Love Struck Delusion
Chapter 291 - Friends during hard times.
Char's POV.
"What do you mean? What's happened?" I asked Raptor as he took the last sip out of his glass. Once he had finished he replied calmly.
"Nothing's happened. I'm just going there to finish what I started."
I was still lost but I remained focused as he leaned over to grab the whiskey bottle from off the top of his desk. As he undid the cap to it he informed me by saying.
"The men who pulled the trigger on my family are dead. Dead or dealt with to a degree I can accept. However the person who made the situation even come to be is still left unpunished."
"Linnen?" I whispered as he nodded and poured me some more whiskey alongside his.
"I've tried to make myself okay with what he told me when we spoke. His intent was to use my family to lure me out. Which worked. He wanted me alive and he planned to leave them that way so long as I surrendered myself over to Gorgon. That was the plan and what he thought would happen. But Gorgon wanted me dead. We killed Ruby and Jagger. He wasn't going to let me get away with that and for his emotions being where they were he decided I wasn't worth the trouble of keeping alive. He made his own choice and thought it was equal payback for what I took from him. Gorgon killed my family, but they only died because Linnen planned ahead. It was a dirty backup plan and it worked. Yet not to his intent. Regardless Char; I can't convince myself that he deserves to live any longer."
"Won't killing Linnen mess something up bad with G.U.N and the treaty?" I asked in concern as he shook his head to tell me back.
"I've told Hecan countless times I wanted Drake's head. Understandably he couldn't allow that to happen with so much on the line. So he's talked me down from actually committing to the crime. Until now."
I was still calm enough to get a drink for myself and as I took some in Raptor looked me right in the eyes to state.
"Linnen has become a problem. A problem Hecan can't have. He knows too much and overheard some rather classified information during the night Archer spent interrogating them. That information can lead to some really bad press on Hecan's end and can surely cripple any plan of a treaty if it gets out to the public."
"Can I ask? What kind of information are we talking about?" I asked him. Raptor gave me a very serious glare and took more than a few seconds to answer. When he did he put his glass down between his legs and leaned in to whisper.
"He knows that Hecan and I were working in tandem well before there were any truce talks between G.U.N and the rebellion. He also knows that Hecan personally had a hand in helping me capture Gorgon. And I'll spare you the details, but unknown to you Char, Linnen was there personally when I got my hands on him."
"Wait…..what? How? That doesn't make sense."
Raptor sensed and had to have known I would still need the details. So keeping himself on point he explained.
"We had just finished hitting Gorgon and his men with an ambush we set up in a parking lot. Gorgon slipped away in time, but not before we captured Blitz and Tusk. He went running right to the capital and I could only assume he tried to hide. Which became a very big problem for us. We weren't going to attack the capital for one man. It would be sucide."
"So what did you guys do?" I wondered as he leaned back to reply.
"Thanks to Hecan's help we got Linnen's personal number and made contact via phone. I had some men with me at the time, a personal detachment from Hecan's security. We had them pose undercover as if they belonged to some form of PMC who was in the country looking for Gorgon."
"But wait….how did you get him to give up Gorgon? There's no way he just agreed to hand him over."
Nodding Raptor replied.
"He didn't have much of a choice. We already knew he wouldn't just hand him over if we asked."
"So what did you do?" I asked as he bluntly replied back after a few seconds.
"We scared him."
Widening my eyes, I watched as Raptor finished off his second glass of whiskey. Once he was done he put the glass down on the desk and mumbled.
"And it's something I'll never live down."
Looking back directly at me, he went on to admit.
"Linnen held all the cards and he would have easily rejected the offer if we simply threatened him or if we did something less impactful. We had to really make him worried. We had to scare him so bad that if he would have still declined our offer, he would have never been able to ever convince himself it was the right call. Let me ask you Char…...what's something major that recently happened in Pakistan? Something that impacted the entire city and all its glory?"
I gave the question little thought. I knew only one thing and replied back confidently.
