There's a new ficlet up at sorciere.freeservers.com / journey / index.html - Unspoken, a birthday present for VivaGlam. It's a missing scene from Descend into Darkness and takes place a few hours after the chapter ends.
A/N 1: Ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, ficlets, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net.
A/N 2: anonymous: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Ryan and Diana. At the moment I just choose to focus on another part of the plot, that's all ^^
Italics indicates thoughts/telepathy
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Sixteenth Interlude: Future Imperfect
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Daryn sighed softly and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes following the flickering play of lights upon the surface, neon red and green blending with yellow and white, dancing around the room. He heard the soft sound of Zahra moving in the other bed in the room, and knew that she was probably still awake - they'd shared a cell in Hell's Furnace for more than a week before their sudden escape, and he'd been surprised at how lightly and how little she slept.
He felt the strange sensation of someone watching him, and he turned his head slightly, looking at Zahra. Black eyes met his own brown ones, and partially hidden by the shadows from the half-closed curtains, Zahra raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"What is it?" she asked, not harshly, but merely...curious? Curious, yeah.
And probably a bit suspicious, too, Daryn added silently, not without some humor. He was more or less used to Zahra's behavior by now, even different as they were. They'd both seen some bad things in their lives, they'd just picked different ways to deal with it.
"It's nothing, really," he replied, shrugging faintly. "I was just thinking."
Still the black eyes watched him carefully, almost unnerving in their intensity, and Daryn knew that she wasn't going to let the subject lie.
"About what?" she asked, brushing a lock of frizzy, black hair out of her face, trying to bring it back to some semblance of order, and pretty much failing.
Daryn sighed softly and sat up in the bed, gathering the blankets around him. As expected, Zahra was not about to let the subject go, and he might as well get comfortable.
"About...stuff. The guys, the escape...everything," he replied. "My mind's just trying to catch up with everything that's happened, I guess."
Zahra moved a bit around in the bed, trying to get comfortably, before she looked at him again. "The guys?" she repeated.
Daryn shrugged again. "I like them, the Guardians, I mean. They're..." he hesitated for a moment. "I don't know. Normal, I guess - a lot more than the people I'm used to."
"Naïve, you mean," Zahra corrected with a faint frown. "They're nice, sure, but they're too idealistic."
Daryn looked at her, not completely agreeing with her assessment of his new friends, but he was still curious about her views. They rarely agreed about anything, but she was smart, and he knew it. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, we're mutants, and so are they. They can dream about peaceful co-existence all they want, but it isn't going to happen," she replied, shaking her head slowly. "Mankind is too afraid of us to ever accept what we are."
"They have a point, though," Daryn pointed out. "If we go around, using our powers to whatever we want and acting like we own the place, they'll hate us, yes. But if we prove that not all mutants are bad, then-"
"They'll act exactly like always, and use your temporary weakness to attack you," Zahra interrupted.
Daryn frowned at her words, not liking what he heard. "You sound like Zach."
"Zach's a smart guy," Zahra replied. "He doesn't suffer from the same bad case of naïveté as the Guardians do."
"Don't tell me you agree with the Shadow Alliance," Daryn demanded, starting to wonder a bit about his friend's sanity, not for the first time. "They're criminals."
Zahra looked at him evenly, black eyes meeting his in an obvious challenge. "Aren't we all? Don't tell me you've never done something illegal while you were on your own." Daryn didn't reply, and Zahra continued. "Go on - tell me you've never broken the law. Never done some shoplifting in a desperate attempt to get something to eat, never stolen a wallet from an unsuspecting tourist, never used your powers to help make life just a bit more bearable. Tell me."
Daryn sighed. "It's different - I never hurt anyone." Zahra raised an eyebrow, and Daryn frowned. "Zahra, they're not that kind of criminals - they've *killed* people, don't you understand? They're dangerous!"
"A lot of people are," Zahra replied indifferently.
"It was cold-blooded murder," Daryn snapped.
Zahra raised her head slightly, eyes narrowing. "If I remember correctly, there were four people involved in that - one of them is dead, two of them are likely to suffer the same fate within long, and the last is too insecure on his own to be of any danger."
"Ryan believes that we can get them out of there," Daryn noted, referring to the plans that have been made earlier in the day.
Zahra snorted. "Ryan's a fool. At best, we'll fail. At worst, we're all going to die."
Daryn looked at her, anger and disbelief giving way to curiosity. "Then why are you still here? Why didn't you leave when you heard the plan?"
Zahra sighed. "I've lived on the streets, okay? And I didn't have a useful power like yours to help me. I have no intentions of going out there again, not if I have a chance to avoid it."
"So you're staying with them," Daryn concluded, real worry entering his eyes.
"Yes. If they'll let me," Zahra replied frankly.
"You don't know what you're getting into," Daryn said quietly.
"And you do?" Zahra challenged.
"Ryan told me about them," Daryn replied, a bit uncomfortable. "He's known about them for a while, and from what he's heard, what they do isn't exactly safe."
"How do you know that Ryan isn't lying to you?" Still challenging, eyes still watching the other carefully.
"He's a good guy," Daryn objected.
"So are Zach and Hal," Zahra countered. "Haven't you considered looking at both sides of the story before you make up your mind?"
"I *am* looking at both sides," Daryn replied, a hint of hardness entering his eyes. "And Zach and Hal might be nice, but what about Blade and Melee? They're the leaders of your future team, and you've never even met them!"
Zahra remained silent, and Daryn took it as a sign that he was getting through to her. "Do you have any idea of what those two have done?" he said in a low voice. "They're insane - and you're going to put your life in their hands? Are you sure that *I'm* the naïve one?"
Zahra shook her head. "If we somehow manage to pull this plan off, I'll meet them. If not, it won't matter anyway. Either way, I've made my choice, and you should know by now that you can't talk me out of it."
Daryn sighed, but couldn't help the pale smile from reaching his lips. "Yeah...I know."
"Good." Zahra watched him for a moment, then sighed. "And now let's get some sleep, okay? I doubt we'll get a lot of chances of that for the next couple of days."
Daryn nodded and lay down again, pulling the blankets close around him. For a moment it was silent, then -
"Zahra?" The girl looked across the room again, meeting his eyes. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Zahra sent him a small, rare smile, then turned around, surrendering to sleep. Daryn watched her for a moment, then sighed softly and closed his eyes. The sound of Zahra's slow, deep breaths could be heard clearly in the quiet room, mixing with the faint hum of cars from a nearby road.
But to Daryn himself, sleep remained elusive.
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