Marked

Chapter 7

I stared into the warm brown eyes that were all too familiar. I still could recognize that stunning face from all those years ago, although he has changed a lot. His face got slimmer and less childlike, but that was to be expected. His eyes held something deeper, and more complex than they had held 4 years ago. The scar on his cheek seemed more prominent than it had before, if that was even possible. He has changed so much, but also not at all.

"Alec!?!" I asked, not believing the sight before my eyes. Naomi told me he was gone, that he was in another sector, far, far away from here, doing a job much like mine but much more dangerous. Seeing him in person after 4 long years was amazing. "Naomi told me you were in Coston."

"Uh, yeah, about that. I've been in hiding. Naomi couldn't risk me boing out in public with this," he pulled his sleeve up to reveal that he, too, was marked. "She told me to wait until the plans were set up and you were ready to go. I tried to argue with her, I didn't want to have to keep any secrets from you, but you know how stubborn she is."

The other 'officer' stood up carefully, still knocked down because of me. She stood up straight and pulled off her helmet. Her short black hair fell to her shoulders and was cut in a bob. Her hair, parted far to the left, almost covered her dark brown eyes. She seemed to change more from the last time I saw her, almost 9 years ago. Naomi had said she worked in a different sector too, one close to Nishka.

"Did Naomi lie about you, too, Tari?" I asked her, curious as to what things Naomi had told me were the actual truth. I know the reasons as to why she did it: she had to protect us somehow and that involved secrets, but it still hurt to be lied to, especially when one of the secrets was about my closest friend. I heard a small bit of bitterness in my voice, though I didn't know where it came from. I wasn't mad at Naomi, just hurt.

"No, she was actually telling the truth about that. I was just here to visit Alec." This struck me as odd. She and Alec never seemed to be that close to each other. Why would Naomi tell her and not me. Alec and I were best friends. Did Naomi not trust me? I know I tend to act on instinct and not fully think about things, but I don't think it's that bad.

"Anyways, I'm assuming Naomi kicked you off the mission because of that little, uh, mark?" Alec asked me, a look if curiosity on his face. I simply nodded. "And she told you to just sit back, watch the web cams, and listen to the earpieces, right? And you don't like that, so you're going to try to get your job back no matter what it takes?"

"Pretty much. Except for the fact that Casey and Vincent also got the mark and are now all on their own without having me there. But everything else was spot on, like always," I said and smiled, remembering how he used to be able to predict what I would do. He knew me better than I knew myself, even still.

"Casey and Vincent? They are the last people I would expect to get the mark, even with our pattern. And why would you leave them on their own?" Alec stated.

"Well it was either that or have them get caught with me. I figured throwing myself under the bus was better than them both getting caught."

"You need to learn to take care of yourself." It looked like he was about to lecture me, so I cut him off.

"Yeah, Yeah. I know. You've told me this before. It's not my fault I'm selfless."

"There's selflessness, and then there's recklessness. Know the difference. You're lucky I was visiting Alec. He almost got himself caught getting these suits," Tari put her opinion in, sounding smarter than the two of us.

"Alright well, anyway. Dawn," he said, turning towards me after Tari had finished speaking, "do you have any plans for how to get your job back?"

"Do you know me? I don't have any plans at all yet."