Oh my goodness, look at this. Another chapter. Finally. Um, so, yeah, usual thanks: Mijo54, SandyLee Potts and Prawn Crackers, all of whom I would like to thank for sticking with this story throughout. You guys have been a great help to me with all your really encouraging reviews. Enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Ten
The ARC was quiet for the rest of the day. Jess returned with a beaming smile that she point blankly refused to explain, and anyone within ten yards of the ADD could have sworn they heard her singing to herself. Teresa, after a twenty-minute argument with her brother that looked like it was going to come to blows by the end, explained her mother's organisation to Matt, Abby, Connor and Emily; a task that took the pair of them up to midday. Matt asked no questions, Abby only one or two, Connor refused to believe it because "it sounded too much like a Dan Abnett novel" and Emily said that she would rather not believe that such corruption existed in this world. This, of course, resulted in a cascade of laughter from Jack, silenced by Teresa's threat of imminent violence if he didn't shut up.
"They're treating it like a fairy story," he complained when the others had gone.
"To them it probably is. And anyway, Emily's from the eighteen hundreds. Stuff like this doesn't sit well with her."
"Right. You know you just delivered that bombshell very casually, don't you?"
Teresa laughed. "And Matt's from an indeterminable point in the future. It's quite fun, really."
"I am going to try not to think too much about that. I mean, seriously. Secret organisations and assassination attempts I can deal with. Time portals to distant eras... Not so much."
"You're such a child."
"You tell me that often. On a more serious and therefore more relevant note, how did that conversation with Galvan go?"
"Very well; better than I'd expected. Instead of trying to kill me he actually wants to work with me. Apparently El Voz are slowly taking over the government, which may not affect most people, but "businessmen" like Galvan have got to be on their toes. He claims that I'm more useful to him free than captured."
"Well that's a turn up for the books."
"Whatever that actually means. Basically he wants to do deals with me now; I know more about how they work than anyone else is willing to tell him."
"Does he know we're working together?"
"He does. Liked the sound of it, too."
"Great. This day is actually going better than expected."
"Careful; we're only halfway through it."
Jack laughed, and then yawned. "So how come Becker gets a day off and the rest of us don't?"
"Mainly because a building fell on him yesterday..." she paused, thought for a moment, and then whistled through her teeth. "Wow, that was only yesterday."
"Feels weird, doesn't it?"
"That's one way of describing it. Why are you complaining, anyway? You don't even work here. If you want to leave, go ahead."
"Well, I thought about that. Only..."
"Oh. Right." Teresa read through his feigned embarrassment and sighed. "Come with me. Unsurprisingly I don't keep the keys to my apartment on me during the day."
"Thanks little sister," Jack crooned."
"Less of the little; I can take you whenever I like."
"This morning was a one-off," he insisted as they made their way along a corridor. Jack realised just how much he trusted his sister; he had no idea where they were or where they were going. Had he been with anyone else, he wouldn't have let his guard down so low.
"Where did you pick that up, anyway? I never taught you how to throw someone over your shoulder like that."
"Who says I needed to be told?"
Jack snorted. "It's not something you can just do, Tres."
"Call it beginner's luck then. Or are you jealous?"
"Of you? Never."
"Sure. Because if you wanted to clarify I could try it again..."
Jack opened his mouth, clearly about to tell her where she could stick that idea, when the alarms-and-red-lights combination that was so frequent around the ARC echoed through the corridors. Teresa had doubled back at a run before Jack had even recovered from the sudden shock.
"Where is it, Jess?" She had no idea why there was an ARC earpiece in her ear, or even when she had put it there. But don't question that now; just get to the 4X4s outside.
"It's... Oh God, it's in the ARC!" Jess' voice, harsh in her ear with the implications of her statement. "West, get there before Lockdown initiates."
"On it. Where is it?" She skidded to a halt, glaring as Jack slammed into her back.
"Corridor outside the fitness suite." Whatever imperatives she then uttered about how important it was that she got there as quickly as possible were lost on West, because she had already taken off at a run. Jack soon caught up with her, and they shot each other a glance as she led the way to the emergency stairwell and up two floors.
The lights had gone out, probably on the entire floor, due to the amount of electromagnetic interference anomalies caused. The only source of illumination was the thing itself, occupying almost the entire corridor in width and flickering silver, the glass-like shards rotating around each other in a dizzying display. Jack was transfixed.
"So this is an anomaly..." he said out loud.
"Mmmhmm. You still got that pistol?"
