CLATTONIA

After Lucian takes off with Aeryn, Ryouichi, and Mitsuko, I determinedly narrow my eyes and march down the street, looking for the assassin that ran off.

"Clattonia!" Jace calls out, trailing after me, "where are you going?!"

"You'll see," I say with a hardened expression as I continue to stomp down the street, my eyes flickering back and forth.

I eventually pass by an emerald green car and find the assassin hiding by it as he sits there cradling his broken leg. I narrow my eyes at him and he glares back at me whenever I lean down and grab a fistful of his shirt, hoisting him up.

"Clattonia!" Reece says firmly and catches up to me, along with Jace and the others, "what're--"

He trails off whenever he notices that I've caught the assassin and nods in approval.

"You," I shake him slightly, "what's your name?"

"Cassidy," he says bitterly, "Cassidy Cohen."

"What was your purpose?" I ask.

"I'm not telling you th--"

He gets cut off with a sharp cry whenever I slam my foot down on his on his broken leg.

"Cassidy Cohen is one of the second in command assassins at White Rabbit," Kazuki says with the wave of a hand.

"How do you not know him?" I say as I glance over my shoulder at Jace and he simply shrugs, clueless.

"You're all brutes," Cassidy grunts, "savages, inhumane creatures--"

"And who are you to judge?" I interrupt, "you go around ruthlessly murdering people, living beings, whether they be Supernatural or not, whether they be bad or not. You're an assassin. You're a contract for hire. You don't stop to question your orders, do you? That's what separates you from people like Kazuki. I don't approve of what he does either, but he doesn't murder innocent people. You follow your orders from a chain of command without a second thought. That's inhumane."

Cassidy's eyes widen slightly and his lips part as if he goes to say something, but I jerk at his right arm and twist it behind his back, making him clench his jaw in pain.

"Now," I continue, "you're going to lead us where we want to go."

"How do you know I won't lie to you?" Cassidy asks and glances at me from over his shoulder.

"I don't, but I'll kill you if you do," I say and Cassidy seems to contemplate his next actions.

Cassidy nods and I push him forwards slightly, supporting him with my weight due to his broken knee and he stumbles along. The others follow me-- Reece, Essence, and Caliber following on either side of me with Jace, Juniper, and Kazuki behind us.

"To the right," Cassidy says and nods his head towards the right once we come to the end of the street.

We go to the right, cautiously following Cassidy's orders, as we travel down the street.

"Why is everything so deserted?" Jace asks.

"White Rabbit members cleared it out whenever they came through here. They told the public that there was a threat in this general area and needed to clear it off," Cassidy explains.

"You know, you never did explain what your mission was," I say.

Cassidy is silent for a few moments, probably contemplating what will happen if he refuses to answer me again.

"Chevalier," Cassidy says.

"What?" I raise a brow, even though he can't see it.

"Operation Chevalier," Cassidy explains reluctantly, "that was my mission. Eliminate any Supernatural forces within a ten mile radius of this area that aren't working with White Rabbit."

"And why was Nightshade working with you?" I ask.

"I don't know," Cassidy admits, "I swear. I honestly don't know. I was just told not to kill her."

"Clattonia," Juniper says worriedly, chewing on her bottom lip as she glances at Cassidy's leg, "he needs medical attention."

"I suppose you're right," I sigh after glancing at Cassidy's leg, "Kazuki, could you take him to a nearby hospital?"

"Why the hell do I have to do it?" Kazuki snorts and crosses his arms, "that's such a trivial matter. It isn't worth my time."

"Kazuki," Caliber warns with a frown.

"Haven't you people notice that I'm injured too?" Kazuki stresses.

"It's really no trouble," Juniper shakes her head, "I can tend to him here in order to keep him stable. But he really must get medical attention soon."

Juniper reaches into a bag that she's been carrying around and she grabs a cloth from in it before going over to Cassidy and wrapping it around his knee, the red cloth soaking up blood from his injury and becoming stained darker as she ties it tight with a knot.

"Thank you..." Cassidy whispers softly as his eyes meet Juniper's and she sends him a small smile.

"Of course," Juniper continues smiling at him kindly and he seems captivated by her as she stands back up and moves away from him.

"Let's go," I nudge him forwards slightly and he rolls his eyes before sighing.

"Go down this street and then turn left," Cassidy instructs.

I nod and follow Cassidy's orders, surprised to find that he's actually cooperating, but it also makes me skeptical.

"I swear, if you're leading us in to a trap..." Reece starts.

"I'm not," Cassidy shakes his head, "I'm not that stupid."

Reece snorts and crosses his arms against his chest and Essence gently grabs a hold of his forearm, smiling slightly at him with worried eyes in an attempt to let him know that everything will be okay. Reece smiles back at her fondly before uncrossing his arms and slipping his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together as they walk. I smile as I glance over at the two of them, finally happy that they've gotten together and that someone has won Reece's heart. However, Jace raises his eyebrows at the sight as if he hadn't noticed before and Juniper giggles to herself, covering her lips with her hand in amusement at the situation.

