-Jake Aylesbury -
After pulling the trigger on Mr Fisher, who had confirmed his involvement in a plot to help hand Miss Andersen over to Ides, I'd gone back to my quiet, dim office. My retreat from the bright halls of Trinity Science. Only my day was far from over and my headache likely to get worse the longer I let the last twenty-four hours bleed into forty-eight.
Hudson and Skinner were already waiting for me. The old man sat in my chair, surveying one of the reports that had been left on my desk to check over. It was his own from tonight by the stubby, capitalised scrawl. Hudson was sat in a guest chair, not as comfortable as the one behind the desk, but the way his large frame slouched in it, the difference was hard to tell.
"You wanted us here?" Skinner's lips were pursed, an expression I'm not sure whether he picked it up from Swan, or if he influenced her.
"Sleep is a commodity and not all us agents are Nocturnals who can function for yonks without it." Hudson seemed light and playful enough, voice booming as always, lips curved up into a smile.
"I know, I'm tired too, Tucker. But I have some concerns." Instead of evict Skinner from his seat, I sat up against the edge of my desk, careful not to mess up the papers set next to me.
"Concerns... about Rin?" Hudson's lips curved down for a moment as he nodded at the thought. Both of them had been in on the plan to plant and retrieve Kate from Ides. Rin had suggested it when I'd told her they knew of her involvement. They knew her longer, she was already working her way up the ranks when King, Norton and I arrived here. So she trusted them enough to do what was right for everyone.
"More than just Rin." I rested my hand against Skinner's detailed report on the nights mission, omitting several key facts. The same facts all three of us would knowingly leave out.
"Yes, I'm concerned for her, but there's little we can do. She's a survivor, if there's a way to save herself, she'll find it." Still, as much as experience told me that she could take care of herself. I couldn't quite help the niggle the words 'unable to heal' had sent through me. Inside I was quelling the hunger of revenge and worry that was eating away at me. "There are other things that worry me more."
"Like what?" Skinner lent forward in his seat, elbows up on my desk and chin resting down on hands cupped together.
"Mead knew about Amy's death." I watched his narrowed eyes widen, at the same time as Hudson's met the floor. "There are about three scenarios I can think of that could lead to him knowing that. I don't like any of them."
Hudson started stroking his chin, as a dark expression passed over his face. The implications starting to dawn on him. "How..."
"They could've been Ides Scavengers, not break outs, sent deliberately to deal some damage. Retrieve the girl. We know one survived..." Skinner surmised quickly, his narrowed eyes glancing towards Amy's picture, still on my desk. I felt a twinge in my chest.
"Two including the one that refused to stay dead." I bobbed my head, "But another option with far more implications presents itself."
"You think there are still links from Trinity to Ides? A leak?" Skinner sat back again, his face flashing between red and running pale. His body unable to figure out how to react to the idea.
"I don't think Mead or Herod were the brains behind smuggling ReGenisis serum to Ides." I watched as Hudson's large hands balled into fists. Everything from his skin to his pulse told me, he felt betrayed. "Which leads me to bringing this back to Rin. If someone here is in contact with Ides, her involvement could find itself uncovered by exactly the wrong people at Trinity."
Skinner was once again slumped forward, face hidden in his hands. I could feel the weight of the information rising off of him. I may not have believed in aura's before I became Nocturnal, but afterwards I could sometimes feel them, feed off of them. Like I used to be able to feed off of the energy of the sun like a normal human being.
"So, what's your plan?" Hudson had pulled himself together enough not to look like he was about to explode like an over inflated beach ball.
"I'm going to start digging, asking questions carefully, figure out what really lies beneath the cold surface of this place. Everything I should have been doing three years ago." My eyes scanned the desk, my telephone still hadn't been replaced, the set missing it's receiver, all but the microphone end of it attached to the curly cord.
"We're in this with you, just let us know where to sta-"
I raised my hand to cut Hudson off. "No, I'll do the looking. I need you two to cover for me, watch my back. I don't want all three of us digging too deep and ending up in respective body bags."
"Understood." Skinner grumbled, "do you know where you're starting?"
