The Art of Destruction

Chapter Thirty * If There's Any Justice

March Friday, 2029

"You know, you brought this on yourself." Ella said roughly even as her touch was gentle. She held a cold pack of snow in a bag to Daniel's eye, re-bruised by his fight with Carver. The green and yellow of it's old discoloration was masked by the fresh black and purple.

The flicker of candlelight beside her bed in the BB&B cast a warm glow over her features as she looked down at him, standing between his legs as he sat on the edge of the mattress.

"How do you figure?" Daniel mumbled, holding his hand over hers.

Her eyes flicked over his face, the red flecks had returned and gave her gaze a soft, cinnamon color. "Your anger issues." She said gently as her free hand rose to meet his face, her fingers grazing at his hairline to push his hair out of sight. "You're lucky he didn't give you a concussion and that Hammond didn't throw us out."

"He was threatening you."

"I don't need you to protect me," she responded and sat down on the bed beside him, meeting his gaze, her hand still holding the ice to his face.

He frowned, "someone has to." He pivoted his position on the bed so that they faced one another.

"I can take care of myself."

"You're so busy protecting everyone else, you don't think about yourself," he replied, tilting his head further into her touch.

She looked away and slid her hand out from under his, leaving him to hold the pack against his eye. He looked down briefly and noticed her necklace had fallen back out of hiding, the ring resting at her chest.

"Ella, can I ask you a question?"

Her eyes fluttered as she met his gaze. "Yeah."

"What happened to Ryan?"

Her hand instinctively rose to cover the ring but instead of hiding it like he thought she might, she dropped her hand to reveal it to him again. "I was so busy protecting myself, I didn't protect him," she admitted, using his own words against him.

He internally cringed, "Ella-"

"During our first attempt to fight back, there was.... we were discovered before we got to act. Chaos erupted and the Ousia Police came after us. We had planned a simultaneous attack on all the Ousia leaders and major facets- all around the world. Thousands of people who revolted against the Ousia, the LNC and especially those who were surrogates. It was a perfect plan but-" she took a deep breath, "-everyone failed. Ryan and I were together when the alarm sounded but we split up to try and blend in with the crowd. I made it home. Ryan didn't."

Daniel tried to swallow but found it difficult. The pain in her eyes was haunting and he grunted in his own discomfort at seeing her so hurt, "did you ever find him?"

She shook her head and she appeared lost in the memory, "He found us, the surrogate anyway."

"What happened?"

Ella sniffled, "I haven't talked about this to anyone before."

"What about Michael?"

She laughed breathily, her lack of voice betraying her false smile. "He was there, we don't talk about it," she took a deep breath and continued, "we were preparing to for another strike when he showed up on the doorstep. I knew it wasn't him as soon as I saw him, I- I killed him before he got a chance to report back to the Ousia Police or Faust."

"Did you ever find him- the real Ryan," he asked and dropped the ice from his eye. He could feel it begin to water at the exposure and couldn't open it much more than a small squint.