Evenfall (12 page)

When Adam didn't seem suitably impressed, Carhart shrugged his wide shoulders. "Whether or not you heed the warning is entirely up to you. But just let it be known, even if you think you're fully capable of not letting him get under your skin you may be in for a surprise. What happens after that depends on how you react to him."

Neither of them responded.

The meeting ended fairly quickly, with Adam leaving without a word and Boyd being escorted back to the bunker.

The next few weeks passed uneventfully. Training continued to consume Boyd's days; from physical sparring with David to mental exercises in classes. He listened and took notes where needed but otherwise didn't spend much energy on the endeavor. If he'd had anything else to think of he would have found his mind wandering. He had a tendency to learn quickly, especially anything academic, and that didn't change even with the drastically different subjects.

He had settled into a routine after a point. For that reason, he wasn't expecting to be pulled aside by a guard after deportment training one afternoon. He was told he was to see General Carhart right away. He didn't question the order.

When they arrived at Carhart's office, they stopped at the waiting area. A desk sat to the side, a woman typing at the computer until she noticed them enter. She looked up at them. Boyd didn't pay much attention as the guard explained who they were and the woman eventually used the intercom to announce their presence. The door opened soon after and the guard left Boyd to walk in alone.

The office was larger than he would have expected it to be but not as large as his mother's wing on the upper administration level. The General had it sparsely decorated-- there was a single picture frame on the desk facing away from Boyd. Black and white stills of the former city skyline were in small frames on the wall. They contrasted with the wide floor-to-ceiling windows that spanned the back wall. It showed the fractured cityscape that lay below the Tower and the wasteland beyond that had once been suburbs.

"Boyd," Carhart greeted him calmly.

"General Carhart," he said, shifting his gaze from the window to Carhart. He paused near the desk and heard the guard shut the door behind him.

"It seems that you're going to be our man."

Boyd stared at Carhart. He hadn't been expecting that, especially since as far as he knew the trial wasn't over. "Did something happen to Adam Blake?"

Carhart gave him a wry smirk. The slight narrowing of his cerulean blue eyes contrasted the quirk of his mouth. "Agent Blake lost interest in finishing the trial. He decided that dealing with Sin would be too much effort for very little gain."

"Ah." Boyd stared at Carhart for another moment. "When do I start?"

"When your training is complete. Afterward, you and Sin will be introduced and a meeting will be held for the unit so that you can meet the other members."

Boyd watched him. "Okay."

There was silence and for a moment disappointment was easily read in Carhart's expression. His face was an open book to Boyd, who was used to being able to read even the least expressive of people. The General didn't want some skinny unskilled child to be in his elite unit. He'd wanted the man who'd already put in years as an agent; the man who knew what he was doing and didn't have
years' worth
of training crammed into months.

But Carhart seemed kinder than most people at the Agency and he didn't say any of this out loud. Possibly to spare Boyd or possibly because it didn't matter.

"Well. Good luck to you."

Carhart looked at his computer again and the brief discussion was already over.

Boyd left the office and returned to training. He couldn't help wondering what his mother thought about his progress and whether she was following it at all. He couldn't feel particularly accomplished about becoming the new partner for Sin since he was chosen by default. But that knowledge wasn't going to stop him from attempting to excel at training. He knew no one expected much from him but it was even more for that reason that he at least wanted to avoid those disappointed stares.

Chapter
4

The clock on the wall silently flipped numbers. The digital read flickered slightly now and then, an almost imperceptible detail. The lights buzzed quietly and the chairs they sat in made the occasional squeaking noise when one of them moved.

Carhart and Boyd sat in the small conference room, neither speaking nor looking at the other. It wasn't a purposeful avoidance yet it was welcome, since Boyd wasn't interested in small talk and he knew Carhart wasn't either.

They had been sitting there for eight minutes. Time dragged slowly. Boyd was used to silence so it didn't bother him. For the most part he relaxed his thoughts, sitting perfectly still as he awaited his soon-to-be partner's arrival.

Thirteen minutes passed before the doorknob finally rattled and several guards escorted Sin into the room.

There were six guards surrounding him, wearing full body armor. They looked prepared to go on a full storm and siege rather than simply escorting a single man to another area of the building. In addition to their own safety measures, they had both Sin's hands and ankles shackled. It seemed like overkill but according to the files Boyd had been given access to, Sin had managed to create mayhem under similar conditions on more than one occasion. It didn't seem that much would stop him once he decided to fight.

"This is fucking stupid," was the first thing out of Sin's mouth as he glared from Carhart to Lieutenant Taylor, the head of the guards who was standing next to him.

Carhart's brow furrowed and he stared at Taylor. "Necessity?"

