Pathline (27 page)

Whenever he had a break coming up or happened to be otherwise free in the evenings around the time she got off he would walk over to the neighborhood and meet her halfway between their place and the woman's apartment.  She
always scoffed when she saw him
turn up, assuring him
that
she was fine and didn't need an escort, though some nights in the gloom of the dark she would slip her hand into his as they walked home. 
Whenever they had free time during the day he would help her train her Wanderer ability, getting her to relax and focus her mind so that she could learn to control it. 
He figured that she'd be a lot safer once she got the hang of it, then she'd be able to wander straight home.

One night, when he was working a side job helping to unload a delivery truck at a local store
,
he lost track of time.  The truck had come in later than usual and the owner of the store had been arguing with the truck driver, so the unloading took longer than expected. 

When they were finishing up one of the
other guys looked over to Rook.
"Hey don't you usually head out to meet Rune by now?" 

Rook looked at his watch and realized the time.  He quickly headed out and made his way to the area where he and Rune usually met up.  He figured he'd probably find her further up, since he was running late, but he made it all the way to the meet point without any sight of her. 
She couldn't have made it home by now
, he wasn't that late.  He looked around.  Maybe she'd been held up babysitting.  He waited there a few minutes, but when she still didn't show up he started to make his way to the woman's apartment.

He had only gone down one block when he hear
d
it.  The area was otherwise silent, so the faint scream carried far.  He knew at once that it was her.  He ran in the direction he thought the scream had come from, his heart
pounding
in his chest.  He came up to the cross section of two alleys and didn't know which way to go.  He tried to listen, tried to quiet the wild beating of his heart drumming in his ears.  He heard a laugh coming from the right fork, a deep male laugh.  He bolted in that direction.  The alley was dark, with only the dim light from the buildings around it.  There was a dumpster and scattered wooden boxes strewn about halfway down.  Rook still couldn't see
anyone;
the far side of the alley was too dark to make out from a distance.

"There's no need to be shy sweetheart, you and I are going to get to know each other real well."

The words cut right through him and he felt a charge building in his hands.  As he passed the dumpster he could make out the outline of a tall figure at the alleys dead end. 
He heard a weak whimper coming from the corner of the dead end.  He saw Rune there as he ran forward past the boxes trying to reach her.  She was cowering on the ground, her back up against the wall behind her.  She had nowhere left to go.  The man was only a few feet away from her.  As he stepped forward towards her Rune let out a cry and put her arms up in front of her in a defensive position.  It happened so fast.  The man made a grab towards her and stopped suddenly, a confused look on his face.  He thrust his arms towards her again and they hit an invisible barrier. 
Rook had finally made it to them, as soon as he had a direct line to the man Rook sent out the charge that had built up in his hands.  The man collapsed as the charge hit him and fell forward towards Rune.  Rook ran and pulled the man back, pushing his unconscious body aside.  Rune lay on the ground, unmoving. 

Rook dropped to the ground beside her and pulled her onto his lap. 

"Rune!"
H
e said as he shook her. 

She was pale, for a moment he was afraid she might be dead, but then he realized she was still breathing.  He lifted her upper body and hugged her tight. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.  I should have been there."  He pulled away a bit and looked into her face, "Rune?"  She still wasn't responding. 

He looked around him, other that the unconscious man there was no one else in sight.  He adjusted her limp body in his arms so that he could carry her.  He had to stop at the entrance of the alley to rest.  He made his way back to their place, carrying her and stopping to rest every so often.  He didn't meet anyone in the street, and if anyone saw anything from their windows they didn't come to help.  She still hadn't woken when he got her into bed.  He was really worried
then
, but didn't know what to do.  If he asked someone for help, what would he say?  How would he explain what had happened?  Other than the paleness she just looked like she was sleeping, but she wouldn't rouse. 
He covered her up to warm her, and spent the night
lying
next to her over the covers.

Finally, to his great relief, she stirred around sunrise.  She spent the next few
days
in bed, weak and feverish.  He took care of her, nursed her back to health.  Some of the people in the neighborhood had noticed their absence, so when they saw him out
they asked if things were okay.
H
e told everyone that Rune had come down with a bad flu.  Several people offered to help take care of her, he refused them all.  The only aid he accepted was food.  He'd missed a lot of work to stay home and take care of her, and their money was all gone.  It was over a week before she was strong enough to move about, and over a month before she was able to wander again.
  And that had been a very brief, very small shield she had summoned in her panic. 

Rook looked up as he reached the evac point.  His anger now mixed with grief. 
I was supposed to take care of
you;
I was supposed to keep you safe
. 

He approache
d one of the transport vehicles.
"I need to get to the hospital they took Rune to
.
" 

The man standing by the
vehicle looked him over.
"
T
ransport needs to be cleared by command
.
"
H
e signaled to the left
. 

Rook felt like punching the guy and just taking the vehicle, but he remembered he didn't even know where to go.  H
e turned back to look around
, Serk was a few yards behind him. 
They'll listen to him
. 

