Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

With the team downstairs and finding the room at hand, Fia walked into the lab with everyone else and saw Rinaa making a beeline for the room that held the actual drug componenants whilst she hung back with the rest of the team and looked through the lab to find whatever she could on the drug in question. She made sure to be as careful but thorough as possible and when she did find the odd bit, she made sure to take it so they could finally eliminate the chances of this drug getting out in the world and being used on metas or anyone else these sick people saw fit to use it on. It wasn't long before she found the office of the lab boss and her hunch and curiosity told her that it was worth seeking out. So she walked over and let herself into the office, heading straight for the desk.

Being careful to not let anything unrelated be out of place, she knew this was where she excelled. This was what she was used to doing. Looking through places she shouldn't be, finding items that were needed to be retrieved and grabbing them. She found a laptop in a drawer which she found interesting as there was clearly a desktop computer out on the desk like in most offices. "Hey artemis, found a separate hidden away laptop in the office, will need hacking into" she said over comms, knowing if anyone would think it was worth taking and hacking into, it would be her. She continued to look through the drawers and file cabinets after taking the laptop out and placing it on the desk, to see what files there were, finding a lot on test usage of the drugs and what they thought would be the next lot of stages. SHe grabbed what she could to relieve the head of this lab of all this information.

It didn't take her too long to get everything she found, tucking it under her arm and grabbing the laptop to bring it out into the main lab room where everyone else was.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Each of the four sample storage containers were half as tall as Rinaa herself and a good deal wider. In typical scientist style their contents were labelled meticulously. Rinaa didn't bother with the ones containing blood samples and brain tissue samples, no matter how much the last one sickened her if it turned out to be from metahumans and not lab animals)- there needed to be proof for the official investigators that human experimentation was taking place in KYX Laboratories. The lid unscrewed with a hiss, sending a cloud of white vapour into her face. After waiting for the mist to dissipate Rinaa reached in with her gloved hands and began pulling out the racks of test-tube samples, checking the handwritten labels on each. The vials containing 'Morph' were placed into the special cool container in her backpack.

When Fia's disguised voice came over the comms Rinaa was intrigued. A hidden laptop? That wasn't normal among regular scientists, all the ones she's worked with kept their projects on their work computer and backed up to the cloud so they could access certain files at home. A whole other work-related laptop just wasn't justified in her mind, if it was a personal laptop it would be at home with it's owner surely? This could only mean something else dodgy was going on. It also confirmed that her 'cousin' did indeed know what she was doing as she had the initiative to check the office and search for anything hidden. 'Max' had been right that bringing her along was a good idea. "Copy that Storm, bring it out to the main lab and I'll get into it." Placing the last tube into her backpack Rinaa replaced the now empty test-tube racks in the freezer. "Overwatch, Team 3 has secured all samples of 'Morph'." She declared over the comms exiting the store room and firmly locking it behind her.

She took the laptop from Fia and set it on one of the benches, it was an older model than she expected it to be, far bulkier than the latest slim laptops, the casing worn and scuffed in places. "Right, let's see what you can tell us." A selection of cables hooked it up to Rinaa's 'hacker' laptop, another bulky brute of a machine. The hidden laptop was harder to break into judging by the considerably longer time it took to break through the firewalls. While Rinaa waited and watched the scrolling lines of code the other crew members continued their search for anything related to Morph, both looking for hidey-holes under the laboratory and office floor where additional notebooks might be stored, finding none. Rinaa let out a satisfied sound when the laptop's security succumbed. Scrolling through the files, her eyes widened. "Oh shit.... looks like you've hit the motherload here- this is the meta records, the files of what they've done and to who......" Her eyes narrowed as she went deeper. "Those utter bastards! They've numbered 'em like cattle. This is the definitive proof what they've been doing. Ryker- has any similar laptop been found in your laboratory." "Negative... well not exactly, judging by the files we've found and flicked through, it seems your Dr Emilson is in charge of 'managing' the metas." "Then we're gonna need to do a full clone of the entire contents of this laptop for the benefit of your suit. The investigators and prosecutors are going to need to see this as well." "Make it two- we can't risk losing these files and the gruesome details they no doubt contain, not if we want full justice. One for me and the suit- one for the Network as insurance and back-up." "I like your style" the smirk was audible in Rinaa's voice as she pulled out the hard drive disks to begin the transfer.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia just knew deep down that Rinaa would want to check out the laptop, Hell's, she wanted to know what was in it. She also didn't think for a moment that her actions would be more evidence to Rinaa that bringing her along was the right thing to do. To her, it was just common sense to check the office and not leave it unsearched when they were looking for anything remotely important toward the Morph drug. She knew that if this was reversed, and she had to bring Rinaa along to her timeline to help her grab something to put a pause in the beings wanting her familynor similar rare beings, Rinaa would no doubt have the same mindset in checking literally everywhere. So when Rinaa told her over comma to bring the laptop out to the main, her assumption that it was worth finding and checking just proved to be correct to her. If anything, it grew her hunch that something wasn't right about this laptop's records. Especially when finding the files she did.

With it all brought out, Rinaa confirming she had aquired all samples of the Morph drug, Fia was in the main lab and walking to a worktop, placing the laptop down and letting Rinaa come over to get hacking. As it proved difficult to get into, Fia's mind and heart just knew it was important data in it and they needed access all the more. No one secures their personal laptop that much or work laptop if it didn't have some highly incriminating information on it. Seeing her 'cousin' finally get in, she couldn't help but lean in closer just a little bit to read what Rinaa was, her eyes going slightly wide as Rinaa said what it was she actually found. "I knew it was holding dodgy stuff. No one keeps a laptop in a hidden compartment inside a drawer unless it'll holds dodgy as all hell info on it." she said before Rinaa spoke to Cass through comms to see if there was more laptops around. She listened in as Cass came back that there weren't any more laptops around, but had the good idea of making as many copies of the information they got as possible. It also didn't seem too much of a shock that there wouldn't be more than one laptop with this level of information on it to her. The place it was hidden may have been the biggest mistake always made by asshole, but she very rarely came across the mistake of there being more than one laptop. From what she sussed in the office, she by far got the same impressed as Cass did, that Emilson was the head of this whole situation.

