The New Haven Incident - Part Sixteen

Lilith approached Sebastian quietly. He had left the Sigma briefing looking like a storm, returning to the room that had become unofficially his. Halfway into the room, Lilith knocked on the nearest wall, drawing the agent’s attention. He turned to her sharply, wearing a deep scowl that vanished as soon as he saw it was her.

Offering a small smile, Lilith held up a pad with the words, You okay? written on it.

Sebastian scoffed, then nodded. “Yeah,” he replied, turning back to the window. He didn’t look outside, rather, he was staring down at a combat knife that he held in his right hand. Sighing, he sheathed it.

“Just… Remembering things I’d rather not.”

Lilith cocked her head. She moved to Sebastian’s side and reached out, laying her hand gently on his upper arm. The firm muscle beneath her palm did not escape her attention. She withdrew and scrawled on the pad. She passed it to Sebastian.

What’s the plan?

“Most everyone is headed to the evacuation zone. Team Two is headed to the labs beneath the university to recover data from the servers there. They need Dr. Lundt for that, apparently.”

This darkened Lilith’s already dark eyes. She turned back to the larger group and watched as they were organized by Team Three. She turned back, wearing a slight scowl. She scrawled on the pad again.

You?

Sebastian shrugged. “Going with Team Three to the extraction point, I guess. This isn’t my operation, and if it’s as hot as you suggest, they could use an extra gun.”

Lilith nodded. Sebastian regarded her. She seemed distracted.

“Is everything okay?”

Turning to him, the winged woman offered a brief smile. For a moment, she simply observed him. Sebastian tried to meet her fathomless dark gaze, but found the warmth in those unusual eyes too much to bear. He turned away to watch the city once again.

Lilith drew his attention again as she scribbled on her pad. She held it up.

Be safe.

Sebastian frowned, but before he could ask what it was she meant by that, Lilith had gone, walking from the room with straight-backed purpose. He followed slowly, curious. She marched straight to the room containing Sakata and Harding.

“Uh oh,” Dr. Liu murmured under his breath. He moved immediately to join his daughter.

Mendez saw Dr. Liu move, watching from Dr. Lundt’s side as the woman bid her family farewell.

“You stick to Auntie Cheryl, okay?” she told Hannah as she knelt before the child.

“I don’t want you to go,” Hannah answered, her small voice thick with the tears she was fighting.

“I know, darling,” Joy replied. “But it won’t be for long. These brave men are going to take you to safety. I’ll see you there as soon as I’m done helping them. Okay?”

Hannah drew a long, stuttering breath, then nodded bravely.

“That’s my good girl. Remember what I told you when I gave you Claudio? He’s here to help. Hold him close if you get too scared or sad.”

Hannah nodded.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Dr. Lundt smiled at Hannah and wrapped her in a tight hug before standing up to face her wife.

“Please be careful,” Cheryl whispered.

“Always,” Dr. Lundt answered. They embraced, holding each other closely. “I’ll be with you before you know it,” Joy whispered in Cheryl’s ear.

“I’ll be counting the minutes.”

Dr. Lundt laughed, pulling away. “Accountants,” she said, shaking her head. This drew the desired smile from Cheryl. Joy leant in and kissed her wife. “Hell won’t keep me from you,” she reminded her.

Cheryl nodded.

Mendez missed the entire exchange, distracted as he was by what appeared to be trouble brewing in the communications room.

“Wait here,” he murmured to Dr. Lundt. He was moving before she could give any sort of reply.

Lilith paused at the door, looking in. Harding and Sakata were conferring together to one side as Carter struggled once more with his communications unit, stubbornly refusing defeat. Sakata noticed the woman first, stopping mid-sentence to turn to her.

“Can I help you?” Harding said, sounding as if he’d rather not, actually.

Lilith scribbled on the pad she was holding. You’re headed out?

“Yes?” How this could be news confused Harding.

Dr. Liu arrived, Mendez at his heels. Dr. Liu reached out to gently touch Lilith’s arm as the warrant officer pushed past them both to stand beside his captain. With both her father and Warrant Officer Mendez present, Lilith no longer needed the pad. She tossed them on the floor.

What about the others? she signed, her father translating.

Harding pressed his lips together in a line. The others. She had mentioned several groups of survivors at their first meeting. They were, however, neither his mission nor his concern. “That is beyond the scope of our mission.”

