MASK: Legacy Saga 2: Death Becomes Her
Chapter 12
Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait in updating…there's been a few life changes here, kind of like the ones our favorite MASK agents will soon be experiencing as we close Saga 2 and make ready to launch Saga 3. Thanks to all of our fans for holding out with us, and welcome to all our new reviewers…we're happy to have you reading and reviewing with us! Enjoy!
Annie almost wished she hadn't let Hart hitch a ride with her as she brought Phoenix to a halt and let him dismount. She had just barely put the bike back into gear when she heard Dusty's voice bellow out from the yard of the Ranger Station.
"Annie Turner, you better get that red head over here and get somethin' ta eat before I come force feed you, and I already got several volunteers to help me!"
Just to prove his point, Dusty made sure to send her father to intercept her before she could pretend she hadn't heard him over the roar of her bike's engines, dashing any hopes she had of sneaking away unnoticed. Annie sighed deeply as she pulled her mask off her head and pushed limp hairs out of her eyes. The anger at Roxanne still raging through her veins, coupled with the returning and intensified worry for Scott, made her a less than social creature at the moment. She really didn't want to have to deal with anything or anyone ELSE, but luck was not to be on her side. Especially since it looked like Brad and Dusty had also recruited Robin and Cody into their makeshift goon squad, the only other two people who had as much experience dealing with Annie's stubborn streak as they did. So she plastered the best fake smile on her face that she could as she shut the bike off and dismounted.
"No need to arrest me, guys, I'm coming peacefully," Annie snorted in reluctant capitulation as the foursome approached.
"And here I thought I'd get to use the handcuffs," Cody winked and smiled wickedly back at her while Brad threw him a stunned look.
Annie punched Cody not quite so playfully hard in the shoulder in reply before she walked over to the makeshift banquet Dusty had set up inside the Ranger Station. She started to fill a plate of food under Dusty's watchful eye, but before she could finish, Cutler yanked her into the middle of the recreation room, aka: the center of attention.
"SPEECH!" He yelled out in his normal, fun loving tone of voice.
"Hear, hear!" Hart cheered in reply.
"How about some words of celebration for your loyal followers?" Cody coaxed as he slipped a Pepsi into Annie's hand.
"Come on, Annie," Izzy pleaded with his usual puppy dog eyes and smile.
The rest of the Rangers and MASK agents all threw out various other requests for her to say a few words, and Annie couldn't help but grin in spite of herself at the warmth and high spirits radiating from all her comrades. She finally motioned for silence and acquiesced gracefully to their request, but not before she muttered good-naturedly to Cutler, "Damn you."
Cutler's expression remained guileless as he whispered, "Your fans await…"
Annie pushed her hair out of her face somewhat shyly as she locked eyes with all of her teammates. "I wish I could fully express to you all what your total cooperation meant to me on this mission. I could not have pulled off this command successfully without each and everyone of you…" She could feel a lump rising in her throat as she continued speaking, trying to hold back tears. "I hope you all understand what I mean when I say that I hope this is my first, and only, stint as team leader. And I'm sure that if Scott were here, he would have been as proud to have you under his command as I am."
"I think he'd be pretty proud of you too, Annie," Matt Hawkes replied as he lifted his plastic glass and saluted her with it.
"Hear, hear!" cheered his MASK counterpart, repeating the gesture.
A chorus of war whoops, cheers, and noise making in general erupted from the room before the two teams hit the banquet table and settled into several sequestered groups of different conversations. Much as Annie had always surmised, Bruce and Avila hit it off right away and spent most of their time comparing spiritual experiences. Jess and Robin broke off to trade medical knowledge until Alex engaged the latter in conversation about their respective European backgrounds. This gave Cody an opportunity to get to know Jess better, which ended up turning into quite an extensive conversation. Dusty, Izzy, Hart, and Cutler hung out by the tables of food, making light conversation and trading banter back and forth, as was their norm. Also as expected, the two Matts discussed shared command experiences on the field, and were soon joined by Brad as soon as the subject turned inevitably back to Annie.
