Collateral
"Come closer..." The girl in the cage whispered.
I let out a shaky breath. "Why?" I asked, curiosity encircling my thoughts, and fear making sweat drip down my brow.
"Why?" She laughed, "because you intrigue me. You have an aura about you that..." She frowns, trying to think of a way to end the speech. "I can't seem to resist." She edges to the front of the cage.
"Why?" I ask again, and that seems to be all I'm doing.
"I don't know!" She snaps, "Why is the sky blue? Why do people fall in love, only once or never finding the person they're meant to be with?"
I take a step forward. "Why me? Why am I the one that intrigues you? I'm nothing."
"Oh!" She chuckles, "You don't know! Interesting..."
"Of course I don't know! It's my first day on the job!" I exclaim.
Let me rewind; let you know the facts.
I am Fabian Rutter, new guard at the institute of Metropolis. It's where we keep the prisoners, the ones in intensive care, the ones who have to have their own cell because they'd rip their inmates to shreds, the walls and door enforced with zero balance dwarf star alloy. The densest material in the universe.
The prisoner I'm talking to right now has been the most wanted criminal for a little over a decade (10 years). The one and only Nina Martin. Oh, and she's American! The American government can't handle her, so they sent her over here.
Oops.
"First day on the job, huh?"
Damn.
"Yeah..." I mutter under my breath.
"And they give YOU the job of guarding the most wanted person on the planet for 10 years on your first day?"
"Yes?" I ask uncertainly.
"Good." She states and smiles at me.
"Good?" I ask out of disbelief. "Good?! How is that in anyway good? I'm scared out of my wits 'cause you're the most feared person on the planet and yet I find you so damn beautiful and so breathtaking that somehow I'm not scared of you! I'm..." I close my eyes and stop. I can't let it out. Not now.
"You're...what? Come closer, I can't hear you. Just come closer." She instructs, cracking a smile that I can't resist, so I take another step forward and I'm roughly 10 steps from her. I decide to take a different route.
"I admire you. I'm guarding you, but the things you've done are amazing; phenomenal." I can see her blushing in the dark.
She shakes her head at me, "That wasn't what you were going to say." She's seen through it.
"Maybe not," I sigh "Why'd you care?"
"You were talking so fast, I could barely understand you, then you just... Stopped. Why? Was it something you didn't want me to know?" I can hear the smirk in her voice, and it sickens me to think that she thinks I'm that easy to crack.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"You didn't answer mine!" She bellows.
I sigh again, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Alright. I was going to say... I'm the complete opposite. I'm taken in with you. Like there's some... Unknown irrevocably strong force pulling me, edging me towards you. Somehow it's right and wrong at the same time and I don't know how that can be." I pause, she senses this and waits for me to continue, and in earnest she pushes herself up against the gap in the door and I can see her clearly now. "Your eyes are like stars shining so bright at night so I don't need to go outside to look at them; I can just look into your eyes. Then in the day they're like the sea, blue and green at the same time, changing direction between emotions so quickly. You smile, and sometimes it reaches your eyes, then they glisten and sparkle. I like that. I like it best when I can do it 'cause it seems that when I do it, you're eyes chose a specific glisten, only for me." I finish and in the midst of the speech I seem to have come 5 paces closer.
"You remember..." She whispers.
"Remember? Remember what?" I ask, scared coming towards angry. (Fear generates savagery)
It was weird. It was like someone was controlling me, telling me from inside my own head to say these things. Like I'd lived a different life.
"Fabian, listen to me, we don't have much time-" She speaks in a rush.
"No, we have plenty of time! How do you know my name?!" I yell, rage coursing through my veins.
"Fabian, questions later. Right now you need to-" I cut her off again.
"No! Tell me how you know my name!" I exclaim, shouting louder.
"It's difficult to explain, just please-"
I've come closer to her now, one step and we'll be as close as we can get. "How do you know my name?" I scream through gritted teeth.
She sighs and clears her throat. "You are Fabian Rutter. We solve mysteries together; like the Cup of Ankh, and the Mask of Anubis in Anubis house, with Sibuna; Amber Millington, Alfie Lewis, Patricia Williamson, Eddie Miller and me, Nina Martin. I'm not here. Non of Sibuna are. Just you. This is fake, non of it is real. The teachers, our enemies, they've imprisoned your mind in a virtual world because your mind has the ability, the power to remember almost anything within your own time stream, the facts you will come to know are facts that will bring our enemies down, and they don't want that." She takes a few breaths and asks me if there's anything else I would like to know.
