The Five Unnecessaries

Chapter 25- Part 2

For the rest of the day, meetings, debriefs, and small battles pushed Collin and me apart a hundred more times. My lips still burned when I thought about him. Anytime we stood together on the elevator or in a meeting, I felt as if I reacted to his every move.

The only time I forgot about that moment was during my debrief. Thirteen people staring me down, ready to blame me for my failures, was enough to push anything else out of my mind. Everyone had very detailed questions, but most Council members felt sorry for me, even the ones who didn't like me such as Zander. They used their sympathy to make a case to retaliate, which caused an uproar. I didn't like when a few of the counselors congratulated me for killing an enemy soldier.

The day echoed of tension, but not just from Collin. The tension was everywhere, causing aches and creating hope. I felt it when I saw Tessa was out on a mission again. I felt it when I found her note, a single word: "Sorry." I also found a note from Cassidy, with a single word: "Thanks." I felt the tension as Brie, Lynn, and I watched our babies through the nursery window that night, making funny faces to hold their attention. I felt it when the doctor explained that André had a small birth defect. I held his hand through the incubator as his fingers curled around mine. Then I felt it as Abby and Sarah left that night, and they surprised me by crying as they hugged me in the garden. I felt it when I saw a picture Katerina drew of me. I felt it in every touch from Collin grazing me in elevators and hallways as we raced to meetings and answered more questions, all while trying to keep Alex a secret.

Later that night, as I headed to my room, Collin was sitting in the threshold, his legs crossed. He looked up at me as I approached and reached out for my hand. He looked at me, solemn, as he kissed it gently.

"I'm staying here, Aislyn," he said. "Only here, at the door."

I could sense a silent promise being woven between us as I stepped over his legs. I landed in bed without changing and curled up under my blanket.

I never got to tell a story that night. Instead, we tried to write one: a story that would explain why Alex had saved me. A story we were still struggling to create hours later and into the next morning. And we weren't alone.

I paced up and down the secondary Central Hub mezzanine with Sam and Patterson. But the recycled opinions with no facts left us weary.

"He's a Sentry and an Elite, or nearly there," Collin argued for the third time. "He's so entrenched in the system he has succeeded in it in every possible way! It's entrapment!"

Sam agreed, typing away at his console. Patterson was pacing on the upper level overlooking us. He had read Sam in on the situation just twenty minutes before, but Sam had moved past shock to help us solve the mystery of Alex's fate. Collin and I had stopped pacing again, and were now sitting on the level just above Sam, our legs swinging off the bottom of the mezzanine as we rested our arms on the lower railing.

"If he wanted me dead," I said, "I'd be dead. Twice."

Sam cleared his throat. "Technically, you can only die once."

"Unless he's trying to improve his chance of becoming an Elite," Patterson interjected. "Focus on the hack, Sam. Aislyn, I don't trust someone if I don't know their motive."

"I wouldn't trust him at all. He could be trying to gain your trust for intel, not just a chance to kill you," Collin said, pushing the agenda he had behind every theory the night earlier.

"That doesn't pan out. I wasn't stupid enough to let him even see my MCU screen. I made him turn around. And there's no reason to gain my trust. They've never used that strategy, and with the anti-Protector mentality, they wouldn't be starting now."