You can’t just abandon them! Lilith stomped her foot for emphasis.

“Lady,” Harding snapped. “We don’t have the time or the resources, God damn it! There’s nothing that can be done for them.”

“For whom?”

Everyone turned to find Sebastian leaning against the door frame, his strong arms folded over his chest. He held Harding’s gaze with an impassive expression, but his blue eyes flashed dangerously.

“It’s not your concern,” Harding replied.

Sebastian regarded him a moment, his expression not changing and yet, Mendez noticed, some subtle change about the agent had made his hairs stand on end.

“For whom?” Sebastian repeated, this time turning his attention to Lilith. Lilith signed. Mendez translated after an awkward pause.

The other survivors.

The tension in Sebastian’s body heightened. It was barely perceptible, but there was something in the set of his shoulders that announced a change in his mood.

“How many?” he asked softly.

There were five groups that I found, Lilith explained, her father translating. Nearly two hundred people in total. I couldn’t get close because… well. She offered Sebastian a resigned shrug.

“Where?”

The university, a garage in the centre city, a shop on Fifth, an apartment building on Grouse and a small group at the Village Heart Retirement Home.

Sebastian nodded. His gaze drifted as his mind worked.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Harding repeated, his voice flat. Sebastian ignored him, turning instead to gaze out of the window at the city beyond.

“Extraction Teams,” a distressed-sounding feminine voice over the radio on the table crackled. “This is Sigma Nest. Do you read? Damn it, come in.”

“Fucking finally!” Carter breathed. Turning away from Sebastian, he picked up the small microphone that was connected by a wire to the back-up communications unit.

“Teams Two and Three reporting,” he said.

“Christ. We’ve been trying to raise you all day! What’s your status?”

Carter looked up at Harding. The captain’s attention remained fixed on Sebastian, his expression unreadable.

“We’re prepping to get to the labs,” he said. “But we’re unable to raise Teams One or Four for confirmation.”

A short silence answered the report.

“Acknowledged. We’re also experiencing problems. Still.”

“Orders?”

Another pause. “Proceed as planned.”

“We figured. I’ll keep trying to work on our personal comms units, but we’ll radio in once we’re inside if we can.”

Before the woman on the other end had a change to respond, Sebastian marched into the room.

“Give me that,” he snapped, snatching the microphone from Carter. He spoke into it. “Warner, I know you’re listening.”

“Who is this?” the woman helming communications for Sigma demanded.

“Warner,” Sebatian said into the microphone again, ignoring the woman. “It’s Connors. Answer me.”

The woman began to protest, but was cut off with little more than a short burst of static. A male voice spoke.

Reaper. It’s good to hear your voice.

“What the actual —” Carter began. Sakata cut him off with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Reaper? Mendez mouthed to Harding. Everyone watched Sebastian. The man’s face was set in a mask of determination, but he did not care to disguise the quiet snarl in his voice when he next spoke.

“There are survivors down here, Warner. Civilians. You are going to arrange for their extraction.”

There was a pause on the other end. We don’t have the resources for such an operation, Reaper.

“Bullshit,” Sebastian spat to himself, letting his hand holding the microphone drop to his side. He closed his eyes a moment before opening them and staring at the far wall of the studio. His eyes burned cold. He slowly brought the microphone up again. “I will burn with this city, Warner,” he said, his voice quiet, steely.

Mendez started, straightening. He exchanged a glance with Harding.

Sebastian, Warner said, using the agent’s name for the first time, be reasonable.

When Sebastian spoke next, his voice was low, cold; a kind of frosted iron that ensured no one could do anything but believe him. “You and I both know that I am not bluffing. If you want your agent back at the end of this, you will find the resources.”

Mendez’s gaze flickered to the tracks on the crook of Sebastian’s left elbow, and then to the bandages still on his wrists. He let out a long, slow breath as Warner’s silence filled the room. After a moment, the radio crackled to life once more.

If you can get the survivors to the Sigma extraction zone, we can send transports to get them out. That’s the best I can do, Sebastian.

For a moment, Sebastian did not reply. He stared hard at the far wall, his mind working. Finally, he pressed the button to speak. “You better fucking be there. Out.” With a negligent toss, he threw the microphone to Carter and turned, striding from the room to find somewhere he could work on cooling down. He ended up in the room he had claimed previously, staring out the window in agitated silence.

