Agent 38: I Never Forgot You

Chapter 46: Epoch

     Alex had never, ever thought he'd be in a situation like the one he was in now.
     Sitting on the ground next to his friends, the same friends whom he'd thought had died days ago. Nearly dead- no, dying- and unsure if he'd ever see the light of day again. Bleeding from a hundred, or maybe a thousand different wounds, eyes too lazy to see, body too weak to move, lungs too frail to breathe. Each second brought on another wave of pain, another strike to his life, another precious second off the clock.
     In front of him was the man that had been just a few seconds away from killing him. The man who'd nearly stolen his life away from him.
     And next to the man was his sister, Alex's beloved, striking him.
     Each flick of Sarai's wrist brought about a clean, crisp slap! as she did what Alex had been wanting to do for ages now. He took the tiniest amount of comfort in Gabriel's face, seeing the same thing he'd been feeling in the man's eyes; fear.
     Despite this, he still flinched every time she hit him. He'd gotten used to the noise of force against skin by now, his skin, that the mere sound of it made him flinch, as though his very soul was expecting to be struck.
     "Say it!" Sarai suddenly yelled, making him flinch again. "Tell me how you were right and I was just waiting to be helped by your supreme intuition. Say it to my face- no, say it to his. Really look at him and tell me that you did this for my own good. Go on; convince me."
     Gabriel stared at him, those awful maroon eyes piercing into his soul. He could see the fear in the man's face, the sorrow written in the lines of his grim scrutiny, the spite humming through his posture. And he knew that Gabriel could see his agony, see the pain he'd inflicted.
     And Alex knew, somehow, that the man carried not a drop of remorse for it.
     "Say it, Gabriel!" Sarai cried. "Tell me you don't regret it. Tell me!"
     Alex glared at the man. To him, to Sarai, to everyone in the room, this was a test. The Octoling knew it, too.
     And yet, somehow, he also knew how to fuck up his last chance.
     "I don't regret it," Gabriel hissed, never breaking eye contact. "not one bit."
     Alex felt a sudden burst of rage in his chest, pushing past every other sense in his body, sending adrenaline pounding through his veins as he tried to stand. Aaron held him down, and he watched restlessly as Sarai's face twisted with fury and she shoved Gabriel down into the ground.
     I should've killed him, Alex thought. I should've killed him months ago back at Mom's house. I should've killed him the moment I met him all those years ago. He should be dead.
     Sarai grabbed Gabriel by the collar. "Get up; you're coming with us."
     Alex felt a dizzying rush of panic. Coming with them? Why? The man had almost killed him and Sarai was just... fine with that? What would happen during the ride home? What would they even do with an absolute psycho like Gabriel?
     "What?" Aaron shouted from behind him, voicing his thoughts. "Are you serious? He just-"
     "If we leave him, then he'll just keep being a threat." Sarai explained. "If we take him with us, then we're neutralizing the whole group."
     "If we take him with us, then he'll just make it an awful drive back," Callie said, brows furrowed in disagreement. "and we don't have the time to worry about him when we've already got a whole load on our hands."
     "I don't care." Sarai glanced down at her brother, disdain written in the tension of her shoulders. "We'll tape him to the roof if we have to. If he makes a fuss, just toss him out of the car and into the desert; see how strong he is then."
     Alex looked down and gently rubbed his eyes; the whole world around him looked awfully blurry. All of a sudden Sarai was kneeling in front of him, body warm as he hugged her tight, and he had to keep from screaming when he felt the glass in his shoulder crack again. He could feel tiny bits of it squirming around as he moved, worming deeper and deeper into his body, and suddenly felt incredibly lightheaded.
     "What was that?" Sarai asked, pulling away slightly.
     "My shoulder," he muttered, struggling to keep his eyes open. "it's glass."
     "What do you mean, 'it's glass?'"
     "In my shoulder," he clarified. "there's glass in my shoulder."
     He felt her slowly turn to Gabriel. "You stabbed him?" she shouted.
     "He was beating me!" Like he didn't start it first, Alex thought. "What did you want me to do?"
     "You know what?" Sarai screamed. "I don't even wanna hear your voice anymore! Just shut up already!"
     "But-"
     "Shut up!"
     The room went silent for a while. His hearts slowly throbbed in his ears, sluggish and unbothered, as though their job was no longer to keep him alive, but just to keep beating.
     Sarai gently tugged on his shoulder and he bent a little, her hands sliding down his back and stopping near the wound in his shoulder blade. The skin around it was horribly sensitive, and he could feel every single movement of her fingers as she cautiously peeled the edges of his shirt off from around it.
     The silence grew tense, urgent, and he felt another person's breath on his back as someone knelt down beside him.
     "Jesus," Marie's voice whispered. Another set of palms landed lightly on his shirt. "how do you- how does that even happen?"
     "Can you get it out?" Sarai's voice.
     "I... no." Alex felt chills dragging down his back. "No, I can't."
     A deep, trembling breath from Sarai.
     "Guys, we should probably get out of here." Callie. Her voice sounded scared, strained, as though holding back tears. "I don't trust this guy to not call his goons on us."
     "How do you expect me to do that from here?" Gabriel protested.
     "Shut up!" Sarai barked, making him jump. "Would you just be quiet already? God!"
     "Make me!"
     Suddenly she stood. Alex squeezed his eyes shut, her footsteps tapping away.
     "No, no no, wait, I was–"
     Slap!
     "Better?" Sarai hissed.
     No response.
     He opened his eyes and looked up at Gabriel; another, even redder handprint sat innocently on his cheek. The man's face was bloodied, bruised, swollen– it made Alex wonder just how awful he looked right now.
     All of a sudden Aaron was crouched down in front of him, a hand on his shoulder. "Can you stand?"
     Alex hesitated, unsure of how to say "no, probably not" in the least discouraging way possible. He studied Aaron's eyes, the complete fear hidden within them, before turning his gaze on Sarai's brother lying on the ground far behind them.
     How did it get this bad? He thought, staring at Gabriel's face, twisted in fury. A long time ago, that same face would have been smiling at him, grinning as they escaped the Metro. Just a few years ago, he and I were friends. What did I do wrong?
     "Alex?" Aaron's voice called, maybe more than once, dragging his train of thought back to him.
     He turned his gaze back to his friend, mind fogging. "Sorry, what?"
     Aaron pursed his lips as though he was trying to not make a face. "Can you stand?"
     Alex felt fatigue eating away at his energy, pain dulling his thoughts, but nodded anyway. "Sure."

