Part 29: Shields
November 2nd, 2011 - New York
1 : Van
Something changed. It wasn't the silence that had settled amongst them as they grew closer to their destination, nor was it the abrupt change in terrain, from asphalt to uneven ground. Yet, as Van moved his head from one side to the other, trying to listen, he realized that the change he was perceiving was in his sight.
"I think—I think my sight might be coming back," he whispered, too afraid of imagining things and making himself look like a fool.
Something moved on his left, and he reacted by moving back.
"You're seeing shadows?" Jake asked, getting closer to his face. Van could sense his presence, but he could not really see him at all.
"I think so. Dark shadows on a darker background," he clarified. In front, another movement startled him.
"But you are seeing something," Jet said from the passenger seat, sounding too happy for the amount of hardly anything that this something was. "We're almost at headquarters. I'm sure Rose will find a way to speed your recovery up!"
He had never heard Jet being so optimistic and cheerful at once, that for one moment Van wondered if Jet had traded places with Jade without him knowing.
The car slowed down until it stopped. Silence wrapped itself over them again as Jet vanished to do his recognizance. Van never walked into a room without at least one shapeshifter checking it first, so this was normal procedure for him. For all the fact that Van didn't feel superior to any of them, he was aware of what he represented, and that he couldn't be careless with himself.
He'd seen once a private recording of Zan with his Invisible Guard, a backstage to some grand event that had meant all four of them had been by his side. They had been smiling while Zan was telling a pretty bad joke. One of those so bad everyone just laughed at it. They had been friends.
He didn't know if Langley had been one of those Guards—changes to the Guard were infrequent, but they did happen—but Van didn't need to know that. Langley had left his own home world to come here for the one-in-a-million shot that his Ward could be cloned, brought back to life, and picked up from where they had left. And when their plans had spectacularly failed, when the other shapeshifters had died or become enemies, Langley had stayed. Zan had meant that much to him.
Langley's fingers impatiently drummed on the steering wheel. Jet was thorough with his inspections, but Van knew he was taking longer than he usually did.
More movement caught his attention, the shadows becoming defined silhouettes.
"It's getting clearer," he exhaled, raising his hand and finally seeing its contour.
"How are you feeling? Any headaches, drowsiness?" Jake asked.
Pure, unadulterated joy were not exactly the words he wanted Jake and Langley to hear.
"I'm fine," he said instead, his voice sounding in awe even to his own ears. His sight was coming back, disaster had been averted. The future of Antar was still possible, at least the future as he had envisioned for so long.
Jet reformed in the front seat, and although it lacked any definition or color, Van could distinctively tell where Jet started and the seat ended.
"Something isn't right," the shapeshifter said. "We better hurry inside. The path is clear for several feet in all directions, but I can tell we're being watched."
"How far are we from the main entrance?" Jake asked.
"We still have a couple of minutes to drive," Langley answered, looking straight ahead. "The shifters guarding the warehouse must know we're coming, though we have no idea if anybody else has already come or what they're prepared for. You should give them the heads up and have them helping us out," Langley told Jet.
"Van cannot be left unguarded," Jet answered, deadly serious. "If I go, you cannot leave his side."
Langley smirked. "I think I know how this thing works."
"You may leave my side," Van said as he felt more than saw Jet's indecision.
"Once inside the warehouse, we'll be safer than in any other place on Earth," Langley said, though his voice had an edge on it that Van didn't miss. "Once you're back, you'll go first, help Van get inside. Jake will follow, and I'll close the guard."
Jet nodded and then turned to look at Van. "How much can you actually see?"
"It's getting clearer by the second. I can see your shape, but not details. I'm pretty sure I can walk on my own with minimal guidance."
"I'll be right back," Jet said, and disappeared from Van's mostly unseeing eyes.
Tension grew inside the car as Langley started driving forward, so slowly Van could almost feel every pebble the tires stepped on.
When he looked out of the window, he could make the shape of the warehouse against the black sky. They were not ten feet from the door that signaled where Earth ended and Antar began, and for the briefest of moments, all he could think about was home.
