Moment of Truth

by Emrys Apollo

  “You can’t live like that.” Stuart said softly. Antony scoffed a laugh.

  “Know this. But until they are all dead I have to. Then will tell him, when the time is right and I can explain.”

  “You’ll break his heart.”

  “Everything I have done since I met him has been for him. Is difficult to understand, but if I do not betray him Argent would have sent someone else to kill him already.” The squeal of tires brought Stuart back to the moment.

  “That’s Storming.” Stuart said, looking up. Antony held his gun out to him.

  “Please.” Stuart frowned.

  “You want me to kill you?”

  “No.” Antony stressed, shaking his gun towards Stuart. “Has to look like you pulled us both out. You knock me out too.”

  “Or I could not. Force you to fess up.”

  “Stuart.”

  “If you explain like you did to me, they might be forgiving.”

  “There are no guarantees.” Antony begged, pushing the gun into Stuart’s hand. “Please.”

  “Stu!” Jody’s voice hollered, splitting through the night. They were moments from being discovered.

  “Jody!” Stuart yelled as he clobbered Antony over the head with the butt of the gun. Antony crumpled forwards, falling onto Desmond like a rag doll. He felt slightly numb as Jody’s arms came around him, knowing that until Antony decided he was going to admit everything he would have to lie to the man he loved.

  - - -

  “Jody-”

  “You knew and you sent him back to him! An Argent!” Jody shot acidly at Stuart. Stuart shook his head.

  “It’s not like that.”

  “It fucking is. He could have killed him!”

  “I knew he wouldn’t.” Stuart muttered, his voice slightly quieter. It was a risk, he had known it. He had told Antony he knew it but Antony had convinced him, just like he had by the edge of the Thames.

  “Shame you were wrong.”

  “How was I wrong?” Stuart queried as Jody walked away from him, starting to pace.

  “He took a shot at him! The night the Argent attacked.”

  “Knew he had protection!” Antony argued. Jody scoffed.

  “Sure you did.”

  “Let us look at the facts: two Argent dead, two Storming not even fucking injured.”

  “We’ve already established you’re shit at your job.” Jody threw at him. Antony’s jaw locked.

  “Knew exactly what I was doing. If I wanted to kill Storming why do I not kill Daniel on my way out?” Jody stalled on whatever he was going to say. “Desmond was safe with me.”

  “That’s why you didn’t want me to leave the house though.” Desmond piped up. Antony turned to him. “You knew if I did they were trailing us. You knew they’d come for me to get back at you.”

  “I was protecting you.”

  “You put him in that position in the first place!” Jody pressed aggressively, moving towards Antony. Antony didn’t look away from Desmond.

  “Always, everything was to protect you, Desmond.” Antony stressed. “I do what I do to keep you alive.”

  “It’s bullshit-” Jody started.

  “It’s not!” Antony snarled at him. Jody kicked the chair Antony was tied to, sending him clattering backwards on the floor.

  “Jody!” Stuart dove forwards as Jody aimed his gun between Antony’s eyes. Nothing the German could do was budging him.

  “Last words?” Jody questioned darkly. Antony didn’t get a chance to speak before Jody was stumbling backwards, Desmond standing between him and Antony.

  “You don’t get to just kill him, okay.” Desmond said defiantly. “No one but me has that decision.”

  “Desmond-” Jody started to argue, but Desmond held his hand up.

  “He’s done things he shouldn’t have, but he’s betrayed both sides. We send him out they’ll kill him. We keep him here, we’ll kill him.”

  “At least this ends in his death.” Jody shrugged, getting back to his feet. Desmond ran a hand over his face.

  “I don’t know how this ends.” Desmond muttered. Jody shook his head.

  “You just said-”

  “I know what I said but I still love him, alright!” Desmond snarled, taking Jody aback. “So no one but me gets to decide. And until I do he stays right here. Alive.”

  “Henson won’t go for that. Not with the new information.”

