TORN FLESH

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: FUZZY SILVER

MARGO found herself unable to move for several moments.

When she finally slipped out of her stupor she found Rogue was still there practically on the verge of having a panic attack in front of their apartment.

Violet was the one to pull the girl inside her small eyes darting from side to side before she closed the door and settled herself in front of it.

"What- what is this supposed to mean?" Margo questioned her finger slightly shaking as she pointed down at the four bolded words roughly printed on the paper.

Rogue shook her head before silently drawing a finger to her lips, gesturing to her ears she proceeded to point to the walls.

They could hear them.

"It means that you're more than welcome to talk during the meeting later tonight." she stated, it had nothing to do with what they were talking about, or what was going on, but it was a good cover.

Margo needed to figure out what was going on, and she needed to figure it out now.

Taking the folder from Rogue, Margo made her way into the kitchen and retrieved a pen from one of the many drawers before settling herself onto one of the chairs at the counter, both Violet and their visitor leaned across the marble top watching as she scribbled a few words across the vanilla folders clean surface.

WHO IS?

Handing the pen to the girl, she watched as Rogue took it and slid the folder in front of her before she began scrawling out words just below where Margo had already written.

MARCUS AND A FEW OTHERS, THEY KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW.

Both Margo and Violet felt their hearts drop.

What the hell were they going to do?

"So, are you guys ready to go?" Rogue chimed a small smile brightening her lips, both girls exchanged a look before turning to face the redhead, "yeah, I- um, I just have to grab something, you can go ahead and take Violet down, I'll meet you in the lobby."

Raising a brow in protest, Rogue silently took the girl's hand in her own and led her out into the hall quietly snapping the door shut behind them.

Margo felt like her world was spinning, like it was slowly crashing and there was nothing she could do to stop it, it felt like she was being suffocated and the air around her was no longer breathable.

It made her feel claustrophobic.

Moving to go to her room to grab the item she'd previously suggested, she felt a streak of pain strike her leg within seconds of movement, letting out a groan she leaned against the kitchen counter and stared down at the limb.

It was still bandaged from her previous stay in the hospital- as well as her wrists- and she found herself looking from one to the other for a few moments.

Had she known that the world would come to this, she would have been quieter that night.

But no, it seemed fate loved to force her hand, to screw her over and put her in unrelenting pain over and over again, it seemed she was hardly ever able to catch a break.

And she hated it.

She let her eyes graze upon the kitchen counter before they landed on the pill bottle.

Things were finally showing a small silver lining.

At least to her, they were.

Snatching the thing up from the smooth surface, she held the bottle in her hand as she read over the label, she could remember the woman telling her one in the morning, one at night.

And as she popped open the top of the bottle, she found herself taking six.

Not because she wanted to overdose, no, but because she knew one stupid pill wouldn't be enough for her leg.

And then she pocketed the bottle, she knew she'd need them later, and what use would she get from them if she threw them away?

Taking them dry, she quickly finished up and headed out into the hall, casting a look in either direction she crossed the hall and stepped into the empty elevator, she could only hope that Rogue had remained in the lobby with the small blonde.

Margo leaned against the railing as the box descended into the elevator shaft with a small groan coming from the metal every few moments, she could only remember going to the city once as a child, it had been with her brother when he went to go sign up for the navy, she'd been but seven at the time, her brother being almost twenty when he entered the recruiting office with his hand softly wrapped around hers.

She'd had no idea what they were doing but still had a smile plastered on her face as if he wasn't signing up to go to war and possibly die.

No, she thought he was simply signing some papers and then returning home with her.

She felt tears begin to prick at the edges of her eyes.

God, she really did miss him.

And she knew she shouldn't, not after all the shit he'd put her through, after everything he'd done. But she couldn't find it in herself to be mad at him, instead, she found herself angry with Stan.

She wanted nothing more than to find him and beat the living shit out of him until he was the one begging for mercy.

That seemed like the only fair ending.

He'd turned her into what she was, into the destructive weapon she'd become over the last seven years.

