"No!" the hoarse voice croaked out when the body hit the ground. A small trail of viscous red liquid trailed out on the ground, the origin seeming to be from the upper chest area.
The man that stood on the roof looked down with a quiet satisfaction at his handy work. Musa would not get in the way now that she knew he was the real deal.
The girl sprinted across the lower rooftop, taking a few shots at the disappearing figure on the roof above her.
When she got to the body she kneeled down and lifted his head. His dark brown hair fell across his eyes so she moved them back off of his face. She looked down hesitantly hoping that he was still there, praying that he hadn't left her this soon.
She could feel the adrenaline course through her veins. She looked around frantically to look for something to stop the bleeding.
"Shit," she cursed when she couldn't see anything in site. She tore off a piece of cloth from her black cargo pants and placed it firmly in the area where he was bleeding and applied a ferocious pressure on the wound. It was of no use as the blood spurted past the cloth and past her hand, like a river coursing to the ocean, the blood was rushing to the concrete.
"Musa," a soft murmur came from the man that was bleeding out before her eyes.
She turned to look at him and couldn't hold back the emotions any longer. Pain was being thrust into her gut like a sharp knife. The knife was thrust into her gut, into her heart, into any vital organ she had and then it was twisted while lodged into her soul, sending her body into convulsions. Her mind hazed over and all she could focus on was the man in front of her. The man she loved so dearly and didn't think she could ever live without.
"Cal, don't talk. Shhh, help's on the way. The girls are on their way," Musa babbled out, her voice sobbing with emotion. Her chest was heaving up and down and each breath she took felt like someone was shooting her in the trachea. She was letting out shallow ragged breaths and trying to gasp for air, it felt like she was drowning.
"Musa, I love you," the voice that set her heart aflutter whispered.
"No, stop. Don't say goodbyes. Cal, you'll make it through, you'll see. I love you too much for you to go. Don't stop fighting. Don't stop fighting you son of a bitch. Cal! I love you," Musa choked. The tears were beginning to fall like the water at Niagara Falls. She could feel streaks upon streams upon rivers flowing from her eyes. Her cheeks were glistening with the heavy rainfall. It was as if the being up above was crying with her, saddened that Cal would leave the Earth so soon.
She couldn't control the exodus of emotions from her body. She twisted with rage and shook with sadness. She cried out in pain and whimpered in worry. Her body was in a never ending war for control of her emotions and she felt herself spiraling out of control.
Cal's eyes were drooping and the blood from his wound was still spurting around the soaked cloth Musa was pressing into his body. He could feel the life slipping away from him, no matter how hard he tried to cling onto it. He knew in his heart that he was dying, but he couldn't die without fighting for her, for their love, for them.
He tried to reach out, hold onto anything, a spiritual being, a ghost, anything. He wanted to reach out, tell them he couldn't leave, not like this. There was so much to be said and so much that wasn't said. He had to show Musa how much he loved her. He had to tell her.
Using his dwindling energy he brought one of his hands up to touch her cheek, brushing away the tears and the rain that had combined to form salt water.
With his other hand he reached out and grasped her hand, guiding it towards his pants pocket, where there was a small square shape protruding from it.
"Just know that I love you," his body shook. With his last ounce of energy he brought her face down and pressed his lips into hers, one last time.
"No, please don't do this. Cal, please," Musa sobbed when the light went out of his eyes. There were the bright blue orbs that she was used to and then they were replaced with grey. They were the same blue, but they looked different, odd, strange. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. He never should have gotten involved, but he had insisted and then he had insisted on jumping in the line of fire to prevent her from getting shot.
"Cal, I love you," Musa croaked and looked up into the sky, cursing whatever the hell was up there, cursing the Magix government and their insistence upon ruining her life, cursing the Red Fountain team that had killed her mother, cursing the president of Red Fountain for killing Cal and cursing herself for letting him get himself involved in the mess.
"Cal," she whimpered, finally letting her hand ease off of his wound. She slowly reached up on his neck to feel his pulse. It was gone. She knew there was no use in giving him CPR, no matter how much she wanted to. He was gone, just like that. The heart that had been beating so strongly the night before, so strongly that she had felt the thumping against her own chest when they were tangled up in each other's arms, was gone, dead, flat-lined. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.
She looked at his face one last time before moving her hand over to his eyes and closing his eyelids. Musa looked around on the roof, mindlessly watching as the rain crashed into the concrete, oblivious to the sounds of the booming thunder and unaware of the crackling lightning.
