Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners (Dark Angel, Fox, etc.) The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Thanks to Kita for the grammar check and to Jenna whose comments and observations made the final version more interesting. Thanks to all of you who left a review, guys you're great. To those of you who didn't now is a good opportunity ;)
This is kind of a transition chapter before CeCe arrives and it basically depicts the events before and after the rooftop incident. The major part of it is told by Neil's point of view and I don't speak or write Japanese therefore if there's some mistake on the words I used I apologize in advance.
Previously
Alec felt like if something was ripping him from the inside, it hurt a lot and it felt like he was being burned alive. His throat was dry and his sight was blurry, his heart felt like if it was about to explode. He was not even sure if he was conscious or if it was part of another dream. He wished that it was the latter, then at some point he would wake up and all of these would be part of a memory.
The tears kept falling down, hurting him was the last thing she would have ever wanted, and if there could have been another solution she would have never approved this one.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Sir."
Chapter 10
Broken Soldiers
The sun was still high in the sky, or at least he guessed that much by the shadows. Too lazy to check his watch he calculated that it was probably around 13.30 pm. His gray eyes were fixed on the rooftop in front of him, watching and expecting to see the first move of the prone body lying there. His hand unconsciously brushed over the mahogany strands attached to the head currently resting on his leg.
Things had definitely gone straight to hell since the moment he received Anna's call. Sometimes, there were no big differences between them and the rest of the world. Being enhanced had not changed the fact that they were humans, they laugh, fight, cry and suffer the same way average people did; and even after years of training and learning self control at some point they could also crack, just the same way average people did.
So in truth, they were not so different after all.
That piece of knowledge had came with a price, Neil was not quite sure that May was going to accept it as a knowledge to be preserved. She would probably regard it as a weakness, the same way she did with all the things that made her act as the concerned girl she was deep down the cold hearted bitch mask she loved to use. In a way all of them wore a mask, they learned that the perfect mask could get you through the worst hell and while it won't kept you completely unscathed… it could definitely reduce the damage, and that was something worth it.
Every now and then things could get pretty bad and your mask would start to have its first cracks, but you would come back with a renowned strength and an even stronger mask. Although, sometimes there's no way to avoid the pain and no matter how good is your cover, you would shatter in million of pieces before you would be able to stand again. This time, it has been May's turn.
From all the days, Hathaway had to choose today; from all the hours, he had to pick the same hours when his CO almost killed himself. They were not so different than the rest of the world, if life could still screw them over. So, at the end he had learned something else today, the timing of the NSA definitely sucked.
Friday 11:30 am
After he hung up with May he had called back Anna. The main reason why Prometheus had assigned a data analyst for every Elite member could be explained by their constant need of up to date information, after all 'the more you know about your enemies, the easiest it becomes to defeat them'.
The Elite never left a trail that could be used to get them; their missions became part of the surroundings blending perfectly. No blood baths or hero broadcasted situations that could point to them. An Elite's mission was silent, efficiently and delivered with precision; which was the reason why Hathaway's sudden interest on him was bothering Neil.
He replayed every word exchanged that night, both at the embassy and at the hospital and there had been no signals for him to suspect that Hathaway would try contact him later. If he was going to be honest, the event at the Embassy was probably the most messed up situation that could ever be linked to an 'Elite', there were too many loose ends that needed to be cleaned up.
Leaving a witness of the opposite team was not a wise decision unless you were delivering a message; but if Alec was not himself yet, who he was trying to send the message to?
It might sounded harsh but during a mission whether you save everybody or kill everybody; the bad guys were not going to convert and regret all the damage they did; and the good guys were better kept alive, good people in this world was always needed.
Something had triggered Hathaway's attention and he needed to know exactly what was the other man looking for, he only waited for the first ring before the line got connected.
"I need a Divergence Analysis on Hathaway career, look for mission or assignments where he could have crossed paths with us." He didn't take the trouble with a greeting; after all besides himself and the D1 members no one else knew that specific phone number.
