The Timeservers

Chapter 64

New York City, New York

The Docks

December 20, 227 P.F.E

0300 hours

"And you guys think I'm a mess,"Tatiana giggles. She scoots over and tries to get the bottle from the table, almost toppling it before getting a good hold of it. Kelly plucks the bottle from her hand and puts it on a shelf too high for Tatiana to reach, especially in her drunken state. She grumbles and allows herself to collapse back against the wall.
"Sweetie, you are a mess," Viacomforts.
Tatiana snorts, but she doesn't say anything. She just crosses her arms and watches the fun.
"Anyway, you didn't forget about that night." Via crosses her arms and tries to confront Kelly. It's hard when he's much taller than her.
Kelly tries smiling and lifting up his pinky. "Pinky promised. Not going to forget. That's kind of the problem. Also, your being drunk doesn't help. You have no filter and you're being really cruel. Supporting May or Sophia or whoever she is isn't good for me. It's killing me. Not really a person anymore and that part of my reasoning for liking you was because you liked Leo. Thought there'd be no chance for me and liked it. Didn't want you to want me back!"
Via and Kelly glare at each other for a minute; both ready to fight, maybe even itching for it.
"Kiss! Come on, just kiss already!"Tatiana calls.
"Tat, other room! Please, a little privacy."
"If you want privacy you're going to have to be the ones to walk because these puppies aren't going to support my weight anytime soon," Tatiana says, slapping her legs. "Also, is the privacy for kissing or so that you can keep ripping each other apart? The fighting is fun and all but I just want this whole romance thing to resolve itself already so I can stop caring."
Via growls then latches on to Kelly'sarm and drags him to the next room over, slamming the door as she does. She paces to one end of the room, then back, trying to burn off some energy. When her feet start hurting she stops, braces herself against the wall, and starts a struggle with the heels she'd put on. They weren't tactically efficient but they were cute and pretty and she wanted to feel both in case she couldn't feel smart.
"You look nice; by the way. You'd look even better without the mask," Kelly says, quietly.
"No, no. Don't say something like that to me. Don't start talking to me like I'm just someone else who you string along because 'they like it'. Don't talk to me like I'm just another strategy for you to avoid your own pain. You don't have any power over me; Phoenix. You can't order me around even if you are my superior officer. I don't have to listen to you. Leo actually told me that the best recruits for this position are the ones who break the rules and protocols. Guess who's going to be one of the best recruits ever? Screw rules! Screw laws! Screw this!" Via tosses her shoes in the corner and then rips off the mask that she had forgotten was there. She tosses the mask at Kelly, figuring that he would appreciate it. She stalks over to the corner and then faces the wall, unwilling to cry in front of him and not wanting to cry in front of Tatiana either.
"Sorry."
"Was it all just some lie or plot that your sister came up with? Make friends with me; get me close so that I'll do whatever crazy borderline extremist thing you want me to. Are you guys just going to leave me like May's going to leave Leo? I know I'm stuck with it now, but I'd like to know." Via tries to fight the crying that's making its way into her voice but by the end, she can't hold on to it and she has to swipe at her face with her sleeves.
"No. Our friendship with you wasn't a plot. Nothing from yesterday was some plot."
"But you refuse to be with me."
"Do you want some lame excuse? Don't want to screw up our friendship? Leaving soon, so let's not start anything. We've both been so critically wounded to our cores by our disasters of family to the point where neither of us would be able to sustain a healthy relationship if we tried? Have a few more, but you probably get the gist. Maybe we shouldn't try to be anything more. You didn't even think about wanting to be with me until you thought there was interest on my part, right?"
Via sighs and shame starts spreading all ugly and sludgy through her. "No, I didn't."
"There's a nice guy in here, when around close friends. Nice guys finish last. That's okay. We'll be gone in a few days. Leo will be all yours soon. Hope you're happy together."
"No, we won't be. I should have accepted it long ago, but I'm going to be alone for a long time. Maybe forever. Leo is always going to belong to your sister. As long as he knows she's out there, even if she's May, he's totally hers. I saw it. I hope you find someone. I hope you find yourself. I hope that you stop letting your sister hurt you. She's your ultimate Sophie's choice. She's Sophia's choice. Maybe you'll find that girl who can tame you. I'm sure that she'll be wonderful, care about people, good- not just good enough, good. I hope that she's nothing like your sister. I hope you can love each other."
The white didn't work.
Via feels a hand on her back and sniffs. "V,... thank you."
"I'm going to go check on Tatiana. We don't want her to get into any trouble. She can get into a lot of trouble. We also left her alone with that bottle of alcohol. We're so dumb." Via takes a deep breath, trying to make it not look like she's been crying and choking her tears and trying to fight them back with the energy she has left.
"V, you're the smartest person at the Spire."
Via opens the door and stops. Tatiana's gotten in trouble alright. Barkley, the bartending one, is hovering over her, some cloth dripping with liquid in his hand. "Get away from her!"
Via rushes him, her first strike missing and her depth perception off. Barkley manages to land a blow to her stomach, doubling her over. She closes one of her eyes like she had to training. She'd had to train blindfolded and with one eye closed just in case. Now she uses it. She attacks; flying at him with fists and all the fury building inside.
She's about to beat him, but a barely conscious Tatiana gets in the way. Tatiana tries to help but in the mess of limbs that a fight can turn into she grabs Via's leg instead of Barkley's. She pulls it out from under her, sending Via to the floor.
Barkley drops beside her and presses the rag in his hand against her mouth to the point where she can barely breathe and each breath burns with whatever chemical is on the rag.
Via's sight starts to get hazy, black around the edges. The last thing she sees before blacking out completely is a glowing red spear flying at Barkley.