Faith and Fears
Word Count: 1,770
Rating: K+/PG, I think
Warnings: None (just references to what's in canon)
Summary: Twilight might still be a threat, and the plan to keep Cardia safe has Van full of doubt.
Author's Note: I wrote this as the start for a crossover idea I had, between Code Realize and Amnesia, but I don't think I'll continue it. I cleaned up the Amnesia scene I had for it and changed the ending to make it a one-shot, and then I came back to do that with this part, too.
Things would have changed after the end of the first game, and that's sort of what this establishes. I thought the conversation between Van and Cardia might be worth sharing.
Faith and Fears
"There's no question about it," Van said, his eyes on the distance out the window. "They moved like Twilight."
Cardia winced, looking down at her hands. She'd thought so, too, even though she wasn't half the fighter that Van was, who knew techniques and styles just by watching someone move. He could predict movements and evade attacks, knowing how they were likely to come, but she hadn't learned that much yet. Still, she'd felt like it was the same as the other times they had been up against those men, endless numbers of them in dark suits and masks.
"They weren't wearing masks," Cardia said, remembering the angry looks on some of those faces. They were scarier when they had true faces, so much more human and full of hate. Worse, too, was seeing how their anguish when they crumpled up in pain from Van's bullets or her fists.
Van glanced at her, and she wondered if he saw that as a failure in her, that dislike for seeing their enemies as people. He didn't kill, not anymore, using rock salt to disable his enemies, but he didn't hesitate when he saw their faces.
She had.
Lupin nodded. "If they were truly Twilight, I doubt they would use their masks now."
"Indeed, their greatest strength now would lie in our belief that the organization has been disbanded," Saint agreed. "Before, their masks were a show of force, but that force should no longer exist. To act as though it did would only attract attention to them."
Cardia frowned. "And Twilight doesn't want that?"
"Twilight is an organization that always operated from the shadows," Lupin said, rising from his chair to pace. "They used masks and had few recognizable members—Finis, Van, and his mentor Alestair are the only ones known by name or face. That has been their strength in the past, the endless number of agents, none of whom could be identified. Anyone could be a member of Twilight without the mask."
Cardia shuddered. That was frightening, wasn't it? That anyone could be Twilight. Who knew where Finis had sent his people? Or Alestair? The ones loyal to him, the ones on Hidden Strength... If those men, like Jack the Ripper, were still out there, how much damage could they do?
"I hate to even mention this," Fran began, frowning, "but I have to admit I'm worried. Are we certain Alestair found the true secret behind Finis' immortality? That he's really dead?"
Cardia thought about the mutilated bodies in the lab, the experiments her father had created with her face, the ones that showed her the truth of what she was. "Finis could be alive, couldn't he? There were two that night, but... what if there were more? Like the lab? Like... me?"
Van lowered his head, and she bit her lip, hoping that he didn't think anything less of her feelings for him because of what she was. She'd saved him, asking him to stay with her because she loved him, but was love from something like her really enough after all that Alestair had done to him?
"It's possible," Fran said, sounding very much like he didn't want to believe it, either.
"I think it may be wise for at least part of our party to withdraw from London for now," Saint said. He saw the looks the others gave him, but continued on. "We were using trips to town to obscure Cardia's location, but with the numbers Van describes, that is no longer possible."
"He's right," Van said. "They seemed to be around every corner, even in places of the city they never had a presence in before, and without their uniforms, it's difficult to spot them before they're right on us."
Difficult for her, he meant. She still didn't have his instincts, and she'd walked into at least one trap while they were in town. She'd been on guard after that, but it hadn't been enough. She was tired, too, from keeping watch like that so constantly.
"Well, it's far from ideal," Lupin said, and she knew he still believed her father's threat was aimed at London. "Still, whatever Twilight is planning, and if this is Finis or someone else working under Isaac Beckford's orders, we can't afford to let Cardia fall into their hands."
"I've done some work on neutralizing the poison as well as had a few other outfits prepared to resist it," Fran said. "That may help some."
"Yes, a disguise would be best," Lupin agreed. "Twilight knows to recognize both of you on sight, even without being able to detect the poison. We'll have to perfect a daring look for you before you leave us."
