The sun shone brightly - a beacon in the sky - as Victor and Camille walked through the Jardin du Luxembourg, talking about their lives, getting to know one another. When they got to the subject of families, Camille hesitated a moment before deciding not to talk about Jules. "My parents are great, they're really supportive of everything I'm doing. I'm especially close with my mum, she's my best friend. Sometimes it feels like I'm the oldest, not her," she laughed. "My dad keeps her crazy side in line though. My dad's a Savant… He found his Soulfinder when he was 18, but she died. He met my mum a few years later and they fell in love instantly. My mum's a human, but she knows about the Savant world. Even though they're in London until all this passes over, we still talk a lot. I miss them though, you know? My younger sister Rosalie is only five so she doesn't really know what's going on, but I'm glad about that. She hasn't developed any Savant powers yet, so we're thinking maybe she's more like my mum and more ordinary human? The rest of us had a sense of our powers since we were about two, you see. And Simone's a few years older than me… We're not that close. We just don't agree on a lot of things and ever since she found her Soulfinder, we've spent even less time together because she's always with Henrie. Not that that's a bad thing, he's lovely, but I would love to see her more often and work on our relationship, get closer."
"Yeah, I get that," Victor nodded. "Thankfully, I'm close with all of my family. Two older brothers - Trace and Uriel. Four younger brothers - Will, Xav, Yves and Zed. The younger ones have all found their Soulfinders - Grace, Delilah, Phee and Sky. And my parents are Soulfinders… We've always been close, I haven't even considered that it could have been different, it's just the way it's always been. Trace and Uriel live in Denver whereas the rest of us live in Wrickenridge. Apart from Will and Grace; she's an actress, so she travels a lot and he tends to go with her. I think they're in Los Angeles at the moment."
"Who are you the closest with?" Camille asked curiously. She was already enjoying hearing about Victor's family. She liked that they were so close and got along well; she doubted any of his brothers would even be tempted to go against the Net and betray their family. As quickly as that thought came to her, she brushed it away, not wanting to think about Jules and ruin her good mood.
"Out of my brothers, I'd probably say Trace. He's a cop, but occasionally does work for the FBI, and a lot for the Net, like I do. I guess working together has brought us closer, we understand each other and communicate well. Out of my sisters…" Camille had a short moment to smile at how cute it was that he called them his sisters. "I'm closest with Delilah. She talked to Xav in his dreams - that's her power - and told him to rescue her. That's how they met. She'd been kidnapped and tortured for a year, and I was the one that found her. I guess because of that, I'm the one that she trusts the most and we bonded. Her and Xav have a baby girl now and they made me Godfather. Best feeling ever," a proud grin spread across his face. "So, tell me about your friends."
"Not much to tell," she shrugged. "I don't really have any. I put so much time and effort into my work, I always have done, so I don't really have time to go out with friends and stuff. But I prefer it that way. I've never really been very sociable when it comes to things like that."
"I'm pretty much the same, to be honest. Guess we really are a perfect match, huh?" He nudged his shoulder against hers and they both laughed. "Camille, I was wondering… What's your Savant power? You haven't told me yet. All you've said is that you hope I'll never find out what it is, and that because Jules can influence emotions, he used to calm you down and stop your power from coming to use…"
Camille sighed, suddenly not having an appetite for the baguette in her hands. She had known that he would ask that question eventually, but she had been hoping for more time to think over her answer, to prepare herself. She didn't want to scare him away just yet. "It's hard to describe," she said, picking her words delicately. "Ever since I was little, I've had bad anger problems. Normally I can calm myself down in time, but when I don't… I can't even control it because nobody's willing to help me practice because they know they're going to get hurt. It just sort of happens really, without me even thinking about it… I cut off a person's senses - everything's just completely blank for them; they can't hear, see, feel, smell anything - then I sort of send little electric shocks into their brain that they can feel, despite having everything blocked out. It can be mild, just a little pain, or it can be so bad that it can cause nerves in their brain to burst, or even cause a brain aneurism. All they can feel is the pain."
