Chapter 13: Aftermath (Part 2)
"Kowalski's ox'n m'sk? (Kowalski's oxygen mask?)" Rico tapped the tiny tank in Selena's hand and looked over at her. The female looked at him through half lidded eyes that were lined with tears, probably due from the thick smoke, and nodded. She took the mask off her face and placed it beside her.
"Die! DIE!" Selena screamed as she jumped onto him, sending the two of them falling to the side.
He groaned in pain from the impact and sat up, only to be tackled down again.
"You'll die!" Both hands raised above her head, she brought them down, letting the scattered penlight catch the silver heading for his head.
She blinked her eyes rapidly, took off her glasses and pushed herself up in a sitting position. She wiped her tear brimmed eyes with the back of her hand and noticed a pair of boots running toward them.
"Selena!" He caught her hands, snatched the knife easily out of her hands and tossed it aside. He pushed her off and scrambled away. "Selena..." His eyes found her crazed and glazed ones and he placed his hands on her arms, keeping them pinned to her sides before she could do anything else. "You need to calm down. Please, wake up. You need to wake up."
"Where's Kowalski?" Selena opened her eyes fully and looked up at Skipper, who was already back at their side. "Why isn't my man with you?"
"I," she suddenly blinked and stared at the ground, "I'm sorry." She shrugged him away and he dropped his hands as a tear dropped from her eye. She wiped it away quickly and turned away from him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." He didn't answer and she paused and turned back to him. "Mikhail, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." She curled up into a ball, hugging her knees tightly and sobbing into the crook in between her legs.
She felt a hand caress her neck gently and she raised her head slowly. "You thought I was him again, didn't you?" She looked up at him and felt the hand move to her face. She swallowed a lump and took his hand away from her face.
"I'm sorry, Mikhail. I don't know what happened. I'm so messed up. I can't believe I drifted off again. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I don't know what's happening to me." She held in a sob, closed her eyes and bit down on her trembling lip, her hands making a mess in her hair. "Maybe I do need to go check with Melman."
He sighed deeply, took in a deep breath and ended up coughing. She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder before using it to pat his back.
"Mikhail?"
"The," he coughed again and shook his head as his eyes started to water, "the smoke. It's filling up the room already." He pulled her close and used an arm to cover his nose. He took out a small oxygen mask out from his overcoat and gave it to her.
"No, you need it." With a frown, he grabbed the mask from her, slipped it over her head despite her protests and handed her a tiny tank. "Mikhail."
He took her free hand and pulled her to the manhole cover. "We need to go."
He struggled to open the manhole cover again, coughing every once in a while. When he couldn't even turn the wheel, she grabbed it and helped him. They got the thing open and was met with the moist cold air from the sewers. It was just as dark as the room, with installed lights lighting the way. Selena grinned at this and turned to Kowalski. But her happiness dropped when the man's eyes drooped close. Without warning, he tumbled through the opening head first. His head made a resounding crack on the concrete and she shivered at the creepy but familiar sound.
"Selena?"
She pushed herself up in a sitting position, took off the mask and her glasses and wiped her teary eyes.
"He's in the sewers. He couldn't handle the smoke, fell and passed out. I couldn't carry him back." Skipper just stared at her, the skepticism clear on his face. Selena groggily got to her feet and handed the oxygen mask and tank to Skipper. "Look, you need to help me carry him back. I can't do it on my own, but I can show you the way."
"Mikhail!" Her voice was muffled through the mask but she didn't waste a second in climbing down and running toward him. "No." She placed a hand on his neck, her form flooding with relief when she felt the life giving beat. A sob escaped from her and she cradled the man's head. "Thank Isaac you're alive." She gave him a light kiss on the head, placed his head gently on the ground and got to her feet after grabbing the penlight from him. "I'll be back." She backed away, took one last look at him then headed down the tunnel.
"We need to go," she closed his hand over the mask, "NOW. Please, Skipper."
"I'll go." Private stepped forward with a determined expression. "I can handle him." Selena and Barbie stared at the boy, both thinking the same thing. How can a child carry a man almost twice his weight and height? "I can do this, Skippah. You know I can. Besides, you guys need to stay and help put out the fire."
"Private," Selena started with a frown but Skipper held up a hand. The lady watched in surprise as Skipper gave Private the mask and patted his shoulder with a grin.
"I know you can, bud. Make me proud." Private grinned back, saluted him and jumped down into the sewers. "Rico," Skipper looked over at the man and woman waiting by, "and Barbie, I need you to go with them. Make sure nothing else goes wrong. You know what's in those sewers. I can handle things here." Rico and Barbie nodded and hurried down the manhole. Skipper was about to walk away when a hand stopped him. He turned to Selena, who let go of him and gave him a small smile.
"I swear I don't have anything against him. I didn't plan this."
