Pathline (15 page)

At the end of the day when the two teams came together before being dismissed Agent Donovan and her assistant showed up again. 
They pulled Serk and Malik aside to brief them on information their department had
been able to gather on the C
harger responsible for the plant attack. 
Apparently they'd gotten a lead on his possible location and were closing in on a target area. 
Serk and Malik in turn briefed the teams and increased the training schedules for the next couple of days. 
Most
stayed gathered to discuss the day
'
s progress and developments
after they were all dismissed for the night
. 

Rook took the
chance
to pull Rune aside.  "Hey, are you okay?  You seemed distracted
today;
I shouldn't have been able to hit you
,
I was going easier than yesterday." 

Rune smiled at him
.
"I'm fine.  When are you speaking to the others?" she responded, glancing around making sure no one was listening. 

"I'm calling them back later tonight, what do you say we take up Suri's invitation and go grab some drinks with the others?" 

Rune looked up at him, it was odd for him to be socializing with the other
s
so soon;
he was
clearly
making the effort for her
benefit
.
  She
glanced around at the others as they started making their way out of the room. 

Suri made her way o
ver to where they were standing.
"
S
o, what's the verdict today Rook?  You joining us?  It's the least you can do since you're putting us through tougher training than any of us has seen in a while." 

Rook turned and smiled at her as Helo and Malik walked over and joined them.
  "You're all making good progress, I'll give you that, as for the training being tough, well that says more about your agency than it does about me" he responded with a wink. 

They laughed
.

"I'm sure that's true enough" Blythe ad
ded as he and Ash walked over.  "So are we getting some drinks and food anytime soon, or are we just standing around admiring the ambiance?"
he
asked. 

Rook nodded
.
"I could always use a good drink
.
" 

They made their way to the south wing then Ash and Helo headed to the bar to grab a round
of
drinks for everyone while the rest of them found a table. 
As the group settled on a couple of tables near the patio doors, Rune drop
ped
a few steps behind.
 

"I'm actually going to call it an early night", she said to them as most had taken their seats. 

They turned to her and started to object, both Malik and Rook giving her worried looks.

"Really, you guys have fun, I'll be fine, just looking to catch up on my sleep" she responded, turning and walking away towards the elevator. 

She glanced back as she went, and shook her head
at
Malik and Rook, both of whom looked ready to get up
and come
after her. 
She shared the elevator with a couple of others, probab
ly
new recruits by the looks of
them
, but thankfully they got off on the second floor.  When the doors opened on the third floor she stepped into the hallway for a second then wandered away. 

The NSDA
base
headquarters was located on the outer
edge
of Pierce city, and Rune's
home
was located on the opposite
edge
.  She owned an apartment in a high rise loc
ated in a secluded neighborhood
. 
The building had 24 hour security and double plated
mirrored
windows on the whole
structure
. 
The tenants here valued their privacy, and paid well for it.  Her place was on the 15th floor, not that she often needed to take the elevator.  She wandered into the entryway, as was her custom, and found a stack of mail on her entry mat that had build up during her
absence
. 
She picked up the mail, flipping through it as she walked, and tossed it into a
large
bowl she
kept
at the edge of her kitchen
counter
for that very reason. 
She grabbed a wine glass
out
of her cupboard and pulled a bottle of wine from her liquor cabinet. 
After pouring herself a full glass she wal
ked out to her enclosed balcony
and sat on a lounge chair facing the downtown skyline.

It was a gorgeous view, the main selling point of the top floor apartments on this side of the building. 
She drank her wine slowly, staring out at the city lights, her mind numb. 
After a while she started to feel cold, so she move
d
to her livin
g room couch and
turned on
her fireplace. 
She watched the flames dance
and ignored the ringing of
her phone when she heard it. 
She knew who it would
be;
there were only a handful of people who had her number. 
She remembered the last time she'd been here, the night that Marcus had picked her up for their trip to the capital that had resulted in thei
r marriage and public outing as a couple. 
She momentarily considered turning on her TV
to check if the media coverage of the relationship had died down, but decided against it. 
She felt as if everything had changed since that night. 

Her entire relationship with Marcus had been a whirlwind. 
He had won her over in spite of herself.  She avoided socializing with agency colleagues outside of work, but he'd found a way around that somehow.  How he'd managed to get her to agree to their first date was as much a
puzzle
to her as how he'd somehow managed to convince her to marry him a few days ago. 
He had a way about him that seemed to break through all her walls.  The same charm undoubtedly that had made him so popular amongst the public. 
From the beginning though, the way that he spoke to her, the way that he looked at her, something had been different. 
And he called her Laura; no one had called her Laura since Rook had given her a new name. 
He'd worked hard for that name too.  He'd told her his civilian name on their first date, but Rune had held hers back.  He finally managed to break her about a
month into their relationship. 
It gave him a power over her, the name, and it always had a way of making her feel a bit exposed when he used it. 

