Emma exhaled another lungful of smoke and flicked away what was left of her cigarette. Everything seemed to be spiralling out of control and her entire life was crashing around her. Everything she thought she knew didn't make sense. Everything she thought was a constant wasn't. Nothing made sense anymore.
It all started the day she met Jeremy Hunter. They'd chatted and inevitably she'd told him her story. Told him about Alex. He'd planted the seed of doubt. He'd told her that in Alex's position he'd have done the same thing. He told her she was wrong.
Facts she'd chosen to ignore or forget were brought to the forefront of her mind. If Alex was guilty why had he come to see her? If he was guilty why did he continue to protest his innocence now that he'd escaped? And of course the evidence that had moved her to turn on Alex was portrayed in a different light. What if he had been framed?
She shook her head, dislodging the thoughts. He hadn't been framed. It was a convenient lie he spread around to make friends. And yet'¦ it was harder to believe every day. She didn't know anymore. Some days she wanted to blast Alex when she saw him, some days she wanted to beg him to come home, some days she just wished she wouldn't find him.
Then there was Dirius Taine. The mysterious man who had asked for information and given his two sense worth in return. She didn't ask for it but having heard it she couldn't deny the logic behind the words.
There'd been other factors of course, but those were the two biggest turning points. When she found Alex would she kill him? Or would he be the same old Alex in a different fighter? She didn't know anymore.
In the silence of the flight she lit another cigarette. Surely chain smoking wasn't good for her but she was past a point of caring.
Without warning her radar sprang to life displaying a hostile contact further down the trade lane. She sighed and brought the screen up. She never expected it to be him. She slammed a fist down on the button to drop out of the trade lane so hard she thought she'd broken it.
The Virage dropped out of the trade lane just past Alex and his stolen Eagle. She stared at his ship as it lazily turned towards her. She opened up a communication channel to the pilot. He answered instantly.
'Alex. I finally found you.' She said. Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
'I guess you did.' He replied. Emma leaned back in her seat and looked over the man who was only a year older than she was. Neither said anything just sat there staring at the other.
'Why'd you run Alex? If you were innocent you could have'¦'
'Because Emma, I'd never be able to prove my innocence. They turned my best friend against me. If I stayed all I ever would have gotten was a firing squad.'
'And you continue to lie to me'¦' She muttered. 'There's no reason to keep lying Alex, no one out here is going to hear you confess your guilt!'
'I can't confess to something I didn't do Emma.'
'Really? Or is that just another convenient lie to tell me in hopes of preserving your own life?!'
'Emma'¦'
'No Alex. I don't want to hear anymore of your lies! You either surrender right now or I'll put you in the ground myself.'
Alex was silent for a long time. In the silence Emma was left alone with her thoughts and she couldn't help but wonder if she was making the right choice. If this was really the best course of action.
'Well?' She finally asked. Alex sighed.
'I can't turn myself in Emma. You know that.' Emma sighed and charged her weapons systems.
'Then die Alex. Weapons hot, engaging!' She cut the communication link before she could see Alex's reaction. The Virage shot forward and the guns roared to life. Actions had been chosen, friendships destroyed, paths taken. The stage was set, the actors were present, the music was ready, the lights were on and the audience assembled.
You must have an end when a beginning's been made.
God Called in Sick Today was hardly an appropriate soundtrack to go with Alex's current situation. Unfortunately the shuffle function had chosen the song and he didn't have the time necessary to reach down and press the 'skip' button.
He hit the button and engine killed his Eagle swinging it around to face the Virage that was already flying in his direction its weapons raking his shields as it passed.
Inside the Virage the music that had constantly accompanied Emma was tuned out, all of her attention was focused on the simple, yet surprisingly difficult, task of destroying the elusive Eagle and its pilot.
Since the fight had begun she'd managed to drop the Eagle's shields three times but never landed a single hit on the exposed hull. The Eagle hadn't fired a single shot since the fight began. Whether it was because Alex was unwilling to or unable too she didn't know. Nor did she care.
