Theo hated to wait on men.

She had done enough of that in her short lifetime. She was told they would be meeting at sunrise and she was ready at sunrise. Yet, when the ship was anchored at the coordinates that were agreed upon, Kao and Clay were nowhere to be found. As more time passed, the two revolutionaries in charge of the Drokian mission were still missing. The sun was no longer hanging low on the horizon but had since moved high in the sky. It's beams were beating down on the deck but the sweat pooling at her brow was frustration, not heat.

At least, that is what Cooker had said. Contrary to Theo, she was having no issues not being outward about her displeasure at the tardiness. Instead, she said she was not going to let the things she could not control bother her. Theo didn't give her much more time until she started to get upset. There was only so much disrespect Cooker could take.

Theo would have had more sympathy, knowing they could be on the bottom of the ocean, but she was positive that wasn't the case. The seas had been calm, no storms in the area. Raiding ships from underworld groups had all but ceased in the cycles before reclassification. It should have been a straight shot from their origin point with little hassle.

Which meant the current rebels were shit at sailing or incapable of managing their time. Both of which annoyed her, both of which she thought to be true. She and her crew were expected to rise to a standard of success and professionalism that massive companies would not have been able to achieve. A crew that was seemingly the best the revolution had to offer couldn't even make it to the first destination on time.

Even with the obstacles in their way before coming, they managed to arrive in the specified time frame. They closed out their business in Niveal and saw the transfer of the management of their new assets. They packed up, settled their tabs around the island, managed to slip away from the Mithren without repercussions and still managed to hold up their end of the deal. Leave it to the land dwellers to not be able to navigate ideal sea conditions.

Maybe she would have been less on edge and maybe she would not be feeling increasingly excruciating anxiety with every minute that passed had their plans not relied on exactness and timeliness. To ease her slight panic, she went inside the deck and made herself some tea. The warmth shouldn't have helped, not with the punishing sun outside, but it did.

She calmed herself with thoughts of the last mission in Drokian. There had been a lot less planning and besides a brush with death, nothing went too terribly wrong. The mission that was still ahead of them had planning and experience behind it. They would pull it off, regardless of their shortened timeline. She was sure of it– and Theo was rarely sure of anything.

If she removed her frustration from her panic, she could see that they were well-equipped.

And while she had addressed the panic, the frustration was still burning deep inside. Their tardiness was also a perfect excuse to be angry at them. Theo wasn't that pleased with the brothers in the first place, she found them to be misguided in their involvement with rebellion. Had they been on time, the same annoyance would still be weighing her down.

Once she finished her tea, she headed back to the deck to receive any updates that might have been missed. Instead of any news, she found Cooker pacing the deck. Theo approached her and cleared her throat.

"One sun in Drokian is quickly turning into only a night in Drokian," Cooker said as she stopped and looked at Theo.

"We can arrive with an hour to spare and would be fine," Theo assured.

Things had quickly flipped on them, Cooker having been the one to be lax about the mission leading up to that point.

She relaxed her shoulders and took a deep breath, "You're right. We did it before with no plan. We will be fine."

"Right," Theo assured her, "You said it before, they are making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be."

"Bunch of fucking losers. Who hasn't done a prison break before? We really are the best equipped to lead this rebellion," Cooker crossed her arms with a laugh, "The whole world's fate, in the hands of a bunch of pirates that are barely a classification old."

"That would bring me no comfort if I were looking to join the fight," Theo shook her head with a smile, "Don't almost die this time, yeah?"

"It's up there on my list of priorities."

"Should be the first one."

"I can make that happen, bump a few things around," Cooker laughed and wiggled her fingers in front of her and mumbled under her breath, "There we have it. My number one priority is now getting nowhere close to death. Shame about having to bump the others though."

"What did it replace?" Theo played along.

"Looking hot as fuck as we rescue helpless people from prison," Cooker said and pushed her now floppy hair back, it had continued to grow and she had avoided cutting it, "it would make me irresistible to Agnes."

She laughed as Agnes perfectly timed her exit onto the deck, Fjord right behind her speaking about something that Theo wasn't sure Agnes could hear.

"You lost that battle?" Theo asked.

"I was massacred. Apparently, asking her to stay back and think of the kids is the worst thing I could have ever done," Cooker rolled her eyes.

"I told you that before you went to talk to her about it," Theo hummed, feeling vindicated about being right.

"Well fucking sorry that I was trying to make sure two small children don't end up orphaned," Cooker threw her hands up.

"If you are worried about them being orphaned, you could always stay back. I'm sure Aggy would love to take your place on the mission," Theo teased.

"Ha, ha, ha," Cooker deadpanned and rolled her head back, hanging it between her shoulder blades, "I am fucking bored out of my mind. We were supposed to be in Drokian already."

There was a whistle and a call from the crow's nest and Theo pulled out her looking glass, scanning the horizon. She handed it over to Cooker once she spotted what the lookout had.

"They're here," Theo said.

Cooker laughed as she fixed the instrument to her eye, "I'm a damn sorcerer. I speak, it happens."

Theo chuckled, "Aye. Then you are the best suited to round up those that are needed and get the crew ready to board their ship."

"Fair. I got myself into that one," Cooker sighed as she made her way into the lower decks.

Theo turned her attention back to the approaching ship. They had some time before they were
close enough to transfer over but she preferred to keep watch of it at all times, in case there was something she wasn't seeing. She uncovered nothing as she watched, just a standard ship. The same one that had visited them once before. It wasn't large, which would be perfect for laying low in the waters of Drokian.

As the start of the mission drew closer, she had to fight her nerves and push them away. Anytime she left her ship in the hands of someone else was nerve-wracking. Abandoning the ship to board another one that would not be under her control was even worse. Handing it over to Kaia, a notorious keeper of ships in a captain's absence, was the only thing that brought her relief.

The deck was alive around her, with crew members rushing to their stations to prepare for the incoming ship. The way everything fell into place without even a finger lifted made her proud and in the same vein made her unwell. She had ensured that her crew was trained but she had done so to a point where it didn't seem she was needed.

Cooker put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "You're leading the way, Cap?"

Theo looked over, pulled from her thoughts, "Aye, it should be me that hops to their side first. I'm sure the Kymlie brothers would find it disrespectful if I didn't head up the group."

"Rich rules never quite shake," Cooker chuckled and turned behind her, "She's leading the way!"

Theo glanced back to see the rest of those assigned to the mission coming toward them. They were light on vanguard members and with them needing to be further split up between those staying on the ship and those going into Drokian, they had a small group.

Morgana saluted toward Cooker, indicating she had heard what was said. Behind her were Agnes and Fjord, their other companions. Theo greeted them with a nod of her head.

"They should be here soon," Theo updated them, even though the ship approaching them made that quite clear.

Her gaze was still trained in front of her but those around her struck up a conversation. It was mainly Morgana and Fjord conversing while no one else spoke. Eventually, the lack of participation from everyone else was noticeable.

"Are you two fighting?" Morgana asked.

Theo glanced back to see Morgana's eyes darting between Agnes and Cooker. Theo turned, finally looking away from the other ship in favor of being present for whatever drama unfolded.