"The power plant had a meltdown in reactor three. It and the block around it went up in smoke and I think a few hundred people died from the blast. Not to mention the whole city lost power."
Almost instantly after I had finished talking I had this thought enter through the back of my head. A realization and with it came the shock of uncertainty. Raptor saw my realization and just nodded. Almost unable to speak I asked him.
"What…..? Wait Raptor I don't….? How?"
Lowering his head slightly he replied.
"Zeta's a professional demolitionist. The head of Hecan's security team came up with the idea and after going over our options we decided it was the best way at getting a point across without directly attacking the city as a group. If the plant went up at least Linnen could cover it up by telling everyone what you just said happened to it. When in actuality, I had Zeta plant a small explosive charge on one of the reactors. After it was done and over with….Linnen handed Gorgon over without any trouble and we left Pakistan to head to Afghanistan to aid Mason in the first battle. He was none the wiser to what really happened. Only people that know would consist of Zeta and the men Hecan assigned to us and Hecan himself. This is why Linnen now has to go. He was never supposed to know about the operation, and according to what I was told by Hecan, if Drake comes forth with any suspicion of that kind of terrorisim being committed by G.U.N's own president and myself…...it can lead to some very bad things. Things that can't happen Char."
I was speechless for about a minute. Raptor took his time and just allowed me time to process. After a few minutes, I leaned up to begin breathing into my hands. It was then that he asked me.
"I trust you with this kind of information Char. That's why I'm coming to you for this. I need someone I can trust and someone that has my back. What I did is unforgivable. I can't convince you it was the right thing to do because it wasn't now that I've had time to reflect. There might have been another way, but I need to ask you this now. Do you trust me? Can you still look at me and trust that I know what I'm doing? I love my country. I've done nothing but bled for it and even now all I want to do is make things right. Make it all better. I crossed the line with how things went between Gorgon and I. I'll never not blame myself for it happening. But it was worth it. It was Char."
Raptor's POV.
Char put his hands back down and he was surprisingly calm after giving it all some thought. Looking me right back in the eyes he said.
"This was never a matter of me not trusting you Raptor. It's just….it's just crazy."
"Are you upset with me?" I asked back as he took but a moment to reply.
"No. You're my commander. My friend. I know why you did it and just speaking for myself, I probably would have done the same thing."
I widened my eyes to his honesty. He showed more when he went on to say.
"And it's in the past. We all do some fucked up shit out here. No one is clean. We all have our demons and no one is perfect, nor should I require that to be a standard for anyone important in my life. And we're both realists. What matters most at the end of our lives is knowing we left the world with something better. Knowing we made a difference. The war is over. We're setting everyone up right and we're making history for future generations. What we do shouldn't be what people stare at when they judge us. It should be about the reasons why. Your reasons are moral and relatable to almost anyone who's had someone stolen from them. Which around here is almost everyone now thanks to Archer."
Sitting straight up the wolf then stated to me confidently in his own words.
"Everything I've done since I've joined you has been nothing but firsts for me. You've saved my life in more ways than one Raptor. I owe you more than I can repay and that is the reason why I'm going to continue to push myself. I want to do more. I want to help more people. I want to make a bigger difference for everyone out there and for myself. I'm not ever going to be able to judge you, because I think we're the same in that regard. That's why I can promise you I'll keep my mouth shut. I swear it." He went on to extend his hand out in front of me. I looked to it for a second or two but inevitably smiled and reached out with my own.
Together we squeezed and shook. As we let go after a few strong moments, I replied back to him happily.
"Thank you."
"What matters is this last thing. I got your back. No matter what. Just let me know when to be ready."
"Two hours."
Nodding his head he then asked me.
"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"Not at the moment. You're dismissed."
"Thank you. And I'm serious. I got your back out there. Don't ever think I don't."
I watched as the wolf got up and left the office. Once he was gone, I let out a small sigh and chuckled into my own lap. Thank god for him. I never doubted his loyalty, but it was nice to see him show it.
