The Shock of the New

Chapter 47: Happy Reunions

Shaking with rage, Ian furiously tore the documents into tiny little pieces.

"Fucking Whistler!" he cursed under his breath "I work my arse off, 5 days a week for 12 years doing his shitty police work without ever questioning any of it and this is how he fucking repays me!?"

As he seethed, Ian looked down at his wrist. The display on the bracelet revealed he still had 22 hours before he was supposed to return to the W.E.R. Of course, if he did so, Ian would have pretty much sighed his own death warrant. For a second, he considered remaining in Switzerland and applying for asylum. This idea quickly went out the window. For one thing, the systems were set up so that 99% of W.E.R. asylum cases ended with the asylum seeker being sent back to W.E.R. and getting punished.

Ian then sighed. Realistically there was no way he could escape the W.E.R. or get out of the punishment. So with a heavy heart, he resigned himself to his fate.

As he walked out the vault and into the lobby, the man at the counter who'd previously served Ian asked "Everything ok sir?"

"Fine" Ian replied without even looking at him "Just peachy!"

Riding the train back to Britain, Ian felt like a prisoner being lead to his execution. He wondered how they'd dispose of him. He'd heard tales of people having their house raided in the middle of the night. Then he'd disappear, never to be seen again.

Ian then found himself thinking about Grace. He wondered if she'd miss him if he was terminated. Probably not. After the letter she'd left him, Ian really wouldn't have been surprised if she'd dance on his grave, assuming she knew where his remains where. This was a shame as Ian still liked her even after all she'd put him through.

Eventually the train pulled into the Paris station. Getting off the train, Ian looked around to see if any of the W.E.R.'s officers were there. None were. Feeling especially weary, Ian made his way back to the ticket office to see that the man who'd originally served him was still on duty.

"Hey" Ian said as he approached the counter "I'm returning the bracelet"
The man gestured to a small plastic box by the counter, which Ian stuck his hand it. The box then then buzzed for several second after which the bracelet came off of Ian's hand.

"Thanks" he replied to the man at the counter who didn't even look up.

On his journey back to Britain, Ian sat in silence. He was pretty sure that he was very much living on borrowed time and that it really was only a matter of hours before he was hauled before a firing squad and executed. That of course was if he was lucky. He'd heard all sorts of nasty stories about how traitors were executed in secret by being burned alive or bludgeoned to death and he hoped that he'd at least be given a swift and merciful death.

When the train finally pulled into St Pancras, Ian sighed before getting off the train and stepping out towards what he was sure was his certain death.

Making his way through the station, Ian fully expected at any moment someone to approach him, clock him over the head and drag him off to a W.E.R. court. However nothing happened. For a while, Ian thought he was safe and that he'd make it out of the whole thing unscathed.

This changed when he stepped out of the station.

Ian had just walked out of the station and was heading down the street outside when a man in a suit walked up to him

"Hey" he said "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sorry" Ian replied "I'm in a bit of a hurry"
He tried to walk past, but the man blocked him off

"Well so am I mate. In fact the whole thing's kinda urgent"
"Then you'll just have to ask somebody else-" Ian said before the man punched him in the gut. As Ian doubled over in pain, the man spoke