Amber led Able to her car, hastily opening the door for Able. Able rolled his eyes at the gesture.

"Do you think I am incapable of opening a metal transportation mechanic?" He asked in a demeaning tone

Amber looked at him, could this man not accept a kind gesture? Good lord, no wonder why he couldn't have nice things in life. "No, I just didn't need your clumsy barbaric hands crushing my car." She said before hopping into the driver side of the car while Able sat in the passenger side.

Amber was tempted to make Able sit in the back, just to see him angry but knowing he can't do anything about it, but decided against it. She was aware that if he decided that the deal wasn't worth it, he'd rip off her head in a heart beat. There was also the fact that having Able sitting across from her would allow her to keep her eyes on him easier. As she drove away from the hospital, she could feel Able's gaze burn into her. She ignored him at first, but soon she felt a creeping sense of unease wash over her. There was just something about sitting right next to the person that nearly killed her that just kind of set Amber off. She tried so hard to stay focused on the road, but after about 20 minutes, she finally cracked.

"You know, staring isn't very polite nowadays." She commented, desperate to break the uncomfortable silence. She just couldn't deal with the suspense anymore. 'Just relax, he's not going to gut you alive. He's not going to gouge out your eyes. You're fine.' She thought to herself. Even if it just to comfort her worried mind.

"I could care less what is considered polite by the weak who use falsified flattery to trick the unwitting." Able retorted back at her, glaring at her the entire time. Amber rolled her eyes

"I thought you respected warriors who could kick your a$$?" Amber pointed out. She felt a chill run down her spine Able's gaze became even more intense

"Let us make one thing clear.. You may not be an completely worthless warrior, but you.." Able pointed a finger at her "did not truly beat me."

Amber had to resist the urge to turn around and glare him down.

"The hell do you mean? I'm sure having you on your ass and putting you unconscious means I've kicked your ass. Clearly can't be that much of a chore. I could've killed you if I wasn't under orders." Amber growled back at him. Able just narrowed his eyes at her.

"Not a chore, you say? Yet I had you bleeding out like a pig. If your friend didn't come in, you'd been dead. I'm mildly curious how your human body is still functioning fine after such things. And you didn't show me mercy, woman." Able then leaned in until his mouth was next to Amber's ear.

"You didn't kill me because you chose not to, you did so because you knew you couldn't."

Amber stayed quiet, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. She was determined to not give Able a reaction. Maybe this would've turned anyone else into an anxious mess, but not her. Able slowly sat back down in his seat, having had made his point.

"If you have to know, we carry around emergency pills." Amber mumbled to answer his initial question, anything to avoid the tension of the current line of conversation.

"How will a few tiny capsules of medicine stop you from bleeding?" Able questioned

"Well. I never said they were any normal pills." Amber pointed out. "They're made from the slime of an anomaly that my organization had rescued. They aren't an permanent solution, but they temporarily close off the wounds for a time. More specifically, it forces the blood to stay inside the body while it tries to heal the wounds back. They can also repair muscles and nerves. But because of how small the pills are and how dangerous it would be to take more than 1 one of them, it doesn't have a complete effect, and after some time, it'll wear off and even though your wounds won't be as bad as before, depending on how bad they were initially, you'll still need to get to a hospital. I took one after our fight and took the liberty to bring you with me while my partner helped take that cube of yours back to our base. I made you take half a pill just to heal those tendons of yours before taking us both to the hospital." She explained.

"You're welcome, by the way. I could've let you bleed out, but nobody is interested in waiting a possible 25 years for you to resurrect." Amber added in. Though she had to admit Able was right. They didn't have any means to effectively and reliably kill him at that moment. Hell, they barely brought anything other than a standard pistol. Able reawakening was something that wasn't taken into account. Of course, Amber would never tell him that, but she didn't need to, Able already knew it.

