Elysium Dreams

Epilogue

"I worry even more now. The killers in here have created a fan club for you."

"It's nice to have fans," I smiled. For the first time in ages, I heard my brother laugh. The sound tugged at my heart. Yes, I was a sociopath, but I was also human.

Gabriel sat in a large office with windows that looked out across the city. The Sprint Center could even be seen. Technically, this was not a federal building, but there was a floor of federal offices, hidden in plain sight. He was not nervous, but irritated as he waited.

"Marshal Henders," the deep voice of the speaker came into the room.

"Sir," he said.

When the man walked around and came into Gabriel's view, it was obvious that he had never been in uniform. Never attempted to apprehend a bad guy. Had probably never seen one up close and personal either. Gabriel's irritation grew.

"I have the report from retired US Marshal Alejandro Gui who states that Marshal Aislinn Cain is extraneous and places the entire team at unnecessary risk. Do you have anything to say to that?" The smaller man asked.

"Loads, sir," Gabriel responded. "Have you seen the video?"

"I have and that brings me to another issue we have. Why did you go off and leave a fellow US Marshal to face down a serial killer alone?"

"Ever since Alejandro Gui turned in that report a month ago, you guys have been busting my balls about Aislinn Cain. You've read all of Lucas McMichaels' reports. You've read Xavier Reece's reports. Yet, you still question it. I think the video speaks for itself. I didn't leave a fellow US Marshal with a serial killer. I left a sociopath to take care of business. Which, she did, with distinction. Reece might have been able to do it. McMichaels probably could have done it. Giovanni and I would not have survived it. Aislinn Cain did, that's what she does, survives. Even if I had really left that clearing, it would have been Cain getting into a car and the serial killer being put in the coroner's van. Now, I realize that our methods aren't by the book. And I realize that we have a higher than normal death rate for suspects we are taking into custody. You need to realize that it is a side effect of what we do and having a genius sociopath who is functional and forces herself to feel something, is not only terribly rare, but very useful to us, sir." Gabriel was working not to grind his teeth. This man, in his expensive suit, who surveyed the city from above, without getting his hands dirty, was just another example of how much the system was broken.

"Gui says she is unstable and a time bomb," the man pressed.

"Gui is an alcoholic and a steroid user with paranoia issues, sir," Gabriel replied.

"You think his assessment is wrong?"

"I think Alejandro Gui is just one stressor away from being on the wrong side of the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit. Cain is not a danger to this team in any way, shape, or form and has proven herself on every hunt she's participated in. She has a vast library of information available in her head. She isn't afraid of the monsters we have to catch. And she is quite capable of taking care of herself. I know that we may coddle her sometimes, but this is not because she isn't capable, it's because we need her in ways that you cannot imagine. She is the one that told me to put on a bulletproof vest to climb a tree. She is the one that told me to go to Reece and not to worry about her. And she was right on both occasions. Without the vest, I wouldn't be here and she handled Henry Ericson just fine, sir."

"Which brings us back to the unstable part of Gui's report."

"She is not unstable or at least, not any more unstable than the rest of them. But I believe that is exactly how this team was constructed; you took the most unstable good guys and tossed them together. I have seen her when she goes all creepy. I have heard her talk about the lack of emotions in that state. I agree with Lucas's assessment. She's a sociopath, but not in the traditional sense. She's something new, something much scarier. She faced down a psychopath and survived in Alaska. She's done it time and time again. She puts the team before herself. And she's good at catching the monsters, sir."