Number Twenty-Four
Krad hoped he misheard the young agent, but it was highly unlikely given the uncanny resemblance between the two. Dad. It was too much to be mere coincidence. No, he didn't trust coincidence or any sham related to it.
Krad's fist shot towards the man without preamble, sending the man sprawled on the floor with a bloody nose.
"Anong ginagawa mo?!" Rael went to grab Krad, only to be pushed roughly away.
Before the man could call for help or try something nasty, Krad pinned him down and went for his neck, his carotid, and exerted pressure against it, cutting off blood to the brain. The man tried to pry him off, but Krad was in control. In a matter of seconds, the man went limp like a rug.
"What are you doing?!" Rael screamed, pulling Krad off his father. "This is my –"
"It doesn't matter," Krad snapped, his glare making the boy flinch. "He's an enemy. Let's go."
Rael lunged for his father, shocking his companions, but Krad quickly went on his feet and held onto the thrashing boy. He barely managed to drag the rampaging agent away.
"Ang walang hiyang yan! He needs to pay! He abandoned us! He left us to starve! He is a good-do-nothing –!""
Krad was surprised at the sharp intonation and the unfamiliar language the boy used. He didn't understand the words, but Rael's ferocity told it all. Anger rolled off him in waves, a dangerous aura akin to that of a wild animal's. It wasn't affection he was showing; it was hatred.
"Back off!" Krad hissed, but Rael did something unexpected – he twisted his own arm just to get away from Krad, tearing a ligament in the process. He knelt in front of the man, seething, forgetting everything else. The enemies. Their mission. The escape. Krad was disappointed. Not wanting to further delay Faye's rescue, he gave a stiff nod to 04 and 09. Faye is more important. The Equations ran for the exit, leaving Krad the responsibility to look for 02... and look after the kid.
This wasn't part of the plan.
He punched Rael in the jaw, just enough to make him see sense. It was a hard task given that he was wearing gloves with metal knuckles.
"Leave him. He won't wake up anytime soon."
Rael responded with a guttural growl. "You don't understand –"
Krad heard footsteps rapidly approaching them. Without hesitation, he fired at the sources, bringing down a unit of three. More were coming. He knew it was dangerous – a foolish attempt – to cover for both Rael and the man, but it left him no choice. Rael is an asset; he's their healer. He couldn't abandon him.
That didn't mean the boy gets to leave without being given a piece of his mind. "Do you want to die, idiot? If you are, can you do it alone, when I'm not around?"
"No, of course not." Rael was torn between killing the man and running away. "I-I just, I need to hear his explanation! Why he left, why he –"
"Tattle later," Krad spoke matter-of-factly, his expression sour, "We're surrounded and outnumbered."
As Rael's rage dissipated, the effects of his irrationality hit him like a kick in the gut. He's an agent in a middle of a mission. Things like these shouldn't faze him. It didn't faze Krad. It didn't faze 04. Or even 09. Who was he to act like a girl? Saving the Equations was his priority. They had to find 02.
"Sorry," he spoke woodenly, "let's go."
"About time."
Unwillingly, he stood up and followed Krad, giving his father one last glimpse before disappearing.
"What now?" Rael asked, gasping. He was physically strong, being a farm boy and all, but he wasn't fond of brawls and stress. His sudden spurt of energy left him drained, and Krad's merciless pace was killing his legs. No wonder Denna made him run twenty laps everyday; he's stamina sucked – or Krad's was simply monstrous.
"Aren't you trained?" Krad was incredulous, even if his face didn't register it. Pressed against a wall, he surveyed the hallways before proceeding, making sure to eliminate the cameras attached on the ceiling as well. "We stick to the plan."
"But I messed up."
"And isn't that marvelous?"
"Don't go sarcastic on me." Rael hid his shame by faking a scowl, not that anyone could see it under the mask. "I don't know all the protocols. Just joined Creed last month."
"Creed's supposed to teach you common sense?"
Rael really couldn't accept that this jerk was the same one Faye claimed to be the kindest, gentlest and most amazing man in the whole universe. She bragged about him the entire time on their way to the HQ. 'Love is blind' indeed.
"Cover me," Krad ordered, as if Rael didn't know that. Geez, he hated the guy.
He held onto his gun, but whenever he saw men and aimed at them, he couldn't get himself to pull the trigger. He knew that his hesitation would only burden Krad, yet he couldn't – didn't – want to take a life, even an enemy's life. Just to witness one was scarring him deep inside, and now... how many men were here? How many of them were killed by Krad alone? He didn't need Rael to look out for him. He was a killing machine. He did it so swiftly and cleanly: one bullet per man. Rael's conscience couldn't accept it all. Was life supposed to be taken for granted? Should they be killed? Couldn't they be given a second chance?
They were in enemy ranks; either kill or be killed. But... was killing supposed to be this easy? It felt like saving 00's and 02's lives wasn't worth all the blood spilt this night. No, this wasn't merely a recovery mission – the order was to annihilate and recover. He doubted that any of Light's men would get to see sunrise. Maybe half of his co-Bases wouldn't too.