"Hold on for a sec, or maybe two. And… Bingo." Anna's voice sounded quite proud with her discovery and he waited for her to continue. "Hathaway was one of the two CIA agents that participated on the Martell Agenda; Prometheus assigned an "Elite" and two members of the SO, I don't have the names. The mission was short lived, barely three days." She told him in a professional tone.
"It's ok, I know who they were. Thanks sis." Neil's lips twitched in a dangerous smirk, as he flipped closed the phone. Now he knew what all of this was about.
He was one block away from his apartment when he watched the first SUV pass across the street and exactly two cars behind the second one followed the same route. In a city where the Pulse effect was obviously tangible how could special agents expected to blend in the surroundings driving large and expensive vehicles like those ones. Even if it was a residential zone, a SUV was quite noticeable. 'Amateurs'
Neil kept walking, if his calculations were correct it would take Hathaway's party around five minutes to get out from the vehicles, threat the landlord, take the elevator and knock down his door.
Five minutes was plenty of time for him. He used the emergency stairs at the back of his building to get to the 7th floor where his apartment was. Hearing the commotion by the end of the hall, Neil sat quietly on the cornice of his bedroom outside wall. It was a good place to hear them without being noticed. The crash sound at his hall let him knew that his door was probably broken; it was a pity that door had looked like it was made from real wood.
He resisted the urge to sigh; it was more fun when there were two of them to play the dangerous and psychotic agents than when he had to perform his own version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide. This could have been avoided if Hathaway would have kept his curiosity to himself, instead he had decided to come looking for him and Neil was never one to disappoint the public. The entire world was a stage and he was about to perform one of his favorite characters.
"Clear Sir" A rough male voice shouted.
"This room is also clear" Agent number two confirmed.
"There's a message on his answering machine" And that had been Thomas Hathaway amused voice as he pressed the bottom of the device. "Mr. Tyler, this is Jack from ItalClean your clothes will be ready by 18:00, please let us know if you will come by or if you preferred that we send them to you".
"His computer is locked; I'm working on the passwords." Neil heard the third agent voice as he moved his head to look at his watch 11:45, he wanted them out as quickly as possible.
"The place is clean, sir. And his closet is better organized than mine, what kind of man is so freaking organized?" Another one? This was getting ridiculous, four agents without counting Hathaway to take him out was a little exaggerated; although, considering the stunt he was about to pull, the more the merrier. Neil stood up on the cornice and jumped inside the bedroom where the female agent was still gazing at his clothes.
She raised her gun and pointed it at his heart; he chuckled and raised his hands in a surrender gesture. "Hiya stranger, any particular reason why you found my closet so bloody amazing? I can assure I look better out of the clothes." The words left his mouth as he watched satisfied as the female agent with the gun blushed slightly.
"Sir, I think I found him." She shouted, keeping her eyes on the guy all the time. He was extremely attractive; the combination of his gray eyes with the light brown hair and the athletic body was distracting her. The accent was driving her nuts.
Neil kept his hands up and watched her intently; her training will keep her looking at him, it would be stupid to turn around. However, how long would she endure his gaze lingering over her? That would have been an interesting game if he would have been in the mood of playing games. He smirked as a strong blast of window knocked down the paint behind her, it was a natural reaction and for a couple of seconds her eyes glanced at her back. Too bad for her, a second was the only thing he needed to revert their positions.
He jumped and kicked the gun from her hand, taking her down with the impact. He pushed his knee on her back and he secured her arms with one of his ties. If you knew what you were doing you could be able to kill a person with a sock. It might not be a glamorous way to kill someone, but dead people weren't supposed to be picky.
It hadn't been more than two minutes before the rest of the agents Hathaway included entered the bedroom and found agent Geller on the floor and Tyler Scoot sitting cross legged on his bed pointing the gun towards the tied up agent.
Thomas Hathaway looked at the young MI-5 agent; the gray eyes looked calmly back at him. There was no hesitation on that gaze, if he had to shoot the girl he would do it without blinking on the process.
