~= Louis =~

(Three Hours Before Reid Broke Out)

Louis couldn't scream, and he couldn't move. Bertrand had his nose pressed against Louis's own - and madness danced in the dark of his eyes.

Terror and helplessness held him just as tightly as Bertrand's skill, and he struggled to think clearly. Reid couldn't save him - he was still stuck in the cage.

Louis needed to think. Just to think.

His skill.

His skill had allowed him to shove his despair aside after Oscar's death - maybe it could help him think clearly now, to escape his situation. Or - maybe it would at least let him face the end of his life free of fear and anguish.

He activated Ease Affliction.

Louis felt a pool of energy within him flare, then shoot out like rivers of electricity. They tingled deep underneath his skin, and flowed up through his body. He had the sense that something had been burned up inside of him, and it was drifting away like bits of ash. He'd never felt that before - at least, it hadn't happened when he used the skill back in the forest. It was complex and interesting and felt right in a hundred ways he couldn't put into words.

The pain of the knife on his throat snapped his thoughts back into focus. Bertrand was there, ready to kill him and savoring every moment. He needed to break free. He still felt half suffocated.

Louis sucked in a breath through his nose -

And realized he could breathe.

If he could breathe, he could move, and if he could move, he could run.

He could fight.

He could live.

Louis snatched the knife out of Bertrand's loose grip before he consciously knew what he was doing, and he instinctively kicked the older man away. Bertrand's face was full of shock and disbelief, and he fell back from his crouch onto the ground. Louis threw the knife at him. He didn't wait to see if it connected. His feet carried him out into the night, with one hand pressed hard into his neck to stop the bleeding.

The night air was cool, and the camp was mostly quiet. Lanterns burned all around, but most of Bertrand's men seemed to be asleep. Shouts and roars of pain sounded out behind him. He didn't have time to sneak around - he needed to get out of the camp now, before the commotion woke everyone up. His head swiveled.

The fires in the camp were all so bright, it took Louis precious seconds to figure out which way the walls were. When he realized their direction, he took off in a sprint.

Flickering light and canvas walls seemed to blur as he passed them. Each step felt like a tiny miracle - one more second of freedom and life. Louis pushed himself to be faster. He needed to escape this place - and not just for himself.

Bertrand's forces were well armed. Not with the melee weapons they'd used against the salamanders - but with enough guns and ammunition to kill all of Sanctuary's residents. Louis needed to warn them. They needed to know what was coming - and they needed to know they couldn't stop it. If he got there quick enough, he could have them evacuate. His legs pounded against the ground, and his lungs started to burn, but he pushed himself through it. The flickering light and canvas fell away from the sides of his vision as he entered the open field between the camp and the gate. His vision hadn't adjusted to the dark. His foot caught on a bit of uneven ground, and Louis stumbled.

He caught his fall with both hands, and lunged forward. His legs lifted high above the grass. Sanctuary's gate was ahead, like the welcoming arms of some friendly god.

There was more shouting behind him. Dozens of voices called out. If the camp was up, he had no reason left to worry. Louis added his voice to the night air.

"HELP! It's Louis! We have to evacuate!"

He recognized James and Walt standing on the battlement. Walt scrambled to open the gate. Louis didn't stop shouting while it parted.

"They have guns - they're coming for the beacon - we need to get everyone to safety! Bertrand has a skill th-"

The cracks of gunfire shattered the night air.

Louis was four steps from Sanctuary's entrance.

He fell to his knees.

Above, James was shouting. Walt had reversed his action, and was shutting Sanctuary's gate.

Louis's fading vision tunneled on the closing doors.

He'd made it so close to home.

His hand reached out - Sanctuary was right there.

If he could just touch it, everything would be fine.

He would be fine.

The world went black, and his body hit the ground.

Blood pooled in the dirt around Louis, flowing freely from the hole at the base of his skull.

----------------------------------------

+ Reid +

As Bertrand's form slipped out of the tent, his fridge-looking bodyguard rushed towards Reid. Fridge cocked back his massive arm, and sent a fist the size of a turkey straight at Reid's head.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Reid raised his hand to block it. Knuckles connected with Reid's open palm - but Reid hadn't stopped the momentum. The back of Reid's hand smashed into his own face as he turned to lessen the force of the blow. He stumbled backward a few steps. Blood pooled inside his mouth, and he spat out a mouthful. No one in Sanctuary was even close to matching Reid's power stat. He couldn't even imagine someone beating him in a contest of strength. But this monster had just sent him reeling.

Fridge let out a full-bellied laugh. "Yeah, that's right. I can crack you like an egg, little man." He patted his arm. "Boss wanted me to put all my points in power, but I think 26 is enough, don't you?"

Fridge sprinted forward, closing the distance between them in a way that seemed impossibly fast for someone of his bulk. His turkey-fist split the air, and Reid barely managed to duck out of the way. A follow up kick from the big man landed on Reid's thigh and sent him tumbling backwards.

"Yeah, that's right. You know, I had to get almost twenty minutes of healing after I choked you out. So this? This is payback. You hit hard, little man - but I hit harder."

The man sprinted to close distance again, and Reid slashed out with his bone knife. It looked like it was going to connect - but the man's arm shifted, and his hand clamped down on Reid's wrist. The fridge raised his free hand and drove it into Reid's stomach twice. Then he flung Reid off to the side.

"How did you stop the boss's skill? Huh? I want to know. I'm level 11, and he can still use it on me. I want to be able to fight him. Come on, tell me." The man ended his sentence by sending another kick towards Reid's thigh. He managed to jump out of the way, and avoided the follow-up punch.

"Tell me how you did it, and I'll make it quick."