  “Then Henson takes it up with me.” Desmond stated. “I’ll be guarding this room moving forwards.”

  “You can’t-”

  “Try and stop me.” Jody looked at Desmond, reading him. Reading every emotion that was pouring off him. He knew there was no budging Desmond on this. If he wanted to kill Antony he was going to have to go through Desmond.

  “I’m going to update Henson on the situation.” He said, walking out of the room. Turning back to look at Desmond as he got to the doorframe, deflating slightly. “With your terms.”

  “Thank you.” Desmond nodded. Stuart took a step towards Jody, but Jody held up his gun to stop Stuart coming closer.

  “Stay here with your friend.” Jody snaked. Stuart’s shoulders dropped.

  “Jody-”

  “I haven’t quite decided if you’re as bad as him yet.” Jody said, his eyes flicking to Antony. “But I’m sure Henson will have an option.” Lead dropped in Stuart’s stomach as Jody left the room. Desmond pulled Antony back upright, untying his hands.

  “You staying in here or coming out?” Desmond asked Stuart, turning away from Antony. Stuart blinked at him.

  “I…” His eyes were swimming with tears, and although Desmond was pissed that Stuart had known Antony was working for the Argent, he couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for him. He hooked Stuart under his arm.

  “Come on.” He soothed, leading Stuart towards the door.

  “I fucked up, didn’t I?”

  “Jody will get over it.” Desmond assured, rubbing Stuart’s arm.

  “Desmond.” Desmond stopped but didn’t turn at the sound of Antony’s voice. “Will you?”

  “Will I what?” Desmond asked the door. Antony deflated behind him.

  “Will you forgive me?” His voice was quiet. If the situation was any different he’d have pulled Antony into his arms, promised everything would be fine. But honestly? Desmond really didn’t know how it was going to turn out.

  He didn’t answer, leaving Antony standing in the middle of the room, closing the door softly behind him. He had a lot of thinking to do.

  CHAPTER 15

  “Can I get anyone any tea?” Kendrick asked, trying to break the silence that had filtered around the room. Henson continued to tap noisily on his keyboard as Desmond glared at the far wall. Jody sat between Desmond and Henson, opposite Stuart who was nervously chewing on his lip.

  “I think it’s best we start, Agent May.” Henson nodded, eyes still glued to the laptop in front of him. Kendrick took his seat next to Daniel as they waited for the meeting to begin.

  “It appears we have a dilemma.” The door opened as Bowse walked in, dropping the case file on the desk. Most of the agents had only ever seen Bowse on a computer screen, and seeing the man in the flesh made him no less intimidating. He was shorter than the computer pictured him to be, but he had an air of commanding the room which was much more intense when he was sat just a few feet from you. Jody sat up straighter as Bowse took his seat, whilst Henson shut the lid of his laptop.

  “In the case of Abascal, I think it’s fairly open and shut.” Henson said bluntly.

  “If it was, we wouldn’t be here now, would we.” Bowse said, flicking open the file. “Seven years the Argent agent Abascal has been leaking Storming information to his team, jeopardizing almost every mission we’ve undertaken in that time frame. During this time, he was involved in a serious relationship with agent Sharp, unbeknown to him, the relationship was a ruse to obtain sensitive Storming information.”

  “I don’t really understand what’s left to
be discussed.” Jody said, his eyes dark. Bowse shot him a look that silenced him.

  “Upon being kidnapped, which turns out to have been an elaborate plan to kill agent Sharp, Abascal demonstrated intense allegiance to Storming through his link to agent Sharp. This includes killing numerous Argent agents and ensuring the safety of Storming agents Sharp, Carnegie and Rowland. Abascal killed two high profile Argent agents in a move to save agent Sharp’s life on the eve of his discovery, leaving agent Sharp shot but not injured and agent Rowland unconscious but uninjured in the event.” Bowse looked up at the agents around the table. “Have I missed anything?”

  “I think that’s everything, in summary.” Henson nodded. Bowse closed the file.