The car abruptly stopped as Langley melted in his seat, followed a second later by the unmistakable sound of glass shattering as a bullet hole suddenly appeared on the windshield, missing the shifter. Van's already tense nerves switched to his flight or fight instinct, honed by years of living in constant danger, and ducked at the same time Langley reformed to cover him.
A second bullet impacted the windshield, and then a third took out one of the headlights.
"Snipers," Langley muttered, extending his hand to mentally push the accelerator down. They were close but not close enough to the entrance.
"We'll exit on your door. Jake, follow him closely," Langley instructed as the car once again stopped, a fourth shot aiming at taking the other headlight failing. Another shot took care of the right tire and another one the side-view mirror.
Langley took his attention from the accelerator and towards the warehouse door, which groaned as it was forcibly opened by the shifter's power.
"On three," Langley whispered as more shots shattered a side window and another tire. "One. Two. Three!"
The sound of Van's door opening felt too loud, and the ground looked like a massive gray flat mass that he wasn't sure he wanted to step on. A cold rush of air also filtered through the open car door, playing with his hair at his back. He half jumped out of the car, almost losing his balance at the odd angle he came out, the entrance not three feet from his position. A bullet buried an inch from his foot as he moved, his hand touching the ground as he fought to maintain some sense of balance.
In a terrible moment of clarity, Van knew he was not going to make it.
And there, appearing out of the shadowy warehouse entrance, Zan was running out to his rescue, one of his hands extended as if he were reaching for some invisible foe. In Van's black-and-white vision, the whole world was suddenly engulfed by a shimmering green energy. Everything became green, the floor, the air, Zan himself, creating a bubble where bullets ricocheted harmlessly away from them.
Van had no context for what was happening in that instant, he only had one crystal clear thought that Zan was—and would always be—Antar's savior.
2 : Jake
Max's projected shield covered Van, Jake, Langley, and the entire car. It was easily triple the size they had practiced in Jake's lab for years, not only extending in front of them but creating a spherical barrier that ensured no bullet was going to reach them.
Van seemed to be transfixed for a precious second before Jake took him by the shoulder to help him get inside. Jake had no idea how good or bad his sight actually was, but Jake knew Max could not sustain such a display of energy beyond a few seconds, tops.
Rushing behind Max, Michael was also extending his hand and Jake's instinct told him to duck. Langley, though, pushed him further into the warehouse alongside Van, as Michael's firepower blew out the car in a spectacular ball of fire that didn't penetrate Max's rapidly reducing shield.
"Get inside!" Max shouted, even if they were already inside the rusty, old warehouse that felt more like a trap than a haven.
People appeared out of nowhere to guide them to an opening in the middle of the floor, the real entrance to the Antarian headquarters. Shifters, Jake realized, as Van went down the ladder first, giving Jake a moment to turn to look at Max and Michael.
Max faltered for a moment as he retracted his shield and then repositioned it with his hand extended upward to give them cover over the underground entrance, sweat transpiring on his forehead. Bullets started flying through the already broken windows of the warehouse while Michael walked beside Max, never taking his eyes from the open door. He was ready to blast any Unit men who dared to enter right now.
"You have to go first," Max said to Michael as Jake entered the narrow entrance. "Michael, I can't give you cover if I go first!" he heard him arguing.
Jake reached the underground floor a moment later, finding himself inside a long, white hall. Van's anxious eyes met his as they both knew it wasn't safe for either Michael or Max to remain there. Van turned his eyes up to the entrance as steps started descending.
"They're well trained," Jake reassured him, also looking up.
"They're not bulletproof," Van said with a sobering thought.
"Max's shield certainly is. Believe me, we tested it against a million different things."
Judging by Van's paling cheeks and narrowing eyes, that was probably not the right thing to say, but Michael came down at that moment, his eyes hawkishly looking up for his friend. Finally, Max made it downstairs, closing the lid above him, effectively sealing them in.