"She might be too stubborn for her own good sometimes," mused Matt Hawkes with a lopsided smile, "but she's got the charm and charisma that makes a good leader."
"If I'm not mistaken, she inherited both of those traits from her father," Matt Trakker replied with an equally crooked grin in Brad's direction.
"Hey, he should know by now that he has to take the good with the bad." Brad quickly defended his family honor, before growing more serious as his eyes scanned the room and noticed his daughter was suddenly missing. "Anyone seen Annie lately? I could have sworn she was just here…"
"The Phoenix has returned to her nest to arise again when there is need," Avila said suddenly as he appeared at Brad's side.
Brad shot the Indian Ranger a completely flabbergasted glance at the same time Bruce provided a helpfully smug addition. "I think that means that you will not find her here, Brad."
Normally Annie would have taken a moment to enjoy the various pink, orange, and golden hues of the oncoming sunrise, but her mind was too full of other details as she pulled into Boulderhill and parked Phoenix in the vehicle bay. She very nearly had to place the motorcycle on auto-pilot throughout the entire drive as her emotions raged wildly between intense anger and mind crippling worry. Anger easily won out when she saw Chameleon in its normal parking space with no Roxanne in sight. Annie quickly leapt off of Phoenix and stalked toward the locker room with her feet practically trailing flames. Her eyes suddenly detected a new target, and before she could stop herself, she switched directions mid-stride.
"Where the HELL is SHE, Buddy!"
Buddy could finally see how Annie had gotten her nickname as he looked up morosely from the desk in his office. It was a wonder she hadn't set the whole building on fire as she stood in the doorway radiating heat and anger in intense waves. He didn't bother to play dumb, nor did he bother to try to sugar coat his response to suit her mood, because he had other things on his mind. "I don't know."
"You don't know? You…don't…know…" Annie repeated slowly in a voice as taut with tension as a cable wire ready to snap. She forced her tone to radiate syrupy sweetness as she continued. "Maybe you'd be more inclined to remember if I told you why I'd like to know where Roxanne is. Maybe it's because she pulled yet another asinine stunt in the field, nearly killing my father by jumping her bike off a cliff, as well as blowing the cover he was providing for Matt and I. If that wasn't bad enough, she recklessly detached the trailer carrying highly explosive weapons and sent it practically careening right into Rhino. To top it off, she doesn't even have the decency to come back and apologize after Matt called her on it. So are you still sure you don't know where she is, or are you covering for her sorry ass…again?"
"I already told you that I don't know where she is," Buddy growled in a very uncharacteristically dangerous tone, "and if I were you, Annie, I wouldn't go looking."
"Well thank goodness you aren't me, Buddy!" Annie thundered, letting loose all of her pent up anger in one large tirade. "Because things sure would run a hell of a lot smoother around here if certain people acted more like I do! There might be some accountability around here for one thing, people might actually have to own up to and atone for their mistakes rather than having them swept under the rug!" Annie laughed bitterly, "No wonder Roxanne hasn't run off to join VENOM yet, because she figures it's not worth the bother when she can get away with that shit right here under everyone's nose! Hell, she's probably the one responsible for the threat that started this mess in the first place!"
Buddy's fists slammed down hard on the desk, transfixing Annie with the most ferocious glare she'd ever seen him wear. Startled by his vehemence, she jumped and backed up into the doorway, terrified for a moment that he was going to leap over the desk and attack her. His tone dropped so viciously low she thought she would have to kneel to hear him. "Let's get one thing straight here little girl, Roxanne had NOTHING to do with that hit on you, got it? So get that idea out of that stubborn head of yours before I step around this desk to get it out myself!"
She stared at Buddy, dumbfounded by his abrupt change in nature, yet that didn't stop her from asking incredulously and fearfully, "What the hell is the matter with you!"
"I'm getting just a little tired of having to dispense attitude adjustments every time I turn around!" Buddy delivered his retort with the same ferocity as his look. "Maybe that self-righteous shit cuts it up in the mountains, but I've had enough! I didn't put up with it from my own family and I'm sure as hell not gonna take it from you! So do me a favor and drop the 'poor me' routine, okay, Annie? You're not the only one who's lost something here…that's Roxanne's brother up in that hospital bed in case you've forgotten. So I'm telling you again…" he enunciated every one of his next syllables for emphasis, "…leave…her…alone."
