Insider

Twenty-three

James and Sam returned hours later with a laptop of footage from The Mauve.  We scoured over recordings, looking for any signs.  I watched Crimson Night and I enter the club, Trish in her black dress and me in my red one.  I bit my lip in discomfort and embarassment.  Then, nothing happened.  

We waited.  And waited.  While families filed in and out of the restaurant part of The Mauve like clockwork, nobody left the back room where the club was.  But, that couldn't be!  Somehow Crimson Night had moved to another building- the building I escaped.  "We have to go back," I said, "There must be something wrong."

Just as I spoke the words, Shuri pointed something out.  Every so often the waitress regulating who entered the club would disappear into the area.  Moments later a car parked on the side of the road would move, and dark figures would hover around it.  I may have noticed a stroke of red, but I wasn't sure.  After a few minutes, two men shook hands with the waitress and disappeared into the club.  Two more figures then emerged by the car, and it drove off.  I kept squinting at the car, it looked familiar.  Shuri read my thoughts and questioned, "Elissa, was this the car you travelled in while heading to Washington?"

"I think so," I answered, still staring at the footage.

"Then we have to find out who that waitress is."

That part was easy, Shuri used some of her vibranium tech to scan the face of the waitress, matching it with one on the internet.  Laurel Daniels, address forty-four Beech Drive.  James and Sam were about to set off, but I insisted that I go as well.  Daniels would probably recognize me, and that would be a good thing.  Me with S.H.I.E.L.D. would ensure that she knew we meant business. 

I sat silently in the car, holding my knife protectively.  The dented and faded Hydra symbol followed by the Crimson Night crest still decorated its hilt.  I had to change that, but what would I carve instead?  S.H.I.E.L.D. maybe, but I don't think they would want me.  

I am so close to having my freedom.  I won't need any symbol.

After the trial, I had no plans.  I would ensure that Jasmine and Rose made it to somewhere safe, and then what?  I wanted to have a family and friends, but would they want me?  Yes, I thought.  People at S.H.I.E.L.D. cared about me.

We arrived at a quiet suburban home.  Laurel Daniels was away, but given that it was S.H.I.E.L.D., her father let us search the home.  Her room was everything I wanted- textbooks everywhere, a pale pink quilt with fluffy white pillows, a bay window, and a bean bag chair.  Ironic that she went to school and had a pink bedroom but was still affiliated with criminal activity.  

Then, Daniels returned.  

Barging into her room, she scoffed, "What are you doing here?  You have no right!"  We locked eyes.  "You," she seethed.  "Trish Cruz explained the situation.  You're Crimson Night's traitor."

"I am," I nodded.  "I'd like to know where they went, if it's not too much trouble."  

"Why would I do that?" Daniels implored.

"Because," Sam cut in, "S.H.I.E.L.D. could arrest you for your involvement in criminal activity.  But, if you help us now and change your lifestyle, we could forget we ever saw you."

Taken back, Laurel Daniels mumbled, "I don't want to go to jail."  

"Then tell us," I answered.  "Simple."

Daniels turned on me and asked, "What about you?  You're not innocent either.  Trish has said lots about you- you've worked with Hydra, and wholeheartedly helped with the production of Criz.  What makes you think that I should go behind bars while you remain free?"  

She's got a point, I thought.  Damn.  But, just like with Trish I found my voice again.  Suddenly, I knew what to say, "I know I'm not a good person.  I've messed up, and I did it all to run away from things.  But, no one can run forever.  When it's my time..." I faltered, before concluding, "When it's my time I'll let fate decide."

Daniels chewed her lip and looked everywhere else except my eyes.  I was afraid she wouldn't answer, but then she spat, "Crimson Night is in a warehouse in Alexandria."

"Whose warehouse?" asked Sam.

"Some cops let them have it, they're all dirty and will do anything for money." she answered.  

"Why?" I blurted before thinking.  At that moment I found it incomprhensible that people who were supposed to protect humanity were corrupt.

"The cops haven't gotten their shit together since the blip, you should know that." snapped Daniels.  She was right.  How different were corrupt cops from Hydra taking over the old S.H.I.E.L.D.?  Both were parasites craving power.  And some were just people trying to survive in this upside down world; I knew because not so long ago I was one of those people.

James' soft-spoken voice grabbed my attention, "What's the address?"

Daniels shrugged, "I don't know.  Honestly.  They only told me so much."  

"It must be where I escaped." I stated, "I had no time to look where I was going, but I could remember."

We started to leave, but Laurel Daniels pulled me aside.  James and Sam were making arrangements with her father and did not notice.  In a hushed tone, she said, "I don't know what's gonna happen to me, but I probably deserve it.  I think you're different, though.  Trish was saying more, about Hydra.  That's some serious shit."  

I sighed, "I guess,"

"She said you survived, though."

"I guess," I repeated.  

Laurel suddenly got even more serious.  With a dark gleam in her eyes, she told me, "You should probably hurry on finding Crimson Night.  They're calling in all the drug trafficking boats within the country, I think they're ready to spread the new Criz." 

"Oh,"  I couldn't think of anything else to say.  Laurel's father called her, and we parted ways.  I darted outside and sat in the car.  Staring at my knife with its symbols on the hilt, I replayed Laurel's words over and over in my head.  She said you survived, she said you survived.  Somehow I always did survive.  For the first time in my life, I knew in my heart that my survival was more than just luck, I had the strength my father and Oliver always saw in me.  It was incredible how I could find something powerful within a broken body.  

No one was looking, I smiled my crooked smile.  I was going to survive Crimson Night, and provide two girls the childhood that they deserve.