A fire…why was I dreaming of a fire? Where…am I? Why am I still alive?
Question after question rose in Anastazie’s mind as she awoke, keeping her eyes closed as she listened carefully. There was an incessant and unmistakable whirring of engines, deep breathing from somebody to her right, and not-so-quiet mutterings and cursing from whoever was piloting the ship.
There was also an intense pain in her side, and the young girl resisted the urge to open her eyes and examine it. Although she had barely a clue of where she was or where she was being taken, there was no question in her mind of what had happened. It was hard to believe, but, yes, she and her fellow patients had been given an unexpected chance to escape their highly guarded prison…and had killed most of the facility staff in the process.
Intensely curious as to the size and depth of her wound, Ana inched her left hand from where it lay on the armrest, to her side. It was shoddily bandaged, and she winced at even her light touch. Heather, she thought with perfect clarity. You wanted me dead all along, didn’t you? Not sorry to say you’re the dead one now…
The person to her right sat up abruptly, breathing fast. “Oh…God,” said the female voice. “I need a cigarette, now." Her voice was smooth yet verging on husky, and she was obviously young. Ana heard the clicking of a lighter and the deep inhalation of the woman, but she kept her eyes closed.
“’Nique, you got some ‘splaining to do!” said the other woman from the cockpit, who audibly turned around in her seat. Her tone turned from mock-criticism to the real thing moments later. “Look, I’m glad you’re alright and all, but…why save the kid? What the fuck were you thinking?” Ana froze up as she heard this—it felt as if her insides had been liquefied. She didn’t like the girl’s harsh tone. It reminded her uncomfortably of Heather.
As this “’Nique” woman spoke, Ana could sense that she had been in the hallway with her, and had seen the dead orderlies, the children, the missing portion of the wall…all of it. “I dunno, LW,” she replied. “I guess I wasn’t thinking. I guess I was just going on instinct. So sue me.”
LW wasted no time in replying, sounding madder than ever. “Yeah, well your ‘instinct’ nearly got you killed, and it’s gonna cause a shitload of problems for all of us.” She paused as if taking a moment to radiate her utter loathing of the situation. “The rest of the Angels are gonna blow a gasket over this, you realize.”
“Just shut up and pilot the ship, okay?” the other woman snapped, sounding like she’d reached her tolerance for criticism. “She’s my responsibility, and I’m the one who’ll be taking all the heat for this. Not you. So stop worrying what Haven will think of you.”
“Fuck you,” growled the young woman, but she shut up and spun back around in her chair.
A few seconds later there was a hand on Ana’s shoulder, and ‘Nique said gruffly, “Hey…kid. Wake up.”
Unable to keep up her charade any longer, Ana slowly opened her brown-violet eyes to survey the area. She was indeed in the cabin of an airship, propped up in a well-worn black seat and surrounded by various weapons and items. The one called LW was difficult to see, but Ana caught a glimpse of her metallic-to-azure hair and excessive bracelets. The woman who had saved her was on her right, looking at her in a wary, almost detached way. She was undeniably beautiful, with short, unruly blond hair, steel blue eyes and an elegant jawbone. Her recent ordeal seemed to explain itself on her thin visage: from the small cuts on her face and hands to the torn, bloody mess that her clothing had become.
Most prominently of all, though, was the feeling of regret which emanated from her—regret over saving Ana’s life. The woman, of course, had no idea that Ana could read her thoughts, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
“What’s your name?” asked the woman, obviously straining to sound semi-motherly.
Ana raised an eyebrow and shook her head, crossing her arms defensively.
“The little shit isn’t going to talk, eh?” called back LW. “Totally useless. Let’s throw her overboard.”
“For the last time, Livewire, shut your mouth and stop worrying about the kid,” ‘Nique said through clenched teeth, her voice dangerously level. “Just get us back to Typhon or I may be forced to use your own advice on that spiky chrome-dome of yours.”
Livewire huffed angrily but was silent once more.
“Well, you can call me Dom, or Phoenix,” said the woman, taking a pause. Ana stared at her defiantly. “Not going to talk, hm?” she continued, sounding almost amused. Annoyance shone in her eyes, however, which bore into Ana’s equally cold gaze.
“If you don’t want me around, why did you bother saving my life?” asked Ana simply.
