"Connor, wait, I don't think she'll be much of a problem," Jane called, but it was too late. Originally, she had doubted that her captor - former captor, after the current turn of events - would be crazy enough to put up a fight, but as it seemed, the woman was full of surprises. Jane groaned as she watched the officer assume a fighting position, albeit a tired, desperate-looking one. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," she muttered, shaking out her wrists as the scarf dropped to the ground. Jane was eager to get out of there; there were other issues far more important than a pointless, back-alley scuffle with the law, Issue Number One being the man they were trying to avoid.<br/><br/>"Don't be too surprised; animals are vicious when cornered," she heard Thomas say, but she wasn't really listening to him. Instead, she glanced behind her, then shot two quick glances to either side. She saw nothing suspicious. However, that didn't change the fact that they all needed to<i>get out of there</i>.<br/><br/>The young rebel turned her attention back to the scene, only to realize that she was stuck. She was out of her element; fighting was nowhere to be seen on her list of skills. Watching, following, delivering messages - that was her forte. But...she couldn't just leave her comrades, especially not since they were the ones saving her skin. Moreover, Thomas and Levi were no warriors, either, yet there they were, clenching their grimy hands into fists and following Connor's lead. A tinge of guilt prodded at her chest.<i>I should be helping them.</i>For a moment, she took the idea into serious consideration; how hard could it be to throw punches at an outnumbered, outmatched officer? The other woman didn't think twice about nailing her in the temple earlier, after all, so any retaliation wouldn't be pointless. Jane stared at her hand as she pressed her fingers into her palm, hard enough to see her knuckles go white.<br/><br/>Everything happened so quickly. Once again, Jane was reduced to a bystander and could only watch as bits and pieces of events jumped out at her. There was Levi's pained, frightened expression as his knee threatened to snap; the militia officer's throaty growl and searing taunts; the feral haste in her companion's movements as he scurried to subdue the woman's limbs; and finally, Connor's knee as it traveled upwards with relentless force and made contact with her captor's face. The sound of bone breaking was as distinct as a gunshot, and it seemed to echo indefinitely in the narrow space, leaving a ringing sound in Jane's ear...<br/><br/><br/>--<br/><br/><i>"Hey, you! What's that in your hand?!"<br/>
<br/>
Startled by the sound of heavy footsteps, Jane scrabbled out of the street to crouch behind a dumpster. She pressed her back against the rusty metal and retrieved a small knife from her boot. She had nabbed it from an older boy a few weeks back and had yet to put it to use; she figured today would be the first day, if the militia decided to pick on her. <br/>
<br/>
"You, with the jacket!"<br/>
<br/>
Jane sighed in relief; the watchdog was calling for someone else. Still, she was curious. Carefully, she peeked around edge of the dumpster. She had to push her long hair back; she hated the way it clung to her face in the rain. Several meters away, a young man was frozen in his tracks, arms raised, and from his right hand dangled a silver pocket watch, one that looked much too valuable to be in the hands of anyone from this level of the city. Approaching him were two militia officers, dressed in full uniform - the dark, bleak uniform that Jane feared so deeply. <br/>
<br/>
"Think it's funny to steal other people's shit, huh?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, sir...I - I didn't steal it." The fear in his voice was palpable. "Th-this was my grandfather's."<br/>
<br/>
"Think it's funny to tell stories, too?" the other officer chimed in. Neither officer had stopped advancing, and one of them had begun to push his sleeves back. <br/>
<br/>
"No, n-no, I swear to God this was his w-,"<br/>
<br/>
"Grab him!" <br/>
<br/>
"No-no-no, wait! I sw-ugh!"<br/>
<br/>
The man's protests went unheeded as one officer grabbed his wrist, wrenched it behind him, and forced his other arm behind his back. "He's all yours," the officer said, nodding to his partner as the poor man struggled - to no avail - to free himself. The other officer, who's sleeves were currently at his elbows, flexed his massive hands. <br/>
<br/>
"Pay attention, now, so you can tell your friends. This is what we do to filthy fucking thieves in Dome." The man in uniform unleashed blow after blow on his victim, each punch bringing fist against flesh with a dull thud upon contact. Over and over again - his stomach, his chest, his groin - the man's shouts were reduced to pathetic whimpers as more and more pain wracked his body. The officer's next attack brought the encounter to a brutal conclusion; the man was released to stagger for two steps before the officer's fist connected with the underside of his chin. His jaw made a loud popping noise as it was knocked out of place, and blood spewed from his mouth as he fell backwards, landing head-first on the rough stones. Jane gasped. The man was motionless. <br/>
<br/>
The young girl's eyes were glued to the figure on the ground. She had no way of knowing whether or not the man's pocket watch was rightfully his, but in either case, what need was there for such excessive violence? The sound of that man's bones snapping played in her head again and again. It made her stomach twist, and as a lump began to form in her throat, she let the knife fall out of her tight fist. She was just a little girl; she didn't fully understand, but somehow, the thought of owning a knife when fists alone could cause so much harm made her queasy... </i><br/><br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Jane relaxed her hands, which she only noticed were shaking after they had stopped. She didn't want any part of this - she had sworn to fight the oppressive militia, but not by regurgitating the cruelty that inspired her to do so in the first place. As Jane's former captor lay there, succumbing to violent strikes at the hands of...<i>her people</i>...she couldn't help but pity her.<br/><br/>"Hey, hey, that's enough," she called, finally stepping forward. At first, the others ignored her, too wrapped up in the trance-link state of high adrenaline, but she persisted. "<i>That's enough</i>," she repeated, placing a firm hand on Connor's shoulder and shaking him. Her other arm went in front of Levi's chest, and Thomas stopped to raise an eyebrow at her, as if to say,<i>'Why are you defending this scum?'</i>Jane's lips pressed into a tight line as she watched the man she admired so intensely groan in reluctance and toss the officer's body over with his foot, doing what he could to add insult to injury. His pants leg bore the mark of the officer's blood like a vulgar design, a reminder of his uncharacteristic cruelty. Maybe it wasn't so uncharacteristic. Maybe Jane just didn't know him as well as she thought she did. "Enjoying yourself, Connor?" she chided. "We need to leave."<br/><br/>As Jane spoke, her words were overshadowed by the distinct sound of footsteps, and a rough, scraping sound to accompany them. Someone was dragging something.<i>Someone was dragging something</i>.<br/><br/>"We need to go!" Jane shouted again. She didn't need to spare the look over her shoulder to know who that was. Honestly, with all that had happened over the past hour or so, even if the approaching person hadn't been Victor, Jane would've taken off. She could rest assured that it wasn't a false alarm; Connor turned, only to see the hulking figure of the man toting a corpse along with an almost playful nonchalance. This time, the body wasn't wearing a uniform. It could've been anybody.<br/><br/>"Lavonne!" Connor's voice came out hoarse. Thomas swore. The three men followed Jane's lead, catching up to her and running as fast as their legs could carry them, which wasn't very fast given their fatigue. Levi had started to limp, too. They could only hope that Victor wasn't in the mood to play cat-and-mouse.<br/><br/>Even as Jane pushed her legs beyond their limit, her mind was racing with a million other thoughts, and as much as she tried to brush them aside, they all circled back to one place - to that feeling in her gut that something really was out of place.