Runaway Lover // Andy Leo

Chapter Twenty

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Everyone turns to stare at Brandon, who looks like he's going to march up to the Empire and kill the Raven himself. His hand grips tightly onto Megans, and I realise his anger is merely disguised fear.

"I'm sure it's just an empty threat-" Megan reaches up and caresses Brandon's arm.

"How to we know that? They just went and nearly blew the fucking building up!" He breathes heavily, his fists clenching an unclenching.

"They didn't, though - That's the thing. They could've easily dropped a bigger bomb and killed us all. Sam was the only one who even knew that they were here. It wasn't an empty threat, but it was tactical." Brent continues to mumble away to himself below an audible volume, leaving the rest of us staring at the VMS with mixed emotions.

"This is bullshit." Brandon storms off back into the building, with Megan and Hayden running after him. Brent, Benn, Dave and I all exchange looks as Andy walks calmly over to the VMS. He picks it up and tosses it over in his hands a few times before letting out a frustrated yell and throwing it off into the distance.

"I'm calling a meeting in twenty minutes." He turns and stalks past us, going back down into the building. I stare at the doorway in which he disappeared through, only slightly aware of Brent and Benn, who have begun to look around the rooftop.

"You okay?" Dave moves his head in an attempt to catch my attention. I re-focus my eyes and look at him, realising that he isn't speaking with regards to the Raven's message, but rather the explosion.

I nod. "I managed to figure out what it was in time. It was so bizarre, though. Hayden's right - that was purely strategic. If the Raven really wanted to kill us, he could've easily bombed us. Or even killed me - I had no idea that the craft was here until it was on top of us." I let out a frustrated sigh, trying to figure out a reason as to why the Empire dropped a bomb that was that weak, with that specific message inside.

"Hey," Dave places a reassuring arm on my shoulder and smiles to me, which I can only half return. "It'll be fine. You know Andy - that brain of his is going to think up of something amazing that'll win us this war." He lifts his arm off of my shoulder and runs it through his hair - something I've come to learn as a nervous gesture. I decide not to comment on it and turn to where Benn and Brent are sat on the floor examining the casing of the bomb that had flown off in the explosion.

"What are you two doing?" I ask, giving them both confused looks.

"Checking this." Brent lifts up a piece of the metal casing. "Can't be too careful." He looks at it for a while longer before casting it aside, deeming it unimportant.

"We should probably get downstairs, see what Andy wants to say." I say, my tone as wary as I think the others are feeling. Brent and Benn pull themselves up from the floor and dust themselves off; their clothes covered in soot from the explosion.

When we get to the training room everyone is crowded around the slightly raised matts that we usually spar on, which now hold residence to Andy looking angrier than I've ever seen him. He paces back and forth on the matt mumbling to himself, looking up when he hears us enter. We make eye contact for a second before I look away - I can't help but feeling that most of this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me. He gestures us over to the back of the matts, where I see Megan and Hayden standing, looking up concernedly toward Andy. As a group we go over and stand with them, and Dave quickly asks Hayden where Brandon is.

"He's upstairs. Said he didn't want to hear any of Andy's bullshit." Hayden folds his arms across his chest and stares blankly up at Andy. I'm about to ask his just what happened when the hushed whispers in the room go silent, and I turn my attention over to Andy, who has eventually stopped mumbling to himself.

"You all heard the bang upstairs. It was a bomb, dropped by the Empire. It had a message inside. A message that declared war." He pauses, looking out over the sea of confused, scared and angry faces. Beside me I see Megan grab Hayden's arm to steady herself. "They're coming for us." His voice fills with anger. "But we won't let them win. We won't let them ruin us." A smile forms on his face. "They'll be the ones who will leave with their tails between their legs. They have no idea who they're dealing with."

He ends his speech, and the room answers him with woops and yells of determination. Some even run over to the spare matts and start training immediately. I let a smile grow on my face, proud of the fact that Andy had somehow turned possible hysteria into a determined army.

He steps down from the matt and comes over to our group, wrapping his hand around my waist.

"You've got them more awake than they've been in years. I'm impressed." Dave pats Andy's shoulder and smiles. "I'll see you guys later." He gives us all a wave before heading off toward his room.

"Where's Brandon?" I look up to Andy, who is standing confused.

"Upstairs. He didn't feel like an inspiration speech." Once again Hayden answers as Megan is staring at the floor blankly.

"You should go talk to him." She looks up, and I see that she had been crying. "He's scared, Andy. You're one of his best friends, just go and talk to him." Her eyes are pleading, and I realise that this is the first time I've ever seen her actually scared.

"Okay." Andy takes his arm off of my waist and smiles reassuringly at her before walking away toward Brandon and Megan's shared room.