Chapter 16: Revelations

After I left Brecken be in the Headquarters and emerged back out into the hallway, a familiar beep emitted from my radio again and it took everything in my power not to hit the roof as I was still angry at my Boss for not giving a sh*t. Oh for f*ck's sake. You know what? F*ck her, she can wait. I need some air before I find Jade. With this in mind, I ascended the staircase towards the roof and once, I opened the door...

Guess who I found?

"Rahim?"

The 19 year-old was sitting on the roof's edge with his back turned to me and right beside him were at least two beer cans. Of course, he's drunk. "Rahim, what are you doing up here?"

"Hey Crane, great to see you back!" The older kid greeted happily, grabbing my hand as I hoisted him up to his feet. "Can I trust you?"

Hearing this, I chuckled. "How much have you had to drink, kid?"

"Can I or not?" My friend repeated, taking a swig of his beer. Not answering my questions again, okay.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I answered kindly. "What's up?"

"You see that skyscraper over there?" Rahim asked, pointing to a very tall tower on the far right.

"What about it?" I asked with confusion.

"Scouts have spotted a volatile nest inside," The older kid explained eagerly, despite being drunk off his *ss. "We take that out, then running missions at night - we could totally do that!"

"Okay," I replied with interest. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Do you have a plan in mind, already?"

"I sure do!"

"Sweet!" I commented pleasantly. "Lay it on me,"

Hearing this, Rahim grinned excitedly. "So, I'm thinking if we planted some explosives..."

My smirk dropped instantly. Why? Because whilst I wanted to support Rahim and his plan, I had to respect Jade's wishes as well - even though I couldn't understand why it was so hard for her to let go of the fear that she'll lose him and Libby, when the former could learn to be responsible like the latter. F*cking Christ, how the hell am I gonna handle this without upsetting him?!

Rahim sensed my thoughts and as I expected, his smile fell. "Crane, we have to do this! As long as that Tower's standing, we would never be able to get enough Antizin - my plan could work!"

"I know and I agree," I tried calming him. "But what about Jad—"

"F*ck her!" The older kid shouted angrily, turning desperate as he continued. "You, Libby and me; we could make a great team! We could execute my plan and it could also show my sister that she was wrong to keep my best friend and I trapped here! What do you say, Crane?"

Jesus kid. You're gonna get me into a ton of sh*t with your sister, you know that?!

"Look, Rahim," I began calmly. "As far as I know, we don't have any explosives. None. The closest you're referring to is Spike's firecrackers, it would be impossible to take out that Tower with them," A remorseful look then painted my face. "I'm sorry, kid, I really am. If it was possible for you to tag along, I'd definitely allow it,"

Hearing this, the 19 year-old glared at me frantically. "You don't know what it's like - all I can do is sit on my *ss and watch as you all go get yourselves killed! I'm happy that Libby's getting a chance to go out, but she was in danger back there with Rais and I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't around to help her!"

The poor kid looked f*cking helpless when he was ranting away, so much so that his rage made a lot more sense now. I mean, I'd be p*ssed off too if someone close to me was out risking her life for fellow survivors and there wasn't anything I could do to save her if she ended up in trouble. A thought suddenly came to mind as well; from him feeling worried sick for days to her feeling guilty that he couldn't come with us...

"Are you... Are you in—" I began asking, feeling bad for him. Are you in love with her?

"No, no," Rahim answered sadly. "Libby's like a little sister to me,"

"I see," I replied. Family. Similar to how she's like a d— Oh f*ck, those people were right! "Look - if there's some way we can get you to tag alon—"

"Whatever," My friend scoffed aggressively, waving a hand to signal that he wanted to be alone. Okay, fine.

I gave a grunt of disappointment before I left him be and began ascending toward the crane. Once I arrived onto the roof, it was conversation time once again.

"Crane here," I spoke into my radio, quickly making sure Rahim was out of earshot beforehand.

"What do you want, Crane?" My Boss spat icily on the other end. Playing the victim role, are we?

"I want you to start sending airdrops again, at least near the Tower," I answered. "These people need help,"

"We put you in Harran to find our file, not to play Jesus," The woman growled angrily, turning hopeful when she asked "Or does this mean that you've reconsidered handing the child over?"

