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===[CHAPTER 28: MISFIT]===

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Being freed from solitary was a fever dream. Eli’s mind hardly processed the images as they floated by. It didn’t feel real to him. There were shapes, objects, faces, maybe even people. But none of it was there. Probably more accurately, he was the one that wasn't there. It had only been two days at most spent in solitary confinement, and it was enough to shatter his hold on reality. Had Chief Ani and Otaes not saved him, what would've happened then? Sanity may have flown out of that bullet proof window. He wondered what he would've been like if he was insane - provided he wasn't already insane, which was a genuine possibility. He was a lot of things right now, and nothing at all - all at once. He didn't know how he felt as the guards walked him out of his solitary cell and into the outside world. He wasn't even focused on that specifically. Instead, he was a million miles away. Earth? Narva? Maybe. He felt like he was leaving the Solar System, flying past Jupiter and kissing the rings of Saturn as he flew past. Playing pool with the shiny blue Neptune and Uranus. Swimming through the asteroids, further and further... Billions of miles away. Somewhere where Overwatch could never find him again no matter how many portals they opened.

He was processed, issued a new uniform, and his monitor was again reprogrammed. A solitary regime replaced with that of a normal Penal Unit. He felt a rush of relief wash over his psyche when he saw the glowing monitor display his ordinary penal unit regime once again, normal orders, normal assignments. His prison extension had not been reversed, but at the very least - he wasn't in solitary for all of it. Accompanied by guards, he was taken out of the prison and sent to the inner barracks. Where the rest of the penal unit lived. The provisional tents in the field had been replaced by blocks of metal housing. Cheap housing at that. The barracks looked more like slums than they did actual barracks. Yet it was better than the solitary cells by miles.

The security units holding Eli stopped in front of one of the long metal boxes that they called a barrack. Iron bars filling the windows of the front steel door segregated the dark interior from the open air. The muggy tropical weather had created a somewhat dank smell that emanated from the barrack's interior. A security unit took out his mess of keys, finding the appropriate one to slot inside of the steel door - and with a creaky groan, it slid open.

Inside, there were four bunk beds and little else. Just some chairs, a table, and a few windows that were both barred and covered by that same impenetrable glass. It was obvious that Overwatch had reinforced the security now that The Nexus was no longer in any immediate danger - for now. The gaps in security that had even made Misfit's escape attempt possible in the first place had all been smoothed over. No longer were the prisoners kept in cloth tents with no real way to close the doors. This was it, the real deal. He was still in the penal unit, but the amount of relief he felt to at least be a prisoner outside of the Solitary Cells was immense. Of all things, he’d never thought he would be happy to be back in 'The Pen'.

The Security Units shoved him inside without much care at all and locked the door behind him. Leaving Eli in the shadowy interior of the room as the crunch of the security units' boots against gravel faded into the distance.. There was a light hanging from the ceiling, but either it was disconnected or broken - or both. His eyes drifted to one of the available beds, slowly he slinked his way towards one. Clambering his way towards the bottom bunk, and laying down on its surface. It was rough, it was hard, and he swore he could feel one of the springs stabbing him in the ribs. But it was better than sleeping on the solitary floor.

He ought to tally Otaes' favor, if they were to ever meet again. He knew for sure that she would. He owed her twice now. First, she saved Misfit from those wolves. Now, she got him out of solitary confinement. If they ever did meet once more, he'd have to find a way to repay her. Surely. Somehow...

As he stared at the bottom of the bunk above him, he noticed that he had a small view out the window just next to his head. It wasn't much. Just the steel barrack next to them and the crown of one of those squat palm trees that he thought looked like giant pineapples. He almost didn't notice the flock of blackbirds that had taken up residence within the crown of sharp green leaves inside. And a lone dove among their ranks.

The birds. There was something about those birds. Not just any birds though, specifically those two. And every time he thought of them... the image of that thing kept coming back to him. He had seen it, standing there back in Raritan. Only for a brief second. But it was there. So was he just seeing shit from his dreams now? Was that normal? Maybe a side effect from the portal? Actually, now that he thought about it - were they sure that the portal was safe? What if it gave him cancer or something...

He was letting the jungle heat get to him. Sighing, he closed his eyes. Waiting for the rest of his squad to be returned.

Eventually, there was another jingle at the door. The locks were undone, and standing there in the doorway was Dutch being escorted inside. The thin stubble around his face had grown noticeably darker. His hair wild and unkempt. His uniform dirty and visibly soiled. He held his new uniform in a plastic package. Eli could only imagine how he himself looked; it was a while since he last saw himself in a mirror.

Dutch shakily locked eyes with Eli as he walked in. He took a seat on another available bed across from his. Dutch's normally friendly demeanor looked distant. Hands folded, eyes staring at something in the distance. He looked a bit on edge. Eli couldn't blame him.

"You mind if I..." Dutch's usually bright voice was tempered by a low grunt. He held up his new uniform's package in his hand, gesturing to it. Eli averted his gaze to let the man change. There were no private doors or stalls in here after all. Eli turned back to the palm tree, but all the birds were gone now. Flying off somewhere else. Odd. When Dutch slipped into his new uniform, nothing else was said between the two men. There was a lot to say, but it wasn't the time now. Dutch probably felt the same way Eli had, somehow defeated and relieved at the same time. They had been saved - sure. But they were stuck on Narva now...

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Perhaps forever.

