Working Together (242 views)

Appraising the room, Hallie learned that Logan was alone. She didn’t look like much of a threat but she was armed, clothed in black, and looked wary. Hallie kept her defensive stance, looking for any sign of weakness that might come out of Logan. But no weakness seemed to come – or at least not readily.

”Who I am is my business, not yours,” Hallie said, dancing around and taking a few steps closer to Logan, slowly, at first seeming like she was closing in on her but actually maneuvering herself to block the door and only visible exit – the windows were too high to climb out of. ”I have... business to settle with Incorporated. If you alert the guards of my presence, I will have no choice but to kill you.”

As she spoke she didn’t move her eyes, but she did focus her peripherals to note one smaller hand mirror on a desk not too far away. If she had to, she could quickly dark back into the large mirror and sneak up behind this girl via that one.

Hallie narrowed her eyes as Logan moved back and grabbed a communication device. Shit! She shouldn’t have that. She wasn’t a hostage, then – she was an agent, a young one... one just like she had been when she had been recruited. She wondered if this girl was actually loyal. She was obviously skilled and trained – if she wasn’t she would have screamed now, or she would be dead by Hallie’s hand by now. She knew what she was doing and it was getting in Hallie’s way.

”Don’t call anyone!” She whispered sharply, her grip on the knife tightening. Crap... crap... ”I’m... looking for someone I need to find. Information for someone I need to find, that is. I don’t want any trouble, I don’t want any fights. I just want to find them. That’s all.”

She spoke lowly, trying to convince Logan she wasn’t a risk or worth fighting. Just please let her buy it -- !

Hallie bit her lip when Logan said she didn’t believe her. Crap... she just needed for this girl to not call anyone. That was all she needed, for her not to call anyone! Why didn’t she believe her!

”Myself.” Hallie said, still blocking the door but focused intently on the communication device in Logan’s hand. Just one word and this was ruined! They’d burn her paperwork and she’d never find out where her family was again! She just needed a hint before the realized she was gone for good and attacked them – she needed to warn them! ”I’m looking for my... family.”

She said this reluctantly, not wanting to tell this girl too much, but maybe – if she was like her – maybe she would let her snoop and leave. As long as she could get to a mirror, Hallie knew she could make a quick and easy escape. She just needed to get away from this girl and into the data room.

Hallie’s reasoning was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Immediately, Hallie seized the moment to hide within the mirror world, now no longer visible to anyone unless she willed it so. She remained in front of the room she was just in, peering in through the mirror like it was one-sided glass, watching as a familiar man stepped into the room.

Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered the snowy, salt-and-pepper hair of the man before her. His smile, which as a girl she had thought was sweet and handsome, had grown to leave her feeling violated after every time he flashed it. She glanced at Logan’s arm and didn’t even have to realize where she was touching to know that she was rubbing the tattoo she’d been branded with. On instinct, Hallie felt her own arm twitching and glanced at it, swallowing a lump in her throat. This girl was like her – and judging by the reaction earlier, her family was also in danger here.

When the scientist left after giving her the medicine, Hallie took a deep breath. Once the coast was clear, she stepped out of the mirror again, looking at Logan, her knife sheathed and put away. She didn’t say anything, she just removed the black jacket she wore and showed off her shoulders, exposed in the shirt she wore. She turned her wrist around and exposed the tattoo she could not remove. There were scars around it from where she’d tried, but ultimately, given up.

”Dr. Klaus.” She said. ”He’s been a scientist for over two decades. I had him when he was young and attractive. I had a crush on him for a while, you know,” she slipped her jacket back on over her shoulders. ”I was his favorite, too, until my medicine stopped improving the cracks in my ability and I stopped taking him through my mirrors. Then I wasn’t his favorite, and then he would do all sorts of things to make me obey. He took advantage of my trust and he didn’t care as long as I produced results. So... I left. And they don’t know I’m gone yet. I have a family. I have to. But they don’t know I’m alive – or where I am – and the only hope I have at finding them are the threats Dr. Klaus made. They have documentation of them here. I have to find them. You understand, right?”

How old was this girl? Not older than Hallie, for sure. Maybe 16, 17? She was distinctively younger, but not that much younger. How long had she been captured here, forced to fight battles for these scientists and this stupid organization that would get them nowhere?