"So," Cassidy starts and my attention gets drawn back to him, "Jace Athens is working with the enemies. That'll be a story to tell."

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you," Reece snaps.

"Honestly, I wouldn't provoke us," I shake my head, "I thought you said that you weren't stupid."

"I'm not," Cassidy insists, "I'm just curious as to how this all happened. I mean, come on, he's the son of Daylen Athens. Shouldn't hating Supernatural be in his blood and engraved into his brain by now?"

"Unlike you, we aren't all programmed machines that act as people," I say and push him forwards even further, "keep going."

Cassidy sighs and we continue following him as we turn left. Eventually, we come to a giant building with a hanging yellow sign over it with bold, black letters. The building itself has multiple windows at the front and is a dark grey with a wide, open doorway and several metal rods lying around and construction warnings. Cassidy leads us through the doorway and I gaze around to see a giant construction site, several pieces of scaffolding around the dirt piles and a ceiling that seems endless as a few metal beams are hanging from ropes that are attached to the scaffolding or metal poles, some wood occasionally being thrown in the mix.

"This is it," Cassidy says with a nod, "I'm sure of it."

"And what exactly is it?" I raise a brow and Cassidy turns his head to the side and glances back at me.

"It's a construction site. What does it look like?" Cassidy muses.

"Caliber," I call out to her and she looks at me, "scout."

Caliber nods and runs off to the left, leaping up on to the scaffolding and running along it, her boots clinking against the metal as she continues to jump and run until she's hidden somewhere in the scaffolding and she pulls out her sniper rifle.

"There you are," a woman with dark green hair that's pulled up grins as she walks out in a lab coat from behind one of the pieces of machinery, "I was worried you wouldn't show."

Essence gasps and clutches on to Reece's arm, her nails digging in to him and she stumbles backwards a few steps as he looks at her worriedly and asks her what's wrong.

"I'm sorry, but he won't be able to make it to your meeting," I say and firmly meet the mysterious woman's gaze.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about him. He's useless to me. Completely and utterly useless. For all I care, you could kill him right now. In fact, I'll do it myself if you let me. I could dissect his insides then. But, no, I was talking about you. All of you are the main attraction. The main show. The grandiose!" the woman beams, "oh, and where are my manners. My name is Genna. Genna Bastille."

So, this is the woman that Baelyne warned us about. The mad scientist who works for White Rabbit.

"Ah," Genna's eyes light up as they land on Jace and a morbid curiosity seems to run through her, "but what are you doing with them? I must admit, I already could tell something was off about you. But to think that you were a traitor...what glorious news! Now I can kill you and dissect you and have justifiable cause!"

A muffled mumbling sound comes from beside Genna's feet and my eyes flicker down to see a woman with blonde hair that has purple and pink streaks running throughout it who has a white cloth tied around her mouth and her arms bound behind her white lab coat. Her blue-grey eyes with green flecks angrily pierce through Genna and she rustles around, attempting to get free from her bonds.

I toss Cassidy to the side and Juniper summons vines, wrapping them around him and keeping him in place where he lands in the dirt and he sighs dejectedly, rolling his eyes in the process. Afterwards, I summon one of my katanas and take a step forwards.

"What do you want from us?" I ask.

"You're going to be my first test subjects," Genna grins, "I want to see how my precious angel will tear you apart."

"Azriel..." Essence murmurs, her eyes wide.

Reece grimaces and re-summons his great sword, defensively standing close to Essence, who summons a bow made out of dark blue-purple energy. Meanwhile, Juniper summons her spear-staff and Kazuki summons his daggers while Jace grabs one of his pistols from out of his jacket.

"Hurry up, Raphael," Reece mutters under his breath.

Suddenly, a strong, tall male with angel wings walks out, his sandy, golden-blond hair ruffled and his golden-brown eyes staring us down. The male has no weapons, nothing but plain black pants on, and yet seems lethal in his very presence. Cassidy's eyes widen and he shifts around, attempting to break free of his bonds and run away, but fails miserably and stops struggling with a distressed sigh that barely comes out and ghosts past his lips. The mysterious girl that's bound also struggles more fervently and her cries and pleads only come more frequently, but are muffled by the white cloth wrapped around her mouth.

"Kill them, Azriel. Leave nothing left," Genna orders with a sick and twisted slow grin that turns into a smirk.

Caliber fires a shot towards Genna as Azriel's eyes lock on me and he begins running towards me, but I meet him halfway by sprinting there first and leaping through the air at him. Genna glances up in Caliber's general direction and narrows her eyes, having barely dodged the first bullet, and she hides behind the nearest piece of machinery.

