They staggered back to the hotel late the next morning, dirty and waterlogged from a steady downpour of rain. Ramirez for his part was glad to be out of second city, but his concern for maverick outweighed his relief. Soemthing had happened to her back there, and the entire trip back had been marked with sullen silence, and her unwillingness to look him in the eye. He had tentatively tried to take her hand on two occasions but backed away when she rejected the idea.
Maverick was already hot and cold on physical contact, but whatever had happened seemed to have made it worse for the time being. Some of his concerns abated, when they stepped of the railcar at their stop, and she allowed him to lean against her for support as they trudged their way up the street both exhausted, both lightly battered.
"I need to talk to Adam." She said as they entered the front lobby receiving a strange look from the front desk attendant as they limped into the elevator.
"Alright, they're on the top floor I think."
They made it to the fifth floor, surprised to find four heavily armed UNSC officers standing outside the door. Despite their armament, all four men looked unusually nervous. Maverick and Ramirez paused before the door as one of the guards stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
"To see Adam, is he in."
The guard looked them over again but nodded and let them pass. Ramirez and Maverick exchanged a look as they stepped forward to knock on the door. They only had to wait a few moments before the latch clicked and the door was pulled open. Adam stood in front of them, and the man looked like hell dark circles under bloodshot eyes. His face was pale, and Maverick couldn't help but notice the very visible tracking monitor strapped around his human foot and ankle.
"What the hell happened to you." Ramirez asked
Adam raised an eyebrow, "I could say the same thing." He stepped aside and opened the door wider to let them in. The room they had been given was a two-story suite with full kitchen and two bedrooms. Sunny was in the livingroom practicing her spear forms, and little kay was curled up on the couch asleep with a large stuffed frog as rain drummed against the window. She stopped as soon as they walked in. Not so long ago Ramirez and Maverick had been watching the little guy while his parents were at some sort of peace summit. Whatever it was ran longer than intended, so Dr. Katie had taken over while the two of them got their rest. As a result they hadn't seen Adam or Sunny since they left for the summit a day r so before.
"this can't be good." Sunny said looking them over
Together the two of them slumped down at the dining table, and Adam sat across from them. "You want to tell me what happened?"
You first, "Ramirez urged , "how was the summit."
Sunny paused and Adam grimaced, rubbing a hand over his good eye and down his face, "Um...."
"I read President Hunt's mind."
"Shit." Ramirez said, "Keep forgetting you can do that. Sorry for whatever you see, it is totally not my fault."
Adam gave a distant smile before it dropped again, "he was working with kazna, just like we suspected, but she recently betrayed him."
Maverick's voice was soft when she finally spoke, "That's about what we expected isn't it?"
Adam sighed, "yes, but..... impetus didn't like it all that much."
A strange expression crossed Maverick's face, but Ramirez was sure he was the only one who picked up on it...
"impetus, isn't that, you?"
Adam shrugged, "Sometimes, I feel like we are two very different people. He has memories that I just don't have, powers that I can only borrow, but the point is. Impetus learned what was going on and he.... Well...."
Sunny stepped up to grip the back of Adam's chair, "he almost went supernova on Hunt's ass. You should have seen it, pure maker power all at one."
"You didn't hurt him did you?" Ramirez asked sort of hopeful at the same time he was concerned.
Adam shook his head, "No, no a few people got minor injuries from flying debris, but otherwise they are alright." He motioned to the monitor on his foot, "But I am not longer allowed at peace summits, and will have to send someone in my place. They are looking into filing assault charges against me, but there isn't exactly protocol for his so we will see what happens."
"No longer allowed at peace summits, "Sunny said, "What a sad day for us. I might just cry."
Adam rolled his eyes at her then turned to the two of them, "So, how about you two. Where have you been."
Ramirez glanced at maverick with an expression that said, this is all on you.
Maverick sighed and ran a hand through her short, spiky hair, "its complicated."
Adam folded his hands in front of him, "Mind if I take a look?"
It took a few second for both of them to realize what he meant. Maverick looked uncomfortable for a second and Ramirez was hesitant, but eventually she spoke up, "You know what, it would be faster than explaining, so go ahead."
Adam closed his eyes, and the two of them sat there awkwardly for a second. Neither of them could feel what Adam was doing, but the frown that creased his face was enough to demonstrate he had at least looked. Behind him Sunny looked rather miffed. Eventually Adam opened his eyes and the frown was still there ," I'm Afraid that doesn't really clear anything up." He raised his hands in front of his face to cut her off before she could speak, "hold on, let me get this straight. You are an orphan, which I knew , and for a long time you were essentially homeless, which I didn't know and I am sorry to hear. Ever since you were young you have felt that there was a.... thing following you a presence or ghost or some shit that you don't really understand. It seems to be more present in old places, or holy sights including churches and shines but now always, but there is one place that you think it lived up until recently, and today you and Ramirez went back there for architect knows what reason to.... Finally deal with it or something, and .... The rest is where I get kind of lost."
Maverick sighed and rubbed at her eyes for a long moment, "I think, the creature is some kind of void influence that has established a hold on earth. From the way it talks it seems to have a different agenda from Kazna and the others, or the same agenda but a completely different tactic, sneakier and way less in your face. It has no problem waiting years for soemthing to happen. And for the longest time it has been hiding in the church where I found it waiting..... waiting for me to come back."
Adam frowned and shook his head again, behind him Sunny looked on in mild concern, "How did this creature know you would return."
"Why you?" Adam added
Maverick shifted uncomfortably. This would be the part shed have to explain a lot of things about herself she wasn't sure she was willing to admit, but looking around at the faces of her friends she knew that she owed them that at least.
