((continued from Brawl II))

Exiting into the hallway on the upper floor after doing away with her temporary mode of transportation, Isabel quickly but cautiously proceeded down the corridor. There was no immediate evidence of any explosion in her current position, but sturdiness of the upper structure could be a problem. There was also the assumption that Syn wasn't alone any longer with such a ruckus having been made.

With a growing sense of worry she swiftly passed several rooms, occasionally ducking her head into one of them in search of her oldest friend. She had almost called out to the Red Queen, but had thought better of it, fretting that she might give herself away to any intruder that might have managed to slip through the upper levels. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary at first glance. The door to the Security office didn't budge when she checked it, though she didn't think that Syn would be one to lock herself in any room, nevermind Security. She assumed one of the KP guards had done it when they'd rushed out to defend the front entrance.

In fact, aside from the security office there only seemed to be one other door that was sealed. However, upon closer inspection she found that the locking mechanism had not been set in place. Just a little bit of prying with her fingernails was required to get the door to slide open wide enough for her to use the rest of her hands. Briefly she thanked the explosion for causing the power to waver, as she assumed that was the reason behind the locks no longer working. She didn't have a keycard with her and having to figure out how to remove the door would have been an unneeded hassle. She had to pass through two more doors in this manner before she reached her sought after companion.

Isabel did not at all like what she found. For a moment she could do nothing but stand in the now open doorway and stare, her gaze slowly flickering from the unicorn man down the the seemingly unconscious form of her dearest companion. When she was able to regain motion in her legs she quickly made her way to Syn, dropping to her knees beside the young woman, her hand fluttering just above the still form as if she was wary of making contact. What the hell had happened there?

Very carefully Isabel allowed herself to finally make that contact and correct Syn's position, moving her from on her side to her back. What she hadn't expected was for the young woman's pocket to lose its contents in the shift, only realizing that something had fallen as it bounced against her knee. Curious, she shifted her attention to locate what it had been, her gaze falling on the form of a small gun. With just as much care as she'd been using, she picked up the weapon and released its magazine, removing it from the gun just enough to get a glimpse of what was inside before snapping it shut once more.

Almost as if just remembering the other individual standing in the room, she turned to glower up at Sebastian, the only other person shut behind the triple doors with the Red Queen prior to Isabel's arrival. "I want you to leave," she stated very firmly, her former trust in the Sanctuary resident wavering. Syn didn't appear to be outwardly wounded, and as such Isabel didn't see why the Healer's presence was necessary. "There are people outside that need medical attention. I want you out there helping them, and I want you out there now." With that said she pulled out her cell and quickly made a call to one of the higher-ups in the chain of security guards for KP, instructing the man to get an ambulance and relaying her current position. She would not be leaving the room until the healer was gone and she knew that Syn would be safe.

Garrett grabbing the keycard. The bullet impacting the woman in front of him. The slam of the door as his companion departed to finish their mission. Syn collapsing to the floor. It all seemed to happen at the same time. There was a moment, one small sliver of silence as the chemical smell from the air faded and his brain was able to to begin putting together the pieces of what happened; Garrett had shot Syn then run off. Sebastian made a move toward the prone woman when the door burst open once again.

“Isabel.” As the girl with the bedraggled green bow askew on the top of her head took in the scene before her, eyes flickering back and forth between the two figures. He could almost see the gears turning in her mind, trying to figure out what had happened here. He had just barely figured it out himself.

The scene moved forward again and both Sebastian and Isabel were kneeling next to Syn. Isabel's hand hovered over her friend, as if afraid to touch her. The pheromone manipulator's chest was moving. She was still breathing. Isabel moved the unconscious woman's limbs into what would be a more comfortable position, and Sebastian helped her. Why was he helping the woman who had been his enemy just a moment ago? Because before that, she had been his neighbor and though they may have their differences in opinion she didn't deserve to die over it. This was who he was, not the enraged violent man of a few moments earlier. He was a healer, not a warrior. Once he had been, but never again if he could help it. Maybe his actions against Syn's plans for the virus had ruined any relationship they may have had, but if he let her die there was no way he could ever make amends.

