The Collector

The door opened and the draculoids ran into the cell, heading straight through the still open opposite door heading for the laboratories, Korse following behind, his gun drawn and a stern, harsh expression fixed on his pale face. Briefly his eyes were drawn to the right, where the guard lay on the bed, restrained and still unconscious.

Before he had even reached the centre of the cell both doors closed and he pulled up sharply.

"Drop your weapons, Korse," a female voice spoke quietly behind him.

Turning slowly, Korse couldn't help but feel an element of admiration for the doctor. She had given the impression of having forgotten the cameras but had in fact used the situation to trap him. Now in front of him, Fielding stood with the guard's gun trained on him with one hand and the other shielding Party behind her. Lowering himself, Korse placed his gun on the floor.

"Do you really believe you'll get out of here?" He asked as Green picked up the gun.
"All your weapons, Korse," Fielding replied, ignoring his question.
"I don't have any others," he replied simply.
"Do I have to make you strip?" Fielding raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure neither of us wants that."

Korse bristled at the insult. Reaching inside his coat he drew out a second gun and handed it by the barrel to Green.

"And your knife?"
"I don't have a knife," he snapped.
"Knife!" She demanded, aiming her gun.

Reaching into his boot, Korse pulled a knife and tossed it away.

"How did you know?" He asked with a scowl.
“Because I’m not stupid and neither are you,” Fielding scowled. “Green?”

The droid approached Korse and, pulling his hands behind him, fastened the guard’s restraints around his wrists.

“So, Gerard?” Korse smiled slyly. “You’re trusting the woman who pumped you full of drugs?”
“Shut up!” Fielding snapped, forcing him out of the door. “Who should he trust? Family?”
“You won’t get out of here,” Korse promised. “It’s too well guarded.”

Now walking down the corridor, Fielding held onto the centre of the restraints around Korse’s wrists, with her gun pressed to his back. Behind her, Party walked with one of Korse’s guns, with Green bringing up the rear, walking with her back to the small group so she could protect them, occasionally turning her head to check their progress.

“I’m guessing they’ll want to keep their chief exterminator alive.”
“I wouldn’t bank on it,” Korse replied.
“Well, if they don’t, we might not get out, but you’ll be dead too and that’ll be a good day in my eyes,” she replied coldly.
“Are you getting all of this, Gerard?” Korse called back with an amused undertone. “Your trustworthy doctor friend wants me dead.”
“Don’t listen to him, Gerard,” Fielding spoke softly, concerned that Party might start to doubt her.
“I’m not,” he replied a little shakily. “He killed my dad.”
“Well now, Korse,” Fielding added. “If you’d removed that memory instead of forcing him to relive it, perhaps you wouldn’t be here now.”
“If you do escape, Doctor Fielding, don’t think I won’t hunt you down personally and exterminate you myself.”
“You’re making one hell of an assumption, Korse,” Fielding spat.
“You’re the one assuming you’ll escape,” Korse argued.
“You’re the one assuming you’ll live,” she replied grinding the barrel of the gun into his spine.

Hearing the approaching clatter of footsteps, Korse allowed himself a sly smile. About to pass a corridor leading off the main route, Korse ducked and spun around, twisting out of her grip. As he turned he lifted his leg, to kick her arm and hopefully dislodge the gun from her grasp. If he could just disappear down the other corridor the approaching draculoids could gun them down and, if he lived, recapture Party Poison. Even as his leg was in mid-air, he found himself recoiling and crashing to the floor, crying out in pain, unable to break his fall.

Fielding stared, astonished. She had been utterly taken by surprise and hadn’t managed to fire a single shot. Turning, she saw Party staring down harshly, the gun in his hand. Briefly, in his eyes, she saw what she knew must be Party Poison, but within moments he had once again regressed to age ten; there was horror in his eyes and he was swallowing hard, trying to stop himself from trembling with shock, not just at what he had done, but at how easily he had done it.

