* * *
Chapter Seventy-Four: Eve of Deception
* * *
The camera looked, well...like a camera. Not as large and clumsy as Kyle had expected a camera used by professionals to be, but otherwise more or less ordinary. Too many buttons, too many flashy things to keep track of, and Kyle found himself grateful that he didn't actually have to learn to use one of these things. He could, thankfully, get by with bluffing.
"Where're the weapons hidden?" he asked, still watching the camera, eyes searching for anything that might give them away later.
Blade reached out and took off a panel on the camera, the motion none too gentle, then pulled out the two guns that were hidden inside the camera. "Here. The other two guns are hidden in the other camera."
Kyle frowned and lifted the camera, looking more closely. "They must've taken out most of the parts inside to make room for that. Does this thing even work anymore?"
Blade shrugged. "I doubt it. Doesn't matter, anyway."
Kyle tested the weight of the camera, still with a small frown. He didn't know how heavy these things were supposed to be, but considering the size of the camera, it felt about right. "The weight feels right," he remarked, almost absently.
"It's supposed to. We need them to look real," Blade replied.
"And how do we get through security with these? They look real, yeah, but still...if anyone takes a good look at the cameras, they'll notice something is wrong," Kyle remarked.
Blade shook his head. "According to Sanders, they'll find a way to get us past that."
"And if they don't?" Suzuka looked up from the blueprints she and Jordane had been studying.
Blade sent her an even look. "Then we'll find a way to deal with it, Twilight," he replied, a dismissive note in his voice.
Suzuka glared at him, but didn't reply. For the past day or so there had been an unsteady truce between the two - neither of them liked the other, but for now they seemed to have settled for more or less hidden insults, rather than get into a real fight. It was, admittedly, a very unsteady truce, but for now it seemed to work.
"Sanderson - you'll take one of the cameras, I'll take the other," Blade continued. "They're not exactly light, so we'll have an easier time handling them. And make sure you can get those guns out in a hurry if needed be," he added.
Kyle nodded. "Got it."
"Other than that...." Blade trailed off, his eyes resting for a moment on the stack of maps, blueprints, and schematics spread out on the large table. "I think we've gone through everything, now. We know how the place looks, what to do, what to expect. The only thing left to do is get some rest before tomorrow." He looked up, his eyes finding Jordane, the message clear.
"I don't need to-" she began, but stopped as he shook his head.
"We all need rest, Jordane." Especially you. The last part of the sentence remained unsaid, but the meaning wasn't lost on Kyle. Clearly he wasn't the only one who'd notice just how bad Jordane seemed to be doing.
"He's right," Kyle added, deliberately not looking at anyone in particular, not wanting to Jordane to feel targeted by the remark. "We'll need all the rest we can get before tomorrow."
Jordane looked at Blade again, clearly not happy about the situation, but after a moment she sighed and relented. "All right..."
Suzuka sent Kyle a brief look, then nodded and packed away the maps. "Good idea," she replied, and Kyle sent her a faint, thankful smile. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it was clear that Kyle needed her support on this matter, and she wasn't about to let him down.
Suzuka sent Kyle another look, then headed out the door. Jordane hesitated for a moment, then followed her, pausing briefly in the doorway. "Blade?"
"In a moment," Blade replied, his voice deliberately casual. "I need to check something first."
Jordane nodded, her gaze lingering on the two for a second before she headed into the hallway, towards their rooms. Kyle waited until the sound of her footsteps had faded away, then looked at Blade. "Is she up for it?"
Blade raised an eyebrow questioningly, although they both knew who 'she' was.
"Jordane," Kyle clarified. "Don't try to deny it, I've seen how bad she's doing. Is she up for it or not?"
For a moment Blade didn't react, his gaze resting on the doorway. "She has to be," he finally replied.
Kyle frowned but didn't comment further. There wasn't really anything to say - even if Jordane wasn't up for something like this, there wasn't much they could do, anyway. Doctors were out of the question for the moment, and it was impossible to say for sure what was wrong with her. The only thing they could do was hope that it didn't get any worse, and that nothing would go wrong during the mission.
Kyle sighed. But what are the chances of that?
