Chapter 26- Loss

Avery sat next to Stephen, as he and Nick talked to Duncan who was sitting opposite. Connor was standing next to his friend, worried at the prospect of losing Tom. Avery was sure she would feel the same if Stephen was infected, despite his affair with Helen. At least he told her the truth, even if it came eight years too late.

"Okay. When Tom's in trouble, what's his first reaction?"

"Tom doesn't get in trouble." Connor said.

"He's not that sort of bloke." Duncan said, standing up for his friend.

"Then put yourself in his shoes. What's … what'll he be thinking? Where will he go?" Nick asked leaning forward.

"He'll be trying to find out what this whole conspiracy is about." Duncan said. He looked suspiciously at them, still not trusting of the group.

"There is no conspiracy." Stephen was annoyed at his continual insistence of a conspiracy.

"So, what's all this then? Meeting of the local Women's Institute? The CIA? The Freemasons? The Illuminati?" Avery almost laughed at Duncan's explanation. She never believed in wild theories that had questionable proof. "You people are always hiding the truth. Tom was right about everything. That's why we put the transmitter on you."

"What? You bugged me? Of course, you did. Because that's how you found the dodo, right?" Connor said in disbelief.

"Well, you were the one with all the secrets. SWAT teams, girlfriends…"

Connor started to check his pockets, searching for the tracking device. "Duncan, do us a favour, tell me where it is."

"It's on your bag. Inside Roswell." Duncan said rubbing his legs in nervousness.

"You sneaky little …"

"Wait, wait, wait. How did you track it?" Avery interrupted.

"Tom modified the Sat Nav on his Palmtop." Duncan said.

"Well the he's going to come here. If Tom wants answers he's going to follow the transmitter. He's coming to you." Nick said crossing the room. He stood next to Connor and patted his shoulder.

"No, not quite. The dodo swallowed it."

"The transmitters inside the dodo?" Stephen asked.

"Yeah." Duncan stuttered.

"And the dodo is with Abby." Stephen said with a glare. "You idiot. You've turned her into bait."

Avery ran after Stephen as he raced out of the room.

They arrived at Nick's office with Claudia to find the room empty. Ryan stands behind them with his gun at the ready.

"The dodo's gone." Nick said leaning against a table in the room, covered with various testing apparatus. "He must have taken it."

"And Abby." Stephen added.

"Look, we can try the transmitter. We have to get to him fast." Nick said walking out of the room, the others close behind him. "Ryan do we have anything that could track the signal?"

"Yeah. We have something in the car that could work."

"Good."

After finding out the signal lead to the stadium they quickly drove to the area. Ryan and his men ran out onto the stands first, weapons pointed at Tom.

"I've got a shot! I can take him out!" Ryan calls out from in front of Nick.

Connor ran forwards and put himself between Tom and the guns. Duncan stayed on the steps of the stands. "No! Don't shoot him!"

"Connor, what are you doing?" Claudia asked, thinking Connor had gone mad.

"Just, please, don't shoot him!" Connor pleaded, his arms raised above him.

"Connor, get out of the way." Stephen yelled, his own and Avery's guns trained on Tom.

"All right, let him try. Let him try." Nick conceded. Avery lowered the gun slightly but had her finger ready on the trigger. She didn't want to shoot Tom, but if he made a move to attack Abby or Connor she might need to.

Connor turned around to where Tom still has Abby pinned to the ground. The lasers from several guns played around Tom's head and shoulders. Tom kneeled over Abby, holding tight to her beige jacket. He was sweaty and shaking, a look of terror on his face.

"Tom. Tom, it's me." Connor slowly turned around slowly and talked as if Tom was a startled and dangerous creature. Avery knew it wasn't too far off. "Let her go, mate. Easy. Easy! Easy. You remember Thursday nights, don't you? Battlestar Galactica, Blakes 7? Pepperoni pizza?"

"Connor?" Tom said scared. Staring deep into Connor's eyes.

"Yeah. They were good times, weren't they? You can fight the dark side, mate. You really can."

Tom relaxed his grip on Abby and she scrambles up and to where Claudia, Avery, Nick and Stephen are standing.

"You too, Connor. Move away. He will kill you" Ryan called.

"No he won't. He's my friend." Connor dropped his hand and crouched down next to his friend talking softly. "You come with me. We can … we can help you."

"It was a conspiracy, wasn't it, Con?" Tom said just as softly. Avery could see the fear of an animal knowing their about to die in Tom's eyes.

"Big time. Right to the top." Connor's voice was watery with grief.

"Was there any mind control?"

"Yeah."

"Brilliant. Brilliant."

"Connor, back away!" Ryan shouted as Tom's eyes began to glow.

"Connor!" Avery and Abby yelled out, wanting to run down, but afraid it would startle Tom.

Tom fell forwards into Connor's arms. Connor grabbed him and held him steadily in his arms. "It's okay. You're okay."

Tom slumps down, then looks up at Connor. His eyes were wet with unshed tears and he was shaking out of fear. "They tried to take me over, but I fought them, Con. I fought them."

"You did a really good job."

"I'm a hero."

Connor nods. Tom closed his eyes, and slipped from Connor's arms. Tom lay still on the ground, silent and dead. Avery didn't know how she knew but she just did.

Abby clinged to Stephen as he lowered his gun, and Nick walks down the steps to Connor. Connor stayed crouched next to Tom until Nick approaches him, he stands in front of Nick with red and watery eyes.

"I can't do this anymore." Connor admitted defeatedly.

"Come here." Nick grabbed his arm and moved him away from Tom slightly. "We need you."

"If I hadn't been involved, Tom would still be alive."

"No, there's a handful of people in the whole world that know what's going on here, what we're grappling with, and you're one of them. That would have made his day. He'd have loved it. So you can't bail out now. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, come here." Nick pulled Connor into a hug. Everyone else, including Duncan, stands still, staring at Tom, as Connor closes his eyes and starts to cry.

A/N sorry for the late update, year 12 is way harder than i expected it to be. I'll try to update as soon as I can, but i cannot promise consistent updates.