"Q-Questions?" Amy inquired meekly, "I-I mean, sure, ask away--"
"Don't be silly, I wouldn't interrogate you out here in the rain." He extended his gloved hand out to Amy. She looked hesitant. "Don't worry, the goons behind me are simply a formality, I just wouldn't want any actual detainees to think you were getting preferential treatment." He chuckled.
So damn charming.
"If she's not a detainee, why roll out the dog and pony show?" I asked sharply, my arms crossing of their own accord. "We found her and she agreed to come back with us, what was the point of taking these guys, the idiots at the bar, off the street patrol?"
Amy took his hand and stepped down onto the rooftop. Side by side, Amy almost seemed tall; he appeared to be precisely her height, but knowing he was wearing combat boots and she was wearing canvas sneakers, I could tell that he must be an inch or two smaller.
"Well, despite how it looks, I have people to report to, and seeing that-- oh, excuse me," He looked to Amy and sprouted an umbrella from his shoulder with an accompanying arm that held it over them both. The rain had mostly stopped and become a light mist. Nevertheless, he flashed her a smile and turned to me again, stepping toward the door he entered from. "And seeing that she had already been marked as a person of interest due to the Greed Operation and someone who might be able to cure your... condition, it made no sense to pretend she wasn't an incredibly valuable asset." He pressed a button by the door and spoke to Amy, nodding. "Treating you as if you were just a rogue Deius being detained was purely not to arouse any suspicion if someone were watching, though I suppose that was pointless seeing how Jason didn't play along."
"It would be easier to play my part if I had been given a script." I huffed. Alice nudged me, pleading with her eyes.
"You still wouldn't have said your lines." Liam shot back lightheartedly as the doors opened. The men with the guns stepped in and took positions at the corners of the somewhat spacious elevator, followed by Liam, Amy, and Alice. "I don't know if anyone has ever told you this but you're kind of a diva." I stepped toward the elevator but he extended an arm. "I hate to hassle you, but it's a bit crowded as it is; you can teleport to the Seventeenth floor, can't you? South-east corner near MC-twelve." I glared at Liam and teleported as the doors slid shut.
The mechanisms in the elevator whirred softly as we moved down the stories of the skyscraper. Apparently, we had been just above the fortieth floor of this building when we got on but we were slowly descending toward the seventeenth. "S-So," I started, "I know I'm s-supposed to be the one being questioned, b-but is it alright if I ask one first?"
Liam smiled warmly, "Of course."
"Has Tryon always used armed guards? I-I don't exactly remember s-seeing them in New York." I questioned in a near whisper, worrying I might offend the men in the corners.
"Ah, I guess you wouldn't have." He let out a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck, "You left after the Greed Op, right?" I nodded in confirmation, "Well, when he died, Demons broke the treaty we had made, attacking civilians and Deius."
"... Alice told me before the helicopter picked us up. I-It s-sounded awful."
"It was." He looked at the ground, solemn, as the energy in the elevator shifted "Over a thousand died before we could get it under control. Corpses of Angels and Demons alike, alongside humans who knew nothing, lining the streets; it was the closest thing to hell I'd ever experienced." His eyes looked at something far past the ground, all the way into memories of events passed. "The Tryon New York headquarters empty, Angel aligned Deius scrambling to find safety, and the leader who caused all of this, Henry Tatum, called away before he could clean up his mess... Something had to change."