"I know. It's just déjà vu here." She spotted the flash of sadness going through his eyes before he looked away from her.
"You miss Hans, don't you?" Her smile grew when he turned back to her with an unsure smile.
"No. I'm just glad I decided to save you instead of him."
"I still think it's a stupid decision, since you lost Hans because of me. Two boys fighting over one girl isn't cool, you know." He chuckled and shook his head.
"Doesn't matter now than it should then. He's just someone in the past. Just get my lieutenant in one piece."
She grinned and saluted him playfully. "Yes sir." Selena took one look at the building before joining the others in the sewers. The second her feet touched the ground, she turned to the three waiting for her and gestured down one end. They were almost there when a thin trail of smoke floated in the air above them. Selena looked up at it briefly, put on a burst of speed and dropped down beside the unmoving figure on the ground. "Mikhail?" She called softly and checked his vitals again, satisfied with the results.
"This is creepy." Barbie commented as she looked around the dimly lit sewers. "I didn't know this existed. How did you even find this place, Selena?" The Asian didn't look up as she walked over to the ladder and climbed up, despite the smoke billowing into her face. She reached up and closed the cover before jumping down, coughing.
"Oh gawd..." She bent over her knees and took in the smoke free air before standing up and nodding when she saw Private and Rico carrying Kowalski. "Let's go." She walked past them and hurried back.
"Selena?" A frown made its way to her face but she put on a blank expression when Barbie appeared in her peripheral vision. "How did you know this place?" Her mind was still struggling with previous events that she had a hard time listening to Barbie.
"What's it to you?"
"Did, somebody, bring you here? I doubt anybody you know would show you this."
"None of your business, McHale."
"It's not on the maps." Her sister didn't reply; just continued walking. "Selena."
"Shut. Up."
"I'll tell Jay."
Selena stopped abruptly and Barbie had to take a step back to avoid crashing into her. "I'm very tempted to throw you in." Barbie didn't have to ask to know that she was talking about the rushing river of sludge just inches away from them.
"Well, you're a very great sister."
"Never said I was. Never am. Didn't know you had such high expectations. In fact, this must be our first real formal conversation."
"Just tell me already. It's not going to kill you."
"It will."
"Excuse me?" Instead of replying, Selena started walking again. "I'm not five!" Barbie shouted after her with a glare before chasing her sister, Rico and Private still at her heels. "Stop treating me like this. I demand to know what's going on. Who's threatening you?"
"Look in a mirror."
"I'm serious. We've never had a problem like this since you were eighteen. You're always pushing me away, but this is worse. I am not the dirt you wanted me to be, okay? Stop it."
"Callie." Barbie noted the worry, concern and fear in her tone, but she ignored it and continued.
"Why can't you trust me?"
"Why can't you trust me?"
"You don't answer a question with a question!"
"Stop acting like a brat and I will stop it."
"Selena!"
"Callie!" The other spoke in a mocked tone, adding fuel to the fire.
"I don't even know what happened at the institution! Stop treating me like this!"
"You don't want to know."
"Why did they take you twice? They never do that. In fact, nobody comes out of that place alive. What makes you so special?"
"That's enough."
"Is it because of Jay? Did he-"
"No. Not him. I wouldn't let him."
"Kowalski?" Selena merely shook her head and picked up her pace. "What connection could you possibly have with that evil building? Why would they take you twice and NOT have someone come after you after all these years? Wait, is that why you're living in the hotel room instead of the apartment? You do have someone on your tail, don't you?"
"I don't see why you have to know. It's none of your business."
"Tell me, or I'll hack the system and find out myself."
"And risk getting yourself in jail?" Selena pondered it for a while, but it seemed to be faked since she just shrugged right after. "Be my guest. It's your life."
"I thought you were the wiser one."
"I don't see how this is in any way connected to the bombing."
"It could be if they were trying to kill you. Why would anyone kill you? You've never done anything wrong your whole life."
"Why wouldn't they kill the only living victim of the institution? Why wouldn't they take the chance to murder the chief officer's daughter? Why wouldn't anyone kidnap the only girl who knows Mikhail Kowalski Dean Bennett Junior's deepest, darkest, dirtiest secrets?"
"You know everything about him?"
Selena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I sure know why he loves his father to bits." She rolled her eyes again when she spotted the confusion on her face. "I was being sarcastic. He hates him to hell."
Barbie blinked before a frown overtook her features. "I know that. I just..." Barbie sighed loudly and pouted at Selena. "Would you just tell me who has been threatening you?"
"I said that's enough." The words came out angrily, but it did not faze the blonde, who placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stay.
"I'm not going to stop until I find out."
