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Heyoo, so new chapter coming at you!!!

WARNING: BLOOD, VIOLENCE, GUN VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE, MENTION OF DRUGS AND MISUSE OF THEM!!!

Chapter 3: Summon the infected

The sound of shoes hit the ground as they walk through the paths of Cairo. It was loud yet quiet as small sounds of the night echoed and played in the wind.

The ground below filled with cracks and slight smudges of blood left behind by those who were not careful enough.

The air of Cairo was dry and cold for the most part. Katalina looked around as Marc took off his backpack shoved his gloves in.

The opened doors and closed gates everywhere, the smell of alcohol and fruits filling the air. It filled in Katalina nose as she followed the man making his way past people and allyways.

The stalls were closed for the night since FEDRA would now come by and do a sweep through.

Doesn't mean people don't get out though.

The sound of people were still around as they talked and laughed about things like stories or things that had happened that day.

She smiled at that, sometimes if one looked hard, there was still some light that hadn't been dimmed completely.

"Pull up your hoddie."

He suddenly says and she looks at him for a second before she pulls the hoddie to cover her head. He pulls up his own and starts heading down one place, there seems to be a couple people there.

She looks at all of them, some were just talking, others looked at them, one stared at her directly like she was meat.

She felt the urge to cuss him out on it but decided to not. She didn't feel like making a scene now, she would probably get killed by the guy anyways.

Marc gently grabbed her shoulders causing her to tense immediately but he pushed her to his side away from the guy that looked at her that way.

Her shoulders relaxed as he let go and started heading towards a ladder at the side of a small shop.

"Climb kid."

Is all he says as he moves out of the way after pulling the ladder down and she looks up, maybe about seven stories high.

She starts to climb up as Marc looks around now. That asshole looked at her weird, just a fucking kid and looked at her like she was some damn meat.

The kid was sort of a pain in the ass already but he will beat that guy up if he has to though, doesn't matter if he is annoyed at the situation he found himself in, that doesn't give the damn guy a pass.

"Absolute creep."

"Debemos matarlo cuando volvamos."

He hears his alters say as he nods in silent agreement before starting to climb up once he see that its clear again. He makes it up and sees her looking up at the sky.

The stars and moon shine bright up from the roof top than from the ground, maybe not as much as it would without the lights but enough to look at.

She looked entranced by view as she was pointing towards the stars and moved it around slightly before muttering something he could barely hear.

They needed to get going though, it was getting dark and FEDRA would be on their ass soon.

"Come on kid."

He said as she looks back at him before looking up one last time. He sighs as he gets to the edge and waits for her. After 5 seconds she looks back at him and walks over to where he was.

He grabs a wooden plank and put it out before testing it by walking first to the other side of the building. It wobbles slightly but works fine.

"Think you can do it?"

He ask looking back up but she was already walking across with no real problem and doesn't really seem to fear the damn thing.

"It's wood. I don't think there is anything really scary about it."

Is all she says as she makes it and hops off before looking at him to continue. He pushes the plank back to the other side before jump to the next roof over.

She follows in silence, they jump over nine other roofs that were close by before he goes down a set of stairs from the roof of the apartment they landed on.

The place was obviously abandoned to nature as overgrown tamarisk and irises painted the walls with its colors and leaves that had ingrained itself into the structure itself.

It was pretty for an abandoned building. The smell of the irises faint but nice, the blue faded flower slowly moved, some laid on the floor by the soft wind blowing.

She pick one up as Marc stopped and look at what she picked up and held gently in her hand.

Her eyes had soften looking at the flower, Steven took noticed as Marc's eyes rolled back and he took over the body as he looked at the girl.

She looked differently now that he really looked at her, she looked looked tired and almost sad. Her eyes looked so lost and confused, his eyebrows furrowed slightly but changed once she moved to the side.

She place the flower gently at the edge of a balcony and walked back to him.

"Where to now?"

Is all she says before he is caught out of his thoughts and clears his throat before pointing towards a window.

"Okay."

She responded with and Steven started to walk towards the window. He has seen the way back after so many years that he has it memorized like the back of his hand.

It wasn't as often that Steven took over as much as before.

After their brother died, Steven wasn't seen for a couple months until Marc had a panic attack that really hit harder than the other ones in which he came back to help.

He knew that Marc needed him, he couldn't do it alone and he came back.

He wasn't as happy about the arrangement with Khonshu and being Moonknight but also knew that even if Khonshu was a arse he had saved their life and therefore has to pay it back somehow.

He was fine with fighting to protect people but not having to kill as much and usually let the other two alters take care of it if it became too much for him.

"Steven!"

Two voices yelled which caught his attention as he stopped to see that he was off to far in his thoughts that he was almost shot but the girl pulled him down before it could hit him.

He looks where the bullet instead hit as a cloud of white came out from the wall with a small hole now in it.

That could have been him.

"Dude! You almost got your brains blown out!"

She exclaimed as she her eyes were wide at the surprise attack and the fact that the guy almost died infront of her.

Steven had to get himself together before he got out the revolver they carried and checked if he had bullets.

He had a couple, he had to make sure they count.

"Stay here, okay."

He said to the girl who just at him confused but nodded with hesitation. He takes it and looks around for anything, finds a glass bottle and throws it at a wall nearby.

That caused a distraction, only for a second though and points the gun at the closes person before shooting them in the chest. They go down quick before another round of bullets were being shot at him.

He hides back down and thinks of something else, he sees a small smoke bomb not too far away.

"Think you can grab that for me?"

He whispered to her as pointed to the smoke bomb nearby. She looks over and sees where it is, she sighs before looking back and nodding.

She moves slightly against the wall before grabbing the small bag and slid it over to him

"Thanks dove."

He whispers back at her as he grabs it and throws it at the group, the white powder blows up in their faces as they yelped in pain and now the ability to see taken away.

She turns arpund and looks at him as she miss heard him, did he call her dove? He was too concentrated to see the slip up of the nickname but would rather not let it come up instead.

That gave him time to get out from the spot and shoot at the rest of them. Their bullets fly but never hit him as he takes them down one by one.

One in the chest, another to the head, he goes for a fatal part so that they die quick.

Finally the last guy goes down and his lungs caught the air he needed. He wiped the small bit of sweat he worked up before going over again to see if the kid was okay.

"You alright?"

He ask as he looks down at her and she looks up at him before flipping the switchblade back into a more non lethal way, she forgot she took it out.

She looks back down at the dead bodies as they laid there.

"Yeah, peachy even. Are they all dead?"

She ask as she climbs over the broken window and looks around at the bodies and the puddle of blood that were now forming.

"Yea, yea I believe so."

He said as he looked around to see that he got everyone in the strip of the building.

Then the sound of sirens started to go off in the background which caught both attention.

"We gotta move, come on."

Steven said as he gently push Katalina forward and she started to move forward before making to the end of the hall and climbing down the ladder back down.

They walked through the empty hallway, they had made small talk here and there but other than that it was quiet.

Both an comfortable and awkward quiet.

"So, where are you parents?"

He ask as he looks outside, night was still here, longer than usual it felt.

"Where are anybody parents? But to answer your question, they are gone. Nowhere to be found, nonexistent, evaporated into thin air. Im an orphan. "

She answered with a small sigh, not like a sad sigh, just a tired one, she really wanted to sleep.

He looks back at her and looks at him, nothing was said but a pair of brown eyes looking at another pair of brown eyes.

"So, how did you end up with a knob like Harrow anyways? You're like 11, don't think it's normal to be with a guy who is the leader of the timsaeh?"

He ask as he looked back infront of him, the hall was pretty empty, they lived in a more secluded area of the districts in the QZ.

" First, I'm 14, two he sort of kidnapped me but not really at the same time."

She responded not too sure about her answer but tried to answer as best as she could.

"Kidnapped you!?"

He exclaimed as he turned back at her a little too hard and hissed before holding his side.

"Woah! Okay, I have no idea how old you are, but I know well that it shouldn't hurt to turn like that! Are you okay?"

Katalina asked concerned as her eyebrows furrowed slightly stepping slightly closer but hesitated before stepping back.

"Yeah, don't worry. Just got some cuts, nothing serious to worry about."

He reassured her as she nodded and he took a breath.

"To answer your question, he kinda took me in a sense. Sort of against my will but also not. Like he gave me an option, go back with him and live or die for being out when I shouldn't have been."

She decided to explain, seemed like she wasn't going to give any more information though, he could feel she was hiding something still.

"Why were you out?"

He questioned.

"Okay, no more questions, too much. It's not your job to ask these many questions man."

She guarded herself as sounding a little agitated at the question.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to offend."

He apologized.

"No, its fine. Just, no more questions, por favor."

He gets the message and nods in understanding.

She nods back in acknowledgment to his own.

The sound of the locks being unlocked echoed through the room as the wooden door swung open and there stood the two.

