Chapter IX

Commander Bradley stared at the gun in his hand, the instrument used for deciding the fate of one's life was in his hands and the magnitude of it sunk in as he found his gaze fixated on the weapon. He could hear the sound of gunshots from where he stood, facing the bed Kowalski lay on, and he wondered how many of his men were dead. He knew only one tenth of his men were signed in at the moment and at the base, still, the thought of those few dying were enough to shake him to his very being.

It had been a long time since he fired a gun, even longer since Commander Bradley had been out in the field. He wondered if he could still fire a gun with the accuracy he used to be famous for, he glanced up at Kowalski. Seeing Kowalski with all those wires, machines and liquids being pumped into and attached to him made Commander Bradley feel guilty.

No matter what happened to any of his men, whether it was an injury during a training exercise or an on mission accident, he always felt guilty as he was in charge of his men and women. When he told Zero of his concerns she always assured him that he shouldn't be guilty, they knew the risks when they joined, but he couldn't help the feeling of guilt creep into his heart when he heard of another death or fatal injury.

The gunshots outside hushed and his gazed turned towards the barricaded door, the silence hung on the air for a long time and he wondered if the fighting had ceased. He cocked his gun, knowing never to trust silence, especially during a battle. He crept towards the glass on the wall, and came face-to-face with a man with the Trinity logo stitched onto the left breast pocket on his jacket.

He held a shot gun and aimed at the glass; Commander Bradley glared at the man, but knew he was safe for now. There was no way that gun would get through the glass, it wasn't powerful enough, he just hoped that the man didn't have any grenades on him. The man prepared to fire a shot, another shot ran out and the man collapsed to the ground, a bloody hole in his head.

Rico walked towards the glass, a standard hand gun in his hand, and across his face was a smear of blood. Commander Bradley sighed in relief, glad to see that Rico was still in the building, if he was here then so were the others and that meant that they now had a major advantage. He caught Rico staring at Kowalski with a morbid expression, he tapped the glass and Rico turned his attention to him.

"Are Skipper and the others here?" he asked.

Rico nodded.

"Good," Commander Bradley smiled. "Have you seen Zero? I ordered her to go to the armoury, but she hasn't come back yet."

Rico shook his head, Commander Bradley lost the smile. He glanced at Kowalski, hoping that Zero hadn't come to face the same fate as Kowalski, he put on a strong demeanour and turned to Rico with a steely look in his eyes.

"Rico," he snapped. "Stay here, use whatever you've got to keep this room safe."

Rico nodded, he went to the door and closed it, and Commander Bradley now saw more weaponry attached to his belt and to his back. Commander Bradley stared darkly at the floor, Was Zero dead? he thought. It was fair to say he and Zero had a close bond, even a type of fatherly/daughter bond; he wasn't sure how he would react if he found out she was dead.

...

Seconds Earlier

Zero didn't hear the gun shot, for some reason she had been so rapt with fear that all sound, all of her senses, had been not registered anything. She had not even realized that she had closed her eyes. Zero slowly opened her one eye, groaning with pain slightly as she remembered that she had been shot in the gut, and looked up.

Airwave stood before her, eyes wide with a thick scarlet stain running out of his mouth and down his chin. She then saw the large blade through his chest; he looked at the blade, his trembling hands reached towards the stained steel. The weapon was pulled out of his back and he collapsed to his knees besides her, Zero smiled when she saw One holding the long and odd knife.

"You... took your... time," Zero chuckled.

"Sorry," One teased. "But I was a bit pre-occupied, cutting through these Trinity scum with just a knife takes time and patience."

"I never thought... you to be... the... patient... type," Zero said with surprise on her face.

One pulled a face, "C'mon," she placed her knife in a sheath on her thigh and helped Zero up, putting Zero's arm over her shoulder.

"What's... the situation?" Zero asked.

"We've managed to take down nearly all Trinity members," she answered. "There are some stranglers, but Skipper and Private is taking care of them."

