Bring The Heat

42. Stay Strong (GOJS ARC 13)

-(16 YEARS AGO)-

Mint woke up and sighed dejectedly. The world was grey... maybe that was just her mind, but whatever. Colours didn't seem pretty anymore anyway. She dragged herself out of her bed, which was just as unkempt as she was. In the kitchen, she opened her fridge. Everything in there looked just as bleak as she felt... still, she tossed a ready meal in the microwave and leaned against the counter, waiting. She waited in silence, because what else was there to do? At 37, she had lost it all already.

The microwave bleeped, and she took her food out. It smelled good... it looked good... Mint wasn't hungry. She was starving, but she wasn't hungry. She couldn't eat right now.

Mint threw the ready meal in the bin, and slugged back to her bed. Grabbing a picture frame from her bedside table, she covered herself completely in her thick sheets, and stared at the photo. It was Mia, just 14 at the time. She was so happy, so beautiful! Mint couldn't really remember the day of the photo, and she hated herself for it. And why the hell was Mia not around anymore? Mint began to sob, heaving heavily with immense grief. There was nothing, NOTHING as painful as this throughout the rest of her whole life, and she did it every damn day, and she planned to do it every damn day until she died. Because Mia was gone, and that wasn't fair.

Cancer was not fair.

-(2 YEARS LATER, 14 YEARS AGO)-

Mint was hiding out in a broken-down house on Jewel Street. She'd been here for almost two years now, because... because she just wanted to shoot someone, or for someone to shoot her. I mean, this was the place. Life was still grey as ever, but what the hell, it always would be, let's throw some risk of death into the mix. Nobody deserved to be in this world if Mia didn't.

As the gang that was hunting for her left further down the road, Mint snuck out of the house. She looked around to check her surroundings, and began to head down an alleyway. But then, she saw the strangest thing...

A one-armed boy sifting through trash in a big wheelie bin, surely no older than 10.

"Hey... little boy..." Mint began to ask, confused, before the boy spun around speedily and drew a gun on her.

"Woahohoh now! It's ok! It's ok..." she continued, raising her hands in surrender. On closer examination, it seemed like the gun wasn't in the boy's hand, but WAS the boy's hand.

The boy examined her too, and must've seen Mint's lack of bad intentions, because he lowered his gun. He looked far more scared than anything, so Mint tried giving him a reassuring smile to make him feel more comfortable. It seemed to work.

-(13 YEARS LATER, 1 YEAR AGO)-

Mint walked up to Ben, who was leaning against a wall broodingly. She gave him a soft, sad smile.

"Hey" Ben said flatly.

"Hi..." Mint returned, "I've been thinkin, Ben. I'm not sure if being part of your gang is... is the best idea for me."

Ben stood fully, turning to her in surprise and confusion.

"Look, I'll always care about you... you're like a son to me! But what's it been, 13 years now? You're a grown man, and..." she held his face in her hands affectionately, "You're still chasing that same horrible goal. It's tearing you apart, and I've tried to stop you... I just can't watch it happen anymore."

Ben pulled away from her, hurt and angry. "Fine by me. Better get out of here soon, then. You're not in the gang anymore, and this is my territory."

His words were said in retaliation and spite. He didn't mean any of it... but how could she do this to him? She was meant to be his rock, his constant... but fuck her! He didn't need her!

"Come on, don't be like that. Jewel's big, but I'll still see you round! Just... I hope you do alright, ok?"

It was so hard for her to lose him, but in the end, she had to look out for herself. She'd taken responsibility for him because she was a parent with no kid and he was a kid with no parent, but it just... wasn't healthy.

Losing the support of the only person he still cared about, and even loved, was awful for Ben. But eventually, revenge on the killer of his parents stopped feeling so important. He was self-sabotaging this whole time, for something he had mostly moved on from... still, he was too far gone now. And so, Ben remained on Jewel Street, trying to build a gang of people he could trust after everything, and Mint stayed too, living aimlessly and day by day on the violent roads that were now her home.

-(PRESENT)-

Mint looked across the table at the two people who had come to mean the most to her. Ben did the same. Robin fiddled nervously as they discussed their plans. She had taken the time to fully replace Mint's hand, and fix up everyone's wounds.

"Look, I want us to get out of here alive. And I think that means we're gonna have to start killing people who get in our way. So far, we've been struggling alone, but if we stick together I think we can beat anyone who stands in our way." Mint assessed optimistically. She was good at killing, but only out of necessity. She didn't like the action, but she'd do it for Ben and Robin.

"Ok... let's do what we have to do." Robin said shakily, trying and failing to sound confident. She was quickly calmed by Mint taking her hand and squeezing it affectionately.

"We're gonna get you out of here."

"Yeah. You're gonna be ok." Ben reaffirmed, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Shit, Robin thought, was it really that obvious how scared she was?

She gulped down her fear and nodded. Ben checked his watch.

"We're coming up to dusk again. We'd best get moving soon."