Weeks turned into months with no sign of the FBI. The indefinite period where they were away from institutionalized education had begun to feel completely normal. Franky found a second job, hauling lumber at his friend's yard, to make a little extra cash, and the family had all agreed that with all the craziness that had gone on with Mar Sept, that it was best for him just to test for his GED. After all, he knew all the math stuff already, and Robin could help him with all the language and reading portions. So, every night after Franky came home, he and Robin would sit on the couch and read together.
Once winter came, the time that the two spent together increased again, as Robin wanted to go out in the snow every chance she could get. Christmas was filled with laughter and love, along with a particularly awkward moment when someone snuck mistletoe into the living room. Nobody kissed, but it certainly left Robin red in the face. February came. Franky earned his GED, and Robin turned fifteen with no incident.
Valentine's day felt like a bad omen. The started out normally, Robin was helping cook and Franky helping Tom out in hangar with a new experimental rocket fuel, when there was a mysterious visitor. Franky noted the man was wearing dark black everything and was creeping around the hangar's main door. He canceled the plans he had made with Robin to take her out shopping and insisted that she not leave the house at all for the next few weeks. Tom was in agreement.
The next day a letter arrived without a postmark that simply said, "We know she's here."
"What do you think it means," Iceberg asked stroking his chin pensively.
The family was gathered around the table to discuss their next course of action. Tom was quiet, and Kokoro had hit the bottle early that night. Franky was shaking, and Robin just felt ill. Things had been going so well over the past few months; she was sure she had been careful not to be spotted. How did they know she was here?
"Maybe it's a bluff," Tom murmured. "Perhaps they are trying to get us to accidentally admit guilt."
Franky slammed his fist on the table. "Damn them," he whispered with a forcefulness Robin had not seen since the incident that led them to this point. "What if they aren't bluffing? I've taken her out before. What if someone recognized her?... Dammit."
She wanted to reach out a hand to calm the young man down, but her body was too numb to do much of anything. Fortunately Tom was there to step in for her.
"Calm down, Franky. Freaking out does nothing to help our predicament," he said calmly. "Think about it, if they know she is here, why did they send us a note, instead of just coming to capture her themselves? It doesn't make any sense."
At this point Kokoro chimed in. "I think Tom's right. We should just wait and see what happens."
Franky shook his head and stood up. He went over to Robin, grabbed her arm, and began dragging her towards the bedroom she shared with Kokoro.
"What are you doing?" She grumbled.
"We're packing," he answered simply.
"I thought the plan was to stay put," she said.
Franky closed the door behind them and tossed her backpack on the bed. "Yeah, well plans change.."
There was something more tense about his demeanor than usual. His muscles were tight and pronounced as if he was prepared to fight at any second. His eyes were wild, like an animal's. Robin lifted a hand to his cheek, hoping to perhaps ease his nerves just as he had so often helped to ease her own. He froze.
She was surprised at how much softer this skin was than that of his hands. She ran her fingers down his jawline, running into tiny bumps of stubble on the way down. As she reached his chin, his hand grabbed hers. She looked up into his eyes. They were soft, sad. Robin suddenly felt like she couldn't breath.
With a gentle tug Franky lifted her fingers to his lips and held them there. They were warm, just like his breath which tumbled from his nostrils and the growing blush in her cheeks. Franky closed his eyes, and pulled away, moving her hand to his forehead and letting a frustrated groan.
"I'm sorry," he grumbled, clutching her hand tightly. "Please don't hate me... just pack your things."
Then he let go and began to walk away.
"No," Robin said, feeling a sudden surge of strength wash over her. He stopped. "I don't want to leave. I like it here."
His fist hit the wall. "You have to leave!"
"No!" She screamed. Tears were running down her cheeks, but Robin stood firm. "No!"
Seconds later Franky was rummaging through the dresser drawers, pulling out anything that looked like it belonged to the girl and tossing it on the bed. Once he had cleared out the drawers that were hers, he went over to a bookshelf in the corner and began unloading books. Robin attempted to seize his arm, but the man was too strong for her, so she began hitting him instead. However, the man ignored her blows, picking up a small stack of books and placing them in the backpack.
"I don't want to!" She cried, pulling at the back of his shirt. She collapsed to her knees and latched herself to his thigh. Franky gently tried to shake her off. "Stop... Please!"
At that moment the door crashed open, to reveal a hulking Tom. The look in his eyes made the young man turn to stone, and, in an instant, Tom had crossed the room and struck a powerful blow across Franky's cheek, knocking him to the ground.
Robin's tears stopped as her sadness was suddenly replaced with shock and horror. She clambered to the young man's side, cradling his swollen face in his hands. She looked up at Tom, to see tears streaked the usually jovial man's cheeks.
