3Chapter 12
"Leslie needs to get to the Supernatural district," I said. "James, take her and find Maia."
"Where are you going?" Leslie asked, yelling over the noise of fire and panic. The riot was coming our way, we needed to get to safety. An explosion could be heard so we crouched down to avoid being hit by any shrapnel.
"My mom needs me," I said, worried about Michael, Tom, and my mother. Michael knew not to trust my father, and that would buy him time, but he needed more than that. Besides, I couldn't leave the safety of my mother in someone else's hands. It was too important and too risky.
"You're no help to anyone right now," James said, eying the boot that covered my badly sprained ankle. My eyes jerked to the blood on his shirt, where he had just barely dodged a bullet earlier on. Neither of us were in peak condition, but we still had work to do.
"Which is exactly why you're the one who needs to get Maia," I replied, calm enough to notice my still labored breathing. "You're stronger than I am."
"Stop it with this stupid, self loathing, shit!" James exploded. "You're not a martyr meant to die!"
"I don't think I am!" I snapped, how dare he not have faith in me! How dare he doubt my dedication to Maia, to our family. "But there is too much to do, we have to split up!"
"No, we don't!" James' eyes were narrowed, his jaw was set, and his feet were firmly rooted in place. "You can save Maia without sacrificing yourself! You don't have to suffer for good things!"
"Yes I do!" The words tumbled out of me before I could think, before I could stop myself. It was true, wasn't it? If not, why had I grown up like I had? Why had it taken the threat to my child for me to realize that this wasn't okay? That tyranny wasn't the only alternative to anarchy?
"Oh- Anya..." Leslie spoke, her voice so soft I could barely hear it. I couldn't look her in the eyes, knowing her sympathy would kill me.
"Let's go," James grunted, turning down the street to my parent's home, away from the supernatural district.
"James-"
"-Just let us help you," Leslie said, pulling my attention as she too walked to my childhood home. I couldn't stop either of them, not physically, and I didn't have the time to convince them. I would have to let them risk themselves, I would have to stop going into battle alone.
Michael had run the entire way from the main government building, rushing to get to his in-laws home before his husband did. His father in law was dangerous, and he couldn't let Tom face him alone. He hoped that everyone he loved was safe. Hoped that the poor women he'd helped the government subdue were safe.
A scream to his right yanked him out of his thoughts, reminding him that he needed to focus. His father in law would be expecting him as an ally, he would have to use that to his advantage. He began to hope that he could get his mother in law out of there without Tom needing to get involved. It was a hope in vain however, and Michael was unsurprised when he noticed Tom already on the small porch in front of the townhome.
"Tom," Michael said, stopping just short of embracing him. He loved Tom with all of his might and felt immense relief upon seeing that he was safe and healthy but he couldn't ignore what had happened. Michael knew what he'd done was unforgivable. He knew that that part of his life, the part with Tom, was more than likely over.
Tom gave a weary smile when he saw Michael run up, painfully aware that he hadn't touched him at all. Michael felt guilty, and Tom was going to have to set the tone. In their marriage they hadn't had much turmoil. They had no experience with conflict this deep amongst themselves. This alone was enough to distract him, but he needed to help his mom, hide out the riot. He knew better than to think he could participate, the best contribution he could provide was to stay out of the way. He took the initiative and embraced his husband. Through thick and thin he'd promised to love him, and he'd meant it.
"I'm glad you're safe," Tom said. "Did you hurt yourself running here?"
"No," Michael said, trying his best to not cry. Now wasn't the time, but he'd been so sure that he'd lost Tom. "Did you?"
"It was close, but I think the Supernatural know which side I'm on," Tom said, prompting a moment of silence. It was eerie to hear nothing- knowing that a few blocks away people were dying. The quiet, respectable neighborhood of Tom's parents had yet to be breached. They were wealthy enough that they were away from downtown, but not wealthy enough to have live-in maids on a Sunday. With no Supernatural around and geography on their side this part of town was probably the safest place, for now.
"So, we're doing this?" Michael said, knowing that he couldn't do anything else. Anya was right, and he wouldn't be a pawn for the government anymore. He couldn't use his intelligence to control people and force them to bow to the government's will.
"Obviously," Tom said, grinning with his trademark humor. His eyes glanced at the door and his body language grew more serious. "Any plan?"