Selena turned around and opened her mouth, about to reply, when a groan interrupted her. The two girls turned to Kowalski, but the man was still out cold. "Might be sooner than you think." Barbie turned back to Selena, who was now staring at her. The blonde blinked repeatedly and mirrored her when she took a step forward. "Much sooner." Barbie screamed as her foot stepped back on nothing, feeling herself fall backwards. Two hands took hold of her shirt and pulled her back easily. She found herself staring at the smirk before it turned out into laughter. The blonde shrunk a bit, holding onto what was left of her self-esteem as she was tossed aside. "Pathetic piece of..." She trailed off with an unsettling smirk before walking away, leaving Barbie fuming after her.
The man groaned in pain and gripped his head while sitting up, unaware of where he was at the moment, only feeling the weird sensation of 'floating'.
"Mikhail?" His senses went back to normal and he turned, all too quickly much to his dislike, to the lady. "Are you alright?" He shook his head of the memories flooding in and glared at her.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Innocent reddish brown eyes almost made him take back his harsh statement, until the burning building behind her reminded him of why he said it. "What?"
"You could've died in there." He shook his head when he heard his squeaky voice and bit deeply into his lip as his voice went a few notches lower. "That's why you didn't put up a fight. You'd hate to get in trouble, but you didn't defy me."
"Mikhail, it's really nothing to worry about. I-"
"No, you could have died in there! What were you think-" He burst into a coughing fit and bent over to the side. Selena frowned deeply and gestured to herself, not looking concerned over the man's condition.
"Do I look like the bomb squad, Mikhail? How the heck was I supposed to know it was a bomb?"
"No," he threw his hands to the side angrily and glowered deeply at her, "no. You knew! When you dropped the dish, that's what you saw, didn't you? You saw the bomb, but you didn't tell us. I thought you said you weren't suicidal." He fired the last statement at her angrily but she just stared at him with a raised brow.
"And then what? You were going to defuse it? It's not simple wiring, Bennett. It's a time bomb. Those things are completely unstable. Its a miracle it didn't blow up when you picked it up. In fact," Selena ran a hand sharply across his face and sat back on her heels with a glare, "what were YOU thinking, idiot?" Kowalski blinked in shock with a hand covering his stinging cheek. "You were the one who endangered everyone here. We're lucky it didn't blow up in your face and fucking send your asshole brain to the other side. Why did I think it would survive? Because that's the only thing you protect! Jackass!" He dropped his hand to the side and stared at her.
"That was still a stupid move. What possible solution could you get from handling it yourself?"
"I don't know, less chances of death? It was better than picking up the fucking bomb, Kowalski. You even fucking dropped it and-"
"I caught it before it could hit the ground."
"Where did your brain go then? To Neverland? Did you get coffee while you were out? 'Cause you need it to wake up!" Kowalski shook his head in exasperation and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Rico is our whole bomb squad, Selena. HE COULD HAVE DEFUSED IT."
"How would I know that? Do I look like I know everything like you do?" The man just glared at her. "Time." She said slowly with both hands held out. "Bomb. An unstable device that could go off any second. It doesn't matter if it has a stupid timer. If the timer doesn't work, the bomb could either explode or stay idle until something else triggers it. It's a bomb. That is what bombs do. They have their trigger activated, and boom. There goes your entire future. Capisce?"
"I am not a child. Stop talking to me like that."
Selena ran her tongue over her mouth and crossed her arms.
"Oh really, dunderhead? Why'd you handle the bomb like it was your first time holding one?"
"I panicked, okay? Was that so wrong?" Selena slapped her face and mumbled into her hand before sighing and crossing her arms.
"You dropped the bomb, Kowalski. You dropped the stupid bomb. Twice."
"I caught it, alright!?" His voice was becoming scratchy now but he continued angrily, not noticing the tone. "Get over it already!"
"Absolute not. Not when you could've exploded the entire campus."
"It didn't. It was miniature."
"Size doesn't matter. Do you remember Fat Man and Little Boy? Do those devices look like they can destroy entire cities, because that's what they did." She raised her hands and curled them like she was going to strangle something. "I can kill you right now, man! What were you thinking?"
"My point here is what were you thinking. You were just standing there staring at the thing like a stupid monkey."
"We're all primates, you dumbass. Make up something good and really insulting here." She rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning back to him with a sneer. "What's it to you what I do anyway? I'm just another statistic compared to you. Besides, Jay knows what I'm doing here."
"Suicidal? Oh, I'm sure he knows you're suicidal, you liar. And don't act like I didn't know what happened in the sewers back there. I remembered everything. How did you get from thinking of escape to him? You keep telling me I'm nothing like him, but every move I make with you is reminding you of him."
"No. That's not-"
"Everything I do reminds you of him, Selena. Can you say no to that?"
"Well, I-"
"See? I am trying so hard not to act like a jerk around you but you make it so hard with what you do to yourself. And I think I'm making your condition worse."
