Chapter Text
How long has it been since that transmission with Director Faroh? Sebastian thought to himself as he slithered through a maintenance tunnel, on his way back to his shop with his current scavenged prizes secured into the pouches lined along his tail. For the mutated fish man, time had been a really hard thing to keep track of properly down here in the Hadal Blacksite… but it felt like a long time since he contacted Deluge Labs and his radio transmissions hadn’t been picked up by the labs or the director in a while.
Was the first time a fluke? Or… was it just a lucky break? The fish-man pondered as he found the vent that would lead into the hidden workshop of what was becoming his… more common location, as he found that the area had the best signal strength of the Blacksite.
Regardless of whichever one it was, Sebastian had just been holding out like he said he would. Going through his routine of scavenging the lower layers of the Blacksite for a while, setting up his shop for a bit whenever he senses large groups of Expendables coming close to one of his prime shop locations…. And then going through a period of waiting around the radio trying to see if he’d get a repeat miracle of getting in contact with Deluge Labs again.
According to Painter, the more recent group that was sent in died to Wall Dwellers and one of the Anglers. Which means Urbanshade’s going to be sending in a new group soon… a sneer crossed Sebastian’s face at this thought. He’s come to learn that there were usually three groups of Expendables active at a time in the Blacksite, ranging in size from groups of 2 to the larger end of 10 criminals. Whenever one of those groups suffered major casualties or died completely a new group would soon follow.
What the hell is so special about a stupid rock that Urbanshade’s still sending people in just to die?
“-olace? Come in Mr. Solace.”
Sebastian’s fins perked up and his eyes widened at the sound of Director Faroh’s voice coming through the radio.
It wasn’t a fluke.
Sliding through the maintenance hatch as quickly as he could to get into the room, he only paused once to double check if he could sense any living heart beat nearby. Once it was confirmed there were no other people in the area, Sebastian hurried over to the radio, leaned down and practically snatched up the speaker before pausing a moment, to calm himself down a bit.
“Been a while Director. Almost thought you forgot about me down here.” Sebastian joked, attempting to cover up the nerves that were getting to him.
“Believe me. Our last conversation made you hard to forget.” There was a soft, half hearted laugh in her tone for a second before she seemed to clear her throat and straighten up with a muttered apology before speaking again in a more professional tone. “In all seriousness though… you are a difficult man to get in touch with. Considering your transmissions seem to pop up at very odd hours of the day.”
Do they? “My apologies then. There’s not a lot of working clocks down here, or really any sun or moon to tell what time they’re being sent out.”
“Regardless, it’s good we’re able to get in contact with you now.”
We huh? Sounds like she’s got more company with her this time.
“You should know… Deluge Labs has decided to accept your offer, and is currently working on a way to get you and your associate out, very soon. Provided… you fulfill your end of the deal as well.”
Sebastian was stunned. He could barely believe it… something was finally going right for once. Though… the hesitance in Director Faroh’s voice had his well honed trust issues acting up.
“There’s something more to this, isn't there Director?”
There was a moment of silence. Long enough for Sebastian to coil his tail closer to himself and feel his fins slowly flatten against his head as a low growl was threatening to crawl out of his throat and through his rows of sharp teeth.
If they’re plotting something-
“… Deluge Labs has recently sent in some… volunteers to infiltrate a group of Urbanshade’s Expendables.”
Sebastian’s fins perked up in surprise as his eyes widened.
“Even though we’re able to communicate with you currently. Our researchers are unable to trace the signal properly enough to coordinate some submarines to lock into your location. It was… decided by the CEO and my fellow directors to send in some volunteers with beacons to help trace the location of the Hadal site better.”
That’s… not as bad as I was expecting… but something isn’t adding up. “There’s something else about this isn’t there?”
“… I’m sorry Mr. Solace… I’m not at liberty to tell you more than that.” There was a moment of silence before the sound of something clicking on the other end of the radio… something Sebastian vaguely remembered hearing before the Director wished him a happy birthday last time. A deep, almost shuddering sigh was heard before Director Faroh began speaking again. “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry… but… there’s going to be some people you know coming in… I… I tried to convince them not to but…”
Sebastian froze, dread began to pool in his gut. “Who…”
The sound of something clicking on once again on the other end echoed through the radio along with the sound of someone clearing their throat. Effectively cutting off the burning question he wanted to ask as the Director began speaking in a professional manner again.
