Chapter Twelve:
At the same time a young Watcher spotted Charlene McGee, so did the leader of a small group of government assassins.
Logan's eyes fell upon the form of a young woman seated in the central part of the train station. She could have been just another traveler passing through this place, but his trained senses dispelled any doubt in Logan's mind that she was the one they were looking for. Despite her strange smile, the weariness in her mind and body was evident, by her dazed expression and by the tattered state of her clothes and duffel bag.
And, of course, by the very distinct scent encompassing the air around her.
A dark grin fell over Logan's features. He had no reason to hide his satisfaction at finding his prey. The only man in the room who would have posed a challenge to him was currently on his team. He glanced at Creed and made a wordless gesture toward the central benches. Creed nodded once in return and frowned deeply. Logan understood his frustration. McGee was still slightly out of their reach. They could not apprehend her peaceably in the middle of all these people. So, like trained predators...they would wait...until the time was right.
Through the mingling crowd, the two soldiers approached their target slowly, winding silent paths among the sheep.
For a few deaf moments, all Jay could do was stare.
He had no idea before then what he had expected her to be like. The apparition of the boy had not exactly given him details about 'Charlie,' except that she was indeed a she. To someone with who had spent a majority of his life studying demons, Jay could have described dozens of unnatural creatures capable of causing the type of extensive damage found in River Mead.
But those creatures would not have given off the kind of light Jay had seen around this young woman. And they would not have possessed the weathered beauty that now caught him so completely off guard.
Jay was jerked back to reality so quickly he felt like someone had just boxed him solidly in the head. Wake up, boy...you got work to do...
The quiet roar of the crowd rushed back to him in a wave, and even without the aid of his inner eye, Jay spotted the two men he had followed closing in on the center of the station. He felt his heart leap in terror and he realized they had also spotted the young woman seated nearby. She looked so damn happy sitting there with that old hen-pecker chatting her ear off...and who knew what those men of wrath had in mind for her.
Anger then, sudden and vicious, replaced any fear Jay felt. Even if 'Charlie' did possess the ability to burn down a small town, she did not deserve to fall into the hands of murderers. It had not been blue Jay had seen in her light...it had been a sickening yellow...shades of misery and guilt.
Without much thought of the consequences, Jay began to force his way through the crowd, wanting to reach the young woman before anyone else could. He composed himself as he drew nearer, his expression fading from fury into almost comical excitement. He did not want to alarm her, but he needed to get her attention...anyway possible...
"Arleen!" he cried out, sounding friendly and happy, "Arleen! There you are!"
Jay grinned as the young woman turned toward him in surprise and confusion. 'Arleen' had been close enough to Charlie's real name to get her attention.
Charlie felt her skin go cold as a voice spoke over the crowd. She had been certain someone had just called her name.
"Arleen!" a voice said again, and she turned her head and spotted a young man making his way urgently through the crowd. Charlie relaxed a little, assuming the man was looking for someone else, until he met her gaze and smiled broadly.
"There you are!" he said as he approached, placing his hands on his hips dramatically and taking a long gasping breath, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Charlie's initial impression of the young man was one of absolutely bewilderment. There was no doubt now that he was indeed addressing her. Her second impression was an instinctive one, forged from years running. He had to be from the SHOP...or Systems Operations...or some other government agency coming to find her.
Again to her surprise, the young man began to address the older woman next to her.
"I can't believe how crowded it is here!" he continued, and then glanced back at Charlie, "I thought I'd be looking for her all night!"
The elderly woman glanced over at Charlie for an explanation, and the expression on the young man's face became strangely desperate. She could only think of one way to reply...the only way that was safe...
"Leave me alone," she said darkly, glaring up at him viciously. If he was from the SHOP, he would know what she was capable of.
Surprising her for a third time, the young man felt down on one knee and began to plead with her again.
"Oh, Arleen, don't be like that," he said, exaggerating the natural drawl in his voice and leaning closer to her, "I just came to talk...I could let you go without explaining..."
