<Episode 33>

She could hear the usual noise and commotion coming from the common area as they walked through the hallways. Looking over at Jack she watched for a reaction. Much like she feared he started to shrink back a bit. Good thing they weren’t headed that way, it would have been too much too soon. Gently she took his hand and guided him foreword, he still tried to hesitate. Especially when a couple of Drakan passed them. She gave his hand a quick squeeze when it looked like he was going to take off. “Easy Jack,” she said, “we’re almost there.”

“I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t be here,” was all he said while he scratched his beard he’d grown. He started looking around like he was searching for something, or someone. Rachel quickly grabbed his face and made him look at her.

“We’re all alone,” she assured him. Subconsciously she started stroking his cheek until he calmed down. It’s been little over a month since it happened, and right now all she wanted to see some of that progress Dusty said he was making in public. “Like I said we’re almost there and I know you have to be hungry.”

“I shouldn’t be out,” was all he told her. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“Dusty said it’d be alright for you to get out and walk around for a little bit,” she explained to him again. “Just as long as we didn’t overwhelm you on your first time out. And Melissa said the cafeteria is pretty quiet this time of day.”

“I don’t know,” he said quickly. “They’re going to be there.”

Do not go backtracking on us now. “Our friends are going to be there. Sparky and Arron are waiting for us. Even Emily said she might join us.” She was trying very hard to not sound like she was talking to a child, but was worried it was coming out that way any way. “We can do this some other time if don’t feel like it right now. Just let me know alright.”

Jack looked unsure of himself then he replied, “I… I want to do this. I need to do this.” Rachel wasn’t sure but if it was her imagination or not, but she would swear on a stack of bibles some of his old determination returned to his eye briefly.

Rachel smiled slightly, “That’s the spirit.” Taking his hand again they walked the rest of the way. She stopped by the door before entering, just to give him a couple of moments to prepare himself. When he was ready Rachel led him in. Arron and Sparky were at the table both with a big smile on there faces. She glanced at Jack who suddenly found the floor very interesting. One step at a time she reminded herself. The cafeteria wasn’t as empty as she would have liked, but you couldn’t have everything. At least most of them weren’t staring at him.

“Hi there buddy,” Sparky greeted him.

“Hey man,” Arron said.

Jack returned it with a slightly weak, “Hey.”

“How’s the food?”, she asked as they sat down.

“About the same,” Sparky told her. “I don’t know what it is but the quality has been dipping for the past couple of weeks.”

“Dude, we’re living underground,” Arron said. “What kind of quality are you expecting?”

“Man you’re the rich kid,” he shot back.

“Here we go again,” Arron sighed.

“I’m just saying you should be with me on this one. You’ve gone from the finer things in life to this. I say you demand some better food. For morale if nothing else.”

“Leave Fido alone will ya.”

All three of them looked right at Jack. For a brief moment he looked liked his old self, although to Rachel it looked a bit forced. But Hell, right now she’ll take it. “I have to agree with these two,” she told Sparky.

“You just asked me hear so you can gang up on me didn’t you?”, he joked. “Usually I’d be a tad tee’d off, but I’m just glad my best bud is out of that stuffy ass room. This hole hasn’t been the same without you around.”

“I’ll go grab us some food,” Arron said as he got up.

“Thanks Arron,” Rachel told him.

“The kid’s been taking real good care of you bike,” Sparky told Jack. “Just like it was his own baby,” Jack just nodded. “Hell I think you might have a hard time getting it back.” She was certain he was trying to get a rise out of him, but apparently he wasn’t biting. Then he added, “Of course it’s a shame to just let it sit there. I mean a machine like that needs, no, wants to be out on the streets.”

“You’re not racing my bike,” Jack told him plainly. Sparky looked s little hurt, then he gave her a quick grin. There was a little of his old self in there. And she would wait as long as it took until they were able to pull it out of him. Now if they can get him back fully or not was a question she wasn’t ready to think about yet.