Able was slightly curious about Amber's organization. They held anomalies as well? But he didn't say anything. He wasn't that interested in it. All he wished for was silence. It wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~

Able woke up about 2 hours later to the someone shaking at his shoulder. Upon instinct, he grabbed the hand in a tight grip. He nearly summoned a sword to cut off the hand of his attacker when he realized that it was Amber just trying to wake him up. Amber quickly snatched her hand away from him, inspecting the hand shape braise that now adorned around her wrist. Able had realized that they had stopped in the middle of a dirt road in the middle of the woods. In front of them was a sign that read "Welcome to Great Oak Valley, population 8,251."

"We're almost there.. I'd figure I should wake up because some people are going to inspect us to make sure we aren't any random civilians or anyone from any of the other organizations, and I didn't need you to wake up and just assume we're under attack and slaughter everything in sight." She said, still examining the bruise on her wrist. Able didn't say anything in reply.

Able looked around. "This looks like a common settlement, not any base of operations."

"Well no shit. We're subtle, Able. And having the appearance of a small town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere is a great way to be subtle."

Amber slowly drove closer to their designation, when an herd of crossing deer suddenly got in the way. She stopped the car to allow the herd to cross. Able looked at the deer in annoyance, he didn't care for weird exotic animals. If it were up to him, he would've just kept on driving. It would've been up to the deer if they wanted to move or not. That's when armed people in black uniforms with a dark purple emblem of a flower on their shoulders stepped from woods. One came up to the window, which Amber rolled down for them.

"Please show identification." The soldier spoke

Amber gave the solider a card, which the solider quickly checked over before giving it back.

"Welcome back, Amber. I've heard your mission was successful. I'm glad to see that you're in one piece." Said the soldier, turning their attention to Able, who let out a snarl. The soldier leapt backwards a bit, startled.

"Yeah, don't worry, he's always like a vicious animal. Maybe if you try using some of your animal voodoo magic you'd be able to get a proper response outta him." Amber joked, despite a very displeased Able shooting a murderous glare at her. The soldier laughed before pulling off their helmet/ visor, revealing a dark skinned woman with black wild hair.

"Amber, I communicate with nature, not undead abominations with a killing fetish." She commented . Amber had to push Able back from trying to snap back at the woman. The soldier backed away, not trying to be ripped into ribbons. She also made a mental note to keep her distance from Able from now on.

"Well, Megina, we've gotta get moving. One of the higher ups are waiting for my return and I don't plan on keeping them waiting any longer." Amber said. Megina nodded as she looked towards the herd of deer still blocking the road. The deer looked back at her, as if understanding each other on a unspoken level and quickly scattered back to the woods. Amber quickly continued driving down the dirt road.

"I sincerely hope that not everyone here is as insufferable as you are." Able said, his voice laced with venom "Because if so, I am very much questioning if our little deal is worth it."

Amber tensed up, how he said her name made her heart drop. Whatever, ignore it. He's just talking out of his a$$, if he really was going to do something, he'd already done it. Even still, she couldn't help but worry if he's just being kind by giving a warning.

It was only a few minutes before they arrived to their distinction. In the opening of the thick woods, stood a small town, the sky was clear, yet you could tell it rained recently. Able rolled down his window to take a whiff of the thick, humid air around him. A cool breeze cooled his skin. It had been many years since he's gotten to do that. To experience that. The town was located in a clear opening, covered with thick green grass and wildflowers. In the distance, it was possibly to see the great, untamed valleys to their north. It all looked like this was more akin to a picture painted by a skilled artists of the past then reality. Especially to someone that had been trapped in a containment site all this time.

Amber noticed Able staring at his surroundings with something that wasn't complete apathy. She couldn't help but to let out a tiny smile. If he was this interested over this, she couldn't wait to see his reaction when he truly got to explore the place. She could relate to him in this aspect. She didn't believe that a place could be so naturally breath taking. Nonetheless, she had to stay focused. They were here for a reason. She knew that she still had much work to do before she could even think about going on a nature walk.

"Where are we?" Able finally questioned again"who is it that you are truly loyal to?"

Amber smiled

"Welcome to the Anomaly Protection and Reformation Agency, or as we are more commonly called based of our emblem, welcome to The Black Petunias"