Phact took a chance and powered down finally. She
still didn’t fully understand how those rings worked so the trust in her cell phone was higher.
When Xanthus picked up, Delilah was working to keep herself calm. When he told her he was at Lena’s place, she considered quickly hanging up.
When he told her why he was at Lena’s place, her voice might have hit levels that some considered glass breaking.
That was thirty minutes ago.
Now Delilah instead stood in the entryway of the two bedroom apartment Lena lived in. Her hostess looked tired as she opened the door but cast a warm smile before quickly making a dive at the escaping cat.
“Sorry to interrupt. I just needed to talk to Xan…” Delilah stepped back from the cat.
“Delilah, please. As long as you can forgive me for being a working hostess and keep him from walking around, everything is fine.” Lena smiled, clearly noticing the woman’s hesitation toward cats. “Senshi of Doves doesn’t care for felines?” It was a half smile, half amused grin.
“I know I know.” Delilah was trying to hiding the embarrassment about it as she slipped in.
--
“Send a cake with a file.” Xan called, mostly joking as he contributed to the conversation. “Or some healer senshi and someone who knows how to remove a cast because I'm going to loose it or Lena is or be both are.”
God he was trying but God the -situation- was trying. All the elation of getting back on the bike was being ground down in degrees. “But in the meantime there are cookies.” He added with a sigh. This wasn't about the damn ankle though; or his absolutely caustic tendencies in frustration. It was about Delilah and whatever had happened.
“What's going on? Did you find something?”
He hadn't even gotten to tell her about the fountain yet, and he wondered if she'd found something equally unusual. Had she? Or was his just a strange anomaly and he'd never find another piece of validation.
------
“Oh yea...I found something alright.” Delilah slipped past Lena who in turn shut the door behind her, put Voyager back on the ground and returned the the armchair that clearly hadn’t been left in some time. Several cups of coffee and tea were piled around it as well as notebooks, pens, and of course a laptop with the screen glowing brightly.
Lena had given up her spot on the couch for Xan’s not only comfort but elevation ability. Besides, the man needed to get out of bed when he wasn’t high on painkillers. She also refused to move the TV into the bedroom.
“But I don’t think it’s as good of news as you might be hoping for.” Delilah called back again, clearly not sure if she was allowed to sit or not. This was Lena’s home after all. A quick glance back at the older woman told her that she should assume comfort.
“Delilah, please. As long as you don’t upset the felines, you will be fine. Voyager will try to snuggle with you but I have no idea where Jo is…” Lena’s statement was in a half question as she glanced towards Xan about his cat. “And honestly, any news is good news. We have been so out of the loop the past few weeks that sometimes I forget there is a world out there that doesn’t involve my kitchen and a mop.”
Taking that as an all clear, Delilah found a corner of the couch and sat down. She was clearly still on edge though as she kept towards the edge of the couch.
That didn’t escape Lena’s notice as she pulled her laptop back into her lap and resumed the fateful clicking of keys.
“Well um...Do you remember that Gany Knight who knew so much about the Rift?”
---
“Check the laundry... or over by the pants. She was trying to get into my shirts so I’d try the laundry first.” She was slow to adjust on some fronts, the old dustmop of a cat, and sunshine and familiar laundry were some of her go to comfort places.
“Yeah…” he called back, trying to figure out how best to transport cookies to where Deliliah was, thought better of stuffing them into the basket of the fascinatingly odd little scooter that he was using to keep weight off his ankle, Easier than trying to swing crutches around with the cats. She could, he guessed, get up and get her own, and he made his way out to the living room. “Gevaudian. Used to be Wolframite right?” He asked, frowning cautiously. “What about him?”
He remembered being happy for him, for both of them, trying to remember who’d gotten them out but it didn’t jump to mind. He was fairly sure they too had been brought to a breaking point by… similar persons that he had, but …
Delilah looked… upset. Or nervous. Or both. And he didn’t like the places his imagination was jumping to. Had Gev re-corrupted? Was he dead? Injured? Had he run foul of Castor and been killed by HIM or put in the hospital? He wouldn’t be shocked by any of those answers, and they were the foul ones that jumped to mind. Any of them might explain why she looked like she was trying to brace the room for a grenade.