Van grunted, clearly not liking that idea, but Cardia couldn't help her smile. "Thank you all so much."
"Wait," Impey protested. "Why are we talking like they're the only ones going? They're not, right? They can't be."
"True, it may be better to send Fran with them, as he may be able to continue his research, but when it comes to protection, I think few people could manage it as well as Van," Saint said. "He has fully recovered, after all, and who better than the human weapon to see to her ongoing safety?"
Van looked back out the window, his eyes on the distance.
"What, Fran? Not me? I could be a great help. I have—"
"The more of you stay in London, the better her chances of evading them," Van said. "They know all of you and that we've worked together in the past. They'll believe she's in the city if the rest of you maintain a presence here."
"Ha, I like it," Lupin said. "We ourselves are the illusion, and the more of us here to pull it off, the more likely it is to succeed."
"Besides, Impey, didn't you have some kind of special presentation coming up?" Fran asked. "You were really looking forward to it."
"I was, but I wanted to show it to Cardia, too."
"I'm sure it's great," Cardia said, giving him a smile, "and I'd like to see it before we go. I promise I will, Impey, but... I think Van and Saint are right and we need to leave London for a while."
Impey looked like he might cry, but she shook her head.
"Don't be sad. I'm sure Van and I will return again soon. We just need to know more about what my father was planning first." She even had an idea of where to go, but she thought she'd ask Van about that when they were alone.
She had a lot to talk to him about when they were alone.
Later that night, with the dog snoring away on her bed, Cardia waited by the window. She knew that she'd see him any moment now, alone in the courtyard, as he had been the night before he went off to face Delly.
Her heart still ached a little when she thought of the promise he'd made, offering his life to stop Delly from taking revenge on other humans. Van was a good man, much better than he himself knew.
She saw a shadow fall across the courtyard and started moving, needing to get to him as soon as possible. She didn't know why she hadn't been willing to go to his room, as she'd been there before, more than once, but somehow it seemed better to speak to him outside.
"Van?" Cardia asked, moving closer to him. "You're worried, aren't you?"
He closed his eyes, almost like he'd been hit as she spoke. She hated thinking she had caused that. She never wanted to hurt him.
"Of course I'm worried," Van said, almost angry, and she wanted to recoil from him but refused to leave. He hadn't scared her away before, hadn't chased her off with harsh words, and he wouldn't start now. Not when he was free both of the terrible plot Alestair had used against him but also his debt to Delly. He didn't have to die. She wanted more than anything for him to live.
"You're afraid," she said, and he looked at her like he wanted to deny it, but he didn't speak. "You fear... losing me?"
He turned away from her. "Yes."
She wrapped her arms around his back, holding tight to him. "I'm sorry I wasn't good enough in that fight."
"That's not it," Van said, shaking his head. He pulled her around to face him. "You fought well, even if you hesitated at first. It should never be easy to take a life, and even if we were using non-lethal means, it can still happen. The fact that you don't want to take another life... It is not a weakness."
She smiled at him, feeling a warmth from his words. "Van..."
He looked away again, and she frowned all over again.
"What is it? You know that... as much as I care for all the others, there is no one I would rather be with than you. I've known from the beginning that you were the best to learn from, the best to protect me. I'm glad they said we should go together."
"And if you can't trust me?" Van asked. "If Finis is alive—"
"He didn't kill your family. That was Alestair."
"I know, but we don't know if Finis was aware of what Alestair was doing with Hidden Strength or not. He allowed Alestair and the rest of us to believe he was dead, but with Twilight having that much presence in the streets... I don't think he is. And if he isn't, then he might know what Alestair did, and if he does and he uses that speech on me—"
"Van," she whispered, not wanting to believe that could happen again.
"I don't know if I'd stop twice," he told her. "And there would be no one with us to stop me. I could kill you."
She shook her head. "You won't. You fought it before, and you'd do it again. Because Alestair was wrong about you. He couldn't erase all the good inside you no matter how hard he tried."
Van reached out to touch her hair. "If I hurt you again—"
"You won't." She believed in him. She believed he was strong enough to overcome the Hidden Strength even if Finis managed to use what Alestair had done against him. "You won't."
"You have too much faith in me," he said, but he pulled her close and held her against him, and she knew she didn't want him to let her go.