Tanya, Holly, Blake and Robin made took Jacob hostage and used him to get out of the room. When they got out, they discovered there were American Secret Service agents filling the hallways, but with the Secretary of Defense in their arms, they couldn't do anything to stop the four of them. The severe burns on the left side of Jacob's face showed they weren't afraid to harm him further, and Jacob gave them directions to retrieve Holly's laptop and all of their other stuff that was confiscated. Holly and Blake grabbed all the stuff, including their climbing equipment, as Tanya kept holding Jacob prisoner. The only thing keeping them from their sudden collapse was the aluminum charm they each held in their pockets. They make their way, with Jacob still in their hands, through three floors until they finally reached the ground level. They were three entire floors below ground, in a stronghold not far from the gates of the White House. After they finally leave, and get far enough away and out of sight of the many people watching them through security cameras or watching them around corners and on rooftops, they finally ran for it, Robin still on Blake's shoulders, still unconscious. They ran and ran, as far away as they could get. After a while, they found themselves alone, traveling south for several kilometers. "We better find some way back to Omnia soon" Holly says, out of breath. "These small siphon charms are likely almost at their limits. Any time now, these things could stop working and we could collapse from the poisoning and eventually die out here."
"That's a nice thing to think about..." Tanya says sarcastically.
"I'm sorry" Blake says. "We should've been more careful, and we ended up getting caught by the American government."
"What are you saying sorry for?" Tanya asks. "It was all of our jobs to be vigilant. Don't put it on yourself."
"I guess so..." Blake says, then pauses. "They were half right through."
"Hm?" Tanya asks. "About what?"
"Me being a sheltered kid" Blake says. "I grew up on the island of Yeisha, in Creedey. My parents are actually from America. I knew from the earliest point in my childhood that I had a gift. I've always had a higher capacity for endo than most others, and I often thought of myself as some sort of big shot. That confidence has often gotten me into trouble. When I was little, my parents tried to shelter me and control my every move. It wasn't long before I rebelled and turned into some punk kid doing whatever he wanted when he wanted. I started trouble everywhere, and got into fights constantly. Eventually, I was too much trouble for my family. I was kicked out of the house as soon as I was old enough to move out, and from then on, I was on my own."
"I'm... sorry to hear that" Tanya says.
"Yeah, well" Blake adds, "being a Hunter isn't exactly a noble cause nor a career choice good people make. It's a path for shit heads to keep being shit heads. We may get used to take down some bad people, but we are far from the good guys. Though, I tried to do better. I know I've come a long way on my own, but I still let my confidence get the better of me. Like when I let my guard down and McNamara found us."
"Or when you tried to take on the Naris possessed Mages back in the war, and got stabbed in the stomach." Holly adds.
"You don't have to bring that one up..." Blake says, embarrassed. Blake reaches down with one hand and places it over his stomach where he now has a cybernetic replacement for the hole in his stomach. "You know" he says, "sometimes it still itches. And I'll instinctively reach down down scratch it, but only feel cold and lifeless metal..." Blake takes a deep breath, then says "I guess, at this point, we may not have much time. I might've not finished everything I set out to do, and fix everything about myself I wanted to fix... but, in the end, I want to say it was a pleasure working with you guys."
"Don't say that, it's bad luck..." Tanya replies. "But yeah, I understand what you mean about fixing everything about yourself."
"What's your story?" Blake asks.
Tanya pauses, then says "It's not a good one. You see, I've never known my parents. I was born and raised in Vega, but I was left behind at an age so early that I can't remember either of my parents no matter how hard I try. I can't remember for sure, but I'm pretty sure I was abandoned by the age of three. By then, I was able to walk, and I wandered around aimlessly and hungry in the streets of Vega. Taking what little scraps I could find, and learning to steal before I could even read. When I was a young girl though, I ended up stealing from the wrong people and wound up getting in trouble with Wolfpack."
"But you were a part of Wolfpack" Holly says.