There was no answer so Morgana prompted again.

"Oi, you two fighting?" she asked again as if she thought they simply hadn't heard her the first time.

"No," Cooker said.

"Yes," Agnes contradicted.

Cooker scoffed and shook her head, "Great. Let's bring everyone else into this."

"You went to Morgana to ask her to not let me on the mission without discussing any of your concerns with me first," Agnes accused, "you brought other people into this first. Now you have an issue."

Theo bit her lip to keep from smiling, it was a front-row seat to the best show she had seen in lengths.

"I have a right to be worried about you! You have two children that depend on you."

"You are saying that because I am a mother, I cannot do the same things you can," Agnes said and turned to Morgana, "is that what you hear? Because it's what I hear."

Theo was impressed. Agnes was different than Xyra in her style of fighting but the cunningness was there. They were alike in the way they could win every argument by exposing what people were saying between the lines.

"I am not saying that mothers can't do things. I am just saying that maybe they shouldn't be front-line vanguard members with less than a length of training under their belt," Cooker argued back.

"I do have to say I agree with that," Morgana said.

She was enjoying it at first but it was clearly a conversation best had alone, Theo stepped forward and held out her hands, "Now, is not the time for arguing. Mor, Cook, leave her alone. Respect Agnes' choices. I am sure she has thought of the outcomes and consequences many times."

"Yes. Thank you," Agnes raised an eyebrow at Cooker who just turned around in response.

They waited in silence until the other ship was close enough to lower a plank between them. As promised, Theo went first and jumped down on the other ship. Upon inspection of the deck, she noticed the sailors seemed more experienced than the last time they were approached and she couldn't help but feel they had taken her mockery of their abilities to heart.

She walked to the duo waiting for her once she sensed all her crew was safely on deck and stood in front of them, crossing her arms, refusing even the thought of a handshake.

"Captain Theo," Kao greeted her and turned to the rest of her crew with a nod.

"We need to get this ship moving before we start any conversation. You were already late enough as it is. The particular lack of urgency about our timeline would concern me if I wasn't confident we can do it in a reduced amount of time," Theo pressed.

"I am glad you are confident about the mission," Kao ignored her other comment and she could already see how poorly she had rubbed his brother Clay in the short time on board, "we will start sailing immediately. Let's go discuss in my cabin."

"I'd prefer to take this conversation to the helm. I want to see that we are set on the right path."

"We know how to sail," Clay bit in place of his brother's response.

"So if it wasn't a lack of sailing prowess, how do you explain your tardiness? You are half a sun off schedule. Even in my world that is filled with bastards and cheats, being tardy is not a habit seen often," Theo raised an eyebrow, lowered her hands down to her belt, and hooked her thumbs through it.

As she stared Clay down, she could see Kao turn to Cooker for help but Cooker said nothing nor made any move to help. After a few moments, Theo cracked a smile to break the tension. But the smile probably looked like a smirk and she probably came across like a cocky pirate– which was what she wanted it to seem like on the inside. She couldn't help but let it shine through.

"Let's go to your cabin, I suppose there are pressing matters to discuss. I trust you can get us to Drokian on time," Theo motioned her hand forward, "lead the way, gentlemen."

She let them walk forward and also nodded for the others to follow, wanting to fall behind. Cooker didn't get the message though, she stuck by Theo's side as they took the back of the procession.

"Good boy, you did such a good job. Who's the best captain around?" Cooker asked in a high-pitched tone and rubbed Theo's belly before roughly being shoved aside.

Theo had to keep a laugh suppressed deep inside but she couldn't wipe the grin that had crossed her face, "You have a blithe disregard for hierarchy and authority. I'm your fucking Captain."

Cooker just laughed and brushed off her slight stumble to the side, "You've fucked with them enough, yeah? Be on better behavior."

"You are so obsessed with looking good for the rebellion," Theo teased, "refuse to lick the boots of The Center but you are happily getting on your knees for the fancy rich revolutionaries."

"Absolutely not, fuck right off. I just want you to maintain good relationships and I want to make sure we are cautious of that," Cooker laughed, not taking insult to Theo's joke.

"That's not usually something you worry about. You leave that to Xyra."

"She's not here," Cooker shot back.

"Her absence has never prompted you before."

"You're just picking a fight with me because you know you can't do that in there," Cooker accused.

Theo shrugged with a small laugh before they walked into the cabin. Cooker followed and walked past Theo and straight to the chairs in front of Kao's desk. She sat down and crossed one leg over the other. Theo held back a laugh and followed her, sitting in the chair next to her while the others found their seating as well. Theo looked over to her first mate and nodded.

"Gentlemen, we have a way we like to prepare for the mission. Just to ensure everyone knows the steps, and no one is lost," Cooker explained, "may we?"

Kao motioned toward her, giving her the floor, "Lead the way."

"You want to kick it off Mor?" Cooker asked.

Morgana held up one finger, "First, row to a beach two miles out. Then walk into Drokian."

Cooker pointed over to Fjord and he spoke up, "Take positions around the city. Keep an eye out for anything that contradicts our current intelligence about the area."

Agnes spoke without being prompted, "If all is the same, we wait until the early hours of the morning. If something goes awry, we report to the central post where Kao will be and regroup from there."

Cooker snapped her fingers and pointed over to Kao, who hesitated for a second as he thought through the next step.

Clay answered for him, buying his brother time, "At this time, we'll have our men patrolling the forests and making sure to take out any threats that could disrupt a smooth escape."

"Right," Kao cleared his throat, "and when the clock marks twenty minutes past the second hour of the aftermoning Fjord, Theo, and Cooker will get arrested."

"Your man on the inside will get access to the keys, open our cells, and Theo and I will lead everyone to replicate what was done last time," Cooker continued, "In addition to that, we will have someone run in and claim there is an attack by pirates on the other side of town and they need backup."

"Once we make it to the ground level, Cooker and I will escort the asset out of the back door while the commotion distracts the guards to the front and outside. Fjord will be able to rescue his father in the infirmary which will be in that back hallway on our way out,"

"And I will have taken care of any of the fuckers that might be waiting in the back alley," Morgana chimed in.

"Do we all feel good about this?" Theo looked around the room.

"Nothing ever quite goes to plan, so feeling as good as we can be," Kao nodded and there was a scoff in the room.

"Why'd you have to jinx us?" Morgana shook her head and glanced up at the roof, sending a silent prayer to Derwi, "Can we do it again?"

"I think we are fine, Mor," Cooker shook her head, sending a consolation frown her way.

Theo stood up once she was sure there were no concerns about the plans, "I wouldn't mind being escorted to the helm."

Kao nodded and stood up. He did not seem to mind but his brother did. He glared at her as Kao came around the desk and walked Theo out of the room.

—-

Theo was at her spot, scoping out to make sure nothing dramatically shifted before the plan could be carried out. She was the closest to the prison, having been stationed in the alleyway of an abandoned shop a few buildings down from their desired mark. It had been two full hours of standing around, bored. Nothing was happening, Drokian was asleep. The more time passed, the more she felt she could have probably done the mission alone with just Cooker.

She had done it alone with just Cooker.