She smirked at Cass' suggestion and at how Rinaa said about liking her style of really making sure what they had would always be around, even if one or two copies tried to be destroyed. "I'm so glad I never leave an office unsearched. These people really need to learn that a hidden compartment inside a desk drawer is far too common and the first place that will be checked. At least, by the likes of us" she commented, even so Cass and her team over comms could hear. One of these missions, she'd love to come across someone who wouldn't fall for the same mistakes with their hiding places and actually give her a damn challenge for once.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa's quip to Cass came out far more flirtatious than she intended to. Doing this kind of heist again- with a crew she knew and had bonded with as opposed to the criminal catburglars she'd recruited off-world with the express purpose of using their notoriety to further her reputation (not just a thief, but a mastermind who could bring criminals together to form one cohesive, formidable unit)- was strangely nostalgic and she did find herself slipping back into old habits. Even before she and Cass had been a couple they'd annoyed the shit out of anybody else on the same mission as them by flirting over the comms. Thankfully Fia spoke up next before Cass could give a reply. With Fia finished Cass spoke up. "Always good to be thorough" That part was clearly directed at Fia, while her next statement was a general announcement. "You have to admit that their sloppiness makes our job much easier. With these kinds of people, once they realise they're getting away with this level of illegal activities they get complacent. And more importantly, they get arrogant, thinking that just because they haven't been caught before now, it means they won't ever get caught in the future. Their sloppiness now is what means we can nail this bastard and his accomplices and make them PAY."

There were various noises of agreement over the comms from the two teams and the listening Overwatches. "So there's nothing else in Emilson's office related to the metas?" Rinaa asked, hooking up the second hard drive. "Negative, nothing we could find-no wall compartments or floor compartments, everything on the bookshelves is legit, same with the filing cabinets from what we can tell. The desktop computer has been wiped of the Morph files." "Understood. Overwatches, you guys got anything?" "The office Ryker is in, it belongs to somebody quite low down in the meta divi"well sion, which explains why there wouldn't be a concealed laptop. They report directly to Emilson, who as Ryker suspected is the head of the entire metahuman division. Emilson themselves reports directly to our 'friend' Marcel and his cronies on the board of management. The other four high-level scientists, those division heads just below Emilson, well the system is really flagging them up. All are suspected to have been involved with similar programmes in the past, not just in terms of general science, but in terms of illegal exploitation of humans, metas and even aliens."

There was a since to let this information sink in, during which Rinaa's face paled slightly. The silence was broken by Cass, her voice simmering with anger "Well, if that's the case, then I saw we crucify those bastards as well. I say we check each of their offices as well, see what files we can find, both physical and digital, getting copies of both." "I agree." With both team leaders in agreement the Overwatches wasted no time in sending on the locations of the four offices, Rinaa's team taking those on the higher floors, while team 2 took those on the lower floors. Arriving at the first office, Rinaa wasted no time in cracking the lock to let two of her team members slip in. "Storm and I will take the second office. Be thorough and call in anything particularly vital, unusual or illegal."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia, though she didn't show it outwardly, was surprised that out of everyone it was Cass who spoke up her agreement in her statement about being thorough. She half expected it to be Rinaa to say something or one of the Overwatches possibly. Even Zion would have been her list above Cass for some reason, but it was the one person she would have least expected. She figued it was because the Cass she had met was the more stoic one and just really didn't know her. She also agreed with the rest of Cass' more generic comments, which she felt were somewhat an echo of what she said just moments prior. The sloppiness of others always made her work easier which she always enjoyed, but as she thought earlier, did wish they would give her a challenge at some point as well. She also agreed wholeheartedly that the sloppiness in this instance meant they really did have these assholes on a tight noose and all they had to do with this evidence was metaphorically kick the step out from under their feet to let them hang. A situation she very much had no issues with in the slightest.

She listened as the rest of the team in the lab with her and Rinaa confirmed that there really was nothing else in the office that was incriminating, which meant she had done her snooping well. She also listened as the Overwatches spoke of what else they had found, angry by what they were being told, but not in the slightest bit surprised. It was clear from what they read on the laptop she hijacked this situation ran deep, so there was no way EMilson was the only involved deeper than just making a drug in a lab and not really knowing what they were doing it for. Just like the others, she remained silent as it all sunk in what they were being told, before she snapped out of her thoughts when Cass' voice came through the comms and made it clear what she heard angered her greatly. With the discussion moving on and everyone agreeing that the other offices needed to checked, she gladly took the upper ones with the rest of Rinaa's team.

She nodded at the instruction and headed to the second office with Rinaa, finding it was easy enough to get inside with her without setting off any alarms and the like. Stepping inside she headed straight to the file cabinets that was opposite the desk and began opening the drawers, using her fingers to nimbly flick through the files to find anything that was relevant to what they were looking for.

 

[_gallifrog_]

While Fia headed for wall of the filing cabinets, Rinaa took a different path, passing through the office and unlocking the partition door to the lab. From there she headed once again for the sample storage room. Unlocking this one was easier then Emilson's, there was no card scanner to hack, just regular locks. Each liquid-nitrogen cooled cylinder was opened and thoroughly searched before being sealed again. The final cylinder was the only successful one. When Rinaa read the label on the final set of vials she let out a soft "aha! Got you!" then carefully placed the them into her backpack. What followed was a brief discussion with Overwatch over a private channel before she replaced the cylinder lid, locked up the sample room and returned to the office Fia was searching. She offered no explanation to her 'cousin' for what she had just done, instead headed to the desktop computer and plugged in a transfer drive.

