A/N: I basically want to apologize for not updating this story, or any of my stories for almost 2 years now. It's not that I've been inactive since I have been posting one-shots every once in a while, it's just that I honestly went through a major writer's block for both of my multi-chapter stories, and it got to the point were they both went into an unintentional hiatus. The one story I was mostly having issues with was this one, and the sole purpose was because I just did not think that I was delivering good writing (Even though I still think that...), and I had gone through some deep thinking about where to go with this story plot-wise as well. For now I have decided to stick with my main plot, and I will continue with it. Sorry if the sudden chapter is making you re-read the story to refresh your mind, heck it's been an entire year and a half!
I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, even though I think it's sort of filler-ish, but we're almost getting to the good parts as you will see.
It wasn't Capri's initial choice to become the leader of the Burners, trust has always been an issue for her. But as time passed, she had learned that not everyone meant harm, that there were in fact people like her out there. People who believed in freedom and a better world to live in. For much needed equality.
Her age wasn't what made her superior to the other burners, it was the hope she spread through her words, and the large amount of confidence resting on her shoulders. The Burners admired and looked up to her, and even though she wasn't as open as they would like her to be, they still trusted her, and Capri was forever grateful for that. However, today she couldn't say the same. Confidence was not in her favor, and worry was gnawing through her like a highly contagious virus; her stomach churned with nerves, her pace so unheeded that she looked like she could stumble on her own two feet at any given moment.
After her little encounter with Chuck earlier, reality had set in, and she had to force herself out of the safe comfort of her room. Today she had to face her long lost brother, and while it was something she had always hoped to be possible, she wasn't expecting everything to be this hard on her. 'What if he doesn't take the news of me being alive too well?' She thought. It was a huge possibility, and quite frankly she wouldn't blame him if he didn't.
As she reached the garage, the chit chattering from the rest of the Burners subsided. Though not for long.
"There she is!" Exclaimed a not so pleased voice, which Capri instantly recognized as Texas's.
Capri slowly raised her gaze to meet with the rest of her team. Jacob was behind the kitchen counter as per usual, while Dutch and Chuck conducted some scans on her car, even though they were suddenly interrupted by what seemed like a very upset Texas stomping his way towards the leader.
"You care to explain Texas what's so important that you had to interrupt his much needed power sleep?" Inquired the martial artist with much demand.
Capri sighed annoyingly. The look on the rest of the Burners face mimicking her own for the ignorant question.
"Texas…" She started, her voice hard, yet forcefully calm as she tried her best not let her patience slip away from her grasp. "I really don't need this right now." She said, brushing his sudden "priority" aside.
"Well," Texas folded his arms across his chest. "you still need to explain what's going on rather you like it or not, missy!"
At his words, Dutch cleared his throat. "Yeah… I mean, Chuck filled us in briefly, but what's up with the other plan? Are we really gonna go through with it?"
Why was it that she suddenly felt like she was actually being cornered by her own team? It could probably be due to the fact that it was way too early in the morning for her brain to function properly. Or maybe because her mind was still processing it all; making her swallow the reality of the situation like bile rising up her throat. She sighed in distress, her eyes a little panicked at the reminder for today's task at hand.
Chuck was the first to notice how overwhelmed she actually was by the whole situation; a little frightened himself by her possible outcome, and he somehow had a hunch that she wasn't quite ready to do this.
"Cap," Chuck said, catching her attention with his low and concerned tone. "We don't have to do this. You know that, right? We could just evacuate the buildings, or at least try to interrupt the demolition. But we don't really have to…" He paused, nervously and carefully choosing his next words. "We don't have to interfere with the commander if you don't feel ready to do so."
Capri frowned at the suggestion. Deep down inside she knew Chuck was right, she wasn't ready to do this. She couldn't face him, and she certainly wasn't expecting him to welcome her back into his life with open arms. She closed her eyes in thought, blocking everything and everyone out of her train of thoughts. She had time to back down, but she certainly didn't had much time to debate her decision. It didn't matter how much time she threw on her shoulders to think about this, because deep down inside she knew she would never be ready for this.
