped cautiously forward. "Try not to think, Ahndra. Okay? Rest."
I relaxed against him, surrendering to the darkness that freed me from the pain...
...soft touch on my face... "...Marshal...?" warmth enfolding my hand...
"I'm here, Ahndra."
...kiss on hand... and the blackness....
I groaned and lifted a hand to my face.
"Hey," came a soft voice beside me.
I lowered my hand and looked to my right. Marshal. The wound on his cheek had been stitched and bandaged, and his split lip had been treated. I looked around us. We were on a Garden transport ship.
Marshal crouched down and smiled at me. "How you feeling?"
The throbbing had dulled to a minute ache. I rubbed at my forehead. "Better."
Marshal lightly touched the hair from my face. "You had me worried there for a sec. You couldn't stay awake."
I lowered my hand from my head again and met his gaze. "What happened?"
Marshal briefly shook his head. "Not really sure. One second you were there and the next you weren't."
"What?"
Marshal nodded. "You went into some kind of... trance I guess, and then vanished. Then some lady with four arms and some nasty-looking swords appears out of nowhere and starts whacking the hell out of everyone. Except me, thank god."
"What?"
He nodded again. "I know, but that's what happened." Marshal regarded me a moment. "Junctioning wasn't allowed on this mission, but that's what it looked like. A summon."
"Impossible."
"Tell that to the eight dead men we left behind."
I tried to push myself up into a sitting position, but Marshal held me back.
"Now hold on. You still look a little pale." I relaxed back into the cushions with a quick exhalation. Marshal stood and then sat beside me. "You know, if that was a summon, that might explain some things about your memory."
I stared at the wall opposite.
"I mean, Garden's kind of stepped away from the whole junctioning thing, except for in extreme circumstances, because of the whole "you lose your memory when you junction" thing." He regarded me. "You didn't know about this one, did you?"
I slightly shook my head.
"Hm. I wonder if it's another GF like Odin or Gilgamesh, as in they show up whenever they damn-well please. Of course, that wouldn't explain why you've been having problems remembering things. It's no wonder you remember Seifer. I mean, you see the guy every day at work. And your dad? How can you forget the bastard with what he did to you? But me? You haven't seen me for years, so it's no wonder those memories got pushed away. The lady needed room to move."
"What was her name?" I asked softly.
"Let's see... You screamed something just before you vanished... Asura. Yeah. That's it."
I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands. Asura. Queen of the summon gods. Goddess of war. Where had I picked up the GF? And why didn't I remember?
"Ahndra. Ahndra." Marshal took gentle hold of my hands and pulled them from my face. "Hey. It's okay. This explains a lot. Now we can just work on getting the memories back instead of trying to figure out why you lost them in the first place."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. We were returning to Garden. The mission was finished.
Marshal stood and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. "Sleep now, girl. We can talk more a little later. I'll type up the report now."
I stared at the ceiling above me and then slowly closed my eyes. '...we...'
Marshal handed me my duffel and then came the rest of the way off the ship. Then we turned and headed toward the road leading into Balamb. I stared at the cobbled ground. There were so many things that had changed, and I didn't know if I could hold on to them. But to go back to 'Fujin'? A product of my father?
I felt the tingle of Marshal's sidelong glances. "What."
"Did you want to go out to dinner after the debrief?"
Yes. "No."
"Oh." Marshal stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets.
I'm sorry, Marshal. I need time... to figure it all out. I didn't know who I was anymore. Two very different people had gone head-to-head, but who had won?
Marshal continued to watch my profile, but he didn't ask anything. I wouldn't have had an answer anyway. I didn't know. Anything.
We rented the SeeD car and piled our stuff into the back seat. Then we silently drove to Garden. Seifer would want a report, both verbal and written. How would I give it? I moved my gaze out the window.
Too soon we pulled into the parking lot of Garden and gathered our stuff. Marshal wordlessly handed me my eye-patch. I mutely stared down at it... I fisted my hand on my duffel before setting it down and taking the eye-patch to slip it on. I felt caged. Restricted. I felt like I hid.
I pushed it away and again lifted my duffel. We headed down the corridor to the main part of Garden. The closer we got to the security section, the deeper my confusion went. Marshal's sidelong glances didn't help.
We stepped into the elevator and rode it down. Still silent. Moments before the door opened to allow us entry, Marshal turned to me and said "Ahndra, I'm glad I had a chance to be with you again. I missed you."
I faced him, but it was too late. The elevator stopped and the doors opened to the bustle of the security office. Marshal smiled and then stepped off, giving Sally Regal a wave as he passed to Seifer's office to report. I stared after him but a moment before stepping off and proceeding to my own office.
Once I shut my door, I leaned against it with closed eyes and a whispered "...dammit."
My door opened, and I looked up from my blank glare of my deskpad. Seifer made a motion with his head while firmly stating "Fujin. Office. Now." and then disappearing around the corner.
