Preventing Apotheosis

Terms of Compromise

John took out his comm and started talking to his boss, stepping out of the room. After hunting down the two infected girls and shooting them, Curt went back to the room where their hostages were tied to chairs so that their forms wouldn't slump over. He waited anxiously for John to end the call, and his head whipped toward the door when he heard the knob turn. The General walked in with a stern look on his face that Curt matched.

"You'll be pleased to hear that we won't have to kill them so long as they swear to never utter a word of this incident to anyone. They'll go into the Witness Protection Program to start their new lives and live out their days most likely traumatized."

"Well that's better than the alternative," Curt voiced. It still wasn't ideal, but at least they had the chance to live.

"We need them to wake up, you got anything that could help with that?" John asked. Curt rapped his chin in thought, "Let's see, I'm only one of the world's greatest spies, and I interrogate people on a daily basis, of course I do. Here," he quipped, pulling some smelling salts out of his pocket. He shoved him out out of the way and knelt in front of them. He snapped the small packet and waved it under their noses. Both men shot up with a gasp, frantically looking around. Bill's eyes locked on McNamera and he tried to lunge forward. Thankfully the restraints held firm.

"You killed Alice! You took her away! She was only a child!" Tears welled up in his eyes, "She was too young to die!"

"Bill, your name is Bill right?" McNamera didn't wait for an answer before he continued, "That thing wasn't your daughter. She was an empty husk of a human, one of those singing alien freaks. She was about to kill you; one more second and she would've pulled the trigger an' you'd be dead on the ground."

Bill shook his head, "No, no she was still in there!" His friend in the chair turned to him, "No Bill, she wasn't. I mean, you saw the way her eyes were glowing. And they were blue, her eyes were never blue!" John took a step forward and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, and he jerked away. "I'm truly sorry for your loss, but there was no other way. At least we were able to find the two of you alive." Curt found it funny how he didn't tell them how he was going to kill them only a few minutes before. John turned to the taller man in the chair, "What's your name, son?"

"Uh, Paul, sir," he said. His eyes were full of panic. He probably thought they were gonna kill them.

"Nice to meet you Paul, you too Bill, my name's General John McNamera, I'm with a special devision known as P-E-I-P we call it "Peep.""

"P.E.I.P.? I've never heard of you," Paul said. John yanked his cigarette from his mouth.

"And you never will. Not a peep. We've dealt with things like this before."

"You mean things like this have happened before?" Paul asked with worry.

"I said nothing of the sort that information is classified. This is my associate-"

"I can introduce myself," Curt cut him off and pulled out his badge. "Agent Curt Mega, C.I.A."

"We were sent here to do a clean sweep of the island, and make sure word of this doesn't spread." As he spoke he untied the men.

"Wait- are you gonna kill us too?" Bill asked in a panic. John was quick to reassure.

"Those were my orders, yes, but I talked to my superiors and they're allowing an exception. There's gonna be two choppers coming to pick us up at 23 hundred hours. That's 11:00 if you're stupid, synchronize your time piece with mine." Paul pulled out his phone to set an alarm. "Is that a phone?"

"Yeah it's a 6s-" John grabbed the phone from his hand and threw it, making it shatter on impact. "Wear a watch!"

"Jesus John, the hell's your problem?" Curt asked and pulled out a spare phone from his bag. "Here, perks of being a spy."

"Th-thanks," Paul stuttered and gingerly took it. He eyed the General carefully before fiddling with it. He pressed the home button twice, three times before going to turn off the phone only for it to spark to life with a taser. He screamed and threw it away from him.

"Shit, I gave you the wrong one! Unless you want the taser phone. It still functions as a regular phone but if you press the home button three times followed by the power button it'll activate the taser. Guess I should've warned you..."

Paul gulped, "That would've been nice."

"The offer still stands. Like Barb says, "It just might save your life." So?"

Paul shrugged and took the offered phone/weapon. "Why not? Today can't get anymore fucked up," he sighed. "C'mon Bill, lets go get the others."

Curt held out his hand, signaling them to stop. "Wait, how many of you are there?" He glanced at John, and they both shared a look. The helicopters could only hold so many.

"There's five of us sir."

"It'll be a tight fit, but we can manage," he shrugged. John nodded.

"Just make sure your little party doesn't grow," he narrowed his eyes into slits. Paul shook his head.

"I don't think we could even if we wanted to. I'm pretty sure we're the only ones left."

"Good. Keep on your toes, and try to stay alive 'til 11:00." Paul pressed his lips into a thin line, "Will do."

Suddenly, McNamera raised his pistol, startling both of the men.

"Wha-?"

In one swift movement, he flipped the gun around with practiced ease, holding the barrel. The handle was extended towards Paul. "I'm authorizing to use my firearm," he clarified. They visibly relaxed.

"Thank you sir."

"Maybe when this is all said and done, we can meet up somewhere and talk," Curt suggested. "Catch up on how you're doing."

They both nodded.

"Sure."

"That sounds nice."

"Do you gentlemen like coffee?" John asked. Both men nodded. "Do you like musicals?"

They answered simultaneously.

"No."

"Yes!"

John scowled at Bill as Curt came up beside him, "You must have good taste." John glared daggers at Curt.

"You're both garbage," he said dryly. Mega scoffed and rolled his eyes. John pointed at Paul, then Bill. "Twenty three hundred sharp. You're not there, we leave without you." He pulled his hat on a little tighter around his head. "I don't wanna be on this God forsaken island longer than needed."

"Me either," Curt agreed, locking eyes with the general and offered a fleeting smile. Call him crazy, but he could've sworn the man returned it.

He saluted the two men as they made their way out. "Best of luck to you."

"Try not to die," Curt offered his own advice before he thought better of it. Before a mission, he and Owen would always say that to the other before diving into the mess they were about to get themselves into. A painful ache shot through his chest at the thought of his old partner. What they had was special, and just like that it had been ripped away. And when given the chance to have it all back, Owen, the stubborn bastard that he was, threw it away, giving him no choice but to shoot.

"Get your damn head out of the clouds agent, we have to move!" McNamera barked at him, sending him crashing back down to reality. He blinked a few times before shooting him a sly and cocky grin.

"Sure thing General," he said, letting a fair amount of sarcasm drip from the use of his title. John sneered at him as he followed him out of the room.

The agent was infuriating, he thought, but damnit to hell if he wasn't starting to grow on him. It didn't help that he was incredibly handsome as well, but he could dream about him once they were safe and off of the island. Until then, nothing was set in stone.