Reintegration

by Eden S. French

  “The gas station behind it,” Lexi said. “That’s the place.”

  “You think they’ll have what she needs?” said Zeke.

  “If you can swallow, inject or snort it, Raffo has it. And if you have to insert it up your ass, he’ll even throw in the rubber gloves free.”

  Amity bared her teeth, and Lexi winked. “It’s okay, babe. If it comes to that, I’ll insert it for you, how’s that sound?”

  Amity’s fingers twitched. “If she could move, she’d have killed you,” said Zeke. “Talk about literally flirting with danger.”

  “These friends of yours.” Isaac stared at Lexi from behind his lank mop of hair. “They ain’t gonna hassle me?”

  “Nobody’s going to hassle anyone.” Lexi placed a hand over where she assumed, without any medical certainty, that her heart resided. “I promise.”

  * * *

  If extraterrestrials visited Foundation, they’d have taken particular interest in exami­ning Raffo, who swam in a gene pool all of his own. His gang was ugly as a rule, but he was its crowning triumph, a man with more teeth than a denture factory and eyes perpetually wet and staring. His scabbed, green-tinged skin seemed more like the product of a chemical accident than natural evolution, and he had four fingers on his left hand and seven on his right. In other words, a real looker.

  He was already waiting outside the gas station, unaccompanied, his unique body wrapped up in a long thermal jacket. “The great Lexi Vale.” He extended his four-fingered hand to shake. “Fancy you gracing us with your presence.”

  “Fancy you thinking I’d touch your claw. What’s new, Raff?”

  “Nothing, but I’m sure you’re about to spoil my tranquility.” Raffo motioned to the gas station behind them. “Come along, children. Lift’s in the back. Don’t mind the sentry, he doesn’t mean to stare. He just lacks working eyelids.”

  They passed through the gas station and crammed into the service lift. As it rattled into the earth, Lexi tried to maintain her smile. There was something unnerving about smooshing so many bodies into an ancient contraption, especially when it displayed a sign reading Max. Capacity TWO PEOPLE. Just as well Callie and Isaac had stayed behind with the van.

  The elevator landed, and its left door jerked open while the right remained where it was. “That was a smoo—” Raffo coughed a mass of sputum into his palm. He stared at the glob, sighed and wiped it on his chest. “As I was saying before my lungs intervened, that was a smooth ride down.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Lexi. “I only shit myself the tiniest bit.”

  “It’s been a long time since I saw you last.” Raffo led them into a damp cement tunnel lit by a single sputtering bulb. “I see you’ve got a whole gang with you now.”

  “I only picked them up recently. They’re not so bad. A few badasses, a few dumbasses.”

  “Which am I?” said Zeke. “A badass, right?”

  “Oh, yeah. You’re the muscle.”

  “And her?” Raffo singled out Amity, who was being supported by Riva and Kade. “Does she usually require aid to stay on her feet?”

  “Nope. That’s why we’re here.”

  “It’s a strange world that presents us to you as angels of mercy.” Raffo rapped on a rusted door. “Pumpkin!”

  The door squeaked open and produced a small, furtive gangster with a bulbous head. “Lexi? What happened with you and the Menagerie?”

  “It’s complicated,” said Lexi. “Don’t worry your pumpkin head.”

  “Okay.” Pumpkin scuttled into the hall, his beady eyes fixed on Amity. “This one is sick, isn’t she?”

  “She needs our tender ministrations,” said Raffo. “As to the specifics, I’m yet to be informed myself.”

  “Someone injected her with Codist neurotoxin,” Kade said. “I’ve brought the dart, if you want to analyze it, but I’m sure it’ll be their standard issue.”

  Pumpkin squeezed the pouch of flesh between his eyebrows while giving Amity an appraising look. “Yeah, I know the shit they use. Lemme go through my stash, see what I can come up with. Twenty minutes.”

  “Fifteen,” said Raffo. “If you’d be so kind.”

  “Yeah, fifteen.” Pumpkin retreated and slammed the door behind him.

  “Excellent.” Raffo beamed, a sight Lexi could have done without. “Now, may I treat my guests to a beverage?”