Azriel attempts to land multiple punches on me, golden-sandy colored energy glowing around his fists and a glowing tattoo in the form of a runed circle with wings forming on his bicep as he does so, shining with the same color of light as the energy around his fists. I slash and cut at Azriel, managing to hit his arms several times, but the cuts heal as soon as I can land them.

"It's not that he has to dodge," I gasp aloud, "it's that it doesn't matter. That's why he's so careless!"

Reece summons a Time Field and begins to start his Temporal Clock, targeting Azriel. Meanwhile, Essence runs off to the scaffolding opposite of Caliber and she begins to climb it, her bow slung on her back. In the process, Juniper sits on the ground and crosses her legs as she closes her eyes, summoning streams of light to flow and float throughout the room like ribbons and turning whatever touches them to dust in an instant. Vines and flowers begin to form and bloom across the ground as well, thanks to Juniper, and I can faintly hear birds chirping. Juniper stands back up after a few moments and she swings her spear staff around, her eyes locking on to Azriel, and she runs up to us as she joins me in fighting him while Essence shoots arrows from her perch in the scaffolding while Caliber shoots bullets from the opposite side. In the process, Reece is almost finished setting up his Temporal Clock as he leaps from the top rune.

Azriel glances up at Reece before taking a step backwards and the ground glows with energy that cracks around throughout the ground and shakes the entire area. Juniper gasps and runs over to grab the nearest scaffolding to hold on for stability as things begin to fall and smash on to the ground. Reece manages to hit Azriel with his Temporal Clock, but Azriel only slides backwards a few feet and shakes his head in a slightly disoriented state before running towards Reece, who raises his great sword and prepares to fight him. Reece also summons a Time Thread, which glows golden and has golden particles of energy float off of it. Reece throws his Time Thread and it wraps around Azriel and winds around his midsection, slightly slowing him down in comparison to how it should actually freeze him in place.

Suddenly, Azriel holds out one of his hands and aims at Reece as energy collects around his hand and releases, barely missing Reece as the energy bolt flies over his shoulder and towards me. I gasp and attempt to leap out of the way as the bolt of energy surges my way. The bolt of energy crashes in to the ground behind me and the explosion makes my ears ring as a giant chasm opens up in the ground. I climb back up to my feet and pick my katana back up, which is now glowing bright red and surging with energy as I summon my second one that goes with it. However, just as I go to take off in a run and leap up in the air, the ground beneath me falls away as well.

"Clattonia!" Jace shouts and my eyes widen in surprise as I can feel myself leaning backwards, my eyes meeting Jace's now wide ones.

"Shit!" Reece shouts and his eyes widen as they lock on me.

Time seems to slow down as I fall backwards and Jace races towards me, discarding his gun off to the side as he runs and I reach out towards him, my katanas flying through the air. I end up falling off of the edge entirely just as Jace reaches me and he leaps down in the chasm to catch me.

"Jace!" I gasp, my eyes wide as we fall in the seemingly endless chasm.

Jace's blue eyes bore into my red ones with several emotions running throughout them as his arms wind around my torso and he pulls me closer against him as we fall, my magenta hair whipping around us violently and wind ruffling Jace's hair slightly. Jace's eyes flicker passed my shoulder for a second before they flicker back to me and he gives me a strained smile.

"I just wanted you to know, I love you, Clattonia," Jace says and my eyes widen.

"Jace--" I start to shout his name as we fall, but he cuts me off whenever he flips us around right before we slam in to the ground.

Everything blurs and my ears ring as I land on top of him, the room seeming to spin as Reece grabs on to Juniper by the waist and leaps down the chasm, digging his great sword in to the side of the chasm as he slides down with her and they land a few feet away from us before running over to us.

"Jace?" I gasp out once I manage to lean up on my elbows and look at him, blood trickling out of his nose and passed his lips and his eyes fluttered shut, "Jace!"

I frantically call out to him and shake him slightly by the shoulder, sobs welling up in my throat.

"Jace!" I scream as I look up at the opening of the chasm and cry out, my hands clutching in his shirt.

Juniper bends down beside me and takes his pulse, her eyes filled with worry and sorrow as she shakes her head and tears begin to stream down her face. Reece frowns and his eyes scan the situation in disbelief.

"Is he dead?" I choke out, "please tell me he's not dead."

"He's--" Juniper's breath hitches, "I can't heal him..."

"What do you mean you can't heal him?" Reece asks cautiously, worry and concern straining in his voice.

"I can't heal him, because he's not injured..." Juniper trails off, seeming slightly confused, but still full of worry.

"What?" I gasp out and my eyes flicker from Juniper down to Jace whenever I feel him move slightly, "Jace?"

Jace's eyes flutter open and instead of them being their usual blue, they're bright red. I gasp as Jace meets my eyes and his lips part slightly.

"Clattonia?" Jace chokes out before his head falls back down as his eyes flutter back shut and he passes out.