"That's good," Zero smiled as One headed towards the infirmary. "Any idea why they attacked?"

"I think I know why," One replied. "I think they may have come for Diz, but I have no idea of the situation in the cells."

Zero said nothing.

As One helped her to the infirmary they came across Trinity workers who had been killed or captured, though those who survived would soon wish that they had been killed when they discover the way S.W.O.R.D interrogates their prisoners. When they came to the infirmary they found Five having an injury in his arm sought too while doctors and surgeons hurried between beds to attend the wounded.

Few were fatally wounded and Zero saw none who were beyond help, they had done well, too well in her opinion. One saw the worried expression on her face, she helped Zero onto a bed and a doctor quickly came to her assistance.

"What's wrong, Zero?" One asked.

"Doesn't this seem... like..." Zero closed her eyes and grunted as the doctor picked up some tools and addressed the wound. "It was... too easy? Someone... needs to... check the cells- now!"

One nodded, "I'll go now," she promised. "Just stay here, okay?"

She saw Zero didn't want to stay and be cared for, she wanted to go and assess the situation herself, she hated to be on the sidelines. But Zero knew that she was in no condition to be going anywhere, for now she would just have to settle for watching the action from the sidelines.

...

One arrived in the cells of the Sixth Division, inside inmates begged to know what was happening, others seemed unconcerned of the events and others were just enjoying the sight of the woman before them. She slowly approached Diz's cell, her hand hovering inches from the handle of her knife and her enhanced senses listening out for any unusual sounds. She didn't hear any unsual sounds, but that didn't ease her.

She came to Diz's cell, she found the bars were open and she heard her heartbeat in her ears. She felt panic rise up inside her, pulling her knife from the holder she charged into the cell, and found Diz's corpse laid out on the bed. He was split from the nave to the chaps, the floor was covered in a crimson liquid and she had to take a step back in order to avoid the mess.

One frowned and turned around to face the man in the cell opposite, he sat on his bed facing her, looking at her with the eye that hadn't been sewn shut. The corner of his mouth pulled up when he saw the look on her face, and he saw an opportunity to make his life-long sentence a little more cosy.

"You wanna know who killed him, right?" he said. "I'll tell you... but you know how I work, give me something and you get something."

One's frown deepened, "How about you tell me what I need to know and I won't have your sexual organ cut off via a rusty saw?" she asked.

His face paled, going completely white and every ounce of smugness was washed off his face. When someone like One threatened you like that, you knew she was serious and that she would make sure what she promised came true. Even if he was never going to get out, he still would like to know he was the same man he was before he was arrested.

"Someone in a uniform came in," he answered. "I didn't see their face, but they had a logo on they're back, a triangle with two smaller ones on the corners."

"Trinity," One murmured. "What did the person do after they killed him?"

"They just left," he replied.

"Maybe this person has been apprehended," One smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr. Hurst, because of your cooperation you get to keep your little friend."

One left the cells, catching Dameon Hurst mutter something that sounded like 'He's not little' and arranged to have the cell cleaned and Diz's body was to be criminated. It was easy to assume that Trinity arranged to have Diz killed in order to insure that no important information fell into the wrong hands, and she was certain that person who killed Diz was the teenager who shot Zero.

But still, with Diz now gone that meant Trinity now only had two members, Tia and Axel, what exactly were the two planning?

...

California, Tia's Headquarters

Tia entered Airwave's dark office, every monitor providing a hum of light which showed the uncharacteristically sweet smile on her face. In her one hand she carried a tray with two drinks and in the other hand she carried a bag of Chinese takeaway, she knew Airwave got lonely often when he had to stay in that room all day and so whenever she had the time she would visit him and spend an hour or more with him.

"Airwave, sweety," she smiled. "I bought some food, it's your favourite."

There came no reply, none of Airwave's usual comments or even that weird little giggle he made when he was about to be fed. Tia lost the smile, she looked around her, seeing if Airwave had wondered off into one of the corner of the rooms to watch something that he found more interesting.