Steven walks in and turns on the lights, the apartment is pretty standard to what the whole entire QZ could manage to give to the people.

It was filled with books, big and small, long or short, words or pictures, every type of book one could find in this grey world could be found there.

The lights worked and the Christmas lights they managed to find lit up giving one side of the entire room more of an comfy aesthetic of a library.

The smell was of leather and wood lingered, there was a small table in the middle where piles of paper and books were open and laid out, pens and pencils in random places.

Steven walked into the apartment they owned, he puts his jacket on the rack and laid his backpack down on the couch.

He doesn't hear footsteps behind him before turning back to find the girl just standing there in the hallways still, she seemed, confused?

"You can come in you know?"

He said as he took out the weapons they had used their missions as Moonknight, knives, revolver, and other smaller items they carried to get the jobs done.

Katalina walks in and closes the door behind her, the place was definitely nicer than where they made her stay before. It looked like a home, it had personality, reminded of her dorm back at FEDRA school.

She had posters and pins that she collect over the years, lots of fights, barging and trading was made to at least give her a place to call home.

He finally finished and winced a little as he remembered that they had gotten injured during a fight as Moonknight. The slice to his side was starting to get to him now, but he has to worry about the kid running away.

"Hey, you mind helping me with something?"

Steven called out as she turns around and looks at him.

"Help with what?"

She responds as she waits for him to tell him. He points to the bathroom door that was open

"You can put your backpack down, there is a med kit in the bathroom. Mind getting it for me?"

She looks to where he pointed and walked over there as he checked how bad the wound was. She looked for a light and saw a light cord and pulled the cord as the dim light shined the bathroom.

The bathroom had a small shower that was covered with a blue shower curtain, one small circular mirror, a toilet, and a small sink with a cupboard.

She goes down on her knees and opens the cupboard, it has small amount of things. Two shampoo bottles, one conditioner, and a couple bars of soaps.

There was a small plastic box with a red symbol on it.

"Bingo."

She whispered with a small smile as she pulled it out of its where it was and got up. She turns off the light and walked over to where he was.

"Here."

She says as he holds out his hands to grab it from her. And he does as he opens it up, it is stacked and filled.

One thing they all agreed on was to make sure they would have supplies if something were to happened whether small or big and it has worked very for them.

He grabs the small packet of alcohol wipes and puts it where the cut was. He hissed at the stinging and cold feeling that he felt but knew why it had to be there.

"Thank you."

He says to her as she just looks at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows before giving a small nod.

He gets up and walks over to their bedroom and sees the damage from their mirror, it's fixable but it will take a little bit of time to bandage and see the rest if the injuries they didn't take account for.

He's got work to do.

Katalina looked around and took note of the way the complex looked, she looked at the books and maps laid out. Dots of red littered on the map of Egypt.

'Maybe places he's been to as Moonknight?'

She thinks as she picks up a book, she looks back him but he's distracted with patching up his wounds. She inspects the book, it seemed from the before times.

The tales and stories of Egyptian God's and Mythology

There was a bookmark on one part of the book. She opened it to that page, the chapter talked about the Ennead

" The major gods worshipped in Egypt are Ra (Sun God and Creator of all creations), Anubis ( Deity of cemeteries and protector of graves), Horus ( The God of War and Sky), Isis ( Goddess of Healing and Magic), Osiris ( Lord of the Underworld)..."

She kept reading until, she knew most of this knowledge she was raised here in Cario for a good chuck of her life. The pyramids were off limits for a good long time after the infected started to take over.

Many locals would say that it was the gods punishing them for something, maybe for not caring about them anymore or something of the sort.

She really wasn't sure what started this whole end of world thing but she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the gods.

She looked at the bookmark again and sees writing.

A man without love - New Things

Day 'N' Nite- Nothing yet

Más Allá Del Sol- Leaving, I'll be back

Wake me up before you Go- Possible danger

My way of life - Don'-

The book and bookmark were immediately taken from her, she flinched by surprise action as she turns around to see the guy had stuffed the bookmark back into the book.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to not take things that aren't yours."

He scolded her as he threw the book on the couch. His voice deeper, the accent from before gone. The warmth from before now replaced with frustration and annoyance.

"Merida! Perdón, sorry."

She apologized quickly as she put her hands up in the air, slowly stepping back and putting some space between them.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose before sighing as the sound of Steven telling him to not yell at her echoed in his mind.

"Look kid, you can't just, go around and touch whatever you please."

He reprimand her as she just looks at him, her gaze flickering between him and the book, her fist clenched slightly at her sides.

Marc looks at the mirror of a Steven. Steven telling him to make it up, Marc rolled his eyes before he shakes his head.

He takes a deep breathe before he speaks to her again.

"Sit over there, if you're that bored, here."

He grabbed a random book from Steven's collection and pushed it firmly to her and she hugs the book.

"Go sit over there and don't touch anything else."

He ordered as she looks at the book then back at him before turning around and sitting at the kitchen table with the book.

He watches her as he runs a hand through his hair before retreating back to the task at hand.

He sits down on the bed and looks back up at the mirror. There was Steven and Jake looking at him.

"That went well."

Jake said as he fixed his cap, Steven sighed and shook his head.

"What in the bloody hell was that Marc!"

Steven said, annoyed.

"She can't just look and take things that aren't hers Steven, that's just common sense. Something that seems to be a foreign concept to you right now."

Marc retorted as he cleaned the blood that was on his nose. He was honestly happy it wasn't broken this time.

"You're being a knob and an asrse, you could have handled that better, yelling at her obviously isn't helping her understand that Marc!"

Steven argued back.

"I know that, but we aren'ther parents nor her babysitters, we aren't gonna be the ones to have to lecture her on manners."

He sighs as he continued.

"She is cargo Steven, that is what we have been told to see her. Cargo, living breathing cargo, not only that but what chance, honestly, do you think that we won't get her killed out there!"

Marc growled back as he poured more alcohol onto the other cuts that were littered on their body. His jaw clenched as he held in a hiss from escaping his lips.

"We don't know that we won't be able to keep her alive Marc, even so she is a literal child who was kidnapped by Harrow and now in some dodgy man's house who can't seem to decide whether to talk or yell at her for anything she does. God, wouldn't put it pass her if she thinks we are mental."

Steven shouted back as he thought more and more. Jake saw the interaction, he of course had his thoughts about this whole thing too.

"Both of you, stop, this isn't helping. We just need to keep her here right now. No importa se les gusta o no, tenemos un trabajo and that girl is it. Keep her alive and safe until we have any other instruction from that asshole Khonshu."

Jake intrupted the two as the both looked at him.

"No more fighting, it won't help us in this situation, we need to just compromise between each other with this. Okay?"

Jake presented as he looked at the two who were in their own heads before nodding at it.

"Yeah, alright."

"Fine by me."

Marc said as he finished bandaging his arm.

Katalina opened the book, it was about puzzles. How puzzles helped to keep someone wake, how they help keep one's mind sharp.

Her mind, however, keeps coming back to the man, how it seemed like he changed almost, from a more warmer and caring British accent to now an American accent that scolded her.

What is up with him?

Is all she could think before she looked back at the book he had thrown on the couch, it was in his line of vision but she was able to remember most of the list that was on the bookmark.

They were based on the songs, but there was no real connection between them? Maybe a type of code.

She then looked around to see if there were any clues to why it was he had the list.

It didn't take long until she found a radio, it was a small one with a antenna but it looked to be in good condition, well, as one as you could get.

A certain red line was titled to the right, the radio itself was close to the window where a stack of books would be able to hide it from view point.

Smart.

A sound of footsteps catch her and she quickly picks the book up again and turns the page just as he walks in.

She's "reading" as he walks in, he didn't think the book would be really entertaining, it's literally a book on puzzles.

He walks around the couch and lays down on it. It's been only a hour and he already wished this night were over.

He can feel the heavy pull on his eyelids, something tell him that maybe sleeping isn't his best idea but it's what they need. The body is tired just from today, like everyday it seemed.

He tries to keep his eyes open but can't he feels sleep catch him and he knows he's gonna black out. Maybe one of the others will pay attention to her while he sleeps for a bit.

"One of you, watch her, please."

He mumbles as he falls asleep, but he didn't know was that they also had retreated back to their own place and didn't even hear his request.

A couple minutes go by and Katalina slowly gets up and looks at the man, he's out, passed out. Looked like he needed the rest though, she sees that he's not covered.

The blanket was not even that far, but he was too tried to even try and cover himself. She hesitates to do anything about it, but then decided that rather than make him her enemy they can at least be decent to each other.

She walked as quietly as she could and grabbed the blanket.

Jake had gotten out once he realized the Marc had fallen asleep and that Steven was nowhere to be found in the mind. He materialize in the mirror and saw her.