Fujin. I slowly stood and unclenched my fisted hands. I stepped forward, and my stomach plummeted the same time the elevator carried Marshal to the main floor.
I pressed my lips together and pushed it away as I strode toward Seifer's office.
"Door."
I closed the door behind me and stood at attention as Seifer adjusted his position against his desk. Seifer regarded me a moment and then straightened and stepped toward me. He set his stance and crossed his arms.
"Anything to add to Marshal's report, Fujin?"
And Seifer's smirk reminded me-- I fisted a hand and brought it around to hit Seifer hard in the face. "BASTARD."
Seifer slowly rotated his jaw as he again met my gaze. "And what the hell was that for?"
I grabbed his shirt-front and pulled him nose-to-nose with me, my eye sparking. "You knew. You knew who Marshal was and didn't tell me!"
Seifer's green eyes registered a moment of surprise. Then the smirk returned. "I told you I was gonna push."
I scoffed and pushed him roughly away. "No secrets," I warned. "Ever again."
"Whatever you say, Fujin."
I scoffed again as I turned on my heel. "It's Ahndra." He chuckled as I wrenched open the door. I stepped out. "ASS."
Seifer laughed.
knock-knock
I looked up from the collection of reports on my desk. Sally stood uncertain and apologetic in the doorway of my office holding a large-sized soft package. I set down the report and motioned her in, remembering again the information Marshal had given about Sally's brush with death. Sally never brought it up. Never used it to gain respect or sympathy. Never...
I motioned to the chair across from my desk, but she shook her head with a softly spoken "That's okay. I just needed to deliver this." and presented me the package.
I accepted it and stared down at the address. Marshal.
I vaguely heard Sally leave as I swallowed hard and slowly opened the package. What fell out onto my desk were a collection of letters and a card. My throat tightened.
I slowly reached out to pick up the card. Two pictures were affixed inside, one beneath the other. The first was the disastrous happening at the picnic when Marshal had tripped over the camera tripod's leg. I smirked, remembering again the laughter and his ridiculous position. The ambrosia salad all over his face...
I gently touched the picture as I flipped it up to reveal the other. My eyes burned. The two of us within the cave. His hands on my shoulders; one of mine covering his. Even then I had felt the difference in the touch. Yes, it had been hard to accept, but it had been... safe. I absently rubbed my fingers together. I could still feel that warmth. Even after almost two weeks...
I cleared my throat and looked to the right side of the card. 'Here's to happy memories' had been inscribed there. My face relaxed into a smile.
The sound of my door clicking shut drew my attention-- My smile vanished as I blinked.
Marshal stood there in black jeans and a gray T-shirt. "Hey, chicklit," he greeted softly.
"Marshal," I returned, and the calmness of my voice surprised me. Especially considering the memories that burned my brain. Those blessed memories that had saved me from a nightmare.
Marshal stepped forward and sat in one of the chairs opposite my desk.
My fingers tightened on the card as I held that silver gaze. I still didn't know what to do. It seemed so long since I was the young woman who fancied herself in love with this young man--
"You're really pretty when you smile."
A memory rose from the rest. A young man with a tickle for a kiss who made me laugh. Who made me feel safe. Who said 'You're really pretty when you smile.' and made me believe it.
Marshal held my gaze as he rubbed his hands together. "Ahndra, can we keep going from here?"
I swallowed hard. Having him there in my office... Seeing him again after two weeks of... "What?"
"I liked what we had. As kids. Then on this mission." Marshal stood and moved to crouch beside me. "Ahndra... I don't want to lose you again."
I stared down at him, remembering so many things. Feeling more... I had become a woman of few words, but Marshal had given me a reason to say more. He had made me feel like what I had to say was more.
"I missed you...," I whispered. "For weeks and months I missed you..." I slipped from my chair to kneel onto the floor, wrapping my arms around Marshal's neck as I pressed my body against his warmth and my face against his. "That's why I enrolled. I thought I... I thought you..."
Marshal drew me even closer. His heart beat. His breath. His warmth so close and burning through me... Then Marshal slowly pulled back, caressing my cheek with his lips before placing a tender and intense one on my lips.
"I didn't know," he said gruffly. He brushed the hair from my face and gently removed the eye patch. Then he pressed his lips against the scarring. "I'm so sorry, Ahndra."
My entire body shivered with the touch as my hands stroked the thick softness of his hair. "I missed you," I choked out again.
Marshal kissed my scarred eye again and then drew back. I met his gaze. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes, Ahndra. You just tell me what you need. I'll do it. I swear."
I looked into those silver-charcoal eyes and got lost in the memories of a fourteen-year-old in love. I caressed his cheek. "Don't leave me alone."
Marshal drew me tight against him, kissing my eye and my cheek and then whispering my name against my mouth. I was a woman of few words, and Marshal knew them all.
*