"Bill doesn't need to know that-" Tom nodded so Michael continued on, not saying the obvious. "We can use that to our advantage."
"When will mom be... sober?" Tom asked.
"It's- not that simple," Michael said. A loud boom was heard, they didn't have long until the riot reached them. "And I don't have time to explain."
Tom nodded, "That complicates things." As he spoke he knocked on the door, and immediately Michael knew to stop talking about it. There wasn't time to plan, they just had to act and trust one another.
There was a rustle and the door opened, June on the other side. Her mouth dropped open in shock, she'd been expecting a police officer. "Mike- Tom- what are you doing here? Get inside, it's not safe, have you seen the news?"
"Mom," Tom said, walking inside with Michael. Michael shut the door behind them, both of them feeling an itching need to get out. "Where is dad?"
Michael watched as Tom struggled to act normal, feeling for him. He too wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, even if he had long known that Bill wasn't who he said he was and the story that June thought was their history was only a story. The weight of his backpack was heavy on him, this bag needed to get out of the city, to the Supernatural people. It couldn't get caught by Bill, who, Michael realized with a start, might already know he was a traitor. He hadn't left Ben Deans dead, and if television was still working then it was entirely possible that Deans had called Bill.
"Here," Bill said, walking out of the living and into the entryway. "I'm glad you two are safe, have you heard from Mark? Bale and Anya?"
Tom realized then that his father knew more than he let on, did more than he let on. The fact that he didn't ask about Tim was proof enough that something was up. Usually he presented at least mild concern for their separated brother. How much of what he said, did, and implied was an act or lie? Was Anya really happy with Bale? If his mother wasn't more than a pet to his father, if his father couldn't be trusted, what did that mean for his whole family?
"Not yet," Tom said, not sure of what to say. With Michael's help they could absolutely physically take his father, but he didn't know the outcome of the riot and didn't want to be immediately called out for actions of treason. He needed to get out without getting caught if he could. Tom didn't want to attack his father anyway, or maybe he did, and maybe he just didn't trust himself not to go too far.
"What's in the bag? It looks heavy, why don't you two head up to Tom's old room?" His mother asked, reminding Tom that he already was going down for treason. He wasn't going to let Michael go down alone. He had nothing to lose.
"Mom, you need to come with us, we're going to the Supernatural District." Tom said, causing Michael to jerk his eyes to him. Whatever almost-plan they'd had was thrown out the window with Tom's sudden honesty.
"What are you talking about? That's where the riots are," June said, her tone worried. "Now come on you two, I'm sure the rest will be here soon."
"June, we need to go," Michael said.
"You aren't going anywhere," Bill said, his tone stern. By the look in his eyes it was clear that everyone knew what was going on, everyone but June.
"Yes, now-"
"-No! Mom!" Tom snapped, struggling to maintain his calm exterior. Everything was changing and he needed time to process, but first he needed to get his mother away from his father. Michael reached out and grabbed his hand, stabilizing him.
"What's going on here?" His father asked, his gaze hard. He wasn't going to let June go and Tom couldn't help but wonder why. Bill had to know by now that Michael wouldn't give him the drugs he used to control her, he had to realize that the city wasn't ever going to be 'normal' again. Tom didn't get a chance to ask his father anything, however, because at that moment the front door burst open.
Getting through the city had been surprisingly easy. Supernatural didn't want to attack a child and word seemed to have gotten out that Davis was on their side. Police might have attacked them, or attempted to stop them at the very least, if their force wasn't already outmatched by those that were rioting. Not only were the supernatural people attacking but humans, especially low class, had sided with the supernatural cause without much, if any, debate. The police didn't stand a chance and couldn't afford to focus on a traitor police officer (if they even know that yet) and a supernatural carrying a child, both avoiding violence as much as possible.
Tim and Davis didn't stop moving until they made it to James' home, the Supernatural District was relatively safe but the chaos wasn't something for a child. Davis focused quickly on covering the window and assessing the safety of the home. While he did that Tim focused on Maia.
"Okay, we're safe now," He said, setting the little girl on James' bed. "Thank you for holding on so tight." Maia didn't say anything, her face terrified. Tim sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug, "Everything is going to be okay, Maia."
"What about mommy and daddy?" She asked, eyes teary and afraid.