He was ready to attack her but hesitated when she was only covering them with a blanket. It was pretty cold at night sometimes in Cairo and tonight was on of them.

He waited for anything from her, maybe for her to leave. Maybe for her to leave them alone, run away, get away and not be able to hurt them physically nor in other ways.

She didn't , she just looked at them, he really looked at her. She looked tired too, tired like them.

His eyes flickered, he knew what he was supposed to think of her but at the same time knew that it felt werid. She was cargo, but does cargo live and breathe?

He shook his head at the thought, no. She cargo, living and breathing, sure. But cargo, cargo they have been told to keep safe until further instructions were given.

Once they get done with this run, things will go back to normal, thing will go back to the way they were.

He watched her as she walked over to Steven stack of books he's collect over the years. Anything to keep him awake or entertain.

She looked back at Marc's sleeping figure before grabbing a random one, reads the title and sits down next to the window where the moonlight shined.

He watched as she opened the book and started to read it, he saw the title of it.

Why are the Moon, Sun, and Planets the way they are?

He couldn't get a good look at the author though, he stayed there a little just observing her, she liked to use her finger he thinks to read the sentences that were laid out in the book.

She wasn't very expressionate like Steven was, but she definitely was someone to get completely indulge into whatever book she found interesting, at least from what he saw.

He was getting tried too, he had a feeling that she wouldn't leave though, one, the way to the apartment he could tell that she had never been to that side of the QZ.

The constant looking around, she tried to hide it by looking at one thing for the most part but every once in a while her gaze would go somewhere else before she would look around again.

'She's cautious, good.'

Not as good as them, and especially not like him but at least that is a skill she has to her advantage.

2 hours later....

It was raining now, which honestly caught Katalina by surprise. It's not often that it rained, it hadn't rain in almost 2 weeks now.

The sound of the droplets hitting the window were muffled as she watched them fall one by one.

The book she was reading now laid on the ground still open to the page she was last on. Her eyes fought to stay awake but her eyelids were getting heavy.

The sound of rain wasn't helping either, she looked at the radio, it stood still and the red line stayed exactly where has sat for who knew how long now.

God, she felt like the night was forever. Might as well have been, the moon still shined brightly at the night sky as thousands of stars glimmered to shine the ways of both old and new generation of people who have lived.

She looked over to where the guy was still sleeping, he seemed pretty calm right now.

She sighs as she looks out the window, the books no longer entertaining her as she plays with her hair. She decided to braid it instead grabbing small strands of hair and starting the process.

Not even 5 minutes later she hears a noise, it was small, you could almost miss it. Almost.

She looks around but can't find anything, it happens again, it sounded like mumbling. She turns towards the guy and see that his eyebrows are furrowed, he seemed to be slightly sweating too.

She gets up and walks over, but a couple steps in she stops.

'What the hell was she supposed to do?'

'Wake him up and just get reprimanded again, no. Maybe she should just let it pass, like a fever.'

She falters and instead goes back to the window watching the rain droplets. She looks at the sky as she starts to let the calmness finally sweep on her as she slowly closes her eyes and lays her head against the wall.

It doesn't feel the same like where Harrow and the timsaeh people had kept her. No, this was a little bit nicer, quieter as well, she could actually hear her own heart beat for what felt like years

She fell asleep to her beating heart as she let it take her somewhere else for a while, maybe somewhere where it rained a little bit more. She liked the rain, it meant life, it meant cleanliness, to her at least.

3 Hours later...

The feeling of a little nudge slight woke her up as her eyes slowly adjusted to the warm lighting again. She looks up to see it was the guy again.

His eyes however looked different, not in appearance but just in emotion, he seemed concerned?

"Sorry. Didn't mean startle you there kiddo, just have a feeling that my boss is coming back soon so it might be best to be awake now."

Steven said as he backed up to give her space, he went towards the kitchen as Katalina rubbed her eyes as she got up from the little corner she pushed herself for comfort.

She continued to rub her eyes and yawn as she walked over to where he went. He stood there as he started to put water into a pot, then placed it onto a sort of stove.

He turned to see the girl just watching her as she rubbed the sleepiness out of her. He walked over a little to the cabinet and took out 4 boxes all with black sharpy marker written on them.

"What tea do you want?"

He ask as he laid out the options for her, she looked at them, there actually a good supply of options available to her.

"I'll take Karkadeh, please."

She said as he nodded and got tea cups to get the tea ready. He poured the hot water and let the tea soak in it, he put it down in front of her and him.

"Do you like tea?"

He asked as she looked at it.

"I guess, I don't drink it as often but when I do it's pretty good."

She responded as she blew on it, she already learned her lesson last time when she burned her tongue.

'It's not fun. Wouldn't recommend that experience.'

"Do you want any sugar?"

He said as he added a small amount of sugar to his before mixing and blowing.

She hesitates but takes two scoops and starts to copy what he did, she mixed a couple times before bringing the spoon to her lips and blowing on the small amount of tea that was on there.

The tea tasted how she would think, it was rich in flavor, it warmed her up from the inside and she softly hummed at the sensation.

The redness not of blood but of the flower used to make the tea flavor and color taking her senses instead adding another meaning to the color.

Sometimes red wasn't so bad.

He hummed once he felt liquid go down his throat, he missed having tea and just enjoying someone elses presence around. He felt warm, not from just the tea, but for someone else to be here with him.

He missed having Layla, they would drink tea before going out into the somewhat grey world, but with her it wasn't, having someone else around wasn't so bad.

Though, he felt bad for this girl in front of him, she shouldn't be here, like, this.

Even if the circumstances weren't great, the least he could is try to make it comfortable for her.

"Thank you."

She spoke breaking him from his quiet silence he was in his mind. He nodded and they kept drink their tea with each other. He put the tea cup down and felt the red liquid go down his throat.

"Steven, stop it. Your gonna get hurt like this, she isn't gonna stick around long and your gonna get hurt."

Marc remarked as Steven rolled his eyes and kept drinking.

"So, we're just waiting for the guy with the cane then?"

Katalina decided to start to try and get more information now since they were somewhat okay right now.

"Yeah, real twit but yes. He will tell us whether we're gonna help you get to the timsaeh group at the Tanta capital."

Okay, so something a little far but nothing impossible to do.

"How long do you think it would take to get there, if it were approved you'll help me and the timsaeh group."

She asked, she thinks maybe a day if they kept going, maybe two if they took breaks.

"If it gets through to him, then a day or two. Depends on the weather and how many infected their are."

He explained as he finished the rest of his tea, she nods and sips her tea.

"Are we gonna be okay then? If we we're to go out there?"

She questioned, she's heard of stories of what has happened out there. There have been infected even with the blazing heat there would be infected who have somehow adapted and managed to be out there for some periods of time.

He thinks about it, he's been part of those missions where they would take the bodies to other QZ nearby where Cairo was. How many people have died while they were making their way out there?

Infected and people, people made it worse out there.

But they have survived, Jake nor Marc would ever let them die out there, Steven knew this. He wouldn't let them die either, nor this girl who needs that reassurance that she won't die out there with them.

"Yeah, we'll be fine."

He said, he wasn't true sure, he wouldn't promise anything he couldn't keep though.

She looked at him, just looked and nodded before finishing her tea.

"Oh yeah, that radio over their went off actually while you were asleep."

She said which alerted Steven and now the other two.

"Ask her what song it was."

Marc rushed to ask.

"You wouldn't happen to know what song that would have been, would you?"

Steven subtly asked, or at least he thought he did.

"I think the song went like I'm just half alive in my struggle to survive without you?"

Her response was more of more questioning than confident.

"Shit."

"Merida."

"Oh bloody hell."

Katalina heard him mutter under his breath.

So it's something bad.

She decided to try and get more out.

"Is it bad?"

She asked him as her eyes furrowed with slight concern.

"Well, it means th-"

"Steven!"

Jake finally came through.

"No lo hacers Steven, ella no puede saber de eso."

He whispered and Steven stopped and thought about it, he didn't want to lie to her.

"Marc Spector!"

A yell came, for once they were actually glad that Khonshu came and disrupted the silence.

He gets up as the girl looks at him and opened the door for him.

Khonshu walks in, his cane hitting the wooden floor as Steven closed the door.

"We need to talk." Khonshu he said as he looked at him. Khonshu sighed once he saw the look in his brown eyes "Marc Spector, not you."

"We're a package deal Khonshu, you know this."

Khonshu scoffed as he shook his head.

"Fine, outside. Now."

He said as he went out into the hallway, Steven sighs as he goes out before giving one small smile and nod to her before shutting the door.

Katalina slowly waits before going towards the couch and picking up the book. She grabs the bookmark and read it.

My way of life - Don't come, overun.

She sighs, crap.

She puts the bookmark back before putting the book the closes she could to where it was before.

Khonshu made sure to go far enough for the girl to hear.

