A/N 1: [insert very long, very boring definition of 'stuff', ranging from plotbunnies to flames] can be send to hack_heaven@usa.net. Yes, that's an e-mail address. No, I don't bite ^^
Fortune the Muse: *sighs* The writer would love to reply to the comments, but is temporarily brain-dead thanks to this chapter. *wry smile* We hope to get her back to normal soon, though.
Italics indicates thoughts/telepathy
/.../ indicates Hal's use of her powers
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Chapter Seventy-Seven: Ring of Fire
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Daryn shifted slightly, uncomfortably, eyes scanning the crowd with a nervousness he had to fight to keep from showing. There were too many people, too many guards, too many things that could go wrong, and he couldn't help but second-guess his decision.
It had seemed so logical earlier - it had been the right thing to do, hadn't it? They needed his help, his powers, and that did give him a certain moral obligation to help. Laetitia had helped him and Zahra, too, instead of leaving them behind. The least he could do in return was to help her teammates - and especially the two that was currently stuck in the hands of the military. After all, it was them Laetitia had tried to save, and died trying. The least he could do was to finish where she had failed.
Well, that, and get the chance to take a look at the leaders of the team Zahra seemed so intend on joining. She was his friend, and he wasn't about to let her do something stupid. And joining a group of criminals most definitely belonged in that category.
Beside him he saw Ryan move slightly, eyes resting on one of the doors, and Daryn felt the brief touch of a mental presence at the edge of his awareness.
They're here. The door at the right side of the room.
Daryn looked up, his eyes following the four people that made their way into the room. Dressed in fairly casual clothes and carrying the same kind of equipment as most of the other people in the room, they barely looked out of place - only the age of the two girls hinted that they were not part of the official news crews.
As Daryn watched, the four slowly, casually made their way across the room, towards himself and the other three. The names he'd heard so often in the past few days finally got a physical image to go with them, and Daryn followed them closely as they approached, already taking in their appearance, judging what he saw.
"Hal..." there was a touch of worry in Zach's voice, and Daryn sent him a brief look, before following his eyes to the older of the girls.
Hal nodded, but didn't comment, a frown crossing her face before disappearing beneath the facade once more, and Daryn felt his own worry kick up a notch. Now that the four had come closer, the older of the girls - Jordane, Daryn mentally reminded himself - looked pale, too pale to be healthy, and the others' reaction only served to confirm that something was wrong.
The four came closer, and Daryn saw a faint smile linger on Ryan's lips before the telepath took a step closer. "Kyle..." His relief was clear, that one word saying everything that Ryan had been forced to push aside - worry, fear, relief, joy - and for a moment, Daryn could have sworn he felt the emotions himself, radiating from Ryan.
Kyle lit up, some of his dark thoughts fading for a moment at the sight of Ryan, and Daryn saw Hal tense slightly.
Why... he frowned, but cut off the thought as realization struck. We might be watched...but in that case there are too many people around here to keep an eye on just four of them.
And Hal had probably realized the same thing as she slowly relaxed again and moved towards the four as well. Blade raised an eyebrow, watching her for a moment, and Hal sent him a faint smile in reply, telling him without words that things were under control.
Jordane moved closer, and Blade put his arm around her waist, his hand resting lightly on her hip, and for the first time Daryn had the chance to get a good look at the two people who would most likely be responsible for Zahra's future safety.
In all honesty, he wasn't sure what he'd expected - he'd heard Ryan's side of the story, but nice as Ryan was, he was probably biased. And the members of the Shadow Alliance? These two people were their leaders - of course they were biased, too. He was vaguely aware that Ryan greeted Suzuka, embracing the girl gently, asking her something in a soft voice, but his main attention was still on the members of Zahra's future team.
"Is it true what happened to Nike?" Blade voice was calm, even, and Hal nodded slightly, a faint sigh escaping her lips.
"Yes. She died when the prison blew up...I'm sorry," she replied, a hint of real regret in her voice.
"And the others?" Blade continued, his voice still calm, still even, and still with no signs of grief showing.
"They're okay...they got out safely," Hal said, keeping her voice low enough not to attract attention. "Pheonix and Jhonen are taking it pretty bad, but Aaron's fine."
Blade nodded slowly in reply, mentally filing away the information, and Daryn watched them carefully, judging what he'd just heard. The man had showed concern for his team, yes, but...it wasn't natural to take the news of someone's death that calmly. No, they couldn't allow themselves to attract any attention, but still - not even his voice had showed the faintest hint of grief. Daryn frowned. And still...he'd shown concern about the others, and he did it before asking Daryn to get rid of the collars. One for, one against...Daryn sighed. Why did things have to get complicated now, of all times?