While the drive did it's thing Rinaa began looking through the contents of the desk, flipping through papers and print-outs, before moving to the scientist's meticulously kept lab notebooks. Every so often she'd stop and take a photo of something relevant with her business phone. Her search, like Fia's was methodical, slow and conducted in the kind of silence that came from intense concentration. The filing cabinets contained barely any reference to Morph or Team 2's target drug, but there was a whole folder devoted to transport timetables- including containers of 'scientific equipment, supplies and samples' arriving by port. Just like in Emilson the owner of this office had also concealed a laptop in it, though this scientist had chosen a less obvious hiding place- a false panel at the bottom of the bookshelf could be slid aside to reveal a small cubby-hole. Along with the laptop, there was also a set of paper files tucked away. The brown covers were embossed with some kind of logo and stamped right across the front in (now-faded) red ink was the Russian phrase for 'top secret'. Rinaa hands visibly began to tremble as she flicked through them.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't bat an eye lid when Rinaa went to into the side lab of the office, knowing that searching a place like this it was always better to hit both ends of the room at the same time if there was more than one of you doing it. Of course, she was curious to what was taking her 'cousin' a while in there, but she just assumed she was looking for more of the Morph drug or the other team's drug. So she didn't feel the need to go over to the threshold of it the office and lab and question Rinaa's motives or actions. The fact that the cabinets for a short while weren't coming up with anything useful was starting to frustrate Fia, though she kept her inner opinions of it to herself and not let it show or be heard. So when she did find something that was interesting and worth taking, she smiled to herself and pulled them out of the cabinet, one by one, opening them and flipping through the pages, scanning as much as she could with her eyes to make sure they were worth taking. What she read disgusted her even if she was happy to find something else that would be useful to whoever received said information to bring this whole operation crashing down hard.

As Rinaa came back into the room after doing whatever it was Rinaa needed to do, she looked over her shoulder at the girl to see her plugging what she needed to into the desktop computer. Walking over she placed the files she found, on the desk beside Rinaa whilst Rinaa managed to find the hidden laptop and other files that were very different to the ones she found in the cabinet. She recognised the logo stamp, even if she didn't fully know Russian, she knew it could only have said one thing, 'top secret'. "Found the files that discuss all the transportation timetables for everything they need, including the samples, supplies and equipment. So definitely worth taking for copies" she explained to her 'cousin'. "What you find in the top secret files? Anything of worth to us?" she then asked her. She even noted the laptop Rinaa found, and figured that Rinaa would be hacking it at some point.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa looked up when Fia said she'd found the transport timetable. The container full of dead metahumans that had sparked this investigation had also been described as containing 'samples, supplies and equipment'. No doubt most of the imports under that name did contain legitimate equipment and chemicals (the laboratories were massive, and most teams in the building didn't even work on drugs, let alone with biology, KYX Labs had fingers in various pies of the scientific market. Hearing that label Rinaa couldn't help but think back on something Jay had said after her first day on the case 'so are these arseholes considering the smuggles metas to be supplies, equipment or samples? Because regardless of which one it is, it's still horrific and dehumanising." She didn't share that thought with her 'cousin' instead saying "now that IS damn useful. Spread the pages out on the desk and I'll photograph them all. The official teams will be delighted to get their hands on them. This will allow any future shipments to be safely intercepted AND prove that KYX was directly responsible for the container atrocity."

The transport files were comprehensive and it took a few minutes to properly spread out and photograph them all. Rinaa found that as they worked she slipped into a rhythm with her 'cousin' far easily than she would have expected. It was weird to be so 'in tune' with her alternate cousin's movements, but it wasn't completely abhorrent like Rinaa thought it might be. Fia had proved herself a good team mate today, and not for the first time since meeting the alternate Rinaa pondered how differently things would have been if she'd got this Fia and not the vengeful, borderline sociopathic bitch of this timeline.

The question about the Russian files jolted Rinaa out of her musings. She didn't reply straight away, letting the pause stretch out as she considered her words. "Well... my Russian is far from fluent, I can speak more than I can read and even then, I can't speak much." She shrugged then added "Cass was teaching me" as an explanation. "But what I do know is that these files SHOULDN'T exist. All files, both digital and physical, were supposed to all have been thoroughly destroyed and the scientists involved are dead. Those few who survived the.... well, they were locked up for life. These files will be burned. Their contents WON'T help our meta case and besides, we already have enough to nail these bastards."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could somehow just have an inkling that a lot of thoughts of reaction to what she found were running through Rinaa's head. She nodded in agreement at what Rinaa did actually say, having come to that decision herself when she found them. "you got it" she replied, doing as she said and started laying the pages out on the desk clearly so Rinaa could start taking photos, and the last few she had in her hands that couldn't fit on the desk initially, she swiftly switched them with papers Rinaa had already photographed, easily being able to put them in the right folders so it wouldn't be obvious they were found and tampered with in any manner. Like Rinaa, she too was very aware of how seemlessly they worked together. They really were a damn good team and didn't need to instruct each other on what to do next as they both just did it. It made Fia think that although she was never bad at working with her Leah, she knew it could be better. Which made her think when she did eventually end up back in her timeline, she would have to make more of an effort with her Leah, to her it was the least she could do in honour of Rinaa. Yet it also made her sad that Rinaa never could have had this good team up and relationship with her Fia.

She listened to Rinaa explain how her Russian was rusty, and somehow not surprised that Cass was the one to have taught her what she did know, as she remembered how Cass was heard speaking Russian briefly earlier during the HALO jump. Hearing that these files shouldn't exist, but that whatever was in them didn't pertain to their case at hand in this moment and they didn't need them for any reason, she nodded in response. "Right, I guess that's....something" she replied. "So we got everything we need here a part from whatever is on these computers?" She asked, thinking that if they were done with the files, she would either dispose of them, put them in her backpack or put them in the filing cabinet, whichever Rinaa thought was the more productive action to take. She personally thought they could easily do either, but the fact they took photographic evidence, she figured it was best to ask what Rinaa wanted to do with the hard copies, rather than just do one thing and find out she was supposed to do the other.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At Fia's question, Rinaa glanced around the office. "Yeah, I think that is everything, unless there's any more hidden files and laptops in this office, which I somehow doubt.... Teams 2 and 3 what's your statuses?" The other teams had yielded similar results, all had found something pertaining to the illegally smuggled metahumans, and just like Emilson, all four division heads had a concealed laptop filled with their illegally obtained data. Copies had been made of all the hard drives and the locations passed on to make sure that the official investigators would find them. Rinaa nodded approvingly as the others spoke, even though she knew none of the six others could see the action. "Good work guys. Let's reconvene on the ground floor at the main stairwell."

Rinaa turned back to face her 'cousin'. "The transport files can go back where you found them, as can the concealed laptop. We have copies of the contents, that's enough for us- we're keeping this information as a fail safe in case the official team, or Cass' Cape fucks up and decides it would be better to wipe this shit from existence. The Russian ones, they ARE being removed though." As she spoke she carefully slid the classified files into her backpack. That was followed by the two hard-drive copies, each of which had been carefully labelled to prevent confusion. The final step was to remove the USB drive from the desktop computer. Before they left and re-locked the room, Rinaa did a circuit of it to ensure they hadn't left anything glaringly out of place.

