The shock of the memory yanked me back into consciousness. But I still couldn't move. Nor could I see anything.
Fuck!
God fucking dammit!
Why that memory? Why now? After I thought I've finally managed to forget about that day, it just came knocking back into my life.
What do you want from me? What do you want me to do about it huh?
The beeps of the heart monitor were elevated. I must've been having cold sweats too.
I scoffed.
Weak, Andrew. You were weak then. You're weak now. That's the why you're here: half dead and bedridden. Again.
As I lamented my current state, someone sat at the foot of my bed.
Mom? Dad? Hell, Mr. Han? Anyone, please just get me out of this.
"Oh, Andrew, Andrew, Andrew."
It was a female voice. One I haven't heard before or at least I wasn't familiar with.
"I read that coma patients can still hear everything that's happening around them so I came here to talk to you," she said with a slight giggle.
Who the hell is she?
"Oh poor thing, look at you," she said. "Chasing after a ghost only to become a vegetable. Did you really think that you'll be able to catch me?"
No...
"You might be wondering why I came here," she continued. "Well, I came to gloat. While you're stuck here having your wife wipe your ass and breathing through a tube, I'll be going with Mikail to a place where no one will ever find me."
THIS BITCH
"Oh, should I tell you where we're going? Ah, to hell with it, you won't be able to do anything about it anyway."
She then went close to my ear, her warm breath tickled my skin.
"We're going to the bottom of the ocean, boyo," she whispered.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to wring her neck and get a good look at her face when I do it.
The heart monitor beeped rapidly to reflect my agitation.
"Uh oh, with you making a fuss, a nurse is gonna come here," she said. "I guess it's time for me to go."
After a few footsteps, a window slid open.
"Oh, one last thing," she said. "Blair really wanted to come here. Hell, we even had to pin her down. Your love story doesn't mean anything to me, but telling you that is the least I could do for entertaining me."
Wait, Blair?
"Goodbye, Andrew Roberts," she said.
Motherfucker! What do you know about her?
I wanted to know more, but I got nothing but silence.
The heart monitor beeped even faster and soon, someone came with hurried footsteps.
"What the hell's going on?" a man who I assumed to be the nurse said in exasperation.
He approached my bed and after a few moments, fatigue washed over me. My heartbeat slowed and my consciousness floated.
"Alright, that should calm you down," he sighed. "Why the hell's the window open?"
Why?
Why?
Why?
"WHY, BLAIR?" I shouted as I wiped the vomit on my mouth.
"Babe, please calm down," she replied as she approached me with her arms up.
"CALM DOWN?" I screeched. "You fucking killed him!"
"Yes, but let me explain," she said.
I scoffed. "Yeah, explain," I said. "Explain yourself so that I can try to wrap my head around you murdering someone!"
She sighed and reached for her shoulder.
"Hey, easy!" I said as I pointed my sniper rifle at her.
"I'm just gonna show you something," she said as she grabbed the sleeve of her right arm and ripped it off. "Here, take a look."
I inched closer just enough to see a tattoo of a skull on her arm, completed with a gun and a knife on either side of it.
"What the hell's that?" I asked.
"Malus Necessarium," she replied. "Translated as 'necessary evil'. It's the organization I'm a part of."
"I... don't understand," I said.
"Andrew... you're a great person. And an even better cop," she said. "But the law can only do so much. Especially internationally. Our job is to perform operations that no one have the stomach to do. To accomplish what the law can't by any means necessary."
My vision blurred. My ears rang. I couldn't breathe. Who's this person in front of me? It can't be Blair, right?"
"Andrew?" she said with concern and approached me.
"DON'T!" I said and pointed the gun at her again.
"Andrew, listen to me," she said. "Finnad's inauguration would rip this country apart. The warlords threatened to start a civil war if he took the office. And he knew that even if he won, hundreds of thousands of people will die. So he asked us for help."
I scoffed. "You guys have a funny way of helping," I said.
"It was his idea, Andrew!" she yelled. "The plan was to stage an assassination and blame it on the warlords. With his death, the people would be blinded with rage and they'd approve of international intervention if it meant avenging their friend." She then stepped closer. "We can bring the full force of our military to finally clean up this country, Andrew! And no innocent person would have to die."
"Except Finnad!" I shouted.
"It was a sacrifice he was willing to make!" she screamed. "Get your head out of lala land Andrew! The world is a harsh place! People cheat, lie, and murder. But in the middle of it, there are people. GOOD people, like Finnad, who are willing to make the sacrifice for the greater good."
The greater good? My eyes gravitated towards the red splat on the wall and thought of those words. Greater good...
"No," I replied under my breath.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"No!" I said. "There's always another way, Blair. It might be inconvenient, or even almost impossible, but there's always another way to get the job done without sacrificing anyone."
She groaned in frustration and buried her face in her hands. She then took deep breaths and turned to me once again.
