The man Tong had struck in his escape from the Illuminati's bunker died within minutes. The Triad leader had used some sort of device which launched a number of tiny needles which penetrated clothing and skin then proceeded to inject toxins which systematically destroyed his central nervous system - 'The wonders of modern technology', as Toby Atanwe said once he had completed a post-mortem examination. The man had been a part of Silhouette for as long as anyone could remember, a skilled organiser with a knack for keeping up morale and keeping everyone from each other's throats when they were all stuck together in one cramped hideout or another. They dumped his body in a mass grave for victims of the riots, along with many of MJ-12's soldiers. He probably would've appreciated the irony, as well as the unavoidable practicality.
Chad swore and paced, demanding searches of the city and anywhere else Tong might hide and threatening lengthy and unpleasant torments when he was found, though it was clear to all by this point that he had got clean away. Everett arrived to advise and to calm Chad down, bringing reports of Tong and Denton setting up facilities for research in order to carry out their grand scheme. He and Chad, together with Atanwe and other unknown faces, began discussions as to how to find and 'neutralise' any such facilities and their architects, what resources they could call on and how exactly they would carry out their little war.
Nicolette could watch the insane plotting no more. Death had come to their very doorstep yet all they wished to do was visit it upon others, in some insane battle between lunatics and megalomaniacs on both sides. The consequences were too real now that she had seen a friend die, but Chad had buried his pain in revenge and could not see how pointless it was. She packed up her few belongings and simply walked out of the door when all were asleep - she wasn't sure whether it was night or not, as she had not seen the sky in some months - telling no-one she was going and with no real idea where she was going herself. From a corner of the room, Chad watched her go, a scatter of tears - quickly stifled - escaping his eyes. When Nicolette had left the bunker and was making her slow way through the once-familiar sewers, however, another figure blocked her path with painful inevitability. He was waiting for her.
Everett looked his daughter over with faint horror. He had been much distracted of late with the dozens of elaborate schemes he had in motion, desperately trying to rebuild some semblance of order before all opportunities were lost for good, and had not realised just how far Nicolette had deteriorated. She was pale - an inevitable result of life in the sewers - and worryingly gaunt, but beyond that she seemed to have lost all interest in life. Her shoulders were habitually drooped and her eyes stared at the floor, and she demonstrated none of the fire she had shown before. She made no effort to strike at him or draw the gun she probably still carried, but instead simply spoke in a voice of utter resignation:
"Why can't you just leave me be? Even here, now... must you continue to torment me?" Everett quickly adopted a conciliatory tone in response.
"Please, Nicolette. I may not always have always done well, but I only wanted to help yo-"
"Help? You mock me even now, you vicious bastard. You have taken all I had from me. All." Nicolette cut across him with sudden force."My mother never had timefor me, she was always too busy conspiring with you and those others. I spent years working on hurting her, but it was never really her I wanted to hurt. It was you, who took her from me. And now, when I had found a cause and real friends, at last, you arrive again and take it all. You and your wars among madmen, you've made puppets of them all, even Ch..." Her voice tailed off abruptly but she still glared at Everett, her fists balled tightly at her sides. He let a moment pass, then gave a faint sigh.
"He watched you leave, you know. Dumier. He hasn't been getting much sleep." Nicolette responded quickly, still angry.
"That's because you've driven him to it with your endless lies and half-truths and plots. You can use him twenty-four hours a day now, just like you use everyone around you." Everett's face twisted for a moment with what might have been real pain, before his customary mask drove all expression from his features.
"I never meant... harm. Certainly never to you. I was trying help everyone, I always have been. Then when Page betrayed us - betrayed me - it was too dangerous. I couldn't draw attention to you. The things he could do... I haven't told you because it doesn't matter now, but Page had plans beyond simple dictatorship. He was going to transcend humanity, become like a spirit made of computer programming and nanotechnology - and then there could be no more opposing him, no way of killing him or even hindering him. I couldn't allow it for anything, coldn't allow it even for... for my daughter..." Nicolette closed her eyes, all anger spent in the face of Everett's pleas.
"Damn you. Damn you if you lie and... damn you if you do not" Everett took a step toward her and caught her eyes with his own.
"I know what you're running from. You're running from me, because you cannot trust me, cannot join me. I've never... earned your trust, and I've no claim on you as a father - I was always too busy with something else. All I can do is ask you to give me a chance now to earn that trust, to earn some sort of forgiveness. Please, I..." Morgan Everett was not a man who often found himself lost for words, but he could force nothing more through the tightness in his throat. Nicolette fell into him, let him wrap her clumsily about with his arms. Had she not she would likely have simply collapsed to the floor, but instead she finally allowed herself to let go of everything she had been trying to hold inside her and weep, safe in her father's embrace.