"Nobody forces anyone in this house!" He bellowed. Franky groaned, as he attempted to sit up. "I don't care how much you love her!"
Robin's heart stopped. There it was again. Why did everyone keep saying that? It was the joke at every holiday, every late night, every single moment that Kokoro would tease her. Why did they keep saying that he loved her? They were friends, and she loved being with him... more than anybody else actually. He made her laugh, he made her jump, he made her smile. He protected her, held her. She loved everything about him, but it couldn't actually mean anything romantic could it? Surely there's no way that was it.
She looked at Franky, one thought streaking through her mind. Well?
As if to answer her question his emotions played easily across his face: affection... sadness... shock...
GUILT.
Robin's mind suddenly started to race at a million miles per minute. As if driven by a mind of its own, her body stood and began packing her backpack. She could feel their pitying gazes on her as she worked.
"Robin," she heard Tom says softly. "You don't have to do this."
But she did. She knew she did; her body knew she did.
There was a knock on the front door.
Robin continued to pack.
There was another, louder knock.
"This is the police," a voice said. "will the owner of this residence please open up."
Kokoro placed a hand on Tom's shoulder. "Let's just leave them be," she said, before turning to the front door. "Coming!"
Tom let out a sigh and retreated to the living room, leaving Franky and Robin alone in the dark and silence.
The young man placed a hand on her arm.
"Robin," he whispered. She pulled her arm away. "Robin, it's not like that, please."
She scowled at him, threatening to cry again.
"Look, it's not like I was purposefully trying to hide it from you," he pleaded. He then attempted to touch her arm again. She shied away and began zipping up her bag. "Robin..."
She turned on him.
"Franky," she hissed. "Let me make some thing very clear… I don't know what that is supposed to mean. I don't understand what this whole 'loving' thing is. The only person who I've ever experienced anything similar with was my uncle. I never had friends before you... Or if I did, I have no idea what it felt like."
She allowed Franky to wipe a tear off of her face. Through the door she could hear the muffled sounds of Tom and the officer talking, but when Franky stared into her eyes none of that seemed to matter. She licked her lips and took a deep breath.
"So, I don't know if I love you," she continued. "I just know, that I feel confused when you touch me, and that nobody in my entire life has made me feel this happy, and that I want to make you that happy."
His face was creeping ever closer to hers, but, despite the fact her heart was racing, Robin wasn't scared.
"And... If I didn't know any better I would worry that I was going to have a panic attack. And..." She breathed.
The tip of his nose gently brushed hers, causing her eyelids to flutter closed.
"And I don't want to ever lea-"
Franky's lips were warm and moist, and Robin suddenly felt as though she was filled with the scent of graphite, mint, and wood-shavings. She placed a hand on his cheek and could feel his muscles smile. Robin felt like she was being put into a trance.
A sudden gunshot snapped her back to reality.
"Sir! Are you sure there aren't other people in this house?" she heard the officer demand. "If you don't tell me, I will be forced to search this premises!"
Robin gasped, looking Franky who looked just as breathless. The young man picked up her backpack, and headed towards the door. The young woman caught his arm as he passed.
"What are you doing?"
"One!" The officer yelled.
"I don't know," Franky whispered, tersely ruffling his hair in frustration. "If I go out there, there's chance they won't come in to look for you."
"Two!"
Franky quickly kissed her on the forehead, and grabbed the door handle. "Wish me luck."
"Three!"
"Woah!" The young man exclaimed as he swung out the door with his hands. "So sorry. What seems to be the problem officer?"
The rather overweight officer pointed his weapon at Franky, who raised arms even higher, dropping the backpack. The police officer then retrained his weapon on Tom.
"We received a domestic disturbance call. Caller said it sounded like a young female was being assaulted," the man said, carefully glancing from Franky to Tom. "Now, I know that there have been reports of young black-haired woman regularly spending time with you, and I just want to make sure she is safe."
Franky nodded and held out a hand towards the doorway. "Honey," Franky said stiffly, eliciting a series of raised eyebrows. "Why don't you come out here?"
Robin was hesitant, but she knew that Franky would never put her in harm's way, unless it was necessary. She slowly exited the room and went straight to his side.
When the officer looked her over, he was forced to double take. His eyes grew wide, and he began shaking. Franky quickly put himself between her and the armed man, as he once again switched targets.
With one hand the officer grabbed the radio on his collar and began yelling codes.
"I have eyes on fugitive Robin Nikov," the man said. "Requesting back-up. I repeat. I have eyes on Robin Nikov-"
Tom placed himself behind the man and hit him with a chair, causing the officer the faint. He then tossed Franky a set of keys.