  They walked under rusted pipes dripping clear fluid, across a grated pool of stagnant water, through a decaying archway and into the kind of place that only a subterranean mutant gangster could call home. Vinyl couches circled a television playing an action film, all guns and explosions, while a fridge covered in magnets buzzed like an eldritch altar beside a microwave coated with sludge. Two of Raffo’s gang occupied one of the couches, their bodies oozing into the upholstery.

  “Out with you both,” said Raffo. “We’ve an honored guest.”

  “It’s okay,” said Lexi. “Let them stay. I feel safer with your deformed, menacing henchmen around.”

  “Very well, but volume down.” The explosions quietened, and Raffo made a sweeping gesture towards a long couch. “Sit, and I’ll go get you some lemonade. Do you like lemonade still, Lexi?”

  “I’m fucking wild about it, Raffo.”

  As Raffo started toward the bar fridge, Lexi caught him by the sleeve—or a part of his anatomy that resembled a sleeve—and murmured into his ear. “Don’t tell the boss I’m here.”

  “Uh.” Raffo stared at her for a long moment, his big eyes not blinking, before giving a quick nod. “As you wish, dear. And I shouldn’t ask why?”

  “For your own sake, don’t.”

  Raffo flashed his crowded grin, which sloped in the wrong direction and contained way too many canines. “Get comfy, then, and we’ll talk about your friend. What’s her name?”

  “Amity.”

  “Not Amity White? The Open Hand enforcer?” Raffo gnawed on his blistered lip. “I’ll have to ask Pumpkin to give her a sedative.”

  “Relax. I don’t think she’ll hurt anyone.”

  “That’s not what her reputation suggests, but fine, I’ll trust you.”

  While Raffo foraged for lemonade, the others settled onto the empty couches. Kade and Riva propped Amity between them—she was adorable, like an outraged life-sized doll—while Lexi sat on a stool opposite.

  She crossed her legs, rested her chin on her fingertips and smiled. “Isn’t this nice.”

  Somebody screamed on the television, and one of the gangsters made an approving gurgling sound. “Yeah, I’m real at ease,” said Zeke.

  “Can you trust these people?” said Kade. “There’ll be a bounty on your head now. Probably more than one.”

  “I trust them,” said Lexi. “When you and I were kids, Raff was my go-to guy for drugs. Of all the lowlifes I used to score off, I liked him the best. He was fair, none of his goons ever tried anything on me and, as far as I could tell, he wasn’t much into hurting anyone. Later, when Vassago moved on the district, I convinced him to recruit Raff’s gang rather than wipe them out. Since then, Raff has been living it up as one of Sammy’s local lieutenants, and he has me to thank for it.”

  “Old friends, then?” said Riva.

  “Sure, why not. He’s handy to know. Specializes in medical drugs, can hook you up with anything. He’ll fix Amity, no problem.”

  “No,” said Amity, her voice slurred. “No gang drugs.”

  “Hey, she’s talking again!” Zeke gave her a huge grin. “I was getting worried about you, baby.”

  “Shut up. You jackass.”

  Riva patted Amity’s arm. “I’ve already spoken to Nikolas on the phone. He’s sending someone here, but he wants you to get treated as soon as possible. We don’t want you to suffer any lasting damage, Am.”

  Amity clenched her fists in her lap. “No.”

  “Is there a problem?” Raffo sauntered up with a bottle of murky lemonade in one hand and a stack of glasses in the other. “Your famously terrifying friend appears to
be talking through gritted teeth.”

  “She’s fine,” said Riva. “We really appreciate what you’re doing for us.”

  “Such civility! You get the first sip.” Raffo poured lemonade into a glass, and the liquid hissed as it filled to the rim. “May I observe that you are one striking woman? That dashing Mohawk, those seductive eyes. Would I be wasting my time flirting with you?”

  Lexi laughed. “Raff, forget it. She’d have to turn straight. And then she’d have to go blind.”

  “Lexi!” said Riva. “Don’t listen to her, Raffo. Flirt all you like.”

  “Offended on my behalf?” Raffo fluttered his seven fingers beside his cheek. “I am helplessly in love. How’s the lemonade?”

  Lexi took a quick sip. The bubbling fluid scorched down her throat and fizzed in her stomach. “You sure this isn’t cleaning product?”

  “Ninety-four-percent sure.” Raffo squinted at Kade. “You’re Kade, aren’t you? Lexi used to talk about you all the time. Kade this. Kade that. Me and Kade. Kade and I. She was so obsessed, I assumed you were her boyfriend. Quite a misunderstanding.”