"So, what's the verdict then?"

Steven said as he leaned on the wall and looked at him. Khonshu stays silent for a second before sighing.

"There was a lot, enough to keep us loaded for years if we are smart. It's good too, lots of weapons to keep people safe during the nights, you could even sell some and still have enough left over. We're taking the girl."

He answered as he looked at the switch happen.

"You can't be serious, we are gonna get that girl killed out there. You already know what is out there, what makes you think we can get her there alive."

Marc argued.

"Your Moonknight, we both know what your capable of. Get ready, we leave tonight, hope you sleeped enough tonight, the moonknight is needed."

Khonshu mocked before walking away from him as Marc just scoffed and looked at him walk away. He wanted to smash his head into a wall or something.

" Fucking asshole."

Is all he mumbled before getting up and walking back into the complex where he found her still sitting there as she played with her hair.

Her head lifted and her eyes met his.

He sighs before speaking.

"Looks like we're taking you then."

Her eyes widened a little before nodding. He goes and grabbed his gear, the sooner they did this the sooner they come back and everything will be how it was.

Alone. Alone with his alters.

Alone and never able to get another little kid killed because of his weak and murderous self.

Just how he was always meant to be, alone. Jake and Steven would be better without him, she would have a better chance with them than with him. He closes his eyes and takes a a breathe, he needs to take just a breathe.

"Come and grab some supplies."

He says and she gets up before grabbing her backpack.

"In there, there are some canned food and bottles of water, grab as much as you can carry. Grab a small blanket if you can for yourself. You have 30 minutes before we leave."

He pointed to their closet where some supplies was left incase they needed it.

She walks over and opened it, there were men's clothes, cans, water bottles, clothes, and small toys.

'Did he have a kid?'

She thought as she looked at him but he was more concentrated on his ammo in his revolver. She decided not to bring it up right now, and started to grab some cans and water bottles.

She was only able to get seven cans and five bottles of water. There was also a small blanket, it was blue with small clouds on it. Looked pretty old but it was in good condition, it was, beautiful actually.

She put it into her pack before seeing a small toy, it looked like an action character, she's never seen it before. It was a guy with a white cape and had rolls of gray whitish wrap around it with a gold crescent on its middle.

She looked back at him but still distracted, she shoves it deep down into her backpack before zipping it up.

Just in case, she's not sure from what but she has a feeling.

"I finished."

Both said at the same time, there was a slight pause before he nodded and titled his head slightly telling her to start moving.

She nodded before giving a small thumbs up and walking towards to where the books were.

He walked into their room and open a small compartment under a small plank where other weapons were held.

He grabbed as many as he could and put them in his pack, before seeing a picture. It was of him and Randall, they were at a park of some sort, he was pushing him while Randall smiled at the feeling of the wind in his tiny curls.

He smiled softly at the picture before putting it into his backpack. He could still hear his brothers laughter, even now he could still remember. It's been so long, but he would never forget his brother, none of them would.

Katalina grabbed a small book, it had pictures of the stars and Planets and apparently "fascinating facts" about them. She took it and stuffed it, her pack was full now.

She knows taking it was wrong, but he's got like a hundred books. Sure, he won't miss it.

Right?

"You got a flashlight with you in your pack?"

He suddenly ask which startled her and made her turn around with her fist closed and ready to punch.

She was like that for a couple seconds, he looked at her before raising an eyebrow and looking at her "fighting pose".

She sighs before letting her arms and fist down.

"Warn a girl next time, how the hell were you so quiet about it?"

She says before putting her hands on her knees as her adrenaline starts to get down from its sudden high.

"You do realize who you are talking to, right?"

He face deadpan as she looked at him before connecting the dots, again.

He's Moonknight, his whole thing was being vigilant and quiet.

"Oh, yeah."

Katalina looks at the ground before just walking past him. His gaze doesn't follow her which she is glad about.

Her cheeks were warm from the embarrassment, he shook his head before going over towards the books.

He could tell one was missing, there was always this small book the Steven would read and now it's not there.

"It's okay mate, let her have it. I read the book so many times, might as well give it to someone else who might enjoy it too."

He thinks about before nodding and not saying anything, he wanted to make sure Steven was okay with it before he did anything, this time.

He gets the last of his weapons and walks over to where she stood looking at the poster, it was of a movie from before the outbreak.

Tomb Buster: When danger is near, Steven Grant has no fear."

He and Steven had a long talk about that one.

"Come on, he's waiting for us. Don't get left behind."

He called out as he opened the door and was already out the hallway waiting for her, she looks at the poster one last time before she followed him.

They followed in silence for the most part as they made it down, the rain still poured as they walked outside.

Both pulled their hoodie up as he walked behind the building and lifted a wooden door to an underground tunnel.

"Grab this and wait until you see the light turn on."

She nods and grabs the door and lifting it up while he climbs down and touches around for the light.

He feels around, the place is slightly wet but not to much. His shoes stuck to the ground as the sand underneath stuck to the soles of the heels.

He grimace at the sound that it makes when he lifts it up slightly.

"Can you hurry up, please. Esta puerta estar pesado."

She rushed out as he remembered what he was there to find again.

He finally feels the wire and pulls the switch down and a row of lights shine in the hallway.

He goes back and climbs up the ladder before pushing it up.

"Here, climb down."

She let put a puff of air before she climbed down and jumped off the ladder at the final two steps. She almost slips but Marc grabs the back of her hoodie before she can slip.

He glared at her before she turned around and mouthed a small 'sorry' cringing at her action before he sighs and lets her go and she started to look around the place.

"Come on, we have to get moving."

Is all he says before taking flashlights from a small wooden crate and handing one to her.

"Only when necessary."

He warns her.

"I know, I'm not new at this you know."

She grumbles before testing it out to make make it worked, it flickered before she hit the bottom a couple times.

"Clearly, that's why you almost broke you face just now."

He says back as he starts to walk away from her, her mouth now slightly open from his remark before she thinks about.

"Fair point."

She doesn't even argue with it.

They walk through the tunnel, it's cold underneath and she starting to shake a little. Her jacket was not as thick which usually is a good thing, but times like this she wished she had stolen that one girls jacket.

She's cut off by a sudden hand in front of her stopping her.

"What?"

She said as he looked at her, he had a finger on his lips already telling her.

"Fedra."

He mouthed as she understood and stood quietly as she heard muffled conversation and boots hitting the floor above them.

"I don’t think they are even here man, let's leave. We've searched this entire section and the other section a couple of districts over. The timsaeh aren't here."

Both could almost slightly make out what was being said. Both looked at each other knowing that now there was a hunt for the people she was taken by.

He nudged her softly as he titled his head to the left to keep moving.

After ten more minutes there was Khonshu, he had his backpack on and his cane hanging off a small pocket on the backpack.

'So the guy really likes his cane, reminds me of someone.'

She thinks as Khonshu looks at the both of them.

"I was starting to think you weren't gonna show up or had fallen asleep by those pills again."

'Oh, so that's how much of an asshole he really is.'

Marc sighs at the uncomfortable information Khonshu just let out without a care.

"Lets get this over with, alright."

Khonshu let's out a small scoff before he started to lead the way Marc behind him and Katalina behind him.

The lid Khonshu lifts makes a small noise as he pushed it away and climbed up, the rain droplets falling inside even harder.

"You first, careful, ladders slippery thing now."

Steven had fronted as Marc really didn't want to deal with Khonshu right now and Steven was able to handle him just a little more.

She noticed the change but didn't say anything as she nods and starts to climb up, she grips the ladder tightly as the water made it harder to hold onto.

"Hurry up little worm."

Khonshu says as she let's out a sigh and climbs a but faster, she makes it and sees a hand out for her to take. She looks up and see it's Khonshu, she grabs it reluctantly and he pulls her up.

She moves as Steven makes his way up too. The places around them was filled with things like abandoned machines and vehicles from the times before.

Then she sees it, the wall. It was tall and made of concrete and wood, there was words on the wall with black and white paint.

Words like 'kadhaab!' and 'alwuhush!'

Then she saw the mounds of bags, they had words, but not just words. Names, they were the ashes of people who were burned away from that week.

She felt anger, but understood. This was the best they could, there really wasn't any places to put the dead so they would burn them and turn them into ashes before pouring their remains in a bag and letting loved ones write names on them.

Or really anybody who could identify the body, if not there would be blank spaces where that persons name would have been.

Then they would go out later that week and bury the remains into the ground as the bunch of peoples ashes were buried with others.

She grabbed her shoulder as she felts the little bumps and dented skin where she was bit. If she had been bit soon, maybe she could have saved those people.

"Worm, we gotta go, come on."

Khonshu said as he firmly grabbed her by the shoulder and moved her away from the scene, she felt the sadness but knew she couldn't really do much.

Steven had noticed what she looked at and knew what she felt, it wasn't the nicest burial but it was better than doing nothing with them.