Suddenly he put his hands in front of his eyes to try to hide the fact he was squeezing them shut. He was seeing “them” again. Sparky recognized that motion and looked a little uncomfortable. Over the past months these episodes were of various lengths, right now Rachel was hoping this was one of the shorter versions. Rubbing his shoulder lightly she said, “Just let it pass.” Slowly he removed his hands from his eyes and tried to get his breathing back to normal. “We’re going to beat this,” she assured him.

“I don’t think we can,” he told her while holding his forehead.

“Hey man,” Sparky cut in, “that defeatist talk. You are going to whip this like nobody business.” Rachel was glad he was there trying to raise his confidence. Arron came back soon after with a couple of trays. Jack picked at his food but occasionally he took a bite here and there. Like they planned they started up a conversation, and while they weren’t forcing him to talk every so often they leave him an opening to say something. More times than not he wouldn’t, but when he did he at least appeared normal. Again it looked forced to her but at least he was trying. How did Dusty put it, he didn’t lose his fight he was just hiding it somewhere.

“I don’t believe it,” a new voice said. Rachel didn’t need to see Sparky and Arron’s face to know it was Jason. This was the last thing they needed right now. “I mean I heard, but I didn’t believe it. The all mighty Drakan Killer decided to come out of his hiding hole. It must be a miracle,” he said sarcastically.

“Lay off of him if you know what’s good for you,” Arron said, with a bit of a growl edging his voice.

“So the green whelp,” Jason spat, “think he has teeth. I’ll prove you wrong some other time.” He pushed Arron to the side as he sat right in front of Jack. Rachel motioned for Arron to stay where he was while Sparky put a hand around his arm to hold him back. Then she gave her entire attention to Jack, who was staring at a spot on the table. But she did notice that the hand he had on the table started to ball up only to stop a few times. “So this is what became of you,’ Jason taunted. “You came barging in here all high and mighty, now look at you.”

“We were invited to stay here,” Rachel reminded him.

“Shut up you worthless human,” he snapped at her not taking his eyes off Jack. The corner of his eyes start to crinkle as something flashed in them briefly. “What are you going to do Bug?”, Jason challenged him seeing it too. He shot his head foreword, like he was going to come at him. Jack flinched away and Rachel gave the Drakan a look that could kill. He ignored her as he slowly got up and leaned over Jack. Getting right in Jack’s ear he said, “And to think we were afraid of you.”

Sparky surprised all of them by nearly jumping over Arron and punching him in the mouth. “I think it’s time for you to leave,” he said in a warning tone. Jason smirked as he held his jaw. Then he stood up, shot a last look at Jack and left.

After a minute Sparky sat back down as Arron stared at him. “You actually punched him.”

“Eh, you’re a bad influence,” he said looking mildly embarrassed. “I think I hurt my hand.”

“Somebody had to have told him Jack was here,” Arron looked around before getting up. “If you guys will excuse me.”

“Arron don’t do anything stupid,” Rachel warned him.

“Just making sure the hallways are clear.”

“I’ll make sure he stays out of trouble,” Sparky told them while he got up. He looked confused for a second then added, “Did that just come out of me?”

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and watched them leave. Jack looked like he didn’t know what he was going to do. Rubbing his shoulder again she asked, “You have enough for one day?” She noticed he was looking at his hand, it was still trying to make a fist. “Come on Jack let’s call it a day.”

“I,” he started to say, “I should have… I should have said something. I should have done something.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for that later,” she told him. Of course one of these day she was going to make sure Melissa wasn’t around at the wrong time.

***

Anderson walked through the hallways of the World Inc. Building. Barely acknowledging anybody who crossed his path he was deeply entrenched in his own thoughts. He had walked these corridors many times, with the late senior Allen and by himself, so he had these paths committed to memory. So he could walk any hallway on autopilot and still arrive at his destination. Of course there were times such as now where he was trying to clear his mind, and it was rather busy with one particular subject. After awhile he noticed a person that was now walking with him. Very few people would be this bold, “Mr. Taylor.”

“Mr. Anderson,” his VP answered in return.

“Still no word I assume.”

“I’m afraid not sir. The offer has been out there for a month and no one taken it yet. Maybe they’re afraid.