"Where am I now, the real me? Why don't I remember all this Sibuna business? Where's the exit out of here? And am I seeing anyone; romantically?"
"The real you is lying comatose in a lab bed with your brain hooked up to a major mainframe which projects a living hell driven by your subconscious. Like you're playing a giant video game. The teachers have blocked certain neuropaths in your brain to block your powers, if the procedure works in this world then they'll do it in the real world, taking your memories back to before you met me and we'll never be able to get them back, thus creating an alternative universe. The exit is 800 feet above the West End. And no, you're not." She finished her speech, in taking air again.
Of course. I remember now! Amber, Alfie, Patricia, Eddie. Sibuna. The teachers. Victor and his society. Robert Frobisher-Smythe. My allies. My enemies.
I said nothing after that; taking in all the information that was given to me. "I'm glad I'm not seeing anyone because now I can do this without feeling guilty..." We said nothing as we both knew what was happening, she stood backwards and I unlocked her door, striding towards her I grabbed her by the waist, picking her up and her legs wrapping around my waist, pulling her to me and kissed her with love.
We pull away; gasping for air, both craving more, but I stop before it can go any farther.
"So, where is this emergency exit out of Narnia?"
"The roof of the Daily Planet. We have to jump from it." She tells me.
"Course it is (!)" I say sarcastically.
"Hey, I have no power over where the door materialises! Anyone can access it, they just have to believe everything they see in this world is fake."
"But... You can't be fake... I just kissed you!" I exclaim, my voice cracking a little.
She smiles softly, and I know she's not here. Not the real Nina. "No, I'm not here, Fabian. We only kissed because you wanted it to happen; you believe this world is fake and you can manipulate it, make this world do whatever you want."
We say nothing else as she leads me by the hand towards the exit of the institute. All of a sudden Nina slams me up the wall. "Security guards."
"Alright, I can take care of him." I tell her.
"No, no, I can handle it." She dismisses, "I just need to know one thing; do you trust me?"
I think, do I? I mean, she's not really here and she did leave us for a while, without a proper explanation. The trust between us has diminished a little. What if after this she leaves again? I don't think I could handle that pain. Never again.
But she's back now, I don't how long for, but I'm willing to savour every moment I get with her. I love her. That will never go away. No matter where she is. I look into her eyes and I know what my answer will always be. No matter what.
I swallow the lump in my throat. "With my life."
She smiles, slightly, nods once and takes out 2 guns for the 2 security guards. She shoots the one to our left in the rib cage and the one to our right in the leg. Just flesh wounds and possibly a broken rib. Nothing serious. They both fall down instantly. "Let's go." She continues to lead me down winding passageways until we're out in the fresh air. We sprint off towards the Daily Planet, you can see the huge spinning globe wherever you are in Metropolis. It's handy when you're lost.
Panting and sweating a little we reach the Daily Planet's roof and go towards the edge, leaning over a little to see how far we have to jump. "Ready Fabes?"
"Yeah." I breathe and we both step back a few paces and then run. We jump over the little ledge, then begin our free fall.
I have to say, jumping off a 800 ft tall building was not on my bucket list.
I can feel the force pulling me quicker down to the ground. I spare a second to look at Nina, she's not falling raggedy like me, she's falling gracefully, like a dive in mid-air, head first, hands out in front. While I am falling straight, feet first.
My last thought before I enter the real world is, My Gods,* Nina looks stunning.
My eyes open and I tug all off the wires connected to me, getting out of my glass tube, immediately scanning the room for Nina. She's stood behind me with a smile on her face.
"Are we dead?" I question, my voice quavering a little.
She must have noticed this as she smiles wider, "This might help you decide." She grabs my neck and pulls me in for a fierce kiss, communicating everything we can. I respond instantly by wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her closer and she replies by pulling the hair on the back of my neck, making a small moan come out of me.
"Keep your shirt on, Rutter." Eddie scolds jokingly and as I pull away a fraction I see him and Patricia linked by the arms with matching leather jackets and matching smirks on their faces.
"Shut up." I mutter, rolling my eyes and turning back to kiss Nina again.
This was slightly based off the Chollie moments in the Smallville episode, Collateral - hence the title.
* I wrote my gods because I have recently got involved in the Percy Jackson fandom.
OK well, review please! I worked hard on this, please tell me your thoughts.
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