FOUR

Location: City of Haven, Nightclub

Date: April 27th, 2037

Time: 21:40

Hatsu and Riley watched the bartender talk with some albino boy.. "He's taking so long. I wanted another one of these." Hatsu said, holding up her empty margarita glass.

"You and me both." Riley said, holding her own empty glass. "That weird looking kid must be involved with him somehow. They're ding something fishy."

"You're just paranoid. Cheer up! Wouldn't kill you to have fun for once!"

Riley was going to counter but noticed that Hatsu's attention had already landed on someone else. Down the bar was a lone boy with soft features and long blonde hair. He sat in a crop top and black skirt and was drinking a shirley temple. Hatsu had found a target.

In what seemed an instant, she was sitting next to him and leaned in close. "Hey there, cutie." She said, giving him a wink and a finger gun. She wasn't able to stop the hiccup that came afterward. She was clearly drunk. She had come into the club drunk, and the margarita was keeping her up there.

For such a large woman, her lack of limbs meant she had much less biological structure and less blood than a normal person. Even though her cybernetics gave her the appearance of someone who could handle her liquor, she was in fact the opposite. A light weight did not even begin to describe how susceptible she was to alcohol.

"Um, hi." The boy managed, his face a little red as his eyes darted away from her. He was clearly uncomfortable, unsure what to say. His shyness only made her more excited.

"What brings you here, you got a name?" She asked.

"I'm, Jasper." He managed, taking an uncomfortable sip from his drink and trying to look away to disassociate.

"Aw, that's an adorable name, just like you! What do you say I buy you another drink?" She asked, leaning on the counter and looking over it. She had forgotten the bar tender was busy and was staring at just a bottle rack with a vacant floor. In her attempt to look cool, she failed.

"Um.," The boy started.

Hatsu sighed. "He's over there. I forgot. When he get's back then!" She said excitedly and leaned back in close. The boy was no taller than five foot six. He was a thin, frail looking boy with soft features and yellow eyes that matched his hair. Hatsu was fighting the urge to comment on how pretty they were but didn't want to sound creepy. "What are you doing here alone? Why don't you come back to my place with-"

She was slapped on the back of her head and stopped mid sentence with a yelp. She tirned to see Riley standing behind her with an annoyed look.

"Owww!" Hatsu complained, rubbing her head where it hurt. "What was that for?"

"Stop scaring the poor boy, you're being really forward and aggressive."

"I didn't mean to, he's just so cute!" She argued back. Riley slapped her upside the head again, but heard the boy speak up before she could scold her partner more.

"Um, who are you guys?" He asked.

"Sorry kid. This is-"

"I'm Hatsu!" Hatsu interrupted. "And that's Riley, we're partners!" She said before feeling another slap on the back of her head. "What now?" She protested, turning back to Riley. Riley was being especially brutal with it, and she was not pleased.

"Don't interrupt me." Riley scolded.

"You guys are together? Then why are you flirting with me?" The boy asked meekly. They were both huge and scary looking. They looked like gangsters, one with robotic limbs and the other covered in piercings and tattered clothes, not dressed at all for the club, or any social event.

"Oh you innocent thing!" Hatsu said, turning back around in her spinning bar stool to face him. "We're in an open relationship. Whoever, whenever, and I just happened to notice you sitting here." She explained, booped his nose.

Riley's eyes widened and she couched a bit. "W-wait! But we're – no. we're"

"She's very shy." Hatsu took over. "She doesn't show it but she's just a softy on the inside, it's adorable."

Riley went red. "Shut up!" She said, "We're partners in other things!"

Jasper looked confused, and still uncomfortable.

"Well, yeah. In crime, and love, all the good stuff."

Riley gave up and just sat down on the stool beside them. Hatsu was in between them, ignoring her partner now for this boy. Riley was done babysitting, she was too embarrassed to keep engaging with them. There was nothing she could do to help the poor boy anymore, he was on his own.

"So yeah, you look lonely. Come dance with me and then come back to my place! We can have fun all night!"

"Um. No thanks." The boy said.

"Oh, don't be like that, I'm a fun time you know." Hatsu said, giving him a wink.

The boy was blushing, and just took another sip of his drink. The sip didn't end, and soon enough, the straw ran empty.

"You sure you don't want another?" Hatsu asked. "What's a pretty thing like you doing here all alone anyway?"