"No," She said, raising her gaze to meet with the rest. "We have to, I have to do this. Look, I'm very aware that this might get extremely hard for me… But it's important to me, and even if I can't get him to forgive me, I can at least try to open his eyes to the lie he's been living… He's where he is because of me, so I think I at least owe him that."
Silence followed her words, and the rest of the team exchanged a look of concern, but before anyone else dared to express their troubled thoughts towards the situation, Capri sighed. "It's getting late," She stated in a low uncomfortable tone, and that was enough to snap the rest of her team out of their concern; responding immediately with an agreeing nod.
"Right!" Said Chuck, and the programmer quickly summoned a holo-screen before him; his fingers ticking as he requested information to the system. "I got a lock on them," And with both of his index fingers he expanded the screen for the rest of the team to see. "it seems like they're heading to the other far end of town, but I still don't have a final destination. The file I hacked into didn't specify the exact location, just the sector. I presume it was done for precautions."
"Well that doesn't seem to be a problem. We can just keep track on them until they get settled." Capri commented.
"And then what? In case you haven't noticed we're out numbered!" Chuck pointed out, and without much hesitation the programmer changed the city map on his holo-screen into a live-feed of the large armada marching obediently through the underground city's streets.
Dutch scrunched his eyebrows at the image before him. "Capri, that's way too many. How on earth are we gonna win against not only hundreds of armed soldiers, but an army of grunt bots, and prevent the demolition from happening?"
"Pfff! I can easily take 'em all…" Texas scoffed cockily.
"Dude, this is serious! It's not just about taking them all down, it's about making sure that the residents don't get harmed!" A frantic Chuck protested.
"And even with ninja boy's talent here, there's no way we'll be able to take them all out without getting wiped out first." Dutch stated in irritation. "Face it. It's suicide!"
Capri's face contorted to a look of distress, her serious gaze falling to the ground in thought. This wasn't the first time they had to rush a plan and head out to save the day. After all, Kane was a very unpredictable man, and someone always had to clean up after his dirty work.
"I got it!" She said with ease, banging her fist into her palm at the flourishing idea, and the rest of the Burners stared back in anticipation. "We don't attack." And with her words followed confusion.
"What? Now where's the fun in that?" Of course Texas would be the one to protest.
"What other choice do we have?" She responded, and Texas folded his arms and bowed his head like an upset child. "I for one am not going to let you walk straight to your deaths. As soon as we get the location, we'll have to rush-"
"Actually, it seems like they're heading towards the Northside of district 4, almost reaching district 6." The map was before Chuck once again; his finger pointing to the moving red tracker dot on the screen.
"Perfect…" Capri's breath caught in her throat at the thought of it all, and it did not go unnoticed by her comrades. Looks of genuine concern graced their features, but none of them dared to share a thought in it.
"Okay…" Dutch started with caution in his voice, hoping to break the eerie vibe surrounding them. "So, do we have a plan for this, or is this going to be one of those pray we don't get caught sort of thing?"
Everyone's eyes fell back to their leader who was just finally coming out of her internal stupor, and she rewarded them with a determined nod. "I do, but we have quite a ride ahead of us, so I'll fill you in on the way."
The team agreed with a nod, and without complaint they went to their respective vehicles.
Her eyes were glued to the floor as she made her way to "Wild Stallion", and with each undecided step she took her mind counted each and every oil stain that patched the floor on her way. It wasn't until her eyes caught sight of a pair of bulky boots that stood right in her path that she decided to raise her gaze to meet its owner. Jacob stood right in front of her, blocking the door to her vehicle with arms lazily crossed across his bony ribcage, uneasiness painted his face.
"Hey, be careful out there."
