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'I'm okay. I'm okay. Just a little longer. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm not okay. This is not okay. I need to get out. I can't... I ca –'

"Use number three," a whisper of the A.I. ghost coming from the ear of the brunette driving.

The tension. The headache. The panic. All of it becoming too overwhelming as the car rolled to a stop.

At least there weren't any lineups. Less time in this suit.

"Good morning," the brunette greeted, handing over three passports to the border guard.

"...Another group earlier wore the exact same dress as the three of you," the officer noted. Vested and armed.

'This is not going to go well.'

"Oh shucks. I was hoping to be earlier than them. Bridesmaids. Wedding's in a few hours. We lost these two last night." Her head tilting back towards us.

"Wild night, I'm guessing."

"Any other way to go?"

The man gave a partially forced laugh. "Could you pop the trunk?"

At a push of a button, a thunk sounded behind me. All I wanted was to run. Run from all of this.

"Any of you fired a gun recently?" the officer asked.

"Yes," I automatically answered.

My voice.

That was not my voice.

"Vodka shot guns!!! Woohooo!!" the blonde next to me cheered, arms waving about. Voice forced through her nose and the once lower tones turned high. Words slurring together. "Vodka! Vodka! Vodka! Where's the gun...?"

The harsh 'V' sounds grating on my brain.

"No more alcohol for you. You need to sober up," the driver responded after a moment's pause. She recognized that voice, and she wasn't expecting it.

"Vodka."

"No."

"Fine," the blonde huffed. Pouting and crossing her arms.

The border guard walked around to the back of the car. "...Where did you go for the bachelorette party?"

"The Big Apple," giggled the blonde as she climbed about the seat to peer at the guard over the back. Every gesture a calculated movement. Right down to the way her feet bounced up and down. The lightness and ease once there was gone. "What are you doing in a few hours? I need a date for this shindig."

"Vicky!" the driver cried. "No! I'm so sorry about her, Officer. Please ignore her."

The man merely shook his head at them. "Are you bringing anything back from your trip?"

"Souvenirs like mugs and keychains. And she got five Pokémon plushies, and that one bought some books," the brunette repeated without pause from the voice in her ear.

Having checked the few bags in the trunk, the officer moved back to the side. "I need to check what's in that bag."

The blonde grinned, unzipping the pack I knew contained the various drugs used to fill the darts along with the revolver itself. This was bad. This was very bad. "Here you go!"

"Is that...? Is that men's underwear?"

Those were mine.

Those were my boxers. I was wearing that. Yesterday. I swore I packed that away.

'What the hell is that doing in her bag!?!'

"I think his name was Alejandro," the blonde said with a mournful sigh. "He has abs to die for. Perfect for body shots.... Or so I hope the new name tattooed to my ribs is his. Need to get that covered up... again. I was counting on my gals to stop me from tattooing random guys all over me."

"...Be glad it's not written across your forehead," the brunette muttered, shaking her head to disguise the little laugh that escaped her.

With a heavy sigh, the officer asked, "Which of you is Divit?"

The driver raised her hand. Her reflection smiling in the rearview mirror.

"Jamie?"

The blonde's hand resting on my knee pushed down. And from the look of how the flesh stretched and warped, I didn't feel a fraction of it.

I took the hint and looked up, copying the brunette. Trying to hold up a hand without moving.

I did not want to move in this suit. I just wanted to run. But that involved a lot of moving.

"And you must be Vicky."

"The one and only, Gorgeous."

The officer laughed and returned to his booth with the passports.

The driver turned around in her seat, leveling us with a glare that had the blonde sinking onto the synthetic flesh between us. Green eyes screaming out words I couldn't understand.

"Passports," the A.I. ghost's voice sounded in the driver's ear.

The brunette turned away, slapping a smile into a place. "Thank you. Have a good day."

"You too," he replied, handing the passports over.

"Bye Gorgeous!" the blonde chirped as her window passed by his. A wave of a tattooed hand. Fingers wiggling.

The windows all rolled up, and as we drove away, a collective sigh came from all of us.

Somehow... somehow, we managed to get through that without a bloodbath.

Minutes of suffocating silence ticked by between all of us.

The blonde was stiff. Straight backed. On high alert.

The driver's eyes darted from point to point. Taking in her surroundings systematically. But her eyes took note of the rearview mirror far more often than she had on the way here. Also on high alert.

It was all I could do to keep myself together. Watching. Watching their odd behavior. Watching for familiar faces.

Hydra had to be close by. Watching.

Nothing changed as more and more time ticked by in the silent car. That was until I jumped at the black fabric that rolled up the rear windows. The A.I. ghost had to be in this car, controlling it. Little holes allowed some of the outside world to be seen through the fabric. Not too much of a hindrance in a fight if need be.

"Val," the driver called out. Her tone heavy with more than just a name.

"Sparks," the blonde mirrored, her hand slipping into her bag and tossing out my boxers. Then in a blink, a revolver was tucked between the seat and the headrest, aimed right at the brunette's neck. "Both hands on the wheel. I so much as feel like you're up to something and I'll shoot."