"Come on, we gotta go dove."

He says as he gently grabbed her arm and pushed her forward, she took the signal and started to walk forward as she was now in the middle.

They walked through small emptied buses and vans, there were piles upon piles of rubar and metal sticking out.

They crawled through tunnel of metal barrels before stopping for a second as the sounds of helicopters were above them.

Katalina put a hand on her mouth to prevent any noise that might accidentally come out.

They waited for it to pass before crawling out of it. They get up.

"Just a little more and we are out of their zone."

Steven muttered to her as she nodded and kept walking, Khonshu lead them through an abandoned bus.

As he jumped down from the little hill it was on he was pushed down quickly, he grunted as Steven grabbed Katalina hand and pulled her back behind him.

A light shined in his face as he saw the rifle point at him. He felt his heart speed up at the sight, he's been here before.

"Akhruj Nashufik!"

The soilder shouted as he nods and slowly starts to move forward, the soilder pulls him out and grabs Katalina before shoving her towards Steven.

Steven catches her and pulls her back as Khonshu is shoved into the group as two soilder surrounded them.

"Ainzil ealaa rukbitik, alan!"

They looked at each before getting on their knees as one gun was on Khonshu and another was on Katalina. Steven could feel the other two fighting, asking to take control over it.

He could feel his heart in his ear as a small pinch was felt at the back of his neck, he looked at Khonshu who was trying to negotiate with the soilders but nothing of yelling was heard.

Then he looked at Katalina who just looked had her eyes closed as the gun was pointed at her head as her hands were behind her head, she seemed to be mumbling something.

He looked back in front and thought of how they could get out of this without getting killed.

"Steven, give me control, they will kill us and them if we mess this up!"

"Tiene razón, de el la control Steven."

Both were telling him to let the other front, for their sake, and his.

He heard another beep as he saw that they were finishing up checking Khonshu.

A yell was heard and one of the soilders limped back trying to grab his leg as the other backed up and went to see on their fellow soilder.

Katalina was breathing heavy and looked at her hands, he looked down at what she was looking at and saw little drops of blood.

He looked at the soldier who yelled and saw it, a small switchblade stuck on his ankle, he was sitting down as he cursed and pointed at her. The other soilder looked at her before nodding and started to march up.

He felt his senses go on over drive. He gets up and gets in front of her.

"Please, we can fix this."

He pleads as she hides slightly behind him slowly backing up. A gun was pointed at him as he felt his heart stop.

"Move."

Is all the soilder said, he looked at them before looking back at her.

"Qult altaharuk!"

They shouted, it all came back in a flash. He could almost feel the weight of his brothers body as they carried him around trying to protect him.

He heard the cries and could smell the blood as his shirt stained red of his brothers maroon and sticky blood clinged onto it. The way the light in his brothers eyes faded as his life was taken away by one person.

"Yataharak!"

The person shouted as they stepped closer, he pushed the gun up as it fired in the air, a yelp was heard and he threw the gun to the side before charging at the soilder.

A gunshot was heard somewhere else as he started to punch the soilder now who was trying to fight back but couldn't. Again, and again, and again.

He felt the rage of three people in him that he held deep inside, the guilt that ate them up. The pain wasn't even what bothered him, it's the fact that one punch didn't feel like it was enough.

His eyes rolled back and he blacked out.

Katalina saw as his punches became even more aggressive, one punched and then the small sound of a crack being heard. The other guy was dead as Khonshu watched him beat him again and again

His fist pounding hard against the guys skull. Eventually it's stopped as only the sounds of rain was heard, other than that, silence.

He was heaving as he got off the soilder, his fist still balled up as she saw his fingernails dig into his skin. His chest rise up and down quickly.

He turns around and she freezes, his brown eyes going to black as they bore into hers, she looked at him before looking at the guy on the ground and back at him.

He looked down at the person now with a dented face and let out a small huff, he walks over to the other soilder who has a small dent to the side of their head where a bullet had went through on Khonshu account.

He bent down and grabbed her switchblade as Khonshu went and grabbed the device. He walks over to her and puts it out for her to have again.

She looks at him before hesitating and taking it from him before cleaning it on her jeans.

"This got to be a joke."

Khonshu cursed as he looked at Jake, he knew it was him. He was both a man of many and few words.

He threw the device at him, he caught it and saw it, the red screen looking back at him. The words clear in the dark.

'INFECTED, TERMINATE'

He holds his breathe as he looked at the girl. She doesn't look infected, sure maybe the eye bags are slightly concerning but other than that she showed no signs of being infected.

He knew what infected looked and acted like, she wasn't it.

"Why are we transporting an infected girl!"

Khonshu yells as he marched his way over to her she gets up and backed up putting her hands infront of her.

"I'm not infected!"

She yells back before he scoffed and snatched the device and shoved it into her face.

"So your telling me this is lying then. Defective, is that what your saying then!"

He throws it at her as she grabs it and read its. She knew what she was, she was infected but different, a good way.

She throws it somewhere else as she takes off her backpack and places it on a piece of metal before taking of her jacket, her blue shirt now getting soaked she lifts the sleeve of the t-shirt.

"Three weeks, three weeks I have had this bite. Nothing, I swear to you on my parents grave."

She says as she shows the mark that has lead her to this place with the people she's with.

The mark itself looked like it was expected, bumpy, slightly red, outlines off deep teeth marks, small dark line like vains surround the bite marks on her shoulder.

It looks like any regular infected bite mark, they would know.

However, it didn't spread. It was right there, like it just. Stopped. Jake moved a little closer, and she backed up a little.

"I don’t buy it. Sooner or later, you're gonna turn and kill us. Eliminate her." (Gonna add the other but after this post)

---

DONT STOP TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE! DONT STOP TAKING ABOUT GAZA!

DONT LET THEM MAKE YOU FORGET!!

💫Commissions are open!

I’ll be taking 10 slots for 25€ on a full body character!

All money will be send to Care for Gaza/ funds for E-sims

If you need information, send me a DM or a mail!

According to Nex Benedict friends he was a trans boy and used he/him pronouns.

Please stop using they/them for Nex in your future posts - this is an act of degendering by Nex’s family.

🕊️ Please Take a Moment to Read Nadin’s Story

My name is Nadin. I never imagined I would write something like this. I’ve always been someone who kept her worries quiet, someone who believed that even the hardest days could be endured with patience and faith. But right now, I am reaching out — not because I want to, but because I need to.

I am a wife, a mother, and one of many women in Gaza trying to survive days that feel like they have no end. There was a short time — a brief ceasefire — where we thought things might start to heal. Where the sound of war faded for just long enough to let us breathe. But that moment is gone now, and the fear has returned louder than before.

My days are filled with uncertainty, and my nights with prayer. We have lost so much. Our home was damaged, our sense of safety taken from us. But through all of this, I try to keep going. I try to hold on to what little peace I can create with my hands, my words, and my love.

I am not asking for much. Just a little help to keep our lives from falling further apart. To fix the small things — a cracked wall, a leaking roof, the pieces of daily life that help us hold on to dignity.

This campaign isn’t just about survival. It’s about holding on to what makes us human in a place that keeps trying to take that away. It’s about showing my daughter — even though I won’t mention her name here — that the world didn’t forget us.

If you’ve ever felt powerless in the face of suffering, please know that even the smallest gesture can carry great meaning. A kind word. A shared post. A quiet donation. These things remind us that we’re not alone.

I am still here. Still holding on. Still believing that people out there — people like you — still care.

Please, if you feel moved, consider supporting or sharing this campaign.

art credit

Marcelat Sakobi of Democratic Republic of Congo, at the end of the women’s round of 32 boxing match against Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova, made a strong gesture to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in the DR Congo by placing her hand in front of her mouth and pointing two fingers at her temple.

Resources for Congo:

Friends of Congo

Panzi Foundation

War Child

CammeDRCongo

Genocide Watch

A guide to the decades-long conflict in DR Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Industrial mining of cobalt and copper for rechargeable batteries is leading to grievous human rights abuses.

An explanation thread from 2019.

Books on Congo.

Feel free to let me know of other resources to add.

WARNING: METION OF GUNFIRE, BOMBING, KILLING A MINOR

You have been warned

Chapter 6: A friend and Work

She wakes up to the sound of clanking, groaning before going to rub her eyes. Yawning as she pushed herself to sit up from her sleeping bag, looking around she saw him.

"Estas despierta, good." Jake comments as he closes the lid to the pot.

The warmth of the fire lit make it better as a small whisp of wind came, she doesn't shiver. He gets up before walking to his pack as she pulls the lid of the pot, the sight of a liquid inside of it.

"It's tea." He answers before she can even ask what it was.

Looking up at him before he sights go back to what she know knows is tea, it had a sweet aroma with hints of bitterness as it bubbled.

