The Others

12

The stars are shining brightly and the air had turned cold. Betsy ignores it all lost in her own memories. She doesn't even realize that she's shivering until warmth surrounds her. She pulls the blanket closer around her and looks up. "Thank you, Reese."

"You're welcome," Reese wants to sit next to her and join her but he knows that wouldn't be welcome. He moves off into the dark and finds his own place for memories.

The sound of a helicopter breaks their revery and they automatically look at each other in alarm. Reese tosses her a gun and they follow the sound to the town center.

Reese looks for Betsy but she's pulled her disappearing trick again. He stays close to the shadows but close enough that he can hear what the HC official has to say.

"...the war is over, the last of the Others have been wiped out. But the cost was high, General McQuinlin was killed during the fighting, so we are asking for a moment of silence from all of those that we tell." Reese has a hard time not laughing outright. If he hadn't of been prepared then General McQuinlin would've been killed. Damn he's glad that he listened to her enough to do as much as he did.

As a sign of respect everyone there bowed their head and let the silence reign. Once the official ended the moment of silence there was cheering heard. It was almost deafening, it even covered the sound of the helicopter starting up once more.

Reese shakes his head ruefully. Well at least it wasn't announced that they are on the most wanted list. He wonders if Betsy will want to leave tonight or wait for the morning. Hell she might even have left without him. It wouldn't have been that hard for her to steal aboard the helicopter and kill the occupants once they left.

They had both done that early on in the war. That's how they started building up their arsenal of flying machines, helicopters and airplanes.

He's walking back to Jerry's house when he hears the click of a safety being removed and a gun barrel placed at his head. He stops still and doesn't dare move.

"You wouldn't know anything about the death of General McQuinlin would you now?" Jerry's voice asks him coldly.

"She's not dead. HC waited until the attack was over and it was confirmed that they were dead. All those that were in the Command Center had their guns out and pointed at us. They'd been planning on killing her from the time she started working for them. They just wanted her to win them the war first."

"And why would they do that?" Jerry asks coldly.

"You've seen her, she looks too much like one of the Other's. It was them that scarred Betsy so badly that this child will likely kill her. My child will kill her when they couldn't." Reese doesn't bother hiding the bitterness and pain of his words. "The whip marks on her back? They are from HC when she was held as a child, before she managed to get them to let her take part in the fight. You want to know why she doesn't trust? Because she knew from the moment she started working for HC that they'd kill her once the war was over. But still she won the war for them, for us. Go ahead and kill me."

The sound of another safety being taken off sounds and then the feel of the gun barrel lifts from Reese's head. Reese turns around and takes the gun from Jerry. "We'll leave tonight. Don't try to follow us or you won't live."

Jerry swallows hard as he looks into Reese's eyes. He sees his death promised there. 

"You are lucky, Jerry. Had you done this to my wife she would have killed you before you even had time to blink. She doesn't like having guns pulled on her. You should have seen what she's done to those that shot me."

Betsy gives a involuntary chuckle, "They were aiming for me and you were just stupid enough to take the bullet for me."

"Well I sure as hell wasn't going to let them shoot you, it was my job to protect you."

"You should have let them shoot me after the war ended."

"We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one love. When do you want to leave?"

Betsy is about to say something when a sharp pain rips through her. She allows the scream to come out from sheer surprise.

When Jerry turns to look for her, "You will return to your house Jerry and you won't make any noise or try to get anyone's attention while doing so."

"Where's the doctor?" Reese demands.

"I saw him at the square celebrating with the other townspeople." Betsy manages to say through the pain.

Jerry blinks and can only shut his mouth. Reese had just vanished and he can't find him anywhere. 

Betsy chuckles with true amusement, "You won't find my husband if he doesn't want you to. Out of all HC I'm the only one that has ever successfully found him and that only sometimes. Now, I believe that I told you to return to your house?"

Jerry, now afraid of the shadows starts forward towards his house.

"What your husband said about HC, is that true?" Jerry asks still trying to figure out just what the hell happened tonight.

"Most of the scars on my body are caused by HC, not all of them, the throat and the arm were caused because Reese was a bit busy and couldn't keep all the bastards away. The one on my arm was caused by one of those fucking Others the neck was caused by half breeds while we were trying to infiltrate the Other estate. Damn wasn't Reese pissed on that one. It was all I could do to keep him calm enough that he didn't go killing everyone on the Estate.

"Of course, he had his hands full with me trying to keep me from doing the same. 

"It was after that mission that HC stopped using me for undercover missions. My beautiful body was too scarred for them. After that they actually let me start planning most of  the missions and we started winning the war. Damn fools, this war could have been over five years ago had they listened to me sooner."

Jerry couldn't believe what he was hearing. So many humans had been killed because HC didn't listen to the person that ended the war.

"HC is no better than those Other overlords. You thought they were bad, just wait until the officials at HC take over your lives, then you'll wish that the Other's were still in charge."

"You're not going to do anything about it?" Jerry asks incredulously.

"I'm going to be dead. HC has by now put out a warrant for my death and for Reese's. Any human with Other blood will be soon to follow. Soon the witch hunts that happened centuries ago will have nothing on what will go on." Betsy says conversationally.  "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, you have been a wonderful host and I hate to repay you with this, but I don't have a death wish, yet. Reese would go bezerk and kill everyone from this town should anything happen to me, so this really is the only way to keep you alive.

"It's just too bad I can't trust you. Nothing personal." Betsy says softly as she pistol whips his head. He falls down without a sound and she catches him up. She finds a secure room and locks him in even as another cramp brings her to her knees.

That's how Reese and the doctor find her, passed out on the floor with a growing puddle of blood surrounding her.