Darren
I'm happy for him…. I try to tell myself this as I walk out of the kitchen. I'm glad AJ is happy...with that psychopath. No, no I'm just glad he's happy and in love with someone. I just hope he doesn't get himself hurt. Ren already put bruises on him this morning. I walk through the halls in a daze as their conversation echoes through my head. How did Ren know? I bet it was in the hallway when they stepped out of the shower. I should have been more careful to hide it. I walk through the dark gray walls of the first floor to the staircase at the end. I start my way down into the sub level. I see AJ's art as I walk down the stairs. The walls of the staircase are concrete, a black railing leads down to the basement. Decorating the walls are colorful spray painted pieces of art. I had told him to stop coming down here to do this. I guess I have to add it to the long list of commands that AJ ignores .My feet echo on the stone steps as the air temperature turns colder. I hate coming down here. Each step I take with my boots ricochets and bounces between the two walls of the narrow stairway. The lower I go the louder it gets until every step is like a gunshot in my ear.
I feel dizzy as I stumble into the war room. More stone, it was a very effective resource back when the castle was first built. Anymore it just makes the sub-level feel like a prison. When I walk through the heavy door I take a few steps and then brace myself on the chair at the head of the table. My head is still reverberating with gunshots, I feel my hands shake as bad memories swirl through my head. I grip onto the chair feeling the old wood crumble under my fingers. I take a deep breath and force my eyes open. I look up at the cavernous ceiling, it feels like a cave, the only light in the room is through a window that rests all the way at the top of the ceiling underneath the triangular-arched roof. The window itself is actually on the second floor. That's where someone can be level with it. The glass has a milky white look and the metal frame wraps around the window like a steel birdcage. I think back to when I would have Ren and AJ scale this wall. I would have them start from down here, get all the way to the second floor and then have them climb back down. I hated this room even when it was filled with their protests.
I remember all the days I spent with Jasper in here, when I was no more than 14, even more so now that he's gone, this room was the fuel of all my most vivid nightmares. Before Afghanistan of course. I hate this room, I hate it because it makes me feel scared, alone, vulnerable, and it's definitely not the place I need to be right now. I never want to feel as helpless as I did that day Deakon disappeared with half of the agency's research. I had cowered behind Jasper as he yelled and kicked and fought against his brother.
"Pull yourself together Delmonico" I say to myself harshly, much like my father used to. "You look weak." Now is not the time to show weakness. I need to be a leader, I need to be the leader Jasper was, He would never let something as trivial as gunfire get in the way of training for a war. I need to remember that. It's the whole reason I'm here at W.A.R.M.T.H. My father would spit on me if he saw how I was acting. I stand up straight and face the cavernous room. Forcing my breathing to even out. A pathetic attempt to remind myself that I'm stronger than my trauma.
"So boss man, what's this big 'strictly business' meeting about?" AJ says with his usual arrogance and cockiness. "Sit down, shut up. I already told you I'm not in the mood, Collins." I turn around to face him, I hope that my eyes don't give me away. As soon as my eyes land on him he looks away. He always avoids my eyes. Without another word or acknowledgement AJ takes his normal seat at the table.
"Well that was a bit rude" Ren says, following closely behind his boyfriend
They each sit at the two chairs closest to the one I'm standing next to. Ren sitting attentively, his orange jacket is a startling contrast against the gray of the room. Like a flame, or a stick of dynamite. It reminds me of his old orange and black checkered hoodie. He left it behind with Raven. She held his interest well, I know he left it with her on purpose, hoping she would remember him. AJ is sitting with nonchalance, picking at his fingernails; he hides it well but I can see he's just as uncomfortable in here as I am. It's hard to feel bold when inside the belly of a beast such as our war room. Once everyone is situated I try to muster enough confidence to get through this annoying meeting.
"Why is it?" I begin with an over enthused gusto, "That neither one of you have asked me how we are going to get the girls, or why we are getting them now? You two do realize that I picked you up when you were 17 because I needed your skill sets to pull off a specific mission. Did you retain nothing from my intelligence training?"