"That's not-"
"I know it's my fault, and I'm trying so hard not to care, but it's like you don't even care what happens to you!" The Asian closed her mouth and stared at him. "It's like you want me to do that for you!"
"No."
"Don't fucking tell me 'no'. There is something else going on in that brain of yours. What are you hiding?"
"I'm not hiding anything." She murmured quietly, still sitting and staring at him quietly.
"Then why the fuck, after all these years, did you think sending Kyle thousands of miles away is going to help anyone? What about Barbie? Or Marlene? What about them? Tell me what you plan to do, Miss Almighty. What's this great plan of yours that's going to save all three of them from whatever it is that you've gotten yourself into? Why is it, that you love staying in a hotel room more than with your friends when I know you hate being alone?"
"I didn't ask you to evaluate what I do. I never asked you to help me."
"You don't have to. I always have to insert myself into your life, whether I liked it or not."
"Yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes again and waved him away while she picked up her bag and the card, "whatever." She paused abruptly when she saw the name on the hard paper, "what the hell is Edward's name doing here? I'm supposed to be on guard duty."
"Wha-who?" She didn't notice the shift in his expression as she rolled her eyes yet again and gestured her hands about.
"I knew that custodian was lazy. He can be all strict with his mouth but he can't even do a simple change in records. Great." She dropped her arms to her sides in exasperation. "They're probably going to blame Edward for the incident. Heck, they'll probably charge him with it. I need to talk to Jay." She looked at the others and pointed at them with the card. "And you need to go rest. Complete bed rest, you hear me? I'll check up on you." Selena heaved her bag over her shoulder and started to walk away but Kowalski grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Can I see that?" She raised a brow at him but handed over the card. He took it and scanned the contents, his eyes remaining on the line 'Edward Jefferson, guard duty'. "So, this guy was supposed to be doing guard duty?" She took the card from him with a frown and stuffed it into her bag.
"Yesss...He's not responsible, okay?"
"Of course not."
"Really?" She frowned in suspicion, crossed her arms and looked up at him. "That was easy. Did you happen to plan this by the way?"
"Why would I want to blow up the laboratory? If I wanted to get rid of one, it would be the ones upstate. Where my fellow scientists are. Not a mediocre school laboratory."
She watched him for a while before shrugging casually. "Beats me. I'm just curious about your curiosity." She thinks I'm jealous...what a thought. Jealous of myself.
"Any theories then?" He gestured to the building, still speaking with a scratchy voice. She frowned at this, but didn't comment.
"Like I said, beats me. Terrorist?"
"A time bomb in a school laboratory? Why not the central area of the school itself?"
"I'd say it's genius, though the explosion was pretty small. Enough to engulf the entire building, with the added explosive chemicals in there. This was carefully planned. It's like the person wanted the building and possibly the occupants to blow up."
"My thoughts exactly." Kowalski mumbled with a grim look.
The lady shrugged, got to her feet and walked away. "Update me."
"Wait," she paused and turned to him, "how come you didn't notice it before? I need a possible time of placement."
"You can't exactly find good help nowadays. I'd say the person before me is a complete ignorant."
"How so?"
"I found him sleeping on the table. It was fun kicking him off though."
"You were sleeping too. Someone could have sneaked in during your shift."
"Remember when I said I kicked the guard off the table? I forgot to mention that I had to hide out for an estimated eighteen minutes from him before I went for my shift."
"So basically, it's anytime between forever when the bomb was planted."
"Time bomb, Kowalski. Those things don't have a definite time, even with a timer, no matter how much movies you watch, and if it moved, the timer might have gone forward or back, as demonstrated earlier when the bomb fell."
"You're telling me that someone built the bomb in the laboratory?"
"You saw how big that bomb is. How long would it take for someone to build one that big? Do you think it's a mere simpleton? Maybe a fellow genius? The mechanics of the device were not simple, in case you're wondering. I got a closer look at it, but didn't touch it. I'd say the person had to be good in mechanical engineering to build something so complex yet seemingly simple."
"You're sure about this?"
The lady stared at him with her mouth open before shaking her head and walking away.
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Are you sure about this? This can't be a hypothesis of yours, is it?"
"Does light pass through a concave mirror at the focal point?"
"Obviously. That's where it always passes through."
"You have my answer."
"Selena."
"What is it now?"
"Our discussion isn't over."
"It is," Selena said firmly with a pointed glare at him, "because it has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it."
She was about to turn and walk away when he called out again. "Wait." The lady practically threw her bag down and whirled around.
"WHAT?"
"I can't..." He trailed off and dropped back on the grass with a hand grasping his throat.
"Mikhail?" She dropped back down beside him. He merely closed his eyes and rolled his head away from her and the sight of the still ongoing fire behind them, the flashing lights of help arriving the last thing he saw.