Charlie's lips pressed together in a thin and suspicious line. She clutched her bag to her chest and glared at him. She noticed he was sweating, but not because of his previous sprint toward her. She frowned then, and tried to understand his motivation. How the hell did he know her? Was he just nuts and mistaking her for someone else?
Charlie watched as the young man glance nervously from side to side without moving his head. His eyes were intense, and she saw a kind of warning there. She glanced past his shoulder, and saw another pair of eyes watching her. They belonged to a very tall, blonde man slowly approaching her position. Unlike the young man before her, there was no emotion in the blonde man's face. Just like Rainbird when he would watch her...
She quickly met the young man's gaze again, and her eyes widened with understanding. She glanced over at the older woman, who was still watching Charlie and her 'friend' with interest.
"Oh!" Charlie suddenly exclaimed and stared back at her mysterious guardian, "Oh...Cletus! I can't believe you had the gall to follow me here!"
The older woman was taken aback by 'Arleen's' sudden outburst, but a relieved and almost amused grin formed on 'Cletus's' face.
"I just had to, honey," the young man continued the charade dramatically, "I love you too much to just let you leave! But...you really...really should leave with me...now..."
Charlie gasped as if she was appalled and turned her head toward the older woman.
"I apologize for his rudeness," she said and then glared at the young man again, "We should really talk about this somewhere else..."
Without waiting for his reply, Charlie grabbed her bags and began stomping away, her heart racing as she put distance between herself and the blonde stalker to her right. She sincerely hoped trusting the strange young man had not been a mistake.
Jay knelt stunned as Charlie shoved past him towards the front doors. He silently thanked his acting friends back at the university for apparently rubbing off on him, when he caught the older woman's critical stare.
"Oh, you better go after her, son," the older woman said, and then winked at him playfully, "And maybe consider buying her a few dozen roses later on..."
Jay grinned back and simply replied, "Yes, ma'am," before taking off after his beloved 'Arleen."
Creed had been close to McGee when a young man approached her. He frowned, listening to their conversation with his acute ears, and glancing over at Logan with confusion. Could their faultless leader have made a mistake? Creed ground his teeth together, and began to move toward their target quickly. He was tired of Logan's caution; he would find out himself whether or not this bitch was the Firestarter they were looking for.
He reached into the depths of his long coat and touched the firearm tucked into this belt. Stryker said McGee responded when she was attacked. Creed wondered if a bullet would instigate her to fight back.
Logan also watched the young man's conversation with McGee and frowned with confusion. From what Stryker said, she did not have any allies anywhere that were assisting her escape. So who was this new individual who seemed to know her so well?
His keen sight then locked on Creed. His teammate began to reach for his weapon as McGee and the young man walked toward the exits. Logan growled in frustration and began shoving his way across the station. Not toward McGee...but toward Creed. He would not have his mission compromised by 'Sabertooth's' impatience.
Charlie's mind was spinning as she walked quickly toward the entrance of the station. A sick knot was forming in her stomach, and she let her train ticket to Toronto slip slowly from her grip and flutter soundlessly to the floor.
Maybe someone else would pick it up. Maybe someone who was also on the run would find it. Maybe it would be someone who really was trying to get home.
Someone who did not have people following them...someone who could tell the older woman on the bench a true story of their life...someone who had the chance to live a real life...
Charlie felt bitter tears threaten to fall from her eyes, but she choked back her sorrow. She did not need sorrow right now. She needed strength. She needed to run.
She inhaled sharply and spun around as a hand closed on her arm. Before she could speak, she was pulled immediately forward again by the young man who had warned her of danger.
"No...no...keep walking..." he said quickly and matched her pace easily.
"Who are you?" she asked in a low voice, and heard the young man laugh nervously.
"Cletus...remember?" he replied and directed her toward the front doors, "I'll explain when we're outside...away from whoever those guys back there are..."
Then, a harsh scream rang out through the station, and all other voices fell silent.
"He's got a gun!" the random screamer cried out.
It took less than a second for panic to overtake the crowd, and hundreds of bodies began to move in all directions at once.
Charlie turned just as the tall blonde man raised his weapon toward her.
She saw him grin over large teeth as he pulled the trigger.
