Black Storm - Red Queen Fan Fiction

Chapter 5 - The Fitter part IV

Be careful what you wish for, Farley thought to herself as she finally left the Barrows to themselves. She had come to them for her own comfort, yet after they had seen Mare enslaved as her mission had failed, Farley felt responsible to offer solace to them instead.

She didn't care if what she said was believable, but Gisa, Ruth and Daniel didn't seem to bother, either. She promised the Scarlet Guard would prevail in the end, she reminded them that the rest of the team - including Bree and Tramy - was still alive and free and anyway, Mare was always up for a surprising sucker punch. Ruth, in turn, blurted out the news about her grandchild, to the elation of her daughter and her husband, who were quick to congratulate Farley. She didn't resent them for this. The Barrows deserved the hope. Yet, it was far more easier for them than for herself to be truly happy about Shade's baby.

As Farley prowled the corridors of the barracks, she devised a plan. She would no longer evade the Tuck officers, presumptuous in their secrecy. For whatever reason Mare's operation went awry, she couldn't let them blame Mare and Cal for it. It hurt to see anyone treated like that, and Mare wasn't just anyone. Farley was well aware how it felt to fail. Not only had she trusted Maven as a Scarlet Guard member, she had decided to show him Naercey as well, condemning the city of ruins and her inhabitants by this.

And how safe was Tuck going to be, now? The Silvers had captured an important member of the Guard, and while the witch queen was dead, there was always a another whisper to interrogate Mare. Farley assumed Tuck wouldn't remain such a large base with a lot of civillians for long. Rather, the Scarlet Guard would turn the island into a perfidious kind of trap. She grinned, for a moment, until she re-focused on her chore. No more delaying, she sighed. She went to the radio station, slightly less crowded during the night, to pass a request for "consideration of her current condition upon deciding the next assignments of Captain Farley" to Command and stated what exactly this "condition" was. Maybe she would simply continue as a medic.

She entered the office of Major Bill Marshall, second-in-command after the Colonel, first thing in the morning. It became of duel of glares to a vital part. Farley didn't give an inch as she explained how profitable the involvement of Silvers would be to the Scarlet Guard. "There is no reason to doubt the loyalty of Calore, sir." she said. "Indeed, an official oath taking, communicated to -"

"The last broadcast turned out to be ludicrously ironic in hindsight," the Major interrupted her with a cynical smile.

"Even more reason to demonstrate that we don't give up. And how have you progressed with assessing the freed Silvers, sir?" Farley insisted.

"You don't communicate with the enemy."

"Well, I did," she retorted. "Sara Skonos, for example, is way more than willing to help our cause. She would go into the thick of battle immediately. And Julian Jacos -"

"Especially Jacos is no one to trust."

Farley sighed. "Julian Jacos's cooperation can be bargained and assured through his nephew and his lover," she proposed with a slightly bad conscience.

The Major smirked at this. Farley moved her head to look at Marshall's lieutenant Philip Cross standing in the corner. He was still uncommonly pretty, despite the ragged R some sadistic Silver had engraved into his left cheek. His face betrayed even less emotion than that of his boss.

"We should not underestimate the avails these Silver, with their abilities and their intelligence, might offer, sir," she repeated. "Especially in regard to the evacuation of the child legion from certain death. Neither should we give up on Mare Barrow. We have freed her from King Maven before."