Loyalty: Book 4 Ch. 12

Chapter Twelve

I slept on the couch again, much to M's displeasure. I basically told him to suck it up. I'm not hurting anything.

I was kept awake by thoughts of possibilities. Possibilities of bringing my father back. But what did Darkrai mean? 'He'll tell you otherwise...' What's that supposed to mean? From the sound of things, he wasn't supposed to die. Evil must've changed something.

And how can I change the past? What can I possibly do? I doubt even the Kinuvi have that capability.

I was distracted from my thoughts when I saw Sarah walk into the hall. What's she doing at this time of night?

'Follow her.'

Why? I stopped for a second to make sure I wasn't actually speaking. Seriously, if she wants to go off by herself, I won't stop her.

'You know you want to talk to her.'

Maybe I do. Big deal.

'Do something about it.'

Why shouldn't I leave her be?

'Because we both know that you really want to talk to her and apologize for what you did. And you also might want to apologize for taking so long to piece it together.'

We only met up about a week ago. A week.

'Women have high expectations.'

Just shut up.

'Then get going.'

Fine. I got up off the couch, heading for the door. As I reached the door, Rio whispered without opening his eyes, "Find a better hobby than talking to yourself."

"Dammit."

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I walked up the steps towards the roof. What did I even want to say? The truth might be a good start, but what would she say? Or should I be more worried about what she'd do? Hopefully, she won't go natural.

I stepped out onto the roof into the cold Russian night. I'd figured out that my scarf was a lot bigger than I first thought, so I'd wrapped it around myself like a cloak. It flitted about in the wind behind me as I walked around the roof.

I could've sworn she came up here...

"Took you long enough to get up here."

Without turning around, I merely replied, "Didn't know five minutes was so long."

"Still too long."

'Women have high standards,' my inner voice said. Ignoring it, I continued.

"If I had to guess, you want to talk about something."

"Yes. What's been bothering you?"

"Some old memories."

"Such as?"

"I remembered why I left...and the people I hurt in the process. I'll try to make it short.

"I was seven or eight years old at the time. It was a little later, probably around eight at night. I was in the parlor room when this one kid...what was his name? I forget...anyways, he had always picked on me before, but I'd learned not to care. I'd gotten used to being so different.

"That was the night he realized that he wasn't having an effect on me anymore. He tried thinking of some other way, and apparently settled for threatening a little girl. The one that wanted to be my friend. The only one among them that could look at me and not see a freak.

"In that moment, I flipped. I can't remember what exactly happened, but I doubt he's out of rehab yet," I finished dryly.

"Damn..."

"Damn is right. After that, I just ran away. I kept running. I never left Detroit, because I'd made a promise to Mrs. Moreno that I'd come back."

"But...what about me...made you remember that?" I sensed something in her voice. It was almost...hopeful.

"Because I--" I didn't continue, as the sound of an explosion erupted from below. At the same time, the building rocked. We both looked at each other, then ran to the edge. Smoke and flames were rising from the base of the tower. "Just once, can we go somewhere and there not be something to try and kill us?"

"Occupational hazard," Sarah replied. Going by what I saw, the building had maybe an hour or so before total collapse if it was not dealt with.

"Try calling in Samus. The bottom floors are on fire, and I'm not fire resistant."

"You may want to forget about that. Look," she said as she pointed to the east. Already, there were jets and choppers on the way towards Moscow.

"So how do we get down--oh shit." A spotlight ended its search on us. It merely hovered there, an ominous weapon in the sky.

I heard a whistling sound come from the rockets. At that moment, I did something I'm still glad I did, but it was also the stupidest thing I'd ever done: I stepped in front of Sarah, as it was heading straight for her, and took it square in the chest.

Pain exploded into my chest. Shrapnel embedded in my flesh, my skin was horribly burned, and the gel of my body armor melted to my flesh. Sarah and I were both thrown off of the building. Everything was blurry; the edge of my vision grew black. If I was capable of doing so, I'd be screaming in agony and fear.

I hit the pavement hard, the ground cratering around me. Sarah's landing had been slightly better, but I doubted she got out of it easy. The pain of the missile now compounded with the pain of my landing. My ribs were probably broken, my spine fractured. I was most certainly dying. The mission would fail before it began.

But one thing kept me holding on: everyone still trapped upstairs. My mother...Sarah...they were all in trouble. They all were facing the same danger.

Slowly, but surely, I stood from the crater. My nerves in my back were dead. My breathing was labored. My chest was open and burned...but I was still alive.

I looked around. I was surrounded by Kinuvi. They all had their guns aimed at me. Instead of getting my own gun, my hands guided themselves to the swords upon my back. I drew them, and prepared myself to fight.