"They're safe," Tim said. He had no idea if Anya and James were safe, but he would pretend they were for Maia's sake. "Just you wait, they'll be home before you know it."
"Where is home now?" Maia asked. Her voice was innocent in the way that only children's voices could be. Tim couldn't answer. He found that his voice was caught, what could he say to the innocent girl? He didn't even know if the city would still be standing at the end of the day. He didn't know if she could go back to the home she'd grown up in or if she would end up living in the dingy shack that James called home for the rest of her life.
"Home is with your family," Davis said. Tim was surprised to see the younger man squatted in front of the bed so that he was the same height as Maia. Somehow he hadn't expected that Davis would be good with kids. "And your family is the people that love you, like your mommy and daddy and your uncles."
"What about Gram Gram and Pop Pop?" Maia asked innocently and the words struck Tim like a knife. He shared a look with Davis, both of them knowing very little about what was happening but knowing that something was going on with 'Gram Gram' and 'Pop Pop'.
Davis just gave a noncommittal nod and stood up. "I need to go."
Tim did the adult thing and pretended he didn't see any tears beginning to well in the other man's eyes and Davis did the same. The reality of riots and danger did not rest in the blood on the streets or in the test of love between friends and family but in the eyes of the youth. Face to face with the next generation, those that would be responsible for every failure they made, both men felt weak and incapable.
Davis left without another word and Tim felt useless once he was alone. Maia sat quietly, stunned silent with fear, and he had nothing to do. He couldn't leave her, he was going to protect her, but he also felt as if he were simply waiting at home and letting someone else fight his battles.
Feeling an overwhelming need to do something he found himself looking through James' pantry. To say it was lacking was an understatement- a mostly empty bottle of whiskey was all he could find that wasn't expired. The idea of going shopping at that moment was laughable so Tim just settled on not bringing up food until he had some. Hopefully, Maia wasn't hungry.
"I showed my father what I could do," Maia said, seemingly out of nowhere. "He didn't like it very much."
Tim frowned and ceased looking around the home. Instead he sat down next to Maia and wrapped his arm around her. He hadn't been sure if it was the right thing to do until she leaned into him, appearing to need the comfort.
"You know that James is your real dad, right?" Tim asked, once again wondering how he had found himself in this position. He wasn't a nanny for a reason. He barely even knew his niece, the few times that Anya risked bringing her to the supernatural district she had taken her to see her father, not her uncle. He had always felt put out, because he was Maia's blood, but now he knew that James was her true father. It made him feel like a thief, every minute that he had spent with Maia was one minute less that James had with his daughter.
"I know, and daddy loves me," Maia said. "But- but father was so scary. Are supernatural really that bad?"
"No," Tim said. He spoke the words that no one had said to him when he was Maia's age and wiped the tears from her eyes. "No, and neither are you. We are people just like everyone else. Except we can do extraordinary things."
"What can you do?" Maia asked, and for the first time TIm actually felt as if his gift might be something positive, something exciting.
"I can get really, really hot," Tim said with a smile. "When I was your age everything thought I was controlling fire, but really I was getting so hot that the things around me burned."
"Woah! That is so cool!" Maia exclaimed, for the moment distracted from the fighting outside. "Mommy said you fix things with your hands, is that true?"
"Yeah, I can melt plastic or bend metal," Tim said. "One day I can take you out and show you some of the things I've fixed around the district."
Then it hit him, like a runaway train, that tomorrow he would still be able to see his niece and it wouldn't be taking time from her father or risking her safety. Assuming there was still a town to live in tomorrow, it would be a completely different world.
"James," I took a moment to breathe heavily, "Leslie," I continued to breathe heavily. Attempting to talk while running, after a couple of years being undernourished and drugged, was nearly impossible but I had to. We didn't have time to stop. "Once we get there, stay behind me, I have a plan. I want to get out of this without anyone dying."
It was a long shot, and my tone made that clear to them, so they nodded without protest. There were a lot of things that had to happen to avoid death, and even more to avoid violence. Not a lot of them were under our control, but we had to try. We arrived at the home I grew up in and I slammed open the door and walked straight to my father.
"We need to talk," I said, ignoring everyone and pulling him towards the dining room. Where I first met Bale, where everything truly started to go downhill.
"You- your eyes," He exclaimed, backing away from me.
