Elsie

It was on the fourth day when their monotonous routine had finally broken. The chaos started off with the sound of a low rumble during their lunch, and it was quiet enough that everyone figured it was an earthquake. After all, they were all from areas that were earthquake hot spots.

The second rumble was slightly louder, and the third rattled their dishes. By then, everyone was slightly alarmed, and they looked at each other with worry; it didn't matter what the threat was when they didn't have the abilities to defend themselves regardless. While Elsie was also nervous, it's not like she could do much under normal circumstances anyway, and she was actually slightly relieved for the break from her boredom.

When the rumbling was then accompanied by audible shouting, Camilla jumped to her feet first, hauling Elsie along with her, and everyone else followed soon after.

"Mack, Finn, AJ," Camilla began, her tone suddenly lower and authoritative. She pointed at the wall perpendicular to the cell's single entrance. "Wait along that wall and try to hold the door closed if someone comes through. But keep your distance; whatever's going on, there seems to be explosives involved. Use the meal trays as shields to block some of the debris.

"Hitomi and Nakia, with me," Camilla continued, gesturing at the wall along the door. "We'll attack whoever comes in while the others are holding them back. With any luck, if there are multiple enemies, at least we won't have to face them all at once."

Everyone nodded in agreement immediately; even Elsie, who wasn't mentioned explicitly. She couldn't help but feel immediately compliant and trusting of Camilla's words, even if she had never really seen Camilla in her captain mode before.

As Camilla took Elsie's hand and led her over to the wall, Elsie belatedly realized that she found this side of Camilla extremely attractive. But it definitely wasn't the time for her to come to this realization, and Elsie forced herself to focus before her mind could wander into inappropriate territory.

"Stay close to me," Camilla muttered as they walked without taking her eyes from the door, and she squeezed Elsie's hand. "And as soon as you see an opening, you take it and get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you," Elsie said automatically. Realistically, she knew she would be useless in any kind of fight, whether it was against metas or not. But she couldn't just leave without even trying to help. Not again.

Camilla let out a soft sigh as she stopped and faced Elsie.

"I appreciate your bravery, I really do." Camilla held Elsie's hand with both of hers and squeezed gently once more. "But I need you to do this for me, okay? Whoever's out there, we can't hold them back forever. And once they all storm in here, I'd feel a lot better if you weren't stuck in here with us."

"We can't protect each other if we're apart," Elsie insisted.

Her words must've meant something, or maybe it was the pressure from the nearing sounds of shouting, because Camilla sighed again, impatient.

"Then can you leave to look for weapons?" Camilla compromised. "The only things we have to fight with are our lunches and whatever the intruders bring with them."

It sounded more like an excuse to appease Elsie, but there wasn't much time to argue. So Elsie simply nodded, determined, and she followed Camilla to their starting positions.

As Camilla positioned herself firmly between Elsie and the door, Hitomi and Nakia followed her, while Mack, Finn, and AJ lined up along their wall as well.

"Hitomi," Camilla said without taking her eyes off the door. "These inhibitors."

"I can only think of a way to short them out," Hitomi answered immediately, moving to stand next to Elsie. "And that may shock the wearer."

Camilla took a quick glance back at Elsie, her expression a mixture of uncertainty and determination, before looking at Hitomi.

"I'll do it," Camilla said firmly. "I'm the only one who can heal myself and go on the offensive afterwards."

Elsie suddenly grasped Camilla's arm as if to hold her back, her body moving before she could find the words to convey her feelings.

"Are you crazy?" Mack hissed from across the room. "We don't even know how much voltage is in these things!"

"It is no more dangerous than a cellphone," Hitomi assured calmly, but she still looked at Camilla hesitantly. "But Mitaka, your abilities..."

"They'll work," Camilla said confidently. "I'll make them."

"And you can guarantee that?" Hitomi asked, incredulously. When Camilla didn't respond immediately, Hitomi continued. "I am not going to hurt you just so you can try to help."

Camilla glared at her cousin. "I thought you promised that you wouldn't force your opinions on me."

Hitomi scoffed as she folded her arms defensively across her chest. "If that is what you think I am doing, then that is your problem. I am willing to listen to your orders, but not if they conflict with what I am willing to do. And I am not willing to hurt you, no matter how much you insist that you can handle it."

After pondering Hitomi's words for a second, Camilla's glare softened, and she dropped her gaze before turning to the other side of the room where the others were waiting expectantly.

"Mack, would you be able to do it?" Camilla asked.

Mack widened his eyes as he looked between Camilla and Hitomi. "There's no way I'd hurt you either."

Camilla sighed impatiently. "That's not what I meant. You're our only other healer; if Hitomi shorted out your inhibitor, you think you could heal yourself and everyone else afterwards?"

Before Mack could answer, the rumbling sounds suddenly grew louder, and a second later, an explosion rang out as if it was coming from mere feet away.

"Too late now," AJ muttered grimly. "Sounds like they're right down the hall already."

"We'll stick with the original plan," Camilla ordered softly, and watched the others nod in acknowledgement.

When Camilla lowered her stance, ready to charge, Elsie followed instinctively. She wasn't sure how much help she would be, and she belatedly thought that maybe Hitomi and Nakia should have gone in front of her instead. But she also knew Camilla would want herself at the front, to act as their first line of defense, and Elsie didn't want to leave Camilla by herself again. So instead, she simply squeezed Camilla's hand tightly, and felt immediate relief when Camilla did the same.

