Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~TWENTY SEVEN~

~amelie~

Impossibly, life starts again after I've healed from my injury.

A week passes in slow motion, with nothing really changing. Nobody speaks Ryan's name, and Elian descends into a strange mix of denial, grief, and anger. Pretending his son never existed. I learn I missed several things while I was under - the Multi tournament, which Minerva apparently won, someone's birthday, another rescue mission and another batch of new rebels. It doesn't help my disorientation. It takes a long time for my father to talk, and I watch from behind the glass, where he can't see me, as he's interrogated by different rebels. He doesn't say a word. Sometimes, when I'm waiting for answers, he turns his head to the mirror and looks through. It's almost like he can see me, but I know that's ridiculous.

On the eighth day of questioning, he's still silent. I'm watching, again, when Elian comes up next to me. I look over at him, but his arms are crossed and he's into the cell.
"You know why I'm here, don't you?" he says quietly. I nod. "Your father is remarkably stubborn, and he's not talking to any of us. I need that information, and short of torturing him I'm not getting them." Before I can protest, he holds up a hand. "Don't worry - I promised I wouldn't hurt him, and I'm honouring that. But we need answers, Amelie. We need you to go in."
A strange feeling fills me up. "I can't... I can't just go in there, pretending none of this happened. He locked Sophia away, and he came so close to doing the same to me. But he saved me instead. I don't understand why... why he's doing any of this, imprisoning us, hunting us. I just don't know," I finish, and my voice cracks on the last word. Elian sighs, and it's a pain-filled sound.
"I'm so sorry for all the pain this situation has caused you. I understand what you must be feeling, but this is the biggest turning point of this rebellion. We need you, Amelie."
I have to do this, I have to go in there and face him, but I'm doing it on my own terms. "Fine. But no one watches. I'll come and get you once I've convinced him to talk, but before that I need to be alone with him." It's going to get personal, and I don't want anyone seeing what he has to say to me, and me only.
Elian nods again, and a smile breaks out on his face. "We'll be nearby if you need us."
He starts walking away, and as I watch the rebel in the room with my father suddenly leaves. I can't hear or see anyone else, so I decide to go for it. I move to the entrance and open the door, stepping inside the cell.

My father raises his head and stares, the cuffs on his wrists glaring at me. "Amelie? Is that you? What are you doing here?"
I swallow, unsure. "I'm... I'm a rebel, Dad."
"What happened? The last thing I remember, before I woke up here, was taking down the guards, and... and you were trying to save me, even after all I've done." He smiles sadly. "Even after I held a gun to your head."
I shudder. That scene belongs in nightmares, the ones that end up with my death, the ones that keep me awake at night for fear of being dragged back into them. It's not a happy memory, not at all. I push away the fear that rises up with revisiting that day, and I start talking. "You haven't said a word since you arrived. They sent me in to get you speaking."
"Of course they did," he replies, still with that regretful smile. "They don't understand, and you're the closest they have to me apart from your sister - and I doubt they would send an eight-year-old in to gather essential intelligence."
"What don't they understand? And how do you know we rescued Sophia?"
"She escaped from her cell, Amelie. She couldn't have done it on her own, so I knew it had to be the rebel group. I just didn't know you were working with them - I thought they'd kidnapped you, against your will. I didn't realise-" He closes his eyes suddenly, composing himself, and then they're open again and he's staring right at me. "I'm so proud of you. You're helping protect your kind from me. But there's one thing you don't know, and you need to understand right now."
I've done it, I've got him to give up the information, so I turn around slowly, about to get Elian in the room. I'm stopped in my tracks as suddenly Dad speaks to me forcefully, saying, "Amelie, this information is for you only. I'll tell you, and you can decide whether or not to pass it on. But you have to trust me when I say you're in more danger with me locked up."
"What?" I say, genuinely confused. "What does that mean?"
He sighs heavily. "You know I'm the head of my unit, yes? What you don't know is that, while the title is mine, I share the power with another man. I don't know his real name - I doubt many do. But he goes by the moniker Agent Roman, and he is the most dangerous man I know."
It doesn't sound like a suitable name for a bad guy. Somehow it's too normal to be scary, but the way my father says it gives it malevolence and danger. In that moment, I know he's not joking.