For a long while, it was all anyone could do to stare at the now-empty open door. Shocked silence filled the room

“Hello?” Sigma Nest said. “Hello? Damn it Team Two, answer me!”

Harding marched to the table. “Captain Harding here. What the fuck was that?”

“I have no idea. The air went dead. I thought we’d lost you again.”

“Our signal was hijacked. You better have IT take a look at our equipment security, Nest. Someone is listening in.”

“That’s not possible, Captain.”

“Then you’ll have to explain to me how Agent Connors was able to contact his handler, or whoever the fuck he just spoke to was.”

“What?”

“Just… have—” Harding couldn’t finish his demand. The unit issued a high-pitched shriek, not unlike the feedback from a poorly set-up amp. Everyone in the room winced. There was a brief moment of white noise, then the radio went dead.

“Hello?” Harding said. There was no answer. “Hello? Nest? Do you read?”

Silence.

“Fuck!” Harding snapped, throwing the microphone hard on the table. Carter winced as he heard the equipment crack.

Harding turned away, his hands on his hips.

Everyone remained silent, waiting for the big man to regain control of his temper. The captain rounded on Carter.

“Fix it,” he snapped, before marching out of the room.

Shaking his head, Mendez followed, giving Carter a comforting pat on his shoulder as he passed.

“I don’t want to hear it, Mendez,” Harding growled as his friend came to his side.

“Not a word, Sir,” Mendez said. True to his promise, he simply settled into silence at his friend’s side. Mendez’ steady, good-natured presence had never failed to calm those around him. It was, according to his abuela, proof that he was a natural healer. Mendez didn’t really go in for all the stuff about crystals and energy the way she did, but he was acutely aware that helping folks came easier to him than others, and he leant into it.

Eventually, Captain Harding’s shoulders dropped. The big man sighed and shook his head. He took a moment to roll the tension out of his broad muscular shoulders. He turned to his warrant officer.

“We need to head out,” he said. It was the closest thing to an acknowledgement of Mendez’ help as the second in command was likely to get. Mendez has served with Harding, both in Sigma and in the army before that, to recognise when the man was expressing gratitude.

“We’re about ready to go,” Mendez replied. “Waiting on the order, Sir.”

Harding’s lips flickered at the edges, the threat of a smile lightening his expression. “Good. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“Yes, Sir!” Mendez turned, caught Joseph’s eye and signalled that it was time to go with nothing more than an upwards tilt of his chin. Joseph straightened and got everyone together. The only people who did not respond were Sebastian and Lilith.

Grumbling to himself, Mendez jogged over to the room Sebastian had claimed, rightly guessing that they’d both be in there. He was not mistaken. He knocked before he recognised that he had just walked into the middle of a heated argument. Lilith scowled over at the warrant officer. Sebastian, after a brief glance, turned away.

“Uh… I appear to be interrupting,” Mendez noted.

“No,” Sebastian said at the exact time that Lilith indicated the opposite.

Mendez tried hard not to laugh. The smirk faded as he noticed Lilith’s obvious distress.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Sebastian said, not permitting Lilith to answer. She turned to him and cocked her head, her heart-shaped face able to convey her irritation without any ambiguity. Sebastian seemed to soften under her stern gaze.

“You will be needed with the rest, I suspect,” he said. “I can move easier alone.”

Mendez raised his brows. It took him a moment to recognise the implication Sebastian’s words. He scowled when he realised what the agent was talking about.

“Where are you going?” he asked as Sebastian turned to face him more fully, double checking that his knife was still in its sheath at his left shoulder.

“There is a police station not far from here,” Sebastian said, not looking at him. “It’s a rendezvous for The Department. They will have weapons, ammunition and medicine. I need to kit up.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

Sebastian shrugged.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Harding said, appearing behind the warrant officer. He had come to find up what the delay was. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

“Try and stop me,” Sebastian answered, turning his gaze to him. His expression became stony, his eyes flashing dangerously. His voice dropped, becoming soft. The softness was a threat. “I fucking dare you.”

“Hey, man,” Mendez said gently, stepping forward to bring himself between Sebastian and his captain.

“I’m not going to leave behind civilians to burn in the wreckage of the city” Sebastian growled. “This will not be Cedarwood again. I won’t let it. You have your mission, Harding. Now I have mine.”

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