Heat was building in Reid's chest. The man in front of him literally had more power, and he was obviously an experienced brawler. Reid needed to find an opening, and start dealing some damage. If the man wasn't lying about his power and level, he couldn't have too much in the way of constitution - not compared to Reid, at least. If he could start to weaken the man, the tide of the fight might turn in Reid's favor. He focused on his chest, and his growing frustration.

Maybe there was another option. Maybe he could use his rage.

Another series of attacks left Reid jumping and spinning, but one still landed on his shoulder. It ached with pain. Reid let his frustration build, and felt the waves within him churn and rise. Heat flowed out into him, and into his muscles - power flowing through his frame.

He kept himself above the waves, letting the power flow in, while refusing the overwhelming anger that threatened to take over his rational thinking.

Reid launched himself towards the fridge. He raised his knife like he was going in for a slash, then stopped his momentum as he brought his other arm around in a punch that landed on the man's face. He stumbled backwards, and raised an eyebrow at Reid, as Reid's follow up kick hit him in the arm.

The man returned his own flurry of blows, frowning deeper when Reid managed to catch the one he didn't dodge.

Then his eyes went wide. He pointed at Reid and chuckled. "Yes! Yes! Little man - you've got a skill to get stronger! Extra power, extra speed. Good! The boss doesn't like me using this inside, but I bet I can do it for you."

Reid saw energy collect and pulse through the big man's body. His fists started to glow. A grin spread across the big man's face, illuminated by his fists, and the flickering lantern light.

"I get stronger too."

He drove forward in a blur and slammed three blows into Reid before he could raise a guard. Each hit felt like a cinderblock slamming into his pre-system body. A kick landed on Reid's side, and he felt a rib shift in a way ribs weren't supposed to. The man's foot stomped down on his own, and the intense pain blinded Reid for a moment.

This was bad. Very bad.

Fridge's blows kept landing, even as Reid lashed out with punches and slashes of his own.

He was outmatched by the man's fighting skill, and now - even while fueled by his rage, Reid was coming up short in power.

Maybe if he'd had time to strengthen himself, the fight would be going differently. His power cap was higher now. His constitution had room to grow as well - he just needed time to apply the changes.

Time he definitely didn't have.

Fridge's massive fist slammed into Reid's arm when he tried another slash, and the bone knife tumbled to the ground. Reid made the mistake of watching it fall, and got a punch to the collarbone for his poor judgement. He sailed backwards, hit the ground, and rolled.

By the time Reid was back on his feet, Fridge was walking towards him.

He twirled Reid's knife in his hand.

"This is getting boring, and I have to go check on the boss. You were better than most, little man. But you weren't better than me."

Fridge's arm shot out and grabbed Reid's wrist faster than he could react.

He tried to pull his arm free.

Reid braced his entire body and flexed it against the hold, but nothing worked. The man's grip was like a vise.

The knife was moving.

Reid kicked and pulled, trying to funnel his rage into his blows - to do something to break the larger man's hold and stop him.

The knife was coming at Reid's head.

Both feet dug into the ground, trying desperately to get him out of the way of the larger man's strike.

Then, something shifted. The sole of Reid's left boot twisted, popped, and tore itself free.

Reid was sent off balance, falling low and swinging in towards his opponent. A massive hand grazed Reid's hair as his head swung under the Fridge's knife strike.

Reid's mind worked in overdrive. Fridge still held onto one of his arms. A follow up blow would be coming. Reid needed to do something to fight back - to get free. The idea lit up in his mind - he was low to the ground, and close to a soft target.

Reid quickly balled a fist, powered his arm with rage - and punched Fridge as hard as he could in the groin. Something popped under the force of his blow.

The big man whimpered and let go of Reid's wrist. His knife fell to the ground.

Reid punched him again - then rolled out of the way as Fridge doubled over and fell to the ground.

Blood was running down both his legs as his hands desperately tried to protect his body from damage already done. Reid picked his bone knife up off the ground, and walked over to the whimpering hulk.

Part of Reid wanted to gloat.

He wanted to taunt the man about cracked eggs, to flex his own power and might and boast that he would be even more powerful when he had time to improve himself. He wanted to tell the big man he was a coward, and a bully, and that he was trash. But he didn't.

Instead, Reid crouched down and thrust the knife into the base of Fridge's neck, and pulled up towards the crown of his head. The man's skull offered little resistance compared to a salamander, and a mix of cranial fluid and blood leaked out onto the ground.

This wasn't a good fight.

Reid had been weaker than his opponent - even if he was more durable. He'd come up lacking in fighting ability, and may have died if the bigger man had used his skill from the beginning. He'd just gotten incredibly lucky.

Something wet touched Reid's left foot, and he instinctively jumped up. His left boot was now just a leather shell that left his foot exposed where the sole should've been.

He stared at the pieces of rubber sole sitting on the ground. Lucky...

If they hadn't broken... if Reid had told Sara he didn't like them... if she hadn't found the boots in the first place... he wouldn't be alive.

Wind whipped against the tent, and blew the door flap slightly open. Dawn's light flashed into the room for a moment, then disappeared.

Reid put his knife to his left boot, and slashed the laces.

He pulled off the leather, and set it reverently on the ground.

At some point, he'd take time to ruminate on what just happened.

Right now, Reid still needed to figure out what was going on with his family, with Louis, and with Sanctuary.

Reid made circles with both arms, and groaned when a dozen spots on his body - including a very not-fine rib - complained with pain.

He decided in that moment that there was a happy point between being in pain, and suffocating in comfort. He also decided that's exactly where he wanted to be. Reid added healing to his priority list.

Voices rose outside the tent. Reid put a hand on his aching rib and sucked in a deep breath - wincing again as the rib shifted. He didn't have time to stall the next fight.

Reid headed for the exit, and threw open the flap.