"You like tea?" She ask as he sighs before giving a half nod as he went back to whatever he was digging from their pack.

She nods to no one as she layed back on her sleeping bag, the ground tough and yet soft all at the same time. It was mostly silent besides the sounds of the fire crackling near her before deciding she was bored. Grabbing her bag as she tries and find the book she still had from the day she left her dorm room in the orphanage.

Back when she was at the QZ all they ever told her was that nothing in the library or whatever that place was would keep her alive. She knew that, but it wasn't for her benefit, it was to keep her sain.

The constant drills of military drilled into her skull the minute she was in that damn orphanage, the beating she took for who knew what the girls would make up about why they did what they did. She just took it before going back to the nurse who just knew from footsteps who was coming to see her.

All she would want to do at the end of the day was listen to any type of background music and pick her book to leave the world for a second. Even just a second to keep her going, the stories filling her brain with ever little knowledge it had to offer her.

She was alone for the most part anyways since her roommate would always leave the minute she got there. She never had friends, not really, just herself, and most times she was okay with it.

But she would yearn for what she had before, mourn the lost of connection with people who just understood, her parents understood.

A cloth was thrown at her face before she could even try to stop it, she's thrown a back by the action as the cloth falls on her lap.

"Ow." 

"Tie that in your hair." He instruct as he put on a black newsboy cap, some curls were stick out before he tucked them inside, the little bits of curls hanging from back instead.

She looks at the cloth, it looks like a bandanna, she starts to grab her hair and bundles them up into a pony tail, grabbing as much hair as she could.

She wraps it once before going again, the pony tail tightens as she fixes it the best she can, the wind blowing in the back of neck now that there was more space for it to flow through.

"Ten." He throws another thing at her as this time she is paying attention and grabbing it, it's a hat, not like his. It's a baseball hat with on little symbol on it, a black beetle on it.

Pushing some of her hair back before putting on the cap, it fits snugly, she pulls some of her curls up front. They hang in front of her before she looks back at him.

He had took the little pot off and had two tin cans up, he poured the tea into the cans, the steam coming out the make shift cups before he dumps the rest to the fire as it dies out from the liquid.

He pushs the cup in front of her for her to take.

"Drink it before we leave." She nods before blowing into the tea. He follows before going for it and drinking the brown liquid. He hold it upside down before putting it back into his pack.

She slowly finishes hers before stuffing it into her backpack, they pack up whatever was left and continued walking, the sky start to slowly erupt with colors of orange and yellow.

They make it a two miles from the borders of Libya before he stops. She stops behind him as he turns to her with a serious expression which made her confused.

"Tenemos que hablar de reglas antes de llegar a Libya." He states.

"Rules?"

"Yes."

Then he starts and lays out the rules for this whole thing. He talked about it with Marc and Steven, they both knew what can happen in other places and how bad something can get. They need to make sure she wasn't a victim to whatever was pulled until they get to one of Jake contacts.

"One, if anybody offers you something, you don't take it."

"Okay, so stranger danger type of stuff then." She remarks before he nods. "I know that stuff already, anything else?" She inquires.

"Don't tell anybody about your-" He stops before look at her shoulder where her bite mark is engraved into her skin. "Condition, you show it or tell anybody they will kill you. No hesitation."

She nods as she knows the risk that she was in, any slight could end with her brains being blown out because of instinct to the sight.

"Finalmente, you do what we say when we say it. Me entiendes." He said not as a question but a statement. She gives a nod. 

It's not enough, she needs to understand.

"Repeat it."

"Whatever you guys say goes." He sighs but take the responds as he nods before they continue in the territory from the borders of Egypt passing into Libya.

Sellers and Auctions were happening everywhere, this was a place where a majority of trading and Smugglers would gather to sell and take what they could from this market.

She gazed at everything she saw, photos, books, jewelry, food and drinks of all kind that could be thought of was there. Conversation of the ton were being held as he pushed forward to keep going through the crowds that bundle and wouldn't let up.

The smells of spices and burning rubber was strong in the air, yet still felt dry as they walked through this makeshift market Jake had taken them to.

He guides her through the place as people were grouped trying to make deals with other sellers. She looked at almost everything that was being shown, the amount of objects she wished she could touch out of reach since he kept her going in certain direction.

Many turns from left and rights lead them to one stall, the articles of objects that the stall contained were all types that dangled infront of it like beads and clothing as the seller look at Jake with his best charming grin he can make.

A way to lower any type of wall the man might have.

"!قميص للفتاة يا سيدي"

The man spoke as he pushs forward a shirt, it was in pretty good condition, the orange shirt littered with butterflies and bees. She looks at it with curiosity as she hadn't seen that design before, she was use to graphic tees or plain shirts and not patterned ones.

Jake looks at the shirt with the upmost disinterest. 

"قميص جميل لفتاة جميلة"

The man compliments but Jake being Jake doesn't care before giving his answer of "She's good." Saying this all makes the man falter before he sees him pulling out a coin, the man looks at the coin, his face turning into a more composed and calm expression as to not look suspicious. He scans them before giving his nod of approval as he tilts his head slightly.

Jake nods in return as he pushes back the bright yellow cloth from the stall to show an allyway, "Stay close." He instruct as they move through other people who found themselves in this system of pathways.

She noticed all the different types of people that walked through, all with coverings she probably would need at some point if she doesn't want skin cancer anytime soon.

God, she would rather get a heat stroke than, well, anything that's worse than that.

A camel comes into sight and immediately she awes at animal.

"Camel." she mutters as she looked at the two humped mammal, she loved camels, she loved animals in general but she really liked camel, they were just so cool. 

Thought they were beyond useful and were pretty self sustaining on their own. There was barely any animals in the QZ, but when she did see one she wanted nothing more than to learn about the animal.

How did they live? What do they eat? How long do they last for? Can you train them? 

All the questions consumed her before she remembers that she is literally in an unknown and place and she has a higher chance of getting lost or kidnapped again here if she doesn't stick with the guy. So she makes it her mission to keep up with him, like she was suppose to.

Her face meet a harden muscle surface as she is shoved back, she falls back and lands on her ass. Looking up she see who exactly she "collided" with. 

 " !شاهد هذه"

A grating voice grabs her attention before she pushes herself up as she looks at who it was that she had smashed into and immediately felt a chill go down her spine.

The guy was freakishly tall, the color of his hair pepper and salt as it looked greasy to the touch, she notices small amount of blood on his face, he looked pissed.

Of course she she manages to upset a God damn giant while she's at it. 

"Sorry." The mutter apology is all she can out as the guy snarls at her as she notices his first starting to form into a fist, his knuckles turning white and nails digging into his palm.

"I just apologized!" The girl defends herself as the man could give two fuck whether she did or not. He was provoked by a damn 14 year who just happen to be going in the same direction as him.

This causes her to back up even more as she looks at the ground to make herself smaller, maybe then he'll leave her alone if he doesn't see her as a threat to whatever stride he had going on in that thick skull of him. 

The sound a familiar of heavy footsteps gets both attention as Jake stops a little way close to the man. He looked irritated, his jaw clenched and his eyes bore into the man.

The words that came out his mouth were firm as he stood his ground ".قالت إنها آسف." The two men look at each other and neither would move. Jake gestures the girl to move and with the message received she goes behind him as Jake made sure there was a space between her and the man twice her size.

The man looks ready to test his luck and try to get a hit at Jake and then the girl.

Jake stares the man down, his eyes lifeless and with obvious intent to not back down what the man wanted. Before he could he sees a cresnt symbol on Jake, his ring. He hears a scoff as the man's fiat slowly decompressed from their enlarged state, "راقبها." The man hissed at Jake before walking away while mumbling under his breath.

They watch as the man walks away before Jake looks back at the girl. "Watch where your going." He reprimand as she wants to retaliate, it wasn't her fault that guy didn't see her. 

If anything, it was that asshole who should have apologized, he pushed her.

"He didn't see me, I wasn't even in his way." She defends herself as the Jake just scoffs at her words. He shakes his head, he doesn't have time for this.

"These people don't care whether your young or old, girl or boy, they will kill you." He chides her as she looked deep into his eyes, he tells the harsh real truth. Some people wouldn't care if she was a kid or not, they would do what they believe she deserves.

"Fine, asshole." She grumbles as she stormed forward from him in annoyance, he exhales a breath before before grumbling under his breath "Escuincla."

He walks and reaches her before passing as she reluctantly follows behind, they finally reached a space between five different allyways connected into one space. It's crowded with meetings and negotiations away from the public areas of the others who just past by.

Some stop and look at them before hushed whispers that echoed out in the air, she feels chicken skin beginning to surface. Yet, she doesn't show it. 

'Strong.'

The word pops in her head before her face changes to a stoic expression, they keep looking before going back to their own conversations again.

He waits for her to move but she doesn't and stay still.