The sound of chinking glass resonated in my memory and the picture of desperation in Swan's usually controlled eyes. She was a suspect, she had the brains, the power, even motive if she decided she didn't want to be the one that doesn't count anymore. Not to mention her drive for position, she could only climb so high in an organisation like Trinity Science, not without questionable manoeuvres. "I think there's at least one person I know to watch."
I heard the footsteps before the tap came at the door.
"Come in," I called, just as Jennings poked his head in, his laptop closely following it. The usual excited grin on his face, undeterred by the late hour. "You said you had footage to show me? From Ides?" I crossed my arms, pushing my shoulders back, trying to make myself seem broader I guess.
"Yeah, well," he often started like this when he was high on adrenalin, I could smell it coming off his cologne covered skin. "When I tapped in obviously I got the footage of your heroic rescue of Miss Andersen and my way to heroically rescue you from getting pincered between operatives." He grinned, lifting his head up a little, a cocky action that made him both entertaining and infuriating at the same time. "But I managed to leach from the feed just prior to our arrival and I think you're going to be real interested in what you see." He moved forward, offering his laptop to me.
My heart stopped for a moment, what had he caught and how much crap was I about to deal with? After a stunned moment I uncrossed my arms and took the computer from him. He was hovering near my shoulder, leaning down to press play. He'd have stayed unreasonably close to me had I not turned to look at him, using the years I'd known Swan to simulate one of her glares. He backed up a couple foot and stood straight, his hands up in surrender. I rolled my eyes and got back to the feed that had started with the white and grey crack and fizz of a static TV screen.
The image started to clear up, black, white and grey pulling back into wavy smears before taking shape as a form in a hallway. Pretty quickly Rin's image cleared up. My heart stopped for a second. But I took a breath, this was after Kate had split off, so it was hopeful that Jennings wasn't connecting that particular dot.
She was walking backwards, which seemed odd for a moment. Until a gun started to come into view of the screen and Mead with it. As was Rin's way, she was calm. It seemed they were heading towards his office. I watched small, dark droplets run off of Rin's fingertips and hit the concrete of the floor, it was almost indistinguishable but my eyes were keen enough to detect it. She was already bleeding, I frowned, when I'd arrived her blood had been on the access keypad, she was already having trouble healing somehow.
This also lit up the possibility that Rin had helped Mead and that he was lying to ruffle me. No, I wouldn't believe that.
As they walked in through Mead's office door, Jennings leant over my shoulder again and pressed a couple keys, going to the feed within the office. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead, this could be hard to cover.
Mead rested his gun down on his desk almost as soon as they'd entered, but that didn't stop him from backing her into the wall. She let him, one of her tactics was to maintain that the threat in the room has all the control in the situation, they don't act as crazy and can be manipulated or surprised easier. She'd used it on me, despite the fact I'd never been a real threat to her.
Their conversation could come off as flirtatious, probably was, but underneath lay politics. There was no audio playing to the track, but just to make sure, "Is there sound?" I didn't even flick my eyes up to Jennings, couldn't risk missing a mouth movement.
"No, Sir," he shook his head profusely.
Good, that was one less thing to worry about and I could pick up at least half of what they were saying from watching their lips. Conveniently at a diagonal slant from the camera up in the corner of Mead's office.
'What's the real reason for your little visit Takeichi?' Mead looked smug, as if this were a baited hook.
'Takeichi, really? How formal of you. Considering how close we were,' she held up her left hand, a glint from her engagement finger. Rin was often better at hiding resentment, but it was present in the way she moved.
Mead raised at least one eyebrow, amused it seemed. 'Old habits die hard, which may explain how you're still breathing.' He ran his finger over her throat, she lifted her head up almost as if to present it. 'Doesn't answer my question.'
'Just a friendly visit, perhaps I missed you?' She lifted her own hand to trace his jaw line, I felt myself shudder internally at the interaction. 'I thought you might have felt the same way, since you let me walk in with no fuss.'
'The report of a guard suffocating from a crushed windpipe suggests otherwise.' Mead dipped his hand into his pocket and lifted out his phone and held it up in front of her after tapping a couple buttons. I could only assume it was evidence from the camera feed.