"What about Suzuka?" Blade turned his head and looked at Kyle. "Is *she* up for it?"
And maybe there was a hidden insult in it, a reminder that it wasn't just Jordane who might get them in trouble, but if there were, Kyle chose to ignore it.
"I taught her the basics," he replied. "She can hit a target with reasonable accuracy and knows how to handle a gun."
"But will she use it?" Blade asked, cutting straight to the core of the matter. It didn't matter how much Kyle had managed to teach the girl if she wasn't willing to use it.
"Not against another person, no," Kyle admitted. "But as long as people believe she will, it won't matter."
"And when things go to hell and we have to fight our way out, then what?" Blade snapped. "We'll need all the help we can get, and having her running around with a gun she refuses to use is not exactly helpful."
"If that happens, I'll handle it," Kyle snapped back.
"Will you?" Blade raised an eyebrow, his voice challenging. "Could you really kill someone to save your own life, Sanderson?"
For a long moment it was silent as the two stared at each other, neither willing to back down, then Kyle nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. "Yes. I would."
His voice was cold, determined, and for a brief second he thought he saw Blade smile faintly. Then the second had passed and Blade smirked, the gesture taunting, almost arrogant. "Good. Then I guess we don't have anything to worry about tomorrow."
Kyle glared at him, but didn't reply with word. Instead he reached out and put the two guns back inside the camera, closing the panel afterwards, the motion a bit harder than necessary. "No. I guess we don't."
The look he sent Blade was cold, challenging, but the other just smirked faintly again. "Let's take our own advice and get some rest," he suggested. "We'll need it tomorrow."
Kyle paused, then nodded. He couldn't really argue against that point, and Suzuka was most likely starting to wonder where he was.
They left the room and walked down the hallways together, under the watchful eyes of the soldiers posted sentries, occasionally drawing brief, curious looks from those who didn't know what civilians were suddenly doing in a place like this. Reaching their temporary living quarters, they paused and exchanged a look. They had nothing to say that they hadn't already spent hours arguing about, and starting another discussion just for the hell of it wouldn't help anyone.
Blade nodded briefly at Kyle, then walked into his and Jordane's bedroom, shutting the door soundlessly behind him. Jordane was already curled up under the covers, apparently asleep, and her clothes were tossed haphazardly on a chair. Blade paused for a moment, watching her silently, before he began to take off his own clothes. He could already feel the first tiredness set in and knew that he needed to rest.
The sound of movement reached his ears, and he looked at the bed, vaguely surprised to find Jordane still awake.
"Blade..." Her voice was already sleepy, her tiredness clear, and Blade raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
He looked at her, waiting for her to continue, but she merely nodded towards the table.
Frowning slightly, Blade walked across the room and found an anonymous-looking, white envelope lying on the table, the only identification being five neatly written letters in one corner: Heron.
Blade looked up. "Who...?"
Jordane shook her head.
"Don't know. It was there when I got back."
Blade nodded absently and picked up the envelope, weighing it in his hand. It felt heavier than paper would have...there was something inside, that much was certain. Frowning again, he opened the envelope, but found no message, just a piece of metal. He was vaguely aware that Jordane had gotten out of bed and moved closer, curious about what was going on, but his attention was focused solely on the small piece of metal he had long ago learned to recognize as a bullet.
A used bullet.
And suddenly, it all started to come together with almost frightening clarity. All the comments, the questions, the doubts and suspicions...
"I have a situation I want you to handle." The words echoed through his mind, reminding him of the man who had been the cause of their capture. A situation he wanted them to handle...but which?
"...Would never go through this much trouble for one mutant, no matter how powerful their mutation might be." And Laetitia had been right, they both knew that. And Rina had only been a puppet, a diversion, he knew that, too...
Their capture had been deliberate, their lives for his, but what if their current situation wasn't a coincidence, either? Just how far did this thing go?
"He says he has a bullet he wants to return..."
Blade's fist clenched around the bullet, the metal digging painfully into his hand, but he didn't care. It all made sense now, and showed him a reality he did not want to see. Anger pushed aside his tiredness, and his body found renewed strength in the emotion, fuelled by the cold metal in his hand.
Sergey, you son of a bitch!
* * *
