Riftwalkers (Draft 1)

Life In The Wards

The two walk silently for a while - Sam processing his night, and Damien watching him carefully. Sam finally stops when they reach the edge of the property the ward was built on. Damien stops as well, and waits. After some time, Sam finally speaks.

"I... I don't want to... go back." He says solemnly. Damien doesn't speak, but gently rubs Sam's arm. "I'm supposed to... I'm supposed to kill one of you..." He whispers.

"Yeah... maybe... maybe they'll never figure out who..?" Damien suggests. Sam shakes his head.

"They'd search forever. Anything to kill the 'demon' that's hiding in our midst. Anything to keep up this shitty facade to the world that the humans are in the right..."

"Sam... I have... one idea. But you're not gonna like it- and neither is Tangerine for that matter..." Damien starts. Sam raises an eyebrow at him. Damien takes a deep breath, and takes Sam's shoulders softly, looking him in the eyes.

"What if... what if you come live with me? In my world?" He suggests. When Sam doesn't speak, he continues. "It's just- well you reacted fine to Anarchy's magic, you seemed so... I mean that's the happiest I've ever seen you. You could live at my place, I could show you things you've never seen before like I promised, but even better than what's here. You could see my world, and the humans would never find you there." He finishes. Sam does consider it.

"I... I'm not sure, Damien. I mean... there's a lot we would have to consider before deciding that. They'd look for us. They would tear this world and the next apart to fix their egos. And how would we get there? We can't go to Tangerine's place, I... I couldn't let myself get them in any trouble, they don't deserve it. And B-01? Oh he would go crazy. Someone from his perfect squad running away with a 'demon' would probably shatter him, he's already unstable enough. They'd send him after me to kill me as part of his duties... as much as running off with you sounds... really nice... let's maybe just lay low for a minute and think it through first?" He suggests. Damien gives a hopeful smile.

"Yeah... that sounds perfect. I'll make some... preparations on my part in case we have to split fast... but I'll wait for your word. Just give me the go at any time, I'll get you out of here. I promise."

The two stay looking at each other for a second, before Sam looks to the side and nods. Damien finally lets go of him, and they walk silently into the ward together.

...

...

...

The initial reaction to Sam's return was astonishment. The general was quite taken aback, and even B-01 was stunned silent. Sam kept quiet the whole time, letting Damien come up with some story about cleaning up the battlefield and finding him still alive, fixing him up, and bringing him right back. Unsure of procedure for the situation, they simply sent Sam back to his room until further notice. Damien was given their gratitude, and sent home for the night, but not before he snuck in a small moment to say goodbye to Sam, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder and heading off. Sam watched him walk all the way to the door, eyeing his tattoo... remembering what he really looked like. He finally turned towards his room once Damien was fully out of sight.

Sure as always, Alex was sitting on his own bed reading his book. He gasps when Sam walks in, and tosses his book aside, forgetting to mark his page.

"Sam! You're- oh you're alright! They said- I mean-" Alex had stood up, gesturing wildly. Sam gives him a soft smile.

"Yeah, they said I was dead, huh? I'm just fine. Damien... he found me, fixed me up. Just... you might wanna take a seat, Alex." He says, gently guiding Alex back down to sit on the edge of his bed. Sam sits on the edge of his own, and sighs. "I have a whole lot to fill you in on, and this is one of the most secret things I will ever tell you. If you tell anyone, me, Damien, and a whole lot of innocent people might really die." He starts. Alex's face drops, and his eyes widen. He doesn't speak, but he nods slowly. Sam nods as well.