When it was all said and done, Aerin dropped the sword and collapsed down onto her knees. The book was nothing more than a heap of scrap paper in front of her. As Aerin sat there panting from exhaustion, the book burst into flames. She watched as it vaporized completely and John felt the familiar burning sensation in his chest as a new soul entered into him. Aerin sat silent in front of him, almost unmoving. Most of the fire by the helicopter had gone out, but in the dim light of what was still there John could make out tears streaming down Aerin’s cheeks. The air around her changed once more, she no longer held the anger and hatred that she previously had; it was all gone, expended on the man and strange book that she had eviscerated.
“Hey!” Lazarus’ voice rang out across the rooftop. “You guys make it?”
“Yeah, we’re alright!” John shouted back as he forced himself to stand. He walked carefully around Aerin and picked up his sword, all the while she didn’t move. He returned the blade to its resting place and with it his powers vanished. There was a sudden wave of exhaustion that washed over him, and he had to catch himself against a nearby AC unit.
“Jesus, mate.” Lazarus said as he slowly approached. “You alright?”
“Yeah.” John shook his head. “I’ll make it.”
“What about her?” Lazarus whispered as he motioned toward Aerin.
“Leave her be.” John said glancing back down to her. “She just dealt with some heavy stuff, she needs some time.”
“Right. Crew’s cleaning up downstairs; we should probably get out of here before.” Lazarus motioned towards the door. “You just crashed a chopper; we don’t want to be here when the cops show.”
“Yeah.” John agreed. “Let me just-“
He turned around with intent to relay the message to Aerin, but there was a sudden gust of wind. John and Lazarus looked up in time to see Aerin disappear into the night sky above them. Seeing as how there was no way to follow her, John let her go. He followed Lazarus back down into the building and they linked back up with Orion and Hatchet, who had joined the fray during all the commotion, near the security room. After having finished gathering what intel they could, they quickly left the building. From the safety of the parking deck that they had started from, Ryan pressed a small detonator together. There was a terribly loud bang as the bottom floor of the building completely blew out. The overall structure became unstable under its own weight and the entire building came crashing down on top of itself. Having completely fragged all evidence of the mission, and having thoroughly erased all of Holland’s work, they headed home.
The time was already pushing three in the morning when the SUVs pulled into the parking garage. John, who was feeling the brunt of the exhaustion, shambled behind the others as they made their way inside. Samuel and Meredith congratulated them all personally on a job well done and explained how big of a victory it was for HUNTER. Due to the late nature of their return, Meredith opted to debrief them all personally at a later time when everyone was well rested. With no more reason to stay downstairs, John took the elevator up to the seventh floor and made a beeline towards his room. The lights inside were off. Just to be sure he checked Aerin’s room, but it was empty; Aerin had yet to return. She was more than capable of handling herself, so John didn’t worry too much; instead, he headed straight for the bathroom.
He wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door to his room. He hadn’t expected the change in air temperature after the shower to hit him as hard as it did. Something else he hadn’t expected was to see Aerin sitting on the edge of his bed, staring right at him. She was still dressed in what she normally wore, blue jeans and an orange hooded jacket and they were dirty from the time spent in Holland’s tower. She looked tired and her face seemed slightly puffy, as if she had been crying. Seeing John in only a towel, she quickly turned her gaze away.
“Sorry.” She apologized.
“No problem.” John said as he walked over to his chest of drawers. “Just keep looking that way unless you want to see me naked.”
There was no response to his jest. John quickly threw on a pair of sweat pants and a white t-shirt before tossing the towel across the room where it landed barely inside the threshold of the bathroom. He made his way over to the side of the bed he normally slept on and sat down beside Aerin.
“What’s up?” He asked.
“Well.” Aerin turned to face him. “I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?” John asked.
“Today. You didn’t have to get yourself involved, but…” She stopped again as she thought. “Thank you.” She said looking up at John, her eyes locked onto his. There was sincerity in her voice on a level John hadn’t heard before.
“Hey, don’t mention it.” He said, downplaying the matter. “We’re a team, remember? Besides, it’s what friends are for, right?”
“Yeah…” Aerin looked down at the floor. “Friends.” There was a slight smile on her face. “Well, I should let you get some rest.” She said as she made an effort to stand.
“Hey, you don’t have to rush.” John said. “Want to talk?”
“Oh, sure.” Aerin hadn’t expected him to stop her and she slowly sat back down on the edge of the bed. “What about?”
“Well…” John sat up straight. “When you picked up my sword earlier, I felt something.”
“You felt something?” Aerin repeated. “What was it?”
“Lots of things, real heavy emotions.” John stated. “Aerin, what did he do to you?” He asked. Aerin’s face visibly changed at the question. “Sorry.” John quickly apologized. “It’s fine if you don’t-”
“No, it’s okay.” Aerin shook her head slightly. “I’ve had this bottled up inside for a while… I need to talk about it.” She took a deep breath. “Richard used to be different.” She stared off into the distance as she remembered. “He was kind, funny, he had a sense of purpose, and he was my friend.” Aerin’s facial expression changed from something nostalgic to sad. “He changed, and he did terrible things.”