"James...?" she said, her voice a little shaky. "You better not be hiding, you know I don't like it when you tease me... James?"

Her question was answered by heavy, unsettling silence. Tia began to panic, she reached towards the light on the wall and switched it on, despite knowing Airwave got annoyed when he was suddenly blinded by an unnatural light. When her eyes adjusted it didn't take her too long to realize that Airwave was gone.

Tia knew her soon-to-be son well; he never left his office without telling her, he always came to work the same time as her and he never ever left his equipment on if he wasn't in his office. Something was defiantly wrong, what would make him leave everything and just up and leave?

Something wasn't right.

...

Five Days Later

Zero was once again at Kowalski's side, waiting for him to wake and waiting for him to hear the words she most desperately wanted to hear. 'I love you'. Zero herself was not in that good a condition, she had been taken off duty while her wounds were allowed the necessary time to heal, but it didn't stop her from complaining about being off-duty and missing all of the meetings that had taken place over the last five days.

Over the past five days the department had been cleaned up, those alive were interrogated in order to gain important information while those dead were all criminated and the ashes kept in order to keep a record of those who had worked for Trinity. The remains of the deceased were never given to their families, it may have seen unfair, but many amongst S.W.O.R.D agreed it was fair.

Despite the fact everyone, including other divisions, was annoyed at Director Hogdson's decision to seal off the department, Commander Bradley had not spoken to the Director about her poor decision. For now S.W.O.R.D had no information, each of the prisoners had been trained well and refused to talk, all that they really knew was that Diz had arranged the whole thing. But Skipper didn't believe it, if Diz had arranged for his rescue then why was he killed?

Many psychologists agreed with Skipper, they all agreed that if Diz was willing to arrange for a rescue of his, a rescue then would only end in the death and injury of others, why would he go through all that trouble just to throw his life away? It had to be either Tia or Axel, but why kill Diz when he was such an asset to Trinity? It didn't make any sense, if Kowalski were awake then they would have the answer.

In the meeting hall, Commander Bradley and the rest of Sixth Division tried to think of the best course of action and what Trinity was really planning. It seemed obvious to them now that Diz was not the one who arranged his rescue, they all agreed that Trinity had arranged for a rescue mission if something were to happen to one of them, but Diz had not been aware of the fact he was too be killed.

"Zero told me that the kid who shot her said something about us never interfering with his 'mom's' plans ever again," One said. "Could his mother be Tia?"

"Why would she send her son to the front line?" Wedy asked. "I know Tia's nuts, but still, if its her son-"

"I agree," Five quickly cut her off, knowing that Wedy would eventually end up going off topic. "Something's up, do you think maybe Axel's plotting something behind Tia's back?"

"Not maybe," said a familiar voice. "Definitely."

They all quickly turned towards the open doorway, Kowalski stood in his hospital gown with Zero to the side of him. Despite the fact walking seemed an extremely strenuous act he was still up, his pale face was covered in a thin layer of sweat, his breathing ragged and his hair stuck to his face. Zero stared sadly at the back of his head, she didn't want him up, she needed him back in bed.

"Kowalski!" Skipper gasped. "You shouldn't be up."

"I told him that, Skipper," Zero said timidly. "But-"

"But nothing!" Kowalski snapped.

Zero shied away from his tone, One and Wedy quickly realized that Zero and Kowalski had an argument. Wedy could only assume that Zero had insisted that he return to his bed, but Kowalski had quickly disagreed and gave her some kind of reason for why he couldn't lie in bed.

"This is more important than my safety," Kowalski continued. "Axel has gone behind Tia's back, he's had Diz eliminated, all we can assume is that he is planning something his wife is not aware of."

"Why would Axel do that?" Private asked.

"I suppose," Commander Bradley rubbed his chin. "The first generation of Trinity was... weak. Kaien was old, we were all aware that Diz had his own secret agenda. With those two gone then it'll just be him and Tia, he can add a new member... or two."

