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Description

    Sarah dropped the bar which fell to the ground with a metallic clank. Olivia, Daisy and Ariane had come, too, as well as Megan’s right hand woman Jenna and a muscular short haired blonde who I assumed was Jessi Bowen as I had heard a lot about her. Who had rallied all those troops? And for what? How did they get here at just the right moment?
    “Look who’s here! McNerd and her gang of losers, weaklings and weirdos!” Sarah laughed.
    Trisha stepped forward, standing right next to me. “How nice of you to join us, carny bitch, we’ve been expecting you!”
    I swallowed. What did she mean? Did they expect Megan to come when even I didn’t know that would happen? But that would imply … no, that couldn’t be.
    “Did you come to watch us beat up your escort?” Tina asked and punched me in the side. “Or do you want some of that treatment yourself?”
    Megan stepped through the broken window into the gym, followed by the rest of the group. Her expression was that of cold, calculated fury, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
    “I’m gonna ask you nicely one more time.” She said, her voice calm, but trembling slightly, as if she was holding back her rage with great effort. “Let her go, or this will not go well for you.”
    Trisha laughed. “How about you come and get her yourself?”

    She spun around and kicked me right in the middle of my stomach. At the same moment, the Vagabonds let go of me, causing me to slump down on the ground writhing in pain. Every part of my body was aching and I knew I couldn’t take any more. I just lay there, watching as the blurred silhouettes of the Vagabonds charged against Megan and her friends. Shouting and yelling filled the air as the two groups clashed. Next to me, Olivia rushed at Tina who dodged and blocked her furious strikes with a deranged cackle. A few meters further, Megan quickly swept Pixie girl off her feet as if she was a mild nuisance, and ran at Tina, only to be stopped by Zukova. On the other side, Daisy had attacked Sarah, who narrowly missed the Showboat’s head with a kettlebell.

    “Jo, for God’s sake, are you OK?”
    A hand touched my shoulder. As I turned, I looked into Ariane’s concerned face. I gave a weak nod, unable to speak. It wasn’t much, but enough to let the corners of her lips curl upward in a sad smile.
    “You should’ve told me, Jo, we would’ve come with you. You know, like friends do.”
    Friends. That word tasted bittersweet. Each of these girls had become dear to my heart, but I had always thought that they saw me as nothing more than just a fellow fighter. Knowing that even though I looked up to them they saw me as their equal, brought me to tears. I wished I could hug her. If only she understood what it meant to me.
    And then I remembered what Zukova had told me. “We’re gonna get you, and the ones you love.” A shiver ran down my spine as I suddenly realized what I had done. Before my eyes, I saw Olivia lying on the mat motionless as Tina posed over her with an evil grin on her face. I watched helplessly as Daisy pleaded for mercy, her face turning purple from Sarah’s merciless chokehold. My attack on Zukova and now on the other Vagabonds might have changed the game, and they would not be content with getting their payback just on me. What had I done? A paralyzing cold crept into my limbs, as if someone had injected liquid nitrogen into my veins. Like a slow dagger piercing into my heart, this strange, terrifying feeling settled in. Something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Fear.

    “We need to get her out of here.” Jessi said in the tone of a caring mother. “Can you manage it, AJ? I’m going to help Livy and Daisy.”
    “I’ll be fine.” Ariane responded. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Before I could protest, she placed my hands around her neck and lifted me up as gently as she could. Walking out of the gym into the parking lot, I heard Jessi call the others to get out, then everything went black.

    The warm rays of the sun caressed the left side of my face like the soft, timid touch of a loved one. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was lying in a hospital bed, cables connected to my forearms. The curtains were pulled back and the window slightly opened, inviting the chirping of the birds into my room.
    “Good to see you awake, how are you feeling?”
    To my right, Ariane was sitting next to the bed, watching me with a mixture of concern and happiness. Everything came back. The fight against Sarah, the attempted rescue, the …
“Where are the others?” I asked, my voice weak and raspy.
“Livy got smacked in the head pretty good, but everyone’s OK.” Ariane placed her hand on mine. “What about you?”
I closed my eyes, sighing in relief. “I’m fine.”

And while my body disagreed with that statement, knowing that nobody had to pay for my foolishness, ws at least a small consolation. But I knew this wouldn’t be the end. From now on, every time one of my friends was jumped by Vagabonds, I would have to be confronted with the thought of whether this was the ambush I could have prevented if I didn’t attack them. The potential harm my actions caused would not even be felt by me but by the innocent people I had tried to help. A tear rolled down my cheek.
“Megan was pretty furious, you know. Jenna basically had to drag her out when she tried to get to Trisha. I’ve never seen her like that. When we got out, she kept cursing. She’s still mad at you. Said, it was stupid of you to go in like that, alone.”
And she was right. My lips trembled. But the feeling of disappointing Megan still couldn’t compare to the disdain I felt for myself. I had failed all of them.
“Daisy did defend you. Things got a bit heated until Jessi stepped in.”
I turned towards her. “And what do you think?”
Ariane smiled. “I think that in your position, any one of us would have done the same. You’ve got a good heart, Jo. Don’t lose it.”