"A student is only as good as their instructor." AJ says lackadaisically. Still examining his nails.
"I do believe I told you to shut up. Is that correct? If so, keep doing it, if not do it anyway." I say it with more venom than I mean. It makes AJ snap his attention up to me. Looking me in the eyes for the first time since he walked in. He glares. I can tell he wants to say something but before he can Ren leans forward in his chair, holding his hands together and leaning his elbows on the table.
"Respectfully sir, we knew you would tell us whether we asked you or not. I would assume it is part of your job as our director?" I shake my head and sigh, "That's not the point England. The point is, you two need to start taking charge of the work we do here, I can't hold your hands and walk you through it all of the goddamn time I'm your director, I give directions. I am not your fucking yoda." Ren presses his lips together at that. It's the gesture he makes when he doesn't understand something. I guess he doesn't know who Yoda is. AJ looks over at Ren with an amused smile, "I guess I have to make you watch Star Wars." Ren's head drops at that. "Please not another one of your mindless sci-fi fantasy movie marathons. I had quite enough when you made me watch Aliens." AJ lightly touches the back of Ren's neck and smiles brightly, his fingers curling into his red locks. A familiar tightening seizes my chest. I clear my throat, "Moving on, I need you two to start taking your missions seriously instead of just expecting me to tell you everything you should do. Not even I can prepare you for every possible outcome of an assignment. The girls received plane tickets to Ireland in the mail two days ago. They are under the impression they somehow won a contest. When they arrive they will be expecting a greeting committee. A small group who will be taking them to their snuggly hotel rooms. Hopefully I do not need to tell you that they are not actually going to a hotel. The assignment is to pick them up and bring them here without making them feel threatened.I know you two didn't know Raven for very long but I know that she is going to be on high alert, she's reckless, not stupid. If she recognizes you two she will know something is wrong. If you two do not provide enough answers to all possible questions, she will not hesitate to take you both out and run off. Amora trusts Raven's instincts, she also will not hesitate to take you both down. So, be careful, you cannot be recognized by the girls via sight nor scent. Amora has a strong nose. She'll know your scents. The greeting committee will be you two, Marina Garcia from another branch of Homeland and Jessabelle, a second class agent who mostly works in foreign exchange."
"Did you try to sleep with that one too?" AJ says under his breath, having caught Ren's attention, he casts an evil glare towards me.
I slam my hands down on the table, "Do you have something to say to me soldier?" alerting him to take caution. The amount of times I have to correct AJ's behavior within a short briefing is ridiculous. If someone treated a superior like this in the marine corp we would have been forced to clean all the latrines on the base and run drills for at least two hours. I wish I could do that to him. Does he even understand how much he gets away with?
His eyes harden on me, "Not a thing." He says coldly.
"Then, can. we. move. on?"
He looks away from me but nods his head. "Good. As I was saying, the girls will be deposited at Shannon airport. Where you two will be waiting for them, you can give no indication of your real identities so, AJ, you'll need to drop your bad boy aesthetic and Ren, wear something less…colorful. You'll also need to wear colored contacts, your gold eyes are a dead giveaway, therefore your only disadvantage. Same goes with your red hair, so either dye it, or wear a wig. Am I understood?"
I look to Ren for confirmation, "Yes, sir."
I sit down across from them, careful not to disturb the head chair. I never sit at the head of the table. That was where Jasper would sit. Now comes the most annoying part, checking for understanding. "Now, can you boys tell me what you're doing, in detail. For this assignment?" Ren doesn't hesitate, he starts to speak at almost an impossible rate of speed and gives me all of the detail I just gave the two of them. AJ listens to him intently, making sure he doesn't skip over a single detail, that's how I know AJ is prepared. After Ren is finished AJ nods to me, "Affirmative." I roll my eyes, "You forgot to say captain." I tease. AJ smiles, a small, humored smile, not his irritatingly charming one, not his cocky one, or his annoying one. I try not to seem too eager to return the smile. I have no clue if I am successful or not, he looks away too soon and I feel Ren's eyes on me like razors.
"Now go train." I bark, trying to deter Ren from asking anymore questions.