"No, your boss made me turn it in."
"Who, Lester?"
No, that Irish guy."
"Oh, he's not really my boss. I can ignore him if I want to."
"Right. Why did you ask, by the way?"
"Well, I need you to watch this thing while I go around the corner to Connor's lab and find a locking device. You don't really need a pistol, it's just you might find it handy if a raptor comes out or something."
"Again, you said all that as if it was the most normal thing in the world."
"Shut up and watch the big flickering thing."
"Flickering thing. Watch it. Gotcha."
Teresa backed away from the anomaly, keeping her eyes fixed on it until she met the corner and was forced to leave it in the hands of her brother. She turned and took the remaining hundred feet at a run, sliding to a stop across the polished floor in front of Connor's lab. There was no light; what the anomaly emitted didn't reach this far; but she could tell through some instinct she had learned to trust that something was wrong. A crash; as if someone had walked into a desk and knocked equipment onto the floor; reached her from the bowels of the lab. Someone was in there, and they knew they had company. Teresa stepped back, out of the doorway, and waited for whoever it was to make a move.
Silence, the calm-before-the-storm kind, stretched on for half a minute or so, before a black-clad, six foot, twelve-stone force slammed into her from behind, sending her sprawling on the floor. The person she had actually been waiting for leapt over her on his way out of the lab, joining his friend in a desperate run down the corridor. Teresa tried to get up, but her limbs refused to obey. Her assailant had knocked all the breath out of her, leaving her winded on the floor. Her hands scrabbled uselessly at the polished floor for a moment. Then the adrenaline kicked in. Those two were probably heading back to the anomaly. Hell, they had probably caused it; one of them was in Connor's lab, and who knew what kinds of things he had in there that could do all sorts to anomalies. There were two of them, and Jack was the only one guarding it. He was unarmed, they probably weren't. He was a good fighter, but he wasn't an Agent of the Matrix. She had to get up and help him. She had to tell Jess that there were two - possibly more - intruders in the building. She had to do something...
With an outrageous effort, she pushed her hands underneath her and managed to take in enough breath to get to her knees. It became easier after that. Soon she was on her feet, stumbling at first down the corridor but then managing a jog. The sounds of her brother's plight reached her before the corner did.
She checked herself on how much credit she ought to give him in the future; he had one locked in an intense hand-to-hand battle that was leading them both around in circles, while the other tried desperately to find a clear shot at him without hitting his accomplice. Neither of them seemed to see Teresa.
"Jess, we have two intruders down here. I think they stayed behind from this morning's attack. Don't sound general alarm, not yet." She whispered into her com piece, not wanting the El Voz operatives to hear her. She would back her brother up if he needed it, but so far he was doing pretty well on his own. He spun the man he was fighting over his hip in much the same way she had done to him a few hours before, snatching his pistol out of its holster at the same time and training it on each of them in turn. Teresa took her cue to step out and join him, moving past them and around in a circle until the pair of them stood with their backs to the wall, anomaly, Spaniards before them, anomaly to their left. For the longest time nobody moved. It was only then that Teresa realised she had received no response from Jess.
"Jess? Do you read?"
What answered her was indeed Jess Parker, but it wasn't through the distant, crackling feed of the ARC com. The whimper came from the stairwell, as a third Spaniard appeared through the doorway to the stairwell. He was pushing Jess at an awkward angle in front of him, a pistol raised to her forehead. Jack's eyes and aim shifted to them, giving the other two enough of a chance to make a lunge for the anomaly, throwing the third man a device they had presumably stolen from Connor's lab. Jack let them go; they weren't the priority anymore.
The Spaniard edged towards the waiting Anomaly, small device in one hand and a terrified Jess in the other. His gun pressed into her forehead, and he was growing more and more agitated by the fact that she kept tripping over her shoes.
"Move and I shoot," he barked in rapid Spanish. There was fear in his voice.
"You don't have to do this you know," Teresa tried. It sometimes worked on Ortega's men, those who were too young to know any better. This one clearly wasn't one of them; he simply laughed.
"You think you can affect me with your lies? I know about you. Both of you. The things you have done. The Leader wants you." He took another step sideways; he was right next to the anomaly now, preparing to step through it. Teresa knew that it would close immediately behind him thanks to the device in his hand; Connor's most recent attempt to re-create Helen Cutter's ability to control the anomalies. What she didn't know was where it led, or if he would take Jess with him. Becker would never forgive her if he did. The Spaniard laughed again; a wild, feral sound that suggested complete madness as a result of his indoctrination.