“She speaks!” said Phoenix, standing up and raising her arms as though she had witnessed a miracle. They dropped back down to her side and she leaned back against the wall of the cabin, stomping out her cigarette beneath her large boot. The wall she leaned against was a dirty brown color barely visible through layers of various weapons, equipment and clothing that hung on it. To Dom’s right was a window, which displayed the murky gray clouds of what looked like a very dismal sunset.
“What are you, some kind of military group?” Ana inquired, though she could tell it was certainly not any typical organization. Most likely rebels, or some kind of raiding gang…
Dom didn’t reply, but she seemed to understand that the girl was piecing the facts together unusually quickly. “You…raided Dynatech, didn’t you?” she said quietly, comprehension dawning. Next to Dom, leaning against the wall, was a complicated looking weapon of enormous proportions. Her long, pale fingers were resting against it. “You stole that weapon…” she said—and her guess was confirmed when Dom’s thoughts agreed—“and found me on your way out. A Chimera helped you. Why did you listen to her?”
For only a moment, the tall blonde lost her icy demeanor and looked like she’d been slapped, but quickly regained her composure. Ana realized she had said too much, violet eyes widening as she pursed her lips together. Idiot, she thought. Now they’ll just want to use you.
“You could probably tell me my full name, family history, and first lay, couldn’t you?” said Dom with a smirk, and now it was her turn to cross her arms.
Ana did her best to give her the evil eye, but found that Dom was quite resistant to “the look”—in fact, something in her eyes was remarkably, and uncannily, similar to her own…
For a brief instant Ana could hear screams of anguish in her head, and see flashes of smoke and flames, and in that instant she realized that the dream of fire had not been her own at all, but Dominique’s. At the facility, Ana had always slept alone, locked in her room, but…it seemed that she was equally receptive to thoughts and images in her sleep as well.
“I don’t think you’d like me to discuss your family history,” said Ana carefully, feeling some sympathy for her rescuer. Although she had no memory of her own parents, she knew that they no longer lived. Actually, she thought, I was thinking that the dream was my own memories coming back… And although Ana yearned to know of her past, she felt relieved that this was not it.
Dom merely narrowed her eyes, which, somehow, managed to turn even colder. “Look,” she said, sauntering up to Ana. “What are you playing at? You either know or you don’t. Spare me the patronizing compassion, would you? I don’t need your opinion on what I’d like or wouldn’t like, because no matter what your talents, you’re nothing special here.” The woman grabbed Ana’s collar and she added, “Forget about special treatment, little girl. You’re traveling with us now, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re just another annoying kid.”
Ana winced, but it didn’t really bother her. She’d endured much worse at Dynatech labs, and she realized that she had hit a nerve with Dom, anyway. She remained motionless, watching her with her hands folded in her lap.
“Gee, ‘Nique, where was that logic when you decided to haul her ass out of the building?” Livewire called back, sounding exasperated.
Dom flung a deadly look over to LW, who suddenly became very interested in something outside the window. Looking over at her small ward once more, Dom’s expression softened a bit and she turned away, throwing herself back tiredly into a seat. “Anyway, from now on, just give me the facts. I get enough cheek from these fuckers,” she said, gesturing to Livewire, who promptly gave her the finger without turning around.
Both Anastazie and Dominique avoided looking at each other, opting instead to gaze out the window in the large sliding door.
“Dominique Elizabeth Chambers, grew up in the ruins of New York city and lives her life in a chaotic, constantly violent manner…and, Bernard Dunn, at age 13, in the back of his truck,” Ana stated.
There was no change in Dominique save for a twitching around her jaw, but Livewire gave a hoot from the cockpit, saying, “Bernard?!” and shook her head.
Silence reigned for what seemed like hours. Ana assumed it had been evening when she first awoke, but it had been quite some time since then and the sky had not grown any darker, but remained as murky and depressing as ever.
“Dom…?” she asked, despite her earlier, private vow to not speak again. “What’s wrong with the sky? It’s been that same shade of gray this whole time…”
Dom looked at her and, surprisingly, gave a wry smile. “You’re really something,” she said, and against her attempts to look apathetic, she asked, “Where do you come from, anyway? The sky has been like this since before you or I were born.” She paused. “Don’t tell me you lived your whole life in that terrible place.”
“Well, no,” said Ana cautiously, although she didn’t think Dom would explode again, she couldn’t be sure. “I…was there for the last two years, but honestly, I don’t remember anything about my past. And I don’t remember what the sky looked like.” There was an awkward silence where Ana stared down at her fingers and Dom just lit another cigarette.
