Remus #9: Breach

Remus 9-1

By the time Cam returned from washing off the forest and pulling on some of his old clothes, Athena had taken delivery of two pizzas and sat them on the kitchen aisle, near the dining table in the open-plan room.

Bo was nowhere to be seen. She had been given free rein to help herself to any of Tina’s abandoned clothing she kept in storage. The process was taking a while.

Athena gestured for Cam to sit. He sat, helping himself to a slice in the process.

With most of the pressing questions out of the way, they sat in an awkward silence.

It was easy to navigate a conversation where there was interrogative momentum to keep it moving. But without the urgency, it was difficult to know what to say now. Or know how to say it. The part that hurt was how comfortable the silences used to be, or how easily they could fill them.

Eventually, Athena made the opening gambit.

“With the girl out the way,” she began, “you mentioned a werewolf at her camp?”

Cam swallowed. “Uh, yeah. There were prints and claw marks all over. Other evidence too…” He didn’t need to elaborate. “Smaller than usual though. Juvenile.”

Athena’s eyes widened. “...I wasn’t expecting that.”

“No. Me neither. I haven’t heard of an adolescent in… A while. I started tracking them from the camp, but I couldn’t catch up in time. And then, with Bo, it made more sense to get off-grid and pick up the scent later.”

“How does she feel about you trying to find the wolf who attacked her?”

“I don’t think she knows how she feels.” He paused for a second. “She still thinks it was all her fault, somehow. She hasn’t moved on from that to even think about blaming anyone else. I guess I’ll cross that bridge…” he trailed off with a sigh.

“Yeah.” Athena agreed.

“They were heading roughly toward the city to start with, but I don’t know if they continued or went elsewhere.“

“Can I help?”

“I’ll try to find them as soon as this whole Department thing blows over. But if your guys could keep an eye out for anything that might help, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure.” She nodded. “A juvenile werewolf… I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah.” He responded, hesitantly. “I just hope Atlas isn’t out for blood while I’m stuck lying low…”

Remus 9-2

“Get a fucking load of this!”

The teenage voice came bouncing down the hall and into the open-plan dining and living room. Cam and Athena were sitting at the dining table once again. The questions were done, and a slightly awkward silence reigned. They were slowly eating their respective slices of pizza. Athena looked up at the voice, closely followed by the stomping of heavy boots heading closer.

“Your friend has a mouth on her, Cam.” She muttered.

“Yeah… The Department must’ve skipped Sunday School.”

“She’s going to get you in trouble.” Athena warned.

“Yeah,” he scoffed, “...’going to’....”

And then… Bo.

Standing in the doorway. It was like they were both seeing the girl for the first time.

Bo had never picked out her own outfit before. The volume of Athena’s discarded pieces wasn’t extravagant, but it still took a while to find everything she was looking for.

But found them she had.

The adults looked at her, mouths slightly agape.

Her heavy black boots had been cleaned up. She had managed to find a pair of blue laces somewhere, which she had swapped in for the standard black. Growing out of them, a pair of black tights, a handful of strategic rips around knee-height speaking to Bo’s assessment of them as being a little too perfect.

At the top of the tights, a frayed skirt in dark tartan. Adorned with belt and chains.

There was a t-shirt somewhere in the ensemble, but it was smothered by a half zipped-up grey hoody. An open black leather jacket topped the look.

Fresh as she was from the shower, her black hair would more accurately be described as layered than shaggy, but the difference was mainly in degree of dishevelment.

“What d’ya think?” She asked, giving a twirl. The jingle of the chains at her skirt briefly caught the attention of Esme, who had been sleeping on the couch. She returned to her slumber when the spin stopped.

“You know, for a ‘My First Outfit’ selection…” Cam began.

“It’s remarkably coherent.” Athena finished.

“You don’t have a lot of colour in your wardrobe.” Bo looked at Athena and shrugged, dismissing the compliment, on the outside at least.

“In my position, one must look the part, sweetheart.”

Bo smiled. “Cam? You never finished your thought.”