  Kade smiled. “We were close in the day, but not that close.”

  “A pleasure to finally meet you.” Raffo gave Lexi a reproachful look. “Lexi, hurry up and introduce me to the beauty.”

  “Her name is Riva Latour,” said Lexi. “Unless you were referring to the tattooed loudmouth, in which case his name is Zeke and you need your sight checked.”

  “Zeke of Zeke’s Lounge?”

  “The very same.”

  “A celebrity. I’ll have to get an autograph.”

  “I’ll just ink it on you,” said Zeke. “My groupies love that.”

  “Tattoos and I don’t agree. My skin is brittle.” Raffo twinkled at Riva. “Though I could imagine daring the needle in order to secure your enchanting name upon my body. Riva Latour. A moniker as captivating as its owner.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” said Lexi. “That’s his mutated chromosomes talking. He just wants to drain your fluids and make a nest inside your skin.”

  “My wiles are clearly wasted here. Speaking of romantic things, I glimpsed Callie Roux up above. That strikes me as rather strange.”

  “Why? You think she’s out of my league?”

  “No, but the last I heard, you two weren’t exactly on good terms.”

  “That’s in the past. I’m crazy about her nowadays. Oh, and if you were wondering, the disheveled mass of rags and hair is Isaac Landon Hill. He’s a junkie we just happened to pick up on the way.”

  “Is that right?” Raffo shrugged. “I’m not one to judge. I work with numerous colorful individuals myself.”

  As if to prove his point, Pumpkin lurched into the room with a needle in hand. “It’s all ready for her, boss. One shot in the muscle.”

  “Make sure there’s nothing sharp nearby,” said Lexi. “She goes for the knives first.”

  Pumpkin waddled nearer, the syringe raised. Amity twitched. “No. Back off. Touch me and die.”

  “Amity, you need this,” said Kade. “The sooner you get a counter-agent in you, the less chance of lasting nerve damage.”

  Amity hissed between her teeth. “I don’t trust him.”

  “Pumpkin’s handy with sharps,” Raffo said. “Never killed anyone he didn’t mean to.”

  “No.” Amity turned her seething glare on Zeke. “You do it.”

  Eyes shining, Zeke clasped his hands to his breast. “Me? Does this mean we’re friends?”

  “Do it or I kill you.”

  “Sure!” Zeke snatched the syringe from Pumpkin and peered at the liquid suspended within. “What’s this shit? I have to know before I put it in her.”

  “Half a milliliter of NeuroZex.” Pumpkin sounded peevish, though his face remained inscrutably lumpy. “The real deal.”

  “And the needle, it’s sterile?”

  “Of course it’s sterile. What do you take me for?”

  “A man with a pumpkin-shaped head?” Zeke rolled up Amity’s sleeve with a quick, practiced motion. “You just relax. Tough bitch that you are, you won’t even feel this going in.”

  With a steady hand, Zeke performed the injection. Sure enough, Amity didn’t even grimace.

  “Thirty minutes and she’ll have her mobility back,” said Pumpkin. “She’s not going to be happy for the next twenty-four hours, though. There might be vomiting, dizziness. She’ll need to spend a day or two lying down.”

  “A day or two? This woman is our fucking lethal weapon, we can’t lose her for a day or two!” Zeke shook the empty syringe. “You asshole. Help me get her to a bed. No mattresses covered in rat guts, either. I want your fucking penthouse suite, or else I’m setting Lex loose on you.”

  “Pumpkin, accommodate them.” Raffo waited for Zeke and Pumpkin to escort Amity out before shaking his head. “So that’s Zeke Lukas. He’s as strange as his occupation might suggest.”

  “He’s the excitable type,” said Lexi. “As for the rest of us, we’d all like rooms too. We’re not quite as fussy as Zeke, but it would be nice not to sleep in a pool of engine oil.”

  “I see.” Raffo tapped his extra digits against his chin. “So, that’s rooms for how many people? Seven?”

  “Six.” Kade gave a sheepish smile. “I’m cycling out. I have to report back to Sarabelle, and I’ve work to do.”

  He wasn’t staying? Lexi stared into Kade’s eyes—the most familiar part of him; warm with good-natured intelligence. “But it’s late.”

