Broken Masks

Chapter 43 - A Moment of Peace

(A/N: An enormous thank you in advance to the real life Harvind and Ruqayyah for their help with writing this chapter. Not sure what I could've done without you guys!)

The truck rattled down the cracked and hole covered street to Location A. The house was sat at the very edge of the county border, four miles from the city, and situated between two enormous wheat farms.

Klaus tightened his hand around his gun. The thing wasn't loaded, curtesy of Lena and her safeguarding protocol, which, if he was honest, Klaus was thankful for it. He felt uncomfortable even being near the other squad member's loaded guns, but as long as he knew TJ next to him, could see him out of the corner of his eye, hear his soft breath and feel his fingers brushing his arm, he'd be ok.

The man across from him, a lean looking guy with bright ginger hair surveyed him with suspicion. Klaus looked down, knowing the man wouldn't be able to recognize him with the helmet, visor, snood and goggles he was wearing, but that didn't stop his anxiety bubble with the conviction that he knew.

"Reece McNack." Whispered TJ, leaning over and whispering in Klaus's ear. "He looks at everyone like that, thinks it makes him look cool."

"Wh- how-" Klaus stammered out, surprised that TJ knew he had been fretting.

"You kept shuffling around. Guessed you were nervous about something, then saw McNack's weird expression." TJ answered quietly. Klaus laughed a little.

McNack's suspicious look turned dirty.

"Reece! Wipe that stupid look off your face, you look constipated! Keep it up and we'll be using you as a shield." Lena suddenly half shouted, her voice that of a commander of a battalion rather than a team leader for a swat team. Reece's gaze shifted quickly to the floor.

"Ok people!" Lena continued, her voice as steely as her gaze. "We are a half mile out from Location 2; Fenthum Oak. The most we know about it is that estate agents think it's been empty for the last year and a half, and there's so much fungus inside it's practically a mushroom. We have to be careful where we stand. If this place is the correct building, which is a 50/50 chance at this point, it'll have a basement, and one wrong step in the front room could send us all plummeting straight through the floor. We stick to the walls, we move quickly, and most of all, we move in complete silence. If this is the correct building, one sound can start sending the condolence letters. This is her domain, and if we're going to survive this, we have to be stealthy."

The silence on the truck was deafening. Lena took a deep breath, before continuing, her voice solemn, yet calm.

"I now invite you all to take a moment to say your prayers, because at this point it's only us and whatever gods are out there standing between A2M and the rest of the world."

A few SWAT members did just that. Heads were bent, hands were raised, and the quiet mumbling of prayer and praises drifted around the truck.

A Muslim woman by the name of Ruqayyah Amir, who was seated to Lena's left, glanced up at her with striking brown eyes, the only part of her face visible through her niqab. She was a medic, going by the red cross band on her arm. Lena smiled down at her and nodded, understanding the silent request, before taking a bottle of water from a box in the corner and uncapping it. She poured an amount of water into Ruqayyah's hands, which she proceeded to use to perform Wudu, washing each hand up to her wrist three times. She then cupped her hands in front of her and began praying, her eyes closed and quite whispers of Arabic floating from her mouth.

At the same time, a Sikh man, Harvind Singh Ahluwalia, was seated in the opposite corner of the truck, the steel Kara bracelet on his wrist and silver Khanda pinned to his black turban glistening in the half-light. He brought his legs up onto his seat and crossed them, folded his hands in his lap, and closed his eyes before beginning to repeatedly murmur 'Waheguru', the word for his God. He meditated upon the word for almost two minutes, before the words changed to a rhythmic tune. He seemed to be talking normally, yet also singing a hymn at the same time. This was the Chaupai Sahib, a protection prayer, which he recited from memory in a hushed whisper, the Gurmukhi flowing from his lips like honey. These words seemed to dispel all his anxiety, his warrior spirit, his Bir-Ras, being invoked.

TJ leaned over, whispering the translation of one verse into Klaus's ear:

"He's saying 'Give me your personal protection. Restrain all my adversaries, today. You've fulfilled my wish. My thirst for your worship grows'."

Across from him, a pair of identical twins, Kasia and Drew, gripped each other's hands, murmuring the names of roman gods. Mars, Apollo and Diana, the gods of War, Healing and Hunting respectively, were especially called upon with soft whispers. In the absence of candles, they held a lit lighter in their joined hands, the tiny flame dancing with their breaths as they spoke.

The others who were not religious simply closed their eyes in silent meditation, not believing in a higher power to save them, only believing in themselves and each other.

Klaus watched it all. He had never been a part of any religion, UNIT never wanting their subjects to have any identity. They weren't even allowed to believe in themselves. He had been taught that religion would only bring weakness due to the believer's dedication to something so personal. But looking on these people now, their devotion, their love and their respect to their gods, he saw only strength. These people had the strength to believe in something higher than themselves, and to call upon them in their time of need. Klaus could almost feel the air gain a sort of electrical or spiritual charge as he watched the various people wrap up their prayers.

From now on, they were in danger, but with the collective power of countless gods behind them, they certainly weren't alone.

The truck finally pulled to a stopped.

Klaus snapped out of his musings, unable to believe he had been basking in the spiritual energy of the room for almost 10 minutes, observing the quiet prayer of the swat team's members.

But that moment of peace was over.

They had arrived.