Taylor shrugged and didn't look apologetic. "Marshal Connors stated that all precautions will remain until the Beaulieu boy's training has completed and the final psych evaluation is put through on Vega. It's a lot of red tape but he hasn't been able to roam free for years and Connors isn't taking any chances until everything is in the computer. If Vega causes another mess in the middle of the compound, the Inspector will flip her shit. She still has to conjure cover stories for dead staff with civilian ties."

"Ah." Carhart flicked his eyes over at Sin who looked beyond irritated. In fact, he looked downright deadly.

Despite the fact that the guards seemed more overtly muscular, Sin towered over them. He looked easily 6'4" and despite the fact that his build appeared relatively thin for his height, there was an aura of violence emanating off of him at the moment. The guards appeared to be agitating him and his green-eyed glare focused more than once on two of the larger men in the escort. Boyd recognized them as the two guards he'd briefly seen leaving the fourth floor when he'd arrived with Gerant-- Dennis McNichols and Harry Truman.

"Well I have authorization to use the collar at will, so your presence and the presence of the shackles won't be necessary any longer," Carhart said after another brief pause.

"Considering the fact that his evaluation should be processed within the hour, I don't think they were necessary in the first place unless it was a mere desire to create a spectacle of him in the last possible moment," he added dryly.

Taylor shrugged again, looking unconcerned with Carhart's opinion. His orders had come straight from the top. Carhart was third in command but in this case, his words didn't make a difference.

Harry began unshackling Sin's wrists and Boyd couldn't help noticing that when the guard locked eyes with Sin, his expression looked cruelly amused and he jostled the Senior Agent around more than was absolutely necessary. Sin didn't respond other than a narrowing of his eyes but he looked like a coiled spring that was ready to snap at any moment.

When the restraints were removed, the guards stepped back almost immediately. They looked more on their guard now that the man known as the Monster was released. Harry was the only exception; he continued to smirk. Boyd wondered briefly what the reason was for Harry's attitude but he decided it wasn't important enough to take the time to consider.

"Good day, gentlemen," Carhart said pointedly when the guards lingered.

Taylor nodded but a look of hesitance crossed his face. Only after his eyes moved across Carhart's desk and rested on the activation device for Sin's collar did he turn and exit the office, signaling the other guards to do the same.

"You can sit, you know," Carhart said patiently as Sin glowered at nothing in particular.

"I prefer to stand," was the flat reply. Sin leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, gaze focused on the window. There was something ill-fitting about his clothes-- the shirt seemed too tight and the pants too loose. They hung on his hips precariously due to the absence of a belt but Boyd supposed that he wouldn't have been allowed one on the Fourth.

"If you play nice, you will be able to avoid scenes like that in the future. Your cooperation in this project will ensure that your situation will change for the better. Indefinitely."

Sin scoffed at that. He appeared to be in a very dark mood although it wasn't immediately clear why. It seemed unlikely that a man who was typically kept locked up would react so strongly to being restrained. From what Boyd had heard, Sin was more often than not kept restrained when escorted around the compound. It made Boyd wonder if it had something to do with Harry and his attitude, or the way Taylor had escorted him over.

Carhart leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He appeared completely at ease when dealing with Sin. He was the first person Boyd had encountered who seemed unfazed by the ominous-looking man.

It was another oddity about the entire situation. From what Boyd had been able to gather from overhearing others, Carhart had a strange affinity for Sin. It was unknown exactly why but some speculated it had something to do with Sin's father, who had been Carhart's partner and who had died years ago.

Even so, one would assume that over time Carhart would have seen Sin for who he was. Did Carhart know something about Sin that others didn't? If Sin was the unrepentant, psychopathic killer everyone made him out to be, why would Carhart put so much effort into him regardless of how strong the past friendship may have been?

"The arrangements have already been made for you to have your own quarters contingent on the success of this trial," Carhart was saying.

That comment seemed to draw Sin's interest and his oddly pale green eyes finally focused on Boyd. One dark brow rose doubtfully as he took in the teenager.

"He looks more frail and pathetic up close. When he dies, they'll blame me anyway."

"Likely," was the flat response from Carhart. "So you should see that he doesn't."

Having already accepted that his lifespan would likely be very short, Boyd simply watched Sin in an unmoved manner. His expression remained neutral; a blank-faced stare that took in details of Sin to store and potentially analyze later.

Although he was looking specifically for clues, he couldn't read much in Sin's expression or body language. He didn't usually find it so difficult to get an idea about a person and their personality when he watched them specifically for that reason and didn't particularly care for the fact that he couldn't now.

"The purpose of this is for the two of you to meet before being suddenly thrown into a mission together. Introductions aren't necessary-- you know all about one another by now. Boyd, you will meet the rest of the team in a more formal unit meeting tomorrow morning."