She sat in solitude for what seemed like a century. Thinking to herself, promising herself revenge in the fullest way possible.
She suddenly remembered where he had placed her hand and realized that she was still resting it on top of his pants pocket. She felt the square protrusion and wondered to herself what it could be. She carefully took out the small box and felt her heart sink even lower than it already was. Inside of his pocket was a black velvet box. The velvet felt cool on her skin and she opened it up curiously, heart sinking even lower than low when she realized what was inside.
"No!" she looked up at the black void of a sky and cried out, her cries echoing off of the rooftops and bouncing along the streets. Musa lifted the limp body that was still laying on her leg and pressed it close to her. The box dropped from her hands and landed with a thud on the pavement. The diamond flashed its beauty while lying on the concrete. She felt another round of tears fall from her face when she looked at the silver band.
"I vow, on my life, that I will avenge your death and I will take back Melody and I will fight to keep it standing," her tone turned rigid and cold, "if I don't, your death will have been in vain," she struggled to get the last sentence out.
"Musa!" she heard a voice call out to her. Musa turned away from the voice and gently laid down Cal's body. She grabbed the velvet box and took out the ring. Surveying it, she turned it around a few times and then slipped it onto her ring finger. There was no way she was going to take it off. She gracefully stood up and wiped away some of the lone tears that were still flowing down her face and turned around to greet her teammates.
"What happened?" Bloom cried out when they reached Musa. Tecna's face had gone slack and Layla's mouth hung open in misbelief. They were gaping at the body that Musa stood in front of. She looked up to the sky, wondering where the rain was. It had stopped awhile ago, but she hadn't noticed due to her persistent tears.
"Magix. Red Fountain. I need to go somewhere," Musa apathetically pronounced.
"Musa, I don't think you should be traveling in your condition," Stella looked with concern on her best friend.
"I need to go. I can't be here," Musa choked back a sob.
"What about Cal?" Layla cautiously asked, knowing full well that Musa could snap. In these types of emotional situations it was hard to tell if Musa would actually beat the living shit out of them or not if she did snap.
"Can you take his body back? I want it buried, but right now, I need to find someone. Cal will have a funeral. He deserves one. I'll be back in two days and then we'll bury him. I'll make the arrangements," Musa robotically spit out in list form. Cal's death had left her emotionally void, her mind apathetic to whatever happened.
"Okay sweetie. We're here if you need anything," Flora chimed in with her sweet voice. She looked at the other girls as if in a warning. Musa had to do what Musa had to do.
"We'll see you when you get back," Tecna nodded.
Musa nodded and then turned away from them. Taking a deep breath she darted across the roof and jumped.
The girls would take care of Cal and although Musa wanted to be with his body for as long as possible, she knew it was of no use to cry over spilt milk. She could not let him die in vain. She couldn't let any of them die in vain, her mother, Cal. She loved them too much to let that happen. Instead she would make herself useful and ensure that none of her other teammates would be harmed and that Cal's murderer would get what was coming to him.
As she soared down to the ground, she sent out one of the grappling hooks on her belt and caught one of the ledges of the building. She let it loose and drifted down to the street, safely on her feet and on land once again.
She paused to think. The Red Fountain Specialist had said something about living in Magix, but where? Or rather, former Red Fountain Specialist. As much as they bickered and had a mutual distaste for the other, she needed his help, whether he gave it to her willingly would be the question.
She looked down at her clothes. Her black cargo pants were torn and her black tank top was practically ripped to shreds. Her hands were covered with the drying blood of Cal and her eyes were red from exhaustion and angst.
"Where to go?" she mumbled to herself, before a thought crossed her mind.
She began walking, towards the man that she hoped would help her. If he didn't, she would have to take matters into her own hands and she wished that she wouldn't have to use violence.
The man heard a faint knock on the door and begrudgingly got up off his couch to see who it was.
He opened the door and was knocked off his feet by the figure brushing past him and the door.
The ex-Specialist whipped around to come face to face with his long time nemesis, but mysterious now and then dueling partner.
He gave her a look up and down. Her face was taught and she looked in rough shape. Her hair was soaked and water was still dripping from the ends. Her clothes were tattered and blood was painting her hands a deep red color.
"Musa? What are you doing here?" he asked, flabbergasted that she would try to find him. They had last seen each other on weird terms to say the least. He had found out what the Red Fountain Specialists were really about, had heard her story and had seen the Director try to kill her. It had been weird to say the least. He was a disgraced Specialist now though. The Director had suspended him, practically fired him, for not following after Musa when she had escaped. He had wanted to, but something told him, his gut told him, that she wasn't the real enemy, that the Specialists were the real threat to the good of the people.