"Yes" Tanya replies. "I eventually met Donny. Or, Don, as you know him. At first, I was just a shitty little runt in his eyes. But my tenacity and inability to comprehend the amount of danger I was in piqued his interests. At first, he used me to get away with some crime. Eventually though, I volunteered for it. It felt like I had somewhere to be, and a purpose. I knew it was wrong, but I was an angry and spiteful kid. I had it bad and I wanted to make sure the rest of the world did too. Eventually though, Donny and I grew close. He never wanted kids, but I became almost like a daughter to him. He took me in and kept me alive and I went on to be a shitty brat to the rest of the world. But eventually, my life turned upside down. I got married."
"Love hit you that hard?" Blake asks.
"No" Tanya says. "I guess some part of me at least did love him enough, but most of me wanted to use him. He was a rich man, and I saw a chance to take that fortune. By this time, I was good at what I did. I was Wolfpack's best asset, aside from Don. Donny even elected to make me his right-hand man. In my endeavors, I grew cold and heartless. I had almost no emotion, but I was good at faking them. This man was a fool... and so was I. I married this man, Richard Branely, and that's where I got my last name. I was given the name Tanya from Don, actually. He used to even called me "Little Tike Tanya" and stuff. I never had a name until I met Don and I never had a last name until I married Richard. Though, a problem came up. I got pregnant, and Richard didn't want kids. Afraid that a single child would be the sole reason he'd lose all his money, and ran out on me. He texted me later, with images, that all documents of us ever having been married have been expunged and now there's no record of it, so I can't claim that he should have to owe child support. I couldn't exactly try a DNA test either, he was rich enough to pay off doctors and lawyers alike to deny any and all evidence if this was brought to court, as well as it would've ended up endangering not just me as part of the mafia, but my daughter. I didn't want to feel emotions, but being pregnant is rough... and while I stuck to mostly being myself during those nine months, when I finally gave birth to Ali, my heart melted. I hated that I got pregnant and I hated that I was a mother now. But, seeing her face... it changed everything for me. Don got me a way out of the gang without backlash from the pack, and I dedicated to being a mother for Ali's sake. I kept the last name because I didn't want her feeling weird for her mother not having a last name, or her having some made up name. That man can deny it all he wants, but in the end, she's just a normal girl who deserves a good life. I'd give anything to provide that."
"Well" Holly says, "sounds like you're better off without that asshole anyways."
Tanya laughs softly, then says "Yeah, that's true. Ali's my whole world now. I'm glad she still looks up to me, even after she found out I was part of The Six Guns and a part of Wolfpack. So, how about you, Holly? The infamous hacker, Holly?"
"My story?" Holly asks. "Nah, it's boring."
"From all that we've been through" Tanya says, "I think we deserve to hear it. If not for entertainment, to pass time as we walk before we pass out."
"Alright... fine" Holly says. "I was born and raised... or at least, as close to being raised as I could get; in Seoul, South Korea. My parents were both gambling drunks. Eventually, they decided a child was too much for them, and was in the way of their life style and choices. So, they put me on the streets. Of course, you can try to talk to authorities about these things in Seoul, but it's not easy often. I tried asking for help, and an officer asked me where I lived. I tried to tell him what my house looked like, but I didn't know my own address. I told him my name and asked if he could help me find my mom and dad, and police did try to help. They contacted all sorts of numbers for families with the last name Jeong. All of them were confused and none of them admitted to having a daughter that was my age, and certainly not one that was missing. Eventually, some of the police took me around house to house to find where I live. That's when I first saw my parents for the first time in days. They looked me in the eyes and said 'We don't have a daughter. This girl is in no way familiar to us' and then turned their backs on me. The officer tried to put me back in his car to keep taking me around to find my parents, but I ran away. The police didn't chase me down or anything either. I wasn't a priority, because nobody posted any reports of a missing six-year-old girl named Holly. This wasn't a case they could solve so easily. And it wasn't about about become a priority if it wasn't listed at a problem to begin with by the police department. It's not that I resented the police for that, but rather, I resented society as a whole for what my parents did and how nobody could help me return to my normal life. I would steal food to live outside of school and attended school in the days. Hell, I even attended all the extra courses I could get just to avoid going back to the streets."