She blamed him, she blamed her father, hell, she even blamed Irene.

But at the same time, she'd found stability and routine within them, something she'd never had before her father's death.

She cringed as the elevator doors slid open and the two girls turned to face her, with her brother and father still fresh in her mind, she strode out past the doors and took Violet's free hand within her own.

If she couldn't help them, maybe she could help Violet.

Leading them past the double doors of the apartment complex, Rogue fell in step beside them with a small smile on her lips, she was trying to maintain a sense of calmness, Margo knew that much.

It seemed to be working too, people smiled back and a few even cast her a small wave as they passed. Violet remained silent- her hand still drawn in with Margo's- as they walked down the sidewalk to wherever it was that Rogue was leading them.

She prayed that it wasn't a trap.

That Rogue was actually helping them.

She hoped she was, mostly because Margo found a sense of comfort within her presence as if she'd known her for lifetimes.

As they continued down the walk, Violet took note of the people that were streaming in after them, perhaps they were actually going to the meeting.

But why?

Shouldn't they have been trying to escape while everyone was occupied with the meeting?

The small girl let out a sigh, she wouldn't even bother opening her mouth, it seemed too much of a hassle at that point.

Turning off near a corner, Rogue quickly pulled them after her pressing a lone finger to her lips. "I'm going to go to the meeting, you two are going to get to the tech room and find a way to distract them from it." she paused to glance between the two blondes, "I'll say you got held up by Violet not wanting to go, they'll believe that much."

Violet scoffed at the remark curtly crossing her arms over her chest, "sorry kid."

Glancing to Margo she gave a small nod, "I'll meet you at the gates, get a set of keys from the room, and then we can snag a car on the way out."

Nodding her head in response, she watched as Rogue glanced around the corner before turning to face them once more.

"The tech room will be four doors to the left of where you showered in the hospital, it's on the second floor."

"Okay." she mumbled- more so to herself rather than the girl in front of her- giving the girl a final look, Margo quickly led the girl in the opposite direction Rogue had been leading them in and began to make her way to the hospital.

She wished she'd left when she had the chance.

Taken Violet and just left.

Ignoring the small pain in the back of her head that had just begun to blossom, she tightened her grip on Violet's hand and continued to lead her through the mess of random faces that they passed.

It wasn't until three minutes had passed and they weren't seeing as many people as they walked that Violet tapped the girl's side and pointed ahead to the left of them, "there, that's it."

Following her finger, Margo's eyes fell upon a white building that towered over them and seemed as if it would collapse at any moment, she let a small sigh breeze past her lips.

"How are we gonna get to the tech room?" Margo questioned, Violet shrugged her shoulders in response quickly releasing the woman's hand, "let's just waltz right in." she offered before glancing towards the building, the taller of the two gave a slight shake of her head, "too easy, we need a distraction for the people inside."

Furrowing her brows, Violet waited in silence as Margo began to formulate her plan, it would be simple of course, but easy enough to understand that it could be done within minutes, which lowered their risk of being caught.

Thinking through the final bits of it, the woman leaned down to Violet's ear and quickly relayed the plan to her. With a frown that displayed obvious distaste upon her lips, the small girl followed beside Margo as they entered the building.

As expected, the first floor was entirely empty.

They didn't have to do much to avoid the possibility of running into people, but, as a precaution, they decided that the stairs would be much safer than the elevator. As they met the final few steps to the second floor Margo held Violet from going out into the hall until she was fully sure that she knew the plan and was ready to work on it.

Letting out a soft whine, Violet attempted to stomp out into the hallway before she slipped into character and let her soft footfalls carry her down the hall with no notice. Waiting a few moments before she heard the soft- fake- cries coming from Violet and the voice of a nurse trying to comfort her, Margo slipped in the opposite direction of the hall towards where she'd been told the tech room was.

It was only a minute before she reached the room, casting a look in either direction she popped the door open and poked her head inside half worried someone would be starring back at her with a sudden look of alarm, instead, she stepped inside once noticing that it was empty.

