Gunshots fired from above Bir’s head, ricocheting through the space of the parking garage they were in. Her ears were ringing but she could still faintly hear the commotion her comrades scrambling and yelling around her as she struggled to repair the dream door for them to recover from a mistake they had made earlier. She felt fear but knew in this situation there was no time for that. Her time was limited, and lives were relying on her. We’ll take a moment to ignore the fact that these are the same lives that were taking others' lives, for the sake of the story. Bir wiped beads of sweat from her forehead, wishing she hadn't worn her red toque this morning which as a result was now a darker shade due to being drenched in sweat. But she always wore it so not wearing it would feel alien to her. So, for the sake of her own poor fashion sense, she persevered through the discomfort of a sweaty, damp toque. She clenched her teeth around a red wrench as she reached inside the wiring of the door, trying to reconnect the wires. The ‘door’ she was working on was an invention she had created. When functional, it was just a door in a metal frame, but the frame worked as a portal to wherever the user wanted to go. Of course, they had to know where that pce was, and there had to be another door on the other side, but it was a solution for anyone who wasn’t able to dream walk naturally. Bir, at this time, was currently trying to fix the functionality of this door so that the rest of the soldiers of Insomnia could escape this battle. Unfortunately, due to a bst earlier, the door had been knocked over and rendered useless. They were running out of time and Bir had to act quickly to get this fixed before they lost any more of their members. Her hands shot back as she felt a shock shoot upwards through her fingers. The wrench dropped from her mouth as she shoved her scorched fingers into her mouth, sucking her dirty fingers for a moment to try to soothe the pain. Her short, messy, dark brown hair was becoming dampened with sweat as well as her deep blue eyes tried to search for the solution as she picked her wrench up and put it back in her mouth, in case she found herself needing it as she worked. Evidently, Bir was not concerned about any sort of bacteria that may have attached itself to her wrench in the time it had id in the dirt. She had never been that type of girl in all her years, favouring to work on her inventions and living in poorer situations, rather than maintaining a clean-cut appearance and running about in the light of day with an honest job. Though this wasn’t entirely her choice, as she had been born a dreamer and the only other option for her was with the LDPD. She gritted her teeth around the wrench as she focused when suddenly a voice called out something. She didn't quite catch it but felt a tugging on her shirt as she was snapped back to reality. She gnced down at the small, shoddy robot next to her who had now begun tugging more frantically. An expression of worry was dispyed across his tv screen face. This robot was Reggie, and Bir had made him when she was very young out of some scraps she happened to have lying around before she escaped her previous life.

  "Miss! They said-" he started but was interrupted by a bst suddenly unching them forward. Bir felt her body collide with the door and felt it snap under her weight. She could hear her ears ringing as she struggled to push herself up. She gnced down and saw that her hands and arms had blood on them. Grimacing, this time she managed to push herself up into a seated position successfully but wished she had remained ying down. Before her y half of the body of one of her comrades who she had just seen moments ago, running into battle with a freshly fixed gun. If you could call it that. Half of the face and one of his arms had been blown clean off as well, and there were burns all over the body. She froze as she sat there, transfixed on his horrified expression frozen on his face, unable to look away. There was no sign of his lower half. She was broken out of her state when she felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of her head.

  "Bir Hatter? You're coming with me." The voice behind her boomed. She turned around just in time to see two bullets bst through the dream enforcer standing behind her. She scooted to the side as his body fell forward towards the ground. Another comrade, one she also recognized though this one was with much more familiarity, ran towards her, dropping to his knees and csping her face in his hands. The venetian mask she was so familiar with him wearing during missions was ying off to the side in the dirt.

  "Bir? Are you alright?" He asked frantically, his blonde hair falling into his face a bit. He searched her face and body for any extreme wounds (as she had many small cuts and bruises, but nothing that needed immediate medical attention) as Bir shook her head as Reggie pushed himself up and rolled over, his crack having grown a bit from the impact.

  "Yes, I'm fine. You should arrange for Jason's body to be removed from the grounds though, before those bastards commandeer it." she said quietly, standing up as anger fumed through her. Though as she did so she lost her footing and fell back towards the ground. The blonde man quickly caught her, holding her back up and hoisting her arm over his shoulder.

  "Come on, Bir. You can cut the tough girl act. Let's get you out of here, the job's almost done and there's no fixing this door." He said. Bir gritted her teeth as she shoved off his shoulder, regaining her bance as her weight shifted.

  "You make it sound like a challenge, Mal." She teased, smirking at him. The blonde boy, known as Mal, frowned as his body stiffened.

  "No, It's not. Come on, you're getting out of here." He demanded, reaching for her. Bir shook her head, grabbing the pieces of the door and pulling them towards her as she dashed away from him. She csped her hands together as red fme-like energy erupted from them and in a second a blow torch appeared in her hands. Bir grinned at him.