'Shields down.' The computer declared in Alex's cockpit. He cursed as he swung the Eagle around again. He couldn't keep dodging forever. Emma would never give up'¦ and the longer he prolonged the fight the greater the chance that a third party would show up. If they sided with Emma his chances of escaping would drop from 'non-existent' to 'you're screwed'. If they sided with him he highly doubted that they would do anything other than shoot first and ask questions never.
He passed the Virage again and swung his ship around. There was only one way this was going to end well and that was if he shot down Emma. He'd have to be careful. Ejection systems were touch and go at the best of times. It'd be a hell of a feat to intentionally destroy a ship in order to allow the ejection system ideal conditions to function. But he figured he could pull it off. He'd succeeded at crazier things.
The Virage passed again and Alex brought his own ship around. The Golden Blades roared to life and the Virage's shields cracked after only a few hits from the devastating weapon.
Emma cursed. She'd gotten careless. Alex was shooting back now, she'd have to start dodging. She dropped his shields again and brought her ship around. She fired the mini razor and the bolt of red tore through the space between the two fighters.
Alex rolled his ship out of the way of the shot and landed a hit with his Golden Blades as he passed the Virage. Emma cursed and deployed nanobots and restored her shields. Alex followed suit restoring his own shields.
He didn't fire on this pass and Emma assumed he would return to his dodging. The nuclear mine Alex had dropped only moments before passing her proved her wrong. The shields barely held against the massive explosion before the reactor quit again and entered its recharging sequence.
Alex swung his Eagle around and fired off another volley from the Golden Blades. The Virage's armour creaked under the multiple impacts and Emma swung the ship around. The console was flashing with warning which she ignored. She dropped a mine of her own as she passed Alex and it dropped his shields instantly.
She engine killed and her hand hovered over the button to deploy nanobots. At the last second it moved back to her triggers. Alex wasn't dodging, he was flying straight on and making himself a perfect target for her mini razor. She pulled the trigger and Alex dodged. He'd tricked her.
She saw the flash from the four Golden Blades as her hand shot to the nanobots. She realized it was too late as the four golden balls filled her vision. It was too late to deploy nanobots, she'd never react in time.
With a mighty crash she felt the hits just beyond the cockpit. The engines of the Virage overloaded and exploded. She closed her eyes and waited for the end. Luckily for her the Virage had different plans. The computers recognized the fighter's imminent destruction faster than any human brain ever could. The eject systems activated and Emma was hurled into space.
The Virage exploded into a fireball only seconds later. Emma opened her eyes and the cracked and broken hull of her ship floated past her. It looked dead. Almost as thought the ship had died in her place. Then it was gone replaced by the darkness of Alex's cargo bay.
Alex sighed and leaned back in his seat. The pod had been tractored successfully. Emma should be okay now. All he'd have to do is'¦ go back to the Intruder.
In the course of the battle it had never occurred to him how Rufus or any of the other members of The Society would react to the girl's presence. For all he knew Rufus would order her executed the second he got back. He rubbed his eyes. Again his amazing ability to jump into situations and overlook the consequences had presented itself.
Emma was still sitting on the floor with her head against the wall and her eyes staring vacantly into the space the ceiling currently occupied. A piece of ash fell off the end of her cigarette and she absent mindedly flicked it off of her jeans.
She sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke as she did so. She heard her sigh accompanied by another one and looked over to find Alex leaning against the doorway to her cell.
'You should get some sleep.' He commented. Emma rolled her eyes.
'I haven't slept in a long time Alex.' She replied flicking away the remains of her cigarette. She took a moment to look over Alex. He pretty much looked the same, a few new scars and his hair was longer but other than that it was still Alex.
The same couldn't be said for her. Scars, obvious signs of sleep deprivation, she was thinner, and her left hand had taken to occasionally uncontrollably shaking.
'So'¦ Hunter said you think you have PTSD.'
'So you did meet him?'