"Because, I think it thinks I'm on their side.'
Adam and Sunny exchanged a look. Sunny spoke, "Why would it think that."
"because I was."
The room went quiet for a moment. She didn't want to look at them, didn't want to see the disappointment and betrayal in their eyes, but as the silence dragged on she was forced to look up surprised to see them waiting, curious but not angry.
Adam even had the tact to look skeptical which she appreciated but knew she was about to ruin.
"So you know how there are different levels of maker? A Deus vs a virtue and a power etc etc/'
Adam nodded slowly, "I seem to recall."
Maverick sighed, "Well among the Deus there are classes as well. When the Architect created his last set of children he allowed for some of them to be more powerful than others."
Adam nodded, "Rings a bell."
"This includes you, and you" She said turning to look at Sunny, "And you." She finished looking over at Ramirez." She looked down at her hands, this was the part that was going to be hard to admit, "When we went down into that basement, the thing.... Whatever It was, was waiting for me, attached itself to me like it had been planning to do for a long time." She wrapped her arms tight around herself and kept staring down at the table, "I didn't want to be involved with it, but while I was there it forced me to.... Or it opened my mind to memories I had forgotten."
"What memories," Adam urged
She closed her eyes, "Pre birth memories at Revelation."
There was a quiet, stunned silence in the room, "Go on.'
She took a deep breath, "That group I mentioned earlier, the one the architect made to have increased power...? Well they are called the last cohort, or the last of the Maker's children, and even before they were sent to earth they were already making strides against the void. It was mostly against the architect's will, but their actions made them very popular among other Makers. They were, if I remember correctly sort of minor celebrities maybe heroes, but I am probably underexaggerating." Finally she managed to look up catching eyes with Adam who looked at her with nothing but concern.
Inside her head something twitched, angry and resentful, but she shoved it down.
That wasn't her.
"Impetus." She said softly, "Impetus was the ringleader."
Adam had the decency to seem surprised even though none of them should have been. She turned her head, "And Impetus's muse Apotheosis, the warrior of revelation,." Sunny pulled back slightly in surprise, again she exchanged a glance with Adam as the two of them tried to compute what was being said., but maverick knew. The two of them had loved each other for a very long time, it would have taken a power stronger than the architect to keep them apart. Then she turned her head to look at Ramirez, "And Grace, granted the light of the architect himself."
The somber moment was broken after a second when Ramirez said, "Wait hold on, that's my maker name." he was frowning hands on hips.
"Uh yeah."
"Dammit, Adam gets impetus and Sunny gets apotheosis, which, now hold on," he took a few seconds to type away at his implants before, "Impetus roughly means momentum, a force that moves something or keeps it from moving, now get this, apotheosis means the exaltation of a person to the rank of a god," Across the room sunny rested her two lower hands on her hips and nodded slowly as if in agreement, "So basically the unstoppable force / immovable object meets godlike warrior, and MY maker name means attractive or elegant, which don't get me wrong is damn accurate, but come on, you're the catalyst, she's a god and I'm pretty." He huffed, "Grace is like the name of your two year old niece."
Maverick let him trail off in his rant with a raised eyebrow, "You done.'
He slumped into a out, "yeah."
"Your name is Angel, I think you'd be used to that by now."
She sighed, "It gets worse."
Adam nodded her forward.
She looked down at her hands, "I am not one of you."
"And what is that supposed to mean." Adam urged.
She looked away, "I'm not one of the last cohort. In fact, I'm not even particularly special I'm worse than that. I was jealous of the first cohort and pissed off that you guys always got so much attention so i.... so I." The shame was eating away her insides, "So I joined the void."
The room fell into dumbstruck silence for a long moment.
No one spoke and she took the time to continue, "The void has spies among the Makers, double agents working against the maker's cause, more insidious than Kazna and probably more damaging. I didn't even believe in their ideology I just.... I was jealous." It hurt to say, made her feel sick inside, "The thing, whatever he is followed me here to earth and now I don't know what to do."
She wasn't sure what she expected. Disgust, sure, anger definitely.
"So just to clarify, whose side are you on."
Inside the creature churned, but she grit her teeth, "I'm not with the void and I never will be regardless of what Rebel wants."
And then Adam smiled a grin spreading across his tired, pale face, "Than you ARE one of us. That doesn't change. I fought with you long enough side by side, and I don't give a damn what you once were or what you might be. You're ours, and the void can screw right off if it thinks we are going to hand you back. And you know what maybe you're right, maybe the architect should have spent more time with his kids instead of picking favorites."
Sunny nodded, "bad parenting."
Ramirez scowled and for a horrible moment she wondered if he would reject her, "Rebel, come on seriously, I get GRACE and you get Rebel. This is some bullshit."
Adam reached out a hand and gently touched her arms. At his touch a sudden wave of anger rushed through her, starting from deep inside.
She snarled pulling back from his hand and spitting out, "IMPETUS." Adam stepped backward bolting up from his chair. Sunny stepped forward spear ready, but by then Maverick was back in control, breathing hard.
"The shit was that." Adam muttered.
Ramirez leaned back in his seat, "Mav your face it.... that was.... Creepy as hell."
"Sorry. She muttered, "It really doesn't like you." She said, nodding to Adam."
"Ill take that as a compliment." He said sitting back down smiling at her like nothing happened.
Annoyingly horribly nice and understanding. It made her want to slap all of them, but she knew that was just Rebel talking. Quietly she clenched her jaw centering herself with a deep breath. Well she wasn't Rebel anymore, she was Maverick , and that wasn't going to change until the stupid Maker got that through her thick skull.