“Of what Mr. Taylor

“That this might be a trap to find out where they’re hiding.” A possibility he had considered himself more than once. “Or…,”Taylor trailed off.

“I hate when people leave an unfinished thought hanging in the air Mr. Taylor.”

He started slowly, “Or the reason why haven’t heard anything is that Davidson might be dead.”

“He’s alive,” Anderson stated firmly. “I know word of the Drakan Killer death would have spread like an uncontrolled wildfire. Up the reward for information on his current condition. And keep raising it until we have some sort of concrete information on his condition one way or another.”

Taylor stopped in his tracks looking dumbfounded, “Why?”, he ended up asking. Anderson slowly turned around to face him and said nothing. “Why are we going to so much trouble to find out? Davidson is a traitor. If he’s out of the way, even temporarily, shouldn’t we be finding out a way to use this to our advantage?”

Waiting a few moments before answering he said, “Honestly Mr. Taylor, I do not know. I suppose part of me feels responsible for Davidson. I was the one who green lighted him for the Fusion project, because something in my gut told me too. He was the guinea pig that proved that the effort we put into the project was worth it. But mainly I want to know why, because the man I saw here does not sound like the man Mr. Perez saw.” Turning back around he added, “Raise the reward once a week. The information is out there, it’s just a matter of finding the right price.”

***

Emily watched through the window as he sat against the wall. Rachel was still in there with him just talking away. Occasionally he’d say something in return. She stopped when an episode hit, judging from his reaction this one was particularly bad. Rachel held him until it passed then made sure he was alright. Emily saw Melissa’s reflection in the window and nodded. “I can’t believe she’s still in there,” Melissa said out loud.

“The child determination is fueling her at this point,” Emily pointed out.

“It’s getting to the point that we have to force her to take a break. I think Dusty would make more of a fuss about it if Jack didn’t respond to her more than anybody else.”

“The experiences they shared created a bond between them child. I would’ve been surprised if it wasn’t her he was reacting too.” There were a few moments of silence, “But it still troubles you to see him like this, doesn’t it.”

“How can I not be troubled? I know I’m partially responsible for this happening.” After another moment of silence Melissa added, “Usually this would be the place people would say I’m wrong.”

“And I would truly like to tell you that child. But circumstances beyond our control forced us into this situation.”

“Close enough,” she said with a small smile. Emily returned it and went back to watching Jack. “Emily,” she said, “I know your visions are never wrong but from what you told me I think that boat’s been missed for this one.”

“I don’t think it has,” she said after thinking it over.

“I don’t want to argue with you but,” Melissa glanced at Jack and Melissa before continuing, “but he suffered a mental breakdown. If he was going to talk to you he would’ve done it before it happened.”

“And nobody said he was going to talk to me before it happened,” she corrected her. “I just know he will talk to me when he’s ready.”

“I don’t think he’s going to be talking to anybody soon while he’s in this state.”

“I this state no,” she agreed. “But it is a sign he’s going to get better, if even just a little. It all depends on how you look at it,” Emily gave her a light tap on the leg with her cane, “you should know that by now child.”

***

Why wouldn’t they go away and leave him alone. Fading in and out like they didn’t have a care in the world. Wasn’t there anybody else these ghosts could bother for once? All he wanted was for them to leave them alone, how much more of a price did have to pay? Yeah, he’s killed a lot of Drakan since they altered him and he probably deserved this. But when was it finally going to be enough?

Actually what he really wanted was to hit one of these things right in the nose. Just to see if he got any satisfaction from it if anything else. He felt his hand start to close but something inside stopped it… again. Well at any rate it gave him something to think about when the ghost weren’t around. Of course if he did start swinging away at them he’d be freaking the others out even more. He might be out of his mind but he could see how uncomfortable the other were, even Rachel. She might be hiding it better than the others but he could see it.

“Seriously man,” Sparky said as he walked around the empty room, “what do you do in here all day. If it was me I think I’d be planning my escape on day two.”

Leaning his head back against the wall he said, “See ghost, go nuts, plan to take over the world. You know the usual.”

