Pathline (28 page)

Rook stood rooted to the spot
.
"
S
he married you?"  His voice came out hoarse.

Malik turned and looked at him
.
"
She hadn't told you
.”  It
wasn't a question, more a realization. 

They stood in silence for a couple of minutes. 

The
admittance
nurse hung up the phone.
"
W
ell it seems as if everything is in order, Malik if you'll follow me I'll take you in to see your wife." 

As they too disappeared behind the doors Rook walked over and collapsed into one of the orange waiting room chairs, elbows on his knees and head in his hands.  About an hour later there was a clamor at the entrance doors and Rook glanced up to see the rest of the unit come into the hospital.  Serk headed towards the
admittance
desk, but Suri spotted Rook in the waiting area. 

"Rook!  Do we know anything, how are they?" 

Blythe came up behind her, the others gathering around.  "Helo said Rune looked pretty bad, have they told you anything?"

They were
concerned;
he could see it on their faces
.
W
hether it was Ash, Nave or Rune that they
were worried
for he didn't know nor care. 
He realized that at that moment he hated all of them. 
So called a
gency
'
heroes
'
,
media supers
the lot of them. 

"They haven't told me anything.  Ask her" he said, indicating the
admittance
nurse at the other side of the room. 

Serk walked away from the group towards the
admittance
desk, most of the others took seats in the waiting room. 

"Where's Malik?" Catha asked, looking around. 

Rook clenched his fists.
"
H
e went in to check on Rune
.
" 

Suri came and sat next to him, putting a hand over his arm.  "I'm sure the doctor will come by soon with an update, then you can go in to see her too."

Rook looked up at her, he knew she meant well, but right now he just wanted her to shut up, he wanted them all to just leave him alone.  He contended himself to silence.  About
ten
minutes after Serk talked to the nurse the doctor was back. 

"Ash is doing well, we just plan to keep him overnight for observation, but he's recoveri
ng pretty
quickly
.  His Defender a
bility is doing its job.  Nave was a bit
graver
, he's
stabilized
but he'll have to be admitted for the time being.  Both he and Rune will be
transferred
to the main agency hospital near NSDA headquarters tomorrow." 

H
elo stood up.
"
H
ow is Rune?"

The doctor looked at him, then at Rook.  "Not well I'm afraid.  She's still in critical condition and the odds don't look good.  I'm sorry but I really need to get back".  He looked around at the group then left them again. 

They were quiet for some time. 

Finally Suri broke the silence.
"I'm sure you'll
get a chance to see her soon" s
he said
,
stroking Rooks arm.

He didn't look at her.
"
O
nly immediate family is allowed in to see critical patients." 

She frowned.
"
B
ut Malik got to go in
.
" 

Rook lo
oked up at the group around him.
"
Y
eah, well that's because she's his wife."
 

The words had their desired effect, the group stood there stunned silent. 
At least no one else knew either
, it was a bitter thought.  He
got up
and walked away from them to stand near the entrance windows.

"She's what?!  You have got to be kidding.  Is this supposed to be some cruel freak humor?"
Catha followed him,
staying a few feet away.

Rook looked at her for a moment.
"
T
hey're
married
.  You don't have to take my word for it
Cath
, the agency vouched for it themselves." 

He gestured back towards the
admittance
desk and nurse, who was intently following the exchange.  As the eyes of everyone turned in her direction she quickly looked away and began busying herself with files.  Catha looked utterly
flabbergasted;
she ultimately turned around and marched out the hospital doors.  The atmosphere was a bit tense after that.

Felix got up after about
five
minutes.
"
W
ell there's nothing for us to do here, I'd better go back and get ready for our flight back to HQ" 

Delph left with him.  About a half hour
later Serk and Helo followed suit after getting another quick update from the doctor. 

After they left Blythe moved closer to where Suri and
Rook sat.  He gave a half-grin. 
"Rune would have loved to have seen Catha's tantrum exit." 

Suri gave a soft chuckle.  "That must have been quite a blow to her ego, girl's used to getting whomever she wants, and she's wanted Malik for ages now. 
She p
robably thought he was just playing hard to get."  Both
she
and Blythe laughed at that. 

Rook smiled at them.  "That girl wouldn't survive a day in my world.  Listen, you two don't have to stay here, go and get some rest before your return flight." 

Blythe looked at Suri
.
"I guess there's no need for us to be here, they'll call if there's any news, come on Suri." 

Suri
stood then looked back at Rook.
"You're not coming back with us are you?" 

Rook shook his head
.
"I agreed to help the agency deal with the hostile Charger, he's been dealt with." 

She nodded sadly. 