"What do you mean?" Skipper frowned.

"If Tia is not aware of what Axel is planning then maybe he's planning on getting rid of her too," Kowalski replied.

"But how do you even know Axel is behind this?" Five asked.

"Tia wouldn't send her son to the front line, Diz wouldn't arrange for the Sixth Division to be taken over only if for him to be killed and Kaien is dead," Kowalski pointed out.

There was silence for a long time, the evidence they had been presented with was a lot to take in. Axel Halibel was back now, but it seemed he had only returned in order to carry out his own agenda. What had changed to Axel and had the other's suffered the same changes? It was possible that due to extended periods as animals with no previous memories of who they were that they had suffered some damage to their psyche, and if so then were Skipper and the others going to experience these changes too?

Wedy glanced at Zero, she honestly could not remember a time when Zero and Kowalski had an argument, they disagreed and sometimes had little arguments, but she had never looked so upset after arguing over his well being. What had he said to her that had unsettled her so much? Was Kowalski already beginining to show some rather unsettling changes?

"Alright," Commander Bradley said eventually whilst clapping his hands. "I'm giving everyone a two day break, I want everyone to be physically and mentally ready by the end of the break, if your not ready I don't want to see you."

Commander Bradley quickly left, pushing past Kowalski in the doorway, he glanced briefly at Zero. She caught the look, he affectionatly tapped her on the head and then he left, several silent words passing between them. The others soon filed out of the room, Skipper and the other 'peng-umans' dragging Kowalski back to the infirmary.

Zero had left soon after Commander Bradley had, she had silently managed to get away without saying anything to Kowalski or the others and they were starting to worry about her. One got up from her seat and left the room, Wedy and Five following her.

"One, where are you going?" Wedy asked.

"To see Zero," One answered.

"But you hate her," Wedy frowned.

"One doesn't hate Zero," Five said. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well," Wedy raised both of her eyebrows, suddenly confused. "They're always arguing, they're always shouting at one another."

"Its just two female's stepping on one another's territory," Five explained. "You obviously didn't see how badly I argued with Two, we always fighting."

"But why?" Wedy asked.

"We're all animals living in human bodies," Five replied. "Its just instinct."

Wedy and Five stopped, One continued to stalk down the corridor, following Zero's distinctive scent. Wedy never actually knew which animals One and Five were before they became human, but she did know one thing, those in the 'Darwin Project' stuck together. They were a close community, a family even, when one of them was down there was someone there to pick them up.

Wedy smiled, knowing it was not her place to get involved in the tight cluster. Five smiled his thanks, then quickly caught up with One who had found Zero in the records room, sat atop a cabinet and appeared to have been waiting for them.

The main reason One and Zero were always at one another's throat is the classic cat and dog scenario, Zero is an Arctic fox and One is a Latin American black panther. Five had difficulties with Two as Five was an Ethiopian beisa oryx and Two just happened to be a wild dog, a predator that hunts oryx in the wild.

It seemed Kowalski just seemed to pick animals that were either an endangered species or ones that took his fancy, Kowalski never thought of the implications the different species would cause when placed in the same room. But even though they were all animals that often fought in the wild and even though they argued as humans, they actually got on very well.

"Well, well," One smirked. "If I didn't know you well I'd say you was waiting for us."

Zero crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest, they saw her face was strained with a difficult decision, One frowned slightly and realized that the friendly basis they usually worked on was not needed for this particular plan.

"I don't like saying this... but..." Zero sighed. "Kowalski and the others are going to plan something that will not work, I know my K.K is a genius but he's been gone for a long time."

"And you have a plan that will work?" Five asked.

"Yes," Zero nodded. "We'll be breaking a hell of a lot of rules, but I think Commander Bradley's fine with it."

Five thought back to the look Zero and Commander Bradley shared, if Commander Bradley was fine with Zero going behind the 'peng-umans' backs in order to plan a second agenda then chances were even he doubted the success of the mission Skipper was planning at that moment with Kowalski.