-----
Seemingly content with the answer that their clothes would be covered in cat hair, Lena quietly resumed her clicking. Xan would be able to tell it was slower than it had been about 20 minutes ago when she seemed to be on energizer bunny mode. It was her way of half listening, half thinking. When he had gotten up though, she had begun to slow down making sure that Voyager did not try getting into the basket...again…
“Well…” Delilah started, clearly trying to decide where to begin. “I knew he retained more memories from his time as an agent. So...I was curious and decided to talk to him about how energy draining worked and what was done with said energy.”
There was a long pause before she continued. “He was put off at first. I had caught him raiding a cafe where he had battled a youma. Spent awhile trying to avoid me until I dropped your name and that I was curious about energy draining to help you…”
Clearly she was replaying the meeting in her mind, looking at things from another angle. “He finally caved and filled me in on how it was all done and how energy draining was brought about because gathering starseeds alone resulted in a body count fair too high…”
Lena’s typing missed a key.
“I didn’t realize what the energy was used for. That others could...eat it? I knew starseeds had been but pure energy? That was news. It makes me think your idea could have even more validity in it that first thought…”
---
“It’s not the primary use, but it’s one use.” He admitted, and it tasted like ashes just to discuss it. “Not something I experimented in, but I saw others do it.”
He’d been raiding the cafe? The ********… if he needed things… s**t. It was ungrateful as hell sure but you didn’t just. ********. “....Some people use the idea that it’s ‘just’ energy to justify themselves. He rubbed the back of his neck slowly, partially glad that Delilah considered it a good validation to the theory but…
“Not a cuddly guy, but I kind of remember him as someone who had something to prove. He was a good agent and then got busted back to Lieutenant for a while for pissing off the wrong people. Doesn’t tend to lend itself to nice behavior I guess.”
He paused, shifting the weight slightly on the foot he was standing on and frowned thoughtfully. “I did find something myself, over at my Wonder, but I’m not as sure what to make of it. Requires a bit more art interpretation than is in my wheelhouse.” He joked, the corner of his mouth going up in a sarcastic joke. “I mean I think it’s a good sign but it was underground too. Makes it a little harder to judge.”
He glanced at Lena again and added. “Though I can try and check in on the snarky little b*****d if you want, especially if he’s stealing s**t. That's not doing the rest of us any favors.”
Damn, he wished there was more he could do but he got it. It was ******** hard trying to rebuild your life, and he’d stumbled into damn good fortune to have what he did. Damn good fortune… especially Lena. Lena was the kind of luck you woke up wondering how you’d been blessed enough to run into it.
--
“Meaning he wants you to take a look at it. Xan has told me you have a degree in fashion?” Lena spoke up in her ‘why do you beat around the bush’ way. Still those eyes did not leave the computer screen. It left Delilah wondering how she could focus on both things at once.
Impressive.
“Almost.” Delilah winced and corrected as Lena mentioned her study. “Due to some…” Those red eyes flashed towards Xan wondering just how much he had told his girlfriend. “Some set backs, I took this semester off. Most likely will take off the year to get my head back on straight.” Delilah hadn’t told really anyone about that but she figured these two would at least not judge her choices. “But if you want someone with some art back ground, both Quinn and myself have it.” Though the name she mentioned did sound like poison.
As he shifted, Delilah realized now was the best time as ever. “No, frankly I doubt he wants to be checked on. Though he would take you over anyone else.” Her hand came to her chest and rested there. “Gev….” There was a long sigh. It was painful to admit but it was real. “Gev attacked me. First it was the attempt at starseed removal to prove a point and then he physically lashed out at me for mentioning I would fight agents and kick this a** if I had to.”
That miss in Lena’s key strikes couldn’t be missed. Neither could the look she gave over her screen to first Xan and then Delilah.
---
“He WHAT?” Xanthus stiffened, the grip on the scooter bars going white knuckled. He still wasn’t wearing his amulet, but at the moment he hardly needed it to look as though he might somehow call upon the powers of Mars and the Code to set something on fire. In this case, possibly Gevaudian.