After taking a long drag, she said, “So, nothing? Why is that?” A look of vague interest crossed her face and she raised her eyebrow and drew her knee up against her chest.
Ana shrugged, “I think it’s because of the medication I was on, mostly to enhance my powers. I seem to recall knowing a lot more when I arrived there two years ago, but…” she sighed. “I didn’t write any of it down, so I really can’t remember. All I know is, a long time ago…I was happy.”
They both stared out the window again, Dom clearing her throat. Ana silently cursed herself for giving so much away, although it really wasn’t very much. But it’s all I have, she thought. A bit of happiness, laughter, someone’s embrace and kiss…
“The sky’s been like this forever, or, it might as well have been, for what it’s worth,” Dom said vaguely, not taking her eyes off the window. She seemed transfixed by it, and Ana could sense she thought it a thing of beauty, regardless of its hue.
“Eternal twilight…” Ana said quietly, and she peripherally saw Dom nod just a little bit.
**
The covers were scratchy, the mattress, slightly more comfortable than the hard ground it lay on. There was no pillow. Ana once more found herself waking up in a strange new place, this time alone. “I must have fallen asleep on the ship,” she whispered, surveying the room she was in. The walls were dark and metallic, obviously very old, for they were covered in grime and rust. The floor was a charming cement gray, with plenty of bumps and ridges for stubbing one’s toe on. Metal beams were interspersed throughout. Overall the room was rather small, and filled with only the mattress she lay on, but even having never left it she could sense the enormousness of the place. Glancing over to the right Ana saw a doorway covered with only a blanket, and felt a sudden sense of relief. At least I’m not being held captive, she thought. Well, at least not too severely.
It’s not a dream, she thought, wincing painfully as she sat up too quickly and pain shot through her abdomen. No…definitely not. She really had been on the airship with that woman, Dominique, and the strange younger one called Livewire. “Such people,” she whispered, shaking her head. “What do they want with me?”
She sat there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for some sign of life; listening for voices, and for thoughts. Ana was far too nervous to venture from the bed, and contented herself counting the bolts that ran up the walls and onto the ceiling. Finally, when Ana felt she could wait no longer, Dominique poked her head into the room and motioned for the child to come towards her.
Ana paused, but then crawled out from under the scratchy blanket and shuffled towards Dom. Her bare feet, accustomed to the smooth, polished linoleum of Dynatech labs, smarted with each step. Dom showed no emotion as the girl stumbled towards her without complaint.
“Where are we? Where are we going?” asked Ana as she was lead by her wrist through the hanging blanket to the main hall, which was equally grimy, but extended so far above their heads Ana could not even see the ceiling. The rusty walls stretched up into a seeming abyss as they hurried along in the dim, flickering light, which came from little round portals in the walls.
“We’re at our base, called Typhon, and you’re going to meet everyone,” was all she said. Dom’s voice echoed eerily in the unnaturally large space around them. Ana craned her neck and looked up at the tall woman’s face, but could derive no emotion from it. Her jaw was set; her eyes staring straight forward, and even her mind seemed to be closed off to her. Ana could only gather that she was very determined, and a bit peeved about something.
They seemed to be heading in a very slight curve, and soon arrived at a large metal door, which Dom rapped on in a sort of pattern. A scraping noise as of a large bar being lifted could be heard, and Ana thought grimly, So I was being held captive. Figures.
When the door swung open she was greeted by the intimidating figure of an older, middle-eastern man who’s eyes seemed to look right through her. An insane, irrational worry that he was going to kill her jumped into Ana’s mind, and she gasped and instinctively jumped backwards. When the man just stared at her inquisitively, she gulped and stammered, “H…hi,” then lowered her eyes to the floor.
“I see,” he remarked, and him and Dom exchanged a look. “Well, come with me,” he said, and without another word they headed a bit further down the circular hallway (the curve is so slight, this place must be huge, Ana observed) until they stood before two doorways. One had light seeping from the bottom and top, so she figured it was the door to the outside. It, like the one directly across from it, was a double-door, only it was fastened securely with a large metal beam, and the other one had very dim light beneath it and was not secured on this side. It was this one the man headed towards, knocking in the same manner as Dom had, which must be some sort of code.
