What do we do now?
Neither one of them had asked each other but they were both thinking it. Nothing but questions now, so many questions and neither of them had all the answers.
Marta couldn't sleep, tossing and turning around in her bed for nearly an hour now and it was starting to annoy both of them. Aaron slept on a small bed opposite from her in their small, cramped cabin on the boat they had got on.
Their first few days together were spent getting used to the boat and getting Aaron patched up. He had lost a lot of blood and without being able to go to a hospital it had been tight but he had managed to pull thought and was on his way to making a recovery. Marta had patched him up well and while it would be weeks until he was would running around on rooftops he was already far healthier than he should be. Marta had during this time been convinced that they would still be followed but Aaron had assured her that it would be next to impossible to track them. There were simply too many boats coming in and out for them to track so they were safe off the grid… for now.
Would this ever end? Would Marta always be looking over her shoulder? Worried about a knock on her door and who would be behind it? She had already come from seconds to being murdered in the style of suicide. It was too late to go to the press she knew that as she had seen herself be ruined and destroyed in their eyes.
Life would never be the same for her, Aaron had admitted. She would never see her family again, never talk to anyone in the same way, never rest nor be simple. This life on the run was forced on her which was the difference between her and him. He choose this life when he signed up to be part of the program while this life was forced on her… No that was not fair on Aaron. He had signed up never knowing the full details of the program and how he would be 'retired'. Aaron had been innocent and was now just as lost as she was.
Aaron watched quietly as Marta let out another deep sigh. He knew hardly anything about her but didn't take a genus on pills to know she was upset and unable to sleep. They have had so little time to get to know each other or simply chat. Aaron had always been a little talkative and curious compared to other agents in the program. He decided that it was a side affect to his 'programming' they had given him. His mind was always ticking over, needing to be busy and he had no control over that. He remembered explaining that fact to her in the hotel room before they had boarded the flight.
"What happens to me after I viral you off the pills?" Marta asked angrily.
"What?" Aaron replied in confusion turning to face her.
"What is your plan for me after I have helped you?!" Marta cried in near tears.
"My plan? What plan?" Aaron started.
"You said that you need me to viral you off the pills then what? We go our separate ways?! Will you help me hide?! Kill me?! What Aaron?!" Marta screamed at him.
"I don't know alright!" Aaron yelled back. His heated expression so different from his calm almost detached look she had seen on him. "I need you to do this to me. I promise you I will not kill you nor leave you somewhere but I think about our next move until we fix this! Fix me!"
"I can't stop do you understand? I can't switch off, relax or slow down. My mind is racing, always racing to the next decision. It's what keeps me alive buts it's a curse! I see someone drinking a cup of coffee and I am analysing every single detail of them. I remember the words on billboards I saw three years ago. I barely get any sleep because their no off switch, no pill to take before you go to bed and the person I share all this is me."
Marta looked at him helplessly, he was a walking talking successful science experiment and it was because of her. She as a scientist was so preoccupied with whether she could she never stopped at considered whether she should be doing what she was doing. She was about improving the human condition not about human mind. She had never considered anything he was talking about.
"I'm sorry its just… this is all happening so fast! It's just too much to take in!" Marta told him sitting down.
"I know doc and I will help you with it anyway but I need you to help me first." Aaron said.
Well she had kept her side of bargain and he in turn had tried to explain all he knew about the programs and who would be after him. He isn't fooling anybody however as he has no real idea what to do next. For the first time in a long time there are no orders, no rules to follow meaning he is on his own and that scares him far more than he cares to admit. For the first time in his life Aaron Cross is on his own.
He thinks of himself as Aaron now, the other him died after being given the drugs. Kenneth J. Kitsom was too weak, too clumsy and too slow to make it anywhere in this world. Aaron confessed to Marta than while Kenneth reportedly killed by a roadside bomb during the Iraq War and put on the program 6 soldiers had been killed. All because Kenneth was paying attention probably like he was meant to, if he had been he might have spotted the bomb. Being Aaron Cross was the only thing he was good at.
When it comes to helping someone get to sleep Aaron was useless. He never had that kind of training or pill but he felt as if he should do or say something to Marta.
"Can't sleep?" Aaron asked quietly they both knew each of them knew the answer to this.
"Sorry have I been keeping you up?" Marta sighed turning to face him.
"Not just you" Aaron smirked
"I just can't sleep, I mean I am tried but I just can't sleep" Marta muttered.
"Know the feeling" Aaron replied and she smiled back.
"In a few days we dock at a port and it will start again won't it?" Marta asked but Aaron didn't reply merely turned to the table to where the maps were. "I'm being stupid but… I'm scared of what's next because I have no idea of what is next." Marta confessed.
"Want to know a secret doc?" Aaron asked "truth be told I'm kind of scared about what's next too." Marta half laughed half cried looking at him. "Sorry you probably didn't want to hear that"
"No it's fine, it's umm… good." Marta couldn't look at him now. She looked almost embarrassed "I have been feeling like I would be slowing you down."
Aaron opened his mouth and then closed it again. That took a lot for her to say he knew that. "I can't lie to you. There is no slowing down for us anymore, we have to stay one step ahead of them if we want to live but Marta there is an us now. We are in this together… you saved me."
Marta looked at Aaron and he stared right back. They understood it now. They were equals maybe not in skills and experience but in their fears and wants. They were both part of the same machine, different parts but one that formed one unit and now they had been chewed up and spat out. Now they were in this together. Just the two of them against the world.