He firmly grabs her shoulders causing her to flinch for a second but they relaxed as he turned her to the left into a red overgrown building. They walked up the stairs as she sees the cracks and bullet holes slowly start to fade with each step up.

People were in the hallways, kids running before going around them as Jake put her in front, leading her who knew where. 

"Where are we going?" She questions before an abrupt stop came, she turns and see it. It looked like a restaurant or something similar to it, it was small but seemed to be functioning well. 

"Come on." Jake says already inside, there are men and women either sitting or at the counter making food and taking orders, it seem peaceful. "Gena!" He shouts out before a woman turns around from behind the counter and her eyes widen.

"Jake?" She mumbles before moving pass the other employees with a small smile on her face. She looks surprised but more than anything relief of seeing him.

"It's been long, huh?" Jake says as he puts his hand out to shake and she shakes it, both showing respect for another. "It has." She answers as she looked at him. 

He had this look in this eye. She knew what it meant even after years of seeing each other now.

"Let go talk somewhere a little more private." She suggest as Jake nods before looking at the girl, he needs to do something about her. "Hold on." He ask Gena as she nods.

"Comes algo aquí. Don't move from here, got it." Jake said as he handed her some ration cards and watched as Katalina could only eye the paper before walking up to the counter and ordering food for herself. Once she sat down in a corner of the place he went to where Gena was waiting.

"Ray, Ricky!" Gena calls over two young boys who stop cleaning off some tables that had yet be clean up, putting the rag down and walked over to her, "yeah?" They both said as they looked at their mother.

"Keep an eye on her, alright?" She ask then as she points to Katalina who is playing with her hair, she parts a strand of her hair into smaller strands with her fingers. They curl at her fingertips before she let's it falls and starts the process again.

They nod as they go back to their task at hand, Jake opens the door for Gena as they both walked into another room. 

Katalina waits for what she ordered as she sees the guy and lady he shook hands with enter another room to talk to each other, not sure about what since the guy didn't tell her much. 

The inside of this place was almost a harsh noise, but she didn't mind it all that much. She felt the vibration of the sounds bouncing off the walls and into seemingly nowhere, it took a second to get accustomed to but eventually the ringing stopped and all she heard was noise. 

The chatter had fizzled to the sound of ambiance of plates clanking and words spoken from the people who wished to speak.

A plate is set down which catches her by surprise, the urge to grab her knife kicked in as she looks up at who had spooked her. Dark brown eyes meet her's as he put down utensils and a foam cup with the sound of the liquid sloshing inside taking her attention instead.

The words of "استمتع بطعامك" come out as she nods and he leaves to where ever else he is needed. Looking down at the food she hears her stomach growl, a slight warmth reaches her face as she heard the noise.

The dish filled her nose with all types of smells of spices, nothing overdone and just the right amount. Perfection one might even say. She could feel her mouth water from it, she hasn't had cooked food in who knew how long—it's been years is all she knows.

She doesn't hesitate as she digs into the food, she eat's it all as her belly fills while she begins to questions what exactly they plan on getting help from in a restaurant. She suppose some connections can come from a place where people group or meet up but it didn't seem like the place.

Maybe that's why she isn't convinced that the guy didn't have much connection as she thought or really had much of plan to even get on whatever boat Khonshu had told them to get to.

She keeps eating as two guys, both seeming almost the same age as her, maybe one a year or two older than her glance at her every once in a while as she ate She feels their stares, not of malice but it was just weird.

She stares at them back which leads to them finally letting up and go back to their work.

'Weirdos,' She thinks.

Jake and Gena arrive into another room in the building, it looked like the remaining of a office, a table and couch being the real thing that took up the room. Gena closes the door behind her before she looks at Jake and begins her investigation on why he's here and with a child no less. "So, what brings you back here Jake?" 

He sits down as he takes off his cap, his curls falling down before looking back up at the women. "I need your help." He starts off with.

She hums at this before crossing her arms against her chest, "And that girl, she yours?" She questions him as he scoffed a chuckle.

"That brat. No." His tone laced with slight annoyance.

"Alright then, who is she, Jake?" She asks him, and her gaze, drilling into his.

"Some girl we need to take somewhere." 

"Where?" Her eyebrow lifts at the very abstract information she's getting from him. He knew why she was questioning him, it was rare to even be seen near children, much less bring one with him.

She is important if he had brought her here, Jake knew that Gena knew this.

"That's why we came here, we your help. We need to find Crawley."He finally comes out and says, she stand still for a second, the air tense. "Are you sure? He hasn't been himself in a while since, you know."

She caution him, the man they both knew hasn't been the same since his son died being chased by some gang members before falling to his death in hopes of escaping them. Crawley left after that by himself and only kept contact by radio and other sources of people whispers who were the messengers for him.

Other than that, he was off the map. Completely wiped from the face of the earth.

"Yes. lo necesitamos." Jake insisted as Gena eyes flickered with his before sighing and putting her hands on her hips. Her gaze lowers to the ground as she thinks about this. After coming to a conclusion she sighs before nodding "Alright. Give me a second to find one of his communicator." 

He nods of gratitude as she leaves the room living him behind.

He sense a werid sensation before looking at his hat and deciding that he wants to out it back on, he fixes his hair before putting back the cap he had back on his head as he waits for Gena to return.

"Jake." A voice comes out and he looks around, he eventually finds the mirror and finds Marc and Steven, the two looking at him one concerned and the other more impatient.

"Qué?" 

"Where is the girl?" Steven eyebrows were creased as he looked at the alter, Jake thinks if he did that anymore that his face would get stuck like that. 

Why does he keep worrying about the mocosa? It been 30 min at best since they left her alone.

"She's fine Steven, Gena niños are watching her for now." He assures him as Steven sighs not completely satisfied with the answer but knows its what he's gonna get from the alter.

"What did Gena say then, she know where Crawley is?" It was Marc time to talk to him now. His arms crossed against his chest as he looks at Jake for answers.

"Ella está recibiendo la información ahorita." He answer as Marc nods and looks at Steven who can on look at the door to the outside of the restaurant. He sighs before he decides to get up and look from the blinds to give Steven a peace of mind.

He pulls down the blind slightly to look outside, he doesn't need much time before he finds her, it seems like she finished her food. Gena two sons are sitting with her at the table.

They seem to be talking about something, he can't read the lips of the kids from there but he sees cards on the table as they all seemed to have some cards in their hands. Her having two and the boys with five and seven cards.

"Uno?" Marc questions as he looks over and see the colorful cards, he hasn't seen those playing cards in who knows how long. 

Marc and Randall would play Uno once he got older when Marc and his dad would play it on the table after dinner. The dining table was cleared as the smell of the dinner would still linger in the air as he would get the cards from a red box where other games were placed.

The room would be dimmed in a yellowish glow from the lamps and ceiling fan that would be turn on as a slight cold air would swirl them, not cold enough to make him shiver but to keep him awake.

It would always be on a Friday when his dad had a chance, if not him then Wendy would, but only a few rounds before tending back to baby Roro. When him and dad would play however, Wendy would watch as Randall babble as he and his dad would compete to win the fastest.

Most of time he won, but he thinks his dad let him.

He feels his eyes and nose burn, he wants to be numb, he wish there was some type of whisky around. Maybe they could buy some before they leave from here, drink while the kid is asleep so that she wouldn't know, not like she didn't already.

He wasn't exactly hiding the bottles he had on the table when they had to take her to their apartment at the beginning of this. He hated whatever this was still.

'Wait, why did he care if the kid saw him drunk? It's not like he's trying to be a good role model for the kid, it would make Steven and sometimes Jake upset if he did though.'

Jake let's go of the blinds and goes back to sit down and wait for Gena, it doesn't take long as she walks in with a piece of paper in hand. She puts it down for him to see, it's from latitude to longitude, opening a desk she pulls out a map and pencil.

"He should be about 23° 43' 8.112'' North and 44° 39' 47.3436'' East from here." She points out as she makes a line to a place called Sabhā close to the border of Algeria. He hums at this, that would make things easier, close they were to where they need to go and get maybe car or vehicle to make the trip faster would help from Crawley at the same time, two birds with one stone.

"Aww come on!" A groaned complain was heard as the two adults look at each other before going to the door and opening. The kid had a shit eating grin on her face as the two boys look completely defeated.

"What’s going on?" Gena asked the kids as her kids looked at their mom. "How does she keep beating us, she's never even played before?!" The two whined as Jake looks at the kid who just shrugs her shoulders.

There was a small notepad with the letters of the kids first initial and it seemed like Katalina had been winning since the second time they played together. He can hear a small chuckle as he looks around for a reflection with a Steven covering his mouth with his hand as his eyes were wrinkled at each end.

The kids got a knack for Uno it seemed. Jake felt a small twitch at the end of his lips before realizing it and suppressing it before anyone noticed.