  "5 minutes." She bargained. Mal rolled his eyes, sighing, gncing at Reggie. Reggie shrugged.

  "I'll stay with Miss Bir the whole time, Mal." He promised.

  "Fine, 5 minutes and that's it. Not a second longer." He replied, "And I'm setting a timer this time."

  "Works for me. I’ve always worked better under pressure.” She replied, "Cover me."

  Mal grunted before putting his mask back on and vanishing. As a highly skilled dream walker, he was able to appear and disappear at will. It was a form of creating his own doorways that he could enter and exit through, rather than find doors to use. He began teleporting in the area all around her, stopping anyone who might try to harm her, as she began mending the door back together. She welded the metal frame back together and began to reattach the wires in the control panel. Mal suddenly appeared in front of her.

  "Three minutes." He warned before vanishing again. Bir gred at the ground as she continued working. Suddenly his voice was heard over the gunfire.

  "Two minutes!" She heard as she began to glue the pieces of door back together. She quickly got to work on screwing the bolts back in to protect her handiwork. Suddenly Mal appeared behind her again.

  "Alright, missy. Time to go." He ordered. Bir nodded.

  "One second." She retorted, pressing in the code on the panel. The light above the door suddenly began to glow. She turned to Mal, grinning.

  "Done!" She chirped. Mal smirked.

  "Good job." He said, his voice unenthusiastic as he grabbed her and helped her up. Bir grimaced as she stood up, grabbing Reggie's hand.

  "Gate's online!" She yelled across the battleground. There was a resounding 'roger' replied back to her. Suddenly the world around her vanished as she realized she was going through the door. As soon as they had nded in the rabbit hole, Mal lifted her up into his arms. Bir raised an eyebrow.

  "I'm perfectly fine floating." she said calmly. Mal nodded as he continued to hold her, his bck trench coat flowing around him as they descended.

  "I know." He muttered, holding her closer. Bir frowned but still felt a slight flutter in her chest as he held her tightly. Reggie frowned.

  "I'm still here." He stated. The two felt their faces flush as Mal let Bir out of his arms so they were floating down in a line. It was only a matter of moments before a door opened before them and Mal floated through, nding on the other side in a dingy cement room. Bir began to feel the pain in her legs give way as she stood on the cement ground. Mal released Bir's hand, opting to lift her arm over his shoulder instead. Bir found this to be fair as no one really knew they were a couple at this time. They had been partnered up together for a while and were considered one of the top teams in Insomnia. Although they weren't as good in the offensive area, in defense and assistance they were considered the best. Although everyone agreed they never wanted to be on the receiving end when Bir swung her wrench. Bir grimaced as she felt the weight shift in her legs again, noting her evident injuries from the battle. She and Mal walked down the hallway of rooms until they reached one metal door. He opened the door which led into a hectically decorated room, with a queen-sized bed at the back. Bir frowned.

  "You're going back out, aren't you?" she asked as Mal shut the door behind the trio. Mal nodded.

  "I have to. But you need to rest." He ordered, picking her up and pcing her in her bed. Bir shook her head.

  "I'm a dream taker! I can handle myself out there, you all just never let me. Remember, I was one of the top child dream enforcers before I single handily escaped the LDPD." Bir grumbled. Mal raised his eyebrows.

  "Yes, key word being 'child'. Bir, no one's going to trust you with that resume, especially with your past as a LDPD member... you're a valuable member to Insomnia but... look. They're looking for someone to assist with a job off the grid. You'd be living in the countryside back in Engnd, just working on some new equipment for a job coming up. I think you should take it." He expined. Bir raised an eyebrow.

  "You just want me out of the way." She grumbled, turning away from Mal. Mal squeezed her shoulder gently, so as not to aggravate any injuries.

  "Yes. Because I'm worried about you, Bir. You don't have much in the way for self-preservation. You opted to fix a dream door in the middle of a gunfight. Do you know how much that worries me?" He said gently. Bir frowned, pushing herself up. Reggie opted to go sit in the corner and 'sleep'. By sleeping, he just dispyed an image of a sleeping face with z's coming out of his mouth.

  "I understand that you're worried but understand I'm trying to complete my quota. If I finish my debt, then there's no need for me to stay at Insomnia anymore and we can be free." She expined. Mal released her shoulder, stepping away from her and towards the door.

  "I never said I wanted to leave." He stated, opening the door. He paused and looked back at her, “look. Just… think about the job, okay? I can even go with you for a bit and help you get settled.” He suggested. Bir frowned and turned away again, throwing the bnkets over her head. Mal sighed and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Reggie's expression suddenly switched to his basic look.

  "That went well." he said, rather calmly. Bir gnced over her shoulder and shot him a look. Reggie dispyed a frown.

  "You couldn't have expected him to understand, Bir. This is his life. You have to make your own." he said, wheeling over to her and csping her hand. Bir nodded, reaching over to the sheet Mal had left on her desk.