Sparky gave him a nervous grin, “I swear that was almost a joke.”

“OK maybe the take over the world part was a bit much.” He closed his eyes for a bit. When he opened them Sparky looked like he was bracing himself. “No spooks this time, just a little bored.”

“How can you be bored with Mr. Personality around?”

“So I’m not the only one out of his mind then.”

“You’re lucky you’re sick or I’d kick you butt.”

“You’re really far gone ain’t ya?”, he said with a grin.

“Alright Mr. Ha-ha,” Sparky said sounding annoyed, “why are you so funny in here when out there…”, he stopped. From embarrassment or not sure what to say, he wasn’t sure.

Jack answered any way, “Because in here I know who’s real and who’s not.”

“Make sense,” Sparky said absentmindedly, you never know when a Joker going to pop out in his Drakan form. Then I’d have to stop Arron from kicking his ass and that would cause a whole different mess entirely.”

Rachel walked in a moment later carrying a box of some sort. She waved Sparky over to the door. She whispered something to him, but Jack could hear it anyway. “I heard you two talking.” Sparky stated to say something then Rachel added, “Thank you.”

He smiled and looked embarrassed, “Just glad to help out where I can.” Rachel patted him on the shoulder as he left.

She looked over at him and plastered that smile on her face that she had for the past month. He didn’t have the heart to tell her how fake that looked. Then again he was half out of his mind so what did he know. “So what’s with giving Sparky a hard time?”

“It’s Sparky,” he answered.

Rachel sat across from him and he got a good look at the box she was carrying, a game of checkers. “You would not believe how hard it was to find a complete set down here, “she told him. “I mean I found a piece being used to straighten out a table. Then again you really can’t be that choosey about the quick fixes around here I suppose.” She opened the box and started setting up the game, “In case you were wondering why I brought this I thought you could use something to do. You know get your mind off things for awhile. If you’re up to it that is.”

Jack started smiling as a memory came to him, “I’m guessing you’re afraid I’d kick you butt in that wrestling game again.”

This time a genuine smile crossed her lips, “I seem to recall I had you on the ropes when time ran out.”

“And people think I’m crazy.”

She leaned in a little, “The moment I can convince Dusty to find away to hook that system up down here I’ll show you who was kicking who’s butt.” There was a small glint in her eyes for a moment, he wasn’t sure what it was. “So,” she said as she returned to setting up the game, “do you want to be red or black?”

Almost on cue all the red Drakan he’d killed came at him, quickly he told her, “Black.”

***

Despite all his wondering about Davidson he did have a company to run, and a group of rebel he had to lead back into the fold so to speak. Why couldn’t they see what they think they wanted was wrong? One would think they would eventually realize all of this would stop the moment they came to their senses. But every society had its trouble makers he supposed. That’s what made programs like the Fusion system a necessity. Speaking of, he was long overdue for an update.

Walking into R&D he scanned the room for Armstrong. His head researcher was busy going over a set of plans with his assistants, not even noticing he was in the room. Several of the developers got out of his way as he made his way toward the group. Armstrong finally saw him there and said, “Tim, why don’t you take the others and test it out some more.” Breaking away from the pack and met him half way, “What can I do for you Mr. Anderson?”

Getting straight to the point he said, “I wanted to ask about Mitchell. I haven’t received an update in quite a while.”

“Well the bonding process takes time. With Davidson…”

Anderson cut him off, “You originally gave me the impression the Mark two would make the process easier, therefore faster.”

“I do realize that Mr. Anderson, but something unexpected came up. Come with me if you’ll please.” Armstrong lead him to his desk, surprisingly there were some MRI images of a spinal cord on it. “The damage to Mitchell spine was more severe than the medical wing originally thought. While the Mark two would help correct the problem, we’re not sure how much additional work is going to be needed at this point if the legs aren’t getting the signal properly. It’s entirely possible he may have to learn to walk again.”

“Considering who paralyzed him to begin with I’m sure Mitchell would be properly motivated to accomplish that task. If the need arise that is.”