But they were stuck having to deal with more people and she was trying not to regret it. She had agreed to it because she wanted to see how the others led. It was shit to have to wait around and rely on others but it would yield invaluable insight. It came at a cost though, a long night of nothing.

She had picked up a stick and was scraping away at one of the alley walls. She figured if she had a long while to go in the stakeout, she could at least attempt to satisfy the boredom. Either the stick would whittle away or the small hole in the wall would give way and make a bigger one. A little into her experiment, she realized that the stick was no match for the wall and was quickly dwindling down to a twig.

It distracted her enough that she barely noticed the voices approaching her position but as the got closer it was clear they were making for the alley. Theo stepped back into the depths of the alleyway, using the darkness as cover and hoping whoever it was simply passed her by. Like most of her hopes, it was quickly crushed. Two figures entered the alley and Theo's hand slipped down to her handcannon.

One of them was wearing a uniform but the other was clad in simple garb. Theo squinted and barely made out what was happening. The uniformed individual was clearly a prison guard, his uniform was recognizable to her. The other was not a guard but perhaps was associated with the prison, Theo took in the person's light blue dress and tilted her head. It was a woman, clearly smaller in stature than the guard, but she couldn't make out much else.

They hadn't noticed Theo and she stayed incredibly still. She watched the other women get pressed into the wall as the guard pushed himself closer to her and leaned down to try and capture her lips in a kiss. She turned her head and he wrenched it back to her.

"You know what you need to do to get home safely, dear," he chuckled, "we've been here before."

"Please," she tried to reason with him, "not tonight."

"Why do you act like this is troublesome to you some nights and not others, hm?"

"Please," she simply repeated but didn't do much to fight him off, "I don't want to."

"But you are here volunteering at all hours of the night. Why else would you come by? Playing coy doesn't suit you," he chuckled and pressed forward again, succeeding in pulling her in for a kiss that time.

Theo should not have gotten involved, she would give away her position and possibly alert the guards that something was amiss. Yet, there was no world in which she could stay quiet and not react. Theo took the moment of distraction to step out from the darkness and hit the back of the guard's head with the handcannon. It had little effect on him and as he turned around, Theo had to do it again. That time, she hit the sweet spot and he crumpled to the ground. She flipped him onto his back and reached for her dagger, attempting to end it quickly.

As she raised her arm in the air, it was caught by someone. The dagger wasn't allowed to plunge deep into his chest. Theo looked back to find the very woman she was attempting to help had stopped her.

"Wait!" she harshly whispered, shaking her head from side to side, "you can't."

Theo looked down at the man, he was breathing which meant they didn't have long before he was awake, she bent down and placed her knee on his chest.

"Ma'am, if he wakes up he will not hesitate in hurting you," Theo said and it was quickly dawning on her that maybe her actions should have had a bit more planning behind it.

"They'll know I had something to do with this. I have to come back to work, I can't afford to lose this role. Please. Please, don't," she pleaded and tightened her grip on Theo's arm, still held in the air.

Theo looked between them for a moment. She stood up off the man and relaxed her arm, indicating she would not make any sudden moves. Her arm was let go of and she took the opportunity to sheath her dagger and pull a sack of coins off her hip.

Theo handed it to the woman, "There, that should get you through more than a few cycles. Go to the apothecary on the east of town, and tell the owner that Captain Theo sent you to collect their dues for the length. The money they give you, you can keep. It will be a few hundred gold, it'll keep you afloat for several lengths."

She looked astonished but didn't move and Theo frowned at her lack of initiative to take it and go.

"I volunteer here. I don't do it for the money. I take care of my brother, he is not well. They imprisoned him but he is not well. He doesn't understand why they did that to him. I must continue to go back," she sped through her explanation, desperation in her eyes. She was doing everything she could to keep the tears at bay.

Theo's gut sank. Shit.

Shit, shit, shit. She was fucked. Not only was she fucked, the situation was fucked. Theo's mind bounced between her situation and the woman's perils. She tried to sort out the solution. Her eyes darted around the alleyway, thinking and calculating. Money couldn't solve it. Money couldn't make her go away.

"Your brother, he's unwell. He's on the ground floor then?"

"Yes, in the infirmary. Sometimes they move him down into a cell to scare him but he was in the infirmary tonight. He has been for a while," her breath kept getting caught in her throat as she tried to breathe through the threat of crying.

"Can he get home by himself?"

"Um..." she searched Theo's face, not understanding the point of the questions, "if- yeah. I suppose if he sees the clock tower, he can find his way home from there."

"Right. If you go right now, you can keep the money, collect the money from the apothecary and keep that, and on top of that, I will make sure your brother comes home. I have connections, and I can promise you his safety but I cannot just let this man go. Can I trust that you will go home, and not mention anything you saw here until morning?"

Theo was ready to catch her and keep her captive until the mission was over if she made any indication to run. She turned back around to see if anyone was watching and then peeked behind Theo into the alley.

"How can you offer that? What is happening? Who are you?" she took a step back.

Theo was so fucked. She had acted without thinking and jeopardized the mission. She really didn't want to hold the woman against her will, especially because not being able to exercise consent was clearly an issue in her past but the alternative was letting her go. That would see the mission over before it began.

"Fuck," Theo said aloud, knowing from body language that the woman was not going to run just yet. She looked around the alleyway from thoughts of a temporary solution that wasn't death for the guard below her. Perhaps that would ease the worries of the other woman. But as Theo scanned the alley, she caught sight of the keyring on the man's belt and his uniform. If he was dead and disposed of, that would be easier to take without risk.

"How can you get my brother?" she repeated, clearly only having stuck around for the promise of safety for her loved one.

"I told you, I have connections. I can ensure that he is pulled out of the prison safely."

"He might be confused. He won't know how to get home," she said.

"You said he can navigate using the clock tower. I will just tell him to meet you there," Theo offered.

"How do I know that it's real? How do I know you aren't lying to me?"

"My name is Captain Theo, of the Scorned Woman. Have you heard of me?"

The lady shook her head.

"Captain of the lady pirates."

Recognition flashed across her eyes and she nodded.

"I'm good for my money. And if I wanted to harm you and keep you silent, I would have done so already. You can trust me. Please," Theo asked, her turn to plead with the woman, "I need to kill this man. And it needs to happen before he wakes up and starts to scream which means we don't have much more time. If I do this, will you be telling anyone?

"No."

"Good," Theo nodded, "Good. There are 15 gold in that bag and a few hundred that will also be coming your way once you pick it up."

"Is this pirate business?"

"It is. I hope that if you aren't sympathetic to our mission you can at least be honest in your promise to turn a blind eye," Theo looked for any indication that she was being lied to but the woman looked too hopeful about the promise of her brother to want to interfere.

Theo hoped she would clear the area but instead, she opened the sack of coins and pulled out a gold coin. She pressed it against the wall, bit it, and tried to bend it.

"This is real she gasped," she whipped her head to Theo when it didn't weaken.

"I am not lying to you, ma'am," Theo's voice was anguished as she felt the first of the stirrings of the man next to her, "Please, leave the alley and I will do what I need to. I will make sure none of this can fall back on you or any of the other workers."

