Chapter Text
Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame opened her eyes. She was laying on a bed, with a neon light flickering above her, lighting up a clean, white room. She tried to turn around, only to be met with a sharp pain to her side. Her hand reached for it, and met with a heavy wrapping of bandages, across all her side, chest and arms. Stuck in her arm was a needle, hooking her up on what seemed like IV fluids in a clear plastic pocket above her bed. Still laying on her back, she looked around, and finally spotted a remote, and using her other hand, grabbed it and pressed the call button. Then she waited, trying to recollect her memories, figuring out how she ended up here.
A few minutes later, a nurse, wearing a clean uniform embroidered with the CAIN logo on the chest, opened the door. Seeing Elizabeth awake, she laid back towards the exterior of the room, and yelled something to people outside. Then, she got closer, and started a series of questions.
Most were aimed at determining how Elizabeth was feeling, making sure she was correctly healing and recovering, but, after a few questions, it shifted subjects. Now, she was asking about the mission, wondering how Elizabeth survived, asking if she remembered anything. After a dozen minutes of questioning, she pulled down her clipboard, and thanked Elizabeth for answering.
“And, by the way. You have some visitors. Should I let them in, or are you too tired to see people?”
Elizabeth half-hearthedly nodded. Who could it be?
The question was instantly answered as three lively figures came through the door. The first one was a pink blur, immediately rushing to her bedside to grab her into a big but soft hug, while the other two approached with more reservation, unsure of how to behave.
“Liz! You’re awake, thank God!” Raora held her tight, her face snuggled against Elizabeth. “I was starting to get worried..."
Cecilia quietly coughed, and Raora stepped back, smiling apologetically. “I mean we were starting to get worried... of course.”
Elizabeth looked at all three of them. “So... How did the Hunt end? How did I make it?”
Gigi stepped forward with a grin. “Sorry chief, I might have disobeyed orders. Found you unconscious on the floor, no trace of the Sin. Had I been even thirty seconds later you’d have disintegrated alongside the Palace. Cecilia managed to get in contact with CAIN, and they came to pick us up with a helicopter. Honestly, I think they were more pressed about getting that Host rather than getting us back.”
And, answering Elizabeth’s inquiring eyes, before she could even ask, Cecilia stepped forward too.
“No idea where she is. She’s been taken in by Castle agents, so let’s hope she will end up going back to civilian life. She’s gonna need a looooooot of therapy after everything that happened to her. I hate even thinking about it.” Cecilia moved her mouth into a slight frown, but nothing more than a slight decrease of the corners angles. Now that they were sitting face to face, and with decent lighting, Elizabeth could notice it. Her skin, made of porcelain, was rough around the edges of the mouth, and breaking where normal skin would fold. This is where the scratching and cracking sounds would come from all this time, and if her entire skin was like that, not just her face, this explained why she seemingly couldn’t run or fight like the rest of the team.
The bed-bound redhead nodded. “I just hope she ends up fine.”
Before any of the girls could mention anything else, the nurse entered the room again, accompanied this time by a bald man in a black costume, with the Castle icon plastered over his chest in a metallic pin, accompanied with one silver strip. Without saying anything, he simply handed Elizabeth a manilla envelope, struck with a red wax seal showing Castle’s icon again, and left the room. The nurse at the same time quickly unplugged her patient from the IV pouch, and nodded to the man before leaving too.
“Well. That was something.” Gigi said, her eyes following the two CAIN workers until they got out of the room, not closing the door after them.
Elizabeth opened the envelope. Inside it, a single sheet of paper. She recognized it as a new affectation order, and started reading it aloud.
“Congratulations on the success of your first Hunt. Given your results, the efforts produced by all members of the team, and the effectiveness of your cohesion.
Exorcist #11052306, Raora Panthera, Exorcist #10182306, Gigi Murin, Exorcist #11112306, Cecilia Immergreen, and Exorcist #25042206, Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame, are officially an active Strike Team, under the codename : Justice. Your Team leader shall be Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame, unless an official A1-35 form is filled and sent to your Castle handler in the three days following the delivery of that message.
A period of a week after official medical discharge is required by CAIN’s operative code. Take this time to rest and prepare, and to be ready for your next Hunt assignment.”
Gigi smiled wide, all teeth out, and Raora jumped with joy. Cecilia looked defeated, but Elizabeth could still see a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. As for herself, she just smiled.
Before that, she would have been jumping in joy too. This is all she ever wanted, but now, her goals shifted. There were too many unknowns about what happened during that mission, and she was ready to get to the bottom of this. And more importantly, she had the responsibility of her team now.
She just smiled, but still relieved in the coming rest she would get. Her teammates were with her, all chatty and happy about the news. But across the room, right by the door, something else caught her eye.
A flash of black and white hair, moving like a breeze across the corridor. Followed by a dozen Castle soldiers. And for a brief moment, a fraction of a second, eyes met. Bright yellow, gazing at the red of Elizabeth.
And a smile back.