"You know Mr. Hathaway I really do not enjoy when people broke into my place uninvited." The British accent was barely noticeable and Geller sighed at her own stupidity, did she really expect that it would be easy to get an MI-5 agent on her own.
"Mr. Scott is good to see you." The older man nodded in his direction, while looking at the gun all the time.
Neil raised an eyebrow at the salute and replied serenely, "Really? Even when I'm pointing a gun at one of your agents and I couldn't care less if I shoot her dead?"
Hathaway smiled at the words and considered that the young agent was only bragging. "But you wouldn't do that, would you?"
Neil snorted in response, "You broke in, and it would be self defense. Besides it seems that you're forgetting that I had immunity."
Thomas Hathaway's gaze hardened, "You won't kill her, or any of us."
Neil smiled at the older man and pointed the gun at him. "True, I won't kill her. It will mess up the carpet and I heard blood spots are hard to get out. The rest of you are standing on clear spots, no carpet at all. No dry cleaning bill to worry about."
"Cut the crap Scoot, if you would have wanted to kill us you would have done it already." The frustration was evident on the older man's voice and Neil laughed, he knew Hathaway was loosing his temper at an amazing speed. Nicole and Finn were right; teasing the target until he's no longer capable of recognizing your true intentions was certainly interesting.
"Do you have any idea of the mess you just created? Tsk tsk Thomas, don't you know that curiosity killed the cat? But really… tracking me down was priceless. Did you really expect this would be a surprise?" Neil asked in a detached tone of voice, his eyes scanned quickly the other three agents' movements and found them glued on the spot.
"It was a good shot." Hathaway replied curtly.
Neil's own gaze hardened, "It was stupid, careless and way too obvious."
"So you know what I want to know." The older man asked.
Neil turned on the laser sight of the gun and pointed at Hathaway's heart…"I have a pretty good idea of what you are trying to find out. Although, I'm surprised you thought I would help. I was under the impression that your people understood that collaboration was only for the duration of a mission, after the deal is done you don't ask and I don't tell, then the earth is a happy place"
Hathaway placed his hand over the red dot moving across his heart, and tried again… "I saw a dead man walking around."
"If you don't want to become one, you better let it go." Neil replied and turned of the laser.
"And what if I don't?"
Neil looked at the older man's eyes making sure he understood the message, "Do you really want to know? You're a brave man, brainless but brave. I'm not going to repeat myself Hathaway, it's your call. Although, you should remind that you don't get to mess with the lady… at least not in this lifetime. Keep digging around and getting sacked would be the best thing that could happen to you"
"Sir we can take him is three of us against him." Agent two chose that moment to realize that he had a voice.
The cold look on Neil gray eyes was only intensified when Thomas watched the golden flecks shinning on them.
"We're leaving." It was brief and left no room for argument.
"Smashing." Replied Neil smiling happily.
An angered Hathaway turned around one last time as the first Agent got Agent Geller from the floor. "It's not over Scoot."
"Yeah, Yeah. Don't try to win 'The twit of the year competition' Sir." He added the last part only to annoy the NSA agent further more.
As he heard the steps approaching the hall Neil shouted, "Let's make a deal, I'll send you the gun back after you repair my door. Come on it's a win-win situation!"
A loud grumble was the only reply Neil heard. Looking at his wrist he sighed, it was already 12:00. He better moved.
He had been walking out of his building when his phone rang.
"Contingency C. I need help with the extraction." He had never heard her sound so devastated, hopeless and broken. Those were not the kind of things he associated when describing May. The tremble of her voice, the raspy sound of her words, she was crying and for her to be crying it had to be bad. Actually it had to be down right terrible.
On his own shock he made the mistake of asking her if she was ok. It had been childlike of him to expect a real answer, instead he got a complete list that included from clothes to bandages and she also mentioned alcohol. Just in case he had bought a bottle of alcohol and one of Vodka, somehow he guessed that she might need the last item later.
They were going to need CeCe around as soon as possible, as he walked among the people he dialed a well known number and waited. The phone was not disconnected which was a good sign, Finn was not engaged on any mission at the moment.
