Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me and I make no money with it.
Summary: "He was woken by a hand on his shoulder and instinctively flinched back." The morning is grey.
Date: Jan. 2nd - 7.30 am, between Mother Nature and Vacation (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)
Edited: 18.12.10
18. Rainbow
He was woken by a hand on his shoulder and instinctively flinched back. The hand was quickly taken away. A glance around showed that he was curled up in the passenger seat of Yassen's car and that they were standing on the parking lot of a supermarket. There was sleet coming down.
"I am going to buy some food," the Russian said from beside him. "Stay in the car."
Alex nodded silently and watched as Yassen left. He was nothing but the black silhouette of a stranger against the harsh lights of the store.
The teen sighed and leaned back in his seat, curling up tighter. He was cold and his fever still hadn't gone down all that much. His shoulder and right wrist pounded in time with his heartbeat.
The clock in the headboard said that it was half past seven in the morning. That meant that they had been on the road for a little more than nine hours. Alex had no idea where they were.
He still couldn't quite believe that the situation he found himself in was for real. It all felt like one big, surreal nightmare, from the moment he had found Barner's corpse right up until now, on the run from criminals and the police together with one of the world's most wanted assassins. Who had just gone to buy groceries.
He glanced at the blood on his hands and under his fingernails and laughed.
Killing that man had been so horribly easy and he couldn't even bring himself to feel guilty about it. Was this what he was going to become? A cold, unfeeling machine that killed without remorse? A man like Yassen?
He laughed again.
No, even now he didn't think he could ever be like the assassin. He didn't regret killing that bastard because he had deserved to die. Alex would do the same thing over and over again if given the chance.
He tried to curl up tighter and shivered.
The clothes he wore were too big on him. They belonged to Yassen. His own were in a plastic bag on the back seat; they were too drenched in blood to ever be worn again. Well, at least the Russian's pullover was thick and comfy. He tugged it up over his nose; it smelled good. Outside, a few people were hurrying across the lot.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a normal life like that? To worry about nothing but avoiding the rain and buying the right kind of breakfast bread so that the rest of the family wouldn't complain again? He snorted at himself and his thoughts. Yeah, he was in a bad mood and had had a few truly shitty days, but he knew that dreams like this were useless. He wasn't going to start letting himself wallow in them now.
A new car drove onto the parking lot and Alex blinked, a little bemused. It was painted in almost offensively bright rainbow colours. He watched, the corners of his mouth turning up into a little smile, as a whole family started tumbling out of the doors, all five of them laughing and talking.
The mother went to get a shopping cart while the father herded the three girls towards the entrance of the store. He wasn't too successful, most likely because the children seemed to be more interested in jumping into the big puddles all over the lot. Alex laughed quietly.
Suddenly, one of the girls noticed him from all the way across the lot and stopped short.
Alex blinked and waved.
And just like that she was grinning at him, large and happy and carefree. A moment later her father called her and she ran after her family into the store.
Alex was still smiling when Yassen came back.