"I was supposed to meet a friend." He said, not really looking up from the ice cubes in his otherwise empty glass. "But they haven't shown up, I think they ditched me. They always do."

"Sounds like you have some shit friends." Hatsu said, leaning away and taking a less forward approach as she spun back to face the bar. "I don't have any friends. Just Riley really. She's all I got, and I'm all she's got. That's what I mean when I say we're partners, we're a team!"

The boy looked up more intently as she spoke, she was much less aggressive all the sudden, less forward and scary and more serious.

"Oh hey, you should come with us! You don't have any friends so you can be ours!" He knew she didn't meant to be rude, she was clearly not a social expert, but that comment did hurt a little. "How old are you?"

"Twenty." He said. "I don't know, I can't really go anywhere."

"He's probably a student Hats. Don't drag him into our life, he probably has shit going for him."

"I'm actually here to work at a hospital." The boy said, for some reason feeling a little more comfortable. They still seemed scary and crazy, but he at least had someone to talk to for a bit instead of sitting alone before he went home.

"Med student?" Riley asked, looking over.

He shook his head. "Not really. I um...I can heal people." He now had both of their attentions, which was not easy to get from Hatsu. "I think maybe I can be useful."

"Oh! That's cool!" Hatsu said excitedly. "You'd be super useful to us! We need someone to heal us when we get hurt!"

"Do you get hurt a lot?"

"She does." Riley said, taking out a cigar and lighting it.

Hatsu rubbed the back of her head and gave an innocent smile. "Yeah."

"What is it you do anyway?" He asked.

"We're mercenaries, bounty hunters, assassins." Riley said, "Anything for money. At least that's why I do it. Hatsu here generally enjoys it, she likes blowing things up. It's an obsession."

Hatsu kept that innocent smile, masking the frustrations of her partner clearly trying to make her lose this boy. She was not the wing woman she was supposed to be, this always happened. It was times like this where Hatsu really wondered why she brought Riley along with her to clubs.

"So, you're the one they call Bones." Karma said. "I've seen your name come up a lot recently. A lot of people in high places are interested in you. There are a certain five someone's who want to know how you got in and just what it is you do. Did you get roped in? Maybe found your way in? Are you an Overworld affiliate? I don't see any organization under your name but then again there is strangely not a lot on your file."

"So then you must be a person in a pretty high place too if you have access to files." The bartender replied.

"You could say that." Karma said. There was a pause. "Look, I don't want to be doing this either. It's late, I want to go home, I didn't even want to be here in the first place but you know how it goes, I don't really have a choice when I'm told to do shit so if you can just tell me what I want to know I can be on my way and we can both get on with our night, yeah? I've dealt with enough bullshit tonight and I just want to go home."

"Do you think we can talk about this somewhere more private friend?" Bones asked, looking around. "As to not disturb the customers. We really shouldn't be talking about this in public."

Karma sighed and leaned away from the counter. "Fine, I suppose we can do that." He said. He stood up from his seat and motioned discreetly for Serina to stay put. Bones wiped off the counter before tossing away the rag and leaving the bar. Karma had no idea where they were going, he just followed the man into the crowd which seemed to part ways for them. They were both strange looking, but Bones walked with such authority that people seemed to assume he held power.

Karma got many looks from the people who seemed to stop with their dancing and partying to watch him pass before slowly resuming their rave. Karma didn't like it, he had no idea where he was being taken, and Bones was keeping at a distance where Karma wouldn't be able to speak to him through the noise. He was walking into an unknown, and that was never something he was comfortable with.

Bones led Karma out of an employee door in the back of the building to the alley behind the club. It was the same area by the dumpsters he had met Theta, and he was greeted with the smell of trash, the feeling of cool night air against his skin, the quieting of music and thumping as the door closed, muffling the sounds of inside, and a feeling of sharp pain in his side.

Karma paused, confused something had hit him, penetrated his skin, sent a shooting pain up and down his body. He looked down, there was a hand. It wasn't his hand, it was the hand of the man who he was following, the one who was holding the door for him as he came through, the man who he had passed on his way out. His hand was against his stomach, a blade like protrusion of bone sticking out of the side of his wrist and japed into Karma's flesh.

"If you think I will just come quietly, or let you take me out, you're mistaken." The bone was sharp, and deep into him, likely puncturing his kidney, Karma wasn't sure.