Her face changed. Like she realized her situation was real. There was more money than she saw in a length in her hands, her tormentor was laid out on the ground, and the promise of her brother returning home has been made. Her expression became stern.

"I want to be the one that kills him," she stated.

Theo was about to protest but the woman held out her hand for the dagger. Theo wanted to hesitate, she wanted to deny her that chance but if the other person delivered the killing blow there would be a lesser chance that she would snitch. She also seemed insistent. So, Theo handed over the dagger.

"Tell me where to strike and I'll do it," she grabbed the dagger with both hands and stood over him.

"You've never killed a person before?"

"I never thought I would. But he is not a person. He is vermin," she frowned.

Theo didn't spare a moment, she guided her through what was needed, and before the minute was over, the man was dead. She looked to be in a bit of shock so Theo pulled her away and used her coat to wipe whatever blood had landed on her hands.

"Run straight home, change, and go to the clock tower," Theo instructed and walked her out of the alley.

Once the woman was on the street, she bolted away. The further she got from the prison, the more relaxed Theo felt, and by the time she was out of sight, Theo had already turned back to handle the mess in the alleyway. She put her hands on her hips and sighed a bit as she took in the situation.

The plan had most definitely changed. And that needed to be communicated quickly.

—------

If Baethan uniforms weren't red, it would have probably been a lot riskier for Theo to walk the streets of Drokian. Still, if anyone looked too closely, she could be fucked. The blood from the guard had seeped into the cloth under the armor that she was now wearing and it was only slightly camouflaged. The original shade of the uniform was a lighter red and if anyone really took a moment to squint through the low light of the city, they could see that shade was no longer present. But no one that was of ranked importance was around and those that were around didn't dare question a soldier or look at them too long.

Once the alleyway had been left to just her, she had used scrapped planks of wood and piled up leaves to cover the body of the dead guard. Before that though, she had slipped off his uniform, wiped off any trace of blood from the silver plates of armor, and transferred her clothes onto him as best she could. The armor was ill-fitting and awkward to move around in but she managed to get the hang of it a few hundred feet outside the alleyway.

She was on constant alert as she left her position, swiveling her head from side to side as the helmet on her head was not conducive to having a functioning line of sight to her periphery. She didn't know if it was because she was inside the armor but it was so loud. Every step she took, she was convinced it was waking all of Drokian. The plan was to go find Kao if anything went sideways but Theo had never had any intention of finding him first.

If things went wrong, she had always known Cooker was first on her list of stops. And that is where she headed. She snuck up on her location, being able to come behind Cooker without her even knowing. When Theo got close enough, the armor gave her away and Cooker turned around–dagger in hand. She was acting first, thinking later. The arm came slashing at her and Theo jumped back, hand coming up to rip off her helmet as she did.

But the movement didn't register anything with Cooker. Before she could understand who was in front of her, she had already thrown her other fist as a follow-up to the first missed swing. It connected with Theo's jaw and her head whipped back.

"Fuck!" Theo held her jaw as she moved it from side to side, "Cooker! It's me."

Cooker lowered her arm, which she had raised to go for another attempt at a slash and laughed.

"Shit, Cap, sorry," she laughed again, harder that time, "announce your presence next time, idiot."

"That was on me," Theo acknowledged, tilting her neck to one side to try and alleviate the pain from the sudden movement of her head flying back, "that was fully on me."

Theo took a moment to sit down on the bench Cooker had been lurking by.

"Shit's gone south?" Cooker asked, looking her up and down, "You don't seem to have much urgency about the fact that you are wearing a soldier's uniform and likely have it because the owner of it is dead."

"I had no choice. He was trying to force himself on a volunteer from the prison,"

Cooker rolled her eyes, "Fucking hell, Theo. You always do this shit."

"As if you wouldn't have done the same," Theo retaliated. It was not in either of their natures to have ignored something like that.

"What now?" Cooker asked, "You have some sort of plan? Or an idea of what this means for our mission moving forward?"

"They are going to notice he's missing in a few hours. I am hoping they haven't done so already," Theo said as she pulled a key ring off her belt, "not sure how this affects the mission moving forward but now we've got a uniform and a key ring in case things have changed."

"And do what with that?" Cooker laughed.

"Not sure," Theo shrugged, "we're smart. We'll figure it out."

"We should report back then. You go to Kao and let him know we are regrouping," Cooker helped Theo up from the bench, "I'll go to start rounding people up."

"I don't want to deal with him," Theo complained, "we'll switch tasks."

"You are a walking tambourine. You want to clunk around the city until we get caught?" Cooker reached over and flicked Theo's chest plate.

"If I am so loud, why'd it take you so long to pick up on my presence, huh?" Theo put the helmet back on.

"I knew you were coming, I was waiting till you got close before I decided to strike," Cooker shrugged.

"Fine, I'll go clunk over to Kao and start to think of moving the plan up a few hours," Theo nodded at her first mate then made her way back to where she knew Kao would be stationed.

—--

Theo's deviance from the plan inspired several upset speeches about the risks of what she had done. Even after she had explained that the plan would not be thrown off too much and they would still succeed no matter how they proceeded, there was still a foul mood directed at her.

The only people seriously pissed off were those not on her crew. The few crew members she brought along with her were fine, knowing that any plan could change at any moment. Not even Morgana, who has the leader of her vanguard, minded the change. It was telling of the character of the others and their abilities to adapt.

As some people discussed what the interruption meant and how to proceed, there was contention over what to do. Some said nothing should change. If they were missing a person, it would have been easier to sell that something was going on. Some said that knowing someone was already missing would put them on higher alert, they should move up the time for the attack. Theo was silent as she listened to others fight around her.

Finally, the moment came when Kao quieted everyone down and turned his attention to Theo. He met her with a curious look and Theo raised her eyebrow in response.

"And what do you think?" Kao asked.

"Yeah, you are the one that fucked it all up. You decide how to fix it," Clay interjected and Kao held up his hand to get him to settle down.

Theo shrugged, "I think we should make use of our new resources. The helmet on this uniform covers enough face for one person to be able to pass the others by without getting noticed on their way inside the prison. Then, they can use their key to unlock the cell of our asset. Once the person wearing the uniform is inside and the other guards have at least seen that they are not missing any men, we can clear the lobby by screaming that there are pirates in town. The rest of our plan will work the same but this way we can avoid three of us getting arrested and thrown into prison to wait on a man on the inside."

"The plan right now is better," Clay insisted although he had just given her the responsibility to decide what to do, "we just have to move it up. A few hours earlier but still the same."

"If we go in now, calling out that pirates are attacking and they are missing one of their men then they won't be as likely to clear out from the area," Cooker shot back.

"If they know a man is missing, they would flee the area to take care of the threat," Clay argued.

"It's not protocol. They would hunker down. One or two would leave to sound the alarm for the rest of Drokian but if one of their men is missing, they'll know they are the target for whatever the pirates are planning," Theo explained.

"And how do you know what protocol is?" Clay bit.

