She tried to stand up, but her legs gave out. She cursed, and tried again. And again. And again. When she finally managed to stand up on wobbly legs, blood dripping from her flank, it lasted only for as long as it took the teenager to knock her back down with their bat.

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

For a while, Cordelia couldn’t quite remember where she was. She could see nothing, so she listened. There was… a voice. Soft, and familiar. Like a distant memory. Who…

Amaal, my love.

...But no, the voice was here. It wasn’t a memory.

If only she could wake up…

Ouch.

Cordelia curled over from the pain, and everything came back.

Misha Malenkov had found her.

“Mom! Mom, are you alright?”

Cordelia opened her eyes. Deb’ was kneeling over her, cheeks streaked with tears. Their hair was a mess coronating a face of dark brown sand with a halo of waves. Was Deb’ the voice that she’d heard?

“Mom!” they cried out, and Cordelia’s answer died out on her lips as she was caught in a very tight hug. She was startled at first, but then Deb’ started sobbing in the crook of her neck and she hugged them back, holding their small body in her arms the way she always had. Everything hurt - her face, her stomach, her heart. But she was still alive.

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*

After a while, when Deb’s sobbing had subsided, Cordelia asked them to help her get on her feet. She looked around, relief feeling her lungs. They were all still alive.

Will and Danton were holding hands, foreheads touching, whispering private words a few feet away from Tina, who stood with the light of the sun shining off of her like a moon, and Andy next to her, taller than she’d ever been. In front of them both lay the body of Misha Malenkov.

“Is she…”

Deb’ followed her line of sight, and they started walking. “Dead? No. We were waiting for you to wake up.”

“I’m not the one she kidnapped.”

“Andy doesn’t need the weight of a death on her shoulders.”

“True,” Cordelia sighed.

Andy caught her gaze and came toward them, frowning.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Cordelia said, waving away her concerns. “Is anyone else hurt?”

“Danton took a blow, but he’s fine.”

Cordelia nodded, then gestured towards Misha. “What about her?”

Andy turned around to give the body a look, and turned back with conflict clearly etched in the lines of her face. “Unconscious. She’ll live though.”

“You should have seen the kick Andy threw in her face, it was fucking majestic. Asshole over there didn’t see it coming at all,” Deb’ added with a grin, and Andy flushed an interesting shade of red.

Cordelia shot her kid a curious look and Deb’ simply shrugged, big grin blooming across her face.

A groan came from Misha’s body then, and all the smiles vanished.

*

She looked terrible by all account, though Cordelia doubted she was any better. There was dirt everywhere, countless bruises deformed her face, and a large stream of blood maculated her suit all the way down to her right foot from the knife Cordelia’d planted her with; her right shoulder was bloody, too, and the fabric there was burnt. Her body reeked of sweat, blood and burning flesh.

“I don’t understand,” she said to Cordelia’s feet. “Why are all your minions so determined to fight for you?”

At first Cordelia thought it was a joke. But then she met Misha’s eyes - they were such tiny, tiny worlds... In spite of herself, an ocean of pity swelled within her for this lonely galaxy. So she crouched over Misha, and bent closer to her ear.

“They’re not my minions. They’re my family.”

Then she pulled a knife out of her boot and with a swift, clean movement, Cordelia slit the Hero’s throat.