Karma did all he could not to scream in the pain, but instead let out a loud grunt as Bones tried to press the makeshift blade into him further. Karma had enough, and back handed the man, throwing him off his feet and hurling him into the building wall beside the door. The force of the hit had shattered multiple of the man's ribs, and he nearly splattered against the wall, the sound of breaking bones echoing through the alley way. He was unconscious immediately, and though Karma didn't check, he was certain he was dead.

Karma stumbled back, clutching the wound and grabbing the door handle. He heard the rapid noises of bones breaking, dislocating and relocating as he looked down at the mangled, twisted remains of Bones that was not twitching, each limb moving individually, one at a time. His body was piecing back together, all the broken bones reorienting themselves coherently as his now mess of a skeleton reorganized itself after the impacts which had destroyed it. Karma wasted no time.

He swung the door open and stumbled through. His hand did a pour job of keeping the blood at bay, and much of it fell through, leaving a trail of blood across the nightclub floor as he stumbled across the field of tables and then the dance floor, making his way back to the bar. The pulsating music grating at his ears as he pushed through a crowd of clubbers and dancers who seemed to take little notice of the blood, but still gave him the same strange looks he had received before. There was no panic, which was a good thing as he would have been in the middle of it. They must have thought he was just very drunk, stumbling around.

Serina saw him coming up, and then saw the blood. She ran over to him with a worried look and went to offer an arm. He practically fell onto her, trying to keep his breath steady and ignore the pain.

"What the hell happened, Alpha?" She asked.

"The bastard stabbed me. We need to go; he's getting back up."

"Come on." She said, leading him toward the door, and he stumbled alongside her. She would do all she could, but the shear size difference between them made it very awkward to manage. He had to bend down to get to her level, and looked like he was hanging off her. Despite his height, she found him surprisingly light, and had little issue holding him up. They got lots of strange looks as they left the building.

The bouncer or any of the other security didn't seem to do anything, and no one seemed to notice the blood they were leaving behind. Or at least, they were not reacting in any substantial way. Karma found it odd, especially the lax nature of the staff to their obvious situation. Of course, they were used to seeing people stumble out, but they were no ordinary customers. He wondered if they knew what happened, if perhaps there was something bigger going on.

"Backup wont get here in time, I'll bleed out." Karma told her.

"I'm not seeing any other options for you here, Alpha." She replied.

"We just need to get clear of this place, I'll focus on the rest later. If we can stop the bleeding, I can fly my way out."

"Yeah? And what am I supposed to do?"

"Go home!" Karma told her.

Serina sighed. "I can't just do that while you're hurt and in danger."

"You're not a fighter. I don't have the time to go back to base, I need to go somewhere else, and I can't bring you cause they're outsiders. They'll ask questions."

"They'll ask questions regardless."

"I get into fights all the time." Karma assured. "It's nothing new to them." Karma said as they made there way through the busy sidewalk crowds. The night was extremely busy. It was cool and breezy. Full of life and music as the night was still young, and the time of year where nightlife was at its strongest was starting. Summer was approaching, and it was always crazier downtown in the summer. "Doesn't matter. You were in his head right? What did you find?"

Serina went quiet and looked away. "Right...about that."

"Please, god Theta, tell me you got something."

"I got nothing." Serina said, and felt a little happy he was hurt and using his energy to keep upright, maybe then he wouldn't kill her for failing him.

"Why?" He asked, his tone switching from pain to anger and annoyance. "The fuck are you here for if you can't do your job."

"He has no inner monologue!" Serina argued. "It wasn't my fault, I could hear everyone's thoughts but his. He doesn't have any. No words, no images, nothing."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"How is that possible?"

"It's rare. It's a mind reader's weakness. He was just, blank."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"How was I supposed to without blowing my cover?"

"Fuck. So we really got nothing?" Karma asked.

"Well, he stabbed you, that must mean something, right?"

Hatsu and Riley were still at the bar. Riley had noticed the albino kid return with a stab wound and leave with a rather small girl. Interesting. Hatsu was still talking Jasper's ear off. The boy seemed to be getting more comfortable but was keeping his distance. Riley assumed he just didn't want to be mean and was too uncomfortable to just get up and leave, as most socially awkward people were. He seemed like a nice kid and would hate to see Hatsu taint him as she did. He appeared to be some of the only good and innocence left in the world, and she felt that it was worth protecting.

Her mind went back to the albino boy and that excruciatingly short girl he left with. She hadn't even noticed her before, and wondered why she was there. She wondered what had happened, and if it was the bar tender who stabbed him.

