Deterioration
Ten minutes of running like crazy, broken up by a pause to make a false trail, and Jace made it to the station.
He'd known from the start that the bus for Mission City wasn't going to be leaving for another few hours. Jace just hadn't planned on losing the shadowy figures in quite that way.
A dash of cold water in the men's room, and a glance in the mirror told him that he looked just as disheveled and out of sorts as he felt. That wouldn't do at all. Jace took a moment to comb down the brown spikes of hair, and take a deep breath.
Three choices.
One. He could hang around the terminal, buy his ticket, and wait for the direct connection to Mission city. And take the chance that one of those goons would figure out that he wasn't heading towards a city bus and the airport.
Two. Jace could just go home and wait for Danielle.
That plan would probably be the sanest– the spooks hadn't been moving in on him until he tried to make a run for it. Jace could go back to the condo, and ask Danni all the questions that were currently bubbling through his mind. Why had she lied to him?
If she'd lied to him before, there wasn't much chance of her actually telling him the truth about what had gone on. She'd been there. She hadn't been hurt in any kind of accident, and yet she let him go on thinking...
Three. Jace slicked back his hair, tucked hin his shirt, and headed towards the door.
He could grab whatever bus was leaving now, and find a way from whatever rest stop or station to get to Mission City.
"The bus for San Francisco will be departing shortly. Please line up at gate C. Have your tickets out and ready." A voice called over the din of the crowded room. "Single file, please. If you have luggage..."
Jace stopped listening. San Francisco was in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go– but if there was a stop... He pushed his way to the ticket counter, and got in line.
He tried to remain casual, as he glanced around the crowd, looking for the familiar faces and suits. Jace saw none. He didn't stop looking until he was safely seated in the vehicle.
Jace meant to keep watch until they hit the highway leading out of the city, but between the cool air, and the soothing hum of the bus, he was dozing before they passed the bookstore.
The road through the golden sands of the desert stretched like a long black oil trail.
Even if they hadn't been in such a hurry, he would have accelerated well past the posted speed limits. As it was, he was having to keep himself in check, lest he lose the others. Bad enough to lose one, let alone the rest.
'No one left behind' was a great philosophy to live by– in theory. In practice, however, he was finding it just a little too hard to keep up with.
Quietly he swore he'd find a way to help the brother they'd had to leave behind. There would be something he could do after this mission was completed.
It wasn't the scout's fault. It was his, for allowing him to get that far separated from the rest of the group. Command had privileges. Even if he wasn't in overall charge, he'd take the blame for this one.
Dark spots on the dusty horizon caught his attention...
Jace jumped as he woke, startling the passenger next to him. He gave her a nervous smile as he apologized, ignoring the sudden sense of loss, still pushing away the dream for the more immediate questions.
How long had he slept? And where was he now?
A hard right hand turn forced him to grab the seat in front of him, rather than knock into the seat mate again. Jace was still unsettled as the view of a car dealership sailed past his window, then turned into another street.
There had been cars in his dream.
Startled, he tried craning his neck to look, only to find they'd passed too far for him to be able to look. In fact, they were turning again, into the yard of the busline's depot. They'd reached a stop of some kind. Jace shook himself as the other passengers disembarked, and followed.
Wherever he was, this was his departure point. For some reason, he didn't think it was San Francisco. In fact, the sign over the door that said 'Dunville' confirmed it. Jace tried to look casual as he cased out the terminal. The sunset rays gave the dingy place a little bit of color. Not a place he'd really want to spend much time.
And the exit to the street wasn't far away.
He meandered through the lobby, trying to ignore the calls over the intercom that named the next stop for the bus he'd just departed as Tranquility, and leaving in fifteen minutes.
Tranquility...He wondered just why that name was familiar. And why he suddenly just wanted to get back on the bus. Jace resisted. It was in the opposite direction from where he needed to go.
A glance over his shoulder showed another passenger entering the terminal from the bus doors.
Black suit. Tie. Sunglasses.
He stopped to speak with the driver.
Jace hastened his step, ducking through the street doors, and into the dimly lit world outside.