'You said it yourself. Old habits die hard.' She tipped her head to one side, she was doing her best to play the submissive.
'So no ulterior motive?' He still looked entertained from this angle, but something was off. Then again, that could have been my own poisonous feelings clouding my judgment.
She shook her head. I couldn't quite make out the words she spoke, her mouth kept tight and small.
'Then explain this to me.' He flipped through the pictures on his phone from the feed, before he faced it back to her, I had squinted to make out that it appeared to be Miss Andersen.
'A little gift to you. I heard you misplaced her.' The muscle in Rin's neck had grown a little taught; a split second of panic.
'Really?' His expression was turning dark. 'Why sneak her in and tell her to hide?'
'Why not? The nature of a surprise is to hide a thing until it's presented.' She was struggling to keep a straight face, making mistakes she wouldn't usually. He had her riled, for once I could see that she felt threatened.
'I'm sure.' Mead didn't sound convinced. His eyes drifted to the floor where a few dark drops had gathered. He smirked as he lifted the corner of her jacket and peeled it back to reveal a large bloody wound in her shoulder. The shape of the bleeding mess was jagged and round, like a desperate bite mark. My eyes widened a little, a scavenger had tried to feed on her. That it had succeeded in making a mark in the first place was bad enough. That it didn't seem to be healing, more of a heavy blow to my stomach.
'How interesting, the last time I saw you bleed, I had the pleasure of inflicting the mark. You weren't supposed to heal then either.' He let her jacket collar go.
Rin bluffed a smile, 'A Scavenger. Its saliva seems to have been modified with some kind of anti-coagulant, one that works against ReGenisis serum.' She cocked her head to the other side, 'Wouldn't happen to be one of yours would it?'
Mead pulling his lips back over his teeth in a wide grin. 'I'm not sure. Perhaps it is the natural evolution of a Scavenger?'
'No, Scavengers evolution comes from leaching off of others. Kind of like you and this whole organisation.' She narrowed her eyes at him, he raised his hand to hit her, she simply caught it and pushed it back. 'Do you know where the adaptation originated?'
'So the ulterior is revealed.' He took a moment, instead of try to strike her again, he answered. 'I have heard that there is a scientist working on something like it. At Trinity Science in fact. I've heard there are other modifications in the works. Add-ons. Being kept hush-hush.'
Then their motions froze for a second. His head turning towards a speaker on his desk. Mead took a step back and picked up his gun slowly and pressing the microphone button next to the little box. "Trinity Agents, hmm... I'll be right there."
He held his gun up in line with her head. She didn't flinch. 'Not that it'll be very important to you, I also heard that anti-coagulant can work its way into the rest of your blood stream. Make it impossible to heal any wound.'
He pulled the trigger, Rin blurring down towards the floor a split second before, her leg sweeping out to knock him from his feet.
"Looks like trouble in paradise." Jennings snickered next to me. I held up my hand to silence him, trying to forget the fact I had to figure out what to do with him after the tape finished.
Rin and Mead fought for a little while. He used his bulk to throw her around, she used her ability to bounce back and her reflexes. The camera found it hard to keep the images un-blurred until one of them was pinned to the wall with a hand piercing through their lower abdomen.
Blood gushed from around the wound and trickled from Rin's mouth. Down both of her cheeks something glistened, tears. Mead removed his hand from her abdomen and watched smugly as she flopped forward to the floor in front of his desk. She was out of the camera's range there. Mead wiped her blood off on his jacket, which was already stained with it.
'Now to take care of the intruders.' After nudging his foot forward, probably to kick her, he left the room.
My heart had stopped in my chest and only jolted back into action when Rin's stained hand reached out just beyond the shield of the desk. Then her other, pulling her forward on the floor. She half pushed herself up, enough to reach the handle to get the door open again. Once it was, she dragged herself along on her belly, leaving a trail of blood behind her.