"Where are we now?" he asked when Krad slowed down to a jog. Even that was labor for Rael.
"F*ck the hell up."
Rael was pissed, and now he knew where a nice girl like Faye learned how to swear. She had a very passionate teacher. So much for being cool. He was boiling lava inside. He suddenly wished that he got to go with 04 and let the other man, 09, take his place.
Rael memorized the escape route, but it seemed like Krad learned the blueprint of the entire place by heart. He was weaving in and out of rooms and intersections as if he designed the building himself. By following his lead, they managed to avoid the bulk of the enemy lines while painstakingly gaining ground to where Agent 02 was imprisoned. Given the ruckus they caused, it was amazing to get by untouched and uninjured. No wonder Krad used to be an Equation.
"Down!"
Instinctively, Rael crouched and he was pulled into one open room. There was a heavy exchange of firearms just beyond the door. Numbly, he pulled his mask down so that it hung on his neck. Krad did the same, and both of them were sweating buckets.
"I'm out of ammunition," Krad said as he grabbed Rael's pack. The boy barely cared; he wasn't using his at all. One hand shook his shoulder, and honestly, it hurt. "How's your arm?"
"My ligament had reconnected," Rael muttered, miffed.
Krad did the one-eyebrow thing. "You're bleeding, you know."
"I am?"
Krad sighed as he pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around the bullet wound. "I only have two eyes, and none on my back. I can't watch you all the time."
"What are you trying to say?"
"If you're going to defend yourself, try shooting even if your aim is bad. You might get a lucky hit."
No, he honestly couldn't hurt anyone, not even with a gun in his head in the literal sense. Rael shrugged him off, a screw-you look on his face. "I heal."
"Before you do, you'll be weak with blood loss," Krad countered dryly. "Behave. Don't be an idiot, kiddo."
Rael didn't like to be referred like a child, more so as a dog, and having Krad treat his wound felt like a big bad joke. So he's injured. It's no big deal. He just earned a new scar; what's it in addition to the hundreds he had? And who's this mister playing Nice Guy?
Alpha base to Rho Two. Do you copy? the sound from the earpiece on his left ear startled Rael. It went silent after they busted Faye out of her room. Was that fifteen minutes ago? Ten?
"Rho Two in Area 37-C," Krad replied in a disembodied voice, or was it simply his imagination? "How's zero?"
Rho Zero arrived at 02:35 point. Positive. Back-ups?
"In five minutes –"
"Freeze," one man appeared behind Krad, the barrel of the gun warm against the back of his head. "Don't move or I'll shoot."
"Go ahead," Krad stated impassively, but as he spoke, he used his elbow to knock the man's knees and used a leg grappling technique that was so fast the man was down before Rael could blink. He was sure the man was unconscious. Krad silently appraised the situation and put on his mask. Rael did the same and he was about to follow Krad when the Base pushed him with a hand on his good shoulder. "Listen. I'll be a decoy. Run as fast as you can for the exit. It's in the first room in the right intersection. It has a balcony and a tree. Head straight for the van. Don't look back."
"But –"
"I'm your commander and that's an order."
He wasn't. He's only a front liner like him, a strategist, and both 04 and 09 approved his plan. That didn't make him a commander, but Rael didn't argue that point. He had a more pressing argument. "You don't know 02. I do."
"I saw his picture."
Rael tried again, "He doesn't know you."
"Yeah, but he will recognize me and vice-versa," he countered tactfully. "Now scram."
Krad is really a jerk, Rael decided. A badass jerk.
"What are you doing here?" Cecilia chirped, "is exactly what you're going to say, and I'm afraid that it's too long a question for a time like this."
09, clearly uncomfortable with her, barked his orders to the other agents while Arashi placed Faye on the stretcher. As blood thrummed in his veins, sweat rolled down his neck, and worry exhausted him more than the running to get Faye out of her prison.
He ignored the woman and shouted for the medic team to hurry.
"Why are you here?" Cecilia asked in a la-di-da voice. "Why is Gneiss all alone in there? Didn't I tell you two to stick together?"
The look that Arashi gave her was enough to wither rock. Cecilia smiled in a way a mother would to her tantrum-throwing child.
"My, my, you don't listen to your elders do you?"
His eyes softened a little after glancing at the medic team working on Faye's injuries. She groaned and cried as they cleaned her up.
"Ivan will die because of you."
"What?" Arashi growled, the first word he directed to the woman wearing her silk pajama, out of place in the middle of the bustling agents.
"If you don't go back, Ivan, you know that Russian friend of yours? Heterochromic? The blond oxen? 02? He. Will. Die."
"I'm in no mood for jokes." He unclasped his army vest, picking off the stray bullets that stuck on the first layer of vinyl. "Krad is 01. He won't fail his mission. Rael can heal them if they get hurt. I trust them"
"Hah! Trust! I know you hate Gneiss more than you hated yourself, and that was telling something. Rafaello is a newbie; there's nothing to expect. No, you don't trust them. It's a bet, and you're risking it."