Carhart had mentioned a unit before but never said much about it. He looked over at Carhart, focusing on the man for the first time. "Will I receive more information about the unit?"

Sin's gaze switched back to Boyd and remained there. It was intensely penetrating and hawk-like. The average person would have been unnerved by such an unblinking stare even without the violent history that trailed behind the man. For the most part, Boyd ignored it.

"Yes." Carhart shifted in his seat to access the touch pad that was embedded into the table beside him. "Information about the unit has been withheld until now because although every aspect of the Agency is highly confidential, what we do in my unit is even more so. The sensitive nature of our operations can be sabotaged if the wrong word gets out and there is always a chance of betrayal. Even within our own ranks."

It seemed as though there were many layers to the Agency, which did not come as a surprise to Boyd. A place that fashioned itself after a real pharmaceuticals company in order to be out in public while carrying out highly secretive government missions was likely to have multiple levels of confidentiality.

"What is the nature of the unit?" Boyd asked.

"Are you familiar with the terrorist organization called Janus?"

"No."

"Considering your psych profile states that you have been isolated from the world for quite some time, I cannot say that I'm surprised," the General replied although there was an acrid quality to his tone.

One of Sin's dark brows rose at this statement but otherwise, his intense but inscrutable stare remained unchanged. Carhart flicked something on the touch pad and a holographic image appeared above the table between them. It was detailed and very sharp just like the life-like holograms that Boyd had practiced shooting in training.

The images that appeared were set up similar to a slideshow. They were photographs from the carnage that had occurred during World War III. They showed explosions and bombings in the United States, Europe, Russia, Asia... evidence of once-powerful countries and former allies slaughtering one another for what had turned out to be a ten-year war.

"After the Three Treaties were signed and peace," the word rolled off Carhart's tongue somewhat blandly, "was established between the three different sides, not everyone was satisfied. Millions of people all over the world actually protested the treaties. Rallies were held everywhere with the general consensus that after ten years of carnage and millions of people dead, the three powers were essentially brushing their squabble under the table because nobody was winning. The people were expected to go back to business as usual as if none of it had ever occurred despite the somewhat damning evidence of mass graves, a destroyed environment and internationally poor economy."

A ghost of a smirk appeared on Sin's full mouth.

Carhart flicked something on the pad again and the images changed to show the rallies that he was talking about before finally settling on one. It appeared to be the memorial park in Washington DC but it was a scene of chaos. There were dead or unconscious people strewn around a rectangular area with the remains of a monument in the middle of it all.

"The concerns of these individuals were ignored worldwide. The end result were thousands of groups internationally forming in protest with the goal of either removing the leading government of their countries politically or in most cases, by force. These insurgent groups have grown over time and have actually become a danger to the governments they oppose as they draw in more and more followers. Janus is one of those groups. They started as a small organization of protesters and eventually grew into one of the largest insurgent organizations we have seen so far in history. Their power has spread beyond focusing on the United States and they now work side by side with groups in Europe and Asia to form an army that is dedicated to uprooting the administrations that they deem are unfit."

"Tell him the part about how they're all nothing but terrorists," Sin interjected blandly, his eyes still on Boyd. "Let's not forget all of that Agency propaganda. Otherwise he may just start sympathizing with the bad guys."

Carhart gave Sin a level look before swiveling his cerulean stare back to Boyd.

"Despite their self-proclaimed nobility of wanting to change things for the good of the people, both their method and their intent has changed over time. Perhaps their words were true at the start but now Janus has become very similar to an overgrown and supremely dangerous political party. They want power and they will go about corrupting, infiltrating and murdering until they get what they want. At this point, they have such powerful allies that it is possible their aims will come to pass."

The General indicated the image floating between them. "What you see here was their very first message of opposition. In 2009, on the one year anniversary of The Three Treaties, they bombed the WWIII monument in the National Mall. It turned into a massacre of government officials, military personnel and civilians alike."

Boyd studied the image, looking at the dead bodies strewn around. A woman's arms were stretched in death toward her child lying two feet away and she was missing her lower half. Couples and families and individuals, different ages and races all alike in death.

He considered Janus and the other groups' premise. The war had certainly destroyed a lot, including families. At one time, maybe he would have sympathized with them. After all, the war had stolen his father and Lou's parents. In a way, maybe it stole Lou and his mother from him as well. Maybe without that war his life would not have gone in the direction it had and he wouldn't have spent years closing down bit by bit until there was nothing but a shell left.

Boyd thought about what his mother had said, regarding protecting the world from terrorism and supporting the US government. He took into account the fact that Carhart had said his unit was especially high clearance. His mother had said that the Agency carried out the missions and goals that the world at large could not know about or else it would be taken the wrong way.