Then Rafael. Eli wasn't sure what he was expecting Rafael to look like, but his abnormally meek and quiet posture certainly wasn't it. He carried wounds on his face that Eli swore weren't there before. Had they been... torturing him? He could very well see the guards beating Rafael, the revolutionary-wannabe, just for the kick of it. The wounds on his face had little time to heal, and though they weren't major - they were noticeable.

Then came Badger. Like Dutch, she looked terrible. Messy. Hurt. Not nearly as bad as Rafael, but enough to get the fact that she'd spent the past few days in solitary confinement. Once again she said nothing, looking out by the door for the rest of the squad to enter.

Then Omar. Omar looked beyond relief when he finally locked eyes with Eli.

And then there was Matteo. Out of everyone, he was the one that looked the most drained. The bags under his eyes had grown a few shades noticeably darker, his face more hollow, his posture beaten and depressed. How could he not be? Eli had six months left and the extension of five years was soul crushing enough. Matteo had two months... he must've hated Eli. And he had every right to. In fact, as the man heaved his way inside - he noticed that Matteo refused to meet Eli's gaze. He kept an eye on Matteo. There was no telling what was going through his mind right now. Matteo trudged past everyone, saying nothing, doing nothing except for making his way towards an available bunk out near the back of the barrack.

And then... Cato.

He never came. Eli stared at the doorway half expecting him to show up. But he would never. They started off with seven and now Misfit was down one. He felt uneasy thinking about it. His hands had started to shake. He thought of things he could’ve done. Would’ve’s, could’ve’s, should’ve’s. They all came to mind. But what was done was done. Cato was dead. Misfit was down to six. They were not invincible. They probably never were...

“It’s not right…” Dutch said, finally breaking the silence. He sat on the edge of his bed, with Badger's hand barely grazing his auburn hair from her spot above him, “It just isn’t right.”

“How’s that?” Asked Rafael.

“Cato shouldn’t have died out there.”

“He said it himself. We’re prisoners. We’re supposed to die. At least he got what he wanted. He died free," Matteo said. As was expected of him. He didn't seem to like Cato. Or really care at all.

“But we could’ve saved him!” Omar said, “The Elves! They moved him from the hospital! If we kept him there, he wouldn’t have been in harms way! Or if we put him… somewhere. We could’ve kept him alive if we just tried harder!”

Matteo sighed, “It’s not their fault. It’s nobody’s fault. You can’t predict when someone’s gonna die, you know? No use beating ourselves over something we have no control of.”

“But we did! He was unconscious! We could’ve moved him somewhere safe! We’re a squad! A family! Isn’t that what family does? Are we seriously just going to shrug our shoulders and say that nothing could’ve been done when one of our own gets killed?” He looked over towards Eli, “You told me that! We’re family! We’re Misfit! We’re supposed to look out for each other. Right?”

Eli looked away from Omar’s gaze. He felt ashamed of himself. He abandoned Omar once, watching helplessly as the guards dragged him away in their moment of weakness. Allowing it to happen. Resigning himself to letting the dream die.

“Right?”

He sighed, looking back up at Omar, nodding.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“He is?” Badger asked.

“He is. We’re Misfit. We’re out here on our own, far, far away from our homes. If we even had homes in the first place. We got out of prison because the Elves were impressed by what we did out there.”

Misfit was silent as they listened to him. He had to restore their confidence somehow. This brief stint in prison could never happen again. They got lucky. Once more and the dream would truly be dead. They had to make their every move count. They needed unity. Or else, they would end up dead. Just like Cato.

“From here on out, we’re not just a squad. We look out after each other. We protect each other. We fight for each other. Because nobody else will. The only thing we have is each other. If there’s a decision to be made, we make it as a whole,” Eli leaned forward, feeling more confident in his words as he said them. Misfit was still silent. They were listening. That’s all he wanted them to do, “If we decide to fight back against Kovic, we fight back together. If we decide to wait it out, we do so as a squad. But no matter what, we stick together. We survive.”

Eli stretched out his hand, balling it into a fist, “Together. I need you guys. I can’t do this alone.”

“None of us can. We all need someone watching our backs,” Badger placed her fist next to Eli’s, grinning from ear to ear, “I’ll look after you, you look after me. We’ll get through this.”

Eli returned the smile. Looking over towards Rafael who approached with an equally large look of satisfaction, “Ah, see… that’s the revolutionary spirit I’m waiting for! You can’t conquer what you cannot divide.” Rafael placed his fist in the circle.

Of course, Omar placed his fist in, looking right up into Eli’s eyes, “You promised that you’d get me and everyone else here back home. I’m still holding you up to that.”

“I was hoping you’d forgotten,” He joked, causing Omar to giggle with laughter.

Dutch placed his fist in too, "Cato shouldn't have died out there. But while we're alive, we can show them that they won't break the rest of us."

And lastly was Matteo. He was hesitant to do so. Watching from afar. But eventually, his fist joined the circle of everyone else’s, “Eli…”

He looked up at the old man. There was pain in his eyes. Fear even. He was uncertain of the future ahead. Eli knew what Matteo was going to say, “Just do your job. I don’t think they reversed our sentence extensions… so just keep us alive. Keep us together.”

“I’ll try.”

“There is no trying. You either do, or you don’t.”

“Then I will.”

Matteo, for the first time that Eli could see, smiled. A real, genuine smile. Not one buried under layers of hopelessness and nihilism. But a real one, “Good.”

Misfit would have to endure. If they didn’t, they would all die. And they all knew that for a fact.

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