“How did your strategy fail?” Li asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter.
Janus sighed again. “Because Ares—Mars, the God of War—was killed on the frontier while trying to aid the legions in modern-day France. He was our primary defense. Without him to destroy enemy armies before they could pose a threat, our power in the Empire was much reduced.”
Reed started to speak. “How did he—”
A loud beeping cut him off, and Foreman froze for a second before reaching into his pocket. He did not even speak before a voice came on the other end and blazed loudly for almost thirty seconds before hanging up without bothering to say goodbye.
Foreman pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it dully then let it fall to the table where it landed with a clatter that sounded almost explosive in the small conference room.
“What?” Reed asked, looking alarmed, which was probably how we all were looking at the moment.
“Three of the biggest national newspapers are set to blow the whistle on metahumans and the extinction tomorrow morning.” Foreman swallowed visibly. “They’ve got sources in the government, multiple agencies, and probably congressional staffs corroborating. Probably some foreign sources as well. And …” He paused and shook his head like he could make what he just said disappear. “… Cable news is already running with it, at least the basics.” His eyes met mine, and I could read the consternation without even having to try. “The word is out.”
Chapter 51
“Do they know about us?” Reed asked, cutting into the silence again.
“I don’t know,” Foreman said. “Until they hit news stands, it’ll be impossible to know unless one of the networks breaks it.” His phone buzzed and he stared at the screen for a second before turning it back over again. “All the major networks have broken into afternoon programming to tell the basics of what they know.” He let out a painful exhalation. “This is it.”
“Do they know about Sienna?” Scott asked. I glanced at him and he gave me a smile of support.
“I don’t know for sure,” Foreman said. “But almost certainly, yes. If there are leakers in the government, they likely have her entire file. It could have been disseminated to the entire White House Press Corps, for all I know.”
“Why?” Reed asked, his voice a low rumble.
“Because of Gables,” I said, and every eye in the place turned to me. I spoke calmly and in a low voice. “Because metahuman incidents like what we just did—what I just did—need an explanation. Especially with the truth coming out, there have to be some consequences in order to make people feel safe—”
“You’re talking about a sacrificial lamb,” Reed said. “You’re talking about someone who’s going to go under the bus for this. For the extinction, for the failures to respond until it was damned near upon us, for everything we’ve been trying to fight single-handed all this time—”
“They need someone to blame,” Kat said, her voice almost a whisper.
“A multiple murderer in charge of the U.S. Government response is a more convenient target than any other,” Li said, more neutrally than I would have expected given the circumstances.
“Though one might just question how a multiple murderer got into that position,” Reed said acidly to the FBI agent, who shrugged it off. “Maybe blame the government who put her there.”
“I put her there,” Foreman said softly, “and I’m sure the White House will be more than happy to assign that blame my way.”
“What about the pardons you promised?” Scott asked.
Foreman looked unmoved. “Most of you don’t need pardons.”
Scott shot a look my way, and now he was alarmed as well. “But Sienna does. What about her?”
Foreman leaned a cheek against his hand. “There was an agreement with the White House for that—”
“The same White House that might well be throwing her under the bus very shortly,” Reed said, and I could hear the anger rising in his voice.
“The very same,” Foreman said, almost in a whisper. “Look, this thing was supposed to stay quiet. Even if it went loud, it was supposed to be covered on our side as a ‘terrorist incident,’ not as the unveiling of a government conspiracy to keep secret that there was a whole ’nother race of humans with powers beyond our understanding. Terrorists are easily explained.” He leaned harder on his hand, covering one eye. “A girl who can fly and explode with the force of a bomb requires something else entirely. And if the truth about her past comes out …” He just stopped speaking, dead in the middle of a sentence, and when he spoke again he sounded like death. “Try and imagine the president explaining his way out of giving her a pardon after the truth about her actions with M-Squad comes out. Think through the political fallout following an admission that Sienna, acting as a government agent, damned near nuked a resort.” He fell back in his chair. “Yeah. It’s like that.”
“You made a deal,” Reed said, and I could see his face darken. The winds in the room started to change, like the air conditioner had swept on suddenly. “You made a promise to her—”
“Which I would keep, were it in my power,” Foreman said, looking at him limply, like he’d had all the energy drained out of him. “Even knowing the consequences. But unfortunately it is not in my power, nor anywhere near my power, because now the press isn’t going to be actively looking the other way anymore. There is no cover for this. There is no hiding, if it all makes its way out. This is the sort of shitstorm that blows even the brick house down, and the only thing the little pigs can do is run and hide.”
Run and hide, Little Pigs, Wolfe said, like he couldn’t even control himself. Wolfe will blow your house down. I felt my face pucker at that one, but I said nothing.
“I’m sorry,” Foreman said, looking directly at me. “There’s nothing I can do. I wish there was, but there’s not.”
I didn’t say anything, just stared straight ahead.
“What do we do?” Scott asked, and I heard a slight crack in the way he said it.
