Fight for Chaos: Chapter 7

NOTE: I'm currently in the process of reworking this story. This version will not be updated again. Sorry! I'm very close to rewriting it though, so you can check my deviantArt or my Tumblr to see what's going on

Chapter 7: Rediscovered Friends

"I knew it!" Hermes crowed, making the teens flinch. "I knew it by tha' smile a' yours, it's Matilda's through an' through! Ya must be Zoe, by gosh I wouldna recognized ya! C'mon in, we got lots t' yak 'bout!" With that he scuttled into the darkness behind the desk, leaving Benjamin and Zoe in complete confusion.

Benjamin turned to Zoe. "You know Hermes?"
Zoe slowly shook her head, eyes not leaving the spot where the man vanished. "I've never seen him before..."
"Well, we won't find out anything standing out here." Benjamin held an arm out, indicating to the door. "After you."

Just beyond the view from the counter, a short hallway ran back and turned left into a small room without windows. The dim space was lit at the center by a handful of candles of various sizes and shapes, lighting a strange little workspace on the floor. A few more were spread randomly around the room, on the floor and on precariously stacked towers of papers. Hermes was holding one in his hand, rummaging through a torn suitcase at the back of the room. Between his mumblings to himself, he instructed the two teens to sit at the workspace in the middle of the room. They did so, Benjamin sitting with his legs crossed and hands hanging over his knees, watching Hermes with mild amusement. Zoe sat rigidly on her feet, fists resting on her legs.

Noticing her tense posture, Benjamin whispered, "You ok?" She didn't know the answer herself. She was excited, that much was certain. But she was also nervous, for a reason she was unaware of. She didn't have time to voice this, however, before Hermes cried out and held something out in front of him, out of the teens' view. She nodded quickly in answer as Hermes spun on his heel and hurried toward them.
"Ya ever seen this picture?" he asked Zoe, holding a weathered old photo out to her. She took it, eyes wide. The picture showed her mother and father, each holding a bubbly baby girl in a red jumper. She couldn't tell which child was her; even their wavy, beribboned hair and toothless smiles were identical. Matilda, sitting in a pastel sundress with a loose shawl draped over her arms, looked much younger than how Zoe remembered her, but at the same time she looked exactly the same. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders the same way it always had, and even through the lens of a camera, the way her smile shone in her sad, pale blue eyes filled Zoe with a sense of safety and assurance.
She only vaguely remembered the uniformed man standing behind her mother. The child he was holding didn't affect his tight posture at all, in fact he likely would have stood the same if she wasn't there, perched on one arm at his side. He looked out of place in the picture, almost as if someone had pasted him in to the background. While the rest of the family was obviously enjoying themselves, Samuel's forced smile came nowhere close to reaching his fierce green eyes.
Answering Hermes' question with a shake of her head, Zoe asked him one. "Where did you get this?"
"Matilda an' I worked 'gether for quite a few years, 'fore that boy came along. We been good friends since she got outta nursin' school, and we sent letters back an' forth after 'er man made 'er quit. She sent me that there picture a few weeks 'fore th' Order took thin's over from th' gov'ment. Said th' kid she was holdin' was you, and th' other one's named Tessa."
Zoe's next question caught in her throat. Benjamin's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his jaw threatened to fall into his lap. "Tessa's your sister?"

Hermes shrugged. "She must be, I'll be darned if she don't look just like ya."
Benjamin's gaze slid down. "It would explain a lot..."
Shock held Zoe's throat in a vice grip. Not only was she the daughter of a high-ranking member of the Order, but now she was the twin sister of one of their most notorious killers? She wanted to ask more about her family, but her anxious mind was too frantic to form a question. She could only listen as Hermes sighed deeply and continued his story, his head drooping.
"That was th' last time I 'eard from 'er, 'til 'bout 9 years ago. Came ta my place in th' dead 'a night wit' you, an' I never seen 'er so upset. Said she'd took you an' left Samuel, an' hadta leave little Tessa wit' 'im. She hated 'erself for leavin' yer sister behind, but there's no way she coulda got 'er away from yer pop wit'out gettin' caught. Even back then, Tessa was daddy's lil' watchdog. Anyways, turns out yer mom only came by ta say g'bye. Said she hadta hide from yer pop, an' I told 'er she could stay wit' me but she wasn't havin' it. Said she didn' wanna put me in danger. I made 'er stay er for th' night, but she was gone 'fore I woke up." He sighed again, then looked up at his friend's daughter. "What happened to 'er?"
The sorrow in his eyes and her heart kept Zoe from looking directly at him. "...she died, 8 years ago."
"Th' CIT Massacre?" asked Hermes, dread in his voice.
"Yeah." The man's face started to fold into itself as he stared at his clenched fist. "I told 'er to get that darn machine outta 'er arm...I told 'er..."
"But she didn't want to because she hated seeing her own blood, right? Made her feel sick."
"Heh, that's right, fergot 'bout that." Hermes said, wiping his eyes with a sleeve. "How'd you know?"