"I need to know something," I said, pacing and being sure to stand between him and the double doors that I had closed behind us. "When Bale found out about Maia, when he learned that she was supernatural, he completely cut her off from his life." I didn't give him a chance to react to the news that his granddaughter was supernatural. "Then he died, because he chose the losing side, because Deans doesn't like me and held a grudge against Bale for being unable to control me using Michael's serum. The serum you have been using on my mother."
I stopped pacing and stared my father straight in the eyes. He loved me, I knew this was true. There was a chance, however small, that he might choose the right side, even if it was for selfish reasons. He was just a man who fell in love with a woman and let things get completely out of control. He was a bad man, but he wasn't a lost cause and I couldn't give up on him.
"Do you want to know how I know this? Do you want to know why my daughter is a supernatural?" I asked. He stood in shock, there was too much new information for him to know what to say. I took advantage of this, we didn't have much time, and if James spent too much time with Michael... "Why my eyes are white? It is because I am an oracle. A fledgeling."
"That's- that's not possible," He said. "Your mother told me- fledglings aren't real. She- she must have-"
"-Ask Michael, he ran the test for Deans," I said. "I am your daughter, your flesh and blood. So you have a reality that no human has had before. Your daughter, not only that you raised but your daughter by blood and genes and love, is one of the supernatural that you have reigned over for years. Are you going to cut me off? Are you going to stop loving me like you have my whole life because I can do something you don't understand?"
"I-" He was frozen and I struggled against tears. I couldn't cry. Not here, not now. It was a nearly impossible task, the pain in my ankle was nothing compared to the pain of my father seriously having to decide whether or not he loved me anymore, whether or not he would admit to it. "Anya-" He reached forward and touched my face.
"Do you know the worst part about living as Bale's property?" I asked, cutting him where I knew it hurt. He had done his best to stop it, but he hadn't had time and... Well, Bale had been right. No one had wanted to buy me. My father had hoped no one would but instead Bale, who had children executed, who carried with him an air of cruelty and danger, made the only bid he had tried his best to get Bale to buy someone else. Anyone else. Maybe this would work. This had to work.
"It wasn't when he hit me, or pushed me down the stairs, or raped me." I said, tears beginning to well in my eyes. "Or even when he put me on house arrest or forced me to act as the poster wife for supernatural slavery. It was when he injected me with philotic and took away my free will. When he forced me into a cruel, painful imitation of love, I could feel it. I could feel it happening, and even at my worst and most controlled I knew it was sick and wrong. I always broke through, because of you."
He had stared at his hands, overrun by guilt, until I got to the end. "What?"
"On my wedding day," I spit the words out, remembering the day bitterly. "You told me, you said that if I don't love myself I can't love anyone else." I looked him in the eyes, ignoring the tears coming from mine. "That was the thing that broke me through each time. Someone I loved would be hurting and I knew, because of you, that I had to free myself first." I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "Dad, Bale is never going to hurt me again. He's never going to hurt anyone, and neither is the government. So you need to make a choice, I can guarantee that the city is never going to return to the way it was. You can choose to give up your preconceived notions about the supernatural people or stay here and watch your entire family, including me, walk away."
He stood in shock and I couldn't blame him. This was a breaking point for him. This was his stage. He had to decide if he was going to give up the very baseline of his life, his opinions, his personality or never see his family again.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. What was he going to choose? Was I going to lose my father now, too? Was it going to be my fault?
"I'll go with you," He said. His voice was shaky, but he seemed sure.
"Good, because we need to leave now." I smiled and stepped forward to give him a tight hug. "I love you, dad."
"I love you too," He spoke into my hair. He was crying too, but I didn't say anything. I'd almost lost him and I wanted to cry too, but now was not the last time.
We walked back out and found my mother with her bags packed. She looked scared and confused but she was holding onto her bag like a lifeline.
"We're going to James' home to start with," I said, gesturing to James because my parents didn't know who he was and I didn't have time for proper introductions.
"James? I recognise you- you're the man-" My father said, walking towards James aggressively.
"Yeah, and you're the man who sold your daughter," James snapped. He crossed his arms defensively. "Do you really want to start this?"
