Chapter 5 Operator Gray Part 1

As Lambda and Scott walked to the base, Scott decided to try and strike up a conversation with his "little sister" since he hadn't seen her in the past six years.

"So, I heard about what happened to you from my dad. I can't believe you went through all that, Lambda."

"It's in the past, you couldn't have done anything back then to get me out had you known sooner," the ravenette replied calmly which caused her "big brother" to clench a fist at her words.

He wanted to retort but knew she had a point. Back then, they were both still in high school with a bright future ahead of them with careers and such set in mind just waiting to be accomplished. Lambda's future had been ruined by some scientists who basically experimented on humans for kicks, while the Red Ranger studied and went ahead to join the Air Force. Of course neither of them would never forget that as long as they lived, and during the four years that The Living Storm was some bastards' lab rat she kept cursing the scientists, wishing that they suffer the worst possible deaths known to creation for what they've done to her and any others who were kidnapped. It still didn't keep him quiet from saying anything.

"But still-"

"Don't kick yourself over something that was beyond your control, Scott," she cut him off abruptly. "Don't beat the horse that's already dead, just let it rot peacefully until there's nothing left."

Scott let out a defeated sigh as Lambda began explaining to him.

"They've pretty much made me have trust issues with people and I know this might sound either ridiculous or dumb, but I've practically developed a hatred for labs and people in white lab coats. It's just something about them that might trigger flashbacks which I don't need. Also I think they've tried to turn me into a weapon of some sort since I have aerokinesis."

His ears perked up when he heard the words "weapon" and "aerokinesis" leave her lips. He looked around the hallway for cameras and saw a door that led to an unoccupied room nearby, then took her inside and closed the door behind them from prying eyes. Lambda gave him a slightly almost unnoticeable confused look, but soon realized why he did that. Had she displayed her powers under the always watchful eye of a camera, the guards would have been all over her like bees on honey. Then she would have never gotten the chance to meet the Red Ranger's father and possibly ended up in a cell which she would destroy out of PTSD. To prove her point, Lambda rolled up the sleeves of her shirt that barely reached her elbows to reveal the tattoos on her arms just below her shoulders as well her glowing eyes, then concentrated a bit of her power to make a small diamond of wind appear. They all stopped glowing as the diamond disappeared from The Living Storm's gloved hand.

"This is what I got from all that time in the lab," the ravenette spoke as her eyes returned to their faintly shiny state. "Also my powers are fueled by my anger which means the madder I get, the more power I unleash. I kinda figured that out when I punched a dent in my bedroom wall since I tried to fix something and got upset, but I did apologize to my parents and patched it up with some putty. I've pretty much tried on numerous occasions to not cause property damage because of that. I just don't want people treating me like some freak or X-MEN reject since I'm different from everyone else after being a guinea pig to a group of bored-out-of-their-mind scientists."

She turned her head to the side then gnawed on her bottom lip. When Lambda made it home after she escaped, the half Japanese woman felt afraid that her parents would reject the girl and cast her aside after she talked to them about what happened. Celeste and Kenryu welcomed their daughter back with open arms as they missed her so much then showered Lambda with lots of hugs and kisses, and would never toss the aerokinetic out since she is their only child. They probably wanted The Living Storm to stay sheltered in the house to avoid getting kidnapped again, much to her dismay but soon realized that Lambda might want to step outside to get some fresh air or to take a walk around town. That would have been extremely cruel of them and traumatizing for Lambda to be disowned by the very people who raised her from birth. Well, not just her but anyone too if their parents found out that they were different in some way, shape or form by anything, then cast by the wayside because they're not the same person before an incident.

The Living Storm was instantly caught by surprise and pulled into a hug. She looked up to see none other than the Red Ranger smiling at her and ruffling the ravenette's hair. Lambda's face was painted with a lightly embarrassed blush as she remembered that Scott and his older brother Marcus used to do that to her as children. Back then, she would playfully swat at their hands and tell them it was embarrassing which would make both boys laugh. Now she didn't mind it much, but if Ziggy tried to do so the 22-year-old probably would've glared at him to back off.

"Scott, I'm not a little kid anymore," Lambda grumbled while returning the hug despite a small smile tugging at her lips, causing him to chuckle at Lambda's slightly reddening face which he found somewhat cute.

"I know, but I felt like doing it for old time's sake."

"You can let go of me now, you know?"

"I know." And he did just that by putting a small amount of distance between them.

"So, how's Marcus?"

Now, it was Scott's turn to chew on his own lower lip at the question which made Lambda somewhat guilty for asking as if she knew what happened to Marcus. "He's gone, Lambs."

"I see, sorry for asking and possibly killing the mood."

"You don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong," he said as he shook his head. "You just wanted to know since hadn't seen him in years."

If Lambda was her 16-year-old self again she would have cried a lake of tears after hearing her childhood friend say that, but she was a lot tougher than that. So much tougher in fact, that she practically taught herself the "No Fear Rule" which was to never show a hint of fear or even pain in the face of her enemies, otherwise they would've exploited it to entertain themselves and get her to leak info. She decided to return the favor and gave the 23-year-old male a hug.

"Just decided to return the favor by giving my 'big bro' a hug back."

"Thanks."

"No prob, Scott. Do you feel better now?"

A nod was his reply, "Yeah."

