Bend and Break(poly)(bxb)

Two

I didn't know we were broken.

I watch the way L limps with a fleshy stub attached to metal. The clink of his bolted joints.

Von sits in a corner doing absolutely nothing. The silence of his ragged breathing echoing around the room like a staccato of gunshots.

Romero and Seven are covered in blood. Every. Single. Drop. The red on white the brown on black the purple on blue. Every detail of these four men from the way they move to the way they don't. I can't get it out of my head. It's piling up before I can assess it all. Until it's a mess of indistinguishable noises and images. So broken yet absolute.

I stare at the blood on Romero and Seven one last time. It could be theirs. It is theirs now.

"What do you mean they're still out there?" Romero asks with clenched teeth. "You said this would be the last one for a while. You said the last one would be the last one before that. You said-"

"She lied," Von speaks with finality. He has a bruise forming under his eye. He went after one of Diana's guards.

Diana doesn't deny anything. "Are we done here? You all need to get cleaned up and ready for tomorrow."

"I don't mind all of the violence— the killing without question," Seven is the one to speak next, hair sticking every-which-way with grime and grease. "I've been through worse than this... But it's tiring. It's boring and it's our tenth day in a row going after them and every night you tell us there will be more and more."

"It's exhausting," Romero mumbles under his breath. "And we're not stupid."

I am stupid. I don't know how many days it's been because I've only gone out with them once. Warehouses, storage containers. They bust human traffickers and prostitution rings. They don't want me to see it. Girls younger than me. Sick.

They've done this for ten days in a row. It's no wonder I've barely seen them and it's no wonder they're fed up.

"The TL's joined the largest gang in the country after our initial raid. Unless you want them all on your asses at once, do as I say. Unless you want..." Diana trails off, squinting her eyes at Seven the same way that Von does. "I'll make it interesting. I'm changing the line up soon, bringing in another member. But since you're so "bored," I'll turn it into a game for you."

Von scoffs. "No games. Who is it?"

He's concerned because we all just barely dodged a bullet with me. Another random teenage girl into the group would set us back months. Another guy would add to the never-ending tension. I don't know Diana well enough to know what kind of tricks she'd pull on us. I just hope she wouldn't sabotage us like that.

"For now you all need to divide the work up better. Tomorrow send Von and Mia." Diana says. "Romero, if you come up with any more improvements send them over to me. I want L back out there as soon as possible."

"We sent him out too early last time. I decide when he goes out." Romero speaks before Von can come to his defense.

Last time L was on the ground writhing in pain and getting covered in bullet shells.

Von gets up.

Diana laughs. "I decide when he goes out. You think you're the only decent mechanic in the country? In the city? Your prosthetics were sloppy and self-taught, you're lucky I'm even letting you touch him again." She reaches the doorknob before turning around to face us again. Sharp black hair cutting at her jaw line. "I could always ship him out somewhere. Or off him before it gets to that point. I'm changing the line-up. Prove to me I don't need you anymore and you're out. Nobody is safe." She leaves after speaking of her adoptive son like he's nothing. Like all of us combined are nothing.