"We don't have time for this, we have to go now," I said, stopping the inevitable argument between them. I looked at Michael, standing next to Tom almost like nothing had happened. Standing as if what he had done today outweighed everything he had done so far-
"Let's go then," Leslie said, her words leaving no room for argument.
We walked in a tight group, no one talking. Whenever someone would start I would hush them. They probably assumed I didn't want to bring any attention to us but the reality was that I couldn't let any arguments break out. I couldn't let James argue with my father, or Michael, or Michael to argue with Tom. A conglomerate of arguments were bubbling under the surface and tensions were high regardless.
"So what's the plan?" Leslie asked. We were getting closer to the violence and everyone was walking slower, nervous about the terror we could only hear as of now. "Because if we don't want to get shot, we're going to need one."
I slowed to a stop and took a deep breath. "James, you need to go ahead."
"What?" He asked in obvious protest. "I'm not leaving you behind-"
"-Yes, you are," I said, doing my best to not think about what could come. "It's just a matter of when. Go now-"
"-I don't care if it gets me killed I'm not leaving you alone!" James said. "I can hear those riots, and you're hurt!"
"We can protect her," Michael said, hoping to comfort James. He should have known better.
James immediately glared at Michael, "You're the one who's been injecting her with that poison and you're telling me you will protect her? Really? You're just as responsible for everything that has happened to her as that bastard Bale!"
The arguments I had hoped to stop were starting now. James stood dangerously close to Michael. It was no surprise when Tom stepped forward and pushed James away from his husband.
"Back off! Not everything is black and white!" Tom yelled.
"Yes it is!" James yelled, stepping forward and shoving Tom back. "And you're a damn bastard for choosing this monster over your own sister!"
"STOP IT!" Leslie exclaimed, getting in between them. "We don't have time for this!"
Her words were stronger than the anger between them and both backed off but the tension was obvious. This was exactly what we didn't have time for. Everything was coming to an end. 24 hours were left until everything changed, and every second counted. There was no room for error.
"We need to go," James said after taking a few deep breaths. "Together."
I frowned but when everyone started to move I had no choice but to follow. There was no need to formulate much of a plan, and as we got closer that became clear. There was no planning for absolute chaos. I would yell warning when I could, and every time I grappled with the consequences of playing god. Who was I to make these decisions? I couldn't stop myself, these were my loved ones.
"852695!" My blood ran cold when I heard those numbers. "Anya Cara!"
"You guys go on," I said, stopping in my tracks and grabbing James' hand. They all started to protest. "You have to trust me!"
"Survive," Leslie said. Then she grabbed my mother's hand and led them towards safety as best she could.
James grabbed my hand as we faced the source of the voice- Ben Deans.
Ben Deans woke up with a large lump on his head and the smell of a chemical fire in the air. He ran for his life until he passed the firemen and from there ran straight to the closest police officer.
"Give me your gun." He demanded.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you're not authorized-"
Deans immediately punched the police officer in the jaw. "Give me. The damn. Weapon."
The police officer, shocked and a little afraid of the look in Deans' eyes, handed over his gun. Deans then ran towards the heart of the chaos, knowing that was where he would find them. That bitch and that trouble maker. As far as he was concerned, they were both better off dead.
He wasn't an idiot. In fact, Ben Deans was terrifyingly smart. That was why he was in his early thirties and had made it as far as he had. He had been a part of a generation of movement. A generation of change. A generation of young idealists who knew exactly what it would take to get rid of the supernatural plague once and for all. He and Bale Cara weren't the only youthful leaders of their cause. There had been a dozen or so of them, all high class boys praised by their teachers for their wit, leadership, and intelligence. At the top was Ben.
He'd always known he could be the one to lead change, to cure the people of Arium, he just had to work hard. So he had. He'd worked day and night, he'd made tough decisions for the greater good, he'd ignored friendships so much that even those who had once been his brothers were now only pawns, he'd never found a man a settled down- he'd sacrificed everything and then there had been that fucking supernatural.
Some bastard was sowing discontent all around the supernatural district. What were once tamed beasts were now stirring slightly. Getting caught after curfew, refusing jobs in the city, rejecting the free health care he'd so graciously provided! It had been fine when the supernatural were fighting each other in the tacky fight club. It provided entertainment to the real citizens and often left the supernatural with enough exhaustion and money to just stay home. Of course, it was another thing altogether when that bastard mutt began to use it was a source to speak, to make a point. He had begun to recruit fellow fighting supernatural to 'defend' their 'people'. Once an upstanding police officer had been beaten over the rights of a pathetic supernatural wench it became clear that the supernatural could not be cured, could not be contained, could only be exterminated.