The strangers who had guided Jake were suddenly there, Jet amongst them, all looking on edge. The Invisible Guard is really invisible, Jake fleetingly thought, amused. He was still panting.
"It seems Langley has gone on a mission of his own," Max said, wiping a slight sheen of sweat on his face with his sleeve. Such a human way of doing things when he could just wave his hand over it.
"Are we missing anybody else?" Michael asked. All Guards shook their heads. "Good. Let's see what the real situation is before we go and make any rushed decisions. Maybe Langley will end our problem before it becomes a nightmare."
Outside, something exploded.
3 : Dave
You're okay, you're alive, Dave thought as he embraced Jake. They had not been on speaking terms for a week—well, Jake hadn't been, Dave had certainly wanted to. And in the last twenty-four hours, Jake had been left out of the Network, had barely escaped the Unit at the airport, just to be re-ambushed later at a Starbucks. And while Dave was executing his daring escape, Jake had been taken into custody to the exact same location. They had missed each other by minutes.
That McKay had led Jake back to the same prison Dave had escaped did not make sense. Certainly, if Dave had been able to escape it, so could Jake. They didn't share the same IQ just for kicks. Still, McKay was just arrogant enough to believe one prison could hold two geniuses plus aliens of all things. The fact that Van had not left Jake behind—nor Langley or Jet—spoke volumes of how resourceful Jake could be in any situation.
"Are you okay?" Dave finally asked.
"Me? I heard all about your escape before I got out myself. I bet McKay has a lovely purple color on his face right now. I just wished we hadn't led him here."
"They used Isabel's phone to track this place. You weren't being followed," Dave reassured him. "Ray is tracking down their movements through Daniel's backdoor. We might be able to redirect them or somehow give us room to leave."
"Daniel? Danny?!"
"It's a long story," Dave said, as he guided Jake back to the room where they were working.
"Van was blinded for a while there," Jake said as they waited for the first door of three to be opened remotely. Dave couldn't conveniently wave his hand and have it done.
"He what?"
"He was shot with a sedative. It temporarily blinded him, though it's mostly back. He says he can't see colors for the most part yet. I need to check him again."
"Don't. Don't get near him ever again. He has people here to look after him. Trust me, Jake, you don't want to cross his people. Don't make them doubt your intentions, not even for a moment. They're the type to execute first, ask questions later."
"Interesting company you've been keeping all these years."
"More like interesting company who's been giving me ulcers all these years," Dave muttered as they stopped at the second door. "So, you helped Van escape?"
"It was a team effort. Quite creative, if I say so myself," he added with a smile. "Yet Van has too many hopes about Max. Hopes I've no doubt you've fanned over the years," he added, reprehensively.
"Not now, Jake. Not here," he said pointing out their general space. It was ill-advised to talk about these things in enemy territory.
"Then when? When Van is actually shot dead? When Max refuses to play along? When the Unit and McKay luck out and get their hands on both of them? This is exactly why you shouldn't have kept this a secret, Dave. And you pretending that we can just walk away from here now that you've delivered Max to their hands is not doing any of us any favors, least of all Max—or Van."
Dave chuckled, in that tired, resigned way people who are at the end of their rope do. "You always care about people—even the ones you've just met."
"Dave!" Jake said exasperated. "This is why you didn't tell me, isn't it? You've always known how wrong this is. This gamble on everyone's future—"
"It's not a gamble," Dave said, far too fierce for Jake's liking, he knew. If he was going to be judged, at least they could judge him with the right facts. "Everything I've done for the past eight years has been with one goal in mind: to save the Earth from Antar's wrath. And I have delivered what I promised: the chance for Van and his Rebellion to sit down with Max and see if there are any traces left of their leader in there. That's all I did."
"I doubt very much Max and the others would agree with you," Jake said, both of them standing in front of the second door, which lay open while they argued.