"And then one time, we fought a tank! Oh that was really scary. I honestly thought we would've died there. But what I did was-" Hatsu stopped as she felt a large hand come down on her shoulder. She turned to Riley, who had done it. "What's up Riles?"

Jasper looked confused and uncomfortable, she assumed he was looking for an exit but was probably too scared to try. "Hey kid." Riley started. "You don't need to listen to her shit. If you want to leave you can, I'll hold her back for you and let you escape." She said with a smirk.

"Hey!" Hatsu protested. "He likes my stories! They're interesting! Right Jasper?" She asked with puppy dog eyes.

"I mean. I'm a little confused, but it's ok." He said. Riley was shook, she had gave him an opening and he was still staying. There was no way he wanted to stick around, he was clearly uncomfortable, and had been since the start. Not many people were used to being approached randomly by someone with a personality as loud and big as Hatsu's. It couldn't be that he was so lonely and desperate for friends he was actually considering hanging out with them.

She refused to believe anyone could fall so low that they went to Hatsu to solace. Then again, that was her story. She realized she was projecting her own thoughts there. If she did it, why couldn't others. She loved Hatsu for a reason. She sometimes forgot about why, it was just so normal for her that there was just nothing else. There was no life without her partner, despite the difficulty that came with managing her.

"See? He wants to stay! Don't be like that!" She said, and then stopped as Bones returned to the bar. He walked in casually, some blood on his white jacket, but acting as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, bar guy! Get me another one of these! And she wants another too!" Hatsu called out to him.

The masked man nodded. "Of course." He said, and went to get another mixture ready and the bottle for Riley.

Hatsu went back to telling Jasper more stories, getting louder and louder as she continued, to which Riley had to keep holding her back from getting to close and telling her to quiet down. After a minute, Hatsu noticed her class being refilled, and turned her attention to that.

When the man came back to Riley with a bottle, she pushed her glass forward to let him refill it. "I saw that guy you were talking to come back bleeding. Everything ok?" She asked.

Bones poured slowly and sighed. "Yes well, let's just say there was a little disagreement. He is a bit of a thorn in my side, so now he has a bigger one in his." Bones remarked.

"Business rival?"

"One could say." Bones said, screwing the cap back on the bottle and setting it back on its shelf. "Ugly stuff, nothing to get others involved with."

"Was he supposed to get away?"

"Well, no." He admitted. "Not everything goes to plan. Won't be able to track him down now."

Riley looked at the blood trail on the floor. "Not so sure about that."

"Are you two in between jobs right now?" He asked. Riley looked a little surprised, as if she had been caught for something she was trying to hide. "I heard you mention that you were a contractor."

Riley nodded, realizing what he meant. "We are." Riley said. "And we aren't cheap."

"I wouldn't expect you to be. I'll pay you handsomely if you make sure he never makes it home, wherever he's going, and you'll have to go quick, he may be on the road already."

"I heard him say that they wouldn't be able to call for backup on their way out. They're walking to wherever it is they need to go. How much are you offering?"

"Two hundred thousand for his corpse." Bones said.

"And the girl?"

"What girl?"

"The little girl he was with." Riley said.

"Didn't notice he was with one. Like, a child?"

"No. Just tragically short."

"If she's a problem, kill her too, but I'm only concerned about the albino."

"What can you tell me about him?" Riley asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Not much. He has abilities, he's stronger than he looks. Can't tell you what they are though."

"So, not anything obvious, interesting." Riley said, quickly downing the rest of her drink in one big swallow. "Hats. We got work!" She called to her partner.

Hatsu lit up, looking in her direction. "Really? Who, where? Do I get to blow something up?"

"The albino boy, and he's already wounded."

Hatsu turned back to Jasper. "Come on Jasper, we may need a heal! Tag along with us and you can get paid too!"

"Hats, no. Leave him, not enough for three."

Hatsu pouted but didn't argue. Jasper looked relieved. Though Riley said it was about the money, she could care less about that. She didn't however, want to drag an innocent into their line of work. Hatsu did not see the issue about that, and couldn't seem to fathom that some were not killers, and didn't want to involve themselves with a life of crime, no matter how much she liked them.

"I'm sorry Jasper. Maybe next time. It was nice meeting you! Oh, I know! We'll come back some time and hang out again!" She said, getting up from her seat and chugging what was left of her margarita.

Jasper gave an awkward smile, not knowing how to navigate the situation.

