MORE CONFUSION!

Chapter 30: put love for

"That might be a good place to stop for now." I said as looked up at the sky and noticed how the darkness of the eastern horizon started to grow lighter. "It's almost sunrise."

I stood up and offered a hand to first Sarah then Blake.

Once we we're all standing, I spoke, "Hey Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever find what you were looking for?"

"Chris..." She sighed, "so many things have happened..."

"Then you know exactly where I stand. As long as yo-"

"As long as I continue to run, you cannot, and will not, help me. I know Soap. Believe me, I know." She said as she turned to leave.

"What about Athens?" I asked, stopping her.

"What about him?"

"Has he found what he was looking for?"

"I don't-"

"The answer Soap, is no." I turned to find the man in question walking towards us. He was wearing a white coat over top a white shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of brown shoes. "You know very well what I am looking for. He's still out there and I'm determined to find him and finish this. Maybe then we can get some peace." He said.

"Then you know where I stand." I said.

"I do."

"I wish you the best of luck then, Athens. You too Blake." I said.

Both of them nodded and left.

As I watched their figures grow small as they walked into the distance, I thought aloud, "You two are going to need it."

I turned my attention back to Sarah, "You know, I never one hundred percent found out what happened while I out during that bounty mission. Would you mind filling in some blanks?"

Sarah smiled and nodded.

She took my hand and led me to the sanctuary. We reached the stage and sat down on the steps.

Once we were sitting, she gave me a kiss and then began recounting her side of the story.

"After you blacked out, the White Fang base was in complete choas..."

~Athens

We didn't walk far from the church to reach my car.

Blake hopped in the passenger seat and I got in the driver's seat.

"Where does yours start?" Blake asked me as I put the car in drive.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not taking my eyes of the corpse littered road.

"Your story. You know better than anyone, all stories have a beginning and an end. You know Soap's, Sarah's, and mine; but we don't know yours. So Athens, where did your journey into this hell we call home begin?"

I sighed, "A few years after my mom died...

Meet me at the Drunken Sailor bar and sit down at the bar. When the bartender asks what he can get you, respond with the phrase: 'silence and peace.' The bartender will nod and go into the back; wait for 5 minutes. After that, follow him. Keep going till you come the first door on the left. Enter and take a seat; we'll talk shortly after.

~Anonymous

I reread the note 5 more times to make sure I didn't miss anything.

This note was in my pocket after I had finished getting information my boss needed. Again.

I was sitting on a bench outside the 'drunken sailor' trying to decide weather or not to go in and meet the person who gave me the note.

After a lenghty debate in my mind, I sighed and decided to go in.

I memorized any and all possible escape routes should the need arise.

For trust purposes, I had left my weapon with my dad, though I made that I didn't tell him why. I did keep my knife though, and it was thankfully hidden.

As I walked, in my nose was assaulted by the smell of alcohol and people who haven't bathed in days. Among other things, I could sense a lot emotion coming from the people around me.

Sadness, anger, self pity, remorse. Each one I knew well.

The drunken sailor was an older bar, founded about 300 or so years ago; at the time, it was considered a marvel of engineering and architecture. But now it was nothing more than just another old building.

Before I sat down, I silently went over all of my precautions to conceal my identity. I was wearing amber contacts, a large brown coat, grey shirt, glasses, brown pants, some old shoes, and a small gold ring. Everything was in order.

I sat down at the bar.

After a minute, the bartender wandered over to me.

"What can I get ya?" The bartender asked.

"Silence and peace." I say.

He said nothing and nodded at my request. After giving another patron another round; he headed into the back.

As I waited for when I was supposed to walk in the back, my mind wandered.

Unfortunately it wandered to when I was a child. To before She died.

"Come on dad, please." I said in my childish voice.

"No Athens. You've already had enough sugar. If I buy you anymore ice cream and your mom finds out, she'll kill me." He said.

I said nothing but decided to pull the one thing that made almost all parents break:

The puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry Athens. I'm afraid that's not going to work on me." He said, determined to outlast my efforts.

Instead of giving up, I added some fake tears.

"N-no that's not going to work this time." He said, his resistance wavering.

I decided to pull out all the stops; I added a sad whimper.

"ALRIGHT, fine. I'll buy you some more, just please stop that." He said; his facial expression begging me to stop the torturous look.

"Yay, thanks dad." I said.

He just sighed, "Yeah, yeah. Which one do you want?" He asked, defeated.

"Oh, I want vanilla, and chocolate, and strawberry, and neo-"

1 hour later

"You bought him more ice cream, didn't you." My mom said, glaring at my dad.

My dad flinched under her intense glare, "Now honey, please. He used the puppy dog eyes on me. You know I can't say no to him when he does that." He said frightened.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you some how destroyed 2 police cars, hospitalized 4 cops, completely vandalized 5 stores, and got chased down the highway by police and the 5:00 news."

"Now that, I have no explanation for. Honestly though, I have no idea how any of that happened either." He said trying to reason with her.

She just sighed and shook her head.

She was about to say something but was interrupted by another officer "Hey, the chief wants to talk to you two." He said as he pointed to the police chiefs door.

They both nodded and walked over to the room.

When they entered, they saw me sitting in a chair with a sad expression plastered on my face, and the police chief staring intently at them.

"You 2 can never make my job easy, can you?" He said, sighing

"Chief, I'm so sorry for the actions of my husband and son; as soon as we get home, we are going to have a very long talk." She said staring at me and dad.

"Look, just take them home and make sure that this never happens again detective." He said, looking at my mom.

"Yes sir." She turned her attention to us, "Let's go you two." She said as she walked us out of the police station.

The ride home was silent. Nobody said a word until we got home. "Why can't you two make my life any easier, for just one day?" Mom asked.

"Look honey, we're sorry. I promise that this will never happen again." Dad said, holding mom's hands and looking into her eyes.

"Yeah mom, I promise that I will never do anything like that again." I said, not knowing that I would be breaking that promise in a few years later.

"Good. Now how about I make us some dinner?" She asked.

Just as we were about to reply, the door bell rang.

"Oh. I'll get it." She said. She turned to me, "Athens, can you start setting the table please?" She asked.

"Sure mom." I said, getting up from my seat.

My mom opened the door and was greeted by a delivery man holding a package and a clip board.

"Oh, I was wondering when the package would get here." Mom said.

"Yeah, ma'am. I'm going to need you to sign this. Your husband too." The man said.

"Oh alright. Honey can you come here for a moment." She said into the hallway.

"Alright what is it?" Dad asked.

"We just need to sign for this package."

"Alright, well let me see it." Dad said.

Mom handed him the clipboard signed it. When he finished, he handed it back to her so she could sign it.

"If I may ask, what are you names?" The delivery man asked looking at the signatures.

"Sure, I don't see why not. I'm Mary and this is my husband, Roman Torchwick" Mom said.

My watch beeping, signaling that the 5 minutes were up, brought me back to reality.

Instantly I noticed that my cheeks were wet. I quickly wiped my tears and stood up from my seat and started walking to the back.

As I passed through the doorway, I berated myself for thinking about the past.

'It never gets any easier, does it Athens?' I thought to myself as I turned the knob on the door.

A/N: He he he. I think I've gotten good at raising more questions than answers.

I want to thank werewolf35 for writing the entirety of the last four scenes.