“What happened in Russia?”
“We were sent on a mission, Meredith, Samuel, and I.” She said as she looked over at John. “I had another Slayer then. You would have liked him; he was a lot like you.” She said with a smile.
“I bet.” John agreed. “What was the mission?”
“Remember the Bloodstone we saw earlier?” Aerin asked.
“Yeah.”
“Richard and some others were planning on building one. We were sent to stop them.” Aerin paused again as she stared down at the floor. “It was a trap, though. Not many of us made it.”
“I’m sorry…” John said. “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”
“No, I’m glad you did.” Aerin stated. “I needed to talk to someone; I’ve had too much on my chest.” She said with a sigh of relief and stood. “Thanks for listening. I think I’m going to go lay down now though.” She made her way to the door and cracked it open before looking back. “Night.”
“Night, Aerin.”
Chapter Twelve
A week had passed since the raid against Holland, and things around HUNTER had finally gotten back to the way they were before. John found himself once again sparring against Samuel; it had become their morning custom as of late. The training drills he had been putting John through were really showing their progress. Over the past few weeks, Samuel had taken John from a novice and molded him into a somewhat respectable swordsman. Their sparring matches were no longer one sided like they had been all those weeks ago, but were now evenly matched, to a degree. John was able to match Samuel blow for blow instead of struggling as he had.
Their blades crashed together in a powerful crescendo that resounded throughout the small barrier they were in atop the HUNTER building. Samuel shoved back at John and readied himself before his next strike. John swung his sword over his head and brought it down hard against Samuel, who promptly blocked. Their swords collided before bouncing away in either direction. Not one to wa
ste time overthinking his movements, John slashed horizontally towards Samuel, but missed by mere inches as Samuel sucked in his gut and backed up. With a small spin, John struck at the larger man again. Samuel hadn’t expected the sudden motion and had been put on the defensive as John followed the attack up with another flurry. After each strike was repelled gracefully, John dropped down and swept Samuel’s feet out from under him to change things up; but he watched as Samuel fell and quickly rolled away back onto his feet. The man was just as nimble as he was strong.
“You’ve gotten good!” Samuel praised as he circled slowly with his sword raised.
“Thanks.” John responded with a grin.
“But don’t get cocky!”
Samuel rushed forward at John again and a flurry of strikes ensued as the men tested their mettle against one another. For a while, it seemed like the match would end in a stalemate, but with a sudden strike, Samuel knocked John off balance. He had managed to catch John’s sword against his own and locked the crossguards together before shunting hard against John, sending him backwards. The sudden motion quickly threw John on the defensive as Samuel pressed his own attack.
“Your technique is solid.” Samuel observed as he swung his blade. “You’ve learned… well!” He stated as he slammed his sword down where John had just stood. “But something is still missing.”
“Missing?” John echoed as he jumped back. “What’s missing?”
“I think I see now.” Samuel brought his blade down on top of John’s. “You swing your sword out of habit. Your skill is exceptional, your swordplay is good, but your blade carries no weight.”
“No weight?” John pushed away and backed up as he struggled to understand. “What does that mean?”
Samuel looked the man before him up and down, studying him intently. He turned and sheathed his sword on his hip. A small tornado of fire whirled up around the blade before it winked out of existence. Samuel walked over and leaned back against one of the pale grey air conditioning units beside him. With a snap of his fingers the barrier around the rooftop collapsed, revealing a bright blue sky above as the color returned to their world. “Why do you fight?” He asked.
“Why do I fight?” John repeated as he returned his sword to its resting place. He tossed the words around inside of his head, unsure of the answer he should give. “Because Aerin needs me to.”
“A noble answer. I expected as much.” Samuel nodded slowly. “But it’s hollow.”
The word resonated within John. Hollow. Having his answer refuted in such a nonchalant way left him with a sour taste in his mouth.
“Right now your sword is empty; I can feel it every time it collides with mine.” Samuel explained.
Stillness fell over the rooftop as a cold wind blew. Samuel stepped away from the air conditioning unit and made his way over to the concrete wall on the side of the rooftop. He leaned up against the metal railing that ran its length and closed his eyes as he took in the sounds of the street below. Other than the subtle ambience of the city, the rooftop was nearly dead quiet as an uncomfortable feeling washed over John.
“When I was your age, I was much like you. I fought because that’s what I was told to do. It was reason enough. It was my path. But I was betrayed by it, left to die for an ideal that wasn’t my own. I was struck down because I had no purpose; I had no will, no drive of my own. But I was given a second chance.”
“What happened?” John asked.
“I met Meredith.” Samuel said with a nostalgic smile on his face. “I found a reason to fight.”
John thought on his words for a moment. Perhaps Samuel and Meredith were much like he and Aerin, a fateful meeting bringing together a Slayer and an Angel; but something was still missing. John had yet to find this reason Samuel talked about. Having it pointed out to him, he realized the words were true. This whole time he had only been going along with things because that’s what was expected of him. Never at any point had he raised his sword because he truly wanted to.
“Listen well, John.” Samuel spoke, still gazing out upon the skyline. “When the day comes that you truly find your reason, no power in Heaven or Earth will be able to stop you.”
Samuel turned and placed his hand on John’s shoulder and suddenly John felt something well up inside of him. There was a new sense of vigor within him. Samuel’s words had awoken something. The inadequacy he had felt before faded away as a sense of hope replaced it. He looked up into the grey eyes of the seasoned Slayer before him and saw that his words were sincere. He finally had a goal.
“That’s enough for today.” Samuel stated as he turned his gaze back towards the city. “Why don’t you head down? I’m going to stay a little longer.”
“Oh, sure.” John nodded. He turned to head off but stopped. “Thank you for today.” He said looking back over his shoulder.
Samuel waved him off without looking back. He didn’t want John to see the smile he wore on his face. There was always some form of satisfaction with helping out those beneath him, a trait he had picked up from his older days. He let John go, choosing to stay there enjoying the morning air as he thought on things long gone by.
John walked towards the stairwell quickly. He didn’t have anywhere in particular he was headed, but he felt happy to be going nonetheless. He tossed Samuel’s words around in his head as he reached for the handle on the door. A reason to fight, that’s what he’d search for. He was lost in thought as he pulled on the door and didn’t realize the handle had already been turned. Suddenly the door swung open, nearly slapping him in the face. Aerin stood on the other side of the door, completely oblivious to John’s presence. Once she realized what had nearly happened, she reeled back on instinct, drawing her hand away from the door knob as if that would change anything.
“Aerin?” John asked in surprise. He hadn’t expected to run into her in such a way. “What are you doing up here?”
“I wanted to come watch you.” She answered. “I didn’t hit you did I?” Her mind swapped back to the matter at hand.
“No, no, I’m fine.” John assured her with a laugh and a wave.
“So you’re already finished?” She asked as she looked around John to see Samuel resting against the railings.
“Yeah.” John affirmed. “We just wrapped up for the day.”
“Oh… I was kinda hoping I could watch…” Aerin looking down with a slight pouty expression that was strangely cute. John almost wanted to go back for another round after seeing it, but Samuel looked far too comfortable alone. Suddenly Aerin looked up with a smile. There was a bright glint in her eyes. “Well, since you’re done, why don’t you come with me?”
“Sure, where are we going?” John asked.
“I’ve got something to show you.” Aerin answered as she turned and began to descend the steps beneath her.
“What is it?”
“It’s a surprise!” She said happily while she carefully went down the stairs. “Do you like surprises?”
“Well, I guess it all depends.” John said with a small laugh.
“Well you’ll like this, trust me.”
There was something different about Aerin. Her aura had become much lighter ever since that night one week ago. All the pent up aggression she had released for years’ worth of pain and anger had returned her to the small, happy Angel that John knew her to be. It had taken time but she was definitely back to her old self, or at least what John knew as her old self. She walked ahead of John, leading him down the stairs with the slightest skip to her step.
They made their way down to the top floor and exited the stairwell nearby Meredith’s office. John had half expected Aerin to turn left and head right on in, but was surprised when she didn’t; instead, she lead him to the elevator and down to the second floor. As the doors slid open John saw Meredith waiting on the other side, which explained the direction they had gone. She was resting against the railing of the balcony that overlooked the lobby.
“There you two are.” She said as
she stood up straight. “I was beginning to think you got lost.” She smiled before turning her attention to John. “How long did it take her to crack?” She asked with a slight tilt of her head.
“Wouldn’t say a word.” John replied with a shake of his head.
“Really?” Meredith raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t think she’d last five minutes.” She said with a laugh.
John looked over to see a very victorious look on Aerin’s face, despite the fact that Meredith had placed no trust in her.
“Well, what she wanted to show you is just outside.” Meredith pointed toward the two doors leading to the garage. “Go on; take a look, we don’t have all day!”
John glanced over toward the doors leading to the garage before looking briefly back toward the girls. They both motioned for him to press forward, and so he did. He walked carefully toward the threshold, unsure of what he might find on the other side. He reached for the handle on the door but stopped before he pulled it. Both Aerin and Meredith urged him forward and so he took a deep breath and opened it. He could not have expected what was on the other side.
The metallic black paint shined in the fluorescent light of the garage. John approached with his hand outstretched but stopped just inches from the cold metal, as if afraid to touch it. Afraid that if he did he might wake up from whatever dream he was in. Slowly he steeled himself and pressed his hand to the hood. His heart skipped a beat as he felt it. He knew this feeling, these curves, these angles, and this shape. He knew the black paint that shimmered with metal flakes. He knew the pinstripe that ran down the side, over the door and across the body before ending at the rear fender. This silver side mirror, the chrome trim, the classic white wall tires, he knew this all too well. A 1969 Dodge Charger sat before him, restored to prime condition, a near spitting image of the car he once owned.
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