  “I know this district as well as you do. I’ll be fine.”

  “But…”

  Lexi hesitated. If she admitted that she didn’t want him gone, that she was concerned for him, that—fucking hell—she maybe even missed him… Well, that would summon feelings she couldn’t deal with. “Whatever. We have Isaac to train up as your replacement, so it’s no real loss. We just have to find him a trench coat and a philosophy textbook.”

  Raffo clapped his hands together and nodded. “Six beds, then. Perhaps somebody should run up top and let Roux know the situation. We have a place to hide her van, so she won’t need to keep watching over it like a mother bear.”

  “I’ll go tell her,” Riva said. “That okay?”

  “Sure, go,” said Lexi. “Keep her company a while too. She gets lonely. Kade, care to escort Riva topside?”

  As she departed with Kade, Riva stroked Lexi’s nape in passing. Lexi’s hairs rose, and a pleasant tingle spread down her spine.

  “Not bad,” said Raffo, gazing after Riva. “Not bad at all, Alexis. How long have you known her?”

  “A few days.”

  “In your case, that makes it a long-term relationship. I must say, I didn’t expect Kade to be quite so serious.”

  “He’s always been like that. It was cute when he was a kid. Now he’s all grown up, it makes him a pain in the ass.”

  “You were looking at him rather wistfully just a minute ago. Which reminds me of another, related subject. What the fuck happened to Ash?”

  An explosion marked the beginning of some new theatrics in the film behind them, and the gangsters whooped. It was too reminiscent of the real violence Lexi had seen today—the helicopter pilot twitching in his bloodstained seat, the agents shot in the stairwell, the sensation of a living mind melting under her will, the brutal way Lachlan had taken out Rusalka’s bikers—and a sour taste filled Lexi’s throat.

  “Forget about lemonade,” she said. “Get me a real drink.”

  * * *

  Garlic-rich aroma rose from the frying pan. Callie waited, a plate held out, while Riva scooped up a mound of food. “This one is for Raffo.”

  Callie pouted. “Isn’t it my turn yet?”

  “You and Lexi will eat soon, don’t worry.”

  Callie exited with the plate. Lexi watched her cute butt wiggle away. “Stop ogling her,” said Riva. “Or at least try to ogle while helping.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who volunteered to cook dinner for a gang o
f hungry mutants. I’m only in this for the company of gorgeous women.” With a spoon handle, Lexi prodded the steaming contents of a pot. “Raff said he had some dog meat in the freezer. Why didn’t you cook it?”

  “The same reason I wouldn’t cook you.”

  “Vegetarian, huh? Doesn’t surprise me somehow. Growing up, I had to eat rats and dogs a few times, but it wasn’t for fun. It was that or starve.”

  Riva thumped a spice bottle, sending a puff of sand-colored powder into the food. “I understand that. But soy is plentiful and cheap.”

  “Sure. Plus meat’s hard to catch, and then there’s a good chance it’ll get you sick. Though Kade told me that people used to eat it all the time.”

  “It’s true. Massive fields of soy were grown purely for use as animal feed. Over ninety percent of the global crop never found its way into human diets. Just one of the many ways we consumed the planet.”

  “So you really do read that little column he writes.”

  Riva smiled through a cloud of steam. “Every fortnight.”

  “Does Amity read it?”

  “Usually, but she doesn’t agree with him on everything. She respects his views regardless. Just like she respects Nikolas’s and mine.”

  It seemed a decent opportunity to ask a question Lexi had been carrying for some time. “She knows about you, doesn’t she?”

  “How’d you guess?”

  “Two nights ago, she cornered me in an alley and threatened to hurt me if I didn’t keep away from you. I thought she was just being a bitch. Now I realize that she was trying to protect you.”

  A new emotion bloomed in Riva’s eyes—devoted, wistful affection. “She’s protective towards all of us. The gangs see the purple palm as her mark, a symbol they fear more than any other tag in Foundation.”

  “I believe it. But she’s got a special connection to you.”

  Riva nodded. “It was five years ago. I was twenty-two, homeless, and searching for a warm place to sleep. An alley that seemed promising proved a dead end. When I turned around, three men were blocking it.”

  Lexi’s breath stopped. “Tell me they didn’t.”