Veil of Grief

6 immediately called 1, who didn't take long to respond.

"6, what's up? Have things changed where you are?" He asked immediately

"It's 3." She responded, "he's in really bad shape. I'm doing all I can right now but he's lost a lot of blood he needs a transfusion" she was speaking fast which suggested she was worried.

The phone was now on loud speaker as 0 began speaking.

"6 I need you to calm down and focus on 3. By your estimate, how much blood has he lost?"

She tried to calm herself before giving her professional opinion.

"judging by how pale and sweaty he is, I'd say over 20 percent"

"Which probably means he's gone into hemorrhagic shock. Have you stopped his bleeding."

"Nearly, I just need to-" she was interrupted by loud sirens behind her which 0, 7 and 1 could hear from the other side of the phone call.

"6, where are you?" 0 asked with urgency in his voice

"King street" she whispered just as an officer got out of his car and began approaching her

On the other side, 0 spoke to 1 and 7, saying, "guys you're going to need to get off here and find a vehicle"

7 said, "out of all us 6 probably is the weakest when it comes to combat she might be in trouble" 1 nodded in agreement, then 0 lowered the carpet so his teammates could jump off safely. After they did so, he left the carpet and the phone with them and sped off in the opposite direction moving several times faster than they were moving on the carpet.

[I feel so powerless] 7 thought to himself

1 walked off, looking for a vehicle they could steal. Then raised the phone to his ear, "6 I need you to be as calm as possible, 0 is on his way. Stall anyway you can"

6's mind raced as she thought about how to handle the situation. [if he knows who i am, he might just shoot me. I don't have a weapon on me. What do I do? 5 is still bleeding. Can I take him out?]

She tried her best to remain calm as the officer continued getting closer.

"What happened here?" The officer asked as 6 stepped out of the car.

"I'm so glad you're here, I was driving home and I saw he had crashed so I stopped to help him." She was pointing to the drivers seat. He seems to be in bad shape"

He went over to the side 3 was in and opened the window. Unfortunately for him, a description had been given out to all officers who were on active duty, which was "suspect is an injured bald man early 30's"

The officer believed 3 fit this description perfectly and decided to call it in.

"Potential suspect located, in a car accident on king street. Requesting medical assistance"

At this point, 6 was scrambling. She knew she had to do something, but she still wasn't sure how to get rid of the officer.

As she continued thinking, the officer turned sharply towards her

"Ma'am, are you alright?

"Y-yeah I'm fine, just a bit shaken up. Is he going to be okay?"

"He's a potential suspect in a shooting that happened a few hours ago. Reports say he's a highly dangerous powered individual. It's not safe for you to be here, incase he wakes up.

You should go home, I've got it from here."

She nodded and began walking towards the car she drove there.

She got in her car and thought hard for several seconds.

She sighed and reversed slowly until the car was behind 5's car.

She changed gears and looked up, already regretting what she was about to do.

She slammed her foot on the accelerator and rammed the car into the police officer, breaking several bones as he screamed in pain before hitting his head on the floor and passing out.

6 got out of the car quickly and headed straight to the officer.

[I'm sorry] she thought to herself before healing him slightly by placing a hand on his back. She had never taken another persons life and she was not about to start now.

After a few seconds of healing she, stood up and turned towards the car 5 was still in. She knew he was running out of time. They both were.

She hurriedly went to the passenger side again. Her mind was racing. [if I decide to heal him here, the police and ambulance might arrive, and then I'm fucked. On the other hand, it's not like I can carry him into my car, and the one he's in is busted] she sighed loud [i guess I'll have to drag him, but what if that makes his condition worse. Fuck, I don't have time]

She runs for a few seconds to her car and drives it as close as she can to 5 before running to his side again and using all the strength she had to pull him off the drivers seat by his shirt, and onto the cold floor of the road.

She looked down, he was covered in own blood, a lot of it at that.

She breathed heavily, opening the back doors, then getting behind 5's body, putting her arms underneath his armpits and pulling him backwards until his back was against the car

[why is he so heavy?] she asked herself, panting heavily.

[okay last step]

She got onto the backseat, reached down and pulled 5 using as much strength as she could muster, again.

She managed to pull his torso onto the back seat then stepped out again to do the same with his legs.

After managing to get all of him in the car, she quickly got into the driver seat and drove off, not entirely sure where to go but realising anywhere but her current location would be ideal.