"It's strange for you to call. What happened?" The voice on the other end seemed a little distracted and Neil guessed briefly what exactly had Finn been doing in Tokyo at 01:00 in the morning.
"He's getting out of control and two of us are not enough." He wasn't sure what to expect from the other man, he was still in the dark about the real reasons why Finn had taken Biggs out of the mission, and he wondered if maybe Finn would decide to take him out too.
"I see. It's taken care already, I thought you might need her help as soon as possible. She should be arriving in four hours. You were to be informed once her arriving time was confirmed."
Finn replied in a calmed tone as his free hand holding the knife dug into the heart of the man who tried to stop him. The man had opened his eyes as the pain pierced his heart but the words died on his lips as the blood loss drove him unconscious. Finn raised a hand in the air and made a signal for Biggs who carried out a girl on his arms of no more than seven years old.
"I understand. There's a low risk of exposure, Bugs being asking questions" Neil had noticed that Finn seemed to be spacing out, what was the man doing?.
"Then we better send the dogs and check out if the hunter wants to play. And Boreas…" Finn added while he walked out of the house and watched the van where Biggs was already seated holding the kid.
"Yes, sir."
"It will be ok." Finn cut of the communication as he pressed the small button on the control remote he was holding, the house trembled at his back as the flames covered what was left of the structure.
Kyokutei Shinsaku had played an essential role during Alec's and Nicole training and later on their missions inside Japan, when the old man contacted him and requested his help on rescuing his granddaughter, Finn had not hesitated about his decision and organized the off profile mission in a matter of two hours.
He was used to see the people destroy themselves, but he had no tolerance when they messed up with children. In his book there was no reason to justify hurting a kid in order to hurt an adult and Finn was particularly vicious when proving his point.
The call left Neil thinking that first the attack and then Alec's and Nicole disappearance obviously put a toll on all of them, especially on Finn's shoulders.
All the responsibilities had fallen on the D1 and with only half of the Committee helping around the Elite had taken more tasks on their hands and redistributed them between the Divisions. If it was hard for him to see Alec like that; he completely understood why Finn had not taken part of the Hades mission. Neil's relation with Alec had been close, like with the rest of the Elite, but the D1 were even closer between each other. The four of them had endured a special training, they experienced extreme situations and the bonds between them were stronger than with the rest of the Elite.
Finn had known from the beginning that he would be anything but objective if he saw his best friend like that; the Elite could not afford to have its leader making decisions based on emotions, it would be a dangerous game that could be lost easily. The reason of Biggs sudden exit of the mission profile became clearer for Neil; Finn reasoning had been as always impeccable.
After the call, it had taken him fifteen minutes to gather all the things he will be needing and another ten until he could arrive at the address May had given him.
The sight that welcomed him was one he hoped to never witness again. Alec expression showed that not even unconscious he seemed to be in peace, the pained gesture he made every time he breathed in, it was killing him. May on the other hand was not looking better; her hair flew around her face like a halo, the dry tears on her face and the desperation on her eyes as she kept brushing his hair made Neil worry about her own mental stability.
He realized after a minute that the place felt warm, there was a faint smell of burned skin and he gasped in surprise when he noticed May's position kneeling on the floor.
Getting Alec in the new clothes was easier than getting the nerves to pulling May into a standing position. She didn't mutter a word, but the hiss that left her lips involuntarily was enough to let him know that it had hurt a lot.
The clothes he got Alec were black as his original attire; there were some slight differences that he hoped Alec would overlook on his state. Cleaning the burns on May's legs shouldn't have been a hard task, first aid and basic medicine were part of his training but the fact that it was the first time he had to use it on someone from his own unit made it harder.
Neil placed Alec lying on the rooftop in the most comfortable position his mind could came up with, he left his backpack by the door and left the same way he arrived. Then he and May ended up in the rooftop of the building across the street.
May passed down half an hour later and was currently sleeping on his right leg. Actually May's additional weight was the reason of the numb feeling on his legs, not that he really cared about it. He knew that she would deny ever crying in front of someone, if he would have to bet she would probably threaten him if he said something about it.
