DISCLAIMER: The Bionic Woman and its characters are the property of NBC. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Do bionic zombies dream of eating positronic brains? Just a little twisted one off as I try to settle back into an old fandom.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To Geekgrrl.lurking[at]gmail.com
Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
By Geekgrrllurking
A cold wind blew across the tiny graveyard, the bare branches of the trees reaching up, as if grasping and clawing at the troubled sky. The breeze tumbled and danced around the headstones, swirling all but unnoticed around the small group gathered to mourn the newest edition to the cemetery.
Becca Sommers stood by the graveside, a gust catching her dark hair, long strands fluttering across her face. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed as they lowered Jaime, her older sister, into the ground, the drone of the minister's voice flowing over her numb mind. She glanced up at Ruth Truewell, who stood stock still beside her, pale skin and red rimmed eyes the only thing giving away how devastated the older woman was. That and the death grip she had on Becca's hand.
Everything had changed so dramatically once Jaime had finally confessed to the secret life she was living. And then it all changed again when she had finally moved into a relationship with Ruth. For it to all end now, like this, placed into a box and lowered into that damned hole, before she'd even had time to really live, it just wasn't fair.
But then, as Jaime was so fond of reminding her, who said life was fair?
Jonas and Nathan stood across from her, their hands stuffed in their pockets, shifting from foot to foot, watching to see how they were doing. Jonas had been like an uncle to her, following her progress at school, hooking her up with Nathan once Jaime had realized she hadn't stopped her hacking ways, simply having gone deeper underground with it.
Becca supposed she should be happy that she used her skills for good now. Nathan's tutoring had shown her that there was so much more out there for her. Jonas got her into the Berkut program and she never looked back. She had just finished up her second year out of four and she knew that it would only take her higher still in the secret agency biz. Computer espionage was the front lines these days and she was more than ready to be a web warrior for Berkut.
Becca glanced finally over at the knot of Jaime's old friends that populated with the rest of the small group gathered to say good bye. The official story was that it was a car accident, hit by a truck, killed instantly. It was sort of the truth, just four or more years after the fact.
The official story wasn't the truth though, not in the slightest. Jaime may have been bionic but she was still human and a bullet to the head and a good shove out of a helicopter could still do the job nicely.
Ruth gasped softly, the grip on her hand growing even tighter as Becca looked up and followed the older woman's gaze. A flash of white-blond hair first fluttering in the soft breeze caught her eye, like a ghost appearing in the cemetery. It was a very familiar phantom.
Sarah Corvus.
Becca's breath caught, but no one moved. No one approached the other bionic woman carefully making her way to the graveside. To pay her respects, Becca supposed, whatever that meant. She started as the minister concluded his prayers and then it was over. The small group began to disperse around them, and finally they made their way, down the small grassy incline to the pathway, clinging to each other for much needed support. Neither woman saw her approach, Corvus was suddenly just there before them, blocking the way.
"What do you want?" Becca growled, wanting nothing to do with the woman. Corvus ignored her; instead turning to Ruth, their eye's locking.
"Are you sure she's gone?" Sarah's voice rasped, haunted and harsh.
"I saw the body myself. She's…" Ruth stopped, swallowing hard, the wave of rough emotion too much to bear. "She was gone."
"I was dead before too, Ruth. Make sure she is truly…at rest," Sarah put her hand on Ruth's shoulder, both understanding the realities of their world of shadows and spooks. "Have they found Jae yet?"
Jae Kim was Jaime's handler and partner on this last, fatal mission and one of Jaime's good friends. His disappearance was concerning everyone. To make matters worse, the bullet dug out of Jaime's brain was identified as coming from his gun. There were a lot of unanswered questions, and Ruth just didn't have any answers.
Ruth looked down, shaking her head. Sarah moved her hand from her shoulder and remained silent for a long moment, staring out across the tombstones. Her fist tightened, squeezing hard, the only indication of the emotions flowing through her.
"I'm going to find him and bring him home," Sarah finally murmured, her eyes locking with Ruth's one final time before turning to leave. She hadn't taken two steps before a hand gripped her bicep, curling warm and demanding around the muscle, and she turned to face the person who dared to stop her.