Theo scoffed and shook her head, choosing to ignore the questioning of her expertise, "A new plan gives us two shots at the break. If our first one goes to shit, worst-case scenario is that the plan fails and we go with the second. Then we can see to it that we are arrested and the original plan can take place in the original timeline."

"I think the girls are right," one of the members of Kao's group spoke up, "we should make use of the uniform and keys."

"Do I look like a fucking girl to you, mate?" Morgana spoke up and Theo glanced back at her and shook her head slightly. Morgana held up her hands, arguing she had done nothing wrong and Theo acknowledged it with a nod and a stare that communicated it wasn't the place to pick a new fight.

"Clay," Kao spoke up after considering the options, "I think if we let Theo execute whatever plan she has cooked up, we will be better off."

"Let me execute the plan? This is a team effort," Theo tilted her head.

"You're the one with the uniform and the suggestion to change our established attack," Clay said, "only makes sense for you to go into the prison as the guard."

"Woah, I didn't say I would do it," Theo looked around, "I don't fit in this. They'll make me in a heartbeat."

"You know the prison," Kao conceded Clay's point, "You already have the uniform on. It fits you well enough and you fooled me during your approach."

"I think that's a shit plan," Cooker answered, making her opinion known and Theo sighed at her contradicting the plan that Theo had suggested, "Theo would just break out both of our subjects? By herself?"

"You are the ones that have suggested we make use of the key and the ensemble in our possession. Having Theo go in would be making use of it," Kao argued, adopting some of the attitudes his brother had been displaying.

Although Clay had been the one to push for Theo to go inside, he looked shocked to hear his brother putting weight behind the idea. He turned to him and lowered his voice to whisper to his brother in Dovish. The fact that they were using Dovish but were from the Twins clued Theo into one key fact, Dovish was the language of the revolution. She turned her gaze, locking eyes with Cooker who had caught the odd divergence into a private conversation.

She kept her ears trained on the hushed voices in front of them and with each sentence spoken, her eyes widened more and more. Cooker had heard the same thing and the frown that settled on her face was instant. The exchange had been understood clearly.

"If we go with their plan, and she succeeds right away, bringing down the prison can't happen," Clay reminded.

"I would rather guarantee Loas than bring the prison down. One is more important of a mission than the other," Kao replied.

"Both are important."

"We will figure it out."

"If I were less understanding and more paranoid, I would be accusing you two of switching into Dovish to discuss secret plans that were in no way shared with both halves of this team," Theo chuckled and turned to Cooker, "but that would be ridiculous to say, right?"

"Of course. Preposterous. Both because we are in a close partnership with them and because if they were to discuss secret plans perhaps they would have chosen a language that pirates do not typically understand," Cooker crossed her arms as they stared them down.

Clay's face went sour, his brows furrowing as he turned back to face them. Kao looked frustrated, whether because of his brother or because of them she wasn't sure.

"While we understood what you were saying, I found myself a bit lost. I am not sure I was aware of any intentions of bringing down the prison and that is a problem," Theo called them out.

"We have instructions to place explosives inside the prison once it has been abandoned to bring it down," Kao explained, "it would be a major blow to their infrastructure."

"And the first real attack and act of war," Cooker immediately answered, "Absolutely fucking not."

"In the original arrangement, you would have cleared out the prison as much as you could and minimized casualties. Taking out Drokian eliminates the biggest holding facility for prisoners in Safriti. They are shipped in from all around the area, housed here, then taken to The Center. It would reduce the number of arrests made because they don't have the capacity to hold them all. That means more people can join our ranks," Kao explained.

"Reduce the number of arrests?" Theo scoffed, shaking her head, "It would encourage fewer arrests because soldiers will be instructed to kill instead. If there is no place to keep who they deem criminal, they would sooner murder them than let them go."

"Baethos would never outwardly encourage soldiers to kill civilians, criminals or not," Clay shook his head.

"Encouraged or not, it would still happen. It would be the default. Before prisons existed, in the early suns of Baethos, people got the noose for little more than stealing from a garden," Cooker stepped in.

"And we would not have been letting everyone out of their cells, just enough to cause a distraction. You both knew that. You were willing to let people die? Senselessly?"

"That is not a discussion anymore. That is no longer the plan," Kao shrugged off the indignance and shock coming from Theo and her crew.

"What is the plan?" Clay pushed.

Everyone turned to Theo expectantly but she didn't know. She had already been forced into taking the job of wearing the armor. She held up her hand and looked over to Cooker for a second. She looked ready to give input but didn't offer it without prompting. Theo stared at her for a second and then turned back around. She had sorted it out.

"Right," Theo looked over to Fjord, "you and I are the ones going in, mate, you ready?"

"Me?" Fjord pointed to himself.

"Aye. The hallway that the infirmary is in has the only access to the back exit of the prison. You are taking your father out that way."

"Won't it be guarded?" Fjord asked.

"The outside will be. They won't know what's happened until you walk out with your father and you can catch them off guard. Take them out once you make your exit, there should be a maximum of two. You know how to handle them, you were trained on this," Theo encouraged.

"I can be waiting for you near the back and when I hear a signal I can come help out," Cooker offered.

"How are you getting him inside?" Morgana asked.

"I'll walk him in," Theo answered and Fjord shook his head at that, eyes wide.

"You can't just walk him in. It would be suspect," Kao said.

"We can. Do you know where the nearest clothing shop is?" Theo asked.

"What?" Clay asked, "What are you on about?"

"We are going to dress Fjord in the approved volunteer nurses' color. Each city has their own rotation of colors they tell nurses to wear, since most of them are volunteers they don't bother with giving them a uniform."

Morgana caught on, having heard the same stories from Tuni about volunteering at a prison in her younger suns that Theo had, "And you know the color?"

"The woman I helped was a volunteer. She was wearing blue," Theo looked over to Fjord to get his approval for her plan.

He nodded, "So, you walk me to the infirmary so I can get my father."

"Exactly. And if I have you in front of me as I escort you, you can draw their attention," Theo explained and turned to Agnes, "I'm still going to need you to run in there and sound the pirate alarm. After they've seen me, they'll know they aren't down a man and you can get them to run after you. Exaggerate our numbers, and make sure they take everyone. In that commotion, I'll slip into the basement, find the target, and extract him."

"And the guards in the basement? How will you deal with them?" Kao asked.

Cooker laughed and Theo did too, "They don't employ the most reliable of soldiers and guards in the first place– especially the ones they stash in the basement. The ones I can't encourage to join their brothers outside, I can take out myself."

"And no rush of people?"

"No rush of people. Just Loas and I," Theo smirked a bit at the shock that crossed Kao's face. They had only referred to the target by a dub but Theo had caught his real name in their whispered conversation earlier, "that way, you are less inclined to blow up the prison."

"You surely need some people out of their cells in case something goes awry up top and you do need extra assistance breaking back out of the basement," Kao argued.

"The plan is to be upstairs and out of the back alley exit before they come back. And if they are there, I will improvise my way through it. Be on the lookout, I could make a run for it and have people tailing me. I might need help."

"Or you might get arrested," Clay pointed out.

"In which case, the original plan will come into place. They won't be expecting a second attempt so soon," Cooker answered for her and Theo nodded.

