Author's Note – Sorry this chapter took so long I just couldn't get it to work for a long
while, finally when I created a banner for it I got inspired.
Chapter 8
Looking at the faces of her family Rhiannon tried to articulate her plea in such a way as to reach their buried common sense. The skills that their military years had imparted were ill suited to the civilian world. They, including her, were too primed to kill, to look over their shoulder for the enemy at all times, and to remain in the world's shadows, hiding. It was why the call of mercenary life was so strong to them, but like a siren's song it only alluded to fulfillment. In reality it only brought death, much as the song of the fabled sirens did to sailors who were not wise and came to their call. She had heard the call, but as the Guardian of the Hallows and their Lore it hadn't reached her as more than a faint buzz.
In the faces before her Rhiannon could see the toll mercenary life was taking on the only people she truly considered family. She could see the shadows of death in their eyes and movements, and could tell that it was past time for them to be well away from covert missions. "Live too long in the shadow and you become one", was what her Gram had said and before her, Rhiannon saw the truth of those words.
"I offer you this, a job to end all jobs, a never ending mission. What I'm suggesting is not some position pushing paper, for none of us would be able to stand that, but a position in which you can utilize your skills without having to worry about where the next bullet will come from. The job I offer is not safe as most would define the term, but to us it is, with the skills in which we train and the knowledge we possess. For us there is no such thing as safety, it was ripped away from us when we chose to enlist in the military and then again when we were assigned to the teams we were. But I am offering you an alternative to the life of a Mercenary.
In each of you I see the shadows of death, and even as I know that I can't relieve you of the burdens you carry I know that I can keep them from becoming heavier, from ultimately crushing you beneath their weight. For all that I have avoided the life of a mercenary I have my own burden to carry, no heavy than any of yours but no lighter either.
What I offer is this, a job within the security company I'm creating. The company is meant to encompass the many security needs created by today's world. There will be bodyguards, there security experts whose job it is to make locations or items as safe and secure as possible, and among the other experts there will be those who teach the art of being safety to those who are interested. Along with all that there will be the times when you'd be asked to work along side military personnel, National security personnel, and ect. and in those moment's you'll recapture all the feelings that drove you to your current careers and I wish I could say that you'll get that same feeling from working at the Security Firm itself but I know you can't. But you will get the feeling of, as ironic as this sounds, Security.
All of you are my family; blood means nothing, while actions mean everything in the lives we lead and I don't want to see any more of my family die. There are things in this world that can't be prevented entirely, death being one, but in our actions we can lessen the chance of it occurring and in the lives we lead that means something; it means an extra chance to make amends, an extra chance to say hello, an extra chance to bond with another person. I don't want all of you to decide to do this without thinking about it. I have time, despite what doctors are saying I'm not going to die, I can't I have too much left to do, but sometimes there has to be an illusion of something else to cover the truth of what is going on if only so that the truth can be understood." Taking one last look at the faces before her Rhiannon walked out of the warehouse into the mid morning sun.
Looking over her shoulder she was relieved to see that no one had followed her, at least not yet. Grabbing a duffle bag from where she had left it on a tree limb and moved to stand beside the door of another warehouse. Key in hand Rhiannon quickly gained entry to the empty building she had secured for just this moment, shutting the door just as Ian and Aidan emerged for the Black Dragon's current abode.
Watching them search for her, she felt sorry for the worry she was causing them, but knew that there were just some things she had to do, without their knowledge. Turning away Rhiannon opened the duffle bag, pulling out a change of clothing and motorcycle helmet.
Listening to his wife's words Aidan was struck by an intense understanding of how Rhiannon must feel every time Mobius summoned him for a job. He finally understood why she couldn't just sit idly while he was gone, but had gotten into situations as dangerous as the ones he was facing on some unknown battle field.
The feelings were so intense that he missed her exit and had Ian not nudged him, he would have sat there for some time just trying to sort out what he was feeling. Following Ian outside he hoped for at least a glimpse of his wife. Hoping, against the odds, that needing to speak to their family and restlessness were the only reasons she had snuck away with the dawn. But scanning the sidewalk in front of the warehouse and the ally next to it Aidan felt his hopes fall. Sighing in frustration he could only look at Ian and wish he knew what was running through Rhiannon's head.
Looking at Jake, Sara tried to wrap her befuddled brain around what he was saying, but despite the coffee she'd had at the mansion her brain was not up to functioning just yet. Waving him to silence Sara took a sip of the sludge that passed for coffee at the station, but even the new burst of caffeine didn't help. Sneaking a peak at the Witchblade she was treated to a display of swirling red, the depth of which she'd never seen before. Even without a vision Sara could sense the warning in the swirls and felt a shiver race down her spine. Whatever was causing the Witchblade to react this way wasn't fond of her, she could feel the malevolence radiating off of it.
Setting her coffee cup down, Sara reached for the phone intending to call one Mr. Nottingham to get his take on the warning, when the phone rang. Picking it up she heard a voice that should never have assaulted her ears again.