"Daryn."
Daryn looked up, meeting Ryan's eyes, and nodded slightly, already drawing on his powers. He could feel a persistent hum in the back of his head, undoubtedly caused by the large amount of electronic equipment around him, and he forced away the sound, pushing it back to focus on the collars instead.
With nothing physical to focus on, no metal to touch, it was harder than normal to concentrate, and even find the presence he was looking for. The soft song of the collars was almost drowned out by the heavier hum of the cameras and he shook his head, trying to clear it.
A slow, calming breath, trying to focus, and he managed to pinpoint the first of the collars, its faint song soothing the headache that was already biting at the edge of his awareness.
Deactivate. The word was soft, gentle, afraid to accidentally anger the small machine, and the reply came almost instantly, a curious presence greeting him.
There were no words, just the feeling of a question, and Daryn repeated his request. Deactivate.
This time he was greeted by a vaguely stubborn feeling, and he got the distinct impression of a sulking child, unwilling to stop playing. He sighed. Please? The soft song faded for a moment as the entity in the collar considered his words, then slowly, also reluctantly, the faint sound died out completely as the collar deactivated, and Daryn drew a relieved breath.
There was a faint click as the collar around Suzuka's neck opened, and she took it off with an almost wary expression, before sending Daryn a brief, thankful look.
Daryn closed his eyes, focusing again, this time having a much easier time isolating the collars, now that he knew what to look for. Again he was met by the stubborn, almost childish entities, but a few, polite words, and he was rewarded with the faint clicks of the collars opening as they were deactivated. He shook his head again, doing what he could to force the headache aside before looking at the others again.
"Good job," Ryan said quietly, a grateful smile on his lips, and Kyle nodded in agreement, rubbing his neck where the collar had rested.
"Yeah...thank you," he agreed, watching Daryn with a curious look for a moment, before turning his attention to Suzuka again, making sure that the girl was okay.
Daryn shrugged, uncomfortable with sudden attention he got. He knew it was only natural - they didn't know him, only his mutant power, and of course they would be curious about this new addition to the groups.
"Let's go." Blade's words were more of an order than a suggestion, and Hal hesitated for the briefest of seconds before nodding in reply. It wasn't much, but was there, and it was long enough for Daryn to notice. He knew that control of the Shadow Alliance had just shifted back from Hal to Blade, but the brief moment of hesitation was still enough to make him frown.
Obviously, he wasn't the only one who had noticed it, as Blade sent the girl a long, measured look, raising an eyebrow slightly in a silent question. Hal raised her head and met his gaze without blinking, and Daryn could almost feel the sudden tension between them.
"We're not leaving now."
The words cut through the air, and Blade turned his head slightly to look at Ryan, annoyance in his eyes. "And why not?"
"We're not finished here - we have to warn the senator about this," Ryan replied, his voice every bit as hard as Blade's had been, and it became obvious to Daryn that the others hadn't exaggerated - Ryan and Blade hated each other, there was no other way to put it.
"To what use? He's dead, anyway - sooner or later they'll get him, whether we warn him or not. We're leaving now, while we still can."
"We can't just leave," Ryan objected. "He's working for *our* cause, and the least we can do in return is to warn him."
"And risk our own lives?" This time it was Jordane who replied, and Daryn turned his attention to her, already adding to his mental file. "He's been marked - they'll kill him no matter what we do," she argued.
"And that justifies leaving an innocent man to die?" Ryan demanded icily.
"Yes." Blade's reply was curt and brutal, cutting straight through Ryan's arguments. He lowered his voice and continued, the words every bit as cold as Ryan's had been. "If you insist, you can stay here and play hero, but I will *not* let endanger my team. We're leaving now, and if you want to stay here, I couldn't care less. But I can assure you one thing: they *will* kill you. You, and Sanderson, and whoever else is stupid enough to stay."
Ryan paused at the sound of Kyle's name, feeling his determination falter, and Blade continued, taking advantage of the brief hesitation. "Is that what you want? You just risked the lives of four people to get him back - are you really going to let him be killed now?"
Ryan frowned. He hated himself for admitting it, but Blade had a point. Staying here would mean endangering himself and the others, and he knew that Kyle wouldn't leave, even if he asked him to. And he didn't just have Kyle to think about - there was also Suzuka, and Daryn, who he had come to think of as a part of his team. Their safety had to be considered, too, and if he decided to stay and warn the senator, their lives would be in danger, too.
One life for four...