  “Then clearly this is not open and shut.”

  “I’m just trying to understand how we can possibly be thinking of letting this guy go?” Jody piped up again. “He leaked sensitive information to our enemies.”

  “He also saved three agents' lives who wouldn’t be sitting at this table if he hadn’t.” Stuart shot across the table. Jody glared at him.

  “Agents who wouldn’t have been in danger if he wasn’t leaking information in the first place.”

  “Gentlemen, please, we could go round in circles.” Bowse said calmly.

  “This all boils down to who gave him my name seven years ago.” Desmond said, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table. “Now, unless someone knows who that was...?”

  “Barclay. Found dead.” Henson said. Desmond’s eyes flicked to him. “We followed through Abascal’s…. Escapades.” Desmond looked at Jody.

  “You want to blame anyone for this, blame Barclay. But as he’s already dead you probably can’t get much revenge there.”

  “Barclay has nothing to do with this.” Jody said.

  “Barclay set this whole thing into motion.” Desmond amended.

  “We need a resolution, and a decision on what to do with Abascal.” Bowse said, bringing the focus back. “The options are as follows: one, we kill him; two, we let him walk free; three, we try and enroll him into the Storming team.”

  Uproar followed his final statement from most of the agents at the table.

  “Absolutely not!”

  “He cannot be trusted!”

  “He was only working with us because of Desmond!”

  “Gentlemen.” Henson said, quieting the group.

  “I won’t deny he’s good, but we can’t trust him, Sir.” Daniel said.

  “He only worked with us because of Desmond, and he was only trying to protect Desmond.” Kendrick added.

  “I have to agree,” Stuart said, much to Jody’s surprise. “Saving me was a guilty conscience. I wasn’t supposed to be wrapped up in the Desmond stuff and he felt bad. Didn’t see the point in me being killed for no reason. If Desmond was not on the team I’m not sure if his loyalty would stay with us.”

  “Plus we know there is a potential he will leak information.” Jody said.

  “To protect Desmond.” Countered Kendrick. “Not sure he would do the same for anyone else.”

  “In that case,” Bowse nodded - he was confident this was the conclusion his team would come to. “Do we kill him, or let him walk?”

  The awkward silence returned to the room with some of the agents passing an awkward look in Desmond’s direction. Desmond let out a sigh, folding his arms as a frown settled on his face. Neither decision was preferable. If he had his way, Antony wouldn’t be a Argent agent and he wouldn’t have to make this choice. Both options likely ended in Antony’s death, whether by the hands of Storming or the remaining Argent who would track him down. For the first time in Desmond’s life he didn’t have the answer; there was no right decision to be made.

  “Would this be easier to make it an anonymous vote?” Bowse said, his eyes settling on Desmond. Desmond looked around the other agents at the table. Did he want to know who in this room wanted to kill the man he loved?

  “Anonymous is best…” Desmond said slowly.

  “Maybe we should discuss the benefits of both options first?” Stuart asked, slightly desperately, as Henson started tearing up slips of paper and handing them out.

  “I think all options have been discussed.” Henson said. Stuart bit his lip nervously, starting to click the end of his pen.

  “A simple decision.” Bowse said, standing and turning his back to the table. Desmond scoffed; there was nothing simple about this at all. “Walk or kill.” Desmond watched his fellow agents as they all lent forwards to write their decisions. Antony’s fate would be decided on a democracy in this room.

  He knew Jody would be writing kill; the man couldn’t move past all the betrayal despite the fact that Antony’s actions had saved Stuart’s life. Stuart, on the flip, would definitely write walk. Daniel and Kendrick were unknowns. Daniel might be inclined to write kill due to Antony attacking him, but on the other hand he could write walk for him only attacking him and not killing him when he easily could have done. Desmond just couldn’t get a read on Kendrick; the Dane hadn’t said much either for or against killing Antony so Desmond had no bearing on how he would vote. Looking down at his own blank piece of paper, Desmond realized he could be the deciding vote.