The phone rang again about an hour later.  She put down her empty wine glass and stood to answer it.  It was Marcus calling to check u
p on her, he'd figured she'd be here
when he hadn't found her in the
ir
room at the agency. 

Rune hesitated before saying, "I think I'm going to spend the night out here, I have my sat-com with me in case anything comes up
.
  I hope you don't mind." 

Marcus sighed.
"
I
f that's what you need, then I can deal.  I'd be more worried if I wasn't sure Rook was still here.  If you change your mind you know where to find me.  I know the last week has been a lot for you to process,
for me as well
.  Hopefully we'll get a chance to rest and let the dust settle after all this.  I love you Laura, I
hope you truly understand that." 

She took a steadyi
ng breath.
"I love you too Marcus.  I know I can often be hard to deal with, I do appreciate the effort." 

She put a stopper into the bottle of wine and set it on her counter, taking the used glass to the sink. 
She headed to her bathroom for a long hot shower, taking off both her necklace and her wedding band before doing so. 
Afterwards she headed to bed, without retrieving them. 

The next morning she awoke early and went for a quick run in the nearby neighborhood park.  It was nice to be out while most people were still
asleep;
the park was empty, with slight mist still clinging to the grass.  The fresh air helped to clear her mind.  Her usual routine was to turn on the morning news while she got coffee ready and dressed
after returning from a run, but she decided to skip that particular tradition that morning. 
After drinking a cup of coffee and eating a quick breakfast she had just enough time to get to the agency before training was set to start.  Every now and then it
came in
handy to be a
Wanderer;
no one else could cut it this close on time.  She grabbed her necklace and ring before leaving, putting them back on for her return. 

When she entered the training rooms she was surprised to find that she wasn't the last one to arrive. 
Both
S
ky
W
alkers
were still missing. 
She smiled
briefly
at Malik, then headed towards Rook and the rest of her tactical team. 

Rook leaned in to
wards
her.
"
Y
ou okay?" he asked, with concern showing in his eyes. 

She nodded
.
"I'm fine, what's going on here, do you know?" 

Rook shrugged.
"
T
hese are your people not mine, I don't
understand
them.  But I do have news, when we get the chance we need to talk". 

She raised her eyebrows
interested, but before she could respond Nave and Felix showed up both looking eager to
speak
. 

"There's a
D
ual
trial going on today!" Nave said, before anyone could ask anything. 

This caught the attention of most, who moved closer to the arrivals. 

"Managed to pass the field test, and he's set for his formal
trial
today with the rest of the new recruits" Felix added.  "I think this is the furthest a dual has ever come, everyone in the field is excited to see the trial
.
" 

Suri stepped forward.
"
H
e passed the field test? 
How
well a pass?" 

Helo came up behind her
.
"
Y
eah, because if he barely managed to get into the
trials
then there's no reason for anyone to get excited." 

***

The 'Duality Phenomenon'
was something researchers had been highly interested in the past decade.  On rare occurrences a
n adolescent
super would begin to develop
two types of super abilities. 
It was a hope that one day a super would reach adulthood with two full level abilities.  Unfortunately, every so called '
D
ual' super
so far
had been found to be mediocre at best with either of their abilities. 
Most adolescents showing D
ual potential eventually had one ability fade and developed only the other.  Even then, none of them had ever made it to 'high-level' status. 
It was the belief of the scientific community that super abilities put strain on the human body, and that the reason no true
D
ual super existed so far was because the strain of carrying two distinct abilities was too much for a body to live with. 
They supposed that the few supers who had reached adulthood
as
D
uals
existed only because their body had split the energy required for the abilities, which explained why neither of their
powers
ever developed fully. 
Most
believed that if a super were to develop two high level abilities, the strain
on their body
would kill them.

***

Serk walked to where the group sto
od
listening to Nave and Felix.
"We have our own pressing matters to deal with without getting sidetracked by gossip about potential recruits.  I seriously doubt a
D
ual will ever make it into the programs, and even if I'm wrong that still has nothing to do with us here and now. 
We need to be ready to go as soon as we get our orders, so I suggest we turn our attention back to the task at hand."