The doors scraped open unpleasantly against the cement floor and a dim, unnatural, bluish light shone out into the hallway. Still holding her by the wrist, Dom lead Ana into the room, followed by the middle-eastern man, who locked the door behind them. This put her even more ill at ease. As she scanned the room with her large, curious eyes, she was visibly trembling.
And what a sight it was to the ten inhabitants of the room. The girl was no more than five feet tall, rather thin, and was shivering not only from fear but also from the cold of the room. She lowered her eyes to the ground and crossed her ankles, and put her arms behind her back, moving them back and forth anxiously. Her nightgown was still pale green at the top, but from the stomach down it was completely soaked in blood, which had long since dried, giving the gown an unnatural, stiff look. On the left side of the nightgown there was a huge gash, beneath which could be seen a layer of blood-soaked bandages.
“Angels,” said Dom louder than she needed to. “This is…” she paused, realizing she still did not know the girl’s name. “The…kid.”
It seemed that everyone either cleared their throat or shifted in their seats at that point. There was a circular table in the center of the room where most of the gang was sitting, including an eager-looking man who spoke first. “So what’s your name?” he said, eyes scanning her as if he’d find some kind of clue.
Ana did not speak, only looked at him and shook her head.
“What is she, deaf?” asked a feisty looking woman with a ponytail, who stood in the corner with her arms crossed.
“Cube, don’t be a fucking moron,” Dom snapped, “I already told you, we spoke on the airship.”
“Looks like Cube is the deaf one,” snickered another girl, who Ana recognized as Livewire. She still looked disgusted with the whole situation, and she was leaning against a handsome man with auburn hair. He was playing with her spiked hair, and didn’t say anything. Over in the corner were a couple of men who looked like twins, both wearing glasses, who were seated in front of a mess of computer screens and wires. They had paused in whatever they were doing and also were looking quietly at the bloody mess that was Anastazie, and merely observed.
“Kid, those guys are Bishop and Rook, our engineers and resident computer geeks. I guess you could say you owe them your freedom,” Dom said, motioning towards them. They nodded and remained silent, and Ana nodded back. She wondered why she had ever felt intimidated by Dominique before when faced with this group of renegades. “And, you know Livewire, and that’s Haven…” the auburn-haired man grunted, “Gryphon…” the eager man who had spoken nodded even more eagerly, “Cube, the hearing-impaired…” Cube flipped her off, which seemed to be almost a greeting around here, “and there’s Sphinx, who you met in the hallway, and Icarus and Raven.” Icarus looked at her with something akin to suspicion, while the pale girl in a hooded shirt, Raven, just stared at her without expression.
Finally Livewire spoke up. “Well, aren’t you going to say hello?” she asked in a pseudo-sweet voice, moving away from Haven and toward Dom and Ana. “You ought to, since Dom seemed to think it was a brilliant idea to bring you here.”
“Yeah, why don’t you talk?” asked Gryphon, leaning forward in his chair.
“Eh, leave her alone, guys,” Dom interjected, which Ana silently thanked her for. She still didn’t like or trust the woman, but she did owe her her life, which is more than she could say for the others. She had a feeling that if Dom hadn’t have been in the airship, LW really would have thrown her overboard.
“So we’re taking this kid in, huh?” asked Icarus, raising an eyebrow. “And for what purpose, may I ask?”
Dom shrugged and motioned for Ana to sit down in a shabby armchair in the corner, which she did, attempting to smooth down her blood-encrusted, wavy nightgown and failing. “Like I told Livewire, it was just instinct, so I can’t really explain it any more than that. Anyway…she was in that place for a reason, you know. However,” she said, an evil grin spreading across her pretty face, “We did score something else which will definitely be of use to us.”
“The woman speaks the truth,” Livewire consented, heading out the door and returning a few minutes later carrying the enormous weapon. It looked especially lethal under this strange blue light, and everyone merely stared at it for a minute, not saying a word. Haven whistled and said, “Nice score, Phoenix, how did you get your grubby paws on that one?”
Dom ignored his arrogance and stated, “Found it in the main complex on the 25th floor, completely unguarded, luckily for us.” She snatched the weapon from the metallic-haired girl and hoisted it to her side, aiming straight at the table full of people. “It’s called the LS2-X89, and it has an amazing destructive capacity, weighs 70.56 pounds, and is one of only 500 ever made,” she bragged, and no one could argue that she didn’t earn the right to do so. “This information courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Dynatech tutorial.”
