Rex

~

Will, Gem, Shaia, Skylar, Leopold and Gem's mother seem to be locked in some sort of combat for the time being, so I go for the more pressing issue: Zandibar. Saana follows me without hesitation. 

I crouch down, half turned to Dawnstreak, never quite letting my focus shift from the battle. "What's up?" I say quietly. "We need... bandages? Or... what?"

Zandibar mumbles something. Saana bends to listen,  then straightens in confusion. I glance at her. She shrugs. "Delirious, I think."

Dawnstreak frowns at me. "We need antidote. That bullet was poisoned."

"Dammit, Shaia," I mutter. "Always have to poison everything." Out loud, I say, "I thought we had antivenom? We used it when the snake bit me."

"There was only one dose," Dawnstreak says resignedly.

"Where is there more?" Saana asks.

Zandibar looks up, her eyes half closed. "Headquarters."

"Too far," Saana says. "But Shaia has some... remember when we had to use it, Rex?"

I groan. "Yeah. That mission failed." Skylar had been poisoned and it was up to Saana and I to get the antidote off an unconscious Shaia.

"So we know..." Saana almost grins. "It's in the pocket on her left jacket sleeve."

Without another word, we sprint forward. Behind us, Dawnstreak and Zandibar shout warnings and yell for us to stop. We continue on undeterred.

Shaia turns to us, smiling in that sadistic way of hers. "I thought you were dead by now."

"Not yet," I say.

Too many things happen at once. Saana charges, aiming for Shaia's left arm. Shaia pulls out her handgun, but before she can pull the trigger, I lunge and smack it out of her hand. Saana rips the jacket sleeve open. Whip-fast, Shaia unsheathes a knife. 

Time slows down. I watch as Shaia thrusts forward with the knife. Some reflex sends me careening sideways. Saana is thrown out of range, clutching the antidote.

The knife slices through my army jacket, but I manage to grasp the handle and pull it away from Shaia. It lands with a clatter on the ground. I kick it a good distance.

Saana has reached Zandibar. My fight is over. I run to them, poisoned bullets skimming by me but never landing, only ricocheting harmlessly. 

Against all odds, Zandibar is saved.  

Saana~

My heart freezes as Shaia's knife flashes past my face, just inches away from me, but I am trained for this sort of combat, and force myself to stay calm. I snatch the antidote and sprint back to Zandibar, gunfire exploding behind me. I have a moment of panic when I think that one of them has hit Rex, but I catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye.

Hands shaking, I give the little bottle to Dawnstreak and wait as she applies it. For a second, I wonder when I started liking Zandi, when I started caring about her. Maybe it was that time when we finally realized that Rex had survived, when we shared that moment of laughter. But somehow, even though we are completely different people, I had almost come to regard her as a friend.

I shake my head. I could think about that later, after the battle. If I survived. I glance around, drawing my knife as I did so. Where was Leopald? I just catch him leaving through a doorway off to the side of the battle room. I follow him into a room filled with computers and very nasty looking bits of technology. He is typing quickly, his words flying across the screen above him. They are small, but I just barely pick out the words "poison" and "gas." I suddenly realize what he's about to do - flood the room with poisonous gas!

Several things pass through my head at once. My hand flicks forwards and I watch as my knife spins through the air and buries itself into Leopald's back. He grunts, and drops to the floor. Dead.

My hand flies to my mouth as I realize what I just did. I just killed Leopald. The bad guy. The one we've been trying to catch. I did it. I blink in relief and surprise.

But the feeling lasts only an instant, as I hear a shreak behind me. I turn just in time to see Skylar pull the trigger on her gun. The bullet moves towards me in slow motion, and my eyes open wide in shock and pain as it hits my side.

~~~

So, it's up to you guys whether Saana lives or dies. I don't know if I should decide. I will not argue with whatever your choice is. I'll try and be dramatic either way.

Zandibar~

"Hang on... ok, there we go," Dawnstreak mutters as she plunges the syringe into my arm.

"Ahh...!" I gasp, feeling the needle go in and antivenom start to do its work. Almost immediatly I my vision start to sharpen, my brain wakes up. It's like a jolt of pure adrenaline has been shot into my arm. I sit up, rubbing my head with my good hand. A wave of dizzyness, the world swoops, then settles.

My arm is still bleeding. I attempt to tear a strip off my tunic, but either the fabric's too strong or I'm too weak. I can't do it.

"Anyone got a knife?" I ask. Rex nods.

"Yeah, Saana does. Hey Saana, can I borrow your knife?" He turns toward her. Saana doesn't appear to have heard him. She's staring intently across the room, right at Leopold at his computer. She's muttering something, I barely pick up the words. 

"Poisonous... gas?" Before I can even register what this means, she flings her knife across the room. It spins, end over end, every eye in the room is somehow drawn to it. Every one, except Leopold's. 

The knife lands deep in his back, he stiffens, a gasp of surprise, then he drops to the floor, twitches, then lies still. He's not... dead? Is he? It seems strange that it's over so fast. One moment, he was alive and about to kill us all, the next he's the one killed. Death is strange indeed. 

Some movement in the corner draws my eye. Skylar, aiming her gun. With a bang, she's fired it. The bullet is heading straight for our little group under the table. Who-

"Ahh!" Saana shrieks as the bullet bites into her side. She falls to the ground, instinctively grabbing at the spreading dark stain on her shirt. 

"Saana!" Rex dives down beside her, sheilding her from Skylar. "Pull her under the table, quick!" He gasps, crawling in behind her.

I gently remove Saana's hands from around the bloodstain and roll her shirt away from the bullet hole with trembling fingers. Oh, gosh. There's so much blood, I don't know... 

"Steady. Steady," I murmur, unsure if I'm talking to myself or Saana, "Ok, first, stop the bleeding." I reach down and take Saana's remaining knife, then slice off a piece of my tunic. I pack it into her side with my hand, and it immediatly starts to darken from sky blue to cranberry red. Ilvermorny colors, I think. My weird sense of humor again. Saana's the only one who thinks it's funny. I wonder if Saana likes Harry Potter. I'll have to ask her, after... after she's better.

I pass the knife to Dawnstreak, who starts cutting up her cape and passing me the strips of fabric, which I keep pressing on. Hold pressure until bleeding stops. Call 911.

Rex is talking to her, telling her she's going to be ok, it's all going to work out alright. He starts telling her stories about the two of them, about standing on fire escapes and playing on swings. About his family. Slowly, Saana starts chiming in, adding details.

"We need to call 911," Dawnstreak announces. Rex nods.

"I don't have a phone. And if any help comes here they'll probably be killed. We just need to get her out of here." Saana's eyelids are fluttering, she's fading. Rex notices, saying, "Hey, stay with me, Saana. You'll be ok." It's the gentlest I've ever heard him talk. He softly takes her hand, holds it. "Don't give up, Saana."

"Don't give up," I echo. She can't give up. She's my friend. She's Saana.