He glanced at the watch on May's wrist, 13:45 pm. The only thing left for them was to wait.
Wait for CeCe to arrive, wait for Alec to remember, wait for things to fall back in place.
The sun light illuminated the flowers cascading from the branches, bouquets of blossoms crowded together in a chaotic order as the rays of light brought out the different textures of the soft pale flowers. Despite being a boy Alec could not help but admit that cherry blossoms were one of those things that needed to be experienced, there were no pictures or videos that could ever transmit the ethereal atmosphere of the park when the small and delicates flowers populated the trees, or when those started to fall on the ground resembling spring snow flakes. It was stupid but he got the idea that if there was a heaven it probably looked like this place.
From all the missions of the last two years this was definitely the best, Yokohama was a place he would gladly return to, preferably during the same season. It was the perfect time, the interlude before the scorching summer that was around the corner provided the pleasant warm temperature that seemed to maximize the experience. The flowers might be gone completely by the end of the week, but at that precise moment it did not matter at all.
The soft voice whispering caught him by surprise, looking at his right he couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him. Her brown pony tails shined under the sun and her pale skin contrasted with the lively colors of the park, blue eyes were lost on the blue sky above them.
It was indeed a rare occasion being able to catch her acting so freely and relaxed. His Second in Command had an outstanding presence that contrasted with her limited stature; no one will ever deny or argue about that, but ever since her return from the mission at Ermoupolis her personality had changed drastically. Gone was the carefree girl who swept into the world without a worry, in her place a detached and controlled version had appeared, it reminded him of the girl she used to be three years ago.
Her eyes were colder now; her comments were more sarcastic and only her short temper remained the same, along with her dislike for hot weathers. That was maybe the reason why he was surprised to hear no complains from her as they sat on the outside during what could be considered as a warm day.
She was sitting with her back against the tree trunk, right hand raised as if trying to touch the sky, Nicole was without a doubt completely lost on her own world or ignoring him on purpose. He was quite positive that it was the first one.
"Kageyaku sekai ga kono te ni afure."
Alec smirked hearing the words; he knew that despite the appearances Nicole was indeed very focused on the mission at hand. Although, the mesmerized look on her face as she watched intently the light as it fell upon the flowers could be deceiving. For someone who was dubbed the title of "Ice Princess" she surely was a expressing a lot today, even if it wasn't exactly by using words.
Still, they had a task and he needed all her attention on the mark not on the pretty flowers. Leaning closer he whispered softly on her ear, "Nani?"
The male voice made her roll her eyes in annoyance and she spared a side look at his direction, the smirk planted on his face confirmed her suspicious, she had been talking out loud…again. Sensing that he was still waiting for an answer she muttered softly, "Betsuni"
Glad to successfully brought her back on track he realized that something was missing, when they arrived to the park there was a soft breeze blowing, ever since they sat under the trees the breeze had stopped. He suspected that the girl sitting next to him had a lot to do with it.
"You do realize that no matter what you are trying to do the flowers will eventually fall, right?" He had decided that if he was going to annoy her, he preferred English better than Japanese.
She glared at him looking quite frustrated at the amusement on his voice. "Really boss? I would have never guessed… Off course I'm aware of that." Her tone was icy at the beginning, but then softened "I just like how it looks right now, it's different…I kind of like it. Besides I don't know when we will be back, I just wanted to remember it like this."
Sometimes he forgot that despite all the things she had seen and experienced so far, there was still a little girl inside of her, one who had a tendency to appear when he less expected. The azure of her eyes would change and suddenly those big bright orbs will look at him with such innocence that he wouldn't be able to deny her anything.
Lately, those occasions became less and less frequent. Maybe she was inevitably growing up and getting more mature or she was learning to deal with the aftermath of her missions on her own, one way or the other he knew that if she needed him she would tell him. The knowledge that she would turn to him was the only thing he could actually predict about her, trying to apply past experience in order to foreseen her actions or reactions had proved to be a useless task, one he ditched two years ago.
