Wilting Flowers

37: A life for a Life

Instantly, they were there, in the dark.

Gabriel left his side and a light flickered on, revealing Xen's office to be an organized mess, per usual. He clicked a button next to the light switch, and its surface glowed green.

"We're all good."

Grim shakily exhaled as he stared down at a mug on Xen's desk.

We're not good. Nothing's good.

"Grim." Gabriel rushed to his side. "Set her down and put your gloves on. We need a game plan."

"How are you so calm about this?" Grim snapped, tears finally pouring from his eyes.

"I'm not! Grim, look at me!" Gabriel demanded. He obliged, glaring at his best friend, his favorite living person, with a look that could kill. "This is terrible. This is the worst thing that will ever happen to you within conceivable infinity. But we can't just sit here. We have to figure out what to do, or we are both going to be fired or worse."

"I don't care about getting fired anymore, Gabriel."

"You don't care about anything right now. You will. We need to figure out if we're telling Xen sooner or later, how to provide evidence of accident in court..."

"I need to go home."

"Grim, you're staying here."

"You can't force me to stay."

"I'm not covering this up. We can do this together, or I tell them all I know without you there. Your choice."

"What the hell, Gabriel!"

"I need you here. Think. What's the next right thing?"

"There is no 'next right thing.' I killed her. The next right thing would be to turn back time and stop myself. To somehow muster up Immy's soul, to miraculously raise her from the dead!—"

Revival.

His stomach tightened into a knot, anxiety and excitement combining in a strange way.

He set Immy down in one of the chairs in front of Xen's desk and took his gloves out of his pocket, pulling them on slowly. Blood seeped through them.

"How opposed are you to doing something illegal?" Grim asked.

Gabriel gaped at him. "Depends?"

"We could revive her."

The two smiled at each other.

"Oh my god, we could?" He asked.

"We need to figure out how. I wouldn't think there's a Wikihow article."

"There's a Wikihow for everything, but I think the library should have something."

"Yeah, but I'm covered in blood, and I don't want to be stuck here alone for Xen to find me. Even if I did come with you, they'd just find a dead body."

"Xen will find out soon. I want that. Xen can know after we revive her. If they come back any time within the next ten or twenty minutes or so, we're fucked either way. Is the blood gonna drip?"

"No."

"Then there's no problem. You won't be seen."

"So, what's the plan?"

"I have access to every floor plan on every level of HQ. I can check the library's sections, see where they'd keep info on revivals, and send you there. I just need to stop the librarian from making rounds." Gabriel walked to Xen's side of the desk, but couldn't work up the nerve to sit down. Instead, he stood as he messed with Xen's computer. "...It won't let me in. I need my laptop from Beezy's office."