So there she lay. The Devil herself, the second most powerful person in the world, lay on the ground, so close to death. It was hard to believe that this girl had killed five highly trained soldiers only moments ago.

Without a word I gently lifted her off of the ground. Her body was stiff and cold, but I could feel her faint heartbeat in her chest. We only had a little over an hour to get the MC-57 if she was going to survive.

I carried her inside as Izzie, Leo and Ian followed. I gently placed her on the long, sturdy, kitchen table before turning to my friends. We had to save her.

"I'll go get the MC-57," I said, I was the best for the job being the only one who could drive a pre-war car, "you guys can stay here and guard the house, hopefully the Gold Order won't return."

Leo spoke up, he seemed strangely apprehensive, "Maybe...maybe we shouldn't get the MC-57."

Then Izzie chimed in, "He's right Xan, you saw her fight. She escaped from her cell and killed those men, what if she escaped again and killed us."

Even Ian, who usually stayed silent, spoke, "It's a quicker death than a monster like her deserves. She'll drift off to crazy land for a few hours and fall asleep at the end."

"No." I found myself saying. "She may be a monster but she doesn't deserve to die like this. She deserves a fair trial and a fair sentence for her crimes. Not to mention the fact that we still need her for the plan."

"But..." Izzie interrupted.

"But nothing." I snapped, "I love you Iz, but I'm the leader here, not any of you guys. I'm sorry but this is my decision and I'm making it."

Then I cemented my decision "If she's dead when I get back you're all out of the order."

Without another word I grabbed the truck keys from a side table and stormed out the back door slamming it behind me. I'd never asserted myself to the group that way. It felt good but scary at the same time.

I knew I couldn't continue that way though, my friends and I had always been equal and I wanted it to stay that way. What had I done?

Now was not the time for questioning my leadership choices. I had MC-57 to get. I got into the car and turned the keys pushing down on the clutch and the break. My dad had taught me to drive stick the minute I turned fourteen and could reach the pedals.

I slowly eased up on the clutch until I reached the catch. I then started driving forwards in first gear. I switched to second gear, then third, then fourth, before finally landing on fifth gear as I sped down the abandoned road. I didn't dare go past fifth; the old truck would break down if it went over 50mph.

I passed an old sign reading Speed Limit 30mph. It didn't really matter out here with no law enforcement. The neighborhood has been abandoned years ago after a pink mist bombing killed most of its inhabitants.

My father and I had just moved out the week before. He'd felt guilty about the bombing until the day he'd died. The Legion had been aiming for him.

Having someone die under your leadership was the worst part of having power. 32 people had died in the year since I'd taken over the Order. Two had been directly my fault. Killing is hard, but losing a friend due to your mistake is harder.

Even losing the Devil due to my mistake would be hard. She was the enemy, but she was still a person who I had the power to save. She was still human and deserved a chance to redeem herself.

There was good in her, I just knew it. She hadn't killed us when she'd escaped. And when she did kill it was quick. I just knew that behind those cold electric blue eyes was at least a hint of kindness.

I made the last turn before arriving at the scene of the kidnapping. Surprisingly everything was where we'd left it, including the bodies of the dead soldiers. The whole sight was slightly creepy, I was instantly wary.

I walked over to the limo and popped the trunk to reveal a treasure trove of weaponry. It contained everything from a beautifully made katana to a semi-automatic machine gun. Everything was perfectly organized, either in clear cases or sheathed. Each gun case had a matching case full of ammo for the specific weapon.

But there was no MC-57 in the trunk. Only tools of killing, none of healing. I slammed the trunk and entered the limo where the decoy Devil had exited; she hadn't bothered to close the door. Inside the limo was pure luxury.

Black leather seats spread across the back and sides of the vehicle; there was room for at least ten people. The mini bar was filled with champagne and fine chocolate. There was even a TV screen on the back wall that was still eerily playing a movie channel on mute.

I shoved a few chocolate bars into my pocket. After the war chocolate was mind-blowingly expensive. This much could probably buy a small car, or a weeklong vacation to New York. Or even bribe ones way into a Legion base.