"Positive confirmation of the mark, Alpha Team you can proceed." Both of them resisted the urge to roll their eyes, their play time was over.
"Here" her voice was soothing and he couldn't detect a hint of sarcasm, her hand cover his for a second before she stood and walked toward the restaurant in front of the park. When he looked down he found a cherry flower on his hand as he felt the soft breeze started to blow again.
A middle aged woman walked out of the restaurant in a huff, her face showed clearly her irritation as she almost run over a couple who was entering the same establishment, the ten-year-old girl standing behind the couple moved just in time and barely touched the woman's arm with her own trying to avoid the collision.
He mentally counted the steps of the woman as he watched her expression change with every movement; one, two and three were missing by her annoyance, on step number four she realized that something was wrong as her breathing became faster, fifth step and her sight was blurry, by the sixth she had started to sweat and her muscles contracted as a convulsion threw her on the floor, her eyes scanned her surroundings looking for the responsible. Just as May had said it had taken less than ten steps.
The woman held her chest in pain as she could feel the people starting to gather around her. There was a single thought on her mind besides the pain, where was him or her? She had done the same thing, stayed and watched her marks die. Her heart was hurting and she knew that it would be the end, for the last time her eyes wandered to the front, from her position on the floor she saw the coldest eyes she ever seen on the pair of kids who watched her from across the street. It couldn't be them, right? The sharp pain on her heart was unbearable and she finally let go.
The sand blond haired boy talked to no one on particular, "The target was contained. Endgame status confirmed." His hand removed the small earplug and placed it on his back pocket. The breeze got stronger and a rain of small flowers fell around the two kids walking on the opposite direction of the commotion.
"Hey Alec, do you believe in heaven?" Her question made him smile as he remembered that he had thought something similar, yeah he believed that if there was a heaven it should look pretty similar to that park, less the corpses of course.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Friday 14:15 pm
There was a cool breeze around him, it was somehow comforting…his eyelids opened slowly, the light hit his pupils and he needed to blink a couple of times until his eyes adjusted to the natural light. He felt exhausted, hurt and confused, exactly where was he right now?
The first attempt to move from his original position was quickly turned down, it hurt too much. He decided to give it a try later, when the fog around his brain might dissipate enough to let him figure out how did he get there, and where was 'there'. His face was turned to the right and rested on a limp left arm, all his vision was reduced to the foot between the floor and the door. One thing was for sure, this was not his apartment or any other place he had been before.
Gradually the images started to form on his brain and piece by piece he placed them in the correct order; the memories about drowning, the morning freak out and the trembles, the awkward arrival at Jam Pony, OC's concerned look, the delivery at Mercer St. Then he had made a stop at Pike Place Fish to buy a coffee, his next package was to be delivered on an office at the HBB tower.
He had to wait for a long time until the receptionist got time to sign the receipt; he had been wandering around the office and ended up by the windows panels. He remembered pieces of a mission when he was younger. And then the pain had started, his memories were blurry after that and he guessed that he probably passed out on the rooftop as his last conscious thought had been looking for an open space with fresh air.
Alec knew that he couldn't stay on the floor forever, he just needed to concentrate on the task at hand, and the first step was to change his position.
In his mind this had been less complicated than in the reality, it had taken all of his self control to restrain his voice and stop from screaming at top of his lungs. Right now he was working on getting his breath back to normal; the copper taste on his mouth was making him felt sick. He succeeded but it had hurt like hell.
The situation was getting out of control at an amazing speed, Alec couldn't recall feeling like this before, one thing was to suffer a panic attack where he had been conscious or at least semi-conscious all the time, and another completely different thing was to have a blackout and wake up feeling like someone skinned you alive.
His mind was reaching its limits; he wasn't sure what was real anymore…the soft breeze cooled down his sensitive skin, the memory calmed down his nerves in the same way it soothed his body. He closed his eyes trying to forget the pain he was feeling, trying to relax and made the healing process go faster… he remembered the trees, the flowers, the way the sun light illuminated the park and a soft breeze like the one he was feeling now.