A few people snickered, but Ana noticed that they kept looking over at her with something akin to unease. She wondered if they knew what sort of powers she had—if Dom even knew she could do more than read minds. Some of them were wondering if she had been trained to use the weapon.
As if Dom was reading her mind at that moment, she turned to Ana and said, “So, is that all you do…read minds? That’s what they trained you for? And that’s why you can’t remember anything about your past?”
Ana froze up for a second and then nodded quickly. “Great…amnesia,” muttered Livewire. Ana didn’t dare tell them she was the one responsible for the huge, gaping hole on the 3rd floor, because seeing their penchant for weaponry, realized she might be no more than a living, breathing weapon to this group.
“Well I, personally, don’t trust her,” said Icarus, and several others nodded in agreement. “What if she uses this weapon against us?”
“I’ve never seen it before today,” Ana blurted out before she could stop herself, her youthful voice sounding especially high-pitched and childlike in her haste to speak. They all looked surprised, but the ferocity with which she had spoken seemed to convince them.
At that moment Sphinx cleared his throat and said, “However much you distrust the young lady, I should think it would be common courtesy to find her a more suitable garment.” His dark eyes lingered on the wound at her side and she sensed that he pitied her. In response she looked eagerly at Dom, hoping she would take her out of this room so she could change and, perhaps, find a way out of this place.
“Yeah, okay,” Dom consented, and she jerked her head in a motion for Ana to follow, which she did readily. Dom allowed Ana to take a shower, helped her cleanse and bandage her wounds, and managed to find her some old overalls and a tee shirt to wear.
**
I’m outta here, thought Ana, realizing the irony of escaping from those who had helped her escape.
It was very late—Ana wasn’t sure how late--but she’d been sitting up in bed for hours waiting for the gang to quiet down. Sure took them long enough, she thought with a grim smile, remembering the various fights that had broken out over her presence over the course of the evening. Ana had eaten dinner alone in her room, as several Angels objected to her being anywhere near them.
Well, they can go back to their normal lives without worrying about me, she thought, slipping past the blanket over the door. The hallway was freezing cold and silent, and she ran as quickly as she could against the rough cement and metal floor, on tiptoe. The only sounds were an occasional clanking from way up in the rafters, and her light, fast breathing as her small legs carried her toward the main doorway. The overalls Dom had given her cascaded well over her size five feet, so she was forced to roll them up and hold on to both pant legs as she ran. A slightly baggy gray shirt fell over one of her shoulders, and her now-clean brown hair tumbled all the way down her back. The wound at her side ached as much as ever, but she ignored it.
The first door, which Sphinx had met her at earlier, was easy enough to manipulate. Ana clenched her fists up against her chest and imagined the bar on the other side lifting up, biting her lip in concentration. She could hear it scraping up against the door, slowly rising to a vertical position. When she imagined it had been lifted fully away from the holders she quickly pushed forward with her hands (it wasn’t really necessary, but it helped her focus) and lowered the bar gently to the floor. It made an unfortunate, and unavoidable clanging noise as it came to rest on the floor, and Ana held her breath for nearly a minute, praying no footsteps would approach.
When none did, she continued. It took all her strength to shove open the door, and once it had opened about six inches she squeezed through sideways, sucking in her breath and turning her head to the side.
All right. One down, one to go. Piece of cake, she thought with growing confidence. The young girl continued around the slight curve, the dark, empty doorways gaping at her menacingly as she passed.
At last she arrived at the two double-doors from earlier, the one on the right leading to the main room, the left door, to what she assumed was the outside world. She looked farther down the hall past the room and saw that there was another stretch of hallway that lead to an unbarred doorway. Ana focused and tried to listen to thoughts from beyond this doorway, and she sensed that several people were asleep and dreaming.
Content with this she wasted no time in facing the main doorway and attempting to open it. The bar was on this side, naturally, and was exceedingly heavy. Her slight arms trembled under the weight and she had only lifted it an inch when it came crashing back down into its holders. Wincing, Ana waited again, willing her captors not to wake up. Someone stirred, but did not wake up. Okay, she thought, now trembling. Just…don’t try that again. Lift the bar like you did the last one.
Her nerves were nearly shattered from that close call, and the bar was much harder to lift this time. A growing headache threatened to ruin her escape completely. Ana stared at the bar and, with a sudden surge of adrenaline, pushed her arms toward it as forcefully as she could and willed it to move.