So he had that bratt Mark Heshinel make the announcement. He had forced the false high class scum to say those words and ensured that he knew- he was no exception. He had pulled the rebel from the supernatural district and forced his mother to watch. The rebel would not be a martyr, he would be the scum that died for nothing and left a grieving widow with even less. It would shut up the supernatural to see how razor thin the line was that their lives stood on. A zero tolerance attitude would solve the problem once and for all and the most elegant part was that no one could blame him. No one could say he exterminated the beats without any chance because he would give them one. He would give them a chance to find a place in their society and when there was, inevitably, no place then that couldn't possibly be blamed on him.
It didn't go that way though. Instead of dying the rebel seemed to infiltrate the high class. The Heshinel girl, who he had tracked for a long time and found no trouble with, became a terrorist for no apparent reason. The broadcast had been stopped, of course, but the high class knew. The gossip was there and already the discontent was brewing. If Anya Heshinel, an upstanding high class young woman, were defending these mutts maybe there was something to it.
There was nothing to it. These supernatural were creatures, not people, but of course Bale convinced him otherwise. Convinced him that they could be bred and safely reintroduced into society with an existing program. Deans had never liked the program. He could care less that the beats were being purchased. He simply didn't believe in the premise. Even one on one. Even with the scientific advances that Dr. Travis made the supernatural were still just creatures.
Then that pop star, Deans couldn't be bothered to reminder her name, had come out with that idiotic song. That rallying cry that brought the gossip into the light. Now it wasn't only the high class who were talking. He'd been forced to double down on Bale's idea. To use that Anya woman as an example. If only because it served to punish the woman he knew must be responsible for the pop star's stunt. (The one thing he did remember about the pop star was that she was best friends with that Anya girl.)
Things had gone... alright over the past few years. The integration plan was working as well as one could expect and, behind the scenes, he was able to squash the supernatural as they refused to benefit society as a whole, as they refused to have a use. Throughout it all that absolute bitch of a young woman kept causing problems. Bale tried to hide it, sure, but the fact was that Dr. Travis had to dose her up exponentially more than any of the other integration projects. Not to mention that it was common gossip within the supernatural district that not all was what it seemed within the Cara home. She was a constant problem that Bale utterly failed to control.
He hadn't been particularly surprised when things had so spectacularly failed in the Cara household. Watching it all unfold had only served to remind him of something he felt he had lost sight of. The only way to cure the supernatural plague, the only way to truly protect the citizens of Arium, was to end the supernatural people.
The choice to have Bale, the closest thing he had to a friend over the recent years, was not a difficult one to make. As far as Deans was concerned Bale had become nothing more than a liability. He was more useful as a cautionary tale. A reminder to all that even under the strict regimen of the integration unit the supernatural were nothing but dangerous beasts. His plan would finally, finally come to fruition.
What had surprised him, not that he would admit it, was the true lineage of Anya. She truly was a fledgeling. For a long time they had believed the supernatural people's warnings of fledglings, until June Welton had confessed to her keeper that it was a hoax intended to protect the supernatural women. They didn't stop the forced abortions after finding this, of course. It wouldn't do for police officers to have a mutt child roaming the supernatural district. Regardless, he had never considered that she could have supernatural abilities and truly be the daughter of Bill Heshinel. When it had been made clear she was a supernatural he, and Dr. Travis, had simply assumed that her mother had an affair with a supernatural man. They had been wrong and the news had been nothing short of miraculous. A fledgling. That explained everything. It also presented a new opportunity for research, for understanding, for scientific advancement and as luck would have it he had the only man in Arium smarter than him in charge of that research.
Anya's capture had been the final domino to fall. From there on out he had been sure that everything would run smoothly. Why wouldn't it? Everything was finally falling into place.
It was his fault that things had failed. After waking up from Dr. Travis' treasonous attack that much had been clear. He should have killed her long ago. He shouldn't have waited for the right time, delayed the inevitable to advance science or use her for some other purpose. She was too dangerous to survive and now, with a gun in hand, he would make sure she didn't.