“If I were you?” Foreman said, and he looked weary down to the bones. “And, I’m gonna guess, I probably will be counted as one of you …” He looked up, and there was nothing but bitterness in the way he said it. “I’d run.”
Chapter 52
That broke up the meeting in a hurry, at least in its official capacity. Foreman left, saying nothing except he wanted to be with his family. He gave me one last look of absolute contrition before he closed the door. I tried to convey my sincere regrets, but I doubt he noticed in his haste to leave.
Li jetted to his office, probably not wanting to be involved in anything else that could get him charged as an accessory. As funny as I would have thought it could be to see him turn tail and run, I couldn’t blame him a bit. In truth, he’d done everything he could to aid our mission. A few minutes later, I watched him through the window as he crossed the bullpen with a box under his good arm, and I silently wished him well. But, you know, silently, in my own head, not where he might hear it.
Because I suspected that if he came back, it’d be with a warrant to arrest me. He was all about the law, after all.
Ariadne slipped back into the conference room a few minutes later to find us all sitting in silence, staring at the walls and ceiling. I noticed movement in the bullpen as people started to clear out. “I initiated a furlough for all the rest of the workers who haven’t taken off,” she said. “Since we don’t really have anything for them to do here.”
“Good call,” Reed said. “No point in letting whoever comes here to start arresting people have an easy job of it.”
I glanced out the window and caught a glimpse of Harper leaving with her giant suitcase. Rocha walked next to her, gracing her with a smile that didn’t look forced. It was an odd spectacle, watching them walk and talk. Like almost everything else in my life, it was me watching from the outside once more.
“Sienna?” Reed asked.
“Hm?” I glanced at my brother.<
br />
“We’ve got some decisions to make,” Scott said.
“Did you send security home as well?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ariadne said. “Except for a skeleton crew. Didn’t see much point in keeping them around since we’re not even guarding Sovereign and there’s no other source of attack.” She paused, and her eyes flitted to me. “Right?”
“They wouldn’t even make a dent in Sovereign and they’d die trying,” I said. “It was the right call.”
“What about all those Century mercs?” Reed asked.
“We’re bailing out anyway,” Scott said, “so who cares if they burn down the installation of the government that’s about to turn on us like we’re dogs?” He sounded thoroughly disgusted. “Let them torch the place. Again.”
“It is never pleasant when a government turns against you,” Janus said, shaking his head. “Having seen this before several times, I would recommend picking a good non-extradition treaty country and offering your services if necessary.”
“And now we’re fugitives,” Scott said, shaking his head. “We just went to the fricking wall to save the world from the greatest threat ever—”
“Not ever,” Janus clarified.
“—in modern times,” Scott amended.
“Not really,” Janus said. “There was—”
“Whatever, it was a big damned threat!” Scott said, smacking the table with his palm. “I didn’t see anyone else stepping up to do battle with a hundred of the nastiest metas on the planet, and we got the job done! These guys killed all of Omega, all of Alpha, changed the course of the meta world.” He slumped in his chair, rage spent. “If there were bigger threats than this, I don’t even want to know about them.”
“It is best you don’t,” Janus agreed, “if you ever wish to sleep at night again.”
“He’s right, though,” Reed said, shaking his head, almost scoffing. “This is a ton of bullshit. We do the work, and now we’re going to be the pariahs who get all the blame. ‘Oh, what a piece of work is man.’ Shakespeare nailed it.”
“What are you going to do, Sienna?” Ariadne asked me.
“I’ve still got Sovereign to deal with,” I said.
“Oh, screw this,” Reed said to me. “Let’s just go. Pick a place, somewhere without an extradition treaty, like Janus said, and let’s just run for it.”
“Preferably somewhere with a beach,” Scott said.
“I know several governments around the world who would gladly make accommodations for metas of our power,” Janus said to me, and it held the air of an invitation.
“I’ll think about it,” I said quietly.
“You cannot be serious,” Reed said, looking at me in disbelief. “Sienna, you do not deserve what’s about to happen to you—”
“Deserve?” There was some bitterness in my voice. “I hear a lot of talk about people ‘deserving’ this or that, or not deserving some dire fate that befalls them.” I let out a scoffing noise. “Well, so what? Does the cute, fluffy bunny deserve to live?” I smacked my hand against the table, causing all of them to jump. “It doesn’t matter, because when the hawk swoops down, he becomes dinner. So tell me, please, what I deserve.” I leaned back in my chair and straightened the dress I still wore.
There was a moment’s silence and then Reed spoke. “You saw that YouTube video of the bunny getting snuffed after that family released it, huh?”
I stared back at him. “It hurt my soul, I’ll admit. But it’s a good lesson. ‘Deserve’ is irrelevant when we’re talking about what happens to us.” I let out my breath slowly. “But I think there’s a reasonable debate that could be had over whether I deserve punishment for all the people I’ve killed.”
Reed looked like he’d been hit in the face. “No. No. You don’t.”
“Reed,” I said. “It’s okay.”
“Sienna …” Scott said warningly and then stopped.