"That was never a factor in this. Do you honestly believe they didn't know this was coming? Take me out of the equation for a moment here. The Unit would have caught up with them a long time ago. And even if they hadn't, Antar would certainly have. You've met Van. Do you think he would have settled for 'we can't find them' or 'it looks like the humans killed them' and do nothing about it? I'm everything that stands between the Unit and Antar, and both would have hunted them down for one reason or another. That much Max and the others know, Jake. I bought them time to grow up and taught them how to navigate the worst of their enemies. If they choose Antar or not, if the Unit is dissolved just to be reformed again, that's not in my hands anymore."
"It's far more than just that, and you know it," Jake said as Dave walked down the hall. Though Jake was taller, he still had to speed-walk to reach Dave's furious pace.
"Why is it that you see the good in everyone but me?" Dave argued back.
"Because you would have told me otherwise. You would have told Ray. We would have found a way to make this work with them. Instead, you lied to everyone around you, everyone, knowing full well the implications of what you've done could blow up in your face."
"I didn't tell you because Van didn't let me," Dave said as they stopped at the third and final door.
"Please, since when any kind of authority has stopped you."
Dave's shoulders slumped as the door hissed open.
"What would you have done differently if I had told you?" he asked, part of him eager to know and part of him daring Jake to come up with a better plan on the spot.
Jake stood there, beside him, weighing something in his mind, something heavy. "Max knows Zan. He remembers much of his life. He knows what it felt to be him, he remembers what transpired in the palace. He sometimes just acts like Zan out of some sort of second nature, something you would have noticed if you had spent any amount of time around them."
"What are you saying? That he is Zan?"
"Not at all, just that he remembers who Zan was. He's still Max, though. Yet Zan knows how to play this game while Max knows what he wants has nothing to do with his alien self."
"It doesn't mean he'll get it," Dave said, finally walking to the door that led to his makeshift Network control room.
"Well, Van is quite sure Max will choose Zan one way or another," Jake pointed out, "if not out of his memories, then out of duty. And we both know Van is a dangerous man. He'll do what's best for his vision of what Antar should be."
"Well, it doesn't mean he'll get it, either. Van's idealized idea of who Zan was is as far from reality as Max is human. Langley knows this, so we've been preparing for a few scenarios here."
Dave opened the door at the same time Danny was about to open it himself. And there they were, Danny, Dave, and Jake, with Dave playing the middle of the sandwich here.
"What are you doing here?" Jake asked. In their long friendship, there had never been a contentious point like Danny was. Nobody liked Danny but Dave, a fact that both Danny and himself knew.
"Saving your boss's ass, if you must know," Danny said, with the same smart-ass tone that infuriated everyone—including Dave.
"He's also the reason why I had to bring the Network down, I was captured, and you were found. Don't forget that," Dave pointed out as he forcibly entered. Danny moved aside as if he'd been burned.
"You're the reason everything fell apart today," Jake said, following the general idea if not the details. It wasn't even a question.
"That was—that was an unforeseen consequence of what I wanted to do. In any case, Max is here," he told Dave. "You want me out of your sight, just arrange for His Majesty to meet me for two minutes and I'll be out."
"How do you even know about Max being royalty?" Jake asked, now wanting the details.
"Max has bigger things to worry about now, in case you haven't noticed," Dave said to Daniel, finding it hard to keep his cool in the face of the one person who'd brought everything down without even trying. Everyone had warned him about Daniel: Jake, certainly Ray, even Susseth, his lovely assistant who knew how to keep quiet yet make her point.
"What do you even want Max for?" Jake asked, still stuck in the details.
"None of your business," Daniel said, glaring at Jake. Jake frowned, finally entering the room.
"It's going to become everybody's business in about two minutes," Dave said. "Van is here, and I won't keep your involvement secret. If Van buys your sob story about needing Max to heal you, that's anybody's guess."
"You know what? I don't even need you to make the introductions," Daniel said and stormed out of the room, complete with slamming the door. Dave winced. Jake turned to look at him with a what the hell? look.
"If Van doesn't shred him to pieces, Max's bodyguards will," Dave said, shrugging as he was done with his protégé.
"What exactly happened to you today, Dave? I think I'm drawing more than a dozen blanks here."
"Sit down, then. It's been quite the long day."