D E S E R T ❁ D E S I R ES// A.BAY

WHEN FIRE RAINS

The trip back to Cairo had been nothing short of tense. Ardeth and I hardly exchanged words the entire way with the exception of our plans of action. He would be meeting with a contact of his, and I was going to call the Guardians. Under the circumstances, I think our respective organizations can put their differences aside for the sake of the greater good. The sun was setting by the time we reached my temporary home, both of us exhausted from the trip.

"Do you want to come upstairs and freshen up while I make this call?"

"I should be going. We don't have time to spare." Ardeth responded.

"I don't think the world will come tumbling down if you take a five-minute break. Just come up, get something to drink, and wash your face because you look exhausted." Ardeth huffed but dismounted, nonetheless. I was about to turn the key through in the door before it swung open, revealing a frantic Vic. 

"You stupid bitch!" Vic had grabbed me and pulled me to his chest while he rambled. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Do you know I almost had a heart attack because of you? I saw your brother and his little friends looking all mopey, but I didn't see you so of course I thought something must have happened to you, so I came here just to double check, but you weren't here, so I assumed the worst and-"

"Vic! For the love of Christ, breathe!" I didn't know how he could talk so much without taking a breath. "You can clearly see I'm okay, but we've got bigger things to worry about." Vic's eyes went to the Medjay behind me and back to me before we all stepped inside the apartment. Ardeth excused himself to the bathroom and Vic followed at my heels asking me all kinds of questions. I ignored them as I made a beeline for the phone. As I waited for my call to be put through, I took a deep breath to prepare myself. I would have called Emil first if the situation wasn't dire, but we have a protocol for this. Any situation that is deemed a potential world threatening conflict must go straight to the director of the Guardians in order for the maximum threat response to be authorized. Unfortunately, the temporary director of the Guardians is Carlyle, who isn't exactly my biggest fan. Vic was pacing a hole in the floor while I waited for the call to connect.

"Hello?" God, I hate his annoying voice. 

"Carlyle listen, I need you to authorize a full tactical response to a level five threat. We need-"

"Agent O'Connell, why on earth would I do that?"

"We have an undead creature walking about, bringing forth the ten plagues of Egypt right now. Once the creature is fully regenerated, he'll have the power to wipe out whoever and whatever he wants. I'm tracking the creature to Cairo right now but so far nothing can hurt it."

"Remind me if I'm wrong, but isn't Egypt under the protection of the Medjay?" Carlyle sounded completely uninterested. 

"What's that have to do with the current situation?"

"Haven't you heard? The alliance has dissolved; therefore, this isn't a problem for the Guardians to concern themselves with." Not a problem to concern ourselves with? Is he out of his damn mind???

"This isn't about bullshit politics Carlyle! This is about doing everything in our power to make sure that this thing never comes to full power. Life as we know it could be on the line so before we get to that point, we need to put this son of a bitch back in the ground!"

"Agent O'Connell, how could I authorize a full tactical assault on enemy territory with so little information? You don't know where this supposed creature is to begin with, and we don't know what could hurt it. Frankly it sounds like a waste of our resources, and what kind of leader would I be if I thoughtlessly put my agents in danger?"  I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I just told him that there's a level five threat, yet he's reacting as if it's no big deal. Level five is the classification for situations that could lead to a substantial loss of life and or could have worldwide consequences; meaning I'm well in the right to request a full tactical response. "Just finish up whatever mission you were assigned and return to headquarters when you're done. I'm sure the Medjay can handle their own problems themselves."