“I have just been informed that their signal seemed to stop moving… it seems like the volunteers might have just arrived.”
“Wait hold on! Who-“
“We’ll be keeping an eye on the location and sending out some subs to provide an EVAC soon.”
“Who the hell are you sending down here?!”
“… We’ll be in touch soon.”
The signal cut off there and Sebastian almost wanted to throw the radio into the nearest wall in his frustration. He did however pivot his torso away from the device to punch the nearest wall, leaving a pretty decent dent in the metal as he breathed heavily. The sound from the impact practically vibrated and echoed through the thick metal walls.
“Fuck…”
Pulling his hand out of the dented metal, mildly disturbed by the vibrations still going through his arm from the impact, his smaller third arm raised up to rub at his wrist to settle it, while his other free arm grasped at his hair as his oversized body began to shake and shudder.
There’s going to be some people you know coming in.
He didn’t care if Deluge Labs sent in strangers, he was used to them at this point. More faceless corpses that decorated this cursed location that Sebastian would never even think about again… but the fact that there were going to people he knew… people that knew him before he became this thing … it terrified Sebastian.
It can’t be any of my old high school or college friends… they gave up on me at that farce of a trial… the only ones that would come though…
Sebastian felt his breathing hitch, his body practically locking up in horror as the realization hit him.
“No…”
The mental images of when he last saw his family started flashing before his eyes.
His mother Isadora, her face always seeming stern yet with the gentlest smile always present on her lips when with her family. Her curly black hair always tied up into a proper bun and had started getting streaks of gray in it last he saw. Her blue-gray eyes always crickled slightly whenever she listened to her children talk about their lives. Her health hadn’t been the best prior to his arrest… she had been taken into the hospital for observations to make sure it wasn’t going to be any worse. From what he remembered Sam telling him before his sentencing, his mother was on the mend and should have made a complete recovery by now.
No… no there’s no way she would come down here… Mama always feared the deep ocean.
His older brother Gabriel came to mind next. He was seemingly always the serious one in the family, from his studies, to his activities, to his work, everything had to be done to the letter with him or he would get stressed out to the point of a mental breakdown… if Gabe’s Med School days were any indication. Though put him in the kitchen with some catchy pop song and you’d see how much of a dork he actually was under all that “All Work and No Play” exterior as he would act as if he was putting on a stage performance while cooking and singing to the song… and how squeaky voiced and embarrassed he would get caught by Sebastian or anyone else. He always had his own dark hair cut neat and proper without any stubble on his face and the thickest pair of square rimmed glasses to cover his blue eyes. His brother had been at his trial and sentencing, looking stone faced the whole time but the deep bags under his eyes spoke of sleepless nights of worry.
No… Gabe’s too cautious to even think about coming down here… he wouldn’t… Would he?
At the mental image of his twin sister Sylvia though… Sebastian could already feel the tears poking at the corners of his eyes. They used to be mistaken for each other a lot when they were younger as they always looked alike from the fact they both used to wear their hair at shoulder length, to their blue-green eyes and every other feature on their face almost being a mirror of one another. However as they got older Sylvia’s features had softened out more while his had gotten sharper, even before the accident that caused the scar on his face when he was 16 or his collection of piercings he got from ages 17 to 19. The Differences remained apparent when he started getting taller than her as well in high school with her capping off at 5’ 6” while he originally ended at 5’ 10”... he remembered lording that over her once and then she kicked him in the shin, hard. Sylvia had always been a no nonsense person, preferring to get straight to the point and was heavily protective of her friends and family to the point that when Sebastian had been out with her on the day he was arrested… Sylvia had punched the cop that had put the handcuffs on him. She hadn’t been able to attend his trial as she had been arrested for assaulting a police officer that day.
She… She definitely would come down here if she knew I was here… oh god my sister would have volunteered to come to this hell hole!