With the two teams now joined up and crouching in the darkness of the main lobby, Rinaa used the time to better distribute what they'd found. The two target drugs were put in one bag, while the other was filled with hard drive copies and the 'business' phones containing photographs of classified documents. The various equipment used went in another backapck, the bulkier items were shrunk by Zion. Rinaa and Cass essentially swapped backpacks, Cass taking the bag containing the spare hard drive copies, the Russian files and the third drug Rinaa had stolen, while Rinaa's bag would contain the HALO and other elements of Cass' suit that she needed to discard. Opening a private link with her 'cousin' Rinaa whispered softly. "Go ahead with the others and make your way to the exit point, it's not far. I'll only be a few minutes, there's a few things I need to say to her.... privately."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at Rinaa's first reply, glad that they got everything they needed, then let her ask the others teams who all came back with a similar response. At the reply about putting the files she found back where she got them from and the laptop back into the concealed area, she nodded once more, "Got it" she replied, taking them all and putting the laptop back first then walked back to the cabinet and opened the drawer in question, flicking through the files before finding the exact spot she got the files from and placed them back, making sure not to leave any hint that they were rummaged through. Closing the cabinet drawer, she locked it again as she had picklocked it to open it, and felt satisfied with her work. Like Rinaa, she made sure that there were no hints of their visit and then left the office with her 'cousin'.

She headed downstairs with Rinaa and met up with the other teams, instantly squatting down with the others in the darkness as they distributed what they all found, swapped items that needed swapping and Zion shrunk what he needed to also. She saw how Rinaa and Cass swapped backpacks more or less before she became aware of Rinaa speaking in a hushed tone over another link, making her listen intently to what was being said. She glanced at her discreetly when she heard her mention about needing to say some parting words with her ex and gave a discreet single firm nod. "Alright, good luck Rii" she whispered back over the comms link. She could only imagine the kind of conversation she needed to talk with Cass about, and agreed in her mind that whatever it was, it needed to be said. With the others ready to head to the exit, she made her exit with them, easily getting through to it before waiting for Rinaa. She waited in cover with the others, wanting to hang back for Rinaa and Cass, something just told her she had to, and that something was the fact that Jay had earlier said to Rinaa about them both heading to another location.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With everything packed up and ready to go the teams snuck out of the lobby, skirted along by the wall of the main building keeping to the shadows as much as possible, then sprinted across the large, open car park to the wall surrounding the complex. They were exiting at the lowest point of the wall, those with parkour skills vaulted over and those with out gave a leg up to and received. waiting n the other side were two vehicles, one a non-descript van claiming to belong to a plumber and a land rover type off-roader. While the six were sneaking out, Cass was transforming herself. The HALO helmet was swapped for a distinctive black cowl, the hoodie was removed to reveal the dark grey symbol on her chest and a cape was attached to the shoulder pieces of the suit. Rinaa watched this transformation with an unreadable look on her face. Cass went to speak first, but Rinaa cut her off with a wave of her hand. The conversation was brief and consisted mostly of Rinaa talking, though Cass did get the last word. The two parted ways after a tight, almost bone-crushing hug, both acutely aware that whether the plan failed or succeeded, this would be the last time they'd ever see each other.

Rinaa had no difficulty finding the exit point or vaulting over the wall, she landed with a small noise in the crunchy leaves on the other side. Straightening up she regarded the two teams. "Ryker's doing her thing- calling in the Cape, let's not waste time hanging around here, we should move out before the shit really hits the fan. We've got everything we needed to and more. That was a damn good nights work from everybody, you should all be proud of yourselves. The bastards are going down. For life." There was quiet whooping over the comms and remarks of 'hell yeah, he deserves everything he gets'. When it quietened down Rinaa gave the final instructions. "Those going to the Cortex take the van, those stopping elsewhere get in the 'rover." She got into the Rover, flopping down into one of the back seats with a sigh, the backpack resting firmly on her knees.

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing the two vechiles at the exit where they needed to be, made Fia see that they were in the clear more or less and glad to be out of the building. She just hoped things were going alright for Rinaa and Cass as she waited in the night for her. It didn't take long though as she soon saw Rinaa leaping over the fence and landing in her usual expert manner. She looked at her as Rinaa spoke to everyone, congratulating them all on a job well done, which she had to say really was well done. She herself was impressed at how good everyone was at their tasks at hand and could see why Rinaa never really complained about the people she worked with and how working with a team wasn't actually all that bad, considering how much she worked alone and did enjoy it. As everyone whooped and and cheered at the words, she smiled hearing how much it truly meant to every single person here tonight.

With the final instructions given, Fia then went with Rinaa to the Rover, climbing in and sitting down next to her, resting her head back. "everything all good from back there?" she asked Rinaa quietly, inferring about her private chat with Cass. She didn't seem to be on edge or upset so Fia could only think that it did go alright between the two women, but she wanted to ask anyway and make sure. Unlike her alternate self in this timeline, she did actually give a crap about her 'cousin'. "Also, what's needed to be done now?" she asked her. She really wasn't sure she wanted to know why Jay wanted her and Rinaa elsewhere, and hoped it wouldn't be a case of Jay going for her again, but she knew if this Jay was anything like her Jay, then she was someone not to underestimate and to be prepared for any kind of action by the woman.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia's question was equal parts surprising, equal parts typical of the other girl. "As okay as it can be really, we parted on better terms than the last few times" she replied quietly, with a slight sigh, before turning her head to look out of the window. Once the Land Rover was away from the main complex and had merged onto the (mostly quiet) motorway, Rinaa removed her helmet, set it to one side and began raking her hand through her hair. The hair gel she had used to smooth down stray bits of hair earlier had now mixed with sweat creating a disgusting greasy mixture. Rinaa pulled a disgusted face and reached over the back of the seat to grab a towel and a bottle of water. By laying the towel across her knees and contorting herself forwards so her head was right over the towel she could crudely wash out the gunk without getting (too much) water everywhere. Using the other side of the towel she then made a couple of passes over her head, scrubbing as hard as she could to get the remaining gel out.