"Hey Alec, do you believe in heaven?"
A pained sigh escaped from his throat and he closed his eyes, he wasn't sure anymore… did he still believe in heaven? He wasn't sure about who was he in the first place. However, he had no doubt that he did believe in hell, if hell could be condensed on a feeling then he was in hell. He opened his eyes and watched the sky, there were dark clouds covering the vast space… It would rain soon.
Friday 14:25
May had always considered that tears were useless and crying did not help to solve anything. Tears were a sign of weakness and an Elite member had no flaws, therefore crying was something none of them should experience.
The fingers of one hand were more than enough to count the times she had allow herself that weakness, the first time had been when they were told that Finn was in a coma and Nicole was dead. She had cried alone in the rooftop of the Medical Wing where no one could see her, at that time she had refused to believe that something like that could ever happened to them. That someone could ever hurt them.
The next time tears found their way out of her eyes was when they were notified first of the attack on the 5th Division Head Quarters and only hours later that Alec and Nicole had died during a mission, that time she cried for hours until there were no more tears to be shed. She hadn't left her office during a whole day, hadn't spoken to anyone, and hadn't listened to anyone. Every person had its own way to grieve and hers was to be left alone, May didn't believe in talking about it, words were useless and didn't bring back to live the people who died. She preferred the silence, it hurt less.
This time it had been different, she cried and the tears had not seemed to stop anymore. Alec was suffering, in pain and confused, she could feel it. Her tears were for him, for not been able to help him, for being responsible of his agony. The other times she cried the blame was on someone else, someone who had dared to hurt the people she cared for. This time it was her who was doing the harm, it was her who consciously and completely aware of the consequences had taken the decision.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Sir…can you ever forgive me?
She didn't need to look at him, she only had to close her eyes and the image of his face contorted in pain would appear on her mind. Neil had been right; they no longer had a claim on him to mess up with his life like this, they should have let him go.
"Stop questioning yourself; it won't change anything." The coldness on his voice was something she didn't expect. It was usually her place to adopt the cold approach; it was usually him who made her soften her views. That was usually the way they worked together, up until now the formulae never had changed.
"I was thinking that maybe you were right." Her voice sounded hoarse from all the crying, from all the built-up emotions. It was useless and followed no logic, crying did not help Alec but at that moment she had not been able stop, and now her voice was the clear evidence of what had happened.
"Both of us know that's a lie. This would be happening with or without our interference. He's going to make it, he always does." The confidence on his voice sparked a new hope on her eyes.
"If you tell anyone about this…" She started on her usual tone.
"Yeah I know… I know. You will kill me in a very inventive way and none will ever find out. You know, it's not the first time you threaten me." He replied as his arm fell around her shoulder.
She smiled for the first time and didn't brush off his arm. Both of them watched as Alec regained consciousness and moved slowly until he was finally sitting against the wall.
"How long until the painkillers start working?" he asked, the feeling of helplessness coming back stronger. This mission was killing them slowly.
"The analgesics had been working since the last shot, in twenty more minutes he would be able to move normally. The post-effect should be minimal, and the healing speed of his body will do the rest." She replied and her eyes fixed on the body across the street.
Neil watched as Alec opened his lips and then closed his eyes, "Could it happen again?"
"Yes. Right now he's a time bomb, too much power without any kind of control. A bomb ticking and ready to explode." Her nails dug on her palm, she was not going to cry again, no matter how bad it looked, she would not do it. Not again. Better yet, not ever.
Neil watched her fumbling with her hands; it was time to share at least one good new. "Help is on the way."
She looked at him worried, "When is she arriving?"
"Hours from now, I will get the confirmation soon." Any moment now someone from the 4th Division should be calling him.
May sighed as she watched the clouds; apparently Seattle felt the need to welcome every Elite member with rain. "She could get closer and contain it before it begins. By the way how did it go with your issue?"
Neil smirked remembering the face of Thomas Hathaway…"I think he got the message, but if he didn't Finn or Artemis would teach him a lesson."