'Why do you think you have PTSD.' Alex replied.
'Don't want to talk about it.' She shot back. Alex sighed and sat down across from her.
'I can't help you if you don't talk to me.'
'Maybe I don't want your help.' She mumbled. At the back of her mind she knew that short of a shrink Alex was the best one to talk to. That didn't make it any easier.
'Have you experienced any intense horror, helplessness or anything like that recently?'
'Multiple times.'
'Do you have flashbacks?'
'Nightmares. Lots of nightmares.'
'Which is why you have trouble sleeping?'
'I suppose.'
'Well it sounds pretty much text book.' Alex replied with a sigh.
'When did you become a shrink?' The retort was half-assed and she knew it. Nevertheless Alex smiled.
'So what happens now?'
'On New London, therapy, lots of therapy. Maybe some meds if the symptoms became unmanageable. You'd get better eventually.'
'Eventually.' She repeated with an emotionless tone.
'Out here though'¦ shrinks are few and far between.'
'So what happens?'
'You settle for me.'
Emma rolled her eyes.
'Yeah, a murderer and a terrorist. You'll help me so much.' She commented sarcastically.
'I'm not a terrorist.' Alex replied.
'Prove it.' Emma replied. Alex sighed and threw a dossier at her feet.
'From my'¦ investigations'¦ I'm about ninety percent sure the bomb was planted by someone hired by a mercenary named Julian Creed who was in turn hired by Daniel Marshal who's the head of the 63rd OEF.'
Emma kicked the file back to him. She didn't need pictures and documents to confirm what she'd already suspected. There were a hell of a lot of things that didn't add up and Alex's file would only add more questions to the mix. She had her own problems and they shouldn't include Alex anymore.
'You're not even going to look?'
'I already suspected you didn't do it.' She replied avoiding his gaze.
'Then why did you'¦'
'Because I didn't know what else to do Alex. You once told me violence is the last refuge for the incompetent. Well I'm about as incompetent as it gets.'
'Emma'¦'
'No it's true, I couldn't kill you, I couldn't figure out sooner that you were telling the truth, I couldn't be a good friend, I couldn't just stay the hell away from drugs'¦'
'That was a long time ago Emma.'
She sighed and rubbed her eyes.
'It wasn't that long ago Alex.'
She slowly lit another cigarette. They sat in silence for a long time.
'Don't you have work to do?' Emma finally asked. Alex sighed and nodded.
'I suppose so.' He replied standing up.
'Hey Alex,' Emma said just as he was about to leave. 'I'm sorry'¦ for everything.'
Alex smiled.
'No problem Emma. At least you didn't threaten to devour my soul.'
'Oh god, you heard about that?'
'Hard not to. You should get some better threats.'
'Shut up. It worked well enough at the time.'
Alex sighed and shook his head before leaving. A smile slowly crept onto Emma's lips. She slowly closed her eyes in hopes of getting some sleep.
'We'll make this better'¦' She muttered before drifting into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
Emma slowly opened her eyes. She stared at ceiling for a couple of seconds before remembering that Alex had drugged her. Well it didn't look like she was on the Intruder anymore'¦ so then where the hell was she?
She shifted her gaze to the blonde girl who was sitting in the room reading a book with her. She looked vaguely familiar but Emma couldn't exactly place where. Her gaze continued falling on an armed guard standing by the door of the room.
She brought a hand up and rubbed her forehead before sitting up.
'Where am I?' She asked.
'You're on the Oathkeeper.'The girl answered. She closed her book and fixed her saphire eyes on Emma. 'Do you remember me?'
'Izzy I think.' Emma replied sitting up and swinging her feet out of bed. Izzy smiled and nodded.
'You feeling alright?' She asked. Emma nodded, she was better than she had been since Alex left.
'Yeah, peachy aside from the whole 'I've spent the last three months of my life trying to kill my best and only friend only to find out that he's innocent,' thing.' Emma reached for her cigarettes only to remember that she was out.