He walked up to Serk.
"I need to get to that hospital."
T
he hard edge to his voice was clear, but he didn't care.  He was done playing nice with these people. 

Serk just nodded.
"I'll talk to command now, but they'll want a preliminary report first -- should only take a couple of minutes".  He walked away from Rook and headed to the communication unit. 

Rook clenched his fists again and started pacing in front of the transport vehicles. 
Fuck them and their useless procedures.  Why would you join them Rune?  Why didn't you stay at home where I could protect you?  This should never have happened
.  Without thinking he'd built up a decent charge in each hand.  When he realized it he sent both charges out into a nearby boulder, shattering it and startling the agency people around him. 

Serk came back after that.
"
S
ounds like Malik just found out about Rune, he's been cleared the first transport to the hospital, you can join him.  The rest of us will be coming along after everything here is settled."  Serk noticed the look on Rook's face
.
"No one can cut through red tape like Malik
can;
he's your fastest route." 

"Fine."  It was all he could manage. 

He turned and resumed his pacing.  It wasn't long before Malik turned up, looking stone-faced.  They were cleared a transport vehicle and they both got into the back, not speaking. 
Now that he was on his way to her he felt fear creep up inside.  He replayed the moment she collapsed in his mind, replayed Serk telling him she had no heartbeat.  It took him three tries to revive her, three significant charges that he'd had to hit her with. 
But it worked, it restarted her heart
.  Was that enough though?  Get her heart beating then hope everything else starts back up as well? 

He could feel Malik watching him, but refused to make eye contact. 

"What happened?!" Malik sai
d, finally breaking the silence.
"
A
ll they told me was that Rune, Nave and Ash went down and that Rune was critical -- which is pretty obvious from the look on your face.  How bad are we talking?"

Rook clenched his jaw and cracked his knuckles maintaining silence. 

"You're not the only one who love
s her."

Rook glanced up, still not meeting Malik's gaze.  "The hostile Charger tried to kill Serk, sent a full level hit at him, Rune saw it coming, wandered in front of Serk... took the hit instead."

Rook saw Malik's shoulders drop.  "She took a full level hit?"
H
is voice had dropped to just above a whisper.

Rook didn't respond. 
She came back into my life just so I could watch her die.
  The thought came unbidden, and he tried to push it away as soon as it came, to erase its
presence
; it was no use.  The rest of the trip went by in a haze.  As soon as the vehicle
pulled up to the hospital they both jumped off and headed to the counter. 

A harassed looking woman was sitting at the
admittance
desk. 
"Agency command called in and said you were coming, but we don't have any information at the moment, the doctor's are in with them now."  It was a final sort of statement, not welcoming further inquiries. 

Malik beat him t
o the counter.
"
D
o you know
anything
?  Can you go get a status if we're not allowed in?" 

The woman looked up at Malik's imposi
ng presence in front of her.
"
T
hey will let us know when there is something
to
know.  This isn't something that either strength or
fame
can change." 

Rook almost smiled.  At least she took her job seriously, hopefully so did the doctors on staff. 
Malik turned and went to stand next to the emergency doors, his hands against the wall as if he meant to push the whole thing down.  Rook took to pacing
again;
the woman went back to typing away on her computer. 

After about
fifteen
minutes Rook felt the urge to charge the
admittance
computer just to stop the endless clacking of the keys.  He was about to say something to the
nurse
when a doctor came through the doors and looked around.  Both Rook and Malik walked up to him at once. 

The doctor put up a hand to stop them.  "All three of them are still being cared
for;
I just wanted to provide a quick update."

"How is she?"  Malik asked.

The doctor looked a
t him appraisingly, then nodded.
"
Y
ou're here for Rune.  She's been touch and go since they brought her in, we finally managed to stabilize her vitals but she's still in critical condition.  It's too early to say anything definitive.  This is the first time an agency hospital has treated Charger inflicted injuries, the medical staff was only just briefed on APS abilities yesterday in preparation for the op.  We're doing the best we can." 

Rook felt his heart drop,
"
doing the best we c
an"? 
That
usually translates to "
don't get your hopes up
"
. 

"Can I see her?"
Malik asked.

The doctor hesitated, looking between the two formidable men in front of him.  "I'm afraid that while a patient remains critical we cannot allow visitors, only immediate family is allowed in."

Rook snapped, "
She
doesn't have any immediate family!"

Malik turned.
"Yes, she does.  I'm her husband." 

Both Rook and the doctor looked at him in amazement. 

Malik turned to the
admittance
nurse, who had been listening to their conversation.
 
"Call the agencies
R
ecords
D
epartment, they will verify the fact that we're married, then let me in to see my wife." 

The nurse looked startled and looked to the doctor for direction. 

The doctor nodded.
"
D
o it, if everything is in line then let him in."  He turned and disappeared back through the doors. 

The woman turned away from them and picked up the phone.