With that task accomplished she balled up the towel and placed it inside the HALO helmet (which she knew some poor schmuck was going to have to thoroughly clean out, and she did feel a bit bad about that). She then turned her attention to Fia's next question. "We're heading to one of Kane's places. Either there or on the way I'll explain what we need you to do with the programmes I've uploaded to your phone- it's nothing particularly hard or even particularly illegal don't worry. The crucial thing is that you don't tell any of the others. For everything to work we need the ruse to come across as genuine as possible. Once at Kane's place you'll undisguise yourself, return all the gear and head back in time arriving a short while after we left. I won't be coming back with you, I've got a full debriefing to do, final words that need saying and then..... well regardless of whether the Split works or not, I will be dead within the next twenty hours or so."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at Rinaa's reply about how it went with Cass, glad that it went better than the last time for her and that it wasn't a toxic departure for the two of them. "good" she replied as she took her own helmet off, using her hands to shake her currently black hair out. The black hair though, for the most part she was used to seeing every once in a while, still made her think for a split second 'wait.. Whose hair is this?!' before realising it was her hair and it was a glorified glamour spell. She didn't have the same level of problems in her hair that Rinaa did, and only needed to do what she just did to get air to it. She placed her helmet to her side as Rinaa continued to sort her hair out, towel dry it and put said items to one side. That all said, as much as she liked her 'alter ego' appearance, she couldn't wait to be herself again and have her usual bright red and blonde hair on show again as she always was so proud of the fact she looked like both her parents, and proud to be a red head when she knew a lot of redheads weren't for one reason or another, but with her it showed her she had two of the most badass parents (in her eyes) in existence, even if she was only recently figuring that out about her mother.

With her next question being answered, she listened and nodded. She had almost forgotten that Rinaa had put a lot of programmes onto her phone before she came to this future timeline with her. The fact that the most crucial part of what was needed from her next was for her not to let anyone know when she got back to Attil wasn't surprising. She knew how important it was to not let everyone in on the plan and how genuine it all needed to be. She was also relieved that she could undisguise herself at Kane's as she knew the disguise wouldn't work for many more hours if she wasn't careful. It also meant the longer she was in the disguise, the more of her energy it would take and she would rather not be wiped out before removing the disguise and going back to where she left. The more wiped out she felt, the more obvious it would be she wasn't sleeping when all the others were and she knew John particularly would spot the signs before anyone else. "okay, it still sucks so much you get the raw deal out of this, but I'm glad I got to know you, I hope you know that" she told her, knowing ilthere wouldn't be many more moments to tell her. She was glad to have known her, even if it was very touchy at the beginning, Rinaa showed her what living a proper life could be like at times and opened her eyes a lot.

"and if this goes right, you can rest assured I'll be doing even better with the Leah in my timeline. If it doesn't, I hope whatever version of me prevails changes too" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa gave a sort of nod when Fia lamented that it was Rinaa getting the really raw deal when it came to saving Elliott's life (and by extension stopping the interplanetary war between Earth and Attil that was raging in her timeline). It was a fact she was all too aware of, but when it came down to it, she could see no other way. Fia's destiny was to help revive the phoenix race, Rinaa's was to die, taking her timeline down with her. She didn't say anything in response, just turned her head once again to look out the window at the motorway flying past. A sign, illuminated by the Land Rover's headlights informed her they were only a few miles from the city, which meant they were no more than forty minutes from their destination

It was Fia's second comment that made Rinaa sigh, deeply and in a melancholy way, like something was weighing on her soul before turning and looking towards her 'cousin'. "A word of.... warning I suppose you'd call it, if ALL parts of the plan work perfectly, your timeline WILL change. So.... when you go back, not everything will be the same- there'll be new people and new faces, 'Max' hopefully among them. YOU'LL still exist- being a fixed point and all that jazz" Rinaa waved one gloved hand vaguely gesturing up and down Fia's body "but the Leah you know, the one biologically related to Jay and Elliott? She probably won't, this plan will erase me from timestream, so it will more than likely erase her as well. I suspect there will be somebody you all call Leah, but it won't be somebody who looks like me." She paused to let it sink in for Fia, before holding out a hand and quite firmly changing the topic. "Now... let's have a look at that software I installed."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia hated that their destinies were such polar opposite. Yet at the same time she couldn't help but find some tragic poetic vibe about it, like something out of some dark Shakespeare story or similar. It was moments like these that made her remember how much she could really despise the Universe and the higher beings that decide such things for their lives. To her, it was absolutely no wonder that in this timeline (and to some extent when they met on Attil) that Rinaa clashed massively with her and this time line's Fia. It felt like the universe purposely made them exist just to clash heads to make Rinaa's life miserable. Rinaa's silence was enough of an answer for her as she noticed the girl look out the rover's window at the world passing by at great speed down the motorway. She even glanced out the window herself before she spoke once more to Rinaa, finding she wasn't fully expecting the answer she was about to get, even if part of her did in fact expect it deep down.

She listened to Rinaa's words carefully, the realisation that her anxieties of her timeline changing would be indeed true. Deep down she knew it had to, but she supposed there was that part of her that wished things didn't have to change for her timeline. Sure, there were many things in her timeline she wasn't happy about and wished would change, but for her it was all she knew. She couldn't imagine what new people she could see or meet, who would still be around in her life and what kind of person she may become. She hoped she wouldn't change, even if things around her did. She hoped in a way that 'Max' would be one of those new people as she would like to know him properly. She smirked slightly at Rinaa waving her hand up and down toward her as she said how no matter what, she would be a definite due to being a fixed moment in time. She nodded at the mention about the Leah she knew would probably be erased, letting it all sink in.

As she saw Rinaa hold her hand out, she pulled out her phone at her change of subject, handing it over to her gladly. She figured Rinaa would change the subject at some point, so it wasn't so much of a shock to her when it did get changed. "right..here ya go" she told her as she placed the phone into her 'cousin's' hand after unlocking it for her. "guess I should know how to use it before I go back" she smirked a bit, trying to lighten the mood ever so slightly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa took the phone from her 'cousin' with a nod, swiping to one side and bringing up the folder where the newly installed software was contained. At a casual glance the programmes claimed to be designed to help English speakers learn Attili. "Okay.... so there's a couple of different programmes here. This first one" she indicated the top one using her thumb "is simply just a tracking programme, nothing massively exciting, it just gives an EXTREMELY accurate location and there is very little lag time when it is sending data live to the receiver. You don't need to do anything with it, just ensure that when you leave the apartment tomorrow your time, it's on."