Fielding reached down to pick up Korse. At first uncooperative, he pushed himself to his feet as she pressed down on the laser beam wound in his side with her foot. Under his bloodstained shirt, his skin was broken, red and blistering.

“Are you okay?” Fielding asked Party gently before they moved off again.

Party merely nodded. Clearly he was not okay, but he had promised to be brave. If he were brave, she had told him he would see Mikey again and despite his terror, that was more important to him than anything. He would be brave; he was brave.

Stumbling toward the main exit, Korse saw the many gathered draculoids, but he was weak, in pain and with slowed reflexes; he had very few choices. Unable to trust many of the draculoids to have a good enough aim to kill Fielding and Green plus disable or disarm Party before one of them killed him he was forced to give in.

“Stand down,” he ordered through gritted teeth, partly through pain, partly through humiliation.

At first none of them moved, merely staring and aiming their weapons, their expressions unreadable behind their masks. A slight nudge with Fielding’s gun in his spine prompted him to give the order again, but more forcefully. Fielding smiled as one by one the draculoids lowered their weapons.

“Tell them to go,” Fielding instructed. “We want clear passage out of here and we’re going in your car.”
“How far do you think you’ll get?” Korse asked scornfully.
“With you in it?” Fielding pressed the gun harder into his back. “Quite far. Now tell them to go. Once we’re away, we’ll let you go but anything goes wrong or anyone follows, we’ll kill you. Got it?”
“Withdraw,” Korse instructed the draculoids. “They are to be allowed to leave and are not to be followed.”

Now in the BLI building’s lobby with its towering glass front, Fielding could see Korse’s black car parked outside. It had gone to plan and it felt almost too easy; Korse was being far too compliant. It was then that Fielding realised why - his car could be tracked. No doubt a safety device should he be ambushed while out in the desert. His men would always be able to find him. It seemed unlikely that beyond the confines of the BLI building, where Green had been able to access the main computer, that she would be able to connect to any individual devices that may be set up in the car. She had to assume, for safety's sake that not only was the car trackable, but that there were cameras and listening devices inside the car. She could take no chances. She wouldn’t risk either her own or Party’s life and once a suitable distance away from BLI she needed to consider a plan to escape detection. There was only one possibility - she needed another car.

Climbing into the driver’s seat with Party next to her, Green forced Korse into the back seat, and even though his hands were secured behind his back, she made certain to ensure that there were no weapons within reach.

“So,” Korse began. “Where are you going?”
“Nice try,” Fielding scoffed. “I know this car will have audio and visual devices and a tracker.”
“Well, if you know that,” Korse mocked, “how far do you genuinely think you’ll get?”
“You underestimate me, Korse,” Fielding replied as she pulled quickly out of the parking lot, checking her mirrors for a discreet tail.
“Somehow I doubt that,” Korse replied slyly.
“Green,” Fielding began. “As we discussed, please.”

Expecting to be blindfolded or something similar, Korse merely stared directly ahead defiantly. Unprepared for the gun butt being brought down sharply on the back of his head, Korse slipped almost soundlessly into unconsciousness.

“It’s a long shot, Green, but are you able to do anything about the tracking or monitoring devices in the car?”
“I’m not sure, Doctor,” Green replied as Fielding headed toward the tunnel out of Battery City. “If I were able to connect to the onboard computer, perhaps, but I suspect my access has been revoked by now.”
“Try anyway,” Fielding asked.
“Where are we going?” Party asked.
“The car is being monitored, Gerard,” Fielding explained. “I can’t say without risking letting BLI know.”
“Oh,” Party replied quietly. “You… you are trying to help me, aren't you?”
“Yes!” Fielding turned surprised eyes toward Party as she continued to drive as fast as she felt able. “I’m getting you out, away from the torture. I’m not going to hurt you, Gerard.”
“But are you taking me to Mikey?” He asked still uncertain; she had promised him that Mikey was safe, but he wouldn’t allow himself to believe it until he saw him with his own eyes.
“I can’t just yet, Gerard,” she sighed. “Mikey’s not with Korse, I promise you, but I can't take you to him just yet. I need to make sure you're safe first. Do you understand?”
“I… I guess,” Party frowned.
“If I take you to Mikey and they find us, he’ll be in danger too. You need to be brave a little longer,” she pleaded. “'Can you do that, Gerard?”
“Yeah,” he sighed sadly. “But he is okay?”
“He’s fine, Gerard,” she continued with her hopeful lie - she had no idea who he was. Even if she could take Party to Mikey right now, he wouldn’t recognise him. She wondered if he’d even recognise himself.