  Storming would be fast because Desmond would instruct them to do so. Sit him somewhere with a nice view and put a bullet in the back of his head. Argent was an unknown entity, and with their current disdain for Antony for not only betraying them but killing more of the team, he was sure the Italian opposition would draw it out, make him suffer. Anger pounded through Desmond at that thought, the thought of anyone making Antony suffer. Was it possible if they allowed Antony to walk he could slip into the shadows? He was a talented agent, he’d gone undiscovered and leaking information for seven years. If Antony walked, Desmond was confident he could avoid the Argent and survive.

  Decisions made, the five agents folded their paper and put them in the empty glass in the centre of the table.

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Your decision will be taken into consideration.” Bowse said, standing as Henson did the same, picking up the glass. Desmond frowned at him.

  “You’re not going to tell us the decision?” Desmond queried. Bowse looked over at him.

  “This decision is above your pay grade, Sharp.” Bowse said. “We want to gauge your feeling, but the final decision stays with the higher ups.”

  “Bullshit.” Desmond snapped, slamming his fist on the table. Bowse turned away from him. “You can’t just do that! You can’t just make us decide whether he lives or dies and then not tell us!”

  “The decision isn’t yours.” Henson said, following Bowse out of the room. “Remember, Sharp, you too are under review. Your opinion probably shouldn’t count for anything.” Desmond glared at him as he disappeared from the room. Everyone else around the table started gathering their stuff and moving out as well.

  “Jody?” Stuart said softly, moving round the table. Jody didn’t stop piling up his paperwork, not looking up at the German. “Can I talk to you?”

  “That depends what you wrote on your paper.” Jody stated, his eyes locking on Stuart’s. Stuart looked at the floor, causing Jody to scoff. “That’ll be a no then.”

  “I owe him my life.” Stuart said quietly. Jody shook his head at him.

  “You don’t owe him anything. You said it yourself, it was guilt that made him save you, not compassion, not a turn in ways. He’s been fucking with Desmond for years. Why do you feel the urge to owe him?” Jody pleaded.

  “I need to clean my slate.” Stuart said, looking up at Jody. “You know what that feels like.” Jody flicked his eyes between Stuart’s, looking at him properly for the first time in days.

  “Don’t do that to me.”

  “Then stop making me feel like I’ve joined sides with Satan.” Stuart said. Jody looked at him, pained.

  “I can’t forgive him.”

  “I’m not asking you to forgive him. I’m asking you to forgive me.”

  Desmond missed
the resolution to their conversation, having walked out of the room. He didn’t want to see a sweet reunion or more of the same bullshit Jody had been serving Stuart all week. He needed to get back to Antony, because irrelevant of who wrote what in the meeting, a decision was currently being made on whether Antony would live or die.

  - - -

  “Sounds intense.” Antony said. Desmond shrugged at him.

  “Predictable.”

  “They always make you make decisions and then not tell you the result?” Antony frowned. Desmond rolled his eyes.

  “No, but the premise of making us think our opinion matters when it probably doesn’t… I should have seen that coming.” Antony looked down at his hands, nervously playing with his fingers.

  “What…”

  “What what?” Desmond asked from his corner in the room.

  “What… Did you write?” Antony asked his feet.

  “I hate you, mate, but I don’t want to see you dead.”

  “Could be out of luck on that one.” Antony sighed, but there was an air of happiness to him. Desmond pushed off the wall, moving to sit in front of Antony.

  “How did we get here?” Desmond sighed, seemingly talking to himself. He looked up at Antony with sad eyes. “We were solid, mate, but all this time you’ve been going behind my back, selling me down the river.”

  “I did not mean-”

  “Alright, come on, you can’t honestly expect me to believe that you ‘didn’t mean’ to give Argent literally everything I’ve ever seen in the last seven years.” Antony sighed, dropping his head. “How did you think this could ever work?”