"This one here is the scanning one I tested on you earlier. It scans a person's body and creates... I supposed the best term would be a... blueprint of the target's body, clothing and any other accessories on them, it gives all kinds of vital measurements right down to the nanometer. It works through the camera, I won't explain how, that would take a load of time we don't have. Basically, we need you to scan Elliott with this and once the full blueprint has been rendered, send it on to us. In order for this to work we need to be able to make perfect copies of everything he's wearing and has on him. The scanner only produces a monochromatic blueprint, so this programme here will soup up your camera, giving it even better resolution, we'll need you to send on photos of Elliott that match whatever he is wearing in the blueprint. He, and the others must have no idea this is happening. There needs to be complete deniability, as well as complete realism for us to work from so the swap can go as smoothly as possible. Scan and photo him just before you leave the apartment for the day. The blueprint and photos are to be uploaded through this encrypted messenger, which shows up here" she swiped out of the files folder to show Fia the messenger in question"the contact to send it to is called Max. Understand?"

 

[MzHyde]

As Rinaa took her phone, Fia looked across to make sure she could see exactly what Rinaa was doing, where the programmes were on her phone and so forth. She noted how they were under such an appropriate but non suspicious looking app title which she was thankful for, especially as she was learning Attili as she went on each day there, so it wouldn't have drawn any kind of suspicion to her phone or her if any of her family saw it. She was certain that with such a title, not even John would go snooping on it, as she was more than aware that her father had such a habit of doing to people. Hearing that the first one she was being shown was something she would have to do the least amount of work on made her thankful for, nodding in understanding as she was told all she had to do was turn it on whenever she left the apartment with everyone, so their location could always be tracked. "Sure thing" she replied simply, before letting Rinaa continue on with the second app information.

Hearing that the second one was the scanning app she saw Rinaa use earlier made her nod once again. She just knew that this would take a lot more listening to to make sure she used it correctly, and as Rinaa's explanation continued on she was knew her assumption was indeed correct. She knew trying to get a casual moment to scan and photograph Elliott was going to be a bit of a challenge, but it was a challenge she was more than willing to do. She just needed to find a damn angle or excuse to do so, even if it meant faking a reason to 'get some photos' of everyone (but only focus on Elliott) to be able to do so. She continued to look and listen as Rinaa then showed her what messenging app she had to use to send it all to and to who. "Understood. Shouldn't be too difficult. Just a case of an annoying but utterly lovable half sister wanting photos of her family before the day begins. What's suspicious about that..right?" she replied to her, with a slight smile. Her tone being playful on 'utterly lovable' but it was clear from her tone on everything she said, she was being serious about what was needed from her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa gave a slight smirk at the 'annoying but utterly lovable' sibling quip Fia made. It certainly fit with the interactions she'd witnessed between Fia and Elliott, it was no secret that she loved the shit out of him, but like any sibling, took her duty of teasing him incredibly seriously, making it her business to go as close to the line between 'endearing' and 'annoying' as possible. She then gave a nod and a slight chuckle. "Hopefully nothing will seem off about that at all. I doubt anybody will think it particularly weird... well maybe John might, but that's more to do with him not having a normal childhood- let alone one like either of us had- than any weirdness of on your part."

Rinaa then fell silent, her eyes flicking once again to the view outside the window. To one side was the bombed ruins of what used to be a town. All the buildings had been reduced to rubble, the roads were cratered like the surface of the moon, the fragments of broken glass strewn all over the ground (produced when the blastwave of the bomb shattered every window) glittered in the moonlight. The driver, who had, up until that point been listening to the news, turned off the radio, leaving the Land Rover in silence. Both Rinaa and the driver made a sort of salute using three fingers, pressing their fingers first against one temple, then the other, then against the glass of the window- a mark of respect for the dead.

The last ten minutes of the drive took them to an industrial estate on the outskirts of the town. Half of the estate had been bought up by Kane and consisted of various scientific testing facilities- his firm of Kane Laboratories dealt mainly in engineering, cutting edge robotics and computer technology- and many of their projects required a large buildings or long tracks for testing. In the centre of it all was a skyscraper building, nowhere near as tall as the Wayne Enterprises skyscraper which dominated the Gotham skyline, but in an industrial estate consisting mostly of low rise buildings and factory complexes, it still towered over everything else. The Land Rover stopped right in front of the building. Rinaa hopped out, giving a brief thanks to the driver, tucking her helmet under one arm and grabbing the backpack containing Cass' stuff with the other.

Rinaa buzzed the intercom, being legally dead her lab ID card was now invalid and she couldn't simply swipe for access. "This is Artemis and a plus one, you know which plus one." Kane's voice was quick to respond "Understood, the gang's all on the top floor, come on up. You know the way." "That I do." Rinaa replied with a smirk, pushing open the door with her shoulder and heading for the lift. As the lift ascended Rinaa felt a ticklish sensation in her nose and despite her best efforts to stifle it, a few seconds later she let out a loud sneeze. As she removed her gloved hands from her face she saw they were speckled with tiny drops of blood.

 

[MzHyde]

The slight smirk from Rinaa made Fia see that she did in fact amuse her 'cousin' to some degree even if Rinaa show it anymore than the slight smirk. It also told her in a way that if they had shared the same timeline, her antics probably would have amused Rinaa a fair bit, or at least caused her to give Fia the look of 'oh here we go again....bloody cousin of mine'. As like she assumed, Fia did indeed take her role as the lovable but annoying little sister very seriously and she was surprised sometimes just how much she really did get away with when it came to Elliott in her timeline. She considered herself in that regard very lucky that as much as she doted on him, he seemed to dote on her and never failed to be there for her when she needed her big brother for comfort. She nodded at Rinaa's words, knowing if anyone would become suspicious, it would be her father. "I'm sure I can think of something non suspicious, hey maybe it'll be made easy for me and he'll just be standing around in the apartment when i'm sitting on the couch and I casually scan him whilst looking like I'm just playing on my phone" she said to her.