He tried to p… and then…
He ground his teeth, looking away from the two young women as if maybe afraid one of them would interpret the burst of rage as somehow directed toward them. Or maybe afraid that they’d see what he was actually thinking of in terms of Gevaudian and his behavior, which somehow felt like a kind of betrayal when he, personally, had worked so hard to be -other- than an agent.
How could someone… it was just… he didn’t have words for how angry it made him, because there were no words, or maybe there were, because something like “I’ll wring his ******** neck.” Worked out through tightly clenched teeth. “-I- go toe to toe with goddamn agents, it goes with the goddamn JOB. Does he think they’ll refrain from force corruption or not pull HIS goddamn starseed because he asks them nicely?”
He gesticulated angrily, wildly, because he couldn’t actually hit Gevaudian. He couldn’t even get in the damn shower by himself right now and this… goddamn -a**- had donned a knights uniform and pranced off to try and murder a friend of his and rob civilians for… Gods alone knew what reason. Entitlement? If he thought they were damn well owed tribute for trying to save lives he needed to seriously review his earlier life choices and the placement of Nega Agents to promote propaganda.
----
Lena was on her feet faster than any woman Delilah had ever seen. The computer was on a side table and the woman was moving across the room to wrap her arms around the big guy. He was moving his hands in a way that both of them clearly worried he was going to fall over.
“Delilah, hop up please.” Lena called, hand going to the handle bars. “Come on big guy. Before you go flying over the scooter, sit.”
Delilah was on her feet and out of the way as fast as she could be. “Xan, I don’t think…” She started, debating carrying on the convo as Lena worked her girlfriend magic on the man. She wasn’t trying to calm him down...she was trying to stop him from falling over by taking an imaginary swing and losing balance.
“I don’t think he cares. He...he changed sides because it was that or die.” Delilah finally admitted. “He doesn’t care about this side and honestly, the more I think about it, the more I think he would help out the agents anytime over anyone else…”
“Which scares me then...because...doesn’t he kill? Who is he killing then?”
---
“I’m fine, I’m fine…” He insisted, regardless of the difference of opinion from others, though in spite of this jaw set conviction he allowed himself to be helped to a seat, blowing out an aggravated puff of air at his own struggles and frustration.
s**t though. s**t she was right. If Gev was trying to rip star seeds even wearing Gany’s colors, if he was attacking her for taking a stand against people that would damn well kill him, kill any of them who changed sides…
Christ… they wouldn’t play some kind of insane long game would they? Not at the impact it would have on their agents… Did Ganymede know?
He tried to settle down into a comfortable position, running a hand over his face and smoothing his beard half consciously, as though it were key to smoothing out his temper… at least until he can drive a fist into Gev’s good eye. Deal with Hawara as it came up, but assume one was as bad as the other right now in terms of planning.
-----
“No you are not fine.” Lena answered back, only releasing him when he was down on the couch. “You are in that stage of wanting to go after someone and like hell I’m going to let you.” Standing up straight, she gazed over at Delilah. Her face was tense and her lips, thin. “Let you beat me to it that is.”
“Attacking one of our own. Ha! I knew people were crazy but that’s rich!” Lena was now pacing for them both as cats clearly got out of the way. “In what world do you live in that just because you were ‘one of them’ before that it means they consider you ‘one of them now?’. You jumped shipped! They see you as nothing more than a traitor. Hell, this sounds no better than bloody shinny McQueen’s Oath.”
Delilah was clearly caught of guard as she glanced over towards Xanthus trying to at least figure out what Lena was rambling about.
“I mean this silly ‘I won’t attack something who doesn’t attack me’. It’s such a cop out if I ever heard one! Congratulations! You have made yourself a target for not only the other side but this as well! And a hazard! This Gev person clearly can’t be trusted and cry me a river woman needs twenty four seven guard duty unless we want to throw her out as bait. Add on top of this Mr. No Show and stand there sullen like in the corner and the Knights are batting a thousand in winners here. And don’t even get me started on the ‘I would rather flirt than contribute anything useful’ going on I saw at the last meeting.”