'Well, it could be worse.' Izzy replied flashing a smile. Emma nodded slowly.
'I suppose it could be.' She stood up and pulled on her shoes.
'Well, I'm supposed to get you out of here as soon as you woke up. You're not supposed to be here, and all, so let's go.'
Izzy smiled and started walking Emma raised an eyebrow and followed. Throughout the entire short trip from the room to the hangar the pair didn't see another person. Emma guessed that was probably for the best.
The pair climbed into Izzy's Talon and pretty soon they had taken off leaving the Oathkeeper behind.
'So, where shall I drop you off?' Izzy asked. Emma shrugged.
'I honestly don't know. Somewhere where I can get in touch with Evan and hitch a ride home.'
Izzy nodded. 'Barrier Gate Station okay?'
'Sounds good.' Emma replied.
'Oh, Alex left this for you,' Izzy said handing a letter back to Emma. She unfolded it and smiled at the sight of Alex's scrawl. It was damn near illegible. She had to squint to read it.
Dear Emma,
Sorry about the whole drugging you thing but its better off if you don't know where the Intruder is right now. Anyway, you really could use the sleep. I'm glad we got to have our little chat, now I'm hoping you'll just go home to New London and stay out of this but why do I feel like the first thing you're going to do is buy the first ship you see and go hunting for Julian Creed?
I know it's useless to say this but Emma, please, doesn't. Creed won't be as forgiving as I was if you encounter him. You'll end up dead, I'm sure of it.
And now I know you're going to ignore me like always. Be careful Emma. Please.
-Alex
P.S. I forgot to ask, did you sell my guitar when you cleared out my apartment? That thing is worth a small fortune'¦
Emma smiled reading the note. How typically Alex, telling her what she shouldn't do and all'¦ not like that ever stopped her before. Two bad relationships, a cradi addiction, and a blown up Virage later she still wasn't ready to admit Alex was usually right.
'Alex must be one hell of a guy if he can make you smile with a note.' Izzy remarked starting some idle conversation.
'I guess. I've always taken him for granted before. No matter what it seemed like he was always there.' She sighed and gazed wistfully at the ceiling. 'What's Jeremy like anyway?'
'Oh you know,' Izzy replied. 'He's'¦ well he's Jeremy.'
Emma chuckled. She pocketed the note and stared out the front of the Talon with a smile playing across her lips.
'So, what about you?' Emma asked glancing at Izzy. 'What's your story?'
Izzy's smile vanished for a brief second.
'Oh'¦ nothing much. Boring stuff really.'
Emma raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Maybe she picked up on disguised pain easier after all those weeks spent bartending and watch people drink away their sorrows while they pretended like half their crew didn't just die in a pirate ambush.
Izzy wasn't telling her something but she wasn't about to press the topic. There were a lot of things she'd done that she didn't want to talk about.
The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, the two chatted idly about anything and everything. By the time they reached Barrier Gate their acquaintance had budded into the beginnings of a friendship.
Emma thanked Izzy for the ride and went to call Evan.
'Hello?' Evan answered.
'Surprise, it's your favourite freelancer!'
'Ah, Emma, good news! I was talking with some Junkers earlier. Couple of guys who were practically exploding at their good fortune to find almost all the parts of a Virage in California.'
'Evan, tell me you didn't.'
'Yup, I had feeling like it was yours. Bought all of it from them right there. Took it over to a guy I know on Manhattan and he fixed it up real nice. It's good as new.'
'Evan'¦'
'No, don't mention it Emma. Seriously, don't. You and Alex need someone to look after you since you can't always look after each other. You want me to pick you up?'
'Yeah'¦ if it isn't too much trouble'¦'
'None at all, I'll take you to Manhattan. Where are you right now?'
'Barrier Gate.'
'Alright, I'll be over in an hour or so. See you there.' Evan cut the comm link. Emma sighed. Her Virage was back together, Alex was innocent, and now all she had to do was find Julian Creed.
Then everything could be normal again'¦ mostly anyway.