With nothing left to do but wait, I began to wonder if I should have the girls tag along. This event should be compact. The less who know, the better. I still felt obligated to at least inform them. So reaching down into my pocket to get my phone, I sent a quick text to Zeta. Told her to come see me if she was free. During that time I remained where I was and had another small drink. Halfway through it the door opened and in she walked. Smiling slightly as she saw that I was enjoying the time to myself for once.
"Everything okay?"
Swirling my drink, I replied as she came right on over to steal Char's old seat.
"We're okay, but I just wanted to let you know that in about two hours I'll be taking a small trip to Pakistan to meet with Hecan and Linnen."
"What for?" She wondered as I finished my drink and put down the glass before replying.
"Hecan's worried."
"About?" She then asked as I calmly took a moment to breathe. She wiped her forehead during that but listened as I said it bluntly.
"Linnen knows too much about our past dealings. He knows we got Gorgon thanks to Hecan's help and Hecan fears he now knows about what we did to the power plant because of it."
Zeta instantly got defensive for what was going to happen and asked me.
"That's not good at all. I know there isn't any evidence to link you guys directly, but G.U.N takes claims like that pretty fucking seriously if their reported and even more so, related to high ranking members of the government. If word got out that he had a hand in that disaster, then he'd be fucked. Both politically and physically. Same as you. What's the plan?"
"Well Drake wants to have Hecan and I together for this conversation so he can proceed to interrogate us both for the answers he seeks. What he intends to do with the answers when we give them to him will ultimately decide his fate. Yet it won't really matter. He's going to die either way. Hecan told me himself that I could pull the trigger no matter what. It's what I get for saving his life that night. My…...reward per say."
"You said two hours right? I'll go get cleaned up and put my gear together for the trip."
Slowly I shook my head and replied back.
"I'm taking Char with me. I want you to stay here while I go finish this one last thing. It won't take all day. I promise and I'll be back before nightfall."
"Are you sure?" She questioned as I nodded and replied.
"I'm sure. When I get back we can take the day off and relax somewhere together." Zeta clearly was concerned despite my reassurance.
"Okay well at least do me a favor and give me an actual reason why I shouldn't tag long for this. Because everytime you and I aren't together some bullshit goes down."
"Hecan guaranteed that this meeting would be covert and secure. No danger is present to either of us. I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone." I tried to tell her, but by this point she wasn't going to be gullible and trust me so easy. She decided to push it by ordering me next.
"Don't treat me like I'm some paranoid crazy bitch. You try your hardest to use that mouth of yours to convince me of anything at any time. But fuck you. I know better after everything you've put me through. You're not doing me any favors by sugarcoating the truth. I'm an adult. I can handle it. Just say what you mean."
She had this look on her face that convinced me almost the second the first word left her mouth. She was dead serious about it all and I knew she was right. So accepting her feelings and trusting her ability to handle the truth, I just said the real reason why I couldn't have her around for this last thing.
"I don't want you around to see how it ends for him. You've already seen enough. Gorgon? His kid?"
The wolf was taking my words to her grave. I saw it in her body as I finished my sentence.
"I have no need to remind you about what kind of monster I am. I want you to be here waiting for me when I get back. I want to hold you in my arms and just breathe. I just want to hold onto the one good thing I have left when I finally reach the end of this chapter in my life."
Softly she mumbled back in concern.
"Raptor…..?"
Taking her into a hug, I held her as close as I could and whispered into the side of her ear.
"This is the last time. When I get back….we can start again. We can start making things better. We can focus on us. We can…..we can try and…..we can try and focus on a family."
I felt her claws instantly tighten onto my back after her ears had heard the end of that sentence. With my mouth to her ear still, I wondered.
"Okay? This is the last time. I promise."
Unknown to me she was crying. Softly but still crying. I heard her sniff up her sadness a few times before her shaky voice replied.
"Okay. Okay."
I just held her there. The end was near, but this felt right. Only issue I had now was figuring out what I'd really want to do once it was officially over.
mT Shadow.