Her eyes finally stopped and looked at Delilah. “Did he say anything else? Anything we could use against him?”
Delilah had to admit she was standing there with her mouth slightly open. Finally, she closed it. “I see why you two were made for each other.”
---
As Lena went off on an furious Tirade, Xanthus settled back into the spot Delilah had relinquished, still clearly angry at Gevaudian, but also damn grimly pleased.
“SHe’s pretty kick a** alright.” Xan acknowledged. “I can’t decide if she’s wasted as a Cosmos Knight or if she’s making up for…” He cleared his throat. “Less. Effective ones.” In spite of the fact he, for all intents and purposes, still wanted to ram a crutch, and possibly the scooter after it, up Gevaudian’s nearest available orifice, he was trying to be somewhat polite.
“Did he say anything else though? I can’t jump up and track the little b*****d down for…” He paused to glare at his cast. “...A while… which I guess plus side means he won’t see it coming when I knock his block off. But I want to know he’s not taking out anyone else. We’ve already got Castor out doing the Negaverse work for it, we don’t need two of them.”
God what was the little b*****d thinking?
“I can’t believe I’m asking this. Think there’s anyone we could get close to him?”
---
Both asking her, Delilah gazed down at the floor. She was chewing on her bottom lip as she thought.
“Some of the things that stuck out to me were all over the place. How he was surprised ‘she’ didn’t use all the starseeds at the base. I guessed that he meant Metallia. He also holds a grudge for not being made General King. It seems that was his true desire. Not this.” Clearly not this…
“He only joined our side because he had no other choice. Appears he was a traitor for some reason. But he clearly believes that everyone in there is innocent and following orders. He sees them as no different than the knights: fighting to protect the Earth. Coming into the ranks to serve and suffer a thankless position.”
She stopped and closed her eyes. “The names he used. The references he dropped. Xan he’s living in the past. He won’t see that those people….that leadership...it’s gone.” She finally looked up at the older man. “I’ve heard the names before. Beryl and Charonite. Old rulers and leaders. He can’t seem to find that the negaverse...it isn’t what he knew it as anymore. We all saw that…”
“They way he spoke...if they were like that, we would all have faced them by now since the Rift. Instead, nothing. It’s been silence…”
Lena had gazed at the woman, arms crossing under her chest.
“Sounds like the person closest to him is anyone he once served with or is dead.” She spoke, shifting her gaze to Xan.
“No…” Delilah corrected. “He would talk to a knight. He would show loyalty to them. It’s senshi he can’t stand. THAT he made completely clear.” She was looking at Lena. “He hates us for some reason.”
---
“Did someone scramble his brain BEFORE he got out? Beryl was a memory before I was even in, Charonite was a half forgotten whisper. It was…” He waved a hand, frowning. “Zinkenite and Howlite, Tanzanite for a while. I don’t even know who’s in charge now, or if they still are. Being a General Sovereign seems to be a thankless job, quick to get you ground up into Metalia Chow the moment you slip on the tight rope walk.”
Hard to imagine being sentimental for that. For any of it.
“They got publicly disgraced for objecting to allying with the damn Dark Moon Court, after they did horrible things to a number of agents before corrupting themselves.” He gestured emphatically, trying to dig out some kernel of reason that would inspire Gevaudian’s dogged loyalty.
“He’s not even living in the past he’s living in a goddamn fantasy. The Negaverse all but hung them out to dry and he’s -crying- over them.”
How bad did you have to be sucked in to still see them as good. Of worthy of defense. At least it explained some of the hate of senshi now that he thought of it, but…
“So, Me… or Hawara, or Failas...but should be someone at his level. Otherwise I’d like to see you have a go, Lena. I don’t want him with a chance at anyone lower ranked, in case he goes double agent on us, which sucks because you might do a damn sight better keeping a straight face.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and growled thoughtfully.
“I’m torn. Try and tell people what he’s up to, or try and get more on the little worm. We obviously can’t let this slide. Should probably give the rest of your team a heads up. No sense warning most knights until he shows his hand there. I don’t think I’ve got the clout to get people to believe me at a say so even with you for backup.”