Blythe held out his hand
.
"
T
hanks, it was an honor working with you." 

Rook shook his hand.
"
L
ikewise
.
" 

They left.  He
was alone in the waiting room.  He was angry at them all, he knew it was misdirected anger, he needed to give it a proper target.  He heard the admittance doors open and looked up. 
Malik was there, standin
g in the light from the hallway
behind him.  As soon as he spotted Rook he walked over to where he sat.

"They're transferring her first thing tomorrow morning.  The hospital at HQ is the best of its kind in the nation."

Rook sighed
.
"
S
o no improvement then."

Ma
lik ran his hands over his face.
"
S
he just needs
time;
she'll come back from this.  Listen, she thinks of you as family, I'll talk to the hospital staff, get them to allow you visitation.  She'd want that." 

Rook felt a rage surge through him.
He stood and glowered at Malik.
"
D
on't do me any
favors;
I don't need your help.  You're headed back to the agency anyway.  An agency matter dealt in an agency way.  I'm closer to home from here, and I have my own matters to deal with." 

Malik looked at him, surprised by the anger. 

Rook walked to the door and
turned back before leaving.
"
S
he was everything to me once, but I lost her long ago." 

He walked out and looked around, there was a taxi stand near the hospitals main entrance.  He retrieved his things from the agency and got a room at a cheap hotel nearby.  He knew now where his anger should be directed. 
Mana was just a weapon, an expendable one at that, I want the one who pulled the trigger
.  He pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Rook?  You're late on your check in, what happened with the op?"

"Briggs, get everyone together and join me at the location I'm about to send you."

He hung up and sent Briggs the directions of the hotel and his room number.  He started pacing around the room, waiting.  He was grateful he'd decided to have his team come to the op location as backups.  They may not have been u
s
e
able today, but he had use for them now.  Less than
thirty
minutes later there was a knock on his door, he opened it and let his team in.  The six of them settled themselves around the room.

"What happened out there?  Wraith said he saw a med evac team go in."  Briggs asked. 

Wraith nodded, observing Rook.  "Heard them mention that multiple assets were down." 

Rook looked at him.
"
M
anaged to get close didn't you?"

Wraith met his gaze.
"I'm good at what I do, no how about you tell us how bad she is."

The others looked up at that.

"Rune was hurt?"
Krit
asked.

Rook turned away from them.
"
S
he went down hard, docs aren't optimistic." 

There was an intake of breath behind him.  He turned to face them, his face
set in determination.

"Mana was already down when we got to him, bullet to the head, gun left at his side."

Wraith shook his head
.
"
T
here's no way a merc like Mana took his own life, most likely whoever was pulling his strings felt he'd become a liability." 

Rook nodded, leaning back on the dresser behind him.  "I think so too.  I heard voices arguing before I found Mana, there were at le
a
st two others there.  Their movements where too well choreographed. 
Stone, you had the birds-eye-view, I know you were far but you had the best perspective of the playing field.  What do you think?"

Stone rubbed his chin.
"
I'd put money on the hostiles having a Sky Walker in their deck, they moved with a precision that no one
in
the field could have managed."

"I thought as much during the fight.  So that means that, not counting the apparently expendable Charger, this team has a Sky Walker and Shielder working together." 

"And at least one Runner"
Krit
said. 

The others looked to her, waiting. 

"When I was observing the perimeter I was flirting with one of the agency foot guards that had blocked off the area.  I figured I might be able to learn something from him, no disrespect to my intelligence brethren"
S
he said turning to Silas and Wraith in turn. 

They
shook their heads and shrugged.
"
G
o on"
said
Silas.

"Well the guy was pretty useless, but while I was talking to him I noticed something that caught my eye instantly.  Coming down from the hills surrounding the field was none other than the Runner
Quint, can't imagine he'd just happen to be there by chance."

Briggs looked around at her.
"Quint?  Are you certain?"

Krit
nodded.
"
O
h yeah, there's no way I wouldn't recognize his ugly mug.  And I'll say this, Quint rarely works alone, the guy is a lackey, always looking for someone bigger and badder than him to follow around." 

Silas stood and walked to the other side of the room, restless.  "What are the chances the boss wasn't out there today, with them, calling the shots directly?"

"And why take out Mana, why not try to extract him?" Briggs asked.

"Because Mana ended the agency involvement" Dex replied.  "Whoever was behind this wanted to play the agency, they knew a team made up of only mainstream supers wouldn't have a chance against a Charger-Shielder combo, but they weren't counting on your presence Rook.  You forced them to change their plans, and the agency would not walk away without someone answering for the plant attack.  So they killed Mana and left him for the agency to find."

They all thought about it for a moment, it made sense.