  "Maybe this is the first step towards that life." she said softly. Reggie looked up at her.

  "You aren't going to tell Mal you're accepting the job, are you? Even though you know that your location will be kept confidential from him?" He asked. Bir shook her head.

  "If he wants to continue this life, and underestimate me, he can. I can go over and take down the Dream Police from over there and show him I’m not just a fragile brainiac… I’m useful…" She said, her voice sounding softer than normal towards the end as she gnced up at the cement ceiling above her. She looked around the room. Many schematics and mechanical parts were strewn about, as well as knickknacks and old toys. Most of which had been used for parts originally and showed the signs of being taken apart. She sat up and sighed, pulling her knees in towards her chest and hugging them. Reggie rolled over to her and pced a mechanical hand on her leg.

  “Are you even going to say goodbye to him? For your sake?” He asked. Bir buried her head into her legs.

  “I… I don’t think so, Reg. I think it’s for the best if we just cut it off here…” She muttered. Reggie reached up and patted her head.

  “Okay. Would you like some alone time, Miss Bir?” He asked. Bir gritted her teeth as she felt hot tears stinging her eyes and nodded her head.

  “Uh… yeah. Thanks Reg. Just wait for me to come get you and we’ll get ready to go.” She said, trying to control her voice. Reggie said nothing, but rolled back into his spot and retracted his limbs back in. He looked at her for a moment, as her body began to shake, before putting himself into sleep mode again.

  After what had felt like a few moments to herself, Bir’s head shot up. Her mouth tasted dry and off, as if she had fallen asleep in her position. And her knotted up neck and back seemed to protest in agreement. How she had managed to sleep like that, she was unsure. She had always been good at falling asleep in strange positions. Perhaps it had been because of her training before. She let out a sigh before stretching her body out and wiping whatever was left around her eyes, smearing her eyeliner around. Bir id down on the bed for a few moments before nodding silently to herself.

  “Come on now, Bir. Now is not the time to be crying over some idiot. Let’s pick up and move on.” She muttered to herself. Sitting back up again, she looked over at Reggie, who was still ‘sleeping.’ She smiled softly. Reggie was the one constant in her life. The one thing she knew would always be there no matter what. She would kill a man for that robot. Bir caught herself snorting at that thought. She would kill a man for a lot less than Reggie, really. She frowned as she looked down at her hands. She had run to Insomnia looking for a way to escape being a pawn of war and yet here she was again. At least she was stopping the LDPD and their awful ideals, and Insomnia was the lesser of two evils, but there was still no freedom here. She stood up slowly and paced over to the table where Mal had left the job posting. She sighed as she picked it up. Perhaps this was the closest thing Bir would have to freedom. She’d still be under Insomnia’s watch, and could continue to be a valuable asset to them, but their reach wasn’t as strong yet in other parts of the world so maybe… even if it was just for a short while… she could pretend and live somewhat of a normal life? She closed her eyes. When was the st time she felt normal? Was there ever a time? She could barely remember her life before she was brought to the LDPD. Just snippets of pces. Not even faces really. After a moment she shook those thoughts from her head. There was no point dwelling on her memories. She wouldn’t get anywhere, getting lost in the past. It was time to move forward. She looked back at the listing, then quickly turned and left the room as she headed towards the job assignment centre.

  “Reggie…”

  Bir tapped Reggie’s head softly as his systems booted up. His eyes on his screen blinked as he began to regain consciousness. Bir smiled as she gestured around the room. All of her knickknacks and posters had been removed from the wall. In fact, everything that had made this Bir’s room previously had been packed away into a few suitcases. Bir held out her hand as Reggie took it.

  “Miss Bir? What time is it?” He asked. Bir pulled him up.

  “It’s about 1 am. Our transport to the airport is here, we have to go.” She stated. Reggie nodded, picking up a couple of suitcases.

  “I see, thank you for informing me. If you don’t mind me asking, is it wise for us to be taking an airpne to our destination?” he asked. Bir shrugged, picking up the other two suitcases in the room and heading towards the door.

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a choice. There’s no dream door set up at the base yet. That’s our job when we get there. We’re taking a private pne there though, so we don’t have to worry about going through a big public airport.” She expined.

  “Oh good. Another private pne. My favourite” Reggie grumbled. Bir gnced at him.

  “I don’t remember programming you with sarcasm” She taunted. Reggie smiled back at her.

  “Oh no sarcasm here, like you said I’m incapable of sarcasm” He retorted. Bir turned back around smiling as the two headed out. Bir could feel her heart pound as she gripped the suitcases tightly. She really was heading out on her own again. Other than Reggie, she wouldn’t have anyone else there to help her. She suddenly heard Reggie wheel up next to her. She gnced down to see him smiling back up at her as he took her hand. She smiled back, squeezing his tiny cwed metal hand. She didn’t need anyone else. It was her and Reggie against the world. Just like it always had been. Just like it always would be.