Jennings reached forward and pressed another key to stop the play and simply stared at the side of my face, whilst I stared at the last image, just a trail of black against a pale grey floor. I don't think I was breathing and despite knowing that Hudson and Skinner were talking with Jennings, I couldn't tune in to it. There was no way she could get out, or survive. I tried to stop a tear from slipping down my cheek and shook myself from the revere and back to my senses.
"Who else have you shown this to?" I had to know, others would start to ask questions. Just the fact she was there jeopardised the reason we got Kate back through Ides.
Jennings was a little stifled for a moment, concern filtering through his brown hazel eyes. "Well, no one. You're my Captain, I figured seeing as you were trying to track her, I should show you first."
"Good, keep it that way." I nodded, my eyes roving back to the screen. I took out the memory stick from the port, "any copies?"
"No," Jennings was looking all the more anxious, "No. I didn't make any."
"Right," I took a deep breath and shot Skinner a look. He got out of my chair and walked towards the door, as if he were about to use it. "I'll make sure it gets into the right hands."
Maxwell Jennings looked behind himself, at Skinner, then back at me with the kind of sheepish smile that denoted fear rather than excitement. I had to decide quickly if I was going to trust him to keep his mouth shut with what little he already knew or not. He was a member of my team, after all.
"...and Jennings, don't mention this to anyone. Leave it out of your report until further notice." I finished, feeling a knot form in my muscles.
"Is that an order, sir?" He swallowed, then dipped his head as I sent him a look. "Yes sir."
I nodded for Skinner to move, so that Jennings could reach the door. He turned, starting to make his way out, but paused with his palm over the handle. "Aylesbury, there's footage of you rescuing Miss Andersen on there. It might come in useful to cut it from the rest and show it to someone, to prove she'd been there for three days... getting cut up."
"Why would I need to prove it?" I grumbled, Skinner's hand pushed back his suit jacket, fingers tracing his gun, whilst Jennings thought how to answer.
"Reinforce the idea, I meant reinforce." He stammered, "You'll seem more a hero and it'll be harder to question."
Skinner's fingers slipped around his gun, starting to pull it from its holster, "Why would anyone question it?"
"Miss Andersen, she was the girl... the new Nocturnal in the woods, with King." Jennings quickly continued. "I don't want anyone thinking you had anything to do with it. Makes Unit Zero even less reputable, and personally, all of us would be implicated."
I put my hand up, signalling for Skinner to stand down. "You don't think I had anything to do with it Jennings?"
He shook his head. "Loyalty or death, right?" That was the last thing he said before he yanked the door open and marched from the room.
The three of us looked between ourselves, all exhaling in a sigh of relief. "I shall be keeping an eye on that boy." Skinner scowled towards the door.
"You can say that again." Hudson chortled, a fake booming laugh, tinged with worry.
"I was right," I muttered as they brought their attention back to me. "Someone here is giving Ides information still, and possibly serums. Mead practically admitted it."
"Ah, lip readin'. One talent I'm glad I don't have, Clark Kent." Hudson put his hand on my shoulder, it was heavy and had I been human, it would have caned.
"If you're sure, I think we should play this safe and slow." Skinner let his suit jacket fold back over his gun holster.
"Yeah," I agreed absentmindedly. My mind was quickly wandering back to the expression of pain on Rin's face as she was pinned to that wall.
"Why would Jennings want to help, considering he has no reason to?" Hudson was on his own tangent too, it seemed.
"He stated his reason, loyalty or death. Instead of loyalty and death." My muttering was probably barely audible, but both of them hummed in understanding.
"I don't entirely trust he won't make the same trade off the other way for the same reason." Skinner was thinking practically and he was right.
"That's a chance we have to take. Until then, we're going to have to involve him a little more. Perhaps share some knowledge of who the unwanted were." I rested the blank screened laptop down on my desk and the memory stick next to it. I'd been clutching both until just then. "I get the feeling he wants to be included, he likes belonging. He didn't have to come to us with this footage."
"You think he decided loyalty to Unit Zero over T.S?" Hudson seemed incredulous.
"Trinity Science is where we work, Unit Zero is a family." I stared down at my bloody shoes. "The fallen and the fugitives included."