She then noticed how Rinaa fell silent and looked back out the window, which made her do so as well and that was when she saw the real devastation of the area they were passing. It was horrific, heartbreaking even, to see whilst also bringing the reality of what Rinaa had to live in all the more prevelant. It made her feel so privilaged and lucky to have been born in a timeline and world where things were mostly destroyed and a constant war zone. She became aware of the driver turning the radio off and how they and Rinaa both gave a salute of respect to those who had fallen as they passed through the area. It was incredibly poignant to witness, she even had to bow her head in respect herself for a moment before lifting her head once again.

During those last ten minutes of the drive, Fia watched out of the window the entire time, looking at the surroundings and at what Kane had posession of, unable to not compare it to what she knew of Wayne Enterprises from social media or the newsapers or general news on the tv. She also was curious to how different Kane could be to the Kane she knew personality wise, along with many other thoughts and curiousities running through her mind. She watched as the Rover stopped in front of the skyscraper building, allowing for herself and Rinaa to jump on out with their stuff. She too thanked the guy who drove them there before walking up to the front door with Rinaa. She waited as Rinaa buzzed to be let in, not thinking anything out of the ordinary for it as she knew everyone was meant to believe the girl was dead, so not having access without permission into certain buildings wasn't that much of a surprise. Hearing Kane's voice gave her a sense of familiarity in a moment that was starting to make her nervous as she didn't know who she was about to come into contact with up on said top floor.

She walked inside with Rinaa and stepped into the elevator when she was aware of Rinaa sneezing, she was about to say 'bless you' as one usually did at someone sneezing when she noticed the speckled bits of blood in Rinaa's hand. "you alright?" she asked her, genuine concern in her tone.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa gave a slight shrug at Fia's concerned inquiry, rubbing the fingertips of her gloves together, causing the fine droplets of blood to smear into the black fabric and mostly disappear. "That's debatable" she replied, reaching up and touching the back of her gloved hand against her nose. It came away blood free. "It's really in the hands of some higher power now" she added as the lift pinged and the doors began to slide open. The top floor consisted of one large main room, designed to give a complete 360 degree view of the whole complex. The room was designed to be a multi-purpose space, depending on what was needed, it could serve as Kane's office, extra lab space, a conference/presentation room, a place where board meetings could be held or an area to chill out away from the business of the other floors. At the moment it was set up as a work space with piles of files, pinboards covered with photos, photocopies and handwritten notes, all connected together with strings and there were various computers and laptops strewn across the tables. To one side of the room was a veritable suite of medical equipment, and to the other side was a space for crashing out.

Nearly all the faces in the room would be familiar to Fia, all of Elliott's friends were there- the twins, Scott, Toby and Kane (who'd chucked his suit jacket over the back of a chair and rolled his sleeves up to his elbow-, as well as the twins' older brother Marty, Jay (who'd changed out of her gown from earlier and into something more comfortable) and Quin (who hadn't changed outfit, just gone down the same route as Kane). There were two other people standing there who Fia wouldn't recognise; a nineteen year old of Hispanic origin with shoulder length black hair, wearing a t-shirt about Schrödinger's cat, standing on crutches with his left foot in a plaster cast. The other figure was a tall man well over six feet, a few years younger than John, wearing a labcoat. Though man wasn't the right word for this person, out of his mop of brownish hair poked two tall pointed ears and out of his back grew two large leathery bat wings. His face wasn't quite human looking either, something about the set of his eyes and nose emphasised that he wasn't fully human.

There were smiles all round at the sight of Rinaa, there might have been cheering at her return, had that not meant they would by extension be cheering on Fia, who was public enemy number one in the eyes of everybody. It didn't matter that she was disguised, they knew it was Fia under the black hair and rounder face. What followed instead was a round of hugging, started by the guy on crutches, who in his eagerness half-threw himself at, half lost his balance and fell over onto Rinaa. "Come here Leah, I've missed you so bloody much." Rinaa slumped right into his hug and all those that followed, gripping onto everybody tightly like they were some kind of lifeline. Everybody in the room had a genuine smile on their face, but at the same time a poignant sadness about them. The other thing they all had in common was that everybody used the name Leah. Throughout the reunion Fia was completely ignored, until, following the very last hug the guy on crutches turned to face Fia. "You can put your gear on the empty desk over there" he gestured with one crutch at a table to Fia's right. His tone was icy, but his voice familiar, not just as that of Overwatch 1, but also the male voice Fia had accidentally overheard calling for Rinaa to come back and stop shutting him out when her 'cousin' had been showing her memory fragments from her timeline.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded sadly as Rinaa said it was entirely debatable whether or not she was okay. She knew the girl didn't want pity and had in a way accepted her fate, but Fia still felt sorry for her. She wished she could do something to help but knew it wasn't to be. She looked forward when the lift doors opened and saw the group of people all in front of them in the large open room. The nerves inside showed their presence in Fia once again, but she learned to keep them from being seen by anyone else. The last thing she needed was for Jay particularly to revel in knowing she made a teenager incredibly nervous. She walked into the room and tried to not look at anyone for any length of time as she could feel all the hatred for her alternate all being aimed at her at full force. She took note of the two other people she didn't recognise, finding it curious of the humanoid bat figure in the room but whereas in any other timeline she may have said hi or acknowledged the unknown people, she remained quiet. She saw how everyone smiled broadly at Rinaa, glad to see their girl home and back with them, which she was glad about for Rinaa's sake more than anything. She watched on as they all in turn hugged her 'cousin' before the realisation that the guy with the crutches was Overwatch 1 and the voice she heard one time in Rinaa's memory fragments.

She simply nodded silently at his instructions, internally flinching at the icy tone that was given to her, even if she did know it was partially warranted because of her alternate's actions. She simple walked over to the desk and put her gear on it, seeing her bag of her normal clothes beside it. Grabbing it she looked around to find a private area where she then proceeded to walk over, tuck herself away and change clothing. It was here she used her appearance rune to deactivate it and shake her head side to side to rid herself of the disguise, her red and blonde hair coming back into view, her face shape coming back and now she didn't have the voice changer on, her voice as well. Grabbing her stuff, she walked back to the desk and placed the rest of the gear on it, feeling better for being herself again and in her own clothes, even if it meant she was even more vulnerable to the group in front of her. She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, again trying to not look at anyone in particular and trying to not find something that she had to reply to verbally. She figured she would only talk if she really had to, but she wasn't going to be completely submissive either and let them all think she would just take whatever crap they wanted to throw in her direction. She hated that even Elliott's friends seemed to hate her guts, albeit just because of the face and name she wore. It brought home even stronger to her just how divided their two families had become and she really really hoped she didn't turn into her alternate self when this was all over.