"At least promise me you will see to it that you release a dozen or so prisoners so that there is less of a chance for things to go wrong," Kao requested and when Theo shook her head, he sighed, "I can give you my word, Captain Theo, we will not make any moves to bring down the prison. That plan has sailed. You have made good points and in the spirit of cooperation, we will table this action until it can be further discussed. Lord Cooker would appreciate this consolation."

He said the last bit more for Clay to understand than for them.

"Fine, I will enlist the help of some prisoners in case things have gone wrong up top," Theo nodded then turned to Cooker, "you ready to go shopping with Fjord? I would but I would be better off not showing myself too much."

"Aye, give me the list of what you want to see him in," Cooker said.

Theo nodded and turned to her, speaking in Aelizan, "This can't go wrong. We can't let it get to the backup option."

"I know," Cooker returned, understanding that a second chance at the escape meant bringing back the possibility of a bombing. And too many things could go wrong with a random bombing, including bringing harm to the citizens left behind. There would be endless patrols, interrogations, and lockdowns.

"You know what to get Fjord."

"I do. I'm not dull," Cooker laughed and then clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth, calling Fjord over as she walked away from them.

—--------

Cooker had made speedy work of getting Fjord dressed up. They were approaching the prison before long and Cooker had run ahead to position herself in the alleyway to wait for the signal. She would take action when she heard the call that pirates were in town and take out whatever number of guards would be in the alley. Instead of being expected to help with fighting, they ended up entrusting Fjord with escorting all of the prisoners out of the infirmary and to safety.

Theo still had a duty to help the volunteer from before and if they were already helping a few of the sick, they might as well help all of them if they could.

As they were a few strides away from entering the prison, Theo felt dizzy. It was blatantly risky and all it took was for the disguise to be questioned for it to all go to shit. Theo couldn't be sure she could take on all those that were inside by herself without any of them slipping out for backup. But she prayed to Riva as they crossed into the prison and hoped it was enough.

They didn't attract too much attention but if they had, Theo wouldn't have registered it that much. She had turned away from the large group of them so her face was not as visible as she was pushing Fjord in ahead of her. He provided her with good cover.

Fjord was chuckling, a smile on his face as he went over his rehearsed lines, "Thank god I found you, sorry for interrupting your night. I didn't want to, you seemed to be having a good time with that lady but I didn't want to be late. Imagine that, late for my first shift."

The words were enough to distract the others from Theo's presence and allowed them to ease into the hallway which housed the infirmary. She didn't know why she expected more resistance but those in Baethos' employ truly were not the most capable. They had the numbers though, so being caught was not an option.

As she arrived at the infirmary door, she could see only four people inside. Luckily for them, one of them was Oceane's father. In less happy news, he didn't look to be doing well. Not even a moment after she had located who they had come for, Agnes ran in screaming. It caused Theo to turn her head back to look and the look of terror on her face was convincing.

"The pirates! I saw them near Garril Bay! I was on my way home. I found a trail of blood! And there was a body and-"

She let out a blood-curdling scream and covered her ears and hunched over as she continued to melt down in front of the guards. Theo watched as most of them scrambled to head out and she gave it a moment to make sure no one was looking before slipping into the hallway that headed down to the basement. She looked behind her and then ran when she saw no one was following her.

Once at the end of the hall, she tried a few keys and found the one that unlocked the entrance to the cells. She clicked the lock out of place and opened the door, running down the stairs as she called out for help.

"Hurry! Run! We need all our men!" she yelled, as deep as she could with her voice. As she ran forward, some of them passed her by but she couldn't be sure that all of them had evacuated. She figured fast was better than sure. If anyone else was left, she would handle them if they showed themselves.

"Parrot!" Theo yelled as she ran down a corridor of cells. She was shedding pieces of the heavy armor as she ran, freeing herself up for combat if needed, "Parrot!"

"Here!" someone called, not too long into her search. The intelligence they had been given as to his whereabouts had been correct.

She located where the noise had come from as she fumbled to find the master key. With his arms hanging over the bars of his cell, Theo found Parrot. He looked unwell, malnourished. His body was clad in only a ragged pair of pants, there was dirt and blood on him and he looked to be in need of staying in the infirmary rather than down with the others. She managed to unlock his cell and guide him out of it.

"I'm sure you've figured it out by now but I'm here on behalf of the rebellion. Here to get you out," Theo made sure he was standing, with support from the wall, "can you walk toward the entrance? I've got to open a few of these cells as a distraction and then I can help you up the stairs."

Parrot nodded and took a deep breath before taking a step forward, Theo watched him successfully move and turned to the rest of the cells. She began to unlock them, asking them to follow instructions and not open the door until Theo had instructed them to do so. She had told them their best shot at survival was to wait for her.

Unsurprisingly, they listened. Most of them were scared and hadn't actually done anything wrong. Others had committed crimes but were equally terrified to face the potential of a group of armed guards. Theo kept to her word and helped the target up the stairs once she had released enough people. They had to squeeze past prisoners in the stairwell until they came to the door. She twisted the knob and opened it slightly then put her hand on her sword, swinging the barrier the rest of the way open.

She had been expecting one or two soldiers on the other side but there was no one alive to kill. Instead, Morgana, Clay, and Cooker were standing around a small pile of bodies. Theo handed off the man to Morgana, who helped to support him. She looked at the door and the entrance was blocked, the back alleyway was the only thing open as an exit.

Theo turned to the dozen people in the hallway awaiting her instruction, "Hold for one minute. We'll all leave together."

Theo turned to Cooker and jutted out her chin for an update.

"I made sure Fjord, his dad, and the other boy were safe before coming back in to help. They should be heading back to the ship now and the boy is headed to the clock tower. The other infirmary people sort of scrambled," Cooker informed her.

"Great. Good, and thanks for this," Theo pointed to the rest of the dead guards.

"This our guy?" Morgana asked

"Aye, should be. Clay, can you confirm that?" Theo turned to him.

"I can. That's him. Let's get him to safety before the soldiers realize it is all a sham."

"Agnes? Did they follow her out? Do we need to go ensure she's safe?" Theo clarified before they began their move back to the ship.

"Nah, no following. She acted her ass off. Too much, she had these four guards stay back with her to console her and that's where we came in. She left already though, should be following Fjord. The Drokian guards should be realizing something is going on in about ten minutes and turn around though. We have until then so we better hurry," Cooker said.

"Mor, can you carry him?" Theo asked.

"Aye," she bent down and pulled Parrot over her shoulder, "he's light. Shouldn't be an issue."

Theo looked behind her to the patient prisoners and whistled, "Oi, listen up. Go out the back. Scatter, yeah? Try not to get caught."

She snapped her fingers and they all nodded, running ahead of them. Theo pointed for Mor to run next and then she ran right after. They all headed out, the prisoners running in all directions and their group made their way toward the agreed-upon exit route.

Once they had cleared the building, she looked around at their surroundings. A crowd had started to gather around, littering some of the area nearby. Agnes' yells had traveled far and some curious civilians had come to investigate. They were more than a hundred feet away from the prison when Theo noticed something was missing. In her glance around at everyone, someone notable had left them.