"Look at you, so helpless. You have nothing…"
"Let her go."
The deep tenor sounded as the ominous form of Captain Becker materialised behind the Spaniard, an EMD instantly meeting the flesh of his temple. He appeared to have come through the anomaly, although Teresa knew he would never have even considered it. Hell, he was supposed to still be at home.
The Spaniard's eyes widened, the madness behind them showing through. He was right to be afraid; Becker was almost twice his width, a few inches taller than him, and was staring down at him through dark eyes, merely a silhouette against the golden light of the anomaly. It was, all things considered, a terrifying sight.
"You have been warned, Traitors," the Spaniard shouted for dramatic effect, before pushing Jess away from him with his foot and stepping back into the anomaly in one smooth movement. Jess stumbled and fell, but Becker shot across the corridor and caught her on his arm. Jack immediately turned and fired a shot, knowing she was safe, but the anomaly was already mostly closed. The bullet went through, but there was no way to even be sure it had hit the man, let alone where.
"Are you alright?" Becker murmured to Jess, making sure she was straight on her feet before tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Jess nodded, but she was crying, and Becker clearly wasn't convinced. Teresa realised with a jump that she should not be watching such an exchange, and elbowed Jack hard in the ribs to let him know the same thing.
"Lester's office," she stated, knowing that the Captain would follow as soon as he was finished. "Now." And she pulled a still somewhat gaping Jack along the corridor back to the stairs.
"Are you alright?" Becker had to know. Jess had been through enough, too much, in the last twenty four hours. She wasn't trained for this. She looked like she might collapse at any given moment. She nodded, but he didn't buy it for a second; the tears were falling thick and fast, smudging in her newly-applied mascara and leaving thick black trails down her cheeks. He brushed them clean with his thumb. For some reason, this only made Jess cry harder, and she leant against his chest, letting him stroke her hair and envelop her in his embrace.
"It's going to be alright, Jess," he whispered. He felt like her protector; his strong arms folded around her slight body. He felt like he could shield her from anything, or he would anyway, even... Even if it killed him. The fact hit him like the proverbial smack in the face. He would die for Jess Parker. If it meant saving her, he would do anything. Distract the attention of carnivorous dinosaurs. Stand in front of insane Spaniards with loaded guns. Whatever it took to keep her alive. It was a sobering thought, and there was an ever-decreasing part of his brain that told him it was a stupid one, but as it settled in his brain he knew it to be true. He loved her, and that was all it came down to really.
With that realisation firmly in mind, he held her until her sobs subsided and she fidgeted in his arms. She looked embarrassed at such an outburst, and he tried to relinquish it by brushing new dark tear-formed streaks from her face.
"You're supposed to be at home," she stuttered, voice cracking as she tried to recover herself.
"I had nothing to do when I woke up so came back in. I was only five minutes away when my detector went off." He didn't want to be talking about such petty things, but if it helped her recover, he didn't mind.
"You're ridiculous," she muttered, but there was a smile creeping into her expression.
"Maybe," he agreed, smiling himself. He let the gesture fill his eyes and gazed down at her with it, trying to transmit his newly discovered emotions to her. He would never know if he succeeded, but at the very least it gave her new strength. She straightened up, wiped her eyes, and smoothed out her skirt.
"Lester," she stated, her usual confidence returned to her voice. "He needs to know what just happened."
"I think Teresa and Jack are already on top of that," he assured her, noticing for the first time that the West siblings had quite literally vanished. "But still, we ought to grace him with our presence, just to be sure."
She laughed a little at that, and with it restored his confidence that she was alright. She amazed him regularly how she could witness - or even be part of - atrocities such as this, and still emerge smiling with words of reassurance. It made him want to be able to do the same.
True to prediction, the Wests were already standing before Lester, Jack tapping one foot against the other in impatience and Teresa only just exercising more restraint.
"...This has become out of hand," Lester stated, his voice becoming audible to Becker as soon as he had the door open wide enough. He hadn't knocked, and he wondered how the boss would make him pay for that in some subtle way later.
"Yes, we'd noticed that too," Jack retorted. He still hadn't gelled well with Lester, and Becker frankly wasn't all that surprised; they were, actually, very similar people.
"And," Lester continued, irritated at being interrupted with sarcasm that rivalled his own. "It needs to be stopped. I am going to send a report of this to Whitehall..."
"NO!" Both West siblings shouted at once.