"Just so you know," Zero jumped down from the cabinet. "The plan goes into operation tomorrow, I need to know for sure you're willing to do what's necessary and not tell Skipper or Rico or anyone else what we're up too."

"If Commander Bradley thinks its the right thing to do then I'm in," Five answered quickly. "I don't like the thought of going behind Rico's back, but if we have too..."

Zero nodded once, she turned to look at One. The taller woman held Zero's stern gaze, she frowned deeply and sighed heavily. She scratched the back of her neck, closing her eyes, she had never gone behind Skipper's back or even planned anything without him knowing. And as much as she hated the thought of betraying him, another part of her knew it was the right thing to do.

The 'peng-umans' had not been quite right since they're return, things about them were off, little but noticeable things they had all noticed. Maybe sending them off on a mission was not the right to do, maybe they needed to spend more time away from a loaded gun and get back in touch with who they really were.

"I'm in," One opened her eyes and stood with a confident pose. "What do we need?"

"First things first," Zero began, "we need the ashes of James McManus."

...

That Night

Zero stared at the gun that sat at the bottom of her sock drawer, a Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat revolver with the word LUCKY engraved on the barrel. Her preferred weapon of choice and one that she hadn't fired or loaded since Kowalski became a penguin. She pulled the gun out of its small wooden box and her old companion slid into her grip with surprising ease, almost like it was welcoming her back.

She aimed the gun at the wall, pulled the trigger, the gun wasn't loaded but it still felt nice to pull that trigger. Zero heard the front door open, she put the gun back into its box and closed the door, even though she hated putting her old friend away so quickly she knew she would need it soon.

"V.A.C," Zero said. "Is that Kowalski who just stepped through the door?"

"Yes, Mistress Zero," V.A.C answered.

"How does he look?" Zero asked.

"Well..." V.A.C sounded reluctant to answer. "To be honest, he looks a right mess. I thought he was supposed to stay in the hospital until they said it was safe for him to return."

"He was supposed too," Zero snapped.

She left and found Kowalski sat on the sofa, hunched over and breathing heavily. Even in his lab coat he didn't look any less pitiful, she sighed and slowly retreated back into the bedroom. She didn't want to talk to him, not after what he said.

"Zero?" he called. "Are you here?... V.A.C, where's Zero?"

"She's... uh..." even though he was a computer V.A.C knew when a woman wanted to be alone. "She's not here, she did come back to check up on things but she's gone now."

Kowalski got to his feet, groaning as he did so. "Alright," he said. "Will you run a bath for me?"

"Already on it," V.A.C replied.

Kowalski hobbled to the bathroom as he heard the sound of running water, Zero crept past the bathroom door with a heavy bag on her shoulders and her Smith & Wesson revolver attached to the holster on her side. She whispered goodbye to V.A.C and left without saying goodbye to her fiancé.

...

The Next Night, Tia's Californian Headquarters

Tia was terrified, what had become of James? Where was her son? Axel said he had no idea where James had gotten too, he believed that S.W.O.R.D had kidnapped him after discovering a connection between him and Tia and were going to use him as bait in order to gain information or something else.

Tia didn't believe Axel. There were too many holes in his story, too much that didn't make sense.

First, why would James go out when he had no friends? There was no one for him to see outside of his home, all he had was Tia and his internet friends and he was happy with those few. Second, James always carried his Blackberry with him, it was practically glued to his hand, even if he had been kidnapped she would have been able to trace his last call and use a satelite to trace his whereabouts.

Third, James McManus' existence had been erased from existence, even his biological father believed his son to be dead. And fourth, James and Tia had never been seen together in public, not even Diz and Kaien knew of his existence so how had S.W.O.R.D found out about him?

Tia sat behind her office desk, starring at an old crumpled and bent out of shape photo of her and James from years previously, the only photo of those two and it was always kept on her person. Tia got to her feet, deciding to confront Axel, she had a feeling he knew more than he was saying and she was going to find out what he was hiding.

