On The Back Foot

Act Three

Xoey:

In front of her stood a man she didn't know, the vessel was the same, but the soul had become black, a void of emptiness and wrath. It was unlike Gabe to enact in this way, and nothing like she had seen in him, a dramatic change, it caused her heart to sink. She stepped back to the loud sound of the gun roaring throughout the room, and echoing through ears, it faded into nothing but a traumatizing ringing in her head. She lifted a hand, but held it back in hesitation. What on Earth just happened? She couldn't process it, "Gabe . . What have you done?" Xoey asked in shock.

"What is needed." Gabe responded blankly.

"Fuck that, Gabe. You acted with vengeance, he could have been a fucking ally and you put a bullet between his eyes." Xoey's voice began to rise, as she gave Gabe a pull from his shoulder to face her, her expression read nothing but pure shock.

"Get your hand off me," He said with pure anger.

"You fucking killed a man, Gabe. A man who was willing to help, begging for forgiveness, but you selfishly killed him, for your OWN satisfaction."

"No man who harms what I love will ever walk away from that." Gabe responded righteously.

"Who are you Gabe? Because you're certainly not the man I fell in love with."

Gabe stood as those words caressed his ears, utterly stupefied by them. "What?" He asked softly.

Realizing what she just said after a few moments, she froze. Before she dragged her feet, and stormed out the room, leaving it in pure silence.

The CEO:

"Sir, there's a Mr Noah here to see you." His secretary said.

"I'm not familiar with the name." He responded.

"He said something about an Arc Reactor."

"Ah, I see, send him in."

The secretary left to retrieve the man. The door opened to reveal a man in his mid-forties with a strong British accent.

"Really Tobias, a reference to Noah's ark, you really don't concern yourself with subtlety, do you?"

Tobias smiled widely before saying, "Couldn't give a damn to be honest. Now Peter, is it ready?"

Peter said with a hint of playfulness, "It's ready down in R&D. Follow me."

A few flights of stairs and a long maze of security protocols saw them into the R&D department. "Now," Peter said picking up a syringe, "Here it is, I'm not the expert or anything but I'd suggest you plunge it into the back of the neck so that way the puncture marks won't be visible in autopsy. Would you like them mass delivered to the Villa?"

"Is it off books?" Tobias questioned.

"Of course." Peter replied.

"Count me in."

Xoey:

"The Commissioner, he's working for him." Xoey stated.

"For who?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"There's a man named Tobias-" Xoey began.

"Martinez?" Daniel asked.

"How'd you know?" Xoey questioned.

"I suggested we investigate him to the Commissioner, he shut it down instantly. Knew something was off."
Xoey leans on her hip.

"Why didn't you investigate him anyway, if you had a concern about it?"