Blood dripped from the ruptured skin of his knuckles. Jason Ryan was standing over the broken and capsized figure of Paul Spinner. The beating committed by Jason had been so brutal, so violent, that there was no recognising the orderly anymore. At first when he had started swinging his fists, Paulie had started laughing, thinking it was only a test of fear. That laugh turned into cries as he realised that Jason wasn't going to stop. Finally the voice had been quieted behind shattered teeth and a broken jaw.
Jason's shoulders were quivering as he stood over the faintly moving body of Paulie. The others in the room had shuffled as far as they could away from Jason, frozen in fear like deers in headlights. There were tears in both Rebecca and Derek's eyes. Dave was clutching Derek's shoulder with tightened fingers while Marcus had one arm in front of Rebecca as if to protect her.
Jason had no mind for any of them.
He continued to watch as Paulie's chest slowly stopped moving, and a final rattling cry left Paulie's split lips, and Paul Spinner finally breathed his last from the beating that Jason had commited.
As soon as the breath had silenced itself, Jason turned on his foot without even another look at Paulie, leaving his corpse there for the other fake sins to look at, either as a message or because he didn't want to look at it anymore, Jason didn't know.
He let the door of the small room swing shut behind him and almost immediately Jason could feel his knees buckle and his face bend from extreme anger to extreme grief. He fell forward and would have gone straight onto the floor had Berlin not stepped in, putting one muscled arm in front of Jason to stop him.
Jason clutched at the arm as if it were a lifeline and for a moment the relationship of boss and worker disappeared as Jason sobbed into the arm. It took nearly five minutes before Berlin finally patted Jason on the back.
"Agents on duty should not show emotion. Emotion cites weakness. Weakness can be exploited," Berlin said quietly not as a way to ridicule Jason's grief, but rather as a way to remind Jason of their position as agents of the Department of Human Protection. Nevertheless, Berlin's own experience-lined face was creased in grief, although the German's eyes were dry. "I understand your sadness, Jason."
"…I killed him…" Jason stared at his shaking, bloodied hand. "I killed him, Erwin, I just… It's not like I lost control, I knew what I was doing, I knew what I wanted to do, and I just…"
"Jason, gather yourself. Reign your emotions in. That scum deserved to die of all of them. None will grieve for a man such as him."
"…I know it's not right, Erwin. I know that I shouldn't hold relationships with my soldiers but the four of you are more than just soldiers under me. You are friends. Family. Brothers and sisters in blood. Erwin, you and Gloria and Steve… You have done so much for me. And you accepted Gareth when he was brought in. He was new. He didn't go through the usual process. But he fought side-by-side with us, slain demons with us, and broke blood and bread together. We've know each other less than a year but still, he was a brother and yet… how can he be gone, Erwin, how could he be gone just like that?"
"As agents we know of the risk to our lives. It is something that we accept the moment we don the badge." Berlin slowly stepped over to the desk, picked something up, and walked back to Jason. "We will fulfil our vengeance on those that have claimed Gareth's life. And after the job is done, we shall drink and we shall mourn and we shall sing of him. For now…" Berlin opened his palm and the two dog tags that were usually hung around Jason's neck tinkled downwards. Berlin pressed the names of 'Maylene' and 'Ellie' against Jason's chest. "Take these back. Resume your role as CEO of the Department of Human Protection. Resume your role as commander of Rhino, Wasp, and Berlin. Regain your emotions. Hold them in. March on, Jason."
Jason held the dog tags against his chest with his good hand. Memories of those he loved that he had lost. He would have to add Gareth's name when all of this was down.
"Okay," Jason said firmly. "Thank you, Berlin. Find Shepherd and bring him here. I'll sort my hand out. It's time to go on the offensive."
"Save your sister?" Jason looked at Charlotte with distaste. "What makes you think that we will do something like that for you? If you want us to make a deal, then you need to give to us. I need information that I can verify and then perhaps we can work something out."
Charlotte smiled. "I thought you might want something. Well I can give you what you want. You refer to the group I work with as the Sins, correct? You know us only from when we killed your agents and got that blurry picture of us. That's all the evidence you had that we even existed." Charlotte leaned back in her chair, trying to get as comfortable as possible bound as she was. "Our group is called Purgatory. We were formed approximately fifty years ago."