He didn't like the choice he would have to make, and most of all he hated the fact that he already knew the outcome. He couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk getting Kyle and Suzuka and Daryn killed - he had a responsibility to live up to, and he wouldn't allow them to get killed. But the price for his choice would be the life of an innocent person, whose only crime was to go against the system. He was already marked, yes, but still...couldn't a warning have made a different? Given him enough time to prevent the military from succeeding next time?
"Ryan?"
Ryan looked up, his eyes meeting Kyle's, oddly comforted by the trust he saw in them. Kyle trusted him to keep them safe, trusted him to keep them out of danger, and that responsibility he wouldn't allow himself to fail.
"We're leaving," Ryan finally replied, and only Kyle heard the note of regret in his voice, revealing the dilemma he'd faced.
For a moment Suzuka looked like she wanted to object, but then nodded slowly, realizing the logic behind his decision. She didn't like it anymore than he did, but in this case, they didn't have much of a choice.
"We should bring the cameras along...that'll make people less likely to ask what we're doing here," Ryan continued, frowning slightly as he considered their options. "With a little luck, we should be able to get out of here without any problems."
"What about the collars?" Suzuka asked, eyeing the metal band in Kyle's hand. Ryan watched the collars for a moment, but before he could reply, Blade cut him off.
"Will they detonate?" he asked Daryn, and the boy shook his head.
"No, not unless I turn them back on. Right now they're deactivated, and even if someone pushes the button, nothing will happen."
"And *can* you activate them again?"
Daryn nodded. "Yes. There's still an awareness in them...if I tell them to activate again, they'll do it, I think."
Blade shrugged. "Then we bring them along. If we run into trouble, we'll need all the help we can get."
And, Daryn asked silently. We're bound to run into trouble, aren't we? Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered with the collars. He considered asking it out loud, but decided against it - it wouldn't do much good, anyway, other than take up valuable time they didn't have.
"Guys...we have to leave. Now." Hal's voice was low and urgent, and the brief look she sent the doors wasn't lost on any of them.
"What's going on?" Zach asked, his worry clear. "Did you see anything?"
Hal shook her head. "No, but look around - people have started to settle down and finished preparing the cameras. If we wait much longer, someone's going to get suspicious if we suddenly leave right before the speech begins."
The argument seemed to get through to the others as Ryan and Blade exchanged a brief look, and came to the silent conclusion that their personal issues would have to wait until they were well away from the building.
They picked up the cameras and the rest of the equipment, and slowly, deliberately casual, they made their way towards the doors. They drew a few, curious looks, but nothing more - most of the other people were too busy to wonder about the group, and that was something they were grateful for. One of the guards watched them as they left the room, but didn't comment, more than used to the odd behavior of reporters in general. If the odd group planned to cause any trouble, someone else would handle that, he was sure of that.
"Down this hallway, and to the left," Ryan said quietly. "That's where we got in. We'll probably have the best chance of getting out there."
They continued further down the hallway, the place growing increasingly empty as they got further away from the conference room. Most people were gathered in that area, and with the exception of a few guards, nobody had much to do in the hallway at this time.
Blade took a brief look around, checking for any guards nearby, and then looked at the young albino. "Hal."
The girl nodded, knowing what Blade asked of her, and she paused briefly, closing her eyes. It had become easier recently, somehow. She wasn't sure why - the added practice, maybe, or the almost constant danger they were in, but whatever reason, she was grateful for it.
She reached out, mental hands shifting easily through the timelines until she found the ones she had been looking for. Another slow, calming breath, and she carefully reached out with her mind, removing the mental dam that usually kept her mind protected from her powers. The reaction was instant, images and sounds and possibilities flooding her mind, and she clenched her fists tightly, trying to get the images under control.
/-gunshots, bullets; looking for cover and finding none and-/
/-too many, too soon; shouldn't have been there, they weren't-/
/-a trap, it had to be; the exit blocked; the sticky feeling of blood on her hand and-/
Hal's eyes snapped open and she drew a sharp breath, her pulse racing as her body sent a kick of adrenaline into her blood, reacting to the danger it sensed.
"Hal!" Zach's voice was urgent, worry, and Hal took a deep, shaky breath, trying to get the frantic beating of her heart under control.
"We're trapped," she whispered, her voice still unsteady. "They already alerted the police."
"What do you mean?" Blade demanded. "They wouldn't have done it this early - they want to keep it realistic. Are you sure you didn't look too far ahead?"
"I'm sure...it's not just in one timeline, it's in all of them. They alerted the police," Hal repeated, her mind slowly clearing up again. "They alerted the police and called in a SWAT team, and...they're already here." She paused, acutely aware of the sudden silence her words had brought, and then continued, her voice barely a whisper. "We're trapped."
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