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!
Joanne is my OC
Vagabond is a joint venture by rtashkin5 , vrobx1 and Annakonder
Megan belongs to rtashkin5
Sarah belongs to Annakonder
Olivia belongs to OliviaParker901
Daisy belongs to DaisyPierce2000
Ariane belongs to ArianeJones
Jessi belongs to JessiBowen
Jenna belongs to rtashkin5

Description

    Sarah dropped the bar which fell to the ground with a metallic clank. Olivia, Daisy and Ariane had come, too, as well as Megan’s right hand woman Jenna and a muscular short haired blonde who I assumed was Jessi Bowen as I had heard a lot about her. Who had rallied all those troops? And for what? How did they get here at just the right moment?
    “Look who’s here! McNerd and her gang of losers, weaklings and weirdos!” Sarah laughed.
    Trisha stepped forward, standing right next to me. “How nice of you to join us, carny bitch, we’ve been expecting you!”
    I swallowed. What did she mean? Did they expect Megan to come when even I didn’t know that would happen? But that would imply … no, that couldn’t be.
    “Did you come to watch us beat up your escort?” Tina asked and punched me in the side. “Or do you want some of that treatment yourself?”
    Megan stepped through the broken window into the gym, followed by the rest of the group. Her expression was that of cold, calculated fury, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
    “I’m gonna ask you nicely one more time.” She said, her voice calm, but trembling slightly, as if she was holding back her rage with great effort. “Let her go, or this will not go well for you.”
    Trisha laughed. “How about you come and get her yourself?”

    She spun around and kicked me right in the middle of my stomach. At the same moment, the Vagabonds let go of me, causing me to slump down on the ground writhing in pain. Every part of my body was aching and I knew I couldn’t take any more. I just lay there, watching as the blurred silhouettes of the Vagabonds charged against Megan and her friends. Shouting and yelling filled the air as the two groups clashed. Next to me, Olivia rushed at Tina who dodged and blocked her furious strikes with a deranged cackle. A few meters further, Megan quickly swept Pixie girl off her feet as if she was a mild nuisance, and ran at Tina, only to be stopped by Zukova. On the other side, Daisy had attacked Sarah, who narrowly missed the Showboat’s head with a kettlebell.

    “Jo, for God’s sake, are you OK?”
    A hand touched my shoulder. As I turned, I looked into Ariane’s concerned face. I gave a weak nod, unable to speak. It wasn’t much, but enough to let the corners of her lips curl upward in a sad smile.
    “You should’ve told me, Jo, we would’ve come with you. You know, like friends do.”
    Friends. That word tasted bittersweet. Each of these girls had become dear to my heart, but I had always thought that they saw me as nothing more than just a fellow fighter. Knowing that even though I looked up to them they saw me as their equal, brought me to tears. I wished I could hug her. If only she understood what it meant to me.
    And then I remembered what Zukova had told me. “We’re gonna get you, and the ones you love.” A shiver ran down my spine as I suddenly realized what I had done. Before my eyes, I saw Olivia lying on the mat motionless as Tina posed over her with an evil grin on her face. I watched helplessly as Daisy pleaded for mercy, her face turning purple from Sarah’s merciless chokehold. My attack on Zukova and now on the other Vagabonds might have changed the game, and they would not be content with getting their payback just on me. What had I done? A paralyzing cold crept into my limbs, as if someone had injected liquid nitrogen into my veins. Like a slow dagger piercing into my heart, this strange, terrifying feeling settled in. Something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Fear.

    “We need to get her out of here.” Jessi said in the tone of a caring mother. “Can you manage it, AJ? I’m going to help Livy and Daisy.”
    “I’ll be fine.” Ariane responded. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Before I could protest, she placed my hands around her neck and lifted me up as gently as she could. Walking out of the gym into the parking lot, I heard Jessi call the others to get out, then everything went black.

    The warm rays of the sun caressed the left side of my face like the soft, timid touch of a loved one. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was lying in a hospital bed, cables connected to my forearms. The curtains were pulled back and the window slightly opened, inviting the chirping of the birds into my room.
    “Good to see you awake, how are you feeling?”
    To my right, Ariane was sitting next to the bed, watching me with a mixture of concern and happiness. Everything came back. The fight against Sarah, the attempted rescue, the …
“Where are the others?” I asked, my voice weak and raspy.
“Livy got smacked in the head pretty good, but everyone’s OK.” Ariane placed her hand on mine. “What about you?”
I closed my eyes, sighing in relief. “I’m fine.”

And while my body disagreed with that statement, knowing that nobody had to pay for my foolishness, ws at least a small consolation. But I knew this wouldn’t be the end. From now on, every time one of my friends was jumped by Vagabonds, I would have to be confronted with the thought of whether this was the ambush I could have prevented if I didn’t attack them. The potential harm my actions caused would not even be felt by me but by the innocent people I had tried to help. A tear rolled down my cheek.
“Megan was pretty furious, you know. Jenna basically had to drag her out when she tried to get to Trisha. I’ve never seen her like that. When we got out, she kept cursing. She’s still mad at you. Said, it was stupid of you to go in like that, alone.”
And she was right. My lips trembled. But the feeling of disappointing Megan still couldn’t compare to the disdain I felt for myself. I had failed all of them.
“Daisy did defend you. Things got a bit heated until Jessi stepped in.”
I turned towards her. “And what do you think?”
Ariane smiled. “I think that in your position, any one of us would have done the same. You’ve got a good heart, Jo. Don’t lose it.”

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!
Joanne is my OC
Vagabond is a joint venture by rtashkin5 , vrobx1 and Annakonder
Megan belongs to rtashkin5
Sarah belongs to Annakonder
Olivia belongs to OliviaParker901
Daisy belongs to DaisyPierce2000
Ariane belongs to ArianeJones
Jessi belongs to JessiBowen
Jenna belongs to rtashkin5