She had a family, too. Hallie exhaled and focused on Logan, and when the girl promised she wouldn’t say anything, she nodded. ”I’m quick and stealthy. I won’t get caught – I know this place like the back of my hand. But...”

She looked at Logan, took a step closer, and in a voice softer than the one she’d been using earlier, she whispered, ”come with me! I can get you out of here, and we can get the information on your family, too. Since you have a mission tomorrow, it might be difficult to get far enough away...” She trailed off and looked at the bed, then over to Logan. ”If I get my paperwork, and come back after your mission tomorrow, do you have a break period? Then, that Klousshole won’t be any the wiser until he comes to deliver your medicine. And if I come pick you up right after your dose tomorrow, that’ll give us a full night to forge new identities and run.” She was excited now, hoping that she could get this girl out of here. ”We could leave, and then go find our families, finally! What do you say?”

”No, no – go on the mission. Make sure it’s a success, and take your medicine tomorrow. Tomorrow night, after it’s been taken, they leave you alone. I can come back for you and get you out,” When she said she couldn’t use her power, Hallie shook her head. ”I can take you with me. Anywhere is better than here, and as long as there is a mirror, I can make sure we have an escape route set up. And as for your medicine? You don’t really need it. They say you do but all they’re really giving you are vitamins to stabilize your power and make it wreak more havoc on your body – which also makes it stronger. Believe me, I stopped taking the medicine weeks ago. I hid it under my tongue every night, and nothing happened.”

When Logan insisted that her family probably stopped looking, Hallie shook her head, and took a deep breath.

”Even if they stopped looking, you can’t. I’ve been here since I was twelve, and now I’m nearly 20. But I’m getting out of here. I’m finding my family, and if they don’t want me anymore, I’m making my own family.” She said. She didn’t mean it in the sense of procreating, but she would find someone to band with. A group of thieves or something. Just someone, someone who would actually care whether she lived or died. ”I can get to the data room and stanch copies of both our information. And then tomorrow I can come back for you, and we can burn the information and leave.”

Hallie sensed hostility when Logan mentioned she didn’t remember her family, and that this place was all she knew. Actually, maybe it wasn’t hostility... maybe it was resigned acceptance. Hallie would not accept that and shook her head, reaching forward to touch her gently on the shoulder.

”Just think about it, okay? This place may be all you know now, but there’s so much more of the world outside. And you just find people to stick with. People who aren’t going to hurt you – people who you can trust,” Hallie said, her tone hopeful and excited at the same time. When she said they could head to the data room she nodded, and stealthily maneuvered herself to the door, following Logan as she left.

It was dark in the hall, and Hallie felt her eyes adjusting to the dim lighting as she kept an eye out for cameras and people. ”They have some mirrors placed in the hall... for me. They don’t know I’m gone. Want me to show you my sneaky way up to the fifth floor?”

She flashed Logan a smile, leaning towards the wall, where a mirror was. Of course they didn’t have mirrors in the data room – but this would at least allow her up to the floor they had to get to without dealing with stairs or the chance of being seen by a guard!

Good – at least Hallie could count on Logan to consider it! She hoped for the girl’s sake that she would accept it. Hallie couldn’t stomach the thought of just turning her back on this entire situation – including Logan. Besides, the poor girl looked nervous, but trapped. She needed an excuse to get out – unlike Hallie, Logan didn’t seem to have that determination to get free.

But she’d find it. Hallie had no doubt that this girl was strong. She just needed some help to find that drive inside of her.

”Good. You better think about it, because your freedom is worth it.” Hallie said. She looked at the walls and eventually saw the mirror. When Logan seemed surprised at the suggestion that she could take her with her. ”Sure can. Want to see?”

Hallie held a hand out for Logan to take.

Hallie grinned at Logan, who seemed hesitant still, but... more intrigued than she’d been before. When she looked from the offered hand up to her and asked who she was, Hallie laughed.

”Name’s Hallie.” She said, snatching Logan’s hand which was stretched out in her direction, but slightly hesitant. She pulled Logan with her and towards the mirror. ”Nice to meet you.”