Then two other faces came to mind, family to him in all but blood…
The Curtis Faroh in his memories was… a man who never took anything seriously in his life. Always joking around and messing with Sebastian and the others because he was the oldest, and caped off as the tallest at 6’ 2”. Sebastian always had found the dark brown haired man to be funny when he was messing with everyone else but himself… but he also thought of Curtis as one of the dumbest people he knew… but at the same time one of the kindest. Even when he started getting tattoos at the age of 18 and began smoking and partying, the man always seemed to find time for his little sister and the Solace kids whenever they asked for him, and even helped them stay out of trouble. As stupid as he could be with impulsive decisions and horribly timed jokes… he was always a reliable guy that Sebastian begrudgingly respected. The day after his sentencing though was the most serious and broken Sebastian had ever seen Curtis… and it still scared the mutated man to see the normally jovial man look so broken down that his seemingly permanent smile and smiling golden brown eyes had faded into a look of utter despair.
No… no that dumbass somehow found someone willing to settle with him… he wouldn’t leave his wife behind for something as dangerous as this… he can’t be that fucking stupid after all this time!
At the memory of one Sam Faroh though, Sebastian felt the tears streaming down his scaled cheeks. She had been his best friend since he met her when he was 5. They had practically been inseparable growing up, getting into similar music and trends though still having strong opinions about different bands… He still remembered arguing with her over why his favorite band, Metallica, was better than her favorite band at the time, Hollywood Undead, by a long shot, but both of them smoothing over with a solid agreement on how Linkin Park was a solid favorite for the both of them, to a point that one of their first official dates was to a Linkin Park concert. Sam had always been someone who kept true to her word, though could be headstrong and a little impulsive in her approaches… she was someone he always trusted to have his back…
No… no absolutely not… she… she wouldn’t come down here… not if our daughter’s still alive. But… she’s also one of the most likely ones who would volunteer…
Sebastian didn’t know for sure who among them would be among the incoming Expendables, nor how many as the Director clearly stated there would be multiple… and he had no idea what he feared more in this very moment. The idea of anyone of his family dying down here to one of the entities that Sebastian unleashed in his initial breakout… or the idea of an impromptu reunion that he absolutely was not ready for .
Why… why couldn’t they have just stayed on the surface where it’s safe? Sebastian thought to himself feeling the stress and anxiety of what was to come building up inside. He wasn’t ready to face any member of his family yet… maybe after he took down Urbanshade he might have wanted to but… at the same time he was absolutely not ready for any member of his family getting killed by creatures he unleashed into this damned facility.
“Painter!” Sebastian shouted, turning to the tablet set up and hoping to see the digitally sketched face of his closest companion down here in the Blacksite.
After all… he needed to at least make Painter aware of the Expendables he absolutely should not kill under any circumstances.
….
God I need a smoke… Sylvia thought to herself in the confines of the cramped submarine she had been shoved into with Curtis and six other people. Six criminals to be exact… She still had a hard time believing that any of this was real at the moment. Hell she still hardly believed that two weeks ago, just after her birthday she got word that her older twin brother was still alive and being held captive down in some underwater facility. So the moment Curtis had mentioned a plan from the company his wife worked at to get Sebastian out, Sylvia didn’t even need to think twice about volunteering. There was just… one issue she didn’t really think about.
Sylvia was never the biggest fan of large groups of people… especially people she didn’t really know… something she and Sebastian shared. However as she glanced over to where Curtis was in the submarine, it was obvious he had no reservations as he was attempting to help two criminals who looked like they had both been on the verge of panic attacks with the help of another criminal.
“Sooo, whatcha in for mamacita?”
Sylvia felt her eye twitch as she turned to glare at the expendable who just spoke to her. He was a short, darker skinned man with soft looking slicked back black hair and a flirty smirk on his punchable face.
“Never call me that again and it’s none of your business asshole.” Sylvia growled, crossing her arms and attempting to lean as far away as possible from the criminal.
“Whoa, no need to get so hostile chika.” The man laughed, holding his palms up in a placating way. “Besides, we’re all basically being sent to our deaths down here anyways. Why so secretive?”
“WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE?!”
Sylvia turned her glare to where Curtis was with the other two Expendables. The one who shouted was a young looking man with messy looking short brown hair with wide blue eyes that looked seconds away from crying.
“Aaand back to square one… thanks man, we were so close to getting the kid to calm down.” Curtis sighed and rubbed the back of his tattooed neck.
“Hey, shh, no it’s okay sweetheart.” The woman who had been helping Curtis shushed the panicking expendable gently. There was an uneasy smile on her pale freckled face and the frizzy nature of her red hair didn’t exactly paint a picture of calm in Sylvia’s opinion. “We ain’t gonna die. You’re gonna be alright lil’ guy.”