But there was still no MC-57. I checked my x-com, only half an hour left. Minus the twenty-minute drive I had ten minutes to get the MC-57 and leave.

Then I noticed a corner of the velvet carpet was sticking up. I grabbed it and pulled. Under the carpet was a small handle; I twisted opening a small compartment.

Yes! In the secret compartment was a box with spaces for five vials of MC-57, four of the spaces contained vials of the bright red liquid. There were also needles to inject the medicine.

I carefully picked up the box with the life saving vials and started making my way back to the truck. I was stopped by the appearance of a large, vaguely familiar, man. Then I recognized him, I'd killed this man during the kidnapping.

In one hand he held the knife I'd stabbed him with and in the other her held a small handgun. Then it clicked. He'd used the fifth vial of MC-57. But he'd been dead.

"You're supposed to be dead." I stated the obvious.

"Except for one thing, boy." He growled. "You always yank the knife out when you stab somebody. Or else it keep all the blood and guts in."

"I'm 18, I'm not a boy." At this point I was stalling for time. I needed to escape.

"The Devil's only 17, she's still more powerful than both of us. Doesn't change the fact that your just kids playing a grown ups game."

"So I'm expecting you won't just let me leave."

"You stabbed me in the heart."

"I only did what I had to."

"Knocking me on the head wouldn't have worked?"

I was at a loss for words. Unconsciousness could have worked. But it was riskier and he could have killed me first.

"You would have killed me if you could have."

"I would have caught you, SHE would have killed you."

"You mean the Devil?"

"Yeah. By the way boy, how's that kidnapping thing of yours going?"

"Bad, she escaped and got shot. That's why she needs the MC-57. Let me through and your boss doesn't die."

At this he seemed to pause, considering his options. He could let me through and potentially save the Devil, or he could decide I was lying and kill me.

He chose the latter. Pulling the trigger. I felt the bullet tear through my chest as I collapsed. I dropped the MC-57 as I fell but didn't hear it break.

He leaned over my as my vision clouded. "You wouldn't have been able to shoot the Devil, she probably escaped by now with her skill set."

I closed my eyes and let out a strangled gasp before holding my breath. I needed him to think I was dead for this to work. I got lucky, he reached to check my heartbeat but felt too low on my neck. I heard him walk away but didn't dare open my eyes.

I then heard the rev of a motorcycle engine and he drove off. I cracked open my eyes to be sure, but he was definitely gone. I was pretty sure he'd shot me right below my heart. It hurt like hell but I could not die here. I would not die here.

I couldn't sit up.

I definitely couldn't stand.

I had to get to the MC-57.

I couldn't bleed out.

Leo.

Izzie.

Dad.

Mom.

Pain.

I was on my stomach.

It hurt so much.

MC-57.

It was so close.

Crawling.

Black spots in my eyes.

It hurt so bad.

Red.

Glass.

A needle.

I reached.

My fingers closed on the vial.

Shaking hands.

Pain.

I filled the syringe.

I jabbed it into my arm.

Relief.

With a sigh of relief I collapsed onto the grass. The pins and needles like sensation of MC-57 filled my chest as I healed. Seven minutes later I was on the remaining motorcycle, desperately racing time with three vials of MC-57 zipped into my pocket. I didn't have time to rest.

I reached the house, sprinted up the hill, and burst through the front door. Without a word to any of my friends I pulled out a vial and filled the syringe.

Finding her jugular vein I injected the medicine into her neck. She started shaking and I involuntarily stepped back. I noticed the black poison start to recede from her veins. Simultaneously the wounds on her ankle and shoulder started to close.

Seven minutes later she looked completely fine; other than the fact that she wasn't awake. She had to survive. She just had to. I began pumping her chest. Thirty compressions, then I tilted her head back and breathed into her mouth.

I leaned back preparing to try again. Then her startlingly blue eyes popped open. She was alive. But my friends were all glaring at me. I noticed they'd handcuffed her to the table.

***

Hi guys! What do you think of Xander asserting himself to the group? What do you think will happen to the two remaining vials of MC-57? How do you think the other rebels will react to Xander saving Kate? Please vote and comment, I want to know what you think!

-Jade