She pulled Logan through the mirror and the sensation was like walking through a waterfall, except without the dampness that followed. Hallie took a few steps forward and her footsteps echoed. Around them were mirrors of all kinds but none of them reflected the pair. Instead they were like windows, leading to different places and scenes, all blurry. There were so many it seemed hard to decipher what was what, but Hallie didn’t look perturbed. ”This is my mirror world – this is what my ability gives me. Isn’t it neat?”

When she said her name Hallie nodded, noticing the flinch but not backing down as she pulled Logan into the mirror realm. Why would she back off when she knew the struggle and how odd it was to be touched? It was best in her opinion to take it like ripping off a band-aid. Just do it until it didn’t hurt anymore!

She looked at Logan as she appreciated her handiwork, and she grinned at her comment that the ability division was unfair.

”They made me specifically to infiltrate the buildings they wanted things from. Spying, too, that was my job. So I’m not optimized for combat at all. Which is why I’m so good at sneaking,” She grinned over at Logan, ”Teleportation is a cool power. And trust me, it’ll be so much cooler when you don’t have to do what they say.”

She led the way past a few mirrors and up a small staircase, which was half-transparent, like it wasn’t really there. She came to a stop in front of a mirror, which she stayed at for a bit, checking to see if the coast was clear.

Hallie nodded along to what Logan said about her power. So she had several powers... but each one had major drawbacks? Hallie had to wonder if that was worth it. Maybe they wanted Logan to be some kind of versatile weapon – that would make sense if she had several powers. The thought of this girl being turned into a weapon made Hallie furious, though.

”There might be more you can do as you improve. Trust me – there’s so much about my ability that I learned through practice.” She said. When Logan asked how she got about, Hallie proudly smiled. ”Sort of. I know where to go because I come through here a lot. Sometimes I’ll mess up, and it’s like trial and error when it comes to new places. But most of the time for here, I know where I’m going, exactly. Like right now.”

Hallie led Logan to the mirror they needed and stepped through after checking the coast. She went through the veil and now they were on the same floor as the information building, with the sounds of guards just below them. She held a finger out to her lips, indicating silence, as she gestured for Logan to follow her towards the door. She was going to grab a hairpin, but then she had an idea.

”Can you teleport other people, too?” She asked. If they broke into the office someone would likely notice... but if they could teleport through the door, that would be undetectable!

Hallie nodded and had to agree. The location that were at now certainly had its ups and downs – and they didn’t care about anyone. That was the thing with this place. It lacked any sense of human nature. But along with that as a drawback came that as a benefit. The scientists here had no empathy and it was because of that they assumed she was too scared to fight back or try to get back to her family.

She could still remember when she had come to this place – bright eyed and excited to get away from her demons – only to come face to face with a new set of them. But she knew she was better off before when she had her family beside her. That was why she was fighting to get out of here – to get back to them. And Logan was so close to losing that spark in her eyes – it concerned Hallie.

She didn’t notice Logan’s hostile reaction when she spoke suddenly, focused only on the practicality of getting into the room. She turned to Logan then, grinning.

”It’s literally the other side of this door. We just need to get through without making noise.” When she said there was risk for her, Hallie grinned. You couldn’t learn about your ability if you didn’t risk. When Logan raised an eyebrow at her and asked if she was willing, Hallie responded with a smirk. ”If I wasn’t prepared to risk, I wouldn’t have asked. I have a strong stomach – so let’s get going before the guards make their rounds up here!”

The sensation of being teleported was much different than it was phasing through her mirrors. Through her mirrors, it was like stepping through a dry waterfall, but here – it was like she was thrown against her will, slapped against the wall, until she was finally dropped down from the ceiling into the room that was beyond the door. Hallie didn’t look okay for a second as they came down and caught her breath, a hand flying to her stomach. That was so odd, such a new sensation.... she felt the nausea leave her as she slightly straightened up and looked at Logan.

She wanted to try again! Maybe she’d get better at it! But, her stomach warned her, perhaps not now.

She allowed her eyes to adjust to the data room around them, and when Logan asked how she was holding up, she nodded.

”That was... an experience. But not one I’d say no to in the future, and I think I’d be better at I, too!” She said, her voice kept low as she tip-toed through the room and came across the filing desk. From her hair, she pulled a lock pick and tried to work. She said try, because her hands were shaking for some reason. Probably from the teleportation. ”Logan, have you ever picked a lock before?”