“You two shouldn’t baby him.The contracts stated there was a low chance of survival, and we all signed them to even end up here.” Another expendable, this one closer to the door, spoke up. Their voice sounded… somewhere between a deeper voiced woman’s and a higher pitched man’s, their own appearance was hard to place as well as it was surprisingly androgynous, yet there were obvious signs of toned muscle to their shoulders and through the sleeves of the jumpsuit they all wore. The scar on their face over their right eye was only the second most noticeable feature about them as their snow white hair was the most eye-catching… and the noticeable lack of a pinky and ring finger on their right hand.
“... I didn’t…” the other expendable that Curtis had been helping spoke up. There was a shudder in her raspy tone as her reddish-brown hair hung low and practically covered her face. “Urbanshade just… threw me in here after I found something they didn’t want me seeing…”
Sylvia felt bad for the unwilling expendable… and she could see both Curtis and the curly haired woman both also looking at the other woman with pity.
“Ouch… I’m… really sorry that happened to you.” Curtis muttered, patting the woman on the shoulder but stopped when she flinched from him. The tattoo artist could only muttered another apology to her before the white haired expendable spoke up again.
“... Okay excluding her, I’m pretty sure we all read our contracts to even know what we’re doing here, and the risks we’re taking.”
“... Now to be fair darling, when signing my contract I stopped paying attention after they mentioned the money.” The curly haired woman confessed, an almost sheepish look on her face as the scarred expendable seemed to shoot her a glare. “I didn’t… really know nothing about any old risk to my life till after signing. They really shoulda had that part near the beginning in bold, if-in ya ask me.”
“Oh believe me southern-bell, I’m in the same boat as you.” The man who had been flirting with Sylvia spoke up again with a laugh. Leaning back against the wall of the submarine the man continued on with a smirk directed to the curly haired woman and ignoring the disappointed look of the white haired expendable. “Name’s Isaac by the way sweetheart. 29 years old, single and locked up for charges of manslaughter. Heard that Urbanshade would offer reduced sentencing and decided to take it up. Didn’t realize I’d be risking my hide down here for some crystal paperweight or something when signing, but here we are. Though I can’t really complain with the amount of beauties they stuck me with.”
Sylvia found herself glaring at the man… Isaac. There was something about him that she really did not trust about him, yet couldn’t exactly put her finger on why. Maybe because he’s thinking more with his dick, then his head…
“Oh, well uh, you don’t need to call me no southern-bell young man. Just Marianna is fine if-in ya don’t mind.” The woman, Marianna introduced, looking a bit flustered as she brushed some of her curly locks behind her ear.
“My, a pretty name for a pretty woman.” Isaac grinned, before turning his attention over to the white haired Expendable. “What about you… I wanna say guy but-”
“Call me whatever, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“... Right…” Sylvia could swear she heard Isaac mutter something about putting a pin in that topic for later, before speaking up again. “So you actually read the whole contract and didn’t even think twice about the whole dying thing? Or you just accepting your fate over it?”
“I deal in contracts. This is nothing new.”
Sylvia immediately narrowed her eyes at the scarred expendable, immediately marking them as someone else she absolutely would not trust in this group, right along with Isaac.
“Like… like a lawyer?” The expendable that had been freaking out over dying asked, looking up from his huddled position with a wide eyed but shaken gaze… and Sylvia couldn’t help but think that this boy was either sheltered… or genuinely dumb. Though to her surprise, the scarred expendable smirked a little.
“Sure. If that’s what you want to go with, kid.”
“... I’m like 20 though…”
“Oh geez you’re still so young.” Curtis laughed, patting the young man on the back and pointedly trying not to look at the white haired scarred expendable. “Me, I’m about to be 38 in another month. You’ve still got your whole life going for ya kid, what did you do to end up here?”
What the hell is he even doing? Sylvia thought to herself while glaring. There’s literally no way he’s actually trying to get along with criminals…
“Oh um… I… I was framed… actually…” The boy stammered, shaking once again. “Drug dealing and possession charges… but I swear I wasn’t doing any of that! I genuinely had no idea how all that stuff got into my bag in the first place!” The boy exclaimed… and from his tone alone Sylvia actually believed the kid. Then he spoke up once more as he seemed to realize something while scratching at one of his cheeks. “Oh… also uh you… you guys can call me Charlie… not… not kid.”
