((This was a collaborative post between myself and Magister. C: ))

[h2]Ranch House[/h2]

Dutch had been dreaming. He had been dreaming of his tribe, and their home, far up north in the ruins of what was once a sprawling, thriving human city. It smelled of oil and gasoline, with the pungent aroma of old perfume and locally sourced tobacco wafting through the air, mixing together to make that local smell only a local could recognize.
He was at his old digs, smoking a rolled cigarette, cursing all the noise Vanderson, that blonde son of a bitch, and his town boys were making. Lot of yelling and what sounded like bombs going off. 
He had half a mind to go out there and sort them out himself, but Kitty had told him to stay out of it, he was her big brother and she didn't want them fighting again in the New Year. 
Why was she pulling his shirt, shaking him then? He had already told her he wasn't going to go out there and beat on them. Damn blonde hair just like her brother.
[color=red]“Kitty I said I ain't goin’ out there, the hells wrong with you..hey K-”[/color]
His eyes slowly moved into focus. The side of his face that had fallen to the floor was crusted with grime, the other side was grime free, but still marked by Kora’s handprint. 
He instinctively began to wipe the dirt from his skin. 
[color=red]“Dawn?”[/color]
[color=red]“What happened?”[/color]
His own predicament had been a side effect of the nullification field. His prolific energy being flicked off like a light switch had caused him to faint, and aggressively slip into R.E.M sleep to compensate.
[color=#2d50ff]“Thank god.”[/color] A relieved, if not substantially strained noise broke free from Dawn’s chest, and she reached forward to try and help Dutch off the stained tiles. [color=#2d50ff]“We don’t have much time. We’re being attacked by slavers- their leader, he has some sort of nullification Gift- we’re completely cut off from our powers. They have Toby, and Reith and Drake, they…”[/color] Her lips drew into a tight, thin line, and she swallowed thickly. 
[color=#2d50ff]“We’re in no place to fight back. Not now, at least. We need the car.”[/color]
Defeat hardened her features. 
It was a lot of information for Dutch to process, considering he had entered this room with all intentions of pouring some pipe cleaner into the pipes, and replacing a few joints.
Surprised was first, confusion, then anger.
[color=red]“We can't just leave em Dawn! There's gotta be somethin’ we can do!” 
“We can't leave family behind.”[/color]



Dawn found herself flinching back, eyes cast down to the stains beneath her feet. [color=#2d50ff]“I know,”[/color] she said, quietly. [color=#2d50ff]“I know. I hate that I’m even considering this. But I don’t we have any other choice.”[/color] Her nails carved into the worn flesh of her palms, hard enough for a thin rivulet of blood slipped between her fingers. 
[color=#2d50ff]“They have a tank. Nukes. The slaver- all his men are in full, professional military armor and armed. Eld Fen is...he isn’t Eld Fen, anymore, and the nullification field has been [i]killing[/i] us.”[/color] Dawn’s voice was carefully, carefully measured, although she couldn’t fight the faint quaver that trailed the end of her words. 
[color=#2d50ff]“If we tried to fight back now, I don’t think we’d make it. Right now, we need to keep anyone else from being captured, and work out a plan from there.”[/color]
There was a quiet sort of pain in Dawn’s eyes as she met Dutch’s. 
[color=#2d50ff]“We [i]will[/i] help Toby.
“But the only other option at the moment that would let us save him would be to join them.”[/color]
Dawn’s voice, particularly that small bit of emotion that filtered through resonated with Dutch. He felt his jaw unclench slightly, and their position became crystal clear in his head. She was holding it together right now because this wasn't a fight they had any hope of winning. Hopelessness was infectious. He could feel his fight waning in his chest. “Damnit all, damnit where the hell’ did all this come from.” His pale eyes searched for some answer, some plan to retrieve Toby from the enemy. 
He didn’t find either in the floor. 
[color=red]“What about Reith, Eld, and Drake, they…”[/color] He bit his finger, rage had replaced the fight he lost. 
[color=red]“We ain’t leavin’ anyone’s body here. Rei told me they dumped her thinkin’ she was dead once. Ain’t no tellin if that happened again.”[/color]
Dutch reached forward and slipped his hands between Dawn’s fingers, carefully prying her nails from her palm. 
[color=red]“Cars parked round back, I got a big old mobile house thing attached to it. We get there, I can drive us out.”[/color]
[color=#2d50ff]“I wish I knew.”[/color] Dawn allowed Dutch to uncurl her fingers without resistance, parting them from the angered flesh. She took in a long, deep breath. Forcing herself to take up a steadied head. [color=#2d50ff]“We’ll have to move fast. Grab as many as we can- the last time I could see, we were surrounded.”[/color]
Her hand swept up to her temple, smearing the locks there with crimson. [color=#2d50ff]“Fen...whoever he is, he isn’t himself anymore. He helped them capture Toby.”[/color] At the moment, it seemed safest to consider the stranger in Eld Fen’s clothes among the same people he had allied himself with- an enemy. Dawn pursed her lips. Then, with a soft grunt, she pushed herself to her feet, reaching out a stained hand to help Dutch off the floor. 
[color=#2d50ff]“Let’s go. Sera’s still in her room- we can grab her, first.”[/color]
[color=red]“Helped em capture Toby?”[/color] Dutch’s jaw worked again. He was trying desperately to process the depths of the information he’d received. He just didn't understand why. All he could do is chalk it up to, [color=red]“you think you know a fella”[/color] and deal with what needed to be dealt with it hand. Grabbing Sera, grabbing Reith, and getting the rest of them the hell out of there. 
He lead Dawn upstairs, pausing to catch his breath on the bannister. His body was starting to compensate, the rest had done him well, but he wasn't at his best just yet. 
He opened the door to Sera’s room, and made his way over to her bed. He put her on his shoulders, and did a quick once over for anything important she might want to take with her.
Dawn’s response was a simple nod, and nothing more. She still hadn’t quite wrapped her head around the sight, and likely wouldn’t- not until all was said and done, at least. Now was not the time for mulling things over. 
She ascended the staircase with ease, but hesitated at Dutch’s pause. [color=#2d50ff]“Are you alright?”[/color] She asked, briefly placing a hand on his shoulder as they approached Sera’s room. The nullification had, in essence, stripped her of one of her senses, smothered it and choked it into silence. But her body hadn’t depended on her Gift’s presence. In a sense, Dawn had been one of the luckier of the situation. 
Her lips pursed into a thin line upon seeing Sera lying immobile, completely unmoving, although she pressed herself into turning away and searching about the room. There were a few things that Sera likely would’ve wanted with her- the gun left on the bedside table, and the bag propped up against the foot of the bed- and Dawn took care to grab both. Slinging the sack over her free shoulder, Dawn glanced over at Dutch, taking a moment to adjust the weight. [color=#2d50ff]“Are you ready?”[/color]
A thin line of perspiration had leaked from his messy pompadour, running down his jawline, and ultimately dripping to the floor beneath him, but this was fatigue from the Dutch who had struggled to move up the stairs. Adrenaline, and Dawn's assurance had inspired a second wind in his muscles. Powers or no powers, he knew his place was to protect his family any way he can. Nothing short of a quick death would get in the way of that. 