"Don't bullshit me. You think an organisation like that can stay hidden for that long?" Jason shook his head.
"Was that not the Department of Supernatural Investigation's entire shtick? Hiding in the shadows? Purgatory and the DSI, or the DHP, or whichever acronym you want to call yourselves, are not so dissimilar. Purgatory always had seven members, which as you have no doubt realised, are named after the Seven Deadly Sins. What makes us unique is that we don't necessarily know the identities of the other Sins, which is the purpose behind our masks. Certainly, some of us know others identities but not everyone knows everyone. For example, the one known as Irae," Charlotte's head turned to Conner. "Who you had the opportunity to meet briefly in the forest. I am surprised that you are even still breathing meeting him."
"He certainly felt more of a threat than that Morris fellow," Conner nodded. "It was him that confirmed my suspicions that the people we were hunting down were fakes."
"Whatever plan he had ruined my own. But the point is, Irae knows that Pigritia is Charlotte Hayes. I do not know who he is."
"What use is that to us then?" Jason asked.
"Because I know the identities of two of the Sins," Charlotte held up her fingers. "If I give you these two names now, will you save my sister before you verify them? You can keep me here, tied up, not a problem. I just need my sister saved, you understand?" Charlotte looked back at Conner. "You can smell a liar with ease. One of the most frustrating things about you. Look into my eyes, Shepherd. Am I lying? I will tell you of the Sin known as Invidia and the Sin known as Avaritia, two members of Purgatory. These two names are the truth. Do you believe me, Conner Shepherd?"
Conner leaned towards Charlotte and stared at her eyes. It was true, he was very good at telling a lie from truth. There was a possibility that he could be deceived, but Conner believed truly in his ability to sense when people were lying to him. Looking into Charlotte's eyes, he knew that there was no lie in whoever she was able to name.
"Yeah, she's telling the truth, Jason. And even if she somehow is fooling me, like she says, we keep her tied up, then it's fine. Penelope isn't exactly our target now, is she?"
Jason took a moment to think before finally nodding. "Go for it. Name them."
Charlotte held up one finger. "Invidia. His name is Nicholas Banks. I expect he'd be thankful of you for killing his daughter's murderer, although there is no love lost in that family."
This drew a particular reaction from Jason. His eyes widened. "That man funds Hearthome and in doing so the DHP. Are you telling me that he is a member of this… Purgatory?"
"He was hoping that by giving your organisation a lot of money, it would give him an in to the DHP. He does not know that I know his identity, so feel free to investigate and set up a trap for him. He would never suspect that you would work out who he was. He thinks he can just keep giving money and one day be invited into some kind of meeting where he would be in the upper echelons of the DHP. No, this would never happen."
"Well that's interesting," Conner mused out loud. "Imogen Banks' father? I wonder if he is angry that one of your people killed her. Like you said, Jason killed Paulie, but could his grudge go further? It sounds like Irae kind of got in the way of your plans. Perhaps they know each other. Perhaps they want you gone. Something to muse on, isn't it?" Conner smirked at the flash of worry across Charlotte's face before it disappeared as quick as it had come.
"And what of the second name?" Jason asked. "Avaritia?"
"Well, now, he's an interesting one. Your department is notorious for being hard to infiltrate. Yet someone got through your cracks. Somebody you know quite well," A smile widened on Charlotte's face as she watched Jason. "A man who helped the DHP through the Apocalypse. A man who earned their trust through blood. A man who in fact you, Jason, considered family, who you killed a man for. Avaritia is the mercenary known as Gareth Griffiths."
If the first name drew a reaction, the second name caused Jason to take a step forward and smash his palms into the top of the desk so that he was almost nose-to-nose with Charlotte. "Are you fucking kidding me? What kind of game are you playing, Hayes?! You kill my man and then you spout this nonsense?"
Charlotte clearly took pleasure in this response. "Not what you were hoping to hear? Don't let your emotions get the better of you again. What will you do, beat me within an inch of my life? Or perhaps just all the way to death? Like Paulie? What a wonderful boss for the DHP you are."