"You still went to school?" Tanya asks.
"It's illegal to not go" Holly adds. "I had to, as well as, was in my best interests to go. It got me off the streets, I got to eat for free without stealing, all sorts of perks. After some time, I got into reading up on using magic and code hacking, as well as advanced computer theory. By the time I graduated high school, I stole some of the laptops from school and used it to blackmail some people into getting money. I traveled out of Seoul and even got into fighting rings for extra cash. I got my own laptop with the specs I wanted, and began to travel and find more and more people to blackmail and fight. Only then, did I become a priority for the police. Except this time, it wasn't to help me. They wanted me arrested. But I had my own goals. I fell in love with traveling and learning. I wanted to travel the world. But before I go, I had some unfinished business. I dug up information on my parents and got ready to blackmail them. Except this time, it was personal. I wanted to do this in person and show them the daughter that they abandoned! I found out where they moved to, and I came up to the house one night. I approached the front door of this small and run down house, and was about to knock as I heard their voices and saw them from the window on the side of the house. How pathetic they were... they had lost control of their lives. They were suffering and alcoholics. Their living conditions reduced to poor conditions and it looked like they were barely eating. Strangely, even after dedicating so much of my life to getting back at them... I felt bad."
"So, what happened?" Tanya asked.
"I did the hardest thing I ever had to do" Holly says, then takes a deep sigh. "I walked away and forgave them. I left them a note on their door, though I don't know if they ever read it. I told them their little girl is doing fine without them, and that I wish them luck. I left Korea with a reputation and a heavy heart. After a long time, I wound up in Egypt during their struggles with the Ly'Lum. That's when I met Rose. A girl with no parents or siblings, but surrounded by people she called family. Though I first thought of them as hopeless, that one little girl is the first person who ever looked me in the eyes and called me family in my entire life. It hit me in a place that I didn't think I could feel after leaving my home behind. I tried to stick with them and save all of the other rebels in Egypt, because I knew it was important to her, but I failed. I couldn't save them... the Ly'Lum outnumbered us heavily and all I could do was run away. I felt ashamed and couldn't face Rose anymore. I told her to stay in Egypt and be safe, while I try to do research, in hopes I can find a way to be stronger and redeem myself. But that's about the time I met Siran over at Dead Crater. They reunited me with Rose and I was angry at first. I didn't want them dragging her around and I wasn't ready to face her. But it's a good thing Siran is an idiot... in a way, he saved me and he saved Rose."
"So that's why Dana calls you Aunt Holly" Blake says. "Rose really considers you her real sister."
"She is my real sister" Holly says. "Blood has nothing to do with it. She's my family because I said so. That's just how it is."
"Then, it'd be bad if we allow your sister to lose any more family than she already has" Robin suddenly says as he's being carried.
"Robin?" Tanya asks. "How long have you been awake?"
"Long enough" Robin says. "Sorry I'm slowing you down."
"Well, you're not going to do much walking with that hole in your leg" Holly says.
"That's why you need to leave me behind" Robin says.
"We're not doing that" Holly says. "Look, idiot. We're going to make it. All of us. So no more talking about if we die. I'm not going to let it happen."
"Do you have a plan?" Tanya asks.
"Keep traveling south" Holly says. "From there, we may be able to come across public transport near the bigger cities beyond this point. Get there, and it'll cut down our time, to make it to the nearest airport."
"But we don't have enough money left for all four of us!" Robin argues. "We barely had enough to get here! Our best chances of getting home together I over boat."
"You forgot who you're working with here" Tanya says with a smile all of the sudden.
"What's that look for?" Blake asks.
Tanya reaches in her pocket and takes a thick fold of money out of her pocket. "Secretary of Defense was packing more than heat. I scored big time when I took the siphons from him."
"Way to go, Tanya!" Blake cheers.