"Oh, Val!!! Don't you dare hurt another of my children!!!" the A.I. ghost roared.

"Like you can stop me."

Hands tightened, adjusting themselves on the wheel. "...The car will crash," the brunette breathed out.

"Don't care. It's survivable," the blonde stated so casually, making the other woman's muscles coil with nerves.

A pinch to the nose and the freckled skin turned white as Valeriy's face came back into view. The white sheet tossed onto the seat between us.

I groped around for a weapon. A gun. A knife. Anything. But felt nothing but squish on my person.

'I have the arm....'

If nothing, I had the arm. Slightly malfunctioning and wrapped in a fake flesh. Still a weapon.

I had no idea as to why she has turned against the A.I. ghost and her asset, but she has. Even if the unruffled mask she wore slipped for a split second. Her hand was steady as she held the revolver to someone she knew.

"I can't deactivate the dart revolver when she's holding it, Sparks," the A.I. ghost warned in the driver's ear.

I could practically see the words written on the face of the darker skinned woman in the rearview mirror. One second to save myself.

"Whatever you do, do not tempt Val. She will shoot. Even if the both of you end up with broken spines. That girl does not bluff. Do not give her a reason to finish pulling the trigger. Any motion she can't predict will result with a dart in your neck."

"What brought this on?" the driver asked. Forcing her voice to stay even.

"Been warned not to let you know it's me."

Valeriy's right hand struggled with the blonde hair pinned to her head for a moment before giving up. Leaving it still stuck to the coiled braids. Her hand settling down around the mechanical one wrapped in fake flesh in what might have been an attempt at comfort.

"...Shit. She's pieced together parts of this all wrong, and I'm... unconfident with nudging her in the right direction without getting you shot.... I may have pushed her a little too much. Part of me was rather worried she'd forgotten how to keep her mouth shut."

"Now what?" the driver asked the younger woman. Or the A.I. ghost. Maybe both. She was searching for an out. Be it words or actions.

"...I didn't think this through enough..." Valeriy muttered. Her hand setting off the pressure sensors of the metal plates.

"Don't get shot, Sparks."

"...I can't tell when you're lying. Fuck."

"What reason would I have to lie to you, Val? I'm Jiya Sparks. One of Eve's Puppets. I do whatever she tells me to."

"Puppets?" I repeated, my heartbeat thumping in my ears. "You're like me?"

"...I have no idea who you are. It'd be laughable if your name is actually Jamie. Eve told me, Jiya Sparks, to transport two people across the border, and that's what I do. No questions asked."

"You could have worded that a bit better, Sparks," the A.I. ghost's huffed from the speakers of the car. "My people have a choice if they take the job or not. They just don't get paid for a declined job. I never picked the name 'Puppets'. Each of them are too precious to me to be called as such."

"Honestly? As much as they're her hands and feet," Valeriy started, sounding utterly exhausted, "they're the furthest thing from being her puppets compared to everyone else. The rest of us gets manipulated into dancing on her strings. Sparks is very far from what you're thinking...."

I could feel my name at the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. Hand squeezing down on the metal fingers again. She didn't want the brunette to know who was sitting next to her. The questioning stares my way told me as much.

"Can we get back to the fact that you have a gun to my neck?" the driver reminded impatiently. Knuckles white from how hard she gripped the steering wheel.

"If you want?" Valeriy offered. "And you can drop the whole name thing to make us see you as human. We're 'friends,' and my friend here sees the humanity in you more than the three of us combined. The full name bit is kind of weird."

"Between you and your friend there, I didn't know which name to use. The technique calls for personalizing a connection, so the first name, which I don't use anymore. And you know me by my last."

"Humanizing yourself to Jamie is a waste of your time," the A.I. ghost said in the brunette's ear. "She's more likely to diffuse Val before she kills you."

'...I can?'

Even with my enhanced speed, the trigger could be pulled before I could stop her.

Punch face. Target incapacitated.

'How do I get the revolver from her...?'

Valeriy shrugged to herself. "I can't tell if you're lying to me or not, so we're sort of at a standstill?"

"Explain to me why is it that you don't trust me, Val? What has changed?" the brunette questioned.

"You have orders to bring me in."

"I do."

The young woman next to me sagged into the seat. Another sigh escaping from her.

"I'm not carrying them out. I don't work for the Ayers," the brunette gently pointed out.

"But you work with Eve and she works with us."

"Things get a little blurred. Things were blurred back then.... Wait, how could you think I'm going to bring you in after last time?!"

"After last time, I can't bloody risk it!"

"Why did you think I picked Sparks out of everyone else, you idiot!"

'I have to get out of here.'

"After everything, Val –!"

'Before they take it out on me. I have to hide.'

"You're Jiya Sparks! I'm utterly fucked if you're the one after me! What was I su –!"

"Val, next to you."

"Huh? Oh shit."

A hand closed over mine that was trying desperately to open the door. But my fingers would not cooperate. Couldn't grip the handle. Another hand used my knee as support. A body against mine.

Wrap fingers around throat. Crush windpipe. Target incapacitated.

Grab revolver. Shoot – Collapse skull with handle. Target incapacitated.

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Author's Note:

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