---
“In this situation, even I might struggle with the straight face.” Lena spoke, her eyes still glazed with anger as she half paced now. Sitting was not an option for her at the moment. She was thinking. The scientist in her was playing with fire and anyone who knew her would get out of the way.
“I don’t think we have enough to go on just yet. Unless we get the words directly from his mouth, I don’t want to make a move.” Or worse, catch him in the act. “However, I am going to let my friends and those around me know to stay clear and to not engage unless with a knight. I don’t think it would matter how many senshi were there. He would go after them…” Hell, he threatened to kill her right then and there.
“Just, if something happens and I wind up missing, at least you know where to start?” Delilah added with a shrug.
“Don’t even joke about that.” Lena snapped back, mentally coming back to the present. “You go missing and he will be joining you faster than Xan and mess up a cake batter.”
Lena’s tongue clicked and she turned those green eyes on Xanthus. “I don’t know who the other two are but you need to be smart. Their loyalties need to be understood before you can talk to them about this rogue knight. If they are loyal to him, you are out of luck. If they are open minded, you will have a chance. As for the rest of them…”
Her fingers tapped against her arm. “The alarm doesn’t need to be sounded yet. We just need to be smart. Keep an eye on things. You have the clout Xan, you just don’t know how to use it yet.”
Delilah nodded. “She has a point there. Gev clearly respects you in a different than most others. Something tells me he doesn’t give that easy.”
---
“Great. So we wait, and I have a go at it.” It might be the safest option, he suspected there were still plenty who doubted his ability to reason out more than where to land the next punch, and didn’t relish an uphill battle of who said what against another purified knight. They didn’t need this. Not this kind of treachery when they already had to work so goddamn hard to pull their lives together. Some particularly bloody minded sorts needed very little damn provocation before weighing in a death sentence, and he didn’t want that a risk for honest, sane, purified agents. Besides…
“Gev and I at least have the Negaverse in common. We apparently have entirely different damn memories of it, but at least I’ll know old familiar phrases if I hear them.” He admitted. It damn well was a thing, he didn’t care how else you couched it, there were just certain -things- that rang like a familiar bell on that front. Had with the Code, would with Gevaudian he was sure.
“Think you and your team can steer clear of the little b*****d in the meantime?” He was sure she could. Smart girl. Not likely to stick her hand on the stove to make absolutely sure it was trying to burn her alive.
Damn though, he remembered the ring had a recording feature, star-wars bullshit it seemed like at the time, but now he didn’t know if he remembered how to make that function work, or if it would be obvious if he did.
“Goddamnit, what happened to him was one of the reasons I left.”
He sighed, feeling faintly… he wasn’t sure. Betrayed? Defeated? And he was -stuck- for weeks yet, before he could do anything. They had to know though.
----
For a long moment, Lena watched her boyfriend as he almost seemed to sink back into the couch. It was the sense of wanting to do something and not being able to. She knew it well herself. But in a way, she was glad for it too. It meant she and Delilah didn’t have to power up and hold down a bull as he flew out the window.
At that moment, Lena doubted even she could have held him back.
“Delilah, is there anything else?” Lena asked, softer than she had in the past few moments. The tension ran high on her shoulders though.
Delilah got the hint. “Don’t worry about us. The girls and I will be fine. Worst case, I’ll tie Mercy down so she doesn’t go out to try and ‘convert’ him or I’ll bring up the new boyfriend.”
“But it is getting late. Xanthus, Lena, if either of you all need anything, even a coffee run, just let me know. Or Lena, if you need to get out and someone to stay with him…”
The smile was true. “Thank you Delilah. I will most likely take you up on that in a week or two when I do need to head back into the office. They only like us to work remote for so long.”
Nodding, Delilah rose up and looked at Xan. “Don’t scare her off okay? One of us deserves a little sanity in their life.”
Walking to let herself out, she added. “I’ll head to the moon around the 16th. Will let you know if I find anything else interesting.”
---
Ryuthulhu