The girl shuffled her feet in a lazy manner and nodded. Even though Jacob wasn't her father, or blood related for that matter, she still felt that caring vibe from him. After all, he was the one who took her in when she left Deluxe. Without knowing little to nothing about how to raise a little girl, he still took her in out of a pure act of compassion. He fed her even though according to her it wasn't very delightful, gave her a fresh change of clothes and a roof that has kept her safe and warm throughout all these years. Jacob didn't have any family left, and if there still ever were any relatives left of his up in Deluxe, Kane would have probably brainwashed their mind free of any recollection of his old partner by now, and maybe that's why he felt so related to Capri. They both left Deluxe out of fear of the truth. Both preferred to risk their own necks down in Motorcity rather to live in the lie that was, and still is Deluxe. And they both left everything they knew and loved behind.
Capri never speaks of what exactly was that she found out that could've caused her life back in Deluxe, but she still clings to it with such hope. Jacob narrowed his eyes at the memory… 'Whatever it is or was, it must've been pretty classified to bring Kane to the point of attempting murder on a 10 year old girl.' He shuddered at the thought, because he still couldn't get over the fact that Kane would even think about murdering a kid for his own convenience.
"I'll be fine…" She replied in a cold low tone, and Jacob frowned at her stubbornness.
"You know what I mean. Just don't push yourself too hard. I know that he's your brother, but just make sure to make the right choice…"
The leader scrunched her eyebrows and wrinkled her nose at the old man's advice, confusion written all over her face. "What do you mean?"
Jacob sighed. "I mean, to keep in mind that there are other people's lives at stake here, and there's only four of you against hundreds, plus someone you love who is not on your side…"
That last bit brought a bitter taste to Capri's mouth. The anticipation of that exact moment seems so cloudy in her own mind, and it scared her that her own flesh and blood not only had the authority, but probably enough hatred inside of him to slit her throat open and let her bleed to death. And the saddest part of it all is that deep inside she knows she won't resist. Not to him, not ever.
She seemed speechless, and there was a pregnant moment of silence before she decided to speak again. "I… Just make sure to have the storage room empty, you know… Just in case."
Jacob knew what the request truly meant, and he nodded without any thought spared. It wasn't until Chuck honked the horn on "Wild Stallion" that the leader had finally taken a grip on the whole situation. Giving a final nod to Jacob, she proceeded to finally mount her car. A fainted 'Good Luck' was sent out towards the team from Jacob before they finally sped off the garage.
/
Gloved covered hands strongly gripped the wheel, even though she thought the pressure was to distract herself from what seemed like the never ending tremors currently attacking her hands. 'Stop, stop, stop!' She begged her body, but it never complied, and she let out a long defeated sigh at the fruitless attempt. They were already five minutes into their drive, and that's when the Burner leader decided to address her team with her plan. Even though her stomach turned with nerves at the thought of it, she had no choice but to go through with it for now.
She touched a button on her console, gave Chuck a quick nod before she brought her other two teammates onto two different screens before them.
"Okay, listen up, guys. What we're about to face is probably the biggest group of soldiers we've ever come across with, and yeah, it's obvious that we're clearly outnumbered." She pointed out, and both Chuck and Dutch nodded in acknowledgement while Texas rolled his eyes and mumbled something about not being enough opponents for him. "Which means that we can't be seen by any of them. The better we keep ourselves hidden and avoid confrontation, the better chance we have to survive this whole ordeal."
"So, we're not stopping the demolition?" Chuck asked, giving Capri a look of confusion behind that long fringe of his.
"Yeah, I thought we were gonna try and stop this thing." Dutch pitched in his thought as well.
"Yeah well, the probabilities of us surviving even one minute of us begging hundreds of Ultra Elites to stop this are little to none, and I'm not willing to bargain our lives over this. The buildings have no saving, that's the cold truth. Whatever Kane wants with this sector he has already set out his entire army to conquer it, and I can bet you more than anything that he is not budging it out of his grasp. The most we can do is get the people out of there before it takes them by surprise. It won't be pretty, and I know most of them won't like the idea of abandoning their homes all of a sudden, let alone watching it fall to dust right before their eyes, but it's their safety we're focusing on today, and I'm pretty sure that they will cooperate and help spread the word among them."