Cam continued looking the girl up and down. This wasn’t the scared girl who couldn’t open her eyes the previous day. Or… It was. It absolutely was. But she was more ‘her’ than she’d been allowed to be her entire life.

Her pale blue eyes were still uncertain and afraid of the future. But there was steel there, emboldened now that she had chosen her armour.

So. This is Bo.

“You kept the fingerless gloves.” Cam said, finishing his assessment.

“Yeah.”

“The Department gloves?”

“My gloves.”

“Fair enough.”

“I might need to punch more people. The gloves say, ‘I might need to punch you’. Gives people a sporting chance to prepare their face.”

“For your punch?”

“For my punch.”

“And you’re aware that you’re uniquely positioned to hit people with heavy objects from the other side of the room?”

“I’m starting to get the impression you don’t like the punching idea.”

“Well, it’s just… It’s kinda my thing. Punching, grabbing, throwing…”

“Losing.”

“No. Shut up.”

Athena furiously stifled her laugh, but instead it came out as a high-pitched squeak.

“For goodness sake, Cameron,” she interjected, chuckling, “Just tell yourself it’s an homage.” She looked at Bo. “You look lovely, dear.”

“Fucking lovely?!?” Bo spat, much to Cam’s amusement.

“Did I say ‘lovely’? I meant ‘lethal’.”

“...Easily done.” Bo conceded, unconvinced.

“But I do hope you won’t need to show off your lethal punching skills any time soon.” Athena responded. “I’m just waiting to hear back on where we can stash you for a bit. At least until we establish how much effort The Department is putting into finding you.”

“Hopefully not much more than they put into rescuing me in the first fucking place.” Bo replied ruefully. The abandonment of all cadets except Fen was a scab she couldn’t stop mentally picking.

“Well,” Athena began, “That would certainly be convenient...”

Remus 9-3

Atlas’ office was once again immaculate.

No blood pooling on his floor. No soiled slip of paper cluttering his desk. No clinking of dirty weaponry.

And no werewolf enforcer darkening his door.

Not that he was alone. One of his direct reports stood at the opposite side of his desk, nervously awaiting feedback on the latest batch of field reports from her team of agents. Atlas had been silently reviewing the stack for several minutes. He set aside the file they would both find most pressing until last.

“Disappointing about 2-17, Freya.” He commented, continuing to review the final report. The team leader bristled.

“Agreed, Director.” She swallowed. “Samson and Atemis confirmed the conditions of the retrieval to be suboptimal.”

“Suboptimal…” He swilled the word around his mouth. ”Samson’s report mentions the asset in question is dead, along with most of the cohort?”

Freya cleared her throat. “Um… Yes, sir.”

“And yet, you chose ‘suboptimal’...?”

“Sir…” Her mind whirred. “I only meant that the asset was expired by the time the mission was raised. There was nothing further my agents could have done.”

“Hmmm.” Atlas contemplated. He enjoyed attacking outcomes, regardless of circumstance. It was important to him that the entire organisation be aware that the line between justification and excuse was for him to place, wherever he pleased, at any moment. “There was a surviving asset, I’m given to understand from the report?”

“Yes sir, a girl. The asset Boudica. Subject 1-38. Part of Project Ares, like the others…”

Atlas raised his eyebrow. “…Except 2-17.”

“Of course, sir. Apologies. The same as all of the cadets, except Subject 2-17. Agent Samson believes the girl must have hid during an attack on the camp.”

“The nature of the attack? The report makes no mention.”

“Unconfirmed, sir. Agent Samson advises that Remus insinuated Lycan involvement. He opted not to include the conjecture in the report.” Atlas’ eyes seemed to widen and narrow at the same time; the Director hated hearing news third hand, but he couldn’t hide his surprise entirely.

“Fascinating!” He responded. “Did Remus’ report corroborate?” He already knew the answer.

“Remus was…” The agent team leader wracked her brain for the correct word, “dismissed.”

“Dismissed?”

