The phone call "Your Voice" which unlocks when you evolve Gavin's karma "Fierce Battle" has always been a great source of feels and inspiration to me. So much so that I originally set it to the game's music ( watch?v=ITCHkTm9oAM), using hte track Long Night ( /yAs-YaOqgoA?t=1090). And now, it's spawned a fanfic.
"Clear?" "Clear!" The cries of Gavin's teammates reverberated in the darkness around him as the fierce battle came to an end. The suspects had been apprehended after a short shootout. They hadn't wanted to pursue them into this dingy abandoned building, but it couldn't be helped. Once the pursuit had started, there was nothing else to do but see it through.
Gavin peeked over his right shoulder and out from the corridor where he'd taken cover. The gloomy room was bare, the windows boarded up, rubble had crumbled in from the floor above. In the next room beyond that, he could hear Eli taking one of the suspects into custody, reading him his rights. Some turf war gone bad, or something. Gavin didn't really care anymore.
Ducking back behind the corner, Gavin holstered his firearm and pulled out his phone. He slid to the floor, landing in a cloud of dust, and hit "call" in his favorite contacts. As he held the phone to his left ear, his right hand dropped to his side and cradled his midriff. Somewhere on the other side of the city, a phone rang only once before she picked up.
"What are you up to?" asked Gavin as he raised his eyes to the ceiling, before closing his eyes and trying to picture her in her apartment. At least he hoped she wasn't still at work, burning the candle at both ends.
"Gavin!" The relief in her voice was palpable and he smiled, just a little bit. "You finally called! Is the mission over?"
He looked down and examined his hand. It was hard to tell with the dim lighting, but it felt damp. Gavin laughed softly, almost self deprecatingly. "Heh, it's… over."
Just like that, the relief was gone and she sounded worried. "You sound kind of off…"
"Just coming off a mission. I'm tired." He regretted being a cause for concern yet again and jumped at the chance to dispel her fears. "It's getting really late, you're probably anxious. So I thought I'd call you to…" A sudden cough wracked his body, and it hurt. Well... So much for reassuring her.
"Are you alright?" The distress in her voice made something in chest tighten.
"I'm fine," he lied. "Just a little tired. Really wanna sleep all of a sudden." That last part was true. The corridor started spinning.
"Where are you? I can go there right away." He heard the soft rustle of fabric and then the jingle of keys. So she was at home then?
"No, dummy." There was no way he was letting her rush out late at night, and besides... "It's classified. I can't tell you where."
There was a pause on the other end, and for half a minute, Gavin wondered if the call had been dropped somehow. The run-down building around him was quiet. Eli and the rest of the squad had probably taken the perpetrators back outside. Slowly, she spoke once more. "What are you going to do?"
"My partner already found me," he lied again. "Relax. So just… talk with me a while…" He let out a small ragged sigh, small enough so she wouldn't hear. "I want to hear your voice." More than anything in the world. But he didn't add that last part.
"Okay," her voice still slow and hesitant, but she pushed on regardless. "What would you like to talk about?"
"I was wondering… Are you worried about me ?" Ugh, why had he asked that?! Worrying her was the last thing he wanted. All he wanted was to protect her and...
"On a dangerous mission like this, of course!" She sounded almost indignant and that brought a wistful smile to his lips.
"You know… Ah, forget it." Somewhere in the fog that was invading his brain, an inner voice tried to warn him against the words tumbling out of his mouth.
"Forget what? Why do you always stop halfway through? Don't you know that worries me?" Those were questions, but they sounded an awful lot like reprimands. His eyes fluttered closed again, and he pushed on.
"This is the first time I actually… got afraid. Doesn't that sound ridiculous? When a bullet whizzed by my ear, all I could think of was, I haven't returned your calls today." The sharp pain in his side served as a reminder of how careless he'd been, how he'd lost focus.
"Oh, Gavin…" There was a sharp breath, and a softly choked sob. Well now he'd done it.
"Are you crying?" He hated that he'd made her cry. "Don't cry," he pleaded. "I'll be back soon." It rang like a promise. A promise of returning to her and so much more, if he could only be given the chance.
"I'll be waiting." He could almost hear her nod resolutely. "We've still got a lot of things to do together." Ever the optimist.
"I'll take you to the movies, maybe even karaoke." He forced out a chuckle, painful as it was. "I bet you're dying to find out how tone deaf I am." Why was it so dark? He as fairly certain his eyes were open. Was it really supposed to be this dark?
He heard her snort as she laughed through the tears. "Nonsense," she protested. "You're obviously a good singer!" Right, of course. He'd forgotten about that time he'd sung to her for her birthday. It seemed so very long ago. Somewhere outside of the fog that clung to him, he thought he heard someone calling his name. Eli?
He smiled as he thought of her. "You laughed." Something hard and cold hit his right arm and shoulder. Was that... the floor? "Now... I don't regret... calling you." As darkness claimed him, Gavin vaguely felt someone shaking him as two voices cried out his name. The phone slipped from his nerveless fingers.
Don't worry, everyone, he's fine. Eli has found him and he gets some first aid, and he's fine. Just a little scare in the line of duty, that's all.