“She was shot in the chest,” he tried to explain as his hands moved to the clothing on Syn's torso to search for the bullet wound. He could heal more effectively the closer his touch was to the wound. There was broken shards of something that clinked together in one of her pockets when he moved the fabric and something wet soaking into her shirt, but it wasn't blood. In fact, there wasn't any blood at all. Then, in his hand was a small piece of metal: the bullet.

“I don't understand,” he muttered as he looked at the bullet in his palm, then toward Isabel's face as if the explanation may be found there. She was glowering at him, as if she had just realized that he was there and that he was the one who had intruded on something he didn't understand rather than the other way around.

>>>"I want you to leave."

Isabel's voice was firm. There was a small weapon in her hand, another gun it looked like. Sebastian wasn't familiar with the design, but he wasn't familiar with many weapons that were younger than katanas and claymores. It wasn't pointed at him, thankfully. He hadn't broken her trust enough for that, at least not yet. Sebastian nodded, shakily. He held out the bullet toward Isabel with his left hand. His right hand brushed against Syn's fingers as he moved to stand. There was no cold spark that jumped between his fingers and hers, meaning she was uninjured, otherwise his healing ability would have kicked in automatically.

>>>"There are people outside that need medical attention. I want you out there helping them, and I want you out there now."

Sebastian nodded again, turning to leave. He paused by the door, turning back for just a moment. “Isabel, I'm sorry,” for his part in Syn's misfortunes, for the broken trust he could see written all over Isabel's face, for this whole mess he had helped cause. And with that, he walked out through the door Isabel had left open, and into a war zone.

Isabel could feel herself beginning to bristle as Sebastian also knelt and laid hands on the unresponsive Syn. It was bad enough the healer had remained in the room for so long in such an unfavorable position, but to act in such a contradictory way set her back on edge. She didn't want anyone laying so much as a finger on her companion without her expressed permission. Sebastian did not have her permission, particularly since any contact he felt himself allowed to make did nothing to rouse her fallen friend as she'd seen his abilities do for Bane in the past. In her mind, if he wasn't helping, then he was just getting in the way, and she would not put up with it for very long. She just needed the paramedics to show up and then she could find someone to take her anger out on, and despite what the angrier part of her wanted, the rest of her recognized the X-Nerds as better targets than the unicorn man.

Shot in the chest. Sebastian said she'd been shot in the chest. But why wasn't Syn lying in a puddle of blood if that was the case? And where was the gun? She supposed it was easy enough to hide something like a gun, but she wasn't about to search the older man for it. She didn't care about something like a gun. It was the lack of blood that confused her. Isabel knew Syn's abilities well enough that she remembered the young woman having the ability to negate certain attacks against her, but did it work outside of things like viruses? Could someone be immune to a bullet to the heart? Or was it Syn's strength that has prevented the bullet from harming her flesh? Had the impact failed to draw blood, but been strong enough to jar the heart badly enough that the shock had killed her? Was she even dead in the first place? Her head was swimming.

She hesitated a moment as Sebastian held out his hand, seemingly to drop something into her own before she decided to put her own hand out, palm up to receive the small object. As Sebastian turned to leave, she let her attention fall to the small object in her hand, tilting the appendage and causing it to roll across her palm. The bullet, only slightly dented and cold by then. There wasn't any blood on the small bit of metal, either. Hurriedly she pocketed the object as Sebastian stood to leave and the man she'd called stepped into the room with one other assistant, a stretcher carried between them. Isabel only remained on the room long enough to be sure that Syn was placed securely on the stretcher and had been assured that an ambulance was waiting to transport the girl. The security personnel knew the building well enough that they'd be able to keep the Order's Leader away from the battle outside and safely to her transport. Hurriedly she exited the room before them and made her way out into the corridors, pausing long enough to watch the trio disappear down one of the hallways before continuing on her way, dart gun gripped firmly in one hand.

((continued in Brawl II))

(Continues for Sebastian in The Immovable Object and the Unstoppable Unicorn.)