"Hello Riven," she deadpanned, "glad to see you haven't forgotten me."
"What do you want?" he asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. She had, after all, cost him his job and ripped apart his delusions on Red Fountain and the grandeur of the Magix government.
"I need your help," she coldly said.
"What for?" he questioned, getting more suspicious with every second.
"They killed Cal. Your Director, or rather, ex-Director killed Cal and I need them to pay for what they did. I need your help," she bluntly replied. He could see the pain welling up in her dark irises and understood that her fight against Red Fountain had just become more personal than it was before.
"Why should I help you?" he grumbled, still unsure of if he could trust her or not.
"I'll give you an ultimatum. Either help me, because you know that what Red Fountain and Magix is doing is wrong; wrong to the citizens of Magix and horrendous to the citizens of Melody. You know that they are killing innocent people to get to me and you now know that they have no boundaries when it comes to getting what they want. So, you can either help me, or suffer my wrath. I'd rather not resort to violence, but I'm a desperate woman so I will do what I need to do," her voice sounded like nails grinding on a chalkboard. He flinched from her threat, knowing how dangerous she was. However, deep inside, he knew that he couldn't resist her cry for help. He knew that Red Fountain and Magix were both very dangerous organizations, if you could even call them that. He knew his time at Red Fountain, his training, his role models had all been a lie, one giant, fat lie. On top of that deep down inside, hidden to his consciousness, he couldn't resist her, he would never be able to, she had that kind of effect on him.
"What do you need my help for?" he asked, sighing and crossing his arms over his chest, trying to show her that he was slightly annoyed.
"I need you to help me fight against Red Fountain and Magix. I don't have many friends outside of the Hood Agency and I think it's time that I start making allies in different places," Musa said slowly, eying him with suspicion. She wanted to trust him because she needed him to be on her side to take down Magix. He was a strong fighter and had worked for Red Fountain for almost his entire life.
"Well, I guess you can count on me," his mouth slowly curved into a smile.
"In that case, you better come with me, back to Hood. I don't want my allies to be offed by Magix, plus I don't know what your team would do at your betrayal," she said, feeling a little guilty that he had found out the secrets of Magix and Red Fountain the way he did, but nonetheless feeling relieved that he had found out and that she was able to sway one of their top Specialists.
"They wouldn't be happy about it," he mumbled, remembering his team. They were not pleased to see him go, especially without an explanation.
"Probably not," she replied in a stone cold voice. Her eyes shifted around the apartment, wary that Magix had anticipated her move and had sent agents after her.
"If you don't mind, could you at least explain your," he paused and motioned at her attire, "clothes."
"Do you remember who Cal is? You saw him once, when you were supposed to bring in that Melody diplomat and we stopped you. I've talked about him before?" she looked at him and he could see the pain and angst welling up in her eyes.
"Yeah, I remember," he nodded.
"Cal and I were in love. He was my everything and they killed him," she shook with anger. She could feel the frustration take hold of her internal networks in her brain and she was upset that she couldn't keep her frantic emotions under control.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he murmured and then noticed her hand was sporting a very noticeable rock.
"I don't need your pity," she spat angrily. He let it go because he figured her emotions were on the fritz. On some level, he couldn't help but be a little upset that her heart belonged fully to another man.
"I wasn't trying to give it to you. I was trying to be nice," he retorted.
"Well," she stuttered before shaking her head and walking towards the door, "coming?" she asked pointedly.
"Coming," he nodded and rolled his eyes at her. Granted, she had a right to feel upset considering the love of her life was just killed in front of her eyes.
"This is the complex. Welcome to Hood," she stood just outside of the nondescript building with the ex-specialist standing across from her.
"Well are you going to show me in?" he questioned.
She shook her head to reply no before sighing deeply.
"I have to do a few things before I go in there again. First, I need to decompress. I don't think I should be giving orders to my agents while I'm in a fragile emotional state. Secondly, I need to find Cal's surviving family members and tell them. I know that he has a brother. And lastly, I need some time to grieve," she gave him one of the most honest answers he had ever heard from her.
"I see. Are you sure they'll open me with welcome arms?" he looked at her incredulously.
"I called them to warn them," she shrugged. Not really in the mood to care if they welcomed him or not. After all, when she had gone into Red Fountain, she wasn't exactly greeted nicely with hellos.