The three of them nodded, and for once Capri was surprised to see that Texas was not complaining about one of her plans. She understood that the martial artist just wanted some action. After all, his body ran on a never ending adrenaline loop.
"So the way I want to do this is to make a perimeter between us and them, wherever that will be. Our cars need to remain hidden and easily accessible, they are our only hope to survive this if things were to go south, so we need the easy access."
"Now, I have special orders for each of you." Dutch and Texas both kept their eyes on the road, but spared attentive glances to their leader every once in a while.
"Dutch, since you have R.O.T.H. I need you to start warning the people about everything. If you can get the residents to help you spread the word within the buildings better!" Instructed Capri.
With a raise of his eyebrow, and worry in his eyes, Dutch brought his doubts up. "What's R.O.T.H. got to do with this? And how exactly am I going to get into the buildings? I can't just walk through the front door as if I'm just your average Joe. Nobody knows me there, and if any of those soldiers take any but a small glimpse at me I'm done for!"
Capri nodded acknowledging his concern. "R.O.T.H. can help you guide the people out to safety, and as for the entrance thing…"
"Actually I think I have an answer to that." Chuck quipped in; opening up a screen before him with numerous building blueprints popping one right after the other. "Most of these buildings have emergency back exits that can easily be accessed. I'm not entirely positive about the exact buildings that are on their list, but it must have to, it's some sort of safety protocol that needed to be imputed into buildings back in the day."
Without another word of protest, the artist nodded and accepted his tasks, earning a smile of relief from the leader whom seemed to have averted her attention to her more active team member who was surprisingly patiently awaiting for his own stack of orders. Capri's smile faltered, and she allowed herself a micro second to gaze down to her lap in thought, her eyebrows scrunched in what seemed like uncertainty. The rest of the boys could only guess what she was about to say, but never pushed her further to do so, and with a sharp intake of breath she returned her gaze to the road.
"Texas…" Her voice was heavy and dreary, and that was enough to earn the "Stronghorn" driver's attention. "You're with me." Was all she said, and Texas nodded.
"Okay… But you better have some major butt kicking planned ahead for me." Texas sang with friendly teasing to ease the mood.
The leader forced out a laugh and shook her head at her teammate's words. "Well, not exactly…" She sighed. "I just need you with me, in case I can't…" She didn't even finish her sentence. The thought alone made her sick to her stomach, but the sudden contact on her shoulder made the wave of sickness dissipate, at least temporarily.
"Capri!" Chuck called to her with a hand on her shoulder, his voice pleading and scolding at the same time. "You don't have to do this!" He said with hopeful finality to the problem, but Capri just stared at him incredulously, as if he did not comprehend any ounce of necessity she had over this. Sure she was nervous and unsure, who wouldn't be? After all, she had let her brother behind in Deluxe, technically abandoning him, and was now trying to pick up the pieces. She wasn't expecting for things to go peachy, which is precisely why she needed the strongest burner by her side on this.
"I know what I'm doing!" She snapped back, trying not to let her emotions win this time.
"But it's insane! Think about it, Cap, you're basically going kidnap the commander. Doesn't that seem wrong to you?"
"My brother!" She didn't hesitate to clarify. "He is my brother, Chuck! And I'm not going to kidnap him, I'm just bringing him home!"
Those words clung to the air with such heaviness, that Chuck was even unsure if he could actually breathe in it. There was no arguing over this, Capri had made her mind, and with one final determined look to the screen before her, she finally gave ending to her incomplete sentence to the martial artist. "Tex, you're with me in case I can't go through with it." Texas's eyes beamed with silent shock at the confession his leader had just bombarded to them, but mostly because it was him she trusted the most to carry such personal and sensitive mission. For once Capri wasn't afraid to admit the one thing that made her weak on her knees. Her own flesh and blood, her brother.
A/N: Please remember to review! Let me know what you think about the sudden update, specially since it's been so long!