"Sir, this cannot reach official ears," Teresa began. "Because if Ortega knows that a government is on to her..."
"She'll only speed up her plans. The last thing we need is the British Government knowing about this." Jack finished.
"What exactly do you suggest we do, then?"
"Keep quiet. Watch what they do with that opening device of theirs, and respond to it."
"It'll be harder for her to keep her activities under the radar now."
"And we have people in high places."
"Ah, yes, this Galvan character," Lester clearly wasn't impressed by an illegal force assisting their efforts. As if on cue, Teresa's mobile chimed.
"It's him," she reported to her brother.
"What? He didn't organise another call."
"No, he didn't."
Becker shared a glance with Jess as Teresa stepped out of the room, pressing green and beginning a rapid Spanish dialogue before the door had closed behind her. Jack turned to Becker, ignoring Lester's newly-forming comment altogether, as soon as the soft sighing confirmed that she wouldn't hear what he was about to say.
"I need you to transfer Teresa," he stated, blunt as ever.
"What? Why?"
"Look, this attack on the ARC; we had it wrong. They weren't after Teresa; they were after the Anomaly device. That's why they had so many men; they expected it to be heavily guarded. But now that they know that she's here, she's in danger again."
"And you want me to sack her, basically."
"Well no. Her records did state that she was subject to transfer at any time, and I hear Hawaii is very nice at this time of year."
Becker sighed. Jack had a point, he couldn't deny that. But at the same time, Teresa was probably the best Sargent he had ever had. He didn't want to give her up. But could he allow her to be in danger because of his selfishness? The answer was no, he couldn't.
"Hawaii?"
"It's out of the way, unlikely to be of any interest to Mother Dear in her little scheme, and they have a nice independent police force out there that, with a little string pulling," he looked pointedly at Lester, who straightened in his chair and looked affronted, "She could be onto in no time. And besides, she's always wanted to go there."
"You know that your sister is probably one of my best soldiers, right?"
"Almost certainly. But if she stays, she might just get killed. And so might you; El Voz will probably come back for her."
"Won't they do that anyway?" Jess thought aloud.
"No, they'll notice in a few days that she's gone."
"How, exactly?"
"Didn't someone cut your main power a couple of days ago? That was them. They're in your system now."
"Great."
"Terribly sorry to interrupt," Lester cut in, in a tone of voice that clearly suggested that he wasn't at all, "But is this operation under any more threat from El Voz?"
"No," Jack replied, happily. "You should be fine. They have what they came for."
"And you're sure of that?"
"Yep. Otherwise they'd still be here."
The door opened, providing a convenient pause in the discussion that Lester would certainly use to end it, and Teresa returned.
"What did he want?"
"Later."
"Right."
"So now that all this has been sorted out, it's back to business," Lester stated, true to predictions. "I suppose you all have things to be getting on with. Oh, and can someone send Connor up here? I need to have words with him about providing accurate information about all his projects."
"So this is goodbye," Becker stated, rocking forward on the balls of his feet with his hands clasped behind his back. Teresa knew him well enough now to know that those gestures meant he thought the situation awkward. And it was, but only a little.
"You know, I don't think we've seen the last of each other," she said, smiling.
"Oh? How's that?"
"Call it instinct."
He nodded, with nothing left to say. It felt strange, she reasoned, them saying goodbye in the same room they had first met. It gave their relationship a sense of completion in a strange, non-specific way.
Becker looked around the empty Rec Room, not meeting her eye for a while. When he finally did, his were full of an overflow of emotions that he couldn't - or didn't want to - hide from her. He didn't want to let her go; she could see that in his face; but it was the logical decision. Even she had to agree with that one, she who probably cared the least about her own life. She would go, but only because it would protect the rest of the ARC team. She was still going to kill Jack later.
"Good luck," he said, finally, and he meant it. He offered his hand, which she shook with a sincerity that she rarely felt.
"You too." She didn't quite know what she meant with; the ARC operations, his relationship with Jess, or just his life in general; but it was a nice sentiment. It was something better than just a nod. It gave her a hope, as she turned away from him and swung her hold all over one shoulder, that maybe this time she would have something to come back to when all of this was over.
The End. Basically. Wow, it feels so good to finally have finished this. I've been writing it for, what… Jeez, over a year ago. So yeah, please review; tell me what you thought of the whole thing, if it was the first time you've read it, or let me know what you thought of the ending whether it was or it wasn't.
See y'all around…