Zoe laughed despite herself. "She cut herself one time. It wasn't a bad one, pretty superficial, but she wouldn't open her eyes to take care of it. Had to get her 7 year old daughter to do it."
"That so! Sounds like 'er to do that. Ya followin' in 'er footsteps? Nurse in trainin'?"

Zoe blushed at this, and Benjamin answered for her. "You bet she is. Patched me up pretty well."
Hermes' gaze swung to the boy, pale eyes blazing. "You? What'd ya go an' do ta yerself?!" Benjamin gingerly lifted his injured arm and pulled the sliced sleeve away from it, revealing the blood-soaked bandage.
Hermes clicked his tongue. "You rescuers needta quit hurtin' yerselves..."
"It's not my fault," Benjamin complained childishly, and pointed a finger at Zoe, "she's the one who got cornered by a couple of Order pigs."
Hermes cocked his head to the side. "Only a couple?"
Zoe leaned back on her hands, trying to seem indifferent. "Yeah, I took care of the other two before he got there." She smirked at Benjamin, who gave her a sideways grin and an eyeroll. Such modesty. Way to make me look bad.
Hermes' hoarse laughter flooded the room again. "Haha! As humble as yer mom, I see! Ya one a those Kung-Fu ninja masters?" he erupted at his own joke. "Anywho, Benjamin. Give it 'ere." Benjamin moved to sit beside the man. Hermes studied the bandage carefully, then checked the boy's fingers for proper circulation. "Ya did a good job, Miss Zoe. Not too loose, not too tight. Ya got any clothes shears?" Zoe pulled her bag to her front, and after a minute of searching, found the blunt-ended scissors she had used to cut Benjamin's sleeve. "Sorry that took so long," she said as she handed them to him, "Benjamin had to dump everything out for Russell, so my bag's a mess. It's usually more organized."
"Not ta worry, if it'd taken me any shorter ta find my own, I wouldna asked." Hermes cut the gauze cleanly down the middle, revealing the wound. The area around it was relatively free of blood, but the injury itself was still oozing actively.
"Cleaned it first?" He asked, not looking away from the wound.
"Yeah, with a fresh water bottle."
"Good. Th' taps that still work're downright nasty." The two kept up steady medically-jargoned conversation while Hermes stitched up Benjamin's arm. The patient tried to look like he was listening, but he was so clueless about the topic of conversation that he zoned out. Instead he played with Lyza's fur, conspicuously clutching it every time the needle pierced him.

When Hermes was finally done, he started winding fresh gauze around the boy's arm. "So, Zoe," he sighed, "whaddaya want for yer tag?"
Once again Benjamin spoke up before Zoe could. "She doesn't know yet. Wants some ideas."
"That so? Well, ya'd prob'ly want it ta be somethin' significant to ya. If ya got a quote er somethin' that ya like, or maybe ya like the idea of bein' yer own person an' all that. Or ya can do what Hunter did an' just get somethin' that ya like th' way it l--" he cut off suddenly, an excited glimmer in his eyes. "I got th' perfect idea! It fits ya like Speedo on a couch potater!"
Benjamin failed to stifle his giggles with his free arm. Zoe just stared at the older man, a look of intense confusion and disgust yanking her features in all directions.
Hermes reached across his little workspace to drag a small machine towards him. Dettaching a needle-like tool, he motioned for Zoe to move closer to him.
"This'll hurt a bit, but it shouldn't take too long."

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Half an hour later, Hermes was done. Lyza was pawing at her master, ears perked up in curiosity. Clutching his midsection, Benjamin was bent in half on the floor, forehead on the dusty carpet. Silent, uncontrollable giggles shook his lanky frame. Zoe probably would have decked him for it if she wasn't preoccupied with the new design on her arm.

It was some sort of fluff ball. Wearing a headband. Holding nunchuks in one round paw.

"It's a ninja hamster! Clever, eh?" Hermes broke into self-appreciative cackles once again.
Zoe was far from amused. "Seriously? A ninja hamster? I appreciate the thought but I don't think I'm quite that short--"
"Yes you are." the males in the room responded in unison. Even Lyza barked in agreement. Zoe rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
Benjamin straightened his posture, giggles finally subsiding. The smile, however, remained on his face. "Hey, it's a compliment. Ninjas are awesome, but ninja hamsters are epic."
She looked back down at the rodent guarding her forearm. Now that she knew what it was, it did look like a hamster. Tiny rounded ears stood erect on the top of its little head. The eyes were small and beady, emphasized by comically huge, V-shaped eyebrows. In its own cute, twisted way, the little furball was kind of scary.

After a moment of thought, she sighed. "...I guess it does fit, doesn't it?"
"Like Speedo on a couch potater!"
Benjamin copied Zoe and rolled his eyes. "I would use a different choice of words, but yes. It does fit you. Even if you hate it, it'll grow on you. Now let's find you a room before it gets too dark to see, eh?"