Bones was left with just Jasper. He was obviously not a part of their group, had he have joined them then perhaps he could let it go, but an outside witness had just watched him hire mercenaries to kill someone, and that wasn't a good look for a nightclub owner in down town Haven.

"Did I hear you say that you can heal?" He asked the boy.

Jasper, now alone at the bar, looked nervous and uncomfortable again. He just nodded.

"Yourself? Or others?" Bones continued.

"Both." Jasper managed, then looked away, trying to find an exit to leave the vacant bar.

Bones just grinned under his mask. "How lovely." He said, and waved over some security guards around the floor. "You will make a great trade."

Jasper looked around confused as two black suited men with wolf masks approached from behind him, he didn't even have time to scream before he was gagged and hooded.

Karma and Serina were still limping down the sidewalk away from the club. Karma's weight was starting to bear on Serina's skinny arms, but she refused to give in. She couldn't drop her wounded, bleeding boss, nor could she leave him behind, and though her arms were getting sore, she tried to have empathy for him and realize she was not the one in the most pain out of the two of them.

Karma, however, had a way of ignoring such pain. Pain was an old friend, something he had grown used to throughout his life. The stab was of course a major inconvenience, but he was slowly gaining more control over the bleeding, and the pain would be a distant nuisance at best as his enhanced body worked to fight it off. He healed quicker than most people, but a wound like that would still take days to become manageable again, assuming he treated it well. He rarely ever did.

"I just wish I hadn't given that bastard a coin before he stabbed me. God dammit."

"I think you have bigger worries, Alpha." Serina replied, almost annoyed.

"Yeah. We're in a bad spot, but his attack broke so many rules. Once they find out he'll be excommunicated for sure, and then we can deal with him. Whatever the Table wanted, one side is gonna be real happy."

"The other side won't. Is that a problem?"

"I could care less." Karma replied. "We need to get you out of here. As far as I know, you're not involved, he didn't see you."

"I'm not leaving you!" Serina said, having to shout over a heavy truck that drove buy with a loud rumble.

"Yeah? You're a fighter now, Theta? I doubt he's going to let me go that easily."

Serina said nothing, he was right, she couldn't do anything to fight them off, all she could do was carry him and even then she was having trouble.

Karma's mind was clouded with memories of his childhood, a time when he was a test subject for an organization more sinister than the Underworld itself. The people who had made him into the weapon he was, the ones who took away his life. The beating, the operations, the starvation, the pain. All the memories, all the horrors, they came back to him when he was in pain. He tried to shake it away, not wanting them to be seen by a mind reader, but it was too late.

Serina physically flinched at the images that flashed in her brain from his. A shudder went down her spine as she saw them all rapidly flipping through her brain. They were broken pieces of a whole she could never put together. He had been through a lot, she could tell that. Something had happened to him, something that clearly made him the way he was. He was extremely hard to read, even his thoughts were often blank.

Even as a mind reader, she often found it hard to tell what he was thinking. She didn't know how he felt about her. Sometimes he seemed like a teammate, other times he was a terrifying presence. Sometimes it seemed like he merely tolerated her existence, while other times he seemed somewhat normal. She wanted to know more about him. The memories, though they almost made her vomit at the sight of them, had peaked her curiosity. Just who was he, and what had happened to him?

Serina took a deep breath before daring to even look at him again. "Then lets just get back go base, lay out our cards and come up with a plan. There's not point in running around the city while you're wounded, and we don't have backup or a means to fight this guy." She would follow whatever orders he gave, but she didn't think that letting him go was the best idea. "What do we know about this guy anyway?"

"They call him Bones, and I figured out why. He can do shit with his own. Dislocate, relocate, piece himself back together apparently, and even break them and use them as blades sticking out of his skin. He's a mutant."

She shuddered at the thought of that too. Body horror was not her thing, and that very much qualified. "That sounds..."

"Disgusting?" Karma said.

"Something like that." She replied. It wasn't a good visual to replace Karma's memories with, everything was just so gross. She had never been on a mission that went sour like this had, she wasn't used to fights and powers and dangerous people like that. She normally walked around, tailed people from afar and stayed in their heads.

This was entirely different, and she had a feeling that Karma brought with him a score of bad luck. Nothing was ever nice with him. She figured that's how the bulk of Underworld was.

He looked over at her, she looked pale and confused. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He said, an image he had never heard before he met Avery. "What's on your mind?"