Theo came to a stop and Cooker halted behind her.

"Wait!" Theo called out and Morgana paused to turn around.

"Where is Clay?" Theo asked, looking around and still not seeing him.

"Oh shit," Cooker didn't hesitate before she started going back toward the prison, "Everyone, run! Run!"

Cooker was flapping her arms, wildly. Her voice was projecting as she attempted to get people moving away from the prison but they just stared, "Everyone go! Disperse dammit."

Theo motioned Morgana to run with the man back to safety and then turned to go after her friend, "Cooker! Get the fuck away from there-"

Before she could finish her thought, she was diving for the floor with her arms over her head as a blast rocked the very ground they stood on. Theo looked up, a slight cloud of dust had kicked up around them. There was no way to fully know what happened but she could only assume Clay had gotten his way. She stumbled to her feet and began to run forward but she was stopped by Cooker.

"Cooker!" Theo looked at her, unable to believe that things had gone south so quickly, "There are people down there!"

"I know! I know, but you have to go give the command to start preparing to leave! And bring Kao and others to help! There has to be survivors, I can start looking" Cooker said and Theo turned around to run toward Kao.

Cooker turned to bolt the other way, starting her search for anyone that had survived. Theo tried to go as fast as she could to Kao, she needed to get back to help Cooker. Maybe they could still salvage something or help someone. She should have known they were lying when they said they wouldn't go through with it.

She had managed to catch up with Morgana, having turned a few corners until she was almost at the final stretch to Kao. She could see them off in the distance and was about to overtake Morgana when there was another loud bang. An explosion. But not just one, it was a chain of them. One after the other. Four of them before they finally stopped.

Morgana faced her and they stared at each other for a moment and the urgency must of have been conveyed on Theo's face. She felt only pure panic coursing through her.

"Where is Cooker?" Morgana asked.

"Go get help!" Theo yelled, finally registering what they needed to do, "Drop him! Get someone to start clearing the way back to the ship and go get help! Cooker was there! She went back towards the prison!"

Theo turned around and ran back, without even caring about the possibility that another series of explosions could occur.

Cooker was there. Theo wasn't sure how close she had been to the prison or what exactly she had gone back to do but all Theo knew was that she could not resume the mission as planned until she confirmed Cooker was alright. The adrenaline rush had pushed her to a speed she wasn't aware she could run at. She was out of breath and her stomach hurt at the terror she felt but she kept going. All she could do was hope Coker was okay. Finally, she turned the last corner and the prison came into view and the possibility of Cooker being alive dwindled.

She stopped at the start of the wreckage; debris and rubble littering all directions of the road in front of her. There were no longer upright walls on the prison, it was leveled. The two buildings next to the prison were also heavily damaged. She felt her ragged breath, her chest moving up and down as she tried to process the sight in front of her. How had that much damage occurred? How many explosives were used? Had they been littered on the outside of the prison too? How long before the mission were they set in place?

Theo was frozen in place for a second, her chest was so tight she couldn't breathe. There was no feeling in her fingertips and it felt like her soul was out of her body. There was a silence in her ears followed by a high-pitched ringing, the first explosion perhaps catching up to her. But as she saw the fire flickering in front of her, she was brought back to herself.

She could hear the falling of rocks and construction material as their weight caused them to tumble around. A fire was present but not spreading, contained. Yet all she could think about when seeing it was Alenroux and the loss of Pika and Bari. She hadn't acted fast enough then, she couldn't make that same mistake.

Theo started making her way forward, jumping over rubble and debris without a care that she could end up however Cooker had. The thought of another explosion could barely register as she frantically looked around for her friend.

She yelled her name, screaming it so viscerally that she was sure to cause permanent damage to her vocal cords. She barely let herself breathe in between calls but she realized she was giving herself no chance to hear her own name shouted back at her. Theo slowed down, she tried to be more logical about her approach. She called out then listened, she began to walk toward where she had seen Cooker run to last.

As each moment passed, the sinking feeling in her chest worsened and she threatened to have her panic spill over in unproductive ways. She couldn't find Cooker. There was only debris as far as the eye could see. Theo had seen countless remains even in the little bit of stretch she had walked, dismembered prisoners that had been shredded apart and blown far from where they were supposed to be.

She had hope that no other explosions would occur but she had little hope for anything else. She could see no immediate survivors. Smoke was rising, fire was clinging to surfaces around her and she felt like it was creeping in on her. Her vision suddenly became blurred and she couldn't see through the tears in her eyes or the consternation coursing through her. She could hear herself struggling to breathe but was unable to control it.

As she continued to attempt to yell through her shortness of breath, she heard other people do the same. And the more she heard others join in, the less she could keep herself from falling apart. She took a moment to fall to her knees in between debris and take a moment to let air reenter her lungs. She gripped a piece of rubble next to her as she inhaled and pulled herself back up to her feet.

"Theo."

She heard her name in a slight whisper and she wondered if she was imagining things. It was even quieter than the blowing wind and she darted her eyes around to locate where it came from.

"Theo."

She heard her name again and he spun around but nothing stood out. Then, she saw a hand peek up from some rubble a dozen feet away. Theo jumped over what stood in her way and found her way over to the hand. It was Cooker, half of her crushed under some rubble. She was barely conscious, her eyes were slowly blinking and she let her arm fall back down when she saw Theo coming toward her.

Cooker's eyes began to flutter closed and Theo scolded her, "Oi! Don't you fucking dare closer your eyes! Stay awake you stubborn, son of a bitch."

She finally reached her and bent down next to her, slapping her face lightly and holding it in her hands.

"Hey! Hey! She's here! She's over here, I need help!" Theo called out and craned her head to project her voice.

Theo turned back and allowed herself to take in Cooker's position. Her legs were free and the arm she had signaled with was too but her other one was pinned under a large chunk of rock; the wall or maybe even the roof. It was fully crushing her arm up to her shoulder and was even pressing a bit on her chest, making it more difficult to breathe.

She knew that Cooker's arm was going to be ghastly, she didn't even need to see it. Theo's staring prompted Cooker to try and look over but Theo righted her head. She wasn't quick enough though, Cooker had caught sight of what happened and began to panic.

"Holy fuck!" Cooker tried to pull her arm out but she yelled in pain, "Oh gods, Theo, it fucking hurts! It fucking hurts!"

"I know, Cooker! Don't move. Fucking hell don't move," Theo pinned her other shoulder down as Cooker continued to move and wail in pain.

All of a sudden, her face was pale. The color was drained from it and her head fell back to the ground, her breathing began to shallow and Theo shook Cooker's head in her hands, trying to get her more aware. She had gone from out of it, to panic, to shock in a matter of seconds and Theo was two seconds away from the same series of events.

Theo had blood on her hands as she cradled Cooker's head in anticipation of help from her team. It was coming from the back of her head and Theo was trying not to react in fear it would set Cooker off again.

"Please!" Theo yelled out but the sound didn't travel, she was looking down at an unwell Cooker, whatever blood she was losing clearly having an effect, "Please, someone! Help!"

Theo looked over to the boulder that needed to be moved before they could even assess the full gravity of the situation then turned back to Cooker who was nodding off again.