"Woah," Victor breathed. He was silent for a moment and Camille cursed herself for telling him the truth. He was probably disgusted and terrified by her right now, just like everybody at work was. And so he should be. She could hurt him pretty badly if she lost control of her anger just for her moment. It scared her just as much as it did other people. "Have you ever… Used your power on somebody?"
"Yes," she nodded. "When I was about nine, I was arguing with my father over something and lost control of my anger. I only hurt him a little bit, but that's when we knew exactly what my power was. Before that, we only thought I could cut off a person's senses. And a few years ago, I was walking home one night when I was attacked by this guy. He was a lot stronger than me and I knew I stood no chance against him. And that made me angry… I ended up causing so much pressure to his brain that he died," she admitted quietly.
"You were just defending yourself," Victor said gently, "I can understand that. Do the Net know how much you can do?"
"Oh yeah, that's why everyone at work is scared of me. The leaders of the Net want me to learn how to use my power as a weapon, seeing as it'd be useful in a fight, but I can't control it. I can't turn it on and off and if somebody gets in my way, I'd probably hurt them as well, even if I didn't mean to. That's why I just try my hardest not to use it at all… I don't like hurting people."
When they got back to work, Camille got called up to Adrien's office and she let Victor come with her. Adrien wasn't surprised to see him with Camille. "Ah yes," he said. "The new Soulfinders of the office. Congratulations on finally finding 'the one', Camille," he rolled his eyes at his fake enthusiasm. "We have a massive development in the case."
"What is it?" Camille asked eagerly, wondering if this was the big break they had been hoping for.
"After that big shootout, we kept a record of all the faces we saw working for Jules' group, and CCTV caught one of them going into an abandoned hotel," Adrien explained. "Over the next hour, more people were going in and out of the building."
"We have to go there," Camille said. "Tonight, if possible. We need to organize a team, prepare them for anything."
"It could be a trap," Victor spoke up. "Surely they've noticed the extra cameras all over the city. They know that we'll be watching, looking for them. They're not stupid, they've already proved that. If we just go barging in there, we could be going right where they want us. We should wait for a bit, continue watching the building to make sure it's not a trap."
"We don't have time for that!" Camille argued. "They kill at least one different family every night, Victor. We have to protect the civilians as well as we can, and giving Jules' group more time out there without being arrested is just practically letting them kill people. We can't do that. Even if it's a trap, we have to take the risk. We have to know as soon as possible."
"Camille's right," Adrien sighed. "I agree that we should wait longer to make sure, but with the lives of all those families at risk, we can't."
"But you're putting the lives of our people at risk by sending them in there! Camille, remember what you said at lunch? You said that you didn't like hurting people."
"It's part of their job description!" She replied, exasperated. "They knew what they were getting themselves in for when they started working here. They know how to look after themselves and they're dedicated to their work. They can't be scared of every little thing, if it means that more civilians may die. I don't know how you do things in America, but over here, we take our jobs seriously."
"So do we! I'm just saying… Camille, you're their boss. You're supposed to protect them, not let them go walking into a trap alone," Victor said, a look of disbelief in his eyes.
"I know that! That's why I'll be going with them, just like I do on every mission like this one. I wouldn't ever make them do something that I wouldn't, Victor. If you disagree with me so much, you don't have to come with us." She turned back to Adrien. "Get the team ready, we leave tonight."
"Will do," Adrien nodded.
With one last glance at Victor, daring him to argue with her once more, she left the room. Victor sighed angrily. "She's so irritating! Does she not listen to anybody else's opinion at all?"
"Certainly not," Adrien chuckled. "What did you expect for a Soulfinder? Somebody that looked to you for protection? Unlucky, if so. Camille's independent, she knows how to look out for herself. She makes her own decisions, she doesn't let anybody else tell her what to do."
"Yeah, I'm starting to learn that. She's freaking amazing, but I've never met anyone that seems as annoyingly stubborn as she is."
"Well… That's just how Camille is," Adrien smirked. "Good luck spending the rest of your life with her."
Please leave reviews! xo