Andromeda

Chapter 8

This just couldn't be happening. Was Adam really going to leave? Where was he going to go? What was he going to eat, drink, and even do?

Everyone was still looking at the door after Adam. They were hoping it would just open and he would walk back in and tell them this was all a joke and he was going nowhere. But, unfortunately, the door didn't open.

Ali looked at Erik and sighed. He looked at her too when he felt her gaze and she saw his eyes were filled with tears. She shook her head. No. She couldn't let this happen. Ali walked over to the door and opened it. She was about to go out when she heard Xavier's voice.

"Where do you think you're going?" He sounded angry. She turned to him with her eyebrows raised. "Umm...wherever I want to?" She said more like a question. "I am either going after him or with him...I'm still not sure." She shrugged.

"But you can't do that!" Amanda said. "You can't leave too! We need you!" Her eyes were wide but Ali shook her head. "Amanda, look-" She was about to finish but Luke interrupted her. "No, Ali, you look. You can't abandon us for that jerk!" He shouted and Erik turned to him furiously. "How did you call him?" He shouted too. "He called him a jerk, and he deserves that!" Amanda shouted at Erik too and was about to say something else but Ali interrupted them all.

"Okay, everyone, stop!" She screamed. "I'll try to convince him to come back!" She said now calmly as the others had stopped shouting. "And if I can't..." She said with a sigh. Thomas looked at her and shook his head. "I told them you would give up on us..." He said and turned around, walking over to the window.

"Fine. Go after him, it's your choice. But if you decide to go with him..." Mark said and everyone turned to him. "...at least make sure he's okay." He finished silently and Ali nodded. Nobody else said anything so she left the room and closed the door behind herself.

She walked down the stairs and into the club. She saw Adam at the bar with a glass of Jack Daniel's in his hand. She walked over to him, sat and next to him and ordered herself a beer. When Adam heard her voice, he turned to her and rolled his eyes before turning again to the counter.

"Don't tell me you're here to try to change my mind, Ali." He said kind of annoyed and cold. "Yes, I am." She said and he turned to her again. "Well, you can't!" He shouted and she raised her eyebrows. "Okay, do not shout, please," Ali said and when she received her beer, she took a sip of it before turning back to Adam.

"Look. I know things between you and Alex are...awful." At least she didn't sugar-coat things. "But everyone up there needs you! Mark needs you, Xavier needs you...I need you." She said silently and that made him calm down a little bit. He rubbed his neck and sighed.

"Okay, fine, I'll make a compromise for you. You can come with me." He said with a shrug and Ali frowned. "Wait, what? That's your compromise?" She said confused. Adam smiled and rolled his eyes, leaning towards her.

"Come on! We'll seize the day together, we'll start a new life, we'll clear our names!" He said and that started to seem quite tempting to her. "How many times have you felt in the right place with these people?" He nodded up which had to show her he meant the upper floor. She sighed. "Never..." She shook her head and looked at the ground but then looked back at him. "But...where are we going to go?"

Adam thought about that for a second then shrugged. "We could live on the street until I earn enough money to buy an apartment and..." He saw that she still wasn't convinced enough for he used his strongest card.

"You can't tell me you aren't sick of killing, of blood all around you?" He said and she just gave in. "Okay, fine!" She said and they both smiled. "It's still daytime and if we go now, we could find a shelter for the next few days or something..." She said silently and he nodded. They looked at each other with hope. They were really going to start over, a new page. And they were going to do it together. And at that moment, nothing else mattered.

***

One hour later, they were walking down Parliament Street, talking.

"So...tell me something about you I don't know. Something about your past." Adam said with a smile. He knew that she became a killer for a reason and that reason was obviously in her past. He knew that this might be a sensitive subject but he was going to live with her. He had to know something.

Ali shrugged. "Well...you know I had a brother, Jack. We had a home...until he became 18. Then we started living on the street. He found himself a job but he had no education and he didn't earn enough money for a home. We did have food but we lived in a box. Or even under it, if it rained." She made a small pause. "And even with that in mind...we somehow afforded two tickets to London and when I was 9, we came here to live. Here, he found a better job but still couldn't afford an apartment. Then...one day he said he was going to the market to buy some things and..." She looked around and saw two guys who looked like following them.

"I saw them too," Adam said when he felt Ali's gaze on the guys. "But they haven't done anything yet, so...I don't think we should bother with them." He said with a small shrug.

Ali nodded. "Yes, you're right. It's just...they look really familiar..." She said silently and suddenly had another flashback.

***

"Jack, come on! Don't leave her with us, you don't know what could happen!" The kid laughed. Ali didn't know him. I mean...them. They were two. And her brother was going to leave her with them to go to the market. Usually, he took her with him, why did he have to leave her now. It was the anniversary of their mother's death. Four years.

"It's okay, Ali. Don't listen to them, they are good boys. They just like joking." Her brother smiled at her. "I'll see you later, Ali." He said and started walking in the direction of the market.

Ali turned to the two boys. "I'm Ali and I'm 10." She extended her hand for one of them to shake. The bigger boy did first. "I'm Steven and I'm 12. This is Oliver. He is 11." He pointed to the other boy and smiled. "You are really pretty," Oliver said and that made Ali blush. "Thank you." She said silently.

Steven sat on the ground. "You know that Jack isn't going to the market, right?" He said without a smile. "You've got enough food, why would he buy more?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Steven, don't. We promised not to tell." Oliver said and Ali looked at him confused. "Tell what?" She asked confused. "Do you really want to know where your brother is now and what he is doing?" Steven said with a smile. "Steven, don't!" Oliver shouted. "And why not? Doesn't she deserve to know?" Steven asked and Ali smiled. "Tell me, I want to know!" She said enthusiastically.

Steven bent towards her and whispered. "Your brother has been seeing your uncle for the past month. That's why you moved to London. Because he wants the package back." He made a small pause. "He told us that Mark wants something awful in return and he would rather kill himself than do it." He said silently.

Ali's eyes went wide and filled with tears. "What?" She said starting to cry. Oliver rolled his eyes. "See? That's why we shouldn't have told her!" He stood up, went over to Ali and hugged her. "That's actually where he went." He said. "He's going to try to convince Mark to another deal."

Ali turned to him. "And if not?" The boys didn't answer her and she started crying again.

***

Ali looked at Adam. "I know them. Follow me." And she started walking towards the not so crowded part of where they were. It was between two buildings that made a really small street. They walked further into it, knowing that the two guys are still following them.

"Before you ask me anything, I stole it from Alex," Ali whispered to Adam and turned around, raising a gun and loading it, pointing towards one of the guys with it. She grinned happily.

"Mask off, Steven."