Jason took a long deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped back from the table. He glanced at Wasp who had noticeably turned from her position guarding the door. He opened his eyes again. "You—"
The glass shattered before they even heard the shot. Jason jolted back as if he had been physically punched and his back slammed against the wall. As he slid down the wall, there was confusion in his eyes. The slick smear of blood left as he slipped down was vibrant against the white wall. He hit the floor in a seated position as blood started to pour out from the centre of his chest, dark against the black of his clothes. His green eyes focused on something far from the window and Jason lifted his hand towards the shattered glass. His eyes then lost focus and his hand dropped loose against the floor.
"Jason!" The scream came from Wasp in a tone that was unbecoming of a member of the Department of Human Protection. She sprinted for Jason but it was already too late. Jason's green eyes had grown glassy.
Conner watched her fall down next to him, hands going to his pulped chest. She pressed her gloved hands against the wound uselessly. Conner watched as a small glint of silver caught his eye, and two separate dog tags fell through the torn jacket and over Wasp's hands. They had been wrought nearly in two from the shot. Wasp looked down at them, her lips trembling as much as her body.
It had all happened so quickly and Conner turned his head back to the window. Perhaps less than five seconds had passed since Jason had been shot. The rain was getting heavier yet through that rain, in the distance, Conner could see a figure hunched down at the top-edge of the gate-building that led into the Hearthome Hospital grounds with something long in its hands. Something long that was aiming directly at the window. In this instant of time, Conner looked to Charlotte. She was smiling in the same way she had smiled back when she had taunted Conner under the crane, that acceptance of death.
Conner's mind clicked into place and moved faster than any physical body could. He pulled the pieces of evidence from this moment into place. There was a sniper who had just shot Jason Ryan. Gareth Griffiths was a member of this Purgatory. Gareth was a famous sniper among the ranks of the DHP and had been key in the prevention of the Bunker Raid during the Apocalypse. It was clear to Conner that Gareth was the one shooting. In this room, there were four targets. Jason, Wasp, Conner himself, and Charlotte. Out of all these targets, Jason had been the first one chosen when Gareth could have chosen any one of them. That meant that Charlotte was not on the hit list, as there was no doubt that if they were clearing house, they would have started with the ringleader. Maybe it was her status as one of the Sins, but Gareth had chosen Jason over Charlotte.
So Gareth had chosen to shoot Jason likely because of the threat that Jason held. A leader. Intelligent. Brave. Cut off the head of the snake and all that. The problem was that the DHP was a hydra, not a snake. So if it was Conner sitting on that rooftop, looking into this room, and deciding whom to shoot next, it would be the person who bolstered the most threat to whatever this Purge was, before the Purge happened. That meant members of the DHP. That meant Wasp.
All of this thought process happened in less than a second. On the seventh second, Conner was already moving towards Wasp.
"Get down!"
There was a crack in the air just as Conner tackled into Wasp, knocking her sprawling to the floor forwards so that they ended up below the window-frame, out of sight of the sniper. He felt something at the back of his neck and knew that the bullet had whistled centimetres from his skin, blasting a hole into the wall beyond. Conner found himself staring down at Wasp, whose face was etched in tears and grief. It was not the face of an agent Conner was looking at right now.
"Shepherd…" Wasp looked surprised. Conner could not blame her. The hatred Conner had for the DHP was well documented. To save a member of that organisation… Conner surprised himself.
Conner slapped Wasp sharply in the face.
"Get your act together, soldier!" Conner hissed from their position on the floor. "You DHP agents are not to show emotion! Grieve later, for now, do your damn job and help me get rid of that sniper, or all of the pieces you've gathered are going to be shot right off the damn table! Whatever the fuck this Purge is, I'll need yours and the others help to stop him!"
"You slap me again, Shepherd, and I'll make sure you'll be eating porridge for the rest of your stay here," Wasp growled. Nevertheless her features softened. "Thank you." From her position on the floor, she pulled her yellow-tinted goggles down over her face. She looked at the remnants of the dogtags in her hands before looking back at Jason Ryan; a man who had survived the Epsilon concert hall fire, a man who had survived the List, a man who had survived the Apocalypse, a man who had been slain by another he called brother.