“I’ve got Sovereign to attend to,” I said and stood up. I pushed my chair back as I did. “You all should get out of here. I hope you all saved your money over the years, because it’s looking like a Rainy Day Fund could come in really handy about now.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” Reed said, and he stood too.
“There’s nothing left for you to do but go to jail,” I said gently. I turned to Scott. “You, too.”
“Maybe we should all go together,” Scott said, and he stood as well. “Make a stand. Tell our story.”
“One voice or seven is not going to make a difference.” I shook my head. “I think you all know that. And with the exception of Kat, us going to prison together wouldn’t do anything.”
Kat frowned, her pretty face crumpling. “Why would me going to jail with you make a difference?”
I stared back at her. “Because you’d be my bitch,” I said with a smirk. I saw her eyes widen and hastened to add, “Kidding, kidding.” I looked around the table and my eyes settled on Zollers. “There’s only one duty left to fulfill. I’m going to go to Sovereign and figure out what the next step is. The rest of you need to get scarce.” I lowered my voice. “If any of you end up taking a fall for this after I dragged you in, well …” I swallowed. “… I don’t need any more guilt on my conscience, okay? Leave. For me.”
In the empty silence of the conference room, Kat was the first to move. She came over to me and brushed my shoulder. “You’re always so brave, Sienna. No one else could have done this.” She pulled me in for a hug and I let her. She smelled faintly sweet, and I started to say something about how I wished all along I could have been more like her, but I stopped myself.
She would never have believed it coming from me.
Janus was next. “If you change your mind,” he said. He kept his distance but offered his hand. I shook it quickly. “Please, change your mind.”
“I can’t,” I said, and I smiled faintly. “One last duty to attend to.”
He nodded, paused, and then leaned toward me. “What are you going to do to Sov … Marius?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “Whatever I have to in order to make sure the world is safe.”
Janus looked faintly stricken. “I feel responsible at least in part for this, and I have tried to make amends all along. I apologize for not doing more to aid you in your fight.”
“You did all you could, didn’t you?” I asked.
He looked down. “I could have told you things sooner. Things I was forbidden to mention by others. Things I should have let go of long before I did—”
“It’s all right,” I said and made a faint gesture with my hand. “I absolve you.”
He stared at me, and his eyes were full. “You truly were the bravest. After Adelaide …” He stopped. “I never wanted any of these things to happen because you … and she before you … you reminded me so much of my own—” He stopped abruptly then pulled me in for a hug that nearly strained my ribs. When he broke from it a moment later, he could not meet my gaze. “Fare well, Sienna Nealon.” He left with Kat on his arm.
“This is not goodbye,” Quinton Zollers said, making his way over to me, “this is merely ’til we meet again, as surely we shall.”
“Don’t get elaborate with me now, Doc,” I said. “I’ve got a job to do.”
“And you’ll do it well, whatever you decide it is,” Zollers said. “Be assured that whatever happens, I will always support you.”
“I know,” I said, nodding and drew him in for a hug as well. His arms were warm and heavy, wrapped around me. I felt a glistening in my eyes and held it back. “Be careful.”
He pulled back from me. “You know I will.” With a last smile, he too headed for the door, leaving me alone with Scott, Reed and Ariadne.
Ariadne looked at us, hesitated, and then shuffled forward. “I guess I’m next, then.”
“I hope you’re going to Bora Bora,” I said, staring her down.
“Or somewhere,” she agreed. “I don’t really fancy the thought of being your bitch in jail, assumi
ng they even housed you with the normal inmates.”
“Fair enough.” I hesitated. “I know I’ve said it before, but—”
“I know,” she said, dismissing me. She hugged me lightly. “I know.” She pulled back and I saw in her eyes that she meant it, but there was still pain there, though not as fresh as it once was. “Safe journey, Sienna.” She paused at the door and drew back. “You’ve come a long way from the girl I first met in the Directorate interrogation room.”
I stared at the four walls of the conference room around me. “Not so far some days, I think. Pretty soon I suppose I’ll be just as confined as I was then.”
“You’re still different,” Ariadne said. “The environs may not be all that different, but you’re worlds apart from who you used to be. Nothing can take that away.” She said it, and she was gone. I watched her red hair retreat slowly outside the window.
“Reed—” I started to say, turning back. I ran into some resistance when he enfolded me in a hug that lifted me off the ground. I felt it, which is to say he was really damned strong.
“You don’t have to do this, dammit,” Reed said, and he set me down. “We go in there, we get Sovereign to turn around, we put a bullet in his head, boom. Job done. Then we exit, stage right, and head for wherever Janus calls rendezvous.”
“I don’t think it’d be quite that simple,” I said. “Assuming he did voluntarily turn around, which is kind of unlikely.”
“You walk in naked, get him to face away from the door, I follow in and boom, done,” Reed said.
“I don’t like this plan,” Scott offered. “Except for the naked part.”
“No,” I said gently. “No to the naked part, no to the idea of shooting him in the back of the head.” I was a little more forceful on one of those parts than the other.
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