The sounds of clamoring footsteps and startled yelps rang through the door, accompanied by the thundering of Elsie's pulse in her ears. Camilla gave her hand one last squeeze before she let go, readying herself for a fight.

"Stay close," Camilla whispered to her.

For a moment, everything was silent. And then the door burst open with a loud crash, sending the door swinging wildly open by its hinges.

The others immediately pushed the door almost completely closed again, and the intruders began to shout in surprise. It didn't take long for them to regain their bearings and push back, but Mack and AJ used their larger builds to hold the door in place. While Finn was much smaller in comparison, it was his short stature that let him fit beneath the other two to push against the lower half of the door, and the three of them together were a force to be reckoned with.

"They may be too good at this," Hitomi murmured when the door shut completely.

"Mack," Camilla called, then signaled him with a hand motion that Elsie didn't catch.

Mack, however, nodded immediately, and after quickly muttering something to AJ and Finn, they all let go at once. After a brief pause, someone stumbled through the door, as if they hadn't expected the sudden lack of resistance. But before their allies could join them, Mack, AJ, and Finn barricaded the door again, leaving the one intruder trapped inside, sprawled on the floor in the center of the room.

Hitomi got to them first, directing a kick at their masked face. Unfortunately, the intruder leaned back just in time, then rolled to their side to create some distance. When the intruder tried to sit up again, Nakia was already throwing a punch, and the intruder hastily threw their arms up to defend, then to reach for Nakia's arm immediately after.

Luckily, Hitomi was there, seizing the intruder's arm instead. Unluckily, the intruder shoved that arm towards her, somehow throwing her across the room.

They were up against metas, and nobody could use their abilities.

But Elsie couldn't keep watching their fight when the pounding at the door started getting stronger, and Mack, AJ, and Finn began to lose their footing.

It didn't take long for their defense to fall, and another intruder began to squeeze through. They were held back briefly when Camilla kicked one of their knees out from under them, but the intruder let the door close again before Camilla could get another attack in.

Amid all the shouting, there was suddenly the sound of screeching metal. Before Elsie could think about what was going on, the door began to shake in its frame, then a hand suddenly punched through the steel.

Finn yelped in surprise when the hand appeared just inches from his face, and he had to be yanked backwards by Mack as he and AJ retreated from the door. The three of them and Camilla braced themselves for a fight, and they watched carefully as the hand in the door receded just enough to grip the frame of the hole it just made. Immediately after, the door shifted, and with an ear-piercing screech, the door was yanked from its hinges and disappeared into the dark hallway, loudly clattering wherever it fell.

But afterwards, no one came through the empty doorway, and Camilla and the others weren't about to be lured into the dark hallway without knowing what they were up against. So instead, they all waited in silence with their eyes fixed on the vacant doorway, listening only to the grunts from Hitomi and Nakia's fight with the first intruder, along with the distant echoes and rumbling occurring elsewhere in the base. It was nerve-wracking and frustrating, but Elsie forced herself to stay calm and still, only moving to place a hand gently in the center of Camilla's upper back.

Eventually, soft footsteps tapped slowly against the stone floor, and the second intruder entered the room carefully, their hands raised beside their head as a gesture of peace. Like their ally, they were completely covered in combat gear, and the only parts of them that were visible were their watchful eyes.

"We're not here to hurt you," the second intruder said, stopping just inside the doorway. "We're here to help."

Elsie didn't recognize the voice, but Camilla did, judging by the way Elsie felt her back suddenly tense.

"Who's we exactly?" Camilla asked, her voice quiet but menacing.

"Old acquaintances of yours," the intruder explained. "And some of your current friends as well."

While Elsie was confused by their words, the intruder took a small step to the side, letting another person rush inside the room from behind them. Before any of them could react, the person ran straight towards Mack, then flung their arms around Mack's neck.

For a moment, Mack was frozen in shock, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. When he finally regained his bearings, he held the person by the shoulders and pushed them away enough to get a good look at their face.

"Jordan?" he exclaimed, still in shock.

As soon as Jordan nodded ecstatically, Mack immediately pulled him close again, as if he never wanted to let go. Elsie understood the sentiment; she went two months without knowing if Camilla was even alive, and that alone had done a number on her. It had been over three months since Mack and Jordan had last seen each other, and Elsie couldn't blame them for their prolonged reunion.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a little bitter for being completely overlooked.

"Oh, sure, don't mind me, your best friend," Elsie muttered.

Jordan let go of Mack just enough to turn to look at Elsie.

"Sorry," he said with a wide grin, not seeming the least bit apologetic. But before he could turn back towards Mack, his gaze froze at the center of the room, his eyes wide and fearful.

There, Hitomi, Nakia, and the first intruder were all lying on the ground, still struggling with each other. Hitomi and Nakia each had one of the intruder's arms in a firm lock on either side of them. Additionally, Hitomi used her legs to hold the intruder down by their neck, and Nakia's legs were restraining the intruder's lower body. While the intruder continued to grunt and flail around like a fish, Hitomi and Nakia refused to budge.

"My god," the second intruder muttered. "Perez, that's enough. There aren't any hostiles in here."

"Speak for yourself," Perez grunted in reply against his restraints.

The second intruder sighed, then looked to Camilla. "Think you could ask your friends to back off, Captain?"

Camilla had relaxed earlier once it seemed like the intruders meant them no harm, but she tensed again at the sound of her former title.

"You know I'm a traitor now, don't you?" Camilla narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Captain Lee."

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