She immediately looked away, trying to wipe the concerned and distraught look off her face. "Nothing, just been a day." She said, adding a sigh. It was only partially the truth, but Karma did not seem like the type of person who liked to talk about his past or his feelings, and definitely didn't seem like the guy who likes having his memories seen and his mind explored.

She was not going to bring it up. She had seen something she knew she shouldn't have, something that deeply disturbed her. She could have pried deeper, a part of her wanted to, but she also didn't want to see more of that horror, nor did she want to piss him off. It wasn't her business, a concept that mind readers struggled with. It was hard to respect peoples privacy when one had direct access into the minds of all who were around them.

Karma could tell when someone was lying. She was quite bad at it, but he didn't press. He knew with powerful and rare abilities came burdens. Someone with an ability like hers would have undoubtedly seen a lot. The minds of strangers was no safe place to be, and he wondered how any mind reader could keep their sanity. She no doubt had seen all of his thoughts, all of his memories, all of his feelings. She was not bringing any of it up, and that was good enough for him. "Ain't that the truth." He said. She was right, it had been quite a long day and he was excited to get it behind him.

Serina knew that he was onto her lying, but was glad he didn't say anything. The silence was very awkward, but she had no idea what to say. She just felt, uncomfortable. They knew what they had to do, they were still on assignment and in danger, yet, they were just walking. There was no immediate threat that they could see, Karma was bleeding and limping, and she was helping him along through the crowded sidewalks. What was appropriate in the situation? She had no idea what to say and what not to say to colleagues, she still didn't know how this whole organization and Underworld thing worked. "How long have you worked for the organization?" She asked suddenly, not really sure what to do. It was easily the worst possible time to make conversation, they could have been attacked at any moment. Karma however, did not seem against it.

"Eight months now, I joined back when there weren't many members. Didn't take long to reach top rank." He explained. "Speaking of which, why did you join? You hardly seem the type."

"I'm not." She countered. "But I guess they found me useful somehow with my power, guess they wanted a spy. I was short on money, so digging into people's heads for a hefty pay was good enough for me. I didn't really know what I signed up for." She explained, lowering her voice at the last part. Ever since she had been tangled up in the Underworld, her peaceful life was gone, and she lived in constant paranoia and anxiety. Death was always waiting it seemed, always an option lurking in the shadows.

Karma sympathized with her, in the best way he could. The Underworld had a way of dragging people in. No one ever left the Underworld, the secret couldn't get out, one was in until death, the whole idea was for no one outside to ever find out. Of course, that made recruitment hard. People often found themselves involved accidently, by coming across it or being too desperate to deny it. By the time they realized just what they had gotten involved in, they were in too deep.

Karma had found it through his knack for finding trouble, and Serina seemed to be recruited. It was like accidently falling in favour with a gang or crime family. Once involved, there was no chance at obtaining freedom. The line between the Underworld and a mafia was very fine, consisting of government necessity, bureaucracy, and funding. "Well. You'll make more money here than anywhere else. You know how much those coins are worth? Just make sure you live long enough to enjoy it." He explained.

She didn't like how dark that was. He was clearly not one for bedside manner. She couldn't fault him too much as he was telling the truth. Regardless of how blunt or harsh it was, it was something all who were in their line of were ought to know. Death rates were high, they were all replaceable in the end, regardless of how useful they were.

The Underworld always prevailed, always reorganized and recruited. Whatever they leaned on would be replaced by something else. If the person or thing was irreplaceable, reorganization took place until something new became just as valuable. There was always a solution, always a new way, and the Underworld higher ups knew well how to exploit them.

Serina nodded slowly. The pay was her main motivation, it made her not completely hate it. It seemed odd to her that he was only around for eight months. He seemed like a seasoned veteran in the field, something that eight months would not get someone. Yet, he was Alpha, the highest ranking in the organization. He was there longer than everyone else, and yet, they seemed to all know what they were doing.

She had not been around nearly that long, only a few months at most, and yet she did not see herself getting as comfortable as the other agents she worked with within the next few months. She figured the Underworld had a way of shaping people, forming them into battle hardened veterans in a quick span of time. As useful as that would be, it scared her. The thought that she would have to go through clearly traumatic events such as that was not something she was looking forward to.

"So, what about you then?" She asked. "Why did you join? Was it for the pay also?"