They all stared warily, but they stared too long; lightning was unleashed from the skies above, striking them all dead. I looked up to see M summoning a massive thunderstorm. The torrential rains came within minutes, and lightning struck jets and choppers from the sky. Meanwhile, on the ground, I was dealing with hordes of infantry. In an unceasing attack, I lashed out in all of my fury, striking dead all Kinuvi that stood before me.

Within an hour, the whole ordeal was finished. I stood alone, surrounded by the corpses of my enemies. My blades dripped with freshly spilled blood. I was not, however, without injury: my wounds from the fall, as well as many wounds from a blade.

I looked about at the havoc I'd wreaked upon them. I looked at myself. Blood was coated in my fur, most of it Kinuvi, but a good portion, my own.

I released the swords from my grasp, and fell to the ground.

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I looked about the blackness I found myself in. Just a total nothingness for as far as I could see...however far that was. I could see myself, as though a light was on overhead, but there was no light. I hoped I wasn't in line for Hell.

Without thinking, I started walking in a single direction. Who knows how long I went? I continued walking until I saw something...no, someone.

I could make out a figure about fifty feet from me. They were wearing a pinstripe suit with a red tie and scarf and a wide brim hat atop their head. But despite the well tailored look of the suit, it hung loosely on them, as thought they were just a skeleton.

And just a skeleton they were. They lifted their head, their head pointed towards me. It was a skeleton. I was looking at the living dead. "Am I dead?"

He stared at me with empty eyes. It was pretty unnerving, having a dead man staring at me. "Are you going to answer?" Silence. I get this guy for company?

I was about to walk away when he lifted his right hand, an open palm towards me. His skeletal hand began to glow with a silver light, and a warm feeling spread over me. Light glowed from all around, then abruptly ceased.

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I woke up, staring at the ceiling. Pain could still be felt in the general area of my body. The constant beep of a heart monitor accompanied the silence of the room. I was in the ER.

I looked down; most of my upper body was covered in bandages with sterile wrappings around my chest. I wasn't certain, but my chest spike was probably shattered in the explosion. My ribs felt slightly better, so they were at least in place. I couldn't feel the shrapnel in my chest anymore, so that was a plus. Feeling was back in my spine, although I wish it wasn't.

I let out a sigh. I'd probably be here for weeks, if not months. Who'd carry on the mission?

My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. A nurse stepped in, obviously checking up on me, but was startled to see that I'd woken. "Ah! You're awake. Sorry, you just startled me."

"My bad," I managed to speak. My voice was harsh, so the damage must have been to even my vocal cords.

"You've been out for more than a month. Today's June 12."

"A month? Gah...where's everyone else? Did anyone else come with me?"

"Quite a few came with you. Only one other was injured, and she was probably the most concerned, aside from your mother."

"How bad was it?"

"She fell pretty far, as did you, but she's got a broken leg, and a fractured rib or two."

"Sarah..." I mumbled to myself.

"Would you like me to let the others know you're awake?"

"Yes. Thank you." The nurse stepped out, and I was left to my thoughts for a few moments. Almost immediately, the door opened once more, and there stood Sarah in the doorway.

"That was the stupidest...most reckless thing...I've ever seen..." she said, her voice quaking slightly. "Don't ever do something like that again...you hear?"

I just chuckled, which was followed by a couple of violent coughs. "You're welcome."

She moved over to my bedside, pulled over a chair with a crutch, and sat in it. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"You would've done the same. Someone was going to step in front, and I made sure it was me."

"But why?"

I was silent for a moment. How would I answer? Well...the truth is probably the only way. "I didn't want you to get hurt. You're more than just a partner or an ally or whatever else you probably call yourself. And not just that...I had to make it up to you for leaving you at the orphanage."

She was taken aback at first, but that look of shock quickly turned more towards joy. A smile spread over her face. For once, her eyes weren't hard and serious; they like I'd seen the first time I actually looked into them. Kind, caring, and loving.

"Took you long enough to remember."

"Bad timing, I suppose," I replied. I let out a couple of painful hacks, and rested my head back on the pillow. "How long do you think I'll be in here?"

"Hard to say. I'm no doctor."

"Mm. Oh well."

Suddenly, the door opened up again, and a mass of people streamed in, all with a smile upon their face, even M. They all bombarded me with how glad they were that I was alive, or how recklessly stupid I was.

All I did was smile at Sarah. Two childhood friends reunited, but now, as something more. It's a weird feeling, I suppose. It's hard to describe, but at the same time, so blatantly obvious. It makes you just want to smile. Makes you want to sing and dance. Makes you feel like you can move mountains (although I probably could already). I guess that's just what love does to a person.