“Eh, most drug dealers to my knowledge always claim innocence and ignorance.” Isaac shrugged, getting an upset, sounding “But I am!” from Charlie in response, before holding up one of his hands and began counting. “Anyways, so we got a mystery lady who was taken against her will, our lovely southern-bell Marianna, a ghostly contract killer, a beautiful but feisty chica, a tattooed teddy-bear, a crybaby Charlie, a silent princess and of course yours truly. Dunno about all of you, but I’m not feeling too keen on our survival odds here.”
Sylvia was about to curse Isaac out for a moment in unison with a protest from Charlie, before an unfamiliar woman’s voice spoke up.
“If this is how you are going to act during this whole mission, I believe you may be the first one to fall amongst us.” The final expendable spoke in an eerily calm and monotonous manner. Sylvia had honestly almost forgotten she was there with how far in the back of the submarine the woman sat, and how ominously quiet she had been the whole time. Looking at the woman, she was sitting up right and proper, her hands folded before her on her lap with her long black hair in what Sylvia could only guess was a princess cut style… however, looking at the woman’s black eyes… Sylvia felt like she was looking into the eyes of someone who was already dead.
“Aw, you worried about me princ-”
“I am a married woman and a mother of two. You will not refer to me as anything other than Ma’am, or by my name.”
Isaac for his part just put his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. Don’t really know your name though.”
“Tsurugi Aiko. You may refer to me as either Mrs.Tsurugi or Aiko. I have no preference on which one is used.”
She reminds me a bit of my own mother… Sylvia thought to herself. It was less the tone that was used but more of the blunt nature of Aiko’s words that reminded Sylvia of Isadora. It really made her think of the times when her mother would talk about clients or people that would get on her nerves after a long day in the office.
“So ma’am, seems like you paid attention to the contract like our ghost by the door.” Curtis spoke up and immediately Sylvia almost wanted to shout at him to question what the hell he was doing. “What made you wanna sign it? Wouldn’t you rather your kids see you alive and well?”
“... it’s because of what happened in your case… isn’t it?” the mystery woman spoke up and seemed to reluctantly lift her head enough for Sylvia to notice the freckles that decorated her angled features and the small scar she had on her brow.
“You know her?” Curtis asked in surprise.
“ Of her actually…” The woman sighed, looking rather pale and seemed to still be shaking a bit. “I’m an investigative journalist… had to write an article about Mrs.Tsurugi a while back… She was convicted on counts of first degree murder charges on three teenagers, and attempted murder on two more and had been sentenced to life without parole. At least… till she clearly signed up for this Expendable business.”
That makes three killers now… Sylvia thought to herself, eyes glaring in the direction of Aiko who was still sitting there all prim and proper… there didn’t seem to be any sign of regret, of anger, of pride or anything really after her crimes came out from someone else. Just the same, cold lifeless stare and stern expression on her face.
“Oh, a cold blooded killer huh? Maybe we do have a better chance than I thought.” Isaac chuckled, ginning over in the murderer’s direction only to get no response out of Aiko.
“Dude… what even is your definition of better in this?” Curtis bluntly asked with narrowed eyes towards the shorter man, who just shrugged with a nonchalant smile… and it seemed to make Curtis frown a bit more.
Guess Curtis really doesn’t like it when someone else acts that way with him.
“W… Why would you… would you kill some kids?” Charlie stammered out, looking like he was on the verge of another freak out. His blue eyes wide and almost filled with tears as he looked towards Aiko.
“... They were never children in the first place. Only monsters in human guises.”
“Pretty fucked up view you got on kids there lady…” Sylvia practically snarled, her words actually getting the stone-cold woman to look towards her with her dead eyed stare. “Hate to see how you treat your own children if that’s how you view others.”
“You know absolutely nothing.” Aiko sighed, and closed her eyes which only pissed Sylvia off more. “You are free to hate me as much as you wish… however so long as we all are here and together, we all have the same goal in the end. What I have done, and what you have done mean nothing in the end. If we succeed, we go free with our records cleared, if we die then we truly live up to our Expendable name.”
“You fucking bitch!” Sylvia practically shot up from her seat, ready to walk right over and punch the long haired woman in the face.