“Yes, sir. With Subject 2-17 no longer an active consideration and no need of a tracker, Agent Samson…”

“Decided unilaterally to dismiss Remus from the field?” The Director’s eyes were boring into his underling’s skull.

“…Yes, sir.”

“And the girl? Where is she now?” The information was contained within the report, but Atlas wanted to hear it. There were myriad additional meanings to be deciphered from the quiver of a voice.

“Sir… She was allowed to leave with Remus.”

“Interesting.”

“The girl never displayed any evidence of powers, as per Samson’s report. She was designated a zero-value target…”

“No great loss then.” He gestured dismissively with his hand. “And she was released into the custody of Remus? God help her."

Freya smiled slightly, little more than a brief curl right in the corner of her mouth. Just to acknowledge the boss’ moment of levity.

“Which direction did they take from camp?” Atlas asked.

“Agent Samson surmised that Remus was most likely to want to follow whatever tracks there were for the unknown werewolf player.”

“So, 1-38 is tagging along with Remus, while he tracks another werewolf through the woods...” He smiled.

“Yes, sir. Should we move to intercept…?”

“No, no,” the director waved his pen. “Let him cook. Let’s see if he can find this other Lycan and take it from there.”

“Besides,” Atlas continued. “The girl doesn’t know Remus as I do.” He smirked. “She’s one red hood away from being dinner.”

Remus 9-4

“Sorry, how many times?” Athena asked, aghast.

“At least three, maybe four.” Bo advised.

“Cameron!” Athena scolded. The werewolf shrugged. “Threating to eat people is a habit I thought you might have grown out of.”

“But it’s tongue-in-cheek! I always do it with a twinkle in my eye!” He protested.

“That just makes it look like you’re excited about the eating thing!” Bo refused to let him off the hook.

“Werewolves don’t even eat people!”

Bo glared at him. “Then why the actual fuck would you perpetuate the stereotype?!”

Cam looked at her weakly. He answered in a soft voice, shrugging. “Fun.”

Bo exhaled. “You’re an idi…”

Athena’s phone cut her off, ringing on the kitchen countertop opposite the dining table.

“Two seconds, guys,” she muttered, snatching the phone up and disappearing down the hall to take the call.

“Hopefully getting some good news for us about where we can lie low for a bit.” He said to Bo.

“Man, I like it here, though. And the cat’s really cute.”

Cameron looked at Esme, asleep on the couch again. She was cute. But she also hissed when the Lycan got too close. Not an ideal long term solution.

“This is Athena’s home, Bo. We can’t stay here.”

“Yeah, I know...” She sighed, taking a slice of pizza for herself. She sat at the table and took a bite. “Maybe the safehouse will have a cat?” She asked, mouth a little too full.

“Wouldn’t count on it.” Cam felt like he was punching a puppy.

Bo swallowed her first bite after a moment. “I’ll find one.” She determined, another mouthful incoming.

Good Lord, she’s serious.

“You do that, kid.”

Remus 9-5

Three slices later, Athena was yet to return. Cam was still watching the direction in which she had disappeared.

“Think everything’s OK?” Bo asked, nodding to the empty hall.

“Vampires are weird,” he replied, uncertainly. “Probably just held up on 15 minutes of formalities.” He rose from his seat. “I’ll go check, though.” He glanced at the dwindling pepperoni provision as he stood. “Don’t make yourself sick.”

Wordlessly, Bo lifted a further two slices, one in each hand.

Cam shrugged. “Or do. Go nuts. What do I know?”

He left Bo to dual-wield her pizza and walked softly down the hall. He didn’t want to discourage Bo, but Tina wasn’t prone to lengthy phone calls. Or at least, she wasn’t before. It may just be a pitfall of her position now, but he was unconvinced.

He reached a door near the end of the hall, on the left. It was partway closed and he could see Athena sitting inside the room, in a small home-office. She was no longer on the phone; sitting in silence, her head in her hands.

He knocked on the open door gently, peering at her. “Everything OK?”

Athena took a moment to look up. “Oh, sorry.” She started. She rose and met him in the doorway. “Not really.”