"You know, ironically, that's why I love you so much," she said with misty eyes. "Your heart Andrew. It's the opposite of mine. It's idealistic, almost to the point of naivete. Meanwhile, mine's realistic. So much so that I stopped dreaming of having a happy life. A husband? A house in the suburbs? Couple of kids and grandkids? That life wasn't for me." Then, beads of tears rolled down from her cheeks. "But when I met you, I thought, 'This man. If it's this man, I can get there.'"
"But we still can!" I exclaimed. "I already gave you the ring. A house? We'll get a loan or something. Kids? How many do you want? I'm down for any amount. Just..." my throat seized up, and my eyes held back a torrent. "Just please," I pleaded with my hand stretched towards her. "Stop working them. We'll find a way to live together."
Blair paused, her eyes visibly shaken from my offer. It was as if time stood still as I waited for her answer.
Then, her arm moved. Her hand went towards mine.
"Agent 13, what the hell are you doing?"
A voice, almost robotic, invaded our conversation. It came from a cloaked figure who leaned on the wall near us. Their gender was unclear, and the gravitas in their voice held authority.
Upon hearing the voice, Blair recoiled her hand.
"Handler," she gasped.
"You're compromised," they said. "You know the protocol."
"But!" she protested.
"No buts," they replied. "Now get it done so we can get out of this godforsaken country."
Blair's breaths went shallow. Her eyes were wide. Terrified.
"Andrew," she said. "Please, join us."
"What?"
"Y... you weren't supposed to know about me. About us," she stammered. "That was the only way we can have everything. But now that you know, the only way for us to be together is if you join us."
I was petrified. How do I answer this?
Before I could fully collect my thoughts, she grabbed my hand and pleaded with her eyes.
"We can still have everything, Andrew," she said. "I can't run away with you because they'll kill anyone that knows their existence. But if you join us, then we can be happy together. The house, the kids, everything. So please."
A life with her. But it'd be a life paved with blood. All for the sake of the greater good.
Sacrifices...
My life for a life with her. An equivalent exchange...
I took her hand. And then... gently pushed it away from me.
"I'm sorry..." I said.
Her face froze for a moment. Then, she gave me a wry smile.
"Then I'm sorry too..." she said.
And in that moment, the air escaped from my lungs as the sensation of cold metal pierced my back.
Half of her arm disappeared inside a purple mist. Warp spell...
Soon after, my body shut down. The wound was searing hot and as she yanked the blade out of me, the pain electrified my nerves. Then I crumpled on the dusty ground soon after.
"There, done," she said unemotionally to the hooded figure. "Let's get out of here."
"But he's not dead yet," they protested.
"The blade's coated in cursed poison," she replied. "You can take a look at his veins. It should black by now."
The figure craned their neck to observe me.
"You're right," they said. "Well, I guess you don't wanna see your lover die. Even though it was all fake."
She then grabbed their collar and gave them a deadly glare. "None of it was fake," she said gravely and pushed them away.
She headed out of the alley. Without looking back.
"Oh, pissy, pissy," they said as they followed her.
"B...lair..." I muttered through a mouthful of blood.
The world was cold. Dark. Yes, just like right now. I didn't know how I survived then. The poison should've done its job, but I woke up on a hospital bed a couple of weeks later.
Right... And that's when I met...
"Oh, kiddo. We should stop seeing each other like this."
Mr. Han.
I was back in the present. And just like back then, Mr. Han came to visit me.
"Why do I always find you unconscious and almost dead?" he asked. "Is it me? Am I the bad luck here?"
This guy...
I chuckled to myself. He's lived for eons so death didn't faze him anymore. But every time I was close to death, I could swear, I hear a bit of worry in his voice.
I also believed that he was the reason why Malus Necessarium hasn't hunted me down even after I survived. But I couldn't find any evidence to support that.
"Well, no matter," he continued. "I came to tell you that I found a way to resurrect you."
....
Excuse me?
"Well, it was Gustave's idea," he said. "It'll be experimental at best, but the theory checks out."
The heart monitor went on a rampage. I've lost all hope after I heard the doctor's diagnosis. But if Mr. Hand said there was a way, then I'll take the odds even if it was below 1%.
Mr. Han chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes," he said. And then, the familiar crackle of his portal boomed in my ears.
"What the hell's going on here?" the nurse that came earlier exclaimed.
"Sorry, nurse," Mr. Han replied. "But we're going to have to switch to alternative medicine here."
And after he snapped his fingers, I was unconscious again. How many times does that make now? Whatever, I just hope that the next time I wake up, I'll be able to open my eyes.
Then, as if to answer my wishes, my eyelids opened for the first time in what seemed like forever. It was blurry at first. But as I blinked, the sight of the meadow dancing with the wind became much clearer.
"Where... am I?" I muttered.
I took in everything around me. The blue skies, the golden grass, the lone cottage in the middle of nowhere. It was a bizarre yet comforting place.
"Hello there Andrew."
A voice said from behind me. It was from a woman I've never heard from before. But somehow. Somehow, I knew who it was.
I turned around to see the familiar face of the woman who I saw beat people with a seaweed.
The woman who took first place in a magazine that ranked criminal heiresses for their marriage potential.
The woman left everything for the sake of the mission.
"Maria?" I gasped.