BRUISE

"Lisa!"

Her eyelids fluttered and a moan escaped her parted lips as a response. She felt a warm hand brush away the strands of hair that had fallen over her face and gently cup the side of her face.

"Wake up, Lisa. Don't you want to see what you did, you klutz?"

Light laughter filled her ears and it was like a balm to the headache that was making her temples throb so hard.

With great effort she opened her eyes a fraction. Everything looked grey and brown, dust particles still floated in the air and she wondered how the slanted looking roof hadn't caved in on her.

Twelve was staring down at her with slightly amused eyes, that confident smile set in place as if she hadn't just messed everything up.

"Twe-Twelve…"

His easy smile turned into a smirk and she blinked slowly in confusion as a flicker of hope sparked in her eyes. Had she actually managed to do things right this time around?

"Did I do okay?"

He nodded, and she barely caught the tiny jerk of his jaw in the otherwise fluid motion. "Barely. You're usually supposed to be outside the building when you blow it up. You still have a lot to learn, Sphinx number three."

She let out a weak chuckle. The new nickname and the way he said it never failed to amuse her.

Twelve's smile widened just a bit.

"I know, but these…these men, they were chasing me and I heard shots—"

"It's okay," he interrupted, and she felt his hand absently stroke her cheek.

Her eyes darted around, neck stretching back in a small arch as she tried scanning the area around them. She was lucky the lobby of the small building had been sturdy enough and was only partially collapsed.

No one else seemed to be there except for the looming figure of Nine standing a good distance away.

"The guards—"

"They're dead" he deadpanned. He had made sure of that before he had rushed to her. They weren't supposed to be there. He and Nine had talked this over several times and he wouldn't have sent Lisa in if he had thought anyone would try to stop her…but then… then things hadn't gone according to plan. Nothing really had.

"Oh."

Her eyes fell on him once more, his face wasn't bruised but it was dirty with soot and the yellow of his beanie hat shone brighter in the grim setting.

She heard Nine clear his throat a little too loudly from his place, and missed Twelve's quick glare as she tried turning her head to get a better look at the tall man. She understood his impatience, the urgency to get out of the place. The police would soon show up and they couldn't be seen.

"We should le-leave" she tried pushing herself up into a sitting position but even moving her arms to try to get some purchase proved too difficult a task. The pain in her midsection as she attempted to get up again was so sudden it made her cry out in agony and her eyes widened in shock.

Twelve's hands were keeping her still now, a light and gentle pressure as she looked up at him.

Panic ridden eyes stared into calm brown orbs.

"You need a moment, then we'll go. Seriously," He said, a light mocking tone tingeing dark purples to the usually bright hue of his voice. He was glad she didn't have his ability and couldn't see how the color of his voice looked blotchy as a big ugly bruise "We need to work on your pain tolerance, it's just a scratch."

Just a scratch? Could a scratch ever hurt this much?

Her cold hands grabbed weakly at his wrists and she tried to lift her head up enough to find the source of the searing pain.

"No, no peeking." Keeping her in place, he took off his beanie and put it on her, tugging the brim over her eyes.

She felt something warm being placed over her body and a second later the brim of the hat was pulled back. He no longer had his sweatshirt on.

"There, we don't need you panicking at the sight of a tiny wound. Girls are always so dramatic about these things."

She bit her lip and tears welled up in her eyes, turning Twelve into a watery, blurry shape.

"What did I just say?" he admonished, the smile never leaving his voice as he wiped away with his thumb the tears that started sliding down her cheeks "It's hardly anything to cry about and it shouldn't hurt that bad, it's all in your head."

"I'm sorry." Her voice came out raspy and he hated to see those ripples on the yellow of her voice. She wanted to sound brave. "I- I d-don't understand why…why it hurts so bad."

His eyes softened, the smile faltering for just a fraction of a second. "Let me help you get more comfortable," He slowly lifted her upper body in his arms, hushing her softly when her features contorted in pain and she bit back a moan. He cradled her against him, arms wrapped around her slender frame to keep her from making any sudden moves.

"Better?"

She turned her face to his chest, breathing him slowly and letting the calm and confidence he always exuded wash over her "You're warm…" her lips curved and, exhaling long and slow, she muttered those words that always played in her mind "with a smile like the sun…"

She felt the hitch on his chest, there was a prolonged silence before his slightly broken laughter reached her ears "You're so weird, Lisa."

She closed her eyes, her features relaxing as the pain on her abdomen became a distant tingle.

They remained silent for a while. His carefully controlled breathing and her labored one were the only sounds to be heard besides the quite rustling of settling debris. She felt a small, soft pressure on the top of her head and was wondering whether she had imagined it when the beanie hat still atop her head slid off to the floor.

A barely noticeable blush tinted her cheeks and she knew it would be okay to just let go now.

"Hi-Hisami-kun?"

His hold tightened slightly at the sound and sight of his made up name.

Yellow specks of light floated up before his eyes. That pale yellow of her voice wasn't alight with pain or murky with fear anymore, there were no visible ripples anymore, it was clear, whole and pure as the first time he heard her laugh.

"Hm?"

"Thank you, for doing this… for everything." He looked down at her, her knowing smile shattered his charade and his eyes widened, his mouth opened but all that came out was a choked gasp.

When he finally managed to sputter out her name in a strangled sob she was staring past him, onyx black eyes unfocused and gloss-less.

His eyes darted to his sweatshirt, draped over her abdomen and covering the bullet holes on her stomach. Small splotches of crimson were visible now and he cursed vehemently until the sound deteriorated into a high pitched and helpless whine.

Nine stared from his spot, having decided to give them some privacy but unable to tear his gaze from the two figures on the ground. Twelve's shoulders shook as he fell forward, gripping the girl's lifeless body tight in his arms and whimpering like a wounded animal.

Twelve had put up a good act for Lisa's benefit and Nine found himself wishing he hadn't stopped.

He didn't need to see this. His eyes narrowed and his chest tightened. He was so angry. Angry at the girl for that tight grip she had on Twelve from day one; angry at Twelve for letting it get to this point and never listening to his constant warnings; angry at himself for letting their plan backfire in their faces in this manner, for not realizing in time the way Five had managed to alter the information they had used to carry out this particular mission. A mission that had only served to kill Lisa.

He looked at his watch, they only had a couple of minutes now before the police started surrounding the area. He bit his lip, hard, as his gaze traveled back to the crumpled figure of the young boy. He frowned and took off his glasses, rubbing them absently with his shirt and replacing them on his face only to realize it didn't make one bit of a difference to the blurriness his vision offered.

Something warm trailed down his cheek and he gasped. Horrified at what was happening he wiped the tear angrily away and turned on his heel.

"It's enough, Twelve. Let's go."

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Dolce Saito- I seriously jumped off bed this morning after only 4 hours of sleep and started typing this. I think the lack of a ZNT episode this week actually took a toll on me. I needed angst, I needed Hisalisa angst. I guess I had to make my own contribution to all those other ZNT death fics floating around. I was in such a rush to get this out of my system that I might have overlooked some things. I proofread it a couple of times but I'm pretty sure that wasn't good enough in my current sleep-deprived state. I hope you still enjoyed it.