Cinder

6 - Converging Paths

She walked with grace, her movements lithe with the precision only a predator knew. She had been summoned, and her thoughts tried to make sense of why she would have been; as far as she knew, it was not time for her part to play yet.

The door slid aside for her, and she took it to perhaps think that maybe her answers would lie beyond it.

Upon entering, she noticed that nothing had changed; the machinery and systems built over a culmination of several years' planning were still in place as always. He did not trust anyone aside from her or other incarnations of himself in the chamber. This was far too important to the cause to risk any others being made aware of it.

When she came to a stop, she remained silent and awaited her superior's response.

"He has been located."

Her head snapped up attentively as she understood the underlying meaning behind those words. How- how long had it been? A year? More? Less? Time seemed to ebb and flow differently these days, ever since- well, since she was shown the truth.

He had been right. They never should've- she never should've fought.

The voice continued, "You know what must be done. There is no room for error, here; there are only two ways this will end."

She knew. She also did not worry; if their last conversation was anything to go by, she had faith in him and his ability to make the right choice.

He always had ... and he always would.

"Track the flare before its signal fades. I leave the rest to you."

With that, she turned around and exited. She now had her mission, her direction.

She was coming home.

...

Silence descended upon the group as each of them stared blankly at Tobias, unsure of what to say or how to react.

Finally, Davis found his voice. "You- you can't just- you can't-"

Tobias met him with a resigned, but unyielding gaze. "Davis, do you know how much I've given for the fight? How much I've lost? My family, my mind, my body and nearly my life far too many times."

He looked down dejectedly. "Kay was the last thing I had to hold onto, and even she's gone now. Fighting or-"

He swallowed hard. "Or worse. Either way she's gone. The Militia and IMC are gone, Graves is dead, Briggs is dead, almost everyone we knew before is dead!"

He threw his arms into the air hopelessly. "What else is there to fight for?"

Davis didn't exactly have an answer for that. It wasn't until that moment that anyone had considered what he'd truly gone through; years of torture, the death of his best friend, and a life resigned to war and bringing peace to the frontier, only to have that dream shattered time and time again. In more than one way, he'd endured more than anyone else ever had. They were able to finally see that even heroes like him had their breaking point.

They saw him for what he was; a man. No more, no less.

And yet ... Gates had one more card to play.

Stepping forward lightly towards the beaten down shell of her friend, she comfortingly placed her hand on his shoulder. Slowly, she closed the gap between them until it was more of a hug than a pat. He did not resist, but instead allowed her to go about whatever she was doing.