He responded in a hush, not wanting the conversation to travel back down the hall. “If it’s the safehouse, me and the kid will figure something out. Don’t worry about us.”

“No. It’s not that. I’m sure that’ll be fine…” She squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers as the pair walked back along the hall. “It’s Kane.”

“Oh.”

“He’s been... Targeting Department agents. Killing them.”

“What?” Cam replied, shocked, taking his seat again as Athena stood across the table from him and Bo. “Why?”

Bo’s eyes flicked back and forth from the werewolf to vampire. She continued to eat as her brain tried to plug whatever gaps she needed to in the conversation.

“After everything he went through… You saw what he was like before. The only thing he hated more than The Department was himself.” She pressed her palms against her eye sockets for a second. “He seemed to be doing OK. He never wanted to be part of the enclave with the rest of us, but we kept an eye on him.”

She took a moment.

“But I guess it was building up all this time…”

She looked up at Cam. “I don’t even think he has a plan, beyond taking some agents out. I doubt he cares if he’s caught.” She exhaled, her voice dropping. “Or even killed.”

“But you do.”

She nodded. “Yes. I know that Kane has his problems. But he’s one of us, Cam. He’s Netherbrood. I can’t abandon him. Even if he wants me to.”

“No. The Tina I knew wouldn’t know how.”

Her eyes smiled softly and she didn’t challenge the nickname.

“The Department sent teams after him over the last few weeks, but he’s managed to take them out. I think it just encouraged him, to be honest. But this time…”

She met Cameron’s gaze.

“They’ve sent Romulus with a new team, Cam.” He tensed. “Kane got away last time, but this feels different. He’s pinned in, and I can’t get involved. I can’t risk war with the Department.” She sighed. “Damn him for this. I don’t know what to do.”

“Sure you do.”

She looked at him. Not in surprise. There was nothing surprising about what he was implying. It was closer to sadly inevitable. “I can’t ask you to do this, Cam.”

“You can. But don’t. I’m already doing it.” He rose and snatched his old jacket from the back of his seat. She reached out to him and held his wrist. It was a silent thank you that immediately confirmed Cam’s thoughts on the matter. Doing the wrong thing is the right thing to do.

“They might already be looking for you.” Her eyes flicked to Bo, the young girl was stepping from foot to foot with a tense nervous energy. “Both of you.”

“Fuck ‘em.” Spat Bo.

“...What she said.” Cameron concurred. “But I’ll be careful. Really. In and out then straight back here. They won’t see me. Then we hide out and Kane’s safe for ten minutes. Everyone’s a winner.”

“Your idea of subtlety concerns me.”

He held her gaze. “Trust.” He offered, simply.

Athena sighed. She nodded, barely perceptible. “Do it.”

She handed him a small, folded slip of paper. Cam hadn’t even noticed that she had it in her hand. He opened the slip to see an address, an abandoned dock warehouse across town, as best he could remember. His lip twitched and he fought it back.

She knew I’d offer, he thought. It’s something.

Cam slipped his jacket on and turned to Bo, her nerves dialled up further than ever. “Bo, wait here. I’ll be back as soon as I can. You’ll be safe with Athena.”

“Not a cha…”

“Cam,” Athena cut her off. “Take the urchin with you.”

Cam stared at her as Bo immediately protested. “Hey, wait just a fu…”

“You may need her to bail you out.”

“...Well,” Bo unbristled. “...That’s alright then.”

Athena glanced at the young girl and saw the determination in her eyes. Pride too. Partly for the compliment, partly for finally showing the world who she wanted to be.

Someone who didn’t care for rules for the sake of rules. Someone who would always decide for herself whether “wait here” was worth listening to.

Someone for whom the choice was simple. Go with him, or go after him.

“Besides,” Athena began, a rare twinkle in her worried eyes.

God help me for encouraging them.

She snatched Cam’s keys from the table and tossed them to him.

“When a young lady’s got herself all dressed up, you damn well better take her dancing.”