He found her easily, focusing on nothing else, along with that traitor Dr. Travis and rebel leader supernatural. He yelled out to the couple, letting Dr. Travis go for now, in a rage he hadn't possessed before. He had wanted to save these people. He had wanted to end the supernatural sickness. She had stopped him. They had stopped him. They would pay.
Ben Deans pointed a gun at us. First at me, and I stood there not because I didn't know it was coming but because it came too fast. There was nothing I could do but watch it happen and, knowing what would come, I couldn't help but feel as if my heart were sinking into my chest.
In an attempt to save me James dove, shoving me out of the way. He didn't think, he just acted. He didn't think about the fact that Deans had never even touched a gun before. That it was clear the shot wouldn't kill me. All he knew was that I was in danger and he could never, never allow that to be the case again. So he took the hit in his upper thigh and fell with a painful cry.
"James!" I fell to my knees to try and help, to try and get him up and moving.
"Go!" He tried to shove me away.
"No!" I yelled. If I left now James would be captured. Deans would interrogate him to find me, and James would refuse to tell him anything. He would die a tragic, painful, unnecessary death unless a miracle happened.
"If you don't leave now they'll kill you!" James snapped, "Don't throw away your life like it isn't worth anything!"
The chaos around us didn't cease and like it or not I knew it was coming. The nightmare that had plagued me for years. The future I had done my best to prevent. Ben walked through the crowd without any trouble. Everyone too focused on their own battles, their own fights, to recognise the true enemy in the crowd. He raised his gun to shoot again, this time his aim much closer, but the gun was out of bullets.
"Take her!" James noticed Officer Jones before me. "Take her home!"
Officer Jones got to me before Ben reached us. He picked me up and ran back where he came from. Back to Maia, back to the relative safety of the supernatural district, away from James. I kicked and yelled as best I could but he was stronger than me and didn't put me down until after I witnessed Deans pick up the bleeding, weakening James just as he passed out, defenseless. Deans then made his way back to the city. Knowing I would know where he went. Knowing I would know that the only way to end James' inevitable suffering was to trade my life for his and hope for mercy.
He placed me on my feet as we got closer to the heart of conflict, needing full use of both of his arms to ensure our safety. He yelled, hoping to shock me out of my trance. "Run!"
"Oh shut up, Officer Jack Ass," I screamed back, "I have to stay, to fight!"
"Fight?" He exclaimed, glancing at my ankle with disbelief, or maybe at my abused and malnourished body. "You're beaten raw, your power cannot save you now!"
"James!" I yelled at him, trying to remind him of who we had just lost. This was happening just as I had known it would, but it was worse than I could have imagined to actually experience. There was fire, screams, burning flesh. It was pure and utter chaos. Blood painted the walls, 'DOWN WITH THE LIARS, DOWN WITH THE GOVERNMENT!' "I cannot leave him behind! The Government will kill him!" My eyes teared up, and I pulled my hand to my face, a ring on my wedding finger. This ring was not a happy reminder but instead a shackle I hadn't had time to remove.
"James doesn't want you dead!" Officer Jack Ass said. "Look, I know you don't like me, and I know I've been harsh to James, but if you go over there both of you will die. The rebellion will die and we will return to where we were."
I was crying now, no longer paying attention to those around me. Running citizens, animals, none of them mattered. Suddenly the stolen moments between my drugged haze felt invaluable. "What's so bad with that? Why can't we go back to that?"
"Could you go back?" Davis asked, "To the control, to the lies, to the fear, to the containment of your people?!"
"I'll be a slave to the Government before I see him dead!" I screamed, feeling as if my heart were literally crumbling in my chest.
"He will die before he loses this cause!" Davis, now with his hands strong on my shoulders. "And if you're the woman I fell in love with you will too!"
I stood straighter now, not in strength as I had once assumed but in an effort to ease the pressure off of my ankle. "I can't do this without him. It doesn't matter if I am a full Fledgling or if I have a thousand people on my side. I would be nothing without him, nothing!"
"You are so much more!" He said. His eyes held pity that I couldn't help but reject. "And if you can't see that, I'll have to make you, and when James gets free he'll thank me!"
I knew it was coming but there was nothing I could do. Davis knocked me upside the head and injected me at my stomach. I was out and James was gone.