*

“Hey,” came a quiet voice.

Kobra looked up to the source of the sound to see Jet standing over him.

“Shh!” He whispered, placing a finger to his lips. “She’s asleep.”

Jet smiled to see Red draped across Kobra’s lap with the bulk of the blanket keeping her warm.

“Nobody woke Ghoul?” He asked. “Or me?”
“Well, I got up early, I had a nightmare. I sat with Red until the end of her shift. I thought I might as well swap with Ghoul as I was awake anyway but then she came back saying she couldn't sleep.”
“And you sat here through Ghoul’s watch and part of mine?”
“I didn’t want to wake her up,” Kobra smiled up.
“Get some rest, Kobra.”
“But…”
“She’s well away,” Jet smiled at his commitment. “Carry her in, she won’t wake up.”
“Okay,” Kobra smiled in return. “I could use a couple of hours.”
“We’ll let you sleep as long as possible.”
“Don’t eat breakfast without me!”
“'Of course not,” Jet gave a light chuckle as he stepped aside to let Kobra past, carrying the still sleeping Red and giving him a light pat on the back as he walked in.
“Do I need to wake Kami?” Kobra asked, concerned about what Ghoul’s reaction would be to finding her snuggled up to him and dressed as Party.
“No,” Jet laughed quietly. “I’ve already convinced her to go upstairs to her own bed.”

Kobra shared a broad smile with Jet; Kami was a very good friend, but she was also very eccentric at times. They appreciated the fact that felt that she could be herself around them and knew they wouldn’t judge. It made them sad to think that this was what BLI was fighting.

“Sleep well, Kobra.”
“Thanks, Jet,” Kobra replied, genuinely appreciative of the chance for a few hours of sleep.

*

Pulling into the underground parking lot of a tall, beautiful block of apartments in Battery City, Fielding brought Korse’s car to halt in a dark corner of the structure before stepping quickly and quietly from the car, signalling for Party and Green to follow her. She approached a silver car and reaching behind the front wheel fished out a set of keys, sighing with relief as she did.

“Your car?” Party asked.
“A friend’s,” she replied. “It’s what’s going to get us out of here.”
“Won’t he or she miss it?” Party asked.
“I have a feeling he’s already been killed by BLI,” she replied sadly as she reflected on her inability to reach the friend that she had replaced.
“I’m sorry,” Party said, a genuine look of sadness on his face.
“Come on,” she opened the doors and trunk. “Green, I’m afraid you’re easy to spot with your hair, do you mind hiding in the trunk? Gerard, I need you in the back, so you can lie down and hide.”
“I can’t leave with you,” Green announced. “My batteries won’t function beyond the walls of Battery City.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not true,” Fielding replied with a frown. “Just something to keep you here.”

Green paused, uncertain what to do. She was programmed to protect Gerard but more than that, if she stayed she would likely be dismantled. Either way, her existence seemed unlikely.

“I’ll come,” she nodded climbing into the trunk. “If you're right, I'm of greater use with you than I am here.”
“Are you ready, Gerard?” Fielding asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I’m ready.”

Party took a deep breath. Something was telling him that the sooner they left Battery City, the better. He didn't know why but somehow he was comfortable with the idea.

“Let's go,” he added, climbing into the back seat.

Notes

Hi my lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and Korse's humiliation at underestimating the doctor. So, Party has escaped, at least for now, but will he remember who he is? Plus, the guys are about to rescue android Party - how will that go, I wonder?

Would be great to hear your thoughts on this :)

Take care
Sas xx