Well, it certainly did move, though not as she’d planned. Several things happened all at once: the bar went swinging wildly to the left, cleared its restraints and continued for about six feet before crashing noisily to the ground. As the noise echoed horribly off the walls, another noise sounded—an alarm. Oh no! she thought, staring around like a deer caught in some headlights, unsure of what to do. Glaring green lights flashed down on her as the alarm made a beeoo, beeoo, beeoo noise incessantly. The door down the hallway opened and several figures could be seen pointing, shouting and making their way towards her.
All of this occurred in seconds, and it took her only a few seconds more to turn, glare at the door and fling it open with a single thought. She raced through it and out into the freezing night air, only to come crashing straight into another human being. Shocked, she looked up and saw that she’d run straight into Livewire, who had leapt up from her post in a small chair and was giving her a self-satisfied smirk.
“Thought you might try something, kid,” she said, her metallic lipstick appearing to be green under the flashing lights. “Not that it really matters—there’s no where for you to go.”
Tears welled up in Ana’s eyes as she quickly scanned her surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of…what was it, an air force base? A vast expanse of smooth concrete stretched for what looked like miles in either direction, and she noticed that it was divided into three segments that she could see. Had the sky been clear, stars would be twinkling down at them. How big…is this place? she thought momentarily, looking once more at Livewire. The woman had her arms crossed and was looking back toward the open door, waiting for her approaching companions.
“I don’t believe you!” Ana yelled, and she easy threw the woman to the side with one determined look and raced past her. She could hear her gasp and fall to the ground.
The only things in sight were the airships, and she wasn’t foolish enough to think she could pilot one of them. There must be some sort of gate or exit I can force my way through, she thought frantically, squinting into the darkness, which was ever-approaching and blending into the already dim-light from the doorway. After running for several minutes, Ana reached the point where she could not see past, she dared not take a step into the pitch-blackness.
“Kid, don’t move!” shouted the far-off voice of Dominique. She had said something else about falling, something she didn’t quite catch, and assumed they were at a great height. Ana spun around and saw the tall figure running from the doorway, which looked like a tiny beacon of green light in the distance. There was nowhere to run, and if she hid behind a ship she would be quickly found. Ana considered using her powers against Dom, but something held her back. She would be easy enough to hit—an open target, moving in one direction…
I can’t…she thought in frustration, realizing that without this woman’s kindness, instinct, stupidity, or whatever she chose to call it: she wouldn’t be here. As Dom reached her, panting, there was the sound of gathering power from where the group stood watching, and suddenly the area was flooded in light.
Ana gasped as she saw exactly how close to danger she was. Had she chose to continue into darkness she would have found herself drowning in the vast, dark depths of the ocean. The glaring light, which shone from portals on the side of the building and from the side below where Ana stood, illuminated choppy, black waters as far as the eye could see. At the thought of what might had happened, Ana shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, stepping back several feet.
“So…” said Dom casually, crossing her arms as if she was greatly amused. “You can do more than read minds. You almost broke LW’s arm, you know. Better not go near her for a few weeks or you might end up…” she nodded toward the edge of the dock, “in there after all.”
Frustrated and disappointed, Ana just stared at her, tears streaking down her face. “Where…are we?”
Dom stared at her inquisitively. “ I already told you, this is our base, Typhon. But I guess I neglected to tell you… it’s an abandoned oilrig hundreds of miles off the eastern shore. You wouldn’t tell me your name; it was only fair.”
Ana stubbornly didn’t want to believe Dom, that she honesty trapped out in the middle of nowhere with these people, but the evidence was kind of hard to refute. Angrily accepting her fate, she glared at the tall blonde woman and shook her head once more. If they must know everything about me…the one thing they’ll never know is my name.
“Well then,” said Dom thoughtfully, taking a step towards her. “After witnessing that spectacle, I think ‘Psyche’ might be a suitable name for you. You like it?” Dom was now at her side and started to guide Ana back toward the others. Ana didn’t bother to resist, partly because there was nowhere to run, and mostly because of the throbbing migraine which had, as usual, invaded her skull. Shaking her head would result in even more pain, so she whispered, “Hate it.”
“It’s perfect, then,” said Dom with a smile, keeping her arm around the girl’s waist as they headed back into the base, and, whether Ana liked it or not, her new home.
**
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