"00 is safe and 02 will be back alive."
"Are you implying that I lie?" Cecilia tossed her brown hair out of her face, a condescending smile plastered on her tired face. "You plan on ignoring my warnings, young man? Return to the field and Ivan will live."
"I say –"
Suddenly, too quick for Arashi's eyes to catch, Cecilia's small hand was on his chin, tipping it lightly to the right, sweet menace dripping off her tongue. "My Sight has never been wrong, my child. Ever. If you doubt, do you want me to say the time, place and other details of your death?"
He wasn't afraid to die, but oddly, a chill ran down his arms.
Calculating the odds, Arashi had no choice but to listen to her, disregarding the truth value of her statement. She's right, in a way. As a professional, he was committed to their cause, but deep inside, he didn't like Krad. He didn't want to stay with him unless completely necessary. One issue for concern is Cecilia's Gift – her ability to See, but could – should – he trust her? At times she spouted things of no importance because of her deranged nature. Which was it this time?
Cecilia turned and eyed the door of the house where they temporarily stayed. "Tonight is the end of the Ilyinskys. Bless be his soul."
"Fine. I get it," he snapped irritably, shown only by a twitch on the brow. He wore a new set of protective gear and switched his bullet-proof vest to his black jacket. He could run faster with less weight. As he walked towards a van, he grabbed a bottle of water for rehydration.
"I'm going back," Arashi told 09, a dangerous mix of unquestioned authority and threat lacing his words. "If 00 dies, you answer to the Master."
09 removed his cap off his shaved head, a grimace splitting his face. "I'm not dumb."
Arashi hopped on the tinted van parked five miles from the Light's fenced territory. As he drove, he dimly recalled Faye's sleeping body, wrapped in white sanitized linen, the medic team working on her. In an hour, she would be transported to Las Alcobas, to be forwarded in the morning to 09's home facility in the north of Mexico City. He had to be back to escort her; he wouldn't allow her to leave without him.
Ciudad Juarez is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world, even more than what the public claimed. Criminal families from the North had bases scattered among the other buildings and drug lords, loan sharks and terrorists had eyes and ears on the place. Creed dealt with them, and left the spare to other organizations, government agencies and the military.
He parked the van three streets away from the Light. Walking the rest of the way, he could undoubtedly feel eyes on him. Even in the darkness, the place was alive with activity. Thankfully, the civilians weren't part of his world, or else the city would end up an empty dump if they realize what kind of assholes lurked near their homes.
On any other day, Arashi would only be too happy to receive a sweep mission – to eliminate the small fries that harassed the everyday people. Tonight was not any other night or day.
Creed's first layer of defense was breached, and undoubtedly, some of the Light had escaped.
Arashi winced when his earpiece exploded in a bomb of sound, shattering his concentration as he tried to numb the pain it caused to his sensitive hearing. Was that C4? From his position, he could see the smoke rising from the building. In a matter of minutes, someone was bound to notice it and report it to the civilian police. Arashi wanted to avoid confrontation. He ran.
"Rho two! Sigma One deployed as back-up. What the fuck is happening in there?" he said through gritted teeth. He carefully surveyed the area and went inside as stealthily as possible. The ground was littered with corpses. He tightened his face mask as he got nearer, knifing the ones who got too close to him in the smokescreen. By the time he reached the outer barracks, the ringing in his ear had faded. "Your line has gone static for exactly five minutes and two point forty-six seconds. Where are you? Haven't you found the target yet? Am I to escort you out?"
The reply that came from the other side of the line made him freeze in mid-step.
"Don't come," Krad whispered, almost inaudible against the noise.
"Cecilia said –"
"Don't listen to her. We've found 02 but –"
"I'm nearly there." Arashi hastened, scaling the walls instead of going around and entering the halls. "Just shut up."
"We're serious, 04." This time, it was Rael who spoke, and his voice was hoarse and dry, as if he screamed his lungs out over and over again, "If you do come here, you'll die."
"And what chance do you two have against this?" he muttered dryly. The line went static again. Hurriedly, he heaved himself up one window, ignoring the pain in his wrists and shoulder muscles. Time was his enemy. He couldn't allow even a second go to waste. Using his tracking device, he located the two agents and raced to see what kind of monster guarded 02, preventing his escape.
If the former 01 was having difficulty, then the man assigned to 02 must have been a real piece of Gift. But an order is an order. 02 must be saved.
"You damning deaf?! I said don't come here, chinky eyes!" But Krad's words were lost as Arashi took in the sickening sight of vicious brutality on the floor, on the walls, on the ceiling – all were smeared with blood. Among what was left of the bodies, it appeared that they burst from the inside. Rael was tossed at a corner, and he couldn't tell whether he was breathing or not.
He made three simultaneous shots at the monster, the sinner who stood in the middle of the room, the only thing that he could see in his dark rage.
... but the monster is 02 himself, and he was in the process of killing Krad.
*
Unedited