     Gabriel had never, ever thought he'd be in a situation like the one he was in now.
     So, so awfully close to victory– mere seconds away from it. Finally, after all his efforts, all his tears and all his pain and all his careful, cautious planning, he would've won.
     But then Alexander's moron friends had showed up and completely thrown off his plan.
     Now they were here, all of those hopeless idiots he'd been trying to get rid of. They were here, helping the one man he'd been so, so close to silencing forever.
     And now, as he sat there on the ground, beaten and bloodied, he couldn't help but think, I should have killed them all.
     Gabriel rubbed his face. How could he get out of this? They had him tied up in a knot, a horrid knot that he wouldn't be able to get out of. Him, of all people! Gabriel had always known what to do; he'd had to learn everything on his own. He had always figured things out.
     I just have to do it one more time.
     Gabriel stared down at his hands. Splotches and stripes of green lay streaked across his fingers, soaked into his rings, splattered on his face. I could try fighting my way out? He thought. Alexander wouldn't be hard to beat anymore. The rest could be disposed of easily. Maybe not Sarai, but... I wouldn't hurt her. Not for now, at least. Besides, with all her friends dead, she'd have no other choice but to choose me.
     For a moment, it seemed like maybe, he'd have another chance. A slim, unsteady chance. But, assessing his current state, Gabriel knew he'd never be able to do it.
     A thought occurred to him suddenly.
     Under his desk, hidden in one of the cabinets, was a string.
     Pulling this string would trigger a system he'd put in place that would ring a bell in every room that housed his men; their quarters, the (very run-down) cafeteria, the barracks, and a few of the hallways.
     From there, his men would do what they'd been taught and either come find him or neutralize whatever threat they found. It was, in his honest opinion, an incredibly well-planned system.
     The only pothole in this road was that Gabriel wasn't sure if he could trust his men to do the job. They had failed trying to catch one man who could barely walk– how could they possibly stand a chance against three more, much stronger people?
     Nevertheless, it was the best (and only) option.
     Now, one more problem.
     How do I get there?

     It was a long, painful, tedious process, but Alex had finally stood up. Aaron held him by the shoulders, explaining what they would do now, where they would go and how fast he would need to walk, when Alex spotted something out of the corner of his eye.
     Halfway across the room, crawling toward the exit on all fours, was Gabriel.
     Alex looked around; Aaron was still focused on him and Sarai was talking with the cousins. Nobody seemed to notice that the man who had nearly killed him was getting away.
     "Alex, listen," Aaron said, giving him a gentle shake. "we have to get you home."
     "But-" he tried.
     "No, Alex. You're like, two seconds away from shaking the Grim Reaper's hand." His friend interrupted. "Please just listen."
     "Aaron, he's running away!"
     The Inkling's eyes went wide and he whirled around just as Gabriel bolted out the door.
     "No!" Sarai shouted. She broke into a sprint and chased after him. "Gabriel! Get back here!"
     Instantly everyone else dashed out. "Stay here!" Marie cried.
     And then he was alone, left rooted to the spot, the only noise his ragged breathing.
     Alex staggered to the doorway, each movement sending sparks of pain through his body. He caught himself on the frame with a wince; his hands were aching from being curled for so long, and his knuckles were completely torn.
     He peeked his head around the corner, squinting. His seeing eye was awfully swollen, limiting his vision to just a few inches in any direction, which wasn't exactly helpful. There was no sign of his friends anywhere.
     "Sarai?" He called, his voice barely audible. No response.
     A little bubble of fear popped in his chest. Where had they gone?
     Somewhere far away, he heard bells ringing. Quiet and haunting, creating a symphony of soft tones as they echoed down the halls.
     Just as he was about to step out, he felt something cold and deathly sharp against the base of his neck. Alex's breath caught in his throat and he stopped, trembling.
     "If you want to keep your life, and I'm sure you do, then you're going to keep that little mouth of yours shut and come with me."

ya'll that took SO LONG
im so sorry for the wait bros i've been literally so busy i hate midterms
anyway, i hope you guys enjoyed
again, feel free to correct me for amy grammatical errors/typos, i will be very embarassed when i read this over again and i see any mistakes
anyhow love you guys byeeeeeee
Word count: 2150