[what do I do with him? I can't heal him here it's too risky but how long does he have now? How long can I drive for before he dies? Realistically, he needs a hospital. This is such an awful situation]

A situation which was about to get worse as blue and red sirens hindered her vision of the road in front of her.

She hit the brakes hard, forcing the car to stop, nearly throwing 5 off the seat in the process.

"Shit, shit, shit. Not now" she said, scrambling for an idea but coming short.

A voice ripped through a megaphone, saying, "turn the engine off, and put your hands on the steering wheel"

[what the fuck do I do?] she thought, realising that a car chase would not do 5 any good so she complied.

An officer got out of his patrol car with his gun raised and slowly walked towards the car.

6 realised she couldn't let him get any closer, so she rolled down a window and stuck her head out, knowing he'd be looking for a man.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, her heart beating heavily through her chest as she gripped the steering wheel.

The officer lowered his gun slowly before responding.

"I received a call from an officer about a suspect spotted in a car in this area. The Officer has been radio silent since so I thought it was the suspect trying to escape when I saw you driving. You haven't seen anything have you?"

Seeing as he didn't suspect her, she began to calm down a little but she still tried her best to sound normal.

"No officer, I haven't seen anything"

He nodded, and moved out of the way "My apologies for startling you. Drive safely ma'am"

Gesturing for her to drive past.

As 6 drove closer, the officer began to notice the dent and crack in the windscreen from where she hit the man earlier.

She was confident that she was going to get away because the car she was in had tinted windows, meaning the officer wouldn't be able to see 5 laying in the back seat.

What she did not realise was the fact that at night, tinted windows do not reflect any light, meaning the windows were transparent.

As she drove past, the slightly suspicious officer took one quick glance in her back seats and noticed an unconscious man laying there, covered in blood, and bald.

Several alarm bells rang in his head and he immediately reached for his now holstered pistol.

He fired several shots into the driver seat window. 6 immediately sped up, fear and adrenaline pumping through her.

The officer fired more shots again, hitting her shoulder and hand before she could gain distance.

She was already close to the officers patrol car. The pain from the bullet wounds and the threat of crashing into the car, she swerved violently before crashing into a building on her right, and subsequently hitting her head on the steering wheel, leaving a nasty gash.

She groaned and touched the cut as she tried to get her bearings. The crash had also flung 5 off the back seats onto the floor.

She undid her seatbelt and looked back at 5. Given the awkward angle he was in, she realised his arm was broken.

[what the fuck is the situation I'm in? This can't be any worse] she thought.

Surely enough, it did get worse as the officer stood outside her window with his gun raised at her head.

"Usually, this is where I'd say something like "get out of the car with your hands in the air" but for evil creatures like you and your partner back there, I think it's okay if I skip that part. Sometimes, it's okay too shoot first and ask questions later."

6's heart felt like it would pound out of her chest, knowing that she was seconds from dying.

Ignoring the pain she was feeling, and the hole in her hand, she instinctively raised her hands in surrender, scrambling for the right words to say as the officer looked at her with pure malice in his eyes.

"Please…let me explain. Don't do this please" she pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. "Arrest me instead I won't resist"

"Save it" he replied, in a voice that gave the impression that he wasn't moved by her tears.

[I can't believe this is it] she thought, closing her eyes, tears rolling down her face as she braced herself for her death.

One more gunshot ripped through the air, followed by the thud of a body dropping.

There was silence for a few seconds until Asaka spoke up.

"6 are you good?"

She finally opened her eyes, visibly shaking. "0?" She said, with pure disbelief in her voice and tears filled her eyes again.

Right before the officer fired his gun, Asaka who was flying above spotted this and immediately dove towards the scene. Before landing, he sent a tremendous amount of gravity pressure to where the officer was standing, causing his body to "explode" and his aim to be thrown, which made the bullet miss 6 narrowly.

She nodded, indicating she was okay.

"Alright, that's good" he responded, with a triumphant smile on his face "you get in the back with 5 and do what you can for him. I'll drive."

Ignoring her own wounds, she began healing 5 again, fixing his arm and finally putting a stop to his bleeding. She could heal wounds, breaks and fractures, but she couldn't replenish all the blood he had lost. Which she estimated was between 35 and 40 percent. Critical levels.

"0, he needs a transfusion. He's lost way too much blood"

"Do you even know his blood type?"

