Rainbow lay facedown on her bed. It hurt just to breathe.
She barely remembered the aftermath of previous day’s whipping. She knew she hadn’t gotten to the bunkhouse on her own two feet. Someone had removed her torn and bloody shirt. She vaguely remembered the sting of being washed.
At the moment, she was covered by a sheet. Even the gentle touch seemed to hurt, and if her wounds hadn’t scabbed yet, the cloth was surely going to stick. Still, she wasn’t going to let flies or who knew what else land on her. Not to mention, she still retained some dignity. She wasn’t going to go topless in group lodging, even if she was on her front and didn’t have a lot to cover.
Angels came in. She had a bucket and a sponge and sat down on Stratus’ bed, next to Rainbow’s. “How are you?”
“Really?” muttered Rainbow, burying her face again.
“I mean everything besides what happened.”
Rainbow considered it, but then just groaned into her bedding. She would have shrugged, but, well…
Angels gently pulled the sheet back. The air felt better to Rainbow, but it would have been much nicer if it was cool. She didn’t know what time it was, but estimated it was midday.
Angels didn’t warn her the sponge would hurt, but she didn’t need to. At this point, Rainbow was just assuming everything would hurt.
“You’re mostly cleaned up,” Angels said. “If you’re lucky, it won’t become infected. Try to avoid that. All we can get is rubbing alcohol.”
That sounded horrible.
Angels finished. “You need to at least drink something. Come on, I’ll help you up.”
Rainbow groaned again, but moved to avoid pain as Angels put her hands on her arm. She slowly came up to her hands and knees and from there to kneeling. Under her hand, she saw the blue and yellow cloth Soarin’ had given her to bite and didn’t remember it being there.
Angels laid Rainbow’s flight suit on the bed. “It’s loose.”
She left Rainbow alone for a moment to get dressed. Rainbow glanced at the bed and the sparse blood on the sheets. They were old when they became hers, and something told her that she wouldn’t get new ones just for bleeding on them.
Leaning over, she picked up the cloth she’d bitten on. It had helped. Rainbow had been too busy to notice at the time, but she remembered how hard her jaw had involuntarily clenched.
Unfolding it, she realized to her surprise that it was a Wonderbolts bandana. The winged lightning bolt in the center was inside a blue diamond. The corners of the bandana were yellow.
Rainbow looked at it for a moment, and then tied it around her neck. She turned the tail backwards and put her flight suit on over it. It wouldn’t cover very much of her back or the part where the injuries were the worst, but it might help a little.
The flight suit, loose though it was, still only stayed off Rainbow’s flayed skin when she consciously leaned back. Steeling herself against fresh pain, Rainbow staggered out of the building.
She was thirsty, but didn’t have much appetite, especially for the tasteless food that the kitchen made. Still, Angels convinced her she needed the calories.
Rainbow sat stiffly in the chair, her back not touching its back. Angels sat across from her. The meal today was something that resembled oatmeal, but not made with oats. Gruel? It tasted faintly of something starchy and was filling, but that was about it.
As she ate with a spoon, Lightning Dust came in. Stiff as she already was, Rainbow stiffened even more. But as her eyes went up to meet Lightning’s, she pulled them back down. No, now wasn’t the time.
Rainbow couldn’t tell if Angels had caught the exchange or if she even knew what Lightning had done. For that matter, Rainbow didn’t know if Lightning knew that she knew.
Rainbow kept eating, but her mind was somewhere else. She even forgot her pain. She was the Element of Loyalty. Ordinarily, that meant being one sixth of a magical force for good.
She almost snorted into ther gruel. That used to be her ordinary. How messed up was her life now? So much had changed.
But one thing hadn’t. Rainbow valued loyalty above all else. Lightning had snitched. She’d sold Rainbow out. For one mission off.
Rainbow had nearly been killed flying in combat several times already. She was likely responsible for the deaths of Freedom Army fighters, but she could tell herself that they would gladly have done the same to her. But fighting for her life was different. Being stabbed in the back for personal gain hurt, on several levels.
Rainbow paused, the spoon halfway to her mouth. Fighting for her life… Was it different? Rainbow fighting the Freedom Army was for her own survival. Was that how Lightning saw her fellow pilots?
The revelation twisted Rainbow’s gut. On the one hand, it meant Lightning had sold her out strictly for business. It was harder to hate her if it hadn’t been a personal slight to Rainbow. But it also meant that Rainbow was even more alone and isolated than ever. Lightning wasn’t her friend, and never had been. She could be amicable in conversation, but that didn’t mean she would do anything for Rainbow. It wasn’t betrayal if she’d never been loyal in the first place.
That didn’t mean Rainbow didn’t want her revenge. She knew it wouldn’t bring her peace, and Lightning probably wouldn’t see it as equal retribution. But she wanted it.
Not now, though. What Lightning deserved couldn’t be done spur of the moment. Rainbow didn’t look at Lightning as she finished eating and got up. With Angels, she made her way out of the building.
Going straight back to bed was probably the best idea. Still, maybe she could show her face and let the others know she wasn’t so easily beaten. Maybe they would be inspired.
It wasn’t much to hope for, and she certainly wasn’t hoping they too would be caught trying to escape. Still, Rainbow headed to the Flyers Club.
Stratus was near the door. He looked up briefly and then away. Kiel met Rainbow’s eyes, long enough to convey that he recognized her presence in the room.
Striker came over. “It looks like you won’t be playing for a while.”
“You mean it looks like I won’t be beating you for a while.” It wasn’t a good joke, and Rainbow’s boast fell flat in her obvious injured condition. Striker gave her a crooked smile that was more awkward than humor.
“What does it look like?” said Pug, coming over. He gestured at her back.
Rainbow stared at him. “Weren’t you there? I thought they made you watch, to try to make an example out of me.”
“Well, you made an example out of yourself. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t tried to-”
It was honestly hard to say if Rainbow or Pug was more surprised when her right hand crashed into his cheekbone. It didn’t stop there, either, but by then she realized she was punching him and went right along with it. How dare he suggest that any of this was her fault! She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Lion Heart and his mercenaries. Trying to escape was trying to help herself, and if he thought he could suggest that she had any part in this…!
It wasn’t until several pairs of hands were pulling Rainbow off him that she realized how much pain she was in. She could already feel the reopened wounds bleeding down her back.
She was unrepentant. Lightning had taught her how things worked around here.