"I'm coming with you," Becca straightened her shoulders, her grip like steel. Sarah's eyes narrowed but the girl stood her ground. "They killed my sister, for God's sake."
Sarah shifted at the raw truth of the girl's words, but there was little she could do, let alone drag the wee slip of a thing along with her on this suicide mission. She started to pull away, prepared to leave the girl behind, only to be drawn closer.
"I owe it to Jaime," Becca's comment caused Sarah to pause, torn at the young woman's words. Her dark eyes flashed with anger and something else, something almost intolerably sad. It nearly broke what was left of Sarah's Frankensteined heart.
"We both do," Becca leaned forward, her point made.
Pulling her arm free of the surprisingly strong grip, Corvus started to walk away, flexing her hand. Sarah couldn't easily forget that first generous anthrocyte transfusion from Jaime that saved her life a few years ago, and then the ongoing next generation upgrades from Berkut that Sommers had arranged as part of their negotiated truce.
Corvus owed Jaime her life, it was true, but she didn't owe anything to her sister.
"You're too young and stupid," Sarah growled, the discussion over as far as she was concerned. "Besides, I work alone."
"I may be young, but I'm not stupid." Becca blurted, unable to stop herself from grabbing the blonde's arm again, realizing her mistake too late. Maybe she was stupid after all. Sarah just stared down at her hand a moment, a slight sneer crossing her features before she looked up and took a menacing step forward, insanity oozing from every pore. Becca just stood her ground. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You will be." Sarah cocked her head to the side, the crazy bleeding into her eyes, causing terror to bloom in Becca's gut. "You will be."
What the hell had she just gotten herself into?
Ruth grabbed at her arm, pulling her back as Becca straightened her shoulders. Only time would tell if Sarah Corvus could be trusted but Becca was determined to do this, with or without the bionic woman's help. They had the same mission; it would only make sense to work together. She refused to back down and continued to stare hard at the woman. It was her sister who had been mowed down, shot like a rabid dog and thrown away like garbage. If anyone deserved to seek justice, it was her.
Sarah stared a moment longer, as if judging her, weighing her argument and finding her wanting. Finally she nodded, recognizing the determination in the girl's eyes.
"You deal with Jonas, kid. I'll be in touch soon."
Becca watched the lone figure stalk away before Corvus seemed to disappear into thin air, moving too fast for the average human eye. Becca sighed and started to walk back towards the parked cars with Ruth, tears threatening to fall yet again. They both glanced up, relieved when Jonas appeared at their side.
"Well?" Jonas tucked his hands into his trench coat and waited. Something was up and Corvus was involved, he could feel it in his bones.
Becca shook her head; this was all such a huge mess. Jae kidnapped or worse, gone rogue, Jaime dead and buried and Ruth, her usual tower of strength and good judgment, was an emotional wreck. It was time to step up and carry the ball for awhile.
It was time for Becca Sommers to grow up, whether she wanted to or not.
"She'll be in touch." Becca said quietly, her mind already shifting to the mission ahead. Jaime's death would be avenged, one way or another if it was the last thing she did on this earth.
Jonas paused, glancing over at the determined woman he had watched grow and blossom these last few years. It was funny how life turned out sometimes, all the time he had thought that Jaime was the sure bet, but Becca could turn out to be the dark horse winner in this little race. Only time would truly tell, in the meantime he wouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth.
He grinned, knowing that Jaime would have killed him, if she was still alive. Now Becca was taking her sister's place, stepping from her shadow and into her own, making her own decisions. Jonas nodded, accepting his responsibility in this new facet of Becca's education with Berkut. Life and death could be an effective, but cruel, teacher.
"Corvus is our only hope now," Jonas said, pulling up the collar of his trench coat. It was enough for one day, more than enough. Tomorrow they could start talking missions and planning and worrying about the youngest Sommers' girl. He glanced down at the petite woman beside him, reminding him so much of his own daughter at times like this. "Come on, let's get you and Ruth home."
They followed the pathway out of the cemetery, making their way towards the line of waiting cars, all of them headed for an uncertain future.
Six feet below, in the dark silence of the grave, an acid green light flickered once, twice and then came burning to unnatural life. The corpse inside the casket began to lurch, shifting without conscious thought and yet permeated with the stark knowledge that this was not the end.
It was a new and glorious beginning.
The End