"They never learn." May replied amused, talking about something else was good. It distracted her at least for a couple of minutes.
Neil rubbed his eyes; it seemed that today was going to be one of those days, "Nope."
"Are you starting to get anxious about her?" May smiled as she watched him frowned.
He couldn't believe that he actually fell on that trap again; he was pondering if he preferred depressed May or annoying May. "Can we talk about something else?"
"I'll take that as a yes." She said in a way too serious voice to be considered serious at all.
"Why there are subjects between us that are taboo for you on which you demand that I do not mention them. But there's no respect about what I want to talk about?" It was useless, starting an argument with May, CeCe or Nicole was a loss battle before it even started, but he was not going to be defeated without fighting for his dignity.
She rested her head on his shoulder, "I look cuter than you in a dress."
Neil chuckled at that comment, "You did not admit that you look cute wearing a dress."
"Why not? All is fair in game and love." She quoted Seth's trademark phrase.
He laughed before replying, "I don't love you."
She hit him in the leg, but the smile was still on her lips…"Thank god for that."
It wasn't like they didn't care about how Alec was doing across the street. They did, and the feeling of being unable to help him was tearing them apart and messing up with their decisions.
May shouldn't have ended up with burns on her legs, she was well aware of Alec's power; she had seen it countless times. She simply panicked; if her reaction would have been different she would have been able to get Alec out of the rooftop when she arrived there. The additional heat Alec's body endured could have been avoided if she would have acted more rationally. And she knew that.
The NSA should have never been contacted on the first place. Alec should have not met Sokolov's under those conditions, it was pushing too much. The fact that agents from the DSCA got involved was an additional burden.
If the meeting would not have been pressed, the NSA intervention would not have been needed. Biggs mistake was to rush up things; Finn knew that and took him off the mission. Neil's mistake was to call the NSA without running a profile on the Director he called, a rocky mistake but still a fault. One that now was proving to be a nuisance. And Neil was well aware of it.
They were making mistakes and overlooking details that were obvious, that should have been spotted at miles under different circumstances, if the mission wouldn't be about him.
Talking about nonsense things while they watched Alec fought to control his breathing was not a cold action, it was an attempt to survive the overpowering feeling of throw things to hell and help him.
When did they loose control and became a couple of broken soldiers?
To be continued…
AN: This is the closer translation, bear in mind I said closer ;)
Kageyaku sekai ga kono te ni afure :The shining world overflows in my hands
Nani : What?
Betsuni : Nothing
And next on Lost Blue Skies…
The members of the Elite had a unique DNA and completely different human energy fields than the average people. When the time approached and a new "Elite" needed to be conformed the Committee started searching for individuals who had higher energy fields, it was a long and tiring process, one that was skipped when they chose to use Manticore resources. Those whom were chosen had the ability of influencing the environment, whether it was consciously or not, by using their hold on one of the four elements. Physically those people had heightened senses and while they could be injured their recovery was three times faster than in a regular human.
Every 150 years children with extremely high energy fields were born, every 150 years a new "Elite" was conformed. But like it happened in all the stories, human vindictive nature decided to strike down forcing a series of events that threatened the Elite survival and forced the Committee to choose Manticore as their last resource.
.-.-.-.-
"What are you doing here?" Max eyed him suspiciously
Alec snorted in response, why does everything seem to gravitate around her…"Why Max, do you have special rights to hang around the debris of what used to be Manticore?"
.-.-.-.-
The wind around the place became warmer and he could feel the same burning sensations went through his veins.
"Stop it." Her voice cut the air and his attention was broken as he watched on the pale blue eyes of the girl watching him.
"You…" he stuttered as he watched her face and the memories passed in front his eyes.
.-.-.-.-
"How come someone this size could be this heavy?" She asked as half of the body rested on her shoulder.
"If you wouldn't have knocked her cold, maybe it wouldn't be pain in the arse to move an unconscious body through the forest." He snapped.
"She was irritating" she declared as it could justify her actions.
"And now she's heavy" he replied in a matter of fact tone.