"Quick," he said. "Take Robin and go."
The young man nodded, grabbing the girl's backpack and hand.
The couple bolted out the door, through the hangar, over to the pick-up. In the distance there was the sound of sirens. Franky yanked the door open and pushed Robin inside before going around the side and climbing in himself. The engine roared to life, and they went tearing down the dirt road.
As the scenery flew by, Robin found herself unable to stop shaking. Franky's face showed strain as he watched the road. Everything had happened so quickly the girl barely had time to process it all. She felt like there were so many questions she should be asking but her mind was completely blank.
Warm fingers wrapped themselves around her forearm. She closed her eyes, as her heart began to calm down. She took a deep breath, filling her nostrils with the scent of dust, sweat, and grease.
Suddenly time felt as if it had slowed down. Robin opened her eyes to see fire coming from in front of the truck's hood. She looked at Franky. Panic. The veins in his arms bulged as he turned the wheel hard to the left. The cabin lurched, and the world started tilting.
The engine squealed. Robin lifted her arms to block her face. Glass shattered. The wind was knocked from her lungs. The airbags deployed, knocking her head back roughly against the seat. The world around her was red, like a sea of calamity. Her ears were ringing. Smoke felt like the world's only scent.
Robin was sideways suspended in the seat. She looked below her to see a bloodied Franky shaking his head, blearily brushing glass off himself. Then a moment of clarity. A fire still burned in the engine. Franky rapidly unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled himself into a crouch.
"Open the door!" She heard Franky's muffled voice yell.
Robin attempted to push the door open, but it quickly fell back. Franky stood and helped her as the cabin began to fill with smoke. As soon as the door was open, the young man undid Robin's safety belt, lowering her into his arms. He boosted her out and followed as she tumbled off the side of the car onto the gravel.
Around her the fields were ablaze. It was the very image of Dante's vision of hell. Bloody hands pressed her firmly towards an opening in the inferno. She broke into a jog, then a run, led by instinct to escape the fire.
Once they broke through the wall they were greeted by the sight of two black SUV's and armed men. From behind one of the vehicles, a squirrely looking man with scraggly hair made his approach. Robin froze. She recognized his face. Franky moved Robin into a defensive crouch.
"Hand over the girl," principal Spandam demanded, pointing a shotgun at them.
There was a loud explosion behind them causing Robin to cower.
"What do you want with her?" Franky yelled, covering her.
The oily skinned principal shifted his aim to Franky's face, slowly walking closer.
"Mister Cutty," Principal snickered, holding open a badge with his picture and the letters CIA. "Let me introduce myself as Agent Spandam. It's so good to see you again. We missed you at school. Why does it not surprise me you decided to protect your little girlfriend? Now hand her over..."
"No!"
The tip of the shotgun drooped towards the ground.
Crack!
Franky's eyes grew wide as he slumped over to the side, onto the ground. The large man attempted to prop himself back up but quickly fell again with a cry of pain. Robin, looked down. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming. At the end of Franky's arm where his left hand once sat was a mangled mess of blood, bone, and tissue. His hand lay on the ground just a few inches away, clinging to the rest of his body by only a few strips of skin and tendon. She looked back up at Agent Spandam who was once again aiming at Franky's head.
"Now," the older man sneered. "I'll give you till the count of three. One..."
A spark of rage filled Robin's gut. In her mind's eye she could still vividly see her uncle standing on the porch in front of their apartment. She could hear the shot which killed him. She could smell the blood and smoke around her now. By all means she should be descending into chaos, but at that moment all she felt was clarity. This was it. It was over.
"Two..."
She slowly stood and stepped in front of her friend. Her hands clenched into fists.
"I'll go," she hissed. "Don't worry about him. Let's just leave. I'll go."
Spandam looked at her, and slowly lowered his shotgun. His disgusting grin grew. With one shaky bruised hand, he reached out and seized her arm. She flinched, but refused to pull away. He gave her a light tug over to his side as he looked back down at Franky.
"Robin," she heard Franky rasp.
She looked away.
"You're lucky," the man spat. "It looks she likes you too… Enough to spare you at least."
Then he kicked a cloud of dust onto the young man, before turning to the other armed men.
"Give him a knife and a rag," he said. "We have the girl. Maybe he'll kill himself."
Then Agent Spandam dragged Robin over to one of the SUV's, put her in handcuffs, and pressed her inside. He shut the door and rapped on the window, taunting her. She looked away from him; it was all she could do at this point. She had saved Franky; that was the important thing. The vehicle roared to life, and Robin looked up at Franky for one last time, as he and the growing flames faded into the distance.
I'm sorry Franky… Goodbye...