Like hell I have!

"You know, I would be very surprised if you have a daughter," I shot back fiercely.

"I'll take that as no, then," My Boss responded calmly. "Well, I'm afraid your request is out of hand in any case. Circumstances have gotten... strained with the Ministry. Resuming the airdrops would be politically disadvantageous at the moment,"

"You *ssholes take the f*cking cake, you know that?! You and your f*cking file!" I barked angrily. "I'll locate the file for you, but I'm gonna take a good long look at it before I decide what to do about it,"

This time, I switched my radio off before she could reply. What the f*ck is going on with them?! They say that they want to help people, but don't give a sh*t about a near-child trafficking victim?! Something's up...

Forget it, dude. Find Jade and see what she wants to tell you, then take it from there.

(Back in the Headquarters - 11:00...)

It didn't take very long for me to find Jade, as she was already in HQ waiting for me after I reached out to her on the radio. Looking back now - I initially would have been f*cking terrified if I knew what she wanted to say. Why you ask? Because, let's just say that... a lot of personal things were revealed. But on the plus side, I think it was the fuse needed for us to move forward and Jade would agree.

Anyhow...

"Hi Jade," I greeted the woman, hiding my anxiety in an attempt to prevent myself from behaving like a high-school nerd with a crush on the attractive and tough as nails girl. "I'm sorry if I'm late, I've just been catching up with Rahim,"

"No apologies necessary," Jade reassured me, gesturing for me to sit. "Make yourself comfortable,"

"Thanks," I replied, perching on the table in front of her chair. "So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I want to start off by saying, again, Thank You for looking after Libby whilst you two were with Rais," The woman explained kindly, sensing my concern for the little girl. "She's still shaken, but she'll be fine,"

"Where is she now?"

"She's resting upstairs," I see.

Hearing this, I smiled. "After saving my sorry *ss from a Bomber and jumping on two Goons, you mean?"

"Precisely,"

"You gotta admit, Jade," I commented. "Those moments were bad*ss,"

"I would've loved to have seen them," My colleague agreed, allowing me to see a tad anxiety in her eyes. "How are you feeling, as well?"

"Me?" I questioned with a brave grin. "I'm perfectly fine, still in one piece. Yes, I'm p*ssed that Rais tried going after Libby, but I'm glad I was there to stop him,"

"That's what I'm worried about," Jade told me sternly with a hint of fear.

My brows furrowed with confusion. Huh? "What do you mean?"

"I mean," The woman sighed. "What if Rais will target you next? What if he decides to kidnap the two of you, as well as my brother?!"

Oh sh*tb*lls! No, not me!

I took a breath to remain calm. "Jade, can you please help me understand why you're becoming protective of me when we haven't known each other for long?"

"I don't know how I can do that," The woman confided in an angry yet guilty manner. Remain calm, remain calm! "Maybe it's because I'm growing fond of you when you got Amir killed?!"

Excuse me?!

"Well - why did you save me, then?!" I demanded, stung by the harsh accusation. "If saving me meant he had to go, then you should have just left me to die! Why didn't you?!"

Jade couldn't answer, and that infuriated me even more. "Look, I'm not Amir and neither are Rahim and Libby. You're treating them like helpless children when they're almost adults and you don't get to treat me like that too! You need to let this fear go or otherwise, you're gonna lose us for real!"

"Get the f*ck out of here," The woman ordered icily.

"You know I'm right, Jade," I fired back, my anger slowly fading. A sigh to compose myself. "L-Look, where is this...!" A saddened gulp. "Where is this coming from?" Silence. "Why the sudden change of hear—"

"GET THE F*CK OUT!" She suddenly screamed right in my face, grabbing the helm of my shirt with her fist raised to strike. NO!

My breathing had glitched painfully and I felt tears threatening to brim. The last thing I did was give her a hateful look before wrenching myself free from her grasp and storming out. I didn't even hear a remorseful Jade cry out for me to stay before breaking down sobbing herself...

I also didn't know that my crush on her was secretly reciprocated to the same extent...