In 2089, a man returns to his old team, greatly annoying his former partner. Time travel is not an easy matter, especially if you cannot trust the man beside you. Now they have to work together again, awakening feelings that should have died with th...
"Are you going to take the tip of your sword off my chest? I'm bleeding."
Damn it all. This is a fucking mess.
Quinn had not been happy knowing one of his teammates had orders to kill Wilson, but did not expect it to be Veer. Quinn sighed and moved his sword away, its tip red. He arched an eyebrow, and Veer lowered the gun.
"Would you care to explain yourself? What is Wilson to you?" Veer lay flat on the pavement and asked the question with his eyes closed. The memory of them in bed, in almost the same position, was painful to Quinn.
"Wilson is the father of my grandfather's mother."
"You don't go and kill Hitler or the Christ, you kill their grandparents..." Saint's words came out of Veer's lips in a groan, but they felt like a slap on the face. His partner put the semiautomatic on the ground and thrust his hand up.
Quinn had never seen a more haunted face before. The sword fell with a loud clatter. Quinn pulled Veer up. They embraced, two children awaking from a horrible nightmare— looking for comfort in each other's arms. But the real nightmare had just begun.
"Why would Clepsydra want to kill you, Quinn?"
"Not me, baby. Iven is the one who needs to be erased. He was an assassin on the French government payroll and apparently still does side jobs." Quinn had just learned this truth the week before. Growing up, he always thought his grandfather was just an energetic businessman obsessed with Japanese culture.
"A white ninja..."
"Never say that in his presence. My sword is a butter knife beside his," Quinn said, chuckling.
"What are we going to do?"
"Let's hope none of the others is part of the plot and ordered to finish the job if you didn't. I don't know where they are. I'm not even sure if their absence is a lucky break or another piece of the puzzle."
"Who shot?"
"I did it, to get Marmion and Townsend out of the way. Both dead." Quinn looked sideways. "I smacked Wilson with the hilt of the sword. He's unconscious. We need to get the fuck out of here before the police comes. We can't be pinned as witnesses."
They were in the middle of the alley. They grabbed their weapons and ran to their left, away from Studio 54's main entrance. As they reached the street, Russo and Hollander came running toward them, panting and with their clothes in disarray.
"What happened?" Veer asked, hands on his knees, heaving.
"We were mugged. Can you believe it? Ramsey came to tell us you've seen Marmion and when we were about to split a fucking gang descended on us. Like fifteen against four!" Hollander was more pissed off than rattled.
"They hurt Ramsey real bad. Jagger went nuts. I think we've killed like five people on this mission already." Russo shook his head; what was done was done. "What happened with you two? Is Marmion dead?"
"Yeah," Veer said. "He and Townsend killed each other."
"Wait a minute, where are Ramsey and Jagger?" Quinn looked around for the other two.
"Ramsey needed medical attention, so Jagger helped him to get back to our time and jumped after him."
Good, Quinn didn't have to worry about that pair then. Only Russo and Hollander to figure out. Sirens wailed, getting closer by the second. "We need to go." He pushed the other three men away from the vicinity of the alley.
"And the other bodyguard?" Hollander asked.
Shit, not Hollander.
"He's unconscious back in the alley. We knocked him out," Veer replied.
"Good," Hollander said.
"Yeah. We already have more dead people than we needed to add another one." Russo almost cheered.
Phew.
It would have been really hard to have to kill one of these two.
Hard— not impossible.
"Do we even need to go back to the apartment?" Veer asked as they crossed the street to hail a cab. None of them wanted to walk the two miles to 69th street.
"What do you suggest?" Russo looked at Veer expectantly.
"We just find a secluded place, get in the buff and go back to our time like Ramsey and Jagger did. The cleaning crew can pick up the shit at the apartment," Hollander interjected.
"Excellent," Quinn said. "I saw a restaurant a bit further down the street. Let's go there. Hollander, Russo, you two jump first."
With this other pair back in 2089, Quinn would have time to plan something with Veer before they returned to the Clepsydra Project Complex.
Hollander grabbed Russo by the scruff of his neck. "C'mon, Booboo. Let's jump the fuck out of 1978."
They found the restaurant easily. Hollander and Russo darted for the restroom. Five minutes later, Veer went to check and came out with their teammates' clothes. He walked straight to the entrance of the restaurant and gave them to a homeless guy.
"You lost your turban," Quinn commented casually as Veer sat, facing him.
"That's the least of our concerns right now." Veer had a really sad face. "We are over, aren't we?"
Quinn nodded. "I'm sorry, baby. If I can actually walk alive out of Building C tonight, I'll go into hiding. Iven is determined to destroy Clepsydra Project now that he knows they are after him. It's not an option. If I survive it will just be a bonus for him." He patted Veer's hand. "You should probably do the same."
"We have a better chance to survive separated. Run today. Fight tomorrow." Veer drew out of his pocket the little black box. "I'll go first. That way if they try to do something I can back you up." He didn't look at Quinn but stared at his box, his brow furrowed. "These are not my numbers."
"What?"
"Ramsey gave me his."
"You sure?"
"Yes, the sequence is all wrong. He must've had both in the same pocket and gave me his by mistake."
"Do you think it matters?"
"Only one way to find out. Let's go to the restroom together. I want a good-bye kiss at least."
"Maybe we can steal a quickie," Quinn offered, full of hope.
"Even better."
And they must have that last hurrah because Quinn knew he was forever broken and unable to react to any other man ever again.
****
KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
