Well, I'm alive. Currently struggling with a massive load of schoolwork. Though I was recently inspired enough by a re-listen to The Labyrinth to write. This is a messy drabble that could improve, seriously not my best work. Criticisms and suggestions are welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own these characters.
"Whit can I talk to you for a minute?" Connie asked her boss after church one Sunday. He walked over, an eyebrow raised in question.
"Of course you can, is everything alright?" He said. Connie glanced cautiously at the crowded room and stepped back.
"The pastor mentioned care for our brothers and sisters...I was wondering, if you've ...heard from Jason lately?" She said softly. Whit looked at her seriously, conflict brimming in his blue eyes.
"I have, he was thinking about returning here in the next few weeks." He spoke after a minute. Connie's heart leapt with a feeling she couldn't identify. It was true she missed his company and the excitement he always brought with him. More so she was worried about where he was and what he had gotten himself into.
"Is that all?" Whit said. All? She wondered in her head, Whit sighed then.
"Umm I guess, I don't know, don't you miss him?" She questioned.
"Of course I do. I was worried though you had another sherbet incident you wanted to tell me about before I walk in tomorrow to a rainbow coloured floor." He chuckled, she blushed at the memory.
"Nope, do...you know where he is now?" Connie said slowly.
"Well," he hesitated. "Connie I'm not promising anything." Apparently he didn't know where his son was, or didn't feel comfortable sharing. Connie went with the latter.
"I know, I know." She said, "thanks anyway."
A week later, Jason walked between the narrow aisles on his plane home to Odyssey. He found an uninhabited corner away from other passengers, collapsed into a seat by a window and leaned back, the sharp pain in his body dulling to a throbbing annoyance. Within a few minutes, more passengers crowded in and he closed his eyes, still reliving the last days in London.
As Billings put the idea of revenge to action that night in the restaurant, Jason realised the extent of the agent's anger and it occurred to him how easy it could be to leave your conscience behind in the pursuit of those who had burned their own.
In the glow of the moonlight, Billings pulled out a small handgun, and looked coldly at Jason. In his threats, Billing's voice trembled with anger.
Jason stepped forward, shaky hands undoing the latches of the coffin. Billing's grip tightened.
Jason pulled the heavy lid up and gripped Grote's arms, in an effort to save him.
"I gave you a warning."
A loud pop went off, expected, yet shocking somehow. The bullet tore into his fancy suit, one of his favourites. Jason gasped and stumbled for a second as a burning sensation erupted through his chest. He was held in place as he fought to regain control of his now strangled breathing.
"You- going to-shoot me-a-again?" Jason asked after a moment. Billings jumped towards him, throwing him to the tile floor and raised a fist, vivid fury in his eyes. And in a moment of his hesitation, Jason hooked him in the jaw, sending him tipping sideways.
Within seconds,Billings turned back to Jason and brought a booted foot on top of Jason's injured chest, Jason screamed, the edges of his vision turning grey, Billings glanced away as he pressed harder.
"Stay down, you here? You're making it worse." There was a crack and Jason instinctively lurched up, putting a hand on his ribs. The Brit looked down at him, something terribly human in his eyes.
"Pl-ease...this won't-." Jason said between breaths. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again Billings was gone.
It was high priority they found him. And Jason did, not more than a mile away the man lay slumped over a table in a cheap tavern. Suddenly his chase had ended.
"It's over." Jason returned to the Jacobs' hotel that night, battered body and desperate for company. Dale didn't argue but he knelt with Jason instead and they sought out their Heavenly Father together, to bring peace to Jason's heart. With his eyes closed he cried out to God, thoughts racing through his mind. It wouldn't be instant and Jason wondered if peace could come at all.
"Jason...it's going to be okay. Hang in there." Dale told him before he left, Jason nodded wordlessly, on the verge of collapsing onto himself.
The bullet had in fact did little damage due to his bullet proof vest, though the impact had broken four ribs and besides that, he had acquired a collection of bruises and several painful contustions from Grote's men. A bump had formed from where Reggie decked him in the alleyway, causing persistent vertigo.
Jason hadn't slept, and he couldn't. The next morning he spent with the Police giving his testimony. Detective Salmon's manner was cold, formal, Jason resolved not to wither under his gaze. The death of the smuggler wasn't taken lightly or an event worthy of praise. Jason was practically interrogated, and finally towards the end did he realise he was being watched through a two way mirror. Two suited men greeted him outside the room, giving comment to his actions.
"It doesn't matter, I told you months ago this would be the last assignment. " Jason said angrily, producing his badge and laying it the director's palm.
"You're not being punished." His authority responded, Jason shook his head and regretted it.
"Maybe, I'll be the one beating myself over for this anyways. This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out, I can't excuse Agent Billings though." He hesitated.
"Neither can we, it'll be a while before he can see his family." Jason understood.
"Would you done the same?" Jason dared to ask. The director sighed.
"Put my career on the line because of a personal vendetta?"
"You wanted him alive?"
"And you could have stopped Billings. You know what he threw away Jason, position, reputation, perhaps family."
"Right. But it was for..." Was it for justice, or revenge? Jason wondered, what about grace? Sacrificial love? Who deserves it and who doesn't? "I don't know."
He thought about it constantly afterwards and it wasn't until he was back in Odyssey, in the company of friends, did he realise he not only was offered a second chance but chose to take it. The recovery would come slow but it'd be more fulfilling with God on his side.