The two friends pulled away again and began walking out of the room towards Mason's office, after the Red Ranger had asked The Living Storm for her phone so he could enter his contact information and also to use her built in GPS to point her over to the garage so she could meet with him later. She complied and handed the device over to him so he could do his thing. Once he was finished, the 23-year-old gave Lambda back her phone then went on their way.

When Scott and Lambda both arrived to their destination, there were guards stationed outside the colonel's door. A scowl made its way on her face as the ravenette frowned at them, but relaxed when Scott put a hand on her shoulder as his way of telling her it was ok and that they weren't going to harm the woman unless provoked. Even slightly calm, she still kept a wary eye on them. Both men and women saluted the two(mainly Scott since he was the colonel's son) and cleared the way for them so they could step inside.

The Living Storm's eyes scanned around the room for Col. Truman and sure enough they found him at the opposite end. She slightly smiled inwardly to herself as she saw him get up from his desk and look at whoever entered his office, but the ravenette still had that narrowed watchful look about her as the room was swarming with even more guards.

"Sir?" The voice of Mason's youngest son reached his ears as he saw both him and his goddaughter walk his way. "Lambda's here to see you."

As Mason looked at Lambda, he saw that her eyes still had their sparkle as they did years ago but spoke volumes of her witnessing a war of sorts as they looked stressed and even experienced in some way. They were sharp as blades but stern and held a mature gentleness within their shining gray depths. He also noticed how much she had grown and matured in the past six years, since Lambda looked beautiful for her age as a younger version of her redheaded mother with her father's black hair and similar eye shape as well as having Celeste's gray eyes and her hair length. If guys had tried to talk to Lambda in the past, either he or his two sons would be protective of the half Japanese girl if her father Kenryu didn't make it to her first to ward them away.

"Alright, dismissed."

Scott nodded then left the room without saying a word as Lambda's sharp ears picked up on the young man's footsteps tap and fade from view before chewing on her lip again out of habit this time. The air about the colonel was still the same yet different from what the ravenette could sense from him. It was if he had changed somehow as the elder Truman didn't smile very often, probably due to Venjix predominantly taking over most of the world in the past year as well as losing his oldest son in the war. She did feel a bit nervous as Mason's stature and posture were intimidating to Lambda that it made her somewhat afraid, but due to the "No Fear Rule" she didn't feel unnerved.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Truman," The Living Storm greeted with a small, nearly unnoticeable smile.

"Likewise, Lambda," he spoke with a near emotionless tone that was still somewhat kind. "Have a seat."

Lambda did as she was told and sat down at the other side of his desk while trying to make herself comfortable in the steel chair.

"I've heard from your parents about what you went through all those years ago."

'So that's how they found out,' Lambda thought to herself as she had her eyes trained the colonel. 'Mom and Dad must've told them about what happened.'

"I should've been more careful is what you probably would've said," she spoke with interlocked fingers. "I know, but I was young and naive to think that the neighborhood was harmless all those years ago and I wish I knew a lot better then. I was too far away from anyone's house or any place that had a phone for that matter since I left mine at home and I got caught. I couldn't outrun those guys fast enough to get away."

The 22-year-old ravenette closed her eyes and shook her head at the memory before opening them. For a moment, Mason thought that she might cry but Lambda was too strong willed to let herself break down. She looked him in the eyes again as the young woman continued to talk.

"The people who knocked me out took me to a lab and began experimenting on me, then made go through all sorts of tests for four years till I waited for the right moment to strike back and break free two years ago."

"How did you escape from the lab?" The colonel asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I'm sure that Celeste and Kenryu didn't go into detail about you getting out."

"No they didn't, but while those scientists were treating me as their guinea pig, they augmented me with the power of aerokinesis or wind manipulation if you prefer. I used that newfound power out of rage and practically created a tornado to blow away walls to get out and free most, if not all the others trapped there with me. I did injure the guards and or scientists in the lab if I didn't kill some of them."

Although he didn't show it, the elder Truman was surprised that Lambda actually took lives and had hurt others to live. But she was fighting for her life as well as for or against others in the twisted game known as survival. It was kill or be killed and she had to kill or cause injury in order to survive and/or escape. She gnawed on her lip as the subject was a touchy one for the aerokinetic, since she didn't like talking about it much unless she wanted to.

Before Mason could ask another question a loud growl ripped through the air, putting everyone on high alert until another one rang out after the first. A light pink dusted The Living Storm's embarrassed face as she knew it was her stomach that made the noise which caused her godfather to lightly smirk at her. Lambda bit her pinky nail in embarrassment as her stomach had undoubtedly saved her but made the woman groan and glare at it.

"I meant to go home and eat before that incident happened earlier today," Lambda said as she had regained her composure and rose from her seat, "But I didn't get a chance to so now I'll take care of it. It's been nice talking to you, Mr. Truman. Later."

With that she gave him a hug and left the base before departing for the garage.

A/N: Wow this is long as I've never written a chapter with 2k+ words before. Sure I did make it almost there but not over and I got a feeling that this won't be the first and only time that I go over 2000 for a chapter. Anyways, this chapter's split in half just like The Road to Corinth one since part 2 might have a surprise. I'm sorry that I didn't put one out before the holidays, but you know the things called life and writer's block can be a constant thorn in the side and as such prevent me from getting busy on this stuff. Also I work better with music as it helps me concentrate so I can focus but if I get distracted, then I can't work and it's hard to instantly regain focus. I gotta go so I'll see you soon in part 2. :)