The computer screens flashed back at her as she approached, each displaying a different video of sorts, upon closer investigation, she realized it was security footage, live footage.

Margo clenched her eyes shut for a moment, the pain in the back of her head had become almost nauseating, so much that she felt like she was going to pass out.

Instead, her eyes began to glaze over- the objects around her becoming fuzzy- as she tried to grab onto something, anything, to steady herself, the only thing she was able to catch was the edge of one of the tables, the woman moved quickly, aware that the sudden pain she was experiencing was only to get worse.

She had to find the keys, that was her goal, keys.

It didn't matter which ones, so long as she grabbed a pair.

When she realized there were none hung on the walls as she'd seen in some places, she began to search through the drawers lining the counters that a few computers sat atop. It wasn't long before she finally located what she was looking for, but by then, he was already there.

Turning around to leave, Margo's eyes went wide at the sight of a gun pressed to the side of Violet's head, Marcus stood with her in his iron grip his face blank as he watched Margo, "darlin' I'd put those down if I were you." he softly warned with a gesture towards Violet.

She didn't have to be told twice, carefully dropping the keys to the floor, her eyes never left Violets, christ, now she realized just how dumb they'd been, to go with only the two of them and no one to cover their asses, it had been foolish.

"I'd like to think I'm a reasonable man, ya' know? I help people, I save people, hell, I give people the chance to live. And this is what I get." Margo shook her head, "I know about the girl in the field, about Mitch. She tried to leave and you killed her, Mitch left and you tried to kill him." Marcus simply smiled watching as the woman softly swayed.

"How many them pills d'you take?" from the tone of his voice, Margo was almost sure that it was a rhetorical question of sorts, she let out a low groan, "what did you do?" she questioned gripping the edge of the table just the slightest bit tighter.

"Them pills wasn't no pain killers darlin' try aimin' for hallucinogens." he smiled watching as Margo let out a spluttering cough and dropped to her knees with a small cry as they smacked into the tile.

"Yeah, you took at least three of them things." he added eyeing her as she stared up at him with half-lidded eyes, "I'll fucking kill you." she muttered, Marcus only laughed, "go on darlin', try." Violet took her chance and roughly elbowed him in the face before using all her weight to shove him forward.

An incoherent yell left the man's lips as he turned to point the gun in her direction again, watching as his finger moved towards the trigger, Margo pounced on him taking him down to the floor with her as they wrestled for the gun.

When she failed to take it from him, she was met with a stinging punch to the face, and then another, and another.

It seemed that she would die at that moment.

And she was fine with it.

She was fine with going out like that.

At least she could go out knowing she tried.

With half-lidded eyes, she felt everything becoming more numb with each whip across her face, she could feel the blood pouring out from all different parts of her face, no doubt she was covered in it at that point.

She was almost sure she was dead when a gunshot rang through the room and she felt the world dissipate beneath her.

The bright lights overhead felt like they'd just appeared to her, and for a fleeting moment, she believed she was finally at peace.

Until Violet ran to her side and began to wipe the blood from her face with her bare hand as best as she could, "Rav?" she questioned, she would've thought the girl to be dead if the groan that left her lips moments later never came.

"Thank god." she muttered, turning to look at something in the direction of the door, Margo watched as Rogue magically appeared above her with a gun in hand, "you're lucky I trailed his ass." she paused quickly handing the gun off to the smallest of the three, "come on, we gotta get outta here, Violet, grab the keys."

While Violet went to retrieve the requested item, Rogue pulled Margo to her feet and began to make way for the door when the sound of a radio crackling stopped them in their tracks.

It crackled for a few more moments before a voice finally made its way through the channel, both Violet and Rogue turned their heads to look at the device as it sat in its charging port, "this is M-" Violet furrowed her brows at the voice cutting out but didn't speak as it crackled again before continuing.

"This is Mitch Rapp broadcasting on the emergency channel, is there anyone out there?"

TORN FLESH

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: FUZZY SILVER