"Cooker, if you fucking die on me-" Theo couldn't finish the threat, she was shaking her head furiously and was coming to realize that in emergency situations that dealt with Cooker or Xyra, she couldn't be trusted to keep composure.

Luckily other people had begun to rush onto the scene, having heard her pleas for help. Morgana, Agnes, and a notable few others from Kao's group ran to help, making quick work of inspecting the boulder for the best approach. Agnes came to kneel next to Theo, looking down at Cooker with just as much panic written on her face that Theo felt inside.

But as Cooker opened her eyes and tilted her head over to her partner, Agnes regained equanimity. She placed her hands on either side of Cooker's head, replacing Theo's. She took that as her sign to take a step back, letting Agnes take control of being the comfort. Cooker was still out of it, her breathing shallow and her skin losing color but Agnes was whispering to her to keep her awake.

Theo looked around and found the person she should have run to get first before returning, one of Kao's medics. Medic was a term used loosely, he carried a bag of essentials for situations like that but Theo didn't trust him to even dress a small cut. She whistled to him, gaining his attention before pointing to his bag and opening her hand for it. He hesitated, looking around to what Theo was referring to.

"The bag! The fucking bag, dipshit! Now!" Theo snapped her fingers and then held her hand out further, the bag appearing in it a moment after. She set it down and began to rifle through it, "Morgana, what is the hold-up? You've got to get her out from under there."

"Trying to find the best way to grip it. The last thing we want is for it to fall back on her and make it all worse!" Morgana said as she circled the boulder, pacing around as they devised a plan.

Cooker groaned at that and Theo saw her shake her head in Agnes' hands. Theo stuffed her pockets with things from the bag that she knew would be needed and ran over to Morgana, ready to help when a plan of action was decided on. It was only a few more seconds before Morgana gave instructions on what to do. Theo engaged her core, found a good position against the boulder, and began to help move it. As soon as the first bit of weight was lifted off, Cooker began to yell. Whatever pain she was feeling had been more difficult to feel under the pressure but with nothing to press down, it hit her full swing.

Soon enough, the boulder was off to the side unable to pin Cooker anymore and Theo dropped down to her knees to help address the injuries. When she looked down to try and make sense of what to do, it was a gruesome scene. She wasn't usually affected by gore but this was Cooker in front of her. It was her mangled arm, her blood, her pain. Theo froze for a moment as she thought through her medical training.

"Theo! Stem the bleeding!" Morgana yelled from above her and Theo pulled out the items she had stuffed in her pockets, getting to work.

Her hands shook a bit but she held it together as she fashioned a tourniquet around Cooker's shoulder. The arm that had been crushed under the boulder was mangled and it made her stomach churn. It would not be salvageable and when Cooker managed to make it back to the ship, they would have to amputate if she had any chance at making it.

After she had done all she could to address the problems in the moment, she looked around for the medicine she wanted. It was something to help with the pain and calm Cooker's nervous system down. Theo couldn't have her be in an agitated state or everything would be more difficult.

Theo turned Cooker's head her way and held out the bundle of leaves that needed to be chewed to show Cooker it was coming. Once there was enough time to process, Theo shoved them in her mouth, on the side of her cheek, and closed Cooker's mouth. Cooker took the hint and began to chew frantically as she look around to try and gather what was happening around her. But her head lolled too far to one side and Theo saw the moment Cooker laid eyes on her arm.

"Shit! Fuck! Oh my gods! That doesn't look good, Theo," Cooker shook her head and looked away, her chest rose and fell rapidly, "I can't feel it. It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks! Why can't I feel it?"

"It's adrenaline, Cook. Don't think about that. Breathe," Theo tried to talk her through it.

"Setting priorities and following them are different, eh?" Cooker laughed, then winced and continued to chew.

She was looking anywhere but her arm and her breathing was shallow like if she took too big of a breath everything would come crashing down. Cooker looked both highly alert and more out of it than Theo had ever seen it was obvious that she was teetering between shock and being present.

"T, how does it look? Cooker asked, starting to calm down a bit.

"Don't think about that right now," Theo said as she was looking around, trying to decipher the quickest way out but she saw that Morgana was already on the case, taking the others that had gathered near them to clear some of the big pieces of debris out of the way to be able to more easily carry Cooker.

"Fucking," Cooker tried to look over but Agnes stopped her head from turning, "Theo, if I'm losing it then tell me!"

"Cooker, we can't know anything for sure right now. Calm down, baby. Look over at me," Agnes tried to soothe her.

Cooker nodded and looked her way, her eyes blinking more heavily than before but her breathing still shallow. But after cooperating she shook her head and looked back at Theo, "Theo, please. Tell me."

"It's not looking good Cook, alright?" Theo caught her eyes and shook her head but tried her best to smile, "Just focus on staying awake and alive. It's just your arm and few cuts. You'll be alright."

Theo stepped away as Morgana and a few of Kao's men surrounded her.

"I can't feel it anymore," Cooker said as she was beginning to be lifted up, "it should hurt. It was hurting. It looks like it should hurt. I should feel it."

Both Agnes and Theo walked on opposite sides of Cooker as she began to get walked to safety. Even from a distance, Theo could see that Agnes was shaken. She was trying to keep Cooker's focus but Cooker was working herself up and the more she did, the more wound up Agnes became. But she kept a handle on it and distracted Cooker with smiles and nonsense sentences.

Theo didn't want to leave them but she knew she had other things to do.

"Morgana, have them all take her back to the ship! Agnes, run ahead and make sure the path is clear and the boat is ready. Do not wait for anyone, go as soon as you get there," Theo said as she began to fall back.

"You're not coming?"

"She can't! Theo! There are people. I heard people still," Cooker called out and Theo knew that whoever Cooker had heard was likely not alive after the second set of explosions.

Theo watched the group begin to escort Cooker out and she almost turned around to begin sifting through the rubble for any survivors but the thought that Cooker could be dead upon arriving to the ship overtook her. She couldn't just allow them to leave without her. She ran forward, following the procession of people.

"Wait!" She caught up and walked alongside Cooker, "Hey, mate. I'm going to stick by you. I'll see you back to the ship, yeah?"

"I'm not going to die," Cooker said, her eyes slipping shut as the sedative medicine took action, "you have to stay. Responsibility. Help people. All that noble shit. Please."

"Alright. Aye. Yeah. Of course. Hey, I love you, Cooker," Theo said as she continued to walk with them, she needed to get it out no matter how unnatural it felt to be giving her a sort of goodbye, "Oi, keep her safe. Make sure the healer is giving her the proper care. You know what this kind of procedure looks like."

Morgan nodded as Theo finished directing her and then Theo let herself hang back despite her desire to not let Cooker out of her sight. She needed to make sure everyone else had gotten to their locations safely, she needed to secure Fjord and his father and help them through the jungle as planned. She wanted to send someone to the clock tower to make sure she had kept true to her word.

But for all of the chaos raging around her, with the fire at her back and soldiers likely flocking to the area, she could not move. She stared at the caravan of people rushing off until they were out of sight and only then did she turn to begin executing the rest of her duties.