“I’m sure he would,” Armstrong agreed. “Also we came up with an upgrade for the system I was going to run by you.” He unrolled another set of blue prints and gave the non technical explanations to him. Anderson raised an eyebrow in interest in what he was hearing. “Granted, putting it in now would lengthen the bonding period, but we feel it would be helpful in case Davidson got in a lucky shot.”

“I agree with your assessment Dr. Armstrong. Add the upgrade to Mitchell’s system. “I’m sure he would hate to be defeated by a ‘lucky’ shot as you put it.”

***

In what almost become a habit she waited in the common area for the team she set out to come back. Christopher would wait for them in the garage, and she tried to do that a couple of times. It never felt right to her. Then again he could inspire confidence just by standing there. Her, she was lucky she’s been able to hold this thing together for this long. Even now, when nobody thought she was around, she’d hear whispers on how Chris would do such and such this way. Melissa said she wasn’t her brother and had no plans to be like him, but every so often she wished she had a bit of whatever he had.

A growing sensation of satisfaction brought her back to the here and now. A successful raid if she had to guess, but it was edge with something else. She wasn’t sure what it was at this point. It was bad enough when they told her the resistance they’ve been encountering lately had been human, no Drakans. Like Anderson decided to hold off on using those under for now or something. Melissa wasn’t sure if she could handle something else right now.

“The job is complete,” Jason boasted as he entered the common area. A look at the face of some of the others, including Sparky, said something else happened. “We got the supplies you wanted and hurt Anderson at the same time.” That statement could not be good for them in the long or short run.

“You were just suppose to grab what we needed and leave,” she reminded them. Sparky and the others looked right at Jason.

“What did you do?” Nathan asked as he made his way through the crowd.

“I got what we needed,” he said looking smug, “and then I did what we needed to do.”

“And how is blowing up the warehouse something we needed to do?”, Sparky shot him. Melissa and the other around her looked at him. She turned around and rubbed her hands down her face.

“Are you out of your mind!”, Nathan exploded. “Are you trying to attract undo attention to us?”

“Why not?”, Jason challenged. “Let us show the world what we’re willing to do for our cause.”

“And Anderson can and will use that to paint us in an even bigger negative light,” Melissa informed him. “We do not need to give a alpha who secretly agrees with him an opening to come out publically. We are barely holding our own as it is, the last thing we need is for Anderson to get a fresh supply of troops.”

“Then we show them why it was a mistake to join with Anderson to begin with,” he shot back. “What would you have us do, stay hidden in the shadows? Along with being afraid of being discovered by accident?” He looked at the crowd around them and continued his argument, “It’s time we showed them we are not afraid, that we are willing to fight back and take what we want.”

“And give Anderson a bigger target,” Nathan counter angrily. “How many times have I told you, taking him on directly is a sure way to get us wiped out.”

“And what do you suggest old man?”, Jason challenged him. “That we place all our hope and prayers on the metal bug? We know how reliable he is don’t we? Right now you apparent savior is cowering in a hole afraid of his own shadow.” Sparky had to be held back but Jason didn’t see it.

The emotion from the room was so overwhelming she didn’t know something was going to happen until it did. The only clue Melissa had was Sparky seeing something behind Jason and a brief flash of blond hair. All of the sudden a metal pole whipped up between Jason legs and nailed him in the crotch. He went down holding himself and Sparky and a few of the other had a big grin on their face. Rachel was behind him holding one of Jack’s battle staffs with a hateful look on her face. After a moment she said, “You’re lucky I couldn’t find the boomstick,” and walked off.

“Do something,” Jason said in pain as he looked at her.

“You so had that coming,” Sparky said as he stepped over him as Nathan and a few other nodded in agreement.

“Is there something more to this that I need to know about,” Melissa stopped and asked him.

Sparky thought it over for about a second, “Nah, not really,” and continued on his way. “But somebody might want to tell her to disinfect that staff before too long.”

She looked over to Jason who was still on the ground, “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” and walked away in another direction. Despite Sparky’s claim there was something more to that than what she saw. She told herself she would check on it… eventually.