She left the room and found the corridor of the office building was quiet, she frowned to herself, noting her receptionist's desk was empty. She called her receptionist's name, there came no reply. Tia suddenly felt something against the back of her neck, her eyes widened a fraction for a brief second, then she composed herself.

"Well..." she smirked. "Aren't I the fool? I send my men out to go search for someone and I am left completely defenceless."

"We just need to talk, Tia," Zero said.

Tia pouted slightly, a slight frown on her face. She slowly backed into the office, she wanted to hear what Zero had to say, it had to be important if she broke into her office building and sealed off the floor. Once inside One closed the door, Five frisked Tia and quickly took away her handgun and knife and tossed the aside.

Tia was then cuffed and shoved her to the floor, her back to her wall and she faced the three figures clad in black. Zero removed the black balaclava from her face, setting her Smith & Wesson gun on the table and she knelt in front of Tia. The older woman stared at Zero, a deep scowl on her cocky face.

"We know who James McManus is," Zero said in a cold voice.

Tia lost her cockiness, like a flannel washing cheap make-up off her face. Panic came across Tia's face, all sorts of ideas running through her mind and all of those ideas ended in the same bleak way.

"Where is he?" Tia asked.

"He's dead," One answered.

Tia's face contorted in pain, thick tears suddenly streaming down her face and leaving dark smudges on her face. All three were taken back by the sudden emotion on the infamous Tia Halibel's face, they had never expected her to express such emotion or to even have feelings.

"You killed him!" she screamed. "You fuckers! I'll fucking kill you all!"

"James was involved with a raid on Sixth Division HQ," Five answered. "He was attacking a S.W.O.R.D agent, he became a threat and he was eliminated."

Confusion suddenly came across her wet face, anger and pain soon gone, "What raid?" Tia asked. "I didn't authorize any raid of your headquarters, even if I had, why would I send James?"

"That's what we need to talk about," Zero said.

Zero gave a quick nod to Five, he took off his backpack and pulled out a light blue urn that appeared to be made out of something like China or similar. Five passed the urn to Zero, Tia knew who's ashes were inside the beautiful pottery and she couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude. Zero gently held the urn, then placed it on the floor in front of her.

"During the raid someone released Diz, but only to kill him," Zero continued. "We know Kaien wouldn't arrange this because he's dead and Diz is his son, and we know Diz wouldn't arrange his own murder."

"How did you find out about James?" Tia asked.

"He said we wouldn't interfere with his mother's plans ever again," Five replied. "We assumed that was you and conducted a DNA test in order to ID him."

Tia stared at the urn in front of her for a long time, she squinted her eyes slightly. "I would never ask James to risk his life for me," she said quietly. "The only other person who could have arranged the raid was Axel, he could have easily persuaded James that I wanted his assistance in the raid."

Tia smiled suddenly, an insane look in her red raw, tear filled eyes. "I know what your playing at..." she said. "I always knew you was special Zero, you know what it takes to win."

"Do we have a deal, Tia?" Zero asked.

"Un-cuff me first," Tia ordered. "Show me how much you trust me."

Five noticed a reluctant look on Zero's face, she was clearly playing with fire and she would have to exercise extreme caution in order to not get burned. Luckily Zero was the type of person who had been burnt before, she was almost immune to it now, if she got burnt then she would just keep going regardless of the pain.

"Do it," she commanded.

Five un-cuffed Tia, she automatically picked up the urn and walked towards her desk, setting the urn on the wood and she picked up Zero's gun. One and Five reached for they're own firearms, watching Tia carefully as she walked towards Zero.

"Its a good gun," Tia commented. "A good make... ol' Lucky."

Tia handed Zero the gun, as the two hands gripped the gun an alliance was forge without any words needed to be spoken. It was not the traditional way of shaking hands, but it was the way an agent of S.W.O.R.D and an infamous drug lord shook hands.

To Be Continued...