"Alright you two, back to work before you get beat by her again." Gena says as the two sulked and got up from the chair before handing the girl two objects, it was a pin and hairclip.

The hairclip was of a dragonfly, it's wings made of silver with little spots of rust, but the hairclip never lost its shape even with the small bits of rist that covered its wings and body. 

She grabs her bag as she puts the hairclip in her bag before grabbing the pin in the shape of a beetle and stuck it to her backpack. The sound of a click makes her let go and puts the bag back on the floor.

They make their way towards her as she hears their footsteps and looks up to see them.

"So. Did you get what you needed from here?" The girl asked as he nods. 

"What now?" 

"One last thing I need to ask her before we leave." He says before looking at her plate. She's eaten the entire soup without problem. She looks much more awake than she had in the past couple of days of walking they had to do.

She cringes at this before deciding to put her head down on the table. It was the waiting game again, she doesn't mind but she was on a roll with her the game andnwas winning before they came over and took her new competitors away. He rolls his eyes as he sees the girl putting her head down.

'Teenagers.'

Jake can feel the moment his eyes rolled to the back and he was once again in the mind space as Steven took over. He blinks a couple times before looking at the girl.

He looks at the table with the empty bowl and cup .

She's been fed, good.

"Don't worry, it'll only take a sec." He tries to reassure her.

"Steven?" She ask in surprise of the British man appearance.

"Yeah?" 

"Don't take long. We might have to stay here for the night if we do, the day has been more than halfway done now." She informs him, her eyebrows knitted in concern.

From what she has seen, it might not be a good idea to wonder during the night.

He looks at the window to see that the sun was starting to go down, the hues of blue and orange are starting to warn them that probably need to hurry up soon with this.

He nods as he goes over to where he last saw Gena. She turns and looks at him. "Needed something else?"

"Yeah, Marc asked if there was a way to get a ride to get closer to Crowly location? It would take us a while to get to where he is and where we are." Steven points out.

"There might, but of course everything comes with a price. You guys up for it?" Gena ask the man as he looks at the pot to a Marc and Jake who nod and he sighs.

"What's the job?" He ask.

"Follow every rule that Gena ask of you, I'll be back in a day or two." Marc tells the girl as she looks at him in disbelief.

"Why do you even need to do this job?" She questions as he packs his bag with what he thinks this job might need. He can't bring the kid cause it'll be too dangerous for her to even be near the damn place. He also trust that Gena will protect her while he leaves for this job.

"We might be able to get a ride to our next location." He explains.

"Why can't I come?" 

"It's too dangerous and I don't trust you to not get killed."

"I can help though!" She protest.

"This isn't up for discussion kid." His statement absolute. He wasn't taking her anywhere that had a sure chance she would get killed in the process. 

It would reckless and impulsive, they knew better than that. 

Not to mention he didn't exactly trust who it was he had to do this job for, but it would help cut the time from a month and a half trip into just about a month. It had already been a month with the kid in their protection.

He could only hope these guys don't skrew them with this. He doesn't want to get his hand any more dirty than they were about to be.

She's upset but better that than dead.

"Marc, can you give her the thing we found." Steven whispered as he looks at the mirror in the room that Gena had given them for three nights now. They had to pay her back for this at some point, he make a mental note of this.

With a heavy sigh he digs through the backpack, the feeling of slightly ripped flimsy paper is finally felt as he pulls it out of the hold the bag had on it. They had found it while scavenging for some supplies, Steven said to take for the kid.

Marc and Jake said it was a waste of perfectly good space dor other important things but Steven wouldn't take no for an answer on it.

"Here. To keep you entertained." He says as he toss three comic books in her direction, the sound of the comics grabbing her attention as she looked at them. The front page filled with faded color but the image perfect to still make out it shape. Bottom part was ripped but didn't take away from its artistic style only adding more to it.

She doesn't utter of word, not even a noise. 

'They got this, for her?'

Marc waits for anything from the kid but nothing really happens, only her shoulders stopped looking tense from her previous upset state. More than anything she looks surprised, or maybe taken aback of gift given to her.

He finally loses patience to wait for a responds as he sees the sun the stars starting to shine soon, a faded light of the moon glimmered afar to reminding him he needs to hurry up or he will be late to the site he needs to be at right now.

"We'll be back. Don't get into any trouble." He says as grabs his stuffed pack before grabbing the pistol on top of the drawer checking one last time that it was filled and ready in case of anything were to go wrong. The pistol slids in the holster on the side of his tigh. He doesn't look back at the girl as he walks towards the door.

"Okay." A sullen voice is heard, without hesitation he colses the behind him as he walked towards the location of the meeting with the client and a group of others hired to do this job.

The sound of the door closing causes her to look up and find that he had left, the sound of the room silent as the softer noise of people outside took over. She was left behind for safety reasons, she knew she would just be a burden. But she at least wanted to show she could learn how to not be one, but with the tone he used — he would never consider it.

Looking at the comics Marc had left for her, she stares at it for a second before she reaches for the comics. She feels how fragile they seem as she carefully feels the now slightly rough cover. Wrinkles and small tear on the corners from years of sitting on the shelf and possible being consider to take only to be left behind again.

Still, it looked in good condition to read.

"Ultimate Comics Spider-man." She reads out at she feels the comic, the front cover showing someone in a costume with a web design and a red outline on a spider on their chest as they looked to be swinging by white rope coming out their wrist.

'That looks tight, no? Would it be hard to breathe in?'

She questions as she opens the first page and starts to read what was left behind for her.

The night was cold as he went through alley after alley, vendors voices of the night in the background as he eventually made it to the deepest part of the town. The feeling of a cold wind coming as he finally reaches the start point of the job.

 "إنه هنا "

A voice calling him out as he is the last one to arrive, he sees a group of men all with their own weapons and dress up for this Mission. He walks over with his own get up, leather gloves the way Lockly liked, a mask with wrapping on it making it more breathable and comfortable than the plastic ones the other men were wearing. 

His outfit consisting of a white hoodie, grey shirt, and blue jeans. Simple and flexible, their curls were combed back requested by Jake and Marc since it always seemed to cover thier eyesight sometimes. The pack they carried on their shoulder full of weapons or any equipment they might need.

At the corner of his eye he sees one of the members reaching in a box, grabbing what seemed like a vest of some sort. It's thrown at his direction, with fast reflex he catches it mid air before clicking the vest into place. One of the men scowled at him before the one next to him nudged him harshly earning him a glare.

"حسنًا ، نحن جميعًا هنا."

A man with a mask covering his lower half of his face turns to face all the men gathered for this job and speaks to them. "أنت تعرف موقفك ، اذهب" they all nod as the men are spread out to get the supplies from another group that had been ripping people off with their "deals".

He climbs up one of the ladders that had been placed there for him as he jumps from roof to roof to where the location had been located a couple days ago. Once he arrives and in position, he sees two other men go onto the side of other roofs around the building to get a clear shot of anybody who could interfere with their plan. 

Any guards or allies being in the line of shot by the two who had bows and a sniper ready at the mark.

Finally he gets the signal to keep going inside, a small sound of whisp let's him know that anyone in a close radius to spot him were gone, he jumps on the roof and looks down. The building was filled with people, a fire pit being the only thing light up the place. 

He looks around for the opening and finds a window, it's open so he with light steps he walks over and steady himself. Sitting down on the ledge before grabbing the edges and letting himself drop slightly towards the window edge. With a small grunt he gets inside and waits a second to make secure the room he was in.

---

hi!

i saw your post the other day spreading the joyous news that is the moonknight boxset in which you talked about a deleted scene: confrontation with wendy. i’ve never heard about this deleted scene before and i’m having trouble finding information about it online. i was wondering if you perhaps could bring some clarification?

i’m so starved for more moonknight (tv) content and am racing to whatever crumbs are scattered; i’d love to know more about what you were talking about!

thanks so much! :)

P.S. i absolutely adore your work on ao3 and analyses. mwah mwah ty

So they released this image AGES ago shortly after the show finished up. They said they had shot a scene where Marc and Steven are still in the inner world Duat room thing and they both confront Wendy over her abuse and how it hurt them and how she no longer has power over them.

They noted that they were able to do most of it in one shot because at this point in the filming, Oscar had Steven and Marc figured out so well that he could switch between them without any effort so you got to see him talk to Wendy as Marc then Steven then Marc then Steven without cutting. And they said Oscar was AMAZING in it.

This scene was supposed to be towards the end. It explains why the last episode was cut up so weirdly in editing. If you're looking for it, you can feel where the missing scenes is supposed to be and once you know what that scene is...

UUUGHH. Why would they tell us about this scene and then never bring it up again?!

Basically, when you hear people say "Release the Diab Cut!" they are talking about wanting to see this scene and putting it back into the show as Director Mohamed Diab had intended.