 

[_gallifrog_]

While Fia changed out of sight of the others Rinaa shed the HALO suit and boots in front of everybody, roughly folding them and placing them on a table along with the HALO helmet. Now dressed in the black polo neck and combat trousers she'd worn earlier she made her made her way over to Jay and Quin, positioning herself between the two women as she leaned back against one of the desks. She then passed the backpack towards Kane. "Cassie's stuff I take it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Yeah, she figured since her actual legal guardian is..." Rinaa's eyes flicked towards Fia, gauging whether or not the other girl could overhear her, before deciding to play it safe and not say anything that could reveal who exactly Cass' family were " 'otherwise occupied' tonight, you were the next best person to give it to. It's just the HALO gear- everything else is either on it's way to the Cortex, or with Cass to use as proof." "We" Jay made a gesture between herself and Quin with one hand, wile wrapping the other arm around her daughter's shoulders in a sort of half hug "were listening in on the heist, that was some damn good work you did out there." The corners of Rinaa's mouth turned up into a smile at her mother's words. Jay's praise, like John's was seldom given out, but when it was it was entirely heartfelt, so to hear these words now meant a lot to her.

"So, what's the status on this end?" "Marcel is contained, currently he's in a building surrounded by SWAT, with a couple of Network members keeping an eye on things from a discrete distance. He's already demanding a lawyer, no surprise there" Jay's eye roll of disdain was audible in her tone. "He'll get one, as despite his many and numerous crimes, nothing he's done could be classified as terrorism or treason. Regardless we've got a damn solid case though, no lawyer's gonna be able to weasel him out of this one." "The information from the lab is the icing on the cake." Overwatch 1 added with a grim smile. "It will confirm that not only did he have full knowledge of what was going on, he authorised it. It will also allow us to convict those high level scientists involved- they knew what they were doing, now they're gonna pay for it."

The group fell silent as Fia re-emerged, the whole room seemed to drop in temperature with the ferocity of their glares. The strongest (unsurprisingly) came from Jay, Quin and Kane, the weakest from the bat-human hybrid, his look was more of a look of curiosity than anything else. Overwatch 1's gaze made it quite clear that he wouldn't be letting the fact he was on crutches with a broken leg stop him should Fia think to try anything, while Scott was making sure than his extended fangs were very much on display- a classic 'back the Hells off' sign used by both vampires and werewolves. Rinaa broke the silence first, her hands moving behind her to grip on to the edge of the desk. "I take it you've all decided a two in one job is the way to go?" "We're getting rid of two birds using one stone, you might say" Quin confirmed, the gleam in her indigo eyes leaving no doubt as to whether she'd chosen the Earth idiom deliberately or not. "It's going to be incredibly draining to open a portal across time itself, so we really have no choice, but to do to do everything at once." Overwatch 1 held up a hand and began to tick the steps off on it. "Open the portal, your contact throws the blade through, we throw firebitch through, shut the portal firmly behind and wave good riddance, drag out the prisoner, drag out Sykes and Cyn and then proceed with the Split, the whole time praying our arses off to whatever higher power we still have faith in that this thing works and we don't all die a horrible grisly death in the process." "Makes sense." Rinaa nodded, moving one hand up to her nose. Nobody else made any move to do anything however, all the group still glaring at Fia. The glaring might have continued indefinitely had it not been for Rinaa letting out a strangled, pain-filled noise and slumping towards the ground, blood streaking from her nose.

 

[MzHyde]

Keeping to herself, Fia could hear Rinaa talking but she had mentally blocked out a lot of the conversation so for her Rinaa's voice was a bit of an echo. She did however make more of a discreet point to listen to what was being said when Jay started talking about mentioned about how they were listening in on the comms, noticing how much Jay putting her arm round her daughter's shoulders as she spoke, just out the corner of her eye. She was also acutely aware how everyone else seemed to pierce their cold stares at her specifically when she showed herself again out of the gear and out of her disguise. She even noticed the curious look from the humanoid bat was giving her. She hated being the public enemy in this instance, but it was a situation she was expecting, she just didn't expect it to be so cold. She was glad that the heist meant thing would go in the favour of all metas and the likes, but that thankfulness was overshadowed by her trying to remain calm. The look thtlat Overwatch 1 gave her was more than understood and she really wanted to be as well behaves as possible.

She made a promise to John to try and let it slide off her back at anything that was said about her or to her. It was a promise she fully intended to keep and do right by her father, no matter the timeline, but the words were beginning to cut a bit too deep. She wasn't stupid enough to not see that the choice of words about birds and stones weren't aimed at her. 'don't say anything Fia...just remain calm, show them you're different...Rinaa will tell them to back off.... Surely?' she thought to herself repeatedly. The conversation kept going on, the discussion of what was going to happen for getting her back to Attil, along with them slagging off her kind. She wasn't the biggest fan of being part phoenix, but she had the opinion that only she could say such things about her kind, no one else. Not all phoenix's were bad, sure, it was only herself and her mother, but there was many versions of them in many time lines, and she knew that she was proof herself that they weren't like this timeline Fia and Kay. She didn't like that they were fighting for justice for every species of being, but were so willing to attack her kind because of one person, it made them utter hypocrites to her, and as Rinaa wasn't making them stop, she couldn't stop herself snapping. She looked up at them all to match their glares at her, "you know what? This timeline Fia might be a completely psychopath but I'm not. We're not all the same! So cut the bloody crap and name calling you bunch of hypocritical assholes. I'm not the biggest fan of being a damn phoenix but that does not give you all the right to stand or sit there and judge me! I didn't have to agree to help you all out but I did because it was the right thing to do. I'm glad I'm not from this timeline and the versions of you that I know have some goddamned respect for other people!" she ended up snapping, calmly but viciously.

She officially broke her promise to her dad but she couldn't imagine her dad also liking the idea of her just taking what they were saying about her. She only stopped moments later when she saw Rinaa doubling over, slumping on the floor and her nose bleeding heavily
"Rii!" she exclaimed out of worry, about to step forward out of instinct but quickly stopped herself knowing she would t be let near her. Worry for the girl clear on her face and in her blue eyes. It now making sense why Rinaa hadn't stopped them slagging her off.