“Syl. Calm down.”
Until Curtis got in her way, stopping her by holding onto her shoulders and blocking her view of Aiko with his much larger frame.
“She’s a fucking murderer Curtis! Of kids no less! Why should she even get a chance to-”
“Syl. Breath. She’s not that man okay?” Sylvia felt herself freeze in Curtis’s hold. “She was actually caught and was paying for her crime. The blame wasn’t passed off to someone else like his was. Plus we’re currently in the same boat as her. Literally and metaphorically speaking. Save your anger and your energy for what’s ahead.”
Sylvia hesitated, her blue-green eyes attempting to look past Curtis for a glance at the murderer behind him, only to get the taller man blocking her view and giving her a look of disappointed worry. It… stung more than she was willing to admit. Taking a deep breath in, she took two steps back and felt Curtis remove his gentle grip from her shoulders.
“Right…” Sylvia breathed, reaching a hand up to brush her curly black hair away from her face. “Right… we don’t know what’s ahead after all…”
It was all but quiet, aside from the sounds of the submarine still moving. Isaac was pointedly looking between Curtis and Sylvia with a questioning look, while the mystery woman seemed like she was still attempting to soothe herself for some reason. Marianna was looking between the two with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth, something clearly playing in her mind, while the scarred expendable at the door had a brow raised while staring at the duo with their one good eye. Aiko herself seemed to be side-eyeing them… while Charlie…
“... So uh… are you two like a couple or something?” Charlie asked after a moment of silence. Only to get twin looks of disgust from both Curtis and Sylvia shot at him.
“Dude, she’s like a sister to me!”
“Fuck no, not even if I was straight!”
“Oh my, you sure? You two are pretty cute together though.” Marinanna spoke up, her eyes practically shining in a barely restrained excitement.
“Did you not even pay attention to me saying I’m not even into guys?” Sylvia squinted her eyes, in annoyance.
“Ah! Sorry, I uh… only got one working ear so uh… sometimes I can’t catch everything.” The curly haired woman nervously tapped her fingers together and turned her head away in shame. Completely missing how both Aiko and the white haired expendable gave almost knowing stares at her.
“Oh, didn’t know we swung for the same team chica. Sorry for earlier then.” Isaac smirked, even with the glare he was getting from Sylvia. “Ah, don’t worry. I don’t go after forbidden fruit, or ladies with no interest in me.”
“Somehow that doesn’t reassure me at all…”
“Also, can I circle back to the fact you called me a tattooed teddy bear earlier?” Curtis cut in, immediately helping get Sylvia away from Isaac’s attention.
“No time, everyone better start getting ready. ETA’s one minute.” The unknown expendable at the door spoke up, pointing towards a digital pad near the hatch that was counting down.
“Oh thank god…” the other unknown expendable sighed, sounding relieved at the news and confusing Sylvia.
“She’s claustrophobic.” Curtis whispered to her, getting a noise of understanding out in response as everyone fell silent to stare in anticipation of when the jaws of the submarine would open.
“Uh, hey so uh… person at the door…” Charlie spoke up nervously, getting only a grunt of acknowledgement. “So uh… I… really have no idea what to call you… and it’s kinda stressing me out.”
All eyes did turn towards the scarred expendable, who looked like they were actually thinking about it as they brought up their three fingered hand to their chin for a moment.
“... Lake. Just call me Lake.” The expendable finally stated, nodding their head at their choice and seemed to turn their full attention back to the count down.
“I… kinda meant like… pronouns but I guess that works…”
“Who wants to bet that they just made it up?” Isaac asked out loud, looking out over the rest of the sub occupants.
“Oh honey, that’s not even a bet. I reckon that’s a fact.” Marianna stated, a deadpan expression on her face as the words came from her lips.
“They didn’t even try to hide it either.” Curtis agreed, a half lidded look on his face.
“Can this thing dock any faster?!” the auburn haired woman practically shouted, looking like she was about ready to throw up from the fear that had been building the whole trip.
Sylvia couldn’t help but agree with the journalist. After all, the sooner they docked… the closer they got to finding her brother.
One of her hands unconsciously fidgeted with the active beacon hidden under her sleeve as she watched the poor woman run out as soon as the door opened and the bridge was set.
Now we just need to hold out long enough to find Sebastian.