Love Struck Delusion

Chapter 59 – So We Must Not Let It Ether.

Shadow's POV, Iraq Capital.

I stood right behind him. Right being Voltz. I could kill him now. End it all tonight and spare hundreds. But that wouldn't keep me alive would it? I asked myself as I followed Voltz to his office which was on the second floor.

"Sit please." He urged me as I approached his desk to wondered.

"What's this about sir?"

Taking a seat before him, I watched closely as he observed me. After a good ten seconds of silence he replied.

"I wana talk about earlier when we met. I know I came off...well...the wrong way."

"It's okay sir. I get that a lot. Your not first who thought I was Commander Robotnik."

"It's not just that." He stated as I then wondered.

"Then what?"

Taking his spot behind his desk he replied.

"Few know that I was very close with Robotnik. Even fewer know I was there the day he died. I was so close in fact, I remember his blood splashing my face." I now looked at him in awe as he went on to say.

"People say they lost hope when they heard he died. I wish I could ask them what they would have lost if they were there instead. In MY shoes. I wish I could understand what it means to let someone go. But when it comes to Robotnik it's near impossible for me to forget what kind of man he was; and what kind of friendship we had together all those years ago."

"You must have been close." I stated as he nodded.

"More then anyone can guess."

Things went silent as he looked away for a second to say.

"I want to apologize for how I acted in front of you. It's not how a leader should present himself for the first time. But I want you to try to understand where I was at that moment. I can probably guess you don't mean to look or sound like him, but when we met face to face I couldn't help but remember everything. The good and the bad. And it reflected poorly on myself. I would like to start over."

"Me too sir." I replied as it was clear Voltz was opening up a little to me.

"My name is Raptor Voltz. I command this Rebellion you find yourself now apart of. I'm thirty seven, I have a wife and two kids. And before you ask they are not in Iraq. I couldn't take a risk with them in the war."

"Understandable." I replied as he nodded and continued.

"And as you heard from my speech earlier, I was the leader of Commander Robotnik's Special Forces division. Despite my looks now, I'm well trained, and not to many's knowledge I'm not afraid of doing the dirty work here. I can make the hard choices, and I plan to if we're going to fight against a global superpower."

"Impressive sir." I stated as he kept his eyes on me now.

"But enough about me. If you play your cards right and do what your told to, you'll find out more in due time I'm sure. But now I want to know about you a little. Who were you parents?"

I knew this was coming. He was bound to question my back story at some point.

Getting comfortable in my seat, I replied.

"My mother was a housewife more or less for most her life. She didn't say much when you were around, but I loved her none the less."

"And your father?" Wondered Voltz as I went on to say.

"A drunk. He worked construction during the day and his own stomach during the night. Needless to say sir I didn't have the best set of parents growing up."

"Sorry to hear that. Must have been rough."

"You could say that. They both passed away on their own. My mom died due to her old age and a bad flu. Doctor thought she could handle it, but I guess he was wrong. As for my father he died of stomach cancer. Can't say he didn't deserve it."

"What did you do after all that happened? Did you have any other family?"

"No sir. I stayed home most of the time after that. By then, G.U.N was back in town and things were getting even more unstable in the world. I just wanted to be safe and live my life in peace."

"So you joined the Rebellion?" Questioned Voltz as I shrugged.

"A guy gets bored. Hahaha!" I tried to crack a joke and to my surprise I got a small smile out of him.

"I'm sorry. During G.U.N's rise to power a few years back, I always felt like everything Commander Robotnik did was for nothing. It made me mad that this was the way the world saw it. He did everything to get us freedom. Something we never had, and the second he dies the world cancels it all out and we go back to being ruled and watched over. It wasn't fair."

"So you wanted to fight back." Stated Raptor as I nodded.

"Yes sir. I just never knew how up till now. Your speech...well needless to say sir, it brought hope to me and I'm sure many others. Hope we needed for so long. I feel like we really have a chance again. You know?"

Nodding Voltz replied.

"We won't win if we don't work together. The first step is understanding what we can do as a team."

"Yes sir." I replied as he went on.

"I can't come up with the words to say how grateful I am that everyone puts their faith in me now. It's an amazing thing. To see a country rise up and work together for an equal goal. I haven't felt this way for a long time."

"You earned it though sir. You did what no one wanted to. You picked up Commander Robotnik's shoes and now your honoring his legacy. Of course everyone now follows you."

"You could put it that way." Stated Voltz as I went silent.

"Like yourself I looked up to Shadow. I followed him. I put my faith in him. And now that I'm doing what he did I can honestly say its not what I expected in the slightest."

"That's a good thing right?" I questioned as he looked at me directly once more.

"Depends on who you ask. But to me it's an unknown still. Maybe later down the line I'll be able to answer that, but right now I just want to understand. I may be in his shoes, but I don't plan on being like him. Does that make sense?" He wondered as I nodded and replied.

"Yes sir."

Nodding back he said.

"Good. Again I'm sorry I acted the way I did. I hope now that we got that out of the way we can move on."

"I'd like that." I replied as he offered me his hand.

Taking it, we began to shake. I felt his grip. He was nearly choking me.

Staring into his eyes, he leaned up slightly to state.

"I'm going to tell you something Verbeck. I may be old. I may not be the smartest or the best for this job. But I plan to do whatever I have to, to win this war. And I don't care who, or what gets in the way. Because if they think for a second they can take our faith again, they'll have another thing coming. Do we understand one another?"

"Sir?" I questioned as he kept my hand locked.

"If YOU ever think of hurting anyone in my family. I will kill you. Do you understand me?"

The tone in the room changed completely as I stared at him in confusion.

"Yes...sir."

"Good. No go get some rest. You have your first assignment tomorrow. I expect only the best after this conversation. And I expect a fresh start between us."

Slowly getting up, I backed up for the door. Voltz stared at me with such a force I almost felt like he was going to come after me.

Quickly leaving, I came back out into the hall.

I was left confused. I couldn't tell if he knew or if he was just trying to scare me. He had to be trying to scare me. If he knew he would have done something already. Or maybe...maybe he's trying to throw me off my game by saying that. Fuck I don't know. He got me on that one. But there is no way he knows I'm a spy. He wouldn't let me keep working otherwise. I had to pull through tomorrow with this mission. I need to up my game.

Raptor's POV.

I saw the fear in his eyes. He was going to be more cautious now if he really was a spy for Linnen. Part of me wants to believe he's legit after that, but I won't let me guard down just yet. He still has a lot to do if he wants to prove to me he's really trying to help.

Looking to my watch I saw it was around ten. I had an idea.

Getting up from my seat, I proceeded to leave my office and make my way outside. Archer stood with the remaining teams and watched as I got a Humvee.

Archer's POV.

I watched as Raptor drove out the main gate. What was he doing? He didn't tell me he was leaving. And it's getting dark.

Leaving the squad leaders in charge of their men, I decided to follow after Raptor.

That is it for right now. Seems like things are picking up a little. Let me know what you think.

By the way, I will not have a chapter up tomorrow. I got to work both my jobs all day. Expect another chapter up the following day though.

mT Shadow.