"I know all your blood types especially because of situations like these"

"Where do we even go to make this happen? It's not like we can walk into a hospital"

"A hospital is not the only place blood is stored 0. There is a blood bank about 20 minutes from here. Easier to break into."

0 smiled, "how fun. Tell me what things I need from the building and the most likely storage point. I don't want to be there longer than necessary we have drawn way too much attention."

She nodded, "blood bags obviously. 5 has lost about 2 litres, so we need about 5-6 bags. They're usually stored in a fridge. A needle, and a tube. Everything should be in the same place, roughly"

Though she could not see, 0 was smiling softly. "I'm glad you're on our team 6"

She smiled in response

*

3 was genuinely confused. He was deep in "enemy" territory. The supermax prison he was in was known as "The fortress". As 3 looked at the building while trying his best to hide in a bush about 150 metres from the building, he began observing the building. The surrounding area had been mostly cleared. This was so the officers could see as far as possible if an escape was attempted. It was equipped with a large perimeter wall stretching over 200 metres on each side with 8 sniper towers in total, and automated turrets on top of the towers. The crest of the perimeter wall were fitted with razor wires with had 30 thousand volts of electricity running through them.

The reinforced steel main gate always had two guards behind it. From 3's perspective, everything about the fortress was menacing, to him he looked impenetrable and he was uncomfortable with how vulnerable he was.

[i need a plan. I'm a sitting duck right now. How are we honestly going to break into this prison assuming they're even here.] He looked up and around, with the hopes that something would inspire a plan but nothing was coming to mind as the only thing in sight for him was the prison. [from the looks of things, even parking here was a risk. This prison is too damn efficient. I guess my best bet right now is staying in this bush. If one of those dickheads with snipers have a thermal scope, I'm fucked though.] he sighed loudly and tried not to let his mind race, or think about 6 and 5 but he was slightly worried she hadn't called yet but convinced himself that out was because she was too busy healing him.

*

5's head rested on 6's lap as the blood from the bag was slowly being transferred into his arm.

"How long do you think he'll be out for?" 0 asked, as they cruised back to the cemetery.

"When someone loses as much blood as he did what usually happens?"

"Nothing good" she said in response, sounding slightly weakened. She had healed her wounds but because of how much of her power she used, between herself and 5 she was tired.

"Usually weakness and unconsciousness but I'm worried. He lost way too much, you saw how pale he was before the transfusion started usually that leads to more severe things like organ failure." She sighed

0 knew what that sigh meant, so he asked, "And what is the worst case scenario, 6?"

She paused for several seconds, deciding in her head whether she would tell the truth, or sugarcoat it. She decided to go with the former "A coma, brain damage or…" she paused again, "death"

0 didn't respond but he noticed she was limiting her words but wasn't sure why.

"Get some rest 6" he said, knowing that all this meant that 0 needed to be in a hospital "we are still several minutes from the cemetery"

She nodded, and closed her eyes and fell asleep shortly after.

*

Kiba ran towards the front door of his home, breathing heavily as he had run all the way there. He stepped into the house. The place he once called "home" was now a crime scene. The air seemed thicker now, breathing was painful. Seeing the blood on on the floor, sorrow, hatred and disbelief mixed into a singular emotion that clenched his heart.

His eyes traced every detail, a part of him looking for signs that at least one member of his family survived. The other part searching the room for clues, anything that could point him in a particular direction. He needed a driving force.

He ran upstairs, first to Iba's room. The vivid colours and the smell of his youngest's room brought tears to his eyes, as his emotions threatened to consume him.

He fought through it and went to Nakami's room. There was nothing out of place there either but being there was still too much for him to bear as memories flooded his mind.

He stepped out of the room and looked to his right, towards his own bedroom. He knew he didn't have the strength to walk in there, to be reminded of the smell of his wife whom he loved with his entire heart.

He fell to his knees, "I have nothing. They're all gone" he said, as he wept.

After a few minutes, he got up and dragging his feet, went back into Iba's room to retrieve a teddy bear Sugi had gotten for him.

He went back downstairs, trying to find the urge to fight. For the next few minutes, he mentally prepared himself before deciding he was ready to walk out, carrying with him the burden of grief but also new found determination to utterly destroy the people who were responsible for ruining his life.

He mimicked the sneaking abilities of dogs in the hopes he'd pick up a scent of one of the culprits but what he smelt instead put a little ray of light in his heart.

It was the same smell that nearly let his grief consume him earlier, stronger than any other scent in the house. The smell of his youngest son, Iba.