Annie stood silently in the doorway for a few minutes since Buddy's forceful lecture had pretty much driven all of the anger and fight she had left away. But she still felt the need to plead her case, so she swallowed hard and said quietly, "I suppose the fact that she threw the hit in my face in Scott's hospital room before she even knew about it doesn't mean anything."
Buddy's tone was no less calm than a moment ago. "It was common knowledge by that point, Annie, you know that."
Annie shook her head negatively. "Matt told me that he specifically DID NOT tell Roxanne …"
Annie's ringing cell phone distracted her momentarily, which was just as well because Buddy wasn't listening anyway. She pulled the phone from her belt clip and answered it with an abrupt 'hello', then listened intently to the voice on the other end. Her eyes widened in surprise, then relief as she said hurriedly, "Thank you, I'll be right there!"
She let out a sigh she didn't realize she'd been holding as she clipped the phone back to her belt and glanced back up at Buddy. "Scott's awake…I don't have time to argue with you. If you say that Roxanne didn't have anything to do with the hit, then fine, she didn't." Annie stepped out the office door, but turned back with one final afterthought. "I've been trained to listen to my better instincts, and right now they're screaming 'foul', but I'm going to trust that your voice of experience is right. And I certainly hope that you are…"
Annie didn't see Buddy's body slump back into the chair behind his desk as she left, nor did she see him bury his face in his hands and cry.
Annie was the last thing Scott remembered, and the first thing he saw as his eyes fluttered open and focused on the figure sitting at his bedside.
"Annie…" His voice came out in a hoarse croak. "…Are you all right?"
"Am I all right!" She repeated with a semi-hysterical laugh as she started to cry. "Listen to yourself! I'm not the one lying in the hospital bed, you big goof!"
Scott tried to laugh, but ended up wincing as he felt the pain in his chest erupt. He did manage to lift his hand up far enough to caress Annie's cheek and wipe away one of her stray tears as he said, "I didn't want to lose you…"
She held his hand in place with her own as she kept crying. "And I almost lost you to my own folly…I should have told you…" She reminded herself that he still didn't know about the hit, and now wouldn't be a good time to discuss it. Instead, she wiped her face with her free hand and quickly changed the subject. "We got them, Scott…we got the bastards responsible for this. Both my teams pulled together for me, the Rangers and MASK both."
"Can't wait to hear the details of your first command…" Scott's voice began to drift away as he absently toyed with a strand of Annie's hair.
She watched his eyes half-close and gently rested her head against his chest, unable to help herself any longer. "I'd give it all back in a heartbeat if it meant having you there beside me…I don't want to have to ever think about doing anything without you again…"
"I feel the same way," He echoed starring deeply into her green eyes. "Annie, I know this…this isn't the time…or even the place, but I want you by my side forever." He closed his eyes trying to catch his thoughts that were being overruled by his body's injuries. "What I'm…I'm trying to say is will…"
She put a gentle finger over his lips, "I know what you're trying to say…but right now all I want is you to get better." There was a confused expression left on Scott's face, but a marriage proposal was the last thing on her mind. Annie wondered if Scott would think differently, if he knew everything that had happened. Lets take this one step at a time. When he's had time to recover and reflect, it will be a true test of our love. If we just make it through that, nothing will ever separate us. "Then we'll take it up where we left off, I promise you that." She smiled innocently, as if her troubles had drifted far from her face.
This time he managed a soft chuckle. "You make it sound like I'm not going to make it. Remember I'm pretty tough…you can't get rid of me…that easily…" He rubbed the back of her neck through her long red hair and muttered as he slipped back into sleep, "I love you, Annie."
She thought absently that she should move her head, but she couldn't bring herself to make the effort as her eyes closed on her whispered reply, "I love you too, Scott."
His other arm draped itself limply over her back as she fell asleep, cradled in his arms with a sense that everything, at least for now, was right in her world again.