He stopped for a second, as if thing of what to say. Then those dark memories returned. Death, blood, screams, all the crimes of his past catching up to him. "It's the only thing I'm good at. Might as well put it to use. I was made this way, and so here I am." He said. It wasn't like I could do anything else. I was a street rat, moving from place to place, unable to even get new clothes on my back. Clean clothes and a shower were more than enough to get me on board. I'd of worked for room and board."

"I guess everyone has their price." She said, not really sure how else to respond. The thoughts scared her more, she saw what he had done, the things he was capable of.

"The money was extra. I figured I could start saving for the ones I cared about. A few sacrifices now to give them a better future." He thought of Avery, and how he hadn't seen her in so long. He had left them when he started finding trouble, before the Underworld had noticed him. Once he was in, he never went back. He couldn't drag her and Bing back into the world of fighting and danger. He knew they were ok, that was all he needed. He told himself that one day it would be worth it, and even though they would probably hate him, he could at least do something good with his life.

Serina was surprised he was opening up a bit. Karma had no idea why he was, but it wasn't like he could keep secrets from her. Serina just nodded again, looking in the other direction and trying to ignore the horrific images that kept coming up between thoughts of his friends. She wasn't even trying to pry this time, but they were ever so present. "Makes sense." She mumbled.

He looked back at her with a cocked eyebrow. It didn't take him long to clue in. "You are seeing my thoughts?" He asked, realizing her changing mood was likely due to the nature of the memories that had come to him.

Serina wanted to deny it but couldn't. She feared the idea of pissing him off, but she also knew he was onto her, an wouldn't like lying more. She decided honesty was best, perhaps the consequences would be lessened.

Still not making eye contact, she coughed. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't neat to, I just hear them around me." That was the truth, she could focus and dig deeper into the unconscious thoughts and memories of peoples' minds, but she was not then. She was unable to just turn her ability off.

He sighed; he was not thrilled about people peeping into his mind. He realized how careful he had to be around mind readers, he hadn't been around any before. "Stay out of my head. You don't want to get lost in there, it's not a place you want to be." He let out. He didn't sound angry. Rather, he sounded depressed, ashamed of his own past rather than mad at her snooping. She was happy he wasn't even reprimanding her, she expected a lot worse.

Realistically, she was his coworker, he could not make an enemy out of her. Truthfully, something buried so deep in his own mind that he didn't even know it existed, he had a soft spot for her. He understood the pain and misery of being dragged into a violent world and having his very own freedom ripped from him. He understood the loss of innocence, humanity, and the chance at a real life. In a way, she was like him, and it was something even he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking at the ground. "I'll do my best." She had always had issues with people because of her powers. She saw the absolute worst of people. Every dark and messed up thought, ever secret, every repressed feeling, desire, intrusive thought, all of it. She grew up in school knowing who had a crush on her, who hated her, who was pretending. She knew whenever someone was creeping on her or someone else, she knew when people were planning to do m\horrible things or imagining it.

She knew everything going on around her, and if she wanted to, she could know everything about everyone, access every memory, moment and thought a person has ever had, even if they had forgotten it, locked it away somewhere far off. People hated her for it. She grew up an outcast. No one liked feeling so vulnerable, so exposed that even their minds weren't safe.

"So, what about the mission?" She asked, giving the subject a much-needed change. "We didn't exactly get what we wanted."

"Fuck the mission. None of it matters now." He said, grunting from the pain in his side. "'The mission's changed now."

"Changed?" She asked, looking over at him with a confused look.

"He attacked me. That's an act of violence against Underworld personnel. That's highly against our rules, as is withholding information, and his other crimes. He'll be excommunicated for this. Whatever the higher ups were planning is about to go much faster, and some are not going to like it. At least we don't ened to be caught up in their bullshit anymore."

"Something tells me he won't stop with just that attack. That's not usually how this works, isn't it?"

"You're right." Karma said. That made her feel a little bit good about herself. "He'll probably want to tie up loose ends. Which is why we need to get you out of here, leave that to me."

"I can't-"

"Shut up." He told her, not wanting to give her any ground to argue. They both knew it was a bad idea for her to stick around, despite his condition. "I'll be fine, I've handled worse. All that matters now, is one half of the table will probably be getting what they want, and the other half are gonna be scrambling to cover their tracks. We just need to wait till that part blows over. We won't have to worry about this Bones asshole for much longer, but it's best to be alive to enjoy those kinds of things."

Serina nodded without a word, knowing that arguing was pointless with him. "Let's get to the nearest bus stop and I can leave you be."