Dutch was always thankful for Dawn. Moreso in a moment like this. He admired her ability to see the clear lines in what needed to be done, the same lines that were a bit muddy to him when blowing something up wasn't an option. 

[color=red]"Leggo."[/color] Dutch abandoned the banner to descend much quicker than he had ascended. He could almost feel their window of opportunity ticking away with each passing moment. One step closer to that bastard outside clamping a collar around their necks. The cold weight of his heavy pistol, tucked into the back of his jeans was a reassurance. Not without a fight at the very least. They made it to the garage door, and rather than go for the handle, Dutch kicked outward, knocking the old thing off of its hinges.
[color=red]"COME ON, TRUCK. NOW, GRAB EVERYONE AND GET THE HELL IN HERE!"[/color]


Dawn didn’t need to wait for Dutch’s direction. As soon as the garage door had swung open, she had spun on her heel, nearly flying back into the living room- and nearly slamming into a wall and several pieces of furniture in her blind rush. Dutch wasn’t alone in his keen awareness of the seconds slipping through their fingers. Each window she passed served only as a grim reminder of what fate lay outside for them if they didn’t move fast enough, if they made just one wrong move too many. 
She swung into the doorway of the living room, and was promptly met with two pairs of worried eyes. Dawn’s gaze flickered to Rei’s immobile body strewn across the couch for a moment, then to Drake’s slowing one before returning to Soren and Clockwork. [color=#2d50ff]“Head to the garage. We’re leaving.”[/color] Her voice was clipped and toneless, and as soon as the message was delivered, Dawn turned once more, a flurry of movement starting up almost instantly behind her. She cast a glance over her shoulder as she moved to see Soren not far behind, Drake in his arms and Clockwork at his heel. Good. As far as she knew, the only people left in the building were Reith and the prisoner, and they could reach the former easily if they moved quickly enough.
They had just slipped into the garage, Soren slipping Drake into one of the seats and turning to grab Reith, when a flash of white caught Dawn’s attention. Her gaze snapped towards it, only to find some sort of mist seeping in from the hall. 
Soren realized it before she did. [color=#7fe817]“Phosphorus!”[/color] He shouted. He scooped Clockwork into his arms, dumping her into one of the unoccupied seats before sliding in himself. His face was strained as he looked over the flooded hallway. [color=#7fe817]“White phosphorus! We need to move now- cover your faces!”[/color] Dawn immediately took the advice, one hand clamping over her mouth and nose as the other opened the passenger side door. Where the mist touched, her flesh began to sting. 
[color=#2d50ff]“What about Reith?”[/color] Dawn asked, shutting the door firmly behind her. Clockwork was silent, but she stared at her father with the same question burning in her eyes as he entered the car. 
Soren, too, was silent for a few moments, fingers moving swiftly to strap Clockwork and Drake in. [color=#7fe817]“I don’t think we can,”[/color] was all he said once he had finished. [color=#7fe817]“Not anymore.”[/color] His jaw was tight. 
Dawn’s stomach sunk. But she didn’t protest. Instead, she turned back towards Dutch, grabbing his shoulder tight again for a second or two. 
One way or another, they would be leaving the house- fast.