Something Collided

A thousand different things ran through his head, but none of them was in any way concrete. In some way, every single train of thought lead to Ed wanting to kill every single bastard that had ever laid eyes on his in any way that did not look friendly. He felt as if his eyes had turned bright red with the blood that had flowed to his head, and Ed knew that Ian could see it. Hell, he knew Ian would probably want to back away and give him some space to take the crossbow that he still had in his hands and use it to smash just about every piece of wooden furnishing in that room to pieces, and if the crossbow were to break, he would probably start using his fists. What Ian had told him was not in any way what he wanted to hear. Then something happened that made Ed snap.

            “I detect an unusual spike in the level of tension building up in the room. How can I assist?” CNet asked over the hidden intercom. This was not it.

            “Redirect your attention to Romulus; we still need the place looked after. Try to get Safu on the line, and inform him that he and Connor should make their way here. ASAP…and ask Abigail that she should keep Liz a bit longer on their little shopping spree.” Ian ordered CNet, and the AI acknowledged. This did not make him snap.

            An awkward silence followed and Ian tried to contemplate whether Ed had taken it badly, or even less so. A few moments passed and Ian’s attention was yanked away from Ed’s solid, emotionless face toward the door.

What followed made Ed snap.

Safu and Connor arrived at noon. Ed’s Lexus wasn’t in the huge garage that CNet had cleared out for the agents to use, and neither was Ian’s Subaru. What did occupy one of the many parking spaces, however, was JR’s little Beetle, as well as De Beer’s BMW – the car that he had recently bought in celebration of his wife’s birthday. Before everything turned a 180, anyway.

            “Why the hell do they call me and ask me to come as soon as possible, only to be fucking told that my services are not needed any longer?” Connor exclaimed. CNet merely responded with an “I do not understand human beings myself” which only made Connor even more annoyed.

            “Be still,” Safu said and closed his eyes.

            “What the hell are you on about?” Connor exclaimed again, but soon gave in and sighed heavily. He followed the huge agent before him, and closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again.

            “Better?” Safu asked with a smile.

            “Yeah yeah. So what now?”

            “Now, we kindly ask this AI to explain.”

            “I can not,” CNet responded, almost immediately.

            “What do you mean?” Safu inquired, and folded his arms.

            “I can not recall the events that led up to this moment.”

            “What the hell does that mean?” Connor practically yelled, then closed his eyes again and breathed, just as Safu had instructed him moments before.

            “Commander Ian had asked me not to.”

            “And now I am… asking you to inform us of what had happened.”

            “I can not do that.” CNet then paused for a while. “I can however, inform you that Ian’s last digital signature was two seconds ago at their house. Edward had collided with oncoming traffic. Three Others vehicles have been destroyed in the chase.”

Dev had been given a day to rest and prepare for his trip to Dubai, and had been sent to a sad piss-job of a motel somewhere along the interstate to do just that. He was no fan of America, and even less of a fan of the CIA. He could have tried to run, but he knew they practically owned him for as long as he was on American soil. He knew he would regret the choices that he had made eleven years ago, but he also knew that if he hadn’t, Ian and Ed would probably have ended their careers at the Agency long before North Africa.

            “This is just life’s way of showing me that it also has something to stick back up my ass,” Dev said as he read the documents given to him by the SoD. He had been drinking coffee ever since the red head had offered him some. That had been 10 cups ago.

            “Come on,” she said as she entered his motel room, getting straight to the point. “We’re leaving a bit earlier than expected.”

            “And why is that, if I may ask?” Devon said as he got up and got ready. He had expected this to happen – just like before. He looked at Evelyn as she went through the documents one last time, even though they would have plenty of time on the plane to Dubai. He still could not place where he had seen her before. It definitely wasn’t from back when, and it sure as hell was not with his time working with the CIA, or the FBI. She noticed him staring at her and looked up with a smile.

            “I’m not that kind of a girl, Special Agent.”

            “I’m not that kind of a boy. Now tell me again why we’re going to Dubai; as far as I know, our target will still be in Brazil for the next five days.”

            “You perform best when not under pressure. When in Dubai, everything can be planned out and set up accordingly. With you, it was always a matter of time.”

            “And with the CIA it was always a matter of extremes…”

            “Would you rather have us ask the FBI for assistance?” Evelyn’s long red hair flowed freely. She had removed the bands that held her hair in a ponytail unconsciously while reading the documents.

            “What the hell kind of a question is that?” Dev asked, rolled his eyes and put on his jacket.

            “Scared, are we?”

            “Please woman. Let’s get the hell out of here; I haven’t stayed in a room this low-end since The Fall.”

JR dressed in a brand new pair of jeans and an old plaid shirt that he had been given by his mother for his last birthday. His newfound playmate and proposed sparing buddy was asleep on top of his bed, butt naked. They hadn’t felt the need to get into the bed since it was hot as hell out and both of them was dripping with sweat.

            “Where you off to?” he heard as he slowly opened the door so he could leave. “Remember to leave the money on the end table.”

            JR smiled embarrassingly, closed the door and made his way back to her where he sat down and stroked her cheek. “I didn’t mean to leave you feeling like you’ve just been used.”

            “I know. In a way we used each other.”

            JR’s smile had gone from a bright red one, to one that seemed genuinely excited. “I’ll be gone for a while. Chase you when I get back?”

            “Chase me when you get back,” she said and closed her eyes again.

            JR thought about kissing her, but decided against it. He needed to play it cool this time. He also needed to clear his mind and think things through. He had to get to Ed or Ian and tell them how he has been feeling all this time, and if not them, he had to talk to someone. Anyone. Abigail. Though that thought jumped out the window and left a blazing trail of hot red tar behind as he saw Safu and Connor sprint down the hall, into the garage, Connor’s Porsche, and drove off as fast as the Carrera 4S would allow.