by Katy Jordan
The pair walked in, never stopping as they made their way to The Spectrum, who was posed with deep authority at his desk up the marble steps at the far end of the vast room.
Jack, following Bullet’s lead, sat down facing him.
The Spectrum’s expression was curious. Calculative. Speculating.
He raised his eyebrows, which asked a question with no need for verbal back up.
“Jack believes he has a plan, and he’d like to run it by you, sir,” Bullet explained.
Something inside Jack fell over. It was heavy. He felt very much in the spotlight as both Bullet and The Spectrum looked to him, waiting for him to speak.
“Uhh… well, sir… umm… I believe it would be prudent for me to go back to Neon now,” Jack stuttered.
The Spectrum sat back in his stylish, dark brown leather chair, clasping his hands over his chest. Thinking.
“Why?”
“It’s the perfect time,” Jack claimed, “I have a bullet hole in my shoulder which makes for a good cover story about trying to escape. I can say I never called him because I was being held with force by Colour Coded. He’ll take me back, he needs me for his bunker setup.”
“Won’t the guards have told him about your presence at the entrance to the warehouse grounds when trying to detain Gecko?” The Spectrum enquired.
Jack saw Bullet giving him a very smug ‘I told you so’ look out of the corner of his eye.
He ignored it.
“Sir… I don’t think those guards had much time to explain themselves when Neon got his hands on them.”
“And you can back up that statement with evidence, yes?”
Jack shuffled in his chair uncomfortably.
“No, sir, but…”
“Then it’s settled,” The Spectrum announced, cutting Jack off, “you will remain here until you are fully recovered, and Colour Coded will come up with another plan of action.”
He went back to doing his paperwork like nothing ever happened.
Bullet went to get up, gesturing with her head that he should leave too.
Jack wasn’t happy with the outcome. And he made a decision.
“I’m going back,” he declared.
“I beg your pardon, boy?”
“Jack, what’re you doing?” Bullet questioned him, stunned as she returned to her seat beside him.
“My decision has been made, Jack. You briefed me with your potential plan, and I deemed it unsuitable considering the circumstances. The answer is no.”
Jack stood up with gusto.
“With all due respect, sir… I don’t actually work for you,” he stated, finding confidence from somewhere he didn’t know existed when it came to facing this man. “I’m going back, and you can either help me or cut off your nose to spite your face.”
Jack about turned and headed for the door to his office.
“It’s your choice,” Jack announced, without even turning back or slowing down. He disappeared from view.
Bullet was stunned.
She never knew there was a side to Jack like that. But, then again, he did inform her that he too had a past.
This time, it was Bullet who found herself smiling out of pride. But, also in disbelief at his stubbornness.
Despite everything, Jack was going back to Neon.
Chapter Fourteen
Bullet made it to the hospital wing as Jack was gathering up his things. He was buttoning up his bloodstained jeans when she walked in.
“Looking forward to your trip?”
Jack looked around to face her as she leaned in the doorway, arms folded, her black leather trousers glistening against the light.
“If you’ve come here to try and make me change my mind, you’re wasting your time.”
He fiddled with the fly on his jeans, frustrated at failing to fasten it with one hand. Jack started messing around with the strap on his sling, as the rest of Colour Coded entered the wing, The Spectrum at their back.
“Is it true? You’re going back to Neon?” Gecko asked.
“Yeah, I am,” Jack confirmed, carefully sliding the strap of his sling over his wounded shoulder, grimacing with every millimetre.
The Lavender Lab rushed over, slapped his hand away, and holding the bottom of his elbow, slid the sling off for him.
He smiled at her with gratitude.
“Before you go anywhere, at least let me refresh your bandages.”
“Take those ones off, but don’t put new ones back on,” Jack instructed.
Lab looked at him, perplexed at his demand.
“If my cover story is going to work, I can’t be bandaged up. I also need you to make it bleed.”
“Jack!” Bullet interjected.
“I’m going back to him assuming the role that I escaped Colour Coded with my life by the skin of my teeth. If it looks healed, he’ll know I’m lying.”
Lab had a look of sheer horror on her face.
“Mate…” Rocket began, walking in front of everyone towards him, “at least let me give you a lift to the other side of the hill.”
There was a moment of still air as Jack nodded, accepting Rocket’s offer.
The silence was unbearable.
There was nothing anyone could do to stop Jack from proceeding with his plan, and yet, nobody wanted him to go through with it.
“Jack,” Gecko said, him too stepping towards him, “just give us a bit more time. Neon said you should return in a week. We have another five days yet until he’s expecting your return. We can come up with something, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do,” Jack replied.
Lab helped him get out of his grey polo top, his bare torso on show for everyone.
Jack was a very fit young man. However, the bruises on his ribs and back were now a horrific mix of blue, yellow, black and brown. He groaned as he gently lowered his arm.
Looking at Bullet, Jack remembered everything she told him, and he unwillingly recalled the state she got into when she did.
“There’s too much at stake to hang around any longer,” Jack continued on as Lab began to peel off one of the bandages, “and you all know it, you’re just too scared to ask me. But, I’m prepared to go back. So, I am.”
“I’m coming with you,” Gecko announced, “you’ll need back up.”
“I’m afraid that is not possible, Gecko. Everyone saw you there. Your return will be extremely noticeable,” The Spectrum replied. “As much as we don’t want Jack to do what he is about to do, he is right. It is the one method that makes the most sense.”
The Spectrum walked right up to Jack as Lab peeled off the second bandage. He towered over him sitting on the bed, his hands clasped behind his back.
“I admire your tenacity, Jack. Whatever you need, the resources of Colour Coded are at your disposal.”
The Spectrum thrust out his hand, waiting for Jack to respond.
Stunned, Jack took it, and they gently shook hands.
“Good to know I finally got your respect, sir,” Jack smiled, pulling his hand back.
“My respect for you didn’t start just now, boy. It didn’t start when you rightfully disobeyed my instructions in my office a while ago. It started when you marched into this very hospital wing and apologised to the Fuschia Flare before going back to Neon precisely one week ago. That, Jack, is the sign of a good man with values. As is this.”
Jack felt rather embarrassed at The Spectrum’s compliment. He looked at Flare who flashed him a slight smile.
Bullet remained very quiet. She was torn.
Torn between what Jack was planning to do and how everybody was treating him. She was incredibly happy that they were being supportive of him, showing him very clear gratitude by their gestures.
However, she did not, under any circumstances, want Jack to return to Neon’s company. This man that seemed to adore her, wanted her safe, brought down the wall that she had worked so hard to build around herself with one simple glance. The man that she trusted.
<
br /> Jack Burns.
The man that she was falling in love with.
Out of selfishness, she wanted him to stay here. To be safe. She wanted him to let his wounds – that she made – heal properly. Not make them worse to keep up a story for a vindictive and extremely dangerous man.
She made her decision.
“Gecko can’t go with him, but I can.”
“Okay, that has to be the worst idea on the planet, Bullet,” Sparrow snapped, “he definitely knows what you look like.”
“I didn’t say he was going to see me, did I?” she retorted. “I’ll stay off premises, keeping a look out through my sniper rifle.”
“Bad idea,” Sparrow murmured, walking away in a strop.
Bullet looked at The Spectrum who held her gaze reluctantly.
“Can I talk you out of this at all?” he asked, seeming unconvinced at his own question.
“No, you can’t,” Bullet replied, “Jack’s not going in there alone. Gecko can’t go and no one else has experience of blending in.”
“Well, Sparrow spent a little time teaching me how to work one of his drones, so there can be two keeping an eye on the premises at all times,” Youth added. “As well ask Jack’s first-person cameras. You didn’t take them off, did you, Jack?”
“I wouldn’t even know where to start, pal.”
“Well, then you’re all good on that front.”
Jack smiled at Youth for his support.
Lab helped him put on his bloodied white T-shirt that he was wearing on the night of the shooting.
“There’s something else,” Jack informed them.
Everyone’s head jerked like a meerkat, giving him their undivided attention.
“I’m not wearing an earpiece this time.”
“Jack, that area is non-negotiable,” Bullet interjected, “we need to know where you are and what you’re doing at all times.”
“And you’ll know that with my camera.”
“I’ll be there, I won’t be watching your camera footage.”
“Well, then you can keep in touch with Youth to hear where I am and what I’m doing at all times,” Jack snapped, “I can’t keep up the charade with everyone yapping in my ear 24/7, so the solution to that is not to have the source.”
Bullet let out a loud sigh.
She got up and walked out of the infirmary, everyone watching her whizz by as she disappeared out the door. The clicking of her boots echoed down the corridor, fading away while getting faster.
Jack struggled to his feet to go after her, but Lab took hold of his arm. She shook her head at him sympathetically.
“I’ll go, wait there until I come back, and I’ll sort your wound so that it looks ‘fresh’.”
Lab, too, disappeared out of the infirmary, leaving a group of concerned faces in her wake.
Bullet went to her usual alone place.
The conservatory above the foyer began to get dull as the sun tried to hide behind the hills and the billowing clouds fell lower in the sky.
She was sitting down on her black armchair, this time not looking out at the view, but staring at her feet, holding her head in her hands.
“Honey?”
Lab’s voice startled her. Her quiet footsteps had followed Bullet down the corridor almost like she was trying not to be heard.
“I think you need to just let him go.”
Bullet looked at her horrified, unable to believe what just came out of her mouth.
“I know it’s hard, but he’s doing this for us. For you. You need to let him go. But, let him go and you stay here,” she suggested.
“He’s not going in alone. Someone has to be nearby in case things go wrong.”
“You were there for what he said to The Spectrum, weren’t you? He doesn’t work for us. He doesn’t have to adhere to our rules, Bullet. I know it’s hard, but it’s what he wants to do. I don’t particularly like the idea either.”
Bullet started to sob.
She had cried more in the last three days than she had in her entire life. Lab sat down in Gecko’s green chair next to Bullet’s and held her hand in both of hers.
“Where’s your head going these days, sweetheart?” Lab pried gently, trying to make eye contact with her. “You’ve been very quiet and distant as of late.”
Bullet thought carefully about how she should answer that question as she tried to suppress the will to continue crying.
Tell her the truth.
But, not specifically.
“Neon has information about my past. And a couple of other people in Colour Coded. He’s using that information to either bring me out of the darkness or throw me under the bus. Either way, he’s going to win.”
“Your past is your past. When you come here, you drop everything about your history.”
“I know, but, the thing is, the rest of Colour Coded are on to it. I have information in relation to Neon’s drug scam that I can’t tell them without arousing suspicion, and nobody can know about my past.”
She rubbed her eyes that were low and baggy with exhaustion. Frustration ran through her like a derailed train crumbling across concrete.
“And you’re worried that Jack will find out?”
“Jack already knows,” Bullet admitted.
Lab leaned back a little in the chair.
That changed things slightly.
“How much?”
“Most of it. But, he found out because Neon has a file on me and he saw it. Jack’s pretty sure has one on Flare, Rocket and Sparrow as well but, he didn’t manage to get to them,” Bullet explained, wiping her red cheek to rid herself of the stray tears that were managing to escape. “The worst bit is… I don’t mind that he knows. I trust him.”
“He is an interesting character,” Lab chimed in, “but, I think he’s got his mind so set on this plan of his, and he’s so confident in it, that he’ll actually be okay when he goes back.”
“But, how can we guarantee that?”
“Oh, darling, how can we guarantee the outcome of anything we do?” Lab looked at a very upset and rundown Black Bullet.
Forgetting that they were work colleagues and nothing more, Lab pulled her over and sat her on her knee. She wrapped her arms around Bullet, who burrowed into her, hugging her back.
“When Flare runs into blazing fires to put them out, how do we know she won’t perish? When Rocket gets in a car chase with a criminal, how do we know he won’t crash? When you get into a shooting match with a terrorist, how do we know that you won’t get shot?” Lab whispered in her ear. “It’s faith, honey. Trust. We trust in each other’s skills within Colour Coded, and we have faith that they’ll come home. It’s the only way we can keep going and not lose it.”
“But, I’m in love with him, Lab,” Bullet stammered through more tears.
“I know you are, honey, I can see it and I can’t imagine what kind of scenarios your brain is racing to right now. But, you know he’s right. He has to go back.”
Bullet openly cried into the second person’s arms in two days.
What was happening to her? This isn’t who she was. She was strong. Reliable. Dependable. Daring.
Resilient.
She did her job and then forgot all about it, ready for the next one.
The Black Bullet never pondered, never worried, never doubted.
She just did what she had to.
The Lavender Lab rocked her back and forth, like a mother with a child, holding her tight. Bullet looked outside at the sun setting behind the hills of the highlands, realising the time, and loosened her grip on Lab.
“I need to go and help prep him,” she said, leaning on Lab’s offered hand to get up from her lap, “thank you, Lab.”
“I’m always here for you, sweetheart. You know that.”
Feeling slightly better from the impact of Lab’s loving and supportive smile, Bullet ran back down to the hospital wing.
She entered into an empty room.
He hadn’t left without
saying goodbye, surely? Where else would he need to go before he left?
The Yellow Youth.
Bullet ran to the spiral staircase and went up a floor, and ran along the corridor to Youth’s lair. She went in to Youth playing a video game.
He spun around with fright when she barged in.
“Bullet, what’s going on?” he asked, concerned by her frantic persona and her red cheeks.
“Where’s Jack?”
“He’s on his way down to Rocket’s garage… why…”
Without letting him finish, Bullet ran back to the spiral staircase and went back down to the floor below. She ran out to the conservatory and down the glass staircase to the foyer, but instead of running to the exit, she took a 180 and ran back down the hall of the ground floor, the white tiles blinding her as they reflected the setting sun. Bullet took a right and sprang down a small flight of stone steps and into the garage.
The space was definitely an enormous one as it ran the whole length and breadth of the building, the walls painted red which could only mean one thing: the Red Rocket’s lair.
The garage was Colour Coded’s basement area which must have housed around thirty vehicles, in a variety of colours specific to the individuals of the organisation.
The engine of the Red Rocket’s Subaru was already running, and panic-stricken, Bullet ran in between all the cars and past her motorbike hanging in bits from Rocket working on it to reach the car.
Rocket was in the driver’s seat, revving the engine to check the car.
“Rocket!” she yelled over the noise of the engine growling.
He saw her pass around the front of the car and turned the engine off.
“Bullet, you okay?”
“Where’s Jack?”
“He went inside to find you after he put his stuff in the boot,” he told her, “he was worried about you. He said he had something to tell you before he left.”
“Where did he say he was going?”
“He didn’t, he just said he was going back in to find you and asked me to wait.”
Bullet ran back to the stairs at the other side of the garage and went up to the corridor.
She ran along to the foyer again and went to go back up the stairs, until she clocked him outside the front door in his bloody clothes, looking out to the hills. She sighed. Slowing down her breathing, she walked outside to meet him.
