Rise of The Runaways (Crown The Empire story)

Bloodline

It's been nearly a year since I came to live with Raven and the rest of my new team,we called ourselves the Wolves since we mostly operated at night when the Runaways did,we've had a small amounted run ins with them but we've never been able to catch them. As much as I hate them I have to admit they're fucking quick little bastards. Even for our weapons,Jye made a good co captain we became friends since I came to the right side but the rest of the guys I didn't much care for,they care more about destruction instead of following my orders,the one thing I miss about the runaways was the obedience, they knew when to shut up and listen to Dave or I. It was midnight and we were stalking through the forest, looking for any signs of Dave and the others "well this is boring huh?" kris said out of no where "well maybe if shut up and kept and eye out for them we'd find them faster and get the the exciting stuff" I snapped back,Kris said something sarcastic back but I wasn't listening. I kept a look out for any sight of them,especially Dave. I heard a stick break behind us and I immediately spun around and raised my assault rifle and checked the hear scanner for any sight of life,I saw footprint heat signatures on the ground and motioned for the Jye to follow as I went to check it out. The rest stayed where they were incase of an ambush. We followed the prints until we heard more foot steps in the distance. They're was too many for 1 person so Jye and I spilt up and changed them down, I took left and he went right as I ran as quickly as I could without creating any sound, eventually I saw the faint outline of a female body in the moon light leaned up against a tree in a small clearing in the forest.I slowly inched closer to the tree line of the clearing until I was visible and raised my weapon "freeze,move and I'll shoot" I barked my orders at her,obviously surprising her, she slowly raised her hands into the air as I inched closer,Sworn In stirred on the flashlight on my gun to shine on her to make sure she didn't have a weapon drawn. She was wearing a ripped up pair of blue jeans,combat boots and she had one one of the masks we used in the Runaways,she was one of them.she also had a right white tank too on under her vest with blood covering it,she must've been hurt. "Are you okay?" I asked slowly getting closer,she nodded her head,she seemed in too much pain to speak. As I got face to face with her I pulled the vest off over her to see the large blood stain covering her lower left part of her shirt "don't move" I said drawing my combat knife "don't kill me please" she begged "I'm not going to kill y-" I stopped talking almost immediately,I recognized her voice,I pulled off her face mask and I was right. "Victoria?" I asked,shocked to actually see her again "how do you know me?" She asked,shocked I knew who she was,took the flashlight I kept in one of the pockets of my tactical vest and shined in on my face "Remember me? I saved you from the hospital last year" I said,pulling down the mask the covered the lower half of my face. It was dark but I could see the shock in her eyes "N-Nick?" She said,obviously stunned I was alive "well,yeah yeah it's me" I said,deciding not to get into that long story. "Here let me help" I said taking my knife and cut off her shirt,it was too constrictive so I needed to cut it off to look at whatever happened to her, she had a large gash on her side "what the hell did you?" I asked examining the cut "I was cutting rope for a trip wire and I heard someone coming so I tried to run but I tripped on a log and stabbed myself" she said,flinching in pain when I touched it by accident "here I've got something for that,I said reading into another pocket on my vest and taking gauges and bandages out to take care of her wound "how did you get out of the hospital?" Victoria asked as I helped her with her cut "the Raven saved me after everyone else decided to leave me to die" I responded "left you there? They didn't elevate you there. Andy went to get Hayden for help but the fire bombs went off too soon the star case was destroyed" she told me,i didn't want to believe her explanation so I just brushed it off. "Dave still talks about you,everyday" she said,flinching as I warped more bandages around her waist. "Sorry" I said apologizing for any discomfort,trying not to think about the man who pretended to be my brother for over 20 years "Nick,if you work for Raven now why are you helping me? Aren't you supposed to arrest me or something" Victoria said as I finished dressing her wound and rose to my feet "because...I don't know. I'm actually supposed to shoot any runaways on sight" I said looking away "I just couldn't do it" I said looking back over at her "come back with me,the guys would love to see you again" she said grabbing my arm "I don't belong there anymore" I said coldly,rejecting the idea of ever going back to that group of anarchists scum. "Jeff,Jeff come in. I lost them did you find anything?" Jye's voice came in over the radio "Jeff?" Victoria questioned before I hushed her "no Jye,nothing over here either. Must've just been an animal" I said before killing the radio "listen you need to get out of here now. If anyone else from my team sees you they'll kill you without thinking about it, just run that way we'll be moving in the opposite direction so we'll never run into you" I said tossing her vest back. "You saved me from the hospital, now I feel like I've got to save you" Victoria said before kissing me again like she did in the hospital stairwell "the runaways moved bases. Come into the abandoned meat packing district. Trust me you'll know where to look if you change your mind" Victoria said before walking away back into the forest. "She's gotta stop doing that" I said as I walked back into the direction of the Wolves. Jye was waiting for me with the others as we continued out sweep through the forest,we didn't find any of the other runaways,I knew they were in there somewhere with Victoria but I didn't have time to deal with them. I started thinking about what Victoria told me about the hospital. What if they really did try and save me? I quickly shook those thoughts from my head as I remember what my uncle told me. The Escamillia's lied to me my whole life. I can't trust a thing that group tells me. We eventually finished the sweep of the forest and headed back to the base in the heart of Aeon. After taking off my gear I went to my room and laid down in behind. I thought over and over again about what I remembered from the hospital. I got shot by one of the scarecrows, I stumbled down the hall, collapsed on Andy and then everything went totally black. I thought harder and harder trying to remember anything else but I had nothing. "Hey man,just wanted to say goodnight" Jye said popping his head in through the door "thanks man,see you in the morning man" I said as he left the door away closing the door behind him. I waited until I knew he was gone before I took out the small box I kept under my mattress and took out my old necklace with the cog and crown pendant I took from my "fathers" body and the Wolves tooth from last year on it. I just looked and studied it, i thought about how much these things used to mean to me,how much the old team meant to me,the brotherhood I had with them all, Andy, Benn, Brandon, Taddie, Hayden...Dave. I put the necklace back in the box and stuffed it back under my mattress. I rolled back onto my back and stated at the ceiling until I slowly began to drift off to sleep