GhostWatch (FF)

Chapter 23

The dropship landed in the hangar as Charles ran towards the command center. "This wouldn't have happened if I didn't snap at her. I'm sorry Charles." The Rider apologized.

"It's all in the past bud, but for now we need to find her." Charles replied as he slid on the ground and turned a corner, nearly tumbling over Mei.

"Charlie?" She asked. "Hey Mei, I'm going to the command center." Charles said turning and running down the hallway. As he entered, Julie, David, Jack, Ana, and Winston scurried about.

"What do you need me to do?" Charles asked. "Good, you're here. Right now, we just need to find out where Talon took her." Jack said.

"Athena, bring up an overview of the Doctor's residence. All the way from this morning to now." Charles said walking to a console.

"Charles, we've got this, go relax. We'll call you when we need you." Jack said pushing Charles towards the door.

"No!" Charles growled, shoving the man off. "She's in trouble, because of, because of me. And I will be damned if you try to stop me." Charles threatened him. He shoved passed Jack and walked back to the console as he studied the holo screen. Julie looked at David as he sighed.

"Son, let us help." He said placing a hand on his shoulder. "No, this is my job alone. I, I shouldn't have yelled at her." Charles said as tears began to form, they cascaded down his cheeks and zipped through the hologram as they made little puddles on the console. He slammed his fist on the table, making the group jump.

"Why would you take the fall for me?" The Rider asked. 'Because, they would only hate you more. You've done so much good for the group. I don't want that trust to be shattered.' He informed him. The Rider sighed before going dormant. Charles wiped the tears away as he went through the surveillance. He stopped when a ship that resembled the ship from Mondatta's speech appeared.

"Gotcha." He said. "Athena, scan that ship and track where it's last location when." "Understood sir." The AI replied. Charles sat there until his phone began to ring.

"I gotta take this." He said walking out of the room. "I wonder who that is." Julie wondered. "Probably the vigilante Arsenal. They met before and now have some kind of relationship with each other." Ana informed her.

"Arsenal..." Julie said before walking after her son. She walked out and noticed Charles a few feet away. She hid behind a pillar and began to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Hello? Oh hey Aaron,  whatcha need?" Charles asked. "I am nearing the end of my vigilante days. I thought it'd be best to reconsider your offer to join Overwatch." Aaron replied.

'Why does the name 'Aaron' seem familiar?' Julie wondered. "I'm glad you decided to rethink on that Aaron, I was afraid you'd try to hash it out on your own. Then again, your thick skull has proven to get you into situations you can't possibly get out of." Charles said with a grin.

"Shut it bonehead, anyways I just wanted to let you know I'm doing a raid because I've gotten word of a deal from the Black Badge. I wanted you to let your AI to find out about the client." Arsenal said.

"Yeah, I'll get on that. Just give me the coordinates and I'll have Athena bring an overview of it." Charles said running to a nearby terminal.

"Athena, could you bring an overview of these coordinates?" Charles asked. "Certainly, and I've began to track where the Talon ship flew off to with Angela." Athena reported.

"Good, we'll just need to send the overview to Arsenal for his attack." Charles said. "Oh my." The AI said.

"What is it Athena?